INFINITE REGRESS
Episode 101
Part C

 

Corridor. Doctor: "Has any drone ever experienced symptoms like these before?" Seven: "The Collective does not tolerate imperfection. Any drone with a malfunction as serious as mine would be destroyed immediately." Doctor: "Lucky for you this crew is a little more tolerant."

Neelix comes up to them. "Oh, there you are. Lieutenant Torres tells me you're under the weather." Seven: "Correct." Neelix: "Well, is there anything your morale officer can do to help? Assignments you need me to finish while you recuperate?" Seven: "No." Neelix: "I have some wonderful medicinal teas. Maybe I could prepare one for you." Doctor, joking: "Talaxian homeopathy - I don't think we're quite that desperate yet." Neelix: "How about if I make one of your favourite nutritional sup-" Seven: "Your concern has been noted. The Doctor will inform you when I am functional again."

Neelix: "Right. Sorry. Oh! Ah, I almost forgot." He hands her a drawing.

"It's from Naomi Wildman. It's a drawing of Voyager, or maybe it's an asteroid belt, I'm not sure. Naomi thought it might make you feel better."

Seven: "Tell her thank you."

USS Voyager cruising at warp speed.

Cargo bay 2. Doctor at the console: "I suspected as much. There were several interruptions in your regeneration cycle. Eighteen minutes, five minutes, one hour." Seven: "I don't recall them." Doctor: "Let's examine your neural function logs." He examines them. "Low serotonin levels during regeneration, that's normal. But look at these spikes in the prefrontal synapses. They appear only seconds before you left the alcove. You were sleep-walking." Seven: "I don't remember entering this data file." Doctor: "Looks like we found the identity of the 'midnight snacker'. I'm sure Mr Neelix will be relieved." The log plays. It is Seven's voice: "Personal log, Ensign Stone, stardate 52188.7. I just completed my first week of active duty. It was a nightmare. After four years at the Academy I thought I was ready for anything, but Captain Blackwood runs a tight ship and he seems to take special pleasure in tormenting new recruits. The First Officer tells me not to take it personally, but it's hard to be objective when-" Seven: "Blackwood, Captain of the Federation Starship Tombaugh. The Borg assimilated that vessel thirteen years ago." Doctor: "The individual who made this recording must have been a member of the crew." Seven: "One of my victims." Doctor: "Here's another log entry. This one encoded for transmission." The log plays. It is Seven's voice: "Hi. Guess who? I know I promised to write you every day but that's simply not enough. How about once in the morning when I resuscitate, and once at night before I go into torpor, and I'll think about you non-stop in between. Wait, I've got a better idea! Why don't you leave your circle and visit the colony? You'd love it here, so-" Doctor, stopping playback: "Anything familiar?" Seven: "I helped to assimilate thousands of individuals. I do not remember each of their names." Doctor: "Seven, you were a Borg drone who's now becoming an individual. That's practically unheard of. There's bound to be rough spots along the way. We just have to get past them." The com. signal sounds. Chakotay, via comms: "Bridge to Seven of Nine. We're approaching the debris field." Seven, via comms: "Acknowledged."

Seven enters the Bridge as Janeway asks: "Survivors?" Tuvok: "None." Chakotay: "Any sign of Borg vessels?"

Paris: "No, sir. We're the first ones here." Kim: "I'm picking up the source of the interlink frequency, bearing 027 mark 3."

Janeway: "On screen." An image appears on the main viewscreen. "Magnify." Seven, looking at the magnified image: "It's a Borg Vinculum."

Chakotay: "Vinculum?" Seven: "The processing device at the core of every Borg vessel. It interconnects the minds of all the drones. It purges individual thoughts and disseminates information relevant to the Collective." Janeway: "It brings order to chaos." Seven: "Precisely." Janeway: "Looks like this one has established a link to your cortical implant." Seven: "I believe it has identified me as an errant drone. It is attempting to re-integrate me into the Collective. The Vinculum is malfunctioning. It is sending me erratic commands."

Tuvok: "Bringing chaos to order." Seven: "Yes." Janeway: "Can you sever the link?" Seven: "Not without risking permanent damage to my own systems. The Vinculum must be taken offline. Permission to beam it aboard for analysis. I have worked with this technology before. I may be able to disable it."

Janeway: "We're talking about the heart of a Borg cube. I'd rather not take it inside my ship. Can you disable it remotely?" Seven: "Yes, but I would need several days. The Borg may return by then. I recommend we take the Vinculum and leave this region immediately."

Janeway: "Tuvok, prepare to beam it to Engineering. Erect a level 10 forcefield and maintain constant surveillance. The moment it poses a threat, send it back into space. Tom, as soon as it's aboard, get us out of here. Warp nine."
Paris: "Aye, Captain."
Janeway: "I understand what you're going through, and I want to help you in every way I can, but the safety of this crew is my first responsibility. We haven't had the best of luck with the Borg."
Seven: "Nor have I."

Main Engineering. On the upper level, Torres is working, issuing an order to Crewman Boylan.
Torres: "Let's keep an eye on those anti-grav struts. Boylan, lock out all primary command consoles and re-route transporter controls to Main Engineering."
Boylan: "Yes, Lieutenant."

Doctor: "Seven?" Seven: "The voices, I hear them." Doctor: "It's your proximity to the Vinculum. The link is stronger here. I'm adjusting your neurotransmitter levels. You'd better get started."

Torres descends from the upper level by lift. Seven: "Don't worry, Lieutenant. The Son of K'vok will not be joining us." Torres: "Glad to hear it. Does this qualify as our second date?" Doctor: "Just think of me as your chaperone."

Torres: "So, where's the off switch?" Seven: "The Vinculum is equipped with many safeguards. I will need to access its transneural matrix and disable it directly."

Torres: "I'm reading a power surge."

Seven: "It's a normal response to my intrusion. Don't be alarmed."

Seven: "Curious. I'm detecting an organism within the Vinculum. It appears to be a viral agent."

Doctor: "Let's see it. It's a synthetic pathogen. The virus was originally a biological agent but it's mutated. It's attacking the Vinculum's programs as it would living cells." Torres: "An organism that attacks technology?"

Seven: "The cube was infected three days ago, shortly after assimilating an alien shuttlecraft. Species 6339. They were the last ones to come in contact with the cube." Doctor: "Looks like we've found our Typhoid Mary."

Data is being examined in the Astrometrics Lab.

Seven: "Species 6339, humanoid, warp-capable. Origin: grid 124, octant 22-theta. They first encountered the Borg approximately four years ago. Since that time, eleven billion individuals have been assimilated. Three days ago, the Collective detected one of their last surviving shuttlecraft. A cube was sent to intercept it."

Doctor: "We believe the virus was carried within their bodies. Once they were assimilated, it spread to the Vinculum." Seven: "The drones aboard no doubt experienced symptoms similar to my own. It is no surprise they destroyed themselves." Janeway: "I'd like to find Species 6339. They may be able to help us treat you. Begin long-range sstrometric scans. See if they have any more vessels in this region." Seven: "Yes, Captain. I've already begun a spatial diagn-"

Suddenly her personality changes. "My, my, my, look at the size of that thing. This viewscreen. It's got to be one of the biggest I've ever seen. I'll give you 20 bars of latinum for it."

Doctor to Janeway: "I think the inhibitor's gone offline." To Seven: ""Would you come here, please?"

Seven to the Doctor: "Be quiet! Can't you see I'm in the middle of a deal?" To Janeway: "Name your price, Captain....?" Janeway: "Janeway. And you are?"

Seven: "DaiMon Torrot." Janeway: "You're Ferengi." Seven: "Of course I'm Ferengi. Is that some kind of insult about the size of my ears?" Janeway: "No, not at all. I'd be happy to negotiate with you, but first we have to get you to Sickbay." Seven: "Sickbay? What for?" Janeway: "Because you're ill." Seven: "I've never felt better."

Janeway prompts the Doctor: "Doctor." Doctor to Seven: "Ahem, I'm afraid you've contracted a nasty strain of the Ankaran flu. Er, we've been treating you several days. Remember?" Seven: "No." Doctor: "Short-term memory loss. It's one of the symptoms. Don't worry, it isn't life-threatening, but we'll need to treat you, in Sickbay." Seven: "What is this treatment going to cost me?" Doctor: "It's free of charge."

Seven: "Free?"
Janeway: "Yes."
Seven is happy to go with them. "You know, I have been having a nagging pain in my lower left lobe, and while you're at it why don't you run a complete tricardial diagnostic. The Ferengi Health Commission's trying to revoke my trading licence."