CHAPTER 41
EPISODE……………Avatar
For the last two years, Doctor Lee and several other scientists had been working on a new…training program. It was virtual reality type and Teal'c was the one who was testing it. Ford really wanted to, but Teal'c won it out in a vote. Carter voted for him, but the other two didn't. The reason why was obvious though. He would beat it to quickly or enjoy it so much he'd drag it out. Right at the moment Teal'c was testing the program. He just entered it and was in the hallway just down and outside the gate room. He had no weapons, just his SGC black pants, T-shirt and boots. Several armed guards rushed past going to the gate room. Walter's voice came over the intercom as he followed along.
"Threat level Foxtrot Alpha Six. All security teams to the gate room."
Gun fire was heard as they approached the door to the gate room. A couple more guards ran up.
"Give me your weapon." Teal'c said.
The soldier gave over his PC-90 and pulled his nine. Teal'c nodded to him and he slid his card. The door opened and several energy blast came through. A guy dropped near Teal'c as he entered the room. It was a Kull warrior at the top of the ramp and he was firing shots at everyone. There was over a couple dozen dead men in the room. Teal'c quickly pointed and fired, but the bullets bounced off. The other door opened and more men came in. Jack came in firing a PC-90 and was struck a couple times dropping down dead quickly. The other men kept firing and dying quickly around Teal'c who was basically not being aimed at, at all. He saw Jack fall and dropped his weapon to pick another off the ground. It was a modified thirty caliber machine gun that fired those special energy blast that only effected the Kull warriors. He rolled as he grabbed the gun, spun around and fired one burst. The Kull warrior dropped to the ramp and died instantly. Teal'c stood up and then was jacked out. He opened his eyes and looked around seeing he was in the small room built for using the virtual reality system. A special made helmet that was a few strips of metal with a cable on either side just above his ears was on his head. His body was standing in a gray object that looked a lot like the same technology that the Keeper used when SG-1, before Ford's arrival, had traveled to where Jack and Daniel relived certain aspects of their memories. Jack's was a mission gone bad and Daniels was where he watched his parents die.
"Simulation time, 49 seconds." Doctor Lee said shocked as another scientist took the helmet off Teal'c.
A female scientists in the background was looking over computer data. A strap across his chest was there, as well as equipment that monitored and feed liquids into his system.
"Not bad. Not bad." he said removing that.
Carter, Jack and Ford was standing off near the door.
"I think I would have done better." Ford said. "No offense Teal'c."
"I believe you would have faired better as well."
"That is why I didn't vote for you Ford." Jack said smiling. "So, how was it?"
Teal'c step out of the object smiling.
"You died well in battle O'Neill."
Ford couldn't help but laugh, hard. This earned him a small glare from Jack he didn't see. Carter tried not to laugh, but it turned into a chuckle as she turned her head so Jack couldn't see her face.
"Obviously there is something defective with this thing." Jack stated gesturing to it.
He couldn't do anything about those two laughing at him. It was Ford's fault mostly even though Teal'c started it.
"Agreed. An Anubis drone is a far more formidable warrior than this simulation would suggest."
"What? We have been working on this chair for two years to make it into a viable virtual reality training tool for SGC personal." Lee exclaimed.
"You have failed." Teal'c stated.
"He's nothing if not honest." Jack said when Lee looked at him.
"Okay, maybe it could use a little more work…" Lee said looking the machine over.
"Can you make it harder?" Jack asked. "More difficult?"
"Well, I mean we can input the parameters for different scenarios, but the vast majority of the simulation array comes from the mind of the user. The programming is actually built by interfacing memories from the individuals conscious with the chairs matrix."
"Carter, all I heard was matrix and I found those films quite confusing." Jack said looking at her for a easier explanation. The look on Ford's face made Jack glare at him.
"I think what Doctor Lee is trying to explain is that the simulation actually learns its realism from the person using it."
"Captain?" he said looking over at him after shaking his head at Carter.
"Oh man." Ford groaned shaking his head. How can he be this much of a dunce!!! "Okay…I'm the example here. I used to watch and now I am part of the SGC. I have some control over things seeing as I know what goes on to a point, but not complete control."
"Ah." he said sounding like he had an idea. "Like playing a video game over again and knowing where things already are."
"Exactly Jack."
"Yeah, we built it, we tested the software, using a variety of subjects, obviously no one with Teal'c field experience." Lee said.
"Subjects? To whom do you refer?" Jack asked.
He looked at everyone and no one said anything. The scientists in the back of the room had smiles so he knew they did it. Carter just looked at the ground and he knew Ford had nothing to do with it since he wasn't used in the system at all. He wasn't sure why though. But the rumor was too big an ego, but that was a rumor. Jack had only seen the ego come up when it dealt with his guns.
"Hey, if Teal'c would agree to work with us a little more…" Lee said not only breaking the tension in the air, but getting back to work as well. "Look all you would have to do basically is just play the game. Let it learn from you."
Teal'c looked at his friends who didn't say anything.
"Ah come on you would be so good." he said only inches from Teal'c.
"Very well." he said looking at the ceiling like he didn't want to do it.
"There you go. Just make sure that there is a beginners level for the rest of us. Well, except for him." Jack said pointing at Ford.
"Hey!"
"Oh yeah, we can always make it easier. Not that we would have to for you, certainly." he said seeing the look Jack had like he was insulted.
Carter had to look away to keep from almost laughing though failed as Ford started laughing again. Jack glared at them in a way they shut up quickly.
"I mean for others, but you, you would be fine…"
"Quit while you can Doctor." Ford said having to cough to keep from laughing again.
Lee shut up.
"Carter's. Gentlemen." Jack said. "Oh and Captain?"
"Brigadier?"
"Try to refrain from laughing at my expense anymore." Jack said giving him a serious look then walking away.
"I can't help it. He puts himself in those situations." Ford said after he left their view.
"I've noticed." Carter said chuckling lightly.
"Beginnings level.." Ford said breaking up again.
Carter and Ford worked on a new idea and brought it into the…..the game room, as Lee was getting Teal'c ready for another session of gaming. They wheeled in a flat monitor screen with a keyboard in front of it on a small table. On the bottom shelf was the computer tower. Lee was talking as the other scientists in the back worked on the computers. Carter hooked the monitor to the chairs system as he talked.
"Thanks to the Carter's new code translation program, we can actually monitor your progress through a graphic representation of your point of view."
"You played Doom." she said.
"And Halo." Ford mentioned.
"I played Def Jam Vendetta as well." he said smiling.
"Now, there is a two second delay between the chairs processor and your perceived experience. But um, you shouldn't notice anything." Lee said. "Anyway, we can store ever aspect of your activity in the game and then later choose what we are going to incorporate into our training program of the scenario." he said walking over to several computer monitors.
Most of them were monitoring Teal'cs condition. Carter and Ford were still in the process of hooking the monitor system up as he kept talking.
"You understand that as before, once your mind has interfaced with the chair, we cannot forcibly remove the connection or cut power to the chair without endangering you."
"Indeed."
"It's the function of the new chair design. Since the whole gamekeeper incident, the aliens of P7J-989 built the shutoff command into the internal programming. So only someone in the chair can control it."
"You have previously given me this information Colonel Carter." Teal'c said. Carter smiled back at him and nodded to Ford who started the system they brought it. He was typing away as Lee talked.
"This is a little different this time, because the game will actually be learning from you then incorporating those changes into its programming code."
"If you get killed in the game, it will automatically reset and start you from the beginning. The chair will only disconnect and end the game under two conditions. Once you complete the scenario, or if you engage the internal failsafe. Which of course you are free to do at anytime."
"That will be unnecessary."
"Teal'c I would take that advice if I was sitting there." Ford mentioned. "This is going to be much harder than before."
"The chair is intuitive. It's eventually going to learn everything you know. Now if you want to stop before the conclusion of the scenario, get to the base elevator and take it to the surface. Ready?" she said.
"Proceed." he said still smiling. He figured it would be a lot of fun.
Lee walked up and started putting the device on Teal'c head.
"Good luck Teal'c." Ford said.
Teal'c barely nodded as the system powered up and he went virtual.
"Threat level Foxtrot Alpha Six!" Walter's voice said over the com line as Teal'c looked at his hands as he walked through to base.
Both Carter's and the scientists heard everything but only the Carter's were watching things on the screen at the moment. It was like watching a dark version of a computer generated cartoon. Reminded Ford of the Reboot cartoon, but this had a more blocky look to it, more realistic and not a cartoon.
"Not bad graphics."
"Give me your weapon." Teal'c said to a soldier as they came up to the door again.
Gun fire was seriously erupting in the gate room, much more than the first time. The soldier pulled his nine as Teal'c aimed the thirty caliber that had the special energy blast adaptation added to it. He signaled the guard to open the door and when it did the Kull warrior was standing there. He shot Teal'c in the chest instantly.
"Ouch! Was that suppose to happen?" Ford said looking at Lee.
Teal'c's body shook in the chair and he grunted. Lee looked at the computer monitors quickly.
"What did just happened?" Carter asked.
"It looks like the chair induced a pain response when he was killed."
"It that keeps up….his body won't be able to take that for long."
"It's directly linked to his brain, we knew it was capable of this." Carter said.
"But it's still a simulation, it doesn't have to hurt." Lee said.
"That is the difference between you and Teal'c. He knows in a real situation, that your tactics would be different if you couldn't feel any pain."
"Man that was a heck of a shock." Lee said.
"Too much."
"He wanted it to be realistic." Carter said.
"Should I call medical?" Ford asked worried.
"Ah…let's see how he does and if it gets worse then yes."
"Fortunately, we made the chair incapable of delivering anything close to a lethal jolt." Lee said.
"Maybe, but so many continuous jolts can become lethal." Ford stated.
Walter put out the same message as before as the guards ran by Teal'c again. Teal'c went a different direction this time. He went into the control room just in front of him. He grabbed a modified PC-90 and checked the rounds then started off down and went to go through the other door. Several more guards was waiting at that doorway and several more coming behind him. Teal'c walked in seeing no Kull warrior in the room but a mass of dead bodies. Jack was at the bottom of the ramp with a few hits on his chest.
"O'Neill." he said kneeling next to him.
"Get out of here Teal'c." he said slowly.
Teal'c sat up and was shot in the back quickly as the Kull warrior punched a guy out at the same time.
"That's twice. Look's like the chair is learning quickly." Lee said as Teal'cs body grunted in pain and jerked again.
"Don't count Teal'c out yet." Carter said also worried.
"This isn't what I expected to see."
"Me neither." Carter said as they watched Teal'c go another direction than before.
Teal'c went straight to the armory and opened the door quickly. He grabbed a vest and on the monitor it blinked saying armor 100. When he grabbed a PC-90, it flashed saying it was loaded.
"Maybe he should go find my coat."
Teal'c put the vest on quickly and turned on the adaptation as he walked down the hallway. The alarms were still going off as he looked down the hallway going into the gate room seeing the door open and a bunch of bodies. He took cover behind the corner as the Kull warrior walked out. Teal'c fired a shot, missed and then backed off before decided to make a strategic retreat as the soldier kept walking forward and firing its arm weapons. A human soldier came around a corner and got hit as Teal'c rushed past while firing behind him. He stopped and waited next to a corner to wait. Nothing happened and he heard even less so he looked out with weapon ready. He had no idea what was going on and even less when he was shot in the back several times by a Kull warrior coming up behind him. Another one came out from where it was following him and shot him some more.
"Ooh, that's cold." Daniel said watching.
He had came in just after Teal'c started again and got the vest. Teal'c body shook again and he grunted more as he once again died.
"Colonel, I'm pretty concerned about some of these bio-readings." Lee said.
"Me too." she said looking at Ford with a nod. Ford grabbed the phone quickly and got hold of medical.
"Doctor Carmichael, this is Captain Ford, report to science lab five."
Walter's voice came through again as Teal's started over. This time Carter was in the lead heading for the gate room. She stopped and had the men stop as Teal'c put his hand up.
"Colonel Carter, I require your assistance."
"Likewise, SG-3 came in hot. Sounds like our gate room people could us a little backup."
"They are all dead."
"Excuse me?"
"The gate room has been breached. Our most effective means will be to seal off east and south ends of level twenty eight. From there we might be able to force them into a cross fire."
"Force who?"
"Two of Anubis's drone warriors."
"How the hell can you know that?" She had no idea what was going on much less how Teal'c did. But he never lied much less made jokes in serious matters.
"Because they have chosen the same route, seven of the last ten times."
Carter didn't understand but went with the plan anyway. They did just that and got into positions and waited.
"Colonel, we have to hostiles headed your way." a voice said over the com.
"Roger that, we are in position." she said back.
They heard them coming and waited. They both came out of a side hallway right next to Teal'cs position firing quickly. One guy died instantly as the rest opened fire. The human soldiers died quickly as Teal'c kept firing. Carter took several hits to the gut and dropped.
The rest of them saw this. Carter actually cringed and felt Ford touch her shoulder. He didn't let go.
"Where am I in this Doctor?"
"I don't know. You are barely programmed in the system since it had trouble coping with your capabilities." Lee said. "Stupid sounding I know, but we had trouble trying to get what you are capable of and your coat and weapons, anyway…mostly I think you are just known but not there."
"Like a memory."
"Yeah."
"Great." he said rolling his eyes. "So much for me helping."
Teal'c yelled to fall back and started moving while firing. Even though the blue energy they fired hit the Kull warriors, they didn't fall or even act hurt. Teal'c and the other guy were cut down quickly. The last thing they saw was Teal'c looking at the dead body of Colonel Carter as one of the warriors walked off.
The screen flashed as he was started over again. Dr. Carmichael was looking over Teal'c as he kept playing.
"Well, you were right to be concerned about these readings." he said after he stopped listening to Teal'cs heart. "Frequent sympathetic spikes in his natural adrenal production are causing blood pressure and heart rate to go way to high to be sustained over long term."
"That last ambush should have worked. Why did that energy weapon have no effect?" Carter asked looking at her team mates.
"I don't know. Have you ever known the super soldier to be resistant to the energy weapon in reality?" Lee asked while looking through a stack of printed out papers in a folder.
"No." both her and Ford said.
"But it is possible right. I mean, we have seen situations were the Goa'uld have adapted their technology to defend against something we have thrown at them." Daniel said looking at her.
"Well, hopefully the game will extrapolate possible solutions and offer them to Teal'c." Lee said closing the book.
They all looked at him.
"Well, I mean it would just be fair."
The level started over, again, with Carter running down the hallway, again. Teal'c once again was walking toward her.
"Teal'c, SG-3 are coming in hot, sounds like the gate room people could use some backup." she said running up and stopping. He said nothing as the others ran past. "We got to move!!!!"
"Colonel Carter listen to me! The SGC has been infiltrated by two Anubis drones. Our weapons are now ineffective against their armor."
"How could you…."
"How is this possible?"
"That's what I want to know…"
"I'm speaking of the armor." he said forcefully.
"It could have been altered to resist the effectiveness of the energy weapon."
"Can they now be defeated?"
"I have been working on a frequency modulator chip."
"Where is it?"
"In my lab. But I still don't…"
They both looked in the direction of the gate room as they heard gunfire erupt.
"Show me."
They ran off going to her lab. Once in the lab.
"It's only a prototype." she said as Teal'c started putting it on the gun.
Several energy burst hit the wall behind them and they got down quickly. The drone fired a few more times as Teal'c got up. He fired twice and it took the drone out quickly. They both got up and then had a new problem to deal with.
"Warning. The base autodestruct has been activated." Walter's voice said.
They walked out quickly and went down the hallway. They came upon Daniel and a group of others firing at another warrior down the corridor that lead into the gate control room.
"Nice you could join us!!" Daniel yelled.
"We've been busy!!!" she yelled back.
"They found a way to counter act our little weapon here." he yelled back.
Teal'c walked out firing the new improved PC-90. He dodged a blast and managed to hit the drone finally. The warning came again telling of the bases emanate destruction. They had thirty seconds to detonation as they ran into the control room. Carter rushed up and worked on the computer quickly.
"Base autodestruct has been aborted." it said.
"We're clear." she said turning back to them.
"Then the threat has been eliminated." Teal'c said looking around as the blast doors for the control room window opened.
"The threat has been eliminated." he said again sounding uncertain and worried.
"Teal'c you're injured." Carter said noticing the burn wound on his left shoulder. He was grazed by one of the hits.
"Teal'c?" Daniel asked.
"I'm fine."
"I don't get it. That should have been the end." Lee said.
"Then you're saying he should have won?" Daniel asked.
"Well that was the conclusion of the originally programmed scenario." Carter said.
"Damn! He knew how the end was suppose to be so the system is changing it. A new threat is somewhere he hasn't seen yet." Ford said almost hitting the table. Instead he tapped it lightly a few times and took a deep breath to calm himself. "He hasn't reset. Something else is missing."
"Well, that's not fair. You can't finish the race if someone keeps moving the finish line." Daniel said.
"He said he wanted it to be harder, more realistic." Lee said slowly.
"In reality we haven't defeated the Goa'uld." Daniel said.
"Are you saying that the game won't end until he defeats all of the Goa'uld?" Lee asked.
"I don't know, you tell me. You said the game is learning the rules from Teal'c." Daniel said.
"Yeah, but the parameters can't go beyond the base invasion scenario." Carter said.
"Then something else came through the gate with those two drones. Since the elevator to the top leads to the leaving of the game, the only alternative is something else was with those drones." Ford said rubbing his chin in thought. He looked over at her hoping she would have something.
"That would explain a great deal of things. It's the only logical suggestion at the moment." Carter said agreeing. "Beyond that, I'm not sure what else to think."
"Can you get him out?" Daniel asked looking at the doctor.
"Not without seriously risking major neural damage."
"The game has a failsafe. All Teal'c has to do is quit." she said.
"Easier said than done. This is Teal'c we are talking about here. I've never known him to give up." Ford said.
"Unfortunately you're right. Let's hope he realizes that it's a game before it's too late." Daniel said.
Teal'c was in the infirmary, sitting on a bed trying to figure out in his head why the game wasn't over. Daniel was talking as he walked around the bed to be in front of Teal'c. Carter was standing in front of him. Teal'c had a patch on his arm covering the small wound he had.
"Anubis drone's must have waited for SG-3 to dial the gate and then overwhelmed them at the last minute. What I can't figure out is how they set the bases self destruct." Daniel said.
"I can't believe General O'Neill is really dead." Carter said slowly.
"He is not dead." Teal'c said standing up.
"What?" Carter asked clearly not understanding.
"We must focus on the situation. The threat has not been neutralized." he said grabbing his vest.
"What?" Daniel asked also lost.
"We will search the base immediately." Teal'c said putting the vest on. "More warriors remain."
"What?" Daniel asked again more confused than ever.
"He also knew that the super soldiers armor was resistant to our energy weapons." she said looking at Daniel.
"Sergeant Harriman reported there were only two intruders before he got killed." Daniel said.
"They held the control room long enough to keep the Iris open to let others through." Teal'c said strapping a weapon back to his thigh.
"Maybe, but the gate logs would have indicated there was another incoming wormhole." Daniel said.
"The threat has not been neutralized." he said forcefully. "There are others. I am certain of it."
"Because…" Daniel asked.
"The game has not yet ended."
Carter and Daniel looked at each other.
"Teal'c, I know this isn't your strongest suit, but this is a really bad time for jokes." Daniel said.
"You are all part of a simulation, designed to test the SGC preparedness in case of gate breach." he said being serious. "None of you are real."
The two looked at each other then back at him like he lost it.
"I am fine."
"Warning, base autodestruct sequence has been activated."
Teal'c only gave them a small glance as he grabbed his modified PC-90 and left with them following behind. They entered the gate control room and Sam went straight to the computer. Dead men were still everywhere since they hadn't had time to…clean up. They had twenty seconds. She started typing quickly.
"Sam…" Daniel said looking at her worried.
"I don't understand. They must have activated the autodestruct from a remote location."
Teal'c looked around not wanting to go through everything again.
"I'm locked out of the system. I can't shut it down." she said turning back to them.
"How did you know?" Daniel asked as the base exploded.
"His heart rate and blood pressure are too high." the doctor said looking at the monitor.
"How long can he keep this up?" Carter asked.
"I don't know, a day, maybe less."
"I though the chair wasn't suppose to be able to kill him." Daniel said more like asking.
"He is perceiving everything as real. If it was me, a avid gamer, I would know, in my heart and most importantly in my mind that it is all a game being played out in my mind. In that case, I seriously doubt I would actually feel pain. I would know it is not real. He is taking everything as it being completely and truly real." Ford said keeping his tone very serious.
"The effects of everything happening to him is beginning to take its toll though." the doctor said. "If he doesn't have a heart attack he will eventually run out of adrenalin. His heart rate will slow, his blood pressure will drop. His entire organ system is going to fail."
"Death by a thousand cuts." Daniel said.
"We have to come up with something, soon."
After another restart Teal'c went straight to Carter's office. After he got a armored vest and a modified PC-90.
"You must disable the auto-destruct command." he said walking in and over to her quickly.
"What?"
"The SGC will be breached by Anubis warriors. They will attempt to destroy the base via the autodestruct command."
"What are you talking about?"
"If you disable the autodestruct they will be forced to use other means in able to achieve their goal. Only then can we hope to defeat them."
"Teal'c how could you possibly know?"
The alarms went off instantly and Walter called said through the com about the security problem. Armed guards raced past her lab quickly.
"There is little time." Teal'c said taking the modified frequency device and attaching it. They walked out quickly.
"Colonel, he is at level twenty eight. He has already got the modulator chip." Lee said looking at the screen near him that feed out what was going on in text format. "And he has used it to kill the first two super soldiers. Now he's looking for the third." he said then looked at them. "Man, he's not in good shape."
Teal'c walked around a corner and was punched in the face by the soldier. He hit the ground and then was beat up by the soldier as he was thrown into the wall then punched repeatedly.
"This is ridicules. It's torturing him." Daniel said.
"Why won't he quit?!" Lee asked a little loud.
"Wait a minute." Daniel said grabbing the monitor. "He's headed for the elevator."
"He's going to use the failsafe."
"Thank god. I probably would have gave up long ago." Ford said.
Teal'c rushed into the level twenty eight elevator and pushed the button quickly. The drone walked up and grabbed at the doors as they closed. Teal'c leaned against the wall tired and watched the numbers as it rose to the surface. He got out of the elevator seeing something he did not want to see. Everything had started over again. Walter's voice was calling out the threat level as he stood there. The soldiers ran past again heading for the gate room as they always did since the beginning of the scenario. He looked down at the floor tired of playing.
"It didn't work. He's back in the game." Carter said slowly.
"He's never given up before so it cut out that option. Wonderful." Ford said sarcastically. "It changed the rules."
Carter grabbed the phone and called Jack down. He showed up a few minutes later and got a brief run down of what had transpired.
"You know, I always thought that the failsafe system was suppose to be safe…from failure!" Jack said walking over to Lee after looking at Teal'c a moment. Lee put his hands in the air showing he was lost.
"From the beginning, in Teal'c's mind, to goal was to make the simulation as real as possible. As much as he must now want to quit, we think the game evaluated his character and decided that if this were a real situation, Teal'c would never give up under any circumstance." Sam said from the chair in front of the monitor.
"It's right. But it's also just a game." Jack said.
"The game doesn't know that." she said looking at the screen.
"So how do we get him out?" he asked after a moment.
"Well, removing the connections while the system is operating is very dangerous, potentially fatal." the doctor said. "On the other hand, the physical stress the chair is putting him under will eventually kill him anyway."
Jack and the others knew that was the case, but hearing it made it more real.
"Right now the only way out is for Teal'c to win the game." Carter said sadly.
"Can he?" Jack asked.
"It seems to be getting harder and harder. Every time it appears he has won, the game adds a new twist."
"So it's not going to let him win?" Jack said frustrated.
"No, the chair does not have an ego. It's not trying to beat Teal'c, just provide a challenge that is worthy of his abilities." she said.
"Ironically it's Teal'cs ego that created the problem in the first place. Not that his self image is entirely accurate." Daniel said.
"He's essentially fighting himself then, in some cases. Just like that time with you all on that planet with the Keeper. Everything you try, something made it more difficult." Ford said.
"Yeah, let's not think about that memory, shall we." Daniel said.
"Sorry Daniel, I forget."
"There has to be a way for him to win." she said slowly.
Carter and Ford left to go to another lab and look at the other chair and its programming to see if they could find anything out. They got K-9 along the way. Meanwhile the doctor set up a IV of adrenalin for Teal'c.
The drone walked into Carter's lab looking around for Teal'c. He walked over to the edge of the desk and looked down. Teal'c shot him dead in the chest instantly and left the room and headed down the hallway quickly. He rushed up to the corner and looked around slowly before proceeding and walked up to the end of the hallway hearing gunfire. He turned back around and ran back to the other corner again and waited. He pulled a smoke grenade and tossed it down the hallway and then walked through the smoke slowly until he heard and saw the drone. It's blue lights on its head and arms gave it away quickly and it fired. The third drone decloaked and fired at him. It was unfortunately standing just in front of him and he was hit point blank. Everything started over again.
Teal'c got the device to enhance the energy blast again and proceeded to Carter's position. She and a few others were firing at two warriors as he approached.
"They have adapted their armor!" she said still firing from behind the wall.
"Cover me." he said walking out and hitting one of them quickly. He moved into a doorway and tried again. The other warrior moved out of his sight.
"Colonel Carter." he said tossing it to her. She grabbed it and fired taking the warrior out.
"Teal'c what is going on?" she asked as he pulled a device from a pouch on his right. "What are you doing with a thermo graphic sensor?"
"There is a third drone." he stated as they walked along. She had both PC-90's but only one was really the one that did anything.
"Are you sure? I thought only two came through."
"I am certain." he said still waving the sensor around as they kept forward. "It is using a cloak of invisibility."
They walked down a dark hallway and around a corner to a longer hallway. Teal'c picked him up on the scanner quickly. They also could hear him walking. He was walking away from them when he turned and started firing. They got down quickly taking cover behind the wall. Teal'c pointed the weapon around the corner and fired off three shots. The third one hit and the warrior dropped to the ground. They stayed next to the wall anyway.
"Nice one." she said quietly.
"And yet it is not yet over."
"There are more?"
"Colonel?" came over the com.
"Yes."
"Ma'am, I have a problem with a Naquada generator in storage room 2809."
They slowly walked out and down the hallway making there way for the storage room. When they got in, Carter went for the overloading generator. They could hear it on a build up.
"I can't stop it." Siler said giving her the scanning device.
"Someone has rigged it on a feedback loop." she said as she was checking it out. "There's not enough time to stop the overload."
Teal'c grabbed the generator and ran out of the room heading for the Stargate.
"Sergeant, dial the gate now! P4M-523!" she yelled as they entered the room.
"Yes ma'am. Starting dialing sequence." Walter said.
He kept saying off the chevrons up to number four when he yelled out and slumped unconscious from being hit with a zat blast. They both turned looking into the room seeing Daniel walk in with a zat gun.
"Daniel? What the hell are you doing?!!!" Carter yelled as he looked at them.
They watched as his eyes lit up. The generator then overloaded moments later in Teal'c's hands.
Things started over again and Teal'c sank to the ground and put his head in between his knees and things kept going on. He watched as people were cut down quickly as two of the drones came through. One in the control room and the other coming the way the soldiers that passed by just came. They left him alone. The base's autodestruct was activated seconds later and then blew up when the time ran out. Everything reset again and he sank down to the ground again letting it continue. It continued to happen again and again, all the while the drone's always leaving him alone.
"How's he doing?" Carter asked as Daniel walked in.
"Not well."
"I heard he just sits through everything now." Ford said kneeling next to K-9 as he thought.
Carter was seated at the table looking at the other game chairs program on a laptop. They still hadn't come up with anything.
"Pretty much. His physical exhaustion is now translating into the game. It looks like he's having trouble playing anymore." he said standing next to Carter and looking at the information he didn't really understand. "It's still not letting him go."
"We spoke to one of the scientists on P7J-989. They say there is nothing they can do under the circumstances." she said as Ford stood back up.
"What are you doing?"
"They had a neural implant of Teal'cs mind from when we were trapped in the chairs six years ago."
"Creepy." he said looking up.
"Yeah. I'm trying not to think about it. Anyway, I'm running a simulation on this chair dealing with the parameters that Teal'c is dealing with right now. The imprint is nowhere near the same as a live active mind. Plus a lot has changed in the last six years."
"Yeah, but not the essence of Teal'c character." Daniel said.
"That's what worries me. I hope it has. Now I have run hundred's of simulations and no matter what Teal'c does, the program adapts. Ever time it looks like he has won, the chair makes it harder. It's almost like the game is reading Teal'c's mind and somehow seeing this one game as a microcosm for a war against the Goa'uld."
"Well, that's probably how Teal'c treats ever battle that we fight with them." Daniel said.
"According to these results, six years ago, despite what Teal'c led us to believe, deep down, he didn't think the Goa'uld could ever be defeated."
"He doesn't think that now. He can't not after everything we have accomplished." Daniel said.
"He probably does now seeing as we have seriously caused more trouble for them in the last year than the last few centuries. Our team, personally are more than just a pain in their ass." Ford said. "With the Asguard having little trouble with the Replicators now, they can rebuild and help us fight against the Goa'uld eventually. Soon, even with the new warriors, Ba'al or some other Goa'uld is going to go too far and then the Asguard will step in. Possibly with Adamantium built ships, and when they do, it's over. Teal'c was there when I gave Thor the Adamantium bullet. Thor was confident that it would be able to be mass produced."
"Startling revelation." Daniel said.
"Doesn't help Teal'c at the moment." Carter said slowly.
"He needs time to get a new idea, a new perspective, but how is the question."
The doctor was looking Teal'c over with a pen light then at the data streaming across the monitor about him. Jack was back in the room again as was all of SG-1.
"This is not going to last much longer. We are going to have to make a decision really soon about forcibly removing the connections." the doctor said.
"You know, it's too bad we can't hook a joystick to this thing, give him a little help, a little backup maybe." Jack said.
I am a idiot! Ford thought smacking himself in the head.
"What?
It was just an idea."
"That
was the point Jack! I play video games enough I should came up with
that! That's brilliant!" Ford said at him then at Lee. "Can
we…
"Yeah. We could link up the other chair and send someone else into the simulation." Lee said realizing what Ford was asking. "Oh….it wouldn't make any difference. The processors would just network and the second person would just fall victim to the same altered elements in the simulation that have already trapped Teal'c." he said shortly after.
"Unless that second person had an advantage. Sir, you did it again." she said.
"Yes." he said with casual confidence as they looked at him. "What did I do again?"
"You had it, then you lost it. Sad Jack. Truly sad. But nice try." Ford said patting him on the arm. He then turned to Sam and quietly whispered. "His brother would have gotten it."
"What? What did I do?"
"These graphics are being generated by a data recorder that is tracking the game. It is actually interfaced into the system between the chair processor and Teal'c. The chair decides what is going to happen and Teal'c responds. Those responses are then incorporated, processed, and then we see the results. It's a continues loop of ever changing data."
"Ah." he said completely lost. "Still waiting on my good idea."
"Oh man." Ford muttered rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"The recorder causes a two second delay between the programming and the chair and the experience in Teal'c mind. He won't know the difference but we could use it to our advantage."
"We could hook up the second chair to the first, without using the recorder in the loop…" Lee was saying as he realized where she was going.
"The new player would know what was happening in the game two seconds before it occurred." Carter said.
"Like precognition." Daniel said.
"Exactly." she said.
"It's a small window of opportunity, but just enough to win the game. Another player would give more than an edge for Teal'c, but a new approach." Ford said.
"That's assuming that the chair's programming won't become aware of it and adapt." Lee said.
"Which would mean that the second player could become trapped along with Teal'c." another scientists said.
Ford saw this next part coming a mile away and was quicker. He knew the loyalty they all had.
"I'm going in. End of discussion. No one else is qualified." he said a little loud and fast as they started opening their mouths.
He was going to fight it by the expression on his face if anyone argued against him as everyone could see.
"And why.."
"One Jack, I am a better game player, period. Two, the system doesn't know me and would have trouble adapting to my tactics, and three, I can get out if Teal'c doesn't make it or we both get stuck." he said counting off his fingers. "Four….um, I don't have a four."
"He has a point General. The system doesn't know him, but I'm not sure what it might do to him, to it." Lee said.
"If things go wrong in the system and Teal'c doesn't make it, we can pull the connections and according to what I have found out about his condition, he would just come back to life here." the doctor said.
"Fine, but you better do as well or better than in reality. Got that!"
"Not a problem." he said with a smile.
Ford watched as the soldiers went by and thought about telling them to back off and finally thought better of it. He was also in black pants and a T-shirt. That bothered him.
"Where to go first? Question one, where is Teal'c?"
He looked seeing someone coming from the gate room hallway. It was Teal'c. He had a vest on and one of the PC-90's.
"Teal'c!" he said walking over quickly. "Good, you're still trying."
"Ford Carter?" he said confused.
"Yeah, I'm here to help. I got…ow!"
Ford looked down seeing Teal'c shot him.
"What the hell was that for?! I'm not….." he said dropping.
Out in the real world his body twitched.
"That was strange. What would he shoot Ford?! He isn't in the game. Hasn't been." Jack said.
"That might be the problem sir. Ford might be that element that hasn't showed up that was causing all the trouble. He's in the program, but we never saw him." Carter said.
"He's in the program as a memory to the team and other people but no actually image file was placed in there really or character program really. The system might have made him because of Teal'c's memories, but I don't think that is possible." Lee said.
"Teal'c must not have known that." Daniel said.
"Maybe I should have gone." Jack said.
"That last thing we need was the game learning from your tactical experience." Carter said.
"I thought Ford had more of that."
"He does, but he's also a uncommon element, if you will. Data on him is barely known in this system. That works to our advantage."
"It better." he said as they heard another gun shot.
Ford's body jerked some again.
"Not again." Jack muttered.
"At least his levels are staying normal." Daniel said seeing the monitors for Ford's body.
Ford woke up as it were, again. For the third time. Walter's voice, which was beginning to become a damned annoyance since he had been hearing it for a long time, mostly outside the system though.
"I'm beginning to hate this game." he said as the soldiers came running down the hallway. It was strange to see them pass by like an echo then really start to pass by.
"Soldier! Give my your knife and gun!"
"Here Captain." the guy said. He ran off when Ford motioned him away.
"Not a sword, but it'll do. Man I hate these guns."
He saw Teal'c coming and ducked into the Gate Control room area as Teal'c walked by. He followed discreetly going with him to Carter's lab. Unfortunately she was not there.
"Where the hell is she? She's usually here or been around anyway." he said aloud as he kept a discreet distance. He finally caught up and went in.
"Teal'c. I am not the enemy so please don't shoot me again." Ford said pointing the nine at him.
Teal'c got up quickly and pointed the PC-90 at him anyway.
"That frequency modulator is over there." he said pointing with his other hand at the counter next to Teal'c.
Teal'c glanced over seeing it was there then looked back.
"I'm not actually in this program. That came out wrong. I'm…"
Teal'c shot him, more than once.
"Damn it!!!" Ford said loudly as the guards started coming by again. He did the same as before and got the gun and knife again. A couple knives this time. "Maybe I should shoot Walter while I'm at it."
He ran off quickly.
"Does Ford have something against Walter?" Jack asked.
"I don't think so sir. He actually thinks Walter deserves a promotion. I'm guessing he's just tried of hearing the same thing over and over again."
"I know I am." Daniel said.
Teal'c was walking through a blast door that had come back up. He rounded the corner and suddenly someone was in his face. They practically ripped the gun from his hand and stepped back. He looked up to a nine in his face and thought about disarming the person, but seeing it was Ford, he didn't move.
"Damn Teal'c! Three times is enough! Or is it four? Five? I forget. Never mind. I'm not the enemy here!" he said stepping back and tossing the nine aside.
"Now, I have joined in this game here to get you out. I'm am a player just like you now. We have to work together, not shoot each other. Understand?" he said holding the PC-90 out.
Teal'c took the gun slowly then pointed it at him anyway.
"How can I believe you?"
"I was just in Carter's office in the last game before the reset. You shot me. Did it reset for you?" he said being sarcastic. His tone was one of much patience lost.
"Indeed it did."
"See. You shoot me, we start over and both lose. You more than me though. You're dying in the real world. Please don't shoot me again."
Teal'c lowered the gun and sank against the wall to the floor.
"It will not let me out."
"I know, that is why I'm here. Not only to get you out but to save your life." he said kneeling down. Teal'c noticed his tone was that of the friend he knew to be Ford. "The game thinks that this is all real and that you would never give up no matter what. Even though you have tried, it still thinks otherwise."
"No matter what I do. It is not possible Ford Carter. No matter what. It's not possible!"
"It is now. You know me. Nothing stops me, not even death." he said chuckling.
"You speak the truth. I believe you would have faired better in this game if you were here instead of me."
"Actually, no. In my case, I'd probably be worse. This has become a team effort and I'm glad to have you at my side. Let's finish this so we can go back to where everything is much safer, to a point. Friends still?"
Teal'c smiled some and held out his hand. Ford helped him off the ground.
"Friends indeed."
"Glad to hear it Teal'c." he said as they heard gun fire.
"We must leave this area immediately."
"Good idea."
They walked down the corridor, but Ford was in front keeping watch and told him of his small ability.
"You posses the ability to see the future, you say?"
"Just for two seconds, but it's enough for me. Doesn't work on you though. I never saw those shots coming. Anyone else I would have noticed. Kinda strange. Oh no. Run!" he said pushing Teal'c along.
They ran down a corridor as Teal'c fired off at the two warriors following them. He hit one a couple of times but the guy only staggered a moment.
"We are going to need a crash cart in here." the doctor said looking at the readings and walking over to the phone.
"You can't introduce a electrical impulse into the chair like that!" Lee said quickly.
"He's right." Sam said quickly.
"There's a very good chance that Teal'c is going to go into cardiac arrest if he suffers one more reset." the doctor said holding the phone.
The warriors kept following along as Teal'c kept trying to kill them. Ford had taken a hit to the left upper arm to keep Teal'c from getting killed but he looked to be ignoring it. In truth, it hurt, which bothered Ford. But he still ignored it trying to tell his body it wasn't real. Teal'c switched it to bullets and shot a few holes into a pipe above the warriors. Steam came out right on them. But it didn't stop them as Teal'c took cover in a doorway. Ford was on the other side.
"Damn, only three." Ford muttered pulled the knifes out. He looked over and saw something he didn't want to.
"Teal'c! Behind…" he yelled when the other decloaked and shot Teal'c in the back.
He turned to Ford who didn't give him a chance. He tossed one knife that went right into the area below his throat. And then everything reset.
The monitors said information they did not want to hear.
"His heart has stopped." the doctor said pulling out a very long needle.
He took the cap off and shoved it into Teal'c's chest injecting it all. Teal'c started breathing again seconds later.
"He's got a pulse." Carter said looking away from the monitors with relief.
"That's not going to work again." the doctor said pulling the needle out and backing off.
Jack had a look of horror on his face as he spoke. That was a long needle. Almost a foot in length and pretty much every inch was stuck into Teal'cs chest.
"I don't want to see that again! I thought they were going to be able to beat this thing?"
"It may take Ford awhile to adjust to the precognitive abilities sir. Besides that, Ford is used to having his coat and weapons with him. He has to adjust for that. Can't stand in the way of danger without it."
"I should have went." Daniel muttered as they watched the game had reset again.
Ford and Teal'c both had vest on as well as PC-90's. Ford had a few knives on his belt too, unfortunately his coat was not where it should have been but his gun was. They walked over to Carter's lab and got into position outside the door.
"You open it and I'll keep watch." Ford said holding a knife in each hand. Teal'c nodded and slide the card. No one was in there.
"We must posses the modulator chip to compensate for the drones modified armor." Teal'c said looking around.
"I thought it was on the table."
"It changes location each time." Teal'c said searching the table.
"Great, oh wait. Found it." Ford said finding it on a small rolling table near the wall next to the door.
He was about to toss it to Teal'c when he saw the door open and a drone come in. But it hadn't happened yet.
"Down!" he said setting a knife aside and running up to the door.
It opened and Ford grabbed the arm that was brought up quickly with his left hand. He smacked the right hand out of the way, grabbed a knife and buried the blade up the hilt under the mask. The drone went slack and dropped from his grip.
"Here. You shoot better with energy weapons." he said giving the chip over as Teal'c got up.
"Impressive advantage."
"Oh yeah. We can win this now." he said grabbing the other knife. "I wish this was a sword though. Hmm, gives me an idea."
They left and walked down several corridors looking for the enemy. They came across one section of the base that had a damaged hanging light that was buzzing bad. A few dead bodies were on the ground. Ford stopped Teal'c and motioned for them to back off. The drone came out of a small doorway, stopped under the damaged light and looked in their direction as they were standing just around the corner waiting. Teal'c aimed his weapon but didn't fire as the drone walked away.
"You did have him, why not shoot?" Ford said putting the knife he pulled away. "I need really a sword. Maybe a Katana."
"Such an action has always proven fatal." he said tiredly.
"Ah, the cloaked guy we saw once."
"Indeed."
"We could take him too."
"He is merely a diversion to allow a Goa'uld time to destroy the base."
"Oh yeah, the self destruct. Daniel was taken over once."
"Indeed. A Naquada generator designed to overload is another scenario."
"Yeah, saw that too. Where is the rest of our team anyway?"
"I am uncertain."
"Damn. The five of us together, we couldn't be stopped."
"Separated we cannot win." Teal'c said agreeing.
"Yeah. Unfortunately we have to do this pretty much alone."
"I believe that defeating the Goa'uld is the final component that we must overcome."
"Can we…never mind." he said as gunfire was heard close by.
It seemed ironic that it was a small help to letting them know the location of the enemy. They walked out following along the trail of recent dead bodies as they came to another turn in the base. Ford saw the other two drone's walk out. He grabbed Teal'c by the vest and pulled him back and away quickly. They ran as the drone's came and fired at them as they entered into another room. They got against the wall as another door opened near them and men came out firing weapons. Jack was in the lead. Teal'c fired off his gun taking out one even as they were being hit with bullets. Ford grabbed a couple knifes and tossed them. Both landed into the guys gut area and Teal'c finished him off quickly.
"You guys all…..Captain? Why are…" he said helping them to their feet.
"Never mind why I'm here Jack. Just be thankful I am. Nice to see your not dead."
Jack gave him a confused look.
"The naquada generator!" Teal'c said running out quickly.
"Got to go." Ford said following as Jack tried to ask something.
They both rushed out with a confused Jack following. It didn't take long and they were at the room where the bomb was to be found. Carter was kneeling over it. Lieutenant Siler was knocked out between two large shelving units on the floor next to a nine millimeter.
"Thank god you're not dead. Seeing that…" Ford said with relief.
She wasn't real, but it still didn't help seeing her die in a game.
"I've almost got….Ford?" she asked confused. "You're suppose to be…"
"Step away from the generator." Teal'c said pointing his gun at her.
Ford was out of knifes, but he did have something else that was on the base he found earlier. His coat wasn't here but his personal cannon was. He pulled it and started aiming at her, but pulled away.
"I can't do it Teal'c. Even if it is a game…"
She looked at them not understanding. "This things is going critical in less than a minute. I can do this. What is going on?"
Jack walked in and Teal'c pointed it at him.
"Sorry Jack, I've got him Teal'c." Ford said pointing it at him.
Teal'c switched back to her. Jack saw what it was pointed at him and backed away.
"Please back off Sam. Trust me."
"We have little time." she said as she got up and walked over with Jack confused.
"Watch them." Ford said grabbing the small device and attempting to shut the system off.
He was kneeling down next to it but facing Jack and Sam's direction with his gun right next to him.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jack said.
"Teal'c we are all going to die if you don't let me stop that from overloading. Ford doesn't know what he is doing!"
"Ouch! They really need to update this game then. You should know I can…"
The generator shut off suddenly.
"Do this sort of thing since you taught me how." he said smiling as he put the shut off tool on the ground. "See not that hard."
She was confused and was Jack.
"Where is the Goa'uld?" Teal'c said looking distressed somewhat.
"It was Siler." Carter said.
"Siler?" Jack said.
"Lieutenant Siler?" Ford said looking at the guy from where he was.
He hadn't gotten up yet and didn't look like he was going to. Something seemed wrong about the situation and from here he had a vantage point. Siler was still breathing, but not moving.
"He was in here. I found him setting the generator." she said pointing at Siler.
"Teal'c drop your weapon, that is an order." Jack said.
"Which one is it?" Teal'c said lost.
Ford looked over seeing with the two second delay that it was Siler.
"Game over." Ford said calmly as he grabbed his gun quickly and put the barrel against the metal support beam on the bottom.
The bullet ripped through both beams and went somewhere into the wall. He got up diving into Carter and Jack as the heavy objects on the upper shelves caused the whole thing to tip inward and drop down onto Siler and knocked the other shelf over where Jack and Sam had been.. Siler had grabbed the gun but had little time but to scream as he was crushed and impaled by several sharp objects.
"How did you…?" Carter was asking as the game ended.
Ford opened his eyes and had to blink them a few times.
"It actually over?"
"Yeah, you did it." Carter said standing in front of him as she grabbed his hand.
Teal'c woke up next as Jack walked over to him.
"I'm shutting off power to both chairs." Sam said going behind them.
"O'Neill." he said soundly raspy.
"Hey." Jack said and patting Teal'c on the shoulder. He didn't take it off.
"We have won." Teal'c said.
"Well….it's what we do."
"Glad to have you back Teal'c." Ford said as Carter helped him out of the chair. He was grabbing his head as it really hurt. "Oh man. This is like a flashback from that night with the hangover."
"I'm taking him to the infirmary. He needs to rest." the doctor said.
"Go ahead." Jack said as Teal'c stepped out of the chair and was helped out of the room.
"We'll work on it and make it not do that again." Lee said.
Jack turned to him and Ford turned him back around.
"General, let it go. It's not his fault. Let's all just go home for the night. We can deal with this all later." he said moaning afterward and he rubbed his temples.
"Yeah, you're right." Jack said exhausted as well. "Though I think you want to…"
"Jack. I have a headache that isn't going away. It started after I got out of that machine. I'm looking to go home and put ice on my head. Take an Excedrin and get some sleep. I died in that thing several times myself. Which is probably why my head hurts."
"Uh huh."
"Get your mind out of the…."
"Let's go Ford." Sam said pulling on his arm.
If Jack kept it up he might get on Ford's bad side. Before Ford became Immortal, when he had headache's, his temper was already boiling and ready to blow. He told her it was just pain he didn't like and that anything that bothered him would make it worse.
Nothing was incoming except a few teams so the night shift was easily able to take over for the night and Jack allowed them to all go home early.
"So, you still have that headache or was you exaggerating everything?" Carter asked with a seductive voice as she drove home.
"No. My head was pounding bad after getting out of that thing. I have to admit it was fun despite the problem. I have to do that again sometime. Gotta talk to Lee about them later. Anyway, it took a few minutes then the pain went away. But I didn't want Jack to know that I want to go home and spent some quality time with you."
"I thought so." she said smiling as she grabbed his hand. "Sometimes watching you in action turns me on."
"Well, maybe you should come to my training classes more often. I could start wearing tighter clothes."
"Oh no you won't. I've already seen how the other woman have looked at you."
"Sam. I would never cheat on you." he said kissing her hand as he shifted the car for her with the other one.
"You are a man of many talents. But what I meant was I want to be the only woman who ever sees just how defined you are. Especially tonight."
