03x09 - Part Nine Võx

[bunniefuu]

Lieutenant Mura, target the Shrike.

Fire!

Been a long time since we all
sat around the table like this.

Too long, really, by far.

All that matters is that
we are together once more,

because I need you. All of you.

Changelings have infiltrated Starfleet.

Whatever it is they've got planned,

Starfleet is gathering the entire fleet

in one location for Frontier Day.

And it's just hours away.

There's something very wrong with me.

According to this, Jack
has Irumodic Syndrome.

Inherited from me.

Maybe I was doomed
before I was even born.

We're analyzing the data
we pulled from the Shrike

to see what it was that they
were extracting from your body.

They removed portions
of his parietal lobe.

Why the hell would they want that?

Soong research indicates
an anomalous form

inside Jean-Luc Picard.

Previous diagnosis of Irumodic Syndrome

is in question.

TROI: Whatever the
Changelings have in store

is tied directly to Jack.

BEVERLY: Visions, voices.

He has abilities that
we just can't explain.

TROI: I think it's time I met your son.

Jack, have you ever seen a door?

JACK: The red door?

- It's time to open it, Jack.
- No.

- I don't know that I can.
- We'll go together.

You're not alone.

TROI: Nothing is more
elusive than a door

the mind doesn't wish to open.

["I CAN'T STOP CRYING" BY
WILL GROVE-WHITE PLAYING]

♪ I can't stop crying ♪

♪ Over you ♪

♪ Can't think of smiling ♪

♪ Now I'm so sad and blue... ♪

TROI: I'm here with
you, Jack, in your mind.

I can feel your reluctance, your fear,

but you're safe.

Now tell me about these vines.

They're almost like neurons.

I don't know what they
are... or what they mean.

Symbols have nothing but meaning.

- ♪ I can't stop praying ♪
- Think, Jack.

Remember.

- ♪ You'll come back home ♪
- What do they mean to you?

♪ Can't understand... ♪

The Crimson Arboretum.

On Raritan IV.

My mother took me there as a boy. She...

She adored this song.

♪

Don't get lost in it, Jack.

- Stay with me.
- She played it all the time.

Less of a song than a memory, uh...

coded in the melody, passed down
from my father to my mother...

to me.

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.

Did you find that comforting?

Not comforting, no.

[MUSIC SLOWING]

No, right, true.

Purposeful.

Perfect.

TROI [ECHOING]: So the
vines are connections.

Is that what you're seeking,
a connection?

Yes. Many.

FEMALE VOICE [ECHOING]: Hear me.

TROI: Your truth, it's behind that door.

FEMALE VOICE [ECHOING]: Find me.

Will you let me open it for you?

- I promise...
- FEMALE VOICE: Fear nothing.

... whatever we might find there,

you will not be alone.

FEMALE VOICE: We will
be together soon, Jack.

Yes.

[VOICES WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]

[GASPS]

I'm, I'm sorry, um...

I-I-I'm really sorry. Excuse me.

What did you see?

Tell me, what did you see?

What did you see?!

PICARD: Deanna.

- What's wrong?
- What happened?

[DOOR CREAKING]

[RUMBLING]

BORG COLLECTIVE: We are Borg.

♪

PICARD [ECHOING]: I am Locutus of Borg.

Resistance is futile.

Your life as it has been

is over.

Borg? That's impossible.

Jack has never been assimilated.

There are no nanoprobes in his system.

There are no transceivers, no receivers.

The voices in his head are distinct.

My gifts aren't perfect,
but I have never mistaken Borg.

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.
- No! No, no.

The only thing I've ever passed
on is my Irumodic Syndrome.

You never had Irumodic Syndrome.

- Oh...
- 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.

Through me.

To our son.

- We must tell him.
- No, no.

I will.

It's my responsibility.

I-I'm the cause.

- My fault.
- Jean-Luc.

Beverly.

I'm really sorry, but
there are protocols.

Protocols?

Vadic was searching for
a w*apon against humanity.

That w*apon 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.

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

- [DOOR CHIMES]
- Come.

What did she see?

Jack, there is so much...

I am never letting a g*dd*mn
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 counselor

- raises some serious...
- Jack, Counselor Troi...

Just tell me! Tell me,
what did she see in here?!

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 k*lled me.

But that was a misdiagnosis.

The symptoms were merely a...

... side effect.

Of what?

A seed.

Something I passed on to you.

One that took a generation to grow.

[JACK SIGHS]

The Borg.

That's quite the explanation.

A life of disconnection, only to realize

that I'm emblematic of what?

A bee?

Seeking a hive for-for a
collective, for a queen?

Subconsciously, perhaps.

So how much of me is me?

Oh, funny.

I've always known the
world was imperfect.

Broken systems, wars,

suffering, v*olence, 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?

We must take precautions.

Pre-Precautions?

I'm afraid this is not
just about you anymore.

What do you see?

When you look at me, what do you...?

Look at me, damn it. What do you see?

I came close to k*lling 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.

Keslovar.

It's no academy.

It's an institution.

A prison where they can mind-meld
and lobotomize the Borg from me.

No, thanks.

This is my problem, and
I can handle it myself.

I was never getting out
of here on my own, was I?

You said you'd never give up on me.

Starfleet protocols dictate
that we act in the interests...

Of what?

Of everyone else.

And what about the
protocols of a father?

Or were you never issued those?

[WEAPONS POWERING UP]

Jack, what is this?

Futility.

Jack.

Jack!

Jack.

- Jack, where are you going?
- [WEAPONS POWERING UP]

Home.

No. We can find a solution.

We-we can undo this, whatever it is.

The voice in my head.

I always thought it
was yours. It wasn't.

It's hers.

- Their queen.
- No.

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.

Jack, don't do this.

You're gonna get yourself k*lled.

Don't do this! No!

- [CONSOLE POWERING UP]
- Okay, where am I going?

Come on, come on, where are you?

BORG QUEEN [ECHOING]: Jack, find me.

COMPUTER: Course laid in.

Shuttle transponder off-line.

He inherited the best of you

and the worst of me.

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.

- Beverly, I...
- There must be something I can do,

and I'm going to find it.

Captain?

Data.

Were you able to track the shuttle?

We've been scanning, sir, but... [SIGHS]

I'm afraid we've found nothing.

I believe Jack is
jamming the transponder.

Would you like me to
say something comforting?

You might find that impossible.

I know.

- [COMM CHIMES]
- GEORDI: La Forge to Picard.

Go ahead.

You better get down to sickbay.

There is more you need
to know about Jack.

[RUMBLING]

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Come on, come on. Show yourself.
Why did you bring me here?

[ALARM SOUNDING]

COMPUTER: Tachyon radiation pulses.

Neutrino emissions
and gravitational flux.

- Wormhole?
- Negative.

A transwarp conduit.

[HIGH-PITCHED TONE]

BORG QUEEN: Jack. Jack.

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 years ago.

So the anomaly Dr. Soong discovered

during the captain's
transition into synthetic form

was in fact dormant
biological Borg adaptations.

They never truly let you go.

It is why Vadic stole
your body from Daystrom.

The Changelings extracted that
altered portion of your DNA.

Jean-Luc as Locutus
was a kind of receiver?

That's why I could still hear
them after I was assimilated.

Your body could still hear
the voice of the Collective.

So how is Jack different?

Your son appears to be a transmitter,

able to send instructions.

It appears the
Changelings stole your body

to weaponize that Borg genetic code.

PICARD: But the ensigns
Jack was able to control

were never assimilated.

How could they receive his signals?

That we do not know.

So this has been a dormant
part of Jack his entire life?

How could I have missed that?

Beverly, it's a testament to you

that he managed to resist for so long.

He may be Borg, but
that is not all he is.

So what now?

Clearly, the Changelings have
been working with the Borg

from the beginning.

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.

- We have to warn them.
- Of what, exactly?

They're gonna blow us out of the water.

But we have to try.

Picard to Captain Shaw.

We need to get to the
Sol system right now.

SHAW: Um, 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?

It's our only option, Captain.

Of course it is.

WOMAN [OVER COMM]:
Spacedock, this is NCC--F,

ready for ceremonial departure.

Admiral Shelby in command.

MAN [OVER COMM]: Copy that, Enterprise.

You're clear for departure.
Happy Frontier Day.

[BOATSWAIN'S WHISTLE BLOWS]

SHELBY: years ago
today, the Enterprise.

NX-, the first warp
five-capable vessel

to be constructed by human
hands, made its maiden voyage.

With it, a crew of souls
embarked on a journey...

One of bravery,
perseverance and sacrifice

that would lead to the
birth of what we know today

as Starfleet.

♪

BORG QUEEN: Welcome home, Jack.

SHELBY: A quarter millennium after

the NX- took that first vital step,

we gather on Frontier
Day to take another

as we demonstrate our
newest advancement,

Fleet Formation.

MAN [OVER COMMS]: USS Pulaski,
synchronization on line.

WOMAN [OVER COMMS]: USS Magellan...

SHELBY: Synchronistic
technology that allows

every ship in Starfleet
to operate as one.

An impenetrable armada.

Unity and defense.

- The ultimate safeguard.
- WOMAN [OVER COMMS]: Synchronization on line.

In case of the unthinkable...
Fleetwide incapacitation...

This system will protect our crews

in our continued exploration
of what still remains

our final frontier.

There it is, right from the mouth
of Admiral Elizabeth Shelby.

The irony of her endorsing
something so Borg-like.

Happy Frontier Day, everyone.

Looks like we'll be
crashing one hell of a party.

PICARD: We're out of time.

How much longer?

We'll reach Sector in
less than one hour, sir.

Yeah. And then what?

BORG QUEEN [ECHOING]: Jack...

My child.

My flesh. Blood.

For all my darkness, you are light.

For all my suffering,

you are life.

I don't know what I am...

but I know I'm not yours.

Oh, but you are.

I have thought of so many names for you.

Regenerati.

Puer Dei.

A fondness for Latin, I see.

But I am neither your rebirth,

nor a child of God.

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.

What I believe in is mercy.

And that is what this is.

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.

[CHUCKLES]

If it were possible for you to k*ll me,

you would have already.

[CRYING OUT]

End your struggle, my child.

Resistance is...

futile.

[LAUGHING]

[ALARM SOUNDING]

What is it?

Data and I have been combing
through the Changeling intel.

Raffi took from the Shrike,
and we found something.

This is Starfleet code.

Specifically, transporter code.

They've implemented
portions of Captain Picard's.

Borg-altered DNA into
the transporter system.

Wait a minute.

Computer, cross-reference this code

with the transporter
system of the Titan.

COMPUTER: Analyzing.

This code is part of
transporter system architecture.

Architecture?

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.

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.

They've been assimilating

the entire fleet this whole time,

without anyone ever knowing it.

SHELBY [OVER COMMS]: Our next
demonstration is the summation of decades

of technological advancements.

Fleet Formation?

Looks more like a f*ring squad.

[ALARM SOUNDING]

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.
- Hail the entire fleet.

Interrupt her transmission.

We only have one chance to warn them.

Transmitting emergency hail.

This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.

I come to you with a warning.

Command, what the hell is happening?

PICARD: Changeling
infiltration of Starfleet

has made us vulnerable
to our greatest enemy,

the Borg.

Admiral Shelby, I know this
message may seem desperate,

even impossible, but you must trust us.

I hope you...

- What's happened?
- Sir, all comms are down.

[ELECTRONIC WHOOSH]

What the hell is this?

Captain, primary
sensor arrays picking up

- a massive energy spike.
- From where?

[LOUD, SCREECHING NOISE BLARES]

What the hell was that?

[PAINED GROAN]

Seven, are you all right?

It's a Borg signal.

Judging by this simulation,
the Borg genetic material

doesn't propagate in a species

past a certain point in
the developmental cycle.

Which for human beings is age ,

which is when the frontal
cortex stops development.

So this might not affect us...

But it will affect the
youngest members of the crew.

- Captain...
- Tactical red alert.

SHAW: Mura.

Mura!

Where are my girls?

SHAW [ON COMMS]: Helm,
evasive maneuvers.

La Forge.

La Forge!

[ECHOING]: We are the Borg.

Computer, locate Alandra La Forge.

COMPUTER: The life
signs of Alandra La Forge

are no longer compatible
with human designation.

SHELBY [OVER COMM]:
... someone out there? Help us...

- La Forge.
- SHELBY: What's happening to my crew?

Mura.

- SHELBY: They're turning on us.
- What the hell is going on?

We are under att*ck from within.

Repeat, we are under att*ck.

Something is happening to my crew.

Ensign, what are you...

[INDISTINCT, PANICKED VOICES OVER COMMS]

The fleet.

It's...

been assimilated.

It's everyone.

Eliminate all unassimilated.

We gotta get out of here.

Eliminate all unassimilated.

Eliminate all unassimilated.

- Hansen?
- Come on. Come on.

Stun only. Go, go!

I've got to get to my girls.

No, Geordi. Geordi! Stop.

And do what?

No, no, no, we need a plan.

All right?

[ALARM BLARING]

BORG COLLECTIVE: Eliminate
all unassimilated.

[PHASER FIRE CONTINUES]

[INDISTINCT PANICKED
VOICES, SCREAMING OVER COMMS]

[ECHOING]: Collective...

we have the Titan.

- [ALARM BLARING]
- Why weren't we assimilated?

No offense, but judging
by all the gray hair,

I think the process must
have skipped a generation.

Those ships, this ship,
cannot be saved from within.

We need to get off the
Titan before it's too late.

COMPUTER: Deck Four.

- [SHOUTING]
- [PHASER FIRE]

SHAW: Close it! Close it!

Deck , now!

- [COMM CHIMES]
- MALE: Can anybody read me?

This is Captain
Benbassat of the Excelsior,

broadcasting on frequency 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...

[expl*si*n]

BORG COLLECTIVE: Excelsior
eliminated. All vessels secure.

Fleetwide assimilation complete.

Shut that off!

How is he even broadcasting over comms?

Oh, Delta.

It's a maintenance
channel. Wait, wait, wait.

Computer, change
destination. Maintenance Deck.

COMPUTER: Changing destination
to Maintenance Deck.

- There's nobody posted down there.
- No guards, no drones.

There may be a repair shuttle.

That's our way off.

Everyone, wherever you
are, however you can,

head to the sub-level
maintenance corridor

immediately.

BORG COLLECTIVE: 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.

I've never been so happy
to see so many wrinkles.

Thank goodness. You all made it.

Just trying to get the damn door open.

Jean-Luc, they took my girls.

- And we will get them back.
- BEVERLY: But right now,

we all need to get off of this ship.

What if we get off the
ship and the fleet takes us?

Shuttles don't connect
to the new system.

- They're autonomous.
- The robot's right.

- It's the only way.
- A single shuttle against the entire fleet?

No. I've got a better idea.

- [DOOR WHOOSHES]
- Incoming.

Go, go. We'll cover you!

GEORDI: I got it. Data, come on.

Hopefully we have enough
juice to get us there.

What makes you think "there"
hasn't already been destroyed?

Data, could you try to
be a little more positive?

I hope we die quickly.

Beverly, Riker, go!

Picard, go!

- SEVEN OF NINE: Captain!
- Shaw!

No. Captain...

- Picard, go.
- I'm not going without everyone.

- Find a way out of this.
- You heard her. Go.

- Go!
- Raffi, get out of here.

Not a chance.

Captain.

- Captain.
- [SHAW GROANS]

No, no. No. [INHALES]

It's-it's not my ship anymore.

It's yours.

You have the conn, Seven of Nine.

[SOFT EXHALE]

♪

ESMAR/BORG COLLECTIVE:
Formation complete.

Weapons ready.

Advance.

TARGET: Spacedock.

Eliminate planetary defenses.

♪

♪

PICARD: The Fleet Museum.

Geordi, why are we here?

We need a ship. Something older, analog.

- Off-line from the others.
- You think we can use one of these?

Well, I was gonna save
this as a surprise one day,

but guess there's no
time like the present.

♪

The Enterprise-D.

But... how?

Thank the good ol' Prime Directive.

GEORDI: 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 years.

Engines and nacelles
come from the USS Syracuse.

Strange.

Seeing it makes me
feel... [CLEARS THROAT]

You're not the only one, Data.

And obviously, we can't
use the Enterprise-E.

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...

She's beautiful, Geordi.

Beautiful.

Will she fly?

What do you think, Admiral?

Oh, yes.

She'll fly.

GEORDI: Computer, lights.

[SYSTEMS POWERING UP]

♪

Is the bridge smaller,
or am I just bigger?

No, she's exactly how she was.

I prefer the w*apon systems on the E.

- Additional phaser arrays, torpedo...
- Worf!

She is perfect, Geordi.

Hello, chair.

Are you certain she's not connected
to the Starfleet mainframe?

Positive. You're looking at

the last functional ship in
the fleet not tied to the system.

You know, it wasn't until this moment,

reunited with all of you...

I realize what I miss most.

- The carpet.
- [AMUSED CHUCKLES]

Worf, I've got drones loading torpedoes

into the bay as we speak.

Mr. La Forge, may I?

Absolutely, Admiral.

- Computer...
- [COMPUTER CHIMES]

... initiate system
reactivation procedures.

COMPUTER: Authorization acknowledged.

USS Enterprise now under
command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Well, I hereby accept
the field demotion.

We've been here before.

And... I'm reluctant to ask you all

to face this thr*at again.

We are the crew of the USS Enterprise.

But more than that,

we're your family.

Jack, Alandra, Sidney...

they're our family, too.

Jean-Luc...

wherever you go, we go.

Thank you, Number One.

Stations, please.

All systems on line, Captain.

Weapons are ready,
although they are limited.

- Well, at least we got 'em.
- If we encounter the Borg,

we're gonna need to run, sh**t or hide.

So, Geordi, we'll
need every bit of power

you can get to those old shields.

Make it so.

Aye, sir.

♪

Mr. Data, set a direct course
for Earth, maximum warp.

Aye, Captain.

Course laid in, sir.

She's ready.

Engage.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪