“Imperfection” is episode two of season seven of Star Trek: Voyager.
Voyager is saying goodbye to Azan and Rebi, having found a home for them, and Mezoti is leaving too. She tells Icheb he can still come with them; he says she can still remain on Voyager. According to Mezoti, the custom of the people she’s going to be living with is not to say goodbye. She prefers the human way, and hugs goodbye to Seven, as do the two boys. They are then beamed off.
On the way back to the cargo bay, Seven tells Icheb they should deactivate the children’s alcoves; they are a drain on the energy reserves. Icheb doesn’t seem keen; it seems like insufficient time has passed. An emotional response, Seven says; he will be fine. Icheb looks at Seven and says she’s crying. She thinks her ocular implant must be malfunctioning.
The Doctor scans Seven and says there’s nothing wrong with crying; it’s normal. However, his equipment says there is a problem; a glitch in her primary cortical node. Have there been any other malfunctions? No. The Doctor gives her a look. Okay, yes, headaches. The Doctor tells Seven she needs to let him know. If it will make the Doctor feel better, in the future she will. Currently, she’d like this kept to them; all crew are entitled to medical confidentiality.
Icheb is in astrometrics looking at something that he removes when Seven arrives. He tells her he wants to take on a more challenging assignment; to work on the bridge. Seven says he doesn’t have the proper training. That’s why he wants to take the entrance exam to Starfleet Academy and forward it to Earth on the next data stream. Tuvok was a tutor and could teach him. Seven could take it too. She has no interest in that. One of Seven’s hands starts bubbling and she claims she has work in the cargo bay. She heads to her alcove but can’t regenerate because the interface is incompatible. The problem isn’t the alcove; it’s Seven’s cortical node.
Neelix finds Seven in the mess hall where she has been all night, drinking nutritional supplements of her own design. Neelix, after talking to her, suggests she gets B’Elanna to take a look at her alcove. Seven eventually agrees he’s right, but collapses on the way out and Borg technology breaks through her skin.
Seven is revived in sickbay and the Doctor and Captain Janeway tell her that her body has begun to reject its implants. Her cortical node has destabilised and is no longer able to regulate her implants, which are shutting down. Sure, the Doctor has removed minor implants, but these control her biological functions. If the cortical node can’t regulate them yes, she will die. Seven thinks the cortical node will repair itself in time. The Doctor disagrees. They can’t replicate a new one and in the Collective, the Borg would have replaced the node.
On the bridge, the captain tells them to set a course to a Borg debris field they passed. She explains about Seven. Tuvok reminds her that the Borg often return to salvage their vessels. That’s why the captain is taking the Delta Flyer alone. Tom reminds her that the last time she took the Delta Flyer, it wound up in pieces. A good pilot, and a good tactical officer, might help her bring it back in one piece (The Delta Flyer was destroyed in “Unimatrix Zero”; the reason why this new one has suddenly appeared is because this episode was supposed to be shown after the next, “Drive”.)
On the way to the shuttle bay, Icheb speaks to the captain. At cross-purposes to start with; he’s talking about the Starfleet Academy Entrance exam and she about Seven’s illness. Icheb didn’t know Seven was ill and the captain fills him in. In sickbay, Seven doesn’t give him a great greeting; the Doctor takes Icheb aside and explains that Seven isn’t angry at him, she’s just angry.
The Delta Flyer arrives at the debris field and are salvaging a drone when some other aliens object. However, they manage to get away with a cortical node. In sickbay, Seven is working when Neelix arrives with a kadis-kot board, which the Doctor gets her to play by suggesting she’s not capable. Then the away team returns with the node.
Unfortunately, sims show problems fitting the node to Seven. Without one, she’ll die. So, Icheb has an idea. A dangerous idea.