A/N: We start to get a better picture of the past. Good thing to, because after this, Seto's getting out. He's used up his word limit for the day.
Chapter summary: In which Jacob tries to understand the circumstances and gets more than he was ready for.
28: Circumstances of Existence
"You took a baby as a host?" Jack cried in offended fury.
"I took the host that was presented to me at the time," Kaiba replied calmly, his sharp blue eyes meeting Jack's evenly. "It was either that or die."
"You could have chosen someone else," Jack snarled. "Anyone else."
"No! I couldn't," Kaiba snapped, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I could barely comprehend anything beyond my first instinct to survive let alone make a decision as complicated as choosing a potential host."
"Not my problem."
"No," Kaiba said, deliberately looking away from the colonel and speaking in and even and controlled tone. "It was mine. It should never have been mine, but reality is hardly fair. Setesh took away any chance I may have had to choose a host by forcefully implanting me in an unfamiliar, immature human. I didn't choose this, nor was I pleased with it at the time. However," his gaze flickered back to O'Neill, "I did choose to take advantage of the circumstances I found myself in rather than wallow in misery and disappointment."
Jacob went over Kaiba's words another time in his head. It still made no sense. It wasn't uncommon for immature symbiotes to be kept in tanks if there were no Jaffa in need of a new symbiote readily available. It was the best way to maintain control of and limit the potential influences on the young symbiotes. It was also a way to protect the vulnerable symbiotes while they were too young to protect themselves from threats effectively.
It also wasn't unheard of for the immature symbiotes of dead Jaffa to escape their pouch and take the first available host in the vicinity. It was a natural survival instinct. Escape and survive or remain in the dead Jaffa's body and die.
But to deliberately implant an immature symbiote that hadn't been exposed to a Jaffa and therefore had a smaller chance of a successful blending into a host? That was not common practice at all. For a queen to be subjected to something as brutal as that was surprising and, judging from the horror emanating from Selmak's mental presence, downright offensive.
To make matter worse, the host had been an infant. Jacob remembered the birth of his daughter, Sam. She'd been so small and precious. He'd been terrified of holding her because what if he squeezed too hard and hurt her? For a child of that age to be implanted with a Goa'uld, an immature Goa'uld… It was horrific.
Both Jacob and Selmak were of one mind on this. Selmak's 2,000 years of memories gave Jacob an idea of how things should be from the early days of the newly spawned Tok'ra. There were even a few memories of how things were with the System Lords' implantation rituals. It was considered a sacred thing when a new System Lord or a queen was implanted.
The young, mature symbiote was given the chance to choose a host. The implantation was delicate and required much care on the part of the Goa'uld and Jaffa overseeing the ritual. If something should go wrong, then death was a very real possibility for both the symbiote and the host.
Queen symbiotes were a bit trickier. They were feistier than the typical drone Goa'uld. They were also larger and required more time to integrate with the host's body and mind. On the other hand, a queen's hold on a host was also less permanent than a typical drone's. Queens had to spawn, after all.
Some queens, like Hathor, chose to spawn while remaining in their hosts. Others chose to temporarily leave their hosts to spawn. If the queen chose the latter, then they were constantly cared for and their host restrained and kept under control, usually by means of sedation, until the queen returned. It required absolute trust between the queen and those present which were usually the queen's consort, the First Prime, and a select few lo'tar.
Emergency blendings, such as what Jolinar was forced to do with Sam, were notoriously dangerous for both the host and symbiote. If either one resisted too hard or the blending was rejected for medical reasons by either party, it could easily spell death for both involved. It also limited the amount of time for the symbiote to familiarize itself with its host and solidify the blended bond.
Then there was the matter of the host itself. The part of Jacob that was Human and bound to his Earth-based morals and ethics screamed at the abuse of an infant. What Goa'uld in their right mind would deliberately implant an infant? Lack of maturity and feasibility aside, an infant was useless. There was no viable reason to do it except torture. And that was if the symbiote and host survived the blending in the first place. With such an immature host, those chances were incredibly slim.
:At ease, Jacob,: Selmak's mental voice soothed. The lingering horror was still audible in the silent words, but there was also a burning desire to know. Who did this? Why? To what end?
Jacob wanted to know to. But he couldn't find the words to express himself amidst his horror and anger and disgust. So he ceded control to Selmak.
"Forgive our silence," Selmak said with Jacob's mouth, watching as Kaiba met their gaze warily. "But you must understand, what you have just described to us is…" His head shook in disbelief. "It is a crime."
Kaiba's eyebrows dipped low over his eyes. "How so?"
How so? Jacob could barely believe his ears. "You said Setesh was the one to keep you in a sensory deprivation tank," Selmak said, waiting for the affirming nod. "Was he also the one to choose your host and oversee the implantation?"
The queen nodded. "As I understand it, it was a quiet affair. No pomp and circumstance. If Ra found out I existed, then-" He shrugged.
"Wait," Daniel said, sitting up with interest. "What does Ra have to do with this?"
Kaiba tilted his head to the archaeologist so his brown fringe shaded his blue eyes making them appear darker. "Queens are not spawned readily among the Goa'uld without considering all the risks involved," he explained, "and, at the time at least, without Ra's knowledge and permission. Spawning a queen without the Supreme System Lord's consent was tantamount to rebellion. My queen, her consort, and Setesh were all aware of this fact, yet they did it anyway."
"Who was your queen?" Martouf asked.
"Why do you ask?" Kaiba replied, meeting the Tok'ra's pale blue eyes.
"I find it surprising that your queen allowed your implantation to happen as it did," Martouf said. "Was she unaware of the circumstances?"
"She was fully aware it," Kaiba said carefully. "I believe it was her idea."
Martouf's thin, brown eyebrows flew up in surprise and he shared a look with Jacob. How could Kaiba be so careless about this? Unless he honestly had no idea how many offenses had been committed against him.
"My spawning queen was present at my implantation, but I'm not sure how long she stayed," Kaiba continued. "There was also at least one lo'tar that I know of who was present as well. It was her child that would become my host. She did so with full knowledge of what was happening and gave her consent to the possession."
"I find that hard to believe," General Hammond said.
"I don't care," Kaiba said dryly.
"Lo'tar are the highest rank of human slaves," Teal'c said. "They firmly believe the Goa'uld to be gods and worship them without restraint. To be implanted by a symbiote is considered the highest reward a lo'tar could receive."
"Too true," Martouf said with a grimace. "Lo'tar tend to be fanatically loyal to their respective Goa'uld. Trying to turn a lo'tar on their Goa'uld is incredibly difficult. Some have even betrayed our agents in exchange for verbal praise. For a lo'tar mother to give up her child for what she probably saw to be a gift from the gods is," he shook his head sadly, "upsetting. But I can't say I'm surprised."
"My mother didn't worship Setesh," Kaiba said, startling them. "She hardly even trusted Isis. My mother worshiped other gods. Not Goa'uld. It was actually her descendants I later joined in the second rebellion against Ra that drove the Goa'uld from Earth. The Humans had already been forming an underground resistance against the System Lords before Osiris and Isis ever rebelled."
"Your 'mother'?" Sam repeated, frowning in confusion. "You call the lo'tar your mother?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Kaiba asked in return. "She was the one who raised me. My queen was rarely present and I may have been one of Setesh's underlords but it was no a secret that I despised him. It was the lo'tar who raised me, therefore only she deserves the title of mother."
"I see," Sam murmured.
"What was her name?" Daniel asked. "Your mother, I mean."
Kaiba hesitated. "Heket," he said softly.
"Did she have other children?"
The queen shook his head. "No. I was the only child she had. Her sister had several children but I never interacted with them. Why?"
Daniel twisted his hands awkwardly. "Well, you said her descendants were the leaders of the second rebellion so I was just…" He shrugged. "Curious."
Blue eyes considered the archaeologist a moment. "They weren't her direct descendants," Kaiba said finally. "They were her sister's."
"What about the queen who spawned you. What was her name?" Martouf asked, probably at the urging of his symbiote Lantash. Jacob could feel his own symbiote's intense interest in the subject as well. Although, Jacob suspected Selmak already had an idea.
"Why do you want to know?" Kaiba asked suspiciously, his sharp gaze on Martouf.
Selmak sighed and spoke before Martouf had the chance. "It was Isis, wasn't it?"
Kaiba kept silent, but his silence was answer enough. That explained much, such as at least one of the rebellions Kaiba was supposedly involved with, why Setesh was so involved with a queen who wasn't attached to him, and Kaiba's vehement hatred for Setesh.
"The same Isis whose symbol is on the communication device you gave us?" General Hammond asked.
"Yes," Kaiba replied. "I may have been an underlord of Setesh, but it was well known that my loyalty was to Isis."
"And what about Osiris?" Daniel asked curiously. "I'm assuming he was Isis' consort like in the myths."
"He was." Kaiba thought for a moment before continuing. "Isis had power and influence as a System Lord, but she rarely attended meetings unless they were official or required. For this reason, she was deemed the right candidate to rule Earth while Ra was not present." He scoffed. "She hated it. She preferred the freedom of space. Then along comes Osiris with his silver tongue and clever ability to string the System Lords up like puppets. Somehow, Osiris managed to get a sample of Ra's DNA and gave it to Isis in exchange for becoming her consort thus promoting him to System Lord de facto."
"Something Osiris was never fond of being reminded of," Selmak said with Jacob's permission.
Kaiba tilted his head slightly in silent agreement. "But where Isis hated being bound to one place, Osiris found he enjoyed it." Kaiba smirked. "So while Isis spent her time traveling and studying science, Osiris ruled Earth as the first pharaoh, setting himself up as a god incarnate."
"I was unaware Isis was a scientist," Selmak said thoughtfully. "It was believed her constant travels were due to disinterest in politics."
"It was, partially," Kaiba admitted. "But she was first and foremost a scientist. Why do you think Osiris won her over with just Ra's DNA?"
"Because she was a queen and…" Jacob felt Selmak's words fade from his mouth just as he caught on to his symbiote's realization. "She was studying DNA."
"More specifically, the splicing of DNA with that from other races," Kaiba said.
"That sounds familiar," Sam muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Kaiba frowned at her, glancing between her and Jacob for clarification.
"There's a Goa'uld doing something similar now with varied results," Selmak said. "Nirrti. She's a System Lord but she doesn't get involved unless she has no other choice."
"We found one of the planets she used as a base once," Sam said, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. "She'd wiped out the entire population except for one child."
Jacob studied the Goa'uld queen's reaction closely and found himself approving of the disgusted horror creeping into Kaiba's expression.
:There might very well be more Tok'ra in him than Goa'uld after all,: Selmak murmured thoughtfully. :The addition of a queen friendly to our cause would be a boon to us. Our numbers are too few as it is.:
:Are you sure we should suggest the idea?: Jacob warned. :It didn't work for Heru'ur.:
:This is true,: Selmak said, caution coloring their words. :But Heru'ur wanted Nephthys as a breeding queen, not a true queen. I can understand Nephthys' reaction to such a suggestion.:
Feeling Jacob's confusion, Selmak obligingly provided memories of queen symbiotes in tanks doing nothing but breeding and spawning until they died. Jacob couldn't fight back a wince at the images and accompanying emotions. That was hardly considered an existence.
:The System Lords are hypocrites,: Selmak said. :Their queens are power but only if they are attached to a consort or spawning in a tank. Queens can gather loyal followers and garner favor for their causes with relative ease. Which brings to mind.:
"Were you present during Osiris and Isis' rebellion?" Selmak asked.
Blue eyes flashed white-gold in warning and Jacob sighed, resuming control of his body.
"Could you tell me what actually happened then?" he asked, feeling Selmak remain close in wary curiosity. "I've only been with the Tok'ra for a year now. I know some things but others are new to me. And, as it happens," he mentally nudged Selmak, "the Tok'ra don't know the full story of that rebellion either. We know Osiris and Isis rebelled and that Setesh betrayed them, but there was no mention of Nephthys' involvement there in our histories."
Kaiba snorted in dry amusement. He reached for his mug and took a long drink of the steaming liquid that made even Jack wince sympathetically.
"Setesh suggested the idea," Kaiba explained. "I wasn't present for that part. Somehow, he convinced Osiris who convinced Isis. Considering they already had disagreements with Ra, I'm not surprised they rebelled." He shrugged, tapping his finger on the handle of his mug. "Since I was loyal to Isis and both Isis and Setesh were rebelling, I joined in."
The tapping stopped.
"I should have seen it coming," he murmured. "By the time we found out Setesh had betrayed us, it was already clear we'd lost. Ra had his forces ready for our attack and extinguished our own forces with ease. Osiris and Isis fled to the Chappa'ai but we were under heavy fire."
Jacob knew that semi-glazed look in Kaiba's eyes. He'd seen it in soldiers often. Remembering battles they'd fought, friends they'd lost, sights they wished they'd never seen. It was disorienting seeing that same look on someone who appeared to only be eighteen at most.
"I dialed the first address I could think of and laid down cover fire long enough for Isis and Osiris to go through," Kaiba continued. "But by that point, I'd been injured and my reaction time was slowing. Besides," he added, his gaze twitching just slightly to focus on the coffee mug, "if I'd left the dialing device and gone through the Stargate, it would have left the planet's address visible to Ra's forces. That wasn't an option."
"You stayed behind," Jacob said, already knowing the answer.
"I deactivated the 'Gate and fled on foot from there."
If that wasn't a clear end of discussion, Jacob would eat his foot. "And the second rebellion?" he asked, hoping to distract the queen from his dark thoughts. Unfortunately, the subject change seemed to make things worse.
Instead of answering right away, Kaiba turned to face his First Prime. Jacob blinked. The blonde boy had been so quiet, both Jacob and Selmak had almost forgotten Wheeler was present. The Goa'uld queen had a low, urgent discussion with Wheeler in rapid Japanese that the First Prime clearly wasn't pleased about. But one sharp question from Kaiba and Wheeler instantly shut up, grumbled, and walked out of the room. He did pause by the door to shoot a glare at Kaiba before going down the stairs though.
"Trouble in paradise?" Col. O'Neill asked in mock concern.
"Wheeler may be my First Prime, but we hardly trust each other," Kaiba said flippantly. "Some things he can't know yet."
Gray eyebrows lifted in not-so-innocent surprise. "Whyever not?"
"Because his loyalty lies elsewhere."
:Why have a First Prime who isn't loyal to him?: Selmak wondered, mirroring Jacob's own thoughts.
"We succeeded in the second rebellion," Kaiba said, startling the people at the table by picking up the conversation abruptly where they left off. "But we ended up fighting two wars on two fronts. One against the System Lords and the other against a traitor in our own ranks. I knew Osiris had been captured when Ra fired his weapon on us." He chuckled darkly. "We were lucky. We still had our full number when we repelled the weapon. Had Ra waited one more day, we wouldn't have had our full number and we would have lost everything."
"What weapon?" Jacob asked.
Kaiba snorted and shot him a wry look that made it clear he wasn't going to say.
"Repelling Ra's weapon ultimately won us the battle against the System Lords. But the very next day, we woke to find one of our number murdered. We lost the second the day after that when we buried the Stargate. The third was taken as a host by Setesh at some point between the second's death and the final battle."
The glaze returned to Kaiba blue eyes and Jacob winced sympathetically. Whatever happened must have been awful to witness.
"Setesh dosed me with nish'ta when I was vulnerable and forced me to betray my comrades."
:Egeria have mercy,: Selmak murmured.
:Holy Hannah,: Jacob agreed.
"Our leader broke me out of it, but I'd already lost someone I cared about and mortally wounded a friend," Kaiba continued. "I pulled a temple down on Setesh's head, killing his host and supposedly killing him. I didn't know he'd survived until he showed up again in Seattle." He sneered. "Bastard."
Taking a deep breath, Kaiba took another drink of coffee. "There were only three of us left when we faced the traitor directly. We were no match for him. I wasn't…" He pressed his lips together. "I wasn't mentally ready for the battle and my fellow priestess was gravely injured. Our leader ended up paying the ultimate price to get rid of the traitor and save our lives. After that, the priestess and I helped rebuild our home then went our separate ways. She went into hiding and I… left."
"Priestess?" Daniel wondered aloud.
"With the exception of our leader, we were all priests," Kaiba said, nodding. "I told you before. My mother worshiped different gods." Glacial blue eyes flickered to the archaeologist. "So do I. So did we all. We fought in our gods' name using their power. We won. But using their power always has a price. We paid it. In a way, we're still paying for it. But better this than the alternative."
"Death."
Kaiba opened his mouth, then shut it and shrugged. "Close enough."
Jacob probably didn't want to know.
