Diplomats visiting the ship put the crew in awkward positions.
The Enterprise hosts Iyaaran ambassadors on a cultural exchange. One, Loquel, wants Troi to show him the joys of food and pleasure, and another, Byleth, constantly annoys Worf.
Picard sets out for the Iyaaran homeworld with a third visitor, Voval, but their shuttle crashes. Picard is rescued by Anna, a woman who has been stranded on the planet for years and who soon becomes obsessed with him. In the end, Anna is revealed to be Voval in disguise. The Iyaarans had been studying human emotions, such as love, antagonism and pleasure, through each of these encounters.