In the mirror universe, Doctor Arik Soong was a Terran scientist, born circa 2100. Prior to 2155, he served as Imperial Advisor on Technology to the Terran Emperor. Following the coup which brought Empress Sato I to power in January of that year, he was one of the few members of Cochrane's inner circle who was not executed by the new Empress as she could find no other Terran who could match his genius. In this position, he was charged with studying and reverse-engineering the futuristic technology that made up the USS Defiant.