The master program was a Ngultor designation for a biological component which functions in a leadership role. When a Ngultor ship attacked the USS Enterprise in 2254 the Ngultor identified Captain Christopher Pike as the closest approximation to the ship's master program, and subsequently abducted him to probe his mind to gather intelligence on planets in the region, hoping to find potential targets for harvesting. (EV comic: "Flesh of My Flesh")