fg7dragon: So this is really a metaphysical question. All I can say is that the Goa'uld have a soul. Anubis even shows that they are capable of experiencing Ascension.
AMTT94: Interesting remark, but an allusion to Buddhism present in Stargate Atlantis has obviously escaped you. The Replicators of the Pegasus Galaxy are called the Asurans. They come from the planet Asuras. Now, in Buddhism, the "Asuras" are the demons who seek to prevent humans from reaching the state of fullness, or Awakening, which transforms them into Buddha. If you know the history of the Lantean, and the fact that they are the creators of the Asurans... that makes sense, doesn't it?
Thank you for all your comments.
The Asurans
Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy
Seen from the sky, Atlantis looked like the oversized design of a snowflake. The island floated on the surface of the planet Lantea's main ocean.
About the same size as Manhattan, Atlantis was covered with futuristic skyscrapers, the tallest of them occupying the center of the 'snowflake'.
Almost at the top of the building, there was a large room on two levels. Just in front of a large bay window, the Ancients had installed a Stargate. From the 'departure room' two staircases led to a kind of balcony which served as a control room. About twenty technicians were installed behind consoles, looking at holographic screens and tapping keys. The only thing that had changed since the time of the Lanteans was... the absence of Lanteans.
Two soldiers in military fatigues, armed with M16A2 assault rifles watched at the bottom of the steps. One of them had a Swedish flag on his shoulder, the other a German flag. As for the technicians, they had the two-tone SGA uniform and came from many countries around the world.
In an office on the same level as the control room, a woman was sitting behind a desk; behind her were wooden African masks and other objects testifying to the itinerant life of the SGA program director.
As a discreet beep sounded in her ear, the young woman auburn pressed the touch of her earpiece.
"Elizabeth Weir."
A voice recognizable for its arrogance and Canadian accent was heard.
"This is Rodney, I just finished my analysis of the Replicator brought back by the Daedalus. Would you join me in the observation room?"
The observation room was an octagonal room on two levels. The walls were of bright orange metal with decorative sconces of strange appearance... for the rest, the furnishings were comfortable, with notably two armchairs and even a large sofa, almost an ordinary living room. At least if we forgot the armored Plexiglas gallery was going around the room, up the walls. This allowed doctors to examine contagious patients... unless they were replaced by scientists when exploration teams brought back strange and possibly dangerous natives.
For the time being, the only occupant was a teenage girl with caramel-colored hair and eyes. Even her school uniform was that color.
From one of the observation rooms, a duo was watching the Replicator.
The man, a bearded colossus with dreadlocks and dressed in a coarse-looking shirt, shrugged his shoulders casually.
"Why don't we kill her?"
The young woman who stood beside the man turned to him in disbelief. She was a very beautiful Athosian with regular features, blond hair, and sun kissed skin.
"But she didn't attack us!"
Ronon Dex's reaction was quite brutal. He crossed his arms on his chest with a cynical smile.
"Why take a risk?"
Teyla Emmagan looked at her Satedan friend with exasperation but did not continue the conversation because the door had just opened. Two men entered, first Lieutenant-Colonel John Sheppard, the leader of Atlantis Recon 1. Then the AR-1 scientist, the Canadian Rodney McKay. They were in conversation with Hermiod, the only Asgard on Atlantis.
"... with this energy field, there's no way the Replicator can get out of the observation room or take control of our computers. I'm sure you must be amazed by my genius, Hermiod."
"Dr. McKay," replied the grey-skinned alien, while blinking, "I don't have the hormones that would allow this kind of physiological reaction. And it takes much more to impress the Asgards."
Sheppard smiled at Teyla while shaking his head, amused by Rodney's rants.
"How does the Replicator behave?"
"John, she waved at us when she saw us and then examined the room before sitting down to read. I can't believe she's dangerous. She seems as harmless as a toy."
Ronan and McKay replied simultaneously:
"A three-barrel shotgun?"
"A Commodore 64?"
Teyla sighed in disbelief.
"No, I meant a baby doll!"
John Sheppard looked up to heaven.
"Teyla is right, what kind of childhood did you have?" Before Rodney and Ronon could answer, he raised his arms in a feigned act of terror. "No, don't answer, I don't want to know, I'm sorry I asked."
They discussed for a few minutes until Doctor Elizabeth Weir came to join them.
Together they examined Hakuno Kishinami, still reading.
"So," said the SGA director, "what can you tell me about this girl?"
McKay cleared his throat, and then pressed a few keys on his tablet. In front of them, the Lantean console built into the wall projected a hologram depicting Hakuno Kishinami. The camera appeared to dive inside the girl, revealing that her body was made of liquid metal, neutronium in fact.
"This is a nanomorph, a creature made of undifferentiated nanites."
The virtual camera had continued to zoom and the holographic screen now showed tiny robots that were almost spherical but made up of triangular faces, and hooked appendages pointed in different directions.
"The nanobots that make up this Replicator are exactly the same as those used to create the nanomorphs encountered on Asuras, the Pegasus' Replicators."
"There is a difference, in fact," remarked Hermiod. "The Asuran Replicators have a 'hive mind', although seemingly distinct individuals, these humanoids are little individualized. There is on Asura what you would call a 'web server', a mainframe that connects all nanomorphs to each other, allowing instant data exchange between all nanites. This... Hakuno Kishinami is not connected to this server. One can legitimately assume that these nanites of which she is constituted formed a single individual."
McKay hated being interrupted in his explanations as much as being called 'Meredith' (his real first name)... especially when the speaker was right. He grimaced with an offended expression.
"Yes... certainly... and I was going to explain it to you, Elizabeth."
Doctor Weir smiled with a reassuring look.
"This is not a contest."
"Naturally," replied Hermiod.
—except it was ALWAYS a contest for McKay.
Dr. Weir lingered for a few minutes. She compared the impressions of her friends to reports and testimonies provided by Daedalus' crew members who had spoken with Hakuno Kishinami.
"Thank you for your explanations and opinions."
John Sheppard seemed curious.
"And you've made your decision?"
The director of the SGA smiled.
"Of course, John, I'm a diplomat. I was appointed director because the United Nations thought it was enough to let the USAF manage the Stargate program in our galaxy, and that -potentially - an international team focused on diplomacy would be better suited to communicate with extraterrestrials. And that's what I'm going to do."
Sheppard flinched
"Well, if that's your decision, I can't oppose it. But it's dangerous... Also, you will meet Kishinami in the company of two soldiers armed with an anti-Replicator Gun. This is my decision as head of security."
The responsibilities were clearly divided in Atlantis. If Weir was running the program as a whole and making the decisions, she had to submit to Sheppart's decisions on security matters. Sheppard was at the head of the military, a position he combined with his title of leader of an AR team.
"You can do whatever you want John, but they won't b very useful.
Colonel Sheppard replied with a reassuring smile.
"I hope so too... "
"Can you repeat that?"
Hakuno answered with a Head Tilt.
"Dr. Weir?"
The diplomat was so surprised by the sudden... cuteness of this Replicator, that Hakuno had to repeat his question before Dr. Weir answered.
"You said you were from Earth... in which year?"
"From the Moon. In 2030," replied Hakuno, with a perfectly inexpressive face.
The Last master of the Moon did not really understand the reaction of the woman in front of her, but it was obvious that the SGA director was shocked.
"How did you get on the Sirius?"
"I don't know."
Weir seemed even more bewildered by the simple and immediate answer. She had to think for a moment. The diplomat spoke again using simple vocabulary and simple sentences.
"We found you aboard the Sirius. Where were you before?"
"The Seraph."
"What is this 'Seraph'? Where is it?"
"A virtual universe inside the Moon Cell."
"What is the Moon Cell?"
"An alien computer almost as old as Earth and installed on the Moon."
For Hakuno it was two long sentences with lots of explanations. She always used as few words as possible, preferring to answer 'yes' or 'no' when she could.
But Weir had to make efforts to keep smiling. Communication with their 'guest' was like crossing a minefield on a moonless night. The most ordinary question could lead to completely destabilizing answers. The Atlantis Project Director took the time to think carefully about her next question before she spoke again.
"What do you want, Hakuno?"
The young Japanese woman blinked.
"Want?"
"Yes, what would you like to do?"
"See the blue sky and the birds."
The answer surprised Weir but also everyone who was listening to the conversation from the observation bays.
"It's... a strange desire."
"Is it?"
"Yes... I never imagined a Replicator saying something like that."
Hakuno had learned that she had become a Replicator during the conversation. She was not very surprised by this change... after all, it was no stranger than being a autonomous AI in the Seraph's virtual environment. But she took several seconds to think about her answer.
"My friends were living people whose consciousness had been downloaded into the Seraph. They told me about life on Earth. I wanted to go to Earth."
"How did you meet your friends?"
"Moon Cell Grail War."
Elizabeth Weir looked at Hakuno Kishinami with disbelief.
"Sorry? What is the Moon Cell Grail War?"
It was a simple question but the answer was long and complicated to get... especially because Hakuno was not particularly good at making conversation. And when Weir finally understood the answer, she also understood that she had stepped on the biggest mine of this trapped conversation.
"Don't tell me you believe this story!"
Ronon Dex did not even seem angry and hardly incredulous. The tone of his voice expressed above all a mocking amusement.
Sheppard shrugged his shoulders.
"SG1 went on a planet where the entire population was permanently immersed in virtual reality (1). Their technology is still used by SGC for training recruits in a perfectly safe environment."
"Yes, but according to your calendar it's 2006, right? She says she's coming from 2030."
McKay was amused by the Satedan's perplexity.
"Again, SG1 has traveled through time (2). If the wormhole of a Stargate is deflected by the coronal mass emission of a star, then travelers can get out of the vortex in the past even the future."
That's not enough to convince Ronon.
"So, on your planet, you have a crystal supercomputer that's putting... hackers (it's the right word ?) ... against each other to fulfill the winner's wish? You must have forgotten to tell me."
Weir, Sheppard, and McKay exchanged glances.
"No" ends up answering Sheppard. "There is no miracle supercomputer on the moon."
Nevertheless, Rodney McKay did not admit defeat. After all, it's not like the arrogant Canadian isn't always looking for the last word...
"But if she comes from a parallel reality? SG1 has already... (3)"
"Stop!" This time, Ronon was really angry. "Parallel universes now? Couldn't you take the simplest assumption? She's full of shit."
"Why would she lie," replied Elizabeth.
"I don't know... maybe she's crazy. Now I'm talking like you! You forgot, it's just a toaster and obviously a completely messed up toaster."
Sheppard was impressed by Ronon's angry reply. The colonel turned to the only member of his team who had not spoken.
"What about you, Teyla?"
The Athosian woman took a few seconds before answering.
"I think Ronon is not wrong to be cautious. Just because something is possible doesn't mean it's going to happen. And never so far, virtual reality, alien computer, time travel, Replicators, and travel between universes have been brought together simultaneously..."
"Ah!" Ronon Dex answered in a triumphant tone, happy that someone agrees with him. But Teyla had not finished speaking.
"... However, this does not mean that it is impossible or that Hakuno is our enemy."
Hermiod had listened to all the exchanges without speaking. In fact, he was beginning to be exhausted. Endurance was not the strength of the Asgards.
" I see, once again, that you have only confronted arguments arising from what you believe or don't believe. You have neglected the facts. The Daedalus discovered the wreckage of the Sirius while following an unknown signal from some very advanced technology. This signal came from a Black Hole... a natural wormhole... allowing traveling to other places, times, or even entirely different realms and alternate realities... The hands that boarded the Sirius also discovered that mainframe software had been modified and rewritten into an unknown language."
Hermiod moved an Asgard stone on the armrest of his chair and a hologram materialized, showing the film shot aboard the Aurora-class battleship. On the screens of the Lantean consoles, the spectators clearly saw the logo of the entity that had reprogrammed Sirius' main computer... a crystal cube composed of smaller cubes.
"Even if all this is an elaborate trap, the existence of the Moon Cell cannot be denied."
Elizabeth Weir agreed.
"What do you think we should do, Hermiod?"
The grey-skinned alien blinked slowly, as his nostrils contracted.
"The problem is that you don't have enough data to judge the situation. Any initiative could be disastrous. I suggest you refer to your superiors."
"Which means sending the Daedalus back to Earth and losing weeks..."
Hermiod lifted a finger in a strangely slow but imperative gesture.
"Excuse me for interrupting, Dr. Weir. The crew of the Daedalus not only brought back Hakuno Kishinami on their last mission. Dr. Zelenka connected the ZPM found aboard the Sirius to the Atlantis power grid. You now have enough power to open a wormhole to the SGC and immediately contact your superiors. Dr. Weir, I wouldn't have wasted your time on a solution that couldn't be implemented."
The Atlanteans exchanged embarrassed looks. Normally the discovery of a ZPM would have been considered a major advance and they had all completely forgotten about it. While observing their reactions, Hermiod winked peacefully. The alien again felt like the only adult in a kindergarten.
Earth (Tau'ri), Milky Way Galaxy
In a scraping noise and CO2 jet release, the Stargate activated.
Behind their desks, the technicians stiffened.
One of them pressed a button and leaned over a microphone.
"Unscheduled gate activation."
In the conference room on the upper floor, Major Carter stopped talking to her father Jacob Carter/Selmak and the other Tok'ras and turned to General Hammond.
"Maybe one of our teams is back."
The senior officer at the head of the SGC shook his head.
"This is unlikely. SG-4 is on a mission on P2X-333 but the former Naqadah Goa'uld mine is abandoned, the descendants of the miners are still in the Bronze Age. In his last report, Major Howe said that the population was not aggressive. SG-16 is on P3X-234 habitable moon. So far, Colonel Reynold's team has encountered nothing but strange life forms."
Still practical, Colonel O'Neill shrugged his shoulders.
"We'll know if it's one of our teams when they issue their Iris opening code... and I doubt the Goa'ulds are dumb enough to try another attack through the front door."
A liquid-looking geyser rushed inside the gate room. Sheltered behind the quick-fire guns the Marines stiffened. A dozen armed M-16 men had joined them arriving from the two armored doors allowing entry into the room. It was probably an unnecessary precaution, but prudence had always paid off when it came to a Stargate.
Sergeant Reynold turned to General Hammond who had just walked down the spiral staircase to the conference room.
"Sir, we're getting an identification code. It's Atlantis. They're asking for audio-visual communication with you."
"All right, accept."
The Air Force technician pressed a few buttons and one of the screens lit up, showing the face of the director of the SGA.
"Dr. Weir, we weren't expecting to hear from you so soon."
The young woman smiles at the enthusiasm of her correspondent.
"Good to see you, General Hammond. We were fortunate to find a functional ZPM. But we don't just call to inform you of our good fortune." The diplomat hesitated for a brief moment. "We have discovered something, or rather someone very special. We are puzzled by the situation and do not know how to react."
The naquadah ring in the gate room was again dormant. Hammond, SG-1, and the Tok'ras were returned to the conference room to resume their discussion.
The general had picked up several files from his office and closed one of them.
"Well, I'm asking this on principle, but does anyone of you doubt that this 'Hakuno Kishinami' is the person Gilgamesh told us about?"
Daniel waved slightly in his chair.
" She has the same name and this Hakuno fits his description, and she appeared on an Ancient ship... so linked to Ancient technology, as Gilgamesh says."
Sam took the floor.
"There is also the signal recorded by the Daedalus. This is probably the one Gilgamesh was following before losing his way."
"Too bad for Gil, he had almost found his friend, he just went to the wrong galaxy. Oops!"
O'Neill's humor made Sam and Daniel smile, even Jacob was amused. But he suddenly lowered his head and when he stood up his voice had changed, it was no longer the human host speaking but Selmak, the Tok'ra symbiote.
"The situation is even more complex than Dr. Weir assumes. Our undercover agents in Ba'al's entourage say Gilgamesh is being treated like an honored host. In addition, Ba'al has Hakuno Kishinami searched throughout the galaxy."
In a theatrical gesture, O'Neill touched his chest.
"In fact, the Big Bad Ba'al has a heart. He was so moved by Gilgamesh's story that he immediately went looking for Kishinami. We were so wrong about him!"
"I doubt it, Jack O'Neill," replied calmly Teal'c, raising a single eyebrow.
Repressing a smile, Selmak shook his head.
"I agree with Teal'c. According to your report, Jack, Gilgamesh is a powerful person. Ba'al is probably trying to stay on good terms with Gilgamesh to benefit from his... friendship."
"In that case, Gilgamesh should be wary," remarked Jackson. "Ba'al was Sokar's second-in-command until the day he betrayed him. And when Sokar sought revenge by destroying his empire's central planet, Ba'al turned the sun into a black hole, causing the whole system to be annihilated... Sacrificing a planet populated by several billion inhabitants to destroy Sokar's Ha'tak armada.
"And Anubis took him as second" O'Neill wondered.
"Jack, Ba'al has a fleet estimated to be 40 Ha'taks. This makes him a much feared System Lord amongst his rivals... or an ally to reconcile."
Hammond cleared his throat.
"Gentlemen, back to the point. Selmak, do you think Gilgamesh could be a danger to Earth?"
"Ba'al seems ready to make great efforts to secure his alliance. I deduce that Gilgamesh would be a very dangerous enemy. But your meeting with Hakuno Kishinami could be an unexpected asset to making him change sides."
"Dad, did you hear what Dr. Weir said? Hakuno Kishinami destroyed a Wraith's Hive Ship with considerable ease. She may be the most dangerous of the two."
Selmak bowed his head and when he stood up, it was Jacob Carter again speaking.
"That's right, Sam. What would happen if we brought Kishinami and Gilgamesh together? Separately, they're already dangerous... so together?"
Hammond sighed.
"In any case, bringing Miss Kishinami to Earth will require the approval of the NID (4). I will immediately write a report, but I'm not sure that they support this idea. I will also call the president. For now, Miss Kishinami will stay on Atlantis. That doesn't stop us from planning a plan. Jacob, can the Tok'ra contact Gilgamesh without Ba'al knowing?"
"We have agents in the palace where Gilgamesh currently resides. Contacting him wouldn't be a problem... I'm sure he'd be very interested if we told him we know where Hakuno Kishinami is."
"When Dr. Weir calls back to us, I'll ask her to film and interview Miss Kishinami. This should be sufficient evidence that we have found her. Until then, she will remain in Atlantis... Out of reach of Ba'al and the other Goa'ul Systems Lords. It will probably be safer for her and us."
Pegasus Galaxy, Asuras.
The ancients had disappeared from the Pegasus galaxy.
But everyone could doubt it when discovering Asuras. The planet was a titanic megalopolis with huge skyscrapers of architecture similar to Atlantis... there was even a replica of the ancient city in the middle of a lake. Billions of humanoids resembling humans lived in this planetary megalopolis
But only their appearance was human... they were Replicators, nanomorphs.
In a high tower, several Asuran were working on consoles. Like all Pegasus' Replicators, they looked like Lanteans. The technicians were dressed in light-colored robes. But two guards stood at the door. They are immediately identifiable thanks to their different clothes a brown jumpsuit with lighter tones on the shoulders and arms, darker elsewhere. They had Neutralizer pistols on the belt. One of the technicians operating a long-range detector stopped briefly, then without showing any emotion pressed several crystal buttons. A holographic screen appeared above his console. On a map of the Pegasus galaxy appeared a flashing red dot... the dot represented the planet Lantea.
With perfect synchronization, the other Asurans turned to the screen. There was an inaudible exchange and then one of the brown jumpsuit guards left the room.
All the Asurans resumed their work.
Oberoth was the High Counselor, the supreme leader of the Asurans.
He was sitting in the middle of a long, narrow, crescent-shaped table. Other chairs near his were occupied by the other Counselors. He looked like an old man, almost bald with a short white beard. His eyes, small, sunken in his orbits gave him an obstinate and nasty look... It would seem that the art of physiognomy worked perfectly with Oberoth even though he was a nanomorph since 'obstinate and nasty' fitted him like a second skin.
When the guard from the detection room arrived, there was again a telepathic exchange between the soldier and the Counselors. Then Oberoth turned to the others. All Counselors had received the guard's message and knew that a Replicator was on Atlantis.
"I don't know where the Atlanteans found one of our brothers. Did they make him? But it doesn't matter. By studying the one they currently hold, they could discover a way to destroy us."
The other Replicators agreed. One of the Counselors expressed the opinion of all.
"We must free our brother."
"All right, since we all agree, let's send a commando to Atlantis. They will have to enter the city and leave quickly with our brother," replied Oberoth.
He looked calmly at the other Replicators and nodded his head.
"Let's think about an action plan."
Author's note: Surely, you didn't think that Hakuno and Gilgamesh would be easily reunited... there is always a snake in the Garden of Eden...
(1) The Gamekeeper, Stargate SG1 Saison 2, épisode 4.
(2) 1969, Sargate SG1 Saison 2, épisode 21
(3) Vous avez besoin d'une liste d'épisode où SG1 ou l'équipe de Stargate Atlantis voyage dans des mondes parallèles? C'est un thème récurent commun aux deux sériew...
(4) National Intelligence Department, it's a CIA-like agency specialized in alien menace... the famous 'Men in Black'.