The gloomy, dimmed neon light flickered in the regeneration alcove as the team slowly proceeded into the room. The journey into the broken cube was surprisingly easy, which made some team members more focused as it didn't feel right. The room looked thorn down, collapsed by some explosion or aftereffect from an outside natural force. The crack was seen far upwards, deeper into the cube. It showed some sparks here and there. Yozria was fascinated by the brute sight that was in front of her. 

“Lieutenant,” A voice came behind her as Yozria's focus broke off. She looked over her shoulder to the voice, seeing Ko standing there looking at her. “Stay focused on the task at hand. We have no luxury to go daydreaming in here.” That said, Ko moved away from Yozria to keep the area in check with Dazz and M'tran. 

She gave her a slight nod as her eyes looked around the regeneration alcove to find Viamame, and they stopped at the sight of the doctor. She was leaning forward at a body as Yozria walked in her direction. “How is it going?” She asked, looking over Viamame's shoulder at the broken drone, giving a few seconds a random move with one of the leftover limbs. 

A sigh came from Viamame, and looked up at Yozria. “The pathogen is a challenge to get. These drones are old when they got infected…” Looking back down, she points at some key locations that would be noticeable “The skin is almost gone. The defection is worn down. Making a valid sample practically impossible to get it out.” She took her observation in as she looked at the other drones still hooked into the devices. “I need to try to use those to find if they have …enough valid pathogen.” She stood up from her kneeling position and walked to one. 

“The condition of these drones is still remarkably in good condition. We understand so little about the working of this device.” Looking at the regeneration device and then back at the drone that seemed to be inactive.

Yozria nodded in agreement. “If only we could learn more about this, it could improve the Federation on many levels, but in engineering or medical.” Yozria stepped next to the doctor, who looked a bit skeptical at her. “I know it is dangerous thinking as the Borg are unpredictable, but still.”

The stare didn't stop until Viamame took a gasp of air and looked in the direction of the Captain. “Captain, I do not have a choice. The drones disconnected from the regeneration alcove have little to no usable material regarding the pathogen. The drones connected to these regeneration systems seem healthy enough to contain some samples potentially, but…” 

She saw the cloud already hanging. Ko stopped in her tracks of walking and looked back at the doctor. “You want to scan it and see if it has what we want. But that also means that the system will be triggered, and we are seen as the invaders of this ship. Correct?” A simple nod from her doctor made her shrug. “There is no other choice than the given choice, right?” 

“No.” A simple answer came from another direction. Behrad lowered his tricorder and looked at the others of his team. “The suspicion from the doctor is valid. Suppose we want to get validated information to work with. Then, those that are still connected might be our best bet. But it does mean that the cube will spark alive, and seeing the condition of it, I have no idea what to expect.” He took a deep breath. “But it won't be a joyride for us.” He had already raised his weapon. 

“Alright, how much do we need?" Ko asked with some concern already forming in her voice.

“About two tubes would be enough. But I have no idea how long the transition will be.” Viamame looked at Yozria. “I need your help to keep those systems under control and buy me time.” She placed her bag on the ground and started preparing her material for this risky operation.

Yozria slowly nodded. “I can do that.” She felt excited and nervous, but also lingering some fear building up.  Looking at the console panel that was still functional, there were not many options to choose from. She took her place and took a deep breath. Hovering her fingers over the screen as she closed her eyes for a brief second, then opened them up “Ready”

“Ready” Viamame spoke.

Behrad followed up “Ready” joining in the extraction of the pathogen. 

The remaining three had their weapons raised and stood in a tactical position. Ko nodded. “Go.” A brief all-deciding order had been given as the three started working on the drones and the Borg systems to keep everything going smoothly. 

The word was given, and Yozria's focus didn't break off the console before her. She did a lesson in alien mechanical systems and the binary coding of it. But this was a whole new level that she needed to get used to. She tried her best to get a quick overview of all systems that were in the area. She already noticed that the invasive actions of the away team triggered some systems.

“I got alerts on my side,” Yozria stated. “Dealing with it now.” She blocked some systems, but it felt like there were more switches. The systems were complex, but why? Was it not better to create a system that was simple and efficient? Or was the system built from a different perspective? The perspective of a machine. A broken alert went off “I am losing control here.” 

Swiping her left hand and pressing buttons with her right hand, Yozria's focus became only sharper to get more control over the system. “Come on, come on.” The annoying broken alarm was still going. She could hear some struggle from behind. Nah, it was nothing important. Take a few deep breaths. The alarms went off, and a smile appeared briefly on her face. Then, out of nowhere, she felt a harsh push from her side that dropped her to the ground.

The impact of the ground gave Yozria a wound on the head as some blood dripped down. She shook her head and looked upwards only to be face to face with a Borg drone with a lifted mechanical hand in the air. Was this it? Did her obsession with technology finally get the better of her? She….the tears started to appear in those few seconds….she didn't want to die. 

The swipe of the mechanical arm goes down, and Yozria closes her eyes. But nothing happened? No pain? No agony? She felt drips coming onto her suit, and slowly, Yozria opened her eyes. She saw a gritting Ko standing between her and the drone on her knees. Her Captain's eyes were in total pain as Yozria's eyes went to the dreadful view of the mechanical saw being cut through the right shoulder of Ko and stuck deep in her. In reaction, she placed her hand on her mouth and looked back at Ko in pure shock.

“You….you….okay?” Ko manages to get out of her mouth, trying to uphold the focus of not passing out. The drone pulled out the saw with no mercy. Letting gravity take over on Ko, who fell into the arms of Yozria. A phaser shot was fired, taking down the drone. 

Viamame slides to both of them. “We lost Dazz in that…..” She looked at the wound of her Captain. “Frak…she needs to return to the ship right now!” Grabbing her phaser and pushing the right arm back in, “This will hurt…” With no time to wait, she started to close the wound with the phaser, letting Ko scream it out of pain while trying to keep her voice down.

“WE NEED THAT….SAMPLE!” Ko yelled, holding Yozria with her other arm and her head leaning onto Yozria's chest. 

“Behrad is busy with it. M'tan is watching his back. We already lost one. We need to get out of here.” Viamame was not in the mood to discuss this now and instead wanted to transport her to sickbay. 

“I know…..” A whimper came out of Ko. “But….we need it, or everything will be done for nothing.” 

“We got more incoming!” M'tan spoke, raising his rifle.

“Come on, give me a break!” Ko shrugged, feeling the pain waves as she looked up at Yozria, who was staring at her. “Shit…doc, she is in shock."