The Borg Queen's Displeasure
Seven of Nine was relieved when the octahedron finally stopped shaking, and she had no need to brace herself against the walls or the console near to her. While she was saddened that the resistance of Species 10026 had been halted so quickly, at least she wouldn't have to worry about being injured any further. Two drones stepped up to her, and Seven frowned as she was escorted to her alcove in the Queen's chamber.
The Queen herself was no-where in sight, and Seven concluded that her attention was directed elsewhere, since she usually used her avatar to communicate with Seven face to face, no matter how inefficient this mode of communication might be. Just before she began the familiar regeneration process, a smooth voice glided through her mind:
I hope your regeneration is optimal, Seven of Nine. There is so much new knowledge to show you when your cycle ends, especially from the new species we assimilated…
Just before her eyes shut, a slight worry flitted through her mind. It was possible that the Queen might discover her sabotage. However, there was nothing she could do about it now, she just had to hope she had covered her tracks well enough.
The moment she opened her eyes at the end of her regeneration cycle, Seven of Nine knew that she had been found out. As she stepped down from her alcove, she saw that drones were blocking every door from the Queen's chamber. There was also a subtle change in the background atmosphere of the octahedron. While it normally felt like any other Borg ship, with the added dominating presence of the Queen, this time all the systems seemed to be working at a faster speed, and the lights were slightly darker. The chamber seemed more menacing now, than it had felt previously.
Seven's eyes were drawn to the assembly machine in the middle of the chamber as it activated. She forced herself to remain still while the Queen's cybernetic body was assembled limb by limb, but was unable to supress a slight shiver of fear as the Queen's head was lowered from the ceiling. She always found the sight of the disembodied head disturbing, but this time, her nervous state enhanced this emotion.
As the Queen's head was halfway to her cybernetic body, Seven shuddered as the Queen's eyes suddenly snapped open and locked with her own. She swallowed and took a step back as the metallic black orbs bored into her face with a barely contained fury. She was startled, however, when the Queen's voice contained only a hint of this anger as she addressed her.
As she stretched out her newly attached limbs, the Queen hissed at Seven:
"Did you truly think you would be able to hide your crude attempt at sabotage from me?"
Seven found refuge in sarcasm as she attempted to hide her growing nervousness. She sneered:
"Obviously I did, or I would have left everything in the open for you to find immediately!"
She soon discovered that attempting to provoke the Queen while she was already furious was a bad idea. Seven was unable to prevent herself from flinching as the Queen stepped up to her and grabbed her chin, metallic fingers keeping her face fixed in one place, so that she couldn't look away. The Queen intoned darkly:
"Seven of Nine, your insolence is testing my patience. You do not seem to realise how much your situation has changed. Allow me to enlighten you…"
Releasing Seven's chin, the Queen gripped Seven's shoulder and spun her towards a wall, the twitch of a finger turning on a holographic screen. Seven stiffened as the screen came to life, horrified to realise that it was a feed from a security camera, and was pointed at her human figure, and a console she had been using the previous cycle.
Although she was aware that no human would have been able to detect the end result of her quickly moving fingers, she was well aware that the Borg would have no such limitations. She shivered as the screen changed to display herself at a different console and the Queen purred menacingly in her ear:
"I gave you the chance to aid us, your own people, by keeping the shields at optimal efficiency. Instead you did your best to make them vulnerable, to create weaknesses. Such talent and cunning, and you use it against the Collective. Such behaviour is so very disappointing to us, Seven of Nine."
Seven flushed angrily at this reproach, detesting the Queen's patronising tone. She was being treated like a wayward infant and she heartily despised it. Tearing herself from the Queen's grip, she snarled:
"Perhaps I haven't done enough if I am merely a 'disappointment'! If I had, you would have got the message! I only returned to the Collective because you threatened my home and friends, because you threatened Voyager! If I have to be a thorn in your side until you get that idea through your ridiculously large cranium, you clearly don't know me as well as you claim!"
Narrowing her eyes in irritation at the human idioms, the Queen suddenly clamped a hand around Seven's wrist, pulling her closer to her person once more. She breathed softly:
"You seem to be under the continuous delusion that you are part of the human collective on Voyager now. Do not be absurd. You have always been an outsider there, always on the fringes of their ridiculous society. You would doubtless protest that you have friends there, that you are valued. Who can you truly claim to be your friend? Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman? A mere child! The Doctor of Voyager? A hologram, a simple computer simulation! If you were truly valued, they would have assimilated you into their collective by issuing you with a uniform and a rank. Since they have no done so, that is clearly not the case."
Seven shook her head angrily, attempting to ignore the Queen's words. It was hard, since she could see the logical reasoning behind what had been said, and deep down, there was always the constant fear that she wasn't part of Voyager's crew, that she was merely tolerated, despite actions and words that said the opposite.
The Queen chuckled at the evidence of Seven's inner conflict and murmured:
"I am sure you will see the truth of my words for yourself, you will have plenty of time to think on them, after all. I shall be keeping you close to my side, there is so much you can learn from me directly."
The Queen's voice sharpened suddenly as she continued:
"It is disappointing that you reject such an excellent notion in order to bring harm to the Collective! I am sure you have deduced that I will not allow this violation to go unpunished. Since you cling to your humanity so much, you will be glad to hear that your punishment will be a human one."
Seven resisted the urge to smirk at the Queen's pronouncement. Human punishments typically focussed on unpleasant menial tasks, or confinement to a small area. She was sure she would be able to cope with such trivial penalties. Her smirk vanished and evolved into a look of horror at what the Queen said next.
"I shall be implementing the punishment protocol of physical chastisement, known colloquially by humans as 'spanking'. I am well aware that your parents never punished you in this way, so you will learn one last thing from human society."
Seven was unable to halt the shiver of fear and apprehension as the anger once more bled into the Queen's silky voice.
"You have behaved like a child since you got here, continually displaying your insolence and refusing to comply with my orders! I very much hope this punishment eliminates such behaviour, as I will continue to reacquaint you with it until it does!"
Futily, Seven attempted to tug herself free of the Queen's hold on her wrist, but the Borg's grip was like a steel vice, and she made no progress at all. The Queen smiled grimly at such resistance, and tugged Seven forward sharply, using the momentum to send the former drone sprawling across her suddenly bent knee. Momentarily letting go of Seven's wrist, the Queen pressed down heavily on her back, anchoring her in place over her knee.
Seven attempted to catch her breath, her face heating up as she realised how vulnerable she was in this position. The Queen chuckled above her, having latched onto this realisation, amused that Seven was at last making the connection. Right now, she was nothing more than another one of the Queen's children, a child who had strayed and was in need of chastisement to place her on the correct path.
The Queen uttered one last pointed comment as she raised her free hand.
"It does not have to be this way, Seven of Nine. Stop fighting me, and there will be no need of this."
Seven gritted her teeth. She was determined not to give the Queen any reaction at all, to not display any vulnerability that the Borg could exploit. She found this task very difficult as the Queen's hand crashed onto the seat of her bio-suit. Seven's eyes widened. She had known this would cause pain, but believed she would be able to endure it. It was very hard to do so, as the pain was targeted in one area, and was gradually increasing the more times her buttocks were struck.
She squirmed slightly, hands clenching into fists and her eyes screwed shut as she attempted to maintain her silence. The longer this 'spanking' went on, the harder it became not to indicate how much this punishment hurt and distressed her.
Seven was relieved when the Queen paused momentarily, as it gave her the opportunity to compose herself. However, her determination to remain stoic was dashed at what the Queen said and did next. The Borg suddenly snapped:
"So, in the middle of a punishment you still continue to defy me? To reject your just chastisement? Not for much longer, Seven of Nine!"
Still keeping her pinned with one hand, the Queen used the other to uncover the zipper that ran around the waist of Seven's bio-suit, keeping the two halves linked together as a single piece of clothing. With a single deft movement, she unzipped the bottom half of Seven's bio-suit and pulled it away, letting it drop down to her boots as she hissed:
"You are no longer deserving of such a barrier from your garment! Be glad that I am lenient enough not to remove such a useless piece of material entirely!"
Seven's determination to be stoic, even in the face of such an unpleasant development, was painfully dashed as the Queen's metallic hand landed forcefully on exposed flesh. She was unable to stop a pained cry from escaping, and the Queen smirked at her small victory. At last, she was getting through to her troublesome former drone.
To her horror, Seven felt tears begin to leak from her human eye, as the fiery sting that the Queen was creating across her bottom was increased. The Queen was relentless in her assault, determined to dissolve that troublesome defiant streak.
Seven howled as the Queen suddenly aimed a flurry of hard smacks at her thighs, shaking her head in distress as the Queen whispered:
"You are still mine, no matter how much import you place on the species of your origin. You will always be Borg, no matter how much you outwardly resemble a human. Stop fighting me, it will only cause you more pain."
Her breath hitching as she attempted to strangle a series of pained sobs, Seven manged to gasp:
"I c-cannot!"
Hearing the despair and slight fear in Seven's voice, the Queen purred:
"There is nothing to fear from us, from the Borg. We will not make you a drone, no matter how troublesome you remain, you shall have your free will and individually intact. As I said before, your uniqueness is such an asset to us."
The Queen smirked as she felt Seven still completely under her hands. She was processing her words now, truly thinking about them, rather than dismissing them immediately. It would not take much more to tip the former drone over the edge. Abruptly commencing the punishment once more, the Queen murmured:
"Forget Janeway. I know what you regard her as, a new mother, one to replace the one that we 'took' from you, when you were a child. Stop thinking like a human, and think like a Borg. She does not care for you, it is a phycological trick that she uses with all her crew. How else do you think she retains such fierce loyalty? No, We are the one you should regard in that fashion, if you are truly determined to cling to such an ideal. Even after all the trouble you have caused us, Seven of Nine, we will not abandon you, as Janeway so clearly has. I will not abandon you. It is such a shame that you keep pushing me away, when all I want is to help you."
Seven howled as the Queen suddenly increased the force and the tempo of the smacks. Part of her knew that she was being manipulated, that the Queen was attempting to turn her away from Voyager while she was at her most vulnerable, and while she couldn't think straight. However, it was hard to remember this when the Captain wasn't here to counter the Queen's claims, and she felt the longing for a maternal figure when she felt so lost and alone at this moment.
She never quite knew what made her say it, what made her blurt out what the Queen was clearly waiting for. However, she had reached her limit, this horrific spanking and the relentless comments from the Queen had broken down all her defences.
"Mother! Please…I'm sorry!"
Seven sagged as the Queen withdrew her hand from her rear, sobbing in a combination of shame at the sentence she had uttered in a moment of weakness and the rippling burn that emanated from her buttocks and thighs.
Still keeping Seven pinned across her knee, the Queen smiled and purred:
"There now, was that truly so hard? Oh, my stubborn child, you could have saved yourself so much pain if you had stopped your resistance earlier. You will never be alone again, Seven of Nine."
Abruptly pulling Seven to her feet, the Queen smirked as Seven's hands instinctively flew to her sore bottom. She remarked casually:
"You may replace your lower garment if you so wish, but-"
The Queen rolled her eyes as Seven did so far too quickly, her embarrassment playing a major role in the speed at which she tugged up her bio-suit. Of course, the contact of the material against her sore skin abruptly re-awakened the sting from her punishment and she yelped in surprise and pain.
Now too frustrated to deal with further evidence of her former drone's stupidity, the Queen said softly:
"Go and use the console near your alcove to familiarise yourself on species 10026. There is much you can learn from their knowledge, and we will want to hear a summary from your unique viewpoint."
Seven did as she was told, using every atom of willpower she had to not rub the sting out of her bottom while the Queen was still watching her. She dearly hoped that the Queen was wrong, that the Captain hadn't given up on her. She didn't know how much longer she could hold out against the Queen's manipulations, especially when part of her longed to give in to them…