Author's Note: This is old news for those of you that have read Scions but it's still worth reading, and I'm going to put it down in this story as well for a number of reasons. First of all, so that people who haven't read Scion will at least have an inkling of what happened, and second of all because Shawn's reactions to the story should be interesting to see as he's being told all this. (If you haven't read Scion, you really should. It's very interesting!)
.......................
They were sitting at the table only ten minutes later. Both of them had large bowls of chocolate ice cream, which Shawn was happily eating. Jaffer was occupied with his own bowl of vanilla, which left Jack free to brood just a little as he toyed with his ice cream. Luckily, Shawn didn't notice, and that gave Jack a chance to think about how he wanted to bring up the conversation he wanted to have.
By the time they'd finished their ice cream and had rinsed the bowls out and left them in the sink, he just decided to tell Shawn the same way Dotty had told Jack.
"Let's go into the living room, Shawn," Jack said, tossing their spoons into the sink as well and picking up Jaffer's thoroughly licked-clean bowl.
Shawn sensed that Jack had something that he wanted to say. Jack wasn't usually all that quiet around him, and he hadn't said more than a dozen words the entire time they'd been eating their ice cream, which meant he was distracted.
"Sure, Jack."
They went in and sat down on the couch, and Jack gave Shawn an uncomfortable look that really made Shawn worried.
"What's wrong, Jack?"
Jack sighed, and reached out and scratched Jaffer's ear for a minute, collecting his thoughts.
"What have the Asgard told you about the Ancients, Shawn?"
"What?"
"The Ancients," Jack repeated. "What do you know about them?"
The boy shrugged. "They built the Stargates."
"Anything else?"
"They were part of the original alliance. Them and the Asgard and some other races. But they moved on, or left, or something."
Jack nodded. It was a good enough grounding in knowledge that he wouldn't have to explain them.
"Yeah, well, the Ancients met the Asgard at a time in their development when Thor's people were a lot like us Humans." Jack said. "They were a little more technologically advanced, but not a whole lot, and they were pretty arrogant, from what I've heard."
"They're not arrogant, now."
"No, they're not," Jack agreed, nodding. "I like the Asgard, and probably would have liked them if we'd have met them way back when, too, although we weren't around then. I don't think." He wasn't sure, and it didn't really matter, anyways. "But, even though they were pretty advanced, they weren't above making mistakes, and apparently they made a doozy."
"What?" Despite the fact that Shawn didn't have a clue why Jack was telling him this, he was interested.
"I'm not sure," Jack said, shrugging. "I know it had something to do with their obsession to live forever."
"They live a long time."
"I know. But they also made a mistake somewhere, and they didn't see the mistake they'd made when they made it." Jack said, trying to remember exactly how he'd been told this story. Of course, he hadn't understood half of it at the time, and wasn't certain he did, now. "But the Ancients did see the mistake, and they tried to tell the Asgard about it."
"What was it?"
"I don't know, Shawn," Jack told him again. "I wish I did." He let Jaffer go, and the black lab jumped up into his favorite chair, since the couch was taken. "But when the Ancients tried to tell the Asgard they'd made a mistake, the Asgard told them not to worry, they'd figure out a way to fix it, eventually."
"Is that what Thor and the others want from me?"
That was a million dollar question, since Jack still didn't have a clue what Thor and the others wanted from Shawn. But it was as good a bet as any that it had something to do with it.
"Maybe. I'm not sure." Jack sighed. "But the Ancients decided that since the Asgard – their allies – had made this mistake, they'd try to figure out a way to help them fix it. A way that wouldn't be intrusive, since apparently the Ancients are like the Asgard in that respect; they don't force others to do what they want them to do. They just let them live their lives on their own."
"Thor's made you do things..."
"No, he's asked me and the others to do things, but we could always have turned him down." Jack corrected. "It's not a lot different, but it's a very important distinction. The Asgard won't force us to do anything, and the Ancients wouldn't force the Asgard to do what they told them to – for all they knew, the Asgard wouldn't have done it, anyways."
Shawn nodded, still intrigued, although he still had no idea where this was going, and what it had to do with him.
"So, they came up with their own idea. Their own possible solution to the Asgard problem, and they set about implementing it."
"What'd they do?"
"Well, the first part of it was already done," Jack said, fidgeting a little. He and Shawn hadn't really talked much about the birds and the bees, since Shawn hadn't shown any interest in dating yet, and he knew that Dotty and James hadn't covered all that much of that topic either. "Apparently, way back when, some of the Asgard people decided they liked some of the people from the Ancients, and they got married and had kids."
He didn't actually know if they got married, but it was a lot better than telling the boy they just started breeding like rabbits.
"They interbred," Shawn said, reminding Jack that he had a very good vocabulary, thanks to the Asgard implanting the English language directly into his mind.
"Exactly." Jack said, nodding. "They had half Ancient, half Asgard kids."
Shawn nodded.
"I guess there weren't a lot of these kind of... arrangements," Jack said. "But there were some, and the blood of the two races was intermingled. Which was apparently step one of the Ancient's plan." He stopped, hoping he didn't have to get much deeper into that aspect. "With me so far?"
Shawn nodded, again.
"Okay. So the Ancient's were a heck of a lot smarter than anyone else in the universe. Probably smarter than anyone ever has been. And they made these devices. They wanted to find specific... people. People who could use the device – who could activate it, I mean. People who were healthy, and weren't Goa'uld, and were... I don't know... good people, I guess. They were looking for a certain kind of person, and when that kind of person saw one of these devices, they'd be caught up by the device, studied to make sure they were what the machine was supposed to be looking for, and if they passed that test, they would have certain... memories... downloaded into their minds, while at the same time, the device would take a sample of their DNA."
"Wow, that sounds like a crazy machine..." Shawn said, shaking his head. "I wonder if it hurts...?"
"Yes."
"What?"
Jack shrugged. "We came across one of those devices a few years ago. And I got my head stuck in it."
"Wow! Really?"
Jack nodded, scowling. It wasn't so cool when you were living through it.
"So it downloaded stuff into your head?"
"Stuff that was designed to see if I was able to use the memories given to me. To see if I was advanced enough to use the memories to find the Asgard, since the Ancient's plan depended on us eventually meeting them. It also taught us – through me – about the Ancients. A race that we hadn't had any contact with, although we'd already met the Asgard by then."
This was stuff Shawn had never heard before, and it was fascinating.
"You couldn't meet the Ancients, Jack," Shawn said. "Thor says they've all moved on to someplace else."
"I know Thor says that, Shawn. But he's wrong. The Ancients didn't all move on. There are some still around, and a few of them are descendants of those few kids that were half Asgard, half Ancient."
.......................
They were sitting at the table only ten minutes later. Both of them had large bowls of chocolate ice cream, which Shawn was happily eating. Jaffer was occupied with his own bowl of vanilla, which left Jack free to brood just a little as he toyed with his ice cream. Luckily, Shawn didn't notice, and that gave Jack a chance to think about how he wanted to bring up the conversation he wanted to have.
By the time they'd finished their ice cream and had rinsed the bowls out and left them in the sink, he just decided to tell Shawn the same way Dotty had told Jack.
"Let's go into the living room, Shawn," Jack said, tossing their spoons into the sink as well and picking up Jaffer's thoroughly licked-clean bowl.
Shawn sensed that Jack had something that he wanted to say. Jack wasn't usually all that quiet around him, and he hadn't said more than a dozen words the entire time they'd been eating their ice cream, which meant he was distracted.
"Sure, Jack."
They went in and sat down on the couch, and Jack gave Shawn an uncomfortable look that really made Shawn worried.
"What's wrong, Jack?"
Jack sighed, and reached out and scratched Jaffer's ear for a minute, collecting his thoughts.
"What have the Asgard told you about the Ancients, Shawn?"
"What?"
"The Ancients," Jack repeated. "What do you know about them?"
The boy shrugged. "They built the Stargates."
"Anything else?"
"They were part of the original alliance. Them and the Asgard and some other races. But they moved on, or left, or something."
Jack nodded. It was a good enough grounding in knowledge that he wouldn't have to explain them.
"Yeah, well, the Ancients met the Asgard at a time in their development when Thor's people were a lot like us Humans." Jack said. "They were a little more technologically advanced, but not a whole lot, and they were pretty arrogant, from what I've heard."
"They're not arrogant, now."
"No, they're not," Jack agreed, nodding. "I like the Asgard, and probably would have liked them if we'd have met them way back when, too, although we weren't around then. I don't think." He wasn't sure, and it didn't really matter, anyways. "But, even though they were pretty advanced, they weren't above making mistakes, and apparently they made a doozy."
"What?" Despite the fact that Shawn didn't have a clue why Jack was telling him this, he was interested.
"I'm not sure," Jack said, shrugging. "I know it had something to do with their obsession to live forever."
"They live a long time."
"I know. But they also made a mistake somewhere, and they didn't see the mistake they'd made when they made it." Jack said, trying to remember exactly how he'd been told this story. Of course, he hadn't understood half of it at the time, and wasn't certain he did, now. "But the Ancients did see the mistake, and they tried to tell the Asgard about it."
"What was it?"
"I don't know, Shawn," Jack told him again. "I wish I did." He let Jaffer go, and the black lab jumped up into his favorite chair, since the couch was taken. "But when the Ancients tried to tell the Asgard they'd made a mistake, the Asgard told them not to worry, they'd figure out a way to fix it, eventually."
"Is that what Thor and the others want from me?"
That was a million dollar question, since Jack still didn't have a clue what Thor and the others wanted from Shawn. But it was as good a bet as any that it had something to do with it.
"Maybe. I'm not sure." Jack sighed. "But the Ancients decided that since the Asgard – their allies – had made this mistake, they'd try to figure out a way to help them fix it. A way that wouldn't be intrusive, since apparently the Ancients are like the Asgard in that respect; they don't force others to do what they want them to do. They just let them live their lives on their own."
"Thor's made you do things..."
"No, he's asked me and the others to do things, but we could always have turned him down." Jack corrected. "It's not a lot different, but it's a very important distinction. The Asgard won't force us to do anything, and the Ancients wouldn't force the Asgard to do what they told them to – for all they knew, the Asgard wouldn't have done it, anyways."
Shawn nodded, still intrigued, although he still had no idea where this was going, and what it had to do with him.
"So, they came up with their own idea. Their own possible solution to the Asgard problem, and they set about implementing it."
"What'd they do?"
"Well, the first part of it was already done," Jack said, fidgeting a little. He and Shawn hadn't really talked much about the birds and the bees, since Shawn hadn't shown any interest in dating yet, and he knew that Dotty and James hadn't covered all that much of that topic either. "Apparently, way back when, some of the Asgard people decided they liked some of the people from the Ancients, and they got married and had kids."
He didn't actually know if they got married, but it was a lot better than telling the boy they just started breeding like rabbits.
"They interbred," Shawn said, reminding Jack that he had a very good vocabulary, thanks to the Asgard implanting the English language directly into his mind.
"Exactly." Jack said, nodding. "They had half Ancient, half Asgard kids."
Shawn nodded.
"I guess there weren't a lot of these kind of... arrangements," Jack said. "But there were some, and the blood of the two races was intermingled. Which was apparently step one of the Ancient's plan." He stopped, hoping he didn't have to get much deeper into that aspect. "With me so far?"
Shawn nodded, again.
"Okay. So the Ancient's were a heck of a lot smarter than anyone else in the universe. Probably smarter than anyone ever has been. And they made these devices. They wanted to find specific... people. People who could use the device – who could activate it, I mean. People who were healthy, and weren't Goa'uld, and were... I don't know... good people, I guess. They were looking for a certain kind of person, and when that kind of person saw one of these devices, they'd be caught up by the device, studied to make sure they were what the machine was supposed to be looking for, and if they passed that test, they would have certain... memories... downloaded into their minds, while at the same time, the device would take a sample of their DNA."
"Wow, that sounds like a crazy machine..." Shawn said, shaking his head. "I wonder if it hurts...?"
"Yes."
"What?"
Jack shrugged. "We came across one of those devices a few years ago. And I got my head stuck in it."
"Wow! Really?"
Jack nodded, scowling. It wasn't so cool when you were living through it.
"So it downloaded stuff into your head?"
"Stuff that was designed to see if I was able to use the memories given to me. To see if I was advanced enough to use the memories to find the Asgard, since the Ancient's plan depended on us eventually meeting them. It also taught us – through me – about the Ancients. A race that we hadn't had any contact with, although we'd already met the Asgard by then."
This was stuff Shawn had never heard before, and it was fascinating.
"You couldn't meet the Ancients, Jack," Shawn said. "Thor says they've all moved on to someplace else."
"I know Thor says that, Shawn. But he's wrong. The Ancients didn't all move on. There are some still around, and a few of them are descendants of those few kids that were half Asgard, half Ancient."