Ensign Levi Gordon sometimes found himself alone staring at his test results wondering if anyone remembered he was down here. When he had made his experiment proposal to the CMO he had no idea it would be approved or that he would be holed away in the dungeons of the Dresden for months and months on end. Negative test results after negative test results were taking their toll. Levi was staring at another.

So sure that he was going to be submitting an award winning paper to the Starfleet Medical Journal in a few short months his enthusiasm couldn’t be contained… at first. He was so over it.Starleet’s nanotechnology was just not advanced enough to make a viable, efficient, and self-replicating medical nano-bot that didn’t eventually kill the host or try to take over the ship.

A random thought occurred to him. “Starfleet doesn’t have the technology, but what about species outside the federation?” Though the thought was intriguing, Levi’s eyes were beginning to go cross-eyed and he couldn’t bear reading another monitor. =/\=Computer, activate EMH.=/\=

The hologram sparkled into being standing next to him. “Please state the nature of the medical emergency.”

“There’s no emergency,” Levi assured him. “I need some information about foreign nano-technology and I can’t look at a monitor another minute.”

“I’m sorry Ensign. My program parameters are designed for medical emergencies.” The man looked well put out. “I’m a doctor, not an encyclopedia.”

Levi groaned. “You know, that joke does get rather old. Please, help me out this once and I promise I won’t contact you again unless there is a sickbay full of casualties to triage.”

“Fine,” the hologram barked. “One query and then please deactivate me. I was having a rather lovely dream.” His expression turned wistful. “And I would like to return to it.”

“You dream?” Levi asked, but then thought better of it. “You know what? Never mind. That’s a topic for another time.” Levi was beginning to regret bringing the EMH online. “All I really want to know is if there is any record in the Starfleet database of anyone using foreign nano-technology to create medical nanites.”

“That’s what you woke me up for?” the EMH began to complain. “To research the technology that will someday make you and me obsolete?”

Levi banged his head on the table and lay there. “Please. Just do it. I’m begging you,” he said not lifting his head.

“Alright! There’s no need to injure your frontal lobe,” he began, “although that would be a medical emergency and therefor validate your activating me.”

“Doc!” Levi screamed desparate.

The EMH huffed. “Relax. Searching.” The doctor was quiet for a few seconds. And suddenly his face lit up. “Ah! There is a Starfleet Medical Journal paper written by Doctor Lai Lysis while on board the USS Draco. It seems she cared for Ensign Tommy Nguyan who had a complete spinal injury. He had been in contact with experimental Borg nanites and his spinal injury was completely healed. Fascinating!”

Levi slammed his head on the table again. “Where am I going to get Borg nanites!” He was beginning to realize that this was another dead end.

“You’re not,” the EMH stated. “They were all destroyed, but not before Doctor Lysis reverse engineered them and mapped their programming.”

“What are you getting at?” Levi asked.

“We can’t acquire the nanites but perhaps we can recreate them.”

“We?’’ Levi asked. “What about your dream?”

“No worries,” the EMH said, a slightly manic smile spreading across his face. “I can play croquet another day.”

-Ens. Levi Gordon

OOC: Lai Lysis was created by Crissy Nessing. This reference and the reference to the Borg nanites and Ensign Nguyen’s spinal injury was pulled from the archives of the USS Draco.

-Harley