Transposed Part 4
Atlantis Jumper Bay:
Ushering Larrin out of the Jumper, John proceeded to lead the way to the infirmary; silently. Larrin strode quietly after him, leaving him to sulk in temporary peace. For he was sulking, because it was one thing for the leader to look and act like a little child, but another matter all together to look like a five year old and act and sound like an adult.
"How long?" Larrin's small voice sounded unnatural to John, mainly due to the fact that the mind behind the voice no longer projected a five year old. It just didn't fit.
Raising one eyebrow in question, John queried nonchalantly, "How long what?"
Sighing disgustedly Larrin clarified, "How long will I be stuck like this before that McKay guy fixes it?"
This pronouncement caused John to chuckle softly. That McKay guy was certainly a new one for John to torment the scientist with. Perhaps, though, he'd be pleased to know that his reputation was still spreading.
"Well," began John casually, "That McKay Guy is indeed trying to fix the device that did this. He should be coming up with something soon."
Further explanation was stalled by the activation of the pilot's com unit. "McKay to Sheppard."
Mouthing a 'see', John reached up to activate his headset, "Go ahead Rodney."
"Um, ah," Rodney began hesitantly, "There's been a slight accident."
Rolling his eyes in disgust, John asked with trepidation, "What kind of accident?"
"Sam got too close," Rodney spilled out hurriedly, obviously aware of coming repercussions of his statement.
By now John had halted completely in the hall, Larrin stood off to his side, eyeing him suspiciously as he spat, "What do you mean got too close? You better not mean what I think you mean?"
"And what is it that you think I mean? Come on and clarify that," challenged Rodney.
"Oh no, I am not playing that game with you! You know exactly what I think you think I mean," retorted John completely not amused.
"Really, you know what I mean, because you know, that I know, that you know what's going on?" Rodney baited out of pure spite, unwilling to concede failure on his part.
"RODNEY!"
"Alright," admitted McKay simply, "Sam came down to help, and sort of touched it before Radek could stop her. It's entirely his fault, by the way."
"Don't blame Zelenka," threatened John, "And don't try to change the subject. Fine, I'll meet you in the infirmary, with Sam, so we can make sure she's fine."
"So, let me see if I've got this straight," drawled Larrin drawing John's attention back to her, "Your leader is now in the same position as me? And here I thought you guys were supposed to be fixing this problem, not creating a bigger one!"
"Oh come on and shut up," motioned John with one hand as the other rubbed the bridge of his nose. The day just kept getting weirder and weirder, however just as they hit the entrance to the infirmary, Larrin's headache returned with a vengeance.
Atlantis Infirmary:
From the overhead observation room, John peered down at the two small figures currently occupying beds in the isolation room. Dr. Keller was down their along with Rodney, trying to ascertain what in the world was going on.
Sheppard was still seething at the fact McKay allowed Sam to fall prey to the device as well, because two little girls running around the city were the last things they needed!
He was also creeped out by the whole episode of Larrin recovering her adult memories. It was unnerving even for the Pegasus galaxy, and now Keller was monitoring the Traveler's brain activity in an attempt to figure out why the sudden shift in mental states. While their conversation in the jumper had been weird, the death glares he received the whole way to the infirmary had been tiresome. Larrin had answered Keller's questions easily enough, and looked extremely put off by the whole matter.
John only started down at the activity of the room below him for a few minutes before he was joined by Ronon and Teyla.
"This is weird," the Satedan stated simply, moving to stand next to Sheppard.
John nodded in agreement, "You're telling me."
"So, Larrin seemed to regain all of her adult memories while in the Jumper? Why?" Teyla asked for clarification, just as confused as either guy, wondering what would prompt such a drastic reaction.
"I have no idea," replied John, letting the conversation lapse into silence. It was late after all, and the trying day seemed to morph into a more complex problem with each hour.
Minutes later Keller and McKay joined them in the observation room, looking equally grim. "Well," began Jenifer hesitantly, "This is going to sound redundant, but now we know for sure that the little girl down there is Larrin, because she has all of the memories to confirm it. We can then deduce that the other child is Sam."
"Yes, but we already knew that," growled McKay exasperatedly, "I SAW the device change her; eye witness remember?"
"Okay, so they're both kids," stated John summing up what Keller told them, "But that doesn't explain why Larrin's mind mirrored her childlike form for almost the whole time she was here, before it switched to her adult mental state residing in the child's body? Rodney?"
The gaze of everyone present shifted to the astrophysicist in hopes that he could shed some light on the problem. "About that," Rodney began noncommittally, "We all know that the Ancients tended to make devices to fulfill grand schemes and designs right? Well, this one was an attempt to create a Fountain of Youth of sorts. They thought it would help them on their way to Ascension."
"By turning them into kids?" Ronon queried doubtfully.
"A child's mind is far less complex," stated Teyla contemplatively, "Children also radiate innocence, which I am sure they thought would assist them in their goal to ascend."
"Wonderful," mused John, running his fingers through his hair, messing it up even further, "We know why they built it, and I guess the adult consciousness was the side-effect they couldn't cure."
"And being the intelligent and persistent Ancients they were," commented Rodney dryly, "They never fixed the glitch and subsequently abandoned the project."
"But you can," grunted Ronon.
Rolling his eyes, Rodney retorted bitterly, "Of course it's all up to me. Again. One of these day's I'm not going to be able to fix your problems."
"But you see this isn't just our problem," replied John smugly, "It's also Sam's problem, and I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to her. Besides, you always claim you know enough about everything to fix anything."
McKay's eyes narrowed dangerously as he spluttered, "Well I guess I'll just go hop to it then; because I can fix anything."
Another question still bothered Teyla, and she voiced her thoughts to the group, "Will the split consciousness be a problem though? Jenifer, do you think Larrin will keep hold of her adult memories until she is reverted back?"
"Actually, I have a theory about that," began Keller thoughtfully, "I think she will switch back and forth between a child like state and an adult consciousness. After Colonel Sheppard and Ronon brought her down when she began convulsing, I looked into her brain activity. It differed from when she first arrived to a little while after she was admitted."
"So I wasn't crazy then," justified John in satisfaction, "Her memories must have switched over in the hall because I thought she went a little weird."
"Exactly," chimed in Jen, "Presently she is asleep, but before I left her brain activity resembled that of the records of her child mentality. She seemed to zone out after I hooked her up to the monitors, clutching her head. I think the shifts in consciousness are marked by painful headaches."
"So, we can expect Sam to be subjected to the same problem," concluded Teyla wondering how this transformation would affect her friend.
Asking one more question Ronon chipped in, "This isn't going to hurt either one right? They're not in any danger are they?"
Jenifer shook her head, "No, from what I suspect switching between mental states produces a reasonably painful headache, as Larrin exhibited, with some minor convulsions, but nothing detrimental to their overall health thus far."
"Why did it work for Sam, and not any of us? You said it was inactive," John pondered out loud, wondering why it did not work when Rodney touched it or when he had.
"That's a funny thing actually," explained McKay faltering a bit, "Apparently the device has multiple settings which the Ancients thought would help streamline the process. Presently, only females who touch it get reverted to a five year old state; settings left over from the last time it was used."
"So once you figure out how to change the settings you can fix them right?" Ronon asked impatiently.
Everyone turned to stare back at Rodney who soon got the hint by saying, "Alright alright, just crack the whip again why don't you? I'll get on it."
Atlantis Infirmary:
After a fairly restful night, one of the two occupants of the observation room began to awake. Larrin peered around at the quietly whirring machines surrounding her and another small form in the next bed over. Reaching up to scratch her temples, the small girl realized probes were attached to her head.
Even more confused, she tried to figure out how she ended up there. The last thing she remembered was Uncle John taking her for a ride in, what did he call it? Oh yeah, a Puddle Jumper. She was on a Jumper ride around the city.
Suddenly, a slight moaning next her brought Larrin out of her musing as she saw a small blonde head emerge from under some covers. Even though she was curious about why she hadn't met this girl yet, Larrin in her excitement didn't hesitate in pulling the leads from her head and jumping on the bed next to her.
"Who are you?" Larrin asked curiously, resting her head on her hands, staring at the other child.
The blond girl shot her a weird look, but before she could reply Keller walked in saying, "Larrin meet Sam, Sam meet Larrin."
"That's my name?" Sam asked in confusion; she couldn't seem to remember anything.
"Yes," Jenifer frowned slightly wondering how to play this without scaring her, "You don't remember much do you?"
The blond head shook back and forth, and the blue eyes radiated confusion, so Jenifer elaborately began to lie a bit, "Well, Sam you have amnesia. You were visiting us, and um…hit your head."
"Oh," replied the girl sagely, seemingly accepting Keller's story.
"What's amnesia?" Larrin inquired tilting her head to one side.
Jenifer chuckled to herself before replying, "It's when you can't remember what happened exactly."
"Oh no," cried Sam, "I can't remember anything! Will I ever remember again?"
Smiling Jen clarified coolly, "Of course you'll remember, but it'll take some time. Now why don't you both get dressed and I'll take you to the mess for breakfast. I'm sure both of you would like to get out for a while."
Keller handed both Sam and Larrin a pair of pants and a small t-shirt; it was lucky the Daedalus outfitted the supply room with children's clothes just in case they needed to share with any allies or refugees they might assist.
Once dressed, Jenifer led the two girls out of the infirmary, holding on to each child's hand firmly, so as not to lose track of either one.
Atlantis Mess:
Keller led the two girls into the mess and over to the service line, earning quite a few stares from curious expedition members, though the girls were oblivious to it all. The story of their leader's run-in with the device spread around the city like lightening; a tribute to the city's prolific rumor mill.
Now, they watched the results, stealing glances from their respective spots in the mess, only to look away whenever Keller met their eye.
However, Jenifer was not able to glare at the watchers for long, as the two girls must have secretly decided to be as big of a nuisance as possible.
"Aunt Jenifer," asked Sam excitedly, "What are we doing today? Something fun?"
"Yeah," Larrin picked right up, "Can we do something exciting. Yesterday was too boring, and everyone was so serious."
"Well," replied Jenifer thoughtfully, "Let's see what the others think."
She led the two girls over to her usual breakfast group with them following behind her like little ducks following their mother.
Jenifer set own tray down next to Teyla, who greeted her pleasantly, "Good morning Jenifer."
Sam and Larrin also set their trays down at the table as well, Larrin looked up expectantly at Teyla, who amended her comment, "And good morning to you Larrin and you Sam."
Larrin looked satisfied and began to dig into her hash-browns, another delicacy Keller pointed out to her. Sam, conversely, still was angry she did not recognize anyone at the table apologized, "I'm sorry, but I don't remember any of you."
Eager to show off her knowledge offered some introductions excitedly, "The really tall one is Uncle Ronon; he's a great story teller," this earned several raised eyebrows which Ronon squashed with flashing eyes.
"And sitting next to him, eating a massive pile of food," Larrin continued completely nonplused, "Is Uncle Rodney; he's kind of mean, but doesn't really mean it."
Now Ronon smirked heartily in McKay's direction, much to the chagrin of Rodney.
"But where is Uncle John?" Larrin asked in confusion, she had not really seen him since the Jumper Ride, and she found him so interesting for some reason.
"Ha, even the little ladies still have a thing for them," remarked McKay smugly, only to cry out in pain as Ronon elbowed him.
"That was uncalled for," whined the scientist through a mouthful of food.
"No it wasn't." Ronon argued as he stole a hash brown from McKay's plate, and dipped it into his ketchup.
"John needed to take care of some work this morning," Teyla answered, ignoring the arguing guys, "I'm sure he'll make time for you later."
Suddenly standing up, Rodney announced, "Well I'm going to get back to work, if you catch my drift."
Ronon also stood, locking eyes with Teyla as if to say, I'm not watching them now.
Thus both teammates quickly gathered their trays and deserted the mess before Keller or Teyla could quash their plans.
"Actually," Jen said casually, "I need to get back to the infirmary because I have some test results running that I need to analyze and stuff."
"You wish to avoid," Teyla dipped her head in the general direction of the girl while they ate unawares, "As well. I see. Very well, good luck finding what you seek."
"Thank you," Keller expressed a little too enthusiastically; after all she had had the little ones under her care all night and greatly desired a break.
Teyla, knowing she had plans already, gazed about in search of a proper replacement; after all Sam, while still her normal self, expressed a desire to not have just anyone watch over Larrin. The Athosian suspected the same rules applied for the child version of Sam as well. Spying a promising candidate, Teyla flagged him over rising to greet him.
--tbc--
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