Rejected/selected by the Borg

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Would it be understandable for the lone unassimilated survivor of a Borg attack to (although relieved about surviving and upset over those who died) feel rejected somehow? That is, the Borg saw them, knew they were there, and didn't physically harm or assimilate them at all. Just left them for reasons unstated. ("Was I not good enough? Am I an inferior person? Does my life have meaning?")

Also, what about being partially assimilated and left behind? An individual whose physiology/Borg implants had a flaw in that they did not become fully Borg, but rather are aware of/see/hear what the Borg are doing to some extent. So a (remote) witness. Not under Borg control, fully autonomous. That said, tortured by dreams and visions of what the Borg are doing, but not to the point of being insensible.

 

[Oddish]

Do we know why the Borg might choose not to assimilate a given individual? The only reason I can think of is that their physiology might be incompatible with either their nanoprobes or their implants.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I can't imagine they'd be like, "we've already gone over our quota of humans for the month".

 

[Oddish]

Maybe a given Queen could be afraid to assimilate certain female individuals who possess a very strong will... she'd be worried about getting replaced!

 

[at Quark's]

"We are the Borg. You won't be assimilated. Insistence is futile."

 

[Rahul]

Would it be understandable for the lone unassimilated survivor of a Borg attack to (although relieved about surviving and upset over those who died) feel rejected somehow? That is, the Borg saw them, knew they were there, and didn't physically harm or assimilate them at all. Just left them for reasons unstated. ("Was I not good enough? Am I an inferior person? Does my life have meaning?")

Also, what about being partially assimilated and left behind? An individual whose physiology/Borg implants had a flaw in that they did not become fully Borg, but rather are aware of/see/hear what the Borg are doing to some extent. So a (remote) witness. Not under Borg control, fully autonomous. That said, tortured by dreams and visions of what the Borg are doing, but not to the point of being insensible.

Great premises for an episode plot. Like a reverse survivorship bias. Though it's more of a character struggle - was I not good enough? Was it just random, or was there meaning?
In-universe, the reason could be that the cube was on a long-term mission, and was ideally staffed, and any additional crew would lead to a less optimal usage of resources.

For #2, partial assimilation is difficult though. If you're part of the collection, but not fully assimilated, they would just discard & remove you. If you're not part of the collective, you're just a forced cyborg.
Could be very interesting though, being a regular/reversed person, who could still HEAR the collective, without actually being part of it or its thinking. That could be nightmarish.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Do you think it would be more like something a child might struggle with, or would an adult seriously question that sort of thing?

LD would probably play it for laughs.

 

[XCV330]

Did the Borg ever show the slightest interest in assimilating Neelix?

 

[at Quark's]

Did the Borg ever show the slightest interest in assimilating Neelix?

The one time they tried, it had the consequence of bringing him back to life.

Understandably, they aborted any further attempts.

 

[1001001]

Wasn’t there a line somewhere about a species “being unworthy of assimilation”?

Maybe a no-tech early society or something?

Or did I hallucinate that?

 

[at Quark's]

^ The Kazon, according to 7 of 9. In fact it's in the same episode in which Neelix dies (Mortal Coil).

SEVEN: The Kazon. Species three two nine.
NEELIX: You're familiar with them.
SEVEN: The Borg encountered a Kazon colony in the Gand Sector, grid six nine two zero.
NEELIX: Were they assimilated?
SEVEN: Their biological and technological distinctiveness was unremarkable. They were unworthy of assimilation.
NEELIX: I didn't realise the Borg were so discriminating.
SEVEN: Why assimilate a species that would detract from perfection?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Imagine being an individual, though, of a species that is otherwise deemed worthy, and you are rejected personally.

Relieved, yes, but also kind of insulted/hurt...especially if you're already dealing with self-esteem issues...

It would be funny, though, if someone who had a very high opinion of themselves was rejected, but also annoying having to listen to them obsess over why not me?

 

[XCV330]

Imagine being an individual, though, of a species that is otherwise deemed worthy, and you are rejected.

Since FC showed they tended to wipe out a biosphere and terraform the world as they saw fit, I doubt that anyone local would live long, anyway.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Do we know why the Borg might choose not to assimilate a given individual?

The Borg ignore individuals who aren't a threat. We've seen instances of people beaming onto Borg cubes - or being on Borg-infested ships - and as long as they don't make any threatening moves, the Borg leave them alone.

 

[Oddish]

I can just imagine... the Borg assimilate Neelix. Ten minutes later, every ship in the collective self-destructs.

 

[at Quark's]

I can just imagine... the Borg assimilate Neelix. Ten minutes later, every ship in the collective self-destructs.

Well, Endgame shows us Admiral Janeway injecting herself with something, and then later the Queen discovering they've been infected with a 'neurolytic pathogen', but they never told us what that pathogen was. Might as well have been 'essence of Neelix'.

 

[Unicron]

Essence of Neelix sounds like a pretty funny meme.

 

[Oddish]

Maybe she just ate a big plate of Neelix's leola root waffles before assimilation... gave all the Borg fatal indigestion.

 

[Deks]

Well, Endgame shows us Admiral Janeway injecting herself with something, and then later the Queen discovering they've been infected with a 'neurolytic pathogen', but they never told us what that pathogen was. Might as well have been 'essence of Neelix'.

There are few possible origins for the pathogen:
1. Its the same one produced by Icheb.
2. Its the synthetic pathogen that was present in the Vinculuum that made 7 lose her mind temporarily (however, I do not think that the crew would have had time to take a sample of this pathogen as time was of the essence).
3. Its an original creation made by Future Admiral Janeway for just this eventuality (as she did consider it once, just never pursued it) - and since she had past experience with similar pathogens, its possible she was able to make it by using Icheb's as a baseline and then make it even deadlier.

 

[IAmAParrot]

Do we know why the Borg might choose not to assimilate a given individual? The only reason I can think of is that their physiology might be incompatible with either their nanoprobes or their implants.

Seven said the borg didn't assimilate the kazon because they'd detract from perfection. I somehow suspect it's correct by the time of voyager season 4 and onwards..but by the time of season 2 of.tng, it's highly unlikely the borg would forego assimilating the kazon. They were much more different then. Locutus opened the door to a queen. Hugh made the borg more "personable" and "human". Destiny made the borg seem like any alien species that could be part of a collective, or not, yet still look and behave "borg like". Voyager made the borg no longer be threatening.
Also in first contact, I just thought about this. Why would earth assimilate a pre warp pre tech earth in April 2063? Makes no sense