MEDICAL LOGS

FAVORITE SON
Season 3 : Episode 62

 

MEDICAL REPORT:

During the attack on Voyager by the Nasari ship, pressure builds in plasma Conduit G-6 until it blows, and Torres suffers injuries as she is caught in the explosion. She suffers second-degree burns on her lungs, second-degree and third degree burns to her body and several broken ribs. As regards the lung injury, the Doctor performs a pulmonary regeneration to heal the injuries before her neural tissues totally degenerate from oxygen depravation. Afterwards she is ordered to remain in Sickbay to recuperate.

the Doctor, assisted by Kes, operates on Torres, as the guilt-ridden Kim arrives to see how Torres is and sees more injured brought in

the Doctor operates on Torres

Kes treats a cut that Kim sustained during the attack

Kim has a strange dream, wakes and discovers mysterious spots on his face. He visits Sickbay. Doctor: "Well, the good news is I won't have to quarantine you. There's no sign of an infectious agent anywhere in your body." Kim: "And the bad news?" Doctor: "If I don't find the cause of this rash it will be difficult to treat." Kim: "Last night I had a dream about being sick with the Mendakan pox when I was nine. Do you think this could be a recurrence?" Doctor, lightly: "I've never considered dreams as a diagnostic tool before. Your unconscious mind sensed these developing symptoms and tried to provide an explanation? Huh, recurrences of this particular illness are rare, but I will consider the possibility. Hmm." Kim: "What?" Doctor: "In addition to your visible symptoms, your blood chemistry has been slightly altered." Kim: "Is that serious?" Doctor: "No, but it's not consistent with the symptoms of the Mendakan pox." Kim: "Doctor, you don't think there could be any er psychological effects from this disease, do you?" Doctor: "Such as?" Kim: "I've been having this strange 'deja-vu' feeling. Then yesterday on the Bridge I had this sudden instinct, and I acted on it by firing without orders." Doctor: "I'd certainly call that atypical behaviour. Your scans haven't shown any neurological abnormalities, but I will run a closer analysis."

When it seems that Kim is actually not human but Taresian, the Doctor's initial examination finds Taresian DNA which seems to corroborate the story told by the Taresians.

monitor display shown by the Doctor to Janeway and Tuvok

Doctor: "It's a positive match. These genetic fragments within Ensign Kim's DNA are clearly Taresian." Why they did not show up in previous medical scans: "I went back and checked his scans carefully. These fragments have apparently been disguising themselves as the recessive elements which normally exist within all DNA, but over the past few days they've become increasingly dominant over his human genes." Tuvok: "And they've provided him with new knowledge?" Doctor: "Yes, by forming neural connections in his brain. All humanoid babies are born with certain instinctive knowledge. How to recognise the shape of a face, how to hold their breath underwater. It all comes from their genes." Janeway: "The Taresians must have found a way to manipulate genetic material to implant very specific knowledge into their children." Doctor: "It's scientifically plausible but quite a feat of genetic engineering." Janeway: "So what the Taresians have been telling us appears to be true. Harry is one of their people." Doctor: "And he's becoming more like them every day, both physically and neurologically."

However, and while Kim is absent on Taresia with Voyager being prevented by the Taresians' tachyon grid from approaching, when the Doctor checks Kim's previous microcellular scans, he finds no traces of the Taresian genetic fragments and can only conclude he was not born with them. The alien DNA continues to alter Kim's genetic structure, and within a few days he will be indistinguishable from a native Taresian. The Doctor believes that he was exposed to a retrovirus which was laced with the alien DNA. Typically, the transporter bio-filters would pick up the virus and eliminate it, but once the virus transferred the DNA into his cells, the damage would have been done. Since the transporter buffer performs its own version of a microcellular scan every time someone uses it, the Doctor reviews the logs and finds the first appearance of the alien genes in Kim's molecular pattern on stardate 50698, and Chakotay notes that that was the date of an away mission to a planet with vorillium. (In  [#60 Darkling], Janeway is informed that there are asteroids with much-needed vorilium in their path, note the difference in spelling: vorilium/vorillium. It is unclear whether or not the writers were referring to the same substance; however, Encyclopaedia does refer to them as two different materials.)

Doctor: "The alien DNA is continuing to alter his genetic structure. Within a few days he'll be indistinguishable from a native Taresian."

When Kim returns to Voyager after being rescued, the Doctor restores his human DNA.

DOCTOR'S QUOTE:

To Kim: "I've never considered dreams as a diagnostic tool before. Your unconscious mind sensed these developing symptoms and tried to provide an explanation? Huh, recurrences of this particular illness are rare, but I will consider the possibility. Hmm."