Day 55, early morning; mess hall; attn: whoever [F]
Conn hit 'Send' on his Thoughts for the Day post and sat back, taking a sip of coffee. He'd written the post the night before, but had awoken early this morning and so decided to go to the mess hall to fix anything he hadn't noticed as he was writing it. The mess hall was still rather empty, but there was one group of scientists at another table-- he thought they might be the environmental scientists that got the weather forecast out so early in the morning-- and a couple of military people at another table.
He hadn't really been paying attention, but a phrase caught his ear. "... acts like he's dying."
Conn casually focused on the conversation while pretending to work more on his laptop. He didn't approve of gossip, but still felt the need to keep his ear to the ground.
"Yeah, I don't really think Beckett would cheat, either, so something else is going on."
"Well, he did have the seizure or whatever it was at lunch yesterday," the other military man said.
There was a scrape of a chair and one of the scientists turned to the other table. "You know what I think? I think it's the whole clone thing."
"I don't follow you."
"Well, we all know now that he's General O'Neill's clone, right? The one that one Asgard--"
"Loki."
"Yeah, the one Loki made. I was at the SGC when that happened and I heard they had to get Loki to fix him because he wasn't supposed to live very long and his cells or something were breaking down."
"Seriously? That would have sucked."
"No kidding. But in fixing him, Loki messed up his genetics a bit-- It's why he had to have Beckett's ATA gene therapy."
"Right."
"Well, what if the gene therapy screwed him up? Fixed the ATA gene, but messed up some of the fixes Loki made?"
One of the military men whistled. "And now he's dying again?"
"Makes as much sense as him and Beckett having an affair. They're just trying to keep it on the down-low."
There were footsteps and Conn glanced up to see another person join the military table.
"Man, I've had enough with people dying," one of the scientists said.
"Who's dying?" the new arrival asked.
"Airman Jackson, apparently."
Conn set down his coffee mug and steepled his fingers, wondering whether he should intervene.
He hadn't really been paying attention, but a phrase caught his ear. "... acts like he's dying."
Conn casually focused on the conversation while pretending to work more on his laptop. He didn't approve of gossip, but still felt the need to keep his ear to the ground.
"Yeah, I don't really think Beckett would cheat, either, so something else is going on."
"Well, he did have the seizure or whatever it was at lunch yesterday," the other military man said.
There was a scrape of a chair and one of the scientists turned to the other table. "You know what I think? I think it's the whole clone thing."
"I don't follow you."
"Well, we all know now that he's General O'Neill's clone, right? The one that one Asgard--"
"Loki."
"Yeah, the one Loki made. I was at the SGC when that happened and I heard they had to get Loki to fix him because he wasn't supposed to live very long and his cells or something were breaking down."
"Seriously? That would have sucked."
"No kidding. But in fixing him, Loki messed up his genetics a bit-- It's why he had to have Beckett's ATA gene therapy."
"Right."
"Well, what if the gene therapy screwed him up? Fixed the ATA gene, but messed up some of the fixes Loki made?"
One of the military men whistled. "And now he's dying again?"
"Makes as much sense as him and Beckett having an affair. They're just trying to keep it on the down-low."
There were footsteps and Conn glanced up to see another person join the military table.
"Man, I've had enough with people dying," one of the scientists said.
"Who's dying?" the new arrival asked.
"Airman Jackson, apparently."
Conn set down his coffee mug and steepled his fingers, wondering whether he should intervene.