Compartment/hangar of Puddle Jumpers/jumpers/puddle-jumpers in Atlantis.
Made in the traditional angular style of the creators of Atlantis the hangar housed a good dozen vehicles capable of traveling through the gate. "Puddle Jumpers," as the expedition dubbed them. The self-name of the Ancients is unknown to me.
Puddle Jumper.
Each of such ships the size of a KamAZ, and in terms of comfort even nothing to compare. A spaceship capable of flights through the gate, in space, performing the role of a submarine, and also armed with self-guided projectiles — drones. A good thing.
And I set myself the goal to inspect each of them to clarify one moment for myself...
After thirty minutes of inspecting the aft compartments of each of the transports available in the hangar, I came to a disappointing conclusion.
I'm in that time when the Earth expedition that arrived on the planet drowned. The city didn't rise.
And direct proof of that — this massive installation in the aft compartment of one of the Puddle Jumpers. The internal space of the jumper is divided into a cockpit and a cargo-passenger compartment.
Eh, how I hoped not to see what I saw...
The thing is that in the series events the system that raised the city to the surface when the shield failed worked only because of the time travel. And provided it was exactly that thing resembling an oval piano that I discovered in one of the ships.
According to the series plot, after the time jump, the surviving expedition leader moved ten thousand years into the past, to the time when the city was still inhabited by the indigenous population. Who really didn't like jokes with the space-time continuum. They dismantled the time machine.
But this prompted one of the Ancients named Janus to help his distant descendants. He programmed the city to rise.
And since the machine is here, there was no time jump. And knowledge of how to raise Atlantis from the very bottom... Well, understanding this process took the series heroes five seasons. Or four... Or three...
Doesn't matter — I don't have that much time.
But there is a time machine, which I also don't know how to operate. And something I don't dream of becoming a discoverer. The butterfly effect is not canceled. The fact that the series heroes managed to jump in time completely by accident — and as always successfully — didn't inspire me for experiments either.
It seems my white streak ended along with discovering personal belongings.
Several minutes I sat on the floor in the hangar, comprehending everything seen. The situation frankly didn't please me. Not at all.
"To hell," I squeezed out of myself, rising to my feet. "I need answers."
And I knew from whom I could get them.
*
The room I needed I discovered another hour of searching. The expedition managed this almost instantly. Though, there were several hundred curious comrades.
I crossed the threshold, gazing with bated lust at the rounded room, the walls of which, like most of the city's internal furnishings, were made of material of different shades of brown, with inclusions of veins of blue and green.
A small pedestal in the center of the room, and on it — a tiny, compared to those seen in the control room, control panel. Transparent glass, over which — numerous switches waiting for the user.
The trapezoidal keyboard lit up with a pleasant bluish backlight tint, and in front of me arose, as if woven from light, a hologram of a young woman in white robes...
"Greetings," she rewarded me with a meaningless smile. "Allow me to tell you our story..."
Frame from the pilot episode of the series. The action takes place just in the holographic hall.
"Stop!" I ordered.
"... we came to this galaxy..."
"Pause!"
"... many millions of years ago..."
"Stop the hologram!" I barked. Though, it didn't work. Annoyed, I stepped away from the console and the hologram dissolved in an instant.
Oh, these conventions. Pisses me off when instead of answering direct questions, the Ancients invent a whole pleiad of riddles, rebuses, puzzles, and scatter them across dozens of planets.
But unfortunately, I can't do anything about it.
To my great regret, I depend very much on whether I get answers here and now. Or I'll be left with a nose.
It seems the recording must be listened to obligatorily. Regardless of who I am and by what supernatural way I got here.
The light-radiating image of the Ancient continued her unusually short story about how the Ancients flew to Pegasus, populated it with life and proceeded to their usual business.
"... in the hope of sowing life in the previously lifeless galaxy," the hologram spoke familiar speeches. Looking at her emotionless face, I thought: isn't it strange that she and I speak in English (Russian ┐(シ)┌?) Though... On the other hand, in the series everyone — from Ancients to the ugliest creatures — understood American English. And nothing, the brain boiled, but accepted the information. And how is our great and mighty worse? "Soon the new life strengthened and flourished..."
Ugu. We know these good guys.
The hologram spoke for several seconds about how the Ancients observed the development of civilizations, guiding them on the true path. And I for the umpteenth time wondered: why the hell did civilizations of genius scientists who already millions of years ago knew how to step over the boundary of mortality, turning into pure energy, need to do all this over and over? New galaxy, appearance of human life in it, help and support... I believe in altruism, but... The Ancients at that time had a bit more problems than you can carry with you. They just survived the plague. And again...
"... so that young civilizations exchanged knowledge. Life appeared on thousands of worlds. But one day we found a dark world where terrible creatures waited in hibernation..."
Under the ceiling of the holographic hall the interactive map of the Pegasus galaxy was already in full swing. I saw it in the series more than once, but live... Beauty!
And again frames from the series.
"We had not encountered such creatures before," the hologram continued the historical excursion. It really itched to ask her — and these "terrible creatures" weren't created by you by chance? After all, you claim that you gave rise to all living in Pegasus? Or not all, and the "terrible creatures" were here before you? If so, then maybe not only them? But I was silent, understanding that the recording won't answer my questions. But someone else...
"We were overly self-confident and not ready for battle. They overwhelmed us with numbers. The enemies devoured people populating thousands of worlds," the colorful specks of light under the ceiling showing planets throughout the galaxy began to turn red. "Only Atlantis survived. The city's protective field withstood their blows. But we were under siege here for many years. And trying to save the last representatives of our race, we submerged the city in the ocean. The Stargate of Atlantis remained the only way to Earth from this galaxy..."
Such was the voyage of the Ancients.
They appeared in a distant galaxy, but there they didn't get along in character with another part of their people. Therefore they set off to wander the universe. First they found the Milky Way galaxy, which they also populated with life and lived there for some time. After which a plague broke out among their people, from which the survivors and not sick fled on Atlantis to Pegasus. And started all over again, but met "terrible creatures."
It was naive to think that the hologram would tell about the terrifying experiments that the Ancients conducted. And about what they led to.
Though... They were dreamers and scientists. If I were in their place, with their philosophy stating that everyone is free to do what they want and bear responsibility for it, would I act differently?
A-ha-ha... Polonium in my food! I'm in their place now!
"... with their help the survivors returned to the world that was once our home. There the last Atlanteans spent the rest of their days. This city fell asleep..."
At this the hologram honored me with a short nod of the head and froze. It seems she was waiting for some instructions from me.
Well, time to get answers. At least try to do it. Circumstances indicate that I won't get answers just because I'm such a good isekai.
Having thrown off the backpack from myself, I addressed the hologram again.
"Who is your image based on?"
"The prototype of this hologram is Melia, member of the High Council of Atlantis," the figure of light particles came to life. Wow. It turns out there are other "named" characters in the universe besides "plot" ones. Well, or I was so attentive when watching series and movies on "Stargate." "Do you want to know something else?"
"Some water," I threw, pondering the next step. I hoped to see a completely different woman here. Well, let's start the "game." And, by the way, it's worth forgetting that operating this hall devours energy, which is already lacking. "I want to change the holographic avatar. Is it possible to do?"
"As you wish," Melia nodded barely noticeably. "You can specify a specific name, and the tutorial hologram will be updated."
"Now that's what I call a user-friendly interface," crunching my numb neck, I said:
"Let your hologram be replaced by Morgana."
"I'm sorry," the hologram replied in the same indifferently polite voice. "But no one with a similar name is found in the database."
What do you mean not found⁈
"Fairy Morgana! Morgana le Fay!" I tried.
"I'm sorry..."
Your lowered gear... Exactly, that's not her real name. Under that she entered the history of earthlings and a number of other planets when performing her "especially necessary task" in the Milky Way.
But what was her name...
"Lalos Gal!"
"I'm sorry..."
"Pagos Tal!"
"I'm sorry..."
Come on! I remember it's something like that. But... Exactly... Something related to persecution of lol... Exactly!
"Ganos Lal!"
"Query received," the light figure smiled. "Proceeding to replace the hologram."
The projection melted like the galaxy map above my head, but in the next second an analogous one appeared in front of me. Only the expression on her face was more... aged, sort of.
Right in front of me appeared the figure of a sweet woman of middle years in snow-white robes. Woven from light, the hologram dutifully smiled at me, simultaneously looking straight into my eyes and as if through me. Not a very pleasant sensation, especially when you know what you're dealing with.
Ganos Lal. She is Morgan le Fay. She is — Fairy Morgan.
The holographic hall where I came hid many secrets. And now, in front of me, possibly the most important of them opened.
"Hello!" The hologram of Ganos Lal like an echo of the past broke the silence of the room. "You can enter your query orally or in writing."
"Orally, if possible," I slipped a barb. Well, let it be your way — the performance continues.
"Of course," nod of the head. "Written query requires more system operations."
So that's how it is? Well, let's see who outplays whom.
"Tell me," licking my dry lips I asked. "What is the appearance in Atlantis of a person from the universe where everything that happens in this city is just events of a series?"
Short blinking of eyes, gaze into the void.
Well, let's get to the point.
"Is this too complex a question for a tutorial hologram?" I asked, taking a small step to the side. A tiny one, just shifting from foot to foot, nothing like that.
"Conducting such a study requires prolonged time and energy expenditure," the hologram said impassively. "Calculations are being performed..."
"Interrupt operation," I ordered, running my hand over my face. The tension didn't go away. Nerves continued to play up, and this resulted in tapping some rhythm with my feet.
"Are there any other people in the city?" I asked, turning slightly to the side.
"Full-scale scanning of the city for life signs requires additional resources and energy," I received the answer.
"What needs to be done to raise the city to the surface?" I inquired, again shifting slightly to the side. Quite a bit. Even unnoticeable from the side.
"A complex of measures to launch sublight engines is required," the hologram reported. "I'm sorry, but my functionality is limited. Contact the city control center."
"I've been there already. Just emptiness, and dead with scythes stand," I smirked, looking at the extinguished light of the backlight on the holographic room control console. Shifting my gaze to the figure of pure light, I quietly laughed.
Ganos Lal continued to drill the wall, looking past me.
"Have you already realized that you're caught, or not?" I asked.
"Enter your query orally or in writing," she recited.
"Orally," I pronounced. "Compare the energy expenditure used by this room over the last five minutes with data on the same expenditure over the last ten seconds. Approximately that much has passed since I stepped away from the control panel, and the system shut down. And last time the Melia hologram disappeared at that very moment..."
The light figure twitched barely noticeably. It seemed to me, or did she blink?
"You're caught, Morgana," I said. The hologram's head turned slightly towards me. "I know perfectly well that you're not a tutorial program. But just fooling other Ascended in such a simple and daring way. So, shall we talk or continue playing innocence?"
***
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