Chapter 3

Being human was not as she had imagined it would be. But then, imagined was not the correct word to use. Up until three days ago, she had been part of a city: vast, ancient and made up of nothing more than metal, stone and circuits.

Yet as the city Atlantis, she had spent millennia gathering information on humans: how they acted and reacted, how they functioned and how they changed. In all that time she has had time to study and consider them. And yes, she had time to study how she would have acted had she been human. She had run countless scenarios in her memory banks and found the flaws and strengths in the human decisions.

Finally this part of her consciousness had been set aside and a body had been created. The body was a genetically altered clone of an Ancient who had lived in her – as the city – years before she had been evacuated.

So in many ways, imagined could be used to describe her consideration of being human.

Unfortunately, no amount of imagining or considering could prepare one for the human state. The very first human trait she had been exposed to was emotion. Upon seeing the object of her fascination, she had felt emotion for the first time. But how to know what she had felt? And who could she ask? Anyone she asked would have to be informed of her former state, and though only a three-day-old human, she was aware that information would not be easy for the other humans to understand. Therefore she had been fortunate that her speech pattern had been confused in the beginning – talking backwards but understanding normally – and so had not been able to make them comprehend her true identity. Now she was Sitnalta, an adult human with the human skills of an infant.

Then there had been the strange emotion when Rodney McKay had basically ignored her. He had seemed more interested in the technology of the room than her. Only reason and millennia of quiet observation had kept her from breaking something – the reaction called upon by the emotion.

Soon after she had been expected to dress. They might have given her the garments, but nobody even considered the idea that she did not know how to don them. In the end the female physician, the woman called Doctor Jennifer, had helped her. Now everyone had been alerted, though, to the fact that she was different. Well, the wild speculation of how she had come to be had been resolved when she had told them the function of the room: it was a cloning-room.

Now, Rodney McKay and Radek Zelenka were spending entire days cloistered in the cloning room, trying to figure out how it worked, if she was a threat and who she was a clone of. Why that last bit of information was relevant, she did not know. What she did know, though, was that they would never solve the riddle should she not tell them. The information of who Sitnalta was had been carefully and completely erased from the Atlantis – she was careful to draw the distinction between herself and that of the city by using the two names in her mind – database.

So, while the reason for her being was to win the attention of Rodney McKay, she now spent hours every day with either Teyla Emmagan, John Sheppard or both. At times the giant Sateydan, called Ronon Dex, would join the former two and they would try and guide her into their world. A few times she had been sent to the infirmary where doctor (a description of job, not a name!) Carson Beckett would examine her. Often he would call her 'love,' but the other doctor, Jennifer Keller, had explained that though it was an endearment of sorts, he called all women that and she should not be bothered by it. What a curious people the Scots were!

Therefore, by now the sensation of hunger was expected and not too frightening. Dressing – as long as the garments were simple – was easy enough and she felt her interaction with people was getting better. She was just ever thankful that she has had time to practice walking, sitting and standing in the time before the humans had found her!

She was aware the humans found her aloof and unpredictable. Teyla Emmagan had spent some time explaining to her the emotions she felt – she just had to first explain the feeling of them. She had also discovered by now that sometimes her reactions were better kept to herself. It had not taken Teyla Emmagan long to discover the fact that she, Sitnalta, was interested in Rodney McKay. This had disturbed Teyla Emmagan, yet Sitnalta was not sure why that would be.

Well, things were about to change, Sitnalta decided as she stood on a balcony overlooking the west pier. As she had once been Atlantis, it was only natural that she still maintained an unusual level of awareness of the city. Already some of the reactions of herself and the city-part of her diverged, but she was able to communicate with the city at any time. So right now a part of her mind was linked to Atlantis, and she was silently checking on the actions of Rodney McKay. She was proud and glad to find he was once more spending time with Atlantis – and not with the red-headed woman. But now Sitnalta was here, and she wanted some of his time.

But how to accomplish that? Well, the best way she could figure, was to join him in his endeavours to understand Atlantis. Who knew the city better than she? She would just have to walk a line between being capable and completely usurping the project. If she seemed too knowledgeable, he might just be able to unravel her secrets. Yet she would have to be smart enough to aid him and win his respect.

She would use the next few days to complete her 'crash course' in being human. On the day of her one week celebration, she would take action to impose herself on the science department.