Moya, D'Argo's quarters
D'Argo awoke, immediately feeling the soft body of Chiana next to him. Thinking she had been killed the previous morning had shocked him to his core. He realized when he discovered she had survived that he truly had forgiven the girl for her betrayal with his son. He smiled at Chiana's relief and immediate acquiescence when he insisted she stay in his quarters for the night. He was scared for her, scared something like that would happen again but this time for real. She would never accept the pressure of his true feelings, so he kept his terrible fears to himself. He would be there to protect her.
He turned his head to look at her sleeping form. She looked so content lying next to him, her grey body molded to his back. He lay back on the pillows, throwing his arms over his head as he considered his new understanding of his Nebari lover's actions over the past cycles. He truly accepted Chiana as Chiana and felt a peace settle over his soul. He couldn't hold her like a Luxan. Chiana rebelled because it was her nature and upbringing. Chiana had become aware of his dreams and his intent to ask her to be bonded with him. He should have known bonding was not for her, nor living a quiet life on a farm. She was a girl who needed to live and do things in her life, not being cooped up on a planet. He could see now that such a life would be too close to the Nebari mindcleansing she had escaped from. One thing he was sure of and that was that she did love him. For now that would be enough. He would always want to live the life of a farmer with her, but he could wait until he saw signs that she wanted it too, however long it takes.
He let his mind wander to the current frelled situation. He cursed to himself, despairing his loss of honor. It would seem that he had totally lost his ability to protect his friend, if not his brother. Crichton had been captured some time ago and replaced by a copy and nobody on Moya prevented this disaster. Worst of all, he had never noticed a thing. Looking back he had seen the signs of changes in the man but dismissed them as caused by the few monens he had lived alone and the fact that Aeryn had left him.
They were lucky the DRD and Chiana's persistent distrust of Scorpius had revealed the truth, otherwise they might have never found out about it, although the Kalish girl had insisted the two copies would have stopped working after eight or nine monens. But if that had happened, they might not have figured out the location of the real John.
D'Argo tried to look on the "bright side" as John was so fond of saying. He smiled at his Crichtonism. The human rubs off on everyone. There were some positive points about this situation. When they got John back, he would not know or have experienced what that tralk Grayza had done to his copy or that D'Argo had asked him to let it happen again. He still felt bad about that. He knew how John felt about such things and yet he had asked him to do it again anyway. Sure, it was the only way they could get out of their situation on Arnesk, but it was cruel to ask it of John.
The other positive point was that he would also not know or have experienced the pain that Aeryn had left him and that in the end each member of Moya's crew had abandoned him to seek out their own fortunes, truly abandoned him to himself and that fekkik clone all alone on the dying leviathan. D'Argo knew that he had needed to leave and at the time had worried at how John would cope with his loneliness. He had never expected Aeryn to just dump John and run. He sighed and then thought at again at how at last he had the chance to speak to Aeryn about his feelings. He was no longer angry at her. He understood her need to run from her grief. Yesterday's talk with Aeryn was gratifying. He and Aeryn reached a renewed level of trust. He had finally seen how afraid she was for the real John in the hands of Scorpius and all alone. She was clearly in love with the man and she would kill anyone who tried to get between them.
D'Argo snorted quietly so as not to wake Chiana. Aeryn truly was the poster child for frontal assaults (John's words again). The plan Aeryn had told them about last night was a very straight-forward-get in, get John, blast their way out. While D'Argo definitely loved shooting things, this was not a plan that would allow them to successfully rescue John out of his current predicament. They needed a better plan, like the ones John always came up with.
That last thought gave him pause. Why couldn't they use a plan of John's? After all they still had a copy of John who was able to come up with the same insane looking plans as the real John. He would discuss this with Aeryn during First Meal.
He felt Chiana stir. She woke up and stretched out lazily. Turning her head she looked at him and smiled. "Hi," she said simply.
He smiled back at her. "Good morning," he replied. "I hope you slept well," he responded with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Perfectly," she answered with a mischievous look, "but next time you may wear me out a little more. It seems I woke up a little early."
"Well, I am sure we can think of something to do before we go to First Meal," he answered while turning fully to her to hold her in his arms. "Do you have any suggestions?"
"Hmm," she replied as she kissed him, "I can think of one or two things we could do."
An arn later
Chiana and D'Argo made their way to the Center Chamber. They were a little later than had been agreed upon last night, but Chiana didn't really care about that. She was very happy to finally have the Luxan warrior back in her life.
The past arn had once again showed her how creative the two of them could be. The smile she already wore got a little bigger just remembering their inventiveness. For once she was glad her species did not show they were blushing, because even though she didn't blush easily about this subject, she was now.
Chiana realized she had frelled things up when she frelled Jothee. She had done it because she found out D'Argo wanted to take her as his life-mate and live a quiet life on a farm. That was not her style; at least she thought so at the time. Lately she had been thinking about the life they all lived, and she realized she did want to live a quiet life.
Having D'Argo as a life-mate was not something she disliked at all, not even then. She may have lived a loose life, she always wanted to find that one special person that could be her life-mate and the Luxan warrior had appeared to be the one from early on. Well, him or Crichton, but the latter had clearly indicated that was never going to happen and was clearly in love with Aeryn.
The thought of her human friend made her think back to what she had learned the previous day. How could she not have noticed the difference? The Crichton she had found on that dying Leviathan had been clearly more distant and distracted, she had even noticed it then. She sighed inwardly, realizing thoughts like these did not help the current situation at all and besides that, nobody seemed to have come to that conclusion.
Today they would go and rescue him. At least that was their intention. She was not so sure about Aeryn's plan was going to work out all right. Perhaps she needed to talk about it with the former Peacekeeper.
She knew it would take another eight arns before they'd even reach the space station where John was being held, so there would be enough time for all of them to come up with a better plan, one that didn't involve bursting in and blowing things to hezmana. As she and D'Argo entered Center Chamber she decided to ask the entire crew about it during First Meal.
Aeryn was already sitting at the table when Chiana and D'Argo entered Center Chamber. Aeryn could tell by the way they looked at each other that they were back together again. She smiled a small smile at their continuous touching. Aeryn did not begrudge them their happiness, even though it made her feel a little sad about the current situation with John.
She had been thinking of him a lot these past few arns. Barely able to sleep, she kept thinking about this situation, hoping he was all right. She wondered if he was in any pain or if he felt abandoned because they hadn't come for him earlier, though she knew from one of the recordings of Scorpius that John had apparently been kept unconscious most of the time.
"He-he's all right, Aeryn," Chiana said as she took a seat opposite of the ex-Peacekeeper. "You-you know Crichton, he's probably irritating fek-face and trying to escape. Besides, in a few arns we'll be there to help him get out."
Aeryn looked up at the Nebari girl and gave her a wistful smile as she grabbed the girl's hand. "Thank you," was all Aeryn could say to her. She knew Chiana just tried to make her feel better and it was clear the gray girl was not completely assured about John's wellbeing.
D'Argo took a seat next to Chiana and laid his hand reassuringly on Aeryn's. "I vow to you we will free him and make sure Scorpius will not bother him again."
Aeryn nodded her appreciation to the Luxan warrior. She was counting on both Chiana and D'Argo to help her out with this problem. Some of her time had been spent thinking about the impending rescue operation. She was feeling less and less certain about the chances of success if they went with that plan.
D'Argo cleared his throat. "Uh, Aeryn," he began hesitantly, "you know how I love blowing things up, but I am not sure if this is the best way of rescuing John." There, he said it. He was surprised he was able to tell her so soon, but even more so when he saw Aeryn nod in agreement.
"I have been having the same thoughts, D'Argo," Aeryn answered, "but I am uncertain how else we can do it. Normally we rely on John to come up with a plan, usually one that seems to go wrong at first but always work out in the end." That last was said with sad smile.
"But, we have a Crichton!" Chiana exclaimed before D'Argo could answer the ex-Peacekeeper. "He-he behaves and thinks the same as the real one. Couldn't we have him come up with a plan?" she asked, a little less sure of herself when she saw the look on D'Argo's face.
"I had come to that same conclusion," the Luxan warrior said. "Sikozu has reprogrammed him so he can't harm us. I am sure we can convince him to help us retrieve the real John."
"I don't know, D'Argo," Aeryn said. "Are you sure we can trust him or her for that matter?"
"Aeryn, she deactivated Scorpius and although she is an arrogant wall-crawler with strange eating habits, she has treated us straight so far," Chiana exclaimed. "The frelnik gave us all the information about the Gammak Base and Crichton's situation we needed and I may be crazy for saying so, but I think we really don't have a reason to distrust her."
"Sikozu," Aeryn commed the Kalish, "would you be so kind as to come up to the Center Chamber. We need your expertise." Sikozou sauntered into the Center Chamber a few microts later and paused at the door, surprised to see everyone assembled in one place looking so serious. Aeryn looked at Sikozou and patted the seat next to herself and asked, "We were just discussing the fact that no one feels that my plan for getting Crichton out of the Gammak Base will not work. We wanted to ask you a question. Can we trust the bioloid John to help us now that you have altered his programming?"
"You can," Sikozu answered. "I have removed all programming that stated he needed to keep all of you away from the location where the real Crichton and Scorpius are located. Furthermore, he will now have only his day time personality, although I did inject the knowledge of his bioloid origins."
"Good," Aeryn answered. "I think you should reactivate him. We need his unique ability to plan for this frelling impossible mission."
"I think you are very wise. Although this is a bioloid version of Crichton and I never had the pleasure of meeting the real one, each of his farbout plans have eventually worked, unlike any of your own. Crichton can be amazingly naïve and dense about things pertaining to you Aeryn, but I believe he can come up with a proper plan." Sikozu stated while curling her fingers around the tendrils of hair that framed her face. "I can only hope that the bioloid Crichton is enough like the real one to do the ultimate thing. I fear that any plan that has any chance of working will necessitate the bioloid sacrificing himself for the real Crichton. I am not certain that the false version will be willing to sacrifice his life for that of the other."
"He will be if he is a true copy," Aeryn replied. At Sikozu's doubtful look, she continued, "look, he is the same as the real John, right? He has the same memories and characteristics?" At Sikozu's confirming nod she finished, "then he will do this, as I know the real John would... and has."
"If you think this is wise, I will reactivate him later. But I think we would be much better off reactivating Scorpius, who is so much more intelligent."
At that D'Argo snarled. "How could you possibly think that would be better? That frelling half-breed is the cause of all of this and you suggest we reactivate him again?"
"I have removed the harmful part of his programming," Sikozu replied. "He may also have more accurate information about the situation on the Gammak Base. And if he does not make contact with his counterpart soon, the real Scorpius may realize something is wrong and move away or enhance security."
D'Argo had to concede the Kalish on that point. The only way for this to work out at all was to make sure the real Scorpius would not realize what was going on aboard Moya. "And you are sure he will not inform the real Scorpius about the current situation?" he asked her.
"Yes," Sikozu confirmed, "his programming has been altered to aid us in getting to the station without being noticed. His programming will initiate a self-destruct if he should disperse dangerous information or be captured by the real Scorpius."
D'Argo looked at Aeryn and Chiana to gauge their feelings. Both nodded their assent. "Very well," he said to the Kalish. "Both of them will be reactivated as soon as we are done with First Meal."
"Ahem, excuse me," Rygel said as he entered the Center Chamber, "but it seems none of you are taking into account my captaincy."
"Not now, Rygel," Aeryn stopped the Hynerian's complaint.
"Yeah, shut up frog-face!" Chiana chimed in.
"If you wanted to be the one taking these decisions, perhaps it would have been a good idea to be here on time," D'Argo said.
"Be that as it may," Rygel responded, "but I found it prudent to check on the current state of affairs regarding both bioloids who were left in Pilot's Den, unsupervised I might add." With much satisfaction Rygel noticed that none of them had even thought about that. "Do not worry, neither of them had moved a dench. Pilot also informed me Moya was able to shorten the trip an arn or two, so we should arrive in approximately five and a half arns."
Space Station Gammak Base, Scorpius' private chamber
Scorpius sat at his ready desk and impatiently drummed his fingers on the shining surface, awaiting a call from his bioloid counterpart. He had implemented a protocol where he could not contact the copy directly but could only be contacted by it, this of course to eliminate the crew of Moya finding out inadvertently. Up to now, the copy had been able to contact him every solar day around First Meal, but he was well aware of the interest the Kalish girl had shown in his copy. If she was near his cell, or anyone else for that matter, the bioloid version of him would not be able to contact him.
He was a patient man, but he valued the information he got from his counterpart aboard Moya highly. He could feel the steam rising from his coolant rods as he contemplated his lack of knowledge concerning the activities on the Leviathan Moya. This being just the first time in the weeken his bioloid self had been aboard the living ship, he had no reason for complaining. He was sure he would be contacted as soon as the bioloid had a chance.
'Time to see how John is doing,' Scorpius thought. He punched in a couple of commands at his console and was instantly rewarded by the sight of the human getting out of bed and sitting despondently on the edge of the cot, his arms dangling over his knees, head bent. Scorpius smiled as he remembered how the human had reacted a few arns previously when he found out he was trapped in a virtual reality system; living his life at the total mercy of the Peacekeepers and without any way to connect with reality. Scorpius reflected on the successful ramping up of his experiment and the violent reaction from the human was when Scorpius informed him of the unfortunate accident that had killed Officer Sun and the Nebari girl. Scorpius smiled at the memory of how human had started crying and abusing his virtual self when the true impact of the news hit him. It was obvious the man was losing his grip on reality sliding into a deep depression. Scorpius knew he could exploit John's emotional turmoil to gain access to the wormhole technology that much faster. What more had the human left to loose? Scorpius would take him to the edge and then...after dangling him there, pull Crichton back and then repeat the process over and over again. Yes, Scorpius was on the right track. Humans were so predictable..
Scorpius switched the console to the camera in the cell that held the real John Crichton. He noted that the tell-tales blinked green indicating that the Human's health remained stable. John's body lay on a metal table, his calves, thighs, wrists, forearms, chest, and head banded by clear plastic straps holding him in place while thin wires ran from holes bored directly into his brain into a large panel. Lights blinked on the computer console in concert with the movement of John's eyes under their coating of jell that kept them moist but unseeing. But there was no other motion from the man on the table. Other larger tubes ran from medical stations into the man's arms and neck feeding him the nutrients he needed to stay alive as well as the paralyzing agent that kept him immobile. Crichton seemed to be in some discomfort as reflected by the light sheen of sweat that covered his naked torso and the cords that stood out on hjs neck as well as how his open mouth strained in a silent scream. Scorpius smiled. All was as it should be.There would be no way that John's undisciplined mind could plan an escape and wreak havoc on this Gammak Base. Scorpius switched back to the virtual room.
He nodded once at the view of the virtual John in his misery. He would give John a few more microts of grieving during the time John thought of as "morning", and entered the commands into the console that instructed the computer John was linked to, to delay activation of the new puzzle for an arn. Scorpius kept the console showing the virtual room John was in so he could keep an eye on what was happening while he waited for his counterpart to contact him.
Space Station Gammak Base, virtual room
John got up slowly from his fugue on the edge of the bed. All he felt was loneliness and pain. He shook his head to try to clear away the cobwebs and strong disorientation. Gawd, he thought, I am in deep dren as the memory of the previous "day" rushed back into his memory. Here I am in Scorpius' clutches, in a virtual room with seemingly no way out. Unfortunately his memory also supplied him with the awful news about his lover and friend. Aeryn and Pip were dead, and if he could believe Scorpy, they were killed by Scorpius' copy. John sighed in despair and rubbed his reddened eyes. Could life get any worse?
He shook his head in bewilderment at what he could imagine was going on on Moya. He still couldn't understand how Scorpy, even a clone of Scorpy got on Moya in the first play and then why his crewmates would allow that monster to stay, even if he had saved Aeryn's life. And now that same monster had killed his guiding star and his sister of the heart. He started to sob again. It just wasn't fair; two of his favorite people had died because of his actions. No, that was not true; it was not his fault or his actions, it was because of Scorpius' unrelenting thirst for wormhole knowledge.
"You frelling, sick bastard!" he yelled. "But believe me Scorpy, you will pay for this with your life! And those wormhole equations are going to be erased as soon as I figure out how to do that. I have nothing to live for anymore and I don't care what happens. I will not let you win! Did you hear me Scorp? You will not win!"
Having this outburst helped clear his mind and he stopped crying. Maybe D'Argo and the others would figure out that Scorpius was behind the accident that had killed the two women. If so, they would kick him of Moya. Not that it would do him any good, but maybe luck would bring them in his direction, once Xerox-Scorpy was gone.
Feeling a little better, he completely got of his bed and headed for the shower. He needed a clear mind if he was going to thwart Scorpy, and getting cleaned up and have something to eat would certainly help.
The water was a little cold to his linking, but there were no controls to adjust the temperature. Suddenly he noticed the water became warmer. He suddenly recalled the first time he awoke here; the lights had come up when he thought it was too dark to see anything. Was it possible he had some control over his own environment? If so, could he maybe exert some more control that could help his escape from this nightmare? This had some potential, provided Scorpy would not be able to tap into his thoughts through the computer core, and it certainly lifted his spirits.
He finished his shower quickly and went to get something to eat. He found nothing in his galley. 'Great,' he thought, 'probably need to complete some equation first to get something to eat.' Then he remembered his experience with the light and water and focused on a nice breakfast. No luck this time, as nothing appeared.
Damn, he was hungry. He went to his console so he could work on whatever Scorpius had given him, but the console did not seem to work. Strange, no equations to work on, but more importantly he could also not send a message to Scorp to ask for some food.
Contemplating his options, he suddenly discovered that he was no longer hungry. This made sense of course. Since he wasn't really here and his body was fed intravenously, he could not really be hungry. The hungry feeling must have been simulated by the computer. It also was completely in line with his earlier experience with the shower temperature and the lights: thinking it is too dark turns on the light, thinking the water was too cold turns up the temperature, thinking you are hungry makes the feeling go away.
So, he could not think about something he wanted directly, but he could think about things he did not like. That was definitely something to remember. He was sure he could still use his control to help him get out but he had to do it in a roundabout way.
With nothing left to do, John went to his couch and made himself comfortable. He was sure Scorpy would turn up sooner or later to make more demands.
Moya, Pilot's Den
The entire crew was assembled in Pilot's Den. D'Argo and Aeryn where holding their weapons at the ready while Sikozu was using her link to reactivate the two bioloids who where sitting against one of Moya's golden ribs.
"There is really no need to worry," Sikozu said indignantly. "There is no harmful programming left in either of them."
"There is always a reason to worry," D'Argo answered. "Just get those frelling machines working again."
Sikozu refrained from reacting. They were all so deficient there was simply no purpose in giving a reaction. She focused her link on the human bioloid first and initiated the power up sequence. These bioloid types were not so fast in powering up and it would take several microns before there would be a sign of it. There it was. His eyes opened but through the link Sikozu could detect it was still working on initiating internal systems. The eyes were used as simple diagnostic tool for the core.
For a moment Sikozu contemplating telling the others what was going on, but thought there would be little point in it as they simply wouldn't understand the process of activation. The link informed her that the bioloid was finally initialized properly and all systems indicated to be within parameters.
She disconnected from the human bioloid and aligned her link to the Scarran-Sebacean bioloid. Once she was connected she made an additional check when she thought she detected his awareness, but the systems where all still powered down. She reactivated the bioloid and kept track of the entire start up process.
"Hey there guys!" John greeted the crew. "What's up with the hardware?" he asked when he noticed a pulse rifle and a Qualta Blade pointing at him. At the same time his memory provided him an overview of what had happened. "Never mind, I remember. Can't really blame you for not trusting me."
"You should be aware that I will shoot you the moment you try something," Aeryn said to him. Frell, why did he have to look and act like her John? She was careful not to show she was having a difficult time dealing with him.
John just looked at her and nodded. "Can I ask why you even bothered with reactivating me? It's not like you need me if you want Scorp to think everything is just peachy."
"We need a plan to get the real John back," Aeryn answered, being careful to lay an emphasis on the word real. "You are usually the one to come up with a plan."
"Right," John answered, "I have to come up with a plan to rescue myself, gotcha." He looked sideways to see the bioloid Scorpius coming about. "How long has Grasshopper been asleep?" he asked.
"About 11 arns," D'Argo replied. He too had a little difficulty dealing with the bioloid John. "Why?"
"'Cause real Scorp will be expecting a communication with him," John stated. "I assume you altered his programming as well?" he asked to the Kalish girl sitting between him and Scorpius.
"Yes," Sikozu answered, somewhat distractedly, "he will no longer harm the crew or the Leviathan."
"So, he's on our side as well?" John asked. At her confirming nod he continued, "Good, I think he should contact real Scorp ASAP so the real deal is not going to high tail it out of here. Speaking of which, we need to set a course towards the station. I don't have the exact coordinates but..."
"We are already on a course toward the space station," Aeryn interrupted him. At his questioning gaze she explained, "Sikozu obtained the coordinates directly from his memory," as she pointed her pulse rifle toward the Scorpius clone who had shown signs of wanting to stand up. "I suggest you stay where you are." She said to him.
"Officer Sun, I believe John just explained why I am needed," Scorpius answered as he got to his feet. "Killing me would not help you obtaining the real John Crichton." He noticed they all came to that same conclusion. "Do not worry. Sikozu has seen to it I will have no choice but to help you."
At their confused looks Sikozu explained, "Any act of betrayal will induce the same pain he would feel if his cooling rods would stop functioning and heat up his brain. It would not harm him, but every incident will increase the pain significantly."
"I believe it would be wise for me to contact my counterpart at the Space Station," Scorpius said. "It is vital I do this from a quiet environment." Raising his hand to forestall the objections from the crew he continued, "I understand you will want at least someone you trust with me. That is acceptable, but that person must remain absolutely quiet."
"Hah, that's me!" Chiana said. "I'm used to being quiet when I snoop around." Seeing the doubtful look on Scorpius' face, "I bet ya didn't even knew I watched and heard ya talking to the other Scorpius that mornin' before you tried to kill Aeryn and me," she challenged him. At his surprised expression she just nodded. "I'll keep an eye on him, but Pilot, please make sure my comms will not go off during that time. Or," she added at seeing D'Argo's worried expression, "maybe you could make my comms send to the other's comms the whole time?"
"Certainly Chiana," the symbiote answered while his claws moved to the comms section of the numerous controls around him.
D'Argo quickly moved to Chiana's side and softly asked her, "please be careful, Chiana."
Chiana put her gloved hand to the side of his face. "I will D'Argo. And you'll be able to hear at all times what is happening. Don't worry, fek-face won't do anything; Sikozu made sure of that." She quickly kissed him and followed Scorpius who was already walking out of Pilot's Den.
Space Station Gammak Base, Scorpius' private chamber
'What was that human up to?' Scorpius asked himself. John had sat down on his couch three quarters of an arn earlier and had not moved a dench since. No sobbing, no talking, nothing but just sit there, waiting.
Any microt now, his console would power up and give him a new task to work on. Scorpius picked up his neural link to the computer, preparing himself to talk to the human who would undoubtedly ignore the task presented to him.
At the same time he received a communication from his counterpart aboard Moya. It was only a spoken message in which he stated he had not much time and only informed him the crew was still mourning the loss of the two females but did not suspect anything yet.
Scorpius assumed the counterpart had little time because of the Kalish female who had increasingly spent more and more time with his bioloid self. That may become a problem in the near future, but for now was acceptable.
He focused again on his console and noticed the human's virtual console had powered up. As expected, the human looked at it and then went back to his couch. Scorpius smiled in anticipation of what was going to happen soon. He activated his link and entered the virtual room John was in.
Space Station Gammak Base, virtual room
John had seen the console power up. Being a little curious as to what Scorpy wanted, he had walked towards it and noticed it was just his next assignment. John sighed and returned to his couch and sat down. He just couldn't get up the energy to play Scorpy's games. Screw the half-breed, he just wouldn't play. Undoubtedly Grasshopper would show up soon enough.
It took less than a microt before Scorpius indeed appeared. "Ever heard of knocking?" John asked him. "It's very rude to just enter a person's room without knocking and waiting for an invitation. Not that I would have invited you in..."
"John, why are you refusing to work on this new task?" Scorpius asked, pointing at the console and ignoring John's remarks. "You will not receive any food until you have shown considerable progress."
"Doesn't matter," John answered, "not feeling very hungry today anyway. I think I can skip one or two meals without dying."
Scorpius smiled. All was going exactly as he had predicted. "John, do you really think holding out on food is the only form of persuasion I have?"
"I don't care. Whatever you have planned, bring it on!" John answered defiantly. "With any luck it will kill me."
"Oh no, John. This form of persuasion will not kill you... physically. You will find out soon enough. Just remember you can make it all go away by working on wormhole equations during the times the console is on." At that he vanished again.
"Thanks for stopping by," John muttered. "Please do stay away from now on." He started to think about what Scorpy might have planned for him. He still had seen neither hide nor hair from Harvey and he wondered if that would have something to do with it. Of course it was possible the clone was unable to reach him in here. John sighed. He would just have to wait and see what was going to happen.
Moya, Pilot's Den
Chiana and the bioloid Scorpius entered Pilot's Den. D'Argo immediately walked towards Chiana and maneuvered himself between her and Scorpius, holding a protective arm around her waist. Chiana smiled at the obvious gesture of protection and love and she leaned into his embrace. Once they reached the area in front of Pilot's console Crichton started to talk.
"Right, now that Scorpy is no longer worrying about us we can focus on the rescue plan. First of all we need to know how we can free the real me, but I don't know enough about John's situation on the Gammak Base. Grasshopper, can you tell us anything?"
Scorpius nodded. "As you know, John, the real you has been hooked up to a computer core to simplify dealing with him." At the shocked reactions he realized they didn't know anything about the situation inside the space station.
Aeryn was having great difficulty not showing her emotions. All she could see with her mind's eye was John strapped down to a table covered with electrodes and wires. It was not fair. Why did everyone keep doing things like this to such a gentle man? Her mind was so focused on these thoughts that she nearly missed Scorpius' further explanation.
"John is kept paralyzed with drugs and fed intravenously while his mind is continuously linked to a virtual reality system. As a consequence, he is not able to move physically, only in his perceived environment. A sudden disconnection from the core should be prevented as it will do considerable damage to his brain, resulting in a condition that resembles the Living Death of Sebaceans."
"How can we get him out?" Aeryn asked in a restrained voice. She was aware of what her initial plan might have done. They might have shutdown the core during the fight and even if they hadn't, she would have ripped every connection between John and the computer core without thinking about the consequences.
"He must be persuaded to leave the room," Scorpius stated. At their unbelieving stares he added, "which is not as simple as you may think. John has already tried to escape but still remained in the same virtual room. His... motivation was wrong."
"Wait, he tried to but failed because he did not have the correct motivation?" D'Argo asked incredulously. "If he tried to escape, doesn't that imply he wanted to leave?"
"Ah, no, Ka D'Argo," Scorpius replied, "John's goal was to get away from my counterpart. Escaping... was merely a means to that end. The virtual room provides him with all the things he has wanted for a long time, namely science, good food, peace, and no distractions and he is therefore not willing to leave it. He must realize he does not want to be in that room if he is to leave it and return to his body. To make things more difficult for us, Scorpius has convinced John that there is nothing worth living for on the 'outside.' John believes that you all have abandoned him to his fate. He does not wish to leave the room to face this awful reality."
"So, how do we persuade him?" Aeryn asked.
"Someone must use my counterpart's neural link to connect to the virtual room and let him know that there are reasons to live for on the outside. This will not be easy. Too many people have invaded his mind. He does not trust reality any more. Therefore, because John knows his room is not real and that things that appear in the room are not real, he will not readily accept your presence as real."
"Frell, is that all there is to it? I know ways to convince Crichton that I'm real. Aeryn certainly knows how to convince him," Chiana swayed back and forth with anxiety, belying the lightness of her words.
Aeryn paused and closed her eyes. Could she convince John that she was real? Could she forgive herself the fact that she couldn't tell the bioloid version from the real version? Could she see this John as her John and love him for himself? And what about the baby? John doesn't know. This thing is so frelled. She would have to go in there and be real for John. "Whatever Scorpius has done to John, we can undo. Let's get on with the plan."
Chiana leaped up on Pilot's console in her excitement at the thought of the snurching to come. "Hey, wouldn't Scorpius keep the neural thing near himself?" she asked.
"Yes," the bioloid half-breed answered, "it should be located in his private chamber, which he rarely leaves. However, there is another option. I am also in the possession of a neural connector, the one I used to overtake Pilot. While it is not intended to link with the computer core, I am certain it can be adapted to that purpose." He looked at Sikozu when he said that last.
"Yes, I can change it," Sikozu confirmed. "Do you know what type of computer link we would need?"
"Unfortunately my dear Sikozu, I do not," Scorpius answered. "At the time I was first activated, Scorpius had not even planned this. I only know what he chose to tell me."
"Then why did he create you?" Chiana asked.
"Preparation and foresight," he replied. "Scorpius uses bioloids in several situations that do not require his direct interference or might be life threatening. He also keeps a bioloid near him to take his place when... security is compromised. Sikozu, are you certain you can do it without the information?"
"I can change it, but not knowing which computer type we are dealing with will result in a very generic link, not suitable for the task it is needed for."
"Fine, then we have to use the one Scorpius has in his private chamber. Any ideas on how we get into the base?" D'Argo inquired.
"The same way we always do these things," John answered, "walk through the front door and shoot anyone that gets in the way."
Aeryn rolled her eyes and turned her gaze towards D'Argo and Chiana, who were still touching each other. "Remind me again why we needed him?" she asked the two. Both D'Argo and Chiana shrugged.
"Hey, it's just the easiest way to get in," John responded. "The problems start when we are inside the Gammak Base, but Scorpy here has the layout of the joint so it shouldn't be difficult to come up with a decent plan. I think we should move to Command so we can start planning."
They all agreed and walked towards Command.
Space Station Gammak Base, virtual room
John continued to sit on the couch after Scorpius beamed out. He let his mind wonder in bordom, waiting for the inevitable mind frell to happen. There still had been no indication as to what Scorpius was hinting at that would persuade him to work on the equations.
"John," a familiar voice came from behind him. John stood up and backed into a corner, eyes resolutely shut. No, this couldn't be real. For one, he was in a computer game and for another, Scorpy had told him she had died.
"Hey old man!" This was not happening. They were both dead. Aeryn and Chiana appeared in front of him their clothing torn and half burned and their skin charred and peeling from the faces and bodies.
"Why didn't you come and rescue us?" the fake Chiana asked him.
"John, I thought you loved me. Why did you let this happen?"
The zombie who looked like Aeryn raised her arm with its bones showing white through the torn and bloody skin and gently touched him on the shoulder leaving a stain of yellow and red where her hand lay on his shirt. "You said you would never leave me. I counted on you," she moaned in her smokey voice.
The other female circled to John's side and pressed her oozing chest against him and rubbed her hips back and forth against his leathers. Each passing motion left a blue mark. The Chiana groaned at the pain in her body, her actions speaking louder than her quiet cries.
"It's not gonna work Scorp," he yelled as the tears threatened to spill. "this isn't real. You're just playing with my mind here. You said they were dead. The dead stay dead. No Night of the Living Dead zombie freakazoid versions of my friends can haunt me. You got the wrong man, here! My name isn't Ash, it's John Crichton." John screamed as he realized what Scorpius intended to do to him.
The two women moved closer to him, pushing him back on to the couch and then sitting next to him, touching him with their dead and corroding bodies and all the while blaming him for their deaths. God, this was worse than a round in the Aurora Chair. Somehow he had to hold on, to stay sane until the Moya posse showed up and saved his ass one more time. He felt his brain melt with the onslaught of the terror and guilt. He hoped he had it in him, because Scorpius sure knew how to play dirty.