Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
"ULRICH!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yumi's scream filled the entire factory, as well as the interlink between the gang. Both sound and thought carried the emotional subtext of her true feelings. Shock, pain, fear, regret, love. All of these things rode on the single word she sent out. Shock that anything could touch him, the shared pain of his wounds, mixed with the pain of his parting, fear that she would never, ever see him again. And regret that she never told him how she felt, never told him that she loved him.
She ran over to him, quickly kneeling down in his blood and gore. She put her arms around him and pulled him close, crying out her pain and her grief and her loss and her longing. He was Gone. She Had Lost Him. For Ever.
Not quite, came a gentle voice, Janeway's, the Borg have a slightly different take on the Finality of Death. You can save him, Yumi. You can be his Life Support until we can repair the damage inflicted. It will be dangerous, however. You will be in the most danger you have ever faced in all of this.
Whatever danger, whatever price, I will pay it, she replied, even if it means my life. Even if it means my soul.
Very well, then, he replied. Then his voice changed. His one voice was joined by a chorus of trillions. They sang out as one, overwhelming her, we will add your biological diversity, and his, to our own for a time, and together we shall make him whole again.
It was like a door suddenly opened in Yumi's mind, and she was Ulrich. Most of his bodily functions had shut down, due to the damage inflicted. His mind, his soul was cocooned behind a wall of numbness, in preparation for its release.
She didn't even think; prompted by the song resonating within her, she laid him back down, stripped off her shirt, then her bra, then climbed on top of him and embraced him with her entire body. She then kissed him with all of the passion and power and will and love in her, sending him one thought, one plea:
Don't leave me, Ulrich!
He was floating in Nothingness. The Pain was Gone. Life was Gone. Everything was Gone. There was only the Waiting, Waiting for The Light.
As He floated there in the Nothingness, He thought back on his Life. It was short, much too short, but all in all, there was only one thing he truly regretted. He would Always and Eternally Regret that He never Told Her How He Felt. That Regret would make Heaven all the more bitter for Him, or it would make Hell all the worse.
Finally, The Light appeared. It began as a small speck, like someone had poked a hole in a black screen, letting the light behind it on in. Then it began to grow like the lights of an oncoming train. It felt like He was moving, but He wasn't sure. All He had to do now was just Let The Light Take Him...
Don't leave me, Ulrich!
That plea came from nowhere, from everywhere. He Knew Who It Was. She was calling out to Him. She was begging him to Stay. But it was too late. The Bonds That Held Him Here had been Severed, and could not be Rejoined. As much as He Wanted to Stay, He Could Not.
The plea came again, stronger this time.
Don't leave us, Ulrich! We can save you! Don't Go, Ulrich! We Love You!
This time, it wasn't just Her, it was all of His Friends. Somehow, they had found a way to get to Him, to try and pull Him back. He so much wanted to return, to join them again, but the Bonds That Held Him Here had been Severed, and could not be Rejoined. As much as He Wanted to Stay, He Could Not.
They called out to him again, but this time, it was different.
DON'T LEAVE US, ULRICH! WE LOVE YOU! WE WILL SAVE YOU! WAIT! HOLD ON! WE ARE COMING!
This was not five or six voices whispering in the whirlwind; it was the sound of trillions, shouting with one voice, one purpose. The Borg from Janeway's time, all of them, were calling out to Him, Willing Him to Stay. Trillions of beings he had never seen, and could not even imagine, poured their Love into Him, telling Him that They Needed Him, that They Wanted Him, that They Loved Him. For Ever.
Slowly, Ulrich Stern turned away from The Light. It was hard, and it took a lot of effort, but He finally turned away. It would always be there, waiting for his return, for He would return, some day. He turned away from the Light of Eternity, and Embraced the Love of Trillions.
Yumi cried her plea down the interlink to Ulrich. Something seemed to stir within him, but nothing happened. She mentally called out to the others to help her, and they did, adding their own voices to her plea. He definitely heard them this time, but still did nothing, still slid further and further away from her.
Suddenly, the interlink between them flew wide open. Yumi and the others were overwhelmed by the sheer number of new minds that joined them. Trillions of voices rang out, calling to one of their own:
DON'T LEAVE US, ULRICH! WE LOVE YOU! WE WILL SAVE YOU! WAIT! HOLD ON! WE ARE COMING!
This caught Ulrich's attention, and he stirred. Slowly he came back from the near death he had been in. Slowly, he fought the urge to relax and let it end. Slowly, he clawed his way back to Them, to Her.
Rejoicing at her success, Yumi pressed herself closer against his body, heedless of the slimy sensations of his intestines against her bare stomach. Nanoprobes began pouring out through her skin and into his gaping wounds, joining up with the nanoprobes he already had. They quickly began working to repair on the damage done to him. To get his biological systems up and running again, openings began forming in Yumi's chest and abdomen. Then, tubes began to form between her circulatory system and his. When they connected, blood was released into them, and into him, rich in even more nanoprobes, as well as nutrients. In her body, her bone marrow began pouring out new blood cells; nanoprobes began pulling nutrients from wherever they could be found in the area to fuel the production. Other connections began to be made between their renal systems, their lymphatic systems, their nervous systems. Her breasts and the front of her rib cage dissolved, and their lungs merged together, so he could breathe. The nanoprobes reached his heart and began rebuilding it. Quickly, enough of a structure had been formed to close the circulatory system and start beating again, now in synchronization with her heart, just millimeters away now. Their intestines joined together so she could help to process the waste his body needed to expel.
All the while, nanoprobes were working with the couples own immune systems to eject the contamination that had gotten in when Ulrich was eviscerated. Large particles were pushed out of his body, working their way through his tissue and falling onto the floor. Smaller germs and bacteria were enveloped and broken down into simple proteins for reuse.
Both Yumi and Ulrich's remaining clothes began to dissolve, replaced by a Borg bio-support suit that enveloped them both. A collar quickly formed around Ulrich's throat, closing the wound there. All this time, Yumi never broke her embrace, not even when a device began to form around both of their heads, then faces. She only released her kiss when the device gently pried her lips from his, forming itself around them both.
It's going to take a lot of energy and resources to put him back together, came Dr. Janeway's voice, Yumi, you will have to stay connected to him for a little while, so a gestation chamber can be prepared for him. That containment suit that's forming around you is impervious to anything within 500,000 miles, so you won't have to worry about the other Borg getting at you. But here comes the dangerous part I warned you about. Until you can be separated, you and Ulrich are going to be closer and more intimate than any kind of sexual activity either of you can think of. Right now, you two are literally one person, both in Body and Mind. When the separation finally comes, and it will come, it will be like someone has ripped your soul in two. This is what I've been trying to avoid all along, the creation of a Hive Mind, no matter how small. You both have to prepare yourselves for it, because if you don't, you could die of separation anxiety and absolute loneliness.
