This story was commissioned by the generous PatrickB95 after the two of us came up with the idea. Unlike many of my other stories, there's no CYOA involved and the style of this story will be a little different than what I generally write.
Seth.
Part 1.
Hospital. Cambridge. 1978.
This wasn't what should have happened. That was very clear to me right away I was not supposed to be in this body, nor was I the controlling entity. This human body that had been lying in a hospital bed for hours should now be under the control of a Goa'uld not a human from a different universe.
How I had ended up in this body was a complete mystery to me. I'd gone to bed as normal last night and when I'd woken up I'd found myself in the wrong body, in the wrong country, and in the incorrect century. I wasn't even in the right universe.
The only reason I hadn't completely freaked out was because someone had sedated me and by the time the drugs had worn off I'd had enough time to start to come to terms with what happened to me, and I was still trying to understand it.
I should be Setesh, also called Set, Seti, Setekh, Sutekh, Sutech, Setech, Typhon, or simply Seth as I would soon be known, in the driving seat so to speak, yet I was in charge. Also, I had access to my memories those of Seth Fargough and of Setesh, whose memories were by far the most disturbing.
During my time in the hospital, the person I'd been began to seem no longer important. I had become so much more than a mere man even the body I was inhabiting was that of a normal human.
I could recall centuries of life as Setesh, who for all his intelligence and power, had been a rather dull lifeform who cared only for meaningless admiration and his own pleasure. A pity, he could have achieved a lot if he'd simply put his mind to it.
Several thousand years ago, Setesh did not agree with his brother Osiris that the Tau'ri should be civilized, as he thought that it would lead to danger. Given the conflict between the Tau'ri and the System Lords as seen in Stargate SG-1, he turned out to be right.
Setesh concocted a scheme to dethrone Osiris and claim his brother's empire as his own. Although since he was a Goa'uld he'd done more for his ego and advancement than because he feared for the fate of his race.
Since Setesh could be charming when he put his mind to it the parasite managed to convince Osiris and his queen Isis to strike at Ra with him, assuring them that they would be able to usurp the Sun God from his throne and safeguard the empire with their combined might.
The three soon set their plan in motion but, at the last possible moment, Setesh betrayed them and revealed their plans to Ra. That had been his intention all along as he'd never cared much if the Taur'i become a threat to his species because he'd believed that he would be too great to ever be defeated.
Isis and Osiris hid in Kheb for a time, but they were forced to leave, by Oma Desla I assumed since Setesh didn't know. Soon they were captured by Ra and removed from their hosts, and their symbiotes were placed in Stasis jars to be imprisoned for eternity.
As for Setesh, his lust for power led to his downfall as later he did try to rebel against the Supreme System Lord, after gaining Ra's trust to some extent, because of this he was forced to remain behind here on Earth when the Tau'ri rebelled and buried the Stargate.
This was an effective move back then as Goa'uld ships were much slower back then and Ra had wanted to limit the amount of slaves his underlings had so few of their kind ever journeyed to Earth once the Stargate was buried. Even when they did they didn't stick around for long.
Because Earth wasn't totally cut off this meant that Setesh was still worried about the System Lords or the Tok'ra coming here to hunt him down for his crimes, despite him having spent thousands of years isolated without any contact with either group.
Lord Ra had placed a price on Seth's head that many might wish to collect and the Goa'uld did have assassins that were trained to kill their own kind so Setesh had been wise to keep his head down and not to be worshipped openly.
Despite being stranded on Earth, Setesh retained an impressive cache of Goa'uld technology that he had divided up and hidden in many places that could only be accessed by concealed transport rings.
He had enough Zat'nik'tels and Goa'uld shock grenades to supply a small army, a personal Kara-kesh, as well as a set of transportation rings that he could install wherever he set up to ensure a quick escape should the locals become hostile.
Thanks to my memories I knew that there was at least one Goa'uld vessel hidden away here on Earth by Setesh and I knew where more alien technology was lying around I just couldn't recall exactly where as my mind was still trying to process everything.
One of the things that I knew for certain was that Setesh had a significant supply of Nish'ta, a programmable virus which he used to brainwash people into serving him, stashed away and ready for me to use.
The reason he'd never used this substance to become a king was that he feared humans while at the same time desiring their admiration, because of this he'd never been more than a cult leader.
He never used his technology to gain followers and to impress people with actual achievements because he feared getting too much attention despite craving it. Setesh was rather messed up like that.
Setesh had for thousands of years been the leader of different cults. I could recall events such as when the parasite had gotten a large group of followers to commit ritual suicide for him at Stonehenge just because he had wanted them to die for him.
I could recall how his need for such veneration had nearly gotten killed. He'd been captured by the Spanish Inquisition and had only been able to escape because the fanatics hadn't known he could jump bodies. Setesh had tortured his former host to death to cover his tracks.
Once you got over the horror it was easy to see that Setesh wasn't a successful System Lord for a good reason. He never would have been able to hold any sort of empire together in the long run because he would have burned it all down just to feed his ego.
I was not Setesh, I wasn't the owner of this body either, nor was I the man I'd been not so long ago, but I did have access to their memories. As such I knew that the name of this host was Seth Fargough, he was a sixteen-year-old student at the nearby high school, who had been drawn into Setesh's latest cult.
Setesh made them all drink poison while them all promising a blissful afterlife, but he'd spared Seth because he'd known he would need a new host once his latest cult was finished.
He intended to hide out as Seth for a few years, to let his new host mature, and then he would have again become a cult leader because the parasite had no imagination or ambition beyond having his ego stroked.
"Mr Seth Fargough," asked a doctor "Do you know where you are?".
I did know that much. I even knew that date. For some reason, I was back in 1978.
"Cambridge, Massachusetts" I answered.
Not that far from the world-famous MIT according to my new memories. Which was a location I should soon look into.
"Do you remember what happened?" was the question of a police officer who was now standing at the end of my bed "How did you survive?".
Setesh had done this sort of thing before and so I had a good story prepared for the police. Seth Fargough had very good grades at school, no criminal record and he'd lost his parents due to a drunk driver a few months before being taken in by an Uncle who was known for taking frequent business trips.
This meant young Seth was alone in the world, and easy prey for someone who was offering answers, the kind of person who would be targetted by a cult leader.
"He made them drink," I said to the police officer while pretending that I was having trouble speaking about the event, "They thought that they'd go some paradise afterwards".
The man took note of everything I told him.
"He promised them that if they let go of their physical bodies they could ascend to a higher plane of existence. He promised that they would live as creatures of thought and energy" I then said.
That could happen in this universe, but while human beings in this universe had the potential to reach that level, they were not advanced enough to do so without a guide, and aside from Anubis no Goa'uld had ever been offered aid in ascending to a higher plane of existence.
As the police took more notes I informed them about how I'd refused to go along with the madness and how the cultists had attacked me when I tried to stop them. This was why I was in the hospital and I knew Setesh had slithered into this body after poisoning his old host. I just didn't tell them about that last part.
No one would think that Seth Fargough had been anything other than another dupe of the now-dead cult leader, just one smarter a bit smarter than the rest, and this was exactly the kind of life event that could transform a person's life.
I planned to use it as an excuse to turn Seth from an above-average student into someone who could get into MIT. That was an important part of the plans I was currently refining in my mind.
As the cops left I began to dress, my Uncle was on his way to pick me up, and while I was advised to take it easy there was no reason for me to stay once my family member arrived since I didn't have a concussion nor was anything broken.
Already I was making short-term and long-term plans. I knew that the Stargate program wouldn't get going until the mid-1990s, so that gave me more than a decade to prepare. That was nothing for someone who had lived for thousands of years, or at least remembered living for so long.
I would need to be in place to become part of the Stargate program as soon as it started because unlike Setesh I was not going to spend my entire life on this one planet. Not when there was a universe out there and a chance to obtain real power.
While there was a working ship simply lying around it would be foolish of me to leave now. Ra still ruled the Goa'uld and could command the entire empire to come after me should I become a threat.
No, I needed to wait until after he died. When that happened there would be a lot of chaos and infighting among the Goa'uld that I would be able to use to my advantage.
With my knowledge of future events, I should be able to set up my own empire and be prepared for the threats to come. I would need to tell the Asgard about how to defeat the Replicators and that might earn me enough graduate to keep them out of my affairs.
They'd never support me even if I turned out to be a kinder ruler than the System Lords, however, I didn't want them as my opponents and the evil Lego was an enemy to everyone.
One day the Replicators would attack Earth for its materials even if the technology was of no interest to them. As such staying here and hoping to weather the storm would be a mistake.
That was something to plan out in detail later on. My main concern was that I needed the Tau'ri to kill Ra for me even if that meant nuking the civilization on Abydos. Unlike Setesh I had no desire to inflict suffering on others in order to feel powerful, but nor did I care if thousands died if it achieved my goals.
I considered joining the military and trying to rise up through the ranks, but I disliked the idea of taking orders and risking my life for a nation I didn't care about. Thinking on it I decided that it would be best to work my way into the SGC by becoming someone they would call upon in more of a support role. Perhaps I should work with computers.
So for now, I needed to finish High School and get into MIT so I could become an engineer, which wouldn't be hard since I could use Nish'ta on anyone whose approval I needed so as to get them on my side, and then I could go into the computer business.
That made sense because I could recall Samantha Carter talking about how it took them 15 years and three supercomputers to do what a DHD could. Over a period of fifteen years, they would have brought in a lot of experts in many fields. If I became a skilled engineer, who helped progress computer science I could be one of those experts.
Maybe I would become this world's Bill Gates during the 1980s and be the kind of person the SGC would come to for some off-the-books funding. If nothing else, I should become rich and powerful because I deserved to be.
I would have thought more about Setesh making up part of my personality and giving me the desire to be admired by the masses if my uncle hadn't just arrived.
"Grab your stuff, we're leaving," he said.
He had no concern for my wellbeing, having to be my guardian was something he saw as a burden placed on him by a younger sister he'd never had much time for. Well, he didn't need to worry, as soon as I turned 18 he would also have a nasty accident and not have to trouble himself with my care.
Until then a little Nish'ta would keep him under my control. Then he'd be much more pleasant to live with.
Seth
Part 2
Classified Facility. Creek Mountain. 1981.
While going back to High School had been an extremely tedious affair that I was happy to have gotten finished before I even turned eighteen, since I could recall living for thousands of years it had seemed to have passed very quickly.
Thanks to the Sarcophagus I had stashed away I could live for centuries more. Although I hadn't started using it yet as I wanted my host body to mature somewhat before I slowed down my ageing.
I would need to come up with some acceptable excuse to explain why I was ageing so slowly. My current plan, once I had enough money, was to invest to set up a research project that would invent something that slowed ageing for the wealthy.
While I already had a few ideas about that it was something to go into detail about once I actually had the resources required to set up such a research project. Something that would need a lot of funding.
There were other reasons to use the device sparingly as using it very occasionally produces no ill effects, however, when used regularly, especially when unneeded did affect your mental state. This was partly why the Goa'uld were such egotistical monsters.
While I wished to extend my life, I had no desire to live as they did or to end up acting as a cliche villain. I knew that I was no god, sure I saw myself as superior to mere humans, but I was not divine nor did I need the approval of others to know my worth.
At the young age of nineteen Seth Fargough was finishing up the work required for a bachelor's degree in computer science and engineering.
This would normally take four years, but even with me holding back so that I didn't draw too much attention to myself too soon, I was going to have my degree before I turned twenty.
I was hardly the first person to earn this degree as the First bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering was awarded back in 1975 so by now quite a few people had the degree by now, but not so many that I wasn't standing out somewhat in academic circles.
This was all part of the plan to become part of the Stargate Program while also living the kind of life a superior being deserved, the latter would require me to obtain riches as well as recognition for my skills.
I already had offers from many companies and the military to come to work for them once I was finished with MIT, however, I had no desire to waste my talents making other people wealthy.
Thanks to a scholarship paying for my education, and the tragic death of my uncle not long after my 18th birthday, I'd obtained enough money to start inventing.
Recently I'd begun generating a good source of income by licensing out some of my minor patents that were already improving computer technology. Just not enough to make much difference.
My long-term goal was to become the Tony Stark of this world only without any suicidal heroic tendencies. Fargough Industries would be a military supplier for their most complex hardware, things such as missile guidance systems weren't complex at all for me
That would certainly get me involved in the Stargate Program even if I didn't get my PhD. I was still debating if I should obtain a PhD in Computer Science while trying to set up my own business as I could hire people to actually run for me while I focused on my studies and inventions.
It seem best to commit to that course of action because I'd been invited to do some work for the US Air Force and since I wanted a good working relationship with the Air Force I'd jumped at the chance to make myself known to some important people in USAF.
It wasn't until the bus that I and other computer experts had been directed into reached its destination, that I began to realise the importance of this project. I might be here only to assist some of the experts, but it was vital that I be here.
This was because Creek Mountain was the military base where the Stargate was currently located. I assumed that the powerful device was shipped off to Cheyenne Mountain sometime before SG1 was formed.
I could feel that the gate was here, and I understood that this feeling must be how Hathor (who was still locked up somewhere in South America as far as I knew) found the Stargate during the events of Season 1.
Since I'd not been able to sense it until I got close I assumed that Gou'ald Queens were more sensitive to the presence of naquadah than others, or maybe if Setesh had still been in the driving seat he'd have been able to sense it just as well as Hathor.
He would have avoided going near the gate, fearing it, as making use of the Stargate could gain the attention of the System Lords or the Tok'Ra, and that was the last thing Setesh wanted.
When the bus pulled into the yard that was in front of the entrance of the base I was reminded of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex seen in Stargate SG-1. It certainly wasn't the same location, but they were similar enough.
Not that I got much time for sightseeing as I, along with the older experts, were soon taken to a briefing room where refreshments were on offer and there was a chance for a bathroom break before the officer in charge began to speak.
"I am Brigadier General West of the United States Air Force and the commander of Project Giza," the man in charge let us know when he was standing before us "We have a lot of work ahead of us so I will keep things brief".
It wasn't hard to miss that Dr Catherine Langford had joined us. That made sense as it was her father who had discovered the gate and her lover had actually gone through it even if she didn't know that at this time.
"The U.S. government has begun a new scientific endeavour to engineer a supercomputer capable of interpreting the data pulses generated by an alien device," said the general.
While others acted shocked by this news my mind was elsewhere since I knew far more about the Stargate than any of them.
I felt certain that his man had been a Major-General in the Stargate movie as that was one of the things I recalled clearly. He must get promoted despite the program not seeing much success over the next decade and a half.
Of course, none of the clever chaps here accepted that they were dealing with an alien device and they had a bunch of questions that I ignored since I already where the Stargate had come from.
It wasn't actually that alien since the Ancients or Alterans, as the first evolution of humanity was known had built this galaxy's entire Stargate network here on Earth.
That was why Earth had no accessible deposits of Naquadah, the Ancients had used it all to fuel their technology and build their empire.
Unlike the other Goa'uld who were aware of the origins of the Stargate Network, I knew that the Ancients had come to the Milky Way after they fled their native galaxy due to the Ori.
I had my own plan to prevent the Ori from learning about this galaxy. I would not allow those creatures to learn that there were humans in this galaxy.
The lack of Naquadah on this planet was why I couldn't create more advanced technology and why Ra had been okay with abandoning the planet during the rebellion.
Back then the Tau'ri hadn't been a real threat and enough slaves had been taken through the Stargate to meet the needs of the Goa'uld so sending an army to conquer the planet had never been worthwhile.
"My father, Professor Paul Langford, discovered the device in the sands of Eygpt back in 1928," said Doctor Catherine Langford "It is made of a mineral not found anywhere else on Earth and the tests we've run suggest that it is older than all of human civilization".
The high-ranking Air Force officer drew the group's attention back to him.
"If you believe in aliens or not is of no concern," he said "What matters is that this device needs to be understood. After the device's discovery in Giza in 1928, it remained in Egypt until 1939".
We were shown an old black-and-white picture of the Stargate on display in Giza.
"At that time the Nazis took an interest" West let us know "It was feared that the device could be some kind of weapon so the American government take action".
Another old photo was put on a display stand.
"To prevent the Nazis from getting their hands on it, the device was transported to the United States by the freighter Achilles," said General West.
While I didn't intend to ever let that happen, the System Lord known as Ba'al would travel back to 1939 and board the Achilles. He acted with the intent of destroying the vessel and having the Stargate sink to the bottom of the ocean.
I knew that we couldn't be in that timeline since I could feel the presence of the Stargate nearby.
Another thing I knew was that it would take 15 years and three supercomputers to find a way to manage even the Gate's basic systems in the absence of its D.H.D.
Which had been discovered by a German archaeologist in 1906.
Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the Soviet Union gained access to the DHD. It passed into the possession of the Russian Federation after the fall of the Soviet Union.
While it might be possible for me to speed things up I knew that it would be a struggle. The people here wouldn't be inclined to listen to a student no matter how brilliant he was known to be, and I had no way of explaining how I would be able to understand the Stargate.
Even if I was believed and I could come up with a way to get the Stargate working I wasn't going to be made a part of the program as I wasn't even twenty years old, I was a child in the eyes of the people here.
Besides, I wasn't ready to take advantage of the galactic situation, under the rule of Supreme System Lord Ra the Goa'uld Empire would be stable.
No, it would be good to be here at the start and to make a good impression, but I would neither aid nor hinder the work, I just needed to impress Doctor Catherine Langford and General West and to be known as an expert on the supercomputers.
There was no rush because even if I was only here to do some of the grunt work it would take weeks or months to set everything up and I could use that time to make a good impression on the people here.
"Everything you do, see and hear while here is classified at the highest level," said the general as forms were handed out by some of his minions "Before we can start a more detailed briefing you'll need to sign the relevant paperwork".
Given that these supposedly open-minded scientists hadn't accepted that the Stargate was alien in origin there was no way the general public would be able to so keeping the existence of the Gate a secret made sense.
Perhaps I would live long enough to see that change, but for now, I was happy to keep my mouth shut on this subject and get on with whatever work the USAF sent my way.
I would help to build the very computer systems the SGC would use to control the Gate and that could be very useful to me in the future.
"Once you've signed the paperwork move to the briefing room across the hall, our science team will fill you in on what they have learned so far," said General West.
I signed and got moving, eager to learn more about what they'd been getting up to while trying to figure out the Stargate.
Seth.
Part 3.
Tel'tak. In Orbit of Earth. 1983.
By this year I had a PhD in Computer Science. With my specialization being in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and given the Cold War, the demand for people with my skill set was high.
At the age of 21, I was already highly sort after by a number of firms that did business with both civilian organisations and the militaries of NATO countries.
I ended up getting into Aeronautics and Astronautics due to an interest I'd developed in guidance systems for missiles and aircraft some years before.
As to why I'd stuck with it, I figured that if Stargate Command, or Project Giza as it was currently known, didn't call me back to Creek Mountain when they got the Stargate working they certainly would do when they started using some alien tech to produce X-302s.
Given my genius, it should have been a simple matter to patent enough of my inventions to gain the capital I needed to start my own company.
However, rejecting all the offers from established businesses hadn't been without consequences. In my arrogance, I'd not considered those whose offers I'd rejected to be any hindrance to my plans because they were mere humans.
The existing suppliers to the civilian and military in the field of Aeronautics had done their best to keep me out of the industry and I'd spent much of my murdered uncle's money on staying in college long enough to get my PhD.
As such I needed to acquire a bit of wealth before I could set up my own business. Not a simple matter with the rest of the industry's leaders doing their best to keep me out.
Sure I could have turned to crime or I could enslave some rich idiot and make him give me all of his money, but there was a way for me to kill two birds with one stone.
I could easily gain both the wealth I needed to create my business empire while also making sure that the Ori would not come to the Milky Way any time soon.
Currently, I was in orbit over London, more or less, and I was sitting in the front section of a Tel'tak which had once been Setesh's personal vessel.
The only ship of this class encountered by the Tau'ri in the show was in the possession of Osiris. After he took Sarah Gardner as a host, he travelled to the temple he was imprisoned in so long ago and he accessed the ship via the Transportation Rings.
Despite laying dormant in the sands for at least five thousand years, the ship was still operational and Osiris escaped.
My ship had also been very well hidden and kept dormant. Yet it was able to fly after centuries of not being used because the Goa'uld had picked up quite a few tricks from the Ancients when it came to making technology that lasted.
Alas for me, the Goa'uld never managed to fully recreate Alterran sensor technology and so despite me knowing that there was one of Merlin's stashes not that far from London and that it could be accessed via a set of rings, I simply couldn't find the place.
Setesh had never been great with technology, at least not by the standards of the Goa'uld such as Nerus, as his focus had always been on the manipulation of people rather than machines.
While I could use Setesh's genetic memory and the knowledge I'd acquired to easily advance Earth's primitive technology, improving upon Goa'uld technology even in minor ways was beyond me.
The sensors did pick up a spaceship getting close and for a moment I wondered if NASA had sent a shuttle to see what was happening. Which could be amusing if handled right.
Only it was something much more concerning, thanks to Setesh's memories I knew an Asgard vessel when I saw one even if I didn't know its class.
Before I could do anything other than curse I was taken away by a bright light and then I appeared onboard the alien craft.
"I am Loki of the Asgard," said the small grey alien.
Somehow I'd forgotten about the renegade Asgard who went around abducting people and making clones of them, and to be fair he'd not exactly been an important part of the show.
I did recall that he was locked up by the Asgard, that must not have happened yet, or he'd escaped more than once. You don't get known as the god of mischief for nothing so maybe he'd escape imprisonment a whole bunch of times.
The creature was neither male nor female nor was a natural life form having been cloned from a copy of someone who had been dead for centuries.
"Hi," I replied, "I am Seth of Earth".
I wasn't sure what else I should say. Not that I needed to yet as the alien had more that it wanted to say.
"When I scanned your vessel I was most perplexed to find someone who registers as a host for a Goa'uld in orbit around a world that both my people and yours have forgotten about" said Loki.
At this point in history, the Asgard had more important things to worry about than humans and the Goa'uld were content to have their petty wars with each other.
"According to my scan, the parasite is partly dormant and so is the human mind, yet you are not catatonic," said Loki "Can you explain this?".
I had no idea when he'd scanned me. Asgard technology was so advanced it might as well be magic.
"No," I answered, "I don't understand how it works either. One of the parasites invaded my body and when I woke up I had access to the parasite's memory, but it didn't take control of me".
I had no idea how I had a working mind because I had no way of finding out I couldn't even risk getting a X-Ray or Catscan in case anyone other than me saw the results.
At least I didn't think I was Setesh because I couldn't control the body of the parasite, but I had access to his memories so I must partly be the Goa'uld or linked to it.
"Most perplexing," said Loki "Perhaps more invasive tests are in order".
As I didn't want to get probed so I had to think fast.
"Rather than do that I think we should work together," I proposed.
Loki didn't look eager to listen, although I couldn't tell given his lack of any noticeable facial expression, but when nothing happened to me I decided to make my offer.
"You came to Earth for a reason" I was now saying "If you are looking for something or someone I can help you find it or them".
I knew what Loki was here for, but I didn't want the alien to know how much I knew about its mission here.
"There is little chance that a human will be able to assist me" stated the alien.
Loki was wrong about how I could help the Asgard in ways it couldn't imagine. I had been intending to point the alien at a few humans I knew that had the Ancient gene, but I figured that I was going to need something bigger to win over Loki.
"Are your people at war with the Replicators?" I asked.
That was a look of shock for sure.
"The Goa'uld should be aware of that conflict," it said.
"They aren't" I assured Loki "I found out by accident and I'm not in contact with any other Goa'uld. I don't consider myself to be one of them".
Before it could ask about how I knew about the Replicators I got on with things.
"There's a weapon here in the Milky Way that can defeat the Replicators something that was left behind by the Ancients" I told Loki "If you help me recover something I need I'll tell you all about it".
I got the sense that the Asgardian was suspicious, but since its goal was to save the Asgard race it didn't have much of a choice.
"Very well" said Loki "As long as your objective does not harm my people I will assist you".
I noticed that it showed no concern for the humans on Earth, but I didn't bring it up.
"My ship is orbiting directly over a site on Earth" I explained "I'm attempting to scan it without much luck".
Loki worked at the computer for a few moments.
"I have access to your ship's sensor records" the alien let me know "This class of Goa'uld vessel has little in the way of cyber security".
That must be one of the reasons they retired the design.
"Thanks to my much more advanced scanners I am able to map an area around an energy distortion that would have easily fooled a Goa'uld ship" Loki explained,
Well, this was a science vessel of some kind so it would have top-of-the-range sensors.
"I have been able to define a large main cavern, a network of tunnels, and some smaller caves" said Loki "What is it exactly that you are looking for".
There was no sense in lying to someone called Loki even if I wasn't sharing everything.
"If I can get down there I can access a treasure trove that I intend to use to keep myself very comfortable while living on Earth. Treasure that I am sure is worthless to your race," I said "There is an Ancient Communication Device there that is too dangerous for humans to possess".
Loki considered my words before speaking.
"There's no visible access from the surface nor can my people's beaming technology allow safe passage through the energy barrier" said the alien.
I'd suspected as much.
"The Ancient use transporter rings like ones the Goa'uld use," I said "They should be compatible if my ship can lock onto them".
Loki worked some more.
"I will transport you back to your vessel and program your rings," it said.
Before anything else could be spoken about I was gone in a flash of light. I knew that none of the technology I had access to would help me so I left it all behind. Merlin might have even installed some device in his treasure cave that would disable it.
Soon after I beamed down I found a puzzle to complete as the ceiling began to drop down. Thankfully Setesh understood Ancient well enough for me to see that it was a simple puzzle and I was able to reverse the pattern. Then the ceiling started to rise back up again.
The symbols were merely the numbers one through eight and their mirror image. A child could have figured that out if he could read a bit of Ancient.
The other puzzle wasn't any harder to figure out as it was just two pots sitting upon a slab of stone. One was labelled The Universe is infinite while the other says 'The treasure is in this pot'
Since the objective of this puzzle is to choose only one pot anyone coming here had a fifty/fifty chance of getting it right.
"There is only one truth: the universe is infinite," I said to myself "Therefore, the statement that 'The treasure is in this pot' must be false".
After lifting the lid of the infinite pot, all I saw was a small gold coin that I didn't touch.
Upon my return to the main cavern, the sword here was now removable from the stone. Releasing it made a holographic knight appear.
I knew that while being struck by the holographic Knight's sword would not physically injure me, it could kill me as there would be some sort of energy discharge that caused a great deal of pain.
The sword I was holding seemed to be able to damage the hologram, I suspected that there was some sort of hidden sensor that registered any attacks made with the right tool.
I also knew that the knight should vanish once I'd landed a few good blows as like the other tests this ordeal was meant to be a measure of me.
Since I'd had years to prepare to loot this place I'd made sure to get some sword fighting lessons and the holographic knight was a test of courage and skill, not a means of defence so it wouldn't be that hard to defeat
The blows we traded soon sped up in pace. Each time our swords met, a flash of light filled the air, but it wasn't too bright and I didn't allow myself to get distracted as we traded blows.
I had to dive below a wide swing of the knight's sword and as the hologram overextended I was able to strike, and the knight overextended a few more times, practically inviting me to attack.
That seemed to be enough as far as whatever computer system that was running this place was concerned and once I put the sword back in the stone the tests were done.
Now the entire chamber was filled with golden urns, vases, statues, goblets, coins, jewels, amulets, necklaces, rings, and other treasures, a great fortune had appeared as if by magic.
I had my eye on two things, the Ancient Communication Device, which had to be kept away from anyone with the Ancient Gene so that it would remain dormant and not link anyone from this galaxy to that of the Ori galaxy, and then there was a special book.
"Have you found the treasure you seek?" questioned Loki.
Whatever dampening field had been preventing the renegade Asgard from beaming me down here must have switched off when I made the treasure appear and that meant should anyone with the right scanners come poking around they would be able to find this place.
"I have," I said.
No sooner had I spoken than I was beamed up to Loki's ship and for a moment I wondered if he would live up to his name and betray me.
"The contents of the treasure chamber minus the Ancient Device have been transported to your ship" informed the little grey alien "Now you will tell me how my people can defeat the Replicators".
I would as it would benefit me as well, assuming that no one screwed things up.
"The temple at Dakara contains a device of the Ancients that was used to terraform planets, it can be used to broadcast an energy wave not only into space but through the Stargate network," I said
There is a reason why so many worlds in this galaxy look like Earth. It's because the Ancients made them that way.
"That energy wave can be set to disrupt the blocks that make up the Replicators, rendering them harmless, however, they will adapt so you will need to hit them all at once or find some way to alter the energy so it keeps working".
I had a bit more to say.
"Your people will have to either lure the Replictors to Dakara or find a way to create your own version of the weapon" I then said, "The Replicators can be lured to a location if you can find a deactivated android on their planet of origin. It was their creator".
Before I could say more Loki sent me back to my ship, the cargo bay of which was crammed with enough treasure to make me I had just robbed the vault of not only Bellatrix Lestrange but also all of the other Death Eaters.
I wouldn't need more than a few trinkets to get my business started. As for the rest, I would store that away in case I ever needed it.
While taking the ship back to its hidden landing bay I couldn't help wondering if Loki would get the credit for giving his race the information they needed to defeat the Replicators or if they would know the truth.
It could be a long time before I even knew if the little grey guys were successful or not. Although if they did fuck up a lure the evil Lego to this galaxy I might find out rather soon about it.
Seth.
Part 4.
Tel'Tak. Hyperspace. 1983.
The book written by Merlin should be called the Book of Origin as it explained in detail the origins of mankind in this universe, and how the species could trace its roots to people living in another part of the universe millions of years ago.
In fact, if I had translated the start of the book correctly, and I might not have since I was no Daniel Jackson, the open line could be read as 'A long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away', something that amused me greatly.
According to the book, millions of years ago, the Ori lived together with the Ancients as a single, united species of human beings known as the Alterans.
At some point, however, a split occurred among the Alterans. As the centuries went by a group who would be known as The Ancients began to devote themselves totally to science, while another faction known as the Ori became increasingly religious.
If the book mentioned what it was the Ori were worshipping then I wasn't able to translate that part, but I got that the Ori were fanatics and quite willing to murder people in massive numbers because they wouldn't believe what they were told to believe.
This division eventually became so great that the Ori attempted to destroy the Ancients. To avoid a war of genocide, which was contradictory to their beliefs, the Ancients departed their home galaxy for the Milky Way in a great starship rather than defend themselves.
Since they had the Ark of Truth the Ancients could have stopped the Ori back then, but rather than do that they let the Ori dominate that galaxy such as they had when they left the Pegasus galaxy in the hands of the Wraith.
Why anyone admired the Ancients I had no idea. Sure their science was incredible, only they'd abandoned entire galaxies to evil and now what was left of them living in some higher plane of existence doing next to nothing as far as I knew.
Upon arriving in the galaxy the Ancients began building a whole new civilization. They built the Stargate Network, the city-ship called Atlantis, they transformed many worlds and seeded them with life.
Including humanity, which they allowed to evolve naturally rather than create them more directly.
There was no mention of them sending out the starship known as Destiny. Perhaps Merlin had forgotten about it if he ever knew about the vessel at all. I doubted he'd been all-knowing even as an ascended being.
Much later a great plague came to the Milky Way, its exact source was unknown, but the book pointed the finger of blame at the Ori, and the Ancients were forced to flee another galaxy.
Once there they rebuilt their civilization, created more life and a new Stargate Network. The Wraith were not directly mentioned, but there was talk of another disaster that forced the Ancients to leave.
The book ended with Merlin saying that the last of the Ancients fled some great darkness and returned to Earth. While here they helped mankind build the first roads and set up their first civilizations that were now lost to time.
Also, the book mentioned a bit about how to ascend as Merlin had spent time teaching Arther to do that so he could return to mortal form to one day fight the Ori, not that he ever did, and I couldn't help thinking that this would have made season nine and ten so much cooler.
Ascending was something that held no interest for me as even if I could reach that level I didn't get the point of gaining power and never using it.
Although further research into that subject might lead to me finding some way to deal with Anubis when he turned up and started causing trouble for the entire galaxy because again the Ancients screwed up.
I wondered if I should publish Merlin's book as a science fiction novel once I had enough money to buy a publishing company. I'd have to finish translating the book.
Thinking on it the book could easily become a series. I could start it off in the distant galaxy, and have some characters who live through that time, who suffered due to the Ori coming after them.
Then have the sequel be set during the height of the Ancients here in the Milky Way. Only for it all to come crumbling down due to a great plague that even their science couldn't cure because it was not a natural illness.
The third book would feature the war against the Wraith and end with the Ancients returning to Earth to become part of early civilization on Earth.
That was something to think more about later as I was about to leave hyperspace.
While my ship was an old vessel with a slow hyperdrive my destination wasn't far from Earth on the scale of the galaxy so I would soon arrive at Heliopolis.
When Loki had taken the communication device and likely any other Ancient technology from Merlin's treasure vault he transported all the shiny things to my ship so I had a cargo bay full of valuables that I needed to store somewhere
I'd decided to set up a new cache somewhere in another star system rather than pick some other remote location on Earth in case someone tracked down my stashes.
There was always a chance that I would one day be driven off the planet and I would need to start over, as such having a stash on another world made sense.
As for why I'd chosen Heliopolis, not only was it close to the Sol System, which mattered because my ship was a short-range craft, the planet had long been abandoned by any spacefaring race.
My other reason for leaving Earth for a while was that there was a good chance that Thor or another high-ranking Asgard was going to pop by and look for me to get more information.
If I wasn't there I doubted that they'd hang around as they had a war to win and I wasn't important when compared to saving their whole species.
Also if I was going to build my own company and write a science fiction series then I was going to be busy for many years to come so I needed to visit this world now as I might not get around to it for a long time if I put it off.
During the time of the Alliance of Four Great Races, Heliopolis was the chosen meeting place between the Ancients, Furlings, Nox, and Asgard.
It was on this planet that they gathered to share their experiences, debate matters of mutual interest, and resolve any disputes between them.
This alliance lasted for millennia, prospering partly through meetings of the minds on Heliopolis, until one day the Ancients suddenly departed, which I knew was due to a plague, and I knew that they buggered off to the Pegasus Galaxy.
The Ancients leaving caused a fragmentation of the union. While the other species remained friendly toward each other, they no longer met on Heliopolis and were never as unified as they had been, if they had remained properly allied then the Goa'uld would have never been able to become the dominant species in this galaxy.
Alas for the galaxy the parasites took over the bodies of Unas, figured out how to work the Stargate on their homeworld and spread across the galaxy. I could remember this happening as if I'd been there as Setesh inherited the memories of the Goa'uld queen who spawned him.
Setesh had never been to Heliopolis in person, but the parasite had inherited memories from those who had lived on this world before humans became the preferred hosts of the Goa'uld. This was more than five thousand years ago.
I knew that when the Asgard first encountered the Goa'uld they became hostile towards the parasites and who could blame them?
The Asgard got into contact with former allies and suggested that they renew their alliance to combat the Goa'uld. The Nox refused as they had become pacifists and weren't willing to fight even to save the galaxy from tyranny.
The Furlings agreed on one condition. They demanded that the alliance strike a single decisive blow against the Goa'uld, as they could not survive a protracted war of attrition due to some sort of internal issue the Goauld never discovered much about.
Jack O'Neill would be sad to learn that the Furlings are not at all furry, they are tall reptiles who went into hiding much like the Nox once the Goa'uld took over most of the galaxy.
The two races attacked Heliopolis successfully and they took out a lot of enemy ships and installations, only they destabilised the planet's orbit when attacking and that would result in the world becoming inhabitable a few hundred from now.
Ra was injured and his flagship damaged when he fled that battle, and he stumbled across Earth by accident when his hyperdrive failed.
After finding Earth, Ra quickly built a kingdom in what is now Egypt and began using humans as slaves. He parcelled them to his allies and denied them to those who did not acknowledge him as their sovereign.
Ironically the Furling/Asgard attack was what let the Goa'uld become the dominant species in this galaxy as human hosts were well suited for the parasites and from them they were able to create the Jaffa who serve them as soldiers from baselines humans.
Had they chosen another world to attack the Goa'uld could have remained ignorant of Earth. They would never have obtained such suitable hosts and without so many slaves the empire would have been much smaller. Maybe even weak enough for the Asgard to have destroyed it.
In modern times Heliopolis was a world racked with storms and even the structures built by the Ancients that could last forever or close enough, looked to be falling apart as the planet become a more hostile place for what little life it was still able to support.
However, it would be centuries before the planet became too damaged for me to use one of the more intact buildings as a place to stash some of my technology and treasure.
I'd have to move everything in about a hundred years, but by then my situation should have changed, and if I failed then it wouldn't matter to me what happened to my stuff.
Before finding a suitable location to store some of my stuff I located the Stargate and landed nearby the castle that contained it. I wasn't actually interested in the Gate I'd come here for the device that got Daniel Jackson so excited when SG-1 visited this world.
They weren't due to come here for more than ten years so the place shouldn't fall into the sea anytime soon. Given that the place was falling apart I wasn't sure if I should try to remove the device as it could be lost that way.
As for the device, since I had no idea I would be able to remove it so I made sure to bring a video camera with me so I could record the information before this whole place went crashing into the sea.
I was so used to having a camera built into my phone that having to lug around a Camcorder felt very strange, but it was just something I had to do, and the weight didn't bother me.
As expected I wasn't alone here. I ran into the sole occupant of this planet before long.
"You must be Ernest," I said to the old naked man.
I was about to ask him to guide me to the room with the awesome light show, only he walked right past me while speaking.
"Good afternoon," he said.
I had considered taking the man back to Earth and dropping him off at a special home so he could be taken care of in his old age, but there was a risk that he'd become lucid enough to find his ex and contact Doctor Langford so he could tell her what happened to him.
Since Doctor Langford met me back when Project Giza was setting up I couldn't risk the two of them ever talking so I used my
zat'nik'tel to quickly kill the strange naked man before I began to explore this castle.
I had no issue with murdering people to advance my goals but since I took no delight in tormenting lesser creatures I discharged the weapon for the second time very quickly.
By the time SG1 got here if they ever did, there would be nothing left of the man other than his bones and he wouldn't be able to tell anyone that I had been here.
Before long I found the projection device, which I knew to be a repository of information created by the Alliance of Four Great Races during the height of their cooperation.
I made sure to record all of the writing and I knew that the part written by the Ancients was a declaration of dedication to the Great Alliance, so the other writing must say something similar.
The Ancients, the Asgard, the Nox, and the Furlings had all provided information for this repository of knowledge. To ensure universal communication, they created a "universal language" composed of representations of the primary elements.
Not so they could communicate with each other, as they couldn't have built this place if they couldn't have a conversation, no this had been left as a legacy to races that would one day find this place.
Since the humans of this galaxy were creations of the Ancients it could be argued that all they left behind belonged to mankind. Although not just the humans who lived on Earth.
As I wasn't from this universe I did not have to right to any of it, but that did not stop the Goa'uld from using what the Ancients left behind to build their evil empire and I would use it to obtain power for myself.
I had no idea if the elements on display were meant to represent letters or numbers, and there were many levels of the display, I could spend decades trying to figure it all out. I might even parcel out some very small tidbits of this knowledge to scientists on Earth to see if it led to anything.
For now, I just needed to record as much as I could on a few videos so that I had copies and once this was done I'd go find a suitable location for my off-world stash of goodies.
I was tempted to go visit Abydos so I can raid the treasures that Ra had stashed away there, but if he checked it out the next time he visited then he would know someone had been there who shouldn't have.