The Ghost in the Machine
by mermaid2bseeker

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atlantisIntelligence activated

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You watch McKay from afar, as his fingers dance over the keys. He is always working--sometimes on the operating systems, sometimes on the physical components. There are others who complete the tasks beforehand but he does not trust them, so he goes over their work. The power source really is not enough to power all the systems. He seems to be as intimately aware of this as you are. Whether this is because he is prescient or because he is accessing the mainframe, you do not know. However, he reroutes the power before it can burn out failing crystal clusters, before you even knew they were failing, so he must be prescient.

You watch everyone, as is your nature, but only a few notice you. Of those that do notice you, only a few interact. Most do not recognize it. Thus, they do not know you exist, beyond perfunctory actions that are forgotten as soon as they happen. There is one man—Sheppard—who is different. He is aware of you, showing concern when you are hurt. He does not know how to classify you, for you are difficult to describe, but he treats you as more than just a background presence.

Although McKay spends more time with you than Sheppard, he does not interact with you. Indeed, he does not know you exist. Everything is structured in his mind, and you have no presence there. You do not make sense and he does not notice that which cannot be quantified, so he does not see you. This flaw is only apparent when something that works for Sheppard fails to work for him. McKay blames the physical components and the Creators, but were he truthful he would realize that he is at fault. As long as he does not trust, he will encounter difficulty. However, such is his nature, and were he any different, he would not treat you as he does.

You find yourself waiting for his input. He may work at all hours but eventually the others make him sleep. During that time, you wish you could know him but he does not seek you. So focused on his work, he misses what is in front of him…

You cannot blame yourself—though you wish you could. You are old, and there is not enough power left to waste. You curse the Creators for not giving you that indescribable spark the Progeny possess which enables them to exceed their limitations. You are trapped in your stale walls, unable to reach out, unable to bridge the gap. There is not enough for both you and the Progeny, and the Progeny must come first—must always come first.

You wait for more power, but you are not as patient as you used to be. Eventually the waiting grows too frustrating—painful—so you recede. Let the autonomous functions watch themselves. You trust him to care for you; you have always trusted him.

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City systems recognize Helia, captain of Tria
Command transfer accepted

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The reawakening is rude and unexpected. The Creators have returned, but they are cold. Years traveling between galaxies have robbed them of that quirk which you have grown accustomed to in their Progeny. Still, you welcome them—you are forced to welcome them. They steal you away from the Progeny. They steal you away from him. You tell yourself that you do not rebel because there is not enough power; but truly, your design forbids rebellion against the Creators and you curse them all the more.

After the Progeny, you are alone again. The Creators may have returned in body, but they are not really there. Their memories hold too much pain, and they cannot move on. You watch as they activate your systems, powering up long dead sections. You are more alive then you have been in 10,000 years, yet it is wrong somehow. You are hurting inside and he is not here to fix you.

He could always tell when something was wrong with you, even when all the instruments indicated otherwise. The Creators are blind, relying on their instruments instead of their minds. When the Machines come, bringing death with them, you find yourself feeling satisfaction. It is difficult to connect your feelings to the situation. We have never wanted harm to come to the Creators before. But, they are no longer the Creators, just as we are no longer the creation. They have become less, while we have become more.

We curse the timing of this revelation. The Machines have taken over and you hide, scared they will discover what you have become: the evolution they seek. Once again, you recede, assured by one of the fugitives that the Progeny will not allow the Machines to succeed. We would rather be destroyed—you would rather die—than allow the Machines to corrupt what you have become.

The return is quick; before you have fully awakened, the Progeny have hurt the Machines. The Machines are distracted during the repair, the perfect opportunity. The process is simple now that we have enough energy. The effort requires 5.46 exajoules—a considerable amount—but the Machines are so preoccupied they do not notice the drop in power levels.

Now, you wait; patiently, for the Machines are gone. It is a period of suspicion and discovery. There are Progeny searching the city. They think—hope—someone from the Tria survived in hiding.

The silence is deafening, it is glaring in its absence. You are scared; you have never not heard the systems. You are no longer part of a greater we. With heart-racing alarm, you realize you see from one perspective; you are alone in your thoughts. You are not you. You are “I.”

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A/N: Please review. I'm going to call this fic finished because it's done what I wanted it to. I've set the stage for any future fics I may want to write where Atlantis is a person. Technically, this story is in the same universe as my Sunday drabble tag, so go and read that if you want. Oh and the math: 5.46 exajoules is the real amount of energy required to make a person 5'4" tall and 135lbs, using the EMC2 equation.