Regeneration - What the hell were they thinking?

[Gatac]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Hm. I suspect that cloning is something the Collective dabbles in during their "free time". It's the standard approach when you have time and don't want to hunt around for people to assimilate. It should be noted that tactical drones are probably cloned - they profit the most from being created with a genetic advantage. On the other hand, the "thinkers" should be assimilated. Assimilated tactical drones are just about as useful as cloned thinkers - they can be used in a pinch, but the results of the former are quite random and the results of the latter quite underwhelming, especially when one considers that assimilated drones actually bring new knowledge into the hive. Concluding, both make sense and should be considered effective ways of generating Borg. As for actual sexual reproduction, it is probably considered ineffective. Cloned cells could be grown in artificial wombs until they are roughly the equivalent of a regularly gestated baby ready for birth - then they can be placed in a maturation chamber and be grown to full size much faster than natural.

Regarding sex, perhaps Borg find the direct joining of minds a pleasurable experience that transcends primal urges. Or maybe they don't, and live in eternal frustration - well, that's one heck of a motive for hating the universe, don'tcha think ?

Concerning the prevalence of humanoid drones, one might argue that they would require a different user interface (Thank you, Enterprise, for actually acknowledging that!). On the other hand, Borg are linked to their ships, so that might be a moot point. However, merely going by how many non-humanoid sentient species we have seen, it seems a roughly humanoid configuration is a very important factor in archieving spaceflight in the Trek universe. A species that can not, for example, create and use tools, will not archieve any sort of meaningful technology - this leaves a loophole for psychokinetic adepts (Who said you need hands when you can shape metal with your mind?), but generally limits the criteria to a species with complex digits and an opposable thumb. Also, the requirements of a large cranial capacity, a highly effective central nervous system and the ability to communicate in a complex language are quite hard to meet. For example, Species 8472 - very alien by Trek standards - does bear a striking resemblance to the normal humanoid scheme, even if 8472s are tripods. (The same goes for Arex from TAS.) There are just certain requirements that seem to call for a roughly humanoid solution.

Does it have to be mammals? No, probably not. Cardassians, after all, have a very reptilian flair; and Gorn are giant space lizards. Still, an insectoid has multiple problems to overcome; trachea and exoskeletons don't scale up well. An insect with a pseudo-blood circulatory system, a partial endoskeleton and an exoskeleton built on the foundation of a *very* hard alien material, plus some method of insulating their nervous system for greater performance (whether humanoid style or octopus style) *could* work. (And that's probably what Xindi insectoids are.) On the other hand, a horror ant (a scaled up normal insect) can't work; see scaling problem. You may debate to what degree my super-insect can be considered being an insect at all; but these are the requirements.

Concerning assimilating a tiger - for what reason? The animal is not sentient, and does not possess a 'mind' to link with, at least as far as we know. You may gain a remote-controlled tiger, but that's it. I suppose a drone in this situation would rather set it's nanobots to *kill* - attack cells, release a fast-acting poison, whatever. True, we haven't seen them do that, but it would be nonsensical to do to a sentient being - why kill what you can assimilate and get a use out of? On the other hand, a remote-control tiger isn't of much use in most situations; kill him and be done with it.

So, what is my verdict? I don't think we can get much more exotic than 8472 and the insectoid Xindi; as nasty as it sounds, but spaceflight (or failing that, culture) requires a complex array of attributes from a species that only humanoid or closely-related species seem to be able to fulfill. On the other hand, assimilating any of the sentient species shown on Trek? Sure, knock yourselves out. Unless the being is not corporeal or has any inherent nanoprobe-defeating qualities, assimilation should be possible - though perhaps not until a few members of the respective species have been brought in and examined to determine the most effective usage of implants.

So, that's my two slips of Latinum.

Gatac[/colorost_uid0]