Twovix (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

For the VOY episode with a similar title, please see "Tuvix".

The Cerritos ensigns must assist a caretaker on the voyage of a historically significant starship. (Season premiere)

Summary[]

Teaser[]

The USS Cerritos drops out of warp in the Portelo system. On the bridge, Commander Jack Ransom asks Captain Carol Freeman about their mission, but she has few details about it, as the mission is classified.

In the lower decks crew bunks, Ensigns Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler discuss potential possibilities as to what the mission is, when Boimler gets an assignment for holodeck waste removal. Ensigns D'Vana Tendi and T'Lyn arrive after cataloguing samples of hydrogen, and after a little more small talk, Mariner excuses herself, reminding Boimler to shower before they all meet up for lunch.

As Boimler goes about his task of removing the holodeck waste, Ransom checks in on him, and tells him that promotions are coming up soon, and that he will be promoted to lieutenant junior grade, so long as nothing goes wrong during the day. Boimler is nervous, as stuff always seems to go wrong around him, but Ransom assures him that he would need to mess up in a "historically significant" way to cause him to lose his promotion. As he leaves, Boimler drops a canister of waste in nervousness.

The Cerritos approaches the space station, and upon hailing, is answered by a Rigelian curator and historian named Beljo Tweekle. He's excited, because after years of work on his project, it is finally ready to be revealed. Asking if they are transporting art, Tweekle powers up a starship, and it is revealed that he has actually been working on restoration and conservation of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager.

Act One[]

"Captain's log, stardate 58724.3. In a pleasant surprise, the Cerritos has been tasked with transporting the USS Voyager. Captain Janeway and her crew spent seven years trying to get home from the Delta Quadrant, and they became Federation history in the process. Since their return, Voyager has been decommissioned, and preserved for future generations. Her first stop is Starfleet Command, where she'll spend some time on the ground before being permanently stationed in orbit."

On Voyager's bridge, the Cerritos crew is working on setting up various displays, and Boimler trips, holding a mannequin of Ensign Harry Kim. Tweekle is incredibly nervous about the various relics getting damaged, and scolds Boimler. It doesn't help when Sam Rutherford opens a nearby panel to look at Voyager's bio-neural circuitry, further provoking Tweekle's paranoia.

In the quarters that belonged to Tuvok, Tendi and T'Lyn are getting things ready, and Tendi asks her if she is excited to be in the quarters that belonged to such a famous Vulcan. Tweekle enters with a cart of crates meant for the exhibit. He asks for them to be stored on the Cerritos, before scolding another crew member for chewing gum.

Tendi and T'Lyn head to the hangar to the shuttlecraft, Yosemite II, and discuss plans to get a head start on the next day's titrations. As they speak, a canister containing a pink orchid opens, and a petal from the flower is blown off the plant. As Tendi and T'Lyn leave the ship, the petal is caught in an air vent, where it is later blown in to the transporter room, where Chief Engineer Andy Billups is finishing up calibrations to the transporter. Dr. T'Ana is walking by, and Billups offers to beam her back to the Cerritos, rather than returning via shuttlecraft, to which she agrees. The two get on the transporter pad to return just as the petal lands on the foot of Billups. Billups has Lars Lundy beam them back to Cerritos, however, as they energize, Lundy reports to Chief of Security Shaxs that there's only one pattern in the transporter, as opposed to two. A form materializes, and it's revealed to be a hybrid of both T'Ana and Billups. The form is shocked at their sudden existence, and Shaxs hails Freeman, saying "Captain, we have a problem."

Act Two[]

Freeman updates Tweekle about the transporter accident, and mentions that the hybrid has named himself T'Illups. Tweekle immediately recognizes this incident from Voyager's history and begins to panic that his project is falling apart. Freeman assures him that all she will need is a copy of Janeway's logs so that she can duplicate the solution that Janeway did. Tweekle sends the logs and thanks her. Voyager then goes to warp. While Mariner mentions to Boimler that Janeway murdered Tuvix, Boimler seems distracted. Mariner tries to get him excited with how historically significant Voyager is, while Tweekle leaves the bridge to make sure that no displays were knocked over when Voyager went to warp. Mariner assures him that the panels were designed to survive a photon blast, before accidentally knocking a nearby panel open. However, as she does, she notices a strange organism behind a neural gel pack. The organism turns out to be a dormant Tak Takian macrovirus, which immediately awakens and attaches itself to Boimler. Mariner aims her phaser at it but Tweekle intervenes, wishing to preserve the specimen in order to add it to the exhibit. He assures Boimler that since everyone has been inoculated to the macrovirus' illness, he cannot get infected. Ransom and Kayshon slowly approach to try and get the macrovirus off of Boimler, but as they approach, the macrovirus releases from Boimler and begins to duplicate itself, spraying slime all over the ship. Ransom orders Boimler to cover the entryway to the bridge to ensure that the organisms don't escape, but when both specimens charge at Boimler, he cowers, allowing both to escape. After scolding Boimler for his inaction, Ransom and Kayshon run after the escaped specimens. Mariner asks Boimler why he's so distracted, and he feigns ignorance on being starstruck that Chakotay served on the ship. Mariner doesn't believe him as she brings up the Pike thing they weren't supposed to talk about, but they run off to help Ransom and Kayshon as the macroviruses start to duplicate again.

Back on the Cerritos, T'Illups assures Nurse Westlake that he feels fine as he enhances a tricorder. Westlake briefs Freeman that T'Ana and Billups were merged on a subcellular level, more commonly known as being Tuvixed, noting the incident that happened between Tuvok and Neelix. He notes that when they transported with a particular flower, their DNA and memories were merged, creating T'Illups. Tendi recognizes the flower in his screen and said that the same flower was in a box they were moving, and that it somehow got into the transporter. T'Lyn cautions against socializing with T'Illups, but Tendi says that there's no harm in being friendly with him. Freeman is confident that Janeway had a solution for this and excuses herself to go look over the logs she was given. As everyone leaves, Shaxs asks T'Illups nervously about the "physical memories" he has from T'Ana.

On Voyager, the situation is getting out of hand as the macroviruses continue to duplicate and spread their slime all over the ship. One specimen bumps into a computer panel, and it initiates holodeck programs Chaotica, Clown, and Michael Sullivan, and the holodeck safeties start to malfunction. The Clown, Doctor Chaotica, and Michael Sullivan all appear in the corridor, and begin to attack them. Mariner is confused as to how the holograms can appear outside the holodeck, and Tweekle says that he had holo-emitters installed throughout the ship as a subtle addition in an effort for further conservation. They get cornered where the Borg regeneration alcoves are, and a macrovirus, impaled with Harry Kim's clarinet, threatens to knock over an alcove. Boimler tries to stop it, only to get sprayed with slime, before the virus knocks over an alcove, crushing Tweekle. Ransom warns Boimler that his promotion is looking less likely.

Back on the Cerritos, Freeman discovers the truth that Janeway's solution to Tuvix was highly controversial, as it involved killing Tuvix. Shaxs asked if there was more to the solution, only to be shocked that all Janeway did was isolate the genomes and separate them. Freeman finds herself in a conundrum as she doesn't want to kill T'Illups, and Shaxs suggests that they are not stranded in the Delta Quadrant as Voyager was, and that they may have more resources at their disposal to properly help T'Illups back on Earth. Freeman agrees and urges for them to act fast before T'Illups potentially finds out about what Janeway did to Tuvix.

Unfortunately, T'Illups has looked into Tuvix, and realized that he is deceased. Not wanting to end up in the same situation, he calls Dr. Migleemo for help in "processing [his] existence," and Migleemo agrees to come see him. T'Illups then opens a panel in the roof and begins to cut some wire with a laser cutter.

On Voyager, Tweekle is begging for help as he feels the alcove trying to regenerate him, and Boimler offers to cut power to the alcove, but Ransom orders him to stop helping. Kayshon and Ransom manage to lift the alcove off Tweekle, but the alcove has been activated. They then see the macrovirus that knocked over the alcove, crawling away. The macrovirus has been assimilated by a Borg nanite that was missed, and it flies off, and begins to assimilate the ship, causing more programs of The Clown, and Sullivan to appear. The holograms carry off Mariner, Rutherford, Ransom, Kayshon, and Tweekle, as Boimler hides from view.

On the Cerritos, T'Illups has locked himself in his quarters, refusing to see Freeman. Freeman assures him that she only wishes to talk with him, promising that she has no intention of killing him. Shaxs overrides the lock, and they enter to see T'Illups hiding in the corner in fear. Freeman repeats her promise that they will figure this out without resorting to Janeway's solution, but T'Illups reveals that he's taken Migleemo hostage. He tells her that he knows how this will end, and that he needs "allies." He then produces the flower that created him, attaches it to Migleemo, and tosses him towards Freeman, before initiating the transporter, catching Freeman and Migleemo in the beam. When the form materializes, T'Illups introduces Captain Dr. Frigleeman, as a hybrid of Freeman and Migleemo steps forward, who orders more senior staff to be brought to them.

In the mess hall, Tendi and T'Lyn discuss the ethical complexities over potentially killing T'Illups. Tendi feels uncomfortable at ending one life simply to get their friends back, but T'Lyn replies that she hardly knows anyone on the Cerritos and is therefore impartial. As they speak, the mess hall is suddenly taken over by hybrids of Barnes and Shaxs (Shabarnes) and T'Illups. They take the bartender to Tuvix him with Lundy, as Tendi and T'Lyn hide.

Back on Voyager, the Clown holograms stick their prisoners to the wall with the macrovirus slime, while Tweekle laments that his career is ruined. A Sullivan hologram sticks Mariner to the wall in the corridor and walks off. Boimler sneaks over to her and tries to free her. Mariner says that he doesn't need her, and Boimler confides that he's having an off day. He finally tells her about what Ransom told her about his promotion, and that he doesn't want it, as he's worried it will be like his time on the USS Titan. He hasn't forgotten how his time there damaged their friendship, nor had he forgotten about how he didn't believe her after her transfer to Starbase 80. As he feels he has bad judgment, he decides that he doesn't deserve a promotion. Mariner then admits that it was she who asked Ransom to promote him in the first place. She tells him that he doesn't need her and tells him to go take back the ship. Boimler thanks her, and leaves.

Back on the Cerritos, Tendi and T'Lyn sneak into the transporter room, where T'Illups creates Chondus. He introduces Chondus to Shabarnes, and Swhale Swhalens, excited that he's creating an army of hybrids. He then is about to create a hybrid out of Westlake and Jennifer Sh'reyan. However, before they can create more, T'Lyn rushes out of the transporter room and accesses a nearby computer panel to take control of the transporters. T'Illups catches them, but before he can react, T'Lyn energizes all the hybrids, and beams them all to the brig, combined into one singular organism. She attempts to separate them into their individual components, but is unable to, due to the amount of merged hybrids.

Voyager drops out of warp, and an assimilated mechanical recreation of the hyper-evolved organism sets a new course for Borg Cube 858779.

In astrometrics, Boimler sneaks to where Rutherford, Ransom, and Kayshon are being held as a hologram of Sullivan leaves. Ransom tells Boimler to free him, but Boimler apologizes, saying he needs Rutherford. Boimler frees Rutherford, and they leave astrometrics right before the hologram returns. The two enter a Jefferies tube, and Boimler says that they need to shut down the main systems. Rutherford thinks, then gets an idea.

In sickbay on the Cerritos, T'Lyn discovers that the method used by The Doctor to separate Tuvix could not be used to separate the merged hybrids, as his method could only mark one individual. Tendi takes a reading on the tricorder that T'Illups enhanced beforehand and realizes that the tricorder can detect personality traits. She uploads the data to a screen, and with her familiarity of the crew, is able to distinguish the personality traits belonging to each individual crew member, and that they can separate the genomes that way. T'Lyn is a bit confused to why Tendi is helping her, citing her earlier ethical problems with the solution, and Tendi responds that as the merged hybrids are no longer sentient, she's okay with the solution. T'Lyn thanks her, and they get to work.

Act Three[]

In the turbolift, Boimler and Rutherford are about to put their plan into action. Rutherford is holding a caulk gun filled with cheese, and notes that while he's not sure the idea will work, it's still worth a try. They sneak onto the bridge as Voyager nears the Borg cube, and Boimler is suddenly grabbed by Doctor Chaotica. Before Chaotica can kill him, Boimler stands up and proudly says that Chaotica has overlooked the fact that he is actually the son of Captain Proton. Boimler's distraction fools Chaotica, and buys them enough time for Rutherford to put his plan into action. Suddenly, the holograms begin to malfunction and Voyager's bio-neural systems begin to shut down, causing the ship to drop out of warp. The Clown attacks Boimler, but vanishes before attempting to decapitate him. Tweekle, who is stuck on the wall nearby the viewscreen, asks what Rutherford did, and Rutherford reveals that he used the schplict-based cheese that Neelix made to damage the bio-neural systems. They neutralize the assimilated mechanism, and free Tweekle, who says he will add this event to his exhibit as part of the Voyager story.

Later, Voyager makes it safely to Earth, and is landed, and opened to the public, including the newest exhibit featuring Boimler and Rutherford.

"Captain's log, supplemental. After an embarrassing day of being merged on a subcellular level with my senior staff, we are putting the awkwardness behind us with a promotion ceremony."

Before the ceremony starts, Freeman commemorates the officers for their actions during the bizarre events of the day. She then tells Ransom to announce the newest lieutenant junior grades. Ransom calls up Boimler, who is shocked. As Ransom gives Boimler his new pip, he congratulates him and praises his quick thinking. Ransom then calls up T'Lyn, and D'Vana Tendi, who is incredibly excited. As Tendi meets back up with T'Lyn, T'Lyn tells Tendi that her main objective is to try and get reinstated to the Vulcan fleet, but that her work with Tendi has given her a newfound respect for her skills as a scientist, and Tendi embraces her, much to T'Lyn's discomfort. Mariner congratulates Boimler for his promotion, inviting him to the bar to celebrate, but before they can leave, Ransom calls up Mariner for a promotion, much to her shock.

Later on, Mariner goes to Ransom in his quarters, and tells him that she doesn't want to be promoted. Ransom says that he knows, and that he's aware of how she helped Boimler get his confidence back. He went back through Mariner's records and noticed a lot of "small-minded" commanders promoting her, before immediately demoting her, and he tells Mariner that he believes she just needs someone to believe in her. Mariner attempts to refuse the promotion, but Ransom declines to hear it, and dismisses her. Mariner attempts to stay to get him to change his mind but leaves begrudgingly as Ransom ignores her.

In the mess hall, Mariner is still upset at her promotion, and Tendi is a bit sad about the fact that Rutherford didn't get a promotion. Rutherford shakes it off, saying that since he broke Voyager, he couldn't be promoted. Boimler attempts to cheer Mariner up, saying that a lot of the dirty work they used to do will no longer be on their schedule, and that they will no longer be in bunks. Mariner is just in disbelief that they're no longer in the lower decks. Boimler assures her that they're lieutenant junior grades, the "least important mid-level officers," and that they do the grunt work without the perks, meaning they are still lower decks. Mariner finally agrees, and wonders if life will be a bit easier for them. The four of them break out into a chant as they celebrate their promotions...

Meanwhile, in Klingon space, aboard the IKS Che'Ta', G'reck sharpens a spear in his cot, much to Key'lor's annoyance, as she tries to sleep. G'reck is anxious for a fight, and Key'lor calls his spear a cowardly weapon used to stab foes from a distance. This sparks a brief quarrel between the two, before Key'lor invites him for lunch. G'reck declines, as has been ordered to transcribe Commander Veckras's battle tales. Key'lor sympathizes with G'reck's annoyance, believing that Ma'ah became captain by luck and that he's forgotten who his true allies are. G'reck tells her that Ma'ah won't be captain much longer. At that moment, a red alert sounds.

The Che'Ta' approaches a mysterious ship that appears to be adrift. One of Ma'ah's officers detects a single life sign, and Ma'ah has the vessel hailed, demanding for the vessel to identify itself. They receive no response, and an officer asks if they should fire on the vessel. Ma'ah declines, seeing no honor in destroying an incapacitated ship. He has the ship's location marked, and orders for them to resume their course to Qo'noS. At that moment, the vessel powers up and begins to move, powering weapons. Ma'ah orders for the vessel to be destroyed, but his weapon systems fail as the Che'Ta' begins to lose power to all its systems. The vessel fires a single beam at the Che'Ta', completely destroying the ship.

Log entries[]

Memorable quotes[]

"Approaching the mystery station, captain."
"I hope this isn't a Romulan thing. I hate the Neutral Zone."
"Right?! Thank you."

- Mariner and Freeman

"Oh my God, we get to do something on Voyager?!?! ... Uh, you know, 'cause I mean, Boimler's gonna flip."

- Mariner

"The ship was damaged by cheese?"
"It's Voyager. *bleep* got freaky."

- Kayshon and Ransom

"She knows Janeway straight up murdered Tuvix, right?"

- Mariner

"Boimler, are you kidding me?! Shaka, when the walls fell, Ensign."
"Sokath, his eyes uncovered."
"I pay attention."

- Ransom and Kayshon

"How can you be this distracted over an empty ship?"
"Uh, you know, Chakotay served here."
"Dude, this is nothing compared to, you know, that Pike thing we aren't supposed to talk about."

- Mariner and Boimler

"Captain, I caution against socializing with the organism."
"Organism? I'm a totally unique sentient being! Plus, I'm cool as *bleep*. We're gonna be best friends fast."
"Yeah, T'Lyn, it doesn't hurt to be friendly, since Mr. T'Illups didn't ask to be created."
"Sure didn't, but here I am. I love being alive!"

- T'Lyn, T'Illups, and Tendi

"Did Janeway figure it out?"
"No! She just murdered him!"
"W-well there has to be more to it."
"She isolated the genomes and split 'em up. He begged her to live."
"Holy *bleep*! Janeway didn't mess around."

- Shaxs and Freeman

"You are Chondus, and you're with friends. This is Shabarnes, and Swhale Swhalens. He's a combination of Steve Stevens and Matt the whale."
"I want a fish!"
"He's not my best work, but it matters not. Soon the entire *bleep* crew will be a Tuvix army!"

- T'Illups and Swhale Swhalens

"I am here to hydrate, not debate on an anomaly's agency."

- T'Lyn

Background information[]

Title[]

The title of this episode invokes the title of VOY: "Tuvix".

Music[]

A portion of the title theme from Star Trek: Voyager is heard when the USS Voyager first appears.

Characters[]

This is the first episode in which Nurse Westlake speaks.

Continuity[]

Mariner mentions "that Pike thing [they] aren't supposed to talk about" to Boimler, referencing the events of SNW: "Those Old Scientists".
The central crisis of this episode, and the crew's efforts to solve it, allude to the long-standing and often highly vitriolic debate among Star Trek fans over whether Janeway's actions to resolve the similar issue in VOY: "Tuvix" were morally justified. ^{(citation needed • edit)}
Rutherford mentions how Voyager's bio-neural gel packs were affected by Neelix's Brill cheese ten years ago in VOY: "Learning Curve". Rutherford was later able to use this method to disable Voyager.
The macrovirus returns after surviving eight years behind a panel after its first appearance in VOY: "Macrocosm". It was last seen in VOY: "Shattered".
The macrovirus's holographic henchmen are all originally from holodeck-centric Star Trek: Voyager episodes, including The Clown from "The Thaw", Doctor Chaotica, first introduced in "Night", and Michael Sullivan, first introduced in VOY: "Fair Haven".
- The holographic Michael Sullivan's exclamation about missing his wife is a nod to Captain Janeway having deliberately deleted her when modifying his program in VOY: "Fair Haven".

Links and references[]

Starring[]

Guest cast[]

Characters with unidentified voice actors

Background characters[]

Animatronic hyper-evolved Human models

USS Cerritos

IKS Che'Ta'

Earth

External links[]

"Twovix" at the Internet Movie Database
"Twovix" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

Previous episode:
"The Stars At Night"

Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 4

Next episode:
"I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee"