CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BLACK, WHITE...AND RED
None of the Deucalions tried to stop the Major as he grabbed the rope and harness thrown down from the Jumper floating above, tying it around his waist and giving the thumbs up for them to lift. Ford and Teyla just gave him encouraging nods as he rose, and he gave them his best confident look back. As soon as he was high enough up, the people on the ground climbed back inside the hole Ford had created in the dome's walls in order to watch the Major's progress through the "glass."
The Jumper lifted gently into the air, careful of the burden dangling at the end of the rope, smoothly carrying the major up over the edge of the roof.
Sheppard had to shake his head again at the sight of the obviously concrete dome. It suddenly occurred to him how fitting it was that even the buildings here hid things. There was nothing black and white about Deucalion; it was all illusion and shades of gray...well except perhaps for the Weapon itself. There was nothing false about its power.
As he was lifted higher, he saw the open "windows" letting in air to the courtyard.
And then he saw the jagged hole near the apex of the roof.
"There it is," he yelled into the radio on his shoulder. "Lower me down on the roof just next to the hole...I'm going inside."
"Sir, are you sure?"
"I'm betting my life and McKay's on it, Stackhouse. Just lower me down!"
There was a short pause, then "Yes sir, but you should know, there are no life signs showing up on the screen from in there." In other words, even if McKay was inside the hidden room...he was likely dead.
Sheppard's chest grew cold at the information, but he wasn't willing to give up so easily, "I have to believe it's the Weapon doing that, Stackhouse, and the Illusion, keeping him hidden."
Another pause, then, "Yes sir. Here we go, sir."
As he got closer, he could see that the hole was about two feet across, more than large enough to fit him. But he could see nothing at all inside of it—just black.
"Here we go, sir," he repeated to himself as his feet hit the delicate roof just shy of the hole. The rope slackened, and he knelt down and crawled to the opening, sensitive to the roof's crumbling potential. Grabbing his 9MM from its holster, he let the barrel of the gun lead the way into the hole, just in case there was some sort of invisible shield blocking it he couldn't see.
When nothing happened, he nudged himself forward and peered more into the hole.
Well, that explained why it seemed black inside. It was black. He saw a black floor, part of a broken console, also black, and not much else. His eyes were having a hard time adjusting considering the brightness of the sun above his head.
"McKay," he called, "Rodney, can you hear me? Are you in there?"
Nothing answered him. He leaned more over the hole and dipped his head inside.
He jerked upright, nearly hitting his head on the edge of the hole, when he found someone staring back at him. It was a dark haired man, dressed head to toe in brown, and its glittering eyes reflected sharply the light coming in through the hole.
"You are not supposed to be here. You must leave," the man announced.
"Oh, I don't think so," Sheppard smiled, gesturing at him with his gun. "I am pretty sure you have a friend of mine in there."
"You must leave," the man repeated again.
"I repeat," Sheppard's eyes moved past the man and deeper into the room, "not until I find my...." The words died in his throat as his eyes caught sight of McKay. The doctor was sitting in the nastiest looking dentist's chair the major had ever seen, complete with metal straps holding him down. A white glow enveloped him, making him look washed out—and a little bluish in color. Like a corpse. "Oh God," he hissed. He tapped his radio, "He's here! I've found him. I'm going in."
"No!" the hologram gasped, as Sheppard quickly undid the harness around his waist, grabbed the edge of the roof and prepared to swing down inside. "You can not—"
"Out of my way!" Sheppard hissed, ignoring the stranger as he dropped into the black room. He took a quick glance around for threats, including into the corresponding white room on the other side of the glass partition, before focusing all of his attention on McKay's much too still form. He had only took a couple of steps towards his friend, though, when the white glow surrounding McKay intensified...almost angrily...and the doctor tensed, his whole body stretching in the chair, pain seizing his features with a choked gasp.
"Get back!" the strange man barked from behind the uncomprehending Major.
Sheppard quickly backtracked until the terrifying light died down again, breathing fast at the realization that the Weapon was still very much with them.
McKay settled, but the white glow was more intense than it had been before, and even from across the room Sheppard could see the man was racked with tremors still, his wheezing breathing erratic.
"You can not have him," the strange man informed the Major. "Doctor Rodney McKay and the Weapon are too closely joined. If you try to get near him, it will only destroy you, and him as well."
Sheppard took a shuddering breath, his frustration clear on his face as he rounded on the stranger.
"And who the hell are you?"
"I am the one who helps those, like Doctor Rodney McKay, who volunteer to guide the Weapon to—"
"Volunteer? He didn't volunteer for this!" The major pointed to the chair, "I want him out of that thing!"
"Oh, but he did," the man smiled thinly. "He sat in that chair of his own free will...after you and your people ordered him to do so. He was going to escape," the brown eyes glanced towards the hole in the ceiling, "and he would have succeeded," the eyes returned to the major's face, "but the words of the ones called Teyla, Ford and, particularly, the Major changed his mind, convinced him he had no choice." The head tilted at Sheppard's surprised face, "He has experienced more than one kind of pain today," he added quietly.
The major's brow furrowed, not understanding what this man was saying.
"Major?" Ford's voice called over the radio, "What's happening? You disappeared when you hit the roof. Are you in the room?"
The stranger's eyebrows rose, "So...you're the Major? Interesting."
Sheppard blinked, and he nudged the radio to respond, "Yes, I'm here, but there's a complication, Ford. I'm trying to figure it out. Stay put."
"Yes sir."
Yes, sir, Sheppard's mind rang with the words. He glanced at McKay, sitting on that horrible thing. They ordered him to sit there? Convinced him to?
"McKay...what the hell were you thinking? What did you hear?" he breathed. "You must know that had I known, I would have never...." He trailed off. How could McKay ever think that he would allow this? "How could you think that of me...?" he hissed, shaking his head partly in anger and partly in disbelief.
"Major, you can not be here," the brown man stated again, more harshly than before. "You can do nothing for him. Just accept that he is going to die."
The cold words caused some sort of primal response in Sheppard, and he reacted without thinking, sending a roundhouse punch at the stranger's face.
It passed right through, and Sheppard gasped as he stumbled forward, his body following the force of his throw and landing against the delicate console. He turned in shock, staring back at the man...hologram?
"You're not real," he gasped.
"I am a projection, yes," it replied. "You can not harm me."
"Well, nuts," the Major leaned heavily against the edge of the console, hands shifting to his hips. He lowered his head, shutting his eyes to calm himself down and think.
"Understand that I am not asking this because I want him to die. You need to leave," the hologram pressed again. "It is for the best."
Slowly, the major's eyes lifted to glare into the face of the hologram, then beyond him. The hands fell away from his hips, gripping themselves into fists.
"McKay," he snapped.
Nothing.
"McKay, wake up."
Still nothing.
"MCKAY!" Sheppard shouted, all patience gone now. "Wake up!"
The doctor's body flinched ever so slightly.
"Come on, Rodney. Open your eyes. Talk to me. I know you're still in there."
The man on the chair struggled with something, his face registering both exhaustion and bewilderment.
"G'way ho...gram...." Rodney's weak voice whispered. It was barely audible—the Major had to strain to hear him. Sheppard swallowed down his fear at the un-McKay like sound and pushed on.
"It's not the hologram, Rodney," Sheppard's teeth gritted together, "It's me. Sheppard. I'm here. Open your eyes."
The doctor's face pinched, but, amazingly, he did as he was told. To John's immense relief, the lids fluttered and the pale blue eyes cracked open. He saw them look around a little, before finally landing on the tall man. Puzzlement crossed the tense features.
"Shep....?" the voice died off.
"Yup. McKay, look, before you ask, I'm real. I came in through the hole in the ceiling. Now, I'm trying to get you out of here, but that...that chair thing you're strapped to...it won't let me near you. You have to tell me how to turn it off."
Dried, parched lips lifted into a smile, "Hi John." He clearly hadn't heard a word.
Sheppard grimaced, "Rodney, listen to me. How do I turn that thing off?"
The lips frowned, "Off...?"
"Yes, off. I need to get you out of here. How do I shut it down!"
"Kill me," Rodney chuckled morbidly, an ugly sound combined with the hoarseness of his throat. Sheppard winced.
"Damn it, not an option, Rodney. Find another way."
The scientist's face frowned at that, the words obviously have more meaning to him than any of the others.
"Find...?" he repeated softly.
"Yes, McKay. Another way," Sheppard nodded, thankful to see something more than resignation and hurt in his friend's eyes. "That's what you do. Find another way."
"Another...way...." The eyes closed.
"No!" Sheppard shouted, "Stay with me! McKay, don't you dare close those eyes!"
The blue eyes opened again to stare at the Major with some bewilderment, then shifted to the hologram.
"Real?" he whispered.
The hologram's jaw tensed, but he nodded, "Yes, he is real."
"Oh," Rodney looked back at the Major, and there was a hint of marvel in his eyes. "I didn't...believe....real....But it doesn't...lie...."
Sheppard's lips quirked into an involuntary smile at that.
"Then it's the only thing in this damn city that doesn't."
McKay actually managed a hint of a smile back...then closed his eyes again.
"MCKAY!"
Blue eyes opened again, a hint of aggravation in them now. Sheppard ignored it.
"Stop that. Stay awake! How do I get you out of here! Tell me!"
The eyes blinked, and then something very dark crossed Rodney's face, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why...bother...." Rodney whispered, the pain in his voice more than just physical.
Sheppard's breath caught for a moment, finally understanding what Rodney was asking him—and what the hologram had meant earlier. Then he stood a little straighter, his jaw steeling.
"Because I'm not losing you, McKay. I will not allow you to die for these people. You hear me? I'm going to get you out of here and take you home, but you have to tell me how I turn the damn Weapon off first!"
Rodney focused on the Major, and for a second his brow furrowed, as if he would say something...but instead the eyes closed again.
"Just...go...." he whispered.
"No, damn it, McKay," Sheppard groaned in exasperation, taking an involuntary step forward...and the harsh white light grew again. McKay made a sound like he was choking and Sheppard instantly fell back against the console, a look of complete helplessness on his face. The light faded again.
McKay's breathing evened out once more into a steady wheeze, but this time the tremors cascading down his frame were more pronounced.
"Oh Christ, Rodney," the Major breathed, trying to make sense of what was happening as the tremors finally subsided, and the doctor's head lolled down closer to his shoulder. "You have to help me out here. I'm not going anywhere, no matter what you might think, but I can't fight this thing alone—I don't even understand what the hell it is!"
"I do," the hologram said softly.
Sheppard quirked an eyebrow and turned to the projection standing next to him. It actually looked concerned, which surprised him.
Fact was, he didn't have a lot of options here. Without McKay, there was no one else to tell him how to shut the Weapon down.
"Yeah," he admitted weakly, "I bet you do." He frowned, "McKay said you don't lie."
"I was programmed to only tell the truth."
"The whole truth?"
"Of course."
"Okay then," he licked his lips, he looked over at the unconscious scientist with the hologram, "you tell me: how do I get him out of here?"
The hologram frowned. "You...can't," it replied brokenly. "His connection to the Weapon would have to be cut off first."
"Okay, so how do I cut the connection?"
"You can't, not without damaging the console."
Sheppard's eyebrow quirked, and he looked behind him at the damaged console. He saw the crystals and wires, noting with some interest that a number of them had been reattached and reset. McKay had done that, obviously. His fingers touched the thick red wire he saw at the top of the console. It and a yellow wire were the only two showing no damage at all.
He arched an eyebrow, "And if I have no issues with damaging the console?"
The hologram frowned, "You don't understand; it's too dangerous. The Weapon can not be effectively contained without the console. You could cause greater harm than good if you try to cut the connection to the mind guiding it at this stage."
Sheppard looked over at McKay, wishing he could get corroboration from him, but the man wasn't even moving anymore. If it weren't for the soft rise and fall of his chest....He frowned at the thought, and looked back at the hologram.
"What kind of harm?"
"I do not know. It is possible nothing will happen, that it will just shut down. In the alternative, the Weapon could react uncontrollably."
"Uncontrollably? Meaning?"
"The Weapon is a conscious entity, with a single purpose—to destroy. If it senses it has no mind to guide it before it has been fired six times, it might choose to fire itself, and it would seek to eradicate everything inside the Illusion's walls. You could kill everyone in Deucalion, level the city. I do not know the extent of its power, but without a mind to control it...." The hologram tapered off.
Sheppard quirked an eyebrow, "Let me get this straight...you're saying the Weapon is an entity? You mean...it can think?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Bull!"
The hologram actually smiled at that, "I know what that means now. It means you don't believe me."
"Damn straight."
"Neither did Doctor Rodney McKay."
Sheppard frowned, connecting the dots, "but he does now."
"He's connected to the Weapon. He knows now better than anyone," the hologram actually seemed sad as looked towards the doctor. "He has had to battle constantly to contain the destruction it wants to unleash. After the hive ship was destroyed, the Weapon's hunger was at its peak....Doctor Rodney McKay forced it back. He is a lot stronger than he appears." He looked back the major, "It should have killed him. The Weapon certainly wanted it."
The major was shaking his head. "I won't believe this. Machines don't hunger for things. Weapons do not want. They aren't conscious things. This is all a whole lot of—"
"Bull?"
"Yes."
The hologram's jaw tensed, "Then explain why it reacted to you when you tried to approach Doctor Rodney McKay."
Sheppard grimaced, then waved a hand around, "Well...it has defenses, doesn't it? The shield thingy that McKay took down earlier," he looked at the hologram, "you," and he looked at the chair, "and that white light stuff. It's just reacting to outside threats seeking to extinguish it." He looked back at the hologram, "But, as McKay constantly proves, there is always a way around defensives. There's a way around this one." He turned to the broken console behind him, "and you're going to tell me what that is."
The hologram shook his head, "you're a fool. If it were just a machine, you would be right. But the Weapon is not just a machine!"
Sheppard stared down at the console, not wanting to believe what he was hearing. It was too fantastic. It couldn't be alive! It couldn't be aware!
But then...there was that shadow thingy back on Atlantis. McKay had gone Sydney Carton on them then as well....
What if the hologram was right?
"God DAMN IT!" he yelled, slamming his hand against the glass partition in front of him. The glass shook...but nothing much else happened except that now his hand hurt. He whipped around, staring hard at the oblivious McKay, everything finally reaching his breaking point. "You smug, arrogant, pig-headed, frustrating fool! You adolescent, snot-nosed, Canadian moron! You freakish, senseless, idiotic bonehead! You are not dying on me! Not on me! Not like this. Wake up! WAKE UP and help me!"
Nothing.
McKay didn't even move.
"God damn it, McKay....please. Don't do this! Show me another way!"
The softer plea was as effective as the yelling.
The doctor might as well already be.....
Sheppard lowered his head. No. Don't think like that. Don't give up.
"The Weapon will take him soon," the hologram said softly. "It will sense his death and—"
"He's not dead," the major stated softly, even with his head bowed. After a moment, he looked up, then turned to stare down at the console again. The hologram sighed.
"Not yet, but—"
"What do these wires do," Sheppard interrupted roughly, pointing down. "Red, yellow, blue...one of them must do something that can turn this thing off."
The hologram watched him for a moment, then stepped forward. "Those wires control the Weapon."
"I know that," Sheppard hissed, "what does each one do."
The hologram, even more reluctantly than before, pointed out the purpose of each wire. Sheppard arched an eyebrow at the severed white wire, thanking McKay for at least having that much foresight, then looked up as the hologram's voice stopped when he pointed to the red wire.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"The red wire...," the hologram looked to be fighting with itself, "the red wire...."
"The red wire...what?"
"It...it...."
Sheppard looked at the wire in question. It was one of only three wires that didn't appear to have been damaged inside the console. It was thicker than the others, more substantial—it would take more than a few hits to hurt it.
Why have such a thick wire?
Probably because...it was the most important one?
"You can't tell me what it does," Sheppard reasoned slowly, comprehension dawning, "because your programming prevents you. Two conflicting orders," he looked at the hologram, "answer all questions....and stop anyone from shutting the Weapon down." His eyes lit up, "the red wire is the plug, isn't it? The shut off. The big red button for abort!" He grinned as the hologram just stared at him, not saying anything at all. "I knew there had to be a way. There's always a back door, an ejector seat, a contingency plan...." He looked back at McKay, "All right, Rodney. That's it. I'm getting you out of here."
"No! It won't work!" the hologram spouted.
"Are you sure?" Sheppard snapped, eyeing it out of the corner of his eye. "Are you certain? How do you know? How do you know cutting this wire doesn't just shut it all down? You said yourself before that it's possible nothing will happen. Were you saying that was a lie?"
The hologram looked like it had been slapped, then it shook its head, "No, I don't lie. And yes, you're right, I don't know. Cutting that wire could do exactly what you want....But it could also do the exact opposite."
"But of course you're going to say that. You don't want it shut down! You're programmed to keep it running, isn't that right?"
"Yes, of course, but—"
"But nothing. I think the people who built this place had to have considered something going horribly wrong. They had to have put a failsafe in. The fact that you can't tell me what this wire does tells me this is it. So I'm going to cut it, and that's that."
"And if you're wrong?"
Sheppard stared at him a moment longer, then looked over at the unnaturally silent McKay.
"Well," he stated quietly, "I'm willing to take that risk, if it means I can save him." He looked back at the hologram, "And if it doesn't, then I'll figure something else out."
"I just," the hologram frowned, "I don't believe you can just shut it off. It can't work that way; it's aware...alive...."
But Sheppard wasn't listening anymore. Pulling his knife from his belt, he pressed the edge against the red wire...and started to saw
"I beg of you, don't...." Suddenly the hologram gasped, and waved a hand in front of Sheppard's face to get his attention, "Look what's happening! It knows!"
The major turned, and his lips parted to see the white light swelling around the chair again. It grew so bright, Sheppard had to squint, and in the center of it all...he saw McKay finally react. The doctor's head tipped back, a harsh gasp echoing from his ragged throat as his whole body convulsed in the chair.
"Oh no you don't!" Sheppard yelled, turning again to the console, pressing deeper into the wire, like a surgical knife cutting through an aorta. "I won't let you have him!"
The white light grew in the room, and the hologram closed his eyes in surrender...and vanished.
A massive shockwave hit the back of the Major just as the red wire snapped in half.
The entire room was plunged into darkness...except for the sunlight streaming through the roof, forming a square of light on the floor of the black room. It lit up the slack right arm of the man still in the chair, the metal manacle clicking open, and the legs of the unconscious man by the console.
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TBC