Slow assimilation

Posted on Wed May 19, 2021 @ 9:26am by Lieutenant JG R'Imus tr'Aimne & Lieutenant Commander Ethan Brash & Lieutenant Commander Dr. Elisabet Intarrah Ph.D MD & Lieutenant Sibyl Danzer

Mission: Episode 4: Infiltration
Location: Crew Quarters - Deck 5 012
Timeline: MD 01
2655 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

tr'Aimne had chosen these quarters as they were empty, even a ship as small as the Eagle had a few rooms set aside for visitors. Given all his normal working spaces were either being repaired or replaced he decided to claim this set of rooms as his for the time being. He had opened it up to others in the department as a workspace but he had set himself up in what should have been one of the bedrooms given the sensitive nature of his work. Which brought him back to the present, "R'Imus to Lieutenant Brash, Granger, and Danzer, can you please come to temporary tactical operation as a matter of some urgency"

"Indeed, I'll be there soon." Lise mentioned.

"Lt. Danzer, on my way."

He had spent some time undercover within the Romulan Empire, during that time the Borg had attacked and he had witnessed what he called a slow assimilation, a number of worlds had been destroyed, the entire crust had been melted just to end that threat. He was seeing signs of something similar happening again now.

Elisabet walked in and examined what R'Imus was working on. "Intriguing, Lieutenant. Slow Assimilation. If I did not know any better, I'd say the Borg were being clever... But only individuals can make critical decisions such as 'being clever.' Individual drones do not possess the capability of independent thought... That is the collective's overwhelming weakness; they do not understand how they can be defeated. Their biggest weakness is what they consider to be irrelevant." Lise smiled. "The Borg can be tricked. Single-minded fools."

"Very true," he said "But a drones' individuality is only inhabited not removed. There have been a few cases when a group of drones have been cut off where one will assume a leadership role. Needless to say, I do not think that is what we are seeing here. I think that the collective has an agent in the system somewhere, acting as a go-between."

"Are you saying the Borg have learned espionage... Unlikely.." Lise noted. "That would suggest the Borg have created a drone capable of independent thought, but still intrinsically linked to the collective. Like how Captain Picard became Locutus.." Lise mentioned. "Possible. But one has to remember what Sun Tzu mentioned about spies. There is also the possibility this agent may not realize he or she is a drone, and is subconsciously assimilated." Lie mentioned. "It is possible. But again, more complex in concept than what the collective is capable of. This may be a departure from what we consider to be the prime thought process of the Borg. I wonder... Can I bounce an idea off you, R'imus?"

The Romulan Intelligence officer nodded slowly. The young woman was full of ideas. Unlike others, though, she was also fiercely intelligent so he was willing to listen to her. He didn't want her to get into the habit of using his chosen name though. "But before, please call me tr'Aimne, R'imus is my chosen name, and as such it is only acceptable for my family and loved ones to use it"

"What if someone wanted to be Borg.." Lise mentioned. "True to us, it may be madness. But to other less rational and more logical, and deluded, minds would consider it the ultimate state of being. Even on Vulcan, The Kohlinar Monks have been practicing the complete rejection of emotion. Stupidity. Like they could ever attain such a state of being just by willing it." Lise mentioned. "You can control the yang, but it's always a part of you along with the yin." The Chief Science Officer stated as eccentric as ever. "Besides. Life is more fun when you can go to a baseball game and cheer for the home team. They have those on Cestus III. Why the sport ever went out of style is a travesty to last the ages."

"That is in an interesting concept Doctor" he considered it "Even if someone went looking for the Borg to be assimilated they wouldn't retain their self. So in my opinion it would be compatible to joining a cult but then being forced to remain there."

Having entered the room not so far behind Ms. Granger, Sibyl listened intently as the specialists conferred. A new methodology of Borg assimilation? She didn't like the idea of it, naturally. It made her spine chill. But just disliking something didn't discount it. "Wait, just so I'm clear, so we're talking about Subconscious Borg drones that look like average people? And/ or possibly people aspiring to become Borg?"

"Unthinkable..? Perhaps Unlikely... Maybe. But impossible; I'd say no. Self-improvement is the driving force of people in the Federation, No? However to some, or perhaps many, Self-Improvement can only be achieved if one discards their flaws and imperfections. A trait of a delusional mind, but we see many deluded people in the Federation. A surprising amount of delusion. Take the Diplomatic Corps for example." Lise walked to the Replicator and got a cup of coffee. "Maybe this is the origins of the Borg. Self-improvement becoming a driving philosophy of peoples not to unlike ourselves." Lise mentioned. "And if we ponder the Borg's underlying philosophy, we may find the secret to defeating them. Besides, having that blank face that Borg drones have will give me lines, and that gray complexion. Also, I take pride in my hair." She smirked.

"That seems as good a theory as any into the origins of the Borg collective." Sibyl said. "Have we worked out any ways to detect subversive Borg drones besides dead resting face? Seems like that might turn up a lot of false positives on its own."

Elisabet spoke. "Like the Blood Tests we used to try and determine who was a founder before the Dominion War? We cannot entertain paranoia here. A witch-hunt will only help the Borg, even if their agents are that subversive. And even if these people have embraced the madness of joining the collective. They will still act like everyday people." Lise mentioned. "But it's easy to detect such a person, and we may need our Betazoid friends in the Federation. Not telepaths, but empaths." Lise noted. "A person who has descended to such madness would have abandoned what makes them compassionate and ethical individual for the conformity of the collective. It is easy when people know what to look for, to pick these kind of people out of a crowd based on how they act. They want to be emotionless... Want to be hollow, just for the idea of perfection. It is frightening to comprehend. But it happens even without a collective consciousness." Lise noted. "We need to rely on our empathic friends in the Federation. I don't advocate violating minds, nor exploiting them. But we may not have a choice in the matter."

"So I might be able to pick up on the off sense of their lost... humanity so-to-speak?" It still seemed a little less than perfect to Sibyl. "There are a lot of people that project very little feelings or have a diminished sense of themselves or others. Sometimes it's their particular race that's difficult to pick up on physiologically, or they have a particular discipline like Vulcans do, which dampen their outer impression on my empathic sense. Sometimes people have disabilities that do something similar, or they just are far less emotional. But I suppose it could narrow things down at least."

tr'Aimne held up a hand to fall stall further discussion. "I asked you here as you are the current senior staff aboard. The Captain is away and so is Max, and the new security chief. I feel this is a matter that must be dealt with." he fired up the holo-generator and with a small pop, the image of a freighter appeared.

"Two months ago this freighter, registered out of Illiran, was attacked by a Borg Probe. It was rescued by the USS Potemkin, and after a brief but intense fight, the Probe ship and drones aboard the freighter had been neutralized. The Potemkin's engineering and tactical crews were able to rid the freighter of all Borg influence. This event also marks the first time since the Invasion that the Borg have ventured this far into Federation space. Then, when the freighter arrived back here for repairs a Borg Sphere was spotted out on the edge of the system. Since then 300 people have gone missing from the shipyards, and another 200 odd had been reported missing only to turn up with no memory of where they had gone, each one had gone mission for exactly 14.2 hours."

"Abducted..." Sibyl leaned in on the edge of the table with both elbows hyper-extended and her lips twisted in concentration, going over the report summary.

"Have they been examined by Medical?" Lise stated.

"The ones who have returned? Yes," he said answering his own question. "They were a little dehydrated and malnourished but nothing out of the normal. I must note that the Illiran people have nanite technology also, every person has a tiny nanite generator implanted at birth. Their nanites help repair the body and stimulate the immune system." He shrugged "It is very efficient and has been working for the better part of 100 years. However, if the Borg have found a way to co-opt this technology to their own ends they could very well be masking any changes."

For him, this was a horror show waiting to happen.

The detail about every citizen having a nanite healing factor was intriguing, probably improving their lifespan and quality of life quite markedly. but the possible platform that gave someone like the borg to work with was obvious. "Do we have the identities of the persons who were missing, or just the general reports?" asked Sibyl. "Is there a pattern to who has been taken and returned?"

"Some of those who had been returned are among the higher ranks, Military, civilian and private. The Illiran have never encountered the Borg, not in any direct manner. The Freighter that the Potemkin rescued had a prudent CO who prepared for every possible encounter, but here..." he trailed off. "During the Dominion War they were invaded, and they drove the Dominion away. It was one of the pivotal victories. If the Borg tried a similar method I have no doubt the Illirans would come off on top." He shrugged. "This is different".

"How is the Illiran government responding to the returned persons? Have they been returned to their lives, or kept in quarantine?" Sibyl didn't really know how to begin approaching the issue without working with the Illirans. "How concerned do they seem? We should brief them on the possibility of Borg influence on their nanotech, maybe evaluate some of the returned citizens ourselves if they're willing to permit it."

"I need to see all the Illiran medical reports immediately," Lise noted. "We have to assume the worst, that the Borg has already assimilated their technology," Lise noted. "What's the contingency plan. We need at least the second fleet here if the worst happens."

tr'Aimne responded first to the new Tactical Chief, "Everyone has been returned to their lives, they were questioned and given medicals. The investigation has been ongoing but they are running into dead ends. I feel this is what the Captain has been summoned for. But it is my job to look for these kinds of things. But here are the technical specs on the nanites and the implant" he plucked a padd off his crowded desk and handed it to Sibyl.

Reviewing the details, Sibyl rubbed her bottom lip with a thumb. "I'll build a scanning profile for this. Maybe if any Borg re-engineering has been done, it will stand out by comparison if we have a point of comparison."

Then he answered Lise while handing her another tablet. "Those are all of the medical reports, including psychology exams. Right now our only job is to investigate. As of right now we are not officially involved and until the Captain returns all we have is my suspicions," he smiled.

Lise shook her head. and studied the tablet.

"If I am wrong then all I have done is wasted a little, if I am right then we could be in the early stages of an invasion like never before. The Borg task force is now stationed aboard the Vesta class Valentin so they can be here in hours at most. The Illirans themselves have a very extensive and capable military so shouldn't need more than help and support from the task force."

He had to admit that the QSD was one of the biggest game-changers since subspace sensors. Most of the vesta ships were assigned to this kind of task, a rapid responder.

"It's certainly good to be on the safe side, with the Borg," Sibyl agreed. "Obviously something is happening with the hundreds of possible abductions. But if we raise alarm and we're wrong it might produce social unrest and instability in trade with impacts on this world for decades to come. Keep anything about this to strictly official and secure channels."

"I need to contact the Captain. This is not just an Illran concern, as this is larger than them. A Borg foothold in this quadrant would be the ultimate nightmare." Lise mentioned.

The Second Officer was leaned against the wall, arms and ankles crossed. The lighting in the private quarters chosen was still set to minimum levels, leaving his blood-red visage looking like a phantom near the corner. He'd been silent the entire conversation, absorbing the back-and-forth.

"So," Ethan pushed himself off the wall, uncrossing his arms and adjusting his uniform, "this all sounds... crazy." A cheesy grin formed about his lips, "However, if you think we need to prioritize contacting the Captain, I'll see what I can do."

"Lt. Brash," Lise noted. "Tell the Captain Starfleet needs a battle plan in the event the worst happens. We must get to the Illrans so we can assist them in preparing a defense if needed. The Borg may have already assimilated the Illran's technology, and if so. Our worst-case hypotheses need to be proven wrong. We cannot afford for any of the hypotheses to be correct." Lise concluded. "You'll never truly be you again after being free from the collective."

The Chief of Operations tapped his comm badge, "Did you get all that, Master Chief?"

"Unfortunately," came the curt reply. "Send me the data and I'll compile what we have on the Borg infiltration hypothesis."

"Excellent," Ethan's smirk transitioned into a frown, "I just hope the Captain doesn't think we're chasing ghosts."

Something resembling a snort could be heard. The deadpan voice of his assistant chief replied once more, "And you keep telling me that I am the negative one."

A low-pitched twitter confirmed Master Chief Etzel Hannis had cut the comm channel off. Ethan scratched the back of his head in response. He shrugged, "Anything else we should discuss?"

tr'Aimne thought that this was the place to break. He had delivered the information to those officers who needed it and so now they had more digging to do in their respective areas of expertise.

"The Captain is in a meeting with the Illiran's and i suspect a number of Senior federation officials who are visiting or stationed here. It is classified, it might be able this very subject or it could be something else, But interrupting that meeting will not go well. Plus we don't know anything for sure, take an hour, do your research, write a report and we will meet when the Captain returns" He wasn't a senior officer, hell the second officer was in the room with them and tr'Aimne was outranked by everyone here. "Please, we have work to do. So lets do it while we have time to spare, we might not have any to spare in the near future!"