MEDICAL LOGS

BODY AND SOUL
Season 7 : Episode 153

 

DOCTOR'S LOG:

The Doctor, Seven and Kim are on a mission in the Delta Flyer collecting spores from the tails of comets for the Doctor to use in synthesising new medicines, when they come under attack for transporting a "photonic insurgent" through Lokirrim space. The patrol vessel's Captain Ranek fires a disruption field which decompiles the Doctor's matrix. Inspecting the vessel, Ranek finds the Doctor's mobile emitter, which Seven calls her portable regeneration unit. Ranek confiscates the Delta Flyer and locks the crew in a holding cell where Kim finds out that the Doctor's program has been downloaded into Seven's cybernetic implants, and is now in control of her body. While the Doctor is in Seven of Nine's body, her consciousness is submerged, but physiologically she is fine. The Doctor notes her senses are more acute than the average humanoid. For the first time, the Doctor is able to have sensory experiences, including touch and smell. Ranek has Seven taken to the Flyer for questioning, unaware that the Doctor is still inhabiting her body. Seven/the Doctor demonstrates the food replicator by requesting a slice of cheesecake and upon tasting it experiences rapture. Before long, Seven/the Doctor and Ranek have devoured plates of food and downed several glasses of wine. Ranek agrees to hand over the mobile emitter in exchange for medical services, then returns Seven/the Doctor to the holding cell.

the Doctor realises that the Lokirrim want to decompile his matrix	the Doctor's program, hidden within Seven's cybernetic systems, means that Ranek, the Lokirrim captain, searches the Delta Flyer without knowing the Doctor is there
above 4 pictures: the Doctor enjoys experiencing a corporeal nature for the first time, including overindulging in food and drink

Back in the holding cell, Seven restores the Doctor's matrix, only for Seven, who feels the rough effects of the Doctor's overindulgence, to scold the Doctor for abusing her body. Before long, Lokirrim tactical officer Jaryn takes Seven - with the Doctor's program again within her cybernetic systems and thus controlled by him - to treat their injured soldiers. He learns that the attitude toward photonics is a result of an insurgence in which the photonics, whom no one had realised had felt badly treated, rebelled against the organics. The photonics possess a viral weapon which attacks the cerebral cortex such that within days the victims suffer complete synaptic failure. The Doctor suggests synthesising a neural inhibitor to combat the weapon.

Meanwhile on Voyager, Paris treats Tuvok for a neurochemical imbalance, which turns out to be the pon farr. Paris promises to provide a special medication from the Doctor's database, and to keep the condition secret. But the medication to stabilise Tuvok's condition does not work. Paris creates a replica of the Vulcan's wife T'Pel in the holodeck hoping to 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. Janeway agrees to shut down the holodecks and allow the Lokirrim ship to escort Voyager through their territory. See also MEDICAL REPORT below.

the Doctor experiences his first kiss as a (sort of) corporeal being

Ranek calls for Seven to meet him on the bridge. There Ranek shows Seven/the Doctor a pulsar cluster their poets call the "Window of Dreams" and says there is nothing else like it in the quadrant. The pulsar's EM field vibrates against the ship's hull and creates musical sounds that Seven/the Doctor observes are identical to the rhythm produced by the eight-chambered Ktarian heart. But when Ranek makes advances to her, Seven/the Doctor pushes him away and returns to the medical bay.

There he learns that Jaryn has romantic feelings for Ranek. Since the Doctor also cares for Jaryn - who knows him only as Seven - he makes an impassioned plea for her to find someone more like himself. Seven/the Doctor then gets called to the holding cell to treat Kim, who has faked a seizure. Kim presses the Doctor and Seven for what they have learned about the ship's com system. With Ranek's command codes, they formulate a successful plan that allows them to send a message to Voyager from the Delta Flyer. Escaping the Lokirrim escort, Janeway finds the patrol ship and demands the return of her people. When they refuse, Chakotay uses Ranek's command codes to disable their shields. Ranek makes an attempt to sabotage his ship, but is critically injured when the Doctor and Seven thwart his plan. The Doctor saves Ranek's life, forcing the Lokirrim to express their gratitude to the hologram, though it does not seem to change their opinion of photonics in general.

the Doctor works to save Ranek's life	Ranek thanks the Doctor who is now in his usual form

Back on Voyager, Tuvok is cured after continuing the interrupted holoprogram, while Seven pays the Doctor a visit in sickbay bringing delicacies that she previously would have considered indulgences. Since the Doctor can no longer share the experience of eating and drinking, Seven promises to describe the meal to him so he can enjoy it vicariously.

Seven brings champagne to the Doctor and drinks some so she can describe the experience to him

MEDICAL REPORT:

The Doctor anticipated Tuvok's medical needs as regards the pon farr (which occurs every 7 years in a Vulcan and the libido increases with age) and developed a treatment stored under file Theta-12-Alpha. It was believed, incorrectly as it turns out, that combined with meditation by the subject, the treatment would enable him to control the symptoms. The symptoms of Tuvok's neurochemical imbalance (pon farr) include headache, fever, respiratory distress, and tremors. For more information about the Vulcan pon farr, see entry for  [#58 Blood Fever].

Paris, standing in for the Doctor during his absence, talks to Tuvok about his pon farr

DOCTOR'S QUOTE:

To Seven about the research material obtained from a comet: "When I look at this I don't see a mere cell, I see the potential for literature and art, empires and kingdoms. Some day this cytoplasmic matrix may fall into the primordial sea of a distant world where it could ignite an evolutionary process. Aeons from now, a creature not unlike you could emerge, look up at the skies and ask, 'Who am I? How did I come to be?' It's the miracle of creation, Seven. How can that not excite you?"