BORG VINCULUM

Source: ST:M

The nature of the Borg Collective necessitates a complete reliance on technology, as the Borg themselves are an interdependent synthesis of biological and mechanical systems. An important device is the Vinculum, found at the core of every Borg ship and station regardless of size or function. The Vinculum regulates the enormous amount of data gathered by the Collective. It interconnects the minds of all drones and purges individual thoughts, and disseminates relevant information, bringing order to chaos and allowing drones to speak with a single voice. The Vinculum is independently powered and highly sophisticated, and is of a tough enough construction that it can survive the destruction of a Borg cube and continue to function in space, as seen in [Infinite Regress]. Normally the Vinculum would be recovered by the Borg, which salvages its functioning technology whenever possible. In 2375 the Delta Quadrant race to which the Borg assigned the designation Species 6339 attempted to exploit the Borg's expected salvage operation, by infecting a Borg cube with a manufactured virus. The intention was that the Borg would salvage the Vinculum and spread the virus to other vessels in the Collective. The mutated synthetic pathogen created by Species 6339 attacked the Vinculum's systems and caused the unit to malfunction, but Species 6339's plan went awry because USS Voyager was in the vicinity and the infected Vinculum identified Seven as an errant drone and tried to reintegrate her into the Borg Collective. Accordingly it sent erratic commands to Seven's cortical implant via an interlink frequency. This caused her to exhibit the personality traits of certain individuals in whose assimilation she was involved during her time as a Borg drone. The infected Vinculum's transmission are so strong that Seven's personality was in danger of being lost, so Voyager's crew tried to shut down the Vinculum despite the hostile interference of Species 6339. B'Elanna Torres, Voyager's chief engineer, erected a level 10 forcefield (the maximum level) around the Vinculum with security guards mounting constant surveillance. Anti-gravity struts were used to support the device, all primary command consoles in its vicinity were locked out and transport control was re-routed to main engineering in case it became necessary to transport the Vinculum into space.

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The Vinculum measures over 3 meters in height. It is constructed from a highly resilient grey alloy, and has an open rather skeletal structure which allows easy access to its systems. The upper section consists of a circular platform that forms an end "cap". This round plinth is supported by a single thick circular shaft connecting to an upper diamond-shaped unit in its centre, and six narrower support bars. The six thin supports attch to a circular frame which acts as an anchor for the bars, and also forms themain uper support for the six narrow angled fins which branch outward at regular intervals along the main body of the Vinculum - providing external protection for the internal mechanisms.

vinculum dorsal view close-up Source: ST:M

vinculum ventral view close-up Source: ST:M

viculum port view Source: ST:M

The Vinculum's inner section consists of a number of control surfaces, access panels and conduits. The upper and lower ends terminate in a diamond-shaped unit which glows with the familiar green hue of Borg technology in operation, although the lower diamond does not have the protective plinth that the upper section has. A number of cables connect areas of the Vinculum to each other. One of the features which protects the Vinculum from tampering is a power surge, a normal reaction when Seven began scanning it. Attempts to target the Vinculum's transneural matrix and deactivate it with a dampening field initially seemed to work as the Vinculum's power output dropped, but at 71% the power then increased and attempts to refocus the dampening field proved ineffective when the Vinculum rerouted its internal circuitry and adapted to external attack. Subsequently the Vinculum returned to full power. Eventually Torres developed successful measures to counteract the Vinculum's ability to adapt and stave off attack, by using a remodulated dampening field designed to constantly compensate for the Vinculum's own adaptations, and as a result the Vinculum was shut down. When shutting down the Vinculum emits an electronic winding-down sound, terminating in the extinction of its glowing power nodes. Accordingly Seven was able to recover her personality, and Voyager left the infected Vinculum to Species 6339.

vinculum starboard view Source: ST:M

Below: screenshots of the infected Borg vinculum:

Voyager crew's first view of the vinculum

vinculum powered down