"*This subtitling is not as precise as we would like, due to the difficult understanding of some words.*" "[Footsteps approaching]" "So, how is the newest edition to our family?" "At the moment she is 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 is a battle being waged inside her body, between the biological and technological." "I'm not sure which is going to win." "Well, it's time we brought her up to date." "Wake her." "Captain Janeway." "What have you...?" "The others..." "I can't hear the others..." "...The Voices are gone" "We had to neutralize the neural transceiver in your upper spinal column." "Your link to the Collective has been severed." " You will return this drone to the Borg." " I'm afraid I can't do that." "You will return this drone to the Borg!" "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;" "I assure you we will do everything we can to..." "You will supply us with a subspace transmitter and leave us on the nearest planet." "The Borg will come for us." "It's too late for that;" "your human cells are starting to regenerate." "You won't survive without medical care." "We need nothing from you." "WE ARE BORG!" "WE ARE..." "This implant is being rejected by the tissue underneath; it's going to have to be removed." "You will suppress the human immune system." "I'm sorry, but the process has gone too far." "...we've got to get you to sickbay." " NO!" "WE ARE BORG!" "WE ARE BORG!" "This armor plating is anchored to the skull with over 3 million micro connectors..." "There is 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?" " This Borg is a security risk." "She is heavily sedated;" "I assure you she's not going anywhere." "Thank you." "Kes, I want you to anesthetize her cranial nerves, 20mg of metrazine." "Yes Doctor." "Kes..." "I don't know what happened, I just looked at the hypospray and it just came to me." "Have you been experimenting with your pyscho- kinetic abilities?" "No, not for months but I have been feeling a little strange lately." " Lots of energy, sleeping less." " I can see why." "Your serotonin levels are 60% above normal." "It's the telepathic center of your brain;" "they are in a state of hyper stimulation." "Like they were a few days ago when you were in contact with Species 8472." "Are they attempting to communicate with you again?" "No." "But this time it's different, I don't feel the presence at all." "Perhaps she's experiencing an aftereffect of some kind." "A reasonable diagnosis, for a security officer." "I run a full micro synaptic analysis, but it'll have to wait." "we should get back to our Borg." "[Beeping]" " Come in." "Ship status report." "We got 2 teams on the hull, stripping off the Borg armor." "They're working around the clock, but it's still slow going." "What about the warp drive?" "Torres is having problems cleaning out the plasma relays." "It's disrupting the anti-matter reaction." "Until she's got it fixed, we're stuck at impulse." "She's requesting all personnel with level 3 engineering rating or higher to lend a hand." "Granted." "Tactical update?" "The long range sensors picking up residual transwarp signatures." "Borg vessels." "They passed by probably 3 days ago." "So we're not out of the woods yet." "Having half our propulsion system overrun by Borg implants doesn't make repairs any easier." "Seven of Nine could help us with that." "That might be true if she were willing, but she is not in the most cooperative mood." "That could change." "I just have to reach her somehow." "Annika Hansen." "Our Borg?" "It took some digging through the Federation database, but I managed to find a single entry in the record of Deep Space 4." "Her parents were... unconventional." "They fancied themselves as explorers, but it had 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 the flight plan." "Apparently they aimed their small ship towards the Delta Quadrant and were never heard from again." "For all we know, Annika's parents were the first humans the Borg ever assimilated." "From what she's told me, that was almost 20 years ago." "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." "What's the alternative?" "Toss her back to the wolves?" "[Communicator beeps] Sickbay to Janeway." "What is it Doctor?" "Could you come down here captain?" "We're having some problems." "I'll be right there." "It's like peeling an onion." "Store it in a bio-stasis chamber." "It may still be active." "If you think there is a risk Mr. Tuvok, you can throw one of your little force fields around the chamber." "A prudent security measure, for a doctor." "Report." "I'm afraid we have a decision to make." "A difficult one." "Her human immune system has reasserted itself with a vengeance." "Body armor, Borg organelles, bio-implants, all being rejected." "Her life is in danger." "I have little recourse but to remove the Borg technology" "Which is the last thing Seven of Nine would want." "Hence, the difficult decision." "If a patient told me not to treat them, even it the situation were life threatening," "I would be ethically obligated to honor that request." "This is no ordinary patient." "She may be raised by the Borg, raised to think like a Borg, but she's with us now." "And underneath all that technology, there is a human being, whether she's ready to accept it or not." "and until she's ready someone has to make the decisions for her." "Proceed with the surgery." "Aye Captain." "Kes!" "Let's begin with the micro tubular network embedded in the .... tract." "[Rapid beeping] What's happening?" "I'm not sure." "She's going into neural shock." "I can't localize the source." "Kes, try to stabilize her motocortex use a neuro sequencer." "Kes I said to stabilize her cortex,or we are going to lose her." "Wait..." "I can see it..." " What?" " I think her problem is in her collicular." "Yes I can see it, a Borg implant." "It's affecting her nerves." "Can you tell how we might remove it, without severing the nerve?" "I think I can do more than tell you." "The implant is deteroiting." "Her nervous system is stabilizing." "Nice work Kes, unconventional..." "but effective." "The eye is the window to the soul." "In this case it's a little bit more." "I fabricated this artificial organ to replace her eye piece, but I had to retain some of the Borg circuitry along the optic nerve." "As a result she'll have increased acculity in one eye." "Note how perfectly I've matched the pigment of the iris to her human eye." "Excellent work Doctor, I admire your attention to detail." "When can I speak with her?" "She is out of immediate danger... ..and I don't plan to resume the extraction process until tomorrow." " I can wake her now if you like." " I would." "How are you 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." "Your performance today was astonishing;" "however, your powers are still very undisciplined and as a result unpredictable." "I feel like I'm in control." "Nevertheless, you must proceed with precaution and with my assistance." "What are you suggesting?" "A series of meditation to help her explore the dept of these new abilities." " Kes." " I'm ready." "Well then, if you excuse us, we shall begin immediately." "Ready when you are Captain." "Don't be alarmed, you are in sickbay." "You're going to be fine." "What have you done to me!" "?" "Your body was rejecting Borg technology." "You were dying." "I'm sorry, but we had no choice." "Those are dermal plastic grafts, they help the regeneration process." "Unacceptable" "You should have let us die." " I couldn't do that." " This drone cannot survive outside the Collective." "I beg to differ." "Now that the Borg implants are dying, your human systems are free to thrive." "And thriving they are, as a matter of fact I..." "I want to help, but I need to understand what you are going through." "Do not engage us in superficial attempts of sympathy." "It's obvious that you are in pain, frightened, that you feel isolated, alone..." "You are an individual." "You are small." "You cannot understand what it is to be BORG." "No, but I can imagine." "You were part of a vast conscious, billions of minds working together." "A harmony of purpose and thought." "Knowing decisions with no doubts." "The security and strengh of a unified will... and you've lost that." "This drone is small now... alone..." "one voice, one mind." "The silence is unacceptable, we need the others..." "I can't give you back to Borg,but you are not alone, you are 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." "Insufficient." "It'll have to do." "And the fact is, this community needs you." "The Borg modifications made to our vessel disrupting the warp drive." "We need your help to remove them." "Your... expertise, your cooperation." "You must comply." "All right I think I got all the Borg garbage out of the plasma manifold." "Let's try reinitializing the anti-matter reaction." "[Warpcore humming] Matter-Antimatter at 22 Cochrane and rising." "Damn, what happened?" "Intake manifolds 11 and 13 are still blocked." " This is like pulling weeds, you think you got them all out and then..." " You have to remove the autonimous regeneration sequencers." "Lt. Torres, Ensign Kim, you remember Seven of Nine..." " How could we forget?" " 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 need to return to sickbay." "I suggest you put it to good use." "You can start with the plasma relays;" "they're in Jeffries tube 13..." "Jeffries tube 13 alpha, section 12." "We fully recall the engineering specifications of your vessel." "Good, can you also recall the way it looked before you turned it into a Borg circus?" "Yes." "Ahh, now that the pleasantries are over, why don't you get to work?" "I want updates every hour." "Yes Captain." "The flame of the lamp is the fire of discipline, tamed and under control." "It is the appropriate focus for the task ahead of us." "How do we begin?" "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 the energy and matter." "I can see the essence of the fire." "Good, now reach out with your mind and intensify the flame." "I'm making it hotter, brighter." "Now with your thoughts, reduce the flame." "Excellent, you never demonstrated this level of control before" "It is thou I knew what had to be done, uhm..." "What's wrong?" "Something is happening." " I can see further beyond the subatomic." " Kes, there is nothing beyond the subatomic." "But I can see it tuvok." "It's a new level of reality..." "it's beautiful." " Perhaps we should stop for now." " Wait a few seconds," "I want to try to control it." "Don't worry Tuvok." "What about these linkages?" "Every time I pull one out another one comes back in its place." "Autonomous regeneration sequencers, they function to counteract resistance." "Amazing, how did you come up with a pattern duplication design?" "We came up with nothing; the Borg assimilated this technology in galactic cluster 3 from Species 259." "I'm not interested in a history lesson, how do we disable it?" "You must disconnect each sequencer conduit at the insertion junction." "Why don't you two work in the Jeffries tube, start with the plasma relays?" "I'll start here." "You said the Borg got this stuff from Species 259?" "Who are they?" "I guess the Borg meet a lot of people don't they?" "[Whispering] Stupid question..." "So what's its like out there in galactic cluster three?" " Beyond your comprehension." " Try me." "Galactic cluster three is a transmaterial energy plane intersect in 22 billion omni cordial life forms." "Ohh...interesting." "Ensign Kim, your assistance." "Captain, somebody is trying to access the subspace transmitter." "Captain, I don't know how, but she has erected some kind of force field around the door we can't break through it." " She's bypassed our security protocols." " Disable the transmitter." "It's too late." "It's obvious; your mental abilities have progressed beyond this Vulcan exercise." "I suggest we..." " What is it?" " Something is wrong." "The Borg is trying to contact her people." "Tuvok to security team one, intruder alert in engineering." "Wait, I think I can stop her." "It's over." "Tuvok to bridge, Status?" "There was some kind of explosion in the Jefferies tube, just as she was about to initiate her transmission," "We don't know What cause it?" "I believe I may have the answer Captain." "I can tell by the expression on you face, that you got some bad news." "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." " Enough for a Borg ship to track?" " Possibly." " And the second front?" " I believe there is also cause for concern regarding Kes." "Explain." "Internal sensor logs show, that she destabilized the Jeffries tube at a molecular level." "She wishes to develop her abilities further." "I am not certain it would be safe." "For Kes, or Voyager." "Kes wants to be something more and a Borg is afraid of becoming something less." "Wait for me." "So this is human freedom?" "I have decided to keep you in the brig until I'm certain you won't harm us again." "If necessary the doctor can treat you here." "I honestly believed you were going to help us." "You were not deceived captain;" "it was my intension to help you." "What happened?" "There was a chance to contact the Collective I took advantage of it." "Your attempt to assimilate this drone will fail." "You can alter our physiology but you cannot change our nature." "We will betray you." "We are Borg." "I've met Borg, who were freed from the collective." "It wasn't easy for them to accept individuality, but in time they did." "You are not different." "Granted, that you were assimilated at a very young age and your transition may be more difficult." "But... it will happen." "If it does happen..." "we will become fully human?" "Yes I hope so." "We will be autonomous, independent." "That's what individuality is all about." "If at that time we choose to return to the Collective, will you permit it?" "I don't think you want to do that." "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!" "You lost the capacity to make a rational choice the moment you were assimilated." "They took that from you." "Until I'm convinced that you gotten it back, I'm making the choice for you." " You're staying here." " Then you are no different than the Borg." "Talaxian Champagne, moon ripened, your favorite." "Neelix, where did you get this?" "I put a bottle away, for a special occasion" " Remember when we last sipped this together?" " 3 Years ago, when we first arrived on Voyager." " Remember the toast I made?" " Yes, to the adventure" "To the adventure." "When you left Ocampa, you said that your people were being held back." "That if you were only given the chance you would become something so much more." "And you have." "I know things didn't work out exactly the way we planned." "I was only holding you back." "That's obvious to me now." "No, I couldn't have come this far without you." "And I love you." "I always will." "It's just uhmm..." "My cooking, you've always hated my cooking." "[Giggle] That's exactly what it was." "So, tell me more about what's happening to you." "What does it all mean?" "I don't know, that's what makes it so exciting." "It's as if I can see into a place where distinction between matter and energy and thought no longer exist." "And that's only the beginning." "I feel as if all the boundaries within me are about to fall away." "It sounds...int.. int...interesting." "I only have to look at an object, gaze at it and I can begin to see... that the space between the atoms is being filled with something else." "Uhh.." "Kes." "I can see it." "I see..." " Uhh..." "Kes, STOP!" " No." "Neelix?" "!" "Captain, I'm picking up some strange energy readings from deck 2 - the mess hall." "Bridge to Neelix, what's going on down there?" "Neelix report." "The bulkhead in that section is coming apart." "Increase the structural integrity field to deck two." "Tuvok." "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 ships internal sensors revealed anything?" "For 17.4 seconds Kes's body went into a state of flux," "She began to destabilize at the subatomic level" "And for some reason, her atoms reestablished their balance and she was back in one piece." "But what about the next time?" "Her condition is escalating." "We must find a way to suppress it." "Or the last we'll see of Kes could very well be her molecules be blowing through the ventilation ducts." "Tuvok, enhance the structural integrity field throughout the ship." "If she has another incidence, 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 partial physics now." "I try looking for the quantum substructure database." "Maybe it'll give me some inspirations." "Keep me informed." "Kes." "Until I can devise another diagnostics procedure, you're free to return to your quarters." "Actually I'd like to stay here and help with the research." "I don't want you to over exert yourself and risk precipitating another telepathic incident." " Try to get some rest." " Just let me stay a little while." "I haven't seen you much over the past few days, I miss you." "Alright, just for a while." " Ensign to bridge." " Go ahead Ensign." "You better come down to the brig ma'am." "One...one..." "My designation is Seven of Nine, but the others are gone." "Designations are no longer relevant." " I am ONE." " Yes you are." "But I cannot function this way..." "ALONE!" "You're not alone;" "I'm willing to help you." "If that's true, you won't do this to me." "Take me back to my own kind." "You are with your own kind." "Humans." "I don't remember being human." "[Sobbing] I don't know what it is to be human." "[sighs]" " What are you doing?" " I'm coming in." "I will kill you!" "I don't think you will." "Do you remember her?" "Her name was Annika Hansen." "she was born on star date 25479 at the Tendara colony." "There is 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 favorite color?" "Irrelevant!" "Take me back to the Borg." "I can't do that." " It's so quiet, ONE VOICE." " One voice can be stronger than a thousand voices." "Your mind is independent now, with its own unique identity." "You are forcing that identity on me, it's not mine." "Ohh 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." " I don't want that life!" " It's what you are, don't resist it." " No!" "Captain's log: supplemental." "Warp drive is still offline, and we don't know if the Borg has detected us." "Kes psychokinetic abilities continue to damage the ships structural integrity and as a result our defenses have been compromised." "[Beep] Come in Captain." "You want to see me?" "Ahh, Tuvok's meditation lamp." "I was with him as he got it 6 years ago from a Vulcan master." "He doubled the price when he saw our Starfleet signia." "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." " Ohh 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." "We're going to get to the bottom of this;" "the doctor is already working on a new approach." "Everybody thinks that what's happening is a medical condition, that's not it at all." "I'm going through transformation." "I don't know how or why, but every cell in my body is telling me, I'm changing into something more." "But what if it's not true?" "What if you're just swept up in the excitement of what you think is happening, but it's not real?" "And on the basis of a feeling and intuition, you're asking me to let you go?" "Quite likely forever?" "Kes, I just can't do that." "It's my decision, my fate;" "would you really try to stop me?" "No." "But argue with you or even plead with you to reconsider, absolutely." "For as long as it takes." "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." "You've lived most of your life here." "Voyager has been your home." "And you've been a part of this family." "Ohh, I'm going to miss you." "Now all I have left to do is to tell the doctor, he's not going to be happy." " It's starting." " Janeway to bridge." "Chakotay here." "Prepare a shuttle for launching and have Tuvok meet me on deck 6." "Captain?" "!" "Kes is leaving us." " Come on." " Captain, I can't stop it." "Janeway to Chakotay, beam us directly to the shuttle bay." "The molecules in Kes's body are destabilizing." "It's interfering with the transporter." "Captain, we can't get a lock Acknowledged..." "Looks like we going to have to do this the hard way." " What's happening?" " The hull is destabilizing... the molecular bonds are breaking down." "Tuvok." "I can't keep going." "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." "Ahh...." "You must hurry." " Hull breaches on deck 3, 4 and 5." " Emergency containment fields." "[Beep] Janeway to the bridge." " Kes is aboard the shuttle, initiate launch sequence." " Acknowledged." "Shuttle distance 100,000 km, Speed 1/4 Impulse." " Can you hail her?" " I've been trying." " It's happening, it's happening to me." " The atomic structure is completely destabilizing." "My gift to you." "Torres to bridge, the warp core just came online." "Matter-Antimatter reaction at 102%." "110%...120%" "This can't be right; our speed is..." "it's impossible..." "We're coming apart." "We've just dropped out of..." "whatever it was we were in." " Systems coming back online." " On Screen." " Where are we?" " 9.5 thousand light years from where we just were." "She's thrown us safely beyond Borg space." "10 Years closer to home." "I've extracted 82% of the Borg hardware." "The remaining bio implants are stable and better than anything I could synthesize in such a short notice." " It is acceptable." " Fashion of course is hardly my forte'." "Nevertheless I managed to balance functionality and esthetics in a pleasing enough manner." "I also deliberated stimulating your hair follicles." "You have to spend a few hours every day regenerating in a Borg alcove until your human metabolism can function on its own" " We'll leave one operational." " Understood." "Let's see how things go in the next few weeks." "I'll consider granting you access to the rest of the ship, once I can trust you not to get us all assimilated again." "It will not happen again." "Good." "If you need anything, contact me." " Red..." " What?" "The child you spoke of, the girl." "Her favorite color was red."