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The program for the Emergency
Medical Hologram is activated due to what the computer describes
as a ship-wide emergency. When the Doctor asks the computer to
scan for the crew, he learns that they were all forced to
abandon ship. Later, he encounters Torres, who says that she and
the Captain stayed behind to stop a warp core breach caused by a
Kazon attack; the remaining crew escaped in lifepods. Informed
that the injured captain needs his assistance, the Doctor is
sent to the Bridge, courtesy of new holo-emitters installed
throughout the ship.
After reviving Janeway, the
Doctor is summoned to the mess hall to assist Neelix, who is
engaged in battle with a Kazon soldier. After the scuffle, the
holographic doctor is astonished to learn that he himself is
bleeding. When queried, the computer insists that the Doctor is
actually Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, the human who created Voyager's
EMH. Stranger still, when the Captain tells the computer to shut
down all of the ship's holographic systems, Janeway, Neelix,
Torres and the Kazon soldier vanish — but the Doctor remains
intact.
Just then, Reg Barclay appears and introduces himself as
Zimmerman's assistant. Barclay tells the Doctor that he is at
Jupiter Station running a holodeck program, but something has
gone wrong due to a radiation surge. He claims there's no U.S.S.
Voyager lost in the Delta Quadrant; it's simply a program that
Zimmerman created. He tells the Doctor that he must end the
simulation before radiation from the accident kills him, and the
only way to do so is by destroying Voyager.
At first, the Doctor flatly refuses. Yet Reg's arguments are
persuasive, and soon the Doctor is prepared to fire his phaser
at Voyager's warp core. Suddenly, Chakotay appears and orders
the Doctor to lower his weapon, claiming that Barclay is lying.
Chakotay explains that there's been an accident on Voyager that
affected the imaging system while the Doctor was in the holodeck.
Chakotay says that Barclay himself is a simulation, and that if
the Doctor listens to him, he'll wind up destroying his own
program. The Doctor isn't sure whom to believe but delays acting
on Barclay's advice long enough to prove that Chakotay's story
is true. The problem is finally solved, and the Doctor is
returned to Sickbay where he reflects on his unusual day.
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