 |
The Borg coperative |
First Contact with the
Federation: No data avalible
Home planet: unknown
Planet class: unknown
BORG SOCIAL STRUCTURE :
Very little is actually known about the inner workings of the Borg social structure except to say that it closely resembles a hive in organization and operation. Assimilated Borg are designated drones and, as the name suggests, spend their lives working for and defending the rest of the collective. No more than automatons the drones work endlessly to serve the Borg Queen.
If little is known of the workings of the collective itself virtually nothing is known about the role of the Queen. Unlike social hives the Borg Queen's primary purpose is not thought to be breeding but rather as a central reference point around which the collective will and purpose of the hive revolves. It remains undetermined what function this role would play in the collective consciousness of the hive, whether it is necessitated by the sheer number of Borg and the vast distances that separate them or if it has evolved under some other forces. Capt. Picard first encountered the Queen during his assimilation as Locutus though he was not to remember the episode until the Battle of First Contact several years later. More puzzling still is the fact that the cube on which Locutus met the Queen (shortly before the Battle of Wolf 359) was destroyed along with all Borg aboard, yet years later the Queen returned as she had been. It is unclear at this point whether the Queen encountered aboard the first cube was the same physical entity or merely a representation of the collective center of the hive. It is possible that several manifestations of the Queen exist. This could operate by either projecting the presence of the Queen who in fact is centrally located in Borg homespace or by the physical existence of different representations of the Queen, all of which would maintain a unique link to both the collective and the True Queen.
ANOMALOUS BORG CULTURES:
There are two known anomalous Borg cultures. The first was established on Stardate 45854.2 when the Borg drone known as Third of Five, or Hugh, was returned to the collective with his recently acquired sense of individuality intact. The result of his return to the Collective proved disruptive. Unable to operate cope with the concept of self-awareness the Borg cube was derelict in space and soon encountered the Soong type android Lore. The encounter with Lore eventually led the Borg to settle on a planet where they attempted to modify themselves in Lore's image. The Enterprise-D discovered this culture and after the dismantling of Lore allowed the surviving Borg to continue to explore their new identities on their own.
The second Borg anomaly exists in the Delta Quadrant as the self-identified Borg Cooperative. The Cooperative consists of members of various races who were at one time or another assimilated by the Collective. After an electrostatic discharge disabled their cube several Borg found themselves separated from the Collective. Cannibalizing various pieces of their cube several of the survivors beamed to a nearby Class-M planet and began a new life. After separation from the Collective they discovered that their Borg implants and altered appearances began to revert to their normal state.
Unfortunately the elation at being separated from Borg was soon overtaken by age old divisions of race and new fears of unknown species. The USS Voyager NCC-74656, lost in the Delta Quadrant, encountered this culture. In an effort to restore order to the planet and preserve the life they had made for themselves a group of former Borg used a small neural generator to re-establish the neural link that unites Borg. The former Borg then proceeded to use Commander Chakotay to return power to the abandoned cube and establish a planet-wide neural link, thereby reuniting everyone who had been a former Borg. In appreciation for the help that they obtained, unwillingly, from Voyager the newly named Cooperative destroyed the cube and isolated themselves to develop on their own.
BORG TECHNOLOGY
Borg technology is highly advanced, as evidenced by their ability to assimilate other species with relative ease (see below) and their use of high concept engineering beyond current Federation understanding. The Borg are known to use trans-warp drive in their vessels which are typically cube shaped and which, to date, have conformed to exact measurements. The Borg cube is largely ungeneralized in design, reflecting the collective state of the hive itself.
Each cube contains powerful weapons technology far beyond current understanding as well as carrying smaller Borg vessels such as the sphere encountered at the Battle of First Contact. Remarkably the Borg are able to repair their vessels without the need for spacedocks. The collective established by the linked Borg is used to focus a cube's power directly into repairs and even major damage by phasers and torpedoes can be repaired without much delay. Possibly even more impressive is the fact, supposed though not tested, that the a Borg cube can continue to function while up to 90 percent of its structure is destroyed or otherwise inoperable.
The use of the collective also allows for the Borg to react more swiftly than conventional starships. Literally the collective thinks and acts as one with its ship. The benefits of this extend to the level of individual Borg drones as well where the neural field generated by the collective allows both major and minor wounds to drones biological and technological components to heal with great rapidity.
ASSIMILATION:
The sole purpose of the Borg Collective is to find and assimilate all other species. The drive to assimilate exists for several reasons on several levels. First and foremost assimilation is the means by which Borg gain all knowledge of other races and cultures. By assimilating an individual Borg absorb all the knowledge and experiences of the individual into the collective thereby adding to their own knowledge and expertise. Secondly, assimilation is the primary means of reproduction and advance for Borg. New drones are created by assimilation solely. There is evidence of Borg infants, though it is undetermined at this time as to whether or not assimilated Borg are capable of reproduction or if the infants are non-Borg who begin a modified assimilation at an early age. Thirdly all Borg technology is the result of assimilation of advanced species.
There are at least two similar but distinct methods of assimilation. The most commonly used method begins on the microscopic level. Injection tubules carried by all Borg drones pierce the subcutaneous layers and inject nano-probes into the subjects bloodstream. The nano-probes are programmed to attack the subjects bloodcells and re-program, assimilate, them according to their own Borg template. Thousands of such probes can be injected in seconds making the initial stages of assimilation nearly immediate. Thus begun assimilation continues throughout the subjects body. The probes, working together, form a large connected network that effectively lays the groundwork for connection to the collective as well as bio-technological interface with Borg cybernetic implants and attachments.
After this initial stage assimilation continues with the alteration of other areas. This may include the addition of modified extremities, optical and aural implants, and Borg adaptive energy technologies. All assimilated Borg are provided with a neural implant that is not removable once installed. This implant is the primary connection between any drone and the rest of the collective. It relays all orders to the drone, maintains a record of those orders, and coordinates all the drones activities.
The second method of assimilation is very similar to the first but differs in several important aspects. The primary example of this variation of assimilating technique is Locutus of Borg. The assimilation of Locutus differed from ordinary Borg assimilation in that both its physical approach and impact were far less radical than an ordinary assimilation. In the case of Locutus attention was paid to keep physical alteration to a minimum. Where as in a normal drone the addition of optical or aural implants and extremity modification would begin with the removal of the original organs in Locutus care was taken to preserve as much of the original biology as possible. Thus the addition of Borg extremities did not result in the loss of original components. Nor, seemingly, was the Borg neural implant introduced, or possibly a modified version was used as it was later removed from the recovered Jean-Luc Picard. Beyond speculation there is no known reason for the differing methods of assimilation.
However, Capt. Picard is on record as stating that Locutus was designed to bridge the gap between humanity and Borg. If this is the case it would of course be desirable to modify the assimilation process in such a manner as to preserve as much of the original human condition, physical and mental, as possible while still incorporating it into the collective. It can be argued that such an assimilation ultimately adds more to the collective by preserving what is lost by the assimilation of the rest of the subjects race.
Of course speculation such as this must remain speculation, but encouraging signs of its truth would be found in the discovery that the Borg follow this revised assimilation with at least one member of every (or a significant number of) species they encounter. In all cases of assimilation or near assimilation that have resulted in a subject being recovered and restored to his or her original state there have been lingering effects. Aside from the obvious psychological and physical damage it appears that restored subjects maintain a sub-conscious link with the collective. This was evident in the Battle of First Contact when Captain Picard used the remnants of his link to gain an advantage on the Borg by allowing himself to hear their plans. Likewise in the case of Commander Chakotay, the Cooperative used residual traces of his link to the collective to forcibly manipulate his actions. It is unknown to what extent this latent connection can be used by either the subject or Borg, or even whether the lingering effects are permanent or temporary.