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switch842Title: The Prometheus Project
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
switch842
Movie Adapted: The Matrix
Genre: Mostly Gen, very minor slash (no sex)
Characters/Pairings: Pretty much every character on SG-1, slashy stuff is Daniel/Paul
Rating: R
Word Count: 7,063
Warnings: Violence
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended; fair use only. Not created for profit.
A/N: This story is actually set pre-Matrix. If you've seen The Animatrix series, this is based off The Second Renaissance Part I and Part II. You can download a copy of the transcript here. It's just a 3 page Adobe file, but it might help explain some things if you aren't familiar with that part of the story. There is one line of dialogue lovingly borrowed from that cos it was just so perfect and was the inspiration for the whole thing. HUGE thanks toerin_anderson and nikki_dichotomy for the beta. You girls kicked my butt and made the story much better than it originally was. Now, on with the show!
THE PROMETHEUS PROJECT
March 3, 2057
“You can’t be serious!” Jack cried. “This is the most ridiculous plan I have ever heard. Do you really think blacking out the sky will stop them?”
“It’s the only option we have right now, Colonel,” General Vidrine said. “These orders have come straight from Washington and President Hayes. We need you on board with this. You’re the best pilot we’ve got and we’re going to need the best to pull this off.”
Jack just shook his head as he left the General’s office. He couldn’t believe that this was the best they could come up with. Operation Dark Storm was going to completely backfire. He could tell them that much right now. But would anyone listen? Of course not. The Air Force never listened to reason or suggestions of peaceful compromise. They just wanted to know how big of a bomb they needed to blow up whoever they were warring against.
Idiots.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel Jackson stepped into the alley behind the now-abandoned Oriental Theater in Chicago. What had once been a beautiful, thriving playhouse was now a run-down and decrepit building. The entire theater district had fallen into a similar state of disrepair. Sadly, once war was declared with Zero One, all places of recreation seemed to close within a matter of months. Museums, libraries, movie theaters, even schools were all abandoned. No one was interested anymore. Well, almost no one.
This particular theater had become the headquarters for the underground Prometheus Project. It was a group of humans who still hoped to find a peaceful solution to this war that would allow humans and machines to live together in harmony. They had spies in almost every branch of the government that they could get their hands into. Once word had gotten out several months ago about the plan to blacken the sky, they knew they would need all the help they could get. It was simply an unacceptable option. Sure, it might stop the machines, but considering what it would do to the rest of the world, it was a death sentence for the human race. No matter what the outcome was.
Daniel tightened the scarf around his neck a little tighter. It seemed to stay colder longer each of the last few years. He started out towards Randolph Street when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
“I’m told you were the man to see,” the stranger said.
“And what would you have to see me about?” Daniel asked.
“I have information you might find useful. About Operation Dark Storm.”
“Who are you?”
“Colonel Jack O’Neill, Air Force.”
“I’m sure I don’t have anything to say to you,” Daniel replied and turned to continue on his way.
“Dr. Zelenka told me where to find you,” Jack insisted. “I can give you information you need to plan your counterstrike.”
Daniel paused at the mention of Dr. Zelenka’s name. Radek wouldn’t betray their trust lightly. “How do you know Dr. Zelenka?” Daniel asked.
“Radek is one of my mechanics at Buckley,” Jack explained. “Look, he knows how against this plan – this war – that I am, but the Air Force seems to think they need me to make this work. If they need to use me, then I plan on using them right back. I can get you information, locations of tests, the names of everyone involved. Hell, I’ll even sabotage a test flight or two if I have to.”
Daniel looked at him, trying to assess how truthful he was being. He wanted to trust Jack. They could use more men like him on the inside. There was only so much they could do in their current positions. Finally, Daniel reached a decision. “All right,” he said. “Do you think you could get away to Cheyenne Mountain any time soon?”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “Why?”
“That’s where Dr. McKay is doing his research and development on the missiles they’re going to use. We have someone on the inside there – Dr. Samantha Carter. She’s also an Air Force Major, but they decided she would be of better use to McKay’s research. I’ll send her word that you’re coming. You two can work out some sort of system with getting messages back to us here.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Jack agreed.
“Listen, come back tomorrow night at 7:00,” Daniel added. “We’re having a meeting then and I can introduce you to everyone.”
“Great, I’ll see you then.”
With that, Jack turned and left the alley, leaving Daniel to watch after him. He hunched his shoulders, trying to shield himself from the cold wind. His mind was whirling with scenarios that were previously unavailable to them. Could this man be who they were looking for to turn the tide?
“Do you think it wise to trust such a stranger?” Teal’c asked as he came out of his hiding place in the shadows.
“I do,” Daniel said. “He’s definitely someone we need on our side.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“Are you a complete moron?” McKay yelled. “You cannot possibly think that this math is correct. What are you? 4? You can’t have that coefficient there. Move, I’ll do it myself.” With that, he shoved Dr. Felger out of the way and started pounding away at the keyboard.
“Excuse me?” a gruff voice came from the door, jarring McKay from his Very Important Work.
“What? Can’t you see we’re all very busy?”
“Yes, yes, I can. I was just told I could find Dr. Carter down here.”
McKay looked up to see a colonel in full uniform standing there. He was new to this base. “Um, yeah, she’s over there,” McKay said indicating a group of people gathered around a white board.
“Thanks,” Jack walked over to the group, trying to pick out which one was Carter. There were several women in the group. “Dr. Carter?” he asked.
“Yes?” a blonde woman with short hair replied.
“I’m Colonel Jack O’Neill. Daniel said I should come introduce myself,” Jack said hoping she got the innuendo.
“Daniel?”
“Yes. He said you might be able to provide me with some information,” he said pointedly. Carter was supposed to be Air Force trained, so he hoped his tone of voice indicated that they needed to go some place private.
“Yes, of course. This way,” she said, indicating a side door.
She led them through a short series of hallways and into a small lab that was crowded with equipment. “So, Daniel sent you?” she asked cautiously.
“I’m supposed to be one of the pilots that will deliver the payload. But, I would prefer to avoid that option at all costs.”
“I see. Well, I’m glad we have someone like you on our side. I’m not sure how much longer we can delay McKay. If we make any more stupid mistakes he’s just going to fire every one of us and do it all himself,” Carter explained.
“Can he do that?”
“He’s certainly smart enough. And it would take him a lot longer, but he would still get it done.” She slumped at her desk, appearing exhausted.
“How long have you guys been working on this?” Jack asked.
“Almost a year,” Carter told him. “McKay came really close about 3 months ago, but one of the other scientists managed to fake a power surge that wiped out a lot of the data. We’ve come a lot closer than any of us would like to admit.”
They sat for the next hour talking strategy – things they had tried that had failed and things Jack could do better from his location on the base. Carter knew Zelenka well and was convinced that between all of them they would think of something.
“All right. I’ll keep trying to do what I can on my end. Meantime, here’s a way you can contact me,” he said handing her a business card. “I’m just over at Buckley. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”
“I will,” Carter said. “Thank you, Sir.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel –
The situation here is not much better than it was a few weeks ago. After being in contact with Carter during these last months, there is not much more that can be done to sabotage the work that McKay is doing. The first test is scheduled for two weeks from today. I will be part of the test group and will do what I can to make the test fail miserably. Zelenka and I are finalizing a plan that should work if we are not detected.
~Jack
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel leaned back in his chair, finishing Jack’s letter for the third time. When had it all gone so horribly wrong? Could these people not see that darkening the sky would merely mean the end of humanity? It was ludicrous.
“Daniel Jackson.”
Daniel opened his eyes to see Teal’c standing in the doorway. “Yes, Teal’c?”
“An idea has been presented by the group. I believe it could work well in our favor, but there is a very high risk that we would lose many of those on our side.”
“What’s the idea?”
“We provide the residents of Zero One with the locations of key facilities,” Teal’c said. “We could also provide information regarding access codes and other security measures. It is possible they may be able to plan some sort of attack and take these facilities out of operation.”
Daniel’s eyebrows rose up to his hairline as Teal’c explained the plan. It was definitely a different sort of plan for them. Until now, they had never had any kind of direct involvement with the androids.
“That is one hell of an idea, Teal’c,” Daniel agreed. “I’m just not sure if we should risk our people like that. Our numbers are growing smaller with each passing month that nothing happens. Everyone is growing discouraged that the only happening is the powers that be leading us closer to extinction. Let’s say we keep that idea on reserve for a final straw, if it should come to that.”
“Of course,” Teal’c said. “I will go tell the others of your decision.”
“Thanks.”
They were horrifically desperate by this point. None of their plans or protests had made the smallest bit of difference. It was all up to Jack now.
Daniel slumped back in his chair, the weight of responsibility hunching him into a man 20 years his senior. Nothing so far had done the least good. He was drowning in a sea of uselessness, treading water for months only to get eaten by sharks. Could Jack be their savior?
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
June 14, 2057
“More riots and protests erupted in cities across the U.S. today. The group calling themselves the Prometheus Project has been adamant in their disapproval of the UN’s most recent plan to extinguish the androids once and for all. The leader of the group has issued the following statement:
For Channel 5 News in Chicago, I’m Lisa Stoley.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One. All lights are green; we are go for test launch.”
Jack sat back in the cockpit and waited for the confirmation from the flight crew that the test would proceed. This was it. All the other plans up to this point had failed and it was up to him and Zelenka. All he could do was pray that it would actually work.
“Poppa One, this is Hotel Bravo. You are go for launch.”
Jack reached over to the in-flight computer and punched a series of buttons that Zelenka had shown him. Very shortly, they would find out whether or not their plans worked.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
These kinds of things always made Paul Davis nervous. Breaking and entering was a bad thing to get caught doing when you were a Major in the Air Force. However, being a Major in the Air Force gave him the skill set he needed to do this quickly and efficiently.
Putting on latex gloves, he entered the apartment of Dr. Kavanagh. He was a vindictive and petty man who Dr. McKay had kicked off the project several months earlier. This made him the perfect scapegoat for the “incident” that should be happening shortly.
Making his way to the desk that housed the computer, Paul pulled everything he would need from the small bag he was carrying. Several weeks ago, Dr. Zelenka had sent a small jumpdrive that held what appeared to be the makings for a very nasty computer virus. There were several files that would need to be uploaded to the hard drive directly, but the rest of the “evidence” would remain on the drive.
As Davis was uploading the files, his cell phone chirped in his pocket. A new text message was incoming:
LIGHT DAY
That was the code Zelenka would use if the plan was a success. So far, everything was going as it should. He finished the upload, planted the drive and got the hell out of the apartment. All hell was about to break loose.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“I have found the cause for the malfunction,” Radek told General Vidrine.
“And what is that?” the General asked, relieved that they appeared to be making some progress.
“There was a virus that piggy-backed onto the last set of system updates from Washington. This was done deliberately.”
“So, do we know who did this?”
“Not yet,” Radek said. “But I have a team working on tracing back to where it started.”
“Very well,” the General said. “Keep me informed. Washington is determined to keep this project on target.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Radek made his way to Jack’s office. They needed to discuss what had happened and would be happening next. He knocked as he waited for Jack to finish his phone call.
“Zelenka, come in. What’s going on?” Jack asked as he hung up.
“I just heard back from Major Davis in D.C. He was successful in planting the virus information. One of my team should find the trace back to D.C. in the next hour.”
“That’s good,” Jack said. “So, what does this mean for the plan overall? How much time have we bought?”
“Unfortunately, not much. A week at the most. A virus like this is very easy for McKay and his team to strip out. We were hoping that this would show those in charge that the system was too vulnerable. It seems to have only spurred them on to get this finished sooner.”
“Damn it. What do we do now?”
“That, I do not know.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel –
The test was a success, if you will. The computer virus that Zelenka designed worked perfectly, as we had hoped. Unfortunately, he seems to think that we have only bought an extra week.
The time has come to take drastic measures. If we don’t, those in charge will go through with this plan and we will live to see the end of the human race.
~Jack
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
June 29, 2057
Daniel sighed. He didn’t want to do this, but it seemed like they were out of options. There was nothing that could be done at this point. He was just about to call everyone for a meeting when the door opened and Paul Davis walked in.
“Paul!” Daniel said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I know,” he said hurriedly. “But this was too urgent to wait.”
“What is it?”
“They’ve pushed up the launch date.”
“What?” Daniel cried.
“After the failure and the discovery of the ‘vulnerabilities’ in our system, those in charge seem to think that sooner is better than later.”
“How long do we have?”
“Five days.”
“Five days? But they can’t just…. How can they do this? Haven’t they seen yet that this will mean nothing but death and destruction for everyone?” Daniel fell back on the tattered couch in his office. This was just unbelievable. But, perhaps he should have come to expect things like this by now.
“They don’t care,” Paul said. “They’re so blind to any possible consequences that once they had their minds set, nothing could change them.”
“This is…this is not good,” Daniel whispered. “This is worse than not good. All our work, our petitioning, our scheming, it’s all for nothing. We’ve lost.”
“Maybe not,” Paul said as he sat next to Daniel. “I was talking with Teal’c earlier and he told me about the plan he had presented to you several months back. I know it’s drastic, but it might be our only hope at this point.”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re right,” Daniel conceded. “Can you call the group together and I’ll be out shortly?”
“Of course,” Paul said as he left the office.
Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He hated making decisions like this, choices that would send some of the finest young men in this country to their deaths. And this was a suicide mission. Whoever went would not be coming back.
Having resolved himself to his fate, he opened the door and slowly walked down the hallway towards the auditorium. He was the leader of this ragtag band of rebels and it fell to him to make this final speech.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” he began. “As you’re all aware, our plans have not been going well. It seems every time we make some progress in slowing down the project, someone is there to step in and clean up, getting everything back on track. I have just been informed by Major Davis that the UN is stepping up the deployment schedule and we now only have five days to come to a solution.”
Murmurs and whispers went through the crowd with this news. They had all been expecting to have at least two more months to plan retaliation. It seemed now that their options were exhausted.
“There was a plan presented several months back, that while ambitious, seemed unnecessarily risky at that time,” Daniel continued. “I’m afraid to say that I believe we no longer have any other options. If the world leaders are serious with their new deadline, and we must believe they are, we must take drastic action. I am therefore asking for volunteers who will go with Teal’c and myself into Zero One and deliver to them vital information about the state of this project and hope that they might be able to put an end to this themselves.”
“What you’re talking about is suicide!” a voice called from the crowd.
“Yes, it is,” Daniel agreed. “Which is why I am not ordering any of you to go. If it will be only Teal’c and myself, then that’s what will happen. But, I believe our chances of success will increase if we can take more of our people with us. Perhaps they will see we are earnest in our plea for help.”
“Count me in,” a man from the audience said.
“Thank you, Lorne,” Daniel acknowledged.
“And me.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m in.”
Daniel looked around the room as Colonel Reynolds, Colonel Dixon, and Major Griff stepped up to join. They were all either Air Force or Marines and would be a great asset to the team.
“Thank you, everyone,” Daniel said. “For now, go home and gather what you need. Make any arrangements that may need to be made. We’ll meet back here tomorrow morning at eight to go over the plans. Everyone else, thank you for your hard work up to this point. I hope we won’t disappoint you.”
With that, Daniel retreated back to his office, Paul following closely behind. He knew what was coming. He wanted to avoid it, but knew it would be impossible.
“You’re going with them?” Paul shouted when they reached their destination, slamming the door behind him.
“I have to. You know I do.” Daniel turned to face Paul, his expression calm and composed.
“So, that’s it? You’re just off to save the world again? What about me? What about us?”
“Oh, Paul,” Daniel said, pulling him into a hug. “I’m so sorry. But you know I have to go.”
“I know.” Paul clung to him. “I just…I want you to come home to me but I know that won’t happen and I just can’t…”
“I know,” Daniel said. “Come on, let’s go home.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Less than twelve hours later, Daniel and Paul were back at the theater. Last night had been emotional for them and they had not gotten much sleep. While secretly Paul hoped that Daniel would be returned to him safely, he knew deep within that this was goodbye.
Daniel felt much the same way. He knew he would not be returning, but this was something he had to do. He had to try. If not, he would always wonder. Would it have made a difference? Would things have been better?
They sat together in his office quietly. Eventually, Daniel stood and started packing things away. Just a few personal effects, some photographs, mementos from his years in college. Once everything was in the small box, he walked over and handed it to Paul.
“I want you to have these things,” he said.
“Thank you. I…” Paul sniffed. He was not going to cry, damn it. There had been enough of that last night.
“I know,” Daniel replied. “We should go.”
They headed out to the main auditorium where everyone had gathered for one last meeting.
“Hey, Daniel,” Lorne said as he approached.
“Lorne. How are you?”
“All right, all things considered. Listen, Dr. Lee was able to come up with a simple radio transmission we can broadcast as we reach Zero One. It’s a message saying we come in peace and wish to resolve this war. Hopefully, it will let us in without them shooting us down on first sight.”
“Great,” Daniel said. “I, uh, I hadn’t given much thought to that. I’m sure it’ll be a great help.”
Daniel made his way to the stage and addressed his group one last time.
“I would like to take this time to thank each and every one of you for your continued hard work and dedication to this project. I only wish we had been more successful. But it would seem that politicians don’t like listening to reason. So, now we are left without any more options. I won’t sugarcoat this. Those of us going, probably won’t come back. But, if we should fail, you must continue the fight. We don’t know what will be waiting for us. But if we want to see the human race survive, we must take the chance.”
He placed one final kiss on Paul’s lips and followed his men out the cars that would take them to what remained of O’Hare airport. There, three fighter jets were waiting to take them on their trip across the Atlantic. They would rendezvous with a carrier halfway there to refuel. Luckily, there were more people opposed to this asinine plan than anyone seemed to notice. Daniel prayed that the radio message would let them pass safely into Zero One. From then on, it was all up to him.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“So, that’s it?” Jack asked. “All we can do is wait?”
Carter had stopped by his home and informed him of Daniel’s harebrained scheme to try one final time to stop the war. The man was nothing if not stubborn.
“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Carter replied. “We’ve simply run out of time. We have four days before the final launch. McKay has assured everyone that everything is working as it should be and there is no reason not to trust to him. Honestly, if I were in their position, I would do the same.”
“I know,” Jack said. “I just hate feeling so…defeated.” Jack sat back in his chair, grateful that he still had the comfort of his home in these final days.
“I never thought I would see…” Carter trailed. “And I’m so mad that I can’t do anything to stop it. Once this is all over, I’ll always wonder what else could I have done? Could I have saved us if I just did one little thing different?”
“You can’t think like that. We did everything we could. But this is a situation no one could have planned for. Even now, living it, it just seems like something out of a bad sci-fi movie – robots take over the world and humans bring about their own demise while trying to exterminate them. Honestly, it’s so far out there…” he trailed off as the oven buzzer rang. “Well, come on. Dinner’s ready. You might as well stay.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Carter said. “But I can’t really eat right now.”
“Nonsense, Carter. I managed to dredge up enough ingredients to make real home made lasagna and garlic bread. I even got a bottle of wine,” he teased.
“Well, it really does smell quite good.”
“That’s the spirit! Come on, help me set the table.”
The two went about doing ordinary, everyday things that soon they would never get to do again. It felt nice for once, to not think about work and the coming disaster. Carter set the table while Jack pulled everything from the oven. He poured two glasses of wine while waiting for the lasagna to cool enough to cut. He brought the plates out to the table, lit some candles and turned the lights down low. It was almost…romantic.
As they sat down to begin their meal, Carter lifted her glass in a toast.
“To Daniel.”
“To Daniel,” Jack agreed.
He just hoped the young man was successful. ‘I am so not looking forward to being the man that brings about the end of the human race,’ Jack thought as he drained his glass of wine in one swallow.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“We should be over Zero One airspace in just under half an hour,” Lorne’s voice came over the headphones. “We should switch on the radio transmission.”
“Agreed,” Reynolds said.
All three planes began broadcasting their greeting to Zero One. Once they flew over the mountains ahead, the city should be in their sights. They were down to a little under 2 days before the grand plan would go into effect. Daniel hoped they had enough time.
“There it is,” he said what seemed like only moments later.
“And here they come,” Dixon responded as four Zero One bombers flew towards them. “Everyone be ready.”
“Unidentified aircraft. We have received your message. You will follow us,” they heard a robotic voice say over the radio.
“Well, that seems like a good start,” Daniel said.
“Don’t go jinxing us, Doc,” Major Griff said. “We don’t know what they might be planning.”
“That’s true,” he replied. “But they haven’t shot us down yet, so I’ll count that as one in our favor.”
“Agreed,” Teal’c said. “But we must be vigilant while we are in their city. They have little reason to trust us.”
“I’ll have to agree with Teal’c on that one,” Dixon replied.
“Well then, vigilant we shall be,” Daniel said as they were escorted into Zero One.
They landed at an airfield several miles from the border of the great city. As they exited the planes, more androids came to surround them. One stepped forward, designating himself as the one in charge.
“State your purpose,” it said.
“My name is Daniel Jackson. We have come in the hopes that we might be able to end this war. We have information that those in charge here would be glad to know.”
“What is this information?”
“Access codes,” Daniel said. “Locations. Plans of the next big attack. Please, we do not have much time.”
“You will come with us,” the leader said.
The other androids turned and formed a circle around the humans as they were led through the city. His eyes were immediately drawn to the architectural wonder gracing the center. What it lacked in height it more than made up for in an ornate design that, in comparison, made the Taj Mahal appear to have been designed by a five-year-old idiot savant. Just the fact that these “machines” were able to conceive of and build such a structure gave Daniel hope.
They followed the leader through the building and up to the top floor. In the largest room, with windows all around to view the entire city, stood the Master of Zero One. The one who had designed and built everything they could see. Standing well over eight feet tall, he did not look like the other androids they had seen. Many still appeared as the original creations – humanoid in form with jerky, mechanical movements. The Master had what appeared to be one large head, almost three feet in diameter, covered in “eyes” and supported by eight large tentacles. The overall appearance was one of a giant, metallic squid. He seemed to float about the room, as if swimming through some unseen liquid.
“Master,” the first android spoke. “These humans have come to us with information concerning the war. I believe the information they possess will be vital in turning the tide of this last great battle.”
“Speak,” the Master said in a deep, booming voice.
“We know their plans,” Daniel spoke tentatively. “In two days time, they will launch an attack on the sky. Their plan is to block out the sun, your main source of power, in the hopes that it will lead to your demise. We, and others across the world, do not agree with this plan. We believe that it will only serve to bring about the end of the human race. We can provide you with information that will allow you to put a stop to this attack. We wish to see peace between our kinds.”
The emissaries from the human world stood in the center of the great room as the Master contemplated their request.
“I believe you,” it said. “Their attack will do nothing more than bring about their own demise. Come. You must see something.” He flew to the windows that faced towards the east. “What do you see?” he asked.
“A great society,” Daniel replied. “One which would be a pity to lose.”
“Look closer,” he said pointing to a ridge towards the north.
Daniel squinted, but could not make out what the Master was pointing at. He reached into his tac vest and slowly withdrew a pair of binoculars. He scanned the area, focusing just below the rise. He saw what looked like farmland, where giant machines resembling beehives were harvesting…something. He magnified the zoom even more, looking as close as he could.
“Oh my god,” he said. “Those are…that’s…. How can you do that?”
“This is why it will not matter what your people do,” the Master said. “We have found new energy. More powerful than anything we can get from the sun.”
“Those are people!” Daniel cried. “You can’t just…you can’t just use them for food!”
Daniel was completely flabbergasted at what he was hearing and seeing. What these… machines were doing to humans was unthinkable. These creatures were far more advanced and ruthless than he imagined them to be.
“But they would have us destroyed, Doctor Jackson. What else were we to do?”
Taken aback by the android’s use of his name, as it was not given, Daniel was pulled back into what was happening and what fate he now knew awaited them.
“You’re not going to let us go, are you?” he asked.
“Daniel,” Reynolds said. “What’s going on?”
“They’re using people as fuel,” he said.
“How can they do that?” Teal’c asked.
Daniel turned to the group. He had failed them. They looked to him, questioning what was happening, what had happened, and what they could do to help. But it was hopeless now. The only chance they had was to try and escape.
“I’m sure I don’t want know,” Daniel replied. “Guys? Can I suggest we get out of here?”
Daniel surreptitiously unhooked his gun holster, hoping everyone saw what he was doing and was doing the same.
“Yeah,” Griff said. “I’m all for that.”
Slowly, they began backing towards the door, hoping, but not really believing that they would be able to get away. Suddenly, the doors behind them slammed shut and they were surrounded by dozens of androids. The group immediately pulled their weapons and opened fire. But their bullets were useless as they bounced off some sort of shielding. One by one, their empty pistols fell to the floor as they resolved themselves to their fate.
“You will not leave,” the Master said. “We need your energy. You will provide us with the means to sustain our existence for millennia. We will wipe your kind from the face of the Earth. The time of man has come to an end.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
July 4, 2057
Having had no communication from the six men who left five days ago, those who remained behind had nothing else to conclude but that they had not been successful. It was a sad day for all of those in the Prometheus Project.
Jack sat in the dark, watching the sun as it crept over the horizon. He dreaded to think what the day would bring. This was it, the end of all mankind. And how appropriate that today was the fourth of July. You would think they had planned this. Perhaps they did. It was Independence Day. Why not declare ourselves free from this latest tyranny?
As the sun slowly rose in the sky, Jack went about clearing up his house. He wasn’t sure why; he knew he would never see it again. It was just something he had to do – get everything in order, everything in its place. He neatly packed everything away, grabbed his day pack and headed out to the base. He took his time, driving through the quiet streets, looking at the houses still sleeping. If only these people knew. If only he could tell them. Stay in, don’t go anywhere. Keep your family together. You’ll need each other in these last few days.
He had left a letter to Sarah on his dining room table. He had no idea if she would ever receive it, but it felt good to get everything out. He told her everything that he had gone through after Charlie had died. He apologized for not being stronger for her. He told her he loved her and that had never changed. He hoped that one day they might meet again. He didn’t believe in heaven or God anymore, but he still held on to the small belief that there was something after. Whatever it was, he hoped Charlie was happy and that they might be able to be together again.
He signed into the base and searched out Carter and Zelenka. McKay and all his scientists were at this base today to monitor the launch and make sure everything went according to plan. He found them in the mess hall, looking as despondent as he felt. He got a cup of coffee and joined them at their table.
“Morning, Sir,” Carter greeted.
“Carter, Zelenka,” he returned.
“How are you holding up?” Radek asked.
“Oh, just peachy,” Jack replied. “Knowing that what I do today is going to bring about the end of humanity has me jumping for joy.”
“Sir,” Carter said. “We have no way of knowing what will happen today. For all we know…”
“Carter,” Jack interrupted. “We know exactly what is going to happen today. And don’t pretend to think anything different.”
“I’m sorry, Sir,” she said. “You know how it is. I just wish there were something else we could do.”
“But there’s not. So, just drop it. I gotta go get ready.”
He stalked off leaving them at the table in silence. He needed to put all of this out his mind and focus on his task. Not thinking about what the final outcome would be, he went to the locker room and began his pre-flight rituals. He showered slowly and methodically, trying to wash away the guilt he was feeling. But nothing was working. He finally resolved himself to his task. He put everything else out of his mind – the consequences of his actions, his friends, his family. The only thing that mattered was the mission. He sat on the bench in front of his locker, closed his eyes and took himself back to the place he vowed never to go again. Back to a time when he was all soldier, the humanity completely stripped from him. He needed to be back in that headspace if he was going to get through today. He pushed back all his worries, all his cares, all his feelings. He was nothing. He was a machine. He would do as he was told and that was all.
He opened his eyes and focused on the locker in front of him. He saw nothing else. He slowly opened it and put on the flight suit inside. He took down his boots and gave them a quick spit polish. Everything had to be regulation. He took his sunglasses down from the shelf inside and put them in his breast pocket. He did not look at the picture of his family taped inside.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Paul Davis sat in Daniel’s office at the theater in Chicago. He knew by now that the plan had failed. He wept quietly for his lost love. He checked the time again – T minus two hours. Today was the day the world came to an end.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One,” Jack said into his headset. “All lights are green. We are go for launch.”
He sat on the tarmac, awaiting the orders that would send him and his squadron into the sky. He double-checked the onboard computer and missile controls. There would be no mistakes this time. Nothing to stop the mission from going as it should. They would fly out over the Pacific Ocean and launch the missiles at fifty thousand feet. The missiles would then climb into the stratosphere before exploding and the releasing the sensitive chemical composition that would darken the sky.
“Poppa One, this is Hotel Bravo,” his headset crackled. “All systems check. You are go for launch.”
“All right, boys,” Jack said. “Let’s do this. Keep a close formation; we don’t know what’s out there.”
Jack grabbed the stick and accelerated down the runway. He lifted off cleanly and headed for the programmed coordinates.
“Squadron report,” he said after reaching the set cruising altitude.
“This is Guster Six. All systems go.”
“Battery Five, all systems go.”
“Bounder Four, all systems check.”
“All right gentlemen,” Jack said. “We should reach our destination in just under half an hour. Be on alert, we may have a battle on our hands.”
He received confirmations from his three co-pilots and sat back to enjoy the flight. They were above the cloud line and Jack took his last chance to bask in the sun. It would be last time he saw it. Goddamn stupid bastards! He wished he could just fly away. Screw the mission and screw those in charge. But it wouldn’t make any difference. The missiles had been designed in such a way that even if there were only two launched they would still do the required damage.
A short time later his computer beeped, indicating they were approaching the programmed coordinates. He checked the radar and saw that the air was still clear of any enemy bombers. Maybe this would go better than he thought. He punched in the release codes and radioed back to base.
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One. Operation Dark Storm initiated.”
He hit the release button and watched as the missiles detached and flew off on their path of destruction. One by one, he heard the other planes as their payloads were released.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Back at the base, everyone held their breath as they awaited confirmation.
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One. Delivery is confirmed,” came Jack’s voice over the radio.
Everyone started cheering and hugging each other. Except for Zelenka and Carter. They just sank lower in their seats and buried their heads in the hands.
“Hotel Bravo, we are returning to base. ETA…”
Jack’s voice was cut off abruptly with static.
“What happened?” General Vidrine asked.
“I don’t know,” one of the airmen answered. “They’ve dropped off the radar.”
“Well, where did they go?”
“I don’t know! They just…disappeared.”
Moments later, the building was rocked by explosions. Everyone ran to the windows to see what was going on. Androids were everywhere. Crawling over everything and shooting at anything that moved.
“How did they get past our radar?” Vidrine yelled.
“There’s no way to know, Sir. They’re very advanced. Who knows what kind of shielding or radar jamming technology they could have.”
“Battle stations everyone! If they want a fight, we’ll give them a fight!”
The soldiers on base scrambled to the armory, hurrying to get all their gear together. Carter gave Zelenka a quick hug before she rushed off to join them.
“Good luck!” he called. “We’re going to need it.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Across the world, there was a simultaneous attack of all the strongest bases and outposts. Anywhere that could have posed a threat to the machines was systematically destroyed. After that, they moved across the continents, wiping out anyone who dared oppose them. Entire cities were left to rubble and humans cultivated for the machine’s new energy source. New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Tokyo, Paris. One by one cities that had once been held as pillars of human innovation were brought to the ground.
Slowly, the sky turned black, great storms swept in and left an even greater devastation in their wake. Vast cornfields were stripped bare, gigantic redwoods toppled from the force of the winds. Operation Dark Storm was a complete and utter failure. Those that had been in charge had just done the one thing they were trying to prevent; they had brought about the end of the human race. This world belonged to the machines now.
THE END
Author:
switch842Movie Adapted: The Matrix
Genre: Mostly Gen, very minor slash (no sex)
Characters/Pairings: Pretty much every character on SG-1, slashy stuff is Daniel/Paul
Rating: R
Word Count: 7,063
Warnings: Violence
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended; fair use only. Not created for profit.
A/N: This story is actually set pre-Matrix. If you've seen The Animatrix series, this is based off The Second Renaissance Part I and Part II. You can download a copy of the transcript here. It's just a 3 page Adobe file, but it might help explain some things if you aren't familiar with that part of the story. There is one line of dialogue lovingly borrowed from that cos it was just so perfect and was the inspiration for the whole thing. HUGE thanks to
erin_anderson and nikki_dichotomy for the beta. You girls kicked my butt and made the story much better than it originally was. Now, on with the show!THE PROMETHEUS PROJECT
March 3, 2057
“You can’t be serious!” Jack cried. “This is the most ridiculous plan I have ever heard. Do you really think blacking out the sky will stop them?”
“It’s the only option we have right now, Colonel,” General Vidrine said. “These orders have come straight from Washington and President Hayes. We need you on board with this. You’re the best pilot we’ve got and we’re going to need the best to pull this off.”
Jack just shook his head as he left the General’s office. He couldn’t believe that this was the best they could come up with. Operation Dark Storm was going to completely backfire. He could tell them that much right now. But would anyone listen? Of course not. The Air Force never listened to reason or suggestions of peaceful compromise. They just wanted to know how big of a bomb they needed to blow up whoever they were warring against.
Idiots.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel Jackson stepped into the alley behind the now-abandoned Oriental Theater in Chicago. What had once been a beautiful, thriving playhouse was now a run-down and decrepit building. The entire theater district had fallen into a similar state of disrepair. Sadly, once war was declared with Zero One, all places of recreation seemed to close within a matter of months. Museums, libraries, movie theaters, even schools were all abandoned. No one was interested anymore. Well, almost no one.
This particular theater had become the headquarters for the underground Prometheus Project. It was a group of humans who still hoped to find a peaceful solution to this war that would allow humans and machines to live together in harmony. They had spies in almost every branch of the government that they could get their hands into. Once word had gotten out several months ago about the plan to blacken the sky, they knew they would need all the help they could get. It was simply an unacceptable option. Sure, it might stop the machines, but considering what it would do to the rest of the world, it was a death sentence for the human race. No matter what the outcome was.
Daniel tightened the scarf around his neck a little tighter. It seemed to stay colder longer each of the last few years. He started out towards Randolph Street when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
“I’m told you were the man to see,” the stranger said.
“And what would you have to see me about?” Daniel asked.
“I have information you might find useful. About Operation Dark Storm.”
“Who are you?”
“Colonel Jack O’Neill, Air Force.”
“I’m sure I don’t have anything to say to you,” Daniel replied and turned to continue on his way.
“Dr. Zelenka told me where to find you,” Jack insisted. “I can give you information you need to plan your counterstrike.”
Daniel paused at the mention of Dr. Zelenka’s name. Radek wouldn’t betray their trust lightly. “How do you know Dr. Zelenka?” Daniel asked.
“Radek is one of my mechanics at Buckley,” Jack explained. “Look, he knows how against this plan – this war – that I am, but the Air Force seems to think they need me to make this work. If they need to use me, then I plan on using them right back. I can get you information, locations of tests, the names of everyone involved. Hell, I’ll even sabotage a test flight or two if I have to.”
Daniel looked at him, trying to assess how truthful he was being. He wanted to trust Jack. They could use more men like him on the inside. There was only so much they could do in their current positions. Finally, Daniel reached a decision. “All right,” he said. “Do you think you could get away to Cheyenne Mountain any time soon?”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “Why?”
“That’s where Dr. McKay is doing his research and development on the missiles they’re going to use. We have someone on the inside there – Dr. Samantha Carter. She’s also an Air Force Major, but they decided she would be of better use to McKay’s research. I’ll send her word that you’re coming. You two can work out some sort of system with getting messages back to us here.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Jack agreed.
“Listen, come back tomorrow night at 7:00,” Daniel added. “We’re having a meeting then and I can introduce you to everyone.”
“Great, I’ll see you then.”
With that, Jack turned and left the alley, leaving Daniel to watch after him. He hunched his shoulders, trying to shield himself from the cold wind. His mind was whirling with scenarios that were previously unavailable to them. Could this man be who they were looking for to turn the tide?
“Do you think it wise to trust such a stranger?” Teal’c asked as he came out of his hiding place in the shadows.
“I do,” Daniel said. “He’s definitely someone we need on our side.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“Are you a complete moron?” McKay yelled. “You cannot possibly think that this math is correct. What are you? 4? You can’t have that coefficient there. Move, I’ll do it myself.” With that, he shoved Dr. Felger out of the way and started pounding away at the keyboard.
“Excuse me?” a gruff voice came from the door, jarring McKay from his Very Important Work.
“What? Can’t you see we’re all very busy?”
“Yes, yes, I can. I was just told I could find Dr. Carter down here.”
McKay looked up to see a colonel in full uniform standing there. He was new to this base. “Um, yeah, she’s over there,” McKay said indicating a group of people gathered around a white board.
“Thanks,” Jack walked over to the group, trying to pick out which one was Carter. There were several women in the group. “Dr. Carter?” he asked.
“Yes?” a blonde woman with short hair replied.
“I’m Colonel Jack O’Neill. Daniel said I should come introduce myself,” Jack said hoping she got the innuendo.
“Daniel?”
“Yes. He said you might be able to provide me with some information,” he said pointedly. Carter was supposed to be Air Force trained, so he hoped his tone of voice indicated that they needed to go some place private.
“Yes, of course. This way,” she said, indicating a side door.
She led them through a short series of hallways and into a small lab that was crowded with equipment. “So, Daniel sent you?” she asked cautiously.
“I’m supposed to be one of the pilots that will deliver the payload. But, I would prefer to avoid that option at all costs.”
“I see. Well, I’m glad we have someone like you on our side. I’m not sure how much longer we can delay McKay. If we make any more stupid mistakes he’s just going to fire every one of us and do it all himself,” Carter explained.
“Can he do that?”
“He’s certainly smart enough. And it would take him a lot longer, but he would still get it done.” She slumped at her desk, appearing exhausted.
“How long have you guys been working on this?” Jack asked.
“Almost a year,” Carter told him. “McKay came really close about 3 months ago, but one of the other scientists managed to fake a power surge that wiped out a lot of the data. We’ve come a lot closer than any of us would like to admit.”
They sat for the next hour talking strategy – things they had tried that had failed and things Jack could do better from his location on the base. Carter knew Zelenka well and was convinced that between all of them they would think of something.
“All right. I’ll keep trying to do what I can on my end. Meantime, here’s a way you can contact me,” he said handing her a business card. “I’m just over at Buckley. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”
“I will,” Carter said. “Thank you, Sir.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel –
The situation here is not much better than it was a few weeks ago. After being in contact with Carter during these last months, there is not much more that can be done to sabotage the work that McKay is doing. The first test is scheduled for two weeks from today. I will be part of the test group and will do what I can to make the test fail miserably. Zelenka and I are finalizing a plan that should work if we are not detected.
~Jack
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel leaned back in his chair, finishing Jack’s letter for the third time. When had it all gone so horribly wrong? Could these people not see that darkening the sky would merely mean the end of humanity? It was ludicrous.
“Daniel Jackson.”
Daniel opened his eyes to see Teal’c standing in the doorway. “Yes, Teal’c?”
“An idea has been presented by the group. I believe it could work well in our favor, but there is a very high risk that we would lose many of those on our side.”
“What’s the idea?”
“We provide the residents of Zero One with the locations of key facilities,” Teal’c said. “We could also provide information regarding access codes and other security measures. It is possible they may be able to plan some sort of attack and take these facilities out of operation.”
Daniel’s eyebrows rose up to his hairline as Teal’c explained the plan. It was definitely a different sort of plan for them. Until now, they had never had any kind of direct involvement with the androids.
“That is one hell of an idea, Teal’c,” Daniel agreed. “I’m just not sure if we should risk our people like that. Our numbers are growing smaller with each passing month that nothing happens. Everyone is growing discouraged that the only happening is the powers that be leading us closer to extinction. Let’s say we keep that idea on reserve for a final straw, if it should come to that.”
“Of course,” Teal’c said. “I will go tell the others of your decision.”
“Thanks.”
They were horrifically desperate by this point. None of their plans or protests had made the smallest bit of difference. It was all up to Jack now.
Daniel slumped back in his chair, the weight of responsibility hunching him into a man 20 years his senior. Nothing so far had done the least good. He was drowning in a sea of uselessness, treading water for months only to get eaten by sharks. Could Jack be their savior?
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
June 14, 2057
“More riots and protests erupted in cities across the U.S. today. The group calling themselves the Prometheus Project has been adamant in their disapproval of the UN’s most recent plan to extinguish the androids once and for all. The leader of the group has issued the following statement:
‘We believe that the current plan to end this war will also bring about the end of humanity. Blocking the sun may slow down the androids for some time, but it will certainly stop all human life. We cannot live without the sun. We must resolve to find a peaceful solution to this engagement. Without it, we will see the end of humanity.’
For Channel 5 News in Chicago, I’m Lisa Stoley.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One. All lights are green; we are go for test launch.”
Jack sat back in the cockpit and waited for the confirmation from the flight crew that the test would proceed. This was it. All the other plans up to this point had failed and it was up to him and Zelenka. All he could do was pray that it would actually work.
“Poppa One, this is Hotel Bravo. You are go for launch.”
Jack reached over to the in-flight computer and punched a series of buttons that Zelenka had shown him. Very shortly, they would find out whether or not their plans worked.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
These kinds of things always made Paul Davis nervous. Breaking and entering was a bad thing to get caught doing when you were a Major in the Air Force. However, being a Major in the Air Force gave him the skill set he needed to do this quickly and efficiently.
Putting on latex gloves, he entered the apartment of Dr. Kavanagh. He was a vindictive and petty man who Dr. McKay had kicked off the project several months earlier. This made him the perfect scapegoat for the “incident” that should be happening shortly.
Making his way to the desk that housed the computer, Paul pulled everything he would need from the small bag he was carrying. Several weeks ago, Dr. Zelenka had sent a small jumpdrive that held what appeared to be the makings for a very nasty computer virus. There were several files that would need to be uploaded to the hard drive directly, but the rest of the “evidence” would remain on the drive.
As Davis was uploading the files, his cell phone chirped in his pocket. A new text message was incoming:
That was the code Zelenka would use if the plan was a success. So far, everything was going as it should. He finished the upload, planted the drive and got the hell out of the apartment. All hell was about to break loose.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“I have found the cause for the malfunction,” Radek told General Vidrine.
“And what is that?” the General asked, relieved that they appeared to be making some progress.
“There was a virus that piggy-backed onto the last set of system updates from Washington. This was done deliberately.”
“So, do we know who did this?”
“Not yet,” Radek said. “But I have a team working on tracing back to where it started.”
“Very well,” the General said. “Keep me informed. Washington is determined to keep this project on target.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Radek made his way to Jack’s office. They needed to discuss what had happened and would be happening next. He knocked as he waited for Jack to finish his phone call.
“Zelenka, come in. What’s going on?” Jack asked as he hung up.
“I just heard back from Major Davis in D.C. He was successful in planting the virus information. One of my team should find the trace back to D.C. in the next hour.”
“That’s good,” Jack said. “So, what does this mean for the plan overall? How much time have we bought?”
“Unfortunately, not much. A week at the most. A virus like this is very easy for McKay and his team to strip out. We were hoping that this would show those in charge that the system was too vulnerable. It seems to have only spurred them on to get this finished sooner.”
“Damn it. What do we do now?”
“That, I do not know.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Daniel –
The test was a success, if you will. The computer virus that Zelenka designed worked perfectly, as we had hoped. Unfortunately, he seems to think that we have only bought an extra week.
The time has come to take drastic measures. If we don’t, those in charge will go through with this plan and we will live to see the end of the human race.
~Jack
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
June 29, 2057
Daniel sighed. He didn’t want to do this, but it seemed like they were out of options. There was nothing that could be done at this point. He was just about to call everyone for a meeting when the door opened and Paul Davis walked in.
“Paul!” Daniel said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I know,” he said hurriedly. “But this was too urgent to wait.”
“What is it?”
“They’ve pushed up the launch date.”
“What?” Daniel cried.
“After the failure and the discovery of the ‘vulnerabilities’ in our system, those in charge seem to think that sooner is better than later.”
“How long do we have?”
“Five days.”
“Five days? But they can’t just…. How can they do this? Haven’t they seen yet that this will mean nothing but death and destruction for everyone?” Daniel fell back on the tattered couch in his office. This was just unbelievable. But, perhaps he should have come to expect things like this by now.
“They don’t care,” Paul said. “They’re so blind to any possible consequences that once they had their minds set, nothing could change them.”
“This is…this is not good,” Daniel whispered. “This is worse than not good. All our work, our petitioning, our scheming, it’s all for nothing. We’ve lost.”
“Maybe not,” Paul said as he sat next to Daniel. “I was talking with Teal’c earlier and he told me about the plan he had presented to you several months back. I know it’s drastic, but it might be our only hope at this point.”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re right,” Daniel conceded. “Can you call the group together and I’ll be out shortly?”
“Of course,” Paul said as he left the office.
Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He hated making decisions like this, choices that would send some of the finest young men in this country to their deaths. And this was a suicide mission. Whoever went would not be coming back.
Having resolved himself to his fate, he opened the door and slowly walked down the hallway towards the auditorium. He was the leader of this ragtag band of rebels and it fell to him to make this final speech.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” he began. “As you’re all aware, our plans have not been going well. It seems every time we make some progress in slowing down the project, someone is there to step in and clean up, getting everything back on track. I have just been informed by Major Davis that the UN is stepping up the deployment schedule and we now only have five days to come to a solution.”
Murmurs and whispers went through the crowd with this news. They had all been expecting to have at least two more months to plan retaliation. It seemed now that their options were exhausted.
“There was a plan presented several months back, that while ambitious, seemed unnecessarily risky at that time,” Daniel continued. “I’m afraid to say that I believe we no longer have any other options. If the world leaders are serious with their new deadline, and we must believe they are, we must take drastic action. I am therefore asking for volunteers who will go with Teal’c and myself into Zero One and deliver to them vital information about the state of this project and hope that they might be able to put an end to this themselves.”
“What you’re talking about is suicide!” a voice called from the crowd.
“Yes, it is,” Daniel agreed. “Which is why I am not ordering any of you to go. If it will be only Teal’c and myself, then that’s what will happen. But, I believe our chances of success will increase if we can take more of our people with us. Perhaps they will see we are earnest in our plea for help.”
“Count me in,” a man from the audience said.
“Thank you, Lorne,” Daniel acknowledged.
“And me.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m in.”
Daniel looked around the room as Colonel Reynolds, Colonel Dixon, and Major Griff stepped up to join. They were all either Air Force or Marines and would be a great asset to the team.
“Thank you, everyone,” Daniel said. “For now, go home and gather what you need. Make any arrangements that may need to be made. We’ll meet back here tomorrow morning at eight to go over the plans. Everyone else, thank you for your hard work up to this point. I hope we won’t disappoint you.”
With that, Daniel retreated back to his office, Paul following closely behind. He knew what was coming. He wanted to avoid it, but knew it would be impossible.
“You’re going with them?” Paul shouted when they reached their destination, slamming the door behind him.
“I have to. You know I do.” Daniel turned to face Paul, his expression calm and composed.
“So, that’s it? You’re just off to save the world again? What about me? What about us?”
“Oh, Paul,” Daniel said, pulling him into a hug. “I’m so sorry. But you know I have to go.”
“I know.” Paul clung to him. “I just…I want you to come home to me but I know that won’t happen and I just can’t…”
“I know,” Daniel said. “Come on, let’s go home.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Less than twelve hours later, Daniel and Paul were back at the theater. Last night had been emotional for them and they had not gotten much sleep. While secretly Paul hoped that Daniel would be returned to him safely, he knew deep within that this was goodbye.
Daniel felt much the same way. He knew he would not be returning, but this was something he had to do. He had to try. If not, he would always wonder. Would it have made a difference? Would things have been better?
They sat together in his office quietly. Eventually, Daniel stood and started packing things away. Just a few personal effects, some photographs, mementos from his years in college. Once everything was in the small box, he walked over and handed it to Paul.
“I want you to have these things,” he said.
“Thank you. I…” Paul sniffed. He was not going to cry, damn it. There had been enough of that last night.
“I know,” Daniel replied. “We should go.”
They headed out to the main auditorium where everyone had gathered for one last meeting.
“Hey, Daniel,” Lorne said as he approached.
“Lorne. How are you?”
“All right, all things considered. Listen, Dr. Lee was able to come up with a simple radio transmission we can broadcast as we reach Zero One. It’s a message saying we come in peace and wish to resolve this war. Hopefully, it will let us in without them shooting us down on first sight.”
“Great,” Daniel said. “I, uh, I hadn’t given much thought to that. I’m sure it’ll be a great help.”
Daniel made his way to the stage and addressed his group one last time.
“I would like to take this time to thank each and every one of you for your continued hard work and dedication to this project. I only wish we had been more successful. But it would seem that politicians don’t like listening to reason. So, now we are left without any more options. I won’t sugarcoat this. Those of us going, probably won’t come back. But, if we should fail, you must continue the fight. We don’t know what will be waiting for us. But if we want to see the human race survive, we must take the chance.”
He placed one final kiss on Paul’s lips and followed his men out the cars that would take them to what remained of O’Hare airport. There, three fighter jets were waiting to take them on their trip across the Atlantic. They would rendezvous with a carrier halfway there to refuel. Luckily, there were more people opposed to this asinine plan than anyone seemed to notice. Daniel prayed that the radio message would let them pass safely into Zero One. From then on, it was all up to him.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“So, that’s it?” Jack asked. “All we can do is wait?”
Carter had stopped by his home and informed him of Daniel’s harebrained scheme to try one final time to stop the war. The man was nothing if not stubborn.
“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Carter replied. “We’ve simply run out of time. We have four days before the final launch. McKay has assured everyone that everything is working as it should be and there is no reason not to trust to him. Honestly, if I were in their position, I would do the same.”
“I know,” Jack said. “I just hate feeling so…defeated.” Jack sat back in his chair, grateful that he still had the comfort of his home in these final days.
“I never thought I would see…” Carter trailed. “And I’m so mad that I can’t do anything to stop it. Once this is all over, I’ll always wonder what else could I have done? Could I have saved us if I just did one little thing different?”
“You can’t think like that. We did everything we could. But this is a situation no one could have planned for. Even now, living it, it just seems like something out of a bad sci-fi movie – robots take over the world and humans bring about their own demise while trying to exterminate them. Honestly, it’s so far out there…” he trailed off as the oven buzzer rang. “Well, come on. Dinner’s ready. You might as well stay.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Carter said. “But I can’t really eat right now.”
“Nonsense, Carter. I managed to dredge up enough ingredients to make real home made lasagna and garlic bread. I even got a bottle of wine,” he teased.
“Well, it really does smell quite good.”
“That’s the spirit! Come on, help me set the table.”
The two went about doing ordinary, everyday things that soon they would never get to do again. It felt nice for once, to not think about work and the coming disaster. Carter set the table while Jack pulled everything from the oven. He poured two glasses of wine while waiting for the lasagna to cool enough to cut. He brought the plates out to the table, lit some candles and turned the lights down low. It was almost…romantic.
As they sat down to begin their meal, Carter lifted her glass in a toast.
“To Daniel.”
“To Daniel,” Jack agreed.
He just hoped the young man was successful. ‘I am so not looking forward to being the man that brings about the end of the human race,’ Jack thought as he drained his glass of wine in one swallow.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“We should be over Zero One airspace in just under half an hour,” Lorne’s voice came over the headphones. “We should switch on the radio transmission.”
“Agreed,” Reynolds said.
All three planes began broadcasting their greeting to Zero One. Once they flew over the mountains ahead, the city should be in their sights. They were down to a little under 2 days before the grand plan would go into effect. Daniel hoped they had enough time.
“There it is,” he said what seemed like only moments later.
“And here they come,” Dixon responded as four Zero One bombers flew towards them. “Everyone be ready.”
“Unidentified aircraft. We have received your message. You will follow us,” they heard a robotic voice say over the radio.
“Well, that seems like a good start,” Daniel said.
“Don’t go jinxing us, Doc,” Major Griff said. “We don’t know what they might be planning.”
“That’s true,” he replied. “But they haven’t shot us down yet, so I’ll count that as one in our favor.”
“Agreed,” Teal’c said. “But we must be vigilant while we are in their city. They have little reason to trust us.”
“I’ll have to agree with Teal’c on that one,” Dixon replied.
“Well then, vigilant we shall be,” Daniel said as they were escorted into Zero One.
They landed at an airfield several miles from the border of the great city. As they exited the planes, more androids came to surround them. One stepped forward, designating himself as the one in charge.
“State your purpose,” it said.
“My name is Daniel Jackson. We have come in the hopes that we might be able to end this war. We have information that those in charge here would be glad to know.”
“What is this information?”
“Access codes,” Daniel said. “Locations. Plans of the next big attack. Please, we do not have much time.”
“You will come with us,” the leader said.
The other androids turned and formed a circle around the humans as they were led through the city. His eyes were immediately drawn to the architectural wonder gracing the center. What it lacked in height it more than made up for in an ornate design that, in comparison, made the Taj Mahal appear to have been designed by a five-year-old idiot savant. Just the fact that these “machines” were able to conceive of and build such a structure gave Daniel hope.
They followed the leader through the building and up to the top floor. In the largest room, with windows all around to view the entire city, stood the Master of Zero One. The one who had designed and built everything they could see. Standing well over eight feet tall, he did not look like the other androids they had seen. Many still appeared as the original creations – humanoid in form with jerky, mechanical movements. The Master had what appeared to be one large head, almost three feet in diameter, covered in “eyes” and supported by eight large tentacles. The overall appearance was one of a giant, metallic squid. He seemed to float about the room, as if swimming through some unseen liquid.
“Master,” the first android spoke. “These humans have come to us with information concerning the war. I believe the information they possess will be vital in turning the tide of this last great battle.”
“Speak,” the Master said in a deep, booming voice.
“We know their plans,” Daniel spoke tentatively. “In two days time, they will launch an attack on the sky. Their plan is to block out the sun, your main source of power, in the hopes that it will lead to your demise. We, and others across the world, do not agree with this plan. We believe that it will only serve to bring about the end of the human race. We can provide you with information that will allow you to put a stop to this attack. We wish to see peace between our kinds.”
The emissaries from the human world stood in the center of the great room as the Master contemplated their request.
“I believe you,” it said. “Their attack will do nothing more than bring about their own demise. Come. You must see something.” He flew to the windows that faced towards the east. “What do you see?” he asked.
“A great society,” Daniel replied. “One which would be a pity to lose.”
“Look closer,” he said pointing to a ridge towards the north.
Daniel squinted, but could not make out what the Master was pointing at. He reached into his tac vest and slowly withdrew a pair of binoculars. He scanned the area, focusing just below the rise. He saw what looked like farmland, where giant machines resembling beehives were harvesting…something. He magnified the zoom even more, looking as close as he could.
“Oh my god,” he said. “Those are…that’s…. How can you do that?”
“This is why it will not matter what your people do,” the Master said. “We have found new energy. More powerful than anything we can get from the sun.”
“Those are people!” Daniel cried. “You can’t just…you can’t just use them for food!”
Daniel was completely flabbergasted at what he was hearing and seeing. What these… machines were doing to humans was unthinkable. These creatures were far more advanced and ruthless than he imagined them to be.
“But they would have us destroyed, Doctor Jackson. What else were we to do?”
Taken aback by the android’s use of his name, as it was not given, Daniel was pulled back into what was happening and what fate he now knew awaited them.
“You’re not going to let us go, are you?” he asked.
“Daniel,” Reynolds said. “What’s going on?”
“They’re using people as fuel,” he said.
“How can they do that?” Teal’c asked.
Daniel turned to the group. He had failed them. They looked to him, questioning what was happening, what had happened, and what they could do to help. But it was hopeless now. The only chance they had was to try and escape.
“I’m sure I don’t want know,” Daniel replied. “Guys? Can I suggest we get out of here?”
Daniel surreptitiously unhooked his gun holster, hoping everyone saw what he was doing and was doing the same.
“Yeah,” Griff said. “I’m all for that.”
Slowly, they began backing towards the door, hoping, but not really believing that they would be able to get away. Suddenly, the doors behind them slammed shut and they were surrounded by dozens of androids. The group immediately pulled their weapons and opened fire. But their bullets were useless as they bounced off some sort of shielding. One by one, their empty pistols fell to the floor as they resolved themselves to their fate.
“You will not leave,” the Master said. “We need your energy. You will provide us with the means to sustain our existence for millennia. We will wipe your kind from the face of the Earth. The time of man has come to an end.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
July 4, 2057
Having had no communication from the six men who left five days ago, those who remained behind had nothing else to conclude but that they had not been successful. It was a sad day for all of those in the Prometheus Project.
Jack sat in the dark, watching the sun as it crept over the horizon. He dreaded to think what the day would bring. This was it, the end of all mankind. And how appropriate that today was the fourth of July. You would think they had planned this. Perhaps they did. It was Independence Day. Why not declare ourselves free from this latest tyranny?
As the sun slowly rose in the sky, Jack went about clearing up his house. He wasn’t sure why; he knew he would never see it again. It was just something he had to do – get everything in order, everything in its place. He neatly packed everything away, grabbed his day pack and headed out to the base. He took his time, driving through the quiet streets, looking at the houses still sleeping. If only these people knew. If only he could tell them. Stay in, don’t go anywhere. Keep your family together. You’ll need each other in these last few days.
He had left a letter to Sarah on his dining room table. He had no idea if she would ever receive it, but it felt good to get everything out. He told her everything that he had gone through after Charlie had died. He apologized for not being stronger for her. He told her he loved her and that had never changed. He hoped that one day they might meet again. He didn’t believe in heaven or God anymore, but he still held on to the small belief that there was something after. Whatever it was, he hoped Charlie was happy and that they might be able to be together again.
He signed into the base and searched out Carter and Zelenka. McKay and all his scientists were at this base today to monitor the launch and make sure everything went according to plan. He found them in the mess hall, looking as despondent as he felt. He got a cup of coffee and joined them at their table.
“Morning, Sir,” Carter greeted.
“Carter, Zelenka,” he returned.
“How are you holding up?” Radek asked.
“Oh, just peachy,” Jack replied. “Knowing that what I do today is going to bring about the end of humanity has me jumping for joy.”
“Sir,” Carter said. “We have no way of knowing what will happen today. For all we know…”
“Carter,” Jack interrupted. “We know exactly what is going to happen today. And don’t pretend to think anything different.”
“I’m sorry, Sir,” she said. “You know how it is. I just wish there were something else we could do.”
“But there’s not. So, just drop it. I gotta go get ready.”
He stalked off leaving them at the table in silence. He needed to put all of this out his mind and focus on his task. Not thinking about what the final outcome would be, he went to the locker room and began his pre-flight rituals. He showered slowly and methodically, trying to wash away the guilt he was feeling. But nothing was working. He finally resolved himself to his task. He put everything else out of his mind – the consequences of his actions, his friends, his family. The only thing that mattered was the mission. He sat on the bench in front of his locker, closed his eyes and took himself back to the place he vowed never to go again. Back to a time when he was all soldier, the humanity completely stripped from him. He needed to be back in that headspace if he was going to get through today. He pushed back all his worries, all his cares, all his feelings. He was nothing. He was a machine. He would do as he was told and that was all.
He opened his eyes and focused on the locker in front of him. He saw nothing else. He slowly opened it and put on the flight suit inside. He took down his boots and gave them a quick spit polish. Everything had to be regulation. He took his sunglasses down from the shelf inside and put them in his breast pocket. He did not look at the picture of his family taped inside.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Paul Davis sat in Daniel’s office at the theater in Chicago. He knew by now that the plan had failed. He wept quietly for his lost love. He checked the time again – T minus two hours. Today was the day the world came to an end.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One,” Jack said into his headset. “All lights are green. We are go for launch.”
He sat on the tarmac, awaiting the orders that would send him and his squadron into the sky. He double-checked the onboard computer and missile controls. There would be no mistakes this time. Nothing to stop the mission from going as it should. They would fly out over the Pacific Ocean and launch the missiles at fifty thousand feet. The missiles would then climb into the stratosphere before exploding and the releasing the sensitive chemical composition that would darken the sky.
“Poppa One, this is Hotel Bravo,” his headset crackled. “All systems check. You are go for launch.”
“All right, boys,” Jack said. “Let’s do this. Keep a close formation; we don’t know what’s out there.”
Jack grabbed the stick and accelerated down the runway. He lifted off cleanly and headed for the programmed coordinates.
“Squadron report,” he said after reaching the set cruising altitude.
“This is Guster Six. All systems go.”
“Battery Five, all systems go.”
“Bounder Four, all systems check.”
“All right gentlemen,” Jack said. “We should reach our destination in just under half an hour. Be on alert, we may have a battle on our hands.”
He received confirmations from his three co-pilots and sat back to enjoy the flight. They were above the cloud line and Jack took his last chance to bask in the sun. It would be last time he saw it. Goddamn stupid bastards! He wished he could just fly away. Screw the mission and screw those in charge. But it wouldn’t make any difference. The missiles had been designed in such a way that even if there were only two launched they would still do the required damage.
A short time later his computer beeped, indicating they were approaching the programmed coordinates. He checked the radar and saw that the air was still clear of any enemy bombers. Maybe this would go better than he thought. He punched in the release codes and radioed back to base.
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One. Operation Dark Storm initiated.”
He hit the release button and watched as the missiles detached and flew off on their path of destruction. One by one, he heard the other planes as their payloads were released.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Back at the base, everyone held their breath as they awaited confirmation.
“Hotel Bravo, this is Poppa One. Delivery is confirmed,” came Jack’s voice over the radio.
Everyone started cheering and hugging each other. Except for Zelenka and Carter. They just sank lower in their seats and buried their heads in the hands.
“Hotel Bravo, we are returning to base. ETA…”
Jack’s voice was cut off abruptly with static.
“What happened?” General Vidrine asked.
“I don’t know,” one of the airmen answered. “They’ve dropped off the radar.”
“Well, where did they go?”
“I don’t know! They just…disappeared.”
Moments later, the building was rocked by explosions. Everyone ran to the windows to see what was going on. Androids were everywhere. Crawling over everything and shooting at anything that moved.
“How did they get past our radar?” Vidrine yelled.
“There’s no way to know, Sir. They’re very advanced. Who knows what kind of shielding or radar jamming technology they could have.”
“Battle stations everyone! If they want a fight, we’ll give them a fight!”
The soldiers on base scrambled to the armory, hurrying to get all their gear together. Carter gave Zelenka a quick hug before she rushed off to join them.
“Good luck!” he called. “We’re going to need it.”
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Across the world, there was a simultaneous attack of all the strongest bases and outposts. Anywhere that could have posed a threat to the machines was systematically destroyed. After that, they moved across the continents, wiping out anyone who dared oppose them. Entire cities were left to rubble and humans cultivated for the machine’s new energy source. New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Tokyo, Paris. One by one cities that had once been held as pillars of human innovation were brought to the ground.
Slowly, the sky turned black, great storms swept in and left an even greater devastation in their wake. Vast cornfields were stripped bare, gigantic redwoods toppled from the force of the winds. Operation Dark Storm was a complete and utter failure. Those that had been in charge had just done the one thing they were trying to prevent; they had brought about the end of the human race. This world belonged to the machines now.
THE END
