Another tumble through the Network brought Tw'eak and her away team alongside the jahSepp being calling itself Patel. They emerged in a section of the mycelial forest that was occupied by a most unlikely object: a large mechanical device, the size of a shuttlecraft, sitting on the forest floor.

"Look," Stamets said, pointing it out. "See that? That's definitely not Klingon tech. It's running clean, too - no radiation or harmful emissions."

Tw'eak nodded to Lieutenant Commander Yett, the engineer. "Go take a look."

"Whatever it is," Stamets continued, "it's not part of the problem here."

"Admiral," Yett said, his tricorder in hand. "This is Elachi tech."

"Elachi," Tw'eak repeated. "Wonder what they're doing here."

The holographic Stamets had access to Yett's scan, as he had Bianca's earlier. "Curiouser and curiouser. This device appears to collect spores floating in the atmosphere. Based on what we know about Elachi, I think it's collecting food for them."

"Wait, how do you know about the Elachi?" Ralani asked, hand to her stomach. "We barely knew who they were before they started working with the Tal Shiar.

"I have access to what we've learned in the meantime, including about the Elachi. But it makes sense. After all, they use fungus in some way as well."

"The Elachi are like the jahSepp," Patel explained. "Part of this realm. They lived here before they went to serve and fight in your realm. Now some of them have returned."

"That's not good," Ralani opined. "We'll need to report this to Starfleet Command."

"And the Alliance," Tw'eak added.

Stamets shook his head. "Maybe? The Elachi don't have a lot of friends in the Alliance. I'd be worried about this information falling into the wrong hands. The last thing this place needs is a bunch of well-armed types stomping around looking for payback from the Elachi."

Tw'eak considered it for a moment, then gave a hesitant nod. "Probably best for them to decide how to proceed, once they know. I can't see-"

But Ralani was on her feet. "We have incoming."

Tw'eak pulled her pistol as well. "Patel?"

Patel raised her hands towards the oncoming shadows, then turned to Tw'eak. "Something is wrong with the Elachi! They have the sickness!"

"We're going to have to take them down," Tw'eak replied.

"Are you asking her for permission?" Ralani asked, her tone frustrated, as she opened fire on the first of the Elachi.

Two of the Elachi grunts were felled instantly, by her and Yett. Meanwhile, Tw'eak focused her fire on one of the larger ones, a Beta, and Bianca joined her in the effort. It took a few moments for all of the Elachi targets to fall, but as she targeted them, Tw'eak observed that these Elachi appeared discoloured, especially around the eyes. It was as though they were just as Patel had described them: infected.

"You see?" Patel said, coming forward to one of the fallen Elachi. "Look - look here."

But it wasn't the fallen Elachi that Patel was indicating at all. It was the reddish-black tree growing behind it. "Those Elachi were of the realm, but they were sick. Toxic, like the yeel tree. Their devices were corrupt as well. If we cannot cure the Elachi, we must cull them from the realm before the sickness spreads."

Stamets took a step towards Bianca, gesturing towards the growth. She scanned it. "Lots of yeel tree growth - that's not a good thing. This fungi is being mutated by Hargh'peng radiation. Not good."

Yett had in the meantime moved over to the Elachi device. "Admiral," he signalled. "I've got the Elachi records opened - here." He handed her his tricorder, which was translating them into a legible form. "Have a look."

"Looks like this used to be an Elachi research outpost," Stamets commented. "They were starting to build defense systems in response to incursions from our space. Bet you can guess who was responsible for those..."

"So the Elachi were trying to deal with House Mo'Kai as well," Ralani mused.

"And with the radiation - unfortunately, it had a negative effect. They began to mutate, and their higher brain functions started to deteriorate. Looks like a team decided to head deeper into the Network to deal with the problem." Stamets' eyes glazed over, if such a thing were possible for a hologram. "There aren't any coherent entries after that."

"The team couldn't have managed on their own," Bianca considered. "Otherwise we wouldn't be reading the signal of the radiation."

"The tech is definitely still operational out there," Yett responded.

Patel started walking away from the team. "We must go deeper into the Network." Another platform began to glow beneath her feet. "Towards the source of the corruption."

Tw'eak glanced at Ralani, who emphatically nodded. "Don't ask. I'm all empty. Hope the jahSepp don't mind me dry-heaving all over their Network."

The away team's next destination was one decidedly darker in shade than the previous. There were no tardigrades, and the local glow was diminished in the surrounding plant life.

"You see?" Patel said. "The yeel trees, the corruption... They have spread through this area. Find the next node and jump. The source of the sickness must be in the next area."

Tw'eak walked around a pond of fluid, the next of the platforms visible at the far edge of the terrain. But Stamets didn't follow. Tw'eak didn't notice until Bianca called out to her.

"Admiral?"

Tw'eak turned back to see Stamets looking around confused. "What is it?"

"Something's... wrong here. The... radiation has mutated the hyphae grouping in this conduit."

Tw'eak looked from Stamets to Bianca. "What does that mean?"

Stamets continued as if Tw'eak hadn't asked. "I can't compute its dynamic output ranges and adjust to compensate for the mutation." His eyes focused on Tw'eak's. "Long story short? We're stuck."

Tw'eak summoned the jahSepp. "Patel? Can you?"

Patel closed her eyes briefly, then shook her head. "No. The sickness has damaged it too much. I cannot speak to it and make it work." She looked to the hologram. "It must be navigated by the Stamets - the living Stamets."

"And all we have is a hologram," Ralani said flatly.

"Why?" Bianca asked. "What could he do differently than this one?"

"The living Stamets, the one who came here before, was part of the Network - connected. He touched it... with his mind. The living Stamets could feel the flow of the Network. That is how he guided his ship-home through it."

" 'Ship-home'?" Yett asked. "You mean Discovery?"

"Intuition," Tw'eak surmised. "The living Stamets guided Discovery through intuition."

"Yes," Patel responded. "But this Stamets does not think the same way. It thinks like a machine, not like the living."

"Of course," Yett remarked. "The holo-matrix that makes up this Stamets is based on algorithmic and heuristic inputs. It's not fully sentient the way the living Stamets would have been."

"So we either come up with a living Stamets," Bianca reasoned, "or go no further."

"I'll signal for beam-out," Ralani suggested.

"No," Yett said in reply, his hand out as he looked at Tw'eak. "Admiral, what we learned before - the Network has a memory. And if that memory works like a computer, then perhaps we can open the holo-matrix to be open to receiving those signals."

"Can we do that?" Tw'eak asked, incredulously.

"The memories and essence of the Stamets from before are within the Network," Patel observed. "We may be able to bring them forth for you, so you can merge them with this Stamets. What you need is within what grows here, and the fluid that connects and sustains it."

"This is incredible," Bianca remarked. "How would we do what you suggest?"

Patel gestured towards the pond. "The water connects all the growth. Use it to compel the fronds to blossom and release the memories you seek. When the fronds bloom, collect the spore memories from them. Use the fluid to send the memories to the flora, then interact with it to collect memories."

Tw'eak nodded to Patel, then turned to her away team. Bianca distributed collection vials to the team. "Everyone go water your plants, now."

"By the spirits," Yett exclaimed. "To think - a data transfer taking place through entirely biological means. It's unlike anything I ever imagined possible."

"It's why we wear this uniform," Tw'eak replied. "For days like this."

"I'd be much happier just shooting Elachi," Ralani muttered.

"You'll get your chance. I want you on overwatch. Somehow I don't think we'll be able to do this uncontested." She turned to Stamets. "You ready?"

Stamets took what appeared to be a deep breath, the hologram emulating what would have been a stress response from a living creature. Then he gave a quick nod - he was ready.

"Let's hope this works," Tw'eak said as she headed to the pond. She, Bianca and Yett took a vial full each to the plants Patel had suggested, and added the fluid to its roots. Within a very short matter of moments, the spores began to come forth, and Tw'eak carefully gathered them in a collector. She then passed the collector to Yett, who did likewise, and Bianca gathered hers in turn. The whole process took mere minutes, in which Ralani kept an eye around for Elachi. Sadly for her, none appeared.

"You have the spores," Patel remarked as Bianca returned to Stamets. "Now, you must return to the place of memory. Together, we will make them rebuild the memory of what was."

Bianca handed the collector to Patel, who released the spores around the hologram. Within moments, he sharply inhaled, and then he went into something of a trance. Tw'eak looked to Yett, who pulled out a tricorder and shrugged at its readings. It only took a moment, but Stamets startled awake.

"...Hugh!?" Stamets' eyes opened, and immediately looked around. "I... okay." He nodded at Tw'eak. "I know what I need to do here." He stepped away from the group, looking off into the distance. "Now I know what it was like for you, when you came back."

"Commander? You alright?"

"I'm gonna need a moment here," Stamets said sharply. "Okay? This is a lot to take in."

"Okay." Tw'eak stepped off a few metres away, ushering her away team and Patel to join her. They stood for a minute, glancing around, trying not to give too much attention to Stamets, who was experiencing a significant emotional event. Tw'eak took this as a clear sign that the process had been successful.

"Okay. Okay. Everything's all coming together in my head now. I can navigate the Network again. I can do this."

"Brilliant," Tw'eak replied. "Let's do this."

"We are alike now," Patel said, a trace of astonishment in her voice. "Both created for a purpose, but with the memories of someone else... the memories of a life not entirely our own. But we are alive."

"You might be a living thing," Stamets said to Patel, "but what about me? I'm a computer program, a simulation of a life once lived. And yet... I remember being him! I remember the thrill of discovering the mycelial network, the terror of the Klingon War... serving on Discovery. Everything I felt when I lost Hugh, and everything I felt when he came back. All of it... everything."

"All part of your life now," Tw'eak said gently.

"We were made," Patel added. "Not born. But that alone does not define us." She took a step towards Stamets, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If we have all the memories, all the feelings, we can choose how to live according to what we know, and feel. We are as real as anyone. We are just made of different things."

Stamets closed his eyes, then put his hand over Patel's. "You're giving me the chance to do what I want, to be who I want to be. Thank you." He looked up at Tw'eak. "A lot of people are counting on us... counting on me. I can help, and I will. It's what Hugh would've wanted. And it's what I want."

Tw'eak looked around. "Alright, you heard the commander. Let's get to work."

The away team continued forward, following Patel. Here, Tw'eak could see adult tardigrades among the brush, their carapaces taking on the dark-red glow of the corrupted growth.

"The sickness," Patel indicated. "It is strong here - dangerous. Already many of the Elachi have become sick and corrupted."

"What should we do to help?" Tw'eak asked.

"There are three devices up ahead - you must disable them."

Bianca looked down at her tricorder. "These tardigrades seem unaffected by the corruption."

Patel nodded, her face and voice confused. "They are of the realm, but the sickness doesn't affect them. It should. They eat overgrown blooms, they drink the water - somehow... they remain strong."

"They're the solution we've been looking for, Admiral," Yett inferred.

"How so?"

"It's why they're here, in this space. The tardigrades are attracted to the growth. If it affected them, they'd... they'd feed someplace else. But this is like a banquet for them."

Stamets came to Yett's side. "He's right - right now? The radiation is creating more growth than the tardigrades can eat. If we take out J'Ula's device, the corruption will stop and the growth rate will return to normal."

"Then the tardigrades eat their fill," Bianca continued.

Stamets nodded. "Given time, they should slowly bring the ecosystem back into balance."

"Then we know what we have to do," Tw'eak concluded. "Let's find a probe."

"There's one," Yett called out. He scanned a probe with his tricorder.

"Ohhhh," Stamets warned. "This could be tricky."

"Explain," Tw'eak insisted.

"We can't disable the probes without clearing the corrupted mycelial growth. And we can't do that without risking detonation. We're gonna need to think outside the box on this one." Stamets then moved towards one of the adult tardigrades with his hand out.

"You clearly have an idea," Bianca said with a slight laugh.

"We need to convince a hungry tardigrade to come to the buffet table, so to speak. Lure one of them to the probes and it might clear the overgrowth to a point where we can safely disarm them."

"Lure them?" Bianca asked. "What with?"

Stamets pointed to Bianca's belt. "I'm thinking we use the healthy spore samples we collected earlier. If you're willing to wave a carrot in front of a hungry, practically indestructible, eight legged horse..."

Tw'eak looked around. "There are quite a few of those about. We'd be risking a feeding frenzy."

"A probe like this is fairly straightforward to shut off," Yett noted, scanning the Mo'Kai device. "Once it's cleared of the blocking growth, that is. He's right - it'll self-destruct if we're not careful. That would most likely kill us all - it's basically a photon torpedo, after all."

Tw'eak looked to Ralani. "I'll need you on overwatch again - the Elachi will try to stop us."

"Try," Ralani repeated, then shook her head with a smile - she wouldn't let that happen.

"Which just leaves the question of which job you'd prefer," Tw'eak said to Bianca.

"Oh, I'd much rather hold a phaser than try to wrangle one of these things," Bianca replied, and took Tw'eak's phaser in her hands. "I know I"m the science officer, I just... have a mild horror for anything that much bigger than me."

Tw'eak gave a smirk. "I've fought bigger - just saying," she quipped. Bianca handed over the clip of samples she had on her belt, and Tw'eak clipped them to her own. "Alright, you two get into position. Commander Yett, be ready." She removed one of the samples from its clip, then offered it to the tardigrade. "It... has a nose, I'm presuming?"

The creature answered as if he'd been listening, surging forwards in Tw'eak's direction.

"And we're off!" she exclaimed, dashing towards the Mo'Kai probe. "Okay, people, let's do this!"