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Seven of Nine watches as Rebi and
Azan, two of the Borg children she had been taking care of since
they were separated from the Collective, are reunited with their
people, who agree to also give Mezoti a home. The only one of
the Borg children staying aboard the U.S.S. Voyager with Seven
is Icheb, the eldest of the four. After the children leave,
Icheb notices that Seven is crying. Seven claims that her ocular
implant is simply malfunctioning.
When Seven goes to see the
Doctor, he confirms that there's a glitch in her cortical node,
and he gets her to admit that she has been having headaches.
Later, when Seven attempts to regenerate, she discovers she
cannot interface with her alcove because her cortical node is
malfunctioning. She stays up all night in the mess hall until
Neelix arrives and offers to make her breakfast. Seven then
falls to the floor convulsing, and Borg implants start bursting
through her skin.
In sickbay, the Doctor realizes Seven's problem is more serious
than he previously thought. Her cortical node, which regulates
her vital functions, is destablizing, which means she will die
unless it can be replaced. Captain Janeway gets an idea: She
orders Ensign Kim to scan a nearby Borg debris field and
transfer the coordinates to the Delta Flyer — she plans to
salvage a replacement cortical node. Janeway, Lt. Paris and
Tuvok depart for the debris field where they find several dead
Borg drones and manage to remove the cortical node from one of
them. Back on Voyager, Janeway and the Doctor practice the
cortical node replacement operation several times in a holodeck
simulation, failing miserably each time. They eventually decide
that they cannot use a cortical node from a dead drone, but only
from a living one.
Icheb also comes to realize that only the cortical node from a
living Borg can save Seven, so he volunteers to have his own
node removed and transplanted to her. Icheb devises a plan to
have himself genetically altered to survive without his node,
but the procedure is risky. When Icheb cannot get Janeway, Seven
or the Doctor to listen to him, he programs the computer in his
regeneration alcove to disengage his cortical node. Now dying,
Icheb eventually convinces them to give his node to Seven and
perform the genetic procedure on him. The operation is
successful and both Seven and Icheb fully recover. Seven offers
to help him study for the Starfleet Academy entrance exam,
promising him a rigorous schedule. But then Icheb notices
another tear in her eye ... only this time it isn't a
malfunction.
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