- [last lines]
- Seven of Nine: For 3.2 seconds, I saw perfection. When Omega stabilized, I felt a curious sensation. As I was watching it, it seemed to be watching me. - The Borg have assimilated many species, with mythologies to explain such moments of clarity. I've always dismissed them as trivial. Perhaps I was wrong.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: If I didn't know you better... I'd say you just had your first spiritual experience.
- Tuvok: It's unfortunate we can't study this phenomenon in more detail. We may not have the opportunity again.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Let's hope we never do.
- Tuvok: A curious statement, from a woman of science.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I'm also a woman who occasionally knows when to quit.
- [Seven has given each member of her work team Borg designations]
- Seven of Nine: Six of Ten, this is not your assignment.
- Harry Kim: Please, stop calling me that.
- Seven of Nine: You're compromising our productivity... I'm reassigning you to chamber maintenance. Your new designation is Two of Ten.
- Harry Kim: [laughs] Wait a minute. You're demoting me? Since when do the Borg pull rank?
- Seven of Nine: A Starfleet protocol I adapted. I find it most useful.
- Harry Kim: I'm glad you're not the Captain.
- Harry Kim: Wanna know what I think?
- Tuvok: No.
- Harry Kim: I think there's a type-6 protostar out there, and the Captain's planning on detonating it and opening up a wormhole to the Alpha Quadrant. In theory, it's possible. And because she doesn't want to get our hopes up, she's not telling anybody.
- Tuvok: Then I wouldn't suggest getting your hopes up.
- [first lines]
- Voyager Computer: 0600 hours. Regeneration cycle complete.
- Seven of Nine: Daily log, Seven of Nine, Stardate 15781.2 - Today, Ensign Kim and I will conduct a comprehensive diagnostic of the aft sensor array. I have allocated three hours twenty minutes for the task, and an additional seventeen minutes for Ensign Kim's usual conversational digressions. I am scheduled to take a nutritional supplement at 1500 hours, engage in one hour of cardiovascular activity, then I intend to review a text the Doctor recommended, entitled 'A Christmas Carol.' He believes it will have educational value. End log.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: If someone out there is experimenting with Omega, I'm under orders to stop them. Otherwise this entire quadrant would be at risk.
- Seven of Nine: Those orders were the result of Starfleet's ignorance and fear. I can alleviate your ignorance. As for your fear...
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Sometimes fear should be respected, Seven.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: The final frontier has some boundaries that shouldn't be crossed - and we're looking at one.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: What is it the Borg say? That Omega is perfect?
- Seven of Nine: Yes.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Is that a theory or a belief?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [from her log entry] I have to admit, I have never been this apprehensive about a mission. I know how Einstein must have felt about the atom bomb, or Marcus, when she developed the Genesis Device. They watched helplessly, as science took a destructive course. But I have the chance to prevent that from happening. I just hope it's not too late.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: One of two things is going to happen: either Seven and I will succeed on our mission and return within a few days; or your long-range sensors will detect a large explosion in subspace. If that occurs, you'll have less than ten seconds to jump to warp and get the hell out of here. Head for the Alpha Quadrant and don't look back, understood?
- [Janeway is briefing her senior officers about the Omega molecule, its nature and its dangers]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Omega destroys subspace. A chain reaction involving a handful of molecules could devastate subspace throughout an entire quadrant. If that were to happen, warp travel would become impossible. Space-faring civilization as we know it would cease to exist.
- [...]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I don't have to tell you what's at stake. If a large-scale Omega explosion occurs, we will lose the ability to go to warp forever. We've got our work cut out for us.
- Seven of Nine: Your Starfleet Directive is no longer relevant. I have found a way to control Omega.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I don't care if you can make it sing and dance. We're getting rid of it.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I didn't realize you had such a strong scientific curiosity.
- Seven of Nine: Not curiosity. Desire.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Desire?
- Seven of Nine: Omega is infinitely complex, yet harmonious. To the Borg, it represents perfection. I wish to understand that perfection.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: The Borg's Holy Grail.
- Seven of Nine: Captain?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Never mind.
- Seven of Nine: Particle 010 - the Borg designation for what you call Omega. Every drone is aware of its existence. We were instructed to assimilate it at all costs. It is... perfection. The molecules exist in a flawless state. Infinite parts functioning as one.
- Chakotay: Like the Borg.
- Seven of Nine: Precisely. I am no longer Borg; but I still need to understand that perfection. Without it, my existence will never be complete.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I'm curious. When did the Borg discover Omega?
- Seven of Nine: 229 years ago.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Assimilation?
- Seven of Nine: Yes. Of thirteen different species.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Thirteen?
- Seven of Nine: It began with Species 262. They were primitive, but their oral history referred to a powerful substance which could burn the sky. The Borg were intrigued. Which led them to Species 263. They, too, were primitive and believed it was a drop of blood from their creator.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Fascinating!
- Seven of Nine: Yes, but irrelevant.
- Harry Kim: Is there anything you don't know?
- Seven of Nine: I was Borg.
- Harry Kim: "I was Borg!" That's what you always say, but what does it mean? You have the knowledge of 10,000 species in your head?
- Seven of Nine: Not exactly. Each drone's experiences are processed by the Collective. Only useful information is retained.
- Harry Kim: Still, that probably makes you the most intelligent human being alive.
- Seven of Nine: Probably.
- Harry Kim: So what do you need the rest of us for?
- [Seven gives him a peculiar look]
- Harry Kim: Forget I asked.
- [Kim and Tuvok are playing kal-toh, when Seven enters the mess hall to call Kim to his duties]
- Harry Kim: Give me a few more minutes to figure this out.
- Tuvok: You should attend to your duties, Ensign. I'll accept your forfeit.
- Harry Kim: No way. This is the closest I've ever come to beating you, and I'm not giving up now.
- [Seven has told Janeway about the Borg's first attempt to create an Omega molecule]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Tell me... how many Borg were sacrificed during this experiment?
- Seven of Nine: 29 vessels, 600,000 drones, but that is irrelevant.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I wondered who was running my program. Master da Vinci doesn't like visitors after midnight.
- Seven of Nine: He protested. I deactivated him.
- Seven of Nine: Which of them is the senior researcher?
- The Doctor: This gentleman. Why do you ask?
- Seven of Nine: He has knowledge I require.
- The Doctor: He also happens to be barely conscious. Come back in an hour.
- Seven of Nine: Unacceptable.
- The Doctor: Unavoidable. This is my sickbay. The man needs to recover.
- The Doctor: Our next social skills seminar is entitled "Adding Diplomatic Flair to Future Negotiations."