For 23rd century Terran captain, please see Maddox.

Doctor Bruce Maddox was a male Human 24th century Starfleet cyberneticist and one of the Federation's most prominent researchers in that field during the late 24th century. He worked in the Cybernetics Division of the Daystrom Institute and, in 2365, was the Associate Chair of Robotics. He was later promoted to Chair of Robotics.

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Early life

Maddox was born in San Francisco, California on Earth. He was vaccinated against common diseases and given a Federation Security Number. (PIC: "Stardust City Rag")

Starfleet career

Early career

In 2341, he was consulted in Starfleet Academy admissions. He was the only person to object to Data's entry on the grounds that, as an android, Data did not qualify as a sentient being.

Ever since learning about Data and Dr. Noonian Soong's work, Maddox was inspired to continue it. He followed Data's career remotely while he worked on his in cybernetics. He dreamed of creating more androids to help Starfleet in dangerous situations.

Attempt to study Data

In 2365, Commander Maddox maintained an office at Starbase 173, where he had earned Vice Admiral Nakamura's support on a proposal to disassemble and reverse-engineer Lieutenant Commander Data in order to gain the final piece of knowledge he needed. After presenting his proposal to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William T. Riker, and Data, Data studied Maddox's proposal and found it to be flawed in its ability to preserve the nuances of his positronic brain, prompting Maddox to assert his authority and order Data to submit by transferring him from USS Enterprise-D to Maddox's command.

Data refused and resigned from Starfleet, but Maddox challenged his right to do so, claiming that Data was property, not a sentient lifeform, a position initially supported by Captain Phillipa Louvois of the Judge Advocate General's office. Captain Picard challenged this position, stating that Data is arguably a sentient being as defined by most of Maddox's own criteria. Furthermore, Data currently represented an entire race and duplicating him for the purposes of forced labor constituted slavery. Louvois agreed with Picard's standpoint and ruled that Data was a sentient being with full rights under Federation law. Data nonetheless encouraged Maddox to continue his research, and that he was open to possible collaboration with the cyberneticist. It was at this point that Maddox truly began to see Data as a person, and not just a remarkable machine to study. (TNG: "The Measure Of A Man")

When Data's program was infiltrated after an Iconian software transmission, his systems went down. Geordi La Forge mentioned that an expert such as Maddox, or somebody similar, could help. (TNG: "Contagion")

Despite the troubles inherent in their earlier relationship, Data held no ill will against Maddox, and corresponded regularly with him, keeping detailed records of all inter-personal activities. (TNG: "Data's Day")

Coppelius and the Asha sisters

Maddox went on to recruit Dr. Agnes Jurati to join him in his research at the Daystrom Institute's Division of Advanced Synthetic Research, and the two eventually became lovers. Among the ideas they developed together in his later career was that of fractal neuronic cloning, a technique by which new "twin" androids could be created, even in "flesh-and-blood" human-appearing bodies, from a single positronic neuron of a "parent" android. He disappeared following the Attack on Mars and the banning of synthetics in 2385, with his whereabouts remaining unknown despite Dr. Jurati's attempts to locate him.

Maddox established himself on the distant world of Ghulion IV, which later became known as Coppelius. There, with the assistance of Dr. Altan Inigo Soong, the son of Noonian Soong, they created their own community of organic androids, created through fractal neuronic cloning using Data's positronic neurons. However, Maddox firmly believed that the Federation and others were part of a conspiracy that orchestrated the attack on Mars. Despite Soong's concerns that it would bring unwanted attention to their sanctuary, Maddox created the Asha sisters, Soji and Dahj, to discover the truth. Soji was sent to the Borg Reclamation Project in the Romulan Free State, while Dahj was sent to Daystrom on Earth. Maddox then left Coppelius. (PIC: "Stardust City Rag", "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1")

Life on the run

After leaving Coppelius, Maddox established a new facility with a substantial loan from Bjayzl to further his research. However, his lab was destroyed by the Tal Shiar, leaving him unable to pay his debt to Bjayzl. She initially ordered his death, but eventually reconsidered, knocking him out with drugged tranya, planning to sell him to the Tal Shiar.

Having been tracked to Freecloud by Raffi Musiker, Maddox was rescued from Bjayzl by Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of La Sirena two weeks later, but was brought aboard the ship extremely injured and near death. (PIC: "Stardust City Rag")

Death

Maddox was killed by his former lover Agnes Jurati in La Sirena's sickbay when she disabled the hematic microrepair treatment that could have saved his life. When later confronted by Picard, Jurati admitted she had done so under compulsion by Commodore Oh, the head of Starfleet Security, who had performed a mind meld with her shortly before they left Earth and showed her the "Admonition", the devastation that Oh believed would be caused by synthetic lifeforms. (PIC: "Stardust City Rag", "Broken Pieces")

Memorable quotes

"'When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes / I all alone beweep my outcast state.' Tell me: are these just words to you? Or do you fathom the meaning?"

"Is it not customary to request permission before entering an individual's quarters?"



- Maddox and Data, when Maddox was entering Data's quarters ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")



"You are imparting Human qualities to it because it looks Human – but I assure you: it is not. If it were a box on wheels I would not be facing this opposition."

- Maddox, to Picard and Louvois on Data absorbing Human qualities ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")



"Now tell me, commander, what is Data?"

"I don't understand."

"What is he?"

"A machine!"

"Is he? Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"You see he's met two of your three criteria for sentience, so what if he meets the third, consciousness, in even the smallest degree? What is he then? I don't know, do you? (to Riker) Do you? (to Phillipa Louvois) Do you?"

- Picard and Maddox, on what Data is ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")



"He's remarkable."



- Maddox, on Data, following his legal defeat ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")

Appendices

Appearances

References

Background information

Bruce Maddox was played by Brian Brophy in his first appearance, and by John Ales in his second.

Apocrypha

In the novel Immortal Coil, Maddox worked with Reginald Barclay and Emil Vaslovik on a project to combine holographic technology with a positronic brain to develop a new type of android. Maddox was injured in an attack on the facility by the Exo III androids, who attempted to steal the prototype the team had developed. Unknown to both the androids and Maddox, Vaslovik had stolen the prototype and replaced it with a non-functional dummy. Vaslovik, who revealed himself as the immortal Flint, had hidden the prototype aboard the USS Enterprise-E disguised as Security Chief Rhea McAdams. The Enterprise was successful in defeating the androids, and Maddox returned to his work.

In Articles of the Federation, Maddox, now a captain, argues before Federation President Nan Bacco and the Federation Judiciary Council that B-4 should not be disassembled. He was successful in his arguments against Doctor Lars Patek, and B-4 remained in the custody of Maddox and the Daystrom Institute.