In Engineering, Seven is re-routing a power conduit when there is a small explosion. She is stunned, and goes to sickbay, but Doc heals her and pronounces her well. She then goes to the Mess Hall, and Neelix cheerfully serves her breakfast. On the bridge, Janeway is completing discussions with a rather snobby and suspicious race called the Lenaar. They have solar power sources which Voyager could use, and Janeway offers various incidentals in return (which the Lenaar seem to consider priceless). They say they will return with the power sources in three days and will only negotiate with Janeway to complete the transaction. Despite the generous offer, they warn that any sign of deceit will end the deal. Shortly after breakfast, Paris and Torres both report to sickbay complaining of dizziness and congestion. Doc is stymied. He can only find one thing they have in common - they both had Neelix's food that morning, but that food checks out okay. Neelix comes into sickbay to see if he can help and to apologize if the illness was his fault. After he leaves, Doc's image starts wavering a bit but finally stabilizes. Paris and Torres return to their stations--not cured, but feeling a little better. On the bridge, Neelix arrives to be sociable, wandering from station to station. When Janeway asks Paris for a routine heading, Paris collapses and faints. Neelix offers to help Paris back to sickbay. After Neelix and Paris leave, Kim reports the sensors are inoperable. There's no logical explanation for the breakdown. A few moments later, the sensors come back on line. Janeway starts to order a full diagnostic, but as she begins to speak, she finds she has no voice. Back in sickbay, the Doc continues to occasionally wink in and out, causing him to drop his equipment whenever he fades. But, between malfunctions, he says Janeway's symptoms are the same as Torres and Paris. Tuvok arrives and realizes that Neelix has always been nearby shortly before people fall ill or technology acts up. One by one, crewmembers will each begin experiencing different (and perhaps comical) symptoms depending on their genetic makeup (incessant itching, total hair loss, rapid hair growth, skin discoloration, etc.) . Only Seven and Neelix seem immune. Likewise, various systems on the ship will continue to fail and then be fine (jumping in and out of warp, the artificial gravity switching on and off, lights flickering, environmental systems failing, etc.). Janeway manages to communicate with the others using Federation sign language, but Janeway "tells" Tuvok to take command in the event speech is necessary. Tuvok, who is suffering from bursts of emotion, reminds her of the Lenaar negotiations. Janeway urges Doc to hurry and find a cure. Despite the fact that the Doc can find nothing wrong with Neelix, Tuvok has no choice but to isolate him. Neelix feels terrible, and offers to be put off at the nearest planet if that will solve the problem. But after two days, when the crew and ship do not improve, Tuvok releases Neelix. His investigation turns to Seven, who is the only other one who has been unaffected. But she, too, checks out fine. Later, when Seven happens to see Neelix in the corridor, she says he looks a little different. He doesn't know what she means. That night, as Neelix drifts off to sleep, the spots on his face begin to mo ve! The next morning, Neelix sees one of the spots moving on his pillowcase, and takes it to sickbay for analysis. Meanwhile, the Lenaar have sent word they will arrive in a matter of hours. Janeway and the bridge crew piece together parts of her past logs to reply to them. But she is at a loss as to what to do when they arrive. The Lenaar surely don't know Federation sign language and the ship's computer voice would not fool them. Doc calls Janeway with some news. Turns out the "pigment" spots on Neelix are not skin, but dormant parasites, which are harmless to Talaxians. They were somehow brought out of their dormancy by electromagnetic emanations given off by Seven's remaining Borg implants after that power conduit accident. And because of their alien origin, the Voyager transporter biofilters have never recognized them while they were dormant. The good news is that filling the ship's air with a bit more nitrogen will return the parasites to dormancy. The bad news is that the parasites' effects will not go away for at least three more days. The Lenaar arrive and Janeway stalls as long as possible. Finally--at Neelix's suggestion--Seven stands next to the viewscreen and uses her voice for Janeway. Both women read subtitles across the viewscreen so the voice will match the lips. After a few minor mishaps and close calls, the deal with the Lenaar is made. Neelix apologizes but Janeway realizes he is not to blame. Then Neelix suddenly remembers he helped load the equipment beamed over to the Lenaar and that some of the parasites may have transferred over. Because of the Lenaar's rudeness, Janeway merely orders the Voyager to warp away as fast as possible.
Lisa's comments: Lisa felt that this was just another medical mystery story. She also though it was a bit reminiscent of the fourth season episode "Scientific Method," where the crew was afflicted with various ailments (including Chakotay's hair falling out and Neelix's spots growing).