Stardate: Unknown

Original Airdate:10 September, 1997

[Cargo Bay two]

JANEWAY: So, how's the newest addition to our family?

EMH: At the moment she's stable, but the prognosis isn't clear. Her human physiology has begun to reassert itself. Respiratory system, neurological functions, immune response. But those systems are swarming with Borg implants There's a battle being waged inside her body, between the biological and the technological, and I'm not sure which is going to win.

JANEWAY: Well, it's time we brought her up to date. Wake her.

SEVEN: Captain Janeway, What have you... The others, I can't hear the others. The voices are gone.

JANEWAY: We had to neutralise the neuro-transceiver in your upper spinal column. Your link to the collective has been severed.

SEVEN: You will return this drone to the Borg.

JANEWAY: I'm afraid I can't do that

SEVEN: You will return this drone to the Borg!

JANEWAY: If I were to turn this ship around and head back into Borg territory I'd be putting my crew at risk. I'm not prepared to do that. Try to understand, you have to stay on board Voyager. But I'm offering you freedom from the Collective, and I assure you we will do everything we can to help the transition

SEVEN: You will supply us with a subspace transmitter and leave us on the nearest planet. The Borg will come for us.

JANEWAY: It's too late for that. Your human cells are starting to regenerate. You won't survive without medical care.

SEVEN: We need nothing from you. We are Borg. We are - ah!

EMH: This implant is being rejected by the tissue underneath. It's going to have to be removed.

SEVEN: You will suppress the human immune system!

EMH: I'm sorry, but the process has gone too far. We've got to get you to sickbay.

SEVEN: No! We are Borg! We are Borg!

[Sickbay]

EMH: This armour plating is anchored to the skull with over three million microconnectors. There's no time to cut through them. I'm going to have to remove the outer layer of the skull itself. Lieutenant, will you please leave the surgical bay!

TUVOK: This Borg is a security risk.

EMH: She is heavily sedated. I assure you she's not going anywhere. Thank you. Kes, I want you to anaesthetise her cranial nerves. Twenty milligrams inetrazine.

KES: Yes Doctor.

EMH: Kes?

KES: I don't know what happened. I looked at the hypospray and it just came to me.

TUVOK: Have you been experimenting with your psycho-kinetic abilities?

KES: No, not for months, but I have been feeling a little strange lately. Lots of energy, sleeping less.

EMH: I can see why. Your seratonin levels are sixty two percent above normal. It's the telepathic centres of your brain. They're in a state of hyperstimulation like they were a few days ago when you were in contact with species 8472.

TUVOK: Are they attempting to communicate with you again?

KES: No, this time it's different. I don't feel their presence at all.

TUVOK: Perhaps she's experiencing an after effect of some kind.

EMH: A reasonable diagnosis, for a security officer. I'll run a full microsynaptic analysis, but it will have to wait. We should get back to our Borg.

[Ready Room]

JANEWAY: Come in.

CHAKOTAY: Ship's status report. We've got two teams on the hull, stripping off the Borg armour. They're working around the clock but it's still slow going.

JANEWAY: What about the warp drive?

CHAKOTAY: Torres is having problems cleaning out the plasma relays. It's disrupting the antimatter reaction. Until she's got it fixed we're stuck at impulse. She's requesting all personnel with a level three engineering rating or higher to lend a hand.

JANEWAY: Granted. Tactical update?

CHAKOTAY: Long range sensors are picking up residual transwarp signatures, Borg vessels. They passed by probably three days ago.

JANEWAY: So we're not out of the woods yet.

CHAKOTAY: Having half our propulsion system overrun by Borg implants doesn't make repairs any easier.

JANEWAY: Seven of Nine could help with that.

CHAKOTAY: That might be true if she were willing, but she's not in the most co-operative mood.

JANEWAY: That could change. I just have to reach her somehow. Annika Hansen.

CHAKOTAY: Our Borg?

JANEWAY: It took some digging through the Federation database but I managed to find a single entry in the records of Deep Space Four. Her parents were unconventional. They fancied themselves explorers but wanted nothing to do with Starfleet or the Federation. Their names were last recorded at a remote outpost in the Omega sector. They refused to file a flight plan. Apparently, they aimed their small ship towards the Delta Quadrant and were never heard from again.

CHAKOTAY: For all we know, Annika and her parents were the first humans the Borg ever assimilated.

JANEWAY: From what she's told me, that was almost twenty years ago.

CHAKOTAY: So she was raised by the Borg. It's the only life she ever really knew. If you were thinking of bringing her into the fold, that might not be possible.

JANEWAY: What's the alternative? Toss her back to the wolves?

EMH [OC]: Sickbay to Captain Janeway.

JANEWAY: What is it, Doctor?

EMH [OC]: Could you come down here, Captain. We're having some problems.

JANEWAY: I'll be right there.

[Sickbay]

EMH: It's like peeling an onion. Store it in a bio-stasis chamber. It may still be active. If you think there's a risk, Mister Tuvok, you can throw one of your little forcefields around the chamber.

TUVOK: A prudent security measure, for a doctor.

JANEWAY: Report.

EMH: I'm afraid we have a decision to make. A difficult one. Her human immune system has reasserted itself with a vengeance. Body armour, Borg organelles, biosynthetic glands, they're all being rejected. Her life is in danger. I have little recourse but to remove the Borg technology.

JANEWAY: Which is the last thing Seven of Nine would want.

EMH: Hence the difficult decision. If a patient told me not to treat them, even if the situation were life threatening I would be ethically obligated to honour that request.

JANEWAY: This is no ordinary patient. She may have been raised by Borg, raised to think like a Borg, but she's with us now, and underneath all that technology she is a human being whether she's ready to accept that or not. And until she is ready someone has to make the decisions for her. Proceed with the surgery.

EMH: Aye, Captain. Kes? Let's begin with the microtubular network embedded in the oesophageal tract.

TUVOK: What's happening?

EMH: I'm not sure. She's going into neural shock. I can't localise the source. Kes, try to stabilise her motor cortex. Use a neurosequencer. Kes, I said to stabilise her cortex or we're going to lose her.

KES: Wait. I can see it.

EMH: What?

KES: I think the problem is in her caligulae. Yes, I can see it. A Borg implant. It's pressing against her tracheal nerve.

EMH: Can you tell me how we might remove it without severing the nerve?

KES: I think I can do more than tell you.

EMH: The implant is deteriorating. Her nervous system is stabilising. Nice work, Kes. Unconventional but effective.

EMH: They say the eye is the window to the soul. In this case it's a little bit more. I've fabricated this artificial organ to replace her eyepiece, but I've had to retain some of the Borg circuitry along the optic nerve. As a result, she'll have increased acuity in one eye. Note how perfectly I've matched the pigment of the iris to her human eye.

JANEWAY: Excellent work, Doctor. I admire your attention to detail. When can I speak with her?

EMH: She's out of immediate danger, and I don't plan to resume the extraction process until tomorrow. I can wake her now, if you'd like.

JANEWAY: I would. How are you, Kes?

KES: I feel exhilarated, Captain. I've never been so focused in my life, and my telepathic abilities are stronger than they've ever been.

TUVOK: Your performance today was astonishing. However, your psychokinetic powers are still undisciplined, and as a result, unpredictable.

KES: I feel like I'm in control.

TUVOK: Nevertheless, you must proceed with caution, and with my assistance.

JANEWAY: What are you suggesting?

TUVOK: A series of guided meditations to help her explore the depth of these new abilities.

JANEWAY: Kes?

KES: I'm ready.

TUVOK: Well then, if you'll excuse us, we should begin immediately.

EMH: Ready when you are, Captain. Don't be alarmed. You're in sickbay. You're going to be fine.

SEVEN: What have you done to me!

EMH: Your body was rejecting the Borg technology. You were dying. I'm sorry, but we had no choice. Those are dermoplastic grafts. They'll help the regeneration process.

SEVEN: Unacceptable. You should have let us die.

JANEWAY: I couldn't do that.

SEVEN: This drone cannot survive outside the Collective.

EMH: I beg to differ. Now that the Borg implants are being excised your human systems are free to thrive, and thriving they are. As a matter of fact, I

JANEWAY: I want to help you but I need to understand what you're going through.

SEVEN: Do not engage us in superficial attempts at sympathy.

JANEWAY: It's obvious that you're in pain, that you're frightened, that you feel isolated, alone.

SEVEN: You are an individual. You are small. You cannot understand what it is to be Borg.

JANEWAY: No, but I can imagine. You were part of a vast consciousness, billions of minds working together, a harmony of purpose and thought. No indecision, no doubts. The security and strength of a unified will. And you've lost that.

SEVEN: This drone is small now. Alone. One voice, one mind. The silence is unacceptable. We need the others!

JANEWAY: I can't give you back to the Borg, but you're not alone. You're part of a human community now. A human collective. We may be individuals but we live and work together. You can have some of the unity you require right here on Voyager.

SEVEN: Insufficient.

JANEWAY: It'll have to do. And the fact is, this community needs you. The Borg modifications you made to our vessel are disrupting our warp drive. We need your help to remove them, your expertise, your co-operation. You must comply.

[Engineering]

TORRES: Alright, I think I've got all the Borg garbage out of the plasma intake manifold. Let's try reinitialising the antimatter reaction.

KIM: Matter antimatter reaction at twenty two cochranes and rising.

TORRES: Damn! What happened?

KIM: Intake manifolds eleven and thirteen are still blocked!

TORRES: This is like pulling weeds. You think you've got them all out and then

SEVEN: You have neglected to remove the autonomous regeneration sequencers.

JANEWAY: LieutenantTorres, Ensign Kim, you remember Seven of Nine.

KIM: How could we forget?

JANEWAY: We can't afford to delay repairs any longer so I've asked her to help us remove the Borg modifications. She only has a few hours before she returns to sickbay. I suggest you put here to good use.

TORRES: You can start with the plasma relays. They're in Jefferies tube thirteen.

SEVEN: Jefferies tube thirteen alpha section twelve. We fully recall the engineering specifications of your vessel.

TORRES: Good. Can you also recall the way it looked before you turned it into a Borg circus?

SEVEN: Yes.

JANEWAY: Well, now that the pleasantries are over, why don't you get to work. I want updates every hour.

TORRES: Yes, Captain.

[Kes's Quarters]

TUVOK: The flame of the lamp is fire disciplined, tamed and under control. It is the appropriate focus for the task ahead of us.

KES: How do we begin?

TUVOK: I will attempt to guide you in manipulating the flame at the subatomic level. Concentrate on the flame. Try to see past the surface, past the light, to the patterns of energy and matter.

KES: I can see the essence of the fire.

TUVOK: Good. Now reach out with your mind and intensify the flame.

KES: I'm making it hotter, brighter.

TUVOK: Now, with your thoughts, reduce the flame. Excellent. You never demonstrated this level of control before.

KES: It's as though I knew what had to be done.

TUVOK: What's wrong?

KES: Something's happening. I can see further, beyond the subatomic.

TUVOK: Kes, there is nothing beyond the subatomic.

KES: But I can see it, Tuvok. It's a new level of reality. It's beautiful.

TUVOK: Perhaps we should stop for now.

KES: Wait a few seconds. I want to try to control it. Don't worry, Tuvok,

[Engineering]

TORRES: What about these linkages. Every time I pull one out another one comes back in it's place.

SEVEN: Autonomous regeneration sequencers. They function to counteract resistance.

KIM: Amazing. How did you come up with the pattern duplication design?

SEVEN: We came up with nothing. The Borg assimilated this technology in Galactic Cluster three from species two five nine.

TORRES: I'm not interested in a history lesson. How do we disable it?

SEVEN: You must disconnect each sequencer conduit at the insertion juncture.

TORRES: Why don't you two work on the Jefferies tube. Start with the plasma relays.

[Jefferies Tube thirteen]

KIM: I'll start here. You said the Borg got this stuff from species two five nine. Who are they? Guess the Borg meet a lot of people, don't they? Stupid question. So, what's it like out there in Galactic Cluster three?

SEVEN: Beyond your comprehension.

KIM: Try me.

SEVEN: Galactic Cluster three is a transmaterial energy plane intersecting twenty two billion omnicordial life forms.

KIM: Ah. Interesting.

SEVEN: Ensign Kim. Your assistance.

[Bridge]

PARIS: Captain, somebody's trying to access the subspace transmitter.

[Engineering]

TORRES: Captain, I don't know how, but she's erected some kind of forcefield around the door. We can't break through it.

[Bridge]

CHAKOTAY: She's bypassed our security protocols.

JANEWAY: Disable the transmitter.

CHAKOTAY: It's too late.

[Kes's Quarters]

TUVOK: It's obvious your mental abilities have progressed beyond this particular Vulcan exercise. I suggest we - What is it?

KES: Something's wrong. The Borg is trying to contact her people.

TUVOK: Tuvok to Security team one. Intruder alert in engineering.

KES: Wait. I think I can stop her. It's over.

TUVOK: Tuvok to bridge. Status.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: There was some kind of explosion in the Jefferies tube just as she was about to initiate her transmission.

[Kes's Quarters]

JANEWAY [OC]: We don't know what caused it.

TUVOK: I believe I may have the answer, Captain.

[Corridor]

JANEWAY: I can tell by the expression on your face that you've got some bad news.

TUVOK: I have no expression on my face. However, you are correct. The news on two separate fronts is not good. I checked the subspace bandwidths. At least a partial signal was transmitted from Voyager.

JANEWAY: Enough for a Borg ship to track?

TUVOK: Possibly.

JANEWAY: And the second front?

TUVOK: I believe there is also cause for concern regarding Kes.

JANEWAY: Explain.

TUVOK: Internal sensor logs show that she destabilised the Jefferies tube at the molecular level. The effect weakened the infrastructure throughout the deck. If she wishes to develop her abilities further I am not certain it would be safe, for Kes or Voyager.

JANEWAY: I've got an Ocampan who wants to be something more and a Borg who's afraid of becoming something less. Here's to Vulcan stability. Wait for me.

[Brig]

SEVEN: So this is human freedom.

JANEWAY: I've decided to keep you in the brig until I'm certain you won't try to harm us again. If necessary the Doctor can treat you here. I honestly believed you were going to help us.

SEVEN: You were not deceived, Captain Janeway. It was my intention to help you.

JANEWAY: What happened?

SEVEN: There was a chance to contact the Collective. I took advantage of it. Your attempt to assimilated this drone will fail. You can alter our physiology but cannot change our nature. We will betray you. We are Borg.

JANEWAY: I've met Borg who were freed from the collective. It wasn't easy for them to accept their individuality, but in time they did. You're no different. Granted, you were assimilated at a very young age, and your transition may be more difficult, but it will happen.

SEVEN: If it does happen, we will become fully human?

JANEWAY: Yes, I hope so.

SEVEN: We will be autonomous, independent.

JANEWAY: That's what individuality is all about.

SEVEN: If at that time we choose to return to the Collective, will you permit it?

JANEWAY: I don't think you'll want to do that.

SEVEN: You would deny us the choice as you deny us now. You have imprisoned us in the name of humanity yet you will not grant us your most cherished human right. To choose our own fate. You are hypocritical, manipulative. We do not want to be what you are! Return us to the Collective!

JANEWAY: You lost the capacity to make a rational choice the moment you were assimilated. They took that from you, and until I'm convinced you've gotten it back I'm making the choice for you. You're staying here.

SEVEN: Then you are no different than the Borg.

[Mess hall]

NEELIX: Talaxian champagne, moon-ripened. Your favourite.

KES: Neelix, where did you get this?

NEELIX: I put a bottle away for a special occasion. Remember when we last sipped this together?

KES: Three years ago. It was when we first arrived on Voyager.

NEELIX: And do you remember the toast I made?

KES: Yes. To the adventure.

NEELIX: To the adventure. When you left Ocampa you said that your people were being held beck. That if you were only given the chance you could become something so much more. And you have.

KES: I don't think things have worked out exactly the way we planned.

NEELIX: I was only holding you back. That's obvious to me now.

KES: No. I couldn't have come this far without you. And I love you. I always will. It's just, erm,

NEELIX: My cooking. You've always hated my cooking.

KES: That's exactly what it was.

NEELIX: Ah. So tell me more about what's happening to you. What's it all mean?

KES: I don't know, and that's what makes it all so exciting. It's as if I can see into a place where the distinction between matter and energy and thought no longer exists. And that's only the beginning. I feel as if all the boundaries within me are about to fall away.

NEELIX: It sounds ah, sper, ah, interesting.

KES: I only have to look at an object, to gaze at it, and I can begin to see that the space between the atoms is being filled with something else.

NEELIX: Er, Kes.

KES: I can see them, I can see.

NEELIX: Kes! Stop!

KES: No. Neelix!

[Bridge]

KIM: Captain, I'm picking up some strange energy readings from deck two, the mess hall.

JANEWAY: Bridge to Neelix. What's going on down there? Neelix, report.

KIM: The bulkhead in that section is coming apart.

CHAKOTAY: Increase the structural integrity field to deck two.

JANEWAY: Tuvok.

[Sickbay - Doctor's office]

EMH: I've run every conceivable neural analysis. Everything short of dissecting the brain itself. Her telesynaptic activity is increasing but I don't know why, or how to stop it. Have the ship's internal sensors revealed anything?

TUVOK: For seventeen point four seconds Kes's body went into a state of cellular flux. She began to destabilise at the subatomic level.

JANEWAY: Then for some reason her atoms re-established their bonds and she was back in one piece.

EMH: But what about the next time? Her condition is escalating. We must find a way to suppress it or the last we see of Kes could very well be her molecules blowing through the ventilation ducts.

JANEWAY: Tuvok, enhance the structural integrity fields throughout the ship. If she has another incident I'd like to avoid a hull breach. Doctor, maybe it's time we broaden our horizons. This appears to have gone beyond medical science. We're into particle physics now.

EMH: I'll try looking through the quantum substructure database. Maybe it'll give me some inspiration.

JANEWAY: Keep me informed.

{Sickbay]

EMH: Kes, until I can devise another diagnostic procedure you're free to return to your quarters.

KES: Actually I'd like to stay here, help with the research.

EMH: I don't want you to overexert yourself and risk precipitating another telepathic incident. Try to get some rest.

KES: Just let me stay for a little while. I haven't seen you much over the past few days. I miss you.

EMH: All right, just for a while.

[Bridge]

AYALA [OC]: Ensign Ayala to the bridge.

JANEWAY: Go ahead, Ensign.

AYALA [OC]: You'd better come down to the brig, ma'am.

[Brig]

SEVEN: One. One. My designation is Seven of Nine, but the others are gone. Designations are no longer relevant. I am - one.

JANEWAY: Yes, you are.

SEVEN: But I cannot function this way. Alone.

JANEWAY: You're not alone. I'm willing to help you.

SEVEN: If that's true, you won't do this to me. Take me back to my own kind.

JANEWAY: You are with your own kind. Humans.

SEVEN: I don't remember being human. I don't know what it is to be human. What are you doing?

JANEWAY: I'm coming in.

SEVEN: I'll kill you.

JANEWAY: I don't think you will. Do you remember her? Her name was Annika Hansen. She was born on stardate 25479 at the Tendara Colony. There's still a lot we don't know about her. Did she have any siblings? Who were her friends? Where did she go to school? What was her favourite colour?

SEVEN: Irrelevant! Take me back to the Borg.

JANEWAY: I can't do that.

SEVEN: So quiet. One voice.

JANEWAY: One voice can be stronger than a thousand voices. Your mind is independent now, with it's own unique identity.

SEVEN: You are forcing that identity upon me. It's not mine.

JANEWAY: Oh yes it is. I'm just giving you back what was stolen from you. The existence you were denied, the child who never had a chance, that life is yours to live now.

SEVEN: Don't want that life.

JANEWAY: It's what you are. Don't resist it.

Captain's log, supplemental. Warp drive is still offline and we don't know whether the Borg have detected us. Kes's psychokinetic abilities continue to damage the ship's structural integrity, and as a result our defences have been compromised.

[Kes's Quarters]

KES: Come in, Captain.

JANEWAY: You wanted to see me. Ah, Tuvok's meditation lamp. I was with him when he got it six years ago from a Vulcan master, at double the price when he saw our Starfleet insignias.

KES: I'm sure it was the logical thing to do. I've been thinking about everything that's been going on and I know what I have to do. It's time for me to leave Voyager.

JANEWAY: Oh, Kes.

KES: Something important is happening to me and I want to explore it, but I can't stay here any longer. I'm a danger to all of you.

JANEWAY: We're going to get to the bottom of this. The Doctor's already working on a new approach.

KES: Everybody thinks that what's happening is a medical condition. That's not it at all. I'm going though a transformation. I don't know how or why, but every cell in my body is telling me that I'm changing into something more.

JANEWAY: What if it's not true? What if you're simply being swept up in the excitement of something you think is happening, but it's not real? On the basis of a feeling, an intuition, you're asking me to let you go. Quite likely for ever. Kes, I just can't do that.

KES: It's my decision. My fate. Would you really try to stop me?

JANEWAY: No, but argue with you, even plead with you to reconsider, absolutely, for as long as it takes.

KES: It won't work. Look at me, Captain. I'm the same Kes you've always known. I haven't lost my judgment. I'm not under some alien influence. I believe something crucial is happening to me and I want to see it through.

JANEWAY: You've lived most of your life here. Voyager has been your home and you've been a vital part of this family. Oh, I'm going to miss you.

KES: Now all I have to do is tell the Doctor. He's not going to be happy. It's starting.

JANEWAY: Janeway to bridge.

[Bridge]

CHAKOTAY: Chakotay here.

JANEWAY [OC]: Prepare a shuttle for launch and have Tuvok meet me on deck six.

CHAKOTAY: Captain?

JANEWAY [OC]: Kes is leaving us.

[Corridor]

JANEWAY: Come on.

KES: Captain, I can't stop it.

JANEWAY: Janeway to Chakotay. Beam us directly to the shuttlebay.

[Bridge]

KIM: The molecules in Kes's body are destabilising. It's interfering with the transporter.

CHAKOTAY: Captain, we can't get a lock.

[Corridor]

JANEWAY: Acknowledged. Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way.

[Bridge]

CHAKOTAY: What's happening?

PARIS: The hull is destabilising. The molecular bonds are breaking down.

[Corridor]

KES: Tuvok. I can't keep going.

TUVOK: I will attempt a mind meld to help you delay the transformation. Our minds are one. Our thoughts are one. Try to regain control for a moment. Only for a moment. Only for a moment. You must hurry.

[Bridge]

KIM: Hull breach on decks three, four and five.

CHAKOTAY: Emergency containment fields.

JANEWAY [OC]: Janeway to the bridge. Kes is aboard the shuttle. Initiate launch sequence.

CHAKOTAY: Acknowledged.

PARIS: Shuttle distance, one hundred thousand kilometres. Speed, one quarter impulse.

JANEWAY: Can you hail her?

KIM: I've been trying.

KES [OC]: It's happening. It's happening to me.

KIM: Her atomic structure is completely destabilising.

[Shuttlecraft]

KES: My gift to you.

[Engineering]

TORRES: Torres to bridge. The warp core just came online.

[Bridge]

TORRES [OC]: Matter antimatter reaction at one hundred and

[Engineering]

TORRES: two percent. A hundred and ten percent. A hundred and twenty!

[Bridge]

PARIS: This can't be right. Our speed is - it's impossible!

KIM: We're coming apart!

PARIS: We've just dropped out of whatever it was we were in.

CHAKOTAY: Systems coming back online.

JANEWAY: On screen. Where are we?

PARIS: Nine point five thousand light years from where we just were.

JANEWAY: She's thrown us safely beyond Borg space. Ten years closer to home.

[Cargo Bay two]

EMH: I've extracted eighty two percent of the Borg hardware. The remaining bio-implants are stable and better than anything I could synthesise at such short notice.

SEVEN: It is acceptable.

EMH: Fashion, of course, is hardly my forte. Nevertheless I've managed to balance functionality and aesthetics in a pleasing enough manner. I also took the liberty of stimulating your hair follicles. A vicarious experience for me, as you might imagine.

JANEWAY: You'll have to spend a few hours each day regenerating in a Borg alcove until your human metabolism can function on it's own. We'll leave one operational.

SEVEN: Understood.

JANEWAY: Let's see how things go over the next few weeks. I'll consider granting you access to the rest of the ship once that I can trust that you won't try to get us all assimilated again.

SEVEN: It will not happen again.

JANEWAY: Good. If you need anything, contact me.

SEVEN: Red.

JANEWAY: What?

SEVEN: The child you spoke of, the girl. Her favourite colour was red.