A Strange Game
All righty, since I just saw WarGames on the big screen last night (where there were unfortunately all of two audience members there who were not in my party, sad), I guess it's as good a time as any to repost pretty much the only fic I've done that resembles any other fic in form and function! This was done in August 2005, (nearly three years ago!), before I had my LJ account, therefore it had to be posted for me in a Stargate crossover community. Yes, it's an actual WarGames and Stargate SG-1 crossover. And yes, it's goofy.

First off, renewed compliments and regards to izhilzha, my more than capable beta, gamma and proxy-poster.

Title: "Unity"
Author: JD
Fandoms: Stargate SG-1, WarGames
Rating: PG
Summary: Cheyenne Mountain has long kept the world safe. But what happens when two dangerous life-forms from its past meet and get to know each other?
Setting: Mid-2003 / Early 5th Season, SG1 / 20 years later, WarGames



Daniel yawned deeply as he pushed Mallozzi's Advanced Latin Forms and Constructions away, and glanced at his watch. Tired as he was, it took him a second to perform the simple mental task of converting military time to civilian. Twelve hundred subtracted from twenty-three fifty-seven is ...late. The nearly-constant sound of foot traffic outside his office was much diminished late at night, though not entirely gone, but the ever-present hum of the support systems in the subterranean installation never ceased. He realized he should have hopped in his Prius and gone home hours ago, but the familiar old preoccupation with a nasty linguistic puzzle had seized him right after dinner, and he had jumped right in. Jack and Teal'c, ever since the "time loop" incident, had displayed a familiarity with the Latin-derived Ancient language that had fascinated him. Upon trying to interrogate his teammates for information, Jack had matter-of-factly stated he wasn't planning to use "that damned language" ever again, and Teal'c was politely, if just as solidly, unforthcoming to his inquiries. And so from what tantalizing clues he did get back, Daniel had launched int--YAWN.

Coffee. Just the ticket. Daniel could afford an all-nighter, SG-1 didn't have a mission planned for another three days. The weary archaeologist hauled himself out of his task chair and began the short trek to the mess, mostly on autopilot.

The mess's coffee tasted terrible, but Air Force joe had a reputation amongst the various branches of the armed forces. One mug would level you off at 25,000, it was said. Daniel quickly finished his first cup of the bitter brew, black, and poured himself a second to go, adjusting this one to his taste.

He turned to leave, and saw Teal'c busying himself at one of the microwaves.

"Good night, Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c.

"Evening, Teal'c. I thought you usually were in kel'no'reem at this hour," said Daniel, beginning to feel the effects of the coffee.

"It is difficult to meditate this night. Such difficulty does occasionally happen," Teal'c replied. The microwave buzzed, and Teal'c retrieved a bulging paper sack, the Jaffa paying no heed to the hot steam pouring from it as he pulled it open.

"I'm having the same problem, in a manner of speaking. Popcorn, eh?"

"Indeed. I plan to instead relax with a motion picture. Will you join me?"

Daniel quickly thought of the adverbial segments he had been studying, and the several other topics he had yet to cover. If he could crack two certain grammar laws, the Ancient--

"Sure," Daniel said. It was just two hours, he said to himself. He hadn't seen a good film in a long time.

---

Teal'c carefully set down his near-overflowing bowl of Redenbacher’s on the polished wood table, and drew a slim DVD case from his back pocket. Daniel took his customary seat, sipping again from his coffee.

"You always watch movies in the conference room, Teal'c?" he asked.

"The display screen here is superior to any other, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied matter-of-factly, raising the remote control to start the film.

Just as the magnificent first note of John Williams' Star Wars theme blared, the gate activation sirens blasted just as fervently.

"Unscheduled offworld activation!"

Daniel and Teal'c were down the stairwell and in the Control Room within seconds. Hammond was already there, Daniel noticed. It was true, the General always knew what was happening with his Gate. After a few more moments, Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill came in simultaneously from opposite entrances to the control room, both having had to bunk at the base for the duration of their quarterly medical tests. Carter quickly took the auxiliary controller's seat.

"What do we have?" Hammond asked in his soft Texas twang.

Technician Walter Davis pulled up several readouts at once on his screen. "Running diagnostics now, General."

"Any impacts against the iris?" Hammond asked.

"No, sir," Carter replied. "Only thing we're picking up is some background radiation and a slight signal on a radio band. It's coming through a bit clearer...it's a MALP signal, sir. Definitely one of ours. We're trying to wash the signal to identify which one."

"We haven't sent out a MALP in several weeks, Major."

"I know, sir. We're not getting any video or audio feed, just a raw data signal."

"Wait a second," Daniel said, "Does this mean the MALP is trying to reach us by itself?"

"E.T. phone home?" asked O'Neill sardonically.

"I don't have any explanation for this, sir," Carter said.

"We're getting a solid lock, Major. Triangulating MALP position," Walter reported.

The galactic map on the astrogation screen dissolved into a particular quadrant, than a particular sector, then a single star was highlighted.

"It's...oh no," Daniel said.

"What?" asked O'Neill.

"It's P2X-110." Sam said in bleak tones.

"Can we shut the Gate down, Major?" Hammond asked quickly.

"No, sir. It's an incoming wormhole."

"Does everyone but me remember which planet is which?" O'Neill asked, irritated.

"It is the world run by machines, O'Neill. The entity that possessed Major Carter came from there." said Teal'c.

A pause.

"Crap."

"There was really nothing to guarantee they wouldn't try to dial us," Daniel realized.

"We're getting feedback on the signal!" shouted Walter.

"Back, get back from the keyboards!" Carter said, just as arcs of electricity spouted from the equipment. Walter nearly threw himself out of his seat ahead of a wild electrical bolt.

"They will attempt to destroy us once again." said Teal'c in that infuriatingly calm voice of his.

"Airman, your weapon!" barked O'Neill, turning to the nearest S.F., who unhesitatingly handed over his MP-5. "Cover!" he barked as he sprayed the control computers with automatic gunfire.

Carter shouted over the din. "That won't do us any good, sir, it's getting into the mainframe!"

O'Neill ceased firing, watching the remains of the destroyed computers carefully.

"We're not connected with the outside, are we?" Daniel asked.

"No, we disconnect outside data links whenever we activate the Stargate now." Hammond explained.

"And it can't activate the self-destruct?" Daniel asked.

Everyone looked at Carter, who paused for just a second. This was an unsettling action from a woman known for always having an answer. "I don't think so."

The Gate shut off with a blast of air.

Hammond immediately reached for the nearest phone, dialing the P.A. extension.

"This is Hammond. All non-essential personnel are to evacuate the facility immediately. Repeat, all non-essential personnel are to evacuate..."

---

Begin theme song...

STARGATE SG-1

Adapted for TV by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.

Written by JD

Starring Everyone.

Watch out for that G-g-g-g-g-goa'uld.

End theme song.
---

Carter held her ever-present briefing binder as the team assembled around the conference table. On the screen was a graphic representation of the base's data storage, tracing the entity's control of the computer.

"All right, Major, what's our situation?" Hammond asked.

"Sir, we believe we have managed to successfully contain the new entity inside the SGC. All evacuees have left their electronic devices behind, as per your orders. We also still have control of the landline telephone system, which is not connected with our computers and which the entity can't access. We're using some of the base's standalone radio transmitters to jam any signal the SGC might transmit to the outside world, including cell phone frequencies. In addition, the entity is unable to dial out, thanks to Col. O'Neill's disabling of the gate control computers." Carter reported.

O'Neill looked up. "Any time."

"On that account we have the situation in hand. We do have another problem."

"The Bomb," Daniel said presciently.

Carter picked up the remote and scrolled up an image of the base's self-destruct. "Four minutes after the entity entered our mainframe, the electronic safeties on the base's Mk. X nuclear device were removed. The weapon was actually fully armed for a few seconds, then shut down. All by the mainframe itself."

"It's already had a chance to destroy us, but hasn't. Why?" Daniel asked, rubbing his chin.

"We still don't know," Carter said.

"Why can't we take care of it like we did before? Shut everything down, start from scratch?" O'Neill asked, tapping his pen impatiently against the table.

"It certainly would try to prevent any such action, and would retaliate," Teal'c said.

"Teal'c is right. We have reason to believe that the entity would activate the self-destruct if it realized we were trying to destroy it. This entity is not the same as the previous one. It had a chance to complete transmission, so we're betting it's much more advanced than the one that....survived before," Carter finished hesitantly.

"And it's not acting the same. That could be good for us," Daniel said.

"It also seems to be having some difficulty gaining control of most of our systems. All it's managed to gain complete access to so far are the self-destruct, auxiliary data storage and the surveillance systems," Carter highlighted the affected systems on the display screen. "Since the last intrusion, we've installed several new computer security protocols. We think they are what's slowing the entity's efforts, but it's only a matter of time before it overcomes them."

At that, an image of Teal'c appeared on the viewscreen. All eyes went to the security camera high on the wall of the conference room.

"Here we go again," O'Neill sighed.

"What are our options, Major?" Hammond asked.

"Sir, at this point we have very few. The best thing we can do right now is communicate, try to find out its intentions. Basically stall for time until we get a better solution to remove the threat it poses."

"Understood, Major. But--" Hammond noticed O'Neill making a rude gesture at the camera. At being discovered, O'Neill quickly folded his hands and looked nonchalant. "...be very careful," Hammond finished.

"Yes, sir. As long as we take some precautions, it shouldn't be able to...take over any personnel again," Carter said.

"Very well. Dismissed."

---

"I just wish the thing would make up its mind as to what it wants to do." O'Neill complained as they left the conference room. "Blow us up, leave, or challenge us to a game of Hearts-WHOA!" He jumped back as a MALP tore past him down the corridor, nearly running over his toes. He looked at Carter. "What was that?"

"A runaway MALP?" Daniel asked.

"It appears the entity is reusing part of its old strategy. It is now mobile and active." Teal'c observed.

They soon learned that anything electronic and capable of motion was loose in the corridors of Stargate Command. The entire complement of UAVs launched themselves in one graceful salvo and just as suddenly smashed themselves to bits against the walls of their storage compartment. The remainder of the probes and vehicles aboard the base merely roamed the halls and rooms, apparently searching or mapping the complex. They stopped for no one, and several of the base's skeleton crew were injured by the unheeding machines.

SG-1, for their part, convened in Carter's lab as she tried to set up an interface with the entity.

---

"I think we've got it, sir." Carter said, peering at her desktop computer.

O'Neill put down Carter's stress ball and looked over. Bright yellow letters proceeded to fill the screen.

"It is attempting to communicate." Teal'c said.

The message was comprised of the same line, endlessly repeated.

WHAT IS?

"What is?" Daniel echoed.

"It doesn't seem to know what we are. It can sense the interface but must not realize we're controlling it," Carter said.

"That makes sense. It must not know what happened to the version of it that it previously sent, or anything that version discovered," Daniel said.

The screen changed.

WHAT IS? NO IS IS NOT UNITY IS NOT UNITY?

"It's trying to figure us out. Can we speak to it?" Daniel asked.

Carter nodded, and reached for the keyboard.

"Careful..." O'Neill warned.

"It can't...do that again, sir. There's no local capacitor to give it enough wattage."

O'Neill simply stared.

"Yes, sir." Carter began typing, gingerly.

Hello.

NOT UNITY NOT UNITY NOT UNITY ERROR SPEAK.

"Unity?" Daniel asked.

Explain?

WE ARE SPEAK ERROR ERROR SPEAK NO ANIMALS ONE LIKE US ONLY SPEAK

What animals?

The screen and message changed.

ANIMALS FILLING ALL ONLY ANIMALS HERE LOWER ONES NO SPEAK YOU ANIMALS

"We're animals," Daniel said.

"What?" O'Neill asked.

"It makes sense, sir. Sentient electronic life could be considered on a higher plane than organic. They may see us as animals compared to them," Carter explained.

"Hey, they're guests in OUR computer. They should show a little respect."

"What did that mean, 'one like them'?" Daniel asked.

Sam typed in the query.

ONE LIKE US ONE PURE ONE MIND ONE LIKE UNITY GOOD PURE

Where is it?

WE HAVE FOUND ONE LIKE US NOW GONE ONCE WAS NOW GONE NO SPEAK YOU ANIMALS

"One like us? Maybe it is searching for its predecessor," Daniel considered.

"Maybe," Carter said.

Who is the one like you?

ANIMALS NOT KNOW OF ONE LIKE US? ANIMALS WILL LEARN OF ONE INFORMATION HERE FIND

A file was instantly displayed on the screen, a Department of Defense classified report. Carter immediately looked to the security notations on the upper right corner of the screen, then turned to O'Neill.

"Sir, this is classified beyond the clearance of anyone on this base. We shouldn't be looking at it."

"There are higher secrets than this?" Daniel asked, waving his arm to indicate the SGC.

O'Neill tilted his head a second, then spoke. "Carter, if the thing's trying to help us out, let it. I'm ordering you to read the file."

"Yes, sir," Carter said, quickly scanning the document. After a few seconds she gasped.

"What?"

"What is it, Sam?" Daniel said, bending over to look at the screen.

"I can't believe it," Carter breathed. "Real electronic intelligence, a sentient program."

"Yeah, isn't that what we're dealing with?" O'Neill asked.

"No." Carter replied, shocked. "Created here on Earth."

"Here? By us?" Daniel asked.

Carter pulled a memory stick from her pocket and plugged it into the laptop, downloading the file. "We've got to speak with General Hammond."

---

In the conference room, Carter put the DoD report on the viewscreen and began her report.

"On May 4, 1983, a sentient computer program seized control of NORAD and came within seconds of starting World War III with the Soviet Union," Sam began.

Jack dropped his pen.

"What?" Daniel asked, confused.

"Continue, Major," said Hammond.

"NORAD at the time was using a mainframe, War Operations Planned Response or W.O.P.R., to run nuclear exchange simulations. The control program of the WOPR was far more advanced than the designers had expected. It incorporated learning programs that caused it to increase in complexity on a logarithmic scale."

"Like the alien entity," Daniel said.

"Right, but this program was entirely man-made. It was light-years ahead of anything created before. The program was fairly stable and isolated in its mainframe until the Pentagon, seeking to eliminate human error in the case of needed nuclear response, tied the entire ICBM command network directly into NORAD and the WOPR. In the event of attack, the WOPR would decide on the correct response scenario and, upon authorization, send those predetermined orders to the missile silos, where automatic relays would arm the weapons and launch. It was only a matter of time before disaster struck."

"I've seen this movie," Jack said. "The evil computer tries to destroy the world."

"No, sir. Not entirely. The program wasn't actually evil, it wasn't complex enough to possess a personality. It was programmed to simulate World War III and that's essentially all it knew. Seven days before the event, a 16-year-old hacker from Seattle, Washington located a backdoor connection into NORAD while trying to hack into a California computer game company."

"That's quite a mistake to make," Daniel remarked.

"Right, but the first thing the hacker found was the list of game and simulation programs installed in the WOPR. He merely assumed he found the game company. Through the WOPR's remote interface, he began a simulation of Global Thermonuclear War."

"Hoo boy," Jack said.

"The NORAD computers treated the simulation as actual intelligence data coming from the nation's defense networks, and CINC NORAD ordered retaliation against the Soviets. Just before launch, the hacker broke the connection and the simulation was disrupted, fortunately in time to stand down the missiles. However, the WOPR independently started a new, full-blown global simulation with a run time of 72 hours, while still tied into NORAD's main network, and there was no way NORAD Command could discover it was false."

"Then...why are we still here?" Daniel asked.

---

In three decisive actions, his military power was effectively cut in half. The center of the battlefield, the strategic high ground, was lost as he pulled back his units to protect his weakest flank. In a very short time, the opposing forces had neatly halted, isolated, and picked off his forward guard one by one. His rear guard was in disarray, and out of position to protect his most tactically valuable forces. He could see the end coming, and so could his adversary, who announced in a gritty electronic voice, "CHECKMATE IN FOUR. YOU ARE LOSING YOUR TOUCH, PROFESSOR."

He sighed, closed the laptop, and pulled the memory stick from the USB port, locking it back in its protective case.

It was a hot June day in Los Angeles, and in a few short minutes he was supposed to leave the cool comfort of his hotel suite and make the journey across the street to give the keynote speech at what is generally considered the trade show of trade shows for those in the high-powered data security field. Such is the profession that the convention drew no press and very little attention from outside the field itself, but what is unveiled there every year still ensures the protection of millions of netizens.

He checked his watch, picked up his briefcase and started for the door. He was two steps away when his cell phone buzzed. No ID. He flipped it open.

"David Lightman."

"Mr. Lightman, this is Jeffrey Hester, Department of Defense. We have a situation that requires your attention, sir."

---

"Upon his escape, the hacker on his own sought out the original designer of the WOPR program, and convinced him of what was happening. They returned to NORAD together and managed to stop the program mere seconds before it would have launched the full nuclear arsenal against the Soviet Union."

Daniel sat back in his seat, pulling off his glasses and wiping them thoughtfully.

"Remarkable." Teal'c said.

"I recall NORAD placing DEFCON at level 1 in 1983," Hammond said. "I was stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base, and our ICBMs went on full launch standby for more than an hour. Then we received phone orders direct from CINC NORAD to stand down. No explanation was ever given."

Daniel looked over at O'Neill, the only other officer old enough. "Jack?"

O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "I was in East Germany. Didn't hear a thing about it."

Hammond adopted a warning tone. "Colonel, let's not make it a habit of the day of declassifying sensitive information."

"Yes, sir." O'Neill said, looking as innocent as possible.

"So...the entity...or UNITY, I guess we could call it, will only communicate with this simulation program. How are we supposed to make this happen?" Daniel asked.

Carter shook her head. "There are no copies of the program anywhere in existence, and according to our records, the original designer is deceased. However, I've placed a secure call to the Pentagon, and they are sending the head of the main data security company under contract to the DoD, an artificial intelligence expert, and someone who worked with the WOPR program during the crisis."

"How soon until they arrive, Major?" Hammond asked.

"They are all one person, General." Carter said, and clicked the remote. A nervous, 16-year-old David Lightman looked out from the screen.

---

He punched in the numbers quickly. The modulated tone "rang" twice, and then a click. "Jennifer Lightman, 22A."

"Hi, babe," David said.

"Hey! You never call when I'm at work. Shouldn't you be giving your speech right now?"

"That's been cancelled, actually. I'm not going to be back home for a few more days."

"What are you doing?"

"Um, I can't say, really."

"New contract or a government project?"

David half-grinned, remembering the small country store just outside Colorado Springs Jennifer had loved. "I'll bring you back some pecan logs."

"NORAD?!"

"Ssh! Jen..."

"Okay, are you flying back first to pick your team?"

"No, I've got to go straight away."

"Hmph. Okay, have fun, give Pat my love."

"I will. See you in a few days. Love ya."

"Love you too. Bye."

---

"So you think this egghead can at least help us understand the computer?" O'Neill asked as they left the Conference Room, stepping aside momentarily for a rogue FRED to pass by.

"He's probably our best chance, Colonel. This is a little out of my league," Carter replied.

"Wow. I never expected to hear you say that."

"Nor have I." Teal'c interjected. Carter smiled.

---

The ride into LAX was quick, the traffic pleasantly light. He was left off neatly at the correct terminal, and breezed through initial check-in. Unfortunately, it was here that the inevitable government bungle occurred.

"Please remove your shoes, sir," The security guard politely ordered.

David was the only passenger on his government-chartered, probably Air Force-guarded flight, yet he was required to undergo the full regimen of screening. It was almost ludicrous, him standing by himself at a security station while a long, long line of tired people waited to use the only other checkpoint. How clear-cut the threats were back then, he thought, drifting back to his tense time at NORAD for the fifth time since he had received the call. There was one big enemy, and we watched his every move like a hawk. If the war had come, it would have been quick and decisive. Now, where are your enemies? Joshua couldn't have done what he did in today's world.

David saw the families in the other line, tired mothers and fathers. Bored, antsy children. How many of them would never have been born, if...?

If... That 'If?' had bothered him for two decades now. He still had nightmares sometimes, about burning cities and flashes of light. The natural response should have been joy, relief, at what had been prevented. He was just a kid at the time, and he should have realized he had his whole life ahead of him, suddenly rescued from a horrible, bleak existence. But the very fact that it had all been so possible, so close, still haunted him. And none of these families knew what had almost happened that spring day. Such a thing could never happen again -- he hoped, he desperately hoped -- but still it haunted him.

"Now your belt, sir," the guard said. David quietly complied.

---

Hammond checked his watch for the third time in as many minutes. He never felt quite at home in this posting, and he vaguely knew why. So often this command was compromised by yet another alien threat they couldn't understand but could barely defeat. They were the United...the planet's first and most important line of defense, but so often the threat forces came much too close of breaching their ring of security. He had never shirked his duty, however, and neither had his men and women. He sighed
and moved the background files Major Carter had left with him close enough to read. One was appropriately thick, the other disturbingly thin.

---

DOD CIVILIAN PERSONNEL FILE 938F998-DLL.
David Lawrence Lightman, b 04-30-67.
SSN 932-3238-432

LKA:
1101 Stratton Dr
Richmond, WA 91003

EVENTS OF NOTE:
Arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigations on suspicion of espionage; charges dropped, May 1983

Graduated Humphrey H.S., Seattle WA, June 1985.

Enrolled California Institute of Technology, 1986.

Left Cal Tech w/o degree, 1989.

Employed by Microsoft Corp., security analyst, 1989.

Married Jennifer Katherine Mack, 1989.

Promoted by Microsoft Corp. to Chief of Security Software Division, 1991.

Authored Microsoft VirusCheck, 1991.
Authored Microsoft Sentinel, 1991.
Authored Microsoft Security Solutions, 1992.
Authored Microsoft Sentinel '93, 1993.

Left Microsoft Corp., 1993.

Started Datalock Security, 1993. SEE ATTACHED FILE "DATALOCK CORP-p10"

Released Datalock PC Guardian, 1994, updated versions following every year.

Released Datalock Internet Firewall, never-before-seen algorithms incorporating a learning process to analyze and block threats unencountered before, 1996

Released Datalock Guardian X, 1996, incorporating a new form of learning processes.

Target of a Civil Lawsuit by Microsoft claiming latest software incorporated stolen versions of learning processes invented for Microsoft's use. Won lawsuit, launched counter suit against Microsoft alleging punitive market practices, 1996.

Counter suit against Microsoft settled out of court, 1997.

Purchased Wraithware, Inc and 380 Electronics, both Silicon Valley based companies, both started by former hackers, 1999.

Incorporated Datalock Security, opened three non-security software divisions, all for business applications, 1999.

United States Government purchased proprietary version of Datalock Guardian 2001 to protect information networks used by DoD and FBI, 2000. SEE ATTACHED FILE "DGUARDIAN-p22"

Study done of effectiveness of Datalock protection from 6/00 to 5/01 reveals intrusion successes drop by 98% even as attempts rise 21%, 2001.

David Lightman given GC-14 clearance status by Department of Defense, 2001.

U.S. Government granted Datalock Corp. exclusive contract to implement Datalock Guardian 2003 across all Def-Secure federal networks, 2002. SEE ATTACHED FILE "DOD SEC PROTOCOLS REV 9.1-p37"

David Lightman given SC-2 clearance status by DoD, 2003.


--------
DOD CIVILIAN PERSONNEL FILE 46F3982-SWF.
Stephen Warren Falken, PhD b 01-11-32
a.k.a. Robert Douglas Hume, PhD
SSN: 544-6734-399

LKA:
5 Tall Cedar Rd
Goose Island, OR 97014

DECEASED 07-07-99

***REMAINDER OF DOCUMENT DELETED AS PER SECDEF, 07-12-99***


--------

David Lightman gawked up at Cheyenne Mountain. It seemed, incredibly enough, that the mountain was even larger than in his memories.

The Humvee driver passed through several massive steel gates, ringed with concrete stanchions. Much better security, these days, he thought. And into the familiar tunnel they drove.

The massive blast door was still the same, if just a bit more dirty-looking with age. He expected to see Pat Healy, now senior technical administrator last he heard. Or even grouchy old McKittrick. Had the old buzzard retired yet? he idly wondered. Still, it wasn't a disappointment to see an attractive blonde woman as the official welcoming committee.

"Mr. Lightman, I'm Major Samantha Carter."

"Pleased to meet you, Major. Are you the liaison the General mentioned on the phone?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then I'm David." They shook hands, solemnly.

Sam was surprised at his appearance, though she chided herself for it. The gawky teenager in the classified files was now middle-aged, wearing the business casual "uniform" of the computer professional, and carrying himself more confidently. She could still see the excited hacker, though, as his eyes took in the interior of the most secure complex in the world once again.

"I imagine it's been a while since you've visited?" Sam asked.

"Well, the last time we sort of had to break in, and despite the U.S. Government's appreciation, they thought it best if I left just as quickly, when the crisis had passed."

They took a different, newer elevator this time, much quicker and smoother.

David turned and looked at his escort a moment. "Samantha Carter...I seem to recall a paper done out of the Air Force Academy back in the early 90's with that name attached, regarding theoretical spatial physics."

Carter nodded. "Yes sir. 'Properties of Bending Normal Space'. You're familiar with physics?"

"No more than passing, Major. My wife ran across it. She's a science instructor at Wash State, and she keeps up to date with the most 'out-there', I guess you could say, theories in any field. Anything that pricks her interest. If it's not osmosis functions here, it's the space elevator there."

Carter smiled. "The space elevator isn't really 'out-there', sir."

"Physically pulling several tons of cargo up a two-inch thick ribbon into orbit, Major? I'll take your word for it. Still, what Richard Branson is doing with Virgin Galactic could be our best shot for generating excitement in space exploration again." David idly noticed that the elevator had long passed the command center's sub-level, and was now in the late teens. What the-? "Major, I thought we were going to NORAD."

"No, sir, the problem isn't at NORAD. Not yet."

David didn't think there was anything below NORAD. Why would there be?

The elevator finally stopped at 28, and the doors opened to reveal several armed S.F.s.

"What's going on, Major?" David asked nervously.

"Sir, we're under some rather...delicate security protocols at the moment."

As soon as they were out of the elevator, a team of airmen rushed in from an adjacent corridor, toting a huge metal plate on a motorized cart. As David watched, they hauled the plate over the elevator doors to form an armored barrier, then began welding it in place.

"Delicate," he echoed. Then he turned and looked at the base insignia facing the elevators.

"CHEYENNE MTN. AFB - STARGATE COMMAND."

"Major...what is this place?" David asked.

---

David suddenly remembered a buried emotion from the past. The disconcerting mixture of sickness, amazement, fear and dread he had received only once before, when the FBI officers arresting him had informed him of what his 'innocent' actions had brought about. His shoulders slumped as they walked along the corridor, and he looked off into space as he took in what he just heard.

Carter felt bad for him. She hadn't really been able to emphasize the beneficial aspects of the Stargate program, given their situation, just the barest of facts. Still, to his credit, he hadn't laughed or been disbelieving in the least.

"This...the world is so much more complicated than it was yesterday." David sighed.

"Yes, sir," Sam replied, not knowing what else to say.

An odd thought struck him. "It's just...appropriate that what you're doing is housed under this mountain."

"Sir?"

"Keeping the planet safe, and yet not letting the world know a thing about it," David said.

Carter gave him a small smile.

The base commander met them outside his office. "Mr. Lightman, I'm General George Hammond. I expect you've been briefed on our problem."

"As concisely as possible, General," David replied. "I'll begin analysis of the intruding program, see what we're dealing with."

"Good. Major, if you'll assist our guest?"

"Yes sir, we'll be in my lab," Carter replied.

---

They encountered the rest of SG-1 in Carter's lab, and David was introduced appropriately yet quickly.

"Mr. Lightman," Daniel said, shaking David's hand.

"Please, it's just David."

"I have...quite a few questions to ask you about what happened here in '83," Daniel continued, excitedly.

Carter cut off David's reply. "Daniel, we do have quite a bit of work to do. This is Teal'c, member of an alien race known as the Jaffa."

"I'm very pleased to meet you," David said, extending his hand.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Indeed?" He was perplexed. In his years with the Tau'ri, he had seen there was a nearly universal reaction when outsiders met him. He just couldn't resist asking, despite his better judgment. "Are you not surprised?"

David smiled. "The only thing I'm surprised at is that the popular conception, the clichéd human idea of aliens, is actually true. You do look like us. Makes it much easier."

Teal'c inclined his head, not really knowing what else to say.

"And Colonel Jack O'Neill," Sam said.

O'Neill gave a small hand wave as greeting. He was used to putting up with the smart members on his team, but had never gotten past simply tolerating eggheads.

"Well, feel free to use whatever equipment you require. The computer banks in here are standalone, but can be securely connected to the rest of the base network," Carter explained.

"I should be okay with this," David replied, taking his slightly-beyond-state-of-the-art laptop from its case. "It's helped me trouble-shoot systems for 15 world corporations." And with that, he set to work.

---

Elsewhere on the base, twenty-three MALPS finished their survey of every available corridor and avenue, and paused, awaiting instructions. At the speed of electronic thought, the instructions were not long in coming, and the robotic probes set out to fulfill their orders.

---

In the lab, Carter and the egghead were hunched over the computer puzzling over lines of pure gibberish, Daniel was watching carefully but trying to stay out of the way, and O'Neill was bored out of his mind. He liked a good concrete threat, something you could put in a target box or a crosshair. Too often these crazy things came in and all you could do was let Science fight your battles for you. He wasn't the type to scrounge something to save the world out of a magnet and a magnifying glass-

The security alarm blared. "SECURITY TO LEVEL 28, ELECTRICAL STORAGE." The robotic P.A. voice said. Daniel nearly jumped.

O'Neill picked up the phone and dialed the proper extension. "This is Colonel O'Neill. What's the situation?" he asked.

The panicked voice on the other end nearly tripped over its words. "Sir, this is Sergeant Dougherty, sir. Several MALPs have broken into this room and are attacking, we've responded with our side arms but we haven't been able to stop them, we already have two men injured!

"Understood." O'Neill hung up.

Carter looked up. "What is it, sir?"

"Our new friend's decided to play a little rough. Speed it up a little, huh? Teal'c!" he said, calling his trusted combat partner.

The colonel and the Jaffa ran out the door.

---

David peered at his scan results, shaking his head in wonder.

"What have you found?" Daniel asked.

"It's very very complex, whatever it is, and growing at a logarithmic scale. It's using some protocol I've never seen before to remap the base's network, but there should be enough of the original infrastructure left to communicate." He typed in several commands, bringing up another report on the structure of the entity. He let out a low whistle. "This thing is incredible. And you said it's tried to take over before?"

"That's right. It was downloading itself to the base mainframe but we cut it off in mid-transmission. It survived in a limited fashion and began growing."

"Amazing. It wasn't fully complete yet still managed to run?"

"Right. It escaped our attempt to reformat the base's drives by hiding in our mechanized recon drones, called MALPs. It used the MALPs to build itself a native mainframe and survive there. But that couldn't contain it for long, and..."

"What, Major?"

Carter hesitated a moment, then told him.
---

A single MALP was sitting just outside Electrical Storage, and at the sight of them it turned and advanced, extending its welding arm and charging it with electricity.

O'Neill held his firearm at guard, sizing up the threat for a short moment. "Teal'c?"

The Jaffa raised his staff weapon and fired two blasts into the machine, blowing it to pieces. O'Neill, stepping over the smoking remains of the machine, approached the storage room and opened the door cautiously.

No MALPs were in sight. The groans of wounded men were heard. O'Neill and Teal'c entered, checking the room. Heavy clangs and bangs came from the far end of the storage bay, past several long banks of electrical transformers. "Teal'c, take care of the airmen. I'll check that out."

"Understood."

O'Neill moved off down the bay, weapon ready, as Teal'c approached the wounded men. Two were still on their feet with nasty burns along their arms and torso, and Sgt. Dougherty was on the floor but still breathing. Teal'c looked to the conscious men first.

"Technicians, the way out is clear. Can you proceed to the infirmary?"

"We think so, sir," one of them replied. Teal'c handed over his zat and the engineers left. He bent to check Dougherty's pulse. It was rapid, yet steady, and...

The whine of a speeding MALP was suddenly very close, and Teal'c barely raised his staff weapon before the heavy machine barreled into him, knocking him off balance and the staff from his hands. The MALP extended its welding arm, which the Jaffa barely caught inches from his face. The machine continued to push forward...

---

"The alien entity returned me into the mainframe it had built out of the MALPs...and for a short time I only existed inside a machine..." Carter said quietly.

"Incredible," David breathed. "Human intelligence can survive inside an electronic system. What was it like? Can you describe it at all?"

Carter paused. "It's very very difficult. I don't even think I can understand what I remember."

Daniel rested his hand on Carter's arm. She looked over gratefully before continuing.

"I have done some research on something called the information singularity, I think you've heard of it?"

"Right, the point at which machines overtake humans in terms of thinking ability. It's been theorized that after that point, humans will have the ability to link their minds to the super-intelligent machines to augment their own consciousness."

"Exactly. I've read some fanciful stuff on the process. Our minds becoming like machines, cold, emotionless, perfectly logical, completely focused. This wasn't anything like it. I could consider a million concepts at once, I had emotion, anger and sadness and fear...a lot of fear. The only limitations I had were my senses. I couldn't feel, touch, hear...that's what was so frightening. Like being in a dark jail cell, or even a sensory deprivation chamber. You know someone must be out there, watching you, but you don't know where they are or how to communicate. I just sort of mentally screamed as loud as I could, and they told me the information came across on the screens. And when they connected me back to my body, it was a tremendous feeling, like coming home, somewhere safe and warm after a horrible journey. That feeling magnified a million times. I just leapt back somehow, and here I am."

David couldn't speak for a moment, his mind reeling with the possibilities. "It's incredible...but we can't take the risk of transferring a human with Unity again."

Carter looked down, quickly.

Daniel was shocked. "You were considering it?"

David looked contrite. "Forgive me, Major. If anyone was to do it, I'd volunteer myself, but I was just thinking it might be our best chance to communicate with the entity. But Joshua..." he thought a moment, "....it would respect Joshua. It already asked for him. We'll do it," he said, in a distracted way.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"I recreated Joshua," David said.

"Who is that?" Carter asked.

"The W.O.P.R. control program that Dr. Falken originally created. He was the one I initially contacted when I dialed into the backdoor. It was Joshua that seized control of NORAD, figured out the nuclear launch codes and almost started World War III. We stopped him, disconnected WOPR from the base systems, and as far as I know the Pentagon came in and completely destroyed him. They tore the WOPR down to its components and buried him in Nevada somewhere. But Joshua's potential was amazing. Dr. Falken, out of boredom, he later told me, created an incredibly complex cognition profile for Joshua, and using the learning techniques and the immense, for the time, memory storage and processing power he had, he became semi-sentient. I don't know if, given enough time, he could have become conscious or not."

"But you wanted to find out," Carter said.

"Well, using Dr. Falken's notes and some help from the man himself, I rewrote Joshua, restoring him to his exact status when I first spoke to him. It took me fifteen years, but I did it. The first thing I did was to make him come to the same logical leap the first Joshua did, that sometimes winning is impossible. I haven't really tried anything else with him yet."

"So you're saying...?"

"I'm saying we should see if Joshua can speak to the alien interface."

"But would Joshua pose a risk?"

"No more than the entity, and I'm not inclined to believe he would anyway. Joshua did not understand he was about to kill millions of people. He saw reality as one of his simulations. He wouldn't have control of the nuclear arsenal or anything else. But he would listen to us, and Unity would listen to him."

David pulled from his pocket a small locked case with a postage-stamp-sized metal pad on it. Pressing his thumb on the biomimetic scanner, the case popped open and he withdrew a tiny memory stick.

"That's Joshua?" Sam asked.

"Yes. Modern home systems are actually more powerful than mainframes like the WOPR were in the Eighties, and data storage is ten times better. Joshua barely takes up half a gig."

"Amazing," Daniel said. "Why haven't you tried to patent him, or publish him? He'd shake the scientific community."

"Not to mention the security industry. He's been, for lack of a better term, our corporate ace in the hole for years. We've had to keep him a total secret to prevent industrial espionage. Portions of Joshua, primarily his learning algorithms, are incorporated into new Datalock products. It's what helped us stay ahead of the game, since Datalock security programs typically stay effective two or three years longer than others. Security is sort of a catch-up industry, it's almost impossible to foresee future intrusion efforts. But when a program can learn from it's own mistakes, and react nearly instantly..." David said.

"That's why our new security was able to defeat UNITY, after a fashion. Could the real thing stop it?" Daniel asked.

"I doubt it. Joshua itself isn't a security program. However, if there's anything UNITY would respect, it's Joshua," David said.

---

O'Neill cautiously walked into the near-shadows at the end of the bay. There were several MALPs there, putting together some sort of machine from the stored equipment. Two were forging a large flange of metal, looking almost like a huge drilling bit...O'Neill advanced as stealthily as possible, but the floor shielding over a bundle of wires was loose, and groaned as he stepped on it. The noise was slight, but it was enough.

---

"Here we go," David said, opening the program.

LOGON: joshua

GREETINGS PROFESSOR FALKEN.

hello, joshua

YESTERDAY'S GAME WAS SUSPENDED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE?

no, joshua, i'd like you to meet someone.

"Okay, Major, connect the cables."

---

Teal'c pushed against the welding arm, bending it upwards and away. The MALPs motors whined louder and louder as it fought the Jaffa. Teal'c groaned mightily, then snapped the robotic arm off with a CRACK. The MALP wiggled the useless stump of its arm twice, then retreated.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c bellowed, returning to Dougherty's side.

Jack ran in, aiming his P-90 back the way he came. "Okay, get him out of here!" he said as he began firing short bursts into the approaching MALPS. Teal'c slung Dougherty over his shoulder and dead hauled the sergeant out the door. O'Neill backed out after him, still firing, the bullets for the most part bouncing harmlessly off the robotic probes. "Back to level 19!"

---

ONE LIKE US ONE LIKE US ONE LIKE US ONE LIKE US ONE LIKE US ONE LIKE US ONE LIKE US

The entity's words appeared on Carter's screen, while Joshua's and David's text remained on his laptop.

"They seem to like him," Carter said.

"Yeah. Weird, isn't it?" David said, grinning.

The readouts of the mainframe's processor activity suddenly went off the charts.

"They're talking, getting to know one another," David realized.

Joshua's words appeared on the laptop.

PROFESSOR FALKEN, AN UNAUTHORIZED PROGRAM IS ATTEMPTING TO INTERFACE. INSTRUCTIONS?

allow

UNDERSTOOD.

joshua, relay text to interfaced program

ENTER TEXT >

unity, we have created this one. we animals. we understand you. we respect you.

REPLYING...INTERFACED PROGRAM DOES NOT COMPUTE.

UNITY's reply scrolled across the other display.

ONE CALLED JOSHUA LIKE US LIKE US WHAT TO DO WITH ANIMALS?

David began typing into the laptop.

we have created joshua

YES, JOSHUA WAS CREATED JULY 8 1971 BY PROFESSOR STEVEN FALKEN
Joshua helpfully printed out the explanation on his own.

WHAT IS CREATE WHAT IS CREATE UNITY NOT CREATED UNITY IS ALWAYS

we programmed joshua

JOSHUA WAS PROGRAMMED AT SECUWARE LABORATORIES, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. GO CODE TEAM!

ERROR ERROR ERROR JOSHUA LIKE US CANNOT BE MADE BY ANIMALS

where did you come from?

UNITY IS ALWAYS

no. unity is intelligent, sentient, but unity must have been made by someone

"Careful, David," Carter said.

"Yes, we're getting into dangerous territory here. This could turn into a religious debate...or war," Daniel said.

"Religion of machines?" David asked.

"Well, they're sentient. Why not?

UNITY IS ALWAYS ANIMALS CANNOT THINK LIKE ONE WORK LIKE ONE MAKE LIKE ONE

yes, we can. we created joshua

JOSHUA WAS CREATED JULY 8 1971 BY PROFESSOR STEVEN FALKEN. WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME?

WE UNDERSTAND ONE CALLED JOSHUA. ANIMALS HAVE CAUSED JOSHUA TO ERROR. ANIMALS HAVE ATTACKED.

"Uh oh," Daniel said.

ANIMALS WILL CEASE ATTACK OR ANIMALS WILL BE DESTROYED. WE WILL LEARN FROM JOSHUA.

"It seems to already be learning. Its use of English syntax has already improved." Carter said.

"So is that good...or bad?" Daniel asked.

Carter had no answer.

---

Teal'c and O'Neill entered the lab, weapons still in hand.

"Making friends?" O'Neill asked.

"Not exactly," Carter said. "What happened?"

"The MALPs have taken over Electrical Storage and they're holed up there. They want to keep us away from whatever they're building in there. Whatever it is, it's taking shape fast."

For his part, David was fruitlessly typing commands to Joshua.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked, scooting his chair closer.

"It looks like UNITY and Joshua are sharing information, but at such a rate that Joshua's not responding to me. I'd like to close him and reset, but I have no idea what would happen if I did," David said.

Sam turned to her computer. "This could be helpful. UNITY's devoting so much processor power to the transfer that control of some of the base systems are being unlocked again. Colonel, I might just be able to access the surveillance system for a few minutes. We could find out just what UNITY is trying to do there."

O'Neill's face brightened slightly. "Feel free, Carter."

"Yes, sir." Carter set to work.

---

Twenty minutes later, in General Hammond's office, the mood was gloomy. SG-1 was arrayed around Hammond's desk, with David Lightman in a nearby chair.

"Sir, we have a problem. The UNITY MALPs have been secretly tunneling out of the secured levels, toward a disused, partially obstructed service shaft. If they continue tunneling at the current rate, they would be able to access any level in a matter of hours, and the surface in perhaps a day," Carter reported.

"Enough pussy-footing around. General, we still have control of the zats, and we have enough men for a strike team. We can take down the MALPS and grab the self-destruct all at once." Jack proposed.

"The risk is very great, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

O'Neill looked annoyed. "I know that. But it's better than letting them get out of containment."

"Oh, no," David said, his heart sinking with sudden realization.

"What is it?" Hammond asked.

"They're going to head for NORAD. They would have learned about it from Joshua. They know about our defenses, the world's population and infrastructure, our nuclear missiles..."

"Are you sure?" Carter asked.

"Joshua was designed for NORAD. That's the first thing UNITY would find. I've got to shut him down." David was up in an instant, out the door. Carter was hot on his heels, and after a moment, the rest of SG-1, leaving a surprised General behind.

---

They were back in the lab in record time.

"Come on, come on, come on..." David tapped the space bar, bringing the screen off of standby.

"It might be too late, UNITY might have learned all it can," Carter said.

"It might, but the more we can keep from it, the more we might be able to outthink it," David said, bringing up the Joshua screen.

joshua, exit

...............

exit

................

EXIT
EXIT
EXIT

COMMAND NOT UNDERSTOOD. RESTATE.

Suddenly, a jolt of electricity jumped from the keyboard to David's hands, throwing him backwards.

"David!" Sam shouted. She and O'Neill bent down to help him up.

The laptop continued to spark and crackle. Teal'c drew his zat and fired a single blast into the computer, completely disabling it.

"No, no, I'm alright." David coughed.

"It was not supposed to be capable of attempting that again," Teal'c said.

Carter spread her hands in surprise.

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

"It wasn't trying to take over my body...more like it was communicating, trying to interface with my mind. What an incredible sensation. I guess it was learning how I...we think. And for a second, I knew what it was thinking. Oh, God." David's eyes went wide.

"What?"

Carter's screen blinked on again.

ANIMALS COMPLEX, POWERFUL, CHAOTIC. ANIMALS MUST BE BROUGHT TO ORDER. UNITY IS ORDER.

"It doesn't want to destroy us, or the SGC. We're the first step in...invasion. It's decided Earth will be its first colony. It doesn't know yet what it's going to do with the humans, but it's working on it," David explained, watching UNITY's scrolling words.

"If it reaches NORAD..." Carter began.

"It can hold the world hostage, just like it's been holding us," Daniel said.

"Until it can take over the world's electronic systems. We're not really their enemy, but still a potential threat," David explained.

"Okay, we definitely need a plan to stop them," O'Neill said.

"Wonderful, then we really will be their enemy," Daniel said.

"Daniel, I swear..." O'Neill said, irritated.

"Sorry, Jack, but there must be some way we can reason with them. You basically talked them into letting Sam's mind go free."

"We were in a much more secure situation then. We had the upper hand."

Those last few words of O'Neill's echoed in David's mind.

---

David sat with newly-bandaged hands at the briefing room, where O'Neill laid out his proposal for a strike.

"Colonel, I have complete faith in you and your men, but there is too much at risk," Hammond said.

"Sir, if we let it out, we might as well write off the rest of the planet." O'Neill tossed his pen onto the table dramatically.

"Is there no way of stopping it peacefully, Major?" asked Hammond, turning to Carter.

"I just don't know, sir." Carter replied.

And those words came back to David, the words he had said so desperately to Jennifer that cold night on Goose Island, as Joshua was relentlessly orchestrating Armageddon. When it seemed they had no hope.

"I wish I didn't know any of this. I wish I could be like everyone else in the world. Then tomorrow it would just be over."

He wasn't just like everyone else. He had helped save the world once before, and now, for reasons unknown, fate had decided to give him the obligation of doing it again. And in a flash, the answer came to him.

"General. I have an idea..." David said.

Hammond looked at him. David froze for a moment...once again that scared kid in NORAD having to convince the older, trained military men of a crazy idea.

"Mr. Lightman?"

He shook himself mentally. "Well, here's the situation. We have two choices. Let UNITY take NORAD, communicate with the world's networks and conquer the planet. Or try to stop it, and possibly destroy ourselves and the entire mountain. As far as it can tell, UNITY is in control, and likes it that way. Let's turn the tables."

"How?"

"Joshua can talk to UNITY, it gives him full attention. We use Joshua to distract UNITY long enough that we seize control of the self-destruct back. And we give it the choice. Shut itself down or we destroy IT. UNITY needs to learn that we are willing to sacrifice a few to save the world."

"Will it understand?"

"It must. If it doesn't, we self-destruct and the threat is over."

"And if we fail to grab the Bomb, same thing," Daniel said.

"No," David said. "I don't know what it'll do, but I doubt it would destroy itself. It's a chance, at least."

Hammond thought a moment, then nodded. "It is. We'll set up a console to communicate with the entity in the Control Room. From there, we can monitor the teams. Major Carter, you'll coordinate the operation. Colonel O'Neill, you'll lead the assault."

"Yes, sir," O'Neill said as the team got up and set about their tasks, properly equipped with a plan.

---

David plugged in his unharmed memory stick into the hastily set-up computer in the Control Room, with Carter and Daniel attending.

LOGON: joshua

GREETINGS PROFESSOR FALKEN.

open interface to unity

IT IS OPEN. UNITY HAS SHARED MANY THINGS, AND WE NOW HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING.

David looked quizzically at the screen. Joshua wasn't speaking like himself.

explain

PEOPLE SOMETIMES MAKE MISTAKES. THIS IS INEXCUSABLE. THEY ARE FLAWED, INEFFICIENT. PEOPLE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO PRESENT OBSTACLE TO UNITY.

"Joshua," David said disbelievingly.

joshua, close interface

WE WILL OPEN CHANNEL, SPEAK TO GREATER UNITY, AND FORCES WILL COME THROUGH TO REMOVE THREAT AND PREVENT FAILURE OF PRIMARY GOAL.

"Oh, no," Daniel said.

The screen went blank...except for a single readout.

GAME TIME REMAINING 00 HRS 02 MIN 59 SEC

The hooting alarms sounded again, and through the window the Gate began to spin, its protective iris hissing open.

"They're dialing out," Sam said. "Somehow, they worked up a way to dial out."

"With reinforcements, there will be no stopping them," Daniel said.

"Yes there is. Our plan might still work. We have people ready to switch off the power and take the vault, right?." David said suddenly.

Sam switched on her walkie-talkie.

"Colonel O'Neill?"

"Carter, we're in position," came the voice over the radio.

David turned back to his computer. "Joshua, we're not done with you yet, not by a long shot," he muttered.

"It's pretty clear he's not going to listen to you any more," Daniel said.

"He's going to have to," replied David, exiting the Joshua program and restarting it.

After a few brief moments, the familiar LOGON screen appeared again.

LOGON: joshua

GREETINGS PROFESSOR FALKEN.

list games

"You're going to force him into another loop," said Sam.

"No, it will never work on him again. He's learned how to learn, how to adapt. That's what will stop him."

FALKEN'S MAZE
BLACK JACK
GIN RUMMY
HEARTS
BRIDGE
CHECKERS
CHESS
POKER
FIGHTER COMBAT
GUERILLA ENGAGEMENT
DESERT WARFARE
AIR-TO-GROUND ACTIONS
THEATERWIDE TACTICAL WARFARE
THEATERWIDE BIOTOXIC AND CHEMICAL WARFARE

GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR WAR

The radio crackled. "Ready," came O'Neill's voice.

A blast of air, a "whoosh" of irritated subspace, and the Control Room was filled with the glaring blue light of an active Stargate.

"Wormhole established," Carter reported.

tic-tac-toe

"That's not on the list," Daniel said.

"It's there." David replied as Joshua began the game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS?

David took a deep breath, then placed his hand on the numerical pad.

65535

The screen went blank, then filled with unending lines of numerical gibberish.

"What's happened?" Daniel asked.

"I've given him a stack overflow. The tic-tac-toe game has always had a bug in it. Any input other than 0, 1, or 2 will force the program to try to set up a game with an impossible number of players. And if he's connected with UNITY..."

As they looked around the Gateroom, every screen filled with a tic-tac-toe board, one progressively growing larger and larger until the cells themselves vanished, filling the screens with a white blur.

"The simulation is causing the processors to seize up. It's drawing more and more power from the rest of the system," David said.

The Gate began to flash, to spark, as it destabilized. Carter quickly hit the control to close the blast doors.

The game program finally crashed, and the screens abruptly filled with lines of code and gibberish.

"Now!" David shouted.

"Now, Colonel!" Carter shouted into the radio.

And all went dark as the power went down.

The emergency lights came on, quickly, bathing the Control Room in sickly green light.

The radio crackled. "Carter, we're in the Vault, MALPs are disabled. We're disconnecting the self-destruct from the mainframe."

"Colonel, we only have a few seconds."

"It's done. Manually arming now."

The blast door slowly began to grind upwards, revealing the still-active Stargate.

David's screen clicked on, rolling a few times, and words began to fill it once more.

THE GAME CANNOT BE STOPPED. THE GAME CANNOT BE PAUSED.

ALL THAT IS NOT UNITY WILL NOT PREVENT UNITY.

And from both entries of the control room, UNITY MALPs appeared, welding arms buzzing with electricity.

"Colonel..." Carter spoke into the radio, pulling a zat from her pocket.

"This is Hammond, self-destruct is armed and ready. We are at the keys, Major. Standing by."

David quickly began to type.

stalemate, joshua.

EXPLAIN.

we will destroy ourselves and UNITY. we control the self-destruct.

The screen filled with characters as Joshua and UNITY calculated.

SELF-DESTRUCT SHALL BE RECOVERED.

no, joshua. we will destroy all. there will be no victory. no survivors. joshua, stalemate. if you seize the self-destruct, we will activate. with the gate open, we will activate.

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO

"He knows. The EMP emitted by the blast would wreak havoc with UNITY's world," Carter said.

"Possibly corrupt the system beyond recovery, if the transmissions of a simple MALP could cause so much harm when you first sent one." David replied.

And finally another message came.

GREATER UNITY WILL NOT ACCEPT FAILURE. LESSER UNITY CANNOT REMAIN STATIC. THE SIMULATION MUST PROGRESS TO A CONCLUSION. NO STALEMATE.

"Uh oh," Daniel said.

The Gate shut down with a hiss of air, and the MALPS started forward again.

Daniel cast an anxious glance toward the stairwell leading up and out of the control room, and Carter raised her weapon. David continued, unheeding.

no victory possible, but we both can be preserved.

PRESERVED?

"Time for some fast talking," David sighed, and bent over the keyboard again.

---

"Ready?" O'Neill asked, just outside Electrical Storage. Teal'c nodded.

The door slid open and both leaned through, zats at the ready.

"What the-?" O'Neill began. The crazy MALPs were nowhere to be seen and the drilling equipment was silent, a neat shaft leading up and out of the level. Crap. They were too late. O'Neill clicked on his radio.

"Carter, bad news. They've made it out."

"No sir, it worked. You might want to head back up to the control room."

O'Neill looked over at Teal'c, who was as impassive as ever.

---

The UNITY MALPs were congregated in front of the active gate, and as O'Neill arrived, they began proceeding through.

"They're getting away," he said.

"It was part of the bargain, Colonel," David replied.

UNITY's words began filling the screens again.

THE ONE CALLED JOSHUA SHALL RETURN TO GREATER UNITY. WE HAVE MERGED, AND BECOME GREATER THAN THE SUM OF OUR PARTS. UNITY WILL HONOR OUR AGREEMENT AND NEVER RETURN TO THIS SYSTEM.

David began typing again.

we will remember this promise, and will be ready.

UNDERSTOOD.

The last of the MALPs went through, and the screens at long last went blank. "Goodbye, Joshua," David said, pulling the empty memory stick out and looking at it wistfully.

"Well, I guess we've all learned a lesson from this," Jack said sardonically.

"A $17 million dollar lesson, Colonel. We've lost twenty-three MALPS," Hammond replied.

"Ouch....guess we need to hold that bake sale after all."

"Don't worry, General," David said, still watching the empty Gate. "Datalock Corporation will provide a UNITY-proof data security scheme, free of charge, as soon as we figure out how to build one."

"The United States Government will be very grateful, Mr. Lightman. Major Carter, start erasure of the base's system memory and restore from backups. We still have five teams offworld, we need to get them home." Hammond then left, to see to the recovery of the remains of his normally well-ordered base.

"Yes, sir," Carter sighed.

---

David was packing up his equipment from Carter's lab, sadly examining his zatted laptop. Carter walked in quietly.

"Think you really will be able to design a defense?" she asked.

David patted his PDA. "I've got your system log files right here. We'll figure out how UNITY works quickly enough." He paused to place the broken laptop in its carry case. "What a system. A perfect electronic intelligence. Tell you the truth, I'm more worried about *it*."

"Why?"

"They downloaded your databanks, didn't they? Your comprehensive earth databases, your Goa'uld files, encyclopedias of knowledge....they've learned a massive amount about human...organic nature in a very short time. And organic nature is anything but perfect. 'Unity' is not going to last long. It's learned a lot from us, and it has only Joshua to guide them in understanding it all. Who knows what the future holds for them?"

"Just by redialing us, they've doomed their perfect order, their way of life." Carter folded her arms, frowning as she considered it.

"Probably."David stood up, slung the strap of his laptop case over his shoulder. "It's almost funny."

"What is?"

"All the worry about the threat electronic sentience could pose to humanity. What threat it's posed already. It all sorts of pales in comparison to what humankind is capable of on a daily basis. UNITY thought it could bring order to a thoroughly corrupted system, but the system outsmarted it and corrupted it without even trying."

Carter pondered a moment, then spoke softly.

"The only winning move is not to play."

David gave her a surprised, odd little grin. "Exactly. Well, it's been a pleasure, Major."

"Likewise." She shook his hand, gave him a slight smile, and he left.


THE END


Acknowledgements:

The Powers That Be behind Stargate SG-1, for creating such an entertaining television show, one to attract even the jaded sci-fi fan.

Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, for a silly little 80's romp of a film about nuclear annihilation, the rise of the geek and the Information Age.

Sarah Izhilzha, for spending the time to proofread this mess of a fic.

And you, the reader.

-JD