Spoilers Section 31: Control by David Mack Review Thread

[frankieteardrop]

Be sure to read Una McCormack's DS9 novel, "Enigma Tales." (if you haven't already) It follows up a bit on Bashir's condition and I thought it was an excellent Garak/Cardassia centered novel.

Enigma Tales is so good and the Bashir subplot absolutely shattered me.

 

[Damian]

I got it on my post-Nemesis list as final entry, but decided to make a detour, before reading Hearts and Minds and (re)-read some pre 22nd century Trek, so it'll probably take a while, again. At least I'm already in 1519 again!

You won't be disappointed. I always thought McCormack was great at character development in her novels and she doesn't disappoint with "Enigma Tales." It also ties up a few loose ends from Cardassia.

 

[Jinn]

You won't be disappointed. I always thought McCormack was great at character development in her novels and she doesn't disappoint with "Enigma Tales." It also ties up a few loose ends from Cardassia.

Oh, I'm sure I won't be. McCormack has been consistently writing the best Trek stuff, I can't wait to read the few novels of hers that I haven't. I think I also have one of her Who novels coming up soon!

 

[F. King Daniel]

I think this is the most subversive piece of Star Trek media ever created. The utopian Federation only exists because of a ruthless superintelligence which see and hears all, and goes so far as to edit electronic communications in real time? I can't believe the powers that be allowed it, let alone adapted a few of it's concepts for the screen in Discovery's second season

I loved it.

 

[thribs]

That Control in Discovery was nothing like the one here. Might as well call that one Chaos.

 

[Tuskin38]

That Control in Discovery was nothing like the one here. Might as well call that one Chaos.

We get it, you didn't like it. Don't have to remind us every time you see it mentioned.

And Discovery's Control probably wasn't meant to be the one from the books. it might have been partially inspired by it, but not meant to be the same thing.

 

[thribs]

Yeah. Chances are they were never aware of it and it’s just a massive coincidence

 

[Jinn]

Yeah. Chances are they were never aware of it and it’s just a massive coincidence

It was not a coincidence. Kirsten had mentioned Control as an AI running Section 31, in the room while they were planning Season 2, and the idea, once in the mix, took on a life of its own. But it's not a total coincidence.

 

[Sci]

Honestly there's no meaningful contradiction between the Control we see in S2 of DIS and the Control/Uraei of the novel. The book already implies that the Super A.I. has at least two personalities, with one seeking to arrange events so as to purge its other personality. The Control we saw in DIS S2 could be another offshoot personality that the dominant Super A.I. personality wanted gone.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Or maybe they don't need to coexist any more than different versions of Cyborg, or James Bond do. Just different versions of Control in different media.

But I'm sure by Christmas we'll just be gesturing vaguely and saying "temporal apocalypse"

 

[Christopher]

Or maybe they don't need to coexist any more than different versions of Cyborg, or James Bond do. Just different versions of Control in different media.

Of course they don't "need" to, but the question is whether it's still possible to reconcile them if you want to. Nobody here is discussing mandates, just the range of available options.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Wasn't suggesting otherwise, just saying that it's how I choose to see it.

 

[Sci]

Wasn't suggesting otherwise, just saying that it's how I choose to see it.

Which is totally fair. I just find it fun to see if I can reconcile onscreen canon with the 2000-2021-era litverse. It's all good either way.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Perhaps the real Control (Uraei) allowed - perhaps even deliberately caused - the DSC Control to exist, so as to deflect suspicion away from itself?

Meaning, whenever anyone heard the name Control, they'd think of the bumbling DSC one, and never suspect that there was a "real" one behind the scenes.

 

[SolarisOne]

Yeah, I'm thinking the the mainline Control forked its base code intentionally in as an experiment to study itself and come up with a way to get rid of Uraei once and for all.

 

[Sci]

Another possibility is that the Control seen in DIS S2 was an offshoot of the main Control/Uraei, firewalled off as a way to protect the rest of itself from whatever alterations in its codes were caused by exposure to that future A.I. the Discovery shuttlecraft took back.

 

[fireproof78]

Another possibility is that the Control seen in DIS S2 was an offshoot of the main Control/Uraei, firewalled off as a way to protect the rest of itself from whatever alterations in its codes were caused by exposure to that future A.I. the Discovery shuttlecraft took back.

That's an interesting idea. Or perhaps it was an offshoot to experiment with the future A.I. resulting in more transformations than anticipated.

 

[Kilana2]

I think we need Data and Lal right now here in the past to counter all the Russian cyber attacks security authorities are afraid of being inserted into critical systems. What would Uraei think of it?