Life Line ( episode ) The Doctor is sent to the Alpha Quadrant to cure the dying creator of his program , Lewis Zimmerman , but the holographic engineer wants no part of him . Summary . Teaser . Jupiter Station , Sol system , the Alpha Quadrant . A shuttle , piloted by Lieutenant Reginald Barclay approaches . He hails the station and requests permission to dock and board . The station is the home and workplace of Dr . Lewis Zimmerman , the crotchety genius and holography engineer extraordinaire best known for the creation of the Emergency Medical Hologram . Dr . Zimmerman grumpily allows Barclay in to see him . They speak about Barclay ' s work on the Pathfinder Project and an annoyed Zimmerman mocks Barclay for still searching for that ship . Barclay tells him that they are on the verge of a breakthrough through the establishment of a communications link . Then the subject turns to Zimmerman ' s medical condition . Zimmerman snorts angrily at this , stating that he has been scanned and probed a hundred times without anyone being able to tell him what is wrong . Barclay ventures that it is only a matter of time until they find something , but Zimmerman has none of it . His next words remind Barclay that time is a luxury Dr . Zimmerman cannot afford ; his condition is fatal and he is dying . Act One . Via the MIDAS array , Starfleet transmits a compressed data stream across the 30 , 000 light year distance to the . It is received in the ship ' s astrometrics lab by Seven of Nine , who quickly analyzes the data and informs Captain Janeway about the transmission . Janeway calls a meeting of the senior staff explaining the receipt of the data stream and that every thirty - two days , Starfleet will transmit a short burst of data to them via the MIDAS array , utilizing a cyclic pulsar to amplify the signal across the distance . The data is usually correspondence from crew - members ' families and news of the Alpha Quadrant . However , they only have about seventeen hours to respond before the pulsar ' s strength drops below sending range . She orders that the crew be informed and that everyone be given the opportunity to send something . As before , Neelix , the ship ' s morale officer , is put in charge of distributing the individual messages . This time , he also has one for The Doctor , which he promptly delivers to him in sickbay . It is a message from Barclay who informs him about Dr . Zimmerman ' s condition . Barclay explains that Dr . Zimmerman is suffering from acute sub - cellular degradation and that the doctors at home have not been able to find the cause , much less the treatment . Neelix informs The Doctor gently of the time the Captain needs his response by , if he wants to send one . The Doctor , however , intends to send more than just a reply ; he believes that he can actually help Dr . Zimmerman by adapting a variety of Borg regeneration techniques to arrest the cell damage and maybe even reverse it . And what ' s more , he intends to administer the treatment himself by being sent back to the Alpha Quadrant . Captain Janeway is not convinced , saying that even if they could send him , he was still needed on the ship . But The Doctor points out that for the short time he is gone , Tom Paris can take over . He goes on to say that Seven has discovered that they can compress his program and send him . He realizes that he would be asking the crew to make a sacrifice , because if his program is sent , then there won ' t be any room for personal messages , but he believes that while the crew can wait another month , Dr . Zimmerman might not have that luxury . He pleads with her , responding that he needs to be there and that he cannot treat a patient 30 , 000 light years away . He points out that everything he is , he is because of Dr . Zimmerman and his work and that in a way , both he and the crew owe Zimmerman something . Janeway points out that Zimmerman created thousands of emergency medical holograms and that he can hardly be considered to be a father to him , but The Doctor disagrees , stating that from his perspective , his creator is the closest thing he ' s got and that if he doesn ' t help him now , he may never get the chance . Captain Janeway finally agrees hoping that The Doctor will be successful in his endeavors . Act Two . Seven prepares The Doctor for transmission . Despite The Doctor ' s protests , she extracts all his non - essential subroutines , such as his singing subroutine and his Grand Master chess subroutine , because his program is currently too large for transmission . Then , in the astrometrics lab , with Captain Janeway and Ensign Kim there to prep him and see him off , Seven downloads and transmits him . He arrives successfully at Jupiter Station , where a very excited but nervous Barclay rushes with a portable data device to Zimmerman ' s laboratory . Zimmerman ' s assistant , a holographic Human woman named Haley , warns him that he is in a particularly cranky mood , but Barclay insists on seeing him . Zimmerman agrees to see while his assistant asks him to be nice to Barclay , because he is actually worried about him . Barclay enters and activates The Doctor . He is without his mobile emitter , but is being projected using the emitters Zimmerman has installed throughout his lab . Zimmerman is far from enthused ; he is not very impressed with being presented with the obsolete EMH Mark I , stating that he is in fact not in the mood for nostalgia . Disappointed by his reaction , Barclay informs him exactly what EMH Mark I he is looking at , but this merely elicits yet another sarcastic dismissal of The Doctor from a still unenthusiastic Zimmerman . When The Doctor informs Zimmerman of the reason for his visit , Zimmerman ' s sarcasm begins to boil over into anger . " " You brought a " Mark I " 30 , 000 light years to " treat " me ? " " he asks Barclay with a baleful glare . " " I was wrong about you , Reginald ; you " do " have a sense of humor . " " He curtly turns his back on both of them . The Doctor does not appreciate this ; he was expecting a vastly different reception from his creator . He asks Barclay what the joke is , in regard to Zimmerman ' s comment . Zimmerman ' s sarcasm disappears entirely , leaving only anger . He gives The Doctor a total shocking surprise , one that shatters his previously - held assumption that EMHs like him were performing a great medical function . He finds out that the EMH Mark I program was reconfigured to scrub plasma conduit s on waste transfer barges . The Doctor is horrified . Zimmerman continues yelling that he has been treated by the Mark III , Mark IV , and not to mention the real doctors in Starfleet , none of whom could help him . Barclay tries to ameliorate the situation by explaining to Dr . Zimmerman all The Doctor ' s unique experiences that have increased his knowledge in the medical field vastly , but Zimmerman doesn ' t want to hear it . The Doctor himself is becoming irritated by Zimmerman , but this does not stop him from trying to carry out the reason for which he risked his program by coming here . He tells him that he needs to run a complete analysis by scanning him with a medical tricorder , but Zimmerman refuses to let him do so . However , his persistence makes Zimmerman see that he is going to have to acquiesce in order to be left alone , so he finally relents , standing still and allowing The Doctor to take his scans . A very mollified Barclay leaves to wait outside . It does not last , however . The Doctor , annoyed by a holographic iguana Zimmerman has in his lab for company , deactivates it . Furious at this , Zimmerman ceases his cooperation and shouts at him to leave . The Doctor refuses , defiantly retorting that he is no longer under Zimmerman ' s control , to which Zimmerman sharply orders the computer to transfer The Doctor to the living quarters . The flustered Doctor finds himself suddenly relocated outside the lab , where a concerned Barclay and Haley look at him in surprise . Act Three . The next day , Haley and Barclay are sitting in the living quarters , talking about the situation . A furious Doctor storms in , demanding that the MIDAS array be powered up to send him back to " Voyager " at once . He spent an hour analyzing the confusing data before discovering that Zimmerman , according to the readings , is a Vulcan marsupial . The Doctor is outraged because Zimmerman reconfigured his tricorder . Barclay chuckles a bit and Haley tells him that she thinks that he is making some progress because Dr . Zimmerman only teases people he likes . Finally , Barclay calms him down , reminding him that he cannot be sent back until the following month . This does nothing to alter The Doctor ' s ire , however . He is becoming increasingly agitated by the situation he is in , especially when a holographic insect keeps buzzing into his ear . He angrily voices his opinion of the absurdity of the situation he finds himself , with undercover insects , talking iguanas and not to mention Dr . Zimmerman whom he considers to be deranged and in dire need of a counselor . This gives Barclay an idea . Barclay contacts the and speaks to Commander Deanna Troi , the ship ' s counselor . He asks her to come to Jupiter Station and provide some insight into the situation between The Doctor and Zimmerman . At first , she is reticent , responding that the " Enterprise " is on an important mission , nearly seven light years away . But Barclay pleads saying that this situation needs the best : her . She is visibly pleased by his confidence in her , and agrees to come , provided her commanding officer , Captain Jean - Luc Picard , grants her request . Meanwhile , on " Voyager " , Chakotay enters Captain Janeway ' s ready room to find her mulling over a message she has received from Admiral . In the message , Hayes assures Janeway that Starfleet has not given up on " Voyager " ; in fact , they have redirected two deep - space exploration vessels toward " Voyager " s position , and the ship will be able to rendezvous with them in five to six years . Hayes also requests information from Janeway regarding her first contact missions , interactions with the Borg , and the status of the ship ' s Maquis crew members . This last point troubles Janeway ; she tells Chakotay that she no longer thinks of the Maquis as a separate political entity ( and enemies of the Federation ) , but as a normal part of the crew . Chakotay confesses that while Janeway may have forgotten their ugly history , the Maquis have not , but he also reminds her that it will be years before she will have to address the problem with Starfleet , and she should wait until then to do so . Janeway invites him to lunch so that he can help her compose a proper response to Hayes . Later on , Haley , having prepared Zimmerman ' s lunch , calls and informs him . His response over the comm is pleasured groaning , then an acknowledgment of her message . He is seen being massaged by a most exotic - looking Tarlac woman . Lying on his ventral side , he complains to her about The Doctor ' s harassment of him and the dread he feels just thinking about him . Then he notices her pulling out a medical tricorder to scan him . Shocked , he gets up , demanding an explanation . Suddenly , epiphany hits him . He orders the computer to realign " Voyager " s EMH . The Tarlac woman is replaced by an embarrassed - looking Doctor . Zimmerman becomes livid . His face contorted with rage , he threatens to report The Doctor to the medical ethics board , screaming at him to leave him alone . The Doctor sternly tries to get him to see that he is only trying to help , but Zimmerman screams that he doesn ' t want his help , again asking why he just won ' t leave him alone . The Doctor explains that for some reason unknown to him , he cares about him . Zimmerman mocks him again , saying that he was not programmed to care but to hold a scalpel . However , The Doctor reiterates that over the past six years , he has become more than the EMH Zimmerman had once created . Just then , Haley calls , informing Zimmerman of a visitor , who enters shortly after : Commander Troi . Act Four . Troi introduces herself , though both know who she is . She immediately gets to work , trying to engage them and bring about a spirit of " détente " . The Doctor is appreciative , but Zimmerman is surly and obstinate . She first tries to get The Doctor to see Zimmerman ' s point of view on the situation but to Zimmerman ' s mind , The Doctor is obsolete . Therefore , he has difficulty putting confidence in him . The Doctor understands this . She then asks Zimmerman to understand The Doctor ' s position . If the situation were reversed , The Doctor would not want him working on him either , considering " him " obsolete . Zimmerman pretends to go along with her . But then he breaks the pretense with a snide remark that The Doctor , being an EMH Mark I , can start purging the plasma conduits on Deck Six . This arouses The Doctor ' s anger once again and they begin to bicker , until Troi loses her cool , calling them both jerks before storming out . Later , in the living quarters , Troi glumly tells Barclay that perhaps she should not have come ; things are now worse than before because now Zimmerman and The Doctor refuse to even be in the same room with each other . Haley brings Troi ' s principal vice : chocolate ice cream . Troi is very appreciative . Her empathic powers , not sensing any emotions from her , reveal Haley to be a hologram . Upon finding out when she was created , she realizes that Haley is in fact older than the Mark I . She wonders then why Zimmerman pays her heed , but refuses to do so with The Doctor ? After a bit of coaxing , as this is not something Zimmerman wants publicly known , Haley explains that the Mark I was Zimmerman ' s most prized work . He had dreamed about holograms in every corner of the Milky Way , rendering critical medical care , saving lives in situations where flesh - and - blood doctors could not go . He was so proud of the Mark I that he modeled its physical appearance after himself . But Starfleet was unimpressed , ordering the Mark I reconfigured as plasma conduit cleaners . Zimmerman was devastated and humiliated . He tried for years to repair the defects , until he gave up and started again from scratch , first creating the Mark II , then III , then IV . None of these newer models looked like him again ; he made that mistake once and was not about to do it again . And now , Troi concludes , after all these years , a Mark I appears , a reminder of his failure and shame , like staring in the mirror at a reflection one never wants to see again . She now understands exactly what the root cause of Zimmerman ' s attitude and belligerence toward The Doctor is . Savoring her ice cream , she considers her next steps . Alone in his lab , with the lights low , a quiet , frightened but resigned Zimmerman dictates to the computer his last will and testament . With nobody else present , he lets some of his hidden feelings show , evincing deep care about those few people who are close to him , such as Haley and Barclay . Then pain due to his condition seizes him with red - hot talons . He sits in his chair , gasping . Meanwhile , The Doctor is in the station ' s holodeck , which Barclay has programmed to be a facsimile of " Voyager " s sickbay . Commander Troi enters and speaks to him about having dinner with her , Barclay , Haley . . . and Zimmerman . Initially , he is interested , but at the mention of the last , he flatly refuses . Then he begins to fritz . Urgently , Troi calls Barclay who immediately transfers him to the living quarters , where he begins running diagnostics on him . The news horrifies The Doctor : he is degrading , destabilizing . Soon , he will be destroyed completely . There is nothing Barclay can do . Act Five . Soon after , Barclay , Haley , and Troi are in Zimmerman ' s lab , with Zimmerman . Haley busies herself cleaning while Troi and Barclay speak to Zimmerman about The Doctor ' s deterioration . Zimmerman could not care less : " " Good riddance to bad photons , " " is his response . The officer s plead with him : he is dying ; " Voyager " cannot do without him . He irritatedly responds that he will send them a Mark IV as a replacement . They don ' t want a Mark IV , Barclay presses , they want their friend . This irritates Zimmerman even more , and he states that no EMH was ever designed to be anyone ' s friend and shouts at everyone that he is just a hologram . A very poor choice of words . Haley immediately whirls on him , hurt in her voice , asking him if that is that how he feels about her . Mortified , Zimmerman can only mutter that he will not be ambushed in his own lab . Haley takes over from Troi and Barclay . She reminds him of the time when he was on to give a lecture and received a message that she was destabilizing . He immediately canceled the lecture and returned to Jupiter Station to repair her . Her voice is tinged with emotion as she says this . Zimmerman , never comfortable with his soft side exposed for others to see , tries to respond that he was merely looking for an excuse to escape delivering the lecture . But there is no conviction at all behind his words . " " You came back because you cared about me , " " Haley presses . " " Just like you care about the Mark I ; you just won ' t admit it . " " Leaning in close , she brings up the forbidden subject , admitting that he may not be perfect , but that he is one of his creations , and that right now , he needs his creator . She asks him to not turn his back on him now . Zimmerman looks around at all of them , the resistance leached out of him . He quietly relents . Later , eating Haley ' s salad , alone in the lab , he begins his work . He has the computer activate The Doctor and informs him of his intention to repair him and begins working at a terminal . The Doctor , as expected , is not a good patient himself : he frantically pesters Zimmerman with questions about what action he is taking and why he is taking it . Finally , Zimmerman just shuts him off . Seventeen hours later , he activates him again . He proudly informs him that he has succeeded . But The Doctor finds that he cannot move . When asked why , Zimmerman excitedly informs him that not only has he repaired him , he has made some " improvements " on him . These improvements are those that he always had wanted to do on the Mark I , but never got the chance to . The upgrades include changing his on - activation greeting to something more friendly , as well as adding new subroutine s for compassion , patience , empathy and decorum . Zimmerman is extremely pleased . He comments , much to The Doctor ' s pleasure , that he has exceeded his programming and accomplished much more than he would have predicted . But , he adds , he never overcame his initial defects as a Mark I but now , he has a chance to . The Doctor is not pleased , however . He likes himself the way he is . Zimmerman cannot understand this , telling The Doctor that he is doing him a favor after all . The Doctor is hurt ; yes , he wants Zimmerman ' s approval , but he also wants his acceptance of him as he is , as what he made himself to be . He doesn ' t want any favors and he definitely does not want the new subroutines . Disappointed , he asks why Zimmerman just can ' t accept him as he is . Zimmerman bluntly responds that this is because The Doctor is defective . This is when suddenly the years of shame and disappointment about the Mark I surface . Stalking around the lab , he vents his feelings to The Doctor ; about the pejorative acronyms Starfleet gave the EMH Mark I , such as " Emergency Medical Hotheads " and " Extremely Marginal House - calls " ; about how he tried to have them decommissioned , only to have to watch Starfleet reassign them all to work waste - transfer barges . He sinks onto a couch . And his next words reveal the full extent of his devastation over how the project turned out ; feelings which are exactly those deduced by Troi on hearing the story of the Mark I from Haley ; feelings of extreme shame and embarrassment , which he is always reminded of . It comes out in one single sentence : " " Do you know how humiliating it is ? to have 675 Mark Ones out there , scrubbing plasma conduits . . . all with my face ? " " Now The Doctor understands . He gently tells him that " he " is still doing what he was made for , and is quite good at it . And this is why he is here : to do that job for him , so that he may be proud of him . This is of comfort , Zimmerman admits , stating that at least one of the EMHs he created is still doing what he designed them to do . The Doctor parlays that admission into a gentle request to let Zimmerman treat him . Zimmerman considers and , to The Doctor ' s great joy , finally agrees . Thirty - two hours later , The Doctor emerges from the lab to happily inform Barclay , Haley and Troi that the procedure was successful . He is certain Zimmerman will recover . However , he has a few questions regarding his earlier degradation : apparently , it had been started intentionally . He rounds on Barclay and pointedly calls for an explanation . He and Troi sheepishly confess that they set up the whole thing about his program decompiling in order to break down Zimmerman ' s resistance . The Doctor smiles , not holding it against them . One month later , The Doctor is in Zimmerman ' s lab , snapping holo - images . Zimmerman walks in . The Doctor insists he go back to bed . Zimmerman sighs in annoyance . He voices hope that The Doctor will not be returning next month to ensure he is taking his medicine . The Doctor assures him with a smile that Captain Janeway would not allow it . Zimmerman then , still trying not to let his soft side show , offhandedly remarks that The Doctor may want to drop him a line next time " Voyager " sends a data stream , to let him know how he is doing . The Doctor happily agrees . Barclay enters . The MIDAS array is ready to send The Doctor back . But before leaving , he has Barclay take a picture of him and Zimmerman . Memorable quotes . " " You ' re still searching for that ship ? What ' s it called . . . " Pioneer " ? " " " " Uh , " Voyager " . " " " " Can ' t it wait until I ' m dead ? " " " " I ' m a doctor , not a zookeeper . " " " " A smattering of photons ; that ' s all he is ! " " " " Hello , I ' m Deanna Troi . Which one of you is Dr . Zimmerman ? " " " " I found a friend waiting for me at home . " " " " You don ' t " have " any friends . " " " " I traveled halfway across the galaxy to treat you . The least you could do is show a little gratitude ! " " " " Thank you . GET OUT OF HERE ! " " " " The " Enterprise " is in the middle of a mission . . . " " " " An important mission ? " " " " They ' re all important , Reg . " " " " Oh , spare us your psychobabble ! " " " " I came here thinking that you were opposite sides of the same coin ; identical , but different . Now I see you ' re both exactly the same . You ' re both jerks ! " " " " Jerks . " " " " Do you know how humiliating it is to have 675 Mark Ones out there , scrubbing plasma conduits . . . all with my face ? " " " " I can assure you I ' m quite real . " " " " Oh , well , the last beautiful woman to walk in here turned out to be " him . " " " I ' ll take that as a compliment . " " " " You ' re arrogant ! Irritable ! A jerk , as Counselor Troi would say . " " " " I believe she was describing you as well . " " " " Don ' t change the subject . " " " " What were your initial symptoms ? " " " " Radical hair loss . " " " " Computer , deactivate iguana . " " " I also have an exceptionally high tolerance for difficult patients . " " " " I didn ' t program you for sarcasm . " " " " You ' ll find I ' m full of surprises . " " Links and references . References . agoraphobia ; Alpha Quadrant ; assimilation ; Bolian ; chin : " Dawkins " ; Daystrom Prize ; Delta Quadrant ; Earth ; Emergency Medical Hologram ( EMH ) ; ; eye s ; Federation attack fighter ; field medic ; Fractal algorithm ; hair loss ; holodeck ; hologram ; holography ; holophotography ; house call ; hoverball ; iguana ; Jem ' Hadar battle cruiser ; Jenzo ; joint inflammation ; Jupiter Station ; Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Center ; Klingon ; Leonard ; mail call ; Maquis ; Medical Ethics Board ; medical tricorder ; megaquad ; MIDAS array ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mobility subroutine ; Neelix ( cat ) ; neutron flux ; nightclub ; nostlagia ; olive branch ; paranoid ; Pathfinder Project ; personality subroutine ; phage ; ; " Pioneer 10 " ; plasma conduit ; poetry ; pork chop ; pulsar ; Roy ; salad ; scalpel ; Starfleet Intelligence ; Starfleet Medical ; sulfur ; Tarlac ; terminal illness ; therapist ; theta radiation ; time index ; Trojan Horse Project ; ; Vulcan marsupial ; " Woman in Four Dimensions "