— HIDDEN RESOURCES —
Part Eight: Dual Purposes
"Is there no way to contact him?" Teyla asked. Governor Borin shook her head.
"I'm afraid not. Once inside the Weapon, there is no communication with the outside world until it's time to fire the Weapon. Doctor McKay is effectively cut off—we can't even see him in there, and he can't see us."
"But that doesn't make sense," Ford said, standing now closer to the door, his back nearer to the wall. "If he can't see out, how is he supposed to, as you put it before, guide the weapon?"
She shook her head, "I don't know."
"You don't know? How can you not know how your own Weapon works?"
She grimaced, then looked to Colonel Luphron standing nearby. The military man stood a little straighter, turning to face Ford.
"While we do not understand exactly how the Weapon works," the older man stated calmly, "We do know what it does." The man's dark eyes swiveled to the Governor, and the politician nodded back at him, allowing him to explain. He gave her the slightest of bows before looking back at Ford. "There is another room off of the hall of ages, one we call the Great Eye. Inside, a person can see in all directions at once, as far as the ring of fire, as high as the stars, and in all directions at once. In the room's center, it contains a small control panel, on which are six yellow buttons and communication device. When the Wraith ships appear, the people in the Great Eye can see them come and prepare the one in the Weapon to fire, telling him or her what to expect. When enough Wraith ships enter the illusion, the person in the Great Eye depresses one of the buttons, indicating the Weapon to fire."
"It only fires six times at any given time," Governor Borin added. "After that it must reset, so each shot must count for as much as possible."
"Reset?" Ford frowned, "What does that mean?"
"That the person currently guiding the Weapon from the inside," she smiled, "is released...and a new person must enter. It is very draining, controlling the Weapon, and a single person can not effectively contain its power after six shots." She shrugged slightly as she finished.
"You say it is draining," Teyla's eyes were narrowed, "How draining? Is it harmful?"
"Oh no, just exhausting," the politician smiled softly. "I would compare it to running a long race, or completing a long, stressful day in the fields."
"So, what you are saying is...."
"That, if your Doctor McKay can fix the Weapon, should it be broken, he will also have the honor of being its guide when the Wraith return. Once the weapon has been fired six times, his work will be done, and you can all go home." Her smile was steady throughout. Teyla searched her eyes, but she still could not see any deception.
"Can we see this control room?" Ford asked sharply.
"I...don't know," the governor admitted. "It too was protected by the force field that Doctor McKay has now lowered, but the hall outside was, as I mentioned, reduced to rubble. My people are trying to gain access to it now."
"I bet," Ford sneered. "Take us there."
"But...."
"No arguments, governor, take us there now."
She grimaced, her eyes alighting on Colonel Luphron. He frowned, then gave a small nod and disappeared out of the room. The Governor stood.
"Okay. Give me a minute to settle a few items, and I will take you there myself."
The hologram took a step forward, and, though he knew it was merely a projection, Rodney backpedaled away from it, gripping the edge of the console and putting the corner of it in front of him.
"Stay back," he hissed, holding up a hand at the projection. The hologram frowned, but nodded and returned to where it had stood before.
"So," the doctor ground the word out, "what you're telling me is, that the people who come in here, they fire the weapon six times, and die doing it? Is that it?"
Silence greeted him.
"Is that it?" he repeated, the words even sharper than before.
"No."
"No?"
"The people in the Great Eye fire the Weapon. You merely guide it."
"Why doesn't the person in here fire it?"
"Because the Weapon is connected to the walls of the Illusion, and can not see beyond it. The people in the Great Eye, on the other hand, have the means see beyond the edge of the Plateau, to the Ring of Fire and beyond. They have the clarity of vision to know when the Weapon will be its most effective, aware that it can only fire six times before needing to be reset."
"Okay, so, they fire it. But the person in here guides it somehow...and dies."
"Eventually...yes."
"Why does it kill the person in here? And why six?"
"The toll guiding the weapon takes on the chosen one is great. They do not survive more than six shots—the exertion is too much. In fact, to survive even that many, the chosen one must be very fit. Only the most healthy—"
"Why does a person have to guide it at all? Why doesn't someone just aim it from elsewhere? From this Great Eye place, for example?"
The hologram paused for a moment, and its eyes drifted to McKay's right hip. "The power of the Weapon is different from that which you have strapped to your thigh...that is a weapon, is it not?"
The doctor nodded, looking down at the 9MM, "It's a gun, yes."
"It shoots projectiles of some kind? Darts, bullets, shot...."
"Bullets."
"Well, what if your bullets were aware of their purpose? What would they want to do?"
Rodney frowned. "Are you saying—"
"The Weapon's power is a force that needs to be controlled, Doctor Rodney McKay. It is aware of what it is and that its sole purpose is to destroy. Left to itself, with no force of mind to control it, it would seek to level this entire city, maybe more. Moreover, the fallout from that sort of uncontrolled explosion would make many sick for miles around."
"Fallout?" Something went cold inside McKay. Images of mushroom clouds entered his head.
"Millennia ago, my people traveled here, seeking weapons against the Wraith. We found an untapped, unspoiled source of energy deep beneath the surface of this mesa, and, with work, we learned to harness it. What we did not understand at the time, however, was that the energy we found had awareness. It became its use. For the Illusion, the energy we diverted to that purpose learned to flex and grow to maintain a stable cloak. It rarely looks the same from month to month, always with a purpose to deceive the one looking at it. From below, it might look like an impenetrable wall, from above, merely another hill, from another angle, it might look like a monolith...."
"Or even a butte," Rodney muttered quietly, Ford's earnest face coming to mind. Were they even looking for him out there? The hologram ignored his insertion, continuing with its explanation.
"...and the Illusion's control over itself became far superior to any safeguards we could place on it. But, it didn't matter, because there was no harm to it. It can stay that way forever, for all we cared. The Weapon, on the other hand...."
"I get it," Rodney sighed, lowering his head.
The hologram nodded. "We discovered that, if we used our own minds to guide it, it would follow our direction. And that aspect has become so much a part of the Weapon's consciousness that now it will not work without a human mind to guide it. In essence, a symbiotic relationship has been created."
"Symbiotic?" McKay laughed coldly, "It kills the person. How exactly is that symbiotic?"
"Because the person who volunteers to enter here works together with the Weapon to save the City. That person knows what he or she does is for the greater good—it's what they most want. That is why he or she enters the doorway and triggers the Weapon...as you have done. And the Weapon works with that person—it's not the Weapon's fault that it's stronger than the one guiding it."
Rodney stared at the hologram, taking this in with a strangely calm air. Any smart hologram would have recognized he was reaching a breaking point.
"And there is no other way to get it to work?" the doctor asked finally.
"No."
Rodney crossed his arms, "Well, I'm not doing it, you hear me? I'm not just going to...to connect myself up to this thing and let it kill me!"
"But—"
"But nothing. The people in this city can kill themselves for all I care, but you and they are not going to kill me! Understand?"
He turned away from the hologram, his anger so powerful he was shaking.
"No, I do not."
"I'm not one of your precious volunteers, hologram! I'm not here by choice and I sure as hell am not sticking around to be murdered by your Weapon."
The hologram blinked, "I still don't understand. You entered the doorway...."
"Oh for...look," McKay stood up straighter, facing him again, "hasn't anyone ever changed their mind? Once they are in here, and realize that they're committing suicide, don't some ask to leave?"
"They have volunteered to save the city and its people—they have already accepted what that means, the sacrifice—."
"Yes, yes, I get that," Rodney sighed, waving a hand in the air. "What I mean is, when they are actually faced with, well, certain death," he shuddered slightly, "surely some must not want to go through with it."
The hologram frowned, obviously thinking about this. Finally, it nodded, "Yes, it happens," it admitted. "But I'm here to remind them why they volunteered in the first place. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, of lives depend on the Weapon and what it can achieve. Without a guide, it can not be fired, and if the Weapon is not fired, then the enemy will win and all those lives will be lost, taken by the Wraith to die the most horrible death imaginable. The sacrifice is noble—the greatest any one man or woman can ever hope for. And when it comes down to the line, they always make the right decision to finish what they started."
Rodney grimaced, his arms crossed over his chest again. "Wow," he sneered, "you're a real dual purpose monster, aren't you?"
"What?"
"You are not only here to tell people there is not way out," the doctor's eyes narrowed, "but to actually make sure the so-called volunteers don't chicken out. Tell me, what happens if words don't work? Does it matter? Is being here enough?"
"Such an event has never happened."
"Bull."
"I'm sorry?"
"It means I think you're lying."
"No, I never lie, Doctor Rodney McKay. It has never happened. They always sit in the chair and—."
"Chair?" Rodney frowned, his quick mind grasping the new word, "What chair?"
The hologram blinked some more.
Rodney released his arms, "There's no chair here. Where is it?"
"In the other room of course."
"Other room?! What other room?"
The hologram pointed to the mirrored wall to the left of the console, "Through there. The Black Room."
The doctor looked at the mirror, then back at the hologram. It continued to point towards the mirror.
"There's a door there? All I see is a mirror."
The hologram frowned and turned, and his head tilted, as if seeing the mirror for the first time. Puzzlement appeared on its face as it walked up to the wall and stared at its reflection.
"This shouldn't be like this," it said quietly. "Something is wrong. There must be damage." As it spoke, it passed through the mirror...and a doorway appeared where the hologram had disappeared, leading to a dark room on the other side.
Slowly, tentatively, McKay stepped around the console to the heretofore invisible doorway and peeked through. He saw the hologram standing in the middle of a room the mirror image of this one, except that the room was black instead of white and there was a large reclining metal chair in the middle facing a black console.
"Oh," he grunted, "that chair." Taking a deep breath...he stepped through the doorway.
TBC