Four months later Dr Rodney McKay finally thought he had made some headway in neutralising Elizabeth's nanites. He'd worked almost non-stop on the project, pausing only for meals of the most essential nature (which for him was 5 a day), and to grab a few hours sleep in between the usual crisis that seemed to plague Atlantis. The Replicaters had returned numerous times during the time since Elizabeth had been put into stasis, searching for the nanite transmissions they had picked up previously. Whilst the city had been able to fend them off on each occasion, the Replicators learnt from each encounter, trying different tactics to get through the Lantean shield. It wouldn't be long before they worked out how to penetrate the shield altogether, and that was a situation Rodney didn't want to deal with.
He ran a simulation for the 15th time, checking and rechecking the results before calling Colonel Sheppard and Colonel Carter into a meeting to share his theory. When they wandered into his lab, both looking drained from the most recent Replicator attack, his head snapped up in surprise.
" Oww.... how'd you get here so quick?" He complained, rubbing the back of his neck to ease the muscle cramps there.
" We were in the area, now what have you got?" Sheppard snapped, getting straight to the point. Everyone had noticed the change in his behaviours and moods since Elizabeth had gone into stasis. He'd become withdrawn and isolated, still doing his job, but not with the same zeal as before.
" The Holy Grail" Rodney said simply, turning his laptop around so that Sam Carter could see the horribly complex series of algorithms and coding displayed on the screen.
" You plan on unbinding the nanites from Elizabeth's cells.... then turning her into a carrier for a new Replicator virus?" Sam asked incredulously, glancing up from the laptop to see Rodney's smug expression.
" Won't that kill her... unbinding the nanites?" John asked, doubt still seeded within his voice.. how often had they gone down this path within the last few months only to hit a brick wall?
" Not if I tell them to replace the nanite portions of her brain with organic replicants of the original tissue, BEFORE they unbind" Rodney continued., pulling up a fairly complex diagram that would hopefully make it a little easier to explain.
" They can DO that?" John queried, raising an eyebrow in a very 'Elizabeth' gesture.
" They can when I program them to... but that's not the best of it" Rodney kept on at a million miles an hour, his hands dancing expressively before him. " The Replicator virus I've created will do the same for all Replicators, cause them to unbind and become uncohesive. They'll just fall apart!" He said gleefully, his expression one of utter smugness.
John fought the urge to slap him, mainly for Carter's sake and settled for a deadly glare.
" And just how do you plan on transmitting this 'virus' to the Replicators?" John asked, not liking where this discussion was heading.
" That's where Elizabeth comes in... she'll transmit the virus next time the Replicators come back" Rodney replied, his enthusiasm dying a little.
" You plan on turning her into a Typhoid Mary?" John gasped, his mouth agape as he tried to understand " This is ELIZABETH we're talking about"
" I know, but if we can bring her out of stasis and reprogram her nanites, and 'allow' the Replicators into the city, they link with her and wooshka.. they all fall apart" Rodney's zeal lessened again as he recalled the last time a Replicator had probed his mind, it hadn't been a pleasant experience then and was more than likely going to be worse for Elizabeth. Unfortunately she wasn't around to be asked.
John seethed, his anger visible on his features as he paced the room like a caged animal. How could Rodney want to USE Elizabeth like that... use her as bait! Deep down he knew she would agree to the plan if it gave Atlantis such a weapon against the Replicators, but still, he hated to see her in harms way. What if they noticed her nanite's had been altered before they linked with her?
" I can't believe you want to use Elizabeth as bait.. can't there be any other way to 'uploading' this virus?" John glared at the withering scientist, his eyes blazing with fury.
" Well we can't exactly go back to the Replicator Homeworld... we needed Elizabeth for that last time and look what that cost us" Rodney retorted, a pleading glance directed towards Carter for support.
" John... " Sam said cautiously, not wanting to anger him further but needing to gain control of the situation. " This is my call"
" Thank you" Rodney said in a small voice, unconsciously moving towards Sam and away from the still seething John.
" And what's your call?" John snarled, resuming his pacing. Every fibre of his being was against the idea, his job had always been to protect Elizabeth, not put her willingly in danger and potentially back into the hands of the Enemy. His feelings for her had only deepened in the time she'd been in stasis and he rebelled against the idea of potentially having her back only to lose her again.
" I say we do it. From what I know of Dr Weir she would want us to take out the Replicators by any means necessary. If it goes to plan its a win/win situation, we'll just have to make sure it goes to plan" Sam said carefully, nailing John with a look that spoke a thousand words. He took the hint and backed off, settling for looking rather grumpy.
" How long will it take to set up?" Sam asked McKay, who'd somehow ended up behind her left shoulder. She turned on her heel to face him.
" Umm... it's set up... I just have to take Elizabeth out of stasis, and upload the virus into her nanites, then we wait till the Replicators show up." Rodney explained, pointing towards the laptop as if to show that he actually hadn't been wasting time.
" Get to it" Carter ordered before turning and leaving the lab, a hidden smirk on her face at Rodney's miserable expression. The scientist scrambled to retrieve his laptop and scurried out of the room, a still seething John tailing behind him.
A short time later they were in the stasis room, Zalenka and Dr Keller having joined them in case there were any complications. Four marines stood by the door, each carrying a ARG in case anything unexpected should occur. John was thankful for their presence but loathed it at the same time. If they fired before the Nanites finished their new programming.. Elizabeth would be dead as sure as if she were shot with a P90.
Rodney looked toward Sheppard as he finished setting up his equipment, the question as to wether he should proceed despite Carter's approval clearly on his face.
" Do it" John grumbled, not taking his eyes of Elizabeth behind the frosted glass. He had made it a daily vigil since she'd been put in that chamber, to come and visit her, telling her about the daily goings on in Atlantis despite the fact he knew she couldn't hear him. Something about her mere presence, even in stasis calmed him.
The marines stepped forward to the front of the small congregation, ARG weapons raised and ready to fire. While Elizabeth had remained in control of her nanites in the time since she had been recovered, there was still a chance they would take control of her once again.
" Ok… releasing the stasis field…. NOW" Rodney remarked as he toggled the appropriate control on the panel before him. It took a few moments for the system to revive her, the frosted glass losing its opaqueness as she returned once more to life.
The door hissed open and she stepped out, a look of utter confusion on her face as the ARG's were aimed directly at her.
" What's going on?" Elizabeth asked, looking around the room with a touch of fear in her eyes. This was not what she had expected when she'd been put into stasis.
" Rodney's gonna reprogram your nanites and then use you as bait to lure the Replicators here... then you'll infect them" John said simply, his eyes pleading with her to go along with the plan.
" Ok… what do you need me to do?" She asked quietly, her expression one of trust.
" Just stand there for the time being… I should be able to upload the program remotely… and…. THERE" Rodney pressed a series of buttons on his laptop and glanced towards Elizabeth. " How do you feel?" He asked, waiting the colour drain from her face with each passing moment.
" I…" Her voice failed as she collapsed in a tangle of limbs, John's strong arms catching her before she hit the deck. He eased her gently onto the floor and pushed the marine's aside to make room for Keller.
" Doc?" He asked after a few moments, anxious to know what was going on.
" It's ok John" Jennifer said as she completed another scan " The Replicators are rebuilding portions of her brain with organic tissue…we need to get her to the infirmary though, I want to keep an eye on her"
John breathed a sigh of relief before scooping Elizabeth up in his arms, heading towards the door with the Marines, scientists and Dr Keller in tow. He'd gotten no more than two corridors towards the Infirmary when the city shook with an eerily familiar blast.
The Replicators were back… and had been hiding just out of sensor range until Elizabeth had been reanimated. This time they were getting what they came for.
