Was Data always destined for Starfleet or would Data have joined up with whichever group put him back together? Lke would he have joined the Klingon army or whatever?
Also, hypothetically would the story of Data being activated and interacting with the the Tripoli crew have been episode worthy? An even more naive Data than even Season 1? And a Data that apparently felt so isolated and without guidance that he thought about rebooting himself to factory settings! No one on the Tripoli wanted to be Data's friend? And what happened in the three years between when he was activated and when he joined Starfleet Academy? In TV show terms, that's like three whole seasons! Was he just wandering the halls of the Tripoli all that time bugging people? Did he wander around different places for a bit and then realised he needed space money to get anywhere, so joined Starfleet so they could pay his way through the galaxy?
Also, hypothetically would the story of Data being activated and interacting with the the Tripoli crew have been episode worthy? An even more naive Data than even Season 1? And a Data that apparently felt so isolated and without guidance that he thought about rebooting himself to factory settings! No one on the Tripoli wanted to be Data's friend? And what happened in the three years between when he was activated and when he joined Starfleet Academy? In TV show terms, that's like three whole seasons! Was he just wandering the halls of the Tripoli all that time bugging people? Did he wander around different places for a bit and then realised he needed space money to get anywhere, so joined Starfleet so they could pay his way through the galaxy?