Ensign Kim heard the reverberation of his footsteps as he walked through the cold metal hall a little louder today. Normally a trip to the cargo bay was a trivial task, but not this time. Not since she moved down there. He was of course nervous to meet the newest edition to their crew, the borg woman that lived downstairs. Borg… The word felt inhuman. Cold, ruthless, a race of automatons that consisted of assimilated technology and species. How could they ever truly work together as equals?
But this one was different he thought, almost in an attempt to trick himself into developing a sense of confidence. She has severed her link from the collective she helped integrate Borg technology into the ship he continued. Besides he was given his orders by the captain herself. It was his job to make this work. His thoughts were interrupted by the whoosh of the electronic doors of the cargo bay opening.
"You are late". She said without looking up from the interface. Only by a few minutes thought Kim as he hurriedly made his way to an adjacent workstation.
"Further mistakes will not be tolerated in this collective".
"We're not in a coll-" She handed him a datapad before swiftly turning her eyes back to her work.
"These are the tasks I have already completed you will find they were done to a sufficiently high level of standard".
"I see" said Kim. He tried his best to mask his surprise as he looked over the data pad.
She's only been here 2 weeks and she is better than I was in 2 months!
They work silently together for several hours. The sound of typing bounces off the walls of the metal incubation chamber. Sweat begins to form on Kim's brow. His clothes start to stick with sweat. All the while the borg types at the same hurried pace.
She really is more machine than human. It's been nearly 5 hours since we started and she hasn't stopped once!
He studies her movements from the corner of his eye as he takes a sip of water. She was taller than he was, if only by a few centimeters. She was a little more muscular too. Her body suit hugged her in a way that almost looked uncomfortable. But she was used to the discomfort.
Suddenly, her fingers stop their rapid movements and become still. She turns and stares directly into Kim's eyes. He nearly choked on his water.
"Is there a problem Ensign?" She asks with genuine sincerity.
"What… no problem," He says slightly startled.
"I noticed you staring at me for approximately 12 seconds is there something wrong? Am I performing sub-optimally in any way?" She says with slight concern breaking through her normally even tone.
"No, no of course not, you were perfectly optimal. It's just…" He says slightly embarrassed.
She looks at him with anticipation. He's momentarily distracted by her large blue eyes.
"You work so fast. You're allowed to take a break you know." He says trying to refocus.
"Breaks are inefficient" She turns back to her screen. "We were not allowed such things in the collective".
"Well, you're not in the collective anymore." He says with a newfound confidence. "Just think about not pushing yourself so hard every once and a while. Okay?" He taps her shoulder in a friendly manner and smiles. He turns and leaves.
Now in an empty room, she pauses for a moment. Then continues to work.