Resistance is not Futile

M!A: None Tracked Tag: hughborg I am Hugh. I was once Borg, but my life was saved by friends who allowed me find individuality. Now I and many others have been severed from the Collective and must adapt to freedom and all the struggles it brings. We are not Borg. We are our own, now. [Ask/RP blog for Hugh, aka Third of Five, of Star Trek: The Next Generation.] [Affiliated with USS Tumblr]

[imperfectnumberseven-deactivate]

Reblog if you create infinite numbers of stories for your character in your head that never get written or rped

[hugh-borg]

The Doctor's Proposition (@ethos-borg)

[ethos-borg]

Eiden grew more excited as the details were explained, even though the percentage of success seemed unsatisfactory to his remaining Borg instincts. He swallowed, looking down a bit. Though, when Hugh said that the examination he had taken part of would improve the odds, he looked back up with more confidence.

Then, when Hugh said he didn’t accept yet, Eiden looked genuinely confused. “You did not accept?” He observed how Hugh seemed reluctant, worried, even, “Hugh, you are our leader. If you have no feeling, and show only neutrality, what are we to think of it? We need you to show your thought, your independence.”

[hugh-borg]

Hugh looked back at Eiden with a wide, confused eye at first. "I was not intending to be apathetic. I-I was excited to hear it may be possible, so I wanted to show more caution than.. before. When he tried to remove parts of us, as well." His mouth tightened a little as he looked back down at Bajor. He hated how it still rubbed raw on him after years.

"... I know it is not the same," he quickly admitted, though. "I know there are so many that could benefit from the procedure even with such risk." Thoughts ran aloud as he pondered the view. "I would not want us to miss such an opportunity. Yet, for some it has been difficult to simply acknowledge the lives and faces they had before. For others.." his voice halted in his throat, and his brow tightened in just the slightest telling way, "this is the only identity they have ever known. They may be afraid to lose it, even if it means removing the technology that enslaved them in the first place..." He paused for a while again before shifting his gaze loosely back up to Eiden. "... But, as you are saying, a leader leads by example."

[colonelkiranerys]

hugh-borg started following you

[colonelkiranerys]

"Thank you," said Kira. She glanced around, contemplating how to phrase the stationwide message she would have to deliver soon, but the passerby and their various reactions to seeing Hugh were distracting her. There had to be a place on the Promenade with a spare PADD and a secluded corner where Hugh could be granted a slight reprieve from the current attention he was receiving … .

"Let’s go to Quark’s for a bit, even though I did warn you about him. It’s an interesting place, and some of the people there may be more open to interacting with you." Kira said hastily, hoping he would be convinced.

[hugh-borg]

Hugh was definitely hoping his drones would listen to reason here. Yes, they were peaceful, and yes, they did want to establish communication with the world outside, but that didn't mean all of their kind was patient with being mistreated. Especially those who had defected from Lore or those who had began to remember their pasts and felt lost between this life and the last.

He snapped back to almost automatic attention when Kira spoke again, this time to suggest a change in location. Although, to a rather unexpected place given her previous warnings. But he could hear the tone in her voice and, mixed with the increasing variance of reactions, he maybe knew what she really meant. There were a lot of humans here. A lot of people who did recognize what he was. And.. well, it was uncomfortable the more that eyes fell on him. "Y-yes. I would like that." He answered promptly, or perhaps he was actually just sharing the tiniest fraction of her haste to get somewhere a little quieter. "Perhaps it will be safer with you accompanying me."

[the-space-guy-blog]

(@hugh-borg) [DS9] // Something New Everyday

[the-space-guy-blog]

After a few more breaths to steady himself, he just nodded, then hug his head. “Yeah… I’ve just got a bad case of deja vu. This isn’t the first time I’ve ended up in another time, really…” He stood straight again, looking more composed. “Last time, though, I had ship meant for it. THe time before that, I had enough time to slip right back through the tear my FTL made. This time feels.. different.”

He looked over at Hugh. “Maybe I’m a bit more anxious… I have a son on the way in my time, and I just have a bad feeling. You know what those feel like, right?”

[hugh-borg]

Hugh only stepped back just a little as he was sure Roger was alright. He still looked on with almost puppy-ish, perplexed concern when Roger hung his head like that, but it eased when he saw him stand up straight again. He seemed alright, but 'different' definitely didn't carry any positive connotations with the way he said it.

"A bad feeling.." He looked edgewise in thought. Oh, he knew what bad feelings were. At least, he'd started to know what they were after going back to the Cube the first time. He didn't like those. They usually came before something very bad happened, like clockwork, with a strange tightness in the chest and stomach. He really didn't like those. "Yes, I know what they feel like..." He looked back. "Do you mean... this time you are afraid you will not be able to return to your home and child like before?"

[hugh-borg]

// oh my gODS TUMBLR IS LETTING ME POST AGAIN, what the hell was that all about.

[hugh-borg]

(scars)

[the-space-guy-blog]

"Well, don’t get me wrong, we have regeneration bays and dermal reconstructors, and those take care of the immediate threat of any serious injuries, but the scars are still there. It’s a cosmetic decision, getting rid of them. Some people want to keep their bodies clear of scars." He watched Hugh get closer, and pointed to a couple of his other scars to make sure Hugh saw them.  He pointed to a scar on his back. "I got that one when I was crawling through a tight cavern on Labion." He pointed to another. "I got this one from a sharp piece of metal in a jerry tube." Then another - this one on his thumb. "And this one I got from nearly getting my thumb chopped off by a glass cutter."

"Oh yeah! Some women love a guy who has scars. It shows that he’s led a life, y’know? A guy whose had adventures, and knows pain! They like tough guys."

[hugh-borg]

Actually being invited to see the scars certainly gave Hugh more permission to be curious, and he listened to the story behind each one as he tried to mentally match the descriptions of the wounds to the scars they had left. A gash here, a slice there, Roger was dotted with all sorts of little reminders of adventures and the accompanying painful injuries.

Finally, Roger used words that made a lot more sense, although they barely had any connection whatsoever to the ones he had used before. "Scars make your males more desirable as mates?" He cocked his head and furrowed his brow. "You are saying.. that scars are part of your stories? You have had many adventures, and you have experienced much pain. Yet others would wish to remove them?" He nodded his head a little as if asking if he'd understood, before he seemed to be lost with his thoughts for a moment.

[hugh-borg]

The Doctor's Proposition (@ethos-borg)

[ethos-borg]

His expression became more lively when the very idea of removing the technology that had been forced upon him, even if it was only so much. “Starfleet doctors are some of the best. How much did he say he could remove? With what success rate? Did.. did you accept his offer?” He wished he could express so much more than his body armor and implants would allow at that moment. He wanted to reach out and take Hugh by the shoulders, almost by instinct, but the restraints of his armor made it impossible to react so quickly.

[hugh-borg]

Hugh blinked and brightened at his friend's lively reaction, although in a way he had expected it, and especially from Ethos-- or Eiden. For being as quiet as he could be about some things, he was terribly expressive for a drone when he wanted to be, even under the heavy constraints of his Borg exterior. "He says he may be able to allow us seventy-percent organicity with.. an eighty-six-percent chance of success." He looked down at little. "He claims the results of my examination may influence that further, and that he has even run many simulations of the procedure. He speaks with confidence about it." The younger drone looked back up after a half-second with a hopeful little smile.

But, then he paused and looked edgewise in obvious anticipation of Eiden's reaction to the next part. "But, I.. did not accept. Not yet." He quickly clarified. "I told him I would need time to give him an answer. I wished to bring his proposition to you and the others as well. The decision is not mine alone to make in either direction." He very clearly had other worries on his mind as he turned to look out the viewport again. Hugh's face and posture were rarely, if ever, deceptive of his feelings.

[the-space-guy-blog]

(@hugh-borg) [DS9] // Something New Everyday

[the-space-guy-blog]

"Right, right." Roger nodded. It was hard to keep track of the years, and seeing as he’d been unconscious, in-stasis, for about twenty of them, he had to catch up with the times quite a bit. Then, he heard the year, and the color drained right from his face. He’d never thought he’d been sent through time, at least not this far. Intergalactic hops sometimes ripped through time, but it had become so rare with new technology that it was considered a virtual non-threat.

He stumbled a bit backward, bracing himself against the transparent aluminum. “… 23… 75?” he said before letting out a shaky breath. “Shi-… shucks…” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I ended up pretty damn far from home.”

[hugh-borg]

Hugh watched with a little frown at the obvious displays of distress that suddenly manifested, and even stepped forward as the other man stumbled, ready to try and help the man before he fell over-- which, thankfully, he didn't and instead caught himself in the viewport. Hugh still kept that step closer, though.

He wasn't quite sure what to do to help a person who was not only lost in space, but in time, and by such a great distance in both. He'd never encountered something like this. "You encountered a temporal anomaly?" He quickly offered with a little shake of his head. "Would there not be a way to return you?" But then he paused a little as he scanned over Roger's physiological reactions, and a little more concern came to his face. "Are you alright, Roger?"

[colonelkiranerys]

hugh-borg started following you

[colonelkiranerys]

"Well, the Federation came to Deep Space Nine after the Cardassians withdrew and ended their occupation of Bajoran space," Kira explained. "They’ve been helping our people rebuild, and it’s assumed that Bajor will one day become a member of the Federation, but probably not any time soon. The Federation will probably want to recuperate from the war first.

"Bajorans in Starfleet? The two I know of, Ro Laren and Sito Jaxa, joined during the time of the Cardassian Occupation, presumably to escape Bajor during that time."

A group of three Bajoran security officers passed by them. They eyed Hugh with curiosity and apprehension, but did not draw their phasers like the Starfleet officers did. Kira nodded at them to let them know it was all right, and they went on their way.

"I’m going to need to make a station-wide announcement to tell everyone that you and your group are not a threat," sighed Kira. "Unless you don’t mind being stared at or having phasers pointed at you." At that moment, a human woman holding a baby saw Hugh and promptly turned around, walking away in a hurry.

[hugh-borg]

"And that will be a long time?" Hugh said with a slight little frown as he looked down in thought. "As your people began to recover, war again ravaged you and those who would help you. It is good the Borg have not yet attempted an attack here." He blinked, still frowning and eyeing edgewise with the dislike of even having the thought. On their dusty, electro-magnetically volatile little planetoid, where news was hard to both access and rare to intercept, the exact devastation of the war wasn't quite clear to them. Something that would deal such a blow to a Federation of so many planets and forces... well, he would have to keep the tender situation in mind when he spoke to Starfleet. No doubt it would affect their attitude since he last encountered them.

He watched the next wave of security officers, this time ones clad in a Bajoran colors and uniforms, as they looked at him in apprehension. Clearly, Kira wasn't lying that Bajor had never had a major run in. Although he had to admit, he really didn't mind the lack of weapons being drawn at him. They almost seemed more curious of him than immediately threatened. He could deal with that better than the fear he got next from the woman carrying her baby, which had him looking away from her and forward again as a sign of non-threat. "I agree. I doubt it will do much for us drawing attention, but it may," he watched all the varying looks he got from all the various species with their varying exposures to the Borg, noting how they all ran the gamut from mild curiosity to outright fear to apprehensive interest to what looked like disgust, even, "prevent incident." It was strange, he'd never been in a place with so many different not-Borg species all at once. It was allowing him to sort of test the waters, at least visually, for which ones would be safest to approach if necessary. "Some of the former drones are more easily agitated than I am about how others treat us. They react with less.. patience, despite my efforts to remove Lore's influence. But, I will tell them to be cooperative and peaceful during our stay." He reassured her with a quick nod and an honest look.

[hugh-borg]

(scars)

[the-space-guy-blog]

"Huh? Oh, I was trying to infiltrate their base ship and enter self-destruct codes for a star generator," he said in a very nonchalant tone while putting on his underwear. "I was running, and they got me right in the shoulder. Still, I fell down a laundry chute, so they didn’t get to kill me, at least." He smiled widely.

"But you’ve never seen scars that were non-fatal? I guess that’s because of the dermal… stuff that the doctors used on me when I came in here, right?" He shugged and turned around to pick up his pants, "We outlawed that due to its drug like effects on a lot of alien species. Too much risk of having it stolen from supply bases by raiders." He looked back up from buttoning his fly. "We started using direct sonic laser treatment to deal with scars after treatment, then. Usually gets rid of all of the scar tissue, but I decided to keep any scars I get. Chicks dig scars, y’know?"

[hugh-borg]

It sounded like one of the stories Matar would tell of infiltrating and planting bombs to attack the Cardassians. For a moment he wondered if Roger was a member of a kind of resistance, too, and he listened with all the avid attention of a child eagerly hearing the story. He gave a slight, single nod of his head, communicating his understanding as to why Roger had been shot, but what was a laundry chute?

"I have seen them, but only on drones who have tried to remove their implants, or those who have been tampered with or scavenged off of. We do not have the technology to repair those wounds ourselves." But he understood risk, and how often even very good things must be put aside when it was too dangerous to possess them, even something so beneficial as good health. "Your doctors choose to repair a wound that has already healed and scarred itself? Why?" The idea seemed ridiculous. "Do they not have other means to repair wounds?" He took a step closer, feeling safe enough to consider the conversation further invitation to see them. Roger had several more; fainter, smaller, and most were long and skinny like they'd been cuts or much smaller burns. They were a little closer to the kind drones would get. He cocked his head. "Chicks.. dig.. scars?" He echoed back with slow confused pacing. Why was it that whenever he and Roger spoke, Roger would so casually find baffling new combinations of familiar words that made absolutely no sense whatsoever?

[hugh-borg]

The Doctor's Proposition (@ethos-borg)

[ethos-borg]

The drone responded to the name, though somewhat reluctantly. It was a name he wished he could simply erase away, along with that monstrous android’s manner of saying it. He politely said, in a quiet and collected tone, “Eiden.” He didn’t have too much memory of his life before, only rough details, but he knew his name, at least.

He looked to Hugh, breaking his gaze from Bajor in the window to focus on him. “… News?” He raised an eyebrow. “You sound uncertain.”

[hugh-borg]

Hugh looked back quickly with a curiously confused eye. "Eiden?" It took him a moment to recognize what the other was trying to say to him. It sometimes slipped his mind how others' names were different from his; he was the only one given a name out of an act of kindness rather than as a symbol of becoming someone's property to control. "... A new name?"

He paused as he was given a new inquiry, however, and looked down at Bajor's green tinted surface in thought. It was once the other drone's home long before he was assimilated, perhaps long before he had joined Starfleet even. It must have been difficult to see it again after so long, if he could rely on what other Assimilateds had said. It brought to mind again how important this proposition could be. "I.. am uncertain. I wish I was not." He paused with that telling little hesitation that meant he was thinking it over. "The doctor who called for me was from Starfleet. He wished to examine my implants." He finally looked up again at the other drone, brow softened. "He... wishes to help us. He claims he could be able to remove much of the borg technology from us, that we could become more organic..."

[the-space-guy-blog]

(@hugh-borg) [DS9] // Something New Everyday

[the-space-guy-blog]

"Well, yeah. We’ve been modified about twenty times over for the past half millennium." he knit his brow in confusion, "To make us stronger and able to survive in the colonies on Xenon, Estros, and even Ortega if we wear thermal protection. But those have become natural evolutions for us, now."

"From my history classes," Roger straightened up and stuck his hands in his pockets, "the human race discovered lightspeed in the twenty-first century. They discovered how to jump galaxies in the twenty-ninth century, and they colonized Xenon in the mid thirty-first century." He looked at Hugh. "… What… what year is it?"

[hugh-borg]

Xenon was a chemical element as far as he knew, and Estros and Ortega were, again, not known planets. Genetic modification made sense of his biology, at least. But even with that explained, there was an odd moment of silence, as if Hugh, despite his subtle expression of absolute befuddlement, was still desperately comparing what Roger was saying to his databases and finding it worked in absolutely no way.

He frowned softly, at a bit of a loss as to what to do with Roger's chronological input, so he just plainly stated the facts he did have for the equally-as-confused-looking human. "If your people's genetic modifications began upon your planet's colonization, you are saying that you are from... the thirty-sixth century." He cocked his head with a little shake, and that dark eye carefully scanned over Roger's face. "The current year is 2375." 

[colonelkiranerys]

hugh-borg started following you

[colonelkiranerys]

"The station has about five hundred active duty officers, both Starfleet and Bajoran, and about two thousand civilians from all over the Alpha Quadrant live here full time. And yes, it is always this busy." Kira responded.

Two Bajoran children ran by them, only to be scolded the moment they ran into their mother. The next to come up was a pair of Starfleet security officers, who stopped and drew their phasers the moment they saw Hugh.

"Gentlemen, it’s all right. Move along," Kira commanded. One of the officers opened his mouth to protest, but she stared him down, so they both stowed their phasers and moved along, still eyeing Hugh.

"Sorry about that," she said.

[hugh-borg]

About two thousand and five hundred people wasn't a lot by Borg standards, and that wasn't counting how many guests there were, his people included among them now. Yet every inch of the main walkway had a sense of life buzzing about it that vastly outdid the hum of machinery he still remembered. "It is... strange. There were many times more than that on our Cube before we were severed," he watched as the children ran past them, regarding them with a gentle curiosity like he'd never seen children actually running around before, but he could hear them being scolded soon after, "but it never felt as... alive as this place does."

Hugh froze abruptly as he spotted those phasers being drawn, almost like an instinct, and turned to face the security officers warily. Ah, there it was, that little burning tightness in his chest that seemed to defy any of his life-support systems' efficiencies. No matter how many times he told himself or others it was reasonable, or that he couldn't blame them for protecting themselves, there was still a weight of bitterness in his resignation, and he just stayed still to show he was no threat until Kira suddenly intervened. She even eyed one of the officers off a possible protest. As soon as they'd left, he looked up to her again with a half-hearted smile showing in genuine gratitude to her even as he could tell they were still uncomfortably watching him. "It's.. alright. Thank you." He only hoped that their outreach to the Federation would be a little more welcomed from within their own ground and with Captain Picard's support. For a moment, he looked edgewise with his eyes following the signs and shops and the many people darting by. "The Federation and Bajor operate this station together as one. Is this also part of your attempts to join them, similar to the assignment of Bajorans on Starfleet vessels?"

[hugh-borg]

The Doctor's Proposition (@ethos-borg)

The doctor's words had been both weighing on and racing in his mind, implants still calculating risks and gains away like proper little computers while his more organic thoughts balanced the very potentials of all the possible good against them. It was always transparent on Hugh's face when he was thinking, especially this hard about something so very important.

He had allowed Julian to examine him. His tests were similar to Beverly and Geordi's, except this time the doctor had taken blood and tissue and had been a bit more liberal in his poking and prodding and investigating-- not that Hugh protested any. If anything, he was a ridiculously compliant patient. But now it was time to fulfill the rest of his promise and bring Julian's proposition to his people, and he had promptly went straight from sickbay to the quarters that had been arranged for them.

As the first door slid open, he spotted another drone quickly. He could tell every borg apart no matter how similar the implants or stark white skin, and knew who it was even from behind: Bajoran, male, clearly a bit older than Hugh was physically, and staring out the viewport quietly spare the buzz of some borg parts. "Ethos." A fond smile warmed over Hugh's face. He came up aside the the other drone, looking out the viewport himself for a moment to see what the other was watching so intently. Though it was hard to tell-- even for him-- if that little sound in his voice was from lingering unsureness or optimism, it was enough to emphasize, "I have.. news."

[centurionbochra]

// ….suddenly wishing I had a Geordi.

bbys

[riov-tomalak-blog-deactivated20]

((Seconding this. Anyone? Bueller?))

[hugh-borg]

//Ffffffff-- my kingdom and then some for a Geordi.

[hugh-borg]

(scars)

the-space-guy

Roger was just about to reach for his pants when he heard Hugh suddenly speak. Having not known he was even in the room, Roger bolted upright in surprise as he turned around. “Whoa! Scared the crap out of me there, Hugh." He chuckled before recognizing the question. “Huh? Oh, this?" He pointed to his shoulder. “Yeah, a while back. I got shot while trying to get away from some Sariens. Nasty, scaly lugs with bad attitudes." He casually reached for his jock strap. “You look like you’ve never seen a plasma burn before."

Hugh hadn't realized he been undetected up until that point, but he did perk ever so subtly before he gave a slight little smile back as he heard Roger's chuckling. "I have not heard of them, either." Yet another race he couldn't find any traces of in his databases. Roger seemed to have dozens upon dozens of them to share. Maybe sometime he could ask him about them all...

He continued to observe Roger's shoulder while the other casually got himself dressed. "I have not seen any that were allowed to scar or that did not kill their targets..." It was enough to leave a large, jagged patch of thickened sinewy tissue several inches long over the humanoid's shoulder. He looked back with a questioning little look on his face, one that even had a shade of concern to it. "Why were you attacked?"

[goldpressedlatinum-archive]

“No food… No drink… No holosuites…” Quark muttered, shaking his head in dismay, “And we wonder why they resort to flyin’ ‘round in giant cubes assimilatin’ and eliminatin’ everything that moves…” He leaned in on both elbows, “Why? Because I… care. It simply breaks my heart to hear that you’ve been denied the simple pleasures so many of us take for granted.” The Ferengi took a deep breath and then stopped, quickly shaking his head, “What—What was your name again…?”

[hugh-borg]

Hugh listened to the muttering with a hint of puzzlement on his face. The Ferengi almost looked a little upset, although not in the usual way that most people sounded upset about the Borg. His words implied... pity? "It.. is not a resort. The Borg remove any of those needs or desires on purpose. They are.. irrelevant." Hugh disliked saying the word nowadays, and it showed in the drag of distaste he spoke it with.

He watched the Ferengi lean in on the counter, but still the more suspect tones of those concerns flew right over the borg's socially inexperienced head. "It makes you upset?" He furrowed his brow and tilted his head in innocent surprise. Again, not the usual reaction the Borg got, but then he looked thoughtful for a moment and spoke. "There are some of my people who remember their past lives. They speak of how they miss certain foods and drinks... but, perhaps it is more difficult to understand when you have never experienced them." Energy was the only 'food' he knew. He blinked as he realized he hadn't introduced himself, and put a hand to his heavily-armored chest in gesture. "I am Hugh. What is your name?"