Chapter TenRedemptions of the Heart
By Oprelia
Rating: PG-13
Code: P, J/P
Category: VOYAGER
Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance
Beta: H. Louise
Disclaimer: STAR TREK: VOYAGER and all its characters contained within this story are owned exclusively by Paramount Pictures Corporation. No copyright infringements are intended.
The Last Of The Chrysten
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"Let me get this straight" Janeway spoke at last. She moved away from Tom's embrace reluctantly, to stand in front of Ben. "You are the last surviving member of your race that was assimilated nearly a thousand years ago?" with this Ben nods. "And you are a walking Borg database?" again he nods "How is that possible? How long is the lifespan of your race?"
"The lifespan of a Chrysten is longer than a Vulcan, Captain. We live for nearly five hundred of your Earth Years. I am however most definitely the last of my race. I was special amongst my people in that I had an extraordinary analytical ability and the gift of perfect memory recall. Although the other members of the Chrysten also had these abilities to a certain degree, my gifts were much greater.
"When I was born, the medical professionals discovered that I was fully aware of my environment. Within an hour from my birth, I was able to construct basic words, two hours later I was able to grasp basic mathematical concepts. Never before in the history of our race had there ever been a child with these abilities. The gestation period for the Chrysten is comparable to a Vulcan however, our minds developed at a much faster rate. I was different though because a child still required approximately six of our months for an infant to begin basic word construction. So you can understand how different I was. I was able to walk by the end of one month and during that time I was having conversations with the medical staff.
"I was removed from my parents by the government for study. Through visual and sensory tests, they discovered that I had heightened senses. I could identify a person just by their scent or the sound of their footfalls. I knew the position of a person just by listening to the sound of the air echoing off the person and the walls. Memory tests concluded that I was able to recall in exact detail everything I encountered. My cognitive abilities were also extraordinary. For fifty Earth years I was in the research facility.
"The Borg assimilated our race four hundred and sixty-one years ago. I was forty-nine Earth years old. The Borg assimilated us for our advanced cranial capacity and our advanced cognitive abilities. We were a very advanced but peaceful society and when our race was assimilated, the technology greatly enhanced the Collective. Our race dramatically increased the analytical and processing capabilities of the Borg. The significant increase of the Collective's abilities when our race was assimilated was overshadowed by the dramatic increase that occurred when I was finally assimilated. The Queen noticed the significant change and so she investigated the cause. She traced the cause back to me. Cross-referencing with the data from my studies, she saw how special I was.
"To test her reasoning, she sectioned off the entire Chrysten race from the Central Hive and she discovered no discernible difference. By controlling the Collective through me, she discovered a dramatic increase in the efficiency of the Borg. She also realised that she could store the entire dataset of the Collective within me. The structure of the Collective prior to my assimilation was very inefficient. The data was shared between fifty advanced drones and each of those controller drones, called Sovereigns, controlled a large portion of the Collective. The Queen directly controlled the Sovereigns and in turn she was able to direct the will of the Collective. Data retrieval was also very inefficient. A drone would have to download temporarily any relevant data necessary for a computation. Once the task was completed the data was reloaded back into the database," Ben explained.
Everyone was listening in fascination about the history of the Collective. Standing in front of the Senior Staff was the most significant drone in existence.
"So you were then designated the Borg Alpha-Prime and became the most important drone in the history of the Collective," Kathryn observed.
"Correct. The Queen transferred the entire Borg database into me. I replaced the fifty Sovereigns and the drones' thoughts were all directed through me. This all occurred within the first week of my assimilation. However, the Queen soon began to notice that a portion of my mind was diverted from the Collective to regulate my body. Both the Queen and I were not dissimilar to a normal drone in the amount of technology incorporated into our bodies. Since the most important part of my physical body was my cerebral cortex, she soon began implementing a plan to remove the organic components that were unnecessary to the control over the Hive Mind. The Collective soon began assimilating species with the technology that allowed me to survive with my upper body intact. So you can see that the Queen's body was a replica of mine," Ben explained.
The Senior Staff then took a moment to digest this information. They assumed that the Alpha-Prime resembled the Queen. That was not the case, the Queen resembled the Alpha-Prime instead.
"What was the fate of the other members of your race? You have stated that they were all assimilated, as well as the fact that you are the last surviving member of your race. You should not be alive since you have exceeded the lifespan of your race," Tuvok asked.
"How very astute, Tuvok. I am the sole surviving member of the Chrysten race. I would technically be five hundred and ten Earth years now. However the answer to your query is quite simple. As I have stated before, I was special and the Collective could not exist as it is without me. I am also mortal and my lifespan is finite. The Queen began to notice the deterioration of my health along with the decrease in the efficiency of the Collective approximately ten years ago.
"My implants needed continuous repair and before long the organic portion of my body began rejecting the cybernetic components. I was obviously dying. The Queen decided to clone my body, to recreate my unique attributes to ensure the survival of the Collective. When my new body was ready, she transferred all my functions, everything from the original body to the clone. The Collective had to cease all movements and operations to facilitate the transfer and it was successful. My original body was then placed in stasis for future needs. Since the body was new, she was also able to integrate some new components into my body that could not be placed in the original body. Therefore, I am an upgraded version of my original self. I still have all the memories from my original body though. No data was lost and the efficiency of the Collective returned to prior levels.
"Since I was crucial to the Collective, I have always resided in Unimatrix Two, a large super-structure that encompassed an entire planet. There was an entire fleet patrolling the sector where Unimatrix Two was situated. The fleet's sole purpose was to protect me from any possible enemy incursions. During the Species 8472 attack, I was shepherded to a hiding place, far away from Borg Space in the likelihood of Species 8472 breaching the heart of our space to reach Unimatrix Two. Even if Unimatrix One was destroyed, as long as I was fully functional, the Collective could still grow. Therefore, Unimatrix Two had a higher defence priority than Unimatrix One. It was through me that subsequent Queens could be created. Without me the entire Collective would collapse," Ben explained.
"I thought the power of the Collective was through the advantage of many voices," Harry said. He was intrigued by the history lesson on the Borg.
"That is essentially correct however the drones do not carry the entire knowledge of the Borg. Ask Seven of Nine. She only contains a small portion of the knowledge. The reason for this is that her brain does not contain the capacity to hold the information. The Queen also limited the amount of information a drone contained inside their cortical node as a safety precaution. If drones were disconnected from the Hive Mind, as in the case of Seven of Nine, it would be too dangerous for a drone to have all that information without the control of the Collective. The Queen did not want anyone to oppose us in our quest for perfection."
As everyone digested this new information, Ben turned towards Tom.
"So Tom, you will recall that when you named me Benjamin, my comment was that it was appropriate. Well now you know why. I have been the right hand of the Queen since I had been assimilated and I am also the son of the right hand since I am the cloned version of my initial self."
"So why did you help Tom?" asked Kathryn. She wanted to know whether there was a price to pay for her happiness.
"As I have said before, my race was a peaceful race. We had no conflicts and we lived in perfect harmony. It is not our nature to cause harm unless there was a serious incident that required a punishment. Such incidents were rare and I am still a Chrysten since I am an exact replica. Although I am a clone, I still possess all the memories of my life before I was assimilated. Nothing has changed. I was enslaved by the Collective against my will and when I gained control of the Collective, I did not have to follow the Queen's quest for perfection."
"How did you help Tom? I was unable to find a cure for the pathogen," asked the Doctor.
"That is a good question which I am sure you are all anxious to hear. As you all know, when I arrived on this ship, I immediately began assimilating Voyager's database. I needed to gain control over this ship and I also needed the knowledge of its occupants so that I could interact with the crew. The main computer contained the reports of Tom's illness and the documented attempts of treatments that have failed. When I examined the systems through the computer, I noticed the extent of the damage your ship incurred from the battle. I immediately gained control over the primary systems and began repairing the damages to your ship. That is why I have drones in Main Engineering..." at this Vorik just had to interrupt.
"What changes have you made to Engineering?" asked Vorik.
"Main Engineering has only undergone minor enhancements. It is still recognisable as a Starfleet Engineering Room. My drones have only been repairing most of the ships systems. Some of the systems had degraded quite significantly since you left the Alpha Quadrant. The alignment of the plasma manifolds were out by 0.2 percent and some of the circuitry within Main Engineering were not repaired to Starfleet regulations. I believe they are the work of B'Elanna Torres. My drones have repaired them with Borg technology now so your Engineering is now more efficient.
"I also have some designs that I have been working on to increase the efficiency of your ship's systems, Captain. The repairs that your crew has made have been good but they are starting to degrade. The systems need a major overhaul or this vessel will start having catastrophic failures soon. When I have the time, I will consult you about those since I felt it best to wait until tension levels among your crew decreases. I would not want my drones to be in any altercations.
"Once that was underway, I turned towards other matters. With the assimilated knowledge of your vessel's database, I realised the love Tom had for you Captain and I wanted to help. Analysing the medical reports from the scans of Tom, I created a vaccine for the pathogen to protect my drones. I then transported Tom and the EMH's holographic projection unit into the Cargo Bay where I could speak to him without any interruptions. I used the timetable of your imminent incursion into my domain as the time to transport Tom from Sickbay," Ben said.
"So you knew all along what we were planning didn't you?" asked Chakotay. He didn't realise how easy it was for the Borg to halt their attacks.
"That is correct. I had access to the ship's internal sensors so I could see where you were planning to attack and I took appropriate measures to prevent them," said Ben.
"I can see how easy it was for you to stop our attacks now that we know you were accessing our internal sensors. Please continue your explanation," said Chakotay.
"I awoke Tom up from his sedated state and gave him an efficient painkiller. Then I offered him the chance to be healed. Knowing of his love for Kathryn, I knew he was going to accept when he realised what my true gift was going to be. Using the knowledge of genetics and genetic re-sequencing from Species 2461, Species 3684 and Species 8472, plus the assimilated technology from the holoemitter, I was able to create an advanced alcove that would re-sequence Tom's genetic code.
"Now I must warn you that Tom's genetic structure had deteriorated to such an extent that I had to replace large sections of his genetic code and adapt the undamaged portions to merge with the new code. Some of his chromosomes had deteriorated so badly that I had to replace them with new ones as well. Tom should no longer be considered human because of the differences between his genetic structure and that of a normal human. I have corrected the flaws inherent in your species, number 5618 since I had to reconstruct his cellular code. Because of the changes to his body I have brought him closer to perfection."
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Chapter Ten