"You're completely safe here," said Andos.

"Not in a hostile system, we aren't," Sheppard shot back.

"I'm not hostile. I just happen to be very powerful and very determined to improve the quality of life of as many people as I can."

"We just happen to be in the way."

"No, your government is. There's a difference. Besides, I don't hurt people for not helping. I only hurt them for trying to stop me, and I'm a strong believer in not stepping in without consent of the parties involved."

"So, what happened around Asuras, then?"

"I assumed, quite rightly, that the Asurans would like to continue existing, since they fought your armada, and that their aggression code was limiting their free will. I preserved their species, and disabled their aggression code."

"You talk about the Asurans as if they were alive."

"They are. They are just as much alive as I am, thank you very much. I just happen to have a bigger body than they do."

"Where is your body, for that matter?"

"Here."

"What?"

"Look, your body – it's the meat-sack you control, right? My body is every single ship in this system that I have a part of my mind on, and therefore, control."

"You were a human!"

"I am. Look, I'm still the same person, I've just changed my bodily appearance, and improved my brain a bit."

"I don't think you're still the same person."

"Would it be better if you talked to me in person?"

"Yes!"

"Fine. I'm sending a small craft to dock."

"We'll be ready."

The small cylindrical craft slid smoothly into the bay of the Daedalus, then neatly stopped. A door in the craft opened, and Andos stepped out, wearing a simple flight suit, carrying no weapons, and looking amused, and perfectly at ease. Waiting there to greet him was Colonel Sheppard, and the rest of AR-1.

"Quite the distinguished greeting party," Andos said, starting the conversation.

"We're just going to ask a few questions," Sheppard said.

"Alright, ask away, but I reserve the right not to answer."

"How did you do all of this?"

"You know, I'll tone down the explanation so that you, Sheppard, can understand it, so that Dr. McKay there, can't use it to copy exactly what I've done."

Andos gave McKay a meaningful look, which was returned.

"I uploaded my mind to a neural network hosted by these nanomachines, and started using that industrial capability for my own purposes," Andos stated, giving a nugget of clear, simple, concise, yet utterly useless information. "I used technology that you have, just in a smarter way."

The meeting soon concluded, as neither side was willing to give way. The Daedalus left soon after, having taken scans of the entire system before doing so. As they were leaving, Andos gave them more detailed scans of the planets as they used to be.

Back on Atlantis, the Director was in his office, engaged in a serious conversation with the IOA. Sheppard had been called down to McKay's lab.

"John. Guess what I found!" McKay's face was bright with excitement.

"Spit it out, Rodney."

"We can copy Andos's ships."

"Rodney. Can you say that again, without the joke?"

"Fine. We can't copy his power source, nor his magic warp drive, but we can copy the weapons, the mechanical bits. And, I figured out how to do it. I just need a spare solar system."

"You won't blow this one up, will you?"

"No, I'll just use the planets to make ships. Problem is, our ships are badly designed."

"Badly designed?"

"Yes. They're good for the weapons we have, but the limitations we have for materials and what not aren't being properly accounted for. We're going to have to hire, oh, half of the science fiction authors who are actually scientists to get a good design."

"Rodney, are you high?"

"Nope. I figured that the IOA would say no, but they know that Andos is a Power. Here's our chance to become a Power ourselves. Imagine – the human species, respected by everyone as a Power, dealt with as an equal by Andos."

"Talk to Woolsey. He'll probably tell you to talk to the IOA. This is way above our pay grades."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Andos had completed his Dyson swarm. Several factory nodes, to each generator node, within which was contained a heavily modified ZPM. The factory nodes were churning out ships at a prodigious rate, mostly small swarm-craft, but some heavier ships were added into the mix. Soon, someone would reverse-engineer his technology or use their own technology to develop ships like his. He would be ready.

The IOA deliberated McKay's proposal, weighing the benefits of becoming a Power with the risks associated with the ascent to Power. They discussed, they debated, they conferred, and they decided. Earth would become a Power. McKay would be allowed to hire whoever he needed, and he would be given free reign in those decisions. He would have as much funding as he needed. Powerdom was too good to give up, no matter the price. The IOA further resolved to build up their military to eliminate Andos as a threat, and wipe out the Goa'uld, and the Wraith along the way.

Once the decision came to McKay, he immediately gated to Earth and started hiring. All of the eminent scientists whose work had any bearing on ship design were hired. An underground network of hired scientists started to be formed, an undertaking on the scale of the Manhattan Project. McKay arranged for the scientists to work on Atlantis. He called the whole thing Project Enterprise – the Extremely Near Term Extreme Range Projectile Replacement Interstellar Ship Experiment. The design was finalized quickly, opting for a cylindrical hull with a hemisphere on the fore end, and an engine array on the aft end. The hyperdrive and shields were settled on, but with one key modification – six separate shield generators were used, one for each aspect of the ship – fore, aft, ventral, dorsal, port, and starboard. The reactors were buried deep within the core of the ship, as was the minimal crew area – room for one pilot and only one pilot. Inertial dampeners were heavily invested in here. Thick layers of amour plating designed to ablate away under energy weapons fire were added, and a new railgun design was decided on for the primary weapons systems. Laser designs for point defence were suggested, and were implemented, but backed up with more conventional autocannons for point defence. The first ship was to be piloted by Colonel John Sheppard, and was named the Enterprise, after the project's name. McKay had suggested to the IOA that he be allowed to upload his mind into a nanite matrix, but the IOA firmly opposed that decision, so, for now, the pilots of these craft would remain human and present within the craft.