MU-TH-UR 6000,^[1] commonly referred to simply as "Mother", was the computer mainframe aboard the USCSS Nostromo. Mother operated many of the ship's background systems, and auto-piloted the vessel while the crew were in hypersleep. It was also programmed to wake the crew during the voyage should certain situations arise.^[2]

OverviewEdit

Mother was located in a computer room within the Nostromo that could only be accessed by the ranking officer aboard, normally Captain Dallas. However, Mother could communicate with the crew through the intercom system, without them having to enter her room directly.

HistoryEdit

It is possible Mother had its origins in the computer constructed by Borgia Industries to run Neonopolis in 2030, which was christened MOTHER.^[3] The original MOTHER was a biological computer built around the body of Isabella Borgia, and was in overall control of every networked computer system in the city. It was destroyed by the Predator known as Scarface, only to be rebuilt later by Weyland Industries using Isabella's granddaughter, Lucretia, as the biological base.^[3] Given this, it is possible the MU-TH-UR 6000 contained at least some biological components in its construction.

Aboard the Nostromo, Mother worked with the ship's science officer, Ash, to implement Special Order 937 and ensure the survival of the Xenomorph specimen collected from LV-426. Mother also monitored the activities of the crew of the Nostromo for Weyland-Yutani. While it never explicitly took action to harm the crew, it was complicit in the preservation of the Alien and could be seen as something of an antagonist in Alien.

Mother was ultimately destroyed when the Nostromo exploded.

TriviaEdit

• In the video game Aliens versus Predator 2, there is a "Mother mainframe", which is used by the Marines. It has a virus used to disable the tunnel security systems; it inadvertently also disables the Forward Observation Pods' defense grids, resulting with Dimitri's death.
• In Alien Resurrection, the USM Auriga's central computer is named FA-TH-UR (or "Father") in reference to MU-TH-UR.

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ In the script and film the computer is referred to by the crew members as "Mother". An October 1979 issue of Fantastic Films magazine, as well as the back of the 1980 Fox videodisk of the film, explain that "Mother" is an abbreviation for "MU/TH/UR 6000", the model of the computer. The chapter list for Alien in the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD set also lists it as "MU/TH/UR".
2. ↑ Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett (writers) and Ridley Scott (director). Alien [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1}  Predator: Concrete Jungle [PlayStation 2, Xbox]. Vivendi Universal Games.