Upcoming novel "Unworthy"

[Christopher]

^I believe my reference was to the female reproductive organs, which are a different matter. You can lack a uterus and still be capable of sexual intercourse.

But didn't Destiny and Full Circle make it clear that Seven's body had completely regenerated when the Caeliar removed her Borg implants? So there's no reason to assume that any other remaining ex-drones are anatomically incomplete.

 

[Elemental]

They never really established 7's situation at all in Destiny, it pretty much just showed her implants disappearing. It is a big part of FC though.

I meant to bring this up in my Full Circle review but had forgotten. This was probably the only thing that stood out in my mind as a bit odd and inconsistent with what had come before. At the end of Destiny, Seven seemed to have been quite transformed (both physically and mentally) and her one line afterwards was her confident reply: "Call me Anika." Now in Full Circle, she was back to her insecure Borgish self again asking people to call her Seven (I don't recall which extreme she was closer to in Losing the Peace).

Sure, strictly speaking, she could have had a change of heart, but it seemed in Destiny with this being her one momentous line at the end "Call me Anika", that this was supposed to represent a major frameshift in her character. It seems like it kind of cheapens that development now to go back on it. Think this was intentional? Think it got overlooked?

 

[Christopher]

Only Dave could answer for sure, but if I recall correctly, his intent with that scene was to have it be ambiguous about just why Seven says that and what it means. After all, he knew that Kirsten would be following up on it and he didn't want to restrict her too much, so he left it vague.

Here's the actual passage:

"Seven," Bacco said, stunned. "Are you all right?"

With her beauty no longer blemished by the biomechanical scars of the Borg, Seven looked up at Nanietta Bacco with the tear-streaked face of an innocent.

"My name is Annika."

And that's it. I don't see anything about confidence. She's crying, and it says nothing about whether they're tears of joy, sorrow, fear, whatever. The word "innocent" can suggest either pure and saintly or lost and vulnerable. And there's no indication of how she delivers that last line.

And Kirsten was one of his beta readers on the trilogy. Dave was great about keeping us all in the loop and on the same page, precisely to prevent inconsistencies from cropping up. I remember Dave specifically asking Kirsten to check his material with Seven and the Voyager cast to make sure it was consistent with her plans, just as he asked me to vet the Titan material, Keith to vet the Klingon stuff, etc. So there was no disconnect or conflict between Dave's approach to Seven and Kirsten's.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Only Dave could answer for sure, but if I recall correctly, his intent with that scene was to have it be ambiguous about just why Seven says that and what it means. After all, he knew that Kirsten would be following up on it and he didn't want to restrict her too much, so he left it vague.

Here's the actual passage:

"Seven," Bacco said, stunned. "Are you all right?"

With her beauty no longer blemished by the biomechanical scars of the Borg, Seven looked up at Nanietta Bacco with the tear-streaked face of an innocent.

"My name is Annika."

And that's it. I don't see anything about confidence. She's crying, and it says nothing about whether they're tears of joy, sorrow, fear, whatever. The word "innocent" can suggest either pure and saintly or lost and vulnerable. And there's no indication of how she delivers that last line.

To me, it sounded like she finally knew who she was, but that is all. There is nothing to indicate whether that will immediately change her outlook on life.

 

[Elemental]

Only Dave could answer for sure, but if I recall correctly, his intent with that scene was to have it be ambiguous about just why Seven says that and what it means. After all, he knew that Kirsten would be following up on it and he didn't want to restrict her too much, so he left it vague.

Here's the actual passage:

"Seven," Bacco said, stunned. "Are you all right?"

With her beauty no longer blemished by the biomechanical scars of the Borg, Seven looked up at Nanietta Bacco with the tear-streaked face of an innocent.

"My name is Annika."

And that's it. I don't see anything about confidence. She's crying, and it says nothing about whether they're tears of joy, sorrow, fear, whatever. The word "innocent" can suggest either pure and saintly or lost and vulnerable. And there's no indication of how she delivers that last line.

To me, it sounded like she finally knew who she was, but that is all. There is nothing to indicate whether that will immediately change her outlook on life.

That was my impression too. Before it was always her saying "I prefer to be called Seven of Nine" so I don't see how one would interpret this any differently than this being a major frameshift in her character.

That's awesome that so much effort and care went into assuring continuity. It definitely comes across as quite strong in the novel except for this one issue in my mind. Obviously it's still going to involve some growth to fully de-borgify, but the physical loss of the implants and the mental acceptance of her identity as "Annika" as well as Picard's feeling of being 100% free of the Collective seemed to all imply Annika was well on her way along that path. So, without being given much explanation in Full Circle as to why she again wanted to be identified as "Seven of Nine", this stood out.

 

[Christopher]

Well, there's more than one way to interpret "My name is Annika" besides acceptance. It could have been spoken in despair or resignation -- she felt she'd lost the things that made her Seven of Nine and only Annika was left. After all, the text did say she was crying.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Well, there's more than one way to interpret "My name is Annika" besides acceptance. It could have been spoken in despair or resignation -- she felt she'd lost the things that made her Seven of Nine and only Annika was left. After all, the text did say she was crying.

Tears or loss or tears of fear? It may have been a painful experience, losing the implants. It may have been cathartic and she wasn't yet ready to let it go, which had the unfortunate side effect of the Full Circle fleet heading to the DQ. It may also be a primary reason for her and Chakotay joining that fleet in recompense for the probable wild goose chase they're on.

 

[Elemental]

^I'm sure that Voyager's new journey will turn out to have more to it than a wildgoose chase.

 

[PaulSimpson]

^I'm sure that Voyager's new journey will turn out to have more to it than a wildgoose chase.

It does. Oh believe me, it does... a treat in store when this hits bookshops!

Paul