Stargate -- Kriegsspiel -- Tafl -- Twenty-Three
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Twenty-Three
“It was in the video feed,” Sam said, turning her monitor so that Daniel and Jack could see a screen of-to Daniel-unintelligible scribbles. “An extra signal, flashes of light just outside of the visible spectrum but still enough to affect the brain. The influence is almost instantaneous.”
“Why wasn’t I affected?” Daniel asked.
Sam shrugged. “Your glasses, maybe? They could refract the light differently. We can examine it.”
“Can you filter it out?” Jack asked, leaning on the lab bench next to Daniel. “The feed is the only way we’re going to get a clue about what she’s up to; we need to be able to watch it.”
“We’re already working on a filter,” Sam said, with a slight smile. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the right equipment to figure out exactly what the transmission was doing. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before.”
Daniel opened his mouth, but instead of what he’d planned, he said, “What about the Ark of Truth?” Sam and Jack both looked at him sharply. “Was there any research done on how the Ark works?”
“Some, at Area 51,” Sam said. “It should be in the Odyssey’s computers. Why?”
“The Ark is just a whitewashed brainwashing machine,” Daniel said. “Truth, in this case, is just whatever the programmer wants people to think-and it’s Ancient technology. Adria might have known how to build it if she Descended with the knowledge she’d had.”
Daniel could see the gears turning in Sam’s head. “If she has a device that creates a programmable subliminal signal, she could record the signal and broadcast it over the television just like any other signal.”
“But what’s her endgame?” Jack asked. “What’s the point of brainwashing people so they like her?”
“If Merlin’s device worked, the Ori are dead,” Daniel said, tightening one hand into a fist. “She doesn’t have masters to serve anymore. And during the time when I was captured, she really seemed to like all the attention she got from people. Maybe that’s all she wants.”
“She’s taking over the Earth so that she has people who like her?” Jack asked, obviously incredulous.
“Remember, Jack, underneath the Ori’s artificial aging, she’s only like four, five years old,” Daniel said. “A five year old in the body of an adult and with the powers of a god, sure, but what child who’s been raised with everyone adoring her wouldn’t want to keep the attention?”
Jack nodded slowly. “I’m still not convinced that’s all she’s after.”
“Once we’ve finished the filter, we can find out,” Sam cut in. “We know what to look for, now, but it’s probably smart to run the filter on everything, just to be on the safe side.”
“Definitely,” Jack said. “Good job, Carter, keep it up.”
*
“So, the information in the database is surprisingly extensive,” Sam said, when they convened a meeting of the onworld team leaders a few hours later. “Someone was pushing for research of the Ark.”
“Remind me to have someone destroy it when we get home,” O’Neill said, and Sam gave him a wan smile.
“Let’s worry about getting home first,” Reynolds said.
“Good or bad, it works to our advantage,” Sam said. Her smile became more genuine; she liked having good news. For once. “They were able to do a complete analysis of the light emitted by the Ark. We still don’t know how it works, of course, but we know enough to recognize that the transmission Dr. Barnes saw contained very similar elements. I hypothesize that the minute differences are how the specific message is conveyed.”
“And this is good news?” O’Neill said, and Sam frowned.
Sam frowned, but before she could respond, Daniel said, “No, this is good. It certainly explains things.” Sam recognized the look on his face. It reminded her of the good old days, when she and Daniel were a team, Jack O’Neill’s Wonder Twins. It made her heart ache a little. “Do you have any idea why I’m immune? We might be able to use it.”
“Jan-” Sam swallowed. “Dr. Fraiser had observed some changes in your vitals and other little medical differences after…you came back. It’s possible that your physiology is just different enough that you wouldn’t be affected.”
“That might explain why the non-Earth humans started disappearing,” Daniel said. “If their physiology is just different enough-”
“-they could be immune, too,” Sam finished for him, and Daniel smiled brilliantly. She couldn’t help but smile back. It felt good to be on the same page again. “So, if someone wanted to minimize resistance, they’d need them out of the way.” Daniel nodded quickly. “But the implications…”
“It means it’s likely this whole mess is Adria’s fault,” Daniel said, his thoughts obviously following the same thread as Sam’s.
“She must have been able to get away from Morgan Le Fay and Descend.”
“She wouldn’t have been happy being Ascended, without her human toys to play with,” he said, grimacing, maybe at a memory, and Sam remembered how scared she’d been the whole time Daniel had been a Prior. “Do you think she came to Earth on purpose?”
“No way of knowing.”
“When we find her, we can ask,” Cam said, and Sam suddenly remembered that there were other people in the room.
“Does this help us figure out how to stop this?” O’Neill asked.
“It might,” Sam said, thinking. She pulled up the two different wave patterns on her tablet and turned it so O’Neill could see. “The biggest difference between the Ark and Adria’s device is the number of different frequencies present. Adria’s signal doesn’t have the visible light component. This might indicate that it works slightly differently.”
“Like, it’s not permanent?” Daniel suggested. “The Ark needed just one exposure, but Adria’s signal is still broadcasting. Maybe the brainwashing needs to be refreshed…over time, or something.”
“We can only hope,” O’Neill said. “Carter, get back to us if you come up with anything else, but this is a good place to start. Dismissed, everyone.”
Sam stayed seated as the meeting broke up. She saw Daniel whisper something to Jack, and then Jack left, leaving them alone in the mess hall. Daniel came back to the table. “That was fun,” he said softly, almost like a peace offering.
“Yeah,” Sam said, standing up and smiling slightly. “It was.”
continued in Twenty-Four
back to Master Post
Twenty-Three
“It was in the video feed,” Sam said, turning her monitor so that Daniel and Jack could see a screen of-to Daniel-unintelligible scribbles. “An extra signal, flashes of light just outside of the visible spectrum but still enough to affect the brain. The influence is almost instantaneous.”
“Why wasn’t I affected?” Daniel asked.
Sam shrugged. “Your glasses, maybe? They could refract the light differently. We can examine it.”
“Can you filter it out?” Jack asked, leaning on the lab bench next to Daniel. “The feed is the only way we’re going to get a clue about what she’s up to; we need to be able to watch it.”
“We’re already working on a filter,” Sam said, with a slight smile. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the right equipment to figure out exactly what the transmission was doing. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before.”
Daniel opened his mouth, but instead of what he’d planned, he said, “What about the Ark of Truth?” Sam and Jack both looked at him sharply. “Was there any research done on how the Ark works?”
“Some, at Area 51,” Sam said. “It should be in the Odyssey’s computers. Why?”
“The Ark is just a whitewashed brainwashing machine,” Daniel said. “Truth, in this case, is just whatever the programmer wants people to think-and it’s Ancient technology. Adria might have known how to build it if she Descended with the knowledge she’d had.”
Daniel could see the gears turning in Sam’s head. “If she has a device that creates a programmable subliminal signal, she could record the signal and broadcast it over the television just like any other signal.”
“But what’s her endgame?” Jack asked. “What’s the point of brainwashing people so they like her?”
“If Merlin’s device worked, the Ori are dead,” Daniel said, tightening one hand into a fist. “She doesn’t have masters to serve anymore. And during the time when I was captured, she really seemed to like all the attention she got from people. Maybe that’s all she wants.”
“She’s taking over the Earth so that she has people who like her?” Jack asked, obviously incredulous.
“Remember, Jack, underneath the Ori’s artificial aging, she’s only like four, five years old,” Daniel said. “A five year old in the body of an adult and with the powers of a god, sure, but what child who’s been raised with everyone adoring her wouldn’t want to keep the attention?”
Jack nodded slowly. “I’m still not convinced that’s all she’s after.”
“Once we’ve finished the filter, we can find out,” Sam cut in. “We know what to look for, now, but it’s probably smart to run the filter on everything, just to be on the safe side.”
“Definitely,” Jack said. “Good job, Carter, keep it up.”
*
“So, the information in the database is surprisingly extensive,” Sam said, when they convened a meeting of the onworld team leaders a few hours later. “Someone was pushing for research of the Ark.”
“Remind me to have someone destroy it when we get home,” O’Neill said, and Sam gave him a wan smile.
“Let’s worry about getting home first,” Reynolds said.
“Good or bad, it works to our advantage,” Sam said. Her smile became more genuine; she liked having good news. For once. “They were able to do a complete analysis of the light emitted by the Ark. We still don’t know how it works, of course, but we know enough to recognize that the transmission Dr. Barnes saw contained very similar elements. I hypothesize that the minute differences are how the specific message is conveyed.”
“And this is good news?” O’Neill said, and Sam frowned.
Sam frowned, but before she could respond, Daniel said, “No, this is good. It certainly explains things.” Sam recognized the look on his face. It reminded her of the good old days, when she and Daniel were a team, Jack O’Neill’s Wonder Twins. It made her heart ache a little. “Do you have any idea why I’m immune? We might be able to use it.”
“Jan-” Sam swallowed. “Dr. Fraiser had observed some changes in your vitals and other little medical differences after…you came back. It’s possible that your physiology is just different enough that you wouldn’t be affected.”
“That might explain why the non-Earth humans started disappearing,” Daniel said. “If their physiology is just different enough-”
“-they could be immune, too,” Sam finished for him, and Daniel smiled brilliantly. She couldn’t help but smile back. It felt good to be on the same page again. “So, if someone wanted to minimize resistance, they’d need them out of the way.” Daniel nodded quickly. “But the implications…”
“It means it’s likely this whole mess is Adria’s fault,” Daniel said, his thoughts obviously following the same thread as Sam’s.
“She must have been able to get away from Morgan Le Fay and Descend.”
“She wouldn’t have been happy being Ascended, without her human toys to play with,” he said, grimacing, maybe at a memory, and Sam remembered how scared she’d been the whole time Daniel had been a Prior. “Do you think she came to Earth on purpose?”
“No way of knowing.”
“When we find her, we can ask,” Cam said, and Sam suddenly remembered that there were other people in the room.
“Does this help us figure out how to stop this?” O’Neill asked.
“It might,” Sam said, thinking. She pulled up the two different wave patterns on her tablet and turned it so O’Neill could see. “The biggest difference between the Ark and Adria’s device is the number of different frequencies present. Adria’s signal doesn’t have the visible light component. This might indicate that it works slightly differently.”
“Like, it’s not permanent?” Daniel suggested. “The Ark needed just one exposure, but Adria’s signal is still broadcasting. Maybe the brainwashing needs to be refreshed…over time, or something.”
“We can only hope,” O’Neill said. “Carter, get back to us if you come up with anything else, but this is a good place to start. Dismissed, everyone.”
Sam stayed seated as the meeting broke up. She saw Daniel whisper something to Jack, and then Jack left, leaving them alone in the mess hall. Daniel came back to the table. “That was fun,” he said softly, almost like a peace offering.
“Yeah,” Sam said, standing up and smiling slightly. “It was.”
continued in Twenty-Four
back to Master Post