The Iron Heart

The human heart can give 60 to 100 beats per minute. It’s not something most people can control, and it’s not something many people think about in their day to day lives, but it’s rather something that happens naturally.

A heart can set a certain pace depending on how one feels: Anger, sadness, fear, joy - their all there, there all something that people feel, and that feeling is what keeps them going. Human’s have the instinct to keep their hearts safe; from pain, from other people, even from themselves, but it’s not easy to do. No matter how difficult it is, it’s in our blood to try and satisfy that certain happiness our hearts require, to make themselves feel safe, to make themselves feel whole or complete. That was the understanding given to him anyway, and that was all he was told he needed to know.

It most certainly wasn’t information relevant to any of the missions given to the Borg, but rather it was simply just something he wished to know and remember. He didn’t completely understand why, but he felt that it would be somewhat helpful to know a little more about the humans around him, the very humans who created him and gave him life.

He was given the title A-1430; code name, Iron-Sniper. Along with the other subjects, it was a day to day routine to carry out any order given to them by their creators. Those who could complete it were considered a success, others who could not were considered failures and sent away. He wasn’t sure why this happened, he wasn’t sure what was known to be “good enough” or “fitting” for what he did, but not once has he ever been sent away.

Some of the humans called him an Amazing, wonderful, or even an incredible soldier, words of praise the Borg could not quite understand. The most engrossing parts of about their conversations would be how the corners of their mouths would sometimes go up as they watched him complete another order successfully. Some would whisper to each other while others shouted at him with the strange look on their faces’, words of encouragement and more praise. It was unclear why they did this, but it was a sign that meant he had completed another day.

When finished the Borg’s were escorted to their pods, a place to rest and prepare for tomorrow. Sometimes some had a harder time waking up then others, sometimes they never did, but he never had that problem. He would wake up to different faces - a female, a male, another female, another male - they were never the same; different face, different color, but strangely the same heartbeat.

“Hello again!” A female would say to him after he woke up one morning, he was greeted in many strange ways such as that.

“Ready to go?”

“Good morning!”

“Rise and shine. Have a good nap?”

It was never much, but it was always a form of greeting that would be deemed fitting for any human after waking, something the Borg grew accustomed to after a while. However, this particular morning was slightly different, something that had never happened before. When he woke up, he was alone. There was no human to greet him, no human to give him their costumed welcome, instead he was surrounded with the unusual void of silence.

The room was dark, the glow of the surrounding pods around him being the only source of light to keep him company. He could hear machines clicking and humming from behind, low and quiet as they slept along with the other mechanisms. He couldn’t move very well with both his wrists and legs locked into place, but he was able to freely shift his head to look around some more. An unsettling ‘snap’ came from his neck as he made an effort to lean forward, taking a moment to settle himself before retaining to his former position. He wasn’t suppose to move at night, he was suppose to re-charge so he could do well with his next order. So why was he awake? What woke him up?

He looked up at the green light above him, something that turned on when a human came to greet him. It was on, yet he was still held within his pod. The light only turned green when he was awake and ready for an order, so why was it on now? When the humans were away he was suppose to be asleep not awake. He leaned back and closed his eyes again, but after several minutes nothing changed. He was still awake, and the light above him refused to go off.

Several hours go by before a human finally came by to greet him, a male, but instead of greeting him he simply made another face the Borg had seen before, but never very often. This time the corners of his mouth went down, an expression usually given to him when he did something wrong. They stared at one another for a minute before the human gave a heavy sigh and wrote something down on a brown bored he carried around, a tool the Borg believed helped humans communicate or express certain emotions rather than using language. “Ready?” The man asked, pushing a few buttons on the side of the pod before the Borg finally broke free from his chains and was allowed access to leave.

*(*)*(*)*(*)*

He along with the others were given their daily mission once again, his involving a particular skill he required that lived up to his given code name.

He was handed a sniper and ordered to shoot at a distance of 180 feet - his target, a few small manikins with various colors of paint on them, numbers. He was placed into a large room surrounded by glass, eyes everywhere intensely peering down at his tall frame as he took aim. He fired the first two rounds going for the head, successfully hitting one while the other target remained untouched. The Borg took aim again and fired three more rounds, catching only two - one in the shoulder and one in the neck, once again missing the third, untouched.

The sound of human tongue could be heard coming from beyond the glass above him, barley audible, but enough to catch his attention. He could also hear the faint sound of a heartbeat coming from behind him, the human man from before, as he stood by the door. The Borg pushed aside the thought to turn around and continued to focus on his order. He couldn’t afford anything else to distract him now.

Thankfully nothing else went wrong after that, and once again he was successful in completing his order without any complaint. As usual, the humans around him gave their praise and strange but pleased expressions, one even giving him a careful pat on the back before being told off by another, but their were a selected few that did the opposite and continued to stare at him in question. He didn’t make mistakes very often, and it wouldn’t be the first time this has happened, but it did strike the Borg a little odd that his body continued to resist rest, and it lasted for the next couple of days.

His orders slowly came to be a little more difficult than they usually were, his skills rusty and weak as time went on. He could still do what was asked of him, he could still complete and satisfy the humans with his “amazing” techniques, but not the way others expected him to.

His aiming grew worse, focus and grip loosening when he fired the weapon. One female gave him some medication before a mission, but it only made things difficult when his vision blurred, one bullet accidentally hitting a human while he observed from afar. He watched him fall to the ground with an audible ‘thud’, other humans above the glass gasping in horror as a few came down to try and help him up. A small female came up to the Borg and gently took the sniper away from him, her heartbeat increasing drastically. She didn’t make eye contact with the him, simply motioning for him to follow as she tentatively left the room, leading him back into his pod after briefly speaking with another human in private.

After the incident it hasn’t been the same. The Borg was no longer greeted the way he usually was in the morning, simple nods and grunts replacing the basic rituals he was already accustomed to. His speed and agility remained substantial, strength and other requirements needed for his assistants well in order, but it seemed to no longer please the humans. The corners of their mouth began to show negativity in his actions, the praise he once had now silent murmurs of distaste. When ever he woke up their wasn’t a single heartbeat around him that remained at an even pace, always rushed and full of what he assumed was fear. But why? What was there to be afraid of?

“You did well today.” A quiet, calm voice told him, the small female from before. The females gaze remained elsewhere as she spoke, her hands occupied with a tiny object on her finger - a ring. This human was always slightly different from the others - not because of her petite, thin frame, but because she was rather more... aware, then the others, more careful and calm with her choices and actions. The Borg noticed this when he first met her. She was one of the very few humans he saw more than once. In total he has only seen her five times, counting yesterdays incident, but there was always something about her that stuck out to him. Her hair was short and blond, eyes brown much like his own, but her appearance wasn’t what intrigued him, it was something else...

“Let’s give it our best tomorrow to, k?” The Borg eyed her carefully before returning a simple nod, the corners of her mouth going up a little as she gradually helped him back into his pod. She cleared her throat before finally making eye contact with him, looking at him as if she wanted to say something, mouth opened mid way, before quickly shutting it and looking away again. She continued to play with her ring. “Well goodnight.” She said quietly, and with that she was gone.

That was the very last time he saw her before waking up the next morning to be greeted by more humans, stranger ones much different then the other he’s seen. They wore not a white coat like the humans he knew, but a black one made of a thicker material, leather if he remembered correctly, the same material he wore. These humans were speaking with one of his own, an older one with gray hair, talking in a quiet matter as if not to disturb the peaceful slumber around them. They weren’t to far away from him, so they haven’t noticed that he wasn’t resting along with the others, but the Borg thought it would be best to keep his eyes closed just to make sure.

He couldn’t understand much about what they were saying, the pod making it difficult to hear sound from a certain distance, but he was able to grasp a few words from specific sentences.

“-he’s our best soldier,” He heard the older human say, a voice he could have sworn he’s heard before. More words were exchanged before he asked, “-sure? Getting rid of him would cost us greatly....one of our best-” The soldier could hear his heart rate increasing, the others remaining at an even pace.

“He’s deteriorating like the last one. Despite how good he is he won’t be of much use to us by the time he’s ready.” Came a female voice, much closer. They must have been directly in front of his pod now. Were they talking about him?

“He’s an excellent specimen, just give us more time, we’ll fix him right up and-” The older human was hushed by another female voice.

“He can here you, ya know.” He heard a small tap on the glass front of his pod. “He’s awake.”

The Borg kept his eyes shut, hope in deceiving the females call. He then heard her point out the green light above him. It was lit. He continued to hear his humans heart race increase as he began tampering with a few mechanisms near by.

“I’m sure it’s just this old thing acting up again. The one before this one acted out one day and damaged it greatly, we never really got around to fixing it, but if we must-”

“He’s awake.” The female repeated again, more stern. She tapped on the glass again and waited a couple of seconds. “This one’s intelligent.”

The Borg acknowledged the recognized praise and imaged the corners of their mouth showing gratitude.

“Yes, he is quiet the thinker, one of our very best!” Said the older man. “His speed is impeccable and his aim is just remarkable. You should have seen him in action yesterday.”

“Yesterday this one shot and killed a man of your own.” Came the other female in a tired sigh. “It’s his job to notice the difference between the enemy and one of our own, no?”

“He needs to be put away.” Said the the third human, male like his human, but his voice much deeper. “Keep him on the low for a while and deal with him privately. If he doesn’t improve within a week you have to get rid of him.”

“Get rid of him!?” The old man stammers. “He’s one of our best experiments yet! You can’t just get rid of him like that!”

“We can and we will.” One of the females spat.

The other chuckled. “At least were giving you time. Your not the only who has some faith in this one. He’s a real keeper, not to mention he’s got a great eye.” She humors.

A small alarm went off, the sound coming from a little timer that was attached to the humans wrists- ‘watches’ they call it. “Time to go.” Came the male, and the Borg heard the sound of footsteps leaving the room before his human asked them to stop.

“Just wait a minute!”

It went silent for a second before one of the females let out a heavy sigh. “What is it?”

“You-” His human started, hesitant for a moment. “Please... you do realize how long we’ve been waiting for this, don’t you? He’s ready. I’m sure of it.”

The male gave a low grunt. “I know you are, but were running out of patients. Do you think this is the first time you’ve gone through this?” He didn’t give the older man time to finish. “Were leaving. Now.”

His human didn’t say anything else after that, remaining silent until the three other heart beats left the room, leaving only one. His continued to go at a faster rate, not out of what he thought at first was fear, but actually rage. The Borg finally opened his eyes, spotting the older male standing in the middle of the room eyeing the exit. When he turned to him he looked slightly startled to see him awake like this, but that quickly went away as a noticeable scowl came across his wrinkled features, a face identical to the look of disappointment but a little bit more.

He didn’t say anything else, he didn’t need to say anything else, only continuing to stare at the tall Borg for a bit before pulling out a small card and swiping it on something right beside his pod.

The old man muttered something under his breath, a language the Borg did not understand, before his vision suddenly went dark and all of his senses shut down. He was being put to rest, but the feeling didn’t sit well with him. It didn’t feel right, it felt.... well, he didn’t know how it felt. How could he know? His current mission was to rest after all, and this human was just merely helping him out, so he was’t suppose to feel anything. So why did he? Why did he feel something?

The last thing he heard was the sound of a beating heart, the humans, but for the first time in his life, it wasn’t something he was very welcomed to hear.