MEDICAL LOGS

AUTHOR AUTHOR
Season 7 : Episode 166

 

DOCTOR'S LOG:

Through the work of the Pathfinder Project, Voyager is finally able to maintain direct live contact with the Alpha Quadrant , if only for eleven minutes a day Drawing the first time slot, the Doctor contacts a publisher to discuss the holonovel he had previously transmitted. The Bolian named Ardon Broht of Broht and Forrester, the publishers of the Dixon Hill series, raves about the piece, but the Doctor insists on making revisions before it is distributed. Paris then convinces the Doctor to let him experience the holonovel, entitled Photons Be Free. Paris finds himself in the role of the EMH protagonist of the novel aboard the "Starship Vortex", a thinly-veiled facsimile of Voyager The other characters in the holonovel resemble the real crew, altered only slightly in their appearance and names. However, their behaviour is quite different. When Paris, as the Doctor, decides to treat a critical patient ahead of a bridge officer, with less serious injuries, Captain Jenkins (Janeway) kills the dying crewman, so the bridge officer can be treated. Shocked at how the crew is portrayed, Paris tells Torres and Kim about it and they decide to try it out themselves. One after the other Torres, Kim, and Neelix see themselves and other crew members portrayed in an unflattering light. Finally, Janeway experiences the final chapter of the holonovel, where the EMH is brutally decompiled by her counterpart. She immediately orders the Doctor to report to her ready room. Defending the piece, the Doctor claims it is a work of fiction intended to draw attention to the plight of the EMH Mark-1 in the Alpha Quadrant who have been condemned to menial tasks. He first learned about these EMHs in  [#144 Life Line]. He says there is a long history of writers drawing attention to the plight of the oppressed noting that "The Vedek's Song", for example, tells the story of the occupation of Bajor. Paris decides turnabout is fair play and when the Doctor returns to the holodeck, he finds his program altered with a holographic Paris narrating a story that shows the Doctor in an exaggerated and unflattering light. The Doctor accosts Paris angrily and threatens a full report to the Captain, whereupon Paris asks if it is about the dermal regenerator he misplaced. They then talk about Paris' alterations to the holoprogram. Paris assures the Doctor that he kept the original story intact in a back-up file, but was trying to point out how the rest of the crew feels about the work. What bothers Paris most is the idea that the immature, self-indulgent character that bears his likeness is apparently what the Doctor really thinks of him. Seeing Paris' point, the Doctor contacts Broht to request more time to revise his work, and the publisher reluctantly agrees. Janeway receives an urgent message from Admiral Paris, informing her that the Doctor's inflammatory unmodified holonovel is being played in thousands of holosuites. The Doctor contacts Broht demanding a recall and a public apology, but Broht refuses, citing the Federation law that states holograms have no rights. A trial is set, where a Federation arbitrator hears arguments on the matter of the Doctor being an individual. Under strict interpretation of Starfleet law, holograms have no rights. However, Section 7-Gamma of the Twelfth Guarantee defines an "artist" as a "person who creates an original artistic work". After deliberating, the arbitrator announces he is not prepared to rule that the Doctor is a "person" under the law, but he is willing to extend the definition of "artist" to include the Doctor and since artists do have rights, he orders all copies of the holonovel recalled immediately. Four months later, on an asteroid in the Alpha Quadrant numerous EMH Mark-1 are mining dilithium. Word spreads among them that there is a very provocative new program in the hololab called Photons Be Free.

STAR TREK CONTEXTUAL MEDICAL GLOSSARY:

Dermal regenerator.

DOCTOR'S QUOTE:

At a staff meeting: "I'm sorry my work offends you, but if the price of expressing myself is having to suffer the scorn of a few colleagues, so be it."

'PHOTONS BE FREE' NARRATOR-DOCTOR'S QUOTE:

"I awaken into this world fully programmed yet completely innocent, unaware of the hardships I'll endure or the great potential I will one day fulfil."