The containment suit was a cylindrical suit created by the Medusan known as Zero to house their true form so as to interact with corporeal beings without causing them any harm. Zero later received a new and improved suit from Starfleet and eventually an upgraded suit created by Jankom Pog that perfected Zero's original design.
History[]
Zero in their original containment suit
After being captured by Kazon and taken to the Tars Lamora prison colony, Zero was used by the Diviner as a weapon to brainwash the other Unwanted. Not wanting to hurt anyone else, Zero fashioned a makeshift containment suit out of junk so that they could safely interact with corporeal lifeforms and became a rebel fighter known as "Fugitive Zero." (PRO: "Lost and Found", "Kobayashi", "Preludes")
In 2383, Zero helped Dal R'El, Rok-Tahk, Jankom Pog, Murf, and Gwyndala to escape from Tars Lamora in the USS Protostar, becoming a part of its crew. (PRO: "Lost and Found")
When the ship returned to Tars Lamora in 2384, the crew used the Protostar's vehicle replicator to create a perfect replica of the suit for Murf who was carrying the ship's proto-core within him. This fooled the Diviner who believed that Murf was actually Zero. Zero later briefly removed the suit in order to expose the Diviner to their true form as a way of defeating him. (PRO: "A Moral Star, Part 1", "A Moral Star, Part 2")
The suit was later damaged in a fight with the Romulans on Noble Isle. While Jankom conducted repairs on it, Zero told the story of how they ended up as a prisoner of the Diviner in the first place. (PRO: "Masquerade", "Preludes")
Zero in their new suit
After finally reaching Earth following the Protostar's destruction, Zero received a new and improved containment suit from Starfleet. This one was white in color, (PRO: "Supernova, Part 2") and had a thruster on the back to help Zero with movement. (PRO: "The Fast and the Curious")
Zero continued to use this new containment suit until the crew were captured by a rogue AI who attempted to place everyone under mind control. Using the suit's thruster, Zero freed themself from the AI's grasp and rammed it at full speed, destroying the AI and saving their friends but damaging the containment suit beyond repair. (PRO: "The Fast and the Curious")
As the crew tried to figure out how to help Zero, they were contacted by Ion, another Medusan who lived on Ovidia IV, a planet where non-corporeal lifeforms of various species lived and had formed their own corporeal bodies with the help of the planet's unique properties. The residents were able to give Zero their own body, removing Zero's need for the containment suit. Unlike in the suit, Zero was able to feel physical sensations in their new body. Zero chose to leave with the rest of the crew on the Infinity despite being warned that away from the planet's unique properties, their new body would inevitably start breaking down. (PRO: "Is There in Beauty No Truth?")
Zero's new body was eventually damaged beyond even The Doctor's ability to repair it, meaning that they would need to build a new containment suit for themself. However, The Doctor suggested that they could give Zero an upgrade this time using Starfleet's recent advances in artificial physiology that would enable Zero to continue to feel sensations even in the suit which Zero accepted along with both the good and the bad that would come with being able to feel. Although The Doctor offered to contact the Daystrom Institute to build the new suit for Zero, they instead elected to ask their friend Jankom to do it, much to his surprise. Zero explained that Jankom's skills were unparalleled, and they hoped that he "could give it the old Jankom touch." Jankom accepted Zero's request and The Doctor sent him some schematics to help. (PRO: "Ascension, Part I")
However, Jankom was forced to move the project up sooner than expected when Zero was forced to sacrifice their physical body in order to save the USS Voyager-A from the Incursor. In what he later described as a rush job, Jankom was able to use the vehicle replicator on the Protostar from an altered timeline to quickly construct the suit that he had designed and beam it over to his friend as their body failed. This new suit was outwardly similar to Zero's previous two suits, but it was a primarily silver color with longer limbs that had strips of glowing lights running down the middle of the limbs along with strips of light visible on parts of the suit's shell. While Zero went back to their original design for their newest suit, something that they were proud of at the time that they had come up with it, the design wasn't complete before. Jankom's work perfected that original design and included a few upgrades, particularly sensory inputs that allowed Zero the ability to continue to feel sensations even in a containment suit. (PRO: "Ascension, Part II")