The Explanation
Chapter 5: History Lessons 2
PhDelicious

Disclaimer: Don't even own the DVDs. I do claim the characters not named Daniel, Sam, Teal'c or Jack and the organization of ideas used in this story.

A/N 1: Points and shout outs to the people who correctly identify the references to some of my favorite works. And yes there is one for the Collective other than The Matrix.

After a few minutes Gabriel and Suzannah rose and the group continued along the lake. When the echoes of the waterfall had died away enough to allow normal conversation Gabriel began to speak again.

"The stream at the bottom of the falls empties into Refuge. It is said that was the key to the Council's acceptance of Isaac's plan to move underground, eventually. The decision to postpone the actual move until absolutely necessary was made by a full populace vote. It was Isaac's son, Luke, who first acknowledged that even with this plan there was still a high probability that lots of people would still get injured. As one of the leading engineers and healers of his time he took it upon himself to update the recovery pods."

Suzannah picked up the narrative.

"His journals indicate that the basic design of the pods has been unchanged since long before his time. Unfortunately in their original incarnation there were serious problems with mental side effects. Short times in the pods caused confusion, temporary memory loss and paranoia. Longer exposure also resulted in addiction to the pod and withdrawal from society. Such effects were first noted around the Cast-off Rebellion, the first large scale use of the pods. Luke hypothesized that these problems resulted from the isolation that occurred during recovery. He created the precursor to the Collective in response. His device kept the patient's mind engaged during recovery by accessing their memory centers. Unfortunately, there was no control for determining which memories were accessed and several test subjects were severely traumatized as a result of being stuck in bad memories."

"We have experienced similar technologies."

"Some of the older models were traded to the Men of the Beast before they were recognized. But the newest versions were kept hidden in one of the underground chambers."

"Your people have a fascinating history and I'd love to see some of these ancient texts you keep referring to."

"Of course. You may have access to our library when we return to Refuge. For now Gabriel shall continue our tale."

"Actually, Suzannah, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions about your healing technology."

"I am no longer a young woman Daniel," Suzannah chided. "Speaking while we walk tires me greatly. I will answer one question for you."

""Why, given the difficulties associated with their use, do you continue to rely on the recovery pods?"

"The body is its own best healer. Usually all we can do, as healers, is to keep other things from going wrong in the mean time. The pods allow us to remove the patient from the normal stresses of life. This gives the body the opportunity to focus its energy on healing faster. The pods can also be set to stimulate repair of injuries that the body would not normally be able to heal on its own. When you only have a small population and are exposed to a consistent threat you use whatever means necessary to save your people."

"Thank you Suzannah. Please let me know if you need to stop and rest or if you fell ready to answer more questions."

"You are welcome Daniel. I know you are concerned about Jonathan and Samantha."

The little band of travelers had long since left the waterfall's cavern, taking a branch of the cave which led away from the stream. The path was wide and there was a hand rail attached to the wall along their right side. They were walking slightly but steadily upwards. The glow from the tunnel walls was weaker here, so Daniel was unable to focus on Gabriel when he began to speak again.

"By the time the prophesied fire began to rain from the sky Refuge had been finished along with two other cities: Paradise and Velora, and the series of tunnels which connected them. Several of the most up-to-date recovery pods had been moved to each settlement along with a branch of the Collective. The Forum, under the ancient city's council chambers was also finished and well hidden by the time the fire fell. This allowed the Council to relocate people as the towns began to burn. The fire never fell close enough to the city to damage it. It wasn't until after The Pretender was revealed that the Council realized that this was a well thought out strategy.
When the first of the Pretender's men came through they set themselves up as protectors by returning fire at the first opportunity and shooting down a small flying machine that had been chasing one of the Judges' granddaughters. It was by calling in this debt that the Pretender first insinuated himself into the Council. For those first few meetings there was no evidence of glowing eyes or abnormal voices. Agreements were reached and the Council traded several recovery pods and memory devices for staff weapons with which the people could protect themselves. The Council refused the first time the Pretender offered to leave his men here to protect them. However, the increase in bombardment that followed shortly there after caused them to change their minds."

"Your ancestors do not seem to have remembered Isaac's foretelling. Indeed, they seem to have welcomed this man with open arms."

"Several generations had passed since that time and Isaac's words had been relegated to the realm of legend. There were people within the Council and the upper echelons who spoke out against these arrangements from the beginning, but it is easier to create a savior than it is to destroy one. Most remaining Judeans are direct descendants of the Oppositionalists or the Independents, those who were more or less vocal about their distrust of the Pretender. The families of these people were the second group to move below ground."

Gabriel paused in his lecture as the group came to a joining of tunnels and bent to examine a small pile of rocks.

"Who are we meeting?" inquired Teal'c.

"Two of my apprentices have been watching over Jonathan and Samantha during their recovery. The stones indicate that they have not left the Forum through these tunnels."

"Are there other ways they could have gone?"

"Yes, but as they were responsible for your friends this would have been their first choice. Matthias and Martha would not have used the tunnels to the surface or to Velora except under the direst of circumstances, and if that had been the case we would have met resistance already."

"So that tunnel leads to Paradise?"

Daniel gestured down the tunnel that had run into theirs.

"Very good Daniel. You are correct of course. We have almost reached the Forum, which is at the heart of our society. All tunnels lead to the Forum."

"It was through the Forum and its tunnels that the final wave of Judeans was able to escape the wrath of the Pretender. Several months after his arrival on Judea the Pretender announced his eminent departure and requested that two children be chosen to accompany him. The children were to be trained in the Pretender's ways and then returned to Judea as his voice on the planet.
The Council chose a set of fraternal twins who had been orphaned during the Rains for the honor. When it came time to leave neither child would approach the Stargate, not even when prodded by the Pretender's men and their staff weapons. When one of the Councilors attempted to intercede on the children's behalf the Pretender's eyes flashed gold and the command ordering the Councilor's death rang out in an unnatural voice. Surprised by this change and cowed by the death of one of their own the remaining Council members begged for a week to pick new children. The Pretender granted their request.
Word was sent for the people in the villages to scatter and go underground while all those near the city were called to a full citizen's meeting in the Council chambers. Luckily the meeting was a façade, an excuse to get as many people down into the Forum and out to the cities as possible. An hour after the meeting had started a large explosion shook the Forum causing several small rock slides and partially blocking the tunnels. The people fully closed the entrance from the old council chambers and finished dispersing. Unable to find many people left on the surface and sure that he had killed many of them by bombing the city, the Pretender left with the majority of his men.
Two months after the departure small groups of people began to move back into the villages. The remaining Men were defeated and life returned to some semblance of normality, except for the fact that any new construction or business was developed underground. Every few years since that time men bearing the 'Mark of the Beast' have returned to hunt our people. During these times everyone is confined to the tunnels except for the few who have been trained as hunters. It is the job of the hunters to keep the men occupied and away from the tunnel entrances. Any who get too close are killed. The others are allowed to go without any proof of our continued existence. Your arrival happened to coincide with one of their visits. We would have contacted you sooner, but the Pretender's men damaged the Stargate while firing at your flying machine and we had to take care of them before we could begin repairs."

"Thank you for contacting us as quickly as you did."

"You are welcome Daniel. If you have more questions now would be a good time to ask. We are almost to our destination and the time for explanations grows short."

"If I have pieced this together correctly Jack and Sam have been placed in recovery pods and linked to the Collective. Could you please explain what they've been experiencing in the Collective?"

"The easiest way to describe the Collective is to call it an Artificial Intelligence controlled Virtual Reality network. The patients' minds interact with the Other consciously or unconsciously to direct what they experience. The Other creates a file for each patient and if they return to the Collective they can pick up exactly where they left off or they can choose another scenario. There is little we can do to direct a patient's experience once they are in the Collective, but beforehand we can specify an initial setting and link groups of patients together. The patients may change the scenarios and separate if they wish. As healers we may join the Collective briefly to check in on our patients and redirect their experiences if necessary. Matthias and Martha will be able to tell you more about what Samantha and Jonathan have actually experienced as they have been monitoring your friends."

Suzannah was now breathing hard as they had been climbing a steep set of stairs while she spoke. The stair ended in a solid wooden door. Suzannah pulled a moderately sized key out of her pack and opened the door.

"Welcome to the Forum."

The room was enormous with row after row of benches rising in all directions around a large round table. There were four doors opening onto the bottom level dividing the room into quarters. A man and a woman slightly younger than Gabriel sat at the table waiting for them.

A/N 2: Sorry to keep you guys hanging soo long for this. The normal excuses about real life and being busy apply here too. Once again we have a chapter full of exposition which I hope doesn't turn anyone off completely. Sam and Jack will return in the next chapter. Please let me know what you're thinking and what you've spotted.