Rodney did wake peacefully nearly an hour later, on his own, to sounds of cursing and humming. It was an odd combination, but when he discovered the noises came from John, he dismissed it as ordinary. The man would probably hum on his deathbed.

Rodney sat up and moaned, pressing the heel of his hand to the bridge of his nose. What the hell? He felt like he'd been involved in one of those damn all night frat parties that his college roommate had insisted on dragging him to. The one who insisted he "get a life". His conclusion was, if those parties were indicative of what life was really like, he was bailing. Those odd days were brought back in stark memories prompted by the intense pounding in his head. He saw John sitting at the console, studying the displays with relaxed features. At least someone was having fun.

John hardly looked up when Rodney walked to stand behind him. "Nice nap?" he asked.

"Funny. I'm glad to see you're so overwhelmed with concern for my welfare."

"You weren't choking on your slobber, so I let you sleep." He hid a grin as Rodney self-consciously wiped at his mouth. "Actually, I tried to wake you. But I've tried that lots of times, and it's like stopping a train by looking at it. The end result is about the same."

Rodney ignored this. "What is this, what are you doing?" He couldn't make sense of the colors that now showed on the flat screen.

"Well," John leaned back and crossed his arms, his eyes not leaving the console, "far as I can tell, you put either the blue on the black, or the black on the blue, but not like colors together. Now, you can stack either on the white, provided the symbols match. The order is a bit risky, but I'm getting the hang of it."

Rodney stared. His mouth fell open. "You've been playing solitaire?"

John rubbed his chin. "Yeah. Yeah, it is a bit like solitaire, been thinking this was familiar."

"Solitaire?" Rodney yelled. "I was knocked unconscious by an alien entity, who could have done god knows what to my brain, and all you can do is sit and play solitaire?"

"Now, that's not true!" John gestured to a secondary display. "They have backgammon too."

"Oh, that's just. . ."

"I'm kidding, Rodney!" John spun in his chair to face the disgruntled man. Truth was, he was very relieved to see him up and alert, after having spent half his time trying to rouse him. No way in hell he'd admit that, no way he would confess to sitting on that metallic floor, afraid that no only was he trapped in an alien city, but that he was trapped there alone. Once it was apparent that Rodney was sleeping comfortably, he had spent the rest of the hour in serious reconnaissance, at least before he realized the schematic he had pulled up was actually a game of some kind.

"This thing'll be spitting out chess next, I suppose," Rodney muttered, wiping at his sleeve.

John faced the display. "In that case, you play. You always beat the crap outta me, maybe you stand a chance against the supercomputer."

"I do, don't I? Yes, well. . .is there really chess in there?" Rodney peered over John's shoulder.

"Now Rodney, you've had your nap, I've had my playtime, I think we should get back to work, huh?" He tapped the screen and pulled up a different schematic. "Check this out. I found readings on the energy output of this place." He turned aside, allowing Rodney a full view of the screen.

Rodney moved in, then frowned and pressed his hands to the console, leaning over the screen. John copied McKay's frown and tilted back out of the way, seeing the lights play along the puzzlement on the scientist's face. "This can't be right," Rodney muttered.

"Why not?"

"Because according to these readings, this whole place normally operates at less than three percent of the current energy output of Atlantis."

"And?"

"Less than three percent! Not forty, not thirty, not even ten! Three percent!"

"Very low, I get it. And?"

"And. . . look at the readings here." Rodney pointed. "Look at the quality of the energy that is being generated to keep this place lit and functional. Atlantis would never be able to match that, even with reserves in place."

"Meaning too much, or too little?"

"Meaning too damned efficient! This place has five to six times the power that Atlantis has, and that's just according to these reserves. Now, maybe that's because this place isn't fully functional, but even so, this is an energy source that we could definitely use. The output, at least according to this, far exceeds the amount of energy burned."

"So what happens if we turn on all the lights?"

Rodney turned to John. "Part of me is scared to ask, but the rest of me says the hell with it. You've got more systems going. Give it a try."

"O-kay." John exhaled sharply and hovered his hands over the controls. He closed his eyes and allowed his instinct to guide him. He placed his hands on the console.

And everything sprung to life.

John jumped and stood quickly. Rodney was backing away, briefly overwhelmed by the lights that, oddly enough, did not blind him despite their apparent intensity. The walls glowed, but not unpleasantly. The console gleamed. The controls within the console were dimmed alongside the ethereal light. Only the floor remained dark, but the vibration was more obvious now, a pleasant massage.

"Wow." The muttered word came from McKay. He had braved the trek back to the console, now convinced that it wasn't going to erupt in sparks after years of stagnation. "Major, look at this." He pointed. "The readings, they've hardly changed a bit."

Sheppard frowned again. "Maybe the readings are false."

"I don't think so. I think this is a new type of energy source." He was concentrating now, his eyebrows drawn over an intense expression. "There is no evidence of an energy spike. Hardly any fluctuation to speak of."

Even Sheppard was impressed. "That's pretty incredible."

"It isn't incredible, it's impossible! There is no way what is currently happening should be able to happen."

"So maybe it was an energy transfer. Maybe one part of the station shut down and the energy was rerouted here."

"Again, I don't think so. What area would shut down? Why? What good would that do?" Rodney shook his head and tapped the edge of the console. "No, we need this. We need this in Atlantis. I wonder why their walls glow, and ours don't?"

"Better interior designer?"

"No, I. . ." he smiled and gave a chuckle, "funny, though. . . I think the answer to this power source is within the walls. I think that's where they store the energy they use."

"So we find a sledge hammer."

"No, we don't find a sledge hammer!" Rodney snapped in a classic bipolar manner. "Think! What if this energy is a liquid? What if it's a poisonous gas? You really want to just bash down a wall and release god knows what?"

"And your idea would be, what exactly?"

Rodney pursed his lips and admitted defeat. "I don't know. For now, see what this has to say about things." He waved his hand toward the console.

"Fine. And in the meantime, I'm going to look for a snack machine down the hall."

"Uh-huh. You do that. Maybe they'll have ding-dongs." Rodney was already engrossed in his work.

Sheppard sighed and shook his head, and, feeling bolder now that he could clearly see, walked out. The corridor was brightly lit as well, but again it was a gentler glow, much more comforting than it should have been, given the amount of illumination. Sheppard spun slowly as he walked, looking out of the various windows into the dark waters that surrounded the city.

Unlike Atlantis when they had first arrived, he couldn't look up and see light filtering in from the surface. They were too far down, too deep, and he wondered again about the structural integrity of the city, which was able to withstand the force of water pressure that so quickly destroyed his sub; a sub supposedly constructed by these same people.

He continued to walk, his nerves alert. He wished he had a weapon, his arms ached to assume a defensive position. Instead he held them out from his body, his fingers itching to touch the walls, yet not doing so. There was a door ahead, and it slid open as he approached. He stuck his head inside, looked back down the corridor towards the room where he had left Rodney, and entered. The door slid shut behind him.

What the supercomputer of this psuedo-Atlantis had to tell Rodney about the make-up of the lit walls was, in a word, zilch. Rodney slammed his hand on the console in anger, then quickly rubbed his fingers along the edge apologetically. The last thing he needed was for this station to get angry at him. So it decided to withhold a bit of mystery. He couldn't blame it, it wasn't like he opened his heart to every warm body that passed his way. Hell, he hardly trusted his friends, unless a life was on the line. He sat back in his chair, his arms folded, and mused aloud. "Funny that. I can trust these people with my life, but not with my laundry." A quick glance darted towards the hall behind him, incase Sheppard was there, listening with his patented smirk and a ready quip. Not like he didn't talk to himself all the time anyway, he was as known for that as he was for his bad temper

Rodney often said he was his own best friend, because he was the only one who listened to himself. He was his own best company. But dammit all if a certain air force pilot wasn't trying to test that proclamation. Speaking of which, where was Sheppard?

Rodney swiveled in his chair and stood, then froze. He knew. He knew. He could feel her gaze pinned in a tingle between his shoulder blades, he knew that she wanted him to turn. But he refused. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction. But. . .what if she wasn't there, and this was just a chill in the air? He lifted his chin defiantly, and faced her. "And just what do you want?"

Datanunana smiled. "Is that how you greet one who is here to help?"

Rodney snorted. "I'm not up for your usual greeting. Besides, you could've helped. Instead you ran off, and now Major Sheppard thinks I belong in a psych ward." He returned to his seat, muttering, "Probably thought that anyway, really." He noticed that he was now talking to her as if he had always known her. He wasn't surprised she was there. Datanunana stepped forward, her small feet just showing underneath her robes. She leaned over Rodney, who stopped what he was doing with a show of annoyance. "Yes? What can I do for you?" There was no response. He allowed himself to look up, and was nearly swallowed by the emptiness in her eyes, an emptiness that needed to be filled.

"I wish to talk, nothing more." She looked down at him with all the alluring nature of seduction, yet he was suddenly certain that wasn't her plan. There was an earnest expression on her face, and she had yet to touch him. She blinked, and it occurred to him that maybe he misjudged her nature.

"Oh. Oh, well then. . ." he swiveled the chair to face her, "what about?"

Again she smiled, and Rodney had to admit it was the most sensual thing he had ever seen. "I need you."

This caused him to stop breathing before clearing his throat, and leaning back. "Wh-why?" His voice cracked.

"Your friend has the gene. I sensed it when you arrived. He is the one."

"The one?" Rodney pushed the chair away from the console with his feet so he could stand, and took a few steps away in order to regain control over himself. He faced the woman. "Look, I wish you would stop talking in these coded messages, in these obscure themes that you assume we should either automatically understand, or become intimidated by. I neither understand, nor am I intimidated, I'm just pissed off! What do you mean he's the one?"

Datanunana looked amused. "I will explain. But please retake your seat."

Rodney crossed his arms. "No thank you, I believe I'll stand right here. Beside the door. You know, just in case."

"You don't trust me."

"Give me a reason to."

She hesitated, then walked along the edges of the console, running her finger over the corners. "Your companion has the gene that is needed to awaken those who sleep. This city has been asleep for so long. Your arrival sparked a certain awareness. I woke, so that I might contact you and ask that you awaken the others."

Rodney's arms slowly fell to his side. "What others? Who's asleep? You mean – you mean you have those pod things here? This a Wraith hive. . .oh god, I've got to find the Major. . .no wonder we can't find Lt. Ford or Teyla! What have you done with them, god, they're probably spun into cotton candy by now. . ."

"No, no, there are no Wraith here!" Datanunana hurried from the console to stand before Rodney. "No! We abhor the Wraith, we hide ourselves deep in the water so that they will not find us. No one ever ventures this deep."

"Then you know where Ford and Teyla are?"

"They were in the ship with you?"

"Yes! You know about that?"

"They were sent away. They are not in the city."

"Sent away? Sent away where?"

"From whence they came. I assume, from the surface."

"Then they're safe."

"They are. I had no need of them. You must trust that I did this for the good of the people. Your friends are unharmed."

Rodney cast a wary, sidelong glance at her. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You must trust me. Those who sleep, built this city. During the war, we hid ourselves. Everything was shut down for protection, and now one has come who can wake us again." Her eyes glowed with excitement.

Rodney's eyes narrowed. "Wait. . .we didn't sink." He shook an accusatory finger. "You brought us here. You. . .wait, okay, give me a second, I have to think." He turned away, fingers to the bridge of his nose as he concentrated. "This abyss thing, you hid your city in it. But why? This place is apparently more powerful than Atlantis could ever hope to be, I mean the power you use here is phenomenal, you should have been able to defend yourself, unless something catastrophic happened and left you stuck here. . ." his hand fell and he regarded the lady before him. "That hull breech wasn't an accident. You were pulling us in, that's why we descended so fast, and so sharply." This was all starting to sound eerily familiar, and Rodney's thoughts traveled to Dr. Weir, and her situation with the 'older model' as he dubbed it in his mind. The 'older model' had been left behind by the Atlanteans, and programmed to awaken with the arrival of her future self. Never mind it took ten thousand years. It was an incident that still boggled his physicist mind, even though in school he had studied every theory that had been recently proven by the existence and travel of the 'older model'. Didn't mean it was easy to accept, and not twice in as many weeks. "Those that built the city. . ." his eyes widened, and he pointed his index finger at her as another memory surfaced, one of Chaya, and her seductive ways, "wait, you're an Ancient, aren't you?" He looked at her in astonishment. "All these people, these sleepers, are they Ancients too?" Had he found something even more astonishing than Atlantis itself?

She frowned slightly. Her head tilted, spilling fiery hair over one eye. "I do not know this term."

"Doesn't matter. But, if the others are still asleep, how did you wake up?"

Datanunana frowned again. "I told you, the city woke me. It sensed your arrival, it sensed the gene. I speak for the city."

"Like Atlantis protecting itself from contagions and other outside influences," Rodney thought aloud. "This city has a similar awareness, it knew there was a chance to. . .wake. . ." He was looking closely at her. She remained motionless, allowing his scrutiny. "I know. You're an avatar," he said finally. "You're not even real."

"I am a part of one who is sleeping. I am the voice of the city."

Rodney nodded. "That's incredible. I've heard of avatars, but this. . ."

"You will help wake the others?"

"Wait, I thought you said Major Sheppard had the appropriate gene?"

"And you must convince him."

Rodney held up a hand. "Yeah, okay, I see. . .so how many are we talking here?"

She shook her head, her fiery curls bouncing slightly. "I do not know. There is no way to tell who survived the sleep until all are called upon."

"Give me an estimate. Twenty? Fifty? Five hundred?"

"First tell me this." She leaned forward, her eyes intense. "Is Atlantis safe?"

"Atlantis?" Rodney was startled by the question. "For the moment, yes. Yes, it is."

"We hold enough to populate your entire city threefold."

"Whoa! Okay, wait," Rodney laughed, then turned serious. "Threefold? Really?"

"Yes."

"All asleep."

"Yes."

His eyes darted around the room as if he expected corpses to emerge from the walls. "Threefold. But where? This place can't be any larger than Atlantis, where are they?"

"I cannot show you, not unless I have your complete trust, and a promise."

"And if Major Sheppard has the specific gene, why talk to me? Why are you hiding from Major Sheppard?" Why was he chosen and not me when I also have the gene, was his real question.

Datanunana lowered her eyes. "There is a reason, but I can not say at this time." Her grin turned impish. "Your friend is stuck in a compartment. You should go to him."

"What? How do you. . .what reason?"

"Your friend. . ."

"Yeah, yeah, he won't get into any trouble as long as he's in there. What reason?"

She smiled. "See to your friend. I will find you. And talk to him, please. There is a crystal he must find, deep in the city, and this crystal will awaken us all. Please. . ."

"Wait, what about this power source?" Rodney gestured to the walls. "I wanted to ask you. . ."

"And you will, later. Now please, see to your friend."

Rodney tucked his hands behind his back. "Only if you come with me. Besides, I don't know where to look."

She hesitated, then nodded. "Very well."

Rodney nodded and walked out of the room with the mysterious woman at his heels. She did not stop, but launched straight down the corridor and to a door that slid open before her. The room was empty, and to the side was an odd panel. Rodney looked at her, and tapped on it. "Hello?"

"McKay? That you?" The voice was muffled. "Get me outta here!"

Rodney couldn't help but smirk. "I guess they keep their snacks in the closet?"

"Rodney. . ." There was a faint pounding.

"Or was there another private matter you needed to attend to?"

"Get me out, now!"

"What about this gene?" Rodney turned to Datanunana. "He can't get himself out of a closet, and yet you expect him to wake the entire city?"

"McKay, who the hell are you talking to?"

"Oh, no one, just a beautiful young lady. . ."

"So help me god. . ."

"Oh, hold your nuts, man." Rodney ran his fingers along the slight fissure where the panel joined the wall. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder, then gestured. "Would you mind. . ." She smiled in response. Rodney frowned as the door slid open. "Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd just done that earlier," he turned, ". . .oh no."

Sheppard stepped out, looking none to happy. "Thanks," he muttered.

But Rodney was beyond paying attention. "Wait, nononono, get back here! Hey! Son of a. . ."

Sheppard's brows raised. "Talking to air again?"

He spun. "It wasn't me, I didn't get you out! She was here, dammit!"

"Sure she was." Sheppard walked on.

"Major, I'm telling you, there is someone here. An avatar for the city. She needs you to activate a crystal so the original city builders of this city can wake up, or something like that."

John cocked his head as he turned. "What?"

"I swear, I am not lying and I'm not crazy! At least I don't think. She's real, I mean, as real as an avatar gets, though I've heard they are real enough. . .that's not the point." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "The point is, there are others here that are waiting for the right person to come and wake them, and apparently that person, for whatever universally screwed up reason, is you."

John stared. "There are people here, asleep, and I have to wake them."

"I think they're all Ancients. The woman, Datana. . .Danana. . ." he sighed in frustration, "Dot said they were the builders of the city, and she asked about the safety of Atlantis. She assured me this isn't a pod ship, there are no Wraith. She says they hid the city this deep to escape the Wraith."

"Escape the Wraith when?"

"Well, I assume the same time Atlantis went underwater! How would I know?"

"So, you're saying there are Ancients here, asleep, and we have to wake them so they can return to the city."

Rodney folded his arms in annoyance. "I do believe that was my meaning, without actually quoting verbatim what I just said." John still looked skeptical. "Major, if we wake them, think of the things we can learn! We can find out all about this power source they have, hell, they can probably sneeze and light the whole of Atlantis!"

"They're not gods, McKay."

"No, but this is their galaxy, not ours. We need them."

John thought about it. "Look, I'm not saying yes. I wanna see this, what'd you call her?"

"Dot."

He winced. "Her name's really Dot?" he asked in disbelief.

Rodney gave a long-suffering sigh. "No, her name is not Dot, but it's too insanely long to try and remember. I'm not Dr. Jackson, it takes a lot for me to bother remembering a normal name, let alone one this complex."

"Dr. Jackson?"

"Yeah, the guy that is ultimately responsible for us being in the Pegasus galaxy. Remember him?"

"Oh yeah. Didn't talk much."

"We were kind of busy, Major." Rodney looked over his shoulder at the closet. "Why the hell did you go in there, anyway?"

"Looked a lot bigger on the inside than it was. Thought I saw something in there. The door slid shut behind me."

"Well, I don't suppose you could have suffocated."

"Let's put you in there and find out, shall we?"

"I think not." Rodney started to the door leading to the corridor. "Look, we need to find a working schematic, not games, that shows us the precise layout of the station, and we need to figure out exactly what this power source is." He ran his fingertips along the glowing walls. "You know, just in case we can't wake the Ancients."

"Don't suppose 'Dot' will just lead us to them."

"No, she keeps disappearing. I think you scare her." Rodney was studying the walls closely.

"Me? Women love me! I'm full of charm. What are you doing?" He closed the space between them and leaned over McKay's shoulder.

Rodney had crouched to the floor, his eyes on the lower wall after following a trail straight down. He stood quickly, knocking John in the chin, took a step to the right, and repeated the procedure. "I'm not certain," he said, "but these lights, just this particular panel. . ." he faced John excitedly, "there's something here."

"Here as in. . .in the lights?"

"Here as in behind the panel. The lights are covering it. This isn't part of the wall." Rodney had both his hands running along the surface. "Help me! You're the one with the goods, use them."

"Seems your implanted gene isn't of much use here."

"That's disturbingly true," Rodney muttered, "maybe yours is a variation or something. . .oh, I see." He looked up and shouted, "It's because mine's not real, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"Just help me!"

Sheppard placed his hands on the wall, and closed his eyes. The light brightened, then dimmed, and the panel disintegrated beneath his touch. Both men jumped back, then studied the new golden wall before them. John reached out to touch the strange symbols, but Rodney slapped his hand away. "Don't."

"What is it?"

"It's. . .Ancient. But I can't really read it, this is different from. . ." he ignored his own advice and ran a finger over the raised carving.

"McKay! No touching!"

"Right." He pocketed his hands, squinting at the language that ran from ceiling to floor.

"I thought you could read Ancient?"

"I can interpret," Rodney said patiently, "with help from my database and the notes that Dr. Jackson gave me. None of which I have here. So no, I can't read this." He turned a rather wistful gaze towards the wall. "Never thought I'd say this, but I really, really wish he were here."

Sheppard studied the wall before him. Nothing. "Didn't you like the man?"

"Well enough. Not like we hung out. Different professional interests." He waved a hand at the symbols. "He schooled me in all things Ancient before we left, because he knew I would be in charge of conducting most of the research on Atlantis. Gave me some lessons in the language, in so far as he was able. That man knows a lot, but he carried this impression that he knows more, and he isn't telling." Rodney gave a light shrug. "Irritating, really."

"Hm," John muttered helpfully. "Look, if you can't read this, and it isn't doing anything, then it isn't helpful. Let's go see what else we can find."

"You go on. I want to examine this for a few more minutes."

"And you'll find me. . .how?"

"Look, just tell me before you go too far. Okay? And no more getting stuck in closets."

"Thanks for the advice." John gave him a weary sideways glance and headed on.