Chakotay sat on a cargo container, staring at the alcoves, thinking about what he had told Annika and hoping he hadn't made a mistake. Sure, he knew she would be upset when he had told her her history and how he had tried to take her life. She couldn't understand that he was only trying to protect his crew. Still, he couldn't help but feel guilty- not just for that act of attempted murder, but also for putting her through this turmoil in the hope that she would recover more quickly.
He heard the cargo bay doors open, but didn't look up to see who it was- too depressed to even care. A figure stood in front of him, obstructing his view.
"I take it it didn't go very well?" Chakotay heard Janeway's voice ask him. He looked up at her with a no kidding expression. "Right," she admitted, "stupid question." He sighed heavily and allowed his gaze to drift again.
"Any idea where she went?" asked Janeway. Chakotay only shook his head in answer. "Shouldn't you be going after her?" she asked as she sat next to him.
After a moment, he answered, "If I do, she'll just run away from me again."
"She's still you're responsibility, Chakotay," Janeway pointedly reminded. "As far as we know, she still thinks like a child. For all you know, she could be..."
"Ayala to Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay, please come to the brig."
The Captain and Commander regarded each other in alarm as Janeway hit her comm. badge. "On our way, Lieutenant."
Annika stood in front of the cell, looking at it curiously. Ayala stood and watched her, apprehensive.
She looked over at him. "Can I go in?"
"Yes," he answered her. "The force-field's down."
Annika stepped inside, looking around intently, drawing quick, sharp gasps as she did so. "I was here," she whispered, her brow creased in concentration as she explored the recesses of her memories of being in that cell. That was when Ayala had discretely hailed Janeway and Chakotay, who hurriedly entered the brig just minutes later.
"It's alright," Ayala assured, intercepting them as they entered before they could reach the cell. "Annika asked me to bring her here so she can take a look. I think she might be remembering something." He then led them over to the cell, but Chakotay kept himself out of Annika's line of vision. Might as well keep the scenario as authentic as possible. And, besides that, he though there was a chance she might still be angry with him.
By this time, Annika was literally pacing the cell. "One," she whispered as Captain Janeway stood in front of it, the way she had when the drone called Seven of Nine had been held here six years prior. "One?" she said again, more questioningly this time, as if unsure why she was saying it.
She stopped short, pensive and motionless, for several seconds. "The voices," she gasped. "I wanted to hear... the voices." She then fell silent once again. Then, slowly, painfully, she began to examine her own body. She ran her fingers along the metal on her cybernetic hand. Then pushed her sleeve up slightly, examining the metal and the scar tissue that embedded it; then, slowly, ran her hand up her sleeve and over her body, gasping. "I'm... I was..." She continued looking over herself for several seconds before speaking again. "Implants... I had implants... all over me!" She held herself, wavering, drawing sharp gasps as she did so. She shook her head profusely in disbelief as her hands wandered up her head and through the blond tresses. "No... no hair," she gasped. "I had... no hair!" Then, she put her arms around herself again and looked at Janeway, eyes glistening. "I was a drone," she whispered hoarsely, overwhelmed by her memories.
Janeway regarded her sympathetically as Annika's gaze wavered. "What else do you remember?" the Captain prompted gently.
Annika began to pace the cell again, drawing more of her characteristically sharp gasps as she relived those moments when she had been kept there. Then, she stopped again, eyes to the floor, tears trickling down her pale cheeks, her breathing, ragged. "My designation... is Seven of Nine... but..." she took sharp, deep breaths before continuing. "I am alone. Without the Borg... without my parents..." The photograph of her family she had found the night before came to her mind as she remembered them. Then, another familiar image flashed in her memory.
She turned shakily to the Captain again. "You showed me a picture... of me.
"Yes," Janeway confirmed.
Seven's eyes shifted slightly. "I hurt you," she recalled in horror, her eyes riveted on her Captain.
"You were angry, and frightened," Janeway told her. "To you, the Borg were your family- your collective. To you, we were keeping you from the only family you knew. But, we had to keep you here with us, for our safety... and yours."
Seven continued to stare at her, unable to comprehend why she would've wanted to return to the Borg. Sure, she did start to remember- somewhat- her insistent demands to be returned to the collective. But she was still unable to understand why, in spite of what the Captain had told her. Her last clear memories of the Borg were as menacing monsters that had mercilessly taken her and her parents and assimilated them. Why hadn't she wanted to go back to her parents? Why was the Borg the only family- if they could even be called that- that she knew? Had she forgotten her beloved mama and papa? How could that have even been possible?
She then broke her gaze and began to wander around the cell, deep in thought as little by little small recollections were coming to her mind; some of them she really could not quite understand just yet. As she pondered her gradually recovering memories, she descended onto the bench, silent tears trickling as her eyes once again focused on the Captain.
"Is that why you're keeping me here now?" she said, finally. "For my safety? What about my parents? Why didn't I want them? Why did I want the Borg?"
Janeway entered the cell and sat next to her. "Do you remember your parents saying anything about how the Borg reprogram your thinking by taking away all your personal memories, so all you're aware of is the collective consciousness?"
Seven's brow creased in thought as she tried to remember. Her parents had talked about a lot of things that had to do with the Borg. It took a moment before she slowly shook her head. "I couldn't understand everything they talked about, but I do remember them saying how the Borg make people forget things, or something..."
"That's what happened to you, Annika," Janeway explained. "The Borg took away all the memories of your human life, including your memories of your parents. Every aspect of being human had been forgotten: eating; sleeping; playing with friends; all the people you knew, like friends and relatives. The Borg was all you knew."
Annika regarded the Captain incredulously before she continued. "Do you remember when you found yourself on the Flyer, and the thing you remembered just before that was when the Borg took you?" She nodded. "It was because the alien technology that Chakotay had mentioned to you took away all the memories you had from the time you were assimilated. Remember?" Another nod. "What the Borg did to you was identical to that; only they took away the memories you had before you were assimilated."
Slowly, gradually, understanding began to dawn on her as her gaze wandered from the Captain and found herself looking into the dark eyes of Chakotay, who was now standing in front of the cell where the Captain had been; his expression, hopeful. She then looked at Janeway once again. "Is that why I lived in the cargo bay? Why I didn't have my own quarters?"
"Yes," Janeway nodded.
Annika then looked over at Chakotay and stood. Chakotay remained where he was, anticipating whether or not Annika had forgiven him; wanting to help her as her memories were slowly returning, hoping she could understand them.
She approached him; only a few steps. Her tear tracks were still clearly visible. Her throat noticeably constricting as she swallowed nervously. She opened her mouth to speak, but it took a moment for her to utter her words.
"I wanna go back to the cargo bay now."
Seven looked around the cargo bay intently as Chakotay looked on- the Captain having returned to the bridge.
"There were Borg alcoves over there, too," Annika recalled as she pointed somewhere to the middle of the cargo bay. "And..." she continued as she walked in further... "something over here, too. And there were drones here." She then stopped and looked around as the memories became clearer. "It did look just like a Borg ship in here." Then, after a moment, she moved towards the alcoves and stopped in front of the one that had once been hers. After a few seconds of looking it over, she gingerly stepped inside. "I was in here," she remembered as she turned to face outward. "And you..." she extended her arms out to the deck in front of her where Chakotay was now standing, "were down there."
"That's right," Chakotay nodded, trying to contain his excitement. She was remembering. She was remembering!
"And then," Annika stepped down from the alcove and began to move to her left, "I walked over here." She stopped in front of a control panel next to another alcove, but didn't push any of the controls. With her eyes riveted, she recalled, "I told you to take me to a Borg ship. You said it was too dangerous."
Chakotay's heart constricted as her recollections conjured up his own unpleasant memories of that day. Back then, she was a menacing drone who was a threat to the ship and he had wanted nothing to do with her; even as far as wanting to get rid of her any way possible; even doubting the Captain's decision to keep her on board after her link to the Collective had been severed. He had left those memories far behind him. It had been a lifetime ago. He had preferred it that way. Still, he couldn't help but be both excited and relieved that her memories were finally returning.
Then, she turned back to her left, walking slowly, pausing every few steps. "The voices," she whispered. "Species 8472... penetrated matrix 010, grid nineteen," she uttered, her voice raised only slightly. "Eight planets, destroyed; three hundred twelve vessels, disabled; 4,000,621 Borg, eliminated." She stood motionless, the color dissipating from her face as the memory became distinctly, horrifyingly clear. With a staggered voice, she continued. "Must cease control of... alpha quadrant vessel... take it into... alien realm." Her gaze slowly lifted and focused on something in the back of the cargo bay, and she tentatively moved forward, Chakotay following.
Seven was only a few meters from the bulkhead when she stopped, fixated. Following her gaze, Chakotay saw that she was staring at the hatch of a Jefferies tube. He watched her face as she stood there, motionless and unspeaking, for what seemed to be a prolonged period of time. Her complexion was so void of color it was near ashen, and she was visibly trembling.
"Is that it, Annika?" Chakotay gently asked, finally breaking the silence. "Is that the Jefferies tube you were in when..." But, he couldn't finish. He swallowed hard, looking at the hatch and then back to her.
She gave a slight, shaky nod as she answered, "The drones opened it for me."
Inhaling deeply in effort to keep his own swelling emotions at bay, Chakotay approached her and caressed her shoulder, offering comfort. "Did you want to go in?" he asked. "You don't have to if you're scared." Seven swallowed with an audible gulp, breathing deeply and steadily to calm herself, drumming up the courage to move forward.
She shook her head, determinedly. "I have to," she said purposefully before looking up at him, signaling him to proceed.