Drone ( episode ) A transporter accident involving The Doctor ' s mobile emitter and Seven ' s nanoprobes results in the creation of a 29th century Borg . Summary . Teaser . Seven of Nine is practicing smiling in a mirror , when The Doctor enters the cargo bay . Seven objects , as he walked in without announcing himself . The Doctor , who apologizes , comes to her because they are about to start a mission together with B ' Elanna Torres and Tom Paris to survey a proto - nebula , which will come into existence within a short period of time . While walking to the shuttlebay they talk about the upcoming mission . While en route to the nebula , they run into spatial turbulence and talk about the discomfort of Class 2 shuttle s . Seven asks Paris why he does not design a new and larger shuttle if he is so discontent with these Class 2 types . When the proto - nebula appears , the shuttle is caught in the gravimetric shear of a plasma surge a few seconds later , which causes the shuttle to lose its propulsion . When receives their distress call , Captain Janeway orders transporter room 1 to beam the shuttle crew out via an emergency beam - out . Because the shuttle is still caught by the proto - nebula , Ensign Mulchaey has trouble establishing a good pattern lock , but is able to beam them out . Despite a small problem separating their patterns , he is able to re - materialize them safely . When they step off of the transporter platform , The Doctor ' s holomatrix begins to flicker ; it seems his mobile emitter was damaged somehow . After Torres transfers his program to sickbay , she tells him that some emitter circuits were fused during transport . To see if she can repair the damage , she needs to perform a diagnostic on the mobile emitter . She and Mulchaey go to the science lab , where they started diagnostic routine alpha - three - six . Torres tells Mulchaey to check the results the next morning . After they leave the science lab , the mobile emitter releases assimilation tubule s , attach to the LCARS computer console where it is lying , and begins assimilation . Act One . The Doctor calls Lieutenant Torres at six o ' clock the next morning . He wants to know when his mobile emitter will be repaired . When she walks into the sonic shower , he even appears on its display and an agitated Torres throws her towel over it and ignores The Doctor completely . At about the same time , Seven ' s regeneration cycle is aborted prematurely because she detects a Borg presence . She goes to the bridge and informs them of her concerns . Ensign Harry Kim tells Seven that sensor sweeps were performed the entire night and no Borg presence was detected . When she suggests that a Borg vessel might hide within the proto - nebula , Kim tells her that even a Borg cube would not survive the nebula . Chakotay tells Seven to let The Doctor check her proximity transceiver to make sure it is not malfunctioning . While The Doctor is performing his check , she tells him her proximity transceiver was activated again . This has to do with Ensign Mulchaey who , upon starting his duty shift by checking the diagnostics results of The Doctor ' s mobile emitter , is probed by extraction tubule s for DNA . On the bridge , Harry Kim notices that power from the warp conduits is being re - routed to the science lab on deck eight and detects a force field – with a Borg signature . Chakotay immediately orders red alert and tells Seven that she is right : Borg have been detected on " Voyager " and Lieutenant Commander Tuvok is on his way to the science lab with a security team . When Seven and Tuvok ' s security team enter the science lab , they find Ensign Mulchaey unconscious but alive , and notice a Borg - like maturation chamber protected by a force field that Seven surmises will allow her passage . Seven investigates and finds it contains a drone in its fetal state – unusual , because the Borg do not procreate , they assimilate . Act Two . When Captain Janeway is briefed by Seven , she is told that the drone is the result of a transporter accident that occurred when they were beamed from the shuttle . Her nanoprobe s interacted with The Doctor ' s mobile emitter when their patterns were temporarily merged . Nanoprobes within the emitter assimilated the diagnostics console and used Mulchaey ' s DNA as a template to create the lifeform . Captain Janeway orders a level ten force field and twenty - four hour security around the science lab , yet will not terminate the drone fetus unless forced to do so . Seven and The Doctor , together with Tuvok and Torres , are scanning the drone from astrometrics . They find that since Mulchaey is Human , the drone is also Human , but twenty seven percent of the body is made of Borg implants . Its body armor is made of the mobile emitter ' s polydutonic alloy , while the emitter itself is part of the drone ' s central nervous system and cannot be removed without killing it . Because of the emitter ' s origin , it is , in essence , a 29th century Borg drone . As a precaution , Seven dampens the proximity transceiver to prevent the drone from contacting the Borg Collective . When Seven briefs Captain Janeway about the drone ' s capabilities ( internal transporter nodes , among other things ) , Seven is asked to act as its teacher , to teach the drone how to act as an individual . Captain Janeway sees this as the only possibility to prevent the drone from joining the Borg collective . Killing the drone is her last option . When the drone awakens from its alcove , it asks Seven of Nine its designation . Although Seven tells him it is irrelevant , it keeps asking for it . Seven is forced to initiate a direct neural interface , because the drone does not seem to understand her verbal instructions . When she tries to disengage the neural link , however , the drone tries to assimilate the entirety of her knowledge and ignores or refuses her command to terminate the link . Only when Seven tells him he was hurting her does the drone disengage the neural link . Act Three . For everyone ' s safety , Seven decides to use Borg data node s to teach the drone about its environment . When Neelix brings the first data node , Seven shows the drone how to assimilate the collected data via his assimilation tubules . Upon completion of assimilation of its data , he identifies Neelix and Seven and is aware of the existence of " Voyager " , which is traveling through interstellar space . Seven explains to him that " Voyager " is not a Borg collective , but that everyone on board is a unique individual . When the drone requests more information , Seven tells him that he first must see The Doctor for a medical evaluation . Neelix escorts the drone to sickbay , during which the drone notices a slight fear of him among the crewmembers and asks Neelix about the Borg . Neelix evades his question and tells him instead that he should get a name , because every individual has a name . While being scanned by The Doctor , the drone asks how he came into existence . The Doctor tells him about the transporter accident . Although his existence is an accident , he is told that he is not unwelcome and after some time , he will make a fine addition to the crew . It is , after all , " Voyager " s primary mission to explore new forms of life . After his medical check , Seven familiarizes the drone with " Voyager " . When they visit engineering , the drone helps Torres by predicting the rate of expansion of the proto - nebula . When they visit Captain Janeway , he tells her his designation is One , that he assimilated forty - seven billion teraquad s of information , and asks her if he is sufficient . When Janeway tells him he is , One asks to be excused , as Torres had asked him to help improve the efficiency of the Bussard collector s . Seven tells Captain Janeway that One had asked about the Borg and she was worried that if he gains more knowledge about them , he might seek the Borg Collective , which would pose a grave tactical risk . They decide , for now , not to tell him about the Borg . When One is escorted to his alcove by Seven of Nine , he again asks to be told about the Borg when he notices that the alcoves are not Starfleet technology . Seven refuses and tells him to step into his alcove . He pauses and complies , then interestingly thanks her . As he regenerates , a proximity transceiver on his neck transmits a signal to the Borg Collective . They receive it and pursue . Act Four . The regeneration cycle is interrupted by Captain Janeway and a security team , who promptly inform Seven that One has sent the signal , despite their having deactivated it . It seems One ' s cranial implant automatically created a " secondary " proximity transceiver which transmitted the signal . " Voyager " s long range sensor s already detected a transwarp conduit . When One makes clear that he wants to meet the Borg , Captain Janeway tells Seven that it is time to show One what and who the Borg are . In astrometrics , One watches and learns about the Borg . Seven tells him that individuals who are assimilated lose their individuality , that their minds are integrated into the hive mind , and their bodies are augmented with cybernetic implants . One tells them he desires to experience the hive mind , whereupon Captain Janeway tells him that if he does so , he will no longer be unique , his individuality will be destroyed . One wonders how the Borg can be so destructive , while Seven is not . Janeway explains to him that Seven has regained her individuality , but if the Borg had the chance , they would reintegrate her back into the hive mind . Janeway tells One that if the Borg assimilate him , they will become far more destructive . When One asks Seven if she would rejoin the Borg collective if she had the chance , she answers that " Voyager " is her collective . Their conversation is interrupted by Chakotay ' s call to man battle stations , as a Borg vessel is approaching . One and Seven are on their way to the bridge when he tells her about changes in his autonomic nervous system . Seven tells him that he is experiencing anxiety , an emotion , a state of apprehension caused by fear , and that the entire crew feels the same . Seven tells him that they will engage the Borg : although the Borg are powerful , they will resist them . When One tells her that resistance is futile , Seven tells him this is not always the case . Act Five . When they enter the bridge , the Borg sphere begins scanning " Voyager , " as One analyses the Borg sphere in considerable detail . While Voyager hears the standard Borg warning over the communication channel they just opened , One and Seven hear the collective as billions of voices calling them in unison from inside their minds . The Borg sphere locks on a tractor beam . Seven tells him that if they do not resist that voice , Voyager and its crew will be destroyed . One interfaces directly with the tactical console . Although One ' s shield enhancements break " Voyager " free of the Borg tractor beam , his phaser enhancements are countered by the Borg . One tells Seven that he cannot enhance " Voyager " s systems any further , but that he can thwart them from inside the sphere , directly . Seven fears that they will assimilate him , but he assures her that they will fail . One declines the Voyager crew ' s offer to transport him before transporting himself inside the sphere . The Borg inform One they they will " add your biological and technological distinctiveness " to their own . One replies that his technology is superior , and threatens to destroy their ship if they do not stop the attack on " Voyager " . The drones that try to get in his way are incapacitated by One ' s personal shield . One manages to interface with the collective , steering the ship into the proto - nebula . He does not respond to the collective ' s request to terminate his link . As the Borg sphere sinks deeper into the nebula , it collapses upon itself and implodes . After Captain Janeway orders " Voyager " to stand down red alert and deploy damage control teams , Harry Kim detects a life sign in the debris . It is One , alive after erecting a multi - spatial force field around his body . Captain Janeway orders Kim to beam One directly to sickbay . Upon entering sickbay , The Doctor informs Seven that he has already scanned One for injuries : his implants , though fused , will regenerate – but he requires immediate surgery to address cerebral trauma and internal bleeding . One tells Seven that he directly heard the Borg ' s objectives ; they now know of his existence and wish to assimilate him . So long as he is alive , Seven and the crew of " Voyager " are in danger . One ' s force field repulses The Doctor ' s assistance , despite Seven ' s emotional plea to comply with her wishes . One tells Seven that he is an accident , and that he should never have existed . After assuring her that she will adapt to his absence , One ceases to function and dies . In the cargo bay , Seven deactivates One ' s alcove , and looks into the mirror … Memorable quotes . " " The Borg : party - poopers of the galaxy . " " " " I ` m a doctor , not a peeping Tom . " " " " Good morning . " " " " That remains to be seen . " " " " It will become what we help it to become . " " " " How Starfleet of you ! " " " " How many Borg hitchhikers are we gonna pick up on this trip ? Maybe this is the Collective ' s new strategy . They don ' t assimilate anymore , they just show up and look helpless . " " " " . . . That ' s called a joke . " " " " Joke : a verbal comment or gesture designed to provoke laughter . " " " " I see you ' ve got your mother ' s sense of humor . " " " " You must comply . Please . You are hurting me . " " " " You will adapt . " " Links and references . References . ablative armor ; adjective ; airponics bay ; all hands ; artificial gravity ; assimilation ; astrometrics ; autonomic function ; battle stations ; biological system ; Borg ; Borg Collective ; Borg cube ; Borg long - range tactical vessel ; Bussard collector ; cerebral cortex ; Class 2 claustrophobia ; Class 2 shuttlecraft ; cranial implant ; data node ; Delta Quadrant ; diagnostic routine ; duranium ; dyne ; emitter circuit ; extraction tubule ; feedback pulse ; force field ; " gagh " ; gold star ; gravimetric shear ; hive mind ; holo - imager ; internal bleeding ; internal transporter node ; joke ; kilometer ; Klingon ; life support system ; logic ; maturation chamber ; medical scan ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mobile emitter ; multi - dimensional adaptability ; multi - spatial force field ; multi - spectral algorithm ; nanoprobe ; neural interface ; Peeping Tom ; phaser ; pheromone ; plasma ; poly - deutonic alloy ; proto - nebula ; protostar ; proximity transceiver ; radiation ; reactive armor ; red alert ; shield generator ; shield modulation ; shoehorn ; shore leave ; sonic shower ; spatial turbulence ; starship operations ; Talaxian ; teraquad ; tissue sample ; towel ; tractor beam ; transwarp conduit ; Unimatrix 325 , Grid 006 ; warp conduit ; warp field theory