Is it possible that that the doomsday machine was NOT a weapon?

[Gotham Central]

One of the more interesting aspects of The Doomsday Machine is that we really no nothing about the actual machine. Everyone simply assumes that its a weapon with malevolent intent. Isn't it possible that it could be something else?


What if the machine was the cosmic equivalent of a wrecking ball (sort of like the Vogon ships in HHGTTG).

It becomes even more plausible when you remember that SOMEONE built a Dyson shell. In order to build anything near that size, one would need to literally be able to take apart whole solar systems and convert them into building material. Its worth noting that the machine is described as carving up planes, not simply blowing them apart. Imagine if the original intent of the machine was that it would be sent into a system, carve up planets, and then be followed by a fleet of ore processing ships that would simply devour the wreckage and turn it into useable materials.

One thing of note is that it seems programmed to ignore starships unless they pose a threat. I.E. it only attacked once it was attacked. That sounds like a simple defensive mechanism.

 

[miraclefan]

The DOOMSDAY trash compactor!

 

[Jono]

The question would be then why whoever created it just let it out to simply wipe out systems with no purpose or why they didn't program "don't destory inhabited planets" if only so it doesn't destroy their worlds and systems. It was also coated in neutronium or whatever it was. An impervious shell is a sort of odd thing for something that isn't a weapon.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

It's probably just a probe, created to explore the universe and seek out new life and new civilisations.

But, made of neutronium, it was probably made by a species for whom that extreme state of matter would be an everyday substance, probably a species that evolved in a completely alien environment, maybe in the atmosphere of a Jovian supergiant planet, or the surface of a star. If they are looking for new life, they'll probably look in other giant planets or stars. They may not comprehend the idea of life on small rocky inner worlds, and just think of those planets as fuel.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Something that old which was automated may have had programming malfunctions over the millennia. Look at what happened to V'Ger and Nomad out there. Anything can happen to cause a change in base programming to make a device very dangerous to carbon-based life, either accidentally or intentionally.

My bet is and always has been the "Vendetta" theory - built by the ancient Al'Aureans (sp?) to take out the Borg - at least, I think that's where they came from. It's been a long time since I read it.

 

[barnaclelapse]

The question would be then why whoever created it just let it out to simply wipe out systems with no purpose or why they didn't program "don't destory inhabited planets" if only so it doesn't destroy their worlds and systems. It was also coated in neutronium or whatever it was. An impervious shell is a sort of odd thing for something that isn't a weapon.

I wouldn't say that's necessarily true. It was definitely designed to be out and about, and I would imagine that given its danger potential that you would want something to keep it from exploding to hell and back because some dust looked at it the wrong way.

 

[NIUPonyBoy]

I thought there was a novel or something they discussed it's origins and it was weapon, that bristled with weapons on the exterior but that had eroded off during the millennia before entering the Fed universe?

 

[Hartzilla2007]

My bet is and always has been the "Vendetta" theory - built by the ancient Al'Aureans (sp?) to take out the Borg - at least, I think that's where they came from. It's been a long time since I read it.

Actually Picard speculated that it was build by the Preservers aka the guys who built that obelisk that Kirk found on that Native American inhabited planet, a survivor from the Borg destruction of the El-Aurian's homeworld found a bigger bader Doomsday Machine and was planing to use it to take revenge on the Borg.

 

[Forbin]

The question would be then why whoever created it just let it out to simply wipe out systems with no purpose or why they didn't program "don't destory inhabited planets" if only so it doesn't destroy their worlds and systems. It was also coated in neutronium or whatever it was. An impervious shell is a sort of odd thing for something that isn't a weapon.

Why? Does having a roll cage, thick skin and steel mesh over the windshield make a bulldozer a weapon? Even if the DDM was construction equipment, it must have cost a bundle to build, and the builders wouldn't want it damaged by flying chunks of planet.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I thought there was a novel or something they discussed it's origins and it was weapon, that bristled with weapons on the exterior but that had eroded off during the millennia before entering the Fed universe?

Yep - "Vendetta"

 

[Jono]

The question would be then why whoever created it just let it out to simply wipe out systems with no purpose or why they didn't program "don't destory inhabited planets" if only so it doesn't destroy their worlds and systems. It was also coated in neutronium or whatever it was. An impervious shell is a sort of odd thing for something that isn't a weapon.

Why? Does having a roll cage, thick skin and steel mesh over the windshield make a bulldozer a weapon? Even if the DDM was construction equipment, it must have cost a bundle to build, and the builders wouldn't want it damaged by flying chunks of planet.

There is a bit of difference between a bit of protection for an operator and outfitting the vehicle completely in impervious armour. That's what I'm really questioning, I don't have an issue with it have armour, it's just that they used something that can make it invincible and unstoppable if you lose control. That of course assumes neutronium was this rare, near-impervious material to its makers as it seems to be to the Federation. If it's not and the creators could destroy it with ease then I would also question if it was a weapon.

 

[Gotham Central]

The question would be then why whoever created it just let it out to simply wipe out systems with no purpose or why they didn't program "don't destory inhabited planets" if only so it doesn't destroy their worlds and systems. It was also coated in neutronium or whatever it was. An impervious shell is a sort of odd thing for something that isn't a weapon.

Why? Does having a roll cage, thick skin and steel mesh over the windshield make a bulldozer a weapon? Even if the DDM was construction equipment, it must have cost a bundle to build, and the builders wouldn't want it damaged by flying chunks of planet.

There is a bit of difference between a bit of protection for an operator and outfitting the vehicle completely in impervious armour. That's what I'm really questioning, I don't have an issue with it have armour, it's just that they used something that can make it invincible and unstoppable if you lose control. That of course assumes neutronium was this rare, near-impervious material to its makers as it seems to be to the Federation. If it's not and the creators could destroy it with ease then I would also question if it was a weapon.

Well if it was used for demolitions and getting construction material...I would suspect that that civilization would have sufficient technology to make the hull impervious without much difficulty. If one was to make a Dyson shell, I would hope that it would be covered in a similar material.

 

[Timo]

One wonders if the DDM really didn't have a safety protocol that would stop it from destroying inhabited planets. I mean, we never saw it destroy one. A planet with 400 people, yes - but it was an uninhabited and AFAWK uninhabitable planet with 400 people.

Our heroes speculated that the DDM was heading for a densely inhabited part of the galaxy next. But they speculated a great many things, without much justification. Apparently, the DDM never went to warp, so where its initial sublight wanderings might point would be no proof of where it would warp next. And even if it warped into the Rigel colonies, it might satisfy itself with eating lifeless planets, like it had apparently done until then.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ True, but if they let it start moving into the core systems to see if the DDM had such a failsafe - and it failed - they would have all been court-martialed for not stopping it when they had the chance out in the fringes (if they and some form of the Federation survived). They had an opportunity and a large power source on hand to destroy the DDM from within (Constellation), and they took it. Look at the vitriol and distrust that Picard had to endure from Admiral Necheyev (sp?) and others for not having implanted the killer virus through Hugh to destroy the Borg - and he got off easy. The TOS crew erred on the side of caution with that one and I probably would have done the exact same thing had I been in the same situation.

 

[buzzknox]

What if the neutronium wasn't armor, but was simply a method for storing matter? If a culture uses up the matter in its home systems and has the tech to manipulate and use neutronium (or whatever passes for it in the ST universe), it might decide to harvest matter in other systems and store it as neutronium, which provides for very dense storage. Upon its return, the neutronium might be used in that form or converted to another. The machine itself might be far shorter/thinner than its storage "shell" of neutronium.

Perhaps there are other long range mining/harvesting ships with a shell consisting of metallic versions of various gases, or other materials in hyperdense states.

 

[NIUPonyBoy]

I thought there was a novel or something they discussed it's origins and it was weapon, that bristled with weapons on the exterior but that had eroded off during the millennia before entering the Fed universe?

Yep - "Vendetta"

Thanks, I thought so.

 

[Timo]

...if they let it start moving into the core systems to see if the DDM had such a failsafe - and it failed - they would have all been court-martialed for not stopping it...

Agreed; and they had already made an enemy of the DDM, and could expect it to continue to act in a hostile manner towards all UFP starships, space stations and colonies, even if it had originally been disinterested in those.

My pondering was only of academic nature: we can't tell whether the DDM had a code of conduct that stopped it from destroying planets with biospheres or higher lifeforms. Perhaps our heroes could tell; after all, Kirk had charted seven planets in the system that the DDM later destroyed, and Kirk might have known that two of them had sported innocent, vulnerable life that the DDM had brutally terminated. But if Kirk did know that, he never told the audience.

I disagree with many of Kirk and Spock's conclusions about the DDM, but I don't disagree about the course of action they took. I don't even condemn Decker's insistence that the beast be confronted there and then, and not later on with reinforcements, because it does seem the DDM had a reasonably fast warp drive, even if it didn't use it for fighting the starships. After all, it had apparently destroyed several star systems after Kirk charted the one, "last year". But Decker was still a bit hasty about it, since it did seem to take weeks if not months for the DDM to cross from one system to another. Also, it seemed to cobble up all the planets in a system, and there were still planets to be had in the L-374 system, so logically it should have returned there to finish the job...

Timo Saloniemi