The Borg could also have evolved out of a nanotechnology experiment gone awry. Remember, once you start a nanomachine, you can't exactly debug it.
It could also be a last-ditch archival device, meant to preserve the 'social and technological distinctiveness' of the parent culture. Launched in the final days of a global war, no one ever realizes what's happening until it's too late. Cities dropping off the net are read as massive pre-emptive strikes, the war intensifies ... all the while providing the very impetus for the archival nanomachine to accelerate its process and learn to adapt.
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