Arik Soong Arik Soong was a brilliant doctor of genetics in the 22nd century . He believed that Human ity ' s abandonment of genetic engineering after the Eugenics Wars was a mistake , and hoped to show that genetically engineered Humans would not necessarily become tyrants like Khan Noonien Singh . He argued that the source of the problem wasn ' t , in fact , the technology , but Humanity ' s own inability to use it wisely . His mother was a chemist by occupation . ( ) History . Soong was the senior medical director at Cold Station 12 in the 2130s . While there , he stole a group of Augment embryo s . He later made some improvements on the embryos , and subsequently traded for goods and supplies with the Orion Syndicate so he could provide for his " children , " whom he raised on Trialas IV . Soong was captured ten years later in 2144 , and imprisoned in San Francisco , where , on occasion , he attempted to escape . Once he programmed a PADD to open every security door in the prison and made it as far as Sausalito . In 2154 , Dr . Soong was " recruited " by Captain Jonathan Archer of to help capture his children , who had hijacked a and killed its crew . When Archer arrived at his detainment cell , Soong demonstrated his genius . Among the reams of paper on the floor and those pages pinned to the walls of his prison , all regarding DNA sequences , he highlighted research on modification of the T - cell that would cure Sharat Syndrome as well as work toward a five percent increase to the Human visual spectrum . Soong explained he was not allowed standard record - keeping equipment , due to the previous incident with the PADD . Apparently , he would make such astounding discoveries in genetic engineering only to have the papers destroyed by the guards . When " Enterprise " was attacked by Orion Interceptor s , the Orion s abducted nine of " Enterprise " s crewmembers , including Commander T ' Pol . The crewmembers were taken to Verex III , to an Orion processing station where they were auctioned off as slave s . Soong was able to lead the starship to Verex III , where he used an old authorization code so Archer could enter the auction area . He helped Archer in freeing the prisoners by deactivating their neurolytic restraint s . During the chaos that followed the freeing of the crewmembers , Soong attempted to escape by deactivating a subdermal transponder he had implanted in himself , but he was eventually recaptured by Archer . When the Augments came to talk to " Enterprise " , the Augment Malik took Archer hostage as the rest of the Augments broke into " Enterprise " s brig and released Soong . Soong escaped Archer ' s custody and began his work with the Augments once again . ( ) Soong led the Augments to Cold Station 12 , which held about 1 , 800 Augment embryos left over from the Eugenics Wars . He gave orders to the Augments that the capture of the station and freeing of the embryos was to be done without any killing . Although Soong was considered a father to the Augments , he and Malik , the leader of the Augments , did not see eye - to - eye concerning the use of force . When Malik killed one of the station ' s personnel to get the codes to open the embryo chamber , Soong was shocked . ( ) Soong ' s relationship with Malik became increasingly hostile , and Malik began to question Soong ' s leadership . Soong found out that the Augments intended to fire torpedo es loaded with pathogens stolen from Cold Station 12 at a Klingon colony , which they hoped would start a war between the Klingons and Humans . Conversely , Malik was upset to discover that Soong had decided to manipulate the DNA of the embryos to make them less violent . Malik removed Soong from command and had him confined to quarters . With the help of Persis , another one of the Augments , Soong left the ship in an escape pod and was retrieved by " Enterprise " . Not wishing to see his children commit mass murder , he assisted Captain Archer in stopping the Augments . Afterward , Malik destroyed the Bird - of - Prey , but not before covertly beaming aboard " Enterprise " and attempting to kill Soong . Archer managed to shoot Malik through the torso with a particle rifle . Soong was returned to prison to serve out his sentence , and gave up his work with genetics , which Archer told him had actually been stored for posterity , deciding instead to embark on other studies , this time concentrating on artificial life . ( ) In late 2154 , the Klingons encountered a crisis when they attempted to create Klingon Augments by using Augment DNA left over from an Augment attack on , and destruction of , the stolen Klingon Bird - of - Prey . A plan to kidnap Soong was abandoned when the Klingons discovered that he was too heavily guarded . ( ) Appendices . Continuity . Arik Soong was actually correct in believing that not all genetically engineered Humans would turn out like Khan Noonien Singh . A good example of this theory was Dr . Julian Bashir , who was also genetically engineered . Soong laid the groundwork for his descendant Dr . Noonian Soong to create the Soong - type android s , including Data . Background information . Arik Soong was played by Brent Spiner , best known for playing Data on . Comments by production staff ( and the casting of Spiner ) indicate that Arik Soong was intended to be the great - grandfather of Noonian Soong , Data ' s creator ( also played by Spiner ) . This is supported by Arik Soong ' s comment about cybernetics , when he said that developing an artificial lifeform " might take a generation or two . " While Arik Soong writes his notes , it can be observed that he is left - handed , just like his great - grandson , and his android creations . This character was originally to have been Colonel Green , who first appeared in . Manny Coto explained , " " Rick Berman mentioned that Brent Spiner was interested in doing the show so we reconfigured that character for Brent Spiner . " " The fact that Soong ' s character arc was extremely similar to the character of Green represented a problem for Coto , as he thoroughly wanted to somehow bring Green into , an objective he was ultimately able to achieve by making Green ' s part in the series a minor one . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 37 , No . 2 , p . 36 ) The first name " Arik " is taken from " Borderland " and " Cold Station 12 " scripts . In all three episodes in which he appears , Soong is only referred to by his surname . For a in the teaser of , the episode ' s final draft script directed that Arik Soong was to look " some fifteen years younger than we have seen him – hair darker , etc . " Apocrypha . In the " " novel " Paths of Disharmony " , the works of Arik Soong were secretly reopened as part of the Federation initiative to resolve the ongoing procreation crisis suffered by the Andorian people . Arik Soong ' s mirror universe counterpart appears in the novella " Age of the Empress " .