Picard finds the other two captives there with him: Haro, a Starfleet cadet from Boleas Five, and Kovar Tholl, a philosopher from Mizar Two. Neither can explain how they arrived, and neither has seen their captors. Meanwhile, "Picard" diverts the ship to a nearby pulsar, at only Warp 2 (thus delaying an upcoming rendezvous) and tells Riker privately that he'll be a bit more close-mouthed than usual for the time being. As Picard analyzes the door in the lab, trying to get out, and theorizes as to why they specifically might have been taken, the fourth captive appears: Esogg, a bloodthirsty alien from the planet Chalnoth. Picard manages to convince him they are only captives like him, but they quickly find Esogg and Tholl do not get along- and further, Esogg cannot eat the food that's been provided.
Meanwhile, "Picard" pulls Troi out of the poker game to ask her to keep an eye on the crew for him, and after getting a physical (which reads perfectly normal), invites Bev to dinner in his quarters. Then, Picard, Esogg and Haro try to override the lock mechanism (Tholl declines, saying he's been punished once), and are knocked out by stun-beams. After they revive, accusations start flying that perhaps one of them is the captor in disguise, and when Picard is accused, Haro leaps to his defense, mentioning Mintaka Three, and then, when Picard mentions it, the recent plague. Meanwhile, "Picard" suggests to Bev that their relationship intensify, and then changes his tone just as she's about to give in. The crew's confusion intensifies when Picard starts up an old drinking song in 10-Forward, and Riker meets with the major bridge officers to discuss what's to be done.
As the Enterprise reaches the pulsar, "Picard" orders the ship closer, and still closer, until if his orders are obeyed, the ship will be destroyed. Riker relieves him of command and takes over. Then, after Picard manages, with Haro's help, to override the stun-mechanism, and then all four of them manage to open the door (which, unfortunately, leads to a blank wall), he exposes Haro as an impostor (the plague, you see, was classified as secret). Haro then vanishes, and three identical aliens appear and tell them they were examining authority, and mention the doubles. One of them returns Picard to the Enterprise (at which point the duplicate Picard turns into another of these aliens), and Picard silently manages to order them taken captive. After showing them that holding people captive, even benevolently, is harmful, he orders them off the ship.