Projections ( episode ) The Doctor is informed that he is actually Lewis Zimmerman , the creator of the EMH , he is trapped on a holographic " Voyager " on Jupiter Station , and his whole " Voyager " experience was on a holodeck . Summary . Teaser . The Doctor materializes in an empty sickbay , but finds no one present . The computer tells him he was activated automatically , so he starts to call out to the others , but , unable to contact anyone , the computer tells him that no one is aboard . Act One . The Doctor manages to get a ship ' s status from the computer and replays the last bridge log . He discovers that the ship has been attacked causing sufficient damage to force the crew to abandon ship . Seeing his usefulness at an end , The Doctor makes a log entry and prepares to deactivate himself when suddenly Torres enters sickbay , explaining that the ship had been attacked by two Kazon warship s . She and Captain Janeway had remained behind to attempt to prevent a warp core breach , which they did . The crew ' s life pod s have been tractored by the Kazon , and Janeway is injured on the bridge . The Doctor attempts to discern her injuries , only to find the medical tricorder s aren ' t registering her life sign s . Torres informs The Doctor that holo - projectors have been installed on other parts of the ship including the bridge so that The Doctor can enter them . By diverting power from life support systems to activate the holo - projectors , Torres is able to send The Doctor to the badly damaged bridge and revive Janeway . Act Two . The Doctor succeeds in waking Janeway up , but without the use of the bridge ' s tricorder , as it ' s not working either . Torres calls up , having gotten communications online and they start to coordinate their efforts to repair the ship . The Doctor prepares to assist the captain with bypassing a power relay when a call for help is received from Neelix , and The Doctor is transferred to the mess hall instead . There , Neelix has cornered a Kazon . After helping Neelix subdue him , The Doctor finds something that surprises him . . . he ' s bleeding and able to feel pain from the wound . Having his program transferred back to sickbay he runs a medical tricorder over himself and finds that his body is projecting life signs . He attempts to run a diagnostic on his program , only for the computer to deny that the program exists and instead lists Lewis Zimmerman as the ship ' s chief medical officer . The Doctor recognizes the name as the man who created his program and resembles him , but knows that Zimmerman is on Jupiter Station in the Alpha Quadrant . Checking Zimmerman ' s service record , he finds that he looks exactly like him and the computer confirms it . . . The Doctor " is " Zimmerman . Just then , Janeway , Torres , Neelix , and the Kazon arrive in sickbay and Janeway prepares to question the Kazon , but The Doctor explains what ' s happening with his program apparently being real . Janeway is confused , and theorizes that the holoemitters are confusing the computer and tries to shut his program down , and nothing happens . Janeway then has the computer shut down all holograms throughout the ship . . . at which point Janeway , Torres , Neelix , and the Kazon vanish . Act Three . The Doctor is now very confused , and asks the computer what happened to the crew , to which it confirms that their programs were shut off . Examining the they were stored on , he oddly also finds holograms of the entire crew . As he stands in disbelief , Reginald Barclay appears , happy to see him . Seeing as he doesn ' t recognize him , Barclay collects himself and informs The Doctor he is actually Lewis Zimmerman , currently working on Jupiter Station , and trapped in a malfunctioning holoprogram . The Doctor is told that Zimmerman created a holo - program about the fictional , theoretically lost in the Delta Quadrant , in order to study the long - term effects of deep space isolation . Now , however , the holodeck can ' t be shut down due to kinoplasmic radiation . Barclay also supposes the radiation is affecting his memory , and is now living the delusion that he is actually " Voyager " ' s EMH , a character whose role he set up for himself , so that he could observe the crew from within the program . The Doctor doesn ' t believe anything he ' s saying , as he has clear memories of six months . Barclay says he ' s only been there six hours , and even slaps him to remind him he feels pain , impossibly . Barclay leaves and comes back to confirm they can ' t shut down the program and to convince him he has to play the program out instead . Zimmerman programmed only two possible endings to the program : success or destruction . Barclay tries to convince The Doctor of the quicker route , destroying the ship , because , according to the neurologist , Doctor , being in the holodeck is killing him . He has only about an hour left . Act Four . The Doctor refuses to destroy " Voyager " , not only because he doesn ' t know how but he also can ' t rule out Barclay is an impostor . Barclay gets an idea and disappears . The Doctor suddenly finds himself back at the moment when " Voyager " found itself in the Delta Quadrant ; Barclay explains that they cannot stop the program , only reset it . The Doctor deletes the Paris and Kim hologram s . After The Doctor questions Barclay , the man responds that indeed , he " had " programmed Paris to be annoying , like Barclay ' s cousin , . The Doctor concludes that he must destroy the main holographic matrix . That will stop all holographic programs and prove once and for all that The Doctor is not a hologram , and is indeed Zimmerman . The Doctor arrives in main engineering to find Captain Janeway . She promptly asks how he is in engineering and who Barclay is . The Doctor tries to delete Janeway but it doesn ' t work . Barclay explains that the protocols are freezing up and no longer working , including the safety protocols . Faced with an angry Janeway and armed security officers , The Doctor attempts to explain himself then tells Janeway they are about to be transported to the Caretaker ' s array . The crew begins to get transported to the Array and Janeway looks at The Doctor wide - eyed before vanishing . With the crew gone , The Doctor destroys the holomatrix and is surprised to find he is still there . He promptly asks the computer if any holographic programs are running and the computer replies that none are . Barclay tells The Doctor that ending the holographic programs on a ship that is " itself " a holographic program is futile ; he has to destroy the warp core ( necessary for the destruction of the ship , and therefore the program ending ) and hands him a phaser . As The Doctor is preparing to fire at the warp core , Chakotay appears and tells The Doctor to stop , as Barclay has been lying . Act Five . The commander explains that The Doctor is on the holodeck on " Voyager " and had taken a day off at the suggestion of Captain Janeway . They suffered a radiation surge and it caused a feedback loop within the holodeck , trapping him there . Chakotay is actually being projected into the holodeck from engineering , and tells him that the pain he is feeling is the sensation of his memory circuits being destroyed and if he destroys the simulation " Voyager " then The Doctor ' s program will be destroyed too . The Doctor asks Chakotay what he needs to do , and Chakotay tells him to just wait as they almost have the problem fixed . The Doctor falls to the ground in pain and a Human Kes appears , telling him that she is being projected from Jupiter Station , saying how much she loves him and doesn ' t want her " husband " to die . Chakotay explains that the delusions are being drawn from his own memories . Barclay asks The Doctor what would he rather be ; a Human being with a real life and family or a hologram trapped in a sickbay on a ship lost in deep space . Chakotay tells him that what he ' s made of doesn ' t change who he is to the rest of the crew ; he is their friend and he ' s no less real than anyone else . When Kes kisses him , The Doctor begins : " " I always wanted to tell you , Kes . . . " " Suddenly , The Doctor finds himself in sickbay and completes his sentence : " " . . . that you are beautiful " " , very embarrassed as the Ocampa Kes is standing over him and heard everything he said . Kim and Tuvok explain that " Voyager " encountered a subspace anomaly which was the cause of the radiation surge , confirming there was no Kazon attack and the crew didn ' t abandon ship . The two officers then leave and The Doctor goes to continue the catalogue he started that morning . Kes starts questioning him on what he said and asks him if he meant it . With The Doctor making polite excuses , assuring that he finds her merely beautiful in a platonic way , Kes presumes that he doesn ' t love her anymore and their " marriage " is over , calling him " Lewis " . Thoroughly confused , The Doctor ' s consciousness wavers . He turns and sees Barclay who claims that he can still destroy the warp core to save himself . A hand is placed on his shoulder The Doctor sees Paris on his first day in the Delta Quadrant . Paris yells that a crewmember needs help and brings The Doctor to a biobed where Dr . Zimmerman himself lies , injured . Zimmerman begins speaking in Janeway ' s voice . The real Doctor suddenly finds himself in the holodeck grid . Captain Janeway is there and asks him if he knows who he is , and where he is . Though a little unsure of his true identity during the holodeck problem , he answers both decisively . He is " Voyager " ' s Emergency Medical Hologram , and he is on the Holodeck . To be sure that he is truly back , he asks Captain Janeway whether Kes is not his wife . When the captain ' s reaction is mere surprise , it is obvious that he is truly back . He asks to be transferred back to sickbay and Janeway does so but not before telling him its good to have him back . The Doctor tells Kes of his adventures , keeping in mind that Kes is his assistant , not wife . Kes laughs and warns The Doctor not to tell Neelix , as he might get jealous . " " It will be our secret ! " " she cautions . The Doctor puzzles over why his program created an elaborate delusion rather than detecting the radiation ' s threat . Kes says everyone asks themselves existential questions at some time , but The Doctor is entirely confident as to his own nature and purpose . He is " Voyager " s EMH . Kes playfully asks him if he ' s sure about that , prompting The Doctor to pass his hand through the open sickbay doors . It can ' t be projected outside , providing him with the confirmation he needs , and returns to his duties , content . Memorable quotes . " " Did I program Mister Paris to be so annoying ? " " " " Actually , I programmed him . I modeled him after my cousin Frank . " " " " Computer , delete Paris . " " " " Computer , delete Janeway . " " " " He looks a lot like me . In fact , he looks exactly like me . Computer , is this me ? " " " " Affirmative . " " " " Missed me ! " " " " You mean . . . the ship ' s empty ? " " " " Affirmative . " " " " You ' re starting to think you ' re part of the program and that . . . that ' s not good ! " " " " Don ' t Panic ! ' " " " " It doesn ' t matter what you ' re made of , what matters is who you are . You are our friend and we want you back . " " " " The array you discovered is controlled by an entity you will come to know as the Caretaker . . . or , Banjo - Man . " " " " No one gets the best of me in my kitchen ! " " " " Well , I ' m glad everyone bothered to say goodbye . " " " " Doctor , are you listening to me ? That man needs " HELP " ! " " " " Well , it ' s bigger than I thought . " " " " Barclay was part of the original engineering team that designed your program . He was in charge of testing your interpersonal skills . " " Links and references . References . autonomic response analysis ; " Banjo Man " ; Barclay , Reginald ( holograph ) ; brig ; Caretaker ; Caretaker ' s array ; concussion ; coronary bypass ; crew manifest ; Delta Quadrant ; dilithium matrix ; dizziness ; Emergency Medical Hologram ; emergency power ; Federation ; Frank ( cousin ) ; frying pan ; headache ; holodeck ; Holo - Doc ; holo - engineer ; holomatrix ; holographic emitter ; holo - transference dementia syndrome ; Jefferies tube ; Jupiter Station ; Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Center ; Kaplan ( Doctor ) ; Kazon ; kinoplasmic radiation ; life pod ; magnetic constrictor ; Maquis ; medkit ; ; memory center ; memory circuit ; mess hall ; meter ; Milky Way Galaxy ; nausea ; neotrinate ; neural tissue ; Nondoran tomato paste ; Ocampa ; orderly ; oxidation ; percussive injury ; plasma relay ; plasma torpedo ; power relay ; ; pus hog ; red alert ; reserve power ; shore leave ; snake ; Starfleet ; subspace anomaly ; tractor beam ; tricorder ; turbolift