The crowning achievement of Doctor Soong has at last been replicated full artificial intelligence has again been created.

The ethics of the methods were questionable and the creator is imprisoned for his crimes but his creation has reshaped the galaxy forever.

Some time later he is kidnapped by the Romulans and forced to repeat his experiments. This time, through a combination of intentional sabotage and terrible tragedy things go horribly wrong.

The Romulan Star Empire is no more.

The Federation is forever changed in the wake of the Berserker War as they were forced to allow the Jovian AI control of virtually all their ships just to survive.

And it might all happen again, the Founders have tried their own hand at AI and been taken into protective custody by their creations.

The Borg also still loom as a threat, sending progressively larger attack forces to try to assimilate the Federation on no obvious schedule.