Okay, I want to thank Rono777 and ravenwings6 for reviewing chapter 2. Very nice reviews, and so here I am, posting chapter three, feeling fairly confident. I got a lot of writing done during school today, so chapter four will be up maybe tomorrow afternoonish? I'll shoot for that and see what happens.

Now, to me, B'Elanna's being a slight out of character. I will try to balance between the plot necessities and the actual personality, so she might be off here and there. Please bear with me- I'm just getting used to writing these characters. I think you guys'll like this chapter anyway- more plot actually happens.

Oh, and one more note- a few days ago, I was watching Voyager on TV, and the episode I was watching used a plot point I have in this chapter. It was very odd. Now, it had one different character, but the point of it was the same. Actually, the entire episode had hints at things I wrote, though I had written it without seeing the episode, and hints at J/7 and T/7. Loved the episode. Anyway, I'll stop talking and you can read the chapter.

Once her shift was over, Seven returned to cargo bay two and sat down on the platform of her alcove, ready to contemplate about imperfection.

The Borg had been very emphatic on 'perfection' and very strict on what was 'irrelevant.' Those two things had governed most of their actions, as they wished for perfection, and Seven knew irrelevant things had to be stripped away to reach that perfection.

So why were the Borg the only ones who strived for it seriously? Many other races wished for perfection, but never actually did anything about it. And if the humans wanted perfection as well, then why were they enemies with the Borg? The whole thing seemed very confusing to Seven.

The first thing to do, she assumed, was to think if she had ever shown a weakness in front of a crew member. She didn't think so. That was good.

Coming back to today, she had to make up for her inability to finish the mission. Maybe she could work on a new transportation technology for the ship. If she finished, it might make up for what she had done-… hadn't done, to be precise.

But she had to regenerate after her shift today because of what had happened on the planet… She didn't feel tired, though…

Maybe just an hour.

-

"Seven?" B'Elanna called as she entered cargo bay two the next morning. When she got no response, she frowned. "Seven? Are you in here?"

When there was still only silence, she became a small bit anxious.

"Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is in Astrometrics," the computer responded immediately.

B'Elanna was a little confused, but headed towards Astrometrics anyway.

What's she doing there so early? she wondered. It's not even her shift yet.

When B'Elanna entered Astrometrics, the first thing she noticed about Seven was that the Borg looked rather fatigued.

"Seven?" she asked cautiously. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Of course," Seven replied, not looking up from where she was working. "I might ask you the same question. What are you doing here so late?"

B'Elanna shook her head. "Seven, it's the morning now. It's not even time for your shift." When the Borg looked at her disbelievingly, she sighed exasperatedly. "It's 0600 hours," she insisted. "Wait… did you work all night?"

Seven paused her work and thought for a minute. "When I was done my shift last night, I came back here after a short time, deciding I needed to work on something. I had originally planned to only work for an hour. I see I lost track of time."

She straightened her posture and looked at B'Elanna seriously. "I will still go to my shift, Lieutenant. Just because I lost track of time is no excuse to skip."

"I wasn't complaining," B'Elanna said, glancing at what Seven had been working on. "It looks rather interesting… researching slipstream?"

"Yes. I have been trying to think of a way to make it compatible with Voyager. So far, I have been unsuccessful, but I will find a way."

"That'll be cool. And you can take a short break before your shift. We won't mark you late, and besides, this area of space is pretty empty for light-years around."

"I do not need a break. I am still functioning."

"Functioning well?"

It took a second for Seven to respond with a "yes," but B'Elanna was sure that it really should have been a "no." The Borg didn't look like she would have as much energy as she usually did, so B'Elanna wouldn't give her anything too big, in case she made a mistake from tiredness.

"Now, why were you looking for me, Lieutenant?" Seven asked.

"I was going to ask you if you were okay from yesterday," B'Elanna said. "But it looks like you're fine, so I'll meet you later to discuss this new slipstream stuff?"

Seven seemed surprised that B'Elanna would offer interest in her work, but nodded, and B'Elanna left.

-

"…she was up all night, captain. I don't remember her doing that before."

Janeway nodded thoughtfully. "Do you think that this will continue, and, whether it does or not, will it effect her strongly?"

"I'm not sure, captain," B'Elanna replied. "I'll be watching her carefully today. Shall I notify the Doctor?"

"No, not yet. I don't want her to feel like we're ganging up on her. If it continues, then yes, tell the Doctor. Just watch her for now."

B'Elanna nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

-

As they work on the slipstream project, B'Elanna kept a close eye on Seven to make sure she was doing okay. She seemed to be working fine, but she was moving a little slower than normal.

After a while, the Borg seemed to get tired, and she paused in her work, putting a hand to her forehead.

"You can stop, Seven," B'Elanna offered. "If you haven't regenerated for two days, you probably should."

"…I will not comply," Seven said after hesitating for a moment. "I can still function, so there is no need."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Either sleep or have one of your nutritional icky drinks. But you have to do one if you want to keep working."

Seven seemed almost annoyed, but then relented and nodded.

"I will see you in six hours then, Lieutenant."

"Thanks, Seven. I'll save our work for now, and we'll continue later."

-

Seven was silently, secretly relieved that she had alone time. She could speculate more about imperfections.

As she approached the cargo bay, she wondered why she had decided that regenerating was better than ingesting nutrients which her body most likely needed more. Also, she could get more work done if she took the five minutes to drink instead of the six hours to regenerate.

She paused, studying herself. Would it hurt her too much if she started to regenerate more often than eating? She had more than the necessary amount of body mass, so a missed "meal" or two in favor of regenerating didn't seem to be such a big deal. Besides, she was starting to get a slight headache from fatigue, so she hurried the rest of the way to the cargo bay.