Number Six

File:Bsg-six-1.jpg

"Number Six" (credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

Overview

Humano-Cylon Agent

Sex: Female Played by: Tricia Helfer

Number Six is the stunning blonde humano-Cylon responsible for seducing Dr. Gauis Baltar to gain access to his work at the Colonial Defence Ministry and use his own Command Navigation Program (CNP) as a means of infecting all Colonial vessels, warships and fighters with a computer virus that renders them vulnerable to Cylon infiltration (Mini-Series).

Roles

However, she fulfills many roles.

Portent of Doom

She is also the first genuine portent of doom for the peoples of the 12 colonies, when she arrives on Armistice Station shortly before it is destroyed in what are the opening shots of the Cylon attack on the 12 colonies.

Seducer and Infiltrator

Prior to the attack, Six played an important role in preparing the way for a Cylon victory. Seducing the ambitious, self-obssessed, arrogant and untimately flawed Gaius Baltar, she fooled him into believing she was a corporate spy, seeking to gain advantage over her competitors in order to gain an lucrative upcoming defence contract (Mini-Series). Over the course of two years, she used Baltar to gain access to his work - even to the extent of re-writing many of his own algorithms - in order to subvert his own Command Navigation Program so that it could be used in the forthcoming Cylon attack to disable and cripple Colonial forces.

In addition to this work, she performed a second role - one which is potentially as important to the Cylons, but one in which she may not have been fully capable of performing: trying to make Gaius Baltar fall in love with her and - possibly - have a child by her. This is a role that she admits to him is not an official part of her assignment, but it is in keeping with the apparent aims and goals of the Cylons - for whom "love", expressed through the concept of their God, is a motivating factor behind some of their later actions.

That she is unable to become pregnant in her time with Baltar - given that his is the type of man vain enough to forego any male form of contraception and expect the female to take the required precautions - is suggestive that the humano-Cylons are physically, as well as mentally, configured for specific roles. Six is designed as a seducer - a trend that repeatedly surfaces throughout her various incarnations - not a child-bearer.

With the opening of the Cylon attack, Baltar's Six is apparently destroyed protecting him from the effects of a nuclear blast shockwave on Caprica. Fleeing the city and then the planet itself, Baltar is shocked to discover that Six lives on - inside his head.

At first he tries to dismiss her presence as a manifestation of his own guilt over what has happened to his people, and his role in it. However, Six suggests that she is more - that she is in fact the result of a chip inside his head. However, while some of her "actions" - such as terrifying Baltar into determining how he can construct a genuine Cylon detector (Bastille Day) - very much suggest she is a part of his own psyche. But this is countered by her underlying actions and "deeds" - all of which represent a furtherance of those aims and goals she expressed as a corporeal entity, giving added weight to the idea that she is most likely a personality download contained within a chip in Baltar's head. Some of these are characteristics never witnessed by Baltar himself - such as her jealous reaction to Valerii's visit with Baltar in his lab (Flesh and Bone), which closely mirrors the jealousy she shows towards Valerii on Caprica (Litmus, Secrets and Lies).

Certainly, this seems to be the view Baltar himself comes to hold, as he relies more and more on her for guidance and insight into Cylons ways - so much so that she deliberately suggests that her presence within him is something for which other Cylons have no knowledge. However, in her relentless drive to get Baltar to fully accept the Cylon concept of God, it would appear that not only are other Cylons in the fleet aware of her "existence", they are in communication with her: hence the arrival of "Shelly Godfrey" onboard the Galactica with her accusations of treachery at the precise time Six ceases to communicate with Baltar.

Caprican Overseer

On Caprica, Six performs the role of a Cylon overseer, working with Aaron Doral to ensure their experiment involving the stranded Karl C. Agathon and Valerii either reaches its desired conclusion, or is suitably terminated (Litmus, Secrets and Lies).

In this, she shares the same seductive characteristic as shown by her "sisters" at Armistice station and with Baltar - her first act on "freeing" the captured Agathon is to kiss him. Following the destruction of this particular Six (shot by Valerii, in order to enable her to "rescue" Agathon), her "sister" on Caprica demonstrates a certain vindictiveness towards Valerii when she gives her a beating that goes far beyond the needs of the experiment (Litmus), thus revealing she may well be experiencing resentment for being shot (remembering that experiences and knowledge are passed from body to body among the various types of humano-Cylon), as well as jealousy at Valerii's chosen role in proceedings.

A further "overseer" Six is present at the Cylon's established base at Delphi, and is briefly seen by Helo when he attempts to gain access to the base in order to steal a ship and get off the planet (Colonial Day).

Another "overseer" Six was present at the "farm" where Starbuck was taken after she was incapacitated by the Cylons. While the Cylon doctor Simon operated on her Six was there to relay orders and see that everything was proceeding smoothly. She was definitely the controlling figure of the operation (The Farm).

Caprican Warrior Leaders

At least 3 additional variants of Six have been operational on Caprica, and appear to lead troops of Cylon Warriors and have a subservient role to the "overseer" Six variants. This variant of Six is distinguished by the white raincoat it wears.

- One of these variants distracted Helo, enabling him to be captured (33), and was subsequently shot by Valerii - The seconded acted as an observer to Helo's "escape", and this same variant may have been leading the Warrior troop into the Caprican farm Helo was hiding in (The Hand of God) - The third was present at Delphi, taking orders from an "overseer" Six.

Other Incarnations

Besides the various models seen on Caprica and inside Baltar's head, two Number Sixes have made their presence known to the Galactica crew physically: Shelly Godfrey and Gina.

Notes

It has been claimed that the name "Number Six" may be an indirect tribute to Patrick McGoohan's cult 1967 television series The Prisoner - a series that addressed topics such as personal freedom and identity, mind control, illusionary experiences and the infiltration of society's supposed guardians (secret agents) by a nefarious force (those behind The Village)

--Colonial Archivist 08:50, 10 Jan 2005 (EST)