Report to Federation Oversight Board

Report - Status of Unix Avengers Project
[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION PROTOCAL SCT-31 IS IN EFFECT]

In being asked by the Classified Operations Oversight Board to report on the status of our research into Borg technology, I am first compelled to reveal my personal experience with Borg technology.

I was nearly assimilated by the Borg during the Incident at [REDACTED] and, though I never lost control of my thoughts, I had begun to feel the presence of the collective seeping in before the Borg neural probes were neutralized by Dr. [REDACTED]. This experience gave me personal reasons to loathe and fear the Borg. But my Second Officer is a liberated Borg. She is a unique and wonderful individual in every way and has saved my life, the lives of the thousands under my command, and the lives of millions in the course of her service to The Federation. One of my science officers is a liberated Borg, He is often a chilling reminder of what I almost became, and has not regained the individuality that Commander Oni has, but he is far more than a mere drone and has actually become a true member of the crew. My ship has been retrofitted with Borg technology, causing parts of it to resemble Borg ships; yet even with eerie green lit hallways and asymetrical portursions, she still feels like home.

None of this bothers my crew. Why? It is not what the Borg are that we oppose, it is what they do. Forced assimilation of entire cultures is anathema to the Federation. We must submit or be destroyed, we are left with a binary choice and only one real choice to make: Fight. If the Borg were to focus on creating a new culture rather than homogenizing all others, they could become staunch allies. But I digress.

What it boils down to for me is two simple things:
 * 1) I am absolutely certain that Borg technology can be studied and used safely.
 * 2) I always operate all experiments under the assumption that: no matter what safeguards, it cannot be controlled.

By following the second of these guidelines, we have undoubtedly sacrificed many significant advantages, but we have not had so much as a strange glitch we couldn't track down. The brilliant efforts of our teams writing entirely new firmware drivers and the working bones of a stable operating system, entirely of Federation design, capable of running Borg systems is one of the most significant breakthroughs in a generation.

The fact that they were able to do this using a computer system from the 20th century boggles the mind. It has been remarkable to witness hardware that had to be replicated from Museum archives running some of the most advanced Borg technology we have yet encountered. Aside from this relative novelty, the approach has proven wildly successful as no Borg DRM have seen the Unix Root files as a threat until they were ordered, successfully, to disarm.

To sum up: I am certain this can be accomplished, more certain that it needs to be at least attempted, and absolutely unequivocally certain that these are the people to do it. Request indefinite funding for continued work on the Unix Avengers series of R&D projects.

Response
We have reviewed your findings and read your report.

Request unanimously approved.

Funding for Unix Avengers Project renewed indefinitely. Continue to use Covert Operations account [REDACTED] for the time being.

Addendum - Stardate [REDACTED]
It has come to our attention that Franklin Drake has several operatives aboard your station. Our intel suggests that they are acting as an additional layer of security and see your project as one worthy of defending. While the fact that Section 31 feels no need to interfere with and, in fact, seems to be actively supporting your endeavours should give you great pause, there is currently no reason to activate Protocal [REDACTED] at this time.