Stardate 2715.1: The Enterprise beams up a box from the mental institution on Tantalus V, in which the lunatic Dr. Van Gelder has been hiding to escape. He requests asylum on the ship. McCoy surmises that something is wrong in the institution, but Kirk trusts in Adams's flawless reputation. Nonetheless he beams down with psychiatrist Dr. Helen Noel to investigate the case. In sickbay Van Gelder talks of a "neural neutralizer" used by Dr. Adams on him and other patients, and he warns that the landing party would be in danger. Spock learns more from him through a Vulcan mind-meld. In the Tantalus colony Kirk and Noel are secretly trying out the neural neutralizer, when Adams appears and uses it on Kirk at full power. Noel manages to escape, and she disables the power supply, thereby taking down the colony's forcefield and allowing Spock to beam down. Kirk grasps the opportunity and overwhelms Adams. When the power is switched on again, Adams is still lying in the neural neutralizer, and he dies as his mind is being erased.

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