Garak and Worf investigate a coded message which suggests that Garak's mentor, Enabran Tain, is still alive in the Gamma Quadrant. However, when their search for answers leads them into Dominion space, the pair discover something far worse than they had expected.

Dr. Lewis Zimmerman arrives on DS9 intending to use Dr. Julian Bashir as the model for his new Long-term Medical Hologram, but when Zimmerman's plans threaten to unveil a dark secret that Bashir has carried since childhood, Julian is forced to make a life-altering confession.