Fused Paper
Author's Pre-Story Note: I wanted to do something different and the Wild West Atlantis comm. inspired me to write AU. Therefore I present to you The Nine Alternate Universes and One Standard Sparky Fic series, roughly based on the 'Five Times When/Ten Things' concept with the numbers 1-10 as a prompt.. Enjoy. :)
Note II: Separate pieces will not be in order nor in the same AU.
Nine Alternate Universes and One Standard Sparky Fic
Number 3
Title: Thrice Around
AU: All's Fair in Love and War
Show: Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Sparky
Summary: He has a job, and he does it without question. He never expected one POW to change all that...
The third time Keeper interrogated her, he had an audience. Half the senior members had taken a strong interest in his current patient; the findings from the first interrogations had been surprising enough to wake their dulled interest. As Keeper slid on the vocal collar and adjusted the audio input, he prayed that she would perform as well as she had before.
His life, and hers, hung in the balance.
“Connecting… now.”
A whirl of psychedelic color swamped the technician’s voice and Keeper clung to the thread of sanity, knowing that it would be over in a moment.
It was, and the steady feel of linoleum tile under his shoes gave him something to concentrate on until the worst of the transport had passed.
Recovering his balance, Keeper opened his eyes to see the blurry plastic of a shower curtain only feet away. The white, squeaky clean air about the bathroom suggested a need for control or perfection; he had already established that in his first interrogation. Why her mind had chosen a bathroom would be a question for later, more peaceful times. Right now…
The subject sat on the edge of the bathtub, clothed in antique, Earth-style ‘Tee shirts’ and tattered ‘denim shorts’. There was nothing innocent about her, and yet, slightly hunched as she was, with her bare feet nudging the small, fuzzy white carpet, he could almost believe that she had not slaughtered thirteen of his comrades.
Almost.
Keeper ignored the subtle allure of her dark curls and focused on the task at hand, knowing that his elders were watching this on screens in their offices. He had to prove she was worthwhile to retain, that she held a spark of promise that would enable her to be of use to the Hateii.
If he could not, her life was forfeit as a prisoner of war, and his career was over.
“What is your name?”
Make the syllables as harsh as possible; do not feel empathy for the enemy.
He had learned that she would not divulge anything easily. That left him only one option: take it by force.
Leaning the pressure of his mind against her will, Keeper asked the question again.
She did not appear to fight him, instead glancing away to stare at the yellow plastic figure of an Earthian animal- a ‘dyuck’, if he remembered correctly. While the feel of her mind said she was giving ground, her outward appearance suggested his tactics had no effect.
“Where do you come from?”
Silence.
The cutting edge of desperation began to bite into his heart even as she played with the fringe on a towel.
“Why are you here?”
And still, no response.
Taking a step forward, Keeper steeled himself. He hadn’t wanted to use violence to obtain the information; even in the Mental realm, harm could still translate to permanent damage.
“You killed thirteen of my brothers. They gave their lives to stop you so that we could take you and use you. I will give my own to see that happen.”
It came out as more of a snarl than he had intended, but the words were- for the most part- said for the benefit of those watching. Pain and grief from losing his sword-brother flared and he stifled it, freezing all emotions.
There were ways of torturing suspects that worked even when dealing with the mind; the fact that he retained his own features and that they both were solid was proof enough of that. With his machine-aided power, she would be helpless before him.
Many of his Keeper-kin had taken full advantage of that. It was one reason why women prisoners tended not to last long in detainment.
He had sworn not to walk that path.
“Tell me.”
With that, she changed. The guileless gaze met his green one and came alive with fury, with hatred and bitterness and-
Pain?
But triumph overrode the sudden insight. This was the side of her no one had believed existed. This was the powerful mind that hid behind blue eyes and beauty.
“Never.”
One graceful hand flashed out from where it had slid behind her back and the blades of an outdated razor glinted in the light. Keeper froze.
Never before had a suspect attacked an interrogator.
And then again, no one had ever heard of someone with mindpowers like hers.
With a push, she flew at him, moving with a shifting quickness that hurt to watch. Saved only by his reflexes, he grabbed her wrist as she missed him, pulling her around with enough force to slam her into the wall with a brutal crack.
Before he could do more than take a hissing breath, the technicians forcefully removed him from the Interrogation Matrix and he was yanked back into reality with a choking gasp.
“Very well. You have proved your point.” The cold voice of a senior official crackled in his voice as Keeper wished the world would stop spinning so violently. “She will be put to use immediately.”
The transmission ended as abruptly as it had started, and he ran a hand through his sweat soaked black hair. He had done her no kindness by saving her life; already the engineers would be moving in on her isolation pod and detaching the interrogation wires, cutting off every access to the outside world she could possibly hack into.
Soon they would complete the modifications that would enable them to use her unwilling mind to power the base’s defenses. And when that happened…
His mind had begun already to imagine her screams.
Note II: Separate pieces will not be in order nor in the same AU.
Nine Alternate Universes and One Standard Sparky Fic
Number 3
Title: Thrice Around
AU: All's Fair in Love and War
Show: Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Sparky
Summary: He has a job, and he does it without question. He never expected one POW to change all that...
The third time Keeper interrogated her, he had an audience. Half the senior members had taken a strong interest in his current patient; the findings from the first interrogations had been surprising enough to wake their dulled interest. As Keeper slid on the vocal collar and adjusted the audio input, he prayed that she would perform as well as she had before.
His life, and hers, hung in the balance.
“Connecting… now.”
A whirl of psychedelic color swamped the technician’s voice and Keeper clung to the thread of sanity, knowing that it would be over in a moment.
It was, and the steady feel of linoleum tile under his shoes gave him something to concentrate on until the worst of the transport had passed.
Recovering his balance, Keeper opened his eyes to see the blurry plastic of a shower curtain only feet away. The white, squeaky clean air about the bathroom suggested a need for control or perfection; he had already established that in his first interrogation. Why her mind had chosen a bathroom would be a question for later, more peaceful times. Right now…
The subject sat on the edge of the bathtub, clothed in antique, Earth-style ‘Tee shirts’ and tattered ‘denim shorts’. There was nothing innocent about her, and yet, slightly hunched as she was, with her bare feet nudging the small, fuzzy white carpet, he could almost believe that she had not slaughtered thirteen of his comrades.
Almost.
Keeper ignored the subtle allure of her dark curls and focused on the task at hand, knowing that his elders were watching this on screens in their offices. He had to prove she was worthwhile to retain, that she held a spark of promise that would enable her to be of use to the Hateii.
If he could not, her life was forfeit as a prisoner of war, and his career was over.
“What is your name?”
Make the syllables as harsh as possible; do not feel empathy for the enemy.
He had learned that she would not divulge anything easily. That left him only one option: take it by force.
Leaning the pressure of his mind against her will, Keeper asked the question again.
She did not appear to fight him, instead glancing away to stare at the yellow plastic figure of an Earthian animal- a ‘dyuck’, if he remembered correctly. While the feel of her mind said she was giving ground, her outward appearance suggested his tactics had no effect.
“Where do you come from?”
Silence.
The cutting edge of desperation began to bite into his heart even as she played with the fringe on a towel.
“Why are you here?”
And still, no response.
Taking a step forward, Keeper steeled himself. He hadn’t wanted to use violence to obtain the information; even in the Mental realm, harm could still translate to permanent damage.
“You killed thirteen of my brothers. They gave their lives to stop you so that we could take you and use you. I will give my own to see that happen.”
It came out as more of a snarl than he had intended, but the words were- for the most part- said for the benefit of those watching. Pain and grief from losing his sword-brother flared and he stifled it, freezing all emotions.
There were ways of torturing suspects that worked even when dealing with the mind; the fact that he retained his own features and that they both were solid was proof enough of that. With his machine-aided power, she would be helpless before him.
Many of his Keeper-kin had taken full advantage of that. It was one reason why women prisoners tended not to last long in detainment.
He had sworn not to walk that path.
“Tell me.”
With that, she changed. The guileless gaze met his green one and came alive with fury, with hatred and bitterness and-
Pain?
But triumph overrode the sudden insight. This was the side of her no one had believed existed. This was the powerful mind that hid behind blue eyes and beauty.
“Never.”
One graceful hand flashed out from where it had slid behind her back and the blades of an outdated razor glinted in the light. Keeper froze.
Never before had a suspect attacked an interrogator.
And then again, no one had ever heard of someone with mindpowers like hers.
With a push, she flew at him, moving with a shifting quickness that hurt to watch. Saved only by his reflexes, he grabbed her wrist as she missed him, pulling her around with enough force to slam her into the wall with a brutal crack.
Before he could do more than take a hissing breath, the technicians forcefully removed him from the Interrogation Matrix and he was yanked back into reality with a choking gasp.
“Very well. You have proved your point.” The cold voice of a senior official crackled in his voice as Keeper wished the world would stop spinning so violently. “She will be put to use immediately.”
The transmission ended as abruptly as it had started, and he ran a hand through his sweat soaked black hair. He had done her no kindness by saving her life; already the engineers would be moving in on her isolation pod and detaching the interrogation wires, cutting off every access to the outside world she could possibly hack into.
Soon they would complete the modifications that would enable them to use her unwilling mind to power the base’s defenses. And when that happened…
His mind had begun already to imagine her screams.