Shadowplay ( episode ) At a colony in the Gamma Quadrant , Dax and Odo investigate the mysterious disappearance of several colonists . Summary . Teaser . When Dax and Odo investigate the particle field on a nearby planet , Dax detects omicron particle s isolated in a small valley . These particles are very rare , and they appear to be interfering with other scan s , so the pair beam s down to the planet . Once on the planet , they find a small village , and with their limited tricorder functions determine the source to be some sort of reactor at the center of the village . Odo suggests they leave , but Dax insists on scanning it in more detail , and they are discovered by Protector Colyus who is brandishing a weapon . Act One . Meanwhile , on Deep Space 9 , Major Kira Nerys keeps her eye on Quark , and stops his cousin Kono from smuggling stolen merchandise from a museum on Cardassia V onto the station . Commander Sisko also talks to his son Jake about getting a job . He eventually talks Jake into becoming Chief Miles O ' Brien ' s apprentice , saying it would look great on his entrance request to Starfleet Academy . However , Jake seems to do it because he has to rather than because he wants to . Back on the planet , Colyus interrogates Dax and Odo . They both insist they committed no crime and had just arrived . Odo demonstrates their innocence by temporarily beaming himself to the runabout , saying if they wanted to escape capture , they would have . They convince the Protector they did nothing , leaving Colyus disappointed ; the Starfleet officers had been his last possible suspects in twenty - two unsolved disappearances occurring over a period of months . Odo offers his help as an investigator . The first person Dax and Odo talk to is Rurigan , the elder of the village . He confirms that his daughter was the latest victim to disappear . After Dax scans for EM traces and detects nothing , Odo talks to Taya , Rurigan ' s granddaughter . She shies away from Odo , and won ' t talk to him because she believes her mother will come back . Rurigan says the questions can wait until morning . Act Two . On the station , Commander Sisko sends Jake off on his first day on the job , giving him a combadge . Meanwhile , Major Kira talks to Doctor Julian Bashir about spying on Quark . She wants to make sure Quark isn ' t up to something while Odo is away . Bashir is happy to do it , since Garak has been teaching him surveillance techniques . Just then , Kira is informed by Sisko that Vedek Bareil has just docked for an unannounced visit to the station . Continuing his investigation the following day , Odo tries talking to Taya again . She still seems uncomfortable discussing the subject of her mother ' s disappearance , asking instead what happened to Odo ' s face . He explains that he is a shapeshifter , which she immediately understands by the term Changeling . Taya maintains that Changelings are make believe , but speaks wistfully about being one . When Taya concludes that everyone would want to be her friend if she were a Changeling , Odo assures her that it is not easy . With uncharacteristic detail , Odo shares his experiences from his early years , when people befriended him just to see him change into various items . Revealing the beginnings of a friendship , Taya offers that while others may have been afraid of him , she is not afraid . Inquiring about Odo ' s parents , Taya then brings up her parents . She reveals that her father died when she was four , and that the last time she saw her mother , she was in her workroom making a pot for the village ' s baker , Mister Depnen . When she want to get her for the midday meal , Taya continues , her mother had vanished . Probing further , Odo asks how her mother was acting , or whether she had been on a trip or vacation . Taya replies with confusion that no , no one ever left the valley . Odo seems intrigued , and when Taya morosely asks if her mother is ever coming back , Odo assures warmly , " " I promise you , I ' m going to do everything I can to find her and bring her back to you . " " Act Three . Back on the station , Jake is having trouble identifying isolinear rod s with O ' Brien . When he continues to be baffled , the chief reassures him he didn ' t even get this stuff until after his Academy training , drawing a sigh from Jake . Jake explains that he doesn ' t want to go to Starfleet Academy , but that he can ' t tell his dad . Understanding Jake ' s quandary , O ' Brien shares how he had almost become a cello player as his father wanted . His father went so far as to send a recorded audition to the Aldebaran Music Academy . Two days before he was set to depart for music school , O ' Brien enlisted in Starfleet . However , as O ' Brien explains , his father eventually came around , and is even proud to introduce his as " " My son , Senior Chief Specialist Miles Edward O ' Brien . " " If Jake ' s father is anything like his was , O ' Brien explains , he will understand . Also on the station , Bareil and Kira exit the shrine , arguing about the merits of the Vedek ' s speech . After some playful banter , they discover a mutual enjoyment of springball , and leave to engage in a match using the holoprogram Kira had O ' Brien create for her . Back in the Yaderan settlement , the investigation continues . Odo interrogates Rurigan , asking him why he seems unconcerned despite his daughter being among the missing . The old man responds that there is nothing he can do about it . Odo points out the pain in his eyes . Rurigan states he is dying , but he has had a good life and only wishes he could have seen his daughter one more time . Odo presses Rurigan , asking him specifically why no one leaves the village , not even to look for the missing villagers . Rurigan only insists cryptically that he is certain there are no missing people out there . Later , Dax , Odo , and Taya climb a hillside outside the village , with the little girl telling them a story about a foolish Changeling . Odo engages the child in the story with friendly banter . As they continue to get further from the village , Taya shows them a tree where she and her friends go out and play sometimes . Odo tells her to wait there while he takes Dax further out . As she continues walking , the scanner vanishes in her hand . When Taya starts moving toward them , Odo tells her to stop , but she tries to hand some berries to him , and the end of her arm disappears . It reappears when she pulls it back to her . Now , the nature of their village is clearer to Dax and Odo . Act Four . They return to the center of the city , and bring Colyus to the reactor . Dax explains she knows what happened to the people . After being able to use a console to make his cloak disappear and then reappear , she explains the situation . It ' s not a reactor ; it ' s a hologenerator . It creates an omicron field and manipulates it to create matter . Everything in this village , his cloak , and the people , are made up of these particles . The component that controls the field is breaking down , and people are being lost . Colyus can ' t believe it , sure he ' s not a holographic projection . Odo explains what happened to Taya ' s arm . Colyus insists he needs more proof before he believes he and his loved ones are holograms . To prove it , Odo and Dax agree to take anyone interested to the edge of the valley . Back on the station , Vedek Bareil and Kira enjoy dinner after their springball match , during which Kira was victorious . Their conversation turns intimate as they begin to acknowledge their attraction to one another . Soon they are kissing when Bareil mentions in passing about how Prylar Rhit , the man who invited him to the station , had a sizable gambling debt to Quark . She suddenly bolts for the door , leaving Bareil confused . Kira , however , is convinced she knows the real reason why Bareil was invited here . On the planet , the villagers are gathered together after seeing the vanishing effects at the edge of the field . Back in the town square , many believe it is a trick . Colyus says it is because they were programmed not to want to leave . He says the only alternative to having everyone disappear one at a time is to let Dax turn off the machine and fix it . However , if she can ' t , the whole village will cease to exist . After some murmuring , at the suggestion of Rurigan , they agree to let Dax shut it off . Once it is disabled , the people , the buildings , everything disappears ; everything except Rurigan , who appears to have expected this . Act Five . He explains he lived on Yadera Prime , with all of the people there , but after the planet was conquered by the Dominion , he decided to leave . He came here and set up this hologenerator , recreating the village with all his friends . He has been living among these people for 30 years , sometimes even forgetting they were holograms . He wants them to take him back to Yadera Prime . Odo wants to know what will happen to the people in the village . While they may not be real the way biological life forms are real , perhaps they are worth keeping alive , since they appear to think , feel , and reproduce . Rurigan is also betrayed by his emotions ; they are real to him , since he didn ' t want his granddaughter to get hurt , and he cares about them . After such a rousing speech by Odo , bringing him to tears since he does love his granddaughter , he agrees not to turn his back on them . Back on the station , Jake finally sits down and admits to his father he doesn ' t want to go to Starfleet . He wants to do something that is like he is , not like his father is . Benjamin understands . Kira confronts Quark with his cousin in custody , and while he refuses to admit trying to distract her by suggesting Bareil be invited to the station , it is clear she is correct . Dax fixes the machine , and Rurigan makes one last request : don ' t tell the holograms he isn ' t one . After agreeing , she turns it back on , and everything is restored , including the missing people . Colyus wonders who created all this , and Odo simply says that whoever they were , they did a fine job . Taya says goodbye , and Odo turns into a spinning top to amuse her , just before he and Dax beam up . Memorable quotes . " " I saw the way you held her hand when she was sad . . . I saw the way you tried to comfort her when she was frightened . " " " " I didn ' t want her to get hurt . " " " " If she ' s not real , what does it matter ? " " " " It matters . It matters to me . " " " " Why should it matter to you if a hologram cries ? " " " " Because . . . I love her . " " " " And she loves you . " " " " What ' s wrong ? " " " " Nothing . It ' s just that – why does everyone assume that I ' m going to the Academy ? " " " " Well , you want to go , don ' t you ? " " " " Not really . " " " " Quark , get this into that little twisted brain of yours – if you thought you were going to get away with " anything " while Odo ' s gone , think again . I ' m watching you . " " " " Major . . . you make it sound like you don ' t like me ! " " " " Don ' t like you ? ! You collaborated with the Cardassians , you cheat your customers , and you ' re a danger to this station – I don ' t just not like you . . . I " despise " you ! " " " " Sorry I mentioned it . " " " " It ' s your life , Jake . You have to choose your own way . There is only one thing I want from you : find something you love ; then do it the best you can . " " " " So , what did you think ? " " " " Of your speech ? " " " " Hmm . " " " " I liked everything about it , except the content . " " " " We just have to get used to the fact that we ' re holograms . " " Links and references . References . Aldebaran Music Academy ; ; Arlin ' s cousin ; Bajor ; Bajoran wormhole ; Cardassia V ; Cardassian s ; cello ; cello player ; changeling ; dabo ; Depnen ; Eighth Prophecy ; evil changeling ; Freyla ; Gamma Quadrant ; ; field generator ; Ghergher beast ; Great Minra ; greenbread ; harrid berry ; Hedrikspool Province ; holosuite ; Ilvia ; jumja kiosk ; katterpod ; Kira Pohl ; Kira Reon ; Kono ; Manwaring ; Milky Way Galaxy ; nature preserve ; Nog ; ; omicron radiation ; Promenade ; protector ; prylar ; Quark ' s ; Relliketh ; replicator ; Rhit ; runabout ; Seelee ; Singha refugee camp ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Strek ; ; tornado ; tricorder ; troll ; Vedek Assembly ; Yadera II ; Yadera Prime ; Yaderan Unreferenced material . Brinda V