Disclaimer: This is where it gets interesting.
The Testing of Wills
Ch. 8
"Listen...26, I know you probably don't like me right now, but is there any way that I can talk you out of this?" asked Rodney, from his paralyzed position on the floor. She tilted her head.
"Nothing comes to mind." she answered, calmly. He was quiet for a moment.
"Yeah, me neither."
She actually stopped to look at him, and saw that Carson had taken a seat against the wall and was pondering.
"You are annoying."
"I get that a lot."
There was a bit more silence.
"I wan' to say something," started Carson carefully. "But I don't want ye to play with the lights until yeh've heard me out."
26 looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm listening." she said.
"The Wraith killed yeh're creators, tha's wha' ye said yeh're reason was for retaliatin' against us. If you kill us, then yeh're provin' yerself to be no better than them. Yeh're actually kind of werse, because yeh're killin' out of hate. They only kill because they're mindless animals, when ye come right down to it."
For a moment, he thought he saw her resolution waver, but then she was looking away from him, back into the air.
"I'm not retaliating for my dead masters, although I have considered it. You have activated this great city, which obligates you, the holders of superior technology to prevent the destruction of multiple races by this scourge of space. You are not competent enough to handle such a responsibility." she debated, and Rodney opened his eyes.
"We haven't been here that long. We're still learning. We can't be expected to take on everybody's problems without some on the job training first."
"That is not an excuse."
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Jinto dropped down into the gate room and looked around to see Major Sheppard, Teyla, and Doctor Weir walking towards them.
"Doctor Weir!" he called, and handed the leader a walkie talkie. "Doctor Beckett told me to give you this and to tell you to turn to channel thirteen."
"Where is Doctor Beckett, Jinto?" asked Teyla, and Jinto hesitated.
"I found the room where they are trying to negotiate with the Hacker." he said. "Doctor Beckett was with Doctor McKay, who looked hurt."
"Oh, great." groaned Sheppard.
"But Doctor Beckett asked that you listen for him to say self- destruct. He said you would explain it."
It got very cold in the gate room as Sheppard and Weir shared an anxious look.
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"No, no, no, you've got us all wrong. We do not all do the same things, if we did, we'd still be Neanderthals. I mean, it would have taken forever for someone to invent the wheel for god sakes. We think quicker than those guys did." Rodney said, and Carson got the distinct impression that despite where this conversation was leading, 26 wasn't going to listen to them.
It was plain to see that she was dedicated to the methodical torture and demise of each and every person in the city.
"Let the wee ones go." he said, suddenly. She looked at him, distracted momentarily from her work.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked. He looked her in the eyes.
"The children. Let them go through the Stargate." He could tell that he had really shocked her by requesting such a thing, and when she didn't respond, he continued. "I'm a doctor. I'm dedicated to saving as many lives as I can." Still there was no response, and she looked as if she were studying him. "They're only kids for chrissakes!"
She looked him over for a moment longer and nodded, working the controls once more.
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"Attention, you inhabitants of this lost city. It is my belief that you have outlived your usefulness by waking the creatures known to us as the Wraith. It was my opinion that you should all die. However...I have been convinced to let the children of this community of incompetents survive. I will open a path to the Stargate, for the children only."
Many parents cried at this news, and others hugged their little ones tightly, urging them to be strong for the challenges that lay ahead. Some children did not fully understand, and promised to return, while others begged to stay.
"No one is to follow the children, to the gate room or through the Stargate, or I will kill all of you, regardless of age."
True to her word, doors opened and hallways cleared, but adults made no move to escape, only herded the children towards their freedom of imminent doom.
"Tha's right generous of ye, telling them tha' their parents are abou' to die." growled Carson, uncharacteristically sarcastic. There was no answer. In the gate room, an address was dialed with no one at the controls, and the wormhole opened.
"Where's it lead?" Carson asked.
"To a planet where the Wraith do not go." she answered, cryptically.
"Somewhere with a breathable atmosphere, I hope." he muttered.
He waited for what seemed like hours before she finally acknowledged that the children were gone. And he was quiet for a long time after that.
"Well, Rodney, it has been a short time workin' with ye." he said.
"I'll say. I didn't even get to blackmail you for anything remotely embarrassing." came the calm and yet pithy comeback. Carson laughed.
"Doctor Weir. Self destruct."
26 blinked as she registered the sentence as Carson unloaded the clip in the weapon that Rodney had given him. There was no effect of course, and he slumped against the wall afterwards, a somewhat defiant if defeated old Scot.
"Self destruct?" asked 26. Carson nodded.
"Aye." he affirmed.
"You rigged Atlantis to blow sky high?"
"Tha' we did." he responded. she cocked her head, turning a little towards him.
"Why?"
"To prevent technology such as this from falling into the wrong hands." he answered. "Even if ye were an enemy of the Wraith, they could still find ye and defeat ye, and then this city would be theirs. Tha' is no' something I'd wish on my werst enemy."
There was a long, quiet, pregnant silence in which 26 assessed Dr. Beckett, and then nodded.
"You would destroy that which could save us to protect us from that which would destroy us. How...honorable." she said.
She looked back at the computer and then got back to work. There was a timer counting down, and some automated voice was given a verbal assessment of how many seconds were left on the clock. Carson was silently counting down the numbers as well, waiting for zero. And when it stopped after five, his confidence that they had defeated an enemy sank like a stone in the water.
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"People of Atlantis, hear me."
This single sentence was heard throughout the entire city, and everyone everywhere stopped in confusion.
Sheppard looked at Weir, and then at Teyla, who was, rather awkwardly extracting herself from his embrace. Luckily nobody saw them.
"Congratulations,"
Carson looked up from his dark, and depressing last thoughts and looked at her to see she was giving him a cheeky grin. He quickly went from deep despair to deep confusion.
"You've passed the test." she announced. Working quickly, she turned the consoles back on, opened the doors, released her more claustrophobic prisoners, and opened the door to the transporters.
In the sickbay, Aidan opened his eyes with the vaguest sense of having been plugged into an electrical socket. Rodney McKay blinked, sat up and looked around.
"Someone go fetch your children." she said over the loud speaker, and then she giggled.
Removing her hand for the first time from the console, Carson watched several small, micro films draw back into her skin, like extra appendages that she had used to latch into the systems. He put that into the back of his mind for later use.
"This was all a test?" he demanded.
26 nodded, standing.
"Carson Beckett, Rodney McKay, I, Unit 26, technical maintenance, have found that you are capable of protecting the Pegasus." she said, and the two doctors looked at each other dubiously.
"Wha'? The entire galaxy?"
"No, the Pegasus, it is the race that created me and my kind, and I believe you worthy of their wealth of knowledge."
"More stuff?" Rodney asked, intrigued.
"Ye said the Wraith killed yer creators."
"They have. That is why I came here. You see, I am their wealth of knowledge."
She watched them share more uncertain looks and then continued.
"And, as that wealth of knowledge, I name the two of you as my personal caretakers."
Oh yeah, this was going to be trouble.
The Testing of Wills
Ch. 8
"Listen...26, I know you probably don't like me right now, but is there any way that I can talk you out of this?" asked Rodney, from his paralyzed position on the floor. She tilted her head.
"Nothing comes to mind." she answered, calmly. He was quiet for a moment.
"Yeah, me neither."
She actually stopped to look at him, and saw that Carson had taken a seat against the wall and was pondering.
"You are annoying."
"I get that a lot."
There was a bit more silence.
"I wan' to say something," started Carson carefully. "But I don't want ye to play with the lights until yeh've heard me out."
26 looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm listening." she said.
"The Wraith killed yeh're creators, tha's wha' ye said yeh're reason was for retaliatin' against us. If you kill us, then yeh're provin' yerself to be no better than them. Yeh're actually kind of werse, because yeh're killin' out of hate. They only kill because they're mindless animals, when ye come right down to it."
For a moment, he thought he saw her resolution waver, but then she was looking away from him, back into the air.
"I'm not retaliating for my dead masters, although I have considered it. You have activated this great city, which obligates you, the holders of superior technology to prevent the destruction of multiple races by this scourge of space. You are not competent enough to handle such a responsibility." she debated, and Rodney opened his eyes.
"We haven't been here that long. We're still learning. We can't be expected to take on everybody's problems without some on the job training first."
"That is not an excuse."
000000000000000000000000000000000
Jinto dropped down into the gate room and looked around to see Major Sheppard, Teyla, and Doctor Weir walking towards them.
"Doctor Weir!" he called, and handed the leader a walkie talkie. "Doctor Beckett told me to give you this and to tell you to turn to channel thirteen."
"Where is Doctor Beckett, Jinto?" asked Teyla, and Jinto hesitated.
"I found the room where they are trying to negotiate with the Hacker." he said. "Doctor Beckett was with Doctor McKay, who looked hurt."
"Oh, great." groaned Sheppard.
"But Doctor Beckett asked that you listen for him to say self- destruct. He said you would explain it."
It got very cold in the gate room as Sheppard and Weir shared an anxious look.
000000000000000000000000000000000
"No, no, no, you've got us all wrong. We do not all do the same things, if we did, we'd still be Neanderthals. I mean, it would have taken forever for someone to invent the wheel for god sakes. We think quicker than those guys did." Rodney said, and Carson got the distinct impression that despite where this conversation was leading, 26 wasn't going to listen to them.
It was plain to see that she was dedicated to the methodical torture and demise of each and every person in the city.
"Let the wee ones go." he said, suddenly. She looked at him, distracted momentarily from her work.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked. He looked her in the eyes.
"The children. Let them go through the Stargate." He could tell that he had really shocked her by requesting such a thing, and when she didn't respond, he continued. "I'm a doctor. I'm dedicated to saving as many lives as I can." Still there was no response, and she looked as if she were studying him. "They're only kids for chrissakes!"
She looked him over for a moment longer and nodded, working the controls once more.
000000000000000000000000000000000
"Attention, you inhabitants of this lost city. It is my belief that you have outlived your usefulness by waking the creatures known to us as the Wraith. It was my opinion that you should all die. However...I have been convinced to let the children of this community of incompetents survive. I will open a path to the Stargate, for the children only."
Many parents cried at this news, and others hugged their little ones tightly, urging them to be strong for the challenges that lay ahead. Some children did not fully understand, and promised to return, while others begged to stay.
"No one is to follow the children, to the gate room or through the Stargate, or I will kill all of you, regardless of age."
True to her word, doors opened and hallways cleared, but adults made no move to escape, only herded the children towards their freedom of imminent doom.
"Tha's right generous of ye, telling them tha' their parents are abou' to die." growled Carson, uncharacteristically sarcastic. There was no answer. In the gate room, an address was dialed with no one at the controls, and the wormhole opened.
"Where's it lead?" Carson asked.
"To a planet where the Wraith do not go." she answered, cryptically.
"Somewhere with a breathable atmosphere, I hope." he muttered.
He waited for what seemed like hours before she finally acknowledged that the children were gone. And he was quiet for a long time after that.
"Well, Rodney, it has been a short time workin' with ye." he said.
"I'll say. I didn't even get to blackmail you for anything remotely embarrassing." came the calm and yet pithy comeback. Carson laughed.
"Doctor Weir. Self destruct."
26 blinked as she registered the sentence as Carson unloaded the clip in the weapon that Rodney had given him. There was no effect of course, and he slumped against the wall afterwards, a somewhat defiant if defeated old Scot.
"Self destruct?" asked 26. Carson nodded.
"Aye." he affirmed.
"You rigged Atlantis to blow sky high?"
"Tha' we did." he responded. she cocked her head, turning a little towards him.
"Why?"
"To prevent technology such as this from falling into the wrong hands." he answered. "Even if ye were an enemy of the Wraith, they could still find ye and defeat ye, and then this city would be theirs. Tha' is no' something I'd wish on my werst enemy."
There was a long, quiet, pregnant silence in which 26 assessed Dr. Beckett, and then nodded.
"You would destroy that which could save us to protect us from that which would destroy us. How...honorable." she said.
She looked back at the computer and then got back to work. There was a timer counting down, and some automated voice was given a verbal assessment of how many seconds were left on the clock. Carson was silently counting down the numbers as well, waiting for zero. And when it stopped after five, his confidence that they had defeated an enemy sank like a stone in the water.
000000000000000000000000000000000
"People of Atlantis, hear me."
This single sentence was heard throughout the entire city, and everyone everywhere stopped in confusion.
Sheppard looked at Weir, and then at Teyla, who was, rather awkwardly extracting herself from his embrace. Luckily nobody saw them.
"Congratulations,"
Carson looked up from his dark, and depressing last thoughts and looked at her to see she was giving him a cheeky grin. He quickly went from deep despair to deep confusion.
"You've passed the test." she announced. Working quickly, she turned the consoles back on, opened the doors, released her more claustrophobic prisoners, and opened the door to the transporters.
In the sickbay, Aidan opened his eyes with the vaguest sense of having been plugged into an electrical socket. Rodney McKay blinked, sat up and looked around.
"Someone go fetch your children." she said over the loud speaker, and then she giggled.
Removing her hand for the first time from the console, Carson watched several small, micro films draw back into her skin, like extra appendages that she had used to latch into the systems. He put that into the back of his mind for later use.
"This was all a test?" he demanded.
26 nodded, standing.
"Carson Beckett, Rodney McKay, I, Unit 26, technical maintenance, have found that you are capable of protecting the Pegasus." she said, and the two doctors looked at each other dubiously.
"Wha'? The entire galaxy?"
"No, the Pegasus, it is the race that created me and my kind, and I believe you worthy of their wealth of knowledge."
"More stuff?" Rodney asked, intrigued.
"Ye said the Wraith killed yer creators."
"They have. That is why I came here. You see, I am their wealth of knowledge."
She watched them share more uncertain looks and then continued.
"And, as that wealth of knowledge, I name the two of you as my personal caretakers."
Oh yeah, this was going to be trouble.