Chapter 25
Upon General Hammond discovering that the disguise he helped Isabelle create was still active and she seemed to not be able to discontinue the nanites' program he had to make a decision on what to do. His options were to inform Sam and Jack of the situation or use it as a tactical advantage. His most powerful weapon against Anubis was the child but as child Isabelle would be limited in what she was allowed to do. But as an adult the girl could go off world and do much more. It came to down Isabelle's safety verses stopping Anubis. The metaphorical unjust scale that sat before him weighed heavy on his heart. He was a father and a grandfather himself. He loved children and the fate world's children lay in the hands of a small girl who had to power to rival Anubis even without wielding the nanites.
Daniel laid out his plan to have Isabelle lure Anubis into the trap and capture him into the lamp as the Goa'uld attacked the Fountain of Youth to gain the unlimited power of the pool. Daniel also realized General Hammond was not aware of the other wand. He figured they needed to come clean for both Jack and George were keeping secrets from one another. Oddly, in Daniel's eyes sometimes adults could more like children than actual children.
Daniel had called a meeting in the briefing room with General Hammond, SG-1, Janet Frasier and Izzy. Sam marched into the room frustrated for she was told Izzy went to stay with Cassie at a babysitter and she found the act reckless. She also couldn't understand how Captain Sinclair got into the SGC and was favored in one day. She spied the new Captain and rolled her eyes annoyed. She found General Hammond standing before them as he emerged from his office with the folder containing Isabelle's drawings.
Sam asked the general, "Sir…Why is Captain Sinclair in this meeting?" She saw no reason for the new captain to be involved. Sam hated the idea of a new officer. It was if Isabelle was replaced by Captain Sinclair.
"Have a seat, Major." the General ordered.
She grew angry, "With all due respects, no I won't sir. You just sent Izzy away and you did not tell me she was leaving."
Daniel tried to sooth her, "Sam…Just calm down."
"No I won't calm down!" she huffed. "I never even got to say goodbye. She's with some babysitter who doesn't know anything about her!"
George tried to defuse the situation, "I can understand you are upset but please have a seat, Major."
She warned, "I'm this close," she pinched her fingers together "to handing in my resignation and walking out."
"Carter," Jack tried to calm her.
She threw up her hands, "Oh' what now! Are you are gonna tell me to calm down too? Where is Izzy?" she demanded to know. "I don't even know where she was sent."
Izzy spoke softly, "I'm right here."
Sam cocked her head and looked at Captain Sinclair. "What?"
"I'm right here," she repeated.
Daniel motioned towards Izzy, "Take a good look at her, Sam."
Sam squinted and then realized she had seen the face before in the disguise Izzy employed the nanites to make. She then stood gob smacked, "Izzy?"
"Here," she raised her hand.
"Why are you in disguise?" she wondered.
She explained the best she could, "Well…General Hammond had me use the tiny robots to make me look like a medic so I could go off world and save Major Frasier because she was shot and I used my wand to fix her or else she would have died."
Sam gasped, "What?"
"Yesterday," Janet began, "when I was working on Wells, I was hit and I was dead for about a minute. Izzy used her wand to heal me. Daniel has the tape of what happened. Apparently, Izzy was having nightmares about me dying and was able to tell General Hammond what was going to happen. So, he sent her off world disguised as Captain Sinclair to save me."
Sam then asked, "Why is she still in disguise then?"
Daniel explained, "The nanites won't undo it. She gave the commands and she's still stuck like this."
"You knew all along Izzy was right here?" she figured.
"We kept it from you and Jack because we didn't want you two to worry about her since you are both so attached." he confessed. He then looked at Jack, "Don't you have something to confess?"
He shook his head, "No."
"Come on, Jack!" he urged him. "George needs to know. This is all off the record."
"But it's mine!" he insisted.
"Tell them!" he demanded.
Hammond asked, "Tell me what?"
Daniel explained, "Izzy made a duplicate wand so she could keep hers. She tried to make a dummy but it was an exact duplicate that activated when Jack touched it."
Jack let out a deep sigh, "I have a wand too."
"Colonel?" he asked cocking an eyebrow surprised. "Where is it?"
"Carter has it!" he miffed. "She keeps it locked up on me."
She defended, "You were using it to make a stupid beer mug."
He rebutted, "It wasn't stupid! It would keep beer cold and refill on its own." He asked George, "Does that sound stupid to you?"
General Hammond was put on the spot for he confessed to Jack prior that he liked such an idea. All eyes fell on George as he didn't agree that the idea was stupid. He changed the subject, "We could use both wands. How proficient are you at the commands, Colonel?"
"I would be better of Carter let me have it," he growled.
Hammond gave an order, "Let Colonel O'Neill have the other wand! Dr. Jackson…I want you to assist in finding the commands that would be most useful against Anubis."
"Okay," he agreed with a nod.
Sam looked at Isabelle, "What about Izzy? She's stuck in that disguise." She was relieved to find out Isabelle was safe and still on base but concerned she was stuck in the disguise.
Hammond figured, "For now there is not much we can do. We will keep Captain Sinclair's true identity a secret. She can blend in with the officers on this base."
Daniel added, "She can still help us. The wand works for all other commands. It's just the nanites won't undo the disguise."
"I can run the nanites' program through a diagnostic," Sam offered. "Maybe, I can find out why."
"Do that, Major." Hammond agreed.
Jack spoke up, "We need to stop Anubis from getting that pool."
Hammond agreed, "Indeed we do! Colonel, you take Dr. Jackson and Teal'c. See if you can get some additional ships. Major Carter will run the diagnostic on Izzy to see if she can find out what went wrong." He looked at the group, "Dismissed!"
Moments Later
Sam had led Isabelle to her lab to run a diagnostic on the nanites and her wand. She had her sit on a stool as she booted up her computer. She glanced at her, "So it was you all along."
She shrugged, "They told me not to tell anyone."
"So, for the last twenty four hours you've been Captain Sinclair. What was it like?" she wondered.
"Not too bad," she told her. "I can reach my own food now and I can see over counters a lot better…Being bigger helps."
"You are not actually bigger," she informed. "That's the nanites giving you the perception of being bigger. The nanites have made a shell around you that looks and feels very real." She then wondered, "Why were you hugging Daniel earlier?"
"I was scared because I can't undo it and he was trying to help." she told her. "I couldn't remember the command but he did."
"I see," she understood. "For a minute there I thought you were his new girlfriend."
She shook her head, "Jonas is still my boyfriend."
"You haven't seen him," she reminded her.
"So," she shrugged not understand how relationships work. "He still likes me."
"Like and love are two different things." she told her.
"Love?" she asked wondering where Sam was taking the conversation.
"Usually a boyfriend is someone that you love…Like your mother and father loved each other." she informed.
She made a face, "You mean like kissing!"
She nodded with a grin, "Kissing!"
"That's so gross," she made a disgusted face. "Grownups are so gross!"
Sam nearly laughed, "I suppose we can be."
"You thought I was kissing Daniel!" she accused.
"The thought crossed my mind," she admitted.
"Yuk!" she shook disturbed. "Why do grownups have to be so gross?"
"Well, when you love someone you want to show your affection." Sam told her.
She suggested, "Just buy toys, cake and ice cream then."
"Adults are not that much into toys, cake and ice cream." she replied. "We like more grownup stuff."
Isabelle recalled her father bring her mother a box of candy and roses. She asked, "What about chocolates then?"
"Well, that's different." she explained.
"How?" she wanted to know.
"Usually, it's a man giving candy and flowers to the girl he loves." she explained. "It's a more of a symbol than a gift."
She rolled her eyes, "And you ground me if I lie."
"I'm not lying," Sam told her. "It's a traditional symbol."
Izzy asked suspiciously, "Do you eat the candy?"
"Well," she admitted, "yes."
She sat smirking at her.
She shook her finger, "Alright…wipe that grin off your face." She then looked down at the screen of her computer. She became alarmed by the readings, "The nanites have enacted a protective program around you. They did that on their own."
"What's that mean?" she wondered.
"It means the nanites have entered an artificial intelligence mode. I wasn't concerned about these nanites before because they showed no sign of being AI capable but they have evolved and centered on you." She switched to another program that activated a camera and sensor array near the child. On the screen she could see a thermal image of the child's outline and a thick layer of colors surrounding the girl. "There is a supper concentrated layer of nanites around you. I don't think it's just for the disguise program."
"I don't feel anything around me," she reported.
"The nanites are there but you cannot see them." she assured her. She tried to break the programming, "The program the nanites have enacted is being written by the nanites. I can open the program and see its continuously adding new code. The nanites won't allow you to remove the disguise program because it's be integrated into this protective program that they have enacted around you. The nanites are trying to protect you at all cost and in doing so trapped you into the disguise program you enacted."
"Can you say that in kid?" she asked a bit bewildered.
Sam came to her side and sat on a stool next to her. She grabbed her hand and squeezed, "You can feel me squeeze your hand, right?"
She nodded, "Yup!"
"I didn't actually squeeze your hand. Your hand is buried in a dense layer of tiny robots that are protecting you. When the robots decided to protect you they started by building another program on their own off the program you enacted to make the disguise. In order to look like you again the nanites would have to stop the protection program that is currently doing around you."
She wondered, "Why are the nanites protecting me?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "They decided to do that on their own. The protection program will override your commands until the nanites have determined you no longer need the program. Thing is, I don't know what triggered the nanites to think you needed a protection program to begin with." She then cocked her head and squinted, "You went off world in that disguise and were in the middle of the battle on P3X-666."
She nodded, "I saw it. General Hammond told me to stay with Aunt Janet."
"You saw the battle." she figured.
"It was scary," she nodded with a gulp. The memory was burned into her mind. She could still recall the sounds and smells of war.
"That's what triggered it," Sam figured. "The nanites determined you were in danger at that point and decided to enact a protection program around you rooted in the disguise program.
"But I came back," she stated. "I'm not in danger."
"The nanites think you are." she told her. "They won't allow this to be undone until they think you are safe."
"But aren't I safe here?" she wondered.
"Yes," she nodded. "Of course you are! But the tiny robots surrounding you…don't know that yet. I think in time the nanites will determine you are safe and cease the program. Until then, you get to be Captain Molly Sinclair."
"Oh," she seemed down.
Sam wondered, "How did you come up with Molly Sinclair?"
"I didn't," she shook her head. "Sinclair is General Hammond's middle name and Daniel named me 'Molly.' I have no idea why he chose Molly."
"I'll ask him sometime," she assured her.