=/\=
Years passed. The chronometer in her cortical array kept time to the microsecond, but when she came to the sanctuary of Unimatrix Zero, she refused to acknowledge its passing. At first, she continued to socialize with the older children who gathered in their shelter, but gradually, she lost interest in their games. She still liked to play sports, but now she often wandered over to the other side of the pathway to visit the adults. Pennia was still there to welcome her, and Axum often came by, too. Sometimes they took walks through the woods, speaking of things they'd learned during their awake times.
One of Seven of Nine's excursions had brought her knowledge of a place which many who came to Unimatrix Zero knew of. Unimatrix 01 had traveled to a deep gash cut through a rocky cliff. From a short distance below the crest, but still high up on the cliff, water flowed freely, splashing down into a small lake. The designation of this place was part of the Collective's pool of knowledge: Vorothon Gorge. A store of minerals which the Collective coveted lay deep beneath the surface of the cliff, not far from the falls. The Borg cared nothing for beauty, but Seven of Nine's Unimatrix 01 decided to remove the minerals from the other side of the cliff, leaving the gorge and its waterfall alone. Annika asked Axum, "Do you think we spared the falls because the individuals who knew of it before they were assimilated still appreciated it? It never occurred to us to destroy the waterfall to get to what we wanted, although the Hive mind itself doesn't care one way or the other."
Axum didn't answer immediately. He seemed to be pondering his answer, but at a fork in the path he directed her to turn to the right. They walked along a path they'd never taken before. In fact, it was one Annika didn't remember ever seeing before. Finally, he said, "It's possible."
"Is that all you're going to say?" she asked, laughing lightly.
"No, but let's walk along this path for a while more. I'm sure I'll come up with something."
They hiked for a while. The topography began to look a little familiar to Annika. The trees began to thin, and the breeze freshened as the pair entered a grassy clearing. Annika noticed the air seemed different here, thinner, yet more humid. Looking ahead, beyond the edge, she could see nothing but sky.
They walked across the clearing and stopped. At the edge, the ground broke off, forming a sheer cliff, overlooking a broad, pleasant valley. Then she noticed they were standing on those same cliffs which she'd just described to Axum. To their left they could see the waterfall, with billows of mist rising up towards them as its water plunged into the rock-lined basin. "Vorothon Gorge!" she said, her voice hushed in wonder. She looked over her shoulder at Axum. "Did you do this?"
He smiled at her. "Not exactly. This overlook and view have been here for as long as I've come to Unimatrix Zero. I just never thought to bring you here before. I did create the fork in the path, though, so we could get here more quickly. I'm not sure how much longer I've got before I wake up in the 'real.'"
"It's beautiful, Axum. It looks exactly the way I remember from my visit to this place. I wish you and I could visit it together in the real world."
"So do I, but we're not inside the same vessel, are we?"
"There is no Five of Twelve, Secondary Adjunct of Triimatrix 942 on my cube. Where are you?"
"I don't know the where, but my vessel isn't a cube, it's a sphere."
"So we won't ever meet in the real world," she said softly.
"Not necessarily. The Queen transfers drones from one vessel to another, according to her needs - or maybe her whims. I know of several who've come to our sanctuary who've reported a change in their designations. That implies a move of some kind."
"Well, I hope that happens to one of us, too, and we end up on the same vessel. Axum, are there any other places you'd like to visit in the real world?"
By the time Axum had faded back into his awake cycle, they'd created a list of places they'd like to visit together in the "real." After he was gone, Annika thought about walking back to their clearing, but she decided to stay here until she faded into her cubicle. Perched at the edge of the overlook, Annika watched the water streaming steadily down as it splashed into the basin below. The mist rose high above the level of the water, and as the sun's angle changed ever so slightly, twin rainbows appeared. Annika thought it was the loveliest sight she'd ever seen in real life or in the virtual reality of Unimatrix Zero.
She held onto that thought and that view until the ground started going spongy beneath her bottom, and the voices announced that Seven of Nine's regeneration cycle was complete. Refreshed, totally unaware that the power surging through her implants might not be the only reason for this drone's positive state of being, Seven of Nine strode crisply out of her cubicle and followed the routine set for her by the Hive mind.
=/\=
