| My favorite Atlantis episode... |
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McKay and Zelenka are leading a crew of scientists
through the formally flooded areas of the city, apparently shutting down
everything the Ancients activated while they were in control so that
they can stop the power draining from the ZPM. They inter a small lab
with an Ancient device. While trying to shut it down Rodney powers up
the machine and is surrounded by a spiral of what appears to be DNA. He
is checked out by Beckett and given a clean bill of health but Rodney is
not convinced.
Later, Rodney is in the mess hall when he overhears the team talking
about him from the other side of the room. He discovers that his hearing
has improved greatly and so he grabs his tablet, which has moved across
the table into his hands, and walks over there and has a very minor
rant. An announcement comes over the Atlantis PA system calling Colonel
Sheppard and his team to the control room. There they receive a
transmission from Major Lorne's team. They are under attack with enemy
soldiers closing in fast. After they head out to start the rescue,
Zelenka talks to Dr. Weir. He has discovered that the device is designed
to manipulate human DNA.
Rodney is in the infirmary on a bed, hooked up to a vitals monitor, and
a few other machines. Apparently there is a dramatic increase in
synaptic interaction throughout all the sections of the brain, much
higher than normal levels. Weir mentions an incident at the S.G.C where
they found a highly evolved being in stasis, caused by altering of the
DNA by a Goa'uld named Anubis, designed to artificially accelerate the
human physiology to the point of ascension.
Rodney stays a while in the infirmary, and then is let out with Ronon
Dex keeping him company. He discovers he can read people's minds, so he
heads to Dr. Weir's office and 'asks' permission to utilize the control
chair of the city and reconfigure the power systems to increase the
efficiency of the ZPM, as it will dramatically lower the city's power
usage, and thus increase the ZPMs life.
They walk into the control chair room and Rodney reads their minds. He
realizes what is happening: If he does not ascend near the peak of the
evolution, he will die soon afterwards. He is faced with a choice:
Ascend or die. At this point, a massive power surge starts going through
the city and Zelenka is struck by a bolt of electricity and badly
wounded. He is rushed to the infirmary and has a massive wound, in
critical condition, with no pulse. Beckett prepares the paddles. Rodney
tells Beckett to move and Beckett protests that he is dying. He puts his
hands above the wound and it begins to heal very quickly and is gone in
a few seconds.
Rodney then goes on an inventing spree, inventing a new type of math, a
way to increase the shield power on the Daedalus and designs a
hyperdrive prototype for the Puddle Jumper. Weir tells Rodney that she
thinks he is capable of ascension and that he can retake human form if
he chooses. He has the "Ascendameter" shipped from earth to gage his
mental advancement. Weir has him take meditating lessons with Sheppard,
because Sheppard lived with a group of people who were trying to ascend
for 6 months, to try and achieve the level of relaxation needed to
ascend, so that he is ready when the time comes.
Eventually Rodney ends up back in the infirmary, as his body starts to
die: the advanced cerebral cortex is affecting the lower functions of
the brain and his body is losing its natural ability to keep itself
alive. Rodney and Sheppard have another go at the meditation, and Rodney
slowly sinks to the required level of activity. He slowly goes to 1 Hz
and suddenly his eyes open and he grabs Beckett violently. He lets him
go and relaxes back into the bed. No pulse. Beckett says they need to
back him and get him on the ventilator. Weir protests, saying that he
gave us strict orders not to interfere. Beckett says he just told me how
to save him.
At the lab, they place Rodney in front of the controls. The machine is
turned on, and Rodney is returned to normal. Apparently the device was
designed to manipulate your DNA, and it couldn't reverse the
evolutionary process because everyone's DNA was different and it makes
certain changes that cause the DNA to evolve in ways specific to your
own unique physiology. Zelenka says that in order to manipulate the DNA
to its previous state, the program required a precise reference point.
Beckett says they keep blood samples from all the Atlantis team members
for base-length comparisons. Rodney is back to normal, and is no longer
"a dead man"; however he has regrettably lost all his newfound powers,
including the ability to understand the theoretical work he did while he
was "advanced". |
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