Be ADULTS PLEASE, but do the Borg retain their reproductive organs after assimilation?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by Vanyel, Jun 26, 2019.

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  1. Vanyel

    Vanyel The Imperious Leader Premium Member

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    I was just wonder this while watching Scorpion that the humanoid female Borg do seem to retain their breasts. While breast are not reproductive organs, a vagina, uterus and Fallopian tubes are. In male Borg, it would be the penis and testes.

    Since the Borg do not reproduce sexually, these organs would be unnecessary and inefficient compared to assimilation. If they are removed either surgical or by the nanoprobes, would the Doctor have had to recreate Seven's reproductive organs? Would Dr. Crusher have had to recreate Picard's or would he have not been far enough in the assimilation process to need to have them to be recreated?

    I apologize if my question is over the line.
     
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  2. Armus

    Armus Commodore Commodore

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    Some things are best left to the imagination. Logically the Borg would start with the organs most vital to accomplish assimulation. Perhaps if they captured Riker they'd have to do something about his penis right off the bat.;)
     
  3. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The organs are probably retained, the drones would just not use them anymore.

    IMHO, it would be inefficient to waste time and labor to replace the organs with something else, when there's no reason to do so. Just leaving them alone would make more sense.

    True, we've seen drones with cybernetic devices in place of, say, their arms, but that's because they NEED them.

    I mean, individual drones don't speak, but most of them still have mouths, don't they? Same story here.
     
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  4. Vanyel

    Vanyel The Imperious Leader Premium Member

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    Sorry to add to my question, but if left in place, what about a human female's menstrual cycle?
     
  5. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The introductory "Q Who?" has Q adamant that the Drones are "neither male nor female" despite them visibly retaining secondary sexual attributes such as breasts. VOY essentially agrees on all that, especially the retention part. So, are the primary attributes gone? Annika Hansen had two good eyes, yet the Borg gouged out one in order to install an ocular implant (something they never did with Locutus). So removal seemingly willy-nilly is certainly up their alley, and may cover both nilly and willy.

    Not that this should be a big deal: extensive sex change surgery is both trivially simple and fully reversible in DS9, and we can only expect the Collective to outdo Federation medicine there. Whatever Picard or Hansen lost would be recoverable.

    But, as said, nothing is explicit or certain here. We know the Doc had to graft an all-new eye for Seven, but we never got a full rundown on what it took to return her to a close approximation of a human. He would have had the means to do a lot, post-first season and the early shortages of resources and means (and even there he raised people from the dead with replication of organs).

    Timo Saloniemi
     
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  6. FormerLurker

    FormerLurker Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It was established in "Q Who" that the Borg don't only reproduce by assimilation. Our heroes found an infant that was already in process to become a drone, and it had to come from somewhere. They postulated that the Borg use some form if IVF and artificial wombs, but the raw materials had to come from some drone or other's reproductive organs. This makes a lot of sense to me, because if they managed to assimilate everyone like they want to, where are they going to get new drones as the old ones age out anyway?
     
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  7. Steven P Bastien

    Steven P Bastien Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I also want to ask in a delicate and respectful way. But, do Borg use the bathroom in a normal way? Or, is their method of eating and digesting altered?
     
  8. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Borg don't need food, just energy.

    I assume this also means they don't generate waste.
     
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  9. Vanyel

    Vanyel The Imperious Leader Premium Member

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    That the infant was a child of the Borg was a guess by Riker, it could easily have been an infant in the process of assimilation and the, for lack of a better word, drawer he was in could have been an early form of a maturation chamber, or one designed for the infants species. The Borg also seem to leave some species alone for awhile and them come back for more, like Icheb's. Not assimilating a species entirely but leaving behind a source for more drones would also make sense.
     
  10. Pondwater

    Pondwater Vice Admiral Admiral

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    They’re sterile.
     
  11. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Also, the concept of the Borg needing more Drones is a bit dubious to begin with. The Borg say they assimilate because they want to make life better for their victims. Adding to the numbers artificially (that is, through procreation) would be cheating, depriving victims in need of their chance for true salvation.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  12. 1001001

    1001001 Serial Canon Violator Moderator

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    I can't believe this is my life...

    :shrug:
     
  13. NewHeavensNewEarth

    NewHeavensNewEarth Commodore Commodore

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    Resistance is fertile.
     
  14. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The answer is... whatever the plot demanded.

    First Contact and Voyager Borg lost limbs. Picard just had a robotic thing put over his arm in Next Gen.
     
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  15. Vger23

    Vger23 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    You lost me at "BE ADULTS PLEASE"
     
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  16. Kor

    Kor Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I don't think the Borg Queen had any.

    Kor
     
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  17. Farscape One

    Farscape One Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Actually, we do see Borg eating... in "SURVIVAL", Seven and the others eat a creature they cooked.

    So the question of ingestion and waste does have merit.

    Plus, even Hugh, when he git that energy while in the brig, used it for his 'organic components'. Still begs the question on waste production and where it goes. I can even see some Borg whose job is entirely waste extraction.



    Collective on Sphere 188: "Waste material from organic components has reached maximum level. Proceed to expulsion."

    (Group of drones disconnects from regeneration.)

    Lead drone: "Three of Eight, Primary Sanitation Unit of Submatrix 449. We are proceeding with waste extraction. Resisting a dump is futile."
     
  18. Delta Vega

    Delta Vega Commodore Commodore

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    Sometimes it's better just not knowing
     
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  19. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Queen was just a head and a spinal column, so the answer is definitely yes, at least in some cases.
     
  20. Turd Ferguson

    Turd Ferguson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    When regenerating, is it possible that the Borg (if they still have their respective reproductive parts) have wet dreams? If so, would this be confined to said drone, or, being a Collective, would the entirety of the Borg be caught up in said wet dream? :borg:
     
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