=/\= Crew Quarters =/\= The small device that Ensign Carpentar put on his neck was cold and its sensation remained, even after it had been applied. You see, your body is conditioned to disregard your sense of touch for many things, such as your clothing. Or else you'd never be able to concentrate on anything. The device was metallic and rather cold and it kept drawing heat from Acheson's neck as he sat on his bed in his quarters. He felt tired; The medication that he had been given produced drowsiness as a side effect. He yawned and stretched, before finding himself a comfortable position on his bed to sleep. Putting a pillow beneath his neck, he laid down onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "Computer, disengage automatic door opening." The doors were not locked, but would require a command to be opened. He didn't want to be disturbed. Nathans eyes felt heavy as the overwhelming comfort of his situation took its toll. He looked around before finally closing his eyes. Moments later, he was sound asleep. His body lay motionless, with the exception of his chest which rhymically rose and fell. =/\= Acheson's mind =/\= He found himself on the bridge of the Chimera, standing at the tactical station. A nighttime duty officer was in command of the bridge and he was helping the science officer scan a nebula. Acheson thought: "I'll be damned if I'm gonna dream being at work." =/\= Crew Quarters =/\= He woke up suddenly. "Let's try that again" he thought. Moments later, he fell back asleep. =/\= Acheson's Mind =/\= Nathan found himself on another ship. But it wasn't the USS Chimera, he realized. The deck plating was a bit older and his uniform was somewhat different. He walked around in this place and found a reflective part of deck. He saw his face and it looked almost younger. Suddenly, he heard a mechanical sound and looked down an adjacent corridor, to reveal a single Borg drone. "Not again" He reached to his belt and pulled a phaser out. "Atleast I'm armed this time." He approached the drone and confronted it. "Stop!" The drone looked back at him and he recognized her face. "Commander Marsh?" "Commander Marsh is irrelevant. The designation of this drone is Two of Four." "No, you're Commander Marsh. I'll get you to Sickbay. I thought you were dead." "The person of Commander Marsh no longer exists. They were terminated for the greater good. Death is irrelevant. To become Borg is not to die, but to live in slavery." He looked back at the drone with scorn: "But it is better to die than to be a slave. Individuality must be preserved" "Individuality is sacrificed to be subservient of the collective. The needs of the collective outweigh the needs of the individual. The usefulness of individuality is finite; To eliminate individuality is to strengthen the collective." "But the compromise is slavery." "Slavery is not logical. Slavery implies a disparity between the will of the collective and the will of the individual. The will of the individual is the will of the collective, so no disparity exists." "Then I will free you." he fired his phaser at the drone, who collapsed. Another drone rapidly approached: "The end of one is not the end of the collective. The collective will fill that which is lost with that which is new." "I freed her." "Affirmative. The individual is freed from the collective." "But I caused her to be assimilated." "Negative. The will of the collective cannot be stopped. It will acquire new members and it will expand. The will of the individual is incapable of resisting the will of the collective." "We destroyed your collective, though, on that ship." "The loss of one subunit is not significant. In the end, the collective will prevail." "So no action of mine could have prevented it?" "Affirmative" =/\= Crew Quarters =/\= Acheson awoke suddenly and looked around. The room hadn't changed and there were no Borg present. He walked over to his computer console and began to write a log. The dream caused him to think and he wrote about that in the log, so that perhaps the dream might mean something. =/\= END LOG =/\= 1Lt Acheson CTAC USS Chimera -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm