"Janet? Oh my goodness!"
The plague was having its effects, and the indirect ones were more disastrous for the society around them.
In areas like this, where the male gender had dominated in sheer numbers - the only section fully staffed and working was the cafeteria.
Turning white in the face, every available muscle straining, Janet Frasier tried to shift the huge weight back into place. "Orderlies! I need a hand here!"
With great effort, Janet Frasier and Samantha Carter were able to get Teal'c back onto the bed.
"Every time any of them get up, they hit the bathroom - then the shower - then the cafeteria - then stagger back to bed," said Janet, shaking from the effort she'd just undertaken.
"I don't understand, he should be heavy but not that heavy," complained a huffing and puffing Sam Carter.
"Come here," said Janet, staggering towards a bench. "Oh, I think I hurt something just then."
Seeing her friend gesture towards a microscope, then try to straighten herself up, Samantha just had one question. "Are you going to be all right?"
"When this is all over, I'm going to need a chiropractor and a week's leave," said the physician.
Nodding, Samantha agreed with the sentiment as she turned her attention to the display on the microscope. "Some kind of ?!"
"A combination of circuitry and organic tissue, obtained by blood sample from Teal'c," said the physician. "He's been in maintenance eating pieces of metal. I found out after I discovered he's digesting them and his body is processing them as replacement materials."
"How can that be? Nanites?" asked Samantha. "Is that what the virus is, some form of nanotechnology?"
"It broke out in the Orient and came here, if it was the other way around I'd say it was something coming through the Stargate," admitted Janet. "Though Teal'c is the only one showing this metallorganic blending. His body is changing and I have no idea how to stop or reverse these. I'm finding no nanites in any of the others."
It didn't come through the Stargate. Of that I'm certain.
"General Hammond?" asked Janet, looking around.
"I didn't hear that with my ears, did I?" asked Samantha, sitting abruptly down.
Telepathy. Apparently I'm of the type marked Esper. My body is still asleep. This is... quite curious.
"Esper? As in ESP?" asked Janet, rubbing her forehead. "How is this possible?"
It involves quantum mechanics and reflections of things that could be. How interesting. I have to disconnect now though. There is a danger in maintaining contact.
"Danger?" asked Janet.
Two dangers. One, telepaths have trouble keeping secrets amongst themselves. Second is this connection to all other actively connecting telepaths. If we kept it up too long - individuality would break down. Otherwise it's like being a... server in a network of servers. Thank you for that analogy, Captain Carter.
The presence faded.
"Can you explain that?" Janet asked.
"Hang on a moment, I'm still reeling from the implications," admitted Samantha.
SPLUT SHOOM! BANG! KWEEE!
"Did Teal'c just lose his symbiote?" asked Janet, her head hanging down.
"Not only lost it, it was ejected from his chest so hard it bounced off the ceiling," said Samantha.
"Come on, let's try to rig some life support for it," said Janet, dragging herself off the momentary rest she'd found.
Looking over the impotently furious Goa'uld larvae in its tube, Teal'c raised an eyebrow and smiled ever so slightly. Somehow conveying a contentment beyond smugness in that slight expression.
"...so we ran a small electrical field through the water and the life signs stabilized. Your system has mutated so severely that the lack of an immune system is no longer a concern," continued the doctor.
"So what have you learned of these 'mutations'?" asked Teal'c, apparently with as little concern as if they were discussing whether marigolds would bloom on the mountain.
"Your particular shift is towards what some call 'Cyborg' but it's actually a metallorganic blending of your original form and nanite technology," began Samantha Carter. "We still don't know all the capabilities of it."
"Interesting, I have accessed an internal diagnostic," said Teal'c. "It appears that my physical strength and durability have increased by a significant margin."
The doctor and the scientist both looked at each other. "You're taking this awfully well," said Samantha after a few moments.
"Until this infection somehow overwhelmed the larva, I was the host of a parasitic creature of a most malicious nature," pointed out Teal'c.
"There are at least a dozen different Types running around after infection," said Janet. "Yours is one of the rarest and it appears that your dependence on your symbiote caused the change to manifest even more than in other Cyborgs."
"General Hammond is a Three Eyes, or Psychic," said Samantha. "Every male infected manifests in one of those Types - and we still don't understand the why or how."
Teal'c nodded to show he understood. "What of the others of SG-1?"
Again Janet and Sam exchanged a glance without speaking.
"Well," began Sam, "there's Jack. It looks like he's a:"
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(Posted Sun, 22 May 2005 20:19)
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