The Borg

Captain’s log, stardate 2012844.1.
The Enterprise is investigating reports that middleware vendors have entered the BPM cluster belt, looking for prospects for colonization.

RIKER: Riker to Enterprise.
PICARD’S COM VOICE: Go ahead, Number One.

RIKER: We’ve found the wreckage of a small company.
PICARD: Acknowledged. What the status with the Borg?

RIKER: It seems that they are on the war path to annihilate the entire BPM race.
PICARD: Are you sure it’s not an isolated event. Did you try to negotiate with them?

DATA: Captain, The Borg are extremely computer-dependent. They see BPM only as another interface to use by their systems. They do not believe in negotiating, they assimilate new BPM companies into their own system. Basically there is no way around them.

RIKER: I agree. We’re at war.
PICARD: There’s been no formal declaration of war.
RIKER: Not from our side. But certainly from theirs. They’ve attacked us in every encounter we’ve had. They have declared war on our way of life.
From their point-of-view we need to be assimilated.

PICARD: What options do we have?

DATA: The Borg are middleware. Computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. Without real information coming from the BPM systems they are just a set of interfaces. Kill the information would kill the middleware.

PICARD: Even in war, there are rules. You don’t kill civilians indiscriminately.
DATA: There are no civilians among the Borg. Think of them as a single, collective being. Any one BPM company is no more an individual than your arm or your leg.

RIKER: It comes down to this: We are faced with an enemy that is determined to destroy us, and with whom we have no hope of negotiating peace. Unless that changes, we are justified in doing anything we can to survive.
As I see it, the Borg leave us little choice.

PICARD: Acknowledged.
(stands)

PICARD: Begin auto-destruct sequence, authorization Picard-four-seven-alpha-tango.
COMPUTER: Command authorization accepted. Awaiting final code to begin auto-destruct sequence.
PICARD: This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Destruct sequence alpha-one, 15 minutes, silent countdown. Enable.
COMPUTER: Self-destruct in 15 minutes. There will be no further audio warnings.

RIKER: So much for BPM.
PICARD: We barely knew her.
RIKER: You think they’ll let us build another one?
PICARD: Sure. There are plenty of letters left in the alphabet.