"Oh lord, if I'm abducted -
Don't let it be the Grays.
Them funny looking guys,
with the big black eyes,
From a galaxy far far away."
The little beings blinked at the gadget playing music on the table.
"It appears," said one of them, "that our visits to Earth have not been without consequence."
"There's an understatement," said another.
"You'll have to forgive Munin, he's not quite all there," said one of the Asgard, tapping a forehead.
"First off," said Munin, "if we can get past the quaint colloquial expressions - do you know what it is this plague of yours has done?"
"Well, no," said Janet, looking at Sam. "Why aren't you discussing this with the guys present?"
"We already have, but it was decided to bring you two into the loop as you are more stable at the moment," said Munin.
"They're unstable?" asked Janet.
"There is a widespread belief among them that they are experiencing a brief burst of enhanced life that will burn itself out and leave them babbling idiots," said Munin. "They are all therefore consumed with doing everything that they can to leave a better legacy and writing out instructions for when they are incapacitated."
"Ah, yes, I noticed that," said Janet, tapping a pencil nervously.
"I had no idea," said Sam, who hadn't figured out that angle until Janet had brought it up earlier.
Munin blinked a few times. "In any case, what do you know about your Metamorphic Plague?"
"It started in Japan, spread rapidly, airborne, almost 100% on the infection rate," began Janet, ticking things off. "Both genders contract it, only one gender manifests symptoms beyond sniffles. Males have transformation to a completely different sort of 'enhanced being' which is uniformly healthy but variable in other enhancements."
"It's very curious," said Munin. "The overall effect is that it echoes along quantum lines. This is far advanced over any science we have observed yourself or the Goa'uld have managed, and is of a significantly different direction from that of our own science."
"'Quantum Echoes'?" asked Samantha Carter.
"Parallel universes have parallel versions of yourselves," said Munin. "In my research I've discovered another universe-branch where the disease altered females and you yourself are somewhat more feline than you are currently."
Samantha shuddered as she considered all sorts of possibilities with that concept.
The other gray cleared his throat. "Be that as it may, that is another quantum branch. We try not to get involved with those as one universe is quite enough to deal with."
"Sensible," agreed Janet. "So what are these 'quantum echoes' there's a universe where Teal'c is a cyborg?"
"Yes, and there are universes where the human species was subjected to experiment by Goa'uld in the attempt to breed a superior host," said Munin. "So there are 'furry' universes and 'elf' universes and 'psychic' universes. We have attempted to contact the furlings - who were more inclined to follow this sort of technological branch - but we have not heard from them in over four hundred of your years."
"Not that we communicated all that much," added Hugin.
"So you're saying you have no idea who did this or why," summed up Janet.
"True. We have a fairly good idea 'how' but our research in this area is limited." Munin made a gesture with one long-fingered hand. "Our war with the replicators is taking a great deal of our time and resources, as fascinating as this superstring vibrational echo effect is. We're very interested in acquiring samples of this virus as it may have some impact on another problem we're facing at present."
"Ah," said Samantha. "So you can help yourselves while you help us."
"Yes," said Hugin. "A mutually beneficial scenario, is it not?"
"Aren't you two supposed to be ravens?" asked Janet.
"In the past we used holographic projections of ravens in order to communicate," agreed Munin. "However, your current level of sophistication makes such deceptions unnecessary."
"You're a cat in another world?" asked Janet of Sam.
Sam winced again, thinking of some of the dog boys and picturing herself with ears and tail. In other words, mainly getting it right.
"So what's your opinion of the 'Flowers For Algernon' scenario?" asked Janet, smoothly turning businesslike. "Is it going to happen?"
Munin considered all the repercussions a simple answer could make.
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(Posted Mon, 19 Sep 2005 08:15)
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