Assimilation Assimilation was the process by which the Borg added new members and new technology to the Collective . Borg assimilation was predatory ; every species the Borg encountered was assessed to determine whether its biological and / or technological distinctiveness was considered " worthy of being added to the Collective ' s perfection " . If found to be so , the species was set upon and forcibly assimilated ; the Collective considered the species ' will in the matter " irrelevant " . ( ; , " et al . " ) As of the 24th century , the only species known to have been considered unworthy of assimilation were the Kazon , as the Borg believed that assimilating them would detract from their goal of becoming perfect . ( ) Procedure . The Borg generally did not assimilate individuals , and instead preferred to target larger groups such as the crews of starship s and the populations of planet s . When in the presence of a small number of individuals , Borg drones would ignore them altogether . This policy would remain in effect until an individual demonstrated some quality found worthy by the Collective , or posed a threat to Borg activities . For example , when the was first detected by a Borg vessel it was disregarded . By the time the " Raven " was detected a second time , its crew had developed technologies to elude Borg sensors , making them a more worthy target . ( ) The Borg made exceptions and assimilated individuals when circumstances required it , as when they chose Jean - Luc Picard to serve as an intermediary in 2366 , or to allow a small party of drones to bolster their ranks . ( ; ) When engaging a starship , a Borg vessel presumed tactical superiority and locked onto it with a tractor beam . With the target immobilized , the Borg defeated its shields and either extracted sections of the ship with a cutting beam , transport ed drones to key areas , or both . ( ) With the crew of a vessel assimilated or otherwise subdued , the Borg stripped the ship down for parts to incorporate into their own technology . If possible the assimilated ship was towed into a hangar aboard the attacking Borg ship . ( ) It was rare for the Borg to keep an assimilated vessel intact , except in instances where a Borg crew was forced to abandon their own ship and commandeer their victims ' . ( ; ; ) Faced with an entire fleet , as in the Battle of Wolf 359 , the Borg were willing to destroy individual ships outright , although some might have been spared for assimilation . ( ) The Collective typically did not seek out individuals or starships , assimilating them only as encountered . It was only known to actively target worlds and civilizations , ranging from small colonies to the entire realm of fluidic space . ( ; ) The tactics of these large - scale assimilation missions varied . An entire fleet was dispatched to assimilate Species 10026 , but on two occasions , a single ship was assigned to conquer the entire Federation . If the Borg did not choose to hold an assimilated planet , they removed its populace and any artificial structures from the surface . Alternately , they could maintain a presence on the planet , terraforming its environment to meet their needs . ( , , ) The Borg had a standard set of hail s which were sent to those targeted for assimilation . The actual wording varied , but the hails almost always included the following information : The following were known Borg hails : Technique . Little is known about the Borg assimilation technique prior to 2368 . Observations since that time demonstrated that the Borg assimilated an individual by projecting a pair of assimilation tubule s into the victim ' s neck , injecting nanoprobe s into the bloodstream that began connecting the new drone to the hive mind . This was accomplished the moment a Borg drone was within arm ' s reach of the target . ( ; ; ) Only humanoids have been seen as members of the Borg Collective . During initial stages of assimilation , Borg nanoprobes began attaching themselves to the victim ' s red blood cells , allowing them to circulate throughout the body . ( ) Within minutes , the nanoprobes spread visibly through the capillaries of the victim ' s skin . The victim , at this point , still retained his or her individuality and had virtually none of the Borg ' s standard array of defenses . Left unchecked , the nanoprobes soon begin self - replicating and producing larger constructs that form the necessary Borg implants . Among the first major structures assembled was the neural transceiver , allowing the Collective to tap into the victim ' s mind and usurp control of his or her body . A vocal subprocessor was also installed . By this time , the new drone ' s skin coloration had changed to a pale gray and mottled as some small implants began to emerge inside and outside the body . In some cases , the skin and face became at lease slightly deformed due to the implants growing in and on the body . ( ; ; ) The drone was then taken to a Borg facility to have larger implants surgically installed , including tools , weapons and exoplating . ( ) Treatment and defenses . Methods for preventing or overcoming Borg assimilation are of paramount importance to cultures that refuse to abandon members of their society captured by the Collective . In 2153 , Phlox determined that exposing himself to omicron particle s could disable the nanoprobes injected into his body by drones using technology originating in 2373 . This method was uniquely applicable to Phlox due to his Denobulan physiology and his immune system , which made him unusually resistant to assimilation . ( ) The most basic , and arguably most practical remedy was to euthanize the intended victim either prior to or in the early minutes of assimilation , before the nanoprobes could install standard Borg defenses . During the Borg ' s raid of the , Captain Picard saw this approach to be the lesser of two evils , believing his assimilated crewmen were irrecoverable under the circumstances and better off dying as individuals than living as drones . ( ) When rescuing Picard himself in 2367 , the crew of the were not under direct attack by the Borg and therefore had the luxury of considering other options . Upon connecting his neural net to Picard ' s Borg implants , Lt . Commander Data was able to isolate Picard ' s individual mind from the Collective . Disconnecting Picard from his implants was considered a risky procedure , but upon the destruction of the cube that assimilated him the Collective lost its hold on him . Physical recovery was swift , although the psychological trauma was more severe . ( ) While the implants were removed , sufficient physical alterations lingered such that Picard could still perceive the Collective many years later . ( ) In 2368 a Borg cube was disabled in an electrokinetic storm in the Nekrit Expanse , causing approximately 80 , 000 drones to be disconnected from the hive mind . These former drones settled on a nearby planet , where their limited medical resources allowed them to remove most , but not all , of their cybernetic implants . After the population descended into war , they elected to form a new hive mind as the Cooperative . ( ) The crew of the was forced to sever Seven of Nine ' s link to the Collective when , through her , the Borg reneged on its alliance with the starship . Using a neural transceiver installed in him by the Borg Cooperative and a Borg alcove installed aboard " Voyager " by the Collective , Chakotay tapped into Seven ' s consciousness in order to distract her while B ' Elanna Torres shorted out the console she was attempting to assimilate . ( ) The Brunali genetically engineered Icheb with a pathogen that would infect the Collective after they sent him to be assimilated . After this pathogen killed all of the adult Borg aboard the cube which assimilated Icheb , the ship ' s maturation chamber s prematurely released the juvenile drones who were not yet fully connected to the Collective , giving " Voyager " an opportunity to liberate them in 2376 . ( ) A neural suppressant developed by " Voyager " s EMH in 2377 made it possible for Kathryn Janeway , Tuvok , and B ' Elanna Torres to be physically assimilated without being connected to the hive mind and losing their individuality . This allowed them to surreptitiously operate within a Borg cube and sabotage its central plexus . Following their mission the three officers were returned to " Voyager " where their implants were safely removed without medical complications . Use of the neural suppressant apparently correlated to the lack of psychological trauma suffered in comparison to Picard ' s experience . ( ) Following " Voyager " s sabotage of the central plexus , the Borg drones who had been connected to Unimatrix Zero were able to regain their individuality and mount a resistance against the Collective . They were not , at least initially , able to remove their Borg implants due to the urgency of the conflict . ( ) Upon arriving in 2378 from an alternate future , Admiral Kathryn Janeway possessed several defenses against the Borg , including a neurolytic pathogen that prevented Borg nanoprobes from linking her to the hive mind while infecting the Collective . ( ) Complications . Successful liberation of an assimilated drone depended largely on the relation between the period of time spent as a drone versus time spent as an individual . Adults and children who were assimilated for only a short time were often easily reintegrated back into their old lives following disconnection from the hive mind . ( ; ) However , drones who had spent the majority of their lives within the Collective resisted the very notion that they were better off as individuals , and could retain an admiration for aspects of Borg philosophy . Such drones could feel small or lonely without the " voices " of the entire Collective in their thoughts . ( ; ) In either case , the psychological impact of recovering one ' s individuality – and thus , the ability to feel the trauma of assimilation and the guilt of one ' s association with the Borg ' s atrocities – could be monumental . ( ; ) From a medical standpoint , there were many risks in leaving the Borg Collective , primarily when the implants ceased to suppress the immune system and the body ' s organs began rejecting implants that have been given sole dominion over vital functions . The extraction of these implants could be challenging even for a skilled surgeon . One known type of complication occurred when deactivated microscopic implants become lodged against one of the cranial nerves . ( ) Even after the successful removal of the cybernetics , the liberated drone might not have had access to medical technology that was sufficiently advanced to replace whatever body parts were amputated during assimilation . ( ) Certain implants , such as the cortical node , ocular implant , and assimilation tubule s , could not be safely removed by Federation medicine as of 2378 . ( )