Star Traks: BorgSpace

This is the place to discuss the various Star Traks series and stories.
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Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

This is the forum for all things BorgSpace...well, it will be, once I return to the BorgSpace groove. Until then, keep posted!

And if you need your BorgSpace fix, get all your rerun action here: Star Traks: BorgSpace
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

And now for something (not quite) completely different -

As I work on the storylines for the Lugger-class Cube #238 mini-series, I will be providing you with an occasional glimpse upon the main characters which will inhabit the cube. This exercise is necessary for me in order to bring to life the new characters, separating them from those whom live in the Cube #347-i-verse and provide them with their own personalities, quirks, nueroses, and so forth. First, introducing:

Engineer (7 of 30)
Species: #2133 [Bowsti]
Original name: Ahrood Garitium Floia gyDar
Gender: Male
History:
Prior to assimilation, Ahrood was the owner of a small and rather dodgy traveling circus and sideshow. In addition to ringmaster, he was barker, ticket taker, laborer, accountant, and whatever else needed to be done. When the circus ended up in the middle of somewhere that it should not have been, Ahrood (along with the rest of the circus) was assimilated.

Post-assimilation, when found to have assimilation imperfection, 7 of 30 was assigned to Cube #238 under engineering hierarchy. Even though he did not have an engineering background, the requirement to hold a spanner and follow dataspace instructions was not onerous; and nor was it difficult to move cargo around, which is how Lugger-class engineering drones were most often employed. Instead, 7 of 30's strength came from a strong background in organization, combined with the Bowsti species' unique brain structure allowing memories to be broken into components for distribution of individual memes chunk into separate nueral clusters. Those aptitudes marked him as excellent prime node material for the Cube #238 engineering hierarchy. After all, a prime node was less about the technicalities of engineering and more about wrangling 2000 semi-individualistic drones. The ability to adequate stack and move cargo was a bonus.

After the rigours and soap-opera dramas of circus master and owner, 7 of 30 finds being Engineer, when so tasked, be quite easy. And he has come to understand engineering - and, more particularly, the Art of the Spanner - to have other rewards as well.
Last edited by Meneks on Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Queen of BorgSpace
Posts: 89
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

Welcome to another entry of the forthcoming Lugger-class Cube #238 mini-series. Today, I focus upon:

Reserve (5 of 5)
Species: #7831 [Lapolin]
Original name: Unknown. Gray designation was 58 of 103.
Gender: Male
Assimilation date: Original is unknown. "Repurposed" as a Hive drone in 2909.
Hierarchy: Command and Control, Hierarchy of Five
History:
The personal history of 5 of 5 is largely unknown. Prior to his assimilation into the Collective, he was a Gray drone with the designation 58 of 103. In 2908, the then Hive attacked the "extortionist capitalist" Color known as Gray, a schismed off-shoot of Green. While the Collective of the Hive era was not quite the near force-of-nature as when it had been (and would later again be) known as Borg, neither was it peace and light. Grey not only represented a challenge to the Correct View of Perfection, but it was in the way of the Hive's personal plans of expansion...as well as embodied a significant influx of new drones unable be acquired in the old assimilative manner of the Borg.

Not all Colors are capable of being "repurposed" into the ranks of the Collective. Those of a highly communal spectrum of mindset - i.e., Red or Purple - tend to fare poorly, drones largely unable to be reprogrammed for Collective use. On the other hand, the Colors which allow their drones a more individualistic freedom are capable of absorption into the Whole. Such was rated Gray.

The assault upon Gray nearly exterminated the Color; and it did not resurface again for a number of years, at which time it had secretly taken over the Taurini mob. The vast majority of Gray drones found their allegiance forcibly altered to accept the Hive Collective, which itself converted back to the Borg paradigm less than five years later. Among the captured resources was one 58 of 103, whom had been ranked among the secondary nodes in the upper echelon command and control architecture, one step below the escaped Grey Queen. When tests determined the newly acquired Gray drone manifested symptoms of assimilation imperfection, yet also appeared to have completely accepted his new loyalty, he was shuffled off to Lugger-class Cube #238 and provided a new designation.

Through it all, the now-5 of 5 professed that his pre-Gray memories were largely destroyed, including those relating original name and origination, as well as his reasons for volunteering to join Gray in the first place; and that the mental trauma related to his forcible conversion had similarly erased many Gray memes. Careful scanning and probing by the Collective has found no reason to disagree.
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

In this installment of the Lugger-class Cube #248 roster, the focus is upon:

Weapons (80 of 150)
Species: #5616 [Human]
Original name: Jason "Jase" McKinley
Gender: Male
Assimilation Date: 2913
Hierarchy: Weapons
History:
Jason enlisted in the Second Federation military (marines) shortly after finishing high school after it became apparent that higher education was not for him. It was not that he was unintelligent - far from it - but rather because he required a structured environment to channel his more aggressive tendencies before he found himself in a penal colony. After many years of hard work and dedication (and an ability to keep himself alive during military engagements), Jason moved up through the enlisted ranks until making First Sergeant, a leadership position over 450 personnel.

In 2913, the Hive era ended, the Collective mentality reverting to Borg. The Second Federation became extremely busy reassessing and securing its borders, as well as countering those individuals and species willing to take advantage of the confusion. It was while a brigade of marines were being moved on a flotilla of 10 ships to a border conflict that the Borg struck. The flotilla represented 20,000 individuals who would make excellent combat drones, not to mention a chance to inspect the latest advances in Second Federation military hardware recently deployed to the field. As the attack was relatively distant from known Collective activities, it came as a complete surprise. All ships were captured, including the one Jason and his batallion were billeted upon. However, the Borg did not count upon Jason's resistance.

Jason managed, in a very short time, to secure his part of the ship against transporters, reinforce forcefields, and, in general, turn it into a fortress. Because the Collective can focus entirely too tunnel-visioned upon a goal - in this case acquring all soldiers of the brigade - the ship (and its resistance) was not summarily destroyed. Many drones were lost in futile assaults upon the fortified area. During a lull in the battle while the Collective mulled its options, Jason attempted a counter-attack to take back control of the vessel...one which nearly succeeded. The retreat left behind several soldiers to assimilation; and through this manner the Borg learned of the tactical genius of First Sergeant McKinley whom was directing the resistance. The Borg Collective shifted its objective, this time to capture Jason at all costs.

Finally, and enivitably, Jason's barriers were broken. During the final last stand, Jason was hit several times by weapons fire; and when it because clear that capture, not death, was the purpose of the assaulting Borg, Jason attempted to take his own life by cutting his throat with a vibro-knife. Slicing through both major artieries and windpipe, he nearly succeeded in denying the Borg; and only loss of consciousness due to major blood loss prevented self-decapitation.

Normally the Borg would make no attempt to salvage such a broken body. However, as Jason represented the primary goal of the assault, termination could not be allowed. Quick action resulted in brain being sustained while body was fixed - among the many requirements of the body rebuild was a vocal synthesizer to restore speech; and with body more or less intact, the assimilation process was finalized. In the end, Jason was converted to Borg, whereupon he was found indeed to be a tactical and military genius...and also to display assimilation imperfection.

In a different age, he might have given the Cube #347 Weapons a run for his money. In an era where there is only Lugger-class Cube #238, he is left to his own devices among a paltry command of 150 drones when it is his time to be Weapons.
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Queen of BorgSpace
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

Moving on to the next member of the primary crew roster is (while noticing how each history becomes increasingly elaborate)...

Sensors (18 of 65)
Species: #12705 [Enganome]
Original name: Geologist 76c ("Geo-76c")
Gender: Female
Assimilation date: 2905
Hierarchy: Sensory
History:
Geologist 76c ("Geo-76c" for short) originated from a civilization dominated by large corporations and commercial conglomerates. In a society where city-state government was weak, the rampant capitalization demanded by Companies dictated everything to have a price, leading to a culture where the majority of decisions, both personal and corporate level, was one of cost-benefit analysis. Only a very few individuals were raised in a family environment. The preponderance of citizens knew only the Company creche where everything, from name to career, was provided...at the expense of complete loyalty to said Company. Thus was it for Geologist 76c.

Geologist 76c, newly matriculated from her Company creche and yet to be paired with potential gene-mates, was assigned to a team tasked to assess non-lifebearing systems for mineral exploitation. Although the Enganome civilization as a whole was new to the concept of faster-than-light travel, the more aggressive Companies with interests beyond the boundaries of the home system were swift to purchase transwarp drives from willing alien traders and incorporate the technology into business plans. With only six individuals, all upon Geologist 76c's team was required to work with utmost efficiency; and such was cheerfully undertaken...until an accident severely damaged the vessel. It swiftly became apparent transwarp was nonfunctional and repairing life support beyond the ability of any team member. However, FTL communication still worked, and a call for help was sent to the Company.

The Company of Geologist 76c was faced with four potential choices: (1) divert another exploration vessel to pick up the stranded crew; (2) hire/contract another Company with transwarp capability; (3) hire/contract an alien company/individual/government; or (4) do nothing, set salvage a beacon, and collect the ship (and its expensive transwarp drives) when equipment was available in-house. Following an extensive cost-benefit analysis, option #4 was selected. Models showed salvage-at-leisure and training of a new crew to be cheaper than diversion of resources to save an easily replaceable biological commodity.

Decision relayed and salvage beacon automatically deployed, additional communication attempts from the stranded crew went straight to voice mail.

Attracted by the beacon, a Hive Exploratory-class cube found the abandoned vessel and her crew. While the Hive-era Collective did not forcible assimilate individuals, except in very specific circumstances, it was quite willing to accept "volunteers" whom had no other recourse. An offer of "rescue" was provided to the crew. Still reeling over the decision of their Company, the entity whom had literally raised them, the proposal was rejected and effort undertaken to solicit other corporations for retrieval. None were interested, else the expense was too great. In the end, facing a failing life support, the Hive offer was accepted by all, including Geologist 76c.
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Queen of BorgSpace
Posts: 89
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

The unveiling of the Cube #238 primary crew roster progresses -

Assimilation (18 of 18)
Species: #9008 [Tagarian]
Original name: Fia
Gender: Species has three genders - currently female
Assimilation date: 2891
Hierarchy: Assimilation, Group of 18
History:
A hard-core gamer, Fia was always searching for the perfect mod. The upgrade could be hardware, software, or wetware...such did not matter, nor the legality of the purchase, as long as performance on the virtual battlefield was enhanced. Of the greatest, and most dangerous, interest was the always sought after Borgware, the collective nickname for the nanites, implants, and assemblies of dubious origin bought on the gray- and black-market from traders of uncertain background. Borgware never came with a warranty; and while most gamers, Fia included, supposed it ultimately originated from a variety of Colored sources, dealers never encouraged customers to ask questions. After hearing about the latest in Borgware upgrades, Fia tracked down a source, bought the components, and had them "installed".

The euphemism for what Fia subsequently underwent was known among the game-modder community as "aggressive complications." The personnel at the de-assimilation facility the Tagarian ultimately ended up at more graphically explained it as Borgware co-opting previously installed hardware and wetware components, as well as the host, nee Fia. Unfortunately, progression towards full Borgification had occurred so quickly that by the time the de-assimilation facility attempted to halt (or even slow) the process, such was not possible; and additional "complications" meant any removal of Borg components was not possible.

By this point, Fia was no longer part of the decision-making process of her care; and, in fact, had been locked in a room where she could not endanger the facility staff. Attempts were made by de-assimilation personnel to find Fia a new "home". Unfortunately, the larger Colors, with their willing volunteers and creche-raised clones, were uninterested. Among the smaller Colors, potential interest in Fia quickly flagged once detailed scans were made: it seemed the origin of the black-market Borgware was Hive. If a small Color was found holding a drone with a Hive signature, such a provocation could very well initiate assault by the Hive to reacquire their supposed "wayward" (or stolen) drone. It did not matter if said drone had come about through accidental self-assimilation, for by the time excuses were made, said Color could be too crippled to continue in its existence.

In the end, it was the Hive whom accepted care of Fia. After the many surgeries and intense mental re-alignment required to stabilize body and mind, the personality formerly known as Fia was awoken. And immediately fixated upon what upgrades were necessary to allow her access back into the gamer networks, not to mention projected great concern over the decline of online rankings likely ensued during her forced downtime. Not knowing what else to do - Fia was quite serviceable, excepting her obsession - she was shuffled off to Cube #238.
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Queen of BorgSpace
Posts: 89
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

Starting to run out of primary crew! The latest installment will be:

Prime (2 of 5)
Species: #6251 [Flarn]
Original name: Janzki
Gender: Female
Assimilation date: 2893
Hierarchy: Command and Control, Hierarchy of Five
History:
Following Borg assimilation of the budding Flarn empire, the few remaining Flarn enclaves were forced to ask for asylum from Federation, Klingon Empire, and other local regimes. It was at this point the idea for a grand Flarn slice of the galaxy died. The enclaves were, and continue to be, largely insular and self-sufficient, although a few individuals do leave for various reasons (academic, civilian and military service), most of whom send home letters and money. Such a state of affairs has persisted through the First Federation, the Dark War and intervening post-Dark years, and finally into the Second Federation era.

Janzki left home as a young adult to join a Second Federation-based merchant marine academy, graduating as an engineer. Working her way up the civilian ladder, she eventually gained her Chief Engineer rating. As Chief Engineer upon a series of academic science vessels chartered by various universities, it seemed Janzki had reached an intellectually satisfactory, comfortable, and profitable point in her career.

Unknown to Janzki, the final civilian ship she was fated to sail upon had been secretly contracted by Second Federation Black Ops to spy upon a Hive project. Only a select number of crew or "scientist" passengers knew of the contract; and Janzki was not among that number. The fact that she was overseeing maintenance on unknown equipment was not worrisome, nor even particularly suspicious: many incomprehensible instruments, their true function known only to the scientist-in-charge, had been placed in her care over the years. It was Janzki's job to keep them powered up and functional, not to understand them.

The Hive was not fooled by the purported university science vessel loitering near one of its claimed systems. Suspicious, the ship was captured and crew preemptively assimilated to determine what may or may not have been seen. The Black Ops mission uncovered, as well as the fact that most of the individuals on board were completely innocent, a message was sent to the appropriate Second Federation department with an offer of crew reparation...suitably scrubbed of nanites and all spontaneously erupted implants.

Black Ops was now faced with a predicament. If the mostly-innocent crew was returned to the Second Federation, not only would all individuals be required to undergo extensive re-processing to ensure that no "presents" had been left by the Hive, but radical memory alteration would be required to guarantee none remembered the incident. Unfortunately, certain species, such as the Flarn Janzki, were not amiable to such mental surgeries; and as such, it could never be assured that the incident would not be recalled at a later date and the faux pas subsequently resurface as the lead story for a gossip triV show. It had happened before. Conversely, to accept only part of the crew would then require lengthy (and tedious) adjustment of records, relatives, friends, and so forth to erase from existence those whom were not returned. However, the overriding factor above all in the dilemma was that if the Hive offer was accepted, Black Ops would be forced to admit, even if it was only to Hive, that it had been caught in the act of espionage. How /embarrassing/.

Needless to say, the easy way out was taken. Disavowing itself of all knowledge, and involvement in, the wayward university vessel, the crew was abandoned to the Hive. And Second Federation records altered to reflect the unfortunate loss of the ship, with all on board, to yet another pesky spatial anomaly.

Thus was Janzki condemned to the Hive (and, later, the Borg).
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

And last, but not least, I introduce to you -

Doctor (3 of 13)
Species: #7582 [Dromela]
Original name: Il'guku (Clan R'wasari)
Gender: Male
Assimilation date:
Hierarchy: Drone Maintenance, Group of 13
History:
Il'guku was spawned to Family Guku of Clan R'wasari, a line intimately associated with the arts of cooking, butchery, doctoring, and veterinarian work. Family Guku itself was a genetically well-disposed and sought-after line specialized in medicine (upper caste, animals, and, occasionally, lower caste). Il'guku demonstrated himself to be proficient in the arts for which he was bred. Unfortunately, he also showed an unhealthy interest in 'experimentation'; and a disregard for anesthesia. Such could, of course, not be condoned in those individuals who desired to practice upon the upper caste; and the veterinarian trade, as it dealt with non-sentient creatures, was of little attraction. While some sadistic pleasure could be overlooked in those who ministered to the lower castes, Il'guku's passion to experiment was too much even for the Dromelan medical practitioner board. On the other hand, one could not deny that Il'guku was /brilliant/ in his work.

Therefore, it was strongly suggested that Il'guku go off-planet to follow his desires. Aliens, after all, were not Dromela.

After additional off-world schooling and several years of personal adventure, Il'guku found himself specializing in a certain branch of grey medicine. While not strictly illegal, the legitimacy (or, at least, the morality) was quite suspect. However, there were always those sufficiently desperate /and/ wealthy to pay for unwise experimental procedures; and were also willing to accept a discount when Il'guku suggested better results if light/no pain-blockers were used. While usually gaining the result desired, few customers returned. The irony was that in many cases Il'guku would perform the surgeries gratis, except that no client would trust a doctor giving away free samples.

It was while employed as a doctor on a mercenary ship that assimilation occurred. Il'guku had traded his services for transport to an unregistered spaceport after some of his more radical experimental procedures had attracted the attention of the local police. Partway to the destination, the mercenaries accepted a contract to drive away pirates terrorizing a nearby colony. Only later did a drone who had previously been known as "Il'guku" learn that the 'pirates' had actually been refugees running from Hive pursuit. However, such was not to say the refugees were nice or deserved any form of pity.

The refugees in question had earned the ire of the Hive by colonizing a planet already claimed by the Collective. True, the Hive had not actually exploited their planet at the time of the colony attempt and, in fact, had been the equivalent of absentee landowners, except for a beacon, for over two decades, but neither did the Collective subscribe to the adage of possession 9/10th the law. Right of might, maybe... After ignoring polite requests to leave, aggressive eviction was undertaken, which in turn escalated to assimilation when it became apparent the transgressors were willing to enact major resistance. There were few things in the Hive-era which would result in coercive assimilation of unwilling individuals by the Collective, but trespass and resistance which left drones dead was one of them.

Other races and civilizations of the galaxy regarded the action by such foolhardy beings as tantamount to suicide. Besides, in this case, the race in question had a track record of squatting, as well as sported a malicious brutality towards to those not their species. Therefore, in the greater scheme of things, there were no voices protesting the Hive's actions.

Unfortunately, the mercenary vessel entered the colony system just as the Hive had tracked down and begun to attack the escapee, and still resistant, trespassers. Considering the ensuring chaos, it was perhaps unsurprising that the ship, her crew, and one bewildered Dromela, were marked for assimilation. Accidents do happen.... And Il'guku found himself the center of a completely new medical procedure; and like the Borg before them (and to come again), Hive found the concept of anesthetic irrelevant.
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

Greetings! The new crew of Lugger-class Cube #238 has been introduced. The next question is now sure to be: "But when is the short-run series to be written? When can I read it?" And the answer is...eventually. No promises to be made; and none to be broken! ;)
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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Queen of BorgSpace
Posts: 89
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:04 am
Location: Lost in BorgSpace

Re: Star Traks: BorgSpace

Post by Meneks »

Welcome to the Machine

Welcome back to the universe of BorgSpace. During the last year I have been trying to accomplish other things BorgSpace. However, since completing Season 9 back in April 2009, I've known that there are stories still within the BorgSpace venue waiting to be told. The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that while Cube #347 was done (for now), there was another sub-collective waiting in the wings - Lugger-class Cube #238.

The fact that there was another imperfect sub-collective in the BorgSpace of the Second Federation era was first mentioned in Season 5 with "Exchange". After all, before Cube #347 was resurrected, there had to have been another repository of those pesky imperfect drones. The concept of Cube #238 was more fully fleshed out in Season 9 with "Encounter at Ambush Alley" whereupon a few of the key members were introduced. It was from that point onward that I started to wonder at the dynamics and personalities who inhabited Cube #238; and I knew that whomever they were, they would certainly be different from the Cube #347. So, even as the grand arcs of Director and Auditor and Borg and Peach and Luplup and So Forth were completed, new ideas were arising within my head.

[And, yes, for those who are wondering - or even not - Cube #238's designation was made by transposing the numbers of Cube #347. Which does wonders when one is typing...and one needs to go back to change all those #337's and #248's.]

Come November (2009), the voices in my head had gone from whispering to impatiently demanding I begin to write. To appease the voices, I assembled my crew, including rather detailed histories in most cases. The structure of the miniseries was worked out - you will find that I will be altering "arc story" with "character story". By the end of the run, I will have written fifteen stories. All my stories have at least an outline of a plot; and I have a definite beginning middle and end that I must traverse.

And if you look hard enough, you may even find hints of the Cube #347's future. Or maybe not. I've already resurrected the sub-collective /once/ from death, after all.

At any rate, time to move on to discussion of "Welcome to the Machine".

"Welcome to the Machine" is the opening story to the miniseries. I wanted to introduce the primary characters, as well as provide the plot, such as it is, for the next fifteen stories. If you haven't already figured it out, a Lugger-class cube is the super-cargo ship of the Borg, i.e., it hauls things. Ergo, the purpose of Cube #238, and it's sub-collective, is to move items from Point A to Point B, with stops at B, C, and D in-between. Already I've put Cube #238 behind schedule; and, obviously, the sub-collective will spend the rest of the miniseries trying to catch up. Not that I'll let them. Of course, this run is less about the basic plot of getting to Point B, then about what happens at those interesting in-between places of B through D, and beyond.

My first task in "Welcome to the Machine" was to bring forth my key characters and, most importantly, show how they /are not/ the crew of Cube #347. This was very important to me because the crew of Cube #238 need to be able to stand on their own. They have their own personalities, their own histories, their own outlooks, their own neuroses.

I think I made a good start in demonstrating that Prime is not Captain in a way that goes deeper than subdesignations or species or gender. Prime is much more of an impatient consensus monitor than Captain; and she does not have the same potential. In my mind, Captain is the more able of the two, much /stronger/. What Captain had to do in the final stories of BorgSpace Season 9, I know Prime could not have accomplished. On the other hand, Prime has her own strengths. What is already emerging in "Machine" is that Prime tends to take the most straightforward approach, likely because she is used, since leaving her Flarn enclave, to everything bouncing (literally and figuratively) off her. This attitude has held through her assimilation, which is shown via the backdrop of her jogging track and the fact that she does not drive the cube.

To further differentiate Prime from Captain, I have shown that the former is much more comfortable in the dataspaces than the latter ever was. Unfortunately, this provided me with a dilemma: how to allow the reader to visualize intranet, dataspaces, and those other zero-dimension information spaces in which Captain's monitor was ever so useful. As I could not use that particular gimmick again, I decided to introduce Prime as a holotheater enthusiast prior to her assimilation. As I've already long established that the experience of each drone to the dataspaces is individualized, the use of a virtual holotheater, I felt, was a good way to bring in a degree of visualization which was different from the Cube #347 stories.

Among the surprises was the way Doctor wrote himself. I truly did not know that Doctor was going to have such a raging ego when I started. While Borg are not supposed to have egos, not even those imperfectly assimilated, I gave in for the sake of a good narrative. I truly believe that Doctor is going to be one of my favorite of the primary characters.

The plot of "Machine" did not really allow me time to do more than introduce the other characters. Engineer was so-so...but he really takes off in the next story. Reserve I purposefully left in the background, a personality trait which will make more sense later. Sensors I'm still developing; and without a good tactical situation, it made no sense to use Weapons (who is /definitely/ not the foaming-at-the-brain-rabid Weapons of Cube #347)

As I look back from the perspective of "Sins of the Fathers" (story #4) and the development that has occurred since "Machine", I can see how much work there is to do. Don't worry! You will get the chance to see the characters grow. I am quite sure that by the time Story #15 is completed that I will want to go back and rewrite. I will resist the temptation, however.

There are other things which occurred in the course of "Machine", too numerous to mention. A few which deserve special honors is that the story allowed me to world-build the Dromela species. I now have fairly detailed notes concerning culture, history, evolution, reproductive biology, anatomy, caste system, and so forth and so on. Additionally, I was able to put much greater thought into concept of the Lugger-class cube. While greater detail will be provided in future stories, I will leave you with one "small" factoid - did you know that if one converts all the Bulk Cargo Holds to "stack" configuration that there is well over /25,000 square kilometers/ of megawarehouse area to fill? Yes, that is /25,000/ that I invoked. And a Lugger-class will /still/ have more room to fill in its 8 Interior Cargo Holds....
Currently working on -
Star Traks: BorgSpace - Book 3, Part 1 - "Invocation of the Birds - Ruffled Vulture, Dusty Pheonix"

--Time is merely an illusion perpetrated by the manufacturers of space
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