Odo meets a man who says he knows where the changelings come from.
A fight in Quark's bar leaves one of a pair of Miradorn twins dead and puts Croden, a thief from the Gamma Quadrant, in Odo's custody. Croden hints that he knows of other Changelings and shows Odo a stone that changes shape, raising hopes that Odo might find his people.
Odo takes Croden back to his homeworld while the surviving twin, Ah-Kel, chases them for revenge. Croden leads Odo into the Chamra Vortex, where Odo learns that the Changeling story was a lie and that Croden's real aim is to rescue his daughter, Yareth, from stasis. Odo ends up letting them both escape on a Vulcan ship.