Commander Maddox, a scientist who opposed Data's entrance to Stafleet, now wants to dismantle Data in order to study him and create more androids. Data is forced to resign from Starfleet  to avoid a dangerous test.  Captain Picard ends up in a court battle to decide if Data is a lifeform or owned property.

When coming to the aid of another Federation ship that is having problems in the Romulan neutral zone, the Enterprise starts having computer problems that leave the ship helpless. Picard believes that the problems may have something to do with a extinct alien race called the Iconians.