From now on, lines across the width of the entire page designate shifts from one "reality" to another (Shift from Earth to Sonic's reality and vice-versa)

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Chapter Two – Information

General Laundry walked out from his office into the briefing room, reflecting as he did how hard his job could be. This was the most hectic day for him at the SGC so far, at least since the whole Prior Plague affair. He had been on the phone with the President for an hour straight, and had just received word that the search of the SGC had turned up something. After an assurance he would call back with any news, he hung up and walked into the briefing room.

Colonel Carter, Dr. McKay, Dr. Jackson, and Teal'c were already there. As the General took his seat, they all sat down as well.

"So," said Laundry. "What have you got?"

"A search of the base did not turn up anything. Colonel Mitchell and Vala are doing a sweep of the mountain perimeter." said Teal'c. He looked good for someone who had been forced to spend ninety years onboard a ship, been sent back 90 years in time, and would be forced to live those ninety years again, just in a different setting.

"A, uh, scan of the computers, however, did." said Dr. McKay. "A new dialing program was, uh, found in a remote section of the SGC's computer system. It was heavily masked but, uh, we were able to find it."

"Did you delete it?" asked Laundry.

"We couldn't, sir." said Carter "The system said that it didn't exist, but it does. Walter is trying to figure it out, but for now it's stuck on the computer."

"Ok," said Laundry. "Have we found out where this kid went?"

"No, sir. The data logs for when the Gate was dialed then were corrupted by a virus on the system. Even the backup and triplicate copies were fried. Whoever this kid is knew what he was doing."

"That's my next question." Laundry said. "Do we know anything about this kid?"

"No sir, only…" began Carter.

Suddenly, Walter came up the stairs from the Control Room.

"Sir," he said. "One of the technicians in the Gate Room found something." Laundry got up at once and went to the stairs. The rest followed. As they descended, Carter continued.

"Only that he lives in Colarado Springs. We found the car he got here in; it has county license plates." Laundry nodded at this.

When they had all arrived, Walter had retaken his seat, but was facing the group. He began to speak at a nod from Laundry.

"A technician checking the Gate for damage found this on the embarkation ramp, sir." said Walter. As he did, he held up a small flash drive. "A review of the tapes shows that the kid threw it down just before he went thru the Gate."

"What should we do?" asked Laundry.

"We should destroy it" said McKay. "It could have a virus on it. This kid can obviously code them, look at the data logs."

"Or, sir, I can disconnect one of the control computers from the network, and we can see what's on it. That way, if there is a virus, we'll only lose one computer, if that. And if there isn't a virus, there may be information about all of this."

"Do it." said Laundry. He needed something to tell the President when he called him back, and he doubted the President would be happy with a report of, well, nothing.

While Laundry was contemplating this, Carter quickly disconnected the computer, finally removing the network cable and disabling the wireless connections. She then inserted the drive into the computers USB port. It flashed for a few seconds before a file window opened appeared. On the screen was a single audio file.

"Sir," began Carter. "The only thing on this drive is an audio file."

"Route it thru the speaker system and play it."

Carter did so, and once she did, the file began to play.

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"Hello," intoned a voice from the speakers. It was the voice of the kid. "Before I begin, I must ask that you not interrupt me while I speak. Please allow this recording to play in its entirety before you judge me."

"My name is of no importance. I denounced my true name when I no longer had a family to call my own. It has been years since I heard any call me by my true name. However, for the purposes of identifying me, you may call me Sciron. It is the final name I will take; I shun all of the aliases I have used over the years."

"I was born in 1992 to archeologist parents, and they were most wonderful people in the world. They took me on Egyptian digs at the age of two, and as I helped them, they helped me. I took a fascination towards Egypt, and the people who shaped it."

"Then calamity struck. Dr. Jackson, much like you, I lost my parents at an early age. I was eight when they were killed by a drunken driver that crashed into the convoy they were driving in, on the way back from a dig near the Great Pyramids. I was told they felt no pain and that they died instantly in the explosion that followed; the only consoling thought that I got out of that trip."

"I was brought back to Colorado Springs, the city of my birth, and was taken care of by my aunt, at least until I was deemed able to live on my own by the Colorado Dept. of Child's Services, on the condition I called into their offices once a day to ensure I was OK. Doing that for seven years has gotten to be a habit of sorts; it'll be hard not doing that anymore."

"Anyway, I lived on my own for the next seven years. However, where my tale becomes interesting was in seventh grade, two years ago. In Social Studies we were assigned to research a specific ship that had at one point or another had carried important objects, be they people or otherwise. One of the first things that caught my fancy was the USS Darknaught, a small vessel that I learned had carried artifacts from a dig near Giza in 1928. A dig headed by a one Professor Langford. I had heard of him and how his granddaughter, Catherine, was an Egyptologist. I had listened to some of her lectures and I also attended her funeral several years ago. By the way, Dr. Jackson, that eulogy for her was lovely. Actually, you were the only real link between the two of us; I believed in your theories about the Pyramids, and lo and behold, you find the Goa'uld. And I know that she believed you as well, seeing as she herself was trying to decipher the cartouche that the Ancient Egyptians had used to seal the Stargate on Earth, until you did it for her."

"However, I'm getting off topic, back to the ship. I was easily enough able to get hold of copies of the ships logs for the Darknaught and copies of Prof. Langford's logs. However, they told different tales. The Prof's said 563.02 lbs. of artifacts, but the ship's logs read approx. 2500 lbs transported. I was curious; what could account for the anomalous ton? I aimed to find that out. After I doctored the copy of the ship's logs with Photoshop, so as not to arouse suspicion, and after scoring an A on the project, I set out to find answers. After a week of sleepless nights and endless hacking into Pentagon computers, I finally came to the hack job of hack jobs (or so I thought); the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's computer. Everything that I had found pointed me to either his or the President's computer and I decided that the Chairman's computer would probably be easier to splice into. And it was; there's stronger security against a toddler using a toaster oven than there was on the Chairman's computer. That's where it all was; Area 51, and of course, the SGC."

"I'm not going to go into much more detail; you've probably guessed the rest. I obtained fake credentials to get me into the SGC and into Area 51, where I stole a personal cloak of Niritti's; the security was abysmal. I then snuck to Atlantis invisible aboard a Jumper. I learned soon after I possessed the ATA Gene, thanks to Dr. Beckett and his convenient laboratory. This allowed me to access the Ancient Database to the fullest extent. In a month I had gone thru nearly every system possible and had become the most knowledgeable person in the universe on matters of the Ancients and the Stargate; I have a near photographic memory, like a cat's. In case you're wondering why you didn't notice me using power, it's because I was running each computer I was using off of a portable Naquadah generator. However, I wanted more information. So I went deeper into the city, and as I did, two words appeared more and more often; Infrasa Idelos, roughly translated as the Inferred Ideas. And then I hit the jackpot; a terminal full of information about the Stargate's ninth chevron."

"It seems that the Ancients decided not to have Quantum Mirrors on some planets. Instead, they used the Mirrors to seed other realities with Gates, and then they used the ninth chevron to link to Gates in other realities, then destroy the Mirrors. All to test the Ideas, a device which took information about one race, used a subspace link to send that information to another reality, and then subconsciously plant that "idea" into the mind of a resident of that reality/planet. It was ingenious, as this would allow the devices to be tested, and this should also discourage going to those realities and messing with the devices, as three ZPM's are needed to dial the ninth chevron, and the power requirement is so great that the ZPM's burn out on the closure of the Gate. I realized what this could mean; the ideas for fictional characters, not all mind you, but some, could be based on real people in other versions of Earth. This led me to try and find a specific reality's address from Earth, as this terminal also featured an index of alt. reality addresses from both Earth and Atlantis. So I decided to cross reference aspects of the world of Sonic the Hedgehog; not the "stages" but the storylines, just to see what would happen. And lo and behold, a single address cropped up after about a month of searching. I actually almost got caught by Ronan and Teyla that day, as I somehow passed them invisibly in a corridor while whistling a tune that Carter sometimes whistles; I know she once did it while in an elevator with Colonel O'Neil."

"Anyway, that's when I started Project SonicGate, as I called it; an attempt to get to the reality of Sonic and friends. Call me crazy, but I knew I could do it. However, you're probably asking how I was able to pull this off, as the only way you'll be listening to this is if I succeed. Well, I'll talk. The power wasn't too much of a problem, as I discovered the address of a planet that had a warehouse of ZPM's on it, and was easily able to take some back, thanks to a special Ancient device of Janus's that I found in an old laboratory, that stores objects in subspace, which lets me carry around very large stuff, like the Ancient terminal and the copy of the Database I'm taking with me. Don't ask me how, but one terminal is able to hold the entire Database."

"Anyway, with power out of the way, I needed a new dialing program; dialing out of Atlantis was dangerous, as I didn't yet know how to make the Naquadah generators come online if ZPM power suddenly failed, as would have happened once the Gate shut down. That and I didn't like my odds against Ronan if he found me. I've heard his gun packs a punch, and the only doctor on Atlantis I trusted was Dr. Beckett, until he passed. But, back to the dialing. I decided that I had to go via Earth, so I simply copied and rewrote the program that Colonel O'Neil's Ancient brain made back about, what, eight years ago, to dial out of the galaxy, into a nine-chevron program. You're probably noticing that you can't get rid of it, as I'm sure you've found it. Good luck."

"But now we come to the most challenging thing of all; my appearance. I could not appear as a human, look at Eggman. I also didn't want to be human anymore. So I decided that I had no choice, I would have to become a local. A hedgehog, to be precise. Sciron the Hedgehog, because if you look at Sonic's, Shadow's, and Silver's names, they all start with an 's', and Sciron describes me; it's from the Latin for 'doomed, fated', and that describes me perfectly; doomed to lose my parents, fated to be a hedgehog. You're probably asking why I would do this. Well, my motivations are simple; I can get nothing done; I long to be more free that I am, like Sonic, for example.

However, I encountered a problem; I needed three base DNA sequences in order to change my species, and then I needed an Ancient Genetic Manipulator that had been . As for the first, I soon learned that the Inferred Ideas has a second function; storing DNA sequences of inhabitants of that reality. It was the biggest break I got; after three restless nights, I had Sonic's, Shadow's, and Silver's DNA sequences I my possession, stored onto a memory crystal that was compatible with a manipulator. It was at this point, about a year ago, that I deleted all data on that reality, designated by be as AR1, that realities version of Earth AR1-001, from the Ancient Database using Dr. McKay's access code. However, I rigged it so that it would only appear to you guys about a week or so ago. I can't have you guys follow me, I'm sorry, but I have to do this alone."

"You're probably wondering how I got a hold of an Ancient Genetic Manipulator. Well, that is where I had perhaps the most enlightened moment of my life. After determining thru the database that there were none in Pegasus, I sought the help of the Tok'ra to find one in the Milky Way. (Don't ask how) They had one, and were willing to let me use it, provided I did them a service; become a temporary host to a young Tok'ra named Teloso, until a more permanent host could be found. I agreed instantly, and I must say, it was wonderful. Teloso helped me with the manipulator that the Tok'ra, true to their word, provided me, and I worked for about a year, up until last month, to find the commands needed to carry out the DNA rewrite, because as you know because of Niritti, it usually only increases one's brain function, or gives them the ATA gene, not to combine four DNA sequences. The night before Teloso was to be blended with another host, I succeeded with combining Sonic's, Shadow's, Silver's, and my own DNA into one. I would be unique; however, I chose to let myself be surprised with my new appearance once I arrived on AR1-001, even know, I have no clue about what I will look like. Once I had the code, I activated the rewrite, with one tiny line of code in the way; a genetic blocker that stops the rewrite for a certain period of time. You see, the manipulator basically creates a massive virus that the body's leukocytes don't react to, and that virus rewrites the DNA of that person's every cell. However, with me, there's a small blocker on the virus that decays with age; I gave myself a month in which to prepare everything."

"And here we are now, a month to the day since I began the rewrite. The process will begin at midnight, and I've coordinated my schedule so that I'll be stepping thru the gate right then, and that the transformation will be finished by the time I'm on the other side. You'll notice that several Zat's are missing, as well as a Staff Weapon, and one of the two Goa'uld Hand Devices. They're of Ancient design; I want to see if I can't tinker with it a bit. As for the other weapons, they're for my own protection. I daresay you have enough of them as it is."

"That is all I have to say. If you have any more questions, I've left my research, minus the things I deleted from the Database, in three boxes at my house in Colorado Springs. My bank Safety Deposit Box has a key to the house in it, as well as a copy of my Last Will and Testament, already delivered to the County Judge a year ago. As I won't be returning, I've rigged the oven in the house to explode at 1 PM today, to make it look like I was accidentally killed (and my body disintegrated) by the exploding appliance. I suggest that you guys get my research before then, possibly as soon as you've heard this, as my neighbors are the snoopiest people on the planet, and all but one of them works from home."

"Farewell. As one Roman put it, 'Carpe diem!' 'Seize the day!'"

"P.S. - I'm homeschooled (by myself); that's how I was able to leave for months at a time. That, and a 3D projection of myself to greet visitors and to call the Department of Child's Services. Ancient, of course"

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The small group of SGC personnel who were listening to the recording were stunned speechless at the information. Laundry was the first to recover.

"I want that recording sent to the President immediately." he instructed to Walter, who complied immediately.

"Teal'c, go to the Armory and check to see if we really are missing any weapons." Teal'c bowed his head and departed.

"Colonel Carter and Dr. McKay, I want you two to find out who this kid is. Get into his safety deposit box and get his research. Preferably without attracting his neighbor's attention and before his oven goes boom." They departed immediately. Laundry sat down in a nearby chair, formulating his call to the President.

Sciron had the worst headache of his life as he started returning to the land of the conscious. He had been afraid of that; massive pain can cause blackouts, if even only for about an hour or so. He opened his eyes and received a slight shock; he felt smaller. "Well, duh" he said aloud, and was pleasantly surprised that he sounded like Shadow, as he had guessed. He guessed he was around 3' 5, as was close to the other three hedgehog's heights. His clothing had also vanished; he guessed that it had disintegrated when his body, as part of the DNA rewrite, had given off very intense heat. It didn't matter; anyway, the only person he knew in this world that wore clothes was Dr. Eggman, and Sonic and friends didn't. He then got up off of the bed he was on; he assumed that it was a spare room in Tail's workshop, as there were various bits and pieces of technology strewn around. He finally found a mirror and examined his new appearance; nice. He turned as Sonic and Tails entered.

"So you're awake!" said Tails.

"Yes." replied Sciron. "I assume you found me after I blacked out after coming thru the Stargate?"

"Yeah," interjected Sonic. "There was an earthquake, and we found you in an old ave nearby. And what do you mean by a Stargate? That weird rock circle in the cave?"

Sciron thought for a second; he had forgotten about this. He would have some explaining to do.

"Did it light up on the edges of it and have a blue vortex within the inner part of it for a short amount of time?" asked Sciron.

"Yeah." said Tails.

"That's a Stargate. And you look as though neither of you has ever heard of or seen one. Oh boy, I'll have to explain it to you. Never thought I'd have to explain something to Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower.

"How…" began Sonic and Tails in unison.

"Sit, please. This tale is one that will take time to tell, and some parts may be confusing, so please try and pay attention."

For the next hour and a half, Sciron explained all about the Stargate, down to the DHD, crystals, and wormhole physics, and about the Ancients, the Goa'uld, and in the process, the SGC and the exploits of the Atlantis Expedition and SG-1, as well as his own story. Tails and Sonic grew more fascinated by this with each sentence, asking questions of Sciron from time to time. When he finally finished, they were speechless for a time. Tails recovered first.

"WOW." was all he could say.

"I'll say it." piped Sonic. "That's really cool."

"It could be cooler." Sciron said. "Are you sure you didn't see a DHD in that cave?"

"It could have been there. The only light was from the Gate and some moonlight from the shaft." Sciron frowned. With the Ancient database in a conveniently downsized-for-travel Ancient computer terminal, he could get the address of any planet in this Milky Way, but without a DHD, it was hopeless.

"I know!" exclaimed Sonic. "The cave is much lighter during the daytime. Could we go see if there is a DHD there then?"

"We can, if you want to. I have a full DHD crystal repair kit with me, along with a ZPM if the one in the DHD needs replacing."

"Cool." said Sonic. "Why don'cha get some rest, you look dead on your feet."

"Now that you mention it…" but Sciron didn't finish that sentence before he fell backward in deep sleep, onto the bed. Tails and Sonic got up; neither was going to sleep tonight. They were too excited about the information that Sciron had told them.