| |
SUMMARY: The Doctor experiences physical corporeality among a race that hunts down photonics.
the Doctor tries to interest Seven in the comet sample |
The Doctor, Seven, and Kim are on a mission in the Delta Flyer. The Doctor is collecting spores from the tails of comets for the Doctor to use in synthesising new medicines. He tries to interest Seven in a comet sample which contains primitive strands of DNA - he is excited by it as he sees in it the beginnings of life and the miracle of creation. Suddenly they come under attack for transporting a "photonic insurgent" through Lokirrim space. The Delta Flyer's thrusters, shields, and subspace communications go offline as a result of the attack, making the shuttle open to being boarded. The patrol vessel's Captain Ranek fires a disruption field that starts to decompiles the Doctor's matrix. |
the Lokirrim ship fires on the Delta Flyer |
the Lokirrim ship seizes the Delta Flyer using a tractor beam |
|
|
| the Doctor's program fritzes and the Doctor begs Seven to do something |
|
When Ranek leads a boarding party onto the Delta Flyer, he observes that the biogenic material (the comet samples, for instance) aboard the Delta Flyer could be used to create viral weapons. Transporting photonics and manufacturing biogenic weapons in Lokirrim space are serious charges. Ranek finds and confiscates the Doctor's mobile emitter, which Seven calls her portable regeneration unit. |
Jaryn (to Ranek's right) discovers biogenic material |
Ranek notices the mobile emitter which Seven claims is her portable regeneration unit |
Kim and Seven (actually the Doctor too) in the Lokirrim holding cell |
Ranek impounds the Delta Flyer, taking it aboard his own ship and keeping it in the docking bay. He also detains Kim and Seven in a holding cell. There Kim discovers that, to escape the Lokirrim, the Doctor's program was downloaded into Seven's cybernetic implants, and is now in control of her body. While the Doctor's program is in Seven's body, her consciousness is submerged, but physiologically she is fine. As a result, for the first time the Doctor is able to have sensory experiences, including touch and smell. He devours the ordinary prison rations given them by the Lokirrim, and Kim's as well even though Kim says his uniform would probably taste better. |
the Doctor enjoys the sensation of physical existence |
enjoying the sensationof eating, the Doctor requests the rest of Kim's ration of prison food |
Tuvok is forced to interrupt his attempt to meditate so that Paris can scan him with a medical tricorder |
Meanwhile on Voyager, in Tuvok's private quarters, Paris treats Tuvok for a neurochemical imbalance. Symptoms include headache, fever, respiratory distress, and tremors. Both know that the condition is indicative of Pon farr, the Vulcan septennial mating urge. The Vulcan libido increases with age, making it a particularly difficult time for Tuvok. Paris promises to replicate a special medication from the Doctor's database, stored under file Theta-12-Alpha, and to keep the condition secret. The Doctor believed that, combined with meditation by Tuvok, the treatment would enable him to control the symptoms. |
the Delta Flyer on the Lokirrim ship |
Ranek has Seven brought to the aft compartment of the Flyer for questioning, unaware that the Doctor's program is inhabiting her body. When Ranek notes that the biogenic material aboard could be used to create viral weapons, Seven/the Doctor dismisses the idea as ridiculous. Ranek queries the function of the equipment in one corner of the compartment and Seven/the Doctor demonstrates it to prove that it is harmless - it is the food replicator. Seven/the Doctor orders a slice of New York cheesecake from the replicator. Upon tasting it, Seven/the Doctor experiences rapture. Ranek wonders what else the replicator can produce. |
Seven/the Doctor denies the Delta Flyer crewmembers are criminals |
Seven/the Doctor has the replicator replicate a slice of New York cheesecake |
|
|
| Seven/the Doctor and then Ranek discover the delights of replicated New York cheesecake |
Before long, Seven/the Doctor and Ranek have devoured New York cheesecake, lots of plates of food, and downed numerous glasses of wine. Seven/the Doctor gets drunk, despite it being synthehol. (About two years previously, in [#100 Timeless], Seven discovered that she became intoxicated after just one glass of synthehol champagne, so several glasses of wine for her is equivalent to more for the average human.)
|
|
| Ranek and Seven over-indulge, using the replicator to produce food and drink to excess |
Seven insists that she will not survive long as she needs her "portable regeneration unit". Unaware that he is having his sympathies played upon, Ranek hands over the mobile emitter in exchange for promised medical services, then returns Seven/the Doctor to the holding cell.
|
|
| Ranek is persuaded to give Seven/the Doctor the mobile emitter, wrongly believing it to be an essential portable regeneration device |
Kim is at first shocked that Seven/the Doctor has been on a date with Ranek and over-indulged, but is pleased that the mobile emitter has been retrieved |
There the Doctor's matrix is restored. The disoriented and rather drunk Seven then scolds the Doctor for abusing her body, and an argument ensues in which the Doctor accuses her of failing to take advantage of her sensory abilities, saying that she would rather order a nutritional supplement than caviar. The Doctor notes that her senses are more acute than the average humanoid. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
| above 8 screenshots: the Doctor's program is transferred from Seven's cybernetic systems into the mobile emitter and he is brought online |
|
|
| Seven, feeling the worse for wear after the excessive eating and drinking, is cross with the Doctor |
in the Lokirrim medical bay |
Soon afterwards, Jaryn arrives arrives to collect Seven, who, to hide the Doctor, once again has his program downloaded into her cybernetic implants. Jaryn describes herself as the ship's tactical officer, medic and engineer. She takes Seven/the Doctor to treat Lokirrim soldiers. There Seven/the Doctor learns that the Lorkirrim attitude toward photonics is a result of an insurgence that occurred, in which the photonics rebelled against the organics. The photonics possess a viral weapon which attacks organics' cerebral cortex, so that within days the victims suffer complete synaptic failure. The Doctor suggests synthesising a neural inhibitor to combat the weapon. |
|
|
| Seven/the Doctor and Jaryn work together and gradually come to know each other |
Tuvok with a hologram of his wife T'Pel on the holodeck |
On Voyager, the medication to stabilise Tuvok's condition does not work, so Paris creates a replica of the Vulcan's wife in the holodeck in the hope that this will satisfy his longing. Tuvok hesitantly agrees, but while he participates in the simulation, the ship comes under attack by a Lokirrim vessel because it senses photonic activity aboard (the holodeck). Janeway agrees to shut down the holodecks and she reluctantly agrees to the Lokirrim ship escorting Voyager through Lokirrim territory. As a result, Tuvok's time in the holodeck is abruptly ended, leaving him, if anything, worse off than before. |
|
|
| a Lokirrim patrol ship captain and Janeway talk via audio-visual link |
Ranek calls for Seven to meet him on the bridge. When Seven/the Doctor arrives, the Doctor does not notice that the Lokirrim captain, who is alone, has dimmed the lights to create a romantic ambience. Ranek accesses the ship's controls to show Seven/the Doctor the romantic sight of a pulsar cluster that Lokirrim poets call the Window of Dreams, and claims there is nothing else like it in the Quadrant. But Ranek does not realise that Seven/the Doctor watched him enter his command codes.
in the subdued lighting, Seven/the Doctor is surprised to find Ranek alone on his bridge |
Ranek inputs his command codes, unaware that Seven/the Doctor is secretly watching |
The pulsar's EM field vibrates against the ship's hull and creates musical sounds that Seven/the Doctor claims are identical to the rhythm produced by the eight-chambered Ktarian heart. Seven/the Doctor fails to read the signs of Ranek's romantic interest, such as his producing glases of champagne, and misinterprets Ranek's rapid pulse and "respiratory distress" as symptoms of illness due to the pulsar's proximity. But Ranek knows what the matter is and suddenly her/the Doctor. Shocked, Seven/the Doctor pushes him away and hurriedly leaves.
the pulsar cluster known as the Window of Dreams |
Ranek suddenly kisses Seven/the Doctor |
Seven/the Doctor returns to the medical bay. Whilst expressing outrage at Ranek's forwardness, Seven/the Doctor learns that Jaryn has romantic feelings for her captain. Since the Doctor also cares for Jaryn - who knows him only as Seven - he says that she should find someone more like himself. While talking, Seven/the Doctor is suddenly wracked by muscular pain. Jaryn gives her/him a massage unaware that the pleasant sensation and intimacy with Seven/the Doctor is arousing (her/)him. Seven/the Doctor is on the verge of revealing the truth about herself/himself when Jaryn says that she already knows the secret. Jaryn believes the secret is that Seven/the Doctor is ashamed of being part-Borg and has been trying to hide it. Seven/the Doctor, having had time to reconsider revealing the real truth, is pleased that her/his cover is safe.
angry, Seven/the Doctor tells Jaryn that Ranek tried to use his face as a "tongue-depressor" |
Seven/the Doctor can hardly believe that Jaryn is romantically interested in a Lothario like Ranek |
Seven/the Doctor then gets called to the holding cell to treat Kim, who has faked a seizure. Once he has Seven/the Doctor there, which was the motive for the seizure, Kim presses them to brief him on what they learned about the ship's com. system. Seven/the Doctor saw Ranek enter his command codes, so they are able to formulate a plan to send a message to Voyager from the Delta Flyer. The plan requires the Doctor, in Seven's body, to get Ranek alone in the Delta Flyer, act alluringly towards him and render him unconscious once his guard is down.
Kim pretends to be ill in order to get Seven/the Doctor returned to the holding cell to treat him |
the Doctor berates Seven for not wanting to explore life's sensations, saying that indulgences are what makes living worthwhile |
On Voyager, despite his illness which is claimed to be Tarkalean flu, Tuvok insists on manning his post at security/tactical on the Bridge. He realises that Janeway knows the true nature of his condition when she observes that the last time he suffered from Tarkalean flu was 7 years ago, and promises that as soon as the matter with the Lokirrim is over the holodeck is at his disposal. Neelix arrives, unaware of the true nature of Tuvok's illness, bringing him a special soup to help alleviate the Tarkalean flu. Unlike Neelix's frequent offerings, the Talaxian has prepared the soup just the way Tuvok likes it - no herbs or spices of any kind, no aroma, and it is practically tasteless.
Janeway, despite having been given the cover story of Tarkalean flu, knows what Tuvok's real condition is |
Neelix brings Tuvok some practically tasteless soup, his grandmother's recipe, to alleviate the Tarkalean flu |
They are interrupted by the Doctor (looking like Seven of course) making secret contact and transmitting the Lokirrim ship's co-ordinates and command codes.
|
|
| in a secret transmission by Seven/the Doctor from the Delta Flyer, Janeway learns the plight of the away team |
|
Voyager disables the Lokirrim escort ship, then jumps to warp speed in a now urgent mission to find and rescue the away team.
On the Lokirrim ship, Jaryn brings Ranek back to consciousness. Immediately he orders Seven/the Doctor be taken back to the holding cell. He and Jaryn are disappointed in her/him as they had become impressed by her/him and were going to recommend leniency regarding the charges, but now she/he has betrayed that trust. When the approach of an alien starship is signalled, Ranek orders Seven/the Doctor brought to the bridge with him so that he can keep an eye on her. |
On approaching Ranek's patrol ship, Janeway asks for the return of her people. When Ranek refuses because the Delta Flyer crew were caught transporting a photonic insurgent and biogenic material, Chakotay uses Ranek's command codes to disable the shields.
|
|
| Ranek and Janeway talk via audio-visual link |
When the Lokirrim ship breaks free of Voyager's tractor beam, Janeway sends a secret message to Seven ordering her to disable the Lokirrim shields. She/he transfers the Doctor's program to the mobile emitter and the Doctor suddenly materialises on the Lokirrim ship's bridge. The surprise tactic gives Seven enough time to seize a gun. The Doctor covers the Lokirrim personnel while Seven tries to disable the shields. But Ranek manages to seize the weapon and Seven surrenders. As Seven has destabilised the shield grid, Ranek tries to re-initialise the grid even though it could overload and kill everyone. The control console explodes, critically injuring Ranek. Although able to be transported to Voyager, the Doctor insists on staying on the Lokirrim ship longer where he uses his medical expertise to save Ranek, at the same time having to reveal his true identity to an initially incredulous Jaryn.
|
|
| the Doctor comes online on the Lokirrim bridge |
|
|
| Ranek is badly injured |
After Ranek is saved, he feels obliged to express gratitude to the Doctor even though he is a hologram/photonics. Now that true identities have been revealed and Voyager requires its chief medical officer, there can be no future for the Doctor and Jaryn, but they part as friends, and maybe her opinion of photonics has changed for the better as a result of knowing him.
Ranek talks with the Doctor |
the Doctor starts to beam back to Voyager |
Back on Voyager, and with the Delta Flyer and its crew retrieved, Tuvok is cured after continuing the interrupted holoprogram. However, he complains to Paris that his wife's ears are 4 millimetres shorter than the facsimile's. He says that the holo-wife wife was no real substitute, something that Paris probably knew would be the case.
Voyager travelling at warp speed, having resumed a course for the Alpha Quadrant |
Paris and the Tuvok discuss the holoprogram |
|
The Doctor feels a bit down since permanently returning to his non-corporeal existence and finds his normal routine boring. Seven pays the Doctor a visit in Sickbay bringing replicated delicacies that she previously would have considered indulgences - foie gras with truffles which she describes as an ancient Earth delicacy, and a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem which, according to the culinary database, is the ideal accompaniment. Since the Doctor can no longer share the experience of eating and drinking, Seven promises to describe the meal to him so that he can enjoy it vicariously. Her friendship, her thoughtfulness and companionship cheer him up.
|
|
|
 | | DOCTOR: These last few days have been a revelation - feeling your lungs fill with air, the surge of adrenaline through your veins. Until I spent a day in your skin, I never knew what I was missing.
SEVEN: You may have been better off not knowing.
DOCTOR: We're quite a pair - me trapped by the limitations of photons and forcefields, you by a drone's obsession with efficiency. |
|
