|
As his away team is beamed back to
Voyager, some parts of the Doctor's mobile emitter fuse
together, so Torres takes it to the science lab. Unseen, the
emitter sprouts Borg implants. When Ensign Mulcahey enters the
lab the next morning, he is attacked by extraction tubules.
Meanwhile, Seven of Nine's proximity transceiver is activated,
alerting her to a Borg presence on the ship. She finds Mulcahey
in the lab, along with a Borg maturation chamber containing a
fetal drone.
Seven determines that when she
and the Doctor were transported, some of her nanoprobes infected
his emitter. It was assimilated, and the Borg used Mulcahey's
genetic code to create a lifeform. As it continues to mature at
a rapid rate, the drone is observed to be mostly human, with
many implants. The emitter is part of his central nervous system
and gives him 29th-century technology. His connection with the
Collective is dampened, and Seven attempts a neural interface to
give him instructions. Instead, he tries to assimilate her
knowledge.
 Because a neural link is too dangerous, the drone, who chooses
"One" as his designation, uses Borg data nodes to assimilate
information. He quickly absorbs knowledge of the ship's systems
and begins expressing curiosity about the Borg. Seven fears he
will be tempted to seek out the Collective and refuses to answer
his questions. As she and One regenerate in their alcoves, the
Borg pick up One's signal and set a course to intercept Voyager.
When Voyager detects the approaching Borg, Seven discovers that
One's cranial implants created a secondary transceiver to signal
them. Janeway and Seven have no choice but to describe to One
the Collective's destructive mentality and explain that with his
technology, the Borg would be even more dangerous. The Captain
asks him to help strengthen Voyager's defenses, but One is
confused. He is intrigued by the Collective, yet he senses its
evil. There is no time left to discuss the matter, however, as a
Borg ship approaches.
One hears the voice of the Collective, but he chooses to save
Voyager from destruction. He beams to the sphere to interface
directly and disrupt it from within. When his superior
technology accesses the navigation system, he steers the sphere
into a nebula, destroying it. One survives and is beamed to
sickbay, where he refuses to let the Doctor operate to save him
because he knows the Borg will keep pursuing him. He doesn't
want to put the crew in danger, so he allows himself to die.
 |
