Garak and Bashir regularly engages in spirited banter over lunch in the Promenade. This time they were debating the relative merits of Cardassian literature when Garak begins to lose his pleasant, simple demeanor, alarming Julian greatly. Julian traces the ailment to a brain implant inserted by Cardassia's Obsidian Order, an elite secret police organization specializing in obtaining information in ways brutal compared to even the Cardassian Interrogators.

Quark has been contacted by Garak to acquire something for his problem, and stumbles across this secret. Bashir needs information about the implant to save his life, so he makes a solo flight into Cardassian territory and meets up with a retired chief of the Obsidian Order to find a cure for Garak. Now that Bashir knows for certain Garak was once an Obsidian Order spy, how much of what the Cardassian had once told the doctor is true?

Guest stars: Andrew Robinson (Garak), Jimmie F. Skaggs (Glinn Boheeka), Ann Gillespie (Nurse Jabara), Paul Dooley (Enabran Tain)