When Data woke up next, he was still on his back, his arms and legs still pinned to the table, but the restraint across his chest was gone. Instead, there was now a long piece of medical equipment with lights and tubes, arched over his forearm. The Borg drones were still milling around him, and when he quickly scanned the room, he still couldn't see Naseema. He watched the drones briefly, before his sense of urgency finally got the better of him. "Where is Ambassador Naseema?" he asked. Two of the drones in Starfleet uniforms looked at him as if they recognized the name, but didn't offer any form of verbal response. He sighed, and then the disembodied voice returned.
"Are you ready?" it asked, in a slow, seductive manner.
"Where is the ambassador? Have you harmed her?" he asked in response. "Has she been assimilated?"
The voice laughed softly. "No, she has not been assimilated...yet. Don't worry, she is fine," the voice said. "You may see her soon. She misses you, and she's quite fond of you, Data. She's very beautiful, don't you think?"
Data furrowed his brow. He didn't understand the point of this line of questioning. How would Naseema's beauty affect the Borg's usual course of action? They would either assimilate her, or deem her a threat, and eliminate her. All he wanted to know was which action the Borg had opted for. "I fail to see how her physical appearance is relevant to the current situation," he replied. "I only wish to know that she has not been harmed."
"So you feel nothing for her?"
He arched his eyebrow this time, searching the room for either a body belonging to the voice, or Naseema. He was intrigued by this voice's insistence that he discuss the ambassador in this manner. The Borg did not feel, so why did they insist on knowing what he felt for her? "I do not believe my personal feelings regarding the ambassador are any of your concern, but if you insist, it is my duty to protect her, and she is my friend. I am concerned for her well being," he calmly answered.
"I see," the voice said. "She is here. She will join us soon."
"Who are you?" he asked, his curiosity about the voice finally getting the better of him.
"I am the Borg."
"That is a contradiction," he replied. "The Borg have a collective consciousness, there are no individuals." His gold eyes continued to search the room for the source of the voice. The snake-like hoses descending from the ceiling began to move, and his gaze darted towards them. The artificial tentacles were lowering a female bust, head and shoulders only with grey, mottled skin, towards the floor. The head had no hair, only thin tubes protruding from it's crown, tangling around each other before they disappeared under the skin again, at the nape of the neck. The face was sharp, with piercing silver eyes, and deep red lips. She was beautiful in an eerie, otherworldly way.
"I am the beginning, the end, the one who is many. I am the Borg," she purred. Her exposed metal spine hung down below her shoulders, and writhed, it's red lights glowing bright and brilliant in the shadows, until it slid into it's housing, a slim female body, clad in the heavy armour of the Borg. She sighed gently as the clasps of her body snapped into place, and fixed her two pieces into one.
Data's eyes widened with fascination at the dramatic entrance. The female started towards him, and he became overcome with interest. "Greetings. I am curious, do you control the Borg collective?" he asked.
"You imply disparity where none exists. I am the collective," she replied, moving closer.
"Perhaps I should rephrase the question. I wish to understand the organizational relationships. Are you their leader?" he asked again.
He wanted to know where Naseema was, and this being was obviously the one who would be able to answer his inquiries. He clearly didn't understand the nature of the Borg construct as well as he thought he did. This being had independent thought, and appeared to be a separate entity from the drones in the hive, almost as if she were...their queen. He knew he could learn a great deal from this...being...she was female, but he was hesitant to label her a woman. She was not a woman by his understanding, not that it would matter even if she was. It wasn't like he knew how to manipulate a woman anyway. His best course of action was to indulge this being, and her questions for now. Hopefully she would let him see Naseema soon.
"I bring order to chaos," the queen said, as if her statement made perfect sense. To her, it probably did.
"An interesting, if cryptic response," Data mused, and he followed her with his eyes as she began to circle around the table.
"You are in chaos, Data," she said with a knowing resolve. "You are the contradiction. A machine who wishes to be human."
How did she know that? He was beginning to feel like he was dealing with a female version of his brother, but she was less obvious, and she lacked the sneering rage that dominated Lore's personality. Naseema must have told her, but why would she reveal such a thing to this...stranger? This being had told him Naseema was fine, and so far unassimilated. Had she been manuipulated or even tortured into revealing information about him? This being must have lied to him. Naseema would not have revealed anything willingly, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time a female had lied to him in order to gain something from him, nor would it be the first time he had fallen prey to such deceit.
"Since you seem to know so much about me, you must be aware that I am programmed to evolve, to better myself," he replied, determined not to be baited in this time.
"We too are on a quest to better ourselves. Evolving toward a state of perfection," the queen calmly insisted, continuing to circle him until she came back to where she'd first appeared, and stood there, staring at him.
"Forgive me, but the Borg do not evolve," Data said. "They conquor."
He didn't really care if he had the queen's forgiveness, but if Naseema had already been harmed, he was concerned she would be injured further if he put up too much of a fight. He would save the fight for later, once he knew what had become of Naseema.
"By assimilating other beings into our collective, we are bringing them closer to perfection," the queen continued. She carried the arrogance of centuries old royalty, and her statements had the self-righteous air of one who truly believed what she was doing was for the greater good.
Her conceit encouraged Data to challenge her more boldly. "Somehow, I question your motives," he responded with more than just a hint of condescension.
A sly, unnerving smile spread across the queen's lips. "That is because you haven't been properly...stimulated yet," she smirked, and waved her hand in a summoning gesture.
Data frowned, knowing she didn't intend any kindness behind her veiled threat, and then he caught it in the far corner of his vision. The blonde hair. He jerked his head in the same direction, and watched as Naseema glided towards the queen, walking with the same easy grace she always did, but as she drew closer, he noticed that something about her wasn't the same.
There was something terribly wrong about her sudden appearance. Why was she moving so slowly? Completely unfettered? She didn't appear to be harmed in any way, yet she also seemed to be moving on the direction of the queen. She was smiling, and her face was placid and un-moved by their predicament. His predicament. He was strapped firmly to this table with holes in his head, and whatever else had been done to him when he'd been unconscious. She floated across the room as if she were completely at home in this bastardized, violated version of engineering. What else had she told the queen about him, the captain, the crew...the ship?
As Naseema came up to stand beside her, the queen reached her hand up, and stroked it gently down the length of the Feeonix's long, loose hair. Data silently stared at her, searching her calm expression for some kind of acknowledgement. Now that she was in the pool of light surrounding the table, he could see what had concerned him about her appearance a second ago. The fiery ring in her eyes was gone, and her normally dark blue irises were now black...black and empty. Naseema looked up at the queen, the calm, eerie smile still on her lips, and the queen looked back at her.
He is ready now, Naseema, the queen said, and Naseema glanced at Data, blinking slowly.
Excellent. Shall we proceed your highness? she replied.
His eyes darted back and forth between the two females. They were communicating somehow, that he was sure of. He felt a strange, unpleasant sensation creep through him. It was dread, an overwhelming sense of terrible dread that quickly turned to terror when he heard the miniscule beep inside the back of his skull signalling him that his chip had been reactived.
He gasped loudly as the sudden rush of feeling came over him. "You have reactivated my emotion chip," he said, his voice shaking and desperate. "Why?" He looked at Naseema, struggling to control his facial expression. She tilted her head to one side, but he couldn't tell if it was in curiosity or sympathy. The queen watched her as she moved to stand at the far end of the table, between his feet, before she climbed on top of it, and crawled up towards him until she was straddling his hips. She rested her weight down, and leaned forward, propping herself up, her forearms on his chest. She pressed her hips into his as she adjusted their position slightly, and he let out a tiny whimper. He searched her eyes for any sign of a plan, a trick, anything, but there was nothing. He couldn't even differentiate the separate parts of her eyes anymore, they had all blended together into slick, oily blackness.
Do not be frightened," she purred, and touched his cheek gently. The queen watched silently from the sidelines, a satisfied grin across her full, crimson lips.
I am not frightened," he replied pathetically, not even able to convince himself with his response.
Naseema smiled gently, and kissed his forehead. "You have never been afraid of me before, Data, and you have no cause to be now. There is a reason your chip has been reactivated, and I will show you why," she said. Her voice was calm and soothing. She was trying to pacify him, and it was working. He took a deep breath, and felt some of the crushing tension release itself. The piece across his arm snapped open suddenly, and he jerked his head towards the sound. Naseema smiled again.
The queen took a step towards him, and motioned to the spot on his arm where his bioplast skin had been flayed, and replaced by a small square of what looked like human skin. "Do you know what this is, Data?" she asked as her left brow bone rose up enigmatically.
"It would appear you are attempting to graft organic skin onto my endo-skeletal structure," he replied, nervously glancing between Naseema, and the queen. The Feeonix remained silent, still smiling, and gazing down at him affectionately. The excessively calm expression on her face was making his anxiety rise. There was definitely something wrong with her.
"What a cold description, for such a beautiful gift," the queen said. She looked at Naseema, and motioned towards the new skin with her eyes. Now, Naseema, the queen told her. Show him what you can give him. What we can give him. Naseema nodded her reply.
He knew they were communicating again. He didn't like these ominous, silent exchanges between the two females. The Borg had done something to Naseema. They were making her behave in this strange manner. She had never tried to exert her sexual energy over him before, yet that was exactly what she was doing now. She knew it didn't affect him the way it affected organic males. Why was she even attempting to influence him this way?
Naseema met his eyes again, and tilted her head slightly. Then she moved her arms, bracing herself against the table's surface as she leaned to one side. She brought her mouth close to the grafted skin, and exhaled a gentle breath, blowing it across the tender flesh. It tightened, and goosebumps raced across it as it's tiny hairs rose up in response to the delicate wind gliding across them. The sensation was powerful, incredible, and his eyes widened as it exploded in his brain. He couldn't control his reaction. He gasped with shock, and blinked rapidly as his back arched up, and he jerked against his restraints.
What a marvelous feeling! All of his circuits were tingling, and he suddenly liked that she was on top of him, her weight resting on his hips. He'd felt her breath before, but never like this! How could something so simple create such a mind-blowing chain reaction throughout his whole body?! He wanted her to do it again!
The residual effects were still zipping through him when she straightened herself up, and looked down at him, a pleased grin on her face. "Was that good for you?" she asked suggestively.
He blinked several more times as he held his eyes on hers, an awestruck expression on his face. He tried to respond, but all he could manage was a long, whimpering sigh. He was so overwhelmed, he couldn't even form a coherent thought.
The queen remained completely silent, the same satisfied smile on her lips as before. Naseema glanced over at her. He likes it, was all she said before returning her gaze to Data's.