Stardate not given: B'Elanna beams aboard a sample from a comet with an anomalous trajectory. To her big surprise a man materializes on the transporter platform who says his name is Q. This Q is a dissenter of the Q Continuum, who was imprisoned on the comet for his desire to be mortal. The familiar Q appears and claims that if a Q were allowed to commit suicide, it would destabilize the Q Continuum. When the new Q requests asylum on the ship, it is up to Janeway to decide whether the new Q may become mortal or whether he would have to return to the Continuum. The familiar Q presents three witnesses, whose life the new Q has positively influenced: Isaac Newton, who discovered gravity when Q dropped an apple on his head; Maury Ginsberg, who thanks to Q arrived in time to fix a cable that otherwise would have ruined the Woodstock Festival; William Riker, whose ancestor Thaddius "Old Iron Boots" Riker was saved by a soldier who turns out to be Q. The new Q, however, convincingly demonstrates that his life is meaningless, as there is nothing to explore and nothing to talk about. Despite Q's offer to take the ship home if she favors his demand, she lets the new Q, who calls himself Quinn, stay aboard as a human crew member. His death wish, however, is so strong that he commits suicide briefly later, with a poison provided by the familiar Q.

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