memory alpha

Series Acclimation Mil, or SAM, was a Kasqian, and the first photonic to attend Starfleet Academy.

Biography

Initial activation

SAM was activated on Kasq in 3195. Her Makers spent two hundred years of their world's accelerated time – four Earth months – creating her.

Intended to be the first hologram with the sole purpose of reintegrating with organic lifeforms, SAM was programmed to feel and behave like a "typical" 17-year-old female Human. However, her Makers did not give her any preexisting memories or experiences, as they wanted an "unbiased, optimal photonic". This left SAM without the capacity to process emotional trauma the way organic beings could. (SA: "Kids These Days", "The Life of the Stars")

Starfleet Academy

SAM joined the first cohort of cadets to attend Starfleet Academy in San Francisco since the Burn. She greatly admired The Doctor and hoped he would become her mentor. However, The Doctor was less than enthused. (SA: "Kids These Days")

SAM joined the Academy calica team, the Laplings. She was found to possess a unique advantage, in that she was permeable to the bursts from the phasers used in the game and thus could not be removed from play. During an unsanctioned match against the Mugatos, their rival team from the War College, Genesis Lythe devised a plan in which SAM altered her appearance into that of Ocam Sadal wearing the Lappy mascot costume, drawing their opponents' fire so that they could themselves be targeted. (SA: "Vitus Reflux")

Seeing herself as an emissary to the Federation, she became inspired by the life story of Benjamin Sisko. (SA: "Series Acclimation Mil")

SAM was badly damaged by phaser fire from the Furies on the mission to the USS Miyazaki, although she was apparently fixed after a visit to a repair spa during the All-Worlds Day break. (SA: "Come, Let's Away", "Ko'Zeine")

Childhood

However, SAM's glitching returned and got worse. In an attempt to save her, The Doctor and Ake took SAM back to Kasq in the hopes that the Makers could fix her, but they were unable to help her and SAM terminated after 209 days at Starfleet Academy. The Doctor tearfully admitted that he had kept his distance from SAM because she reminded him of the daughter he had created and lost while on the USS Voyager. Speaking with the Makers, The Doctor and Ake realized that the Makers had made an error in creating SAM: she was not programmed with preexisting memories or experiences. Without the experiences of childhood, SAM had no context to understand her emotions and no capacity for resilience. SAM's processors were overloaded because she was flooded with trauma that SAM lacked the capacity to understand. To bear his infinite lifespan and the loss that came with it, The Doctor had tried to cut himself off from attachment to anyone else, but Ake convinced him to become a parent to SAM to save her. The Makers rebuilt SAM who spent 17 years on Kasq being raised by The Doctor while, due to time moving faster on Kasq, only two weeks passed on Earth. SAM was left with the memories of the two lives she lived and returned with The Doctor to Starfleet Academy to reunite with her friends. (SA: "The Life of the Stars")

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

SAM was primarily played by Kerrice Brooks. While impersonating Ocam Sadal, her voice was provided by Romeo Carere. When experiencing childhood for the first time, SAM was played by Sophia Wynter as a child, and by at least two unknown performers as an infant and a teenager.

"Rubincon" end credits card

"Rubincon" end credits card

The end credits of SA Season 1's finale "Rubincon" included cast photos alongside tongue-in-cheek yearbook facts and quotes as if by their character, with SAM's listing: