Head Trip – Chapter 23 "Access"
In the end, her release was a fairly simple procedure. Fifth placed his hand on the wall of her cell and the tiny replicator blocks began to shimmer and dissolve into liquid pools, reminding Sam of her captor's own ability to transform and regenerate his human form.
As they stepped through the portal, they were met by the hostile stares of three Replicators in what appeared to be a main control room. Sam could not help but notice its strange similarity to the SGC: banks of computer screens and a three-dimensional map of planetary systems along with a large window which seemed to look out upon some type of storage facility.
The most novel attraction was an imposing monolith which contained a scroll-like device that seemed to be continually changing data. Sam suspected that the Replicator seated at a computer closest to the monolith was transferring code from the mainframe into the monolith.
Fifth, now in command, spoke firmly and quickly to his suspicious brethren: "Our prisoner is no longer a threat; she is completely under my control. Do not bother yourselves with our intrusion. I am going to Level One for the final inspection and assimilation of the neutronium. Continue with your duties. The prisoner shall come with me."
With that, Sam was swept into a beam of light and transported to the lowest level of the cavernous storage room with Fifth at her side. The room itself was about the size of a football field, the main floor transected by two huge conveyor belts which were not in operation. Large containers rested silently on the belts. The surrounding walls, ceiling and floor were composed of replicator blocks similar to those found in Sam's cell. She and Fifth were bathed in the now-familiar bluish light which emanated from high above. Sam soon realized that this was much more than a warehouse. Glancing up at the two levels of walkways above her, she knew instinctively that this was some type of prison. She did not have long to wait to find out what these cells contained as Fifth placed his hand upon the first holding cell and its blocks partially dissipated to allow them access.
The cube-like room was identical to her former cell and also brought back chilling memories of her encounter on the Replicator ship at Orilla. Thank God he can't read my mind now Sam thought, as she looked upon the stricken face of one of the surviving elders of Alleria.
"These are the last of the Allerians to become our brethren. They have had the good fortune to live on a planet abundant in neutronium, an important component of the process of transformation."
So that was what all these huge storage containers were about … shipping and storing neutronium towards the creation of new Replicator life forms. "Good fortune?" Sadly, an innocuous chemical element became a planet's death knell. Sam forced herself to smile and nod in agreement.
Fifth was pleased that his beloved seemed so interested in his revelation. He continued to explain the process of absorption of the neutronium into the cellular structure of the human being and the eventual "birth" of the new Replicator life form. From what Sam could understand, this seemed to be a bizarre alchemy – an unnatural transgression of sterile machine over living matter. That the Replicators had evolved to such a state meant that they were practically unstoppable. Whole civilizations had become victims to their insatiable appetite, their need to ingest and advance to ever greater states of being.
The need to survive and reproduce … all programmed into each of these tiny building blocks which surrounded her now and still remained a mystery. God, how she hated these things; how she wished now that the time-dilation device on Halla had been a success.
"When … how long does the process take?" the scientist in her posed a question.
Fifth beamed as he said, "It is quite remarkable, is it not? These on Level One are now ready for assimilation. All of their minds have been probed and data stored. I must now command my brethren to close ranks, so that the final ingestion begins. It will take several days by your calculation of time for our children to be born."
Sam almost lost her composure upon hearing his last words. "Our children to be born?" You sick parasitic son of a bitch!
Fifth turned and gave a verbal command: "Go forth."
At his words, replicator blocks began whirring and coming to life. Sam watched in horror as a familiar spider-like machine formed and crawled up and over the frozen face of the elder in front of her. In seconds, the woman was completely covered by the blocks which then reincorporated themselves into the wall of the cell. She knew, from the clattering around her, that this was being repeated in each and every cell on the lowest level. As she recoiled from a sudden feeling of panic deep down in her gut, Sam had a trace memory of being suffocated, buried alive. Looking at the blank wall before her, Sam knew what the elder had just experienced. Sam knew because it had happened to her on Orilla.
It took every ounce of self-control to refrain from reaching out to strangle her enemy. Sam realized that she could not succeed, but the weight of what was happening before her very eyes was almost unbearable to watch. She felt that she was witnessing the execution and extinction of a group of people who had probably, in good faith, welcomed these cunning Replicators into their midst. She would find a way to avenge their deaths, and her own violation.
"There is still work to be done on Level Two." With that, Fifth reached for her hand and beamed them up to the second level.
Placing her anger and shock to the back of her mind, Sam began to think and observe more carefully. She was being given a guided tour and must attempt to glean even more information from her smitten captor. What she experienced the next hour told her all she needed to know about how they were finding new locations to replicate. She watched as Fifth walked from cell to cell and completed the mind probes of the prisoners. Because they were encased in their tombs of replicator blocks, there could be no resistance as Fifth thrust his hand into the elders' exposed foreheads. Fifth shared that this knowledge was actually being transmitted into his mind and would then be downloaded into the computer mainframe in the control room. Sam was not quite sure how that was accomplished but hoped to soon find out. She believed that the data eventually appeared on the monolith's screen and, possibly, the planetary map. They were literally stealing the knowledge of this planet before turning these poor souls into Replicator selves. Now she better understood what she had learned in her cell, how First knew where to look for new conquests, new planets that had what he needed.
While they had relaxed and dined on the food he brought to her cell earlier, Fifth told Sam that First and a large contingent of Replicators had left Alleria to determine a possible relocation site. He then proudly announced that he was in charge. She fed his ego by remarking that he should remain in charge, that he should not allow First to degrade and humiliate him any longer. His boyish face brightened at her suggestion and he kissed her impetuously on the cheek. In many ways, he seemed to be nothing more than an immature adolescent, going through his first infatuation and rebellion. If only it were that simple! But, if she could keep him at that level of desire and need, she might have a chance to fight her way out of this nightmare.
She had to find out more about the Replicators' plans and locations. Funny, wasn't that the original mission? "Deceive and detect" … in some strange way, nothing had changed but everything had changed. She was alone on a Replicator-infested planet with no backup, no members of her team covering her six. And how did Jack manage to neutralize her double? Was he injured in the encounter? This was no time to be thinking of Jack ….
She wanted to get back to the control room … perhaps there was a way to send some type of signal home … highly doubtful … getting to the Gate was her best hope of survival … she knew it was a good day's journey back … but which way was "back"? The sea of tall grass and no visual sightings or landmarks on such a level terrain would make it difficult to find the Gate. They walked on a gravel road for the last part of the journey to the citadel, and she had tried hard to take note of the direction of the sun as she was prodded along. There may be a map in the control room, showing the location of the Gate. Yes, that was quite possible. If the Replicators came and then dominated this planet, they then had to transport the neutronium from the mines and possibly used the Gate for transporting their newest brethren to other unsuspecting planets. It seemed likely that First would have studied a map of Alleria to best implement his logistics.
Somehow she would get Fifth to dismiss the other Replicators or, better yet, distrust and destroy them. She would need to feed his paranoia. If it came down to just Fifth and her in the control room, with none of his human-form "buddies", she might have a chance … she just might have a chance. Finding her P90 would better the odds; she was certain she could handle the mechanical creepy-crawlers or at least die trying.