Chapter 2

((Note-Updating Thursdays (hopefully))

Seven took a deep breath, a very human gesture, as more oxygen was not really required presently. However, she had been practicing with The Doctor both appear more human and also to calm herself when she was frustrated, so the action should serve both objectives.

She was not yet used to frustration. It was not a problem in the collective. The collective simply kept applying more resources until the problem was corrected, but, here among humans, Seven was trying to acclimate to the human way of doing it, which was to, how did The Doctor put it?

"Clear your head until the answer comes to you," Seven said out loud, remembering.

She had been experiencing unprompted, "File Not Found" errors on her console since this morning. The errors had actually started while she was in her regeneration cycle in her alcove. Clearly, it was unlikely that anything that she had done.

Seven could hear The Doctor's voice in her head, telling her to "say it out loud!" in order to understand.

Reluctantly, she acquiesced.

"Daily log, supplemental. The errors I noticed earlier this morning remain, as of the current time, without an apparent source or cause. I have even removed the biodata console in the Astrometrics lab and examined them at a physical level with my nanoprobes in order to ascertain what the error might be. Per The Doctor's advice, I am attempting the human procedure he referred to as "clearing one's head." This means I must now commence speaking on an unrelated subject, while unaccounted errors cause unknown damage to the ship's systems. "

She paused, engaging in the "Deep breaths" procedure. Her chest heaved slowly up and down, and she had to admit that the gesture helped her improve her frustration, though only by a micron.

"Therefore, I will now engage in step two of "Clearing One's Head," which, according to the Doctor involves "Taking a Walk."

She ended the log and then began to pack up her tools and reassemble the bio units connected to her computer.

Seven finished cleaning up and stood there for a moment.

It seemed useless to just walk with no destination in mind and she was having difficulty forcing herself to do it.

Walking.

Destination.

"Why did I assume that it was only biodata units connected to my console directly that were the source of the error?" She said out loud, following the procedure.

She made a note to thank The Doctor for his suggestions.

Picking up just one tool this time, she exited the lab and began scanning the units outside in the hallway as she slowly walked down it. What she was looking for was a unit along the way to the core that could perhaps be separated from the rest. A standalone unit that could be connected and disconnected.

After a minute over walking along the hallways and glancing at her scanner, a distinctive sound chirped out, responding to her scanning results query.

Seven stopped and scanned the unit in question.

The results didn't lie, this was it. The unit had been instructed to disconnect from other units.

Her eyes lit up a bit as she realized what the code and the situation were saying.

Someone did this. Deliberately.

Tapping furiously she dug into the unit and found that half of its logs were deleted. However, it appeared that the entity responsible had deleted too much in their haste. That's why the retrieval errors were popping up. This unit wasn't far from the lab, that was likely why she had detected it first.

However, the question was why had so much data been deleted? Looking it over, Seven realized that logs and other information for several years had been deleted, not just on this unit, but likely on other units as well.

Her device gave her a path to follow, modeling the biogel units and the flow of information for her to follow.

Just then, The Doctor walked around the corner with his portable holoprojector, accompanied by a short woman with blonde hair that Seven didn't immediately recognize.

Seven walked confidently down the hallway toward them, her tool in her hand.

"Seven!" The Doctor said brightly. "I don't believe you've met-" He began, but Seven politely interrupted him.

"I am taking your advice and "clearing my head" on a "walk," She told him. "I believe that it may be bearing fruit, despite my initial skepticism."

"Oh? Well, excellent, excellent! Say no more," He said, bringing up a finger to his lips.

"The walk is a sacred human custom! I will catch up with you later!"

"Indeed," Seven said, her eyes already glancing towards her display and the next way to turn down the hallway.

Behind her, she heard some of the conversation as The Doctor and the unknown woman took their time moving down the hall as Seven looked intently at her display, making sure of the right way to go.

"Well, clearly we need to tell everyone you're back!" The Doctor said. "You're sure that you're stable now? There's no danger? Of course there's no danger. I mean, look at you!"

"Yes. I'm definitely certain Doctor. I barely understand it at all, but I can at least shut it off now. I can travel through space, and I can turn back into me, and other little things here and there. It feels like turning on a hundred little lights, in my body, and then just flipping the switch off again. I don't think I can do much of anything else though, but I know I'm not dangerous. I landed near volcanos on purpose to frighten myself, but I never lost control. I'm OK. I understand if the captain is skeptical, but I'm confident I can prove it to her. Any test she wants. This is where I belong."

Seven glanced over her shoulder and noticed that The Doctor looked emotional in some way Seven had trouble describing. Even stranger, she felt some uncomfortable emotion as well. She would have to examine it later.

This direction is accurate, she thought, and immediately strode that way.

Upon arriving at her destination, Seven immediately scanned the biogel unit she was looking for. Here again, there were telltale signs of data that had been deleted and all those error messages. However, here it appeared that her quarry had been particularly sloppy. She employed a Borg retrieval method, directly from her nanoprobes, inserting her tubules right into the gel.

After a minute, she decided to continue her daily log on a secure line back to her room since she needed to "clear her head" again, the information was so confusing.

One of the recovered files was a transmission. A secret transmission on a secure subspace line that Seven was familiar with.

"I believe the transmission is Vidiian in nature. Species 111. Universally afflicted with an unidentified dangerous pathogen known as the Phage. Unfit for assimilation."

Just then, she heard the sound of someone coming, so she retracted her tubules and continued analyzing the data she'd recovered on her display. Right as the footsteps neared the corner, Seven looked up to see who it was.

"Mr. Neelix," Seven said with some surprise, an eyebrow growing up. "Are those not your quarters down that hallway?" She had wondered what had been causing the feeling of familiarity she was experiencing.

"Why, it is!" Neelix said. "How good of you to notice! Actually, Seven, I've been looking for you!"

"You have?" Seven said, her attention pulling back to her data. Who was making secret transmission to the Vidiians and why? She tapped at her device a few more times, trying to see from where this data had been inputted.

"I brought you something to eat! You know that I always say you don't do that nearly enough. But you're human now, and you should enjoy everything that comes with it! Like eating! Now, I know that you probably view it as a chore, but no problem. That's why I've brought some to you!"

"Thank you Mr. Neelix," Seven said, not bothering to turn around. "That will not be necessary."

Looking at the lines of biodata flow, Seven noticed that there was a difference in this one. It hadn't traveled nearly as far as the others. It was also even larger than the other units she still had to investigate, that much was clear from the visual representations she was looking at here.

"But it's a surprise dish! Surely you want to try just a little bit of it!" Seven could see that Neelix had gotten closer to her, and she took a slight step away from him involuntarily, as she found him unpleasant. There was the sound of a spoon hitting the edge of a bowl, and Seven could see some kind of foul-smelling salad inside the bowl.

"No. I appreciate the gesture, but I am busy. Please leave."

Seven looked at the lines of flow more carefully, and-

That was strange. Much of the data for this unit had been inputted directly from nearby quarters. That meant that-

Abruptly, Seven heard the loud sound of crackling electric energy coming from right behind her, as well as the distinct smell of ozone and burning air.