“I understand the concept of humor. It may not be apparent, but I am often amused by Human behavior.”

Early Life

Annika Hansen was born in 2350 on the Federation Tendara colony to exobiologists Magnus and Erin Hansen. During her childhood, she often visited Earth, staying with her Aunt Irene on a farm. These visits were frequent when her parents had to travel for work. Annika loved the strawberry tarts her aunt used to coax her out of her room. Precocious and opinionated, she never hesitated to let her aunt know if the strawberries weren’t ripe enough. Young Annika dreamed of becoming a ballerina.

Her parents were pioneers in studying the race that would become known as the Borg. The Federation granted them the use of the USS Raven for their research. In 2353, Annika joined them on the ship, celebrating three birthdays aboard. They tracked a Borg cube through its transwarp conduit into Borg-controlled space, gathering significant information undetected, thanks to the multi-adaptive shielding created by Magnus Hansen. Their boldness even led them to board Borg vessels. However, their research came to an abrupt end in 2356 when an ion storm damaged their ship and shields, leaving them exposed. Within 13.2 seconds, the Borg detected them. Despite their attempts to escape, the Borg could not be fooled any longer, and they were assimilated near B’omar space.

Annika was placed in a Borg maturation chamber where she was changed. Her synaptic pathways were restructured by the Borg’s hive mind and eventually purged her individuality and personality. She emerged as a drone in 2361 and was given the designation Seven of Nine. As Seven of Nine, she assisted her cube and the Borg in the assimilation of millions of life forms. This included Humans, Bajorans, Klingons, Ferengi, Cardassians, and more.

In 2368, she and three other members of her unimatrix crash-landed on a planet. While others began to return to what they were before their assimilation, Seven of Nine did not. She forced the drones to join with her in a temporary collective until they were recovered. She would remain a drone until 2374.

Recovery by the USS Voyager

2374

The USS Voyager, lost in the Delta quadrant after being pulled there by the Caretaker, was attempting to cross Borg space to return to the Alpha quadrant. The Borg were deep in hostilities with Species 8472 and were losing. Captain Kathryn Janeway offered the Borg technology in exchange for safe passage through Borg space. The Borg agreed. They sent Seven of Nine and other drones to assist the crew in the assembly of the needed weapons. During a battle with Species 8472, the Cube sacrificed itself and Captain Janeway was severely injured, leaving Commander Chakotay in command of Voyager. Seven demanded that Voyager travel to another cube, but he refused. The drones in response, tried to commandeer the ship. First officer, Commander Chakotay decompressed the deck the drones were on and spaced all but Seven into oblivion. Seven of Nine successfully took Voyager into Species 8472’s realm and deployed the weapon. The attack was successful and Species 8472 retreated. Their enemy beaten, the Collective turned on the Starfleet ship, breaking their alliance. Captain Janeway, prepared for this moment, enacted her plan which permanently severed the connection between Seven of Nine and the Collective. Captain Janeway decided to keep Seven aboard as they continued home.

Seven of Nine’s transition back to humanity was difficult due to her age when she was assimilated. Voyager’s holographic medical officer was able to remove most of her implants and trigger responses to restore her human appearance. Not all implants could be removed though, as she had been a Borg drone for so long, they were now vital to her survival. She refused to be called Annika, as she barely remembered being human. She did however accept a shortened nickname of Seven by the crew.

She fully regained her memory after Voyager passed near the planet B’omar, a planet she visited with her parents before assimilation. She received a signal from a Borg homing beacon that was on the planet. The signal triggered an overwhelming desire to find the downed Borg craft. She recovered her full memory after finding the ship, which turned out to be the USS Raven.

Becoming part of the crew

Seven threw herself into her work with the crew. She worked with the engineering crew as they modified the warp drive to achieve trans warp. Their efforts were not successful though and the warp core was almost destroyed. She worked with Ensign Harry Kim to design an astrometrics lab. Their use of Borg technology to plot routes allowed Voyager to cut several years off the ship’s return to the Alpha Quadrant. The Lab also helped Seven discover the Hirogen communications network, which allowed Voyager to communicate with the Alpha Quadrant and finally in real-time as they got closer to home. The lab also created nanoprobes that allowed the crew to revive individuals that had been dead for several hours.

Seven had issues understanding Human morality. When Voyager found a member of Species 8472 who was being hunted for sport by the Hirogen, Seven argued for turning it over to the hunting party to protect Voyager. Seven could not understand why Captain Janeway would argue to save this creature and endanger her crew. Seven ultimately took matters into her own hands and gave the creature to the Hirogens. Captain Janeway punished Seven by revoking many of her privileges, which Seven found unfair because she was asserting her individuality and free will. Something she argued the crew had been working with her to express.

Seven also worked with the crew to contain Omega particles in 2374 that had temporarily stabilized right before they were destroyed. Seven was the only one to see them do so while in the chamber with them. She believed as the Borg had, that they held the key to perfection and became fascinated with them.

In late 2374, an Enthaean weapons broker named Kovin entered negotiations with Voyager to sell weapons. Seven of Nine was assigned to evaluate his inventory but felt an unexplained discomfort around him. With the Doctor’s help, Seven began to recover memories that suggested Kovin had assaulted her. Though the evidence was largely circumstantial, Voyager attempted to apprehend him. However, they later discovered that her memories were distorted, blending past experiences as a Borg drone with recent events. Kovin was ultimately innocent, but a miscommunication during contact led to his death. Both Seven and the Doctor were left feeling responsible for this tragic outcome.

Seven of Nine played a crucial role in Voyager’s journey through the Delta Quadrant, combining her unique Borg knowledge with Starfleet ingenuity. She helped construct the Delta Flyer, a Starfleet-Borg hybrid shuttle, and engineered an advanced weapons system for the craft. She also collaborated with the crew on the experimental quantum slipstream drive, which, although promising, fell short of transporting them to Earth and almost ended in catastrophe. Thankfully, her Borg implants received data from the future, helping prevent a disastrous fate that would have cost nearly the entire crew their lives. This intervention ultimately brought Voyager ten years closer to home.

In 2368, Seven encountered former drones she had crash-landed with, who were still under her influence to suppress their individuality. When Seven reconnected with them to access their shared memories, the process inadvertently caused severe damage, leaving the drones in comas. Seven then chose to free them, removing their implants so they could experience one final month of autonomy. Despite their anger, they were grateful for the chance to live freely, however briefly.

Over time, Seven grappled with guilt over her past as a Borg drone. She aided various species, including the Vaadwaur, only to discover their violent intentions after freeing them from stasis. She also experienced a moral crisis after being forced to fight in a gladiatorial ring; although she won by unleashing her repressed anger, Tuvok assured her that her remorse proved her humanity.

Haunted by her actions, Seven tried to help a convicted murderer, even as he took her hostage. His eventual execution left her wondering if she deserved a similar fate, but Captain Janeway reminded her that her time in the Collective had been punishment enough.

In 2375, her malfunctioning nanoprobes merged with the Doctor’s holo-emitter, creating an advanced Borg drone known as “One.” When the Borg detected him, he destroyed their ship to protect Voyager, sacrificing himself rather than risking the crew’s safety. His death deeply affected Seven, who mourned him as she would a child.

Seven faced the Borg Queen multiple times. In one instance, the Queen tried to coerce Seven into rejoining the Collective by threatening Voyager. Determined to protect her crew, Seven resisted. Later, Seven accessed “Unimatrix Zero,” a virtual space where she could retain her individuality and reconnect with a former Borg lover. The Queen, determined to crush this haven, was ultimately thwarted by Voyager’s crew, leading to a civil war within the Borg Collective.

Throughout her journey, Seven encountered Species 6339, whose viral attack on a Borg vinculum left her with fragmented personalities. Each persona represented a life assimilated by the Borg—a frightened child, a Klingon warrior, a Vulcan, and more. With Tuvok’s help, she regained control.

The Voyager crew faced multiple perils, from being forced into labor with implanted false memories to narrowly escaping Borg-controlled space. Seven’s journey came full circle when, with the aid of a future Janeway, Voyager finally returned to Earth in 2378 after a harrowing encounter with the Borg. Admiral Janeway’s calculated infection of the Borg Queen with a fatal pathogen brought the Queen and the Collective to their knees, allowing Voyager a triumphant return.

After Voyager, Seven did not remain with Starfleet. Instead, she joined the Fenris Rangers, a peacekeeping group operating near the Romulan Neutral Zone. In 2386, she suffered a personal loss when her protégé, Icheb, was lured into a trap and mutilated for his Borg implants. Seven found him and mercifully ended his suffering, later exacting justice on his killer.

In 2399, Seven aided Jean-Luc Picard in his mission to rescue Dr. Bruce Maddox. She used this opportunity to take revenge on the dealer responsible for Icheb’s death, vaporizing her in a powerful act of retribution. Later, she took control of a damaged Borg cube, “the Artifact,” linking with disconnected drones to oppose the Romulans. She ultimately rejected becoming their Queen, but her journey with the xBs marked a significant turn toward reclaiming her autonomy and humanity.