Warhead ( episode ) A sentient alien missile takes over The Doctor ' s program and tries to carry out its mission of mass destruction . Summary . Teaser . In the mess hall of " Voyager " , Neelix assists Tom Paris . Paris is trying to use the replicator to create gifts for B ' Elanna Torres . He sends a food requisition to her quarters and replicates a bottle of wine and some flowers to carry with him . At this point , Kim enters to order a pot of coffee . Harry has bridge duty for the fourth night in a row . He has been working the night shift as acting commander of the . He says this will build valuable command experience that will assist him later in his Starfleet career . On the bridge , everything is progressing as usual and Kim asks Ensign Jenkins , the helmsman , for an update . All of a sudden , " Voyager " receives an automated distress signal . Kim orders the necessary course alteration to investigate . The distress call is originating from a class M planet . Kim attempts to hail the originator of the signal , but they receive no response . They cannot detect any life signs . Chakotay is informed of the distress signal , and places Harry in charge of the away team . He is accompanied by The Doctor and crewman Timothy Lang . When they beam down to the coordinates they find no evidence of any life . Kim orders the team to split up to cover more ground . The Doctor soon discovers a large metallic object protruding from a rock outcrop . As Kim scans it with a tricorder , its lights begin to blink and it makes some computerized sounds . They discover that it contains bio - neural circuitry . The object reactivates and proceeds to communicate using duotronic algorithm s . Fortunately , The Doctor translates , saying that , oddly , it ' s frightened , wondering why it can ' t see nor feel its arms and legs . Act One . The object says many of its internal memory cores are damaged and it cannot remember its name . The Doctor establishes a rapport with the intelligence and makes an appeal to Harry to try to help the intelligence regain its lost memory fragments . After a bit of debate , and with The Doctor ' s insistence , the device is beamed aboard " Voyager " to salvage the device ' s artificial intelligence . It appears that the being is fully sentient . However , it is housed in the body of some sort of device . The Doctor recommends that they not inform the device of its nature so as to spare it psychological harm . When " Voyager " s day shift arrives on duty , Captain Janeway agrees with Kim ' s decision to beam the device to an engineering bay for analysis . There , the device states that it had a companion , but lost track of it on the planet . Janeway goes to astrometrics to attempt to locate it . Meanwhile , The Doctor continues to get to know the alien intelligence . He takes this time to inform the device of its nature . It is startled to know that it is not a humanoid but a metallic cylinder , but The Doctor comforts it , noting they have something in common . In astrometrics , Seven of Nine is assisting the Captain in her search . They make a startling discovery on the planet ' s surface : a similar device that has caused an explosion . It is determined that the device is a warhead of mass destruction . Act Two . In the briefing room there is a debate as to what should be done with the device , to still continue to salvage the intelligence , or to simply destroy the weapon . It is decided to try to salvage the intelligence , after The Doctor pleads passionately for its right to live . They must perform the complicated procedure of removing the intelligence from the warhead components . The Doctor suggests they download it into a holographic matrix like himself . After this procedure , they would attempt to contact the people who manufactured the warhead . Ensign Kim and B ' Elanna Torres begin the procedure to separate the intelligence . However , during the procedure , the device insists on knowing exactly what they ' re doing . When Kim mentions that they are about to shut it down temporarily , its auto - defense programming kicks in and the device arms itself . Quickly , B ' Elanna Torres makes an attempt , under Captain Janeway ' s orders , to disable the device by sending an EM pulse to shut it down . The device interprets this as an act of hostility , and , unknown to Torres and Kim , the device ' s intelligence takes over The Doctor ' s holomatrix during the interlink operation . The Doctor ' s holomatrix is now controlled by the warhead . The warhead intelligence then begins to take steps to protect itself from the crew , and makes its intentions known . It barricades itself along with Torres and Kim inside sickbay . It was a dormant warhead sent on a mission to destroy a military base , and it demands to resume that mission . The warhead intelligence threatens " Voyager " with destruction if the Captain doesn ' t comply with transporting the warhead to its destination . Act Three . The warhead intelligence demands that " Voyager " alter course , taking them to its intended target , a military installation on Salina Prime , approximately 2 . 3 light year s away from their current position . The captain refuses to comply with an alien warhead , getting involved in this species ' affairs is a violation of the Prime Directive . However , with the only other option being destruction of " Voyager " , she must play along . The warhead ' s programming makes anything that stands in the way of its target an enemy . That includes " Voyager " and her crew . Janeway reluctantly sets course . As the bridge crew attempts to formulate a plan to disarm the weapon , Neelix enters with a possible option . He acquired a power node from a merchant named Onquanii recently . It has a similar configuration to the warhead , it could have been made by the same species . Chakotay orders scans of the area for his starship and an encoded message sent if he is located . Meanwhile , the prisoners try to come up with their own plan to disarm the warhead . Kim is depressed because he feels that his actions directly caused the current situation . Kim goes to The Doctor / weapon to try to get him to change his mind . He cites the progress made by The Doctor as proof that AI can overcome initial programming boundaries , but it responds that , despite all that , it ' s still a weapon like The Doctor is still a doctor . Back on the bridge , a cloak ed vessel that could be Onquanii arrives . It " is " him , and he says the weapon was created by the Druoda . He has studied them and their designs and wishes to come aboard . Later , in Main Engineering , the Captain negotiates with Onquanii . He informs them that he would be able to transport the warhead off of " Voyager " using his sophisticated dampening field . However , in return he requires the warhead , to sell or salvage the parts . The Captain agrees on the condition that he does not get the energy matrix . That way , it could not be used as a weapon again . Onquanii refuses , saying the energy matrix is the most valuable component . Neelix tries to offer him more items , but he has made up his mind . Onquanii beams back to his ship , and proceeds to open fire on " Voyager " . In the first volley , weapon s and shields are disabled . The Doctor / weapon demands a report from the bridge . Onquanii tries to transport the warhead to his ship as he offered before , but it sends an antimatter surge back through the transporter beam . The attacking merchant vessel is destroyed . Next , the crew attempts to devise a plan to infuse the warhead ' s bio - neural circuitry with Seven ' s Borg nanoprobe s to disable it . The Captain orders comprehensive scans of the nearby minefields . A fleet of similar warheads flies through space as one pulls up an image of " Voyager " . They all enter warp to intercept . Act Four . Before the plan is enacted they must get Seven into sickbay . To do this they will lead the warhead to believe that " Voyager " has entered a minefield . Using inertial dampener s , Paris will simulate the damage , while sickbay is fed false sensor readings . They will make it look as if Seven was injured in a plasma explosion . Then , Tuvok will disrupt the holographic controls to give Seven time to complete her task . The warhead intelligence then insists that Kim and Torres attempt to reconstruct some memory fragments just before its crash landing . Some of the memory fragments reveal the accidental launch of the device , along with 33 other similar warheads . Despite this evidence , the intelligence is convinced that it must destroy its target . It believes the order to cease attack was faked by the enemy . During the reconstruction , they determine that the warhead was sent a command by its creators , the Druoda , to disengage . Apparently their war ended about three years prior , and the command to terminate was received . The warhead intelligence doubts the reconstructed memory , citing possible meddling by Kim and Torres and not seeing a confirmation code . Kim retorts that the algorithm used to encode the command would be extremely difficult to tamper with , and there ' s still missing memory which could contain the code . This seeds the warhead intelligence with some doubt . The attempt by the bridge begins well , but is ultimately unsuccessful – Seven ' s direct contact with a defensive measure for the bio - neural circuitry on the warhead injures her , putting her in neural shock . The intelligence informs Janeway it was unsuccessful and demands everyone abandon ship . Janeway flat - out refuses , surprising the intelligence . Just then , the thirty - two other functioning warheads that were also accidentally launched approach " Voyager " . Act Five . The other warheads contact the remaining warhead aboard " Voyager " . The warhead ' s intelligence , with Kim ' s help in reasoning with it , deduces that the command to rescind the mission is in fact legitimate , and attempts to corroborate with the other warheads . Since all the warheads have reached a two light year target threshold , at which point the mission cannot be canceled , they ignore the command sent by the warhead on " Voyager " . The warhead intelligence then realizes what must be done : as a weapon of mass destruction , it can use itself to stop the others . Kim sadly says " " I ' m sorry " , " but the AI simply states that it ' s mission to protect its people has not changed , only the target . At the other warheads ' request , the warhead aboard " Voyager " is transported alongside the fleet and a tractor beam carries the warhead into warp alongside the others to complete their mission . After the warp jump , the warhead from " Voyager " self - destructs . " Voyager " detects a series of antimatter explosions , destroying all of the wayward warheads and eliminating the threat ; the AI has succeeded in its mission . As the night watch gets ready to begin their shift , Jenkins thanks Kim on behalf of the junior staff for saving the ship from the Druoda warhead . Kim asks her to do him a favor : no more distress calls tonight . Memorable quotes . " " Assemble the staff . We ' re going to find a way to outsmart a smart bomb . " " " " Do well on this mission , Neelix , and maybe the captain will promote you to Senior Beautician . " " " " I have no intention of proceeding to my target . I will stop them . " " " " How ? " " " " I " am " a weapon of mass destruction . " " " " Do me a favor . " " " " Of course , sir . " " " " No more distress calls . At least not tonight . " " " " I AM PROGRAMMED TO DESTROY MY TARGET , I WILL COMPLETE MY MISSION ! " " Links and references . References . 2342 ; amnesia ; antimatter ; artificial intelligence ; asparagus ; bedside manner ; bio - neural circuitry ; blow - by - blow description ; chief cosmetics officer ; class 11 intelligence factor ; class M ; cloaking device ; coffee ; continent ; crater ; dampening field ; dermal regenerator ; dilithium ; Druoda ; duotronic algorithm ; electromagnetic pulse ; " Fool me once , shame on you . Fool me twice , shame on me . " ; fracture gradient ; holomatrix ; hyperbole ; inertial damper ; ion storm ; Jefferies tube ; junior staff ; kilometer ; launch sequencer ; meter ; minefield ; modulating algorithm ; monster movie ; morality ; Mouton Rothschild ; nanoprobe ; neural pattern ; neural shock ; night shift ; paratrinic shield ing ; plasma manifold ; plasma relay ; pork rind ; power matrix ; power node ; puppet ; radiogenic decay ; recursive search algorithm ; replicator ration ; rockslide ; rose ; Salina Prime ; screw ; senior beautician ; series 5 long - range tactical armor unit ; " Starfleet Officer ' s Manual " ; Strategic Command Matrix ; subspace mine ; subspace surge ; Terellian pheasant ; transkinetic energy regulator ; translation matrix ; tricorder ; virtuoso ; warning buoy