hugh really isn’t sure how they got into this situation. but somehow here they are, him and lore, standing side by side across from the borg queen herself. she’s restrained ( mainly ) in an alcove protected by a restraining field. this is how the romulans had handled the borg who were waiting for their own de-assimilations to start. the process takes a long time, and there had not not enough personnel to be working on all of them at once. there had been a huge backlog of drones more or less in stasis waiting for their turn. 

now, it’s just the pair of them keeping the whole thing afloat. he tries to not think about how many xbs will never be fully reclaimed.

but now they’ve ended up with the queen. and she’s not listening to reason.

“if we can just get through to her... it could change everything.” he turns to lore, expression pleading. he wants this. he never would’ve imagined, all those years ago when the project started, that de-assimilation of the queen could be possible. but now, it’s all he can think of. he’s near obsessive over it.

but it’s not so easy. she’s much more alert than a normal drone would be at this stage. alert, and viciously fighting back despite the restraints. it’s clear that her insults are affecting hugh badly, but he’s doing his best to remain assertive and confident. 

and kind. always kind.