Borg Assimilation Techniques (Prior To FC)

[Major Chord]

I've always assumed that the borg we see in "BOBW" and "Q Who"...TNG in general actually, are the borg that were sent from the Delta Quadrant when the distress signal from the Borgified Research ship in ENT "Regeneration" reached the Delta Quadrant. I know that the figure of 200 years was mentioned...whether that is 200 years for the signal to reach, or 200 years for a ship to get there, I'm not entirely sure.

So, those could easily be the Borg of 200, hell, even 100 years prior to those episodes that we see, from Kirk's or Archer's era. At the time the signal reached Borg HQ, they may not have had Transwarp capability, hence why the ship has been traveling through space on a mission to Earth for a century or two. Maybe even part of a small convoy. By the time of First Contact, the Borg have developed Transwarp, and therefore the Borg we see are the "Modern Borg". Assimilation techniques could very well have advanced in the 2 centuries between ENT and TNG, explaining the different look as well as the different methods used.

Will the drones onboard the cube have been the ones that left the Delta Quadrant? Doubtful, although we don't know the lifespan of a drone, do we? So even if the cube was full of new drones, because they were assimilated using the method of assimilation used when their ship left home, they mirror the drones of that time period. Almost like an Amish community...a snapshot in time so to speak.

 

[Timo]

There's a big conceptual problem with that message from "Regeneration". Supposedly, our heroes can establish that it was aimed in the general direction of the Delta Quadrant (less than 10% chance of that happening at random, I guess). And that's fine - Trek has shown time and again that it's possible to send directional signals, and to observe them even when one isn't on the path of the signal, even though the latter feat runs contrary to our current scientific knowledge.

But how could anybody decide how long it is going to take for the signal to arrive? Suppose it's aimed in the next star system from the sending point? A few seconds of travel time only. The 146th star system in that direction? A few months, perhaps. The near edge of the Delta Quadrant? Possibly a century. The middle of the Delta Quadrant? Perhaps two centuries. The far edge of the Delta Quadrant? Four centuries. A Borg mothership waiting to invade our galaxy from just outside the edge? Half a millennium. A hostile galaxy far, far away? Tens of thousands of years.

T'Pol simply couldn't know the distance to the intended recipient, so the guess of 200 years must be either meaningless, or then based on some sort of secret information.

So even if the cube was full of new drones, because they were assimilated using the method of assimilation used when their ship left home, they mirror the drones of that time period.

Another possibility is that the Collective assimilated a major species just before TNG, and that species had special characteristics that made the drones from that species look a bit paler than those from average humanoids, plus called for more extensive external piping.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

we were somewhere else. (longer pause) And then I became Borg

Psychological amnesia or post-traumatic stress disorder, in one episode Seven experiences false memories.

Seven doesn't remember being assimilated because she doesn't want to.

She does remember being assimilated.
It was covered in the episode 'Raven'.
The actual memory of a procedure of being assimilated on the other hand was not covered directly early on ... back then it was referenced as a possibility by Janeway when 7 thought Kovin violated her.
7 did on the other hand described in season 7 her assimilation process on how she initially got the eye piece on which that inmate Ivek (was it) commented (episode where Voyager was ferrying criminals for their executions and Ivek essentially lacked neural connections in his brain that allowed him to experience 'conscience').

Timo

T'Pol did analyze the transmission the Borg sent and extrapolated probable destination deep in the D.Q.
Hence the 200 years estimate (likely the largest number) the message would take to reach it.
By the time it does however, it's received by the Borg Collective in a degraded state, but with one distinction (it was encoded as a Borg transmission to begin with with decipherable info that points to the A.Q. - which peaked their interests and sent a ship which destroyed outlying outposts in the Neutral Zone from both the Federation and Romulans, then later on prompted the events as we saw them).

 

[Timo]

T'Pol did analyze the transmission the Borg sent and extrapolated probable destination deep in the D.Q.

But how could she do something like that? Even if T'Pol had some data on signal degradation, and guesstimated that the signal was aimed at the maximum range at which it could still be coherently received, the ballpark would be big enough to cover several centuries; her saying "200 years" would give Archer way too much precision.

I have no problem with the signal really going to deep Delta and taking 200 years in doing so. It's just unlikely that T'Pol could know this.

OTOH, I do think the Borg were in Alpha long before "Regeneration", probably tens of thousands years earlier. Several Alpha Quadrant species are given low numbers in the Borg scheme, suggesting they were surveyed in antiquity. Also, the Borg were definitely in deep Alpha in "The Neutral Zone", and did not reveal themselves or go on an open assimilation spree at that point yet. So it's quite possible they were there all along, lurking and waiting to see if cultures worthy of assimilation would emerge...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

They ALWAYS find a way to analyse the situation in order give a rough estimate.
Haven't you seen other Trek shows?


T'Pol was a Vulcan, and it's very likely she would conduct a very thorough analysis of the transmission that would give her enough to point her in the general direction and destination.

It's entirely possible she was able to decipher the intended destination of the message (a set of coordinates perhaps which I think were mentioned in the episode) and then she gives Archer an estimate on how long it would take the message to travel in subspace there.


I'm not disputing the possibility the Borg might have already been deep in the A.Q. a LONG time ago, BUT, it's also possible they decided to have the D.Q. as their staging area (hence the unicomplex and the TW hub).

 

[Finn]

I was under the impression that Picard was already assilimated before the operation bed. They led him there with no resistance. I always figured he was assilimated right on the bridge, even when BOBW first came out.

 

[Finn]

T'Pol did analyze the transmission the Borg sent and extrapolated probable destination deep in the D.Q.

But how could she do something like that? Even if T'Pol had some data on signal degradation, and guesstimated that the signal was aimed at the maximum range at which it could still be coherently received, the ballpark would be big enough to cover several centuries; her saying "200 years" would give Archer way too much precision.

I have no problem with the signal really going to deep Delta and taking 200 years in doing so. It's just unlikely that T'Pol could know this.

OTOH, I do think the Borg were in Alpha long before "Regeneration", probably tens of thousands years earlier. Several Alpha Quadrant species are given low numbers in the Borg scheme, suggesting they were surveyed in antiquity. Also, the Borg were definitely in deep Alpha in "The Neutral Zone", and did not reveal themselves or go on an open assimilation spree at that point yet. So it's quite possible they were there all along, lurking and waiting to see if cultures worthy of assimilation would emerge...

Timo Saloniemi

Or those low numbered AQ species had been warp capable for so long that some of their members ventured close to Borg space a long time ago.

 

[David cgc]

I was under the impression that Picard was already assilimated before the operation bed. They led him there with no resistance. I always figured he was assilimated right on the bridge, even when BOBW first came out.

Well, not on the bridge, because he was still arguing with the Borg on their ship.

 

[SicOne]

Might be interesting if a Trek writer expanded on Chicagoan's idea a bit, vis-a-vis eggs harvested from Seven of Nine's ovaries. There could well be a planet of little Hansens.

 

[Mr Silver]

I was under the impression that Picard was already assilimated before the operation bed. They led him there with no resistance. I always figured he was assilimated right on the bridge, even when BOBW first came out.

The Borg appeared to "stun" Picard with some kind of energy beam, this allowed them to take him with no resistance

I'm under the impression that Picard wasn't fully assimilated, merely he was kitted out with minimal tactical cybernetics (possibly to aid him in coordinating the Borg ship) and obviously his mind was linked with collective (as is the case with all Borg), its interesting as to why the Borg underassimilated Picard, was it because they didn't have time to convert him into a full drone? or did they want him to retain a more "human" appearance?

 

[SpyOne]

I'll go with "necessary to his function".
Locutus was to be a "spokesman" for the Borg, a single face to present to the Federation. This required that his appearance be presentable, and also meant that making him into a full drone was counter-productive, as his individuality was necessary to his function.