SEVEN OF NINE BECOMING HUMAN : SEASON 4 Page 1

Page contents: NAME COMPASSION AND REBELLION RELATIONSHIP WITH TORRES RELATIONSHIP WITH PARIS KIM'S UNREQUITED LOVE FOOD LEISURE

[#70 The Gift]

The process of becoming human began with (pictured left) Seven of Nine first wearing the dermoplastic garment designed by the Doctor. Seven of Nine's response to the garment: "It is acceptable." The Doctor also stimulated her hair follicles. [#70 The Gift] Pictured right: Seven of Nine assured Janeway she will not try to contact the Collective again. Janeway gave her a combadge. She also suddenly recalled part of her human childhood: that her favourite colour was red.

[#70 The Gift]

[#71 Day of Honor]

Seven of Nine became known as Seven, a short name and, perhaps significantly, a compromise between being fully human (Annika) and fully Borg (Seven of Nine). Janeway: "Wouldn't you prefer to be called by your given name 'Annika'?" Seven of Nine: "I have been 'Seven of Nine' for as long as I can remember." Janeway: "Alright, but maybe we could streamline it a little. How would you feel about 'Seven'?" Seven of Nine: "Imprecise but acceptable."

[#71 Day of Honor]

Janeway encouraged Seven to experience and show human compassion, telling Seven: "Unexpected acts of kindness are common among our group. That's one of the ways we define ourselves."

[#71 Day of Honor]

Seven produced a thorium generator as a model for the Caatati survivors to help them regain the replicator technology they lost when the Caatati people were assimilated by the Borg. Janeway gladly noted the act of compassion, which was a surprise to everyone including Seven herself.

On stardate 51612, [Prey], Janeway encouraged Seven, who wanted to kill the wounded Species 8472 on board: Seven is summoned to the captain's ready room. Janeway: "I've made a decision about Species 8472. I'm going to return it to fluidic space. In order to do that, I need you to open a quantum singularity." Seven: "I don't believe that is a prudent course of action." Janeway: "I realise it may be difficult for you to help save this creature's life, but part of becoming human is learning to have compassion for those who are suffering, even when they're your bitter enemies. ... A single act of compassion can put you in touch with your own humanity." Seven: "You are trying to justify your present decision." Janeway: "No. I'm trying to help you see this as an opportunity to grow, I know you don't want to do it, Seven, but I'm telling you, as your captain and as your friend you won't regret it." Seven: "No. Your decision is tactically unsound. We will be surrounded by Hirogen ships in approximately two hours. If we do not surrender the creature they will destroy us. A lesson in compassion will do me little good if I am dead." Janeway: "It is wrong to sacrifice another being to save our own lives." Seven: "I have observed that you have been willing to sacrifice your own life to save the lives of your crew." Janeway: "Yes, but that's different, that was my choice. This creature does not have a choice!" Seven: "It invaded our ship, put our lives at risk to save its own. In my view it has already forfeited its freedom." Janeway: "I'm giving you an order. Report to deflector control and begin working on creating a singularity." Seven: "I will not comply. I have agreed to remain on Voyager. I have agreed to function as a member of your crew, but I will not be a willing participant in my own destruction or the destruction of this ship." Janeway: "Objection noted. We'll do this without you." Seven: "You will fail." Janeway: "And you have just crossed the line. End of debate. Report to the cargo bay and remain there until this is over. Is that understood?" But Seven disobeyed Janeway's order and transported the wounded Species 8472, along with the Hirogen hunter on board, to an attacking Hirogen ship, meaning probable death for the Species 8472. When punished by loss of privileges, namely denial of access to the ship's primary systems, Seven told Janeway: "I believe that you are punishing me because I do not think the way that you do, because I am not becoming more like you. You claim to respect my individuality when in fact you are frightened by it."

the wounded Species 8472 Alpha Hirogen the cornered Species 8472 attacks the hunter Alpha Hirogen Seven accesses transporter control

[#122 Survival Instinct]     Marika is forcibly reassimilated by Seven. [#122 Survival Instinct]

In [#122 Survival Instinct] Seven met three former Borg drones. She and they had been the only survivors after a crashlanding. The three had somehow become linked together as a subset within the Collective, but had escaped and had their implants removed, but been unable to remove the triad-link. As the Collective had erased their memory of their experiences on the planet the triad sought out Seven. Despite the risk that she could become permanently joined to the triad, making it a quartet, Seven helped them retrieve the memories. In doing so she learned that she had been responsible for the triad-link. Seven: "They have no hope of surviving unless they return to the Collective." Chakotay: "Not exactly a happy ending, is it?" Seven: "No." Chakotay: "Back on that planet why do you think you reacted so differently from the rest of them?" Seven: "When I was first assimilated I was a child. They were assimilated as adults. When our individual memories began to resurface-" Chakotay: "-Yours were of being a little girl, a scared little girl." Seven: "I let that fear control me. After I saw the drone die in the swamp I panicked. I began to envision my own death, alone, without even another the sound of another drone to comfort me. So I forced them to return. I infiltrated their left cerebral hemispheres with nanoprobes and created a new interlink network, one that they couldn't resist, and then I eliminated the evidence of what I'd done." Chakotay: "You were overwhelmed by feelings you couldn't begin to understand. You're not responsible for that." Seven: "Because of what I did they'll be forced to live the rest of their lives in the Collective. For that I am responsible." Chakotay: "There's a difference between surviving and living. They'll survive in the Collective, but they won't really be alive, you know that better than any of us." Seven: "There is no alternative." Chakotay: "How long would they survive if the Doctor de-activated this interlink network you created?" Seven: "A month at most." Chakotay: "A month as an individual or a lifetime as a drone. Which option would you choose?"

[#71 Day of Honor] [#71 Day of Honor]

Torres and Seven's relationship began uneasily due to Torres' distrust of the former Borg and dislike of her lack of personal warmth [#71 Day of Honor], [#82 Message in a Bottle], [#116 Someone to Watch Over Me]. Torres had to be ordered by Chakotay to accept Seven working for her in Engineering [#71 Day of Honor], and a clash occurred almost immediately: Torres: "Tell me something, when you hear about people like the Caatati, do you have any feelings of remorse?" Seven: "No." Torres: "That's it? Just 'no'?" Seven: "What further answer do you require?" Torres: "Well maybe, some kind of acknowledgement of the billions of lives you helped destroy, a justification for what you did, maybe a little sense of guilt." Seven: "Guilt is irrelevant." Torres: "Heartwarming." Seven: "I've set the parameters for the tachyon bursts we'll need to create a transwarp conduit. It will be several hours before the main deflector can be modified. I think it would be best if I waited in my alcove." Torres: "I think you're right."

[#75 Scientific Method]   [#75 Scientific Method]

On stardate 51244, [#75 Scientific Method], Seven learned several social niceties when she worked on the ship's systems without Torres' knowledge or permission. Seven learned how to apologise and gained a lesson in how to operate in Voyager's "hierarchy". From [#75 Scientific Method]: Torres crawls along a Jefferies tube to one particular section. She is surprised to find Seven there. Seven was not assigned to this section; it was unoccupied and convenient: "I am reconfiguring the power couplings in this section because the astrometrics lab requires additional energy." Torres replies that engineering has been trying to do a warp core diagnostic all morning. "We have lost hours because of this." Seven: "There is no need for anger." Torres: "What, 'sorry' isn't in the Borg vocabulary? You need to check with me before you touch the power systems. Understood?" Seven: "Understood. I am unaccustomed to working in a hierarchy. Among the Borg there was no need for it." Seven: "If you're going to be a member of this crew, get used to it. Procedure, got to work together, follow the same set of rules..." Seven: "Lieutenant?" Torres: "I was given that lecture once, by Captain Janeway when I first joined this crew. If I could adjust to Starfleet life, so can you." Seven: "Of course. I am...sorry...for the inconvenience."

In [#82 Message in a Bottle] Torres complained to Chakotay that Seven had taken an isolinear processor out of engineering without asking. Chakotay ordered Torres to sort out her differences with Seven. Later in the astrometrics lab Torres tells Seven, "You're rude." She adds that Seven never says 'please' or 'thank you'. "It's not what you say, it's how you say it."

Torres made an effort to get on with Seven. At one point she even told Seven that when they returned to the Alpha Quadrant, things would not be the same without her [#94 Hope and Fear]. This elicited a small smile from Seven.

Paris shields Seven from a furious Lumas. [#71 Day of Honor] Paris: "We all have a past. What matters is 'now'." [#71 Day of Honor]

Soon after Seven joined Voyager's crew, Paris showed her friendship. This occurred after the visiting Caatati leader Lumas, few of whose people had escaped assimilation by the Borg, learned that she had been a Borg drone. Pictured top left: Paris shields Seven. Lumas: "Borg!" Tuvok: "She is disconnected from the Collective. She won't harm you." Lumas to Seven: "Where's my wife? Where are my children? What did you do with them after you took them? What did you do with my family?" Tuvok escorts Lumas away. Tuvok: "Mr Paris, please proceed." Lumas, as he is led away: "I lost everything, my family, my home!" Paris to Seven: "Sorry about that." Seven: "About what?" Paris: "Well, the way he reacted to you." Seven: "He didn't injure me." Paris: "Good." Seven: "There are many people on this ship who have similar feelings toward me." Paris: "I'm afraid you're right. Does that bother you?" Seven: "No." Paris: "Well, I'm not one of those people. We all have a past. What matters is 'now'." Seven: "I am uncertain what you're trying to say." Paris: "If there's any way that I can help you adjust to your life here on Voyager, please ask me." Seven: "I will remember your offer."

On stardate 51186, [#73 Revulsion], Kim discovered romantic feelings for Seven which were quickly identified by Kim's best friend Paris. Scenes from [#73 Revulsion]:

Chakotay assignes Kim to work with Seven to produce the schematics to upgrade the astrometrics lab, which has not been upgraded since Voyager left space dock [the astrometric lab apparently replaces what has previously been called stellar cartography]. Seven has agreed to impart her Borg knowledge. Chakotay tells Kim to make Seven feel part of the team. Kim is clearly nervous when he enters the cargo bay to meet Seven and start the assignment. Seven notes his discomfort: "Ensign Kim, you seem apprehensive. ... The last time we worked together I struck you at the base of the skull and attempted to contact the Collective." When she hands him a padd containing Borg data, Kim jokes nervously that he always wanted to learn Borg. She observes: "I understand the concept of humour. It may not be apparent, but I am often amused by human behaviour." While extracting a device for pulling out Borg nodes, Seven sustains a bad cut. "I am damaged," she says, adding that she would have regenerated within seconds when she was a drone. Kim takes her to sickbay where Paris, standing in for the Doctor, tells her she is an ordinary mortal now and he nearly had to operate. After Seven leaves sickbay, Kim expresses his disapproval of Paris: "What kind of bedside manner was that? She's feeling vulnerable, and here you are talking about severed nerves and major surgery? ... I don't think most people realise she's not just some Borg automaton. She's actually very complex. ... She's got a sense of humour, it's offbeat, a bit subtle, and she's incredibly intelligent." Paris: "She ought to be: she assimilated enough people." Kim: "See? See what I mean? It's Borg this, Borg that. You can't resist making a joke. There's a woman in there, if you take the time to look." Paris detects that Kim is falling for Seven, and Kim admits he has "maybe just a little" crush on Seven. Paris says, "I don't know much about Borg women, but my advice is: don't." Kim: "Just trying to make her feel part of the team." Kim summons Seven to the messhall, apparently to discuss "a midnight inspiration about the astrometric projectors. ... This is tricky stuff. It could use your touch, your way of looking at things." He suggests she sit but she declines: "Comfort is irrelevant." She notes the lighting is insufficient, and Kim replies, "But it's relaxing, don't you think? After hours, quiet. Voyager isn't all Jefferies tubes and cargo bays, you know." He proposes afterward they go to the holodeck and run the beautiful Ktarean moonrise simulation; she replies, "Beauty is irrelevant." Seven then cottons on, and viewers are treated to the sight of Kim becoming more uncomfortable by the moment: "Unless you wish to change the nature of our affiliation. I may be new to individuality but I am not ignorant of human behaviour. You wish to engage me in idle conversation, and I see the way your pupils dilate when you look at my body. ... Obviously you've suggested a visit to the holodeck in the hopes of creating a romantic mood. Are you in love with me, Ensign?" Kim: "Well, no." Seven: "Then you wish to copulate?" Kim: "No! I mean, I-I don't know what I mean." Seven: "These elaborate rituals of deception: I didn't realise becoming human again would be such a challenge. Sexuality is particularly complex. As Borg we had no need for seduction, no time for single cell fertilisation. We saw a species we wanted and we assimilated it. Nevertheless I'm willing to explore my humanity. Take off your clothes." Kim, panicking: "Seven..." Seven: "Don't be alarmed. I won't hurt you." Kim grabs his padd and flees. Later Kim visits Chakotay in his office to hand in the new design schematics for the astrometrics lab upgrade. Chakotay says he is pleased with their work, which they completed very quickly; Kim puts this down to Borg efficiency. Kim suggests an engineering team should be brought in and that they should even be put in charge. Kim is nervous throughout, and when Chakotay says he and Seven will continue to work together, Kim exhibits exaggerated heartiness and insists there is nothing wrong with their working relationship, "We had a misunderstanding ... just your basic human-Borg cultural differences." Chakotay: "That's not what she says. ... She seems to think you're making good progress. She finds you reasonably efficient, and says you've been helping her learn more about our complex social interactions. Any idea what she meant by that?" Kim: "Can't imagine." After Kim leaves, Chakotay (who has caught on long ago) smiles broadly.

Seven: "I am damaged." Kim: "...she's not just some Borg automaton." Seven: "Nevertheless I'm willing to explore my humanity. Take off your clothes." "We had a misunderstanding ... just your basic human-Borg cultural differences." Chakotay: "...you've been helping her learn more about our complex social interactions."

At the start of [#74 The Raven] Janeway notes that the Doctor has told Seven that her human physiology can now take solid food. She takes to Neelix in the messhall the padd which details her nutritional requirements. These include 250 grams of glycoproteins consisting of 53% polypeptides and 26% fibrous glycogen. Neelix believes that steamed chadre kab would provide most of these; he says the recipe has been in his family for years and is considered a delicacy among his people.

[#74 The Raven]

Neelix takes the prepared chadre kab to a table for Seven to eat. He tells her to sit, although Seven is reluctant at first: "Borg do not sit." Neelix gives a lesson in how to eat. He demonstrates how to swallow.

[#74 The Raven]

In [#74 The Raven], stardate unknown, Janeway introduces Seven to the concept of leisure by encouraging her to model clay in the scenario of Leonardo Da Vinci's workshop on the holodeck.

In Janeway's Leonardo da Vinci holosimulation she is showing Seven how to model clay. Janeway: "It's not as difficult as it looks. The first rule is: don't be afraid of the clay."

Seven: "I fear nothing." Janeway: "I mean, you can't concern yourself with making a mistake or whether the image you have in your mind is what's taking form in front of you. You just have to let your hands and the clay do the work. Here, go ahead," putting a small lump of clay in Seven's palm. "I think the nose could be a little stronger."

As Seven tentatively moves some clay on the nose, Janeway comments: "Well, that's a start. Keep going." Seven, moving the clay around: "This activity is truly unproductive. The end result has no use, no necessary task has been accomplished. Time has been expended, nothing more."

Janeway: "That depends on how you look at it. I find sculpting helps me unwind, relax." Seven: "The concept of relaxation is difficult for me to understand. As a Borg, my time was spent working at a specific task. When it was completed I was assigned another. It was efficient."

Janeway: "Well, so is this. It helps my own efficiency to forget about Voyager for a while." She indicates the sculpture. "I'd be embarrassed to show Maestro Leonardo something like this," and puts a cloth over it, "but I get a great deal of pleasure in working the clay, in creating something."

Seven: "But why here, in this simulation, among these archaic objects, in this disorganised environment?" Janeway: "Frankly, it's refreshing to take myself out of the 24th century every now and then. And a little disorganisation can be very encouraging to the imagination. You might want to try it sometime."

Later, after discovering the place where she was assimilated as a child of six, Seven voluntarily activates the holosimulation and ponders certain questions. It is not strictly leisure, but it is done in her off-hours and relates to her personal life.

Seven: "I've been thinking about what you said, that this was a place to encourage your imagination." Janeway: "Is that appealing to you?" Seven: "I'm not certain. I find myself constructing scenarios considering alternative possibilities: what if my parents and I had not encountered the Borg, what would our lives have been? I would have been raised by them, learned from them, they would have influenced what I became, who and what I am." Janeway: "And you would have done the same for them. If you'd like to know more about your parents, there's information in the Federation database." Seven: "Information?" Janeway: "It seems they were fairly well known for being unconventional and for some rather unique scientific theories. You might like to read what's there. It might encourage your imagination." Seven: "Perhaps I will, some day." But at present dealing with her past is too much for her and she is compelled by Seven to deal with it further the following year, in 2375, in [#109 and #110 Dark Frontier] when she at last reads her parents' logs.

The next page is about Seven having to deal with part of her past as depicted in [The Raven] etc. As regards leisure, she takes up the sport Velocity with Janeway as her partner. In [#116 Someone To Watch Over Me], the Doctor discovers and helps her to develop an interest in music, though her interest is based on its mathematical qualities and she was not previously aware until told that she even had an interest. She has a beautiful singing voice, though she accounts for it as being the result of a vocal subprocessor implant provided by the Borg. By 2376, in [#130 Pathfinder], Seven is ready to teach singing as Neelix bounds into the Astrometrics Lab ready for his lesson; however, Seven bluntly tells him: "I've concluded that teaching you to sing is an inefficient use of my time. In your case, practice is irrelevant. Your vocal chords are incapable of producing basic diatonic tones, not to mention your rhythmic shortcomings."