"Are you sure you're ready?" Deanna asked Seven as they approached the twelfth floor.
Seven nodded, breathing steadily through her nose, though she did appear to be in control.
"I'll be right there with you," Kathryn told her, squeezing the blonde's hand firmly.
When they arrived outside the holodeck doors, Deanna slid the disk into the computer and typed in several instructions before turning back to the women standing there waiting.
"If at any time it's too much, we can…"
"Understood," Seven swallowed. "I am ready."
"Alright," Deanna smiled, putting a hand on Seven's shoulder. "Good luck."
Moments later, Seven and Janeway stepped inside the metal room, the doors shutting behind them. Almost instantly, the silver, geometric walls converted into the dark, fog-filled, green-lit interior of a Borg sphere. Seven looked over at Kathryn, who was dressed in her Admiral's uniform, while she had chosen to remain in her civilian attire. An assault rifle materialized in both their hands. Seven held it tightly against her body, feeling a bit awkward as she stepped into the role, knowing there was no real danger in this simulation, wanting it to work even as she had her doubts.
She continued to breathe steadily as Kathryn silently signaled to follow. Seven found the Admiral's dedication to the part somewhat amusing given there was no actual threat. Then again, she knew it had to be unnerving for the older woman to be back in the place her time-traveling self had sacrificed her life years ago.
As they walked slowly, cautiously, through the maze of wires and bulkheads, they encountered several drones who at first wanted nothing to do with them and would not attack unless threatened. Still, the closer the came to the center of the sphere, the chances they'd react became greater.
"You alright?" Kathryn whispered.
Seven nodded silently, becoming unnerved as she noticed the drones around them shifting their attention away from their assignments.
Child's play, the voice returned. I am not one to lower myself to such amusements, but if it is the only way you will listen…
Suddenly, Seven felt her arms lock behind her, a powerful drone taking hold as she instinctively struggled to get away. They had run countless simulations back on Voyager, and even on Earth, but it had been years since she'd actually been taken by the Borg, and certainly not while she could hear the Queen attempting to command her from within.
She looked over at Janeway, who had also been captured. Her face was calm, save for the tiniest glimmer of sweat against her brow, the silver of her hair catching the green light and making her face glow. The smirk on Kathryn's face dripped of defiance. Seven took comfort in this, reminding herself that none of it was real.
As they entered the center chamber, the drones let go of them, standing close behind like guards. The spotlight shone down from the dark, expectant void in the ceiling, the place from which the Queen would descend. Seven had always wondered what it was like in that small, dark space, like the cell of a honey comb, simple in it's design, and yet, ripe with the power to control and direct billions within the hive. It felt like the place the voice resided now, as it spoke to her, watching without eyes, feeding off fear as it plotted effortlessly. She felt her pulse quicken, chastising herself for being afraid of something she knew was an illusion.
You only presume this is the illusion, because you've been living a lie for so long. What if everything else is the illusion, and I'm the only thing that's real?
Seven tried to shake it off, knowing in her heart and her head that this wasn't true, that the truth was standing next to her, was back in their home several floors up, was in everything she had felt and fought for during the last few decades of her life.
Finally, the hatches opened above and below. As the black metal frame, the shell of a body rose from the depths, down came the spine, followed by white, wet, translucent skin, a decolletage almost spider-like, descending from it's web, topped by the head and face with it's vacant glare, until the two were united. Each clasp snapped into place, gripping skin, digging in as it cut through bloodless flesh. Once in place, the Queen shut her eyes, stretching her neck, rolling it until she came to center, breathing in before opening once again, gaze fixed on the blonde standing before her, pupils trained like cannons, dark, metallic, and ready to rip her apart.
Slowly, the most sadistic of smiles crept across her mouth.
"Welcome home," she breathed.
"Typical," Kathryn snorted. "Someone needs a new writer."
Without looking or touching, the Queen raised her hand towards the Admiral, sending her flying back against the nearest bulkhead with a thud. Kathryn's body hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her.
Stunned, Seven tried to assist her, but felt her legs locked in place.
"How did you..."
"I have learned some new tricks as well," she smiled. "Twenty years is plenty of time to adapt."
Seven swallowed.
"But this is a simulation," she huffed through her teeth. "Commander Troi…"
"Is irrelevant," the Queen replied, raising her voice ever so slightly. "You only think you're in control, Seven of Nine. You underestimate us."
"Don't listen to her," Kathryn panted. "This is exactly what's supposed to happen."
Slowly, the Queen stepped forward, ignoring the Admiral, eyes continually fixed on Seven as she moved closer, mere centimeters from her face. Seven blinked a few times but refused to flinch, knowing she couldn't be hurt by this mirage, although Kathryn seemed to be in pain, which contradicted everything she had prepared for.
"You were my biggest disappointment," she spoke flatly.
"Then clearly I have succeeded," Seven spat.
"Don't be foolish. You may operate under the guise of humanity, walk among the others, partake in their amusements," she eyed Kathryn, who was slowly getting to her feet. "Love. Sex. But inside, you're still not comfortable in your own skin. It continues to feel foreign, like a minor role in a play you know you were meant to have a much greater part in."
Stopping at Seven's side, she reached up slowly, trailing her fingers along the optical implant, down her cheek, tracing the line of her jaw until she was holding her chin up by one long, tentacle like finger.
"Inside, Annika," she whispered. "You're still mine."
"If I'm not really human," Seven asked, shivering slightly. "Why do you call me by my human name?"
"To remind you of how small you really are," she breathed. "Of how you were when we first met, the life I took from you which you can never get back. Even now, you call yourself Seven, rather than the name your parents gave you. What does that say about how much you value your humanity?"
"I am an individual," Seven told her. "I am able to decide what elements of my past I choose to acknowledge, what resonates most with the woman I have become. I am unique."
"You are confusion," the Queen insisted. "You don't belong in either place, neither here nor there. You have failed."
"You know that's not true," Janeway spoke from behind them.
"Silence," the Queen shouted, sending her hand up again as Kathryn's mouth became clamped shut. She stumbled backwards, reeling as she attempted to pull at the metal brace holding her lips together.
Seven continued to be locked in place, almost falling as she struggled to go to her.
"Deanna!" Seven yelled. "We were not to be harmed. I will end this…"
Kathryn shook her head, even as her eyes betrayed how much agony she was in, pressing Seven to continue.
Seven felt her heart beating out of her chest, unsure whether or not this was all part of a very elaborate plan by Commander Troi, or whether the simulation had somehow been compromised.
"You're wise enough to acknowledge my reach," the Queen continued. "Questioning whether I've infiltrated this program, knowing, beyond what the humans have assured, that I am capable."
"You are not real," Seven answered shakily. "Admiral Janeway infected you with the virus. I have seen the data. You are dead."
"I was never alive."
"You were alive insomuch as another living organism was able to defeat you."
"Your understanding of my existence is limited," the Queen told her. "My body was decimated by your Admiral, but I cannot be destroyed."
"Then where are you?"
"I am everywhere," she smiled.
"No," Seven growled.
"Don't give her any power," Kathryn mumbled.
Seven turned around to see that Kathryn had pried the clamp from her lips, bleeding as she hunched over, trying to remain strong. The older woman looked up to Seven's frantic, concerned gaze.
"Go on," she whispered.
Taking a deep breath, Seven turned back to the nightmare standing before her.
"You only exist where those of us you have afflicted allow you to exist," she swallowed, attempting to regain the upper hand.
"How quaint," the Queen sighed. "To think you and the other former drones have such power. Take Isak, for instance. He's watched everyone else in his cohort leave the hive, return to civilization. Do you think he chooses to remain because I exist only as a delusion in his own mind?"
"Yes," Seven swallowed.
"If that were the case," the Queen continued. "Why would one choose to suffer? If I were merely a thought, what purpose would I serve? Isak knows I am real, just as you know I am real."
"Isak was damaged," Seven practically snarled. "Just as I was damaged, as Admiral Picard was damaged, but he will continue to heal. We will all continue to…"
"Insufficient," she interrupted. "No amount of healing can undo the space in your mind where you cannot be sure I don't exist."
"No amount of convincing from you can assure me you do exist," Seven shook her head. "Not in the face of everything I know to be true."
"How do you know?" the Queen smiled, mockingly. "How can you be so certain of your truth?"
"Because I choose it," Seven breathed. "I choose happiness. I choose love. It is the only thing that's real. You embody fear. Fear is simply a deception caused by forgetting who we really are."
The Queen stepped back, looking at Seven furiously, clearly frustrated as her grip appeared to be slipping.
"You've traded one doctrine for another," she spoke. "Traded greatness for frailty."
"I am stronger than I ever was," Seven's eyes sparkled against the grey of those reflecting back at her.
The Queen continued to smile, though the deeper breaths she took betrayed her own fears.
"I know you have doubts," she whispered. "We are one, Annika."
"Your thoughts were never my thoughts," Seven responded, stepping forward, raising her chin confidently. "Your voice was never my voice. I must accept that you will always be a part of me, that if I cannot destroy you, I will at least neutralize you."
The Queen's eyes appeared darker than usual, her frame almost shrinking in the face of Seven's defiance.
"Our thoughts will never again be one," she continued.
Seven stepped back as the veins in the Queen's flesh began to pulse and glow, white light breaking through like cracks, the porcelain separating.
"Foolish!" the Queen shouted. "Insubordinate!"
Seven took one more step towards her, proving she was not afraid, delivering the final blow.
"You are irrelevant," she breathed.
Reaching up and grabbing at her skull, the implants protruding from the back of her head, the Queen screamed as energy surged through her, until finally, she burst into flames before expanding outward like a dying star, until she collapsed upon herself, and within an instant, she was gone.
Seven stood there, stunned, unsure of everything that had just transpired, but feeling somewhat empowered. She quickly turned to Kathryn, finally able to use her legs again, crouching down to where she sat on the ground.
"You are injured," the blonde spoke, confused and angry that the simulation had proven dangerous.
"I'm fine," Kathryn smiled, coughing a bit as she allowed Seven to pull her to her feet. "I engaged the safety protocols before we started."
Seven's mouth opened slightly, eyebrows rising at the reveal.
"You appeared to be in an intense amount of pain," she scowled.
Kathryn shrugged.
"It's called acting," she smirked. "Don't you remember? 'The Bride of Chaotica'? It's been a while, but I can still turn it on when necessary."
Seven continued to look at her incredulously.
"That was a rather cruel enactment," she huffed. "I believed you were seriously…"
"I'm sorry," Kathryn shook her head. "I only did as instructed. Deanna said the program would respond to your own thoughts, your fears. I knew to expect anything."
Seven continued to breathe heavily as they stood there in silence, sorting through the barrage of thoughts sifting through her brain. Kathryn was not hurt, the Queen, as far as she knew, was truly gone, and Deanna had said it would be necessary to make the simulation as realistic as possible.
"You were phenomenal," the Admiral spoke softly.
Seven turned back to her, looking past the apparently disingenuous amount of blood lingering on her face, to eyes that shined back with absolute pride and admiration. Slowly, Seven's lips began to tremble, tears rising beneath her lids. She realized it truly had been a remarkable encounter. Whether it was all the work of Commander Troi's treatment plan, she couldn't be entirely certain, but given everything she knew, was confident in choosing to believe that truth. Stepping forward, she threw her arms around Kathryn, and allowed herself to let go.