Plot

Strange images begin appearing throughout the ship's decks and holodecks. Data and the rest of the crew begin to investigate only to discover that the ship's computer itself is exhibiting the strange behavior as it begins to become self-aware.—Good2Go

After Holodeck 3 is shut down when it mixes up different scenarios, the main computer saves the Enterprise from a disaster by autonomously detecting and avoiding a data flux, but soon anomalies abound. The reason is found: at several crucial places mysterious nodules with defensive force-fields link the ship's systems, collaborating as an alternative central computer, the nerve center being Holodeck 3, which is confounding at least 7 scripts. The result is a mine-field where control must be taken back by the crew if they can survive and 'fit in'. The immature 'intelligence' is learning the hard way, without any regard for human safety, but the key is its own fundamental biological logic.—KGF Vissers

Strange images begin appearing throughout the ship's decks and Holodecks. Picard and Data are almost hit by a steam locomotive. Ship suddenly moves into warp and then suddenly drops out when Picard orders an emergency warp core shutdown. Geordi figures they were lucky to have jumped to warp as there was a data flux vortex building around the ship's position. In 1.7 secs, it would have ruptured the warp core of the Enterprise.

Data and Geordi find new connections in the junction boxes that connect sensors to ship's other systems. These connections cannot be severed as they are protected by force fields. All the nodal connections converge on Holodeck 3. Data, Worf and Riker enter Holodeck 3 and find 7 different programs running simultaneously. They are on the orient express. The driver (Thomas Kopache) comes running and says that everyone is trying to take control of the train. The Hitman (Vinny Argiro) kills the driver, and the conductor (David Huddleston) orders the train speed to be increased. The hit-man takes a brick from the driver and the conductor calls it crucial.

In the real world, the navigation circuits burn out and ship goes into warp again. The nodes now cover almost the entire ship and are starting to look like a Positronic neural net. The Enterprise is beginning to become self-aware. The nodes are its emergent functions and are more than a mere sum of its parts. The clues lie in Holodeck.

Deanna enters the Holodeck where the hit-man informs her that the train is headed to keystone city. A couple is building a puzzle. The hit-man gets off at Keystone city with the brick and Deanna follows him. Data tries to depolarize the power grid. The hit-man simply uses the brick to complete a wall. In the real world the cargo bay 5 depressurizes and all sorts of transporter activity begins. In Cargo bay 5, Geordi finds one of the nodes (which resembles the picture on the puzzle the couple was trying to complete), materialized on the ground. As data starts to depolarize the power grid, there are massive energy fluctuations, and the ship is about to lose structural integrity. Geordi asks Data to stop.

Picard suggests that everything they have tried to interfere the ship has run into jeopardy, so he suggests that they try to cooperate with the ship instead. On the Holodeck, the conductor informs them that they are running out of steam (in real life, warp power is down 47%, after creating just the single nodal cell in cargo bay 5). Worf helps shovel coal into the engine and in real life, warp power is back to normal. The ship is headed to Tambor Beta VI, a white dwarf star. The ship collects Vertion particles from the star. The beam is transferred to the cargo bay via the transporters and is absorbed by the nodal cell. The star runs out of Vertion particles, and the nodal cell starts diminishing. Geordi tells Picard that using Vertion particles the ship was trying to create a life form. But to revive it, they need the particles and soon.

The ship automatically heads to the nearest white dwarf star. The ship will take 12 hrs to get there, but all power is routed to the engines and life support will only sustain for 2 hrs. Deanna convinces the conductor to let them handle the train to get to the New Vertiform city faster, the conductor agrees. Data has navigational control of the ship. They take the ship to a nebula and decide to detonate a photon torpedo that will generate Vertion particles in enough quantity. The plan works and the nodal cell gets enough particles to come to life. It lifts and escapes the ship. The crew gets back control of the Enterprise.