An infant found on a salvaged ship grows within days into a Jem'Hadar teenager, and Odo tries to show him that his life need not be about violence.
Quark buys the wreck of a Gamma Quadrant ship and an infant is found inside. The boy grows at a startling rate, and Bashir learns he is a genetically engineered Jem'Hadar, aggressive and dependent on a substance that his body cannot produce. He shows deep respect toward Odo, a Changeling.
Odo persuades Sisko not to hand the boy to Starfleet as a research subject and tries to teach him that there is more to life than fighting, but the young soldier only wants to fight. In the end Odo takes him back to the Gamma Quadrant. Meanwhile, Sisko struggles with Jake dating Mardah, an older Dabo girl, and Odo is given living quarters on the station.