How is it written: "consciousness returned with a jolt"?
I never understood that expression. Until now.
But at this moment, it was as if a switch was flipped in my head. My brain seemed to turn on, realizing the last thing that had registered in my consciousness.
The ZPM room, filled with water, me, frozen and suffocating without a breath of air. For some reason, I jerked forward.
Opening my eyes already on the move.
The first thing I saw, and then felt, was a massive brown rectangle that emitted a greenish light onto my body. And that it was harder than my forehead.
"For God's sake!" I yelled, falling back... onto the cot.
Feeling that, against my will, I could breathe without any effort, drawing in incredibly beautiful, completely tasteless air. I could fill my chest with it, hold it, exhale...
And not fear that my head and body would be crushed by the pressure of several atmospheres, or even more.
Above my head, continuing its insidious work, a rod with the same rectangle with a green light stopped. Shining it on my head, it slowly floated towards my feet, illuminating my body with a pattern of numerous small cells of green color.
"It's a medical scanner!" I muttered, realizing what was happening.
Atlantis has many technological wonders that any professional would appreciate.
There was also a medical bay here, equipped with the latest technology. But in the series, only a medical scanner was shown. From the equipment of the Ancients, of course.
I don't remember exactly what this thing is actually useful for, but for the expedition members, it easily found internal injuries, parasites, nanites in the blood, tumors, and so on. Something between an MRI and a CT scan in one package. I wouldn't be surprised if, over time, I found out that the device could scan me at the molecular level.
All this is great, all this is wonderful, no doubt.
The only question is, how did I get here?!
The medical bay is somewhere in the central Spire, I remember that. But during my stay in Atlantis, I visited it at best once, realized that I didn't understand anything about what was happening here. And I conveniently forgot the way back.
[Image: Medical scanner of Atlantis. A frame from the series.]
And even more so, I couldn't have come here on my own. Not in an unconscious state, after all! I would have at least soaked everything around me with liters of ocean water...
Speaking of which!
Realizing that I was on a "hospital bed" in just my underwear, not very similar to the ones I was wearing during my unplanned swim, I decided it was time to be decent.
It's clear that I didn't save myself, I didn't drag myself here. There's someone in the city. I don't think it's an enemy, because there would be guards here at least. At most, I wouldn't have been saved – if these unknown people can operate the Atlantis medical scanner, then they have the Ancient Gene. And, if so, then...
Goosebumps ran down my spine.
Have the Ancients returned?
Curious. The creators of the gates, supposedly the most advanced human race in several galaxies, have returned home, and I'm here strutting around in my underpants with bare heels. Not proper.
Looking around, I couldn't find anything to wear. I also didn't find my weapon. Everything is sterile, like in a hospital!
In fact, I'm in the local hospital. During an examination of the medical bay's back alleys, I discovered a separate hall with an isolation ward, operating rooms, and hospital beds for the recovering. Or vice versa, for the sick... Not a trace of human technology – purely alien design.
The fleeting thought that the expedition had arrived also faded – there would have been at least one or two people here. Again, guards.
And here there's not a soul.
In short – enough thinking, time to act.
I need to find out who is in charge of the city and why they didn't come to my aid while I was swimming in the icy water. But first, I need to find something like a weapon.
For example, that narrow decorative panel would be perfect instead of a stabbing weapon.
"I have only one question," a voice came from behind me. "What in the name of all scientific knowledge are you doing?!"
The panel came off the floor with ease. Gripping it in my hand, I turned around, demonstrating my ability to hide objects behind my back with just sleight of hand.
"You won't believe it," I exhaled with relief, seeing who was in front of me. "My contact lens rolled away."
The young woman with a Latina appearance couldn't suppress a ridiculous expression.
"You lie as disgustingly as you plan your schemes," she said. "For your information, the medical scanner did not reveal any health abnormalities in you. However, I am no longer sure of its accuracy."
"And why is that?"
"Your brain is probably injured if you say such things," she said without a hint of a smile, crossing her arms over her modestly displayed chest. "You can put the panel back and close the energy channel from foreign objects. I am not your enemy. I hope you are not mine either."
"It depends on your intentions for coming to my city," I said, returning the offending panel to its place.
"Your city?" she raised a thin chestnut eyebrow.
"You can check the central computer – it's recorded there," I nodded. "Melia promised."
"Oh," the dusky-skinned woman shook her head. "Indeed. If Melia promised. However, I have no desire to argue or bicker. I am only here because I wanted to help. My name is..."
"Chaya Sar, also known as Atar," I finished her thought. "Don't bother, I know all about you."
A clearly discernible shadow crossed the woman's impassive face. Her body tensed so much that I felt uncomfortable looking at her in just my underwear. I noticed how her tiny hands clenched into fists, and her knuckles turned white from tension.
Wait a minute... Can Ascended do that?
[Image: Chaya Sar.]
"And what do you know about me?" she asked with steel in her voice.
"You are an Ancient, one of the Ascended," I recalled. "At some point, you, living among the local peasants, decided to protect them from the Wraiths and intervened. For which you were sentenced to exile on this planet."
I didn't miss the fact that the Ancient exhaled with relief.
"It seems your memory is also good, Mikhail," she said, giving me a disbelieving look.
"So, we know each other by reputation, but I don't remember meeting in person," I shook my head.
"If you hadn't drowned, you would have met where you choked," the mulatto woman smiled slightly. "But you preferred to avoid that and swallow water."
"I suppose my rescue is your doing?"
"Yes, but..."
"Thank you," I interrupted her. "If it weren't for you, my end would have been terrible. I hope the other Ascended took this intervention with understanding?"
"Absolutely," she smiled sadly, looking away. "They simply erased most of my memories associated with the time when I was part of them, deprived me of all higher powers, memories, and knowledge of the Ascended. I think if I decide to get all this back, they will stop me. This time, forever."
"Excuse me, what?" I was taken aback. "You were Ascended... You were... what's the word... cast down?"
"I am mortal again," the Ancient took pity on my attempts to find the right words.
"Punishment for violating the rule of non-interference," I nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry..."
"I don't need your pity," she shrugged her bare shoulder. "It was my decision – to intervene and save you. Otherwise, you would have drowned, and Atlantis would have remained at the bottom of the ocean. At least that would have satisfied the Ascended community in Pegasus."
"Is this a joke?" I clarified. "They themselves asked me to help them... save the city."
I added the last part a little quieter.
Well, of course. What schemers!
They needed me to save the city! The city, not to save myself with it! It seems these guys decided to fix Hippaphoralkus's actions at my expense. To eliminate the violation of the rules without breaking them themselves.
Clever. I'll remember this trick. And I'll find a way to get revenge – but first, I'll check if it's really like that.
"If possible, I would not like to discuss the actions of other Ascended," Chaya asked.
"No problem," I spread my hands. "But we need to talk."
"I think so too," the Ancient nodded. "But I have a request for you, Mikhail."
"I'll do whatever I can," I assured her.
"In that case, be so kind as to get dressed," casting a sideways, but clearly not angry glance at me, the Ancient, returned to mortal life, spun on the low heels of her turquoise (matching her dress) shoes, and left the medical bay. "Clothes are in the patient's personal belongings locker."
The explanation came from somewhere in the corridor.
"Great!" I shouted after her. "Don't worry, I'll find it myself! Wherever this thing might be..."
I managed to find my savior, who was also the only Ancient I knew who didn't suffer from a deficit of biological components, only after half an hour.
She was sitting in the conference room on the left side of the gate hall.
The girl was sitting at a table, manipulating something on a snow-white, like the tabletop lighting, Ancient laptop. I had only seen one like it a couple of times in the series.
[Image: Frame from the series. The lady is holding that very laptop.]
"Sometimes I'm surprised by the logic of the Ancients," I said, entering the room and taking a seat on the other side of the horseshoe-shaped table. So that we could converse, looking each other in the eye.
"Only sometimes?" she looked up from her task and looked at me with a gaze full of restrained skepticism.
[Image: Chaya Sar and her skepticism.]
"Exactly," I nodded. "Take this computer, for example. Why, instead of one large screen to decipher everything written there, to have a better view and more details, do you have two tiny ones?"
"It's more convenient," she shrugged. "It's not difficult for us to discern even the smallest details at such a resolution. But at the same time, there's an opportunity to work with two parallel tasks."
"Someone needs to tell you about two desktops," I smiled. "So... Our introduction didn't go very well."
"That's for sure," the girl said calmly. She seemed quite young to me now – no older than twenty-five. That very age when a mature woman's features begin to show. "However, I'm already glad that you have tact and came to the meeting dressed."
"It sounds like you want to reproach me, but we're not married yet, so you have to hold back your claws," I continued to smile innocently and play on her nerves.
No, I'm incredibly glad that she saved my skin. But that doesn't negate the fact that in the events I knew, Chaya Sar didn't even think about becoming human to help the expedition members. And for me, she made such an exception.
From what I knew about this lady's past, there wasn't much to boast about in terms of details.
The expedition encountered her on one of the underdeveloped planets, where they came under attack from Wraiths. The latter were destroyed by energy weapons, which led the group of Earthlings to investigate further. Chaya posed as a servant of a certain goddess, Atar, whom the local inhabitants worshipped. Later, it turned out that she was from that planet. Once, being Ascended, she stood up for her countrymen, preventing the Wraiths from collecting them for food. In fact – a violation of the rules. For this, she was sentenced to be a protector of her people. But only theirs.
In the series, I concluded that she was a compassionate woman, who took others' grief to heart. And the Ancients made it so that she could do nothing when other people, millions across the galaxy, were dying. In the end, she told about herself, her origin, and her punishment. But by the will of the Ascended, she could not help the Earthlings.
However, now she decided to go against it. All this is strange.
"A good joke," she didn't even try to smile. "I'll remember it."
"Since I've shared something precious, I'd like to hear in return the circumstances under which one Ascended, who has already been punished for interference, decided to step on the same rake."
"You mean you want to know why I saved you," Chaya simplified.
"Exactly. For that, there's no need to become human."
"It's simple," she said. "I wasn't going to. My help was supposed to be to start the water pumping process before your brain experienced biological death. You obtained the battery, you restored the city's shield. You could have acted independently after that. Unfortunately, my intervention was detected."
"Considering how much I'm disliked because I'm here and who I am, it's unlikely you would have just been reprimanded for something like that."
"I thought so too when I realized there was no way out," the girl said. "So I took mortal form."
"If you can't win, flip the table," I stated. "But they might not have stopped. After all, they have no bosses, and their neighbors won't watch."
"The Ascended do not know for sure whether the Ancients in the Milky Way are destroyed," Sar said. "And therefore, breaking the rules is unacceptable for them."
"Because if other Ascended are alive, they'll give them a good scolding," I figured out.
"Most likely," Chaya said distractedly, looking away.
"You know, something is not clear to me," I admitted. "You said that the Ascended erased your knowledge of the time when you were one of them. But you speak so confidently about what they did, what they didn't do... I smell deception, my young Padawan."
Sar, predictably, did not appreciate the parody of a green Cheburashka.
She simply turned her computer screens towards me.
"I admit, I have hawk eyes, but the letters are too small," I said.
"And you also don't know the Lantian language well enough to understand what's written," a slight smile appeared on her face.
"Exactly," I had to admit defeat.
"It seems that when I was Ascended, I anticipated such an outcome of events, so I left myself some notes," she said, pointing to the upper monitor of the laptop. "It states that you are from another universe and know a lot about our technologies. But you have information about the possible future. This is... extremely unusual, as breaking the boundaries of reality and working in alternative realities is very dangerous and was forbidden by the Lantian Council. And before them, according to the chronicles, by other governing bodies of the Alterans, who preceded the Council."
In other words, what Hippaphoralkus did is "haram" almost since the very appearance of the Alterans in the Milky Way millions of years ago. It's scary to imagine what they messed up in the past, given how carefully they adhered to such prohibitions from generation to generation.
"As I was told, time travel is also forbidden. They say it's one of the terrible crimes on the part of the Ascended."
"I'm not ready to say this with certainty, but in my time, such prohibitions were punished by exile or imprisonment in stasis prisons," Chaya said, looking sad. "In the best case, such a thing threatened public censure. And that's a heavy burden, because then the whole society turns away from you."
"They get offended and don't talk?"
"No. Usually, no one crossed the line of simple, insignificant communication. However, as soon as help or advice was needed, everyone always had urgent matters. It was difficult to do anything alone in the society of the Ancients. Resources were needed, which an individual member of society could not have. Only together could we achieve significant success."
Something reminds me of this... Something not too utopian, but at the same time progressive, strong, and left its indelible glorious (and not so) mark on history.
"How about we switch to 'you'?" I interrupted her.
"Excuse me?" she looked at me with misunderstanding.
"Don't tell me you didn't understand. Otherwise, I'll be seriously disappointed in the genius of the Ancients."
"I understood perfectly, Mikhail," she said. "But I can't imagine how, given our age difference, such casual communication is even possible."
"It's possible, considering there are only two of us in a city that you can't even walk around in a lifetime!" I exclaimed. "It seems we're in the same boat, so we should stick together. They," I pointed a finger at the ceiling, "don't like either of us. So..."
"I don't recall having problems with shuttles," she replied calmly.
Is this a joke, or did the Ancient really not understand?
"I'm talking about the Ascended."
"I know," she smiled, showing that she had just outsmarted the joker. I don't remember her behaving like this when she was an Ascended in the series. It seems that Chaya the Ascended and Chaya the human are worlds apart.
"So," I looked her in the eyes. "Are we working together?"
"That would be the most optimal option," she agreed.
"Excellent. And now... Tell me, you didn't raise the city to the surface, did you?"
"That would deprive Atlantis of its advantage," Chaya said. "It takes much less energy to contain water than to repel an attack on the surface. Water dampens the energy charges of the Wraiths' weapons. So, the best option for us is to stay underwater. As long as possible."
"We're already thinking alike," I laughed.
Sar looked at me with curiosity. And her face clearly showed a question...
"That expression," I explained. "Of course, I am an Ancient, by age... " Now it was my turn to give her a pleading look for an answer. But Chaya didn't even think to clarify. "I wanted to say that I can't think the same way as a more developed version of a human."
"That's a fact," she said. "The brain of my species is more developed than yours. But a million years of evolution, experiments, and improvements can put us on the same level."
"Or we'll create another variant of Wraiths," I suggested.
"I wouldn't want to do that," Chaya said.
"Then, I propose we do what we do best," I stood up, clapping my hands.
"Talk?" she clarified.
Is that why, when I hear something like this from her, it feels like she's teasing me with her apparent directness?
"I meant that we need to understand our situation and how much the city has been damaged," the explanation was met with an affirmative nod from her. "And then, try to find allies. Perhaps some of the Ancients will agree to join us and..."
"That's unlikely," the girl said, pointing to her Lantian laptop. "At least, that's what it says here."
"And what else does it say?" I became interested. "Coordinates of places with ZPMs? Location of warships? Shipyards? Drone arsenals? Secrets of reviving Ancients who have aged in stasis? I assume you, as a representative of a more developed human species, have thought ahead about what we should do, haven't you?"
"Probably," Sar lowered her gaze, then gestured for me to come closer. "Actually, there isn't much written here. I was probably afraid that the Ascended, if they saw very obvious clues, would destroy the device. Or stop us when we read it."
Something about this doesn't sit right with me.
Stepping behind the girl, I looked at the monitors over her shoulder.
"If you don't mind, then..."
"Yes, of course," she hurried, pointing to a series of sentences written one above the other. The first one was the longest. "This is a series of theses that are meaningless without context."
"I suppose this is," I pointed to the first sentence, "what you told yourself about me."
"I gave you a literal translation," the girl said. "Should I repeat it?"
"Oh, no need," I waved my hand. "We primitive humans don't remember what's said for long anyway."
"That's partly why many Lantians didn't want to build personal relationships with representatives of less developed civilizations," Chaya said. "It's very difficult to remember faces and names when you're new every century."
"Not offensive at all," I squeezed out a smile, swallowing the lump in my throat. "So, what does it say here?"
"The entries are not connected," she said. "Or rather, I don't see a connection. I think they are addressed to me, since the first one spoke of you..."
I chuckled.
"Did I say something funny?"
"Usually, they write down the most important things first," I explained. "And since you wrote about me... Does that mean I'm important to you?"
"This text editor records lines in order," Chaya said. "Each new entry goes below the previous one. But even though I listed you last, it means you are important after all."
So, she wrote about me last.
"So, what else is indicated here?" I changed the subject.
"Something personal," Chaya said quickly, deleting a few lines of text. Too quickly for me to remember the symbols. "And, if you'll permit me, I'll keep it to myself."
Curiosity isn't a vice, of course, but... I think everyone has a right to their secrets.
"And the rest?"
"It sounds strange, but it says: 'Everything has already happened,' 'The Leap,' and... Something that makes me particularly worried."
She pointed to the last line of what was written.
"And what does it say?" I asked.
What could worry an Ancient who had been an Ascended for at least ten thousand years?
" 'The Others lie,' " she said in a whisper, as if we could be overheard. Though, the Ascended certainly could, if they were nearby. "I don't understand what it means..."
"But I do," Chaya looked at me. "In my universe, 'The Others' were called the Ascended."