Seven of Nine continues to forgo regeneration in order to work on downloading a message from Starfleet. The doctor tells her she could be harming herself, and reminds her that she is no longer a borg drone, to which she replies acidly that she doesn't need reminding. When the letters turn out to contain letters from home, Janeway asks Seven what she intends to do when they reach the alpha quadrant. Even though she says their return to the alpha quadrant is irrelevant to her, she looks horrified when Janeway suggests she might have family on earth.
Seven requests to take a shuttle closer to the network in order to more quickly download the message. The captain orders her to go with Tuvok. Seven worries that the captain doesn't trust her. When Seven and Tuvok have been captured by the Hirogen, she seems fiercely proud of the Captain and Voyager's tenacity and formidableness. Even though she continues to have trouble integrating socially with the crew, she appears to feel some connection with them.
