Regression

[Craven 0]

<<yeah I know its another repeat log, I just moved it here since its more appropriate than the Acad>>

 

"Medically I can't seem to find any problem's with you Ensign." Doctor Bashir said softly to the young man seated on the biobed. "You say you've been having headaches and an ache in your artificial arm?"

 

"Yeah," the young man winced, "bloody Borg technology has never hurt like this before."

 

"Borg technology? Your Starfleet Medical Record states that this arm was grafted by Lore, not the Borg." the Doctor looked somewhat puzzled.

 

Jack Craven gave a sigh, "Eh, its a long story, my stay with the rogue collective. Yes it was Lore that grafted the arm but he used the Borg technology on the scout ship to do so. You've no doubt picked up the internal circuitry embedded in the endoskeletal structure of the arm?"

 

Bashir looked down at his medical tricorder momentarily before replying, "Well yes but according to your record, and by your own formal account during Starfleet Intelligence's formal inquiry to your interaction with the Borg, its only inactive remnants of a cybernetic interface. Since the circuitry is inoperable it shouldn't be causing you any problems." the doctor walked over to the bulkhead panel showing the readouts of the young man's artificial arm. "Er, how old did you say you were when the failed assimilation happened?"

 

The young man looked puzzled. Surely the Doctor had read the inquiry's findings - that much was evident. Still, he responded, albeit hesitantly, "I was eight, sir."

 

"Well then it's possible that you may have repressed some of your memories about the experience?" The Doctor's face became stoic.

 

Of course not, Craven thought to himself, I was asked that a million times in the inquiry. "As I told Starfleet Intelligence Doctor, I remember it all."

 

After Craven had admitted to Commander Nicholas Cromwell his experience as a child - during his Starfleet Academy Application Interview - there was a formal investigation with Starfleet Intelligence. The Federation couldn't - and wouldn't - allow for such a vital tool against an such a great adversary as the Borg, to go unnoticed. The inquiry, however, was unable to uncover any useful information, and thus Craven's acceptance to the Academy was approved.

 

The Doctor's unchanging features made the young man uneasy. Several seconds passed, and still the doctor remained absolutely still. Then a voice which Jack Craven had not heard in nearly fifteen years filled his ears.

 

"Smart man that Doctor, BA-SHIR."

 

Craven spun around to find he was face to face with the man that had saved his life. The man that tortured his parents and countless Borg on the scout ship so long ago. A man Craven knew for a fact was disassembled and deep within Starfleet Headquarters' secured storage: Lore.

 

"What the he..." Jack lept to his feet and stepped back from the soong android, who was wearing the same jet-black jumpsuit he had been wearing when Jack had last seen him.

 

"Ah ah ah. Is that any way to welcome an old friend?" Lore said with a wry smile. "My my you have gotten big!"

 

Jack looked over to Doctor Bashir, who was still motionless, as if he were frozen in time. In fact when he looked around, all the Infirmary nurses were frozen in a stoic position.

 

"This, this isn't real. It's not happening!" He exclaimed. And suddenly he felt a noticable warmth in his right arm.

 

"Of course its not. I mean you know for a fact that I am no longer a functioning part of society...I know that because you know that Jack." The android gave a gentle laugh.

 

Jack's eyes widened. He looked down to his arm, and then back up to Lore.

 

"Heh heh, see? You understand now," Lore coninued, "the good Doctor just activated that Borg circuitry, and whoala! Here I am."

 

"What do you want from me you...you monster!?" Jack's face grew red as he backed up against the bulkhead.

 

"Oh its not about what I want, Jack. It's about what you want...er, rather, wanted. You see your memory of the events that surrounded your parent's death, and my rise to greatness with the rogue collective is not....entirely accurate." Lore took the young man's silence as acceptance to continue, "You see, Jack, the Doc wasn't too far off when he said you may have repressed your memories....you did."

 

Craven was now bunched up in a ball on the ground against the bulkhead, near tears. "You're lying!"

 

"Am I? You think you were never given time to assimilate...but we both know thats not true, Jackie boy. It was more than a week before my experiments on you were successful in severing you from the collective." Lore saw the young man was now shaking, tears streaming down his face in fear. "But I see you're not going to take my word for it." As he spoke, Lore motioned his hand towards the young man's right arm, and it started to glow.

 

Pain seared all through Craven's body, and suddenly he felt a rush of some sort of stimuli he couldn't explain flow through his synapses. He began to shake uncontrollably. He heard thousands...no millions of voices talking to him...all ...Borg.

 

"You see Jack, you were Borg. You heard their thoughts. But you were too young to handle all the information that came with that priviledge. You suppressed it. This arm of yours was a way for me to send you into regression, so I could extract the information from you myself...unfortunately it seems I was, distracted, and couldn't send for you again. Count yourself lucky you've lasted this long without this happening. Too bad, if it had happened earlier you'd have retained all your knowledge from the collective. It seems you'll only get bits and pieces now. Pity."

 

Craven suddenly became still, and the voices faded away, leaving only scattered bits...fragments, of memories long forgotten.

 

"Jack! Jack can you hear me?" Doctor Bashir's voice came ringing through like the sun shining through a cloudy haze. "Stay still, you passed out. Can you tell me what happend? Your brainwave patterns were off the charts!"

 

Craven was suddenly lying on the biobed, he opened his eyes slowly. He was gone.

 

"Uhh..." the young man groaned. "Doctor Bashir, this is going to take some time to explain.."