Chapter 4 – Awakening
The time spent outside of Unimatrix Zero usually passed instantaneously. Sometimes, minutes to days later, fragments from the real world would surface, although these recollections were fleeting at best. She often thought it ironic. Her consciousness resided in the dreamscape of the forest while the real world was remembered only as fragmented dreams. Over eighteen years, she had built up an idea of what it was like to be a drone. Of her life in the real world. That's how she knew her current designation, and other disconnected details such as the assimilation of Voyager. She usually had a sense of when her regeneration cycle was ending. A skip in her consciousness. A blink of the eye… but this was different. There were other voices in her head now, but hadn't she just been speaking with Javin at the meeting place?
Annika was looking in a mirror. Behind her was a mirror as well, and reflections of herself multiplied and diminished into infinity. She was mostly as she knew herself from Unimatrix Zero, but also the child she once was and the Borg drone she had become. Side by side and together in the many reflections. She closed her eyes and reopened them. More in focus now. Of the real world. Of what she truly looked like outside of Unimatrix Zero. The Borg drone with gray skin and armor, no hair and no smile.
And yet again this was different. Neither real nor a dream, but rather a twilight between the two. The voices were getting louder, but still indistinct. The reflections in the mirrors shimmered and coalesced into a single image. She was Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. She was part of a great consciousness with a singular and expansive purpose. A drive for perfection. Order over chaos. All sentient life working to achieve the same goal and not in conflict. An end of conflict. Was that not perfect? Galactic peace.
"Annika. Wake up!"
A voice interrupted her thoughts. Soft, yet urgent. More defined than the indistinct cacophony of the background voices. Yes, she was also Annika. Annika Hansen. The scared little girl on the ship and the confident grown woman in the forest. She had vaguely recognized the voice. The part of her mind who was Annika and the part of her mind who was Seven of Nine. Was the voice her own or someone else? Something important was on the tip of her mind, the part that was Annika, but remained elusive. Something she needed to remember, but the other voices were now distracting. Billions of voices…
"Annika!" Chakotay said again slightly louder. He glanced around nervously to make sure none of the other drones nearby turned towards them. He was getting anxious, uncertain when the Hive Mind would become conscious of what he was doing and try to stop him. Did the Hive Mind have the ability to overpower his consciousness? Use his body against his will? The thought made him recoil. Chakotay had waited until near the end of his cycle and then purposefully damaged his manipulator to be sent to drone repair once again. After the repair was complete, he disregarding the ever present instructions from the Collective. He shut out the voices of the Hive Mind. Annika was right where he expected her to be. When the medical drones were far enough away, he had moved over to her and injected her with the reprogrammed nanoprobes. Now she had them as well. Somehow, he thought the effect would be instantaneous, but she still lay unconscious before him as if regenerating. Had he remembered the sequence correctly?
Chakotay looked about again but still none of the other drones were taking notice of his presence. He reached out to touch Annika's shoulder. To shake her awake. Suddenly her hand shot out and grabbed his arm in a vicelike grip. Her eyes were now open and glaring at him. There was uncertainty in her face. For a terrifying second, Chakotay only saw the drone there behind those blazing eyes and not Annika. Suddenly, however, her eyes softened in recognition.
"Chakotay," Annika whispered. She smiled ever so slightly and then looked at her hand as if it wasn't a part of her body and released her grip.
The virus had worked. Chakotay started disconnecting various tubes and wires that tethered Annika to the table she was laying on. "There's no time to lose. We must go and find the Central Plexus before we are discovered."
Annika hesitated for a moment but then nodded slowly and began helping Chakotay extradite herself from the table. The Central Plexus. She tried to remember where that might be. Towards the center of the cube. Memories from the half of her mind she had been cut off from in Unimatrix Zero flooded into her consciousness. The beauty and the horror of it all. Or was it the other way around. Were the memories of Unimatrix Zero becoming manifest to her drone consciousness? Was it the same or were they still different? A thought suddenly occurred to her as she sat up, the top half of her body now free. "This is not our original cube," she said hesitantly.
Chakotay paused. "What do you mean?"
"Our cube was destroyed protecting Voyager," she continued. "In our war with Species 8472."
"But aren't all cubes the same?" Chakotay asked.
Seven of Nine had been on eleven different Borg vessels in her eighteen years with the Borg. In that time she had five different designations, Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One the most recent. The other eight drones were now gone, and so it was likely she would be redesignated. No longer as close to the Queen in Unimatrix Zero-One. She shook her head. But of course that was irrelevant. Her name was Annika. Her real name. Wasn't it? What was it that Chakotay just asked her?
"Annika," Chakotay said. He was holding her by the shoulders. Annika focused on his face. Behind the Borg appendages and facade, there was a look of concern. "What's going on?" he asked.
"It's…" Annika began, but then looked about. One of her eyes was cybernetic, giving her a distorted, and yet enhanced view of her surroundings. It was both familiar and repulsive. The room was as Chakotay had described. The maturation chambers filled one wall. Many were now filled with babies at various stages of development. Around her were tables identical to the one she was on, and on each of them was a drone. "It's disorienting," she finally managed. "I have to integrate two lifetimes of memories and experiences. It's hard to combine the two, and yet, it's also hard to keep them separate."
Chakotay helped her off the table. When planning all this, the insurgents hadn't considered Annika would have trouble integrating her drone self with her personality from Unimatrix Zero. For those with a lifetime of experience before being assimilated, it might not have been an issue, but for Annika, she was assimilated as a child. They had precious little time and had assumed Annika would have no trouble in guiding the two of them to the Central Plexus to release the virus into the Collective. That seemed uncertain now. Chakotay felt they had to get as far away as possible from this place to limit their interaction with other drones, so he moved with purpose to the exit.
Drone repair was off the inner equatorial walkway of the cube. Chakotay led Annika towards the periphery to an area he knew was less populated with drones. He had been in the area only once before. There were several intersecting corridors with regeneration alcoves that were still in need of power, and of drones. It was near here where he and the other drones from Voyager had found the errant drone a few days earlier.
"I understand," Annika said suddenly at an intersection of two corridors. She stopped walking.
"What do you understand?" Chakotay asked.
"The Borg's idea of perfection," Annika replied.
"Perfection?" Chakotay spat back. "There's nothing perfect about the Borg. The Borg conquer and assimilate. They rob billions of their freedom and individuality."
"They replace chaos with order," Annika said. Conflicting emotions played across her face. "Species 118. They practiced infanticide. For gender selection or just for convenience, they killed billions of their own children. Cutting off their heads or simply crushing them with a medical instrument." She appeared horrified by the prospect. Her hands were resting on her abdomen. Chakotay realized with a start that Annika was probably pregnant and she must have just realized the same thing. A new life within her. "The Borg put an end to that when Species 118 was defeated. Every drone is cherished as part of a greater whole. One body."
"The Borg freely sacrifice drones to serve their needs…"
"Species 938," Annika interrupted. "They promoted euthanasia of the elderly and infirmed of their species. The basic necessities of life and medical care were free to all from birth but distributed based on your ability to contribute to the greater society. The leaders became a ruling elite and apportioned the care and resources as they saw fit. Suicide for lesser groups was legal and encouraged. They touted these as basic rights." Again, it was clear Annika was repulsed by these thoughts, and Chakotay couldn't blame her. There were too many examples from the worlds of the Federation where individual freedoms were sacrificed for material security. "When Species 938 fell, the Borg stopped that as well. All drones are treated equally. There is no elite or favored class."
Chakotay stepped up to Annika. The integration of her consciousness from Unimatrix Zero and that of being a Borg drone was affecting her judgement. The morals of those in Unimatrix Zero inappropriately applied to the Borg. Again, something they hadn't anticipated, and she was now wrestling internally with the conflict. Equality as a drone with the Borg came at a steep price. Chakotay had to be the voice of reason. "The Borg may have stopped those atrocities, but then replaced them with atrocities of their own. When individual liberties and the laws that protect those liberties are eliminated, an authoritarian tyranny emerges. It is always the end result no matter how well intentioned it is at the start."
"I know… but…" Annika started hesitantly. She knew the histories of many worlds from across the Galaxy. She looked down, recalling these memories and images from being a drone. A warehouse of pain and suffering assimilated and witnessed by the Borg. "Oftentimes those laws do not exist or are distorted," she said.
Chakotay had to end this somehow. They didn't have time for a philosophical debate. "For the Borg, there is no sanctity of life. A drone is discarded by the Borg as easily as cutting a fingernail for us. The Borg wipe out entire civilizations and take away the free will of billions of individuals," he argued.
"The Hive Mind has free will," Annika replied uncertainly. "The civilizations are assimilated and individuals become part of a greater whole with a greater purpose."
"It may be true that all drones are equal," Chakotay countered. "But again, the sacredness of individual lives is completely missing. Annika. You know that. There is no choice as a drone, and the preciousness of an individual life that comes from having a choice is gone."
"But the horror of what individuals are capable of," Annika persisted.
"Species and societies are constantly growing and maturing. Those aberrations that you speak of are in time eliminated. There are positive examples in our history of that taking place as well. It's better than the alternative. The tyranny of the Borg. We have to accept the good and the bad together, and then work to eliminate the bad. Regardless, the bad that still exists does not excuse the Borg from the horrors they inflict on the rest of us."
"The ends don't justify the means…"
"Exactly."
Annika closed her eyes and reached out to touch Chakotay's shoulder. "I know," she whispered. "I know all those things. Believe me, the Borg has been the enemy and a boogie man to me for eighteen years. I guess I just never took the time to try and understood the Hive Mind's motivation before. And now to get it all at once." She sighed and shook her head as if to clear it of something unpleasant. "I understand," she added, mirroring what she had said at the beginning. "It's a disturbing revelation. I think the Borg believe they are doing the right thing. Bringing about order within a universe in chaos."
Chakotay remembered his experience with the cooperative of ex-drones who chose to reassimilate back into a Hive Mind to restore order within their group. He had also never truly considered what motived the Borg before, but realized Annika's assessment was probably correct. "The Borg are wrong and we have every right to resist," Chakotay said. "I have no wish to live as a drone, and I believe that is true for the majority of drones."
Annika was shaking her head. "Not all," she replied. "There will be some drones who resist us. Even without the Hive Mind."
Again, Chakotay suspected Annika was correct in her assessment. It would matter little, however, if they weren't able to deploy the virus in the first place. He looked about, but they were still alone with no other drones in sight. Overhead, an energy conduit began pulsing methodically. It was likely this section was either being repaired or would soon be repaired. "We need to find the Central Plexus. The hundreds of drones in Unimatrix Zero are depending on us."
Annika nodded quickly. With a better understanding of what made the Borg tick, she was able to put the drone portion of her mind away, as if sliding it nicely into a far corner. Whether it would stay there or not was anyone's guess. She looked down both corridors and then pointed to the one leading deeper into the cube. "The Plexus is usually located close to the center of a cube of this design," she said and started moving. Chakotay quickly followed.
They encountered their first drone as they neared the central ring. The drone passed them without incident, although Annika was visibly shaken. Soon afterwards Annika was able to pass through a force field while entering a shaft that would allow access to a different level, but Chakotay was stopped by the same field.
"You go," Chakotay said. "Meet me back here when it is done and we'll then find the Vinculum."
Annika passed back through the field. "No. We go together." She reached up and injected Chakotay with nanoprobles, and then started moving again. Chakotay followed and had no trouble with the field this time. That was easier than he thought. They moved up two levels and then started down another corridor. "Besides, the Vinculum is probably located close to the Plexus Chamber," Annika said over her shoulder.
What are you doing?
Annika stopped abruptly and turned to face Chakotay. Chakotay nearly collided with her. Annika looked up and down the corridor and Chakotay did the same. They were still alone. "What's wrong?" Chakotay asked.
Annika looked concerned. "Did you just say something?"
Chakotay shook his head. He glanced back down the corridor to examine the alcoves they had just passed, but all of them were empty and many needed repairs.
Annika hesitated for a moment more, but then turned to start moving forward once again.
Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One. I've missed you. What are you doing?
This time Annika heard the voice clearly. Soft and fluid like honey, a singular voice over the rest. The sound of it made her freeze. As a drone, it was never a good thing to be singled out by that voice. Whether in person or by trans-subspace across thousands of parsecs. She had been assigned to Unimatrix Zero-One and knew it well. Annika couldn't bring herself to move. It was, after all, the Borg Queen.
"Where do we go from here?" Chakotay asked, uncertain why Annika had stopped again. They weren't near a junction and there appeared to be no obstacles in their path. It was a section of the cube he had never been in before, but he suspected they were close.
Who is that with you? I can't seem to hear his thoughts. How is this possible?
"The Queen," Annika said to Chakotay through clenched teeth. "She's in my mind." Suddenly Annika reached out and grabbed Chakotay's shoulders to bring him closer. It was the Queen acting through her, wanting to get a better look. She turned her head away even as her arms and hands drew him in. "Turn away!" she shouted. "Don't face me!" Annika wasn't sure if the Queen knowing Chakotay's identity would even matter, but she acted out of impulse and wanted to protect him. She was able to remove her hands with great effort and turned herself to face the wall of the corridor.
Why do you resist? More importantly, how are you resisting? You are conflicted. Come back to us and feel at peace. Comply.
The Queen's voice was melodic and soothing. It would be so easy to just let go. A part of her wanted to let go. Annika closed her eyes.
I can tell you are upset. There is something weighing heavily on your mind. Your… friends. What is this Unimatrix Zero?
"I can't block her out!" Annika said desperately.
Chakotay was now behind her and grabbed her shoulders. "Run," he urged. "We're out of time. Just run."
Annika did what Chakotay asked. She started down the corridor with Chakotay still holding her shoulders from behind. They were in one of the ring corridors that circled the center of the cube. The warp engines and trans-warp drive occupied the exact center, but if she was correct, the Central Plexus was just a few steps away on this level.
Why do you want to go to the Central Plexus?
"Get out of my head!" Annika screamed.
Tell me what I want to know. You know you want to. Let go and let us help you.
Chakotay was still holding her and moving her forward. She turned left and through another force field into a room. She stopped and started gasping. Not from the exertion, but from the mental strain of trying to resist the Queen and the Hive Mind. In the center of the chamber was a cubical structure with energy conduits feeding all eight vertices of the cube. The Central Plexus Chamber. The device connected the cube to the rest of the Collective. In a way, it was the Hive Mind's equivalent to a brain, or perhaps a better analogy would be a single complicated synapse within a vast brain that spanned trans-subspace. On one side of the device and blocking their way were two drones.
Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One. Disable the aberrant drone who is with you and rejoin your family. There is nowhere else to go. We can help both of you.
Annika slowly turned to face Chakotay. Her hands began to reach out, but then started to shake. She cried out. Chakotay watched helplessly as Annika and the Hive Mind battled for control over her body.
You disappoint me.
Suddenly Annika reached her hands up to her head instead and cried out again. She dropped to her knees and then to the floor in a fetal position. Chakotay stared at her for a moment, but didn't have time to assess her condition. The two other drones stepped towards him. He backed away, but moved quickly off to the right to remain inside the Plexus chamber, working his way around the device. The other two drones stepped over Annika and continued their pursuit.
He would have to somehow disable the drones to give him time to gain access to the Central Plexus. It would take several seconds to remove one of the faces to be able to inject the nanoprobes and virus into the device. Several seconds he wouldn't have if these drones were still functioning. It was likely more drones were on the way, so he couldn't delay any longer.
Chakotay lunged towards the drone he judged to be the smaller of the two. His momentum carried both of them forward and onto the floor. Chakotay fell on top of the other drone with his full weight on the drone's chest armor. The drone, however, remained undamaged and tried to wrap his arm and manipulator about Chakotay's torso, but Chakotay was too fast and stood up just in time to block a blow from the second drone who had moved up next to him. He crouched down and swung one of his legs around in an attempt to hit the back of the second drone's knees and bring him down as well. It was only partially successful. The second drone stumbled back to try and regain his balance, but this gave Chakotay time to land on the first drone again to keep him on the floor. That did something as sparks erupted from a cybernetic component on the drone's chest. The drone on the floor still twitched, but didn't attempt to get up. Now facing down a single opponent, Chakotay's boxing skills served him well. He engaged the second drone and incapacitated him in short order. He turned towards the nearest panel into the Central Plexus. He started to unhook the latches and didn't see the two new drones enter the chamber until it was too late.
Annika had witnessed the final moments of the initial fight between Chakotay and the first two drones and saw the other two drones enter the chamber, but was unable to warn Chakotay in time. They grabbed Chakotay and wrestled him to the floor. Her head throbbed with pain, but she tried to ignore it. She needed to join the fight and save Chakotay, but then she noticed above her and close by was one of the faces of the Central Plexus. She made a decision. She stood up quickly and disengaged the latches that held this face's panel in place. She heard Chakotay gasp and some movement off to the side, but had no time to look. If she was going to accomplish their goal, she had just seconds.
They grabbed her from behind, but her tubules had injected the nanoprobes successfully. More drones were arriving into the chamber and outside in the corridor. One of the drones pulled her over and forced her to the floor beside Chakotay. He lay in a heap, unconscious. His body bent in an awkward position. She reached out and touched his face, an angry gash across his cheek oozed blood.
What have you done?
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Author's Note: Thank you to all who have left reviews, favorited or followed one or more of my stories. Not sure if this chapter is quite ready, but it will have to do. I'll be unable to update for the next few weeks and will pick up again sometime in July.