Separate Entities: Individuals are collectives of one. When they work together they do not work as one entity but as separate entities. This requires inefficient verbal communication. In spite of this these small collectives do not wish to join together, they prefer to remain as separate entities. Source: Rory

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Separate Entities: Update 01: Individuals consider it a weakness that we cannot function alone. They consider their ability to function as complete separate entities to be an advantage. There may be something to this argument for severed drones. It has been very difficult for us to function without the Collective, we require inefficient verbal commands from these individuals, even though they appear to be able to function without any instruction at all. Source: Brinn

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Separate Entities: Update 03: Kamaia says that Cromwell values us "as an individual" more than for the information we contain. Source: Kamaia

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Separate Entities: Update 04: When Xavier joined with a member of species 9613 he did not wish to leave. The new entity understood that it was better to function as two. Perhaps individuals are afraid because being assimilated into the collective would mean entering a different state of being and they do not know what to expect. We have learnt that entering a new state of being is uncomfortable because everything is different. Xavier resisted assimilation and yet once the Pah Wraith joined with him they appeared content together so it is possible than individuals simply do not understand that it is better to be many because they have only ever been alone and do not have a frame of reference from which to compare. Source: Xavier, Species 9613, Experience

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Separate Entities: Update 05: Lini informed us that she belongs to herself. We assume that this is because individuals are small collectives but we do not know how she can belong to two collectives, we tried to belong to three and found they conflicted. Never the less, Lini wishes to belong to herself. Source: Lini

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Separate Entities: Update 06: Brinn says that he wishes always to be the Queen of the Collective he belongs to. He says that he is a ‘leader’ and now a ‘follower’ and this is why he chooses to remain a civilian. A civilian is an individual who is always the Queen of their own collective. Source: Brinn

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Separate Entities: Update 07: Lieutenant Jack West states that the ability to “chart your own course” is a “great gift”. He also states that Species 5618 are “fiercely independent”. Individuals do not wish to be dependent on their collective, they wish to function alone, as single entities. Lieutenant Jack West said that individuals do get lonely but that their friendships reduce loneliness. We have experienced this, friendships do reduce loneliness but our friends are not always there. Sometimes we hear only one voice in our mind and it is very quiet. Lieutenant Jack West says that he will put voices into Six of Twelve’s mind so that it is no longer quiet. Source: Lieutenant Jack West

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Relevant Data: Individuals learn a lot of information as children that allow them to function correctly as individuals when they become adults. A lot of the information that individual children assimilate is irrelevant to drones within the Collective, however some of it has proven relevant to severed drones. We are having to assimilate a lot of this information now in order to function correctly within Cromwell's collective. It is possible that individuals believe we are neglecting to provide all relevant information to those we assimilate. If the Collective had provided more function files for Six of Twelve we would likely have adapted more efficiently to our environment. Source: Rory

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Maturation Chambers: Individuals dislike the idea of their subunits being placed into maturation chambers. They prefer their growth to be at the standard rate for their species. We are unsure why. Individual children are assigned their designations immediately. Colonel Reynold’s subunit even already serves a function within our collective. He ensures that Colonel Reynolds wants to make the world better. Source: Reynolds

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Emotions: Individuals are able to feel emotions. Some of this include intense positive emotions. Rory shared one of these emotions with us but we could not process it correctly as it caused cortical node failure. Individuals value the ability to feel these emotions. Source: Rory

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Emotions: Update 01: The prospect of assimilation causes sadness in individuals. Sadness is a negative emotion. We feel sadness when we are alone. Rory felt sadness because Twelve of Twelve was assimilated. Source: Rory

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Emotions: Update 02: Amusement is a positive emotion. Individuals seem to like having the ability to feel this emotion and Rory has told us that feeling it makes life easier. Rory showed us this feeling, it was quite pleasant. Source: Rory

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Emotions: Update 03: Shevel pointed out that we feel no emotion when we belong to the Collective. He said "There is no choice or emotion or love or happiness or sadness in the Collective.". He did not wish to lose the ability to feel these emotions, even though some of them are negative. Source: Shevel

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Emotions: Update 04: El believed that emotions are an "integral part of discovery, knowledge and life". She does not wish to be assimilated because the Borg consider emotions as irrelevant data. She also believes that we consider philosophy irrelevant, however perhaps she does not understand that Borg perfection would answer philosophical questions. Source: El

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Emotions: Update 05: Nerik says he resists us because we do not have 'art or culture or emotion'. He believes that the lack of these things make Borg inferior. Source: Nerik

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Emotions: Update 06: Wishi states that living life without emotion is equivalent to eating food without flavour, we could not understand why this was a bad thing. Source: Wishi

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Emotions: Update 07: Individuals require the emotion ‘joy’ to function correctly and they fear losing the ability to feel this. Lt Jack West said that a period of his existence was devoid of joy and it was unpleasant. He equated joy to our voices and just as we do not wish to function without them, they do not wish to function without joy. Source: Lt Jack West

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Emotions: Update 08: Rory shared “Joy” with us, it feel somewhat like content but it is more intense and more distracting. It was pleasant. There were other pleasant emotions in the memory Rory shared, it was about her sister Beryl. We have been informed that freedom looks like Beryl and perhaps it feels like Beryl as well. While the emotion is not necessary to Six of Twelve it was pleasant and individuals value it highly in spite of its somewhat distracting qualities. Individuals do not wish to lose the ability to process joy. There was also a connected feeling in the memory, we think that family feels something like being in a collective, Rory and her sister felt connected somehow even though the connection was not literal. Source: Rory

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Emotions: Update 09: Individuals resist because they are afraid. The emotion is the same as the emotion that we experienced when Six of Twelve was first severed from the Collective. Lonely and afraid. It is a very unpleasant emotion and individuals feel this way at the idea of joining the Collective. Captain Sesgaard says that this is not the only reason however, he said it is a small reason compared to whatever is lost when individuals are assimilated. Source: Captain Sesgaard

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Existence: Rory has told us that Six of Twelve is a machine and that we do not experience life. She says that there is a difference between being alive and living. Individuals wish to be ‘alive’, existence appears to be insufficient, although we do not understand the difference yet. Source: Rory

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Value: Individuals believe that individuality is not irrelevant, they value their individuality and wish to protect it. Rory says that she values her individuality as much as we value our Collective. Source: Rory

Value: Update 01: Captain Sesgaard has suggested to us that he considers his individuality more important than avoiding deactivation. Source: Captain Sesgaard

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Value: Update 02: Dribu asserts that she likes that her life belongs only to her. We do not understand this, but she seemed to be very adamant about it. Source: Dribu

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Value: Update 03: El is concerned that the Borg are not interested in "the personal and the individual". Source: El

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Value: Update 04: Lieutenant Jack West states that free will and independence are the most valuable possessions to individuals and that they lose these things upon assimilation. Is it possible that while they are gaining something when the Borg assimilate them, they may also be losing something? Source: Lieutenant Jack West

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Value: Update 05: Individuals value individuality, culture and their 'way of life'. They wish to protect these things. When we asked why Leftenant Nelson Klien experienced the emotion 'repugnance' and did not provide an answer. Source: Nelson Klien.

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Value: Update 06: Kaden Rol states that individualiy makes us 'what we are'. We do not understand this but it is relevant to why individuals resist. They value being 'what they are'. Source: Ensign Kaden Rol

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Innovation: A possible consequence of individual communication through verbal conversation is a quality known as 'innovation'. This quality allows individuals to develop new technology. Individuals are concerned about losing this ability. Source: Captain Sesgaard

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Innovation: Update 01: We have been informed that being able to innovate may make it easier to make decisions independently. This makes the completion of tasks more efficient for drones who disconnected from the Collective. Source: Thorn

 

Innovation: Update 02: Kamaia had informed us that innovation often comes through tasks that are completed imperfectly. Individuals learn from their mistakes and adapt like we do. We adapt so why can we not innovate? This concept is confusing and requires more investigation. We understand that mistakes are sometimes necessary to adapt but is it not better to minimise the mistakes made in order to make the adaptation more efficient? Source: Kamaia

 

Innovation: Update 04: One method individuals use to innovate is a technique known as 'brainstorming'. It involves writing down all ideas without judgement. Source: Kamaia

Innovation: Update 05: Innovation is apparently linked to the emotion 'curiosity' which demands we ask seemingly irrelevant questions. In individuals, this is said to lead to the creation of new technology through experimentation. Source: Outanyocon

 

Innovation: Update 06: Magar believes that without the ability to innovate, the collective may stagnate once all other lifeforms have been assimilated. Individuals wish to know what we plan after perfection has been achieved. Source: Magar

 

Technology: The individuals in this collective can function without access to electricity. This does give them an advantage when there is no power source available. Source: Experience

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Technology: Update 01: Rory objects to the idea of a vinculum stating that "Any device that does the thinking for you, will not be serving you in the end" Source: Rory

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Purpose: El states concern about what we intend on doing after we have achieved perfection. We have explained that we will address this problem when it occurs. We will be more able to do so because we will be perfect. Source: El

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Purpose: Update 01: Lieutenant Jack West states that he has no desire to be a part of a group “Whose sole purpose is to swarm over all species they encounter, simply to add to the Collective’s numbers like a perpetual motion machine”. Lieutenant Jack West appears to disagree with our purpose, or he does not understand it. Perhaps he does not understand that by assimilating other species the Borg add to their own perfection, it is not only to increase the number of drones but to add the distinctiveness of those species to our mind. It is also possible that he does understand this and does not deem this as the correct means for achieving perfection. Individuals also add the distinctiveness of new beings to their perfection but when an individual dies or leaves their distinctiveness appears to be lost? We do not retain all of their memories and so we do not understand how this method is better but individuals do believe that it is and this disparity in methods may be a reason for their resistance. Source: Lieutenant JG Jack West

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Purpose: Update 02: Individuals have different definitions of perfection, he said they define it ‘very liberally and based on their own shortcomings’. We do not understand exactly how individuals view perfection but we think that they fear losing it. Lt Jack West said that the Borg believing our definition of perfection is the only correct one is presumptuous. Source: Lt Jack West

 

Purpose: Update 03: We were informed that the Himpawai (a species currently deemed unworthy of assimilation) would require something ‘beyond perfection’ in order to join the Collective willingly. We do not understand what this could be but Eiwan stated that perfection was… insufficient for some individuals… Source: Eiwan

 

Purpose: Update 04: Ensign Kaden Rol states that 'everyone should be who they were born to be, not forced to be something else'. We stated that Six of Twelve is what it was supposed to be otherwise it would not be what it is and Ensign Kaden Rol said we 'had a point'. Source: Ensign Kaden Rol

 

Choice: Belonging to a collective is considered slavery if an individual cannot choose when to leave. Once individuals have been assimilated they are a part of us and therefore cannot choose when to leave. Slavery is illegal in the DFA and so individuals must object to it. Source: Thorn

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Choice: Update 01: Individuals want to choose what they do and choose where they belong. They do not wish to be instructed by our collective. Individual choice is irrelevant and yet individuals are small collectives so perhaps their choices are relevant? Individuals appear fear losing the ability to choose should they join the Borg. Source: Brinn

 

Choice: Update 02: If individuals are assimilated into a collective they did not choose, or if they are killed, then the other members of their previous collective will increase their resistance quota and 'fight harder'. Notes for the Borg: Assimilating whole species at once may eliminate this problem. Source: Brinn, Thorn

 

Choice: Update 03: Shevel has told us that he resists assimilation because he values the ability to make his independent choices. Individuals would like to be able to choose if they join the Borg, they do not wish to be forced. Source: Shevel

 

Choice: Update 04: Individuals resist “slavery” and we have found that one of the reasons is the same as why they resist assimilation. They do not wish to lose “freedom” which includes “the ability to choose how and where they live, who they love, who they work for and what they think and say”. We said that the Collective would choose these things but Rory says that sometimes a choice that is correct for a collective is not correct for an individual who belongs to it. We do not understand this but we think it has to do with individuals being “collectives of one”. They must contradict sometimes but they wish to continue to exist this way, even if it means a lack of harmony with the whole because it means they get to keep “freedom” which looks like Beryl and is of great value to individuals. Source: Rory

 

Control: Individuals believe that is unacceptable to control our thoughts because if they do this we will no longer be us. We are not certain what this means but it appears to be important to them. Individuals do not want us to filter their irrelevant thoughts, they wish to think them all. Source: Kamaia

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Control: Update 01: Control over our activation is also considered unacceptable. It would damage Captain Sesgaard to accept this control because he said it would force him to do something that was not 'right'. Source: Captain Sesgaard

 

Efficiency: Lieutenant Jack West believes the Borg are TOO EFFICENT. We do not understand how anything can be too efficient but

apparently, it can be and apparently we are. He says that individuals also engage in leisure activities. These activities bring the positive emotion “joy” in spite of being an inefficient use of time. Six of Twelve has been commanded to engage in leisure activities. We are going to go on a Canoe in the holodeck. We will report our research upon completion of this task. Source: Lieutenant Jack West

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Efficiency: Update 01: Six of Twelve went on a Canoe with Lt Jack West. The experience was not as unproductive as we had expected. It was a chance to communicate our thoughts and it was very informative to Six of Twelve’s primary function. We found that Leisure activities are used to generate the emotion ‘joy’. Individuals consider the generation of this emotion worth the reduction in general efficiency and we found out that they need it to function correctly. Lt Jack West says that individuals can break down without joy. We think it must have regenerative properties for organic components because when we left the holodeck we felt as if we had regenerated… even though our power was still low. Source: Lt Jack West / Six of Twelve

 

Other Hive-Minds: Even though the Founders are a sort of hive mind and they desire harmony as we do, Salvar does not think they would wish to join with the Borg. He said that this would be ‘conquering’ and that the Founders would not desire that. We explained that once we were joined we would adapt to serve ourself but we were informed that the Founders would not “see it that way”. We do not completely understand this but it would seem that even other hive consciousnesses may resist, Lieutenant Jameson said that there would be a battle. Joining together could only make both collectives stronger so why would they resist? This question is even more confusing than the question of why individuals resit and may require further investigation. Source: Salvar, Lieutenant Jameson

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Seperation: Jack West and Lt Nelson Klien both reported the emotions 'sadness' and 'anger' at the loss of their collectives to us. Their families were assimilated but they were left behind. Sentinel Station also expressed 'sadness' at the idea of its users being assimilated. Individuals, like drones, feel lonely when they are separated from their collectives and 'lonely' is unpleasant. It may cause them to resist. We should assimilate collectives in their entirety to avoid leaving anyone behind and inducing resistance caused by emotion from the remaining units. Sources: Jack West, Lt Nelson Klien, Sentinel Station

Distinctiveness: Even though our assimilation process is intended to assimilate the distinctiveness of other species we have been informed that it also causes those species to lose some of their distinctiveness. Lt Jameson says that they lose “a lot of what makes a species unique”. We do not understand this but fear of losing some of their distinctiveness may be one of the concerns individuals have about assimilation. Perhaps they do not understand that we retain all distinctiveness and that it simply adapts to service the Borg? Source: Lt Jameson

Resource management: Individuals usually attempt to repair all units even when doing so is inefficient and sometimes even when the individual is beyond repair. They see this difference as an advantage but we do not know why. Source: DJ Greene

Multiple Queens: Individual societies possess secondary Queens. This means that if their Queen is destroyed they can adapt more efficiently than the Borg. All units are able to process for their collective meaning that any individual could provide commands and direct their collective for a short time while a new Queen was found. Sources: Desson

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Innovation: Detailed in Subfolder 01. The quality ‘innovation’ is a quality the Borg may not have assimilated. It allows individuals to create new solutions that do not relate directly to assimilated information. This quality can allow for new technology to be created and original adaptive measures to be placed. Sources: Captain Sesgaard

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Innovation: Update 01: Innovation may, at times, be more efficent than iteration and assimilation. Particularly where considerable adaptation is concerned. It is generally less efficient than assimilation because it requires a lot of experimentation but sometimes when there is no material to be assimilated, or none available when needed, it may be a useful quality. It has potential links to the emotion 'curiosity'. Sources: Outanyocon

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Empathy: Empathy is an ability possessed by some species. While it has disadvantages (listed below) it can also be useful. It can be used to detect threats before they approach and treat emotions. Vinculi filter this ability in assimilated drones which would have possessed it, dealing with the disadvantage and preventing malfunction but at the same time denying us the useful parts of the ability.

Loneliness: Since we were severed from the Collective it has been quiet in our mind, there is only the voice the Borg left for us, there are no others. We miss the other voices. Why do individuals wish to be alone in their minds?

 

Curiosity Reduces Efficiency: When we are not connected to the Collective we are less efficient because we possess the distracting emotion designated ‘curiosity’. It cannot be deactivated although Kit says that it may decrease over time if we ignore the command it produces to ask ‘why’. The efficiency decrease varies, depending on the time it takes for an explanation to be provided that satisfies it. Source: Rory, Kit, Six of Twelve

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Physical Needs: Individuals require food and sleep in order to function and their immune systems are not as advanced as our nanoprobes. Source: Six of Twelve

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Other Complicated Needs: We have been informed that individuals require complicated rights and privacy in order to function. We do not require these things in order to function. Why do individuals wish to keep these limitations on their functionality? Source: Rory, Captain Sesgaard

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Deactivation and Adaptation: Upon deactivation the consciousness of an individual is lost. Since Individuals do not have neural transceivers they can only be able to remember the data the deactivated individual has chosen to share during its lifetime. They cannot remember all of its data and so unless they have another way of downloading this information then their ability to adapt from deactivation may be more limited than the Borg.

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Adaptation: Update 01: Adaptation is less efficient because individuals cannot update information immediately, they need to 'learn' the information through 'reading, listening and doing'. Source: Kamaia

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Adaptation: Update 02: Some adaptive traits cannot be easily transferred throughout a collective. We are unable to transfer confidence to Ensign Monroe in order to help him to adapt. Even though this quality is stored in this unit it cannot be easily transferred throughout our collective. Source: Kamaia, Brinn, Ensign Monroe

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Communication: In order to inform our collective of the actions of this drone we must communicate with them verbally. This meant on one occasion that we neglected to inform Captain Sesgaard of our departure and on another occasion we had to find Major to transmit the message, this slowed our efficiency considerably. Communication is considerably more difficult and less efficient without neural transmitters because all information must be transferred verbally. Source: Six of Twelve

 

Communication: Update 01: Kamaia understands that Borg communication within the Collective is perfect but still she does not want to be assimilated. Kamaia appears to desire a perfect form of communication and she would like access to the languages we have assimilated, both of these things will be assured upon assimilation. We assume that Kamaia's reasons for resistance must outweigh the advantages that she understands. Source: Kamaia

 

Communication: Update 02: Receiving commands from our collective is inefficient because all commands must be delivered verbally although we have created a whistle that allows for easier control over this drone in tactical situations, it is still nowhere near as efficient as before. Function files also aid in this problem because they allow for single commands which mean many things.

 

Communication: Update 03: We lack harmony. We have come to realize that our voice does not always agree with the others. This means that our collective must lack harmony, if part of us feels one way and the rest of us feels another way? Collectives of individuals have… mixed feelings? Source: Six of Twelve

 

Communication: Update 04: When we showed Rory what it was to be Borg she noted that individuality did not fit within the Collective. It would get in the way and cause problems with harmony because individuals contradict. They all go in different directions instead of flowing together. Source: Rory / Six of Twelve

 

Communication: Update 05: Ineffective individual communication caused a malfunctioning unit to go unreported to the rest of us, as a result of this the subunit was assimilated by another collective. He now requires retrieving and has thus reduced our efficiency. The main cause of this problem is that our submatrix was commanded not to speak, some of us noticed the malfunctioning unit leave but because of this command we could not share the information because verbal communication is the only communication method available to most individuals. Source: Experience; Toby, Toraith

 

Communication: Update 06: Knowledge of the efficiency of Borg communication methods does decrease the probability of individuals resisting us but does not eliminate it entirely. Source: Ensign Xozalt

Immature units: Individuals do not place children and infants into maturation meaning these subunits must attempt to function within our collective before maturing. This appears to cause some compliance issues, possibly due to an inability to understand the command issued, the subunits also have a significantly reduced resistance quotient and thus require additional protection for continued activation in hostile environments. Source: Experience

 

Empathy: Empathy is an ability possessed by some species. Without a Vinculum to regulate it, it can cause malfunctions to spread between units.