Assimilation (Star Trek)
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Image:Picardassimilation.jpgIn the Star Trek fictional universe, assimilation is the process by which the Borg, a race of cyborgs, integrate beings and cultures into their collective. This philosophy is reflected in one of their maxims, which they typically utter before incorporating a culture: "You will be assimilated."
When they debuted in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Borg were a mysterious group of marauders that snatched entire starships or took over entire planets and societies in order to collect and assimilate their technology ("Q Who?"). In their second appearance, "The Best of Both Worlds", they also began to rather crudely and frighteningly assimilate individuals – namely, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise – into their collective by surgically altering them. Using his knowledge of Federation technology and strategy, a single Borg cube destroyed a flotilla of 39 Starfleet vessels in the Wolf 359 system that were assembled to halt the Borg advance towards Earth. Thereafter, incorporation of different lifeforms into their collective was heightened and their interest in obtaining alien technology became less prominent.
Image:Assimilationtubule.jpgMoreover, the method of assimilating individual lifeforms into the collective has changed over time. Throughout, infant and fetal humanoids have been grown in an accelerated state and surgically receive or develop implants tied directly into the brain, as well as ocular devices, tool-enhanced limbs, armour, and other prosthetics.
Nanoprobes
Later, in the movie Star Trek: First Contact, the method of assimilation was enhanced with the more efficient injection of nanoprobes into individuals. Borg nanoprobes are injected into the bloodstream of a victim by a number of tubules (usually two) that spring forth from the top of the hand or some other extremity of a Borg drone. The nanoprobes, each about the size of a human red blood cell (RBC) and employing nanotechnology, travel through the victim's bloodstream to various tissues and locations throughout the body and latch onto individual cells. The nanoprobes rewrite the cellular DNA, altering the victim's biochemistry, and eventually form larger, higher structures and networks within the body such as electrical pathways, processing and data storage nodes, and ultimately prosthetic devices that spring forth from the skin.
Image:BorgnanoprobesRBCs.jpg Once within an organic host, nanoprobes utilize metallic molecules from humanoid blood cells (e.g., iron from humans, or copper from Vulcans) to replicate and create higher structures. To that end, Borg nanoprobes are capable of adjusting the atomic structure of metals and molecules, creating ones more appropriate for Borg prostheses and nutrients essential for humanoid survival. Breaking down RBCs would cause asphyxia in the victim, also aiding in their submission to forces prior to full assimilation. This also alters blood vessels throughout the body, creating visibly dark tracks that snake across the surface of the skin as the cyberinfection spreads. Based on the size of a single nanoprobe and the volume that could be delivered in the short time of a drone attack, a single injection can carry at least five million nanoprobes.
In the ST:VOY episode "Drone", the Doctor's mobile emitter (obtained from the future in the episode "Future's End, Part 2") combines with Seven of Nine's technology to form a 29th century version of a Borg drone. Its capabilities included an internal transporter, improved speech capabilities, multidimensional adaptability, and greatly improved personal shields. Fortunately for Voyager, this drone's enhanced capabilities were not assimilated by the Borg Collective: the drone, in fact, sacrificed itself to save Voyager's crew.