Odo and Dax find a village that is disappearing.
Odo and Dax trace a strange particle field to a village in the Gamma Quadrant, where people have been vanishing. Odo befriends a girl named Taya whose mother has disappeared, while her grandfather Rurigan seems resigned. They find that the village and nearly all its people are holograms, and the failing generator is making them disappear.
Rurigan reveals he made the village after the Dominion conquered his world. Odo argues that the villagers deserve to live, and he and Dax help repair the generator so the missing people return. On the station, Kira begins a romance with Bareil after Quark brings him there as a distraction, and Jake starts helping O'Brien.