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 ‘Where Is My Mind’

Periodic green lights dimly illuminate the vast, cavernous, gunmetal gray interior of the Borg cube. Row after row, column after column of seemingly endless little nooks; most filled with idle drones. Their blue-gray skin and semi-lifeless bodies illuminated in that same sickly green hue. A deafening silence filled the space; only disturbed by the whir of machinery and the hum of  lights. One particular drone stands out amongst the rest. Its body adorned with typical formal attire from the early 21st century (circa 2027) however the figure still looked full of youth and vigor. Its torn, black shirt and formal trousers revealed an interconnected network of cables and wires that are bored into the figure's flesh, dried blood around the base of the pipes and cables that ran down the ribs, shoulders and around its left eye. The eye of the drone shoots open, the other sealed shut and covered by a mechanical lens. The eye was an iridescent blue: a stark contrast from the gray and green surroundings. The drone steps forwards out of its nook and onto a metallic walkway, the sharp thunks of the drone’s boots against the grated metal catwalk and it shambles its way down to a large door at the end of the walkway. The catwalks in this chunk of the Borg cube sprawled extensively both horizontally and vertically leading both somewhere and nowhere. The door slides open with a metallic grunt and the drone stumbles through. The room is dull with those sickly lights still everpresent. There are a few drones shambling around and operating various consoles. This pease was swiftly thrown into chaos as the cube shook violently, alarms blaring. The cube puts up a shield over the door that the drone had just walked through. That once cavernous space now in smithereens after a photon torpedo struck it. The soft hum of a transporter echoes in the corner of the room and an away team appears in the room. Several of the drones in that room turned to face and attack the away team and each of them were taken out by the team with incredible efficiency. The drone stops in place, this action in of itself intrigues the away team, the drone then starts to repeat one singular word. One the Borg have never been known to use in all of the time that they have existed. And that word was ‘Mercy’.

This simple word astounds the away team so much that they cease all hostilities. They approach the drone, it doesn’t make a single move, it just keeps repeating that one word. The away team beam out the drone into their ship’s medical bay. The soft whir of the transporter echoes again, that soft blue glow illuminating against the gray metal. After a short while, the away team beams back to their ship and shortly after that the Borg cube goes silent before being completely destroyed. Fragments of the cube exploding out from the epicenter. 

The ship warps away. Its slight trail rapidly dissipates as the ship travels away.

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A Federation starship is a drastic contrast to the Borg cube. Its white walls with red trims and accents, the red carpet underfoot and the fluorescent lights illuminate the room and the corridors in their bright light. 

A few hours go by as the medical officers work to reverse the drone’s assimilation. Chunks of blood soaked metal and pipes lay on tables around the bed. The drone’s unconscious form lay dormant.

Another hour goes by and the former drone wakes up. They sat up off the bed and rubbed their eyes. For the first time in nearly four hundred years, they were finally free. They stood in front of a mirror, trying to gather their bearings with who they are. The reflection staring back at them was that of a young woman. The woman was almost human in appearance save for the pointed ears. Her hair was buzzed but the black follicles were showing ever so slightly. She smiles a true smile as it truly dawned on her; that she was finally free.