Chapter 25
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 03, Day 01, Hour 03, Minute 51.
"There," B'Elanna said as she stepped back to admire what she had called the finishing touch to the quarters.
Of course, the Bat'leth she'd just hung on the wall had no emotional meaning for her. In fact, it had simply been replicated after being chosen because it would look nice along with the other Klingon weapons that decorated that wall.
B'Elanna had called it a luxury problem. The new quarters were quite bigger than anything she had ever lived in. This meant that there was a lot more wall space than they had wall decorations. But that was alright. For now they had just replicated some nice looking stuff, like the Bat'leth, armor, other Klingon weapons, and some aesthetically pleasing images; both painted and holographic. Now the task was to, over time, acquire decorations that meant something emotionally to them, so that they could replace the ones that didn't have such emotional value.
"It looks nice," Pagsha said in a neutral voice. They had first spent several hours decorating Pagsha's quarters before moving to B'Elanna and Seven's quarters where they spent even longer decorating. It had been a long day, but still a day in which all three of them had fun. For an entire afternoon, and evening, they were nothing more than three people that were decorating their new homes.
Pagsha had liked how Seven and B'Elanna, as she was now allowed to call them, had treated her as not just a friend, but a good friend. When asked why they were treating her like that, Seven had honestly admitted that one of the search parameters that had spit out Pagsha as a candidate for assistant, had been on compatibility. With the exact specifications Seven and B'Elanna had set out, it would've actually been a surprise to them if they'd not liked each other. And Pagsha had to agree, she really did like the two women; a lot.
"Oh please," B'Elanna snorted. "It looks overbearing, crowded, and the unorganized placing of the weapons and armor is sure to drive my wonderful Mate wild every single day. Right baby?"
"You are correct," Seven agreed as she looked at the wall and actually cringed slightly as if the mere sight made her eyes hurt.
"But," She said with a sigh. "No halfway self respecting Klingon can go without a weapons display. A weapons display should take up at least one wall and look crowded to give the impression of just how good a warrior you are. It is merely unfortunate that there are rather large walls in our quarters."
"But the great thing is," B'Elanna said as she put her arms around Seven in a hug from behind. "That it's fully acceptable to put Klingon weapons on display in an exercise room. So I can just do that there, and have the Klingon angle covered, and in the other rooms I have the Klingon decorations that really mean something to me. Just that it's limited there to only one or two per wall."
B'Elanna grinned. "Still had that luxury problem though. I ran out of decorations long before I ran out of walls. Kahless, I think I'm going to love these quarters. It's great to finally have room like this."
"Room, but not too big," Seven agreed. Room was nice, but there shouldn't be an echo when you spoke. As they knew he would, ZAn had gotten the design exactly right. Seven stepped out of B'Elanna's embrace and gave her a quick kiss before walking to the wall opposite of the one that held the Klingon decorations.
That too, was something that Pagsha loved; how Seven and B'Elanna didn't hold back because she was there. How they did kiss if they wanted to, how they touched if they wanted to. It was interesting to see just how often B'Elanna and Seven touched. Just a hand on a shoulder, or one hand on top of another for a mere second, or a quick hug. It made Pagsha realize that she wanted the same thing.
Seven pointed to one of the other walls. "Considering that that wall is yours, I believe it would be only fair if this one is mine."
"Sure," B'Elanna agreed. "What were you thinking of putting on it?"
"Paint."
"Huh?" B'Elanna asked confused before seeing that little upturning of lips that showed her that Seven was teasing her. "What paint, smart ass?"
Now Seven smiled. She was about to comment, but then decided that the comment was just a little bit too free with Pagsha with them. Seven had a feeling that Pagsha would actually enjoy hearing the sexual banter she and B'Elanna liked to indulge in when the mood struck them. But as much as she did like Pagsha, she would like to get to know her a little better yet personally before letting her that close.
"Actually, I rather like the painting we have in the living room; the double sunset over a dark red ocean. I believe that a mural of that painting the size of this entire wall would look good."
"Why would you do that?" Pagsha asked. "The Borg themselves suggested changing that storage space to one of the biggest holodecks ever heard of. You could have the real view there."
"We know only too well why they suggested it," Seven said. "The Borg believe that by providing an artificial environment for us we will be more agreeable to spend our entire lives deeply inside the safety of Unimatrix 01."
Pagsha shrugged. "Who cares what they suggested it for? Should you not enjoy something you will probably like, merely because it fits into the plans of others? You'd be better off having the holodeck and keeping in mind what you already know; that the Borg are trying to manipulate you."
"That's actually a good point," B'Elanna had to agree. "Whether we use the holodeck or not will not change one single thing about whether the Borg will allow us to leave Unimatrix 01."
Seven thought about that for a moment before nodding. "Very well, in that case we shall use the holodeck. However, I still do not think that it should only be available to us."
"We'll talk it over with the Borg," B'Elanna suggested.
Seven looked back at Pagsha before saying, "As for the mural, the point is not for it to look, or actually be, real. It is merely supposed to look aesthetically pleasing; something to look at while B'Elanna and I train in this exercise room."
"Wait a minute," Pagsha said, lifting her hand in a slow down manner. "You mean, you don't plan to stay on Unimatrix 01? And what kind of training?"
"As I told you, you will accompany B'Elanna and me when we go meet people that are not part of the Borg. That, by definition, means leaving Unimatrix 01. If we enter negotiations with a species because we need something from them, I will not have the negotiations being held by just any drone, or have that species representative brought to me. The negotiations will be between that species leader and the Borg Queen and if it is us asking for something, we should also be the ones that go to the other people to do the asking. Anything less could be considered an insult to the other species. Yes, I will be more than happy to let initial meetings with lower representatives be held by representatives of the Borg. But when the level of leader is reached, the meeting will be between the two leaders, which includes me as one of those leaders. The Borg will be more than welcome to scan the others and decide on a threat level, but as long as the threat level is acceptable, I will be doing the negotiations."
"While being accompanied by a Borg security detail, I'm sure," B'Elanna added with a chuckle. "Which is fine too. One shouldn't ignore that security is a factor. There are still more than enough people that would give their own life to kill the Borg Queen, not knowing, or not believing, that we really are changing things."
Then she answered Pagsha's other question. "As for the training Seven and I will be doing, Seven and I came to the conclusion that we aren't doing enough; physically that is. On Voyager... you know about Voyager?"
"I do," Pagsha assured. After all, the encounters with the Federation space ship had been of such importance that they were added to the entire Hive mind.
"Well, on Voyager we would be actively busy, but here most of our work is thinking of things that need doing, not actually doing them. While Her Majesty here has some very convenient implants that take care of keeping her body in great shape, I don't have those. I seem to have gained a little, or my clothing suddenly shrunk. So Seven and I will be using this room to work out an hour or two every day. Not that Seven needs it, but she's nice enough to keep me company."
"What kind of workout?" Pagsha asked and Seven could hear a trace of interest that was more then just interest in the subject.
"Martial arts and non-projectile weapons like the bat'leth and the Halkii'e defense sticks," Seven said. "Considering that these exercises are meant to be a workout to keep B'Elanna's body in shape, we will focus more on movement than on the effectiveness of the training."
"Though I do hope to pick up a few interesting things," B'Elanna added. "Especially the Martial arts. I always liked the limited Martial Arts training we got at the Academy. I can't tell you how pissed I was when I found out that if I wanted to learn more than the standard course, I had to join Starfleet Security training instead of Engineering training."
"Pagsha, you seem interested in the subject, did you participate in similar training before you joined the Collective?" Seven asked.
"Oh no," Pagsha was quick to say. "Any kind of fighting was strictly prohibited for women. If I was caught training Martial Arts or weapons of any kind, I would have been sentenced to death."
"Again?" Seven asked. "It seems that they were quite easy with sentencing women to death. What about the men?"
"Men were allowed to train. After all, they needed to know how to fight in the wars. Personally, I think the laws came forth from the fact that on average only one in every ten people born was a man. Men could have twenty wives, men were the ones that were allowed to have property, men were allowed to drink alcohol, men were allowed to fight, men..."
Pagsha sighed. "See? Even if I hadn't been in jail for the reason I was, I would still have been glad when the Borg would have come to take me out of that hell."
"So if you could have trained, you would have?" Seven asked. At the same time she quickly looked at B'Elanna and then back at Pagsha.
B'Elanna understood the non-verbal question only too well and answered with an equally non-verbal slight shrug with her shoulders to indicate that it was fine with her. After all, it wasn't as if they had been planning to do anything other than really train during the training times.
"I sure would have," Pagsha said excited, totally oblivious to the 'conversation' that was going on between the two other women. "Just the idea of a woman that can,"
"What?" B'Elanna asked when Pagsha stopped talking and suddenly started to blush.
"Never mind."
"Never mind my ass, that blush is way too interesting to forget about it." B'Elanna grinned, wanting to make it clear that if Pagsha really wanted to, the subject would be dropped.
"Well, it's just that..." Pagsha was wondering, should she really admit it? After all, back home they had told her that it was wrong, so very wrong. But then she saw that small touch again. This time it was simply that B'Elanna stood so close to Seven that their arms were touching.
Deciding that she needed to know how her new friends would react, Pagsha braved, "It's... when it was discovered that I had evil intentions,"
B'Elanna nodded, having been told that information about Pagsha when they were just starting to do the decorating of their quarters.
"I was having sexual fantasies," Pagsha rushed out.
When she saw that the other women actually seemed amused by that she went on with more confidence. "A woman, a female warrior, was making love to me. What she did to me... and then how she looked, her muscles... Just the image alone of being held by a woman with strong muscles... muscles that are from real training of warrior stuff... It did more for me than any image of any man ever did. The idea of being with a man just felt so wrong to me, but the thought of a woman like that holding me, those muscles..."
"You know something?" B'Elanna interrupted amused while looking at Seven. "It seems that I'm not the only one with a fetish here. I have my Borg fetish, Pagsha here seems to have a female muscles fetish... So, my Princess, fess up, what's your fetish?"
"My fetish is to be made love to by a beautiful half Klingon."
"Oh, wow, you get to indulge in your fetish almost every night then," B'Elanna grinned.
"Every night?" Pagsha asked, with an open mouth.
"Yes, we slowed down some," Seven agreed, figuring that if B'Elanna felt comfortable enough to do sexual banter, then so did she. Despite thinking mere minutes before that maybe it was better to wait a little longer before letting Pagsha share in that. Amused she realized that when around B'Elanna, later didn't always mean later. When she and B'Elanna had made love for the first time, she had told B'Elanna mere minutes earlier that they would make love soon. Well, a few minutes were not what she had been thinking of when she said 'soon.' Now too, she had thought that 'soon' she would be sharing banter with Pagsha, and mere minutes later she was doing exactly that.
"Slowed down?" An even more amazed Pagsha asked.
"Yes, we never were able to break our record of ten times... each."
Finally Pagsha realized that they were just joking. "Very funny."
"It is," B'Elanna agreed. "But it also happens to be true. But to be fair, Seven and I were new lovers then, so we were getting to know each other, if you know what I mean. Now, we really have slowed down some, but just to about once every day."
"We make love about once every day," Seven corrected. "The ten we mentioned before was our record of orgasms we both enjoyed. Now the normal is two or three orgasms. The times where we have only one orgasm each are in fact quite rare and are occasions that we consider 'quickies,' as B'Elanna likes to call them."
Pagsha's mouth hung open once again. This time because she couldn't believe how openly her new friends were talking to her about such a private matter.
"I believe we shocked her," B'Elanna grinned.
"I believe we did," Seven agreed. "Pagsha, I apologize. B'Elanna and I will try to take care to not,"
"No! No, please don't finish that sentence," Pagsha interrupted. "I have a feeling that you were going to tell me that you would be more careful with what you say in front of me. Please don't."
"You like to hear B'Elanna and I talk about our love life?" Seven asked.
A vigorous nod was her answer.
"Good, because B'Elanna and I have found that we enjoy having someone close that we can talk so openly with, and who enjoys hearing us talk about it."
"But there are two rules," B'Elanna spoke up.
Seven shook her head slightly. "You and your rules."
"Hey baby, I just want fun to stay fun without it being ruined by misunderstood words."
Looking back to Pagsha she continued, "First rule is, we like to share with a close friend or two, but we expect those friends to make sure that whatever they hear doesn't get blabbered on. You'll talk to nobody about what you hear Seven and I talk about."
"Considering that I'm the only one that would actually care at the moment, that's easy," Pagsha stopped B'Elanna from speaking by lifting her hand. "I know; more Individualist drones soon. I promise, I won't tell anyone. That's actually an easy promise to make. I feel like... well, you share something very private when you are so open with me. I feel privileged because of that. If I would tell someone else I would not only hurt your trust in me, but I would also cheapen what I have. Now nobody but I have what you are giving me; a very private part of the Borg Queen and Princess. Even if I were to tell only one other person, the value would immediately be halved because now two people know."
"Glad to hear it," B'Elanna said as she put her hand on Pagsha's shoulder, not in the leased bit fazed by the fact that her fingertips were touching the tubes that went to the back of Pagsha's head. "The second thing is that, we don't want there to be any confusion, not the slightest bit. Seven and I will be free with you, and we might even tease you some with words. But there is absolutely no chance, no chance at all, that you will actually ever end up making love to either Seven or me. I know you like women, and that's why I'm telling you this. Please understand that if I were to say something to Seven like, 'yeah, well, maybe I'll just take Pagsha to bed then' that we're only joking."
"I understand." Pagsha made a show of looking up and down B'Elanna's body, relishing in the fact that for the first time in her life she could actually check out a woman without having to fear for her life.
"Besides, you aren't really my type anyway." Before B'Elanna could ask, Pagsha added, "Not enough muscles."
B'Elanna grinned and put her arm around Pagsha's back and they walked the few steps to Seven. "I think you'll be just the friend Seven and I need."
She put her other arm around Seven's back before continuing. "Alright, it's late. Let's go have ourselves a nightcap and then we head off to bed; lot's of stuff to do tomorrow."
As they walked out of the room, B'Elanna came back to the silent communication she had with Seven before and asked, "Say Pagsha, would you like to join Seven and me in our daily training sessions?"
"I would love to!" Pagsha said excited before frowning. "But, I really couldn't intrude on your life like that."
"You aren't intruding," B'Elanna assured. "In fact, you would be helping us. It's always good to have an extra person around. Someone you can train with, someone that can look from the sides to see what kind of mistakes you are making."
"Well, if you really don't mind. Yeah, I would love to train. But, um, who is going to train us anyway?"
"I'm pretty sure that there will be some people in the Borg that could teach us a thing or two. But for initial training I was actually thinking of running some holographic training programs. I had ZAn install a basic holographic system in that room for that very reason."
"But I must warn you," Seven said as she walked to the replicator. "There is a big chance that we will bid you goodnight directly after the training."
"That's Sevenish for we might kick you out as soon as training is over," B'Elanna said with a grin as she took the glass Seven gave her and passed it on to Pagsha. Once Pagsha had her drink, B'Elanna turned back to Seven and asked, "Are you also going to tell her why?"
"Certainly, because seeing B'Elanna all sweaty makes me want to indulge in my fetish of making love to a beautiful half Klingon."
Pagsha was spontaneously introduced to the sensation of snorting soda out her nose.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 03, Day 05, Hour 11, Minute 33.
"You must be mentally challenged," Anidan Dubinak said in disbelief. "If they really leave me the choice, I'll be gone with the first ship."
"And go where?" Pagsha asked. "The Borg destroyed all you ever knew, your world is populated by drones, the city you lived in has been adapted to serve Borg needs; and you know damn well what that means."
"I'll leave, find some species that hasn't been assimilated and go live there."
"And just how many species do you guess there are, that would first of all not be surprised by aliens existing, then also be prepared to take you in, and on top of that would not be bothered at all by the fact that you have Borg implants," Pagsha countered. "Let's face it, Anidan, the Borg destroyed your life."
"And yet here you are suggesting I actually stay here," Anidan snorted.
"Yes. Because your life has been destroyed; nothing can change that. Now you can either hate the Borg for it, maybe even try to get your revenge in some way. Or you can help Seven to change the Borg to where other people who's life have been destroyed by the Borg get a second chance."
"Actually, getting my revenge doesn't sound like too bad of a plan," Anidan noted, already wondering how she could hurt the Borg the most.
Pagsha nodded. "Get your revenge... how? Are you going to find some kind of weapon to kill Borg drones? Are you going to kill people that have been victimized just like you? Who are you going to kill? A person that was just as innocent as you? Are you going to kill me? Seven? B'Elanna? That's one of the ugliest things about the Borg. The Borg are evil, no doubt about it. But as soon as you turn from the Borg to single drones you suddenly find people that are just as much a victim like you are. The only thing you might possibly succeed in, is to get your revenge by hurting other people as innocent as you. Get your revenge by killing people that, just like you, were assimilated against their will. Ripped from their home against their will. A husband who just told his wife that he loves her, right before the drone beamed in and assimilated that woman in front of his eyes before he himself was assimilated."
Anidan merely looked at her.
Pagsha saw a drone walking by and stepped in his way to make him stop. Before he could walk around her, Pagsha had used her assimilation tubes to connect to the Hive and told the drone to merely stand there for the moment. Then, having also found the data on him, she addressed Anidan once more.
"Here is your chance for revenge. Go on, kill him. He is a Borg drone, he is evil, he would not hesitate to assimilate you if given the order."
Then she softened her voice. "He is also the father of a child that he hasn't seen in ten years. That was assimilated just like him."
Pagsha smiled as she went over his information some more. "You know what his profession was? He was a fireman: risking his life every day to protect his fellow people. Go on, kill this evil Borg drone. Get your revenge, start with him."
She stepped away after sending the command that the drone should continue with his assigned task. Then she looked at Anidan once more. "We all are victims. I, I admit that I was glad that the Borg assimilated me, I was in a position where assimilation was better than what I was facing. Still, look at me. Look at what they did to my body."
Pagsha gestured at the lower part of her body. "My reproductive system was entirely removed, my vagina was also removed; to make room for implants. I love being part of the Borg, but even I am a victim."
Pagsha stepped closer, well into Anidan's personal space. "Anidan, we need you. We need you to help us change the Borg. To help us prevent that more people become a victim. We need you to help us change this evil into something people willingly want to be a part of. The planet you lived on might still exist and be populated, but your world has been destroyed; gone for good. There are over 12,000 species in the Collective. Just like you there are trillions, not billions but trillions of people in the collective that can never go home again. Help us, Anidan. Help us to turn the Collective into their new home. A home that they want to live in. Help us give these victims a future. Please, help us."
Anidan looked at her for a moment before turning away. She hated the Borg. Hate; it was such a simple emotion. Then a thought came to her. She didn't have to give up her hate. In fact, these people could help her get her revenge.
She turned back to face Pagsha. "I hate the Borg, and I want to destroy the evil that took away my life."
She saw Pagsha open her mouth and stopped her by shaking her head. "But you're right. I won't destroy that evil by killing a drone. I won't destroy that evil by destroying a Cube either. Hell, I won't even destroy that evil by destroying Unimatrix 01, including the new Queen. But I will destroy that evil by helping to change it. If Seven truly succeeds to change the Borg to this Collective that is truly a free and willing Collective. When people are no longer forced to become a drone. When people stand willingly and free to protect the Borg. Not because they have received an order, but because they are willingly protecting their home to the death if needed. That will be the day that the evil that destroyed my life has died. Killing the evil lies not in killing the Borg; killing the evil lies in taking away its power. I want to destroy the Borg that destroyed my life. And I will."
Anidan smiled as she stepped away. She liked her plan more and more. No, cold revenge was the same as slapping the face of the person that just stuck a knife into your stomach; useless. No. True revenge was to take away the knife, make them heal you so that you continued to live, and then use the knife against them.
The Borg had brought her here, they had put her in a place where she could change them, make sure that not only 'would' they never do certain things again, but even make sure that they also 'could' never do those things again.
And the best part of it was; she could help free billions by getting her revenge and killing the old style of Borg. Kill them by freeing them. Kill them by giving them a life. Kill them by making it possible for them to say 'no'.'
She turned back to Pagsha. "I know that the Queen has ordered a stop to assimilation for now, I also know that the Borg will only accept that for so long. They'll need proof that stopping assimilation is a good thing. That will be the first step. We have to find a way to make sure that the Borg don't start assimilating again. Tell me more about Seven's plans. What do we have to work with?"
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 03, Day 14, Hour 13, Minute 11.
{The biological distinctiveness of One of Many has to be ensured.}
B'Elanna growled in frustration as she looked up at the ceiling. Not that it made a difference; the united voice of the Borg was coming from every place that carried sound in the room. But somehow B'Elanna always found herself looking up when talking to the Borg.
"Biological distinctiveness be damned. We're talking about Seven and me having a child! We're not ready for that yet. We never even talked about that. Hell, we're still getting used to actually being a couple."
{Irrelevant.}
{Once the child is born it will be grown in a maturation chamber.}
{One of Many only needs to carry the child.}
{The child will not be the child of Two of Many as well.}
{A donor will be chosen that enhances the DNA of One of Many.}
"Over my dead body," B'Elanna growled.
{That can be arranged,} The Borg said, leaving B'Elanna perplexed for a moment. It had sound so like a joke that she would have laughed, if it hadn't been the Borg that had said it.
"Unacceptable," Seven stated resolutely. "If I will carry a child than it will only be a mix of B'Elanna and me."
"And on top of that, I'll be damned if a child of mine will be grown in a maturation chamber like some kind of vegetable," B'Elanna stated just as resolutely.
{The biological distinctiveness of One of Many has to be ensured,} The Borg repeated.
There was a hesitation before the Borg added, {An egg cell of One of Many can be implanted in a drone.}
{That way One and Two of Many would also not have an attachment to the child and it can be placed in a maturation chamber.}
B'Elanna frowned and looked at her lover. "Is there some ulterior motive here, or did the Borg just truly offer a compromise?"
"Both," Seven said after a moment of hesitation. "We can take the offer and never have to be bothered with this again. That is the compromise since the harvesting of some of my eggs cells is very easy and not something I might think of again after it has been done. The ulterior motive is the fact that if we do take their offer, it means that they can pretty much do whatever they want with the child without us having a say in the matter. Unless of course we decided to take an interest in the child at some point."
{We would prefer if One of Many would take an active role in the life of the child.}
{One of Many should teach the child about individuality and how to make individual choices.}
{We offer the alternative of One of Many not being part of the existence of the child, with the exception of donating genetic material, to increase the willingness of One of Many to be the willing Queen we need.}
"Give us a moment," B'Elanna said after a moment of hesitation.
{We will contact you again in one hour,} The Borg said.
"You know, it amazes me how they can be this disembodied voice that you don't see, yet still they can give you the feeling of entering and leaving the room," B'Elanna said thoughtfully. "Good, because I like knowing that when I think I'm alone with you I really am alone with you."
Then she sighed. "So, that's one hell of a bomb they dropped on us there."
"Indeed," Seven agreed. She started to play with one of the PADDs on the table, pushing it back and forth in a very un-Seven like manner.
B'Elanna sat down in the chair across from her lover so that she could look at her. She placed her hands over Seven's before asking, "Do you want to talk about this now, or should we tell them that they will get their answer when we are good and ready?"
"Procrastination is not the answer. We will still think about this until a decision is made. What, what is it that you want?"
B'Elanna thought about that for a moment. "Truthfully, I never thought about having a child. I mean, yeah, I did think about it; as in knowing that some day... But I never thought about it as something I should think about 'now,' not something that would ever be a demand. It was always 'later'."
"I can see their point about ensuring my biological distinctiveness," Seven said thoughtfully. "However, I am surprised by this totally different approach. Just because a child has my DNA does not mean that she is automatically suited to be a Queen. They would be better off if they refined the system that brought me here; have replacement drones that can take my place if needed. The refinement obviously being that these replacement drones are drones that want to be part of the collective. If the Borg did that they have a much bigger chance of finding a suitable replacement drone."
"Technically, yes," B'Elanna agreed. She stood up and started pacing through the room. "Technically the DNA is not as important as the training. If you pick the perfect drone on genetic features but that never was trained how to use those features right, or you simply take a mediocre child that has been trained her entire life on how to make decisions and to keep secondary results in mind. The mediocre child would be better suited to be the new Queen most of the time. I personally think that the Borg are looking too much at biological distinctiveness and too little at a training program."
"The Borg want to place the child in a maturation chamber; that is most certainly not training," Seven reminded.
B'Elanna thought about it for a moment. "Alright, let's for a moment ignore that we're actually talking about the hefty issue of us having a child. Let's look technically at what's best."
"The Borg want to use a maturation chamber, that is most definitely not the best option," Seven went along. "The best option is to have a child and train this child for their entire life. To have this child grow up with a sense of 'I', yet at the same time have guided the child to where she likes to be part of the Borg. This so that she will do what is best for the Borg."
"That's almost the best option," B'Elanna partially agreed. "The truly best option is to have that, and on top of that have the child be a biologically and maybe even technologically enhanced being; a being that welcomes that enhancement and uses it to do the job to its best ability."
"Then for different reasons," Seven said slowly, "like the teachers actually knowing about what it means to be an individual, or us being sure that she is taught the correct things, we are the best option for trainers of the child. No maturation chamber, and also teaching the child her entire life from the moment she can learn things. That means that the only real option is for us to raise the child."
B'Elanna smiled before saying, "Now comes the second angle of the deduction. Seven, it seems that we're the best option for teachers of this child, now the question is; are you against us raising a child?"
"I am not against it. However, if I am to raise a child than I want that child to be my child, my daughter, and not just some instrument that I am forming."
B'Elanna nodded in agreement. "Alright then, it seems that we're going to have a baby."
Then she admitted, "I'm kinda warming up to the idea. It should be interesting to have a little version of you running around in a couple of years."
"Not just me. If we are going to have a baby, then I also want it to be 'our' baby," Seven said resolutely. "I will not accept 'donor material' from someone else. You will be the second parent, emotionally and biologically."
"They'll object to that," B'Elanna noted. "I don't have the right genes."
"Irrelevant. It is nonnegotiable. I will only carry our child if she truly is 'our' child," Seven countered resolutely. "Besides you have some very suitable genes, it may just not be what the Borg are looking for."
"No, it's more than that," B'Elanna disagreed thoughtfully. "One of the things about Klingon DNA is that it's very dominant. On most things my DNA would be more dominant than yours. I mean, look at me and tell me honestly, do you think that my temper comes from my Human side or from my Klingon side?"
Seven stood up and stepped in the way of the still pacing Klingon. "As far as I know women of a Hispanic background do have the name of being passionate, hot... hotheaded I mean, and stubborn. It sounds a lot like you actually."
"Funny," B'Elanna said, grinning at the playful jab at her heritage. "You know what I think? If you were to take their other offer and just donate one of your egg cells, then the Borg would go and use nanoprobes to shift, adapt, change, the biological material of you and the other donor. So..."
B'Elanna hesitated for a moment as she started her pacing again. "What, what would you think of us offering the compromise of us raising the child, our child, from birth. The child will be of your and my DNA. But, but, as compromise for them not being able to use a better donor, they will be allowed to use nanoprobes to genetically enhance the embryo. Basically giving it the best that is possible from your and my DNA."
Seven thought about that for a moment. "There are certain benefits to the Klingon DNA. For instance, the massive multiple redundancy system would be a benefit; having a heart with eight chambers, twenty-three ribs, three lungs, two livers, and multiple stomachs would be very beneficial to the child. However, the Borg will only be allowed to work with what is there. If a trait is present in the DNA of one of us then they are allowed to make this a dominant feature in the child. But if it is not present they are not allowed to change the DNA to where it is."
"What? No wings for our baby?" B'Elanna asked with a grin before assuring sincerely, "You're right; what's there can be used, but that's it."
"I believe that there should nevertheless be a secondary program that keeps track of drones that could be potential replacements for a Queen," Seven reminded. "The idea of having a Royal family where the position of Borg ruler is passed on from generation to generation is interesting and there is the benefit of one ruler training the next one. However, as the saying goes; things happen. There should be a program in place that ensures that potential drones are ready to become Queen in case something happens to us."
"We'll put it on the list of things to think about," B'Elanna agreed. "The problem is that we need those drones ready to take over from you if needed, but we also don't want to create people that are looking forward to you dying, because it might result in them becoming the new Queen."
"Maybe the system of Individualist drones can help," Seven said thoughtfully. "That the highest levels are all considered potential replacements. All future Admirals and Presidents will be considered to be able to act individually to a higher degree. These people could be monitored for suitability to replace the Queen, with no choice being made between them until it ever might be needed."
"That might work," B'Elanna agreed. "But we need to work it out. As I said; let's put it on the list of problems to take care of."
"So, we will have a baby?" Seven asked, coming back to this life changing subject.
B'Elanna nodded. With the rational decision making over about whether or not they should have a part in the raising of this offspring, it was now time to talk about their personal feelings of the subject.
"I'm kinda looking forward to that, but at the same time I'm scared shitless. I can't wait to see what a child of ours would look like, be like, act like. But from the other side, I'm scared of having this little thing that depends on us for everything."
Seven went back to her seat and sat down before saying slowly, "I do not know if I should consider it a good thing or a bad thing that the Borg came with this so soon. We have not even truly become used to us living here with the Borg, and we are already talking about a child; changing our lives forever. Is it good or bad that we did not have the time to become truly used to living alone before a child will prevent us from being alone?"
"There will still be time for us to have some alone time," B'Elanna assured.
"Maybe we should consider some help when the time comes," Seven ventured. "Not only for us to have some help with taking care of our child for our own benefit. We should also keep in mind that because we are busy changing the Borg a lot of our time will be taken up by taking care of those changes. Maybe we could appoint a drone to our child, to take care of her in the times that we cannot."
"A babysitter?" B'Elanna asked, thinking about it. She moved over to Seven and sat down on her lover's lap. "Not a bad idea. But I think we should go for a drone that will have the right traits to be in the child's life for the rest of her life. First as a babysitter, then as a nanny, and eventually as a housekeeper."
Seven closed her arms around her lover. "Can you imagine, my Mate, holding our daughter in your arms? A thick head can be convenient, so she will probably have your head ridges."
"Probably," B'Elanna agreed before suddenly asking, "Hey, are you calling me thickheaded?"
Seven merely placed a kiss on B'Elanna's neck.
B'Elanna closed her eyes, trying to picture a scene. "I can imagine it. Looking down at a little bundle in my arms, seeing an innocent face which, I'm sure, we'll find the most cutest and most adorable thing in the universe. Seeing a little smile, seeing your smile in that smile, which of course is impossible to see at that age, but I'll still see it. Seeing her eyes... What color do you think?"
"It will depend on what the Borg find important. Different colors have different advantages. But I guess..."
Continued...