Title: Ad Infinitum – Chapter 9

Chapter Summary: Alex and Jacob find out the reason why they traveled in time.

Chapter Rating: PG-13.

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Chapter 9/10

Jacob's POV

"This place doesn't seem very stable," Colonel Mitchell noticed as our group continued to clear some of the rubble to access the seventh room in the chamber. The other rooms had revealed an assortment of scientific, philosophical and historical material, from microscopes to detailed floorplans of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

"This area is known for its instability," Alex's father explained as he helped the group roll another stone.

"You'd think the Ancients would've thought about that before building things here," Dad reasoned. "First that place that Ernest got stuck in, then Antarctica and now this?"

"Actually, Jack, there's nothing wrong with the area where they built the outpost in Antarctica," Uncle Danny pointed out.

"Well, it's cold!" Dad argued. "There are hundreds of places on Earth I can think of with no Earthquakes and with nice weather that does not include building something on a cliff or under the freaking ocean."

"You're lucky you weren't in the one in England," Cam added and Vala's head bobbled in agreement.

"We almost got flattened by collapsing ceilings… It seemed like those Tau'ri movies Teal'c has made me watch, the ones with the handsome man who played the cunning space smuggler and the adventurous archaeologist." She then smirked at the men in the group, thankfully excluding me. "Pity that space dwellers and Tau'ri archaeologists are not always so… attractive."

The group wisely decided to ignore her as we continued to dig in the rubble. The ground shook beneath us again and there was a deafening noise as the ceiling crumbled above us again but still holding in place.

"Uh, guys? I think we better get out of here," Cam suggested.

The group glanced at each other before Vala spoke up, raising her index finger, "There's only one problem with that..."

".. there's no way out," Uncle Daniel finished the thought.

"How come we didn't realize it sooner?" Mom asked no one in special.

Alex sighed. "We were too busy being perplexed over the place."

The original members of SG-1 were exchanging knowing glances and Cam looked around, confusion and concern showing on his face. "So what? We're stuck here?"

Uncle Daniel shook his head. "Not necessarily... there's still one more room. Maybe there's a way out behind this rubble and these doors, maybe even a Stargate or transport rings."

No one said anything else as the group worked as one removing the obstacle ahead. Stone upon stone was removed, the silent ground beneath us feeling like a ticking bomb just waiting to go off. When the path was finally clear and the doors were opened, the new room revealed a golden carved 4 foot octagonal shaped pedestal that sat on a circular landing and was surrounded by rubble. Water seemed to trickle down from the ceiling, drip by drip and it was starting to pool around our feet.

We approached the pedestal and the doors closed behind our team. My father and I had been the last ones in so we tried the doors again but they wouldn't give. Uncle Daniel continued to move forward and he reached the pedestal, his hands carefully tracing the delicate patterns and reaching for the brightly colored spheres that encompassed the top. Alex and Mom followed him, and as the first sphere was touched, a hologram appeared above us with what seemed like endless lines of text in a language that was unfamiliar to me. Our flashlights became unnecessary as the hologram lit up the entire chamber.

"Oh my god," Alex said as her eyes quickly followed line after line of text.

"What is it?" Dad asked impatiently.

Uncle Daniel had to blink a few times before he could answer his friend. "It's the Old Testament."

My father's eyes tried to focus on the text but gave up quickly. "It looks like Greek to me."

"It is Greek, Jack."

"Oh." He then looked at my mom who shrugged and smiled. "That works out great then."

Uncle Daniel ran his hand over another sphere and the hologram became just a speck of light then it transformed before our eyes into a group of specks, then it evolved into a worm-like shape. We watched, transfixed as a visual presentation of Evolution presented itself to us.

"We have to take this information back with us, sir." My mother practically begged.

"We won't be able to bring anything with us until we find a way out of here, Colonel." Dad said as he glanced around the group then pointed to the pedestal. "Check that thing for an emergency exit, will ya?"

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Uncle Daniel screamed from the spot he'd been standing in since the hologram came on. "It says user interface, I think it's meant to be used as an index or a search engine like the one in Atlantis."

Vala snorted. "You mean the fake one in Atlantis with the Ascended being that's possibly being punished right now for helping us?" Uncle Daniel turned to look at her and she softened.

"The holographic interface was not fake, it was just not on when we were there." He explained.

Slowly but surely, he moved to activate the feature and a fair-skinned female figure appeared, a Greek woman judging by her clothes, hair and features. "Hello, I am Hypathia of Alexandria, how may I assist you?"

"Hy-what?" Dad asked from his spot, making Uncle Daniel turn to glare at him.

The archaeologist/linguist assumed full diplomatic behavior as usual. "Hypathia of Alexandria, daughter of Theon who was the last curator at the Library's Museum. Legend states she was caught in Theophilus' quest to destroy paganism and she was murdered to set an example to all."

To my astonishment and to that of everyone in the room, the figure smiled behind him. "That's one way to put it, my child," her voice rang of serenity and acceptance and Daniel's eyebrows shot up.

"What would you know, this one's not a computer either," Vala stage-whispered behind the archaeologist.

"You're real!" Uncle Daniel denounced.

Hypathia slowly nodded and the earth shook beneath us again, the water that was trickling down started coming down faster, pooling around our shoes. "We don't have much time left," Hypathia observed.

"But we have so many questions," Daniel offered in protest. "There are answers here that we need, answers that could save the human race-- forget that, answers that could save all life in the galaxy."

The Greek legend did not reply, she simply reached out her hands to touch Uncle Danny and Vala. A white light enveloped them both, first just around their heads and then expanding to encapsulate their bodies. When it faded, the two were gone.

Cam pulled out a Zat gun and pointed at the woman we'd previously believed to be a hologram and shot once but Hypathia didn't even flinch. She reached for him next and the white light returned and soon he was gone as well.

Alex ran to my side, neither hiding behind me nor standing in front of me; her small delicate hand simply curled around mine in fear, seeking out reassurance that we would be ok. I couldn't give her much but I tightened my hand around hers, hoping that would be enough.

We moved away together when Hypathia turned to us but she moved towards my parents next who seemed frozen in place. She touched my father first and my mother moved slightly to touch his arm and the light took her in. Another tremor hit as soon as my parents disappeared and the sound of the ceiling breaking above us was deafening.

Without thinking, I pulled Alex in my arms and hoped I could protect her from whatever would happen once Hypathia touched us.

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Alex's POV

Fucking hell, I was beginning to really hate earthquakes, not that anyone ever liked them, but I'd experienced more in six hours than anyone should experience in a lifetime. The last one subsided and the water was up to my calves now but my face was pressed against Jacob's chest so I couldn't see anything around us.

"Like I said, we don't have much time," Hypathia's voice reached my ears.

"What did you do to them?" Jacob demanded, his arms loosening slightly around me and allowing me to turn so I could see the possibly-Ascended being who'd made our parents disappear in a white light.

The answer was simply "They are well."

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"They've been sent back to location where they found the crystals and no harm was done to them. This was not their journey."

Jacob frowned as his arms finally released me completely. "Whose journey was it, then?"

"Yours."

"Oh," was Jacob's only reply.

"This place was built to pass our knowledge on to your race. We saw so much potential, so this repository and others were created. Some of your best men and women were allowed to come to this base and be enlightened. Later, they would transcribe their findings and take them to the surface to be stored and studied. What my people-- what I -- failed to realize is that you would eventually try to gain more knowledge than you could handle. Wars were waged and much blood was shed in the name of the findings here." Hypathia offered in exposition. "The Libraries and Museum above-ground were burnt and this place has remained this way for the past sixteen centuries."

"Why reopen for business now?" I asked her.

"Unlike my brethren, I still believe your race has potential. Even after the Fires, those who were enlightened down here sired many others and somewhere down their genetic line, those children remembered what their ancestors saw here."

"You're talking about genetic memory in humans?" Jacob asked in confusion.

Hypathia nodded. "All the great ones remembered."

"You still haven't explained why we're here." I pointed out as I tried to speed the exposition along, the water now up to my knees creating a sense of urgency like nothing I'd felt before. "Why's this our journey but not the others'?"

"There is still knowledge here that was never received by anyone. All will be lost before the next sunrise, that's why I needed you. The others came here because you needed their help, but their memory of this event will soon fade. They will remember all that they saw--" Hypathia trailed off staring at us.

"But they won't remember us," I concluded.

Hypathia continued, "They'll forget your faces within a few days; the conversations your shared within a week and before long the only thing they may remember are your names and the fact that you didn't make it out with them."

The water started rising faster, now reaching my mid thigh. "I understand why you need us here now, but why us?"

"You two possess the knowledge and the genetic construction to absorb all the information within this database."

Jacob raised his hand. "Hold your horses... last two times my father had a repository downloaded onto his brain, he almost died, so I'm sorry if I'm not too happy about you volunteering us for the job."

"The information was downloaded onto the active parts of your father's brain and it soon overloaded his neurons and pathways which caused his condition to deteriorate. Unlike your father, this information will be transferred to the dormant parts of your brains."

Unsure of what to make of this development, I voiced my concerns. "So we'll have access to all the knowledge of the Ancients? Without going crazy?"

Hypathia shook her head. "Your successors will have access to this information as your race evolves and your brain capacity increases."

"And if we don't agree to this--" Jacob paused trying to find the right word, "procedure, then what?"

For the first time since she appeared, Hypathia seemed surprised. "I have not prepared for such event."

Anger quickly filled me and I knew Jacob was feeling a bit annoyed himself because he said, "So you somehow altered time to send us back to before our birth so our parents could help us find this place and you thought we would blindly agree to having the knowledge of your entire race downloaded onto our brains?"

The woman simply replied, "Yes. If you do not, this information will be lost to your race forever."

Jacob's eyes met mine as the water hit my hips and we knew we'd have to make a quick decision or we would drown soon. Wordlessly we discussed the pros and cons. If we'd understood her correctly, all the major scientists, writers and artists of the past sixteen centuries came to discover what their predecessors saw here. That also meant that much of the evils of the world spawned from this room - gunpowder, the atomic bomb, napalm, biologic weapons, revolutions and wars.

But there was also the potential of good – there was no guarantee this information could lead to a cure for cancer or AIDS or the prevention of mankind's extinction, but we knew the possibilities. We wouldn't have been able to live with ourselves if we'd turned this down.

I knew Jacob had reached the same conclusion I did as he nodded. We turned to Hypathia who seemed unaffected by the rising waters and she reached to us but instead of touching our heads like she'd done with the rest of the team, she pulled our hands towards the pedestal and pressed my hand and Jacob's to the center sphere.

As the ground shook one last time, it moved the water we stood in and the ceiling above us gave completely under the pressure. A bright blue light flashed before our eyes as darkness took over.