"I thought there'd be more pain. My patients have always complained of more pain..."

Doctor Carson Beckett finds himself in an uncomfortable situation when he becomes a patient in his own infirmary. After a disastrous mission, Beckett is brought back to Atlantis with a broken leg - and a bad case of amnesia.

But that's the least of his troubles. Cared for by Doctor Gilbert, Beckett watches as a strange affliction overcomes his friends and colleagues. One by one, members of the Atlantis crew are brought in, unconscious and unresponsive yet with no sign of trauma. What's causing this peculiar illness? And why doesn't anyone want to hear what Carson has to say about it?