"McKay!"

Rodney nearly jumped out of his workstation's seat, jamming his hands down on the keyboard in the process. The Ancient computer responded with a rude sounding beep as McKay turned around to see Sheppard behind him.

"What the…" Rodney began to say when the computer's tone belatedly hit home. He turned back around quickly and undid the damage his errant keystrokes had done before the auxiliary generator that he'd been realigning overloaded.

"When's the last time you ran?" Sheppard demanded.

McKay slumped back in his seat. "Not you too."

"When?"

"Three days ago," Rodney said unenthusiastically.

"And how many days have you skipped since your last time trial?" Sheppard asked pointedly, already knowing the answer.

"A lot," McKay answered. "Not that it matters anymore."

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Get off the sob story, Rodney. This is too important."

"Says the super-ancient."

"You think this is hard…you should have seen what I had to go through."

"What, you had to go a week without your comb," McKay mocked him.

Sheppard pointed a warning finger at his friend. "Up until now you've been doing a good job. I've kept tabs on your progress and I know you're ready to pass the test. You've already done all the hard work, so why the hell are you giving up now?"

Rodney glared at him. "What have you been smoking? I'm more than a minute off the mark."

Sheppard shook his head. "I've seen your workout data. You're where you need to be, you just need to push yourself harder when you race. You've got a lot more in you than you realize."

"Believe me, I've tried that," McKay said, his tone drifting between defensive and wishing Sheppard was right. "I set the pacer to exactly the time I needed to pass the test and I couldn't keep up. I tried five times before chucking it and just trying to lower my personal best. I'm nowhere near where I need to be, and it's already been two years."

"For the sake of argument only," John clarified, "what's wrong with three years? Seriously, who said you have to pass the test right away? If you're having trouble summoning the guts to race your way into Lantean-ville now, keep training for another year and by then you should be able to make the mark with a half-assed effort."

McKay laughed. "Are you joking? For the life of me I don't know how I've made it this far. I've been doing things I never thought I could before…I mean I didn't even think I could run a mile straight, let alone five. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but 19:59 is beyond me. It's better I realize that now than to keep beating my brains in for the next few years and come up empty handed anyway."

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Rodney, you are the dumbest smart person I've ever met."

McKay frowned, not completely understanding that statement. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning you're going to throw away everything you've gained by quitting now. Don't slide back to the way you were before."

"You mean pudgy?"

"For starters," Sheppard said indignantly.

"I'm still working out…a little," McKay hedged.

"That's not enough and you know it."

"What, you're poking around my head now? Don't you have any sense of privacy," Rodney said, standing up angrily and walking over to the other side of the small, empty lab.

"Not when my friend is kicking himself in the balls," Sheppard said, walking towards him.

"That…" McKay started to say, then got hung up on how that would be physically possible.

"You see, right there," Sheppard yelled, pointing at him. "That's your problem. You analyze everything. You've got to learn to live in the moment and face the unknown."

McKay looked at him incredulously. "I'm a scientist. It's what we do for a living," he said, then considered the fact that he wasn't actually getting paid, nor needed to anymore, so maybe 'for a living' wasn't quite accurate.

"Give me a break," Sheppard said irreverently. "You scientists work out of your nifty little rulebook. Everything is drawn and mapped out for you. You don't face the unknown, you hide from it behind your theories and protocols."

"Wanting to understand how the universe works is not hiding from it," McKay argued.

"But you don't find out. That would require tying when the outcome is uncertain. You only act if you think you know what will happen. That's why you're not running fast enough, you won't put it on the line because you're afraid you'll run out of gas. You want to preplan every aspect of it, but you can't analyze it like a science experiment. This is biology, not technology. And above that we're lifeforms, and that adds a whole other dimension."

"So what," McKay said, crossing his arms over his chest. He was beginning to get frustrated with his highly evolved friend. "You're saying I'm too smart for my own good."

"No, I'm saying you're too stupid for your own good. You're not the scientist watching the lab rat run through the maze this time. You're the rat, so stop trying to analyze the maze and determine the point of the experiment and just chase the damn cheese!"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Rodney said slowly, looking up at the ceiling with disgust. "Mock me all you want, but science is the key to unlocking the universe, not physical training…and I don't need to be upgraded to continue my work so, thanks for your concern, but Rodney McKay is sticking with the Human race."

"I don't believe this," John said, beginning to pace back and forth angrily. "You're already there, the hard part's over! You're just too blind to see it…and you never learned how to work in the dark."

"Why would I work in the dark?"

"Metaphorically speaking," Sheppard emphasized. "If you're dropped into a situation where you have no prior knowledge or experience, how well do you handle it?"

"About as well as anybody else, I suppose," McKay said, salving some of his ego.

"You suck at it," John told him. "And you avoid situations that would put you into the unknown…but when you're forced into it you find a way through, so I know you're not hopeless. You've admitted you do your best work under threat of imminent death..."

"True," Rodney confirmed.

"Because that's when your mind let's you roam free of your self-imposed boundaries. Normally you're too afraid of the unknown to try anything that you don't already know will work, but if you know you're going to die anyway you loosen up and take risks."

"And that is related to running how?" McKay said sarcastically.

"You're afraid to try and fail," Sheppard said flatly.

McKay took a step towards him. "Then how did I get this far?"

Sheppard took a step closer to him. "I said you'd been doing a good job. Don't stop now when you're one step away from the finish line."

"Maybe an Alterra can leap mount Everest with a single step, but not Rodney McKay," he said defiantly, then his tone dropped the animosity. "I wish you were right. I really do, but this is as far as I can go. I was going to keep training," he said, dropping his head, "but without a reason it just isn't the same. I'll try and run enough to stay thin, but right now I'm burnt out. I've tried and failed so many times that I can't summon the courage to try again."

Sheppard blew out a frustrated breath, but he could sense that McKay really was done and not just being lazy.

"Look, I appreciate the kick in the pants you're trying to give me," McKay said uncharacteristically, "but I'm afraid I need more than motivation to make this work…actually I don't know what I need to make this work. Guess you're right. I don't deal with the unknown very well," he said, sitting back down at his workstation. "I need at least some thread to pull on, some pattern to follow. When things seem to defy any and every set of rules conceivable I don't know how to handle it."

"Rodney, it's just so frustrating to see you at the precipice and then turn back," Sheppard said sympathetically. "You may not be able to understand where you're at or how much further you have to go, but I can. Even if you're not gutsy enough to do it now, just keep doing what you've been doing and in a year or two you'll pass the test in your workouts…you won't even have to race."

McKay slowly shook his head. "You make the workouts sound easy."

"A lot easier than dealing with a failing body forty years down the road and not even having the strength to get out of bed and work on your computer," Sheppard warned him. "Take up the fight now or you'll find yourself in a real no-win scenario."

"You're probably right," McKay admitted, "but I'm not there yet. And without being able to feel the threat of impending doom I can't work up the courage anymore."

"Chickenshit," Sheppard whispered.

Rodney nodded. "Probably true."

Sheppard blew out a breath and began to walk out. McKay turned back to his workstation and began punching keys, getting himself reacquainted with the reactor he'd been working on.

"No," Sheppard said loudly, stopping just inside the door.

"No?" Rodney echoed, swiveling back around.

"You heard me. I said no. You're not going down like this you arrogant, self-deluded momma's boy. You've already done the hard work, now you're going to finish it."

"What?" McKay laughed. "You going to threaten to shove a lemon down my throat again?"

"Get dressed to run and meet me at my quarters," Sheppard said, turning around to leave. "There's something I need to do first."

"I'm busy," McKay pointed out.

Sheppard pointed the finger at him again. "Just do it…or I'll break out the citrus squirt gun."

All levity dropped out of McKay's face. "That wasn't funny the first time."

"Be there," Sheppard said as he disappeared out the door, "or I'll come get you."

McKay slumped back in his seat. "Wonderful."

Ryan and the Doci walked out of the stargate onto a lifeless desert planet with a small structure rising up above the horizon a short distance before them. The structure was to be Stevenson's personal retreat while he sorted out his developmental problem and had been ordered, constructed, and stocked with supplies all within the past 15 hours.

The two men walked inside the ornate oasis and Ryan looked around.

"I trust all is satisfactory?" the Doci asked.

"I believe so. Thank you."

"You need not thank us," the Doci said, bowing slightly. "We are yours to command, Orici."

Ryan half smiled at that. "I'll return to Celestis as soon as I am able."

"Do not concern yourself with us," the Doci cautioned. "Your well being is our primary concern. If there is anything else you require, ask and it shall be done."

With that the Doci turned and left.

Ryan snatched a set of weights deposited along the side of the main room and set them swirling about around his head. He sat down on the smooth, polished floor cross-legged in a meditative pose. While his earlier attempt to diffuse the instability through telekinesis had not proven totally successful, it had relieved some of the pressure. Ryan had a feeling that if he refined his senses enough he'd be able to detect two different instabilities within him…one that the telekinesis resolved and one that it did not. If he was correct, then he needed to relieve the first so that he could more clearly deal with the second.

If the previous pattern held, he should have two more days before he reached critical overload again. This time, however, he was going to spend every hour of the day working towards solving the problem. Atlantis and the rest of the galaxies were going to have to wait.

McKay was waiting outside Sheppard's quarters dressed in his workout attire when John appeared in the hallway.

"About time," McKay complained. "I've been waiting here for half an hour. If you're going to torture me the least you can do is be prompt about it."

"Inside," Sheppard said walking through his opening door. He hadn't bothered to touch the activation panel, but still the door opened.

McKay followed him inside wearily and the door closed behind him.

"You have to promise not to say a word about this to anyone…ever," Sheppard said emphatically.

"Not to say a word about what?" McKay asked, frowning.

"No one means Keller too."

"About what?" McKay pressed.

"Promise," Sheppard urged.

"Alright, fine. I promise. Now what's this all about?"

"I'm going to run your test for you," Sheppard told him.

"What!" McKay exclaimed.

"You heard me. Since you don't have the guts I'm going to have to bail your sorry ass out…again."

"What do you mean again...no, never mind, what's this about you doing it for me?"

"Just what I said, I'm going to run it for you," Sheppard said, holding up a small silver device in the palm of his hand. "This is what took me so long. I had to synthesize it from blueprints in the database."

"A hologram?" McKay guessed, knowing that all the training sessions were recorded for playback by the user, or in this case Elizabeth who had to verify that he actually passed the test.

"No, I'm not going to do it in place of you. Your body is going to run it, but I'll be in control."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm going to superimpose my consciousness over yours," Sheppard explained. "Use my mind to control your body."

"With that?" McKay said, pointing to the small object in Sheppard's hand.

"No, this is just a booster. All Alterra have the ability."

"You do?" McKay said, not believing it.

"Well, I don't have the ability yet. I'm not old enough. Later on, when my telepathy gets stronger I'll be able to do this on my own, but for now I need a power and range boost, which this will give me," John said, attaching the device to his forehead.

"You can take control of people's minds," Rodney repeated.

"Which is why you can't tell anyone," Sheppard reminded him. "They'd freak out if they knew."

"I'm freaking out right now," McKay complained.

"Kind of status quo for you," Sheppard said, mentally connecting with the device.

"Can you do that with each other?" McKay asked, the scientist in him showing through.

"Not unless we let the other one in. Humans don't have the mental defenses to keep us out."

"And Lanteans?" McKay asked, wondering about his wife.

"I imagine they'd put up a bit more resistance, but they're more like Humans than us."

"You done this before?" McKay asked, creeping himself out with all kind of permutations flowing through his head.

"No, why?" John said matter-of-factly.

"Why? It's like a huge invasion of privacy, that's why!"

"Only if we used it that way," Sheppard said, catching some of the 'permutations' from his Rodney's surface thoughts. "Which we don't."

"But you could…" McKay repeated.

"We can do lots of things," Sheppard reminded him. "Which is why we're very careful who we let become Alterra."

"Maybe, but what about Ryan? Nobody checked him out."

"You don't have to worry about him," Sheppard said, waving off the concern. "You could have a total asshole use the Repository and they'd come out alright."

"Meaning what?" McKay said, frowning.

"Meaning it rewrites your behavioral trends to that of Alterran standard to get rid of all previous bad habits."

"It brainwashes you?"

"In a good way," Sheppard clarified. "If it doesn't work the knowledge self-deletes."

"Come again?"

"Some sort of quality control test so you don't end up creating an uber bad guy."

"Now there's a pretty picture."

"You have no idea," Sheppard said, sitting down on his bed and assuming a meditative pose. "You ready?"

"Not just yet," McKay said, holding up a hand. "You're saying our fearless leader and all of his mini-mes are pre-packaged Alterrans?"

"Yep."

McKay nodded. "No wonder they don't have much personality."

Sheppard tilted his head in consideration. "Probably, but I think they'll grow out of it. They're not that bad once you get to know them."

"I'll take your word for it," McKay said, glancing down at his hands. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sure I'm sure. You're already in good enough shape, you just don't know how to squeeze the speed out of yourself."

"Not sure I like the sound of that," McKay grumbled. "Ok, let's get this over with."

"It's not like you haven't been in this situation before," Sheppard jibbed.

McKay glared at him. "You had to remind me?"

"Yep," Sheppard said, beginning to concentrate. He reached out for Rodney's mind and got a feel for it. Once he got his bearings he reached out with intent to override, but as expected lacked sufficient power and experience. Tapping into the device he felt McKay's mind softened and he was able to assert control fairly easily.

"Oh this is gross," John said, looking back at his stationary body through McKay's eyes. He'd been an Alterran long enough to forget how sluggish his original Human body had been…and to make matters worse this was Rodney, which meant take the sluggish factor x3.

"You owe me for this one, buddy," John said in Rodney's voice as he plodded out of his quarters and into the hallway enroute to the gym.

McKay blinked several times, trying to get his bearings. "Wha…" he tried to said, but found his throat dry. He worked his mouth around to get some moisture in it as he stared at the ceiling of the gym…a view he'd become extremely familiar with over the past 2 years. He tried to lift himself up into a seated position.

"Owwwww!" he cried, laying back down. His entire body hurt, and now that he was becoming more aware he noticed that every ounce of energy his body had must have been sucked dry. His legs felt like lead.

"Oh, you son of a bitch," he said into the air, laying his head back down.

Quit your complaining you big baby, Sheppard's voice said inside his head, and sit up and look at your time. You passed.

"I did," he said, enthusiasm overriding pain for the moment as he lurched up into a sitting position. He glanced around to figure out where he was, then found the scoreboard.

18:53

"What!" he whispered to himself so the few other people in the gym couldn't hear.

Told you you were in good enough shape.

"Ow," McKay groaned again as he reached around to hold his lower back. "You didn't have to go that fast…what, were you trying to kill me?"

You're welcome, now get your lazy butt back to the showers. I'm not doing that for you.

"I don't suppose you could send for a stretcher?"

Sheppard reasserted control of McKay and stood him up.

"What the…" Rodney said when he regained consciousness with every muscle in his body screaming.

Get going. The more time you spend moaning the less likely it is anyone will believe you did that on your own.

"Good point," McKay said beginning to walk very slowly. "Ow…cramp…cramp" he said, hopping up and down on his right leg as he hobbled off the track.