Chapter 11 Alteran Repository
One day, Jack was relaxing playing with his PlayStation 1 when the alarm sounded throughout the base, and General Hammond called him to his meeting room along with the team. Upon arrival, Daniel looked at him euphorically, showing him some photos with ancient writing. Jack opened his eyes wide.
"Where?" Jack said, unable to contain his excitement.
"These are photos from the latest exploration of the probe; it was supposed to be our next mission," said Daniel, showing more photos, but Jack only saw an empty room with a circle in the middle.
"No ruins?" Jack asked disappointed. As he recalled, the ancient knowledge repository was in ruins. His disappointment reflected on the faces of the others.
"Isn't this what you're looking for?" Daniel asked. Everyone already knew that what he was looking for was related to those writings, the same as on the tablet.
"I don't know, I was expecting some ruins," confessed Jack. Anyway, let's check it out.
…
Crossing the portal, everything was the same as in the photos and the explorer's video. Jack made a face but shrugged and stood on a white circle in the middle of the dark room, hoping it was a ring platform that would take him somewhere.
To his surprise, the circle glowed, and a mind probe, an ancient device, appeared on the back wall, making his heart beat rapidly and his eyes light up.
"Yes!" Daniel shouted, seeing his reaction.
"Is this what you were looking for, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked hopefully. Jack took a deep breath to calm himself.
"Yes, this is what I was looking for," Jack said approaching.
"Sir, what is this?" Carter asked.
"Ultra-megacosmic knowledge," said Jack.
"Sir?" Carter asked with doubts.
"Carter, I'm not kidding. This device will fill my head with vast amounts of knowledge that we can use. But don't worry, I don't plan to keep it to myself," he added. Carter lowered her head; it seemed that was what she was thinking.
"Carter, I know what you're thinking, but to use this device, you need to possess the genes of these people. You saw it before; Teal'c and Daniel stepped on the circle, and nothing happened. But don't worry, I'll share all the knowledge I can with you and other scientists. I have everything prepared. I just hope not to die in the process," Jack said sincerely.
"Die?" Daniel asked.
"O'Neill, is this object dangerous?" Teal'c asked. Jack shook his head.
"It's not that. It's just a knowledge repository. The problem is that it's not made for humans. I can use this technology because I have their genes, but that's it.
"My brain will overload with this information and then collapse irreversibly. But don't worry, I plan to make the most of this before having to give it up. I won't overdo it," Jack said walking toward the mind probe device. Teal'c stopped him.
"O'Neill, this does not seem like a good idea," Teal'c said.
"Relax, Teal'c. I know how this works and also know how to avoid dying from it," Jack said, moving Teal'c's hand away and approaching the mind probe device, which activated the moment he put his head close. Then he was caught by a pair of claws, and Jack felt as if he had eaten too much ice cream, and his brain had frozen.
…
Jack woke up in the infirmary, realizing he was wrong. The second mind probe device was in ruins; the first one was in that room…
"Colonel O'Neill, are you okay?" General Hammond asked.
"I'll die in a few days, but right now, I'm fine," Jack said. "Now, let's stop with the questions; we need to make the most of this, or we'll regret it for the rest of our lives," Jack warned. It wasn't the time to worry about trivial things.
"The nanite controller device, and the nanites, now!" Jack urged his team, who was looking at him attentively, trying to see when a second head would sprout.
"Bring the artifact," General Hammond ordered. "Dr. Fraiser, we need those nanites now."
"Sir, we still can't get them to follow orders; this is very dangerous," Fraiser warned.
"Doctor, the knowledge in my head belonged to the race that created nanite technology," Jack said, looking at the general. "General Hammond, activate Plan Omega, which is archived on my computer. I want all those scientists ready, and warn them not to ask questions because my brain is a collapsing computer, and I have no idea what I'm doing.
"This will work according to what I consider necessary, and the rest is automatic. Since I already have an idea of what we need, asking questions will only waste my time," Jack explained, looking at Carter. "Carter, I don't know how the transfer will work, but I hope your brain can handle it. If not, you and the others will end up in the sarcophagus, and we'll lose a great breakthrough," Jack said with a grimace.
"Sir, do you plan to copy your knowledge into me?" Carter asked, understanding his plan.
"Only those that would be useful to us. There are many things we can omit. I want to get alloys for ships, engines, cannons, power sources, and most importantly," Jack pointed to his head and then to Carter's. "How to do this between us. I plan to use the nanites to mimic the artifact that did this to me, but unlike that device, I'll only pass on a small part of this knowledge, preventing your brains from collapsing," Jack explained. He knew the device was killing him because it was changing his brain, but he didn't explain that. Carter seemed excited and eager.
"That's an excellent plan, sir," praised Carter as they brought the nanite control artifact. Jack held it in his hands, thinking about what he wanted, but nothing happened. Jack sighed.
"It hasn't started yet, but we can do something else. Daniel, the tablet and anything you have in its language, quickly," Jack said. Daniel nodded and ran off, returning a few minutes later.
Jack saw the tablet and smiled, recognizing a few words. He began saying them, and Daniel started noting. They spent the whole afternoon, and when they finished, Daniel had a complete alphabet, and Jack could now read anything in Ancient. But when trying to translate a last line, his hands moved toward the nanite control artifact. He took it and ran off.
…
Jack stopped in Carter's lab, connected the artifact to a computer, and started writing frantically.
"Sir?" Carter asked.
"Carter, what did I tell you before? This is automatic; I have no idea what I'm doing. But if you ask me, I'm creating an interface to share knowledge with you and others using nanites as a transfer medium because that's what I planned to do from the beginning," Jack explained, and those following him frowned.
"What?" Jack asked.
"You've changed half the words; we can barely understand you," Daniel said. Jack nodded.
"It doesn't matter; anyway, it makes no sense for me to talk," Jack said and continued working.
…
Ten minutes later, Dr. Fraiser brought the nanites, which still looked like a frozen fruit tart. Jack swallowed it all while still writing, and twenty minutes later, he was done, or so he thought because he had no idea what he had done.
"I need a syringe, quickly," Jack said, and since he knew he was speaking in Ancient, he pointed to his arm and gestured to indicate that he would draw blood. At that moment, he had a bunch of doctors around him, and getting a syringe was a matter of seconds; they even drew blood for him.
"Take a sip," he told Carter, who grimaced but understood it was a nanite transfusion. After Carter took the blood, everyone waited for ten minutes until Jack's furrowed brow indicated he didn't know what would come next.
…
Ten minutes later, he rushed out again, taking Carter by the hand and leading her to the armory. He positioned her with her back to him, and to everyone's surprise, he started disassembling a staff weapon in one minute.
He then turned Carter around and handed her a staff weapon, but seeing her eyes wide open, Jack grinned from ear to ear because it meant she already knew how to do it too. Without any surprise, Carter disassembled the staff weapon, doing it in twenty seconds and without any hesitation. Jack smiled even more.
"Moon, now," Jack said, pointing upwards to indicate to everyone where he wanted to go.
"Moon now," Carter repeated after him, but in Ancient and then in English, looking amazed. Jack was astonished too.
"We must go to the Moon with the other scientists," Jack said to test something complicated. The same thing happened; Carter repeated it in Ancient and then in English. Everyone realized that she was also learning the language and applauded.
"Stop applauding; we have to hurry," Jack scolded.
…
Half an hour later, a bomber took twenty people to the Moon, and while Jack got into the ship's computer, or so he thought because it was part of his original plan, doctors injected his blood into another fifty scientists, without observing any medical precautions.
"Sir, this is incredible; he has completely decrypted the ship's system and is creating a graphic design interface," Carter narrated everything she was doing, and she seemed like a horse racing announcer due to the excitement.
…
Half an hour later, all the invited scientists were connected and learning everything he was doing.
"It's the creation and programming of nanites; he's updating the design and improving their efficiency by multiplying."
"Now he's replicating the programming to link to the neural network and transmit information by copying it to a similar network."
…
"It's a subspace energy source, a thousand times superior to what the Goa'uld use."
…
"It's a shield superior to what the Goa'uld use. In comparison, what the Goa'uld use is like paper."
…
"They are hyperspace engines."
…
"Sensors."
…
"It's a modification of the shield to make the ship invisible."
…
"It's a redesign for plasma cannons."
…
Jack continued pulling technologies from his head non-stop. He only created designs and models in a 3D graphical interface, but the scientists he was connected to could understand everything and received the knowledge without any problem.
…
"They are personal shields and a personal stealth system."
…
"A lie detector!" said a scientist, and the others looked at him strangely because he looked very alarmed. The guards saw him, and General Hammond sent two of them to stand by his side.
Jack wasn't going to allow anyone to trade with this technology and had already taken precautions.
…
"Designs for electromagnetic weapons."
…
"An aerospace fighter with a shield, stealth capability."
…
"A shield generator for Stargate Command."
…
"A small subspace generator for secondary bases."
…
"A portable marker for Stargates."
…
"A control and calculation system for the Earth Stargate that allows it to know the direction from which they have dialed."
…
"A world exploration sphere."
…
"A satellite…"
…
Jack felt dizzy, and a dozen guards grabbed him before he fell to the ground.
"The nanite artifact," Jack said and connected it to the ship's computer.
"No!" said Carter.
"What's happening, Major?" General Hammond asked.
"Sir, he's programming the nanites to forcibly readjust his brain. But nanites aren't advanced enough technology to do that; it may give him more time, but it could still leave him paralyzed or worse…"
"We have the sarcophagus," Carter said with wide-open eyes.
"It won't work because he hasn't prepared anything to extract that information from his head," Carter warned.
Jack gritted his teeth and reluctantly stepped away from the console, changing his priorities to go with the Asgard. He could be ambitious and continue, leaving everything ready for them to send him, even if he's half-dead, to the Ida galaxy, and he knew the Asgard would still heal him. But if he did that, he would be a damn ingrate.
Jack finished his new orders to the nanites, and his dizziness disappeared.
"Get back to the SGC; time's up," Jack said. And everyone applauded because in one day, they had advanced thousands of years in technology.
…
Upon returning to the SGC, Jack started working on a mini subspatial power source with the help of Carter and five other scientists.
"What are you doing?" General Hammond asked.
"Sir, we're just creating a small subspatial source, nothing out of the ordinary. It will be used to mark the Asgard galaxy," Carter explained as if it weren't important.
"Good thing it's just nonsense," Daniel said, rolling his eyes.
…
When the source was ready, the door connected, and Jack walked through it, entering an Asgard-designed tunnel with dozens of gray dwarves.
"I need to speak with Thor right now! And don't even think about lobotomizing me yet, if you don't want to regret it later," Jack warned when he saw a small gray dwarf reaching out to him but stopped in its tracks at his warning.
Jack saw a flash, and the next thing he knew, he was in front of Thor, on the bridge of his ship, looking at him sitting on his Asgard throne.
"Quick, connect my mind to your ship's computer…"
A medical capsule appeared in front of him, containing his body.
"Well, you had already done it," Jack said with a smile and felt his mind working on something.
"What are you doing?" Thor asked as he reviewed his work. Jack shrugged.
"I have no idea, but I know they need an anti-Replicator weapon. Replicators are ancient technology; it's easy for me to create a weapon to use against them. I guarantee it will be effective," Jack said, and Thor looked at him squinting his eyes.
"Are you tired?" Jack asked.
"I am expressing doubts," Thor explained.
"Sorry, I don't like giving many explanations about things I don't understand," Jack said.
"There are nanites throughout your body," Thor said.
"And you'll leave them there," Jack said.
"They are dangerous technology to have in a galaxy full of them," Thor explained.
"They will disappear soon," Jack said.
"The weapon is not yet created, and what you've done with your brain is very dangerous. There is a possibility you may lose some of your memory if something goes wrong," Thor explained.
"I know. The risk is worth it, and everything will be fine," Jack said.
"You're too optimistic," Thor said and raised his hand to do something with the capsule. "I'm not contradicting your wishes; I've only extracted the nanites and am using our medical technology to replace them. The improvement is not much, but you won't risk being manipulated by a Replicator signal, and it will reduce the chance of you forgetting things," Thor explained.
"That's good," Jack said.
"The Asgard Council appreciates your stubbornness, no matter if your efforts fail," Thor said.
"You seem sure of that," Jack said with a smile.
"Given what you've said about your intentions, I can infer some things from the model you're creating. We have tried something like this in the past, but we have failed," Thor explained.
"I won't fail, I told you before; the Ancients are the creators of Replicator technology," Jack insisted.
"You are opening another workspace," Thor said.
"Ah, yes?" Great. I was wondering if I could work on two projects at once.
"What do you wish to work on?" Thor asked, but immediately understood. "It's an Ancient genetic archive," Thor said.
"Yes, I figured there was one around. It's a shame; it seems they didn't keep one of their own, but I hope this gives them some hope for the future, and they won't do anything crazy. I promise I'll get the rest later," Jack warned.
"Your current knowledge is not enough," Thor explained, understanding what he meant.
"I know where to find them," Jack explained.
"And you won't tell us," Thor said.
"No," Jack said and smiled at Thor's uncertainty. "You don't know how to get them, and you'll only get into trouble. I don't want to disturb things," Jack concluded.
…
The weapon was finished In two hours. Thor created a Replicator model and also synthesized the weapon, which had the same strange design as the original. Jack fired without any doubt, and the Replicator imitation was destroyed instantly. Thor opened his eyes wide.
"It worked," Thor said in disbelief. Jack smiled.
"I've seen it," Jack said.
"O'Neill, this…" Jack raised his hand.
"You'll be very busy. I know. Get these knowledge out of my head and then send me through the portal," Jack said, and after a flash, the Jack from the capsule disappeared, and he touched his body.
"That's efficiency," Jack said.
"O'Neill, the Asgard Council is willing to grant payment for the technology and the contribution you have made to the Asgard. What do you need?" Thor asked.
"Well, we are short of all kinds of rare materials. Especially tritium and naquadah, but I think studying neutronium won't hurt us, so a small sample, a few kilos, of that wouldn't be bad," Jack explained.
"You're thinking of using neutronium to enhance the nanites," Thor accused. Jack shrugged when caught red-handed.
"We'll take security measures regarding that," Jack said. If they encountered Replicators, they could simply turn off the nanites in their bodies. It would be unfortunate and a loss of performance, but it was preferable to becoming puppets. Thor seemed to sigh.
"Will you reintroduce nanites into your body?" Thor asked. Jack nodded, and Thor sighed again. The Asgard already felt repulsion toward anything related to Replicators.
"Hey, I'm not young anymore. My hips are starting to hurt, and I sleep less than usual. Look at my hair; it's more gray than brown. I can't be brave all the time because at any moment, I drop dead as a cold corpse," Jack said. Thor shook his head at his exaggerations.
"O'Neill, you have perfect health compared to other members of your species. You still have decades ahead of you," Thor said helplessly. "Fine, I suppose you'll do it for yourself. We can help you add the nanites; we have greater knowledge in this technology. We will also give you the neutronium.
"As for the other materials, we will start gathering them from our warehouses. You can communicate through the portal in three days to begin receiving shipments," Thor said.
"So easily?" Jack asked. He thought they would put up many objections, but now they were even offering to improve the nanites for him.
"Jack, we don't believe your people are ready for this step, but they have already obtained these technologies, and we can only help them," Thor said regretfully. "Need anything else?" Thor asked. This time, Jack was the one surprised.
"More?" Jack asked stunned, not daring to let his imagination run wild. Thor nodded graciously.
"Well, that energy storage material technology would be great. I was thinking of getting it in a year or so, but if you give us an advance, that would be great," Jack said.
"You know a lot of technologies," Thor accused. Jack nodded. "You won't tell us about them?" Thor asked.
"No, the Asgard are too young in this technology looting business; they could cause a disaster. But I'll make sure to pass them a copy as soon as we get our hands on them," O'Neill promised condescendingly and with superiority. Thor made a small mouth twitch.
"Aha! You smiled," Jack said before a flash left him in front of the Asgard portal. Now there were twice as many gray dwarves there, and they had a huge packing box that would barely fit through the portal.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, inside is the neutronium you requested, and the data on Asgard storage technology," an Asgard approached him, offering a small white and polished rock.
"This is a communication artifact; it will send your messages to a satellite in your galaxy and transmit them to us. Use it in case you need our help in these days," said the Asgard.
"Thanks, we'll be fine for now, although we'd feel safer with you around. Not that we plan to blow up the planet, but you know how it is; we have a bunch of geeks, and sometimes we don't manage to hit them on the head before they make a mess," Jack said.
"We will keep an eye on you," said the Asgard and activated the portal with a wave of his hand.
Jack nodded and watched as the box lifted off the ground and moved on its own toward the portal. Jack followed behind it. Upon arrival, he was greeted by the usual unidentified contact committee. General Hammond arrived in a military vehicle to receive him a minute later.
"Have the Asgard managed to heal you?" General Hammond asked. Jack nodded and noticed that the general, who when he left looked tired with dark circles from going over a day without sleep, now looked as fresh as a lettuce.
"General Hammond, have you taken something?" Jack asked with concern.
"Colonel O'Neill!" General Hammond scolded. Jack saluted.
"Sir, I'm just expressing my concern," Jack said sincerely. The old man wasn't up for weird moves; he could have a heart attack at any moment, leaving them orphaned.
"Dr. Fraiser has used a dose of nanites to let my body rest while I work. I can't take time off at a time like this," General Hammond explained. Jack nodded, sighing in relief. That meant he was already secured.
"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Fraiser is waiting for you in the infirmary," ordered General Hammond, glancing at the box.
"This material is more efficient for the nanites and is undetectable by common advanced technologies. I've also acquired matter storage technology from the Asgard and some more resources that will arrive later," Jack said, handing over the white rock. "This is an intergalactic mobile phone. If someone accidentally blows something up, we can ask for help, and the Asgard will come running to make sure we don't kill ourselves," Jack explained.
"That will be more useful than they think," General Hammond said with a sigh of relief. He, too, was scared of the new technologies.
"It would be good to ask them things and have them review before we do something new," Jack said. He already knew the Asgard wouldn't refuse to review their work to warn them if they made mistakes or if they could proceed.
"I will report that," General Hammond said as they got into the military vehicle to go through the tunnel leading to the portal.
…
"Sir, I have more things to report. It's not technology, but it's better than that: a weapon we can use to defend the planet, left by the Ancients," Jack reported, while Dr. Fraiser drew blood and ran tests.
"Where is it?" General Hammond asked.
"I'm afraid it's in international territory, near where we found the portal. The Ancients had an outpost there, and there should be tens of thousands of highly advanced missiles," Jack said. "If we protect the place with a good shield, we could protect the entire Earth with that," Jack explained, looking at Carter and other scientists sleeping beside him.
"The nanites would rest their bodies while they're active, but we don't want to take any risks because now these people are the hope of the entire planet," General Hammond said. Jack nodded; putting to sleep so many excited geeks must have been a challenging task.
"Doctor, do you have nanites, right?" Jack asked, and Dr. Fraiser nodded.
"Sam has shared them with me, along with all the knowledge contained in her own nanites. We no longer need to do something to transfer them," Dr. Fraiser explained. It was a less selective method but was useful if one didn't have or didn't want to filter information.
…
"Colonel O'Neill, these nanites?" Dr. Fraiser asked, looking at the results of his exams an hour later.
"Asgard enhancements. They are made of neutronium, a more stable material than naquadah. They have also included an integrated control device, allowing me to control them, but I'll need the knowledge I shared with them to program them to my liking, especially the knowledge in genetics and human biology that was with the original nanites," Jack said. Dr. Fraiser nodded.
"I'll download the data while you sleep," the doctor said, pointing to a bed. It seemed like she wanted to put him to sleep with the rest.
"Wake me up in a week," Jack nodded. Dr. Fraiser smiled.
"You have five hours of rest, Colonel O'Neill," General Hammond informed him, looking at him seriously. Jack grimaced. He had been awake for almost two days already.
"Sir, I'm thinking of early retirement," Jack threatened. General Hammond smiled and left. He carried an entire executive team with tablets to take notes on the orders they received and then transfer them.
"I'm serious; I'm already an old man. I need to sleep at least eighteen hours a day and have a recreation time of no less than six hours," Jack complained, but General Hammond was already gone. Dr. Fraiser sighed and motioned for him to lie down.
"You'll wake up with the others; it looks like they'll have a lot of work ahead," Dr. Fraiser said.