Boimler starts the Lower Decks' team on a competition to see who can mimic warp engine sounds best. Ransom walks by and assumes they've been infected and attempts to take them into custody.

Stardate 57663.9

The Cerritos and a Drukmani ship are stuck in a conflict over the salvage rights of the debris of an abandoned Star Fleet vessel, the USS Darius (NCC-502)

In the Lower Decks, Fletcher is attempting to beat the record for chugging cantaloupe puree. In her excitement, Mariner bumps Dr. T'Ana into her own food triggering an angry reaction. Fletcher manages to smooth things over.

In discussing the salvage negotiations, Tendi reveals that she never passed her spacewalk unit at the Academy. Rutherford offers to help her using a holodeck training program he's created.

Boimler and Mariner are disappointed that their duties will mean they miss the Chu-Chu Dance event. Fletcher offers to do the work on his own so they can go.

On the holodeck, a program avatar named Badgey appears and offers to teach Tendi a lesson. He's a little slow to upload data at times and Rutherford becomes angry with the program, scolding and kicking him at one point.

Returning from the Chu-Chu Dance event, Boimler and Mariner find Fletcher knocked out on the ground. Fletcher tells them he was attacked and Boimler discovers one of the isolinear cores for the shield array has been taken. Fletcher begins to panic.

They start their investigation with Delta shift, the rival Lower Deckers. Fletcher goes a little nuts.

The Cerritos shakes as the Drukmani launch the salvage items against their hull by reversing their tractor beam. Shaxs realizes that something is wrong with the shields.

The impacts from the Drukmani assault cause the holodeck to malfunction. Badgey becomes evil and attacks Rutherford. Rutherford manages to change the program and they run and hide from Badgey as he goes on a violent rampage.

Fletcher alleges that his attacker was Drukmani but Boimler insists they scan for intruders first. When they go to their bunks to retrieve their scanners, Boimler finds the missing core on Fletcher's bunk.

Fletcher admits to breaking the core by trying to make a neural link with it in order to become smarter. Boimler and Mariner feel bad for him and offer to reformat the core and set things right. Unfortunately, the neural link corrupted the core which takes on sentience and attacks them, trying to incorporate everything into itself. Fletcher is hesitant to call it in in case it gets him in trouble.

Badgey continues to pursue Tendi and Rutherford. Rutherford admits that he was trying to impress Tendi and activated Badgey before the program was ready. Noticing that Badgey is wearing out in the hot environment, climbing stairs, Rutherford changes the environment to a freezing cold one hoping to freeze him out.

Fletcher pitches a terrible idea and Boimler and Mariner tie him up to keep him out of trouble while they try to deal with the core creature. They can't get it to the transporter so they eject it out an airlock. It drifts onto the Drukmani ship, tears a panel off, and boards it.

With shields down and weapons disabled, Freeman prepares to abandon ship when Ransom notices the core creature breaking into the Drukmani ship. Shortly afterward, the Drukmani ship breaks down and drifts away.

Rutherford confronts Badgey and admits he wasn't a good creator/father figure. The cold overtakes Badgey and Rutherford kills him.

When safety protocols are restored, Badgey reboots back to his old self but Rutherford is cautious in how he treats him.

Ransom demands an explanation from Beta Shift and Mariner gives the truth a twist to make Fletcher look heroic which garners him a promotion and a transfer.

Six days later, Fletcher gets fired from his new position and tries to get Mariner and Boimler to help him get his job back but they cut out of the video chat and run.