[Morris]

That's a tough choice.

On the one hand if you're dead, you're dead. That's it. Game over.

On the other hand being assimilated, physically you survive and your memories would live on forever in the collective as long as it's around. But you lose your sense of self, your free will. You stop being you. If you were lucky maybe you'd be one of the rare few who could visit Unimatrix Zero when you regenerated but other than that you're just a mindless drone, not to mention one of the most hated races in the galaxy.

All of that on the slim chance that you get liberated one day, I don't know I think I'd have to go with death just because of how unlikely being liberated actually was. Because on screen anyway there's only been what? Three Borg who were liberated. Picard, Hugh and Seven if my memory serves. (Technically the Borg kids too.) Picard was liberated because he had a crew who wanted to get him back and Hugh and Seven's liberation's were accidents. There was no way Janeway would have willingly tried to liberate Seven from the Collective, if anything she would have expected the Borg to betray them and either shut her down or spaced her the second she could have if she hadn't had her link to the Collective severed.

So taking that into consideration, barring an accident or being on the right crew who wanted to risk getting you back, the odds of it actually happening are slim to none so yeah I'm taking death.

There was also Seven of Nine's group that was stranded out of communication from the collective for a while, where Seven fused the others in her group together because they were regaining their individuality. They returned to the collective, but eventually were liberated, though the link that Seven performed on them was irreversible, resulting in their death when the link was severed. Also, Hugh had a group that followed Lore for a while. They presumably formed a colony on that planet after Lore was taken care of. STO builds on that with The Cooperative, I believe. I never understood the selective liberation that was shown in Star Trek. Picard was worth saving, but others of his crew were not. After Lore, Hugh and his crew could have been more fully liberated, but were left to figure things out for themselves. The Doctor did a fine job on Seven, and the children. So, obviously the technology exists to liberate, and as time went on, the federation became more and more capable of resisting the Borg. It seemed as though the Federation was adapting to the Borg faster than the Borg could adapt to them. Even time travel didn't work out for the Borg. My point is, yes, if you were assimilated, you could do harm to others, and you could be lost forever to the collective, but evidence suggests that as time goes on, your odds of being liberated grow better, and no one knows what positive things you could be destined for, post-assimilation, if you never survived to find out.

[KaiserKirk]

We will all become one with the Borg!

Oh and also I believe that even if you die you could become assimilated anyway. Say you are cornered on a cube or a planet-wide invasion has begun. The Borg will go out of their way to assimilate you not kill you. And that means you will have to kill yourself. Mentally I'm not prepared to take my own life. Also, I do believe that the Borg could still find a use for your corpse, whether it is to find ways to assimilate dying organics or just to examine your biology.

Who would want to be a fleshy one-minded simpleton anyway, with the Borg you can never be alone, can travel the entire galaxy, meet inferior alien scum, and get to play with all the latest technology aquired from said alien scum.

Oh, and the Borg are cool!

[Sagison Brandt]

Morris, all excellent counter/supporting points to my above post. I think there's probably always a place for the unbridled optimism you're describing, and I applaud you for it! Here's to hoping we never have to make such a Devil's choice in our real lives

[MachoCyclone]

I would volunteer to be assimilated and help them take the rest of Earth.

[Ariotex]

Tough choice. As already stated, I doubt that I would have the fortitude, or even the will, to off myself to avoid assimilation, whereas there is a chance, however slim it may be, that assimilation would not be permanent. If we include STO lore, along with ST canon, we have the coop actively hunting down Borg and freeing them from the collective, plus the Feds at least have learned how to free drones from the collective. Although a grey area of the Prime Directive, I can see the Federation joining the Coop in an all out war with the Borg, however, instead of destroying them, freeing them, so the chances of being freed if assimilated are likely higher than most would think.

My lore game is weak right now. Do the Borg even age ? If not, then once assimilated, you are effectively immune to disease, aging etc, a few hundred years from now, the now massive coop/Fed coalition will find you and free you, and then use Temporal hijinks to get rid of the Borg before they ever really start and it all never happens anyway.

[Tatchi]

That's a tough choice.

On the one hand if you're dead, you're dead. That's it. Game over.

On the other hand being assimilated, physically you survive and your memories would live on forever in the collective as long as it's around. But you lose your sense of self, your free will. You stop being you.

Sounds like you're describing the average office job. Can't say that makes the choice any easier though...

[Tovuk]

I would rather be dead than assimilated.
RESISTENCE IS NOT FUTILE