Two days later…
"Wow, I am enjoying this quiet!" Buffy exclaimed, indulging in a long stretch, raising her hands above her head as she did so.
"At this point, I'm just waiting for the next disaster." Xander declared pessimistically with a wave of his unoccupied hand (Don't even go there!).
"Xander. It's a gorgeous day. Don't ruin it with bad naughty thoughts of trouble a brewing." Willow scolded him with her free hand.
The three friends were walking along a trail in Sunnydale Park. There was nary a cloud in the sky and the sun shone down with a magnificent glow. A bee flew past Xander's face startling him.
"It would be nice if bees brought honey instead of stings." Xander commented wistfully.
"Speaking of honey, where's your honey, honey?" Willow asked jokingly.
"Out of town. He'll be back in a couple of days." Buffy replied. She sighed heavily, clearly missing him.
"Why did he go?" Xander inquired.
"He needed to check on something back east. I couldn't go with him for obvious reasons." Buffy answered.
Before Xander or Willow could question Buffy further, a man walking toward them collided with them without warning.
"Excuse you!" Buffy snapped, surprised and irritated at the stranger's rudeness.
The man did not reply. He simply kept going as though the whole incident had not occurred.
As they observed him depart, Willow spoke up:
"Wow. Some people."
"That's really weird." Xander remarked suddenly.
Both women looked at him curiously.
"There's a metal thing on the back of that guy's neck." Xander stated, puzzled.
Buffy and Willow turned to see and noticed it as well.
"Some kind of weird new fashion trend we don't know about?" Buffy wondered.
"Wouldn't you want something like that to be noticed though? You can barely see it." Willow commented.
The trio regarded each other in growing puzzlement.
"Unscheduled off-world activation!" declared Sgt Harriman. The control room burst into a flurry of activity at this, as the Stargate flared with its usual spectacular effect.
"Close the iris!" General Hammond ordered sternly. Harriman immediately did so, and they watched as the metal barrier closed, sealing off the Gate.
"Sir, we're getting SG1's iris code." Harriman commented.
"Open the iris." Hammond commanded.
As the iris deactivated, Hammond waited patiently. The wait was a short one.
Colonel Jack O'Neill, Doctor Daniel Jackson, Captain Samantha Carter, and Teal'c materialized from the portal and walked down the ramp. Hammond left the control room to greet them.
"Welcome back SG1." Hammond greeted.
"Ahh. Did you miss us? We sure missed you General." Jack replied playfully.
The other SG1 members gave Jack an amused look. Hammond gave Jack his patented "Whatever Jack" look.
"General Hammond. Why did you call us back? What's going on?" Daniel asked curiously.
"We have an unprecedented situation Doctor. There has been an alien starship crash here in the States." Hammond replied.
SG1 looked at their commanding officer in stunned disbelief.
"Which state sir?" Jack asked.
"Right here in Colorado." Hammond replied. Jack and the other members of his team looked at each other in concern.
"You're thinking this has potential infiltration of Stargate Command all over it." Jack commented.
"Yes." Hammond responded.
"What caused the crash?" Teal'c asked.
"And were there survivors?" Samantha asked.
"That's a good question. We're not really certain. Their vessel is not like any ship we've seen before. It's incredibly alien. And there were two Captain." Hammond answered.
"Where's the ship now?" Samantha asked eagerly.
"It's currently in Area 51. I want you to consult with the scientists there and assist them with analysis of the alien craft. Find the nearest computer here on the base and talk to them remotely Captain." Hammond answered and ordered all at the same time.
Sam nodded and headed for the computer room.
"And what of us General Hammond?" Teal'c inquired.
"You're coming with me to the observation room where Doctor Fraiser and a medical team is inspecting the aliens. Teal'c, your knowledge of alien races will be invaluable, Dr Jackson, I'll need you to communicate with them should you awaken. And Colonel, well you're coming along because right now you have nothing else to do." Hammond stated.
"Always nice to be appreciated sir." Jack said sarcastically.
The four men left for the observation room.
Elsewhere…
"Damn. L.A. is so different from Boston!" Faith exclaimed.
"I'll have to take your word for that." Athena replied.
The two women were driving back to Sunnydale, a couple of bags of freshly-bought clothes in the backseat. As they chatted animatedly, they nearly had an accident.
And the reason for the near-disaster?
A man staggering across the road completely unaware of his surroundings!
"JESUS ATHENA! LOOK OUT!" Faith cried out desperately.
Athena swerved expertly, dodging around the stranger who jumped backwards, clearly startled. The vehicle screeched to a stop, and both women opened the doors and jumping out, ran to aid the man, who was on his hands and knees. Athena and Faith reached him and knelt down beside him.
"Shit dude! Are you fucking okay?!" Faith inquired.
The guy looked up at them, from Faith to Athena and back, his face haunted, and whispered:
"They're everywhere. They're getting inside us. Into our brains and they can't be stopped."
Then he collapsed to the road and began sobbing wretchedly. Athena and Faith looked at each other in confusion.
"He high on somethin'?" Faith wondered.
"Maybe. Let's get him to the hospital. I feel like we're being watched and this whole set-up screams ambush." Athena responded.
They picked the crying man up and put him in the backseat of their car, then entered the front seats, closed their doors and starting the engine, resumed their journey.
Athena's instincts were right on the money.
They were being observed.
But neither lady would have believed what it was if they saw it.
Later…
Athena and Faith got up from their chairs as Giles, Diana, and Artemis strode through the doors. The three new arrivals noticed them and walked over to them.
"Where is the man you brought in? In the ICU?" Giles asked Athena.
"Yeah. They won't let us in to see him. He's still ranting and raving about machines taking over people's bodies." Athena answered.
"Machines?! What sort of machines?" Giles replied.
"He didn't make it clear. The guy would start to inform us, then he would suffer an emotional breakdown." Athena told Giles.
"It got pretty freaky." Faith commented.
"I imagine so." Artemis said, looking around.
"We are being observed." Diana said suddenly.
The others looked at Diana, and she indicated their watchers with a quick motion of her eyes.
The people she pointed out were three nurses, two women and one man. They simply stared, before walking away. Their movements were oddly mechanical-like.
"What the fu-"Artemis started.
"Hey! That's the dude!" Faith interrupted, pointing at a man near the nurse's station.
They walked up to him, and Giles said:
"Excuse me sir, but the doctors are already releasing you?"
He turned to look at them, and replied in a flat voice:
"I am fine."
Then he favored them with a patently false smile and walked away with that same robotic stride that the nurses had displayed earlier. They all looked at each other.
"What the fuck?!" Faith, Athena, and Artemis said at the same time.
"There is nothing further to be gained by staying here. I propose we depart." Diana suggested.
"Agreed. We should head back to the library. Besides we are being watched more intently now." Giles responded.
Nobody needed to ask what he meant.
All the medical staff were studying them closely now.
They moved toward the hospital doors and departed.
Colorado…
Everyone stared.
And what they were staring at were the two creatures laying on the examination tables.
One of the beings had a long neck and four flippers. It was black in color. The other had the body of a red spider.
But what really took everyone aback was the fact that they had human heads.
The long-necked creature had a man's head, complete with a red beard and brown hair. The many-legged one possessed a woman's head, with long dark hair.
Dr Fraiser and her staff, adorned in protective suits, looked at each other, then at General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill, Dr Jackson, and Teal'c in the observation room, which was situated above the operating theatre, who also regarded each other with similar bafflement, then stared back at the doctor and company.
At last, Hammond leaned toward the observation room's microphone and ordered:
"Proceed Doctor."
"Okay General." Dr Fraiser replied. She and the nurses moved hesitantly moved toward their new patients and began examining them. As they did so, Hammond turned to the other three men in the room with him.
"Have you ever seen anything...like them?" Daniel asked Teal'c.
"No, Daniel Jackson. I have not." Teal'c responded.
As the conversation proceeded in the observation room, the medical staff continued their analysis.
"Have you ever witnessed...that before?" One of the nurses asked Janet nervously.
"I haven't. But right now, all that matters is that they're in our care." Dr Fraiser responded.
As they attached various sensors to the two creatures, they failed to notice…
...the long-necked creature's eyes snap open.
As Janet worked, a new voice spoke to her:
"Oh, Hello."
"Hello." Janet answered casually as she glanced at the speaker. She started turning away, then halted in mid-step and turned to face the one who had addressed her, her eyes very wide.
The long-necked entity was fully awake, staring at her.
Janet stared back, shocked into silence.
"Oh my God!" one of the nurses shouted, which claimed the attention of everyone, including the men in the observation room.
They all stared.
The being stared back. It then coiled it's neck around in a weird way.
Daniel approached the microphone and spoke into it:
"Um...hello?"
It looked at him, then responded with:
"Hi! Who are you, if I may ask?"
Before Daniel could reply, the spider-being opened its eyes and got to its feet. It rubbed its head with one of its legs, then glanced around. It looked at Janet.
"Who are you?" it asked, puzzled.
"What is going on here?" Bellona wondered.
"Got me Bel." Apollo answered.
Bellona, Apollo, and Zeus were crouched behind a small shed, watching a peculiar scene.
And what scene, you may ask?
Lines of people moving in and out of a remote sewer tunnel. They marched in perfect formation, as though it had been choreographed for years.
"On patrol in the woods and we stumble across something straight out of the X-Files." Zeus grumbled.
"Yeah. Huh. We better call this in." Apollo replied.
He pulled out his cell phone, dialed their home number and then hit send, but almost immediately after he did that, Bellona and Zeus touched his huge shoulder. Apollo looked at them, then at where they were urgently pointing.
The people they were observing were now observing them!
And they withdrew strange weapons from their pockets and opened fire on them!
"Yes a call was coming through from Apollo, but then it cut off. It originated from the south part of the forest near the castle. We are moving to investigate." Lilith told Athena over the phone.
"Got it. We'll pick up Buffy, Xander, and Willow and meet you there." Athena replied. Then she hung up.
Lilith hung up as well and turned to Taryn, who was waiting patiently.
"Gather the others. We have a situation." Lilith informed her.
"On my way." Taryn said. She turned and exited the room.
Lilith watched as she collected, Helen, Neptune, Ares, and Hera and explained to them the situation. They then headed for the armory.
There is always the appearance of a situation that interferes with the implementation of my plan. Lilith mused.
She then left the room herself and headed for the armory herself.
In her hurry, Lilith did not notice the mysterious woman observing her from around the corner.
The woman's silver hair gleamed strangely in the sunlight.
Soon. The woman thought.
Soon...my mother.