HOLO-GWYN: What did you put on that ship?
HOLO-DIVINER: Just as the Federation ignited our civil war, when the Protostar comes into contact with a Starfleet vessel, our weapons will release a signal that will corrupt...
DAL: Corrupt? Even the way he says it...
GWYN: Quiet!
POG: Shh.
HOLO-DIVINER: Turning their ships against each other until the entire alliance is reduced to nothing.
HOLO-GWYN: Our ship will destroy Starfleet.
GWYN: Holodeck, playback volume off.
POG: A secret weapon on my ship?
ZERO: That explains why the relay station destroyed itself, yet everywhere else we went was without incident.
POG: All this 'cause Starfleet made first contact with their home world?
GWYN: You mean will. It hasn't happened yet. My father is from the future. I mean... was. I know it's a lot to take in.
ROK: I think all this time travel talk is making Murf sick.
JANEWAY It's impossible.
ROK: He can be indestructible but not catch a cold?
JANEWAY: I meant the weapon. I would know if there was a destructive force of that magnitude on board this ship.
POG: Just like you knew our ship had a protostar? Oh, that's right. They wiped that from your memory too.
JANEWAY: Touché.
ZERO: Ooo! Computer, end playback.
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
ROK: It's okay, Zero.
ZERO: I couldn't live with myself if I hurt anyone else. If you'll excuse me.
DAL: Zero, wait...
POG: Look, Jankom fully understands he needs to be sensitive, but there's a weapon aboard our ship that we gotta find!

[Protostar]

ROK: Not here!
DAL: Ah, we're coming up empty in the engine room.
GWYN: Not here either.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: We've searched every bulkhead, cargo hold, and Jefferies tube.
ZERO: But not this room.
POG: Ah!
DAL: Look for panels, hidden switches, anything out of place.
ZERO: If only we knew what we were looking for.
POG: Jankom's detecting tritanium duranium alloys, transparent aluminum... Oh, ho-ho! Er, guys?
JANEWAY: I don't recall that being here.
DAL: What is it?
GWYN: It's a symbol... of Solum.
DAL: Your heirloom, it's reacting. You don't think...
(She puts the reshaped metal into a slot and a portion of the deck drops to form a slope downwards.)
ROK: What?
ZERO: How extraordinary.
JANEWAY: I have no record of this entire sub-deck.
POG: Huh, Pog'll go last. You know, to protect you all.

[Sub-deck]

ROK: What's that humming?
POG: Wow.
ROK: That's the weapon the Diviner was talking about.
DAL: I've never seen anything like it.
GWYN: It's like... it's alive.
POG: Then we need to make it not alive.
ROK: How about we launch it out of an airlock?
ZERO: But then someone else may use it.
DAL: Then let's take it apart.
GWYN: This is technology from the future. You can't just cut a wire.
DAL: At least I'm offering ideas.
POG: Don't worry. Jankom will fix it.
(Powering up a hand phaser.)
DAL: Whoa, no! No, no, no, no, no.
ZERO: Jankom, wait!
(He fires.)
ZERO: How curious.
POG: What?
GWYN: It protects itself.
DAL: If we can't hurt it, we need to find a way to shut it down.
ROK: Starfleet would know what to do.
POG: We ain't Starfleet, kid. Oh great. Now what?

[Bridge]

COMPUTER: Proximity alert. Vessel detected.
DAL: What the... hello.
POG: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are we even looking at? Is that a ship?
JANEWAY: A Borg Cube. We must leave at once.
DAL: Hold on. What's a Borg cube?
JANEWAY: The Borg are a race of enhanced humanoids. Mindless drones that assimilate everyone they come across into their collective.
ZERO: Collective? They are a hive mind?
ROK: You mean they all share one brain?
GWYN: Thousands of minds working as one.
JANEWAY: With the sole intent to eradicate everything that's perceived to be a threat, including us. There's no reasoning with them. Any tactic, any measure, they learn and adapt until our weapons are useless, and we are...
DAL: Eradicated?
JANEWAY: Worse. Until we become one of them.
POG: No way Jankom flies in a box.
JANEWAY: If we go to warp now, we just might...
GWYN: Wait. She said they learn and adapt until our weapons are useless. What if they know a way to disarm that thing below deck?
JANEWAY: You aren't actually considering boarding that ship? I'm an advisor. I advise you to run away as fast as you can.
DAL: If we don't figure out how to disarm that weapon, there goes our chance at Starfleet. If the knowledge on that cube can help us stop it, we have to try.
ZERO: The Federation's survival may depend on it. These readings suggest the cube is dormant. Data systems are functional, but the Borg are sleeping.
DAL: Good. You see? We slip in, use their cube to tell us how to disarm it, we slip out. We'll be gone before they know it, and we can save Starfleet.
JANEWAY: I'm against this plan, but if you're going to be stubborn, at least let me brief you on everything I know.

[Dauntless Mess hall]

JANEWAY: Tea. Black.
ASENCIA: Admiral, you're not drinking coffee?
JANEWAY: Doctor's orders. Between you and me, Ensign, I need a second opinion. But I know you didn't come here to talk about beverages.

[Dauntless Sickbay]

JANEWAY: Doctor Noum, how's our patient?
NOUM: He's just coming out of his stasis. You're welcome.
DIVINER: They took my daughter.
JANEWAY: Who took your daughter?
DIVINER: My mission. I have to save them.
JANEWAY: Save who? Can he hear me?
NOUM: Not likely, considering he seemed like a frozen corpse. Any sign of life means I'm a miracle worker.
JANEWAY: We need him awake if we're going to get any answers.
NOUM: Oh. Oh sure, let me just wake him up. Except I don't know his neurological system functions, let alone what species he is.
ASENCIA: Admiral, the suit we found him in contained some kind of life sustaining bio serum. Perhaps, if we replicate it, we could revive him.
JANEWAY: That's a novel idea, one of many I've noticed.
NOUM: I wish I knew how to kiss tail like that, Ensign. Keep it up, and we'll be taking orders from you.
JANEWAY: How long until we reach the location of the last proto jump signature?
ASENCIA: We should arrive at relay station 721 in a few hours, Admiral.
JANEWAY: Explore her theory, Doctor. The sooner he recovers, the sooner we'll have answers.

[Borg Cube]

JANEWAY [OC]: It seems this cube went dark for a reason. A neurolytic pathogen disabled their nanoprobes and shut down their drones, so going in is still risky but doable. When in doubt, act harmless, and you should be ignored. But please, be quick about it.
DAL: Would you look at this place?
ROK: Spooky.
POG: Spooky? It's an engineer's dream. Carbon tubing? Thermo couplers? Ooo, monotanium aperture valves.
GWYN: Oh, now he likes the box. Jankom, look up.
POG: Huh?
(A Borg in its recharge slot.)
ZERO: And I wouldn't want to be here when they wake up.
DAL: Er... let's just keep moving, right?
ZERO: This place contains knowledge of a thousand assimilated worlds. We need to find the vinculum to access it. Let's hope they have the intel we need.
GWYN: Which way to the nerve centre?
ZERO: This way.
POG: Oh, great. The Borg never assimilated a turbo lift?
(Climbing up.)
DAL: Ahh!
(Rok catches him.)
ROK: Whew.
ZERO: We're nearing the central data hub.
GWYN: So this is the vinculum Janeway spoke of.
ZERO: All the Borg minds connect through this hub.
ROK: Wow. I bet they're super smart.
DAL: Hopefully smart enough to tell us how to get that thing off our ship.
POG: Stand aside and let Jankom work his hack-gic. Does anybody see a console? Hm. A keyboard'll do. Pog can work with a... no. How about a joystick? You know what? Has anybody seen any buttons whatso...? Starting to freak out here.
DAL: Someone has to plug themselves into the collective.
GWYN: No one is being assimilated.
ROK: There has to be another way.
DAL: Someone has to link with the collective to analyse the weapon.
POG: Jankom thinks he speaks for all of us when he says, not it.
GWYN: This isn't a joke. Whoever goes in might not come back.
ROK: Ew.
ZERO: I once belonged to a collective hive mind. I know how strong their hold can be. If there's anyone who has a chance at resisting the Borg, it's me.
DAL: If anything happens that you don't like, you come out. You hear me?
ZERO: If I succeed, that weapon will not harm anyone ever again. I promise I will come back.
(Plugs in.)
ROK: Zero!
DAL: Don't get lost in there, Zee.

[Hive Mind]

ZERO: Hello, Borg. My name is Zero. I know you can hear me.
BORG: Species 802. Medusan. There is no I. There is only Borg.
ZERO: You're not harmed by my appearance? It has been known to hurt others.
BORG: Here in the vinculum, you cannot hurt us. Your uniqueness is acknowledged here. Your distinctiveness will be added to our own.
ZERO: Oh dear. Aren't you a chatty bunch? I forgot what it's like to share a hive mind. It's so overwhelming.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: They're scanning our ship. Crew, what's going on over there? Status report. Whatever you're doing, the Borg are waking up.

[Borg cube]

JANEWAY [OC]: You need to hurry.
POG: Er, why are they waking up? Jankom thinks this looks bad.
ROK: Oh no, they're already inside Zero's mind.
DAL: Wake up, Zee! Wake up!
GWYN: Janeway, tell me you can beam us out of here.

[Bridge]

JANEWAY: The cube's defences are interfering. You'll have to find another way out.

[Borg cube]

ROK: Ah!
POG: Ah!
DAL: We have to go.
ROK: We can't just leave Zero!
RHINO-BORG: Resistance is futile.
DAL: We'll come back for Zee. Come on!
ALL: Ah!
BORG: You will be assimilated.
DAL: Eh, I'm good.
(Fires his phaser.)
DAL: Ah, they're not so tough.
ROK: They adapted to our phasers!
GWYN: Let's see how they adapt to this.
(Her heirloom becomes a bat'leth.)
ROK: Gwyn, behind you! Keep changing the phase variance!
POG: Whoa! Uh-oh. Whoa!
(Rok resorts to punches.)
POG: Back off! Oh, boy. Er, they destroyed the bridge!
DAL: No, no, no.
(Dal phasers a chain and drops Gwyn to the next level.)
GWYN: Dal!
DAL: Get out of here. Save Zero! Don't make it easy for them!

[Hive mind]

BORG: There's no need to hide. Give yourself over. Become one of us.
ZERO: I... I can't. There is a weapon aboard our ship.
BORG: The Living Construct.
ZERO: Yes! I need your help.
BORG: It is a destructive force and a danger to the Federation.
ZERO: If it can hurt the Federation, one day it could hurt the Borg. We must deactivate it, but how?
BORG: We will assimilate the ship and use the Living Construct to assimilate our enemies.
ZERO: No! That's not what we... I mean, what I want. Tell me how to deactivate the Living Construct.
BORG: Irrelevant. Your crew will be assimilated to advance the Borg.
ZERO: No, no.
BORG: Resistance is futile.

[Borg cube]

GWYN: Dal? Rok? Is anyone there?
JANEWAY [OC]: They've all been captured. You don't have long until the Borg assimilate them. It's up to you, Gwyn.
GWYN: No, I have to get to Zero. Zero can tell them to let us go.
JANEWAY [OC]: Remember what I told you. If you're not a threat, they will ignore you. Lay down your weapon.
GWYN: How will I defend myself?
JANEWAY [OC]: Gwyn, trust me. Stand down.
GWYN: Nice tip, Janeway.
(She walks through a phalanx of Borg.)
GWYN: Dal?
DAL + ROK: Gwyn!
DAL: Get us out of here! Zero, great.
POG: Er, Zero?
ZERO: Resistance is futile.
ROK: What did they do to you?
POG: Apparently gave Zee a new set of mitts. Nobody offered Pog upgrades.
(Gwyn is grabbed by the Rhino Borg.)
POG: Actually, Jankom will pass on the upgrades. Ah... No haircut. Zero! No haircut! Ah!
GWYN: Fight the collective, Zero.
ZERO: There is no Zero. Zero hurt you. Endangered you. Now Zero is Borg.
GWYN: Well, the Borg are making you hurt us, and that is not the Zero I know.
POG: Ahh, ahh! Huh?
ZERO: We will not hurt others any more.
DAL: Good, good, good. It's working.
ZERO: We will assimilate you into the Collective.
DAL: No, no, no!
ROK: Bad Zero, bad Zero!
GWYN: We all get hurt, Zero. It's the risk we take for revealing pieces of ourselves to each other, but what you did, trying to protect me, was an act of love, and you should never feel ashamed for that. If there's any part still listening, protect us again, Zero. Break free from their hold. Resistance is not futile.
ZERO: Resistance is not futile?

[Hive mind]

ZERO: No. I will resist because I'm already a part of a collective that is stronger than you will ever be!

[Borg cube]

(Free Medusan energy knocks out the Borg.)
ZERO: Friends, are you all right? We must hurry. I lured them into a dormant state, but it won't hold for long.
ROK: Zero's back!
GWYN: I thought we lost you.
ZERO: I've already found my collective.
DAL: Yeah, yeah. That's great. Now help us out of here.
JANEWAY [OC]: Crew, do you read? Get back to the ship. Follow my signal. Let's go. I've had enough Borg for two lifetimes.

[Bridge]

GWYN: After everything we went through, what did you learn from them?
ZERO: When they analyzed the Living Construct, the Borg determined it sadly cannot be deactivated or removed.
DAL: You're saying we can't shut it off.
ZERO: But at least we know a little more.
ROK: We have Zero back, and that's enough for me.
JANEWAY: And you survived the Borg. Consider me impressed.
DAL: Zero, how did you escape the Borg hive mind?
ZERO: I listened to a friend. While I may have harmed others in the past, I now choose to save. The same is true for our ship. It may be a weapon against Starfleet, but it can still be used for good.
POG: So we're not going to Starfleet.
DAL: Not until we can get there safely.
POG: But they can tell you who you are.
DAL: The answer will always be there. It just might take us a little longer.
ROK: A distress signal? Can we help? Can we help? Can we help?
DAL: What do you think? Five minds are better than one. I stand corrected, five and a half.
ZERO: We may not be ready for Starfleet, but we're ready to take your orders, Captain.
DAL: Then let's do some good. Plot a course.
POG: Yeah.
JANEWAY: You're growing and adapting.
DAL: Eh, what can I say? Resistance is futile.