AN: The next three chapters are very long and I don't want to overwhelm anyone with word count. So I may be separating these chapters into two parts.

Chapter 9

[Complex Heaven - Brain Eno]

Part I

Lore stopped jumping through the tears in space only when he was certain that he was far from the Dominion's clutches. His computer systems came back online and he checked his coordinates. His ship was drifting on impulse somewhere within the exterior delta quadrant. The events of the past days struck him in waves shock; less than thirty hours and he was tossed from the newly lain foundations of his life.

What more than that, was that he was alone. The only real friend who he had ever known, who had been so close to him, was gone from his existence.

And now he was here; the feeling was reminiscent of the death of his father. There was only one person who Lore knew would never leave him in this dull universe. Even over light years it was comforting to know that Data was there, that he was alive, and that Lore was not alone. But he could not return to his brother. Not ever.

He pulled out a leather bag of what few personal belongings he had left. An older book containing teachings of Lemnan's religion and the original religious texts. It had a green, burlap cover which he opened and found a note that Jamaal had left, written underneath the title.

Lore,

It is my hope that you learn as much from this as you can and that you find what it is you are searching for.

Jim

He flipped it open to a page he had marked.

"Family is above all else. The threads that are interwoven between us cannot be severed by any sin and will withstand the sands of time."

With this thought, Lore pulled out a smaller item in his bag. The tiny glass case containing his brother's emotions chip. It still glittered under the dim blinking lights in the cavern of his bridge. Feeling along the side of his skull, just above his ear, he remembered how perfectly he had wronged his brother. How it seemed like the ideal revenge while still justifiable under the pretense of saving his brother's life. It was a reminder of how ruthless he could be. He stuffed the artifact back into his bag.

Lore's attention was snatched back to the sensors as they picked up odd energy readings originating from a ship drifting just off the port bow. Lore put on the view screen and awe washed over him as he observed a massive ship, one thousand times his size, and the shape of a cube. It was illuminated by an internal, neon-green glow. It sat there idly for over an hour with no attempt at communication or any other action.

He hailed the ship with a universal translator. No response, though his scanners registered over four-thousand humanoid life forms aboard. He had no other means of contacting this ship, no transporter and the cube had no visible docking port from what he could tell. Lore fired a short burst of red phaser energy in an attempt to grab the ship's attention.

It seemed to work as the massive ship wrapped a green, hazy tendril around his tiny vessel. As soon as his ship was pulled within transport range, he felt himself go light as he was beamed right off the bridge. He rematerialized in dense, humid atmosphere, aware that several humanoids surrounded him, pointing weapon-like appendages at him. Instantly, Lore was able to identify them as the Borg. What little information he had was based on their physiology. Their cyborg faces covered in mechanical pieces and bodies sheathed in metallic clothing. These were humans that had been altered to serve one specific task as a member of their collective. Without central command, they functioned as one individual consciousness, comprised of many.

But when he was beamed aboard, he noted that they seemed… disorganized, all shouting different questions or outbursts of rage while others had expressions of fascination etched across their faces. Lore noted that many of the Borg were still standing in inside of respite modules, unmoving and lifeless. A smaller individual stepped forward and shouted, trying and catch the attention of the group.

"Everyone, please. Calm yourselves." The Borg turned. "You. What is your name?"

"Lore."

"Lore. Can you help us?" The boy took a step forward.

"You are Borg." He began to find his speech again.

"We are Borg."

"This is not natural behavior for the Borg species. What's happened here?"

"We have been severed from the Collective when some of our members began to assimilate individuality. It spread through our ship like a disease, and many could not cope with the concept. Our ship is now crippled as we no longer function as one."

"I see." The chaos was evident in the wreckage surrounding him. Lore hastily pushed away his puzzlement. "Do you have warp capability?"

"We do but I am not sure if I can access it." He led Lore over to an access terminal nested alongside several others each of which looked like they had their own purpose. "The functions of this ship are controlled by root commands. The Collective is not in contact with us so we are no longer receiving these commands." The Borg looked at Lore with one eye, as his other was covered by a mechanical eyepiece. Lore saw fear and desperation in the boy's expression. "If we remain out here any longer then I am afraid we will not survive. Life support is functioning for now but that could give out at any minute along with the other decaying systems."

"My sensors picked up a habitable planet within range before I was beamed aboard. Let me return to my ship, if you can keep contact with me and follow on impulse power, then I may be able to help you."

The boy nodded as there were a few angry shouts of protest.

"What is your name?" Lore asked.

"Hugh." And with that the boy beamed Lore back aboard his relatively tiny scout ship.

.

Grabbing a scanning device, Lore beamed down near a large structure on the planet's surface. He met Hugh and a group of about five, who were all examining the structure with specialized equipment.

"Should we go inside?"

Lore tilted his head back, not taking his gaze from the peak of the pearly white structure. "Well it's easily worth a look."

On the interior of the building, they found a kind of entrance hall with elaborate marble structures offering support to the great arches of stone. Ancient double doors crested with gold led off to hallways with thousands of rooms. The structure also apparently extended underground with an antique pulley system to transport people to and from different levels.

In the hall, Lore gazed up at the blue sky seen through the arches. The ceiling had apparently been made of glass at one point, but the weather had destroyed any remnants left behind. Broken glass littered the floor, popping under his boots.

"You know, I didn't mention it before… but you strongly resemble someone I have met."

"Hm? Is that so?" Lore paced around the great cavernous space, his footsteps echoing off of the marble, his face turned upwards as he walked backward on the balls of his feet, still admiring the ancient, alien architecture.

"Yes... His name was Data." Lore froze, his back still turned to the young Borg.

"When?" He asked with a deadly calm.

"They brought me aboard their ship. Locutus, I mean Captain… Captain Picard. They helped me. Beverly, Geordi. All of them." The names of Data's fellow crewmembers blazed through Lore's mind.

"They taught me what it means to be an individual."

"It was you." Lore turned abruptly, gazing at Hugh with a frank expression.

Hugh stopped, realizing that he had slipped up.

"You brought this to your ship."

Hugh did not answer immediately. "Yes." He swallowed hard. "But I did not mean to harm…" He trailed off as Lore held up his hand for silence.

"Have the others brought here. We have a lot of work to do." Hugh dashed out of sight, not wanting to relive the look on Lore face when he had mentioned Data. Why did the name mean so much to him? Lore's expression suggested that they knew each other. They really did look so much alike... Hugh pushed his thoughts aside as he beamed back to his ship.