811 Gemini

O'Neill sat attempting to write up a report on the incident, no, the disaster with the human form Replicator that resembled Samantha Carter. His ears were still ringing from the phone call from one of the Joint Chiefs.

How could he have let that happen? He had trusted the top scientist with the most experience with these human form Replicators and that was Carter. He was in command and he gave the order - it was on him alone. He was responsible.

The Replicator came here supposedly to be destroyed. The Replicator knew of O'Neill, knew he had a soft spot for Carter. It prodded him saying "This should be easy for you." knowing destroying a Carter would indeed be painful. He should have been more wary just on that alone.

His first inclination was to destroy it. Perhaps that is always his first move - kill first, ask questions later. It would have saved a lot of trouble presently and probably in the future. But no, they had to talk to it. He wasn't blaming Carter. It probably was more important to gather intel. And whatever happened it was he who made the final decision and all consequences were on his shoulders.

This thing was made in Carter's image. The Carter part he trusted, the Replicator part scared the shit out of him. Was this Carter's evil twin or shades of one of his erotic dreams of twin Carters?

This thing was created by the emotionally immature Fifth, who was seething with anger over his betrayal, abandonment and unrequited schoolboy feeling of love. Jack had ordered the betrayal even though Carter balked. Maybe Jack harbored some annoyance with Carter. She sure as hell had been angry with him. Fifth had shared himself, some pseudo cerebral sex with Carter and she felt sorry for it. And maybe that was the problem she thought of Fifth as him. Jack knew it was an it. But this thing, this it was a machine and Jack thought the best bet was to turn them off, Fifth, RepliCarter and all their minions.

And that thing, her image, lied to her. Told Carter what she wanted to hear, what they all wanted to hear. She told Carter she wanted to be destroyed and wanted to give her the means to take down Fifth and all the bugs loyal to him. In fact what she really wanted was dominion over all the Replicators, domination over the galaxy and Fifth permanently out of her way.

Jack wondered if the machine told Cater things about herself that she had either not acknowledged or things she had not realized. In either case it could very well be disturbing to his officer, throwing her off balance enough to fail to see the strategy behind it.

So Carter's evil twin managed to make itself and its followers impregnable and have its rival, the witless Fifth, destroyed.

In order to do a decent job of the report Jack needed to reread the one submitted by Carter of her capture by Fifth. He would have had Wallter find it but he was currently attending an orientation on the care and feeding of Prometheus. How could Hammond do this to him - take Walter on the ship of doom. Better tell Walter to update his will. Well so much for delaying tactics, he found the report, a long and detailed report, under the detritus on his desk and read.

Fifth, too, had tried to manipulate Carter with a life she dreamed about. Only it didn't work, she saw through it. And even though it claimed to love her, it needed her to bend to its will. So Jack guessed Fifth didn't know her at all. The words Sam spoke to Fifth, rejecting it, "No matter what you feel for me, I will never love you back….If you...really truly love me, you'll let me go." tore at him. It tore at something deep inside him and he felt as big a fool as Fifth.

Sam was beside herself. She let herself be played by her image made of Replicator blocks. She could see through Fifth, well not initially, not when they first met but now. And now it was too late. She, the Carter made of blocks, destroyed him using the disruptor, made by a mind made of flesh.

How well did this machine know her? She, the real Carter, was always more comfortable with machines than people. She could take them apart and see how they worked. People at times were a mystery to her.

The Replicator said she knew Sam, she was Sam essentially. And Sam let her into her mind. She was too involved, too close. Sam rejected the very idea that she would seek world or galactic dominance. The Replicator was sure all humans desired power.

However, this thing knew the life with Pete that Fifth conjured up was not what Sam wanted. The Replicator let Sam see what Fifth forced her to do and what he used to break her. It was killing O'Neill and experiencing his pain over and over again in her mind. Or was this all of the evil mind of the Replicator.

The Replicator revealed what she knew of Sam "You play by the rules, you do as you're told and you deny yourself your own desires." But Sam was so wrapt up in guilt she did not give these words enough thought. Although later, much later she could not deny them.

Jack wanted to connect with Carter. He felt the need to convince her this mess was not her fault. He knew her and knew she'd torture herself with guilt over the Replicator. It would be better to approach her off base. But he realized he was a bit of a coward. He did not want to run into the cop. He didn't want to see her with the cop. He did not deny her a life but… right now he couldn't bear it.