In the Briefing Room the Doctor faces his critics. Doctor: "How many times do you want me to say it? My work is not about the Voyager crew." Kim: "Come on - Ensign Kymble, Lieutenant Marseilles?" Torres: "The characters look almost exactly like us." Doctor: "I used your physical parameters as a starting point but I assure you any further similarities are purely coincidental." Paris: "You set your story on a starship lost in the Delta Quadrant." Doctor: "What would you have me write about? Palace intrigue on the Klingon homeworld? I do what all good novelists do - I write what I know." Kim: "So it is about Voyager?" Doctor: "No! The Vortex characters are larger than life, they're nothing like our crew. So far as I know, Captain, you haven't executed any of my patients." Janeway: "Doctor, you've written a very imaginative story but it's conceivable that people will think it's based on fact." Doctor: "I don't see how." Paris: "How many holograms carry mobile emitters?" Doctor: "The emitter in my story is nothing like the real one." Torres: "What was the point of that? It was like carrying around a small shuttlecraft." Doctor: "It's a metaphor, a symbol of the burdens that I live with every day. Imagine having to take this everywhere you go, it would be a constant reminder that you're different from everyone else. I wanted the player to feel the weight of it, literally." Janeway: "Your emitter isn't a ball and chain. It liberates you." Doctor: "Doesn't always feel that way." Janeway: "If I didn't know better, I'd say this story was written by someone who feels oppressed. Is that how you see yourself, Doctor?" Doctor: "Of course not. The real victims are my brothers in the Alpha Quadrant." Torres: "Brothers?" Doctor: "Hundreds of EMH Marks 1s, identical to me in every respect except they've been condemned to a menial existence, scrubbing conduits, mining dilithium. There's a long history of authors drawing attention to the plight of the oppressed. The Vedek Song, for example, tells the story of the occupation of Bajor." Janeway: "I understand you have your reasons for writing this, but you should consider how it's going to make your friends feel." Doctor: "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." And he leaves the meeting.

In the Astrometrics Lab Kim is part-way through his live conversation with his parents. Mother: "You're very popular with my eighth graders. It's all they ever talk about: Voyager this, Voyager that." Father: "Your mother has a small favour to ask of you." Kim: "Name it." Mother: "I was hoping you could record a short presentation about what it's like to command a starship." Kim: "But I don't command a starship." Mother: "In your letters you said the captain put you in charge sometimes." Kim: "What I said was, I'm in command of the night shift, twice a week." Mother: "She must think very highly of you to give you so much responsibility." Father: "So when is she giving you a promotion?" Kim: "It's a small ship. There are only so many command positions available." Mother: "This Captain Janeway sounds like a lovely woman. Maybe I should write her. " Kim: "Mom!" Mother: "She needs to know how hard you work." Kim: "Please, don't get involved." The signal begins to break up. Mother: "Harry, I can't hear you-" Seven: "A solar flare is scattering the beam." Mother: "Tell Captain Janeway to expect a letter from me." Kim: "Mom, don't send anything to the Captain, do you hear me?" To Seven who is working the control: "Try boosting the deflector output." Seven: "It's already at maximum." The connection is completely broken. Kim gives a shout of frustration. "I don't believe this! I had another minute and a half left." Seven: "You will have another opportunity to speak with them in approximately two months." Kim: "You just don't get it, do you." Seven: "No." Kim: "Maybe if you had family you were close to, you'd feel a little differently." Kim leaves the Astrometrics Lab, leaving Seven looking thoughtful.

Kim: "Mom!"

Voyager in warp flight (pop-up window) [#166 Author Author]

Doctor: "Chief medical officer's personal log, stardate 54740.8. Although the decision has made me unpopular with the crew I've decided not to compromise my work. I'm making some final revisions to the program before transmitting it."

The Doctor enters the Holodeck. "Computer, run EMH program Photons Be Free." The first thing he notices is that the narrator's handwriting is different.
Then he notices it is not a hologram of himself but of Tom Paris! Welcome. You've made an excellent choice. You're obviously a person with impeccable taste.
Doctor: "Computer, freeze program!" Computer: "Unable to comply."
You are about to embark upon a remarkable journey. You will take on the role of a medical assistant aboard the starship Voyeur. Doctor: "Voyeur?" Your job will be to assist the Chief Medical Officer and learn to tolerate his overbearing behaviour and obnoxious bedside manner. Remember, patience is a virtue.
The holosetting changes into a representation of Sickbay which looks exactly like Voyager's. The Doctor's costume for the holoscene is a red Starfleet uniform, with the rank of ensign. Chapter One. It's the Doctor's world. You're just living in it.
The Doctor comes face to face with a holocharacter who looks identical to himself, save that there are several strands of hair scraped across the top of his head. Holo-medical officer: "When I tell you your shift begins at 0800, that doesn't mean you can stroll in here at 0800 and 24 seconds. Do you understand me, Ensign!" Doctor: "This is outrageous." Holo-medical officer: "What's outrageous is that I'm going to miss my tee-time. Now come along."
They approach the main biobed where a hologram who looks just like the Doctor's holocharacter Three of Eight is sitting nursing her right forearm. The holo-medical officer pretends sympathy. "Ah, what seems to be the trouble, One of Three?" Patient: "I'm Two of Three." Holo-medical officer: "Sorry." In an aside to the Doctor: "They're triplets, y'know?"
Two of Three: "It hurts when I do this." She moves her arm slightly. Holo-medical officer: "Well then, don't do it." He laughs at his own joke and playfully slaps her on her injury, making her wince. Two of Three: "Ow! Holo-medical officer: "Don't be a baby." He scans her, running the scanner up and down quickly and very casually. "Your bi-radial clamp's out of alignment. I got just the thing." Throughout, the Doctor is taken aback but does not know what to do.

The holo-medical officer picks up a hypospray. He confides to the Doctor: "It's a Klingon aphrodisiac, my own special blend." He injects Two of Three. injecting hypospray "You'll be feeling better in no time at all."

She starts responding to his amorous attentions.

The Doctor is appalled

The Doctor catches up with Paris in a corridor.
Doctor: "Lieutenant, I want you to know I'm making a full report to the Captain!"
Paris: "This isn't about that dermal regenerator I misplaced, is it?"
Doctor: "You know very well what this is about. You accessed my holonovel without permission and replaced it with your own hackneyed narrative."
Paris: "Hey, I'm just writing what I know."
Doctor: "You destroyed a work of art that took months to create!"
Paris: "Relax, Doc. I saved your program in a backup file but I was just trying to make a point."
Doctor: "Well, you made it, with a typical lack of subtlety."
Paris: "Ha, you're one to talk! Your program's about as subtle as a Ferengi mating dance."
Doctor: "My program's a serious attempt at social commentary. Yours is an insulting farce! You had me drugging a patient and taking advantage of her."
Paris: "Don't be ridiculous. That character is not you. For one thing, he has much more hair. But what if some people ran that program and thought that character was based on you. That would bother you, wouldn't it?"
Doctor: "I don't care what people think."

Paris: "That's all you care about! You want everyone back home to think of you as a brilliant author." Doctor: "I'm not doing this for my ego and if you could look past yours maybe you'd see that!"
Paris: "Listen, I don't care if the whole Alpha Quadrant mistakes me for Lieutenant Marseilles. What bothers me is that you think that's what I'm like."

Doctor: "Obviously you're nothing like Marseilles. He's self-indulgent, immature." Paris: "And how would you describe me?" Doctor: "Well, you're a married man, with a child on the way, a lot of responsibilities." Paris: "I'm surprised you noticed. You know, I thought I'd begun to earn your respect. Maybe I was wrong. Your program is under theta-one-five. Do whatever you want with it."

 

Thanks to Tickie's Web Page Themes for the background set Celestial Swag and for customising it for me. For this page set Tickie was voted first place in September 2000's Imagination Unlimited competition.