"McKAY:" "Wormhole's established." "MALP is on the way." "What kind of facility is this?" "Some sort of research outpost." "The database has very little information about it, other than whatever work was being done there was completed and the place was apparently abandoned." "Well, sounds promising." "We have MALP telemetry." "Environmental sensors indicate viable life support." " Visuals coming in now." " Put it on screen." "Or maybe it never was abandoned." "Ancients?" " They've got one of their scanners." " So do we." "Just because they know how to use Ancient technology" " doesn't mean that they're..." " I am speaking to whoever sent this machine to our home." "If you intend us harm, proceed no further, but if you come in friendship, please know you are most welcome here." "Put that thing away." "We told them we were friendly." "I'm friendly." "Is that thing set to stun?" " Friendlier." " You coming, too?" "Well, Ancients or not, they are obviously an advanced society and I would like to establish diplomatic relations with them immediately." "Well, you're the boss." "Let's go." "What happened?" "Did we make a U-turn?" "No." "This is the place." "We're here." "Look." "So, not exactly like our Gate Room." "Hello." "We're the people who sent the machine through earlier." "We come in friendship." "I am Niam." "Welcome to Asuras." "I'm still waiting to meet an Ancient race that's invented the car." "Our destination is not much further." "The High Council is eager to meet you." "How long have your people lived here?" "We built this city thousands of years ago." "What, you actually built it?" "You didn't just find it this way?" "No." "And you've had no trouble with the Wraith?" "No." " Any particular reason?" " The Wraith do not concern us." "See?" "He didn't answer my question." "I'm sorry, you didn't actually answer my question." " Oh, my..." " No kidding." " How many people live here?" " Millions." "Well, the power requirements for a city this size must be enormous." "Well, plus shielding from the Wraith, we're talking, what, three Zero-Point Modules, maybe four?" "Sorry." "ZPMs, a device that taps vast amounts of power from vacuum energy." "Oh, yes." "We have many of those." "Exactly how many is "many"?" ""Exactly" doesn't matter." ""Many" is plenty." "Truthfully, I do not know the exact number." "More than enough to suit our needs." "I assume that you built them yourselves?" " NIAM:" "Yes." " Yes." " Easy, Rodney, you're slobbering." " Please." "The Council is waiting." " Well, we have our answer." " To what question?" "Whether or not they're Ancients." "In which case, I've got a bone to pick with them." " Where did you come from?" " WEIR:" "We are explorers." " We come from a world very far from here." " Really far." " In fact, you can't get there from here." " How did you happen to discover us?" "We came across an Ancient outpost that listed this Gate address in its database." "But no other information, I might add." "Oddly, the database neglected to include any information on a society of millions of Ancients, such as yourselves." "Why's that?" "We are the last of those you refer to as "Ancients."" "We were once a race united in our pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment." "But our paths diverged after a disagreement tore the fabric of that unity." "What kind of a disagreement?" "Suffice it to say they chose to disregard our counsel during a time of great conflict, and they suffered the consequences at the hands of a relentless enemy." "The Wraith." "We parted ways with our brothers and sisters and came here where we have thrived for many thousands of years." "Yeah, you've been doing a lot of thriving." "May I ask what counsel did you offer that the others chose to disregard?" "Our Ancient brothers were arrogant, which led them to greatly underestimate the Wraith, an enemy inferior in intelligence, yes, but vastly superior in numbers and ruthlessness." "They wouldn't have been so outnumbered if you had helped." " There's that bone I wanted to pick at." " You said they were your brothers." "Where we come from, we take care of our family." "What my friend is trying to say is there's still a lot of Wraith out there, and we could sure use your help fighting them." "Eradication of them is among our goals." " You mean you have a plan?" " We do." "McKAY:" "Great!" "Let's hear it." "Your plan, I mean." "I doubt that you would be able to grasp its complexity and scope." "Fortunately, I'm very good with complexity." "And scope." "All you need to know is that one day soon the Wraith will exist no more." "All we need to know?" "There are matters of importance for me to attend to." "In the meantime, you are explorers, and presumably in need of rest and sustenance." "We have made arrangements for you to spend a short time among us." "He says the other Ancients are arrogant?" "I apologize if you felt Oberoth was condescending in any way." "How about in every way?" "It is difficult for him to see you as capable of understanding." "Yeah, well, how many PhDs does he have?" "Niam, I was wondering, your people have been here for thousands of years?" " Yes." " Well, in that time, most Ancients we know have Ascended." "You know of Ascension?" "Well, yes." "And, in fact, we always thought that Ancients were no longer around, that most of them evolved to the point of transforming into beings of pure energy." "This is true." "But I take it your people aren't interested?" "Oh, Ascension is the goal of many of us." "But Oberoth feels there is still much to do." "We must become all that we can." "And you don't agree with him, do you?" "Your guest quarters are this way." "WEIR:" "It must have been quite a serious falling-out for the Ancients to eliminate any reference to them in the entire database." "Unless they're lying." "Might it not be possible that these people merely discovered this city as you discovered Atlantis?" "Wouldn't be surprised." "They don't seem very Ancienty to me." ""Ancienty?"" "Yes." "That's the word I was looking for." " You think they could be deceiving us?" " Teyla's right." "They could've found the city the way it was and moved in years ago." "I feel they are hiding something." "Other than their plan to defeat the Wraith, you mean?" "There's no plan." "No." "I don't think so, either." "Why would they say they had a plan if they don't have a plan?" "They figured out a way to hide from the rest of the galaxy, including the Wraith, and they're happy to go on with their lives, just minding their own business." " Then, whoever they are..." " I think that is what we need to find out." "WEIR:" "Thank you for taking the time to see me." "I thought we might achieve more in a one-on-one meeting, leader to leader." "What is it you wish to achieve?" "The establishment of diplomatic and trade relations between our people." "Trade?" "Do you really believe that you have anything of value to offer us?" "It's possible, Oberoth." "And there is only one way to find that out." "But I do know that there is something you could offer us." "That is, assistance with our fight against the Wraith." "As I said before, we will commence our plan at a time of our choosing." "Would you at least consider sharing with us the tools, so we could better protect ourselves until that time comes?" "Tools?" "Such as?" "What we call Zero-Point Modules." "They're our power source." "We are in urgent need of as many as you could spare." "Then am I to assume that this settlement of yours is of Lantian design?" "Yes." "We discovered it on our travels." "It was uninhabited, so we decided to establish a base there." "But as I'm sure you know, sufficient shield generation requires tremendous amounts of power." "Where is this settlement of yours located?" "It's on the outer edges of this galaxy in an area teeming with Wraith hive ships, which is why we need the power modules..." "We are unable to part with any of our power modules." "Our energy needs require the use of all of them." "Well, would you consider offering your city as a place of refuge to my people?" "Many of our citizens are amused by the occasional visitor, such as yourselves, for a short time." " But not you?" " No." "And the very idea of greater numbers over a protracted period of time is entirely out of the question." "Now, we have had some success fighting off the Wraith, and that has been with limited supplies and personnel." "I truly believe that with your assistance, we might be able to..." "I am unaccustomed to repeating myself." "However, leader to leader, I will say this once again." "We will eliminate the Wraith at a time of our choosing." "And you don't care how many of my people or anyone else dies while you make up your mind to act?" "You said earlier that your brothers' greatest weakness was their arrogance." "May I suggest it runs in the family?" " I'm sorry you feel you must leave." " Yes, so am I." "Oberoth can be intractable." " Not exactly the word I was looking for." " Un-Ancienty?" "Not that word, either." "We will send you a message through the Stargate soon." "Now, hopefully, this is just a stumbled beginning of..." "Lower your weapons." "How much lower would you like them?" "Do you really wish to challenge us?" "Maybe the floor." "Now, I thought you didn't want us here, Oberoth." "I don't." "But you possess information that I simply must have." "These trade negotiations can be real murder." "We need to find a way out of here." "Rodney?" "Well, the cell is similar to ours, is there something in the design that could offer a possible escape?" " Are you serious?" "It's a jail cell." " Yes, I know." "The only way out of here would be to first disable the force field around the bars, which is only accessible from the" "outside." " I brought you food." " Oh, thank God." "I'm starving." "No, no, no, I can't think on an empty stomach." "Why are we being held here?" "Oberoth wishes to speak to you further, and he feels he can no longer trust that you will remain in your quarters." "Well, he's right." "Yeah, if he wants to talk to us, why doesn't he?" " He will." "Very soon." " That's nice." "Isn't that nice?" "Here's a question." "Who the hell are you people?" "WEIR:" "And don't tell us you're Ancients." "We know enough about them to know they would never treat people this way." "I am sorry about this." "But I am certain once Oberoth has finished his discussions with you, you'll all be released unharmed." "I'm sorry, but all your credibility was removed when you locked us up." "You left us no choice." "Neither did you." "You're the one we like, so don't take this personally." "What are you doing?" "Preventing the Jumper from communicating with the control room." "Element of surprise." " Nice." " Go ahead." "Dial the Gate." "Any sign of our new friends?" " Still nothing." "No unscheduled Gate activity, nothing on the long-range sensors." "I think it's safe to say we made a clean getaway." "Either that or they're biding their time, waiting for the right moment to attack." "Well, we'll keep the security teams on alert, just in case, but if they were able to come after us, I think they would have done so already." "How is Rodney coming along with the database?" "I'll go check up on him." "I wonder how many other rogue Ancients are still out there." "If they're anything like the Asurans, we're better off leaving them well enough alone." "How's it going?" "I've searched a good portion of the database for any indication of the Asurans, but..." " Still nothing?" " Still nothing." "Maybe the Ancients didn't want to be reminded of them." "Yeah, but even if they deleted every reference to Asuras," " you'd think there'd be some hint of..." "Colonel?" "Go ahead." "I need you and Rodney in the control room immediately." " McKAY:" "Hive ships!" " How'd they get so close?" "More importantly, why are we just picking them up now?" "I don't know." "Everything seems to be working." " Engage the cloak." " I'm already on it." "Cloak engaged now." "They're right over the city." " How far away is the Daedalus?" " It's not due for weeks." " It doesn't matter." "I'm counting seven ships." "There's nothing they could do about it." "They're scanning for us." " Hopefully the cloak is..." " They're firing!" "Switch to shields!" "I can't." "The shield generators were hit in the initial blast." " They knew right where to hit us." " The cloak has failed!" "We need more firepower." "I'm headed to the Chair Room." "There are more ships arriving in the system." " How many more?" " Fifteen." "We can't fight off that many, not without shields." "Attention." "This is Weir." "All personnel to the Gate Room for immediate evacuation." "Dial Earth." "John, we need to set the self-destruct." "We just lost automated systems." "We'll lose the Gate any second now." "Go." "I'll detonate it manually." "Maybe the Wraith will take care of destroying the city for us." "McKAY:" "If they wanted to vaporize the city, they would have done it already." "Look, if there's any part of this city left intact..." "They'll know how to find Earth." "I know." "Okay, enter your number." "When you are ready, hit this button." "At that point, you'll only have a few seconds left." "Go." " No, no, no, no!" "I can't let you do this, not without tossing a coin or something!" " It doesn't seem right!" " I appreciate the offer, Rodney." "Now, get out of here." "Go, all of you!" "The way up is blocked." " How many are trapped?" " We can't tell." "We're losing power!" "Get through the Gate!" "What the hell just happened?" "Who the hell are you people?" "They're not people." "They're machines." "Replicators." "What's happening?" "What's to become of them?" "We have mined everything we need from their consciousness." "They are no longer of any use to us." "Ending their lives seems to be the most prudent course." "I disagree." "I believe we still have a lot to learn from them." " Learn from them?" " Yes." "Or is it that you fear that ending their lives would end your hope of Ascension?" "I do object to killing them, but it is more than that." "I don't believe we've fully uncovered just how much they've learned about Lantian society, nor how much of this knowledge they've passed on to others." "They're of no threat to us, Oberoth." "We see no reason not to continue our study of them." "Very well." "Keep them alive if you wish, but I shall hold you accountable." "My head is killing me." "How'd we get back here?" "What do you mean "back here"?" "Well, we broke out and got to the Jumper, gated back to Atlantis." "At least I thought we did." "That is not what I remember." "The only thing I remember was being in a dark room, fighting hand to hand for hours." "Well, they obviously created different scenarios for each of us during the mind probe, no doubt looking to gather information from our responses." " I thought our escape seemed too easy." " At least you escaped." "What'd they do to you?" "Torture, in ways too hideous and intimate to recount." " Like what?" " I said too hideous to recount." "I just had a horrible thought." " What if it is still happening?" " Yes." "There's got to be a way to know for sure." " Doesn't really prove anything." " It's real, Dr. McKay." "Your minds are no longer being probed." " It's good to know it was just our minds." " Oh, please don't make me sick." "Please come with me." "WEIR:" "We're in space." "McKAY:" "A star drive." "Of course, the rumbling sound we heard." "With all the ZPMs, you're able to actually fly the city." "Yes, Dr. McKay." "Watch now." "We're about to open a hyperspace window." " Where are we going?" " Atlantis." "The probes of your minds uncovered the truth that Atlantis had not been destroyed by the Wraith 10,000 years ago as we had believed." "You only came to live there from your original home, a planet called Earth." "Why didn't you just dial the Gate and send us through?" "We're not taking you to Atlantis." "Our intention is to destroy it." "Why?" " Retribution." " For what?" "The disagreement you once had?" "The Ancients no longer live there." "We are the only inhabitants of that city." "There was no disagreement, Dr. Weir." "Only betrayal." "If you wish to know the truth of who we are, I will show you." "Elizabeth?" "It's okay, Rodney." "The Ancients, as you call them, were desperate in their search for a better way to fight the Wraith." "Though greatly outnumbered, they relied on their technological superiority to give them a needed advantage." "Soon, they succeeded in creating one." "Instead of building bigger, more powerful weapons, they chose to build smaller ones, microscopic machines designed to infiltrate and destroy from within." "Nanites." "In these tiny killing machines, the Ancients imbued an aggression that surpassed even that of their enemy." "The technology allowed for organic assimilation and self-replication to increase their effectiveness, and replicate they did." "They grew in numbers, evolving at a rate that took the Ancients by surprise." "The molecular machines began interlocking, assembling themselves to form even more complex organisms, eventually evolving into the most effective and efficient form they knew of." "This is how we were born." "We took the image of our creators, yet we were far different from them." "The aggression programmed into our core remained, fuelling a rage we could not contain." "We implored them to have this violent nature removed from our programming, but the Ancients wanted a weapon, and since their scientists included a directive prohibiting us from ever harming them, they continued the experiment." "When the Ancients concluded that the experiment had gone too far, that we would never become the weapon they desired to create, they decided to end it." "And so they chose to destroy us, to leave no trace of us behind." "Thank you." "Obviously the Ancients didn't do a thorough enough job wiping them out." "No." "A few of the nanites managed to survive." "Which is all they needed to begin replicating again." " Replicating..." " This is bad." "They're very similar to an artificial intelligence that SG-1 encountered several years ago that evolved from a tiny block-Replicator into human form." " They may even be related somehow." " I read those reports." "Stargate Command could barely defeat the human-form Replicators." "Oh, which is why I said, "This is bad."" "The difference here is they're emulating the Ancients." "They've even built themselves a version of Atlantis." "And then some." "Why would they do this?" "I think they look at the Ancients like parents who betrayed them, and now they see humans as the favored siblings who receive all the parents' love." "They've been seeking revenge ever since." "It's just what we need, more bad guys." "Which means we've probably just identified the race that created the nanovirus that nearly killed me a couple of years ago." " It almost killed a lot of people." " Yeah." "Were you not able to defeat that nanovirus with an electromagnetic pulse?" "That was different." "Those were individual nanites, easy to disrupt with a simple EM pulse." "These things have evolved way beyond that, with interdependent organic constituents of a far greater complexity." " Are you feeling better?" " Yes." "Follow me." "I have an offer to make you, something that could greatly benefit us both." "Well, if the offer involves saving Atlantis, we're willing to listen." "It does." "We have achieved much since our second birth." "We have evolved to take the form of our creators, built a city far grander than they ever achieved." "Yet, for all this, we are still restricted from reaching a pivotal point in our evolution." " You want to Ascend?" " Yes." "Many among us, like Oberoth, have no desire to experience this." "They are content with our present state." "But there are a few of us who recognize that as a civilization, we are stagnant." "We seek to continue our own evolution." "To truly emulate the Ancients and their ultimate achievement." "Even though they betrayed you?" "They are our creators, and Ascension is the final step to equaling them, to becoming one with them." "No offense, but how are a bunch of machines gonna do that?" "Are you so different?" "Well, we're living, breathing people." "Constructed from cells, consuming and burning energy, governed by electrical impulses..." "Hey, I didn't say I could Ascend." "Metaphysical debates aside, what do you want from us?" "We're not exactly Ascension experts." "Although we do know killing people isn't the best way to get there." "We realize this, and we have done much to repress our violent nature, but yet it still remains within us." "We believe this, above all, is what has prevented us from Ascending." "What are you looking for?" "Therapy?" "We want to rewrite our base code to remove the directives for aggression." "What's stopping you?" "The Ancients put in place measures to prevent us from altering the code ourselves." "But you can do it." " Me?" " During our probe of your mind, we learned that you are capable of doing this." "Oh, that's funny." "All I remember is the torture." "And what's in it for us?" "We will stop the others from attacking Atlantis." "And we will help you in your fight against the Wraith." "And Oberoth will agree to this?" "I believe Oberoth is attacking Atlantis as a result of that programming." "If we can prove to him it can be altered..." " You think he'll see the light." " Hallelujah." "I will do everything in my power to persuade him." "Why should we trust you?" "Because we are willing to trust you." "By extending this offer, we are jeopardizing our very existence." "I saw in you compassion, Dr. Weir, someone who could come to understand our plight." "Help us and we will help you." "When it comes right down to it, we don't have much of a choice." "We're drawing closer to Atlantis." "Soon we will drop out of hyperspace." " How's it coming, Rodney?" " McKAY:" "Slowly." "What's the hold-up?" ""What's the hold-up?"" "Do you have any idea what I'm trying to do here?" "Niam gave you access to the program code, and you're screwing around with it." "Oh, that is so relatively accurate." "Thank you." "Still, we're not dealing with Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, here." "We are dealing with a complex code of over three billion chemical base sequences." "It's like trying to reconfigure the DNA double helix." "Okay." "So, what, five minutes?" "It will be done when it is done." "And you applying pressure is not gonna..." " What?" " Gotta go." "McKay out." "Rodney, what's going on?" "Rodney?" " Did you do it?" " Yes, yes, yes." "I have removed the aggression directive from the base code." "It is uploading to Niam as we speak." "But I discovered something else, nothing short of brilliant, I might add." " What?" " Okay." "Even though these Replicators are each separate functioning beings, their basic command code is interconnected over a powerful subspace frequency." "They have these periodic collective program updates or merges they call them, where they exchange new information." "That's how Niam hopes to distribute the new code to the others." "Exactly." "But while I was working on it, I figured out a way to create a glitch that, on my command, should momentarily freeze them." " "Should"?" " Okay, will." "I mean, dead in their tracks, like hitting the pause button, temporarily, until they figure out how to override it." "How long?" "Well, I don't know." "That's why I said, "Momentarily."" "Days?" "Hours?" "Minutes?" "It's minutes, but I don't know." "That's what I was just saying to him!" " Ten?" "Twenty?" " Okay, fine." "You want a number?" "Fine." "Seven." "Seven minutes and 31 seconds." " You happy?" " No!" " No." " That's not enough time." " Look, you wanted a number." " A bigger number." " Yeah, well, it may very well be longer." " Or shorter!" "Look, I don't know!" "Look, you're missing the point..." "Gentlemen, focus, please." "Will that be enough time for us to escape?" "It'll have to be." "Not much point in leaving without blowing this place up first." "How do we do that?" "Oh, that's me." "Right." "Surprise, surprise." "Look, why don't I just go on these missions by myself?" "I'll rig a ZPM overload." "What about Niam?" "Are we not exploiting his trust?" "Even if he's able to honor his end of the deal, there's no guarantee he can stop Oberoth from attacking Atlantis." "We will offer him the chance to come with us, but we cannot leave this city intact." "Are you sure this'll work?" "Please." "Of course it will work." " Why's it taking so long?" " Why do you always have to..." "Look, I need to properly calibrate the frequencies." "I wanna make sure that when I freeze them, I freeze them all, okay?" " All would be good." " Okay, will you just let me finish?" "Thank you." "Okay." "Here..." "Here we go." "In five, four, three, two..." " Hey, it worked." " Interesting." "Okay." "We should move to the ZPM Room." "Why isn't he frozen?" "McKAY:" "His code's changed." "Until he's distributed it to the others in the next merge, he'll be different than the rest of them." "What happened?" "What was that?" " I think we just dropped out of hyperspace." " We need to move." "Come with us." "I'll explain on the way." "Now, Ronon, I could use..." "Thanks." "You want me to go with you?" "You must understand our situation." "If you can't stop Oberoth..." "I said I would do everything in my power." "But can you promise that you will succeed?" "Our lives and the lives of all of our people are at stake here." "Look, you merge through a subspace connection." "Even if you're with us, you should be able to spread the new code amongst the others." "Come with us, Niam." "Ascension is within your grasp." "You can't turn back." " Damn." " What is it?" "In order to do this, I need to utilize all three ZPMs." "I was hoping to bring at least one of them back with us." "Do what you can." "We only have three minutes." "Look, I already told you, it..." "Never mind." "I need an access code to remove the fail-safes." "Now, how about our weapons?" "We can recover them on the way." "Not so arrogant now, are you?" "McKay!" "Come on!" " So much for seven and a half minutes." " Hey, it was an arbitrary number." "Colonel Sheppard." "Go!" " Ronon, set your gun to kill." "It is." " Okay, start the overload." " What?" "No, no, no, no." "Not yet." "We need to be in a Jumper or clear of the city, or..." "The Jumper Bay's not far." "We're almost there." "No, no, you don't understand." "Look, I didn't want them to be able to stop it." "Look, as soon as I trigger the overload, there'll be practically zero lag time before it blows." " "Practically"?" " Okay, fine, so like, a few seconds for it to build up power, but not nearly..." " How many seconds?" " I don't know." " Well, five, ten?" " Again with the arbitrary numbers." " We need to move." " Okay." "Start the overload." "Now!" " This way!" " What is that?" "The sound of the city about to blow!" "Move!" "Get the roof open, Rodney, or this is gonna be a short trip." "McKAY:" "Don't wait for me!" "I'm just saying if we can't get out of the Jumper Bay..." "It doesn't matter." "The overload's happening now." "We're about to explode." " Is the roof open?" " Yes." "Go." "Nice work, all of you." "Thank you." "What's wrong?" "Something is happening." "What is it?" "The others on my planet." "They know what I've done." " I'm being re-set." " Rodney, do something." "It's too late." "They're..." "That's not gonna hold him." "I'm so sorry." "I..." "I didn't..." "You okay?" "Yeah." " How's it going?" " Still nothing." "Either the Ancients chose to purposely conceal every record, extremely well I might add, or they simply deleted them from the database." "I'm leaning towards the latter." "Perhaps they think they've truly destroyed them all." "Either that or they didn't want anyone to know they had failed." "Again." "There is nothing more annoying than people who won't admit their own mistakes." "True." "McKay and Zelenka are scouring the database for any information." "So far, not much." "As in nothing." "These Replicators, they are probably already at work building themselves another Atlantis." "Now they know all about us." "Well, we beat them this time." "Maybe we scared them off." "Yeah, maybe."