With sudden determination, Rodney heaved himself off the dank, half-rotten heap of straw that unsuccessfully tried to impersonate a pallet, and shuffled over to the bowl. Giving an aggressive squeal, the rat turned on him. He launched a kick at it, missed, but it sufficed to send the rodent scurrying for a hole in the corner. Inside the bowl sat a fist-size heap of gray gunk that looked like nothing so much as a mix of oatmeal and lard, left standing in a hot, moist climate for at least a day too long.
"Oh God…"
The mere thought of swallowing any of it made him feel nauseated.
It looks like an excellent medium for Clostridium botulinum, E-coli, and salmonella. By the way, don't rats carry Yersinia pestis?
"Who asked you?"
Nobody. I like to give the benefit of my expertise voluntarily.
"I don't like. So shut up already!"
He'd been yelling loud enough to give himself a tinnitus. In the slowly settling silence, Rodney got the distinct impression that his invisible playfellow had gone into a sulk. Good. Maybe now he could have some peace and quiet. The gunk beckoned.
Clostridium botulinum, E-coli, salmonella, Y pestis.
Great. The worst part was, the blabbermouth had a point. There was no way anybody could safely eat this, though Rodney's stomach begged to differ. You could actually hear the growl, and for some reason that provoked a lurid mental image of steak and lobster-plenty of butter for the lobster-baked potatoes and coleslaw. Chocolate brownies for dessert. Definitely chocolate brownies, though lemon meringue pie might be a viable alternative. And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee, with whipped cream on top…-
Rodney moaned, buried his face in his hands, and tried to picture the first of Bell's equations for describing quantum states. When the lemon meringue pie inserted itself as a variable, he gave up, sagged back onto the straw and blankly stared at the wall.
You were right the first time, you know?
"About what?"
You don't have a choice. If you eat, you might die. If you don't eat, you will die. In my experience, definite beats possibility every time.
"Deep. Really deep. Moving, even. Did I tell you to shut up?"
Repeatedly. You don't like me, do you?
"Whatever gave you that idea? I don't even know you."
That's beneath you. Especially in view of the fact that, for a human, you're remarkably intelligent.
"Oh thanks. I still don't know who you are."
Which wasn't entirely true. Rodney had a pretty good idea, but in this instance at least, the possibility outweighed the definite-in other words, as long as he did nothing to verify it, he could pretend this wasn't happening or, more pertinently, hadn't happened. Not again! As if that whole hideous episode with Lieutenant Cadman hadn't been embarrassing enough…
"Why me? Why does it always have to be me?"
Wrong place, wrong time.
"Oh, so now it's my fault?"
If you hadn't decided to hop the moment you did, I wouldn't be here.
God, Rodney could almost see the smug little bastard shrug! At least there were no indications of his body wanting to do the shrugging… so far. "Hop? I don't hop."
Do, too.
An image surged up from some reservoir of memory that had remained blessedly untapped so far. John Sheppard shouting `Pull the plug, Rodney!' over sounds that, like all things electromagnetic, were already being distorted in the singularity created by Charybdis. He himself leaping for the naquada generator and straight into that soaring column of light born of the fusion of Charybdis and its creator. Evidently he'd somehow become incorporated into the mix, or the mix had become incorporated in him. Either way it was perfect. Just perfect.
"And why this remarkable reticence up until now? If you don't mind my saying so, it seems a little out of character."
Your amnesia presented a bit of a problem. I didn't want to risk freaking out you and, by extension, those superstitious country yokels.
"Too kind." Rodney was tempted to bash his head against the wall. Brain damage suddenly seemed a small price for driving out the incubus.
Kindness had nothing to do with it. Itjust struck me as counterproductive. So I decided to on a more subtle approach.
"I can't tell you how glad I am that you didn't opt for blunt," groaned Rodney. Then something dawned on him, and he sat up straight. "It was you! You led me to the ruins. You got me to salvage the equipment."
He sensed a distinct surge of pride.
The idea was to nudge you into fixing some essential equipment to enable us to go back and repair the damage. It would have worked, too, ifyou'd been a little more careful about covering your tracks.
Of course! He'd known that someone, somehow would manage to twist this around and blame him. "And what's this us business? There is no us. As far as I'm concerned it'd be best for everyone involved if you simply disappeared. It's way past your bedtime."
For a long, blissful moment he thought Ikaros might have taken the hint. The stillness in his mind felt comfortable, relaxing as a hot bubble bath. Just as Rodney wanted to slip in deeper, the goddamn kid bounced back.
Look, Dr McKay, I'm sorry. I was only trying to help.
"That's what you said the last time," Rodney snarled savagely. "Do the world-the universe! — a favor and stop helping!"
The stillness descended again, but this time he was under no illusion that it would last. Ikaros seemed incapable of taking no for an answer. True to form, the kid floated back in short order.
I know why you don't like me. I remind you of yourself.
"Oh, please!"
It didn't sound convincing, even to Rodney's own ears, because the kid had a point. Almost from the get-go, he'd seen bits of himself in Ikaros. The smarts, the pushiness, the arrogance-and the solitude underneath. Naturally you couldn't admit to the latter, which was where the arrogance came in. Besides, if you didn't believe in your own superiority, who else would?
"Fine. Okay. So we have certain things in common."
The kid was smirking. Don't ask him how, but Rodney knew it.
"It still doesn't mean I'm going to play along with this"
There's nobody else who could fix this. You were right from the start. Charybdis doesn't work.
And that's what they called `laying it on with a trowel.' How stupid did Ikaros think he
Listen to me! I'm telling you Charybdis doesn't work, and don't for a moment think I enjoy making this kind of confession. My best guess is that it has created an infinite number of timelines, all of which will become affected by cascading entropy if it isn't happening already. I suppose I should have seen it coming, but you know how it is when you're enamored of an idea. You've been there.
Hadn't he just? He would have done anything to follow through with Arcturus-as a matter of fact he had, up and including the abuse of people's trust-because he'd absolutely believed in it and in the fact that he was right. Not that this was any of the kid's business.
"Let me see: destruction of the better part of a solar system; destruction of unknown multiples of galaxies, potentially universes. Can you spot the difference?"
Are you familiar with fractals?
Did bears go potty in the forest? And what did fractals have to do with the price of fish?
They're always the same shape no matter what their size. There is no difference, Dr McKay. You know where I'm coming from, and I need your help. The universe needs your help, if you will.
Oh, that's just great! Roll out the big guns, why don't you? "Do you see me wearing a red cape?"
What?
"I don't have a great big `S' emblazoned on my manly chest either. And finally, there's the minor detail that I'm looked up in a cell."
There was a distinct sense oflkaros shakinghis- its? — head, bristling with impatience.
Dr. McKay! Unless I'm completely wrong, which has happened no more than once in the past ten thousand years, Charybdis has become sentient. This means it'll attempt to neutralize everyone who could potentially threaten it.