Trust Won't Come Easy

Posted on Sat Mar 11th, 2017 @ 10:24pm by Commander Andrew Knight & Brigadier General Christopher Mitchell

Mission: Another Day in Paradise
Location: TBD
Timeline: TBD

ON

Christopher stood outside of the lab, flanked by two Marine guards with rifles at Parade Rest. Watching the ring around him, he noticed that it was strangely quiet, even with two thousand people aboard the station there seemed to be a lull. To Christopher, it was almost peaceful but he couldn't help but feel a vibration of something dark and ominous beneath the surface. Turning as he heard footfalls on the deck that echoed through the semi-enclosed hallway, Chris regarded the XO. "Good morning, Commander." Chris said as he turned to face the man. "I think I know why we're here, so let's head in." he said quickly, snapping off a quick salute to the Marines guarding the door.


Drew followed his CO into the interview room, taking up position along the wall behind the chair Christopher had just sat down in. He studied Three of Eights demeanor in an effort to determine if he could detect any animosity or threat coming from the Borg. His opinion was that Three of Eight displayed just as much curiosity about them as they did about him.

But in reality, Three of Eight had no real curious thought to the the two new humans who had come in. He categorized them no different than the armed, brutish people who have been watching him since he was brought to sick bay. He made no intention to acknowledge their presence and continued to sit there staring straight ahead.

Taking his seat, Chris looked at the Borg that was behind a Level Ten force field. "Borg, state your designation, purpose, and status." he said almost robotically. This thing was watching their every move and it was important to go by the book.

The drone spoke, "Designation: Three of Eight, Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix 03. Purpose: Original directive was to infiltrate Starfleet vessel, designation USS Zumwalt to assimilate or destroy. Current directive is unknown. Status: Operational." He continued to look straight ahead while he spoke, not looking at either Chris or Drew.

Perhaps a bit unexpectedly, the drone spoke again, "What is to become of...me?" He said, struggling to identify himself with a pronoun. This time he looked right into the eyes of Chris, with a look that could almost be mistaken for trepidation. Fear of the unknown is a basic instinct in all living things, but this is not so for the Borg, drones operate without fear or independent thought. Both of which are beginning to dominate Three of Eight's every independent thought.

Chris thought on how to respond. "That's what we're here to decide. Now I want you to tell us, why should we allow you to live?" he asked the thing, his face unchanging.

Three of Eight was unsure how to respond. "Is there a reason you should not?" he asked.

Christopher stood from his chair and walked forward so that he paced in front of the Borg. "To answer your question, you represent a very present and very real threat to every single man, woman, and child aboard this station. To them, you represent the thing that killed their friends without a hint of remorse or hesitation. In their eyes, you are one and the same. How do I know that if I release you that won't try to the people aboard this station? How do I know that you won't inform the Borg of your location and bring them here?" he asked

Everything Chris was saying was very reasonable, Three of Eight was sitting there still in full Borg cybernetics and armor and would cause alarm to anybody who happened to see him. "What is your designation?" He asked suddenly.

"Brigadier General Christopher Mitchell, Commanding Officer of Forward Operating Base Anchorage." he said. The words sounded foreign even before they left his mouth. This wasn't the second time he had worn stars on his collar but it always felt odd to him when he identified himself in this manner.

Trying his best to sound human Three of Eight continued speaking, "Christopher, anything...I...say will not be trusted." He said, still struggling to identify himself as an individual. "Therefore, we must look to logic. I am now ONE. No longer of the collective, alone I am of little threat." Three of Eight paused for a moment as he seemed to process something, "Trust is important for my survival, yes? Therefore, I will be honest with you. I am at war within myself. Once, I was human, but have been Borg for many years. Find that there is a longing and desire to return to humanity, but it would be much easier to rejoin the collective, where there is many and no conflict, no pain." Realizing that he may have rambled a bit, he stopped talking for another moment.

Being disconnected from the Collective had allowed Three of Eight to find his own thoughts for the first time since he was a young child. The change from the mind of a child to that of an adult is quite drastic in itself. The fact that he hadn't had an independent thought since childhood makes the changes that much more dramatic. He could not deny that he missed being among the Collective, but no longer could he ignore the freedom of being able to choose for himself.

"I choose to become human again, if possible. However, I leave the decision to you, Christopher. Will you let me live as human or kill me as Borg?" Three of Eight said to Chris with finality, leaving his fate in his hands.

Drew had been holding back throughout the interview up to this point. There was an opportunity here to confirm whether or not Three of Eight was being sincere. He stepped away from the wall and approached the end of the table. "If your desire to become human again is true, then allow us to use an isolated tricorder and access the information in you primary mission data chip."

"What you ask for is not easily accessed." Three of Eight warned, "Risk of injury and death is very likely. But if this is the only option against a death penalty then I will submit to it." He doubted the competence of Starfleet engineers and medical staff, for it would take both to access it but he was not in a position to barter or argue. "Request? If possible, it may be wise to remove a number of my Borg cybernetics and appearance. Appearing more human may ease everyone's minds, though I ask to leave my multi-tool arm intact, you will find it very useful in the months to come."

"I'll consider it. Wait here." The realization his Chris like a freight train as he sighed. Killing this Borg would be in violation of Federation law and go far past the limits of human decency. If they decided to extinguish this life, regardless of his transgressions, they would be no better than the thing that they had hoped to fight. It was a powerful feeling that Chris had trouble curbing but it was something that they would need to do. He looked over to Drew with a hesitant expression on his face.

"Commander, with me." he said, rising from his seat and walking over to a side room out of earshot of the drone. "I hate to admit it but he's right. He'll be despised by most of the crew but he'll be useful in the long run for the intelligence that he can provide." Christopher said reluctantly.

Drew concurred on both counts with Christopher. He looked back to the room Three of Eight was sequestered in. "Right now only you, I, Ja'xon, Corpsman Second Garcia and a handful of marines even know he is here. We're going to have to make an announcement of some kind."

Chris raised his eyebrow. "Are you crazy? If news got out that I harbored a Borg, we'd have a mutiny on our hands. These civilians are still panicked and their nerves are frayed. Once that news got out, we'd all be targets. How would you suggest I deal with that?" Christopher inquired, tapping his toe impatiently.

Drew squared his shoulders as he fully faced Chris. "The only way to keep word of Three of Eights presence will be to sequester it...him and every one of us that was there when he surrendered. That still does not guarantee that someone else will find out and leak it to the general populace. We release the information with assurances that the safety of every living person are our primary concern and I think we will be OK."

A bad taste rose into Christopher's mouth as he considered this. "Very well. We'll go over it in the staff meeting. Just say the words 'Charlie Hotel' and I'll inform them. We should probably tell him-" Chris said offhandedly, gesturing in Three of Eight's direction.

Drew looked in the direction Christopher gestured and nodded. He knew that what he had proposed was not going to be easy to pull off, but trying to keep Three of Eight's presence on the FOB a secret would only net them a host of even more serious problems. Drew was convinced it would be best to try and get Three of Eight's willing cooperation and he was ready to back his conviction with action if need be.

Walking over to the force field reinforced section that held Three of Eight and beckoned to the Marines guarding the cell. "Lower your weapons and cut him loose." Stepping slightly closer as one of the Marines- a Corporal disengaged the forcefield. Christopher spoke. "Three of Eight, you are no longer a Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero Three. You are now an individual. I will not force you to do anything against your will while you reside here but for now, there will be certain restrictions placed upon you until we can find a way to bring you amongst the rest of the population. First, you will remain here until the Chief Medical Officer is brought in for your surgical consult and your guard detail will be reduced to one guard posted outside. Second, you may eat or consume whatever food or drink that you wish, simply use the replicator. Third, your information input will be restricted to media and literature. If you attempt to access anything beyond that, the computer will lock and alert Security. Do you understand or have any questions?"

"I understand." Three of Eight replied, "I have no further questions at this time. You will, in time, find that your trust has not been misplaced."

END SCENE