[And just like that's there's fire in him again. A refusal to give up. That Boimler tenacity! He's back! He can fight this. He can win. He got faux-assimilated in Shari Oingo Boingo's stupid holo-pods, and he'd bounced back from that. He has experience with assimilation, after a sort! If anyone can get through it, it's him. Him using her first name shocks her out of her moping, and she grins, an unhinged quality to it.]

Yeah. Yeah! There's a whole bunch - Picard, Hugh, Icheb, Seven of Nine from your favorite ship, VOY-- [Gentle ribbing. She's back, too.] --we can fight this. We can win.

And no matter what, you're always going to be my best friend. No stupid nanites are going to change that. Got it?

[Has she ever actually told him he's her best friend before? Surely she has. Right? Not just implied it? Suddenly she's not sure.]