Soong-type Android

"Yes, you do [have a culture]. You're a culture of one, which is no less valid than a culture of one billion."

- Jean-Luc Picard, to Data, in 2369.

Soong-type Androids are a sapient species of artificial life forms with positronic brains, originally created by Dr. Noonian Soong in the 2330s. Initially regarded as nothing more than machines, they went on to be recognized as living, self-aware entities.

At least six individuals of this species were created by Dr. Soong during his lifetime, consisting of two unnamed prototypes, B-4, Lore, Data and Juliana Tainer. Another member of the species, named Lal, was created by Data. Soong's son, Altan Inigo Soong, working with Dr. Bruce Maddox, continued his father's research and created a new generation of Androids with synthetically organic bodies on the planet Coppelius.

Biology
The key component of a Soong-type Android is the positronic matrix, which allows their brains to be as complex as those of a biological humanoid, and grant them sapience and self-awareness. However, the capacity for experiencing sensations such as taste, and emotions such as fear or humor, isn't a necessary part of their build-up, and it's possible for them to be built without them, although they may acquire this capacity via the implantation of an emotion chip.

As artificial life forms, Soong-type Androids possess physical strength many times greater than Humans. They're strong enough to effortlessly lift an anvil and can hold an accelerating car in place with one hand. Even the organic Androids created by Altan Inigo Soong have demonstrated similar levels of strength, such as by tearing down wood and metal with bare hands and fighting multiple Romulans at once.

Soong-type Androids suffer no damage from being perforated by arrows and can even take multiple gunshots at almost point-blank range without flinching. They have extremely acute hearing and can analyse the molecular composition of food even if they aren't able to experience taste the same way as Humans. They can remain submerged indefinitely without permanent damage, process information at an accelerated rate, have extraordinarily fast coordination (such as the ability to type at superhuman speed), and think about multiple subjects simultaneously without losing focus. Their heads can also remain fully functional after being detached from their bodies.

Despite their abilities, Soong-type Androids also have some weaknesses, for instance, being exposed to high levels of radiation can ionize their positronic matrices, which results in death. In the 2360s, Data's body wasn't buoyant and he couldn't swim. By 2375, he had upgraded his body to act as a flotation device in case of emergency.

Many aspects of the Androids' functioning were intentionally meant by Dr. Soong to closely imitate Human biology and make them look more relatable. As a result, Soong-type Androids breathe to regulate their internal temperature (although they can still function in a vacuum for extended periods), can consume organic nutrients to lubricate their internal components, and even have a working circulatory system that distributes biochemical lubricants and regulates micro-hydraulic power. They are programmed to blink in a pattern that simulates randomness, and are capable of controlling their rate of follicle replenishment, allowing their hair to grow if they wish to. Despite requiring no sleep, in 2369, Data found out that he had been programmed with the ability to experience dreams, although it wasn't supposed to be activated until his cognitive abilities had advanced to a certain point.

Even without the emotion chip, and despite often claiming to be incapable of feeling emotions, Data has displayed patterns of behaviour that appear indicative of some level of emotional processing, such as forming friendships and displaying loyalty and selflessness, as well as an interest in experiencing and creating art. Perhaps most notably, Data's desire to understand the Human condition and become more Human indicates, perhaps paradoxically, a characteristic he shares with his creators: the desire for personal growth and exploration.

Noonian Soong's Androids
Dr. Noonian Soong created five Androids while living on a Federation colony on planet Omicron Theta in the 2330s. They were all modeled after his own image. The first three Androids, among which was B-4, didn't turn out to have sufficiently stable positronic matrices and failed to remain functional. Soong and his wife, Juliana, regarded these Androids as their children and were profoundly affected by the loss, but despite Juliana's protests that it was irresponsible to create life with so little chance of surviving, Soong was determined to try again. His fourth creation, named Lore, was far more successful, but also cruel and sociopathic to the point of being dangerous, seeing himself as superior to all biological life, and forcing Soong to deactivate him as the other colonists feared him. For his next model, Soong decided to make an Android that would be, at least initially, devoid of Human emotions, resulting in the creation of Data.

In 2338, the Omicron Theta colony was attacked and destroyed by the Crystalline Entity (which, unbeknownst to all, had been attracted to the colony by Lore as means of revenge). Juliana was fatally injured during the attack, but Soong managed to transfer her memories to a positronic matrix and built a sixth Android to house them. This Android duplicate was so successful and physically identical to her in every way that she lived the remainder of her life unaware that she wasn't the original Juliana. She eventually left Soong and married the Atrean scientist Pran Tainer.

When the Federation starship USS Tripoli arrived on Omicron Theta, following the colony's distress signal, they retrieved a deactivated Data. The Android later became the first and only one of his kind to join Starfleet, and served as a lieutenant commander aboard the USS Enterprise-D, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. At first, Data was unaware that there had been other Androids before him, and regarded himself as unique.

In 2366, Data successfully created another Android, his daughter Lal. Unfortunately, her positronic matrix turned out to be unstable and her existence was tragically short-lived, although during that period she grew to experience a wide range of Human emotions that were, at the time, still unattainable to Data.

In 2379, Data was killed while sacrificing himself to save the lives of the Enterprise crew. His memories prior to his death had been transferred to the recently-retrieved B-4, but unfortunately, B-4's positronic brain wasn't advanced enough to handle Data's mind and he had to be shut down and dismantled. At the time, no one had ever been able to duplicate Dr. Soong's work and the original generation of Soong-type Androids became extinct. Simpler types of androids, nicknamed "synths", became widely used as menial workers by the Federation until they were sabotaged by a secret Romulan operation and attacked Starfleet's installations at Utopia Planitia in 2385, resulting in the ban of all synthetic life throughout the Federation.

Coppelius Androids
Despite the ban on synthetic life research, Dr. Soong's son, Altan Inigo Soong continued his father's work illegally on the planet Coppelius. The younger Soong was assisted by former Starfleet scientist Dr. Bruce Maddox, who retrieved one of Data's positronic neurons and used a technique called fractal neuronic cloning to develop new and stable positronic matrices from it. Over the next years, they created dozens of Androids, who lived in a peaceful society on Coppelius.

Physically, these new Androids had entirely organic bodies and were made to be indistinguishable from Humans, although some still had a more metallic skin tone and golden eyes like their predecessors. As a result of the specific process used to create them, the Coppelius Androids were all made in pairs.

In 2399, a Romulan fleet arrived on Coppelius intending to eradicate the Androids, as they believed them to be dangerous. One of the Androids, Soji Asha, whose twin had been previously killed by the Romulans and who saw no other way to save her people, activated a beacon to contact an alliance of synthetic life forms dwelling in a higher dimension, despite being aware that these life forms would destroy all biological life in the galaxy to protect their synthetic brethren. Fortunately, she was convinced by Jean-Luc Picard to destroy the beacon just in time to close the dimensional gate, and the Romulan fleet retreated faced with a Starfleet armada led by Captain William Riker, who claimed that Coppelius was under Federation protection in accordance with the Treaty of Algeron.