[Jack's mind / Counsellor's office]

TROI [OC]: Nothing is more elusive than a door the mind doesn't wish to open. I'm here with you, Jack, in your mind. I can feel your reluctance, your fear, but you're safe.
TROI: Now, tell me about these vines. They're almost like neurons.
JACK: I don't know what they are, or what they mean.
TROI: Symbols have nothing but meaning. Think, Jack. Remember. What do they mean to you?
JACK: The Crimson Arboretum. On Raritan IV. My mother took me there as a boy. She... she adored this song.
TROI: Don't get lost in it, Jack. Stay with me.
JACK: She played it all the time. Less of a song than a memory, coded in the melody, passed down from my father to my mother, to me.
TROI: The vines, Jack. Focus. What are they?
JACK: So many blossoms. So much life. Thousands of flowers. Yeah, each so very different, but beneath the soil... the vines are connected.
TROI: Do you find that comforting?
JACK: Not comforting, no. No, right, true. Purposeful. Perfect.
TROI: So the vines are connections. Is that what you're seeking, a connection?
JACK: Yes. Many.
VOICE: Hear me.
TROI: Your truth, it's behind that door.
VOICE: Find me.
TROI: Will you let me open it for you? I promise...
VOICE: Fear nothing.
TROI: ..whatever we might find there, you will not be alone.
VOICE: We will be together soon, Jack.
JACK: Yes.
(He opens the door.)

[Counsellors office]

TROI: (gasps) I'm... I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Excuse me.
JACK: What did you see? Tell me, what did you see? What did you see?!

[Sickbay]

PICARD: Deanna. What's wrong?
CRUSHER: What happened?
(When they opened that door, they saw a Cube.)
BORG COLLECTIVE [OC]: We are Borg.
PICARD [OC]: I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life as it has been is over.
PICARD: Borg? That's impossible.
CRUSHER: Jack has never been assimilated.
PICARD: There are no nanoprobes in his system. There are no transceivers, no receivers.
TROI: The voices in his head are distinct. My gifts aren't perfect, but I have never mistaken Borg.
CRUSHER: Biology doesn't always need words to communicate. Flocks of birds turn in unison, the architecture of a beehive, an ant colony, all wordlessly connected. Some transceivers and receivers are organic. So, too, must be the technology inside Jack. No one has seen or heard from the Borg in over a decade, so perhaps the Borg have evolved.
PICARD: No! No, no. The only thing I've ever passed on is my Irumodic Syndrome.
CRUSHER: You never had Irumodic Syndrome.
PICARD: Oh...
CRUSHER: That is why Soong kept your body at Daystrom. He saw that there was something else. What Vadic knew, that the Borg had passed something on to Jack. Some organic technology through Locutus.
PICARD: Through me, to our son.
CRUSHER: We must tell him.
PICARD: No, no. I will. It's my responsibility. I'm the cause. My fault.
TROI: Jean-Luc. Beverly. I'm really sorry, but there are protocols.
CRUSHER: Protocols?
TROI: Vadic was searching for a weapon against humanity. That weapon was Jack. You both saw him enter the minds of others and control them. Forgive me, but as of this moment, your son is dangerous.

[Quarters]

JACK: Come. What did she see?
PICARD: Jack, there is so much...
JACK: I am never letting a goddamn Betazoid come near me again. Everyone, everyone has their secrets. Things that they should be allowed to keep to themselves. Not put up on some psychic display. The fact that she's a former Starfleet counsellor raises some serious...
PICARD: Jack, Counselor Troi...
JACK: Just tell me! Tell me, what did she see in here?!
PICARD: 35 years ago, I was taken, assimilated. Used to do terrible things. And I survived, without scars, but not, it would seem, unchanged. Starfleet cleared me, but later I was diagnosed with what appeared to be Irumodic Syndrome, which killed me. But that was a misdiagnosis. The symptoms were merely a... side effect.
JACK: Of what?
PICARD: A seed. Something I passed on to you. One that took a generation to grow.
JACK: The Borg. That's quite the explanation. A life of disconnection, only to realise that I'm emblematic of what? A bee? Seeking a hive for... for a collective, for a queen?
PICARD: Subconsciously, perhaps.
JACK: So how much of me is me? Oh, funny. I've always known the world was imperfect. Broken systems, wars, suffering, violence, poverty, bigotry. And I always thought, if people could only see each other, hear each other, speak in one voice, act in one mind together... Who knew a little cybernetic authoritarianism was the answer? But the Borg, they don't feel, don't care. But I.. I do, so... so how does that factor into this?
PICARD: We must take precautions.
JACK: Precautions?
PICARD: I'm afraid this is not just about you anymore.
JACK: What do you see? When you look at me, what do you...? Look at me, damn it. What do you see?
PICARD: I came close to killing everyone I knew. Everyone I loved! You don't know what it is to be controlled by them. What she can make you do. And I've seen with my own eyes what you are capable of, Jack. There's a place where you will be safe. A research academy on Vulcan.
JACK: Keslovar. It's no academy. It's an institution. A prison where they can mind-meld and lobotomise the Borg from me. No thanks. This is my problem, and I can handle it myself.
(Walks straight into two beefy armed security persons.)
JACK: I was never getting out of here on my own, was I? You said you'd never give up on me.
PICARD: Starfleet protocols dictate that we act in the interests...
JACK: Of what?
PICARD: Of everyone else.
JACK: And what about the protocols of a father? Or were you never issued those?
(Jack's eyes go red, and security aim their weapons at Picard.)
PICARD: Jack, what is this?
JACK: Futility.
PICARD: Jack. Jack!

[Corridor]

CRUSHER: Jack. Jack, where are you going?
JACK: Home.
CRUSHER: No. We can find a solution. We... we can undo this, whatever it is.
JACK: The voice in my head. I always thought it was yours. It wasn't. It's hers. Their queen.
CRUSHER: No.
JACK: If she wants me, then I'll trade myself for answers. And when she's close enough to give them, I'll show her exactly who and what I am.
CRUSHER: Jack, don't do this. You're gonna get yourself killed. Don't do this! No!

[Shuttle]

JACK: Okay, where am I going? Come on, come on, where are you?
QUEEN [OC]: Jack, find me.
COMPUTER: Course laid in.
(Bearing 019.73/Mk 62.32)
COMPUTER: Shuttle transponder off-line.

[Observation]

PICARD: He inherited the best of you and the worst of me.
CRUSHER: I gave Wesley space, and I lost him to it. So I watched Jack closer. So close I couldn't see what was right in front of me.
PICARD: Beverly, I...
CRUSHER: There must be something I can do, and I'm going to find it.
DATA: Captain?
PICARD: Data. Were you able to track the shuttle?
DATA: We've been scanning, sir, but... I'm afraid we've found nothing. I believe Jack is jamming the transponder. Would you like me to say something comforting?
PICARD: You might find that impossible.
DATA: I know.
GEORDI [OC]: LaForge to Picard.
PICARD: Go ahead.
GEORDI [OC]: You'd better get down to sickbay. There is more you need to know about Jack.

[Shuttle]

JACK: No, no, no, no, no, no. Come on, come on. Show yourself. Why did you bring me here?
COMPUTER: Tachyon radiation pulses. Neutrino emissions and gravitational flux.
JACK: Wormhole?
COMPUTER: Negative. A transwarp conduit.
QUEEN [OC]: Jack. Jack.
(The Cube is ahead.)

[Sickbay]

GEORDI: All Borg undergo genetic alterations so that their bodies can communicate with their cybernetic components. As it turns out, yours were just a little more extensive than we thought. New genetic code was actually written and stored inside you. Something we were never able to detect 35 years ago.
DATA: So the anomaly Doctor Soong discovered during the captain's transition into synthetic form was in fact dormant biological Borg adaptations. They never truly let you go.
WORF: It is why Vadic stole your body from Daystrom. The Changelings extracted that altered portion of your DNA.
RIKER: Jean-Luc as Locutus was a kind of receiver?
PICARD: That's why I could still hear them after I was assimilated.
DATA: Your body could still hear the voice of the Collective.
CRUSHER: So how is Jack different?
GEORDI: Your son appears to be a transmitter, able to send instructions.
WORF: It appears the Changelings stole your body to weaponise that Borg genetic code.
PICARD: But the ensigns Jack was able to control were never assimilated. How could they receive his signals?
WORF: That we do not know.
CRUSHER: So this has been a dormant part of Jack his entire life? How could I have missed that?
PICARD: Beverly, it's a testament to you that he managed to resist for so long.
GEORDI: He may be Borg, but that is not all he is.
RIKER: So what now?
CRUSHER: Clearly, the Changelings have been working with the Borg from the beginning.
WORF: And as we speak, all of Starfleet is gathered in one location. The outcome of this entire conspiracy was intended for this exact moment. Today is Frontier Day.
CRUSHER: We have to warn them.
RIKER: Of what, exactly?
GEORDI: They're gonna blow us out of the water.
PICARD: But we have to try. Picard to Captain Shaw. We need to get to the Sol system right now.
SHAW [OC]: Er, smack-dab in the middle of Frontier Day, where pretty much every Starfleet vessel is assembled, running exercises with our faces pinned to their dartboard?
PICARD: It's our only option, Captain.
SHAW [OC]: Of course it is.

[Earth orbit]

WOMAN [OC]: Spacedock, this is NCC-1701-F, ready for ceremonial departure. Admiral Shelby in command.
MAN [OC]: Copy that, Enterprise. You're clear for departure. Happy Frontier Day.

[Enterprise F Bridge]

SHELBY: 250 years ago today, the Enterprise, NX-01, the first warp five-capable vessel to be constructed by human hands, made its maiden voyage. With it, a crew of 83 souls embarked on a journey. One of bravery, perseverance and sacrifice that would lead to the birth of what we know today as Starfleet.
(Noisy fireworks in the vacuum of space.)

[Cube]

(Jack beams aboard.)
QUEEN: Jack. Welcome home, Jack.

[Bridge]

SHELBY [on viewscreen]: A quarter millennium after the NX-01 took that first vital step, we gather on Frontier Day to take another as we demonstrate our newest advancement, Fleet Formation.
MAN [OC]: USS Pulaski, synchronisation online.
WOMAN [OC]: USS Magellan...
SHELBY [OC]: Synchronistic technology that allows every ship in Starfleet to operate as one. An impenetrable armada. Unity and defence. The ultimate safeguard.
WOMAN [OC]: Synchronisation online.
SHELBY [on viewscreen]: In case of the unthinkable, Fleetwide incapacitation, this system will protect our crews in our continued exploration of what still remains our final frontier.
RIKER: There it is, right from the mouth of Admiral Elizabeth Shelby.
PICARD: The irony of her endorsing something so Borg-like.
RIKER: Happy Frontier Day, everyone.
SEVEN: Looks like we'll be crashing one hell of a party.
PICARD: We're out of time. How much longer?
LAFORGE: We'll reach Sector 001 in less than one hour, sir.
SHAW: Yeah. And then what?

[Cube]

QUEEN [OC]: Jack. My child. My flesh, blood. For all my darkness, you are light. For all my suffering, you are life.
JACK: I don't know what I am, but I know I'm not yours.
QUEEN [OC]: Oh, but you are. I have thought of so many names for you. Regenerati. Puer Dei.
JACK: A fondness for Latin, I see. But I am neither your rebirth, nor a child of God.
QUEEN [OC]: That is why you are Võx. Not Locutus, the one who speaks. You are the voice itself. I know you have felt it, too, Jack. Believe it.
JACK: What I believe in is mercy. And that is what this is.
QUEEN: What I see in you, what Vadic saw, an end. The vindication of both our species. To take everything back from those who live like shattered glass. If it were possible for you to kill me, you would have already. End your struggle, my child. Resistance is... futile.

[Sickbay]

CRUSHER: What is it?
GEORDI: Data and I have been combing through the Changeling intel Raffi took from the Shrike, and we found something. This is Starfleet code.
DATA: Specifically, transporter code. They've implemented portions of Captain Picard's Borg-altered DNA into the transporter system.
CRUSHER: Wait a minute. Computer, cross-reference this code with the transporter system of the Titan.
COMPUTER: Analysing. This code is part of transporter system architecture.
GEORDI: Architecture?
DATA: To simplify the processing of millions of data points, the system stores coding that is common within each particular species. It appears Captain Picard's DNA is now considered common biology in the transporter system.
CRUSHER: So that's what they've been doing. Using the Changelings to infiltrate starships and add this new Borg DNA into everyone who steps inside a transporter. Every person, every species.
GEORDI: They've been assimilating the entire fleet this whole time, without anyone ever knowing it.

[Bridge]

SHELBY [OC]: Our next demonstration is the summation of decades of technological advancements.
RIKER: Fleet Formation? Looks more like a firing squad.
MURA: Sirs, it's just as we expected. The fleet is trying to commandeer our systems.
SHAW: Countermeasures.
ESMAR: No go. They're shutting us down as part of the automation. I'll lose comms soon.
PICARD: Hail the entire fleet. Interrupt her transmission. We only have one chance to warn them.
ESMAR: Transmitting emergency hail.
PICARD: This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. I come to you with a warning.

[Enterprise F Bridge]

SHELBY: Command, what the hell is happening?
PICARD [OC]: Changeling infiltration of Starfleet has made us vulnerable to our greatest enemy, the Borg.

[Bridge]

PICARD: Admiral Shelby, I know this message may seem desperate, even impossible, but you must trust us. I hope you... What's happened?
ESMAR: Sir, all comms are down.
ALANDRA: What the hell is this?
MURA: Captain, primary sensor arrays picking up a massive energy spike.
SHAW: From where?
RIKER: What the hell was that?
SEVEN: Ah!
PICARD: Seven, are you all right?
SEVEN: It's a Borg signal.

[Sickbay]

DATA: Judging by this simulation, the Borg genetic material doesn't propagate in a species past a certain point in the developmental cycle.
CRUSHER: Which for human beings is age 25, which is when the frontal cortex stops development.
GEORDI: So this might not affect us...
CRUSHER: But it will affect the youngest members of the crew.

[Bridge]

PICARD: Captain...
SHAW: Tactical, red alert. Mura. Mura!
(Mura is growing implants.)

[Sickbay]

GEORDI: Where are my girls?
SHAW [OC]: Helm, evasive manoeuvres. LaForge.

[Bridge]

SHAW: La Forge!
LAFORGE: We... are the Borg.

[Sickbay]

GEORDI: Computer, locate Alandra LaForge.
COMPUTER: The life signs of Alandra LaForge are no longer compatible with human designation.
SHAW: La Forge. Mura. What the hell is going on?
SHELBY [on viewscreen]: We are under attack from within. Repeat, we are under attack. Something is happening to my crew. Ensign, what are you...
(Shelby is phasered.)
SHAW: The fleet.
PICARD: It's... been assimilated.
SHAW: It's everyone.
BORG: Eliminate all unassimilated.
RIKER: We gotta get out of here.
BORG: Eliminate all unassimilated. Eliminate all unassimilated.
SHAW: Hansen?
SEVEN: Come on. Come on.
PICARD: Stun only.
SHAW: Go, go!

[Sickbay]

GEORDI: I've got to get to my girls.
DATA: No, Geordi. Geordi! Stop. And do what? No, no, no, we need a plan. All right?
BORG [OC]: Eliminate all unassimilated.

[Bridge]

ESMER: Collective, we have the Titan.

[Turbolift]

SHAW: Why weren't we assimilated?
SEVEN: No offence, but judging by all the grey hair, I think the process must have skipped a generation.
PICARD: Those ships, this ship, cannot be saved from within.
RIKER: We need to get off the Titan before it's too late.
COMPUTER: Deck Four.
(Doors open on phaser fire.)
SHAW: Close it! Close it! Deck 11, now!
BENBASSAT [OC]: Can anybody read me? This is Captain Benbassat of the Excelsior, broadcasting on frequency 99-Delta. To all who can hear, we have managed to retake control of our bridge. Hold on. Helm, what's happening? They're controlling us remotely? Taking us out of formation. No, no! We're being directed in front of the fleet. Now we've been targeted. Tell my family...
(The explosion rocks Titan.)
BORG [OC]: Excelsior eliminated. All vessels secure. Fleetwide assimilation complete.
PICARD: Shut that off!
SEVEN: How is he even broadcasting over comms?
SHAW: Oh, 99-Delta. It's a maintenance channel. Wait, wait, wait. Computer, change destination. Maintenance Deck.
COMPUTER: Changing destination to Maintenance Deck.
SHAW: There's nobody posted down there.
RIKER: No guards, no drones.
SHAW: There may be a repair shuttle.
PICARD: That's our way off. Everyone, wherever you are, however you can, head to the sub-level maintenance corridor immediately.
BORG [OC]: A message to those who resist. Your armada has been added to our own. Your weak and willful will soon be eliminated. Your strongest have already been assimilated. We are Borg. Starfleet now is Borg.

[Maintenance]

TROI: I've never been so happy to see so many wrinkles.
PICARD: Thank goodness. You all made it.
GEORDI: I'm just trying to get the damn door open. Jean-Luc, they took my girls.
PICARD: And we will get them back.
CRUSHER: But right now, we all need to get off of this ship.
RIKER: What if we get off the ship and the fleet takes us?
DATA: Shuttles don't connect to the new system. They're autonomous.
SEVEN: The robot's right. It's the only way.
WORF: A single shuttle against the entire fleet?
GEORDI: No. I've got a better idea.
WORF: Incoming.
SHAW: Go, go. We'll cover you!
GEORDI: I got it. Data, come on.

[Shuttle]

GEORDI: Hopefully we have enough juice to get us there.
DATA: What makes you think "there" hasn't already been destroyed?
GEORDI: Data, could you try to be a little more positive?
DATA: I hope we die quickly.

[Maintenance]

SHAW: Beverly, Riker, go! Picard, go!
(Shaw gets shot.)
SEVEN: Captain!
PICARD: Shaw!
SEVEN: No. Captain... Picard, go.
PICARD: I'm not going without everyone.
SEVEN: Find a way out of this.
RAFFI: You heard her. Go. Go!
SEVEN: Raffi, get out of here.
RAFFI: Not a chance.
SEVEN: Captain. Captain?
SHAW: No, no. No. It's... it's not my ship anymore. It's yours. You have the conn, Seven of Nine.
(The shuttle launches.)

[Bridge]

ESMAR: Formation complete. Weapons ready. Advance. Target, Spacedock. Eliminate planetary defences.

[Shuttle]

PICARD: The Fleet Museum. Geordi, why are we here?
GEORDI: We need a ship. Something older, analogue. Offline from the others.
RIKER: You think we can use one of these?
GEORDI: Well, I was gonna save this as a surprise one day, but I guess there's no time like the present.
(Bay 12 opens.)
PICARD: The Enterprise-D. But... how?
GEORDI: Thank the good ol' Prime Directive. The saucer was retrieved from Veridian III so as not to influence the system. I've been restoring it bit by bit over the last 20 years. Engines and nacellescome from the USS Syracuse.
DATA: Strange. Seeing it makes me feel...
TROI: You're not the only one, Data.
GEORDI: And obviously, we can't use the Enterprise-E.
WORF: That was not my fault.
GEORDI: There's still a ton of hull work yet to do, and the port nacelle cover is a nightmare...
RIKER: She's beautiful, Geordi.
CRUSHER: Beautiful.
WORF: Will she fly?
GEORDI: What do you think, Admiral?
PICARD: Oh, yes. She'll fly.

[Enterprise D Bridge]

GEORDI: Computer, lights.
RIKER: Is the bridge smaller, or am I just bigger?
CRUSHER: No, she's exactly as she was.
WORF: I preferred the weapon systems on the E. Additional phaser arrays, torpedo...
TROI: Worf!
WORF: She is perfect, Geordi.
DATA: Hello, chair. Are you certain she's not connected to the Starfleet mainframe?
GEORDI: I'm positive. You're looking at the last functional ship in the fleet not tied to the system.
PICARD: You know, it wasn't until this moment, reunited with all of you... I realised what I've missed most. The carpet.
GEORDI: Worf, I've got drones loading torpedoes into the bay as we speak.
PICARD: Mister LaForge, may I?
GEORDI: Absolutely, Admiral.
PICARD: Computer, initiate system reactivation procedures.
COMPUTER: Authorisation acknowledged. USS Enterprise now under command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
PICARD: Well, I hereby accept the field demotion. We've been here before, and I'm reluctant to ask you all to face this threat again.
RIKER: We are the crew of the USS Enterprise. But more than that, we're your family.
TROI: Jack, Alandra, Sidney. They're our family, too.
RIKER: Jean-Luc, wherever you go, we go.
PICARD: Thank you, Number One. Stations, please.
CRUSHER: All systems on line, Captain.
WORF: Weapons are ready, although they are limited.
RIKER: Well, at least we got 'em. If we encounter the Borg, we're gonna need to run, shoot or hide. So, Geordi, we'll need every bit of power you can get to those old shields.
PICARD: Make it so.
GEORDI: Aye, sir.
PICARD: Mister Data, set a direct course for Earth, maximum warp.
DATA: Aye, Captain. Course laid in, sir. She's ready.
PICARD: Engage.