"Hello?" "Good morning, Dr. Weir." " I'm Dr. Adam Fletcher." " Where am I?" "You're in the Acute Care Unit of Willoughby State Hospital." "Willoughby." "That's..." "That's a psychiatric hospital." "Outside DC, yes." " I'm on Earth?" " Yes." "When did I get back?" "You mean, back to Earth?" "Dr. Weir, you never left." "You had just begun mediating a treaty for the UN, when you collapsed mid-speech." "You've been under a tremendous amount of stress recently." "The treaty negotiation was the final straw that triggered what is known as a brief reactive psychosis." "I know you're confused." "This type of disorder can be very frightening." "But the good news is your condition is most likely transitory." "These episodes usually pass within a number of days." "I'm sorry, but how did I get here?" "You were transported by ambulance to a hospital in DC, then..." "No, I mean from Atlantis." "I don't remember coming back." "Atlantis?" "What's your security clearance?" "Did you want to talk to someone regarding the treaty?" "The UN Accord." "Non-nuclear proliferation in North Africa, that's what you were mediating when you collapsed." "I negotiated that treaty well over two years ago." "No, three days ago." "Since then you've been here, in a severely depressed and near-catatonic state." "No." "No, I was in my office and I was reading over a mission report and..." "This..." "This can't be real." "Dr. Weir, I assure you, it is real." "Okay..." "Okay." "Then, yes..." "There is somebody I need to speak with regarding the treaty." "Right away." "Oh, thank God." "General O'Neill." " Dr. Weir." " Thank you so much for coming." "Hopefully you'll be able to help sort out this entire mess." "Anything I can do to help." " Would you like me to..." " Oh, please." "...sit?" "It is a relief just seeing a friendly face." "Yeah, I was going for friendly." "This is all very confusing for me." "The last thing I remember, I was in Atlantis and everything was fine." "And next thing I know, I wake up here." "Everything was fine in Atlantis?" "The problem is my memory." "I have no memory of coming back." "I don't know if I came through the Stargate, or aboard the Daedalus, or..." "What?" "Oh, Dr. Weir, I'm not quite sure I'm qualified to be in this conversation." "Oh, please." "You ran Stargate Command." "You are probably the most qualified person on this planet." "Yeah, okay." " Why are you doing this?" " What?" "I'm not trying to do anything." "If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you're not really Jack O'Neill." "Oh, I'm Jack O'Neill, all right." "That's the one thing in this conversation I am sure about." "I met you a few months ago." "When we first approached you to help broker this non-proliferation treaty." "I don't know anything about Atlantis." "Except that it was a fairly mediocre Donovan song." "Not one of my favorites." "Now, this Stargate program I'm supposed to have run." "It's a facility inside Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado." "That would be NORAD." "Underneath NORAD, yes." "And the Stargate?" "It's a portal that allows intergalactic travel." "The program has been in operation for over 10 years." "You started the whole thing when you first encountered..." "What?" "Look, why don't I get Dr. Fletcher in here?" "No, just..." "Just leave." "Please." "All right." "Listen, for what it's worth, I hope you get better soon." "We need you." "No!" "No, let me go!" "No!" "Please, let me go!" "Let me go!" "Help!" "Let me go!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "I've spoken with several people at the Pentagon." "They assure me there is no such thing as the Stargate program." "No Atlantis base in another galaxy." "And no Department of Homeworld Security." "I'm sorry." "So you are telling me that I dreamt up the last two years of my life?" "Sometimes when a person experiences a significant emotional trauma, their mind just decides to shut down to escape the pain." "I have brokered dozens of treaties." "Many of them very stressful, yes, but none of them bad enough to cause significant emotional trauma." "The treaty negotiation was just the trigger point." "We believe the actual trauma you suffered occurred three weeks ago." "You were riding in a car with a man named Simon Wallace." " You remember Simon?" " Yes, of course I do." "We're..." "We're no longer in a relationship, but..." "You were coming home from dinner." "A car ran a red light and broadsided you, impacting the driver's side door." "Simon was killed instantly." "You suffered only minor injuries in the crash." "You made a quick recovery." "But in the days following Simon's funeral, several of your colleagues noticed your behavior changing." "Clear signs of depression, confusion." "No." "It culminated in your collapse at the negotiation." "No." "I'm sorry, I don't believe you." "Sometimes the mind's only way to cope with tragedy is to completely erase it from memory." "And on rare occasions, supplant it with something else." "In this case, something..." "You all right?" " Hello, sweetheart." " Mom." "I don't understand what's happening to me, Mom." "I feel as if..." "As if I'm asleep, or..." "Or I'm in a dream." "Look at me." "Do I look like a dream?" "My hand, does it feel like a dream?" "No." "But neither did the last two years of my life." "I just..." "I can't believe it was all a figment of my imagination." "Give it time." "The doctors here will help you get through this." "The accident..." "Getting that phone call was the worst night of my life." "We all miss Simon terribly, but I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." "Oh." "Oh, wait." "I have something." "Your father's watch." "I found it a few months ago." " He'd always meant to give it to you." " I know." "I mean..." "I mean, I took this with me." "It's all right, sweetheart." "You're safe now." "You'll be fine." "I'll make certain of it." "Hello?" "What's wrong?" "What's wrong?" "What's wrong?" "I'm going to prescribe some additional medications for you." "A mood stabilizer, an anti-depressant, and also, stronger anti-psychotic medications." "These should help reduce the acute symptoms you're experiencing." "Wipe out the last two years of my life." "I talked with your mother." "She told me how as a child you had a brief phase where you dreamed of being an astronaut." "She and your father even bought you a telescope for your 12th birthday." "That's true." "Sometimes, childhood fantasies can offer a peaceful refuge from the harsh realities of adult life." "So you're saying when Simon died, my mind shut down and went to another galaxy?" "It traveled as far as it could to escape the pain." "And in the matter of three days," "I managed to live out an entire two years of my life?" "Time is relative in the dream state." "People live out entire lifetimes in the blink of an eye." "Imagine you were in my position listening to your story, traveling to another galaxy through a Stargate, leading an expedition to the lost city of Atlantis." "Would you believe it?" "Dr. Weir?" "Your medications." "Thanks." "Have you gone out to the garden today?" "ENID:" "No." "I was going to, but they're out there, so I decided it would be better to wait." "The others?" " Yes." "Four of them." " Did they see you?" " Of course." "They were waiting for me." " Did you speak to them?" " Yes." "I told them what you told me to say, that, "My blood isn't theirs for the taking."" "Good for you, Enid." "That was very brave." "Excuse me." "What others?" "The invaders, dear." "From one of the moons of Saturn." "They're cold-blooded, you see, so they need our warm blood for theirs." "You have to be very careful." "Dr. Fletcher doesn't think they're real, but I know the truth." "Dr. Weir, would you like to speak next?" "Perhaps you can tell the group about your experience in Atlantis." "No." "Sometimes when we share these experiences..." "I said, "No."" "Go away." "Go away." "Go away!" " Hello." " Hi." "Please." "Will I ever remember the accident?" "I don't know." "Often in cases like this, the memory of the trauma never returns." "Maybe it's the mind protecting itself." "I suppose that's a good thing, really." "I mean, there's pain enough even without remembering it." " What?" " It's just, you're doing great." "I'm impressed." " You're sleeping well?" " Yes." "I'm sleeping better than I can remember." "Good." "I think you're ready." "Ready?" "Well, is it how you remember it?" "It's exactly how I remember it." "Oh, Sedgewick!" "Hey, sweetie!" "Hey!" "Welcome home, sweetheart." "Hello, hello." "General." "Enough with the "General", okay?" "It's Jack." "But which Jack is it?" "What?" "I'm sorry." "I was just trying to have some fun at my own expense." "Too soon, maybe." "So, you all settled back in?" "Getting there." "So, I hear you're going back to teaching." "Yeah, my Poli Sci class at Georgetown." "They're holding it open for me for the fall." "Have you given any thought to coming back to the negotiating table?" "That non-proliferation treaty, you kind of left us hanging mid-sentence, there." "Sure be nice to hear the punch line someday." "And the UN would be okay with that?" "Not just okay, they're insisting." "Really?" "When you're the best, you're the best, even if you've had a little setback, so to speak." ""He said, awkwardly."" "It's only if you feel you're ready to go back." "Well, actually, yeah." "I think I am." "Hey." "It's good to be home." "What've you got, Doc?" "It's getting worse." "It's not just her brain anymore." "They're spreading throughout her body." "We're losing her." " Those are all nanites?" " Aye." "They've spread throughout her entire body." "How'd they get inside her?" " Niam." "When he attacked her in the Puddle Jumper." "In that one brief moment of contact, he managed to infect her with nanites that began replicating immediately." " Now they're multiplying exponentially." " Consuming her." "How much time does she have?" "I don't think their intention's to kill her." "If that were the case, they could have easily done it already." "I don't think there's enough of them to survive on their own." "They need Elizabeth's body as raw material." "So they're attempting to assimilate her?" "To transform her into one of them?" "Until they can reach sufficient numbers to form a viable independent entity," "I would say so, yes." "This is how they replicate?" "I doubt it's their normal way." "It may well be a last-ditch attempt to survive." "How do we stop them?" "EMP." "Maybe we can hit them with the electromagnetic pulse like we did last time." "I'm afraid we're well beyond that possibility now, Colonel." "Looking at her scan, the nanites have literally bonded to neurons and other cells throughout her central nervous system." "If we attempt to disable them, we'll likely end up killing her along with them." "Then how do we help her?" "In a Petri dish, her white blood cells attack individual nanites as though they were a bacterium or a virus quite successfully." "But for some reason inside her body there's almost no immune response whatsoever." "It's as if the nanites themselves have convinced her immune system that they pose no threat." " How do they do that?" " I have no idea." "I've begun administering drugs to help boost her immunities." " Doesn't seem to be working." " Not yet." "I've just increased the dosage." "For the moment, we're losing this battle." "Hey!" "Right on time." "You all set?" "I think so." " Did you get some sleep?" " Yes." "But still, I've been really tired lately." "Well, maybe, you've got to work yourself back into playing shape." "Spend a little time doing some short shifts before you jump up to the first line." "I'm sorry." "I don't know a thing about football." "Nor hockey, apparently." "Thanks." "It's strange, Jack." "I feel kind of numb." "You know, I feel like that all the time." "I'm serious." "Did you talk to Dr. Fletcher about it?" "Yes." "He said it's probably just my medications." "He's gonna adjust the doses, dial them back." "See if that helps." "Probably just a matter of balance, then, eh?" "All right." "Now, just to be sure we're on the same page, we're against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, right?" "WEIR:" "Got it." "Do you think she's aware we're here?" "How can she be?" "She's unconscious." "You may be right." "You could try talking to her, tell her to keep fighting." "And that will help exactly how?" "In a coma, one's sense of hearing is the last thing to go and the first thing to return." "There are many cases where patients were actually able to hear others talking to them in their rooms." "And were these comas also caused by nanites invading people's bodies?" "No, Rodney, but there are indications that she's thinking." "You mean dreaming." " More than that." "Her mind is extremely active for someone in a coma." "Her EEG reads almost as if she were going about her daily life." "Which suggests she may well be able to hear us." "What the hell are they doing to her?" "I wish I knew." "The immune-boosting drugs are having no effect." "Aggressive little bastards." " What?" " What?" "It was that look, that's the same look I get when I have a brilliant idea." "How would you know how you looked?" "'Cause it's happened more than once in front of a mirror, okay?" "Carson, what is it?" "I don't know about brilliant, but it just might..." " Excuse me." " What are you doing?" "You know, if Carson's right and you can hear me," "I suppose I should say something profound." "Okay, I'm not so good at profound, but you should know, we're doing everything we can to get you through this." "These, these nanites, I don't know what they're putting you through." "I don't know what they're doing to you, but don't let them get to you." "We're doing everything we can to bring you back, but you've got to do your part." "You've got to fight this." "I'm sure this is just a result of the adjustment I made to your medications." "I think I may have dialed them back too far." "It's all a question of balance." "That's what General O'Neill said." "Yes, well, he's right." "Don't worry." "We'll get you back to normal." "Elizabeth." "What do you want?" "No!" "Wait!" "No!" "Let go of me!" "No!" "Hey." "How are you feeling?" "Why am I back here?" "They're worried." "Frankly, so am I." "Look, obviously, I've been pushing you a little hard on this treaty thing." " No." "I feel fine." "Well, you're not." "You're gonna be here until you get better." "McKAY:" "Okay!" "We think we've found a way to uncouple the nanite cells from Elizabeth's cells." " We?" " How?" "We create a distraction." "It finally occurred to me why I wasn't having any success." "What were the nanites originally designed to do?" " Fight the Wraith." " McKAY:" "Exactly." "So, that's what we'll get them to do now." "We think by implanting a small amount of Wraith tissue into Dr. Weir's body..." " It's like a tumor." " Aye, a small tumor, yes." " The nanite cells will essentially..." " Will attack it." "They have to." "It's what they are programmed to do." "Which will draw them away from Elizabeth's cells, effectively unbinding them." "It will only last a few seconds or so, mind you, before the nanites attack the Wraith tissue and return their focus to Dr. Weir's cells." "McKAY:" "But that's all we need." "Momentary distraction to draw them away from her so we can zap them with the EM pulse." "Okay, let's do it." "Rodney, give me that." "Wait a minute." "Aren't we supposed to turn off all Earth-based equipment in the room before we do this?" "The EM pulse will be directed through the scanner, so the other equipment should be fine." "I keep seeing these symbols, eight of them." "Do they mean something to you?" "This is the dialing sequence for the Stargate from Earth to Atlantis." "Dialing sequence like a phone number?" "Look, I know you think I'm delusional, but I can't shake the overpowering feeling that something or someone is trying to communicate with me." " And what are they trying to say?" " That Atlantis is real." "And that I have to get back there." "And, so, we're the fantasy?" "WEIR:" "Yes." "You know, I don't mind being fantasized about, occasionally." "But come on, we're right here." "How would you get there?" "Go to Stargate Command." "So now you just wanna waltz into NORAD, is that it?" "I know what you told me!" "But I also know what I feel." "Atlantis is real and I will get back there." "And it's working." "They're moving fast." "Aye." "Get ready with the EM pulse." "I'm ready on your mark." "And, now!" "I thought you said that it..." "It worked." " Carson, you might be an absolute..." " Oh, no." "We didn't get them all." "How is that possible?" "I don't bloody know." "They've been using organic material to replicate which has rendered them immune to the EM pulse." "So now what?" "They've started replicating again." "You spit out your pills again, didn't you?" "You disappoint me, Elizabeth." "The pills are not gonna help me." "Not if you won't let them." "You leave me no other choice." "No!" "Don't do this." "This will hurt." " What do we do now?" " Zap her again." "Keep it up until they're gone." "A significant number of nanites have migrated into the arteries that supply blood flow to the higher functions of her brain." "They're telling us they can kill her if they want to." "Nurse, switch her over to the 100% oxygen, stat, and start her on norepinephrine, five mics per minute." "Reducing blood flow to those parts of her brain will put her into a state of cerebral hypoxia." "What will that do?" "Render her essentially brain dead, which makes no sense." "Unless she's fighting it." "It's the only thing that makes sense." "The Replicators see us as organic machines." "They're trying to take control of the machine they're in." "You mean replace Elizabeth's consciousness?" "Maybe when we zapped her with the EMP we killed enough of them to even out the odds and gave her a fighting chance at stopping them." "Reality check." "There are microscopic robots in her brain." "How does she fight that?" "You said her mind was active, like she was thinking, reacting, living her life." "What if this was the only way they could get to her?" "What if they were trying to force her to give up?" " A battle of wills." " Exactly." "Her neural activity supports Colonel Sheppard's hypothesis, Rodney." "So, what, we can't do anything?" "I can increase the oxygen levels in her blood, give her a little more time, but..." "Yes, she's on her own." "No." "She's not." "You're not alone, Elizabeth." "We're right here with you." "You have to fight this." "Fight this, fight this." "Dr. Weir." "It's okay." "You're safe now." "Where am I?" "Stargate Command." "It's okay." "Follow me." "Elizabeth." "Don't listen to them." " What's wrong?" " This way." "I'm not going to hurt you." "The hell you aren't." "They've begun to spread faster." " We're losing her." " Not yet, we're not." "What are you doing?" "McKAY:" "What are you, crazy?" "She could infect you!" "Elizabeth?" "John." "You've been infected by nanites." "They're trying to take control of your mind and body." "Don't let them do it." "You have to fight them." "So fight." "Elizabeth." "You have to come with us." "I'm sorry." "You know which way you have to go." "Run." "Get him out of there!" "Put him into isolation and run a scan immediately." " I can't let you go." " You're not General O'Neill." "Elizabeth, listen to me." "You see that?" "That's the Stargate, and yes, leaving is exactly what I plan to do." " I won't let you go." " You can't stop me." "On the contrary, I already have." "I made your friend disappear, haven't I?" "That's right." "He can't help you now." "And you can't possibly get past me." "So you see, you've lost." "Where am I?" "The infirmary." "How are you feeling?" "I'm back in Atlantis." "You never left." "Still up, huh?" "Oh, hey." "Yeah, I wasn't all that keen to go back to sleep just yet." "Understandable." "I'm glad to see you've been released from quarantine." "Yeah." "Well, I guess the nanites were too focused on you to spread to me." "I now realize just how insidious they really are." "I mean, if such a small number of them could do that to me..." "Let's just take it as a win right now." "All right." "Still I..." "I can't believe I was only out for five hours." "Felt longer, huh?" "Yes." "A lifetime." "Well, it's good to have you back in the real world." "At least, I think it's the real world." "I could be infected right now, which makes me the one..." "John, don't." "Sorry."