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Spock and Joe Tormolen beam down to planet
Psi 2000 to pick up a research party before the planet disintegrates.
They find everyone has died, frozen when life support was turned off.
Even stranger, the positions of the researcher's bodies show they were
out of their minds when they perished and some died by suicide.
Unknowingly,
Tormolen carried what is later termed the "Psi 2000" virus, back to
the U.S.S. Enterprise and it spreads among the crew at an alarming rate,
reaching into their souls and pulling out their deepest desires for public
display. The virus is water borne and spread by perspiration in a touch.
While trying to stop Tormolen from killing himself, Sulu and Kevin Riley
are infected with the virus.
The crew
begin displaying actions that are humorous exaggerations of their desires,
like Sulu threatening the bridge with a fencing foil and Kirk becoming
overly romantic toward the crew. Others are more heart-wrenching, like
Christine Chapel admitting her love for Spock and the Vulcan finally weeping
over his mother's death. The deadliest result, however, is when Riley
declares himself captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise and locks himself in
Engineering. Unfortunately, he also locks everyone else out. Once in
command of the ship's engines, Riley shuts them down and the U.S.S. Enterprise
is pulled toward Psi 2000 by its erratic gravity.
McCoy
finds an antidote for the virus which he, fortunately, manages to
avoid coming down with, and infects the crew.
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