The Meaning of “M5”

No, it is not representative of the BMW M5 series

For anyone that has known me for a reasonable length of time, they realize that I am a huge fan of Star Trek. Yes, I am a Trekkie, or Trekker, or whatever you want to call it. I just call myself a fan of Star Trek.

I’ve watched just about every Star Trek episode, movie and cartoon that there is. I’ve always considered Classic Trek, meaning the Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock version of Trek as my favorite Era. Ya, it’s the 1960’s version of Star Trek, and it’s cheesy and cliché, but during it’s time, it was a breakthrough. Not only for TV but for the Sci-Fi Genre in general, and if you can get past the bright colors and go go boots, Classic Trek has a genuine and quality format of telling a great story.

Of these story’s, one of my favorites is an episode entitled “The Ultimate Computer”. In this episode, Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise are called upon to be a test bed for a new computer system. The primary developer of this new computer is a computer scientist named Richard Daystrom, who at a very young age and at the start of his career many years earlier had invented a revolutionary computer system that was widely used in present day (star trek’s future present day). The early success of his initial systems was always a glooming shadow over Daystrom’s career, and he’d not developed any other systems that came close to his initial breakthrough.

The stagnation in his career was coming to a close, or so Daystrom hoped with this new and revolutionary system he was testing on the Enterprise and her crew. This new system was designed to completely automate the primary functions of a Starship. Taking over the roles and duties of over 400 crew, this system would handle all minor and major functions of any Starship it was implemented into. The only personal required were a bridge crew to make critical “human” decisions. The required bridge crew had been considered an annoyance to Daystrom.

This new and revolutionary computer system was called the “M5 Multitronic Unit”.

The primary factor in making the M5 a leap in computer technology was the way that it computed data. Daystrom had devised a way to construct a physical representation of how a human brain works, and create a thinking computer that could out perform the fasted computers of the time. The most advanced computer system in the universe is the Human or Humanoid Brain, what better model to create a computer system with?

Dr. Daystrom used his own brain patterns as a template for the M5. In essence, the M5 was a physical computerized clone of Daystrom’s brain, thus inheriting many of the attributes of Dr Daystrom himself.

A test mission of the M5 was commissioned, with only the bridge crew, Dr. Daystrom, and the M5 on board the Enterprise during this experiment. Initial testing went well, until the M5 encountered an automated (crewless) freighter ship. The M5 interpreted this ship to be hostile, and immediately destroyed it with the Enterprise’s weapon systems. Captain Kirk deemed this mishap a major safety concern and ordered the immediate disconnect of the M5 from all systems.

The M5, with the thinking patterns of a human, specifically Dr. Daystrom, fears the notion of being deactivated, and like most thinking creatures, it puts itself into a self preservation state. The M5 see’s itself as dying if it is deactivated, and it does not want to die! M5 quickly locks down all ship controls to itself, and cut’s off all outside communications. The bridge crew, with Captain Kirk and Dr. Daystrom on board have become silent passengers.

The final planned stage of the of the M5 test cruise was to be a Mach simulation battle with 4 other Starships. When these ships arrive, they are concerned that the Enterprise will not respond. The M5 immediately determines that these 4 Starships are a threat, and opens fire. Anticipating only a Mach battle, the opposing ships were not prepared for a live fire fight, and with most of there active defenses down, were heavily damaged, with one ship being completely destroyed by the M5.

With the Enterprise cut off from all communication by the M5, the three remaining starships have no choice but to try and destroy the Enterprise.

During this space battle, Captain Kirk interrogates Dr. Daystrom to try and find a way to take back control of the M5. Dr Daystrom, completely distraught and in shock at the behavior of the M5 has a complete mental breakdown. Dr. Daystrom reveals that even though the M5 inherited the brilliance and logic of Dr. Daystrom, it also inherited the more human and primal aspects as well. Paranoia, self preservation, and a tendency for unstable behavior are prevalent in the M5. Daystrom was convinced he could work through these setbacks during the training phase of the M5. He was wrong. Kirk realizes that if the M5 has these attributes, it must also have a moral conscience, even at a basic level. Kirk decides to interface with the M5, and try to convince it to feel guilt for the hundreds of lives it killed on the other ships. He convinces the M5 that it has committed the ultimate sin, murder of other sentient beings. The M5 eventually comes to terms with this notion, and contemplates a punishment for itself. Kirk makes it clear to the M5 that the penalty for Mass Murder is a capital offense, with a penalty of death. The M5 comes to terms with this notion, and ultimately decides that it is responsible for it’s actions and must pay the penalty.

Anticipating that the three remaining starships are going to destroy the Enterprise, the M5 shuts itself down, and also all defensive systems of the Enterprise. Shutting down all systems leaves the Enterprise defenseless and almost guaranteed to be destroyed. With all outside communications down, Kirk decides to keep the Enterprise in a vulnerable state, in hopes that the 3 starships will realize the Enterprise has standed down.

With the Enterprise in a completely vulnerable state, the 3 starships powerdown weapons. Kirk eventually reestablishes communications and explains the situation. Dr Daystrom, having suffered a complete mental breakdown is transported to a mental health facility where he stays for years to come, never fully recovering from the failure of the M5. The M5 Unit deactivated itself. It was removed from the Enterprise was scrapped, along with the majority of Daystroms research.

The Star Trek Universe is mindful of it’s past and is respectful of it’s characters. In future versions of Star Trek, like Star Trek The Next Generation and Star Trek DeepSpace Nine. Many of the characters on these future shows have complex back stories, with many of the Starfleet Officers being graduates of the “Daystrom Institute of Technology”. Dr. Richard Daystrom may have had a mental health breakdown in his later years, but the accomplishments of his early career were so significant, that Starfleet chose to name it’s top technical university after Daystrom. For me, this very small detail is a classic example of the ideology of Star Trek. Have an open mind of the world around you, embrace the good, and learn from the bad.

A classic cliché saying from the Star Trek Universe: IDIC – Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination.


But then again, Star Trek was a show that had hot chicks in mini skirts and spaceships blowing up.

“Get a life!” – William Shatner to a group of fans at a Star Trek Convention