WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Lost?!

[Gary7]

Re: WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Los

A "sleeper" changeling is a bit unnerving of an idea... existing among others until the right opportunity to wreak havoc. But an even more conventional possibility of concern would be cortical nanites. They reside in the cerebral cortex, having migrated there from a consumed beverage or food. Being constructed mostly of benign bio matter, they'd be virtually undetectable, save from an intense micro-cellular scan. They'd exist right along side neural pathways to monitor everything the person is thinking, and with the option to modify the contents in either direction. Essentially, they could be triggered to take over an individual based on a cue as simple as a text message code. Until then... everything is perfectly fine. In an instant, an entire governmental staff could be manipulated for ulterior motives.

 

[Rush Limborg]

Re: WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Los

^Sounds like you've got the germ of a fanfic, there.

 

[Kronos]

Re: WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Los

They were probably cought during the war.

Yep, hopefully used as guinea pigs for experiments

 

[Bob Karo]

Re: WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Los

A "sleeper" changeling is a bit unnerving of an idea... existing among others until the right opportunity to wreak havoc. But an even more conventional possibility of concern would be cortical nanites. They reside in the cerebral cortex, having migrated there from a consumed beverage or food. Being constructed mostly of benign bio matter, they'd be virtually undetectable, save from an intense micro-cellular scan. They'd exist right along side neural pathways to monitor everything the person is thinking, and with the option to modify the contents in either direction. Essentially, they could be triggered to take over an individual based on a cue as simple as a text message code. Until then... everything is perfectly fine. In an instant, an entire governmental staff could be manipulated for ulterior motives.

Or a game of solitaire...

 

[EmperorTiberius]

Re: WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Los

They were probably cought during the war.

Yep, hopefully used as guinea pigs for experiments

Federation Section 731?

 

[Navaros]

Re: WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Los

Did I miss something here? What?!

No, you didn't miss anything.

It's a plothole that was never plugged or developed like it should have been.

 

[Timo]

Re: WAIT! What happened to the changelings on earth after Paradise Los

why would Leyton have fake-O'Brien admit to Sisko that there were "Only Four"?

To hide the fact that there was only one?

I mean, hearing a Changeling say "four" is our best proof that four cannot be the right number. And qualifying that with "only" makes it sound as if four was a low number, which quite probably would make Sisko think the true number was higher - which would serve the Changeling cause of sowing fear, even if they only ever managed to get one Changeling to Earth.

Not that it would have been difficult to get Changelings there past Earth defenses. It's just that it might have been really difficult to motivate a Changeling to take active part in the war to begin with. These aren't the sort of people to risk their own necks: all previous infiltrators had worked from a winning position, and even the one killed by Odo in "The Adversary" no doubt had a last-second escape plan (because "Chimera" shows that an adult Changeling can simply bail out from a doomed starship without problems).

I think Leyton faked the Changeling that bombed the Antwerp conference - whereas the "Leyton"/"O'Brien" Changeling was the real deal, working for the Dominion, and for all we know was the very same individual that later became known as the Female Changeling. It would have gotten a very convenient ride from Bajor to Earth and back aboard Sisko's transport - any attempt to scan that one against Changelings would have been foiled by the presence of Odo aboard! There's no particularly convincing evidence that this would be the case. But this would be the most consistent interpretation, in terms of explaining why no other Changelings were seen on this side of the wormhole during the war.

Timo Saloniemi