"With all due respect, Imhotep, we prefer to solve our own problems by ourselves.”
Secrecy and all sorts of security protocols did not leave the project management such opportunities.
“And what is the outcome of your attempts? You actually lost the entire SG-1 team. Samantha Carter and Teal'c will burn on the planet you sent them to, Jack O'neill will die of brain strain, and Daniel Jackson will be sentenced to death for not being able to translate the inscription in the language of the Ancients.”
“What?” Daniel panicked as he ran into the room.
“Hahah! Nothing, just a joke. In general, so far the results of your efforts can not be estimated even by three with a minus.”
“What did you say about Carter and Teal'c?
“Are they still here?”
“No. An hour ago, they passed through the gate to a planet where inscriptions in an unknown language were found.”
“That unknown language is language of the Ancients. I've already talked about it. And Samantha and Teal'c were on the planet with a broken Dial Home Device (DHD). They will not be able to return, and the second star of this world will soon fry them to a delicious crisp.”
"Open the gate to this planet and contact SG-1." General ordered.
I went with him to the gate control room, where we waited for the portal to open and the video link to be established.
“Don't send a rescue team.” Samantha was on the other side. “Don't send a rescue team.”
“This is general Hammond. We hear you. Where is major Castelman?”
“He's looking for shelter. We have a problem. We can't dial the coordinates. The DHD seized up when we tried to send the probe back. The temperature is rising here, which is probably why there is no life here. Initially, the probe did not detect the second sun, which recently rose from the horizon. General, it's going to be hot in here now.”
“Dial the address manually.”
“We're trying to do that, but it's impossible as long as the gate is open on your side.”
“Understood, captain. If you don't come back within half an hour, I'll open a communication tunnel. Good luck.”
“I told you.” I said mockingly when the gate shut down. “They won't be able to dial the address and will burn there.”
“What do you suggest?”
"I suggest you trust to my wisdom and do as I say. First I need to talk with Jack.”
“Neat. Daniel, lead him to Colonel.”
I nodded and followed the anthropologist staff of SG-1.
"You say it is the language of the Ancients?" He asked me, immediately after we walk out the door.
“Yeah. That's what they call themselves.”
"And they created the Stargate system?"
“Undoubtedly. They created a lot of things.”
“Do you know their language?”
“I'm the God of Knowledge. Of course I know their language.”
“Ah…”
“We're arrived.” I interrupted the flow of questions, standing in front of the right door. The scanning spell showed that the Colonel was behind here.
“Uh... Yes.”
“And you, Daniel, I'll ask you to stay outside.”
I turned the door handle, walked into the room and closed the door in front of the dumbfounded Daniel. I reinforced the door with magic, so I was sure that our conversation with Jack would not be interrupted.
“Hey, Jack. What are you doing?” I spoke to Colonel in the language of the Ancients.
“If I only knew.” He answers. “Wait, you speak that language?”
“Of course. So what do we got here? Oh! You wouldn't believe it, but just recently I tried to create something like this. However, I used another solution. I'm afraid this thing won't last more than five minutes.”
“Do you know the purpose of this device?” Jack asked.
“Yes. It's a power source. Three hundred eighty volts and fifty Hertz, and a whole lot of amps. But the source of naquadah exhausted too quickly. Yes, and the efficiency is below standard. In short - junk work”
“Why am I creating it?” Jack's voice was tired and confused.
“To find out the answer to this question, I will need to scan your brain. Don't worry, it won't hurt. Just sit here and relax.”
I pointed to the chair. Jack sat down, and I cast a series of diagnostic spells on him. Um... The cells of the brain as a whole far better tolerate the information decompression process. Plus, each cell can store a lot more information. But decompression speed is much higher, so the limit will be reached pretty soon. This was not the main problem, but the downloaded package of information.
“Jack, I can congratulate you. In your mind settled ideological relative of the Goa’ulds”.
“Are you saying that I have a worm in my head?”
“No. It's more like schizophrenia.”
“Well, thanks. I immediately felt better.” Jack said with sarcasm
“The device in which you had inadvertently looked in was Ancient’s training terminal. But someone changed its training program by writing into the crystal a copy of his identity. Your brain isn't designed to acquire so much knowledge, so sooner or later it's going to kill you. Now this 'spare' person in your head is trying to somehow escape by controlling your actions.”
“What's the result?”
“Nothing. I mean, you're gonna die, or unless if you can get help from the Asgards. This is the plan of that second person in your mind. She's counting on the Asgards to erase your identity and leave a copy of the Ancient's identity. In her opinion she will be more useful than primitive Earthmen. But what decision will Asgards make, we do not know.”
“So all I have to do is believe in these aliens?”
“Well, you can also believe in me. I have lots of people who believes in me that says it’s useful.”
“Can you clear my head?”
“No. More precisely, I can erase all the information, completely , but I can't erase just what this machine recorded.”
“I see.” Jack turned to his device in frustration.
“But now we have a bigger problem. Samantha went to another planet and got stuck there because of a broken DHD. So now only you can save her by coming up with a way to fix the Ancient device.”
“What? Why did nobody told me about this?”
“Well, now I told you. I think you should talk to Samantha, and then make your subpersonality deal with the problem. Although she was originally an Ancient person, now she is just a memory in your brain. But you can control her actions, in some degree.”
Jack looked to his assembling device, then put down his tools and headed for the exit. Half an hour later, we again contacted to the group of SG-1 and we made sure that there is no chance to get out from that planet. Jack listened carefully to the symptoms of the problem, and then went to draw a diagram for repair. I, observing his actions, only sighed. From Ulrike’s brain, I could find instructions for using the gates, but not the drawings of the stargate controller.
After the drawing has been sent in through the gate, I began to help Jack with the assembly of the power supply. Actually, he did not need help, but sometimes his subpersonality experienced problems in order to explain to the main person what exactly needs to be done. In this case, I explained the next step in my own words or did it myself. Mind reading spell in this situation is very much helped.
After the device worked, I went with Jack to Hammond's office. When we were approaching it, the gate went off, and SG-1 came out in a temporary composition, where Jack and Daniel was replaced by two Marines.
“Good to see you.” Hammond greeted them.
“We're almost fried there, sir. The plan worked. Who invented it?”
Hammond turned silently to Jack. But Samantha noticed me because I was standing near.
“Imhotep?”
“No, Jack actually came up with the plan. Looks like he's smarter than you now, Samantha.”
“What? But that is impossible!”
“I am glad you believe in my powers.” Jack answered grimly in the Ancient language.
I translated that phrase.
“Sorry. Thank you.” Embarrassed, Samantha buries herself in the stargate drawing and began to study it.
Teal came forward.
“I'm sorry O'neill. We couldn't help you.” He paused for a moment, then left, giving me a strange look. Jaffa's emotions were seething with confusion, jealousy and awareness of his own impotence.
“General, can I talk a few minutes?” I turned to the local authorities.
“Yeah, sure.”
Me, Jack and Hammond stepped aside.
“Jack need access to the computer with your permission. He didn't finish writing the program to save himself.”
“What program?”
“What program?”
Asked both of my interlocutors.
“Program to open the gates to the neighboring galaxy. The information recorded in his brain can be erased only there. It would be very unfortunate if Jack had been torn to pieces during the transition through gate just because he didn't have enough time to calibrate the gate.”
“Are you sure it's not dangerous?”
“It's Jack. Although he cannot explain it, but all actions he does is by himself. Well, it's like schizophrenia, only the second person doesn't rush at people to bite them, but tries to save herself, which means she would help you.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome”
“Okay, Jack. I give you my consent.”
The Colonel nodded and headed for the computer terminal. Debugging of the program took fifteen minutes, and then started the procedure of gate activation. Jack ran to set up the power source, and I stayed to calm Hammond and the rest of the SG-1.
“All right. This address leads to a nearby galaxy. Jack will report how it went to you later.”
“Will he come back?” Samantha asked anxiously.
“Of course. I will send with him my energy projection, so I will be able to ensure that everything went as it should.”
“Energy projection?” Samantha's voice was filled with disbelief and incomprehension.
“Is that what you used to get through the gate to us?” Hammond guessed.
“Yeah.”
“What?” Carter turned her head uncomprehendingly.
“I'll explain later.” Daniel promised.
Finally, address with eight characters dialed, the portal opened.
“Jack, don't worry, I'm with you.” I encouraged the patient. “And be careful. On the other side immediately after the transition, are stairs”.
I created a shadow clone and sent it to the gate. Ten seconds later and Jack disappeared into the portal.
Emerging from the portal, the clone took the appearance of a man and looked around. Jack followed me out. He was already frankly sick, so I had to help him not to fall down the stairs with too small stairs.
Then a scene from the series played as planned. Jack's brain was cleared, after which he thanked everyone and promised that in the distant future, humanity will also become a great race.
I stood aside all this time, looking at the asgards. They're strange. The clone had only a fraction of my sensitivity, so I couldn't figure out what was wrong with them.
“Who is this man?” The asgards finally asked, pointing at me.
“I'm not human.” I rejected these insinuations. “I am Imhotep, God of Knowledge and Architecture. Have you not heard about me from Thor?”
“No. We haven't accepted reports from the commander-in-chief of Thor in a very long time. He's too busy with his undoubtedly important business. Only the High Council of Asgard receives this information.”
“I see. Well then, I suggest we send back this man to his world, and then I'd like to discuss some matters with you, first of all, about helping you.”
“You're not going back?”
“No. It's an energy projection. When I no longer need it, it will simply disappear.”
“We have never heard of such technologies.” Asgards began to accumulate around me, and scanning me with different devices.
“That's natural. I suggest we discuss this later. Don't compel Jack to wait.”
“No, I'm interested too.” He tried to stay in.
“You can ask me on Earth.”
“OK” He gave up easily to my commanding tone.
Further, Asgards opened passage to the Earth, and Jack had no option except to enter the portal.
On the Earth all met Jack with a smile, and I was even able to send another clone to the kitchen, where he stole the champagne from the fridge. While people were drinking and celebrating, I scanned Jack with magic. The asgards have done an interesting thing to his brain. They did not understand where that Ancient person is, but simply stopped the memory deployment process and erased the barrier between the sub-personalities. So now in the body of the Colonel was the identity of Ancient... but without the knowledge of the Ancients. More precisely, only with bits of this knowledge. Interesting.
Seizing the moment, I took Jack aside and put a cloaking spell, distorting sounds and diverting attention.
“So what are you gonna do now?” I asked him in Ancient language. He gave me a slightly frightened look. “I can see that you have an Ancient personality now.”
“It seemed like a good idea at that time.” The sub-resident replied. “But now I realize I'm not the original. I'm just a collection of memories. Yet I cannot allow the knowledge of our race to fall to these savages. At least they won't get it from me. So I'm going to play Jack. It's a lot easier than you think.”
“Just don't overplay it. Jack wasn't stupid.'
“Yes, that episode with the balls, which played Goa’uld’s spies, it perfectly shows”.
“Wasn't that a thin trolling?”
“The fact of the matter is that there is no trolling'
“All right, have fun. If you want to be Jack, just be him.”
I removed the spell and went to the gate.
“Gentlemen, I am happy that you all managed to survive this day and remained in your normal mind. Do not hesitate to call me for help if your life is in danger due to lack of knowledge. And also, Jack.” I turned to the Colonel. “I understand that my radio may not be always available, so next time you can just pray to me and I'll hear. I am serious. I'm God and I hear prayers directed to me. Especially yours.”
With these words, I conducted the initiation of Jack as my priest. He felt it, but didn't show it. This connection not only allowed him to reach out to me, but also gave me the ability to remotely scan his mind. Now I will not miss important events. Because I don’t need his worship even for free.
“Good day, and thanks for the fish.” I couldn't resist a laugh.
“What fish?” Hammond was surprised.
But he did not get an answer to his question. I opened the gate and disappeared into the portal, leaving the Earthmen to deal with their own problems.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Moving to my ship, I focused on controlling the actions of the shadow clone in the Asgard galaxy.
After Jack disappeared into the portal, the clone turned to the assembled aliens.
"Dear citizens of Asgard, I came to this galaxy to help you fight the replicators. Now I'm busy with urgent matters, but in a few years I plan to handle these dangerous machines to support you in the fight against them. At this stage, I need to study the technology of replicators, for which my projection must get to one of the planets occupied by them. In this regard, I ask for your assistance in my transportation to one of the suitable places. Don't worry about my safety. This is just my projection, which does not need special environmental conditions. Thank you for your attention.”
The Asgards began to exchange glances, apparently communicating telepathically or in some other way.
“Can you tell me about yourself?” One of them asked.
“Certainly. I am a representative of a highly developed civilization. I have just arrived in your sector of the Universe and am only studying the situation. My goal is to gather knowledge about the Universe and help intelligent beings. Hopefully, in the near future, together we can take the threat of replicators under control and your species will cease to be on the verge of destruction.”
“Will you share your technology with us?”
“I'll try to do that. As practice shows, the technology of our race is difficult to combine with the technology of primitive races like yours. For example, this energy projection is a product of technologies of medium complexity, but it can not be reproduced on the basis of your primitive technologies. But I, as a God of knowledge and architecture, fervently support your curiosity and desire for development. Together we can make the world a better place. I Imhotep, promise you my moral support in these endeavors.”
This speech in the tradition of the best American diplomacy won the hearts and minds of degraded midgets. I had only called them primitive and beckoned with carrot of secret knowledge, as they immediately agreed to almost carry me in their arms. Primitive civilization in its purest form.
After a short Q&A session, They led me to a rescue capsule and promised to drop it on one of the planets captured by replicators. Naturally, they dropped it from the maximum possible distance, so I had to fly on my own, since the capsule had a weak hyperspace engine.
Once in orbit around the planet, I immediately sent my flying coffin to the surface. A couple of ships of the replicators tried to seize a free piece of valuable resources, but they did not have enough time. The capsule entered the atmosphere, braked and landed smoothly on a flat area, from a distance similar to the runway. Naturally, this place turned out to be a cluster of replicators covering the surface of the planet with a thick layer. I think my Vritras behaved the same way.
Robots was very happy to the unexpected gift from heaven and immediately began to disassemble it into components. The clone also got out and started scanning the basic blocks of the replicators, for one watching the process of production of new units of capsules. Clone was immaterial, so the replicators simply ignored him.
I took my time, and began a slow and thoughtful study of the replicators. Of course, a clone of the chakras is not very well suited for such studies, but the replicators did not pay attention to him. Even if I started disassembling them to parts, they were only a bit worried, trying to repair the damage, but they didn't attack.
After studying the physical structure of the blocks, I began to analyze their program, and then faced an unexpected obstacle. The code was an artifact of the quantum informational nature. In other words, it could not be described with a set of numbers and letters. It was a superposition of the state of trillions of atoms, which in different conditions gave different information.
It was so much more complicated than the programming techniques I knew, that I didn't even understand how this process could be explored. The program was an autonomous entity capable of multiplying and recovering. If the quantum state of the processor is damaged, it is either completely restored, or instantly stopped working. Somehow I could not change it. Any changes in program, immediately repaired, or have led to the destruction of the program block, then the Replicators had disassemble it apart, put it back together again and copied in it the program. So cracking the program code is impossible in my current state.
After studying the replicators for almost a month, I realized why the asgards could not resist them. The only weapon that can kill them was one that is capable of the physical destruction of the blocks. And quite naturally, those were the most protected. In addition, even a small number of survived blocks could start the process of self-reproduction, nullifying all efforts to destroy them.
The question of energy supply is also solved extremely efficiently. Separate units used the technology of obtaining energy from the vacuum. I didn't know the details, but I had a description of this Ancient technology. Each block seemed to create a tiny ZPM, which was enough for about an hour of work. After that, the energy cell in the reactor was reset and created anew. In addition, this reactor allowed to absorb thermal energy, so there was no problem of overheating replicators.
In general, as result of digging in the guts of these robots, I realized that at this moment I can’t understand structure of Replicators. After that, I changed my focus on the ascension technique.
With the transition to the 'spiritual form' I had unexpected problems. In principle, I could exist without a physical body. Last resort, I could create myself the necessary astral shell with the help of magic. But the Ascension not only gave a certain 'body of light', it allowed the consciousness to begin to perceive a multidimensional space, allowed to live in it on an everyday level.
I had some experience of perceiving multidimensionality, but I can not see the 'necessary' dimensions. I do not have the necessary senses for this. When I tried to temporarily 'get out of the body' and get closer to one of the states of multidimensional consciousness, the description of which I found in the memories of Orlin, I found that I can not hold it.
For the ascendant, it was like lying on the floor - they simply could not change this state to something else without making an effort. For me, it was like balancing on the tip of a needle. It only takes a little to weaken my concentration, as my 'spiritual body' began to demolish in strange dimensions, where it was not so easy to get back.
In these practices, it was quite a real risk to fall into the wild Chaos of the Universe, where I might lost forever between the gears of life. These dangers were described in detail in the 'instructions for ascension', and I had no reason to consider them as fictions.
All this fuss with replicators and ascension consumed a lot of time. In no time to look back, as two months have passed. Despite all my efforts, the results were zero in all directions, which is not very pleasing.
In one beautiful day the spell in Jack O'neill's head send me a signal about the occurrence of important events. Someone send signal through the gate to the Earth in the frequencies of SG-1, which contained the information about gate address. It looked like an invitation to a meeting, and the Earthmen thought it was a message from Tok'ra.
I waited until SG-1 arrived at this address, then I went there myself.
“Oh! What are you doing here, huh?” I asked, passing through the gate and finding a team of Earthmen in front of me.
“From where did you appear?” Daniel asked with displeasure.
“I have a meeting with my dad here? I feigned wounded pride.
“Who?”
“With dad. With ancestors. With the father. Do you know these words?”
“So you didn't invite us here?” Jack asked.
“Of course not. If I wanted to meet you on this planet, I would have come to the Stargate base, grabbed you by the scruff of the neck and dragged you here. I think it was an invitation from my dad.”
“Who's your father?” Samantha asked.
“Behold. I won't spoil the surprise. There he is, by the way. I pointed to a faint point in the sky.”
“Goa’uld’s glider?” Surprised Teal'c.
“Certainly. Easy to guess that my father is a Goa'uld. And you know him very well.”
Meanwhile, the glider was hit by a plasma shot, and it collapsed to the ground behind a small sand mound. Team SG-1 rushed to the crash site, and I lazily followed them. A minute later I caught up with them, because they were slowly walking forward, aiming imaginary enemies in the clouds of smoke.
“Don't worry, he won't attack you.” I calmed them down by stepping forward. “There is he lying.” I nodded at the mutilated body crawling across the sand.
We approached the fugitive. He turned on his back, and everyone could see his face.
“Apophis?” Jack surprised. “Is he your father?”
“Yeah.” I flashed my eyes proudly.
“Help me.” Goa’uld whispered.
“You're not going to help him?” Jack asked.
“No. Today I am only a neutral observer. And I'm a God of Knowledge anyway, not God of Charity.”
“Who are you?” The dying man squeezed out words.
“You didn't recognize your own son? My heart bleeds, father. I am Imhotep, God of Knowledge and Architecture.”
“Imhotep, save me! I command you!”
“Is that a plea for help? I think you'll need more practice in the way of praying.”
Meanwhile, Teal'c recovered from the shock and pointed his weapon at his former master.
“Teal'c, we need Apophis alive.” Samantha stopped him.
“Look, my cousins arrived.” I pointed to the gliders that had appeared in the distance. “A bunch of crows swooped down. He died not even completely, as the System Lords began to divide his territory.”
“Take him and we leave.” Jack commanded.
“You can take it slow. I will defend you.” I added, unfolding a protective spell over our heads. This time I accompanied magic with a slight illusion, so that all present were able to observe a transparent bluish veil with luminous veins.
Teal'c picked up Apophis and dragged him on his hump. SG-1 went quickly to the gate. Gliders circled above us, but did not open fire.
“What are they doing?” Samantha worried.
“They want to take Apophis alive.” Teal'c replied.
Earthlings typed the address of their planet and went to the portal. I slipped through with them.
“Good afternoon, General.” I said hello to Hammond. “Look what our catch is today”
“Imhotep? Did you send the signal?”
“No. He send it.” I nodded at the body, which had already been loaded onto the medical stretcher.
“General Hammond, Apophis. Apophis, General Hammond.” Jack introduced them. His face was full of complacency.
“We know each other.” General replied.
“I ask asylum.” Apophis replied.
‘Why?” Hammond looked at the bloody body.
“Other goa’ulds won and kicked his ass.” Jack mockingly smiled.
“When we got him, he was chased by Goa’ulds’ gliders.” Samantha added.
“Sokar defeated him.” I explained. “Captured and tortured. Thanks to the help of the last faithful Jaffa, Apophis managed to escape, and now he plans to seize power on Earth. After that, he's going to use your knowledge and technology to take revenge on Sokar and become the strongest of the System Lords.”
"Don't you think this plan is a bit presumptuous?" Jack asked.
“This is the essence of Goa'ulds.” I replied proudly. "Even at the edge of the grave, we dream about world domination.”
Apophis translated uncomprehending look with me on others. He was not yet familiar with my trolling skills, so we had unforgettable hours ahead of us.
“I demand asylum!” Fugitive Goa’uld tried again to regain the attention.
“You're in no position to make demands.” General replied. “Lock him in some dark closet and put bricks in the entrance.” He gave the order.
I decided to test the mind control spell. It had certain limitations. In particular, the spell could not force a person to do anything contrary to his normal behavior. Now I've made General think that he's joking, and everyone around here understanding him.
“Sir, he's injured, and he can't do any benefit unless you help him.” Dr. Fraser intervened.
“Wonderful. Do everything to make him survive, and then pour concrete around his neck and throw him in the ocean.”
“Sir?” The doctor began to wonder who needed medical attention in the first place.
“What?” Hammond looked at her blankly.
“Distance from here to the nearest ocean are thousand kilometers in a straight line.”
“Oh. Well, then save his life, and later I'll decide how to execute him in the best way.”
“Oh ...Okay, sir.” Frasier suspiciously inspected General, and then pushed the couch with Apophis, simultaneously giving orders to the assistants. “Two CC's of adrenaline intravenously…”
“What?” Hammond asked again, looking at the dumbfounded subordinates. “Meeting at eleven.”
With these words he left, and the others began to disperse in all directions. Only couple of marines stayed and pretended they weren't interested in me.
Two hours later, I went to Apophis' room. He was lying on the bed, tied up by hand and foot. Devices for fixing broken bones were installed on his the legs.
“Doctor, how is he?” I asked Fraser, examining the unconscious body.
“He's dying.”
“Good. But the fact that he's unconscious is bad.”
I reached out and used a spell to remove toxins and poisons from his blood. Drugs also fell under this definition. A minute later, Apophis woke up, groaned and opened his eyes.
“Good afternoon, father. I have good news for you - you're dying.”
“Imhotep…” Apophis swallowed hard and looked at me. “You decided to make an alliance with the Tau'ri?”
“Not exactly. I am just a guest. A relative who has the right to stay with the patient until his death.”
“Why won't you help me? I'm your father!” The last sentence turned into a cough. The nurse rushed to the patient, giving him a couple of sips of water.
"I'm sorry, father, but I'm God. I help only those who offer me humble prayers. And your prayers are something not humble in any degree.”
“You want me to beg you to save me?”
“Yes, it's a good point to start. And then you should pray to me, worship me as a God, and acknowledge my power over you.”
“This will not happen!”
“Well, as you are know. I'm not insisting. But think about my offer. If you bow before me, Sokar will be your slave. You will own his entire Empire.”
“You lie!” Apophis shouted again. “You can't do that.”
“Ask the people of the Tauri. They saw my power. In the meantime, father, I will leave you alone with your thoughts and with your... pain.”
I stepped aside to be intercepted by Dr. Fraser.
“Imhotep, can I talk to you?”
“Of course.”
We stepped aside and went into a small office.
"Samantha told me you were able to heal her father, and he looked like a young man after that.”
“Yes, it is true”
"Then why don't you heal Apophis? He's your father.”
“The gods helps only those who sincerely pray to them. Or if it is beneficial to them. How many times have you seen divine healing miracle in your life?”
“Well… never.”
“And this is an excellent indicator of attitude of the gods to mere mortals. It is easier to perform a miracle by yourself than to wait for the help of the gods.”
“But you could have saved a lot of lives!” The naive samaritan soul did not let go.
“Why? You're already overpopulated here on Earth. How many of you, seven billion? I think it's a thousand times more than necessary. So you're lucky that I'm a God of Knowledge, not God of Justice. Or I'd give you a Ragnarok with the Apocalypse in one bottle.”
“You can…”
“I can. But I'm lazy.” I interrupted her another request. "Saving mortals is the most useless type of activities. You will die. And no matter how hard you try, people are doomed to suffering, disease and injustice. And even I, the God of knowledge, don't know how to change that. I tried in the past.”
I remembered my epic with the invention of Vritras. And after all of that, damned dumb humans fucked up my brilliant idea.
“Understood.” In the voice of the doctor, came disappointment.
I turned around and headed to the break room where I could watch TV. Fifteen minutes later the General's meeting began, but I did not go there. Frasier gave me a heart attack, so I lost all sense of humor for a while.
After a couple of hours, Daniel came in. He looked at me grimly, and then sat down on the couch next to me.
“You're the God of Knowledge.” He started talking.
“You know the answer.”
“Can you share your knowledge with us?”
“Everything in the world has a price. Have you heard of the law of equivalent exchange? To get something, you have to give something of equal value in return.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing. According to your mythology, there are good and evil gods. I'm not one of either. I don't care. I don't need your secrets, knowledge, worship, or anything else you can offer for me. If I need anything from you, I'll just offer to make an equal exchange.”
We paused, watching the TV, seeing how the Alien xenomorph eats the next idiot.
"Do you know where my wife, Sha’re is?"
“No. But I can find out the answer to that question any time if I want to.”
“But you don't want to.”
“Exactly.”
We enjoyed another bloody scene.
“I can make a prediction. For free.” I said while looking TV.
“Nice. What is the prediction?”
“Your wife will be killed by Teal'c.”
“What?” Daniel literally jumped off the couch and stared at me.
“Now you know about it.” I turned my head and looked into his eyes. “Does that knowledge make you feel better?”
“No! How will this happen?”
“But this knowledge is not for free.” I turned to the TV. “And you have nothing to pay.”
“But… I ask you…”
“Uselessly. I have atrophied sense of pity... probably a trillion murders ago.”
“What? You killed a trillion…”
“Yeah. Trillions of sentient beings died because of me. What is your Earth for me and all of you? So, another grain of sand in the endless desert.”
“Me... I'll do anything to save Sha’re.”
“Kill Teal'c.”
“What...?”
“Well, then don't kill him.”
“You want me to kill a teammate?”
“If I wanted to, you'd be running around the base with a gun shooting everyone. I suggested a way to solve your problem. But I can't guarantee it'll save your wife. Maybe then it won't be Teal'c who kills her, but Jack. Or you will never meet, and she will continue to live somewhere out there in outer space.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
“Nothing. I told you. I'm a anxiety-free God.”
"Then why did you make this prediction?"
“To make you understand the value of knowledge.”
The conversation stalled, and five minutes in silence we stared at the TV.
“Now you have nothing to pay.” I continued the conversation. “But in the future will appear such opportunity. You can take a loan, with rate. Putting your soul as pledge.”
“Sounds like a deal with the devil.” My future client chuckled darkly.
"Well, my conditions are almost divine. So it's more like a deal with an angel.”
“What do you want?”
"I want you to swear to give me all the knowledge that will be known to you in the future. Even if you promise not to tell anyone, you must tell me everything.”
“I agree.”
“Nice. Now let's make a deal. You didn't think I'd take your word for it, did you?”
In the future, Daniel would be ascended, and I wanted to get an additional source of information about this process. And the magic oath mixed with drops of Bahion assures me the receipt of their dividends. I formed the right spell, and then I cast it on Daniel, while forcing him to take the oath.
“Ready.” I concluded. “Now, actually, to the solution of your question. The next time you see your beloved, put your hands in this figure, look into her eyes and say, 'Kai!'.”
I formed a fuinjutsu seal with a paralyzing effect and then fixed it on the subject's skull. Indication of the target was to be done through the eye. The activator was the position of the hands and the phrase. I chose chakra because of the formation of such spells with magic I would have to cut the signs directly into the bones of the skull. With fuinjutsu, it was a bit easier, because I had the skill of setting the seals with 'power of sight'. I do not need any gesture of visible effect to put fuuinjutsu seal.
“Don't train on anyone. The spell is one time activatable. After you bring Sha’re to Earth, ask Jack to pray to me. I'll come and extract the snake out of her head. That's all. The charity session is over.”
Daniel understand it right. He thanked me and left the great God to his melancholy.
Meanwhile, Tok'ra arrived at the base. Finding their arrival by magic, I moved into the hall of the gate.
“Oh ...We learned that Apophis is your prisoner. You must return him immediately to the planet from which he was taken.” Martuf said as I entered the room.
“Let's go to the conference room.” General Hammond suggested.
We went up the stairs and sat around the table. I took a seat next to SG-1, the General sat at the head of the table, and Tok'ra sat across from SG-1. Martuf looked at me suspiciously, and I looked at him smugly. None of the Earthmen tried to stop me, because I gently brainwashed them with magic, forcing them to ignore my presence.
Tok'ra began to persuade Earthlings to give back Apophis to Sokar, despite the fact that Sokar can destroy the entire civilization on Earth. The General persisted in refusing to share Goa’uld before he will squeeze all possible information. It ended the altercation that Tok’ra decided to visit Apophis and check his health.
But they could not talk to the prisoner. He was in a drugged delirium, not responding to questions. According to the doctor's forecast, Apophis was near to death. The worm had been subjected to special torture, and now slowly dying.
Only Tok’ra was going to leave, as the gates were opened for the incoming portal. First, through it tried to walk a few Jaffa, but they are suicidal died on the flap. Without the ability to materialize in our space, the gate just dropped these 'objects' turning them into nothing.
After that, a projection of the image in the form of a face appeared on the flap. Sokar directed a stream of elementary particles into the gate, which appeared from our side and heated the flap, causing it to glow.
“The people of the Tauri.” A distorted voice rang out. “You took what was mine. For this you will be destroyed.”
The image dissipated, and there was only a stream of particles, glowing flap.
“How long can they attack us?” Hammond asked.
"The gate can be kept open for thirty-eight minutes. This is the limit of the tunnel's stability. Then the tunnel will collapse.” Samantha explained.
“Then he can re-type the code and continue the attack.” Daniel said.
“It changes everything. I'm calling the President.” General was worried.
“Will you help to us?” Samantha asked.
“I don't know how.” Martouf distanced himself from this honor.
“Imhotep?” She finally remembered me.
“I promised I'd just be an observer. But I can give you advice.”
“I am listening”
"Start praying to me or to other known gods. You need a miracle.” Judging by the unhappy face of Samantha, she not going to follow this advice. "You can also wait until the gate closes, dial the Sokar’s planet address and send them a thermonuclear bomb of couple of hundred megatons. If Sokar is somewhere near the gate, he could be incinerated. I don't think even hattak could stand a blast like that at his side.”
“But innocent people will die.” The captain protested.
“When did this stop the great American people from establishing democracy? Vietnam, Iraq, the Balkans. The list is long.”
"If you destroy Sokar, then all the other System Lords will unite and destroy you.” Martuf made a prediction.
“Then you must to be first. Send thermonuclear bombs to every worlds under rule of Goa’ulds.”
“No! We're not gonna do that.”
“Then pray.”
"Is there a way to protect ourselves from the flow of particles?"
“Plenty of ways. But your technology level is too primitive for that.”
“Listen, Carter, why don't you ask Apophis about it? His ass is gonna get hurt, too.” Jack suggested.
“Yes, sir.” She agreed.
“I'm with you.” I volunteered to watch a free show.
I was followed by Teal'c. We went to the infirmary, where the victim of the accident was lying on the bed. Tok'ra was not around, so Apophis did not pretend to be a seizure inadequate. Time had not spared the prisoner, and in the past half hour he had aged thirty years. The body is used to recover in sarcophagus and now he is rapidly decaying, devoid of barely alive worms support.
“I'm not going to talk with traitor.” Apophis expressed his 'Fi', overlooking to Teal’c.
“Sokar attacking the gate with a stream of elementary particles through the Stargate.” Samantha started to explain. “How we can protect ourselves from it?”
“There's no protection.” Apophis replied.
“He's lying!” Teal'c said.
“Shut your mouth.” A short counter argument was given.
“What makes you so sure?” Samantha didn't let up.
“He used that weapon against me too.”
Goa’uld grimaced and huddled in convulsions.
“There's nothing he can do for you. Your only chance is to pray to me.” Again I got with my offer. "Just try it, and you'll be surprised how much faith in me can help."
"You mean you'll help us only if we beg you to help?"
“Yeah. That's how the gods work. I have already explained to you the essence of this system. What prevents you from conducting a scientific experiment to verify this?”
I didn't get an answer because the chief scientist wasn't crazy enough to believe what I was saying. Nothing to worry, I still have enough time.