Disclaimer: can you see it? NO! because it doesn't matter.
The Testing of Wills
Ch. 2
"Um, 'scuze me, Major, but have you been messing around with the loud speaker system?" asked Rodney, as Sheppard walked past him. John looked confused and stopped, turning and walking towards Rodney.
"No, why?" he asked. "Something wrong with it?"
"Not exactly." said the Canadian scientist. "Just...some of the kids have been complaining about hearing laughter in the halls when they're playing, I was just checking into it." he explained. Major Sheppard looked confused.
"Laughter?" he asked. Rodney nodded.
"I know, isn't it weird?"
At that, there was an explosion of giggles over the loud speaker, and everyone jumped, especially Rodney. Major Sheppard's grip on his weapon tightened.
"Who is that?" he asked.
"Oh, how typical. You want to know who I am." came the loud, disembodied voice. "I'm very disappointed that you can't think of anything more important that you want to ask me."
Rodney listened and determined that the voice was female. Probably under twenty, although they might have a voice changer. He couldn't tell, the voice didn't sound tinny, like it would, coming through such a device.
"Whoever you are, how did you get into Atlantis?"
Whoever it was gave a rather rude snort, which sounded like a minor explosion coming through the loud speaker. Or a sneeze.
"Geseundheit." Rodney said, almost automatically, and there was a short pause before another eruption of hysterical laughing. Sheppard, Weir, and Aidan looked at Rodney, who shrugged, but didn't look up at them. Teyla ran into the room and looked at Sheppard and Weir.
"What do you want?" asked Weir. The laughing gradually decreased.
"I'll never te-ell." came the sing-song reply. Major Sheppard, a connoisseur of movies and such, raised an eyebrow and mentally logged this away with the reaction to a German word.
"Please," continued Weir. "We formally request that you explain yourself, or we will be forced to find you ourselves and—"
"Quiet, little woman." came the rough reply. "Don't tell me what to do. And you'll do nothing of the sort. You don't know where I am, and even if you did, You're no warrior."
A stretch of quiet filled the gate room, followed by a quiet chuckling. Rodney went to the controls of the room and studied it, typing in a few commands before the entire panel turned off, the light fizzling out. Everyone looked at him and he held up his hands, indicating that he hadn't touched anything.
"Naughty, naughty." said the voice, and Rodney looked pale, like he was about to "pass out" again. Right about then, Jinto ran into the gate room and ran to Teyla, who put a protective arm around him. "Aw." patronized the voice.
"She can see us." Rodney said, slightly in awe.
"brilliant deduction, Doctor."
"Why are you here?"
"That explanation is yet to come. If you survive, that is."
The others looked around madly.
"Survive WHAT?!?"
But there was no answer. The power to the console returned, but Rodney didn't move towards it. There needed to be a power surge to look for, and she was done talking, whoever she was. It got very cold in the gate room as everyone imagined the worst possible scenario.
Someone of undeterminable species, intelligence, and alliance had infiltrated the base and was screwing with their systems.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000
"Okay, we know she's somewhere with consoles, but that could be anywhere. We haven't even been to half of the city. It would take months to find her if she keeps blacking out our controls when she's talking." Rodney said, as he, Weir, Sheppard, Teyla and Aidan sat in their briefing room. "And she can see us, which is confusing to me, because we can't do that from the gate room."
"Someone with advanced knowledge of the Ancient technology?" Weir asked.
"Obviously not from Earth." Rodney said.
"Mmm. Not that obvious." Sheppard said. They looked at him and he shrugged.
"She made references to Earth culture. She knew what Geseundheit meant. She quoted from a psychological thriller flick. She said 'Doctor', not healer, or whatever they call scientists in this galaxy. She sounded like a native Earthling to me. She doesn't talk like anyone we've met in this galaxy." he said. The others shook her head, and Aidan sat up a little straighter.
"Sir, that doesn't mean she's from Earth. I mean, she could have thought that Geseundheit sounded funny. And you don't know that she actually quoted 'Say Nothing.' I mean, for all we know, this could be an Ancient fail safe, or some sort of Pegasus hacker, playing games."
"What is a hacker?" asked Teyla.
"They can get into any information or operation system and mess around with it. The good ones any way." explained Rodney. "The point is, she could be anywhere in the entire city. Hell, if she's as good as I'm beginning to think she is, she could be listening right now, we would never know it. Our conversations are not safe. I'd be afraid to go to sleep at night with someone like this loose."
"You already are afraid to go to sleep at night." Sheppard joked, and Aidan laughed. Rodney looked agitated.
"Yes, that's right, laugh." he snapped. "We have a potentially dangerous person of unknown origins running around on our enclosed island and you want to make jokes."
"Rodney, calm down."
Rodney sat and took a deep breath.
What happened next was bone-chilling.
The voice came back. But instead of speech, a long, blood curdling scream erupted from the loud-speaker, causing everyone to jump, and a couple of them to curse. Then there was silence and the voice, calm as ever, said, "Careful, Doctor McKay. You'll give yourself a heart attack."
And with that, McKay promptly fainted.
The Testing of Wills
Ch. 2
"Um, 'scuze me, Major, but have you been messing around with the loud speaker system?" asked Rodney, as Sheppard walked past him. John looked confused and stopped, turning and walking towards Rodney.
"No, why?" he asked. "Something wrong with it?"
"Not exactly." said the Canadian scientist. "Just...some of the kids have been complaining about hearing laughter in the halls when they're playing, I was just checking into it." he explained. Major Sheppard looked confused.
"Laughter?" he asked. Rodney nodded.
"I know, isn't it weird?"
At that, there was an explosion of giggles over the loud speaker, and everyone jumped, especially Rodney. Major Sheppard's grip on his weapon tightened.
"Who is that?" he asked.
"Oh, how typical. You want to know who I am." came the loud, disembodied voice. "I'm very disappointed that you can't think of anything more important that you want to ask me."
Rodney listened and determined that the voice was female. Probably under twenty, although they might have a voice changer. He couldn't tell, the voice didn't sound tinny, like it would, coming through such a device.
"Whoever you are, how did you get into Atlantis?"
Whoever it was gave a rather rude snort, which sounded like a minor explosion coming through the loud speaker. Or a sneeze.
"Geseundheit." Rodney said, almost automatically, and there was a short pause before another eruption of hysterical laughing. Sheppard, Weir, and Aidan looked at Rodney, who shrugged, but didn't look up at them. Teyla ran into the room and looked at Sheppard and Weir.
"What do you want?" asked Weir. The laughing gradually decreased.
"I'll never te-ell." came the sing-song reply. Major Sheppard, a connoisseur of movies and such, raised an eyebrow and mentally logged this away with the reaction to a German word.
"Please," continued Weir. "We formally request that you explain yourself, or we will be forced to find you ourselves and—"
"Quiet, little woman." came the rough reply. "Don't tell me what to do. And you'll do nothing of the sort. You don't know where I am, and even if you did, You're no warrior."
A stretch of quiet filled the gate room, followed by a quiet chuckling. Rodney went to the controls of the room and studied it, typing in a few commands before the entire panel turned off, the light fizzling out. Everyone looked at him and he held up his hands, indicating that he hadn't touched anything.
"Naughty, naughty." said the voice, and Rodney looked pale, like he was about to "pass out" again. Right about then, Jinto ran into the gate room and ran to Teyla, who put a protective arm around him. "Aw." patronized the voice.
"She can see us." Rodney said, slightly in awe.
"brilliant deduction, Doctor."
"Why are you here?"
"That explanation is yet to come. If you survive, that is."
The others looked around madly.
"Survive WHAT?!?"
But there was no answer. The power to the console returned, but Rodney didn't move towards it. There needed to be a power surge to look for, and she was done talking, whoever she was. It got very cold in the gate room as everyone imagined the worst possible scenario.
Someone of undeterminable species, intelligence, and alliance had infiltrated the base and was screwing with their systems.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000
"Okay, we know she's somewhere with consoles, but that could be anywhere. We haven't even been to half of the city. It would take months to find her if she keeps blacking out our controls when she's talking." Rodney said, as he, Weir, Sheppard, Teyla and Aidan sat in their briefing room. "And she can see us, which is confusing to me, because we can't do that from the gate room."
"Someone with advanced knowledge of the Ancient technology?" Weir asked.
"Obviously not from Earth." Rodney said.
"Mmm. Not that obvious." Sheppard said. They looked at him and he shrugged.
"She made references to Earth culture. She knew what Geseundheit meant. She quoted from a psychological thriller flick. She said 'Doctor', not healer, or whatever they call scientists in this galaxy. She sounded like a native Earthling to me. She doesn't talk like anyone we've met in this galaxy." he said. The others shook her head, and Aidan sat up a little straighter.
"Sir, that doesn't mean she's from Earth. I mean, she could have thought that Geseundheit sounded funny. And you don't know that she actually quoted 'Say Nothing.' I mean, for all we know, this could be an Ancient fail safe, or some sort of Pegasus hacker, playing games."
"What is a hacker?" asked Teyla.
"They can get into any information or operation system and mess around with it. The good ones any way." explained Rodney. "The point is, she could be anywhere in the entire city. Hell, if she's as good as I'm beginning to think she is, she could be listening right now, we would never know it. Our conversations are not safe. I'd be afraid to go to sleep at night with someone like this loose."
"You already are afraid to go to sleep at night." Sheppard joked, and Aidan laughed. Rodney looked agitated.
"Yes, that's right, laugh." he snapped. "We have a potentially dangerous person of unknown origins running around on our enclosed island and you want to make jokes."
"Rodney, calm down."
Rodney sat and took a deep breath.
What happened next was bone-chilling.
The voice came back. But instead of speech, a long, blood curdling scream erupted from the loud-speaker, causing everyone to jump, and a couple of them to curse. Then there was silence and the voice, calm as ever, said, "Careful, Doctor McKay. You'll give yourself a heart attack."
And with that, McKay promptly fainted.