T’Lyn records a transmission to her Vulcan commander documenting the Cerritos’s current assignment, escorting three Betazoid diplomats from Angel One to Risa.

T’Lyn finds them disruptive and conveys how difficult this mission is for her.

Freeman takes the diplomats through sickbay as part of the tour and it’s disclosed that Caitians used to hunt and eat Betazoids in the distant past. T’ana doesn’t seem too committed to the new ways.

As the diplomats’ presence influences the rest of the crew, T’Lyn petitions that she be allowed to return to the Vulcan ship.

She is unable to send the message due to a signal block in place while the Betazoid delegation is on-board for security reasons. Mariner informs T’Lyn of this when she drops by to invite her to another Betazoid party.

In their quarters, Boimler’s trying to memorize everyone’s name on the crew and failing. Rutherford recommends he take a break and come to the Betazoid party. Boimler refuses until he succeeds in memorizing everyone’s name so that he can feel he earned it. As Rutherford leaves, he contacts Shaxs about nominating Boimler for “The Program.”

T’Lyn decides to inquire when communications will be open again. She goes to the party where crew members appear to be becoming more emotionally extreme.

Freeman realizes something’s off. The suspicion lies with the diplomats.

Shaxs takes Boimler to an isolated part of the ship and introduces him to a ship’s Security Team slam poetry circle.

In the lounge, T’Lyn postulates the Betazoids are infecting the crew with Zanthi Fever. Freeman asks the diplomats to join them in sickbay, voicing their concerns. The diplomats communicate quickly via telepathy and reveal they have a secret.

In sickbay, all three Betazoids scan clear but Freeman still refuses to believe they aren’t the cause of the crew’s strange behavior. She orders them confined to quarters. The Betazoids suddenly arm themselves and begin to fight. They knock everyone out and take the captain hostage.

The slam poetry group is now playing charades. Boimler expresses disappointment that he isn’t getting trained. Shaxs comments that training takes many forms and offers him a choice of two officer challenges – a puzzle or a set of tarot cards. Boimler says that isn’t much of a choice and Shaxs interprets that to mean he has chosen both.

The diplomats reveal to Freeman on the way to the bridge that they are Betazoid Intelligence Agency officers.

They overpower the bridge crew. They accuse Freeman of trying to frame them for the emotional disruption on the ship when they themselves are struggling with emotional extremes. They plot a course back to Betazoid but it takes the ship through the Neutral Zone where the Romulans will probably destroy them.

In sickbay, T’ana frees herself and the others and then takes off to eat a Betazoid. Her scanner is left behind and Mariner and T’Lyn realize the source of the crew’s emotional dysregulation is actually T’Lyn.

T’Lyn notes that Vulcans can’t get Zanthi Fever but can get Bendii Syndrome although she is far too young for that.

On the bridge, Freeman tricks one BIA agent into reading her mind and see the insult the other threw at her earlier. This sparks an argument and gives Freeman an opportunity to hit the red alert.

Shaxs tries to teach Boimler there’s more to being security than being tough. Boimler screams out for some action just as Freeman hits the red alert.

The Security Team leaps into action. Boimler’s left catching up.

T’Lyn and Mariner run into the rest of the influenced crew and let it slip that T’Lyn is the source of the emotions. The others chase them into a closet where Mariner starts to freak out. T’Lyn is able to calm her with a variation of the mindmeld that balances out Mariner’s emotions.

T’Lyn admits that she was banished for not being Vulcan enough and now she believes it’s true. Mariner tries to comfort her.

The Security team finds T’Ana trying to claw her way into the bridge. They realize the ship is approaching Romulan space.

Mariner tells T’Lyn that her previous captain and crew are wrong. She points out that Bendii Syndrome makes her supremely Vulcan. T’Lyn accepts this logic and feels better.

Once she’s feeling better about being banished, her effect on Mariner’s emotions dissipates. They open the closet door and the crew that were busting it down fall in and are completely back to normal.

The Security team arrives at the bridge and overpowers the BIA team. Freeman brings the ship to a halt just before it crosses into the neutral zone, disappointing the cloaked Romulan Bird of Prey that was waiting to destroy it.

At Risa, Boimler apologizes to Shaxs about being a jerk. Shaxs explains he’d heard Boimler was stressing himself out so the Security team tried to give him a relaxing day off. It’s part of the Security team’s mandate to protect the emotional as well as physical wellbeing of the crew.

As the BIA team leaves, they give Freeman an image one of their monitoring stations captured of the vessel suspected of destroying ships.

Mariner sits down with T’Lyn and asks if she’s sent the message she was wanting to send. T’Lyn’s decided to stick around on the Cerritos. Mariner hugs her and Tendi’s upset she doesn’t get to hug her too.