Several hours later, Doctor Weir sat in the briefing room, along with Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, Ronan and Doctor Zelenka. Zelenka had finished the translation of the Ancient research on the device, with Doctor Weir's help.
"Following initial tests, I was able to confirm that McKay was indeed last person to activate device."
Sheppard leant forward on his chair. "That's good though, right?"
"If it is, that is only good news I'm afraid." The Czech pushed his glasses up as Sheppard visibly tensed. "With help of Elizabeth, I was able to confirm that device was one of many experiments around Ascension. It was designed to help body turn into energy. To give kick start to process, if you will."
There was silence at that before Ronan chimed in. "So... McKay ascended?" Elizabeth shook her head.
"I don't believe so. The research indicates that while the device did convert the body into energy, none of the test subjects ascended. It killed them."
"Vaporised actually." Zelenka interjected. "Project was abandoned quickly and device was supposed to be destroyed."
"Doesn't look that way." The Satedan growled. Sheppard had to agree with that assessment.
"So it gets lost and ends up finding its way to the Genii, who force Rodney to activate, which kills him."
"It would seem so." Elizabeth added sadly.
"So we have truly lost Rodney?" Teyla spoke up. The mood in the room had fallen on the realisation that they had just confirmed that their friend was truly gone. A Scottish voice broke the brief silence.
"Not yet we haven't!" Every head snapped up to look at Carson as he entered and put a tablet computer on the table. "There's more going on here." Elizabeth was the only one brave enough to ask anything.
"What's going on Carson?"
"Well, following the unexpected episode in Rodney's quarters earlier, I ordered every test we have available to try and understand what happened to our young friend. I forgot at the time, but that included a DNA test." Carson tapped a few times on the tablet and an image of a pair of double helix strands appeared on the large screen next to the desk. "Needless to say Doctor Biro was surprised when she gave me the results. I had them double checked, but they came back the same."
"What exactly are we looking at here?"
"The strand on the left is a sample from Ro. The one on the right is a match to one that we have on file for Rodney." Seeing the stunned looks in the room, Carson continued. "I've checked with the other tests, but I have to conclude that the boy that Colonel Sheppard's team met on M7S-282 and Rodney McKay are one in the same."
"That's not possible Carson. You told me that he has a natural ATA gene, that it's the strongest one we've ever seen. Rodney's gene was artificial."
"I know that Elizabeth." A few more taps on the tablet highlighted the relevant sequence on both helix samples. "This boys ATA gene a naturally occurring one, but aside from a few small differences, the genome is a perfect match to Rodney's. And before you ask, no he is not a clone. The telomeres are consistent with someone in their teenage years."
"So, let me get this straight..." Sheppard took in a deep breath. "Rodney touched this Ancient device which should have killed him and somehow turned him into a kid?"
"How come he doesn't remember us then?" Ronan added. Doctor Beckett sighed.
"I don't know what to tell you, but I don't think that this was the result of an Ancient device. Other tests indicate that the boy is a Pegasus galaxy native. The antibodies and proteins in his blood are consistent with that. All of the tests I can run support the fact that he is a sixteen year old boy who has been living in this galaxy for most of his life." Carson tapped the tablet a few more times. "As for his memory, my best guess is that he genuinely can't remember his life on Atlantis. It would also explain why the personality of this boy isn't quite what we know of Rodney."
"Did not his mother talk about the gifts the Ancestors gave him?" Teyla offered. "Perhaps the visions he has are his memories from Atlantis." The doctor nodded.
"Aye, it would explain a few things. Like how he knows things about the city."
"Or how he mentioned Doronda when we first met him." Sheppard closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. This was a lot to take in when he had a sudden realisation. "Ro Neemak! Rodney McKay!"
"Almost exactly the same." Elizabeth observed. A thought hit her that made her feel slightly ill. "Colonel, do you remember when we first got intel about M7S-282?" The man thought for a moment as he recalled.
"It was while visiting one of Teyla's trading partners about six months ago. It was about..." his voice trailed off as he understood what Elizabeth had remembered. "...about a week after Rodney disappeared."
"Do you think that an Ancient has been trying to help us?"
"I don't know. Maybe that device sent him to them and they sent him back... they just got the timing a bit wrong."
"Cause he's twenty years younger than he should be?" Ronan supplied.
"Whatever the reason behind it, I'm convinced that the boy lying in the infirmary is Rodney McKay we've got to help him." Carson sat down as Elizabeth looked around the room. As farfetched as this idea was, was it really any crazier than life sucking aliens, or the bug they evolved from?
"Okay." She said after a few minutes. "So what do we do?"
That was a question that no one had an answer for. While they didn't quite understand how, despite having a few guesses, it appeared that they had stumbled across an alive and healthy Rodney McKay, who was being overwhelmed by visions of his former life.
