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Title: The Angel of Death (18/20)
Author: Emma
Characters: Jack Harkness, others
Rating: Starts PG. It didn't stay there
Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?
Summary: Far in the future, Jack meets someone he never expected to see again
Author's Note: I don’t know where this came from. I really don’t.
Chapter Seventeen is here; Chapter sixteen is here; Chapter fifteen is here; Chapter fourteen is here; Chapter Thirteen is here; Other chapters here
“Have I finally managed to shock you, my captain?”
Jack stared at the exquisite golden form in front of him. He hadn’t known what to expect; Ai-Shi had refused to discuss any aspect of her conversion. Now he realized that, in spite of everything he knew about cybernetic technology, part of him had been bracing for a Cyberman, a heavy, clumsy, metal Frankenstein with antennas and switches sticking out all over. Instead he was looking at a perfect female body made of interlocking silver and gold rings etched with delicate patterns that Jack suspected were actually circuitry. They gleamed as she moved, revealing and concealing at the same time. It was a body that made no pretense to being flesh and blood but raised the human shape into a work of art. He looked into the space where the human face would have been, and found Ai-Shi looking back at him, gold and silver but unmistakeably herself.
“You are as exquisite as ever,” he managed to say through a dry throat. “My beautiful beloved.”
She smiled – or gave the impression of a smile, he didn’t know which one – and turned to Ianto. “Welcome to Navtech Main, young Angel.”
Ianto raised her metal hand to his lips. “I am honored, Madame.”
“Grandmother, you are gorgeous!” Marcus snuck around Ianto and grabbed Ai-Shi in a bear hug. “And heavy. Bloody heavy.”
She smacked him lightly. “You never discuss a lady’s weight, you lout! Now, though I’d love to keep on flirting with all you pretty boys, we have some business to take care of.” She led them to a massive array of workstations. “Galthorpe, status report.”
The servo made a motion eerily reminiscent of a human bow. 'The security forces have barricaded themselves in the hospital wing. The 456 are employing remote controlled equipment to retrofit the quarantine facilities.”
Jack shivered as memories of kneeling in front of an unbreakable glass wall. “Can we jettison that section?”
“No, sir,” Galthorpe said, sounding rather disappointed. “They have disabled the sealing mechanism. If we blow them into space all that section will be exposed to vacuum. There are several thousand people trapped there.”
Jack studied the holographic map of the station that hovered above the workstations. “Schematics, please, Galthorpe.” The hologram changed, splitting apart to show each level separately, with every life support system color-coded. He traced a dark blue line with a fingertip. “They're converting the quarantine sections into a habitat. Oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen flows are shut off, and argon and methane have been opened wide. The only thing keeping those people alive is that the station's gravitational field is holding the old air in.”
“The recycler systems are off too,” Ai-Shi said. “Without new flows it's going to get very hot and stale in there.”
“What happens then?” Marcus asked.
“Depends on what the 456 need. If they haven't fed in a while, they will let them die slowly. Adults aren't as good as children, but they will do. If they're full, they'll blow out the air and kill them fast.” Jack examined the hologram again. “Let's hope they're hungry. It'll buy us time. Marcus, how fast can you mount a rescue mission?”
“Not long at all.” The fierce grin transformed Marcus's face into a near carbon copy of Jack's. “Galthorpe and I have been planning for all sorts of contingencies since we caught on to the Espinoza's plans.”
“I don't think you have more than one hour. Use remotes to bring people out. We can't afford to lose either one of you. Worse case scenario, we will have to jettison the medical section, no matter what.”
“No.”
Jack turned his head and met Ianto's eyes. The eerie certainty in them sent a flash of memory tumbling through Jack's mind. It was gone before he could grasp it, but it did leave behind a revelation. “You know what you have to do.”
“Yes.” Ianto smiled. “My lady, was the installation completed?”
“Yes, young Angel.” Ai-Shi made a gesture towards the hologram and a new set of lines appeared. Glimmering orange-gold, they twined themselves in every direction, a spider web covering every area of the station. “It has been tested. It works.”
Jack stared at the two of them. “Ai-Shi?”
Her elegant metal hand came to rest on his arm. “I am sorry, beloved. I have been keeping secrets from you.”
For a moment, the pain was more than he could bear. Then he drew a deep breath. If Ai-Shi had kept something from him, she had had a good reason. “Will you tell me why?”
“A few years ago the Ylnagii sent an intermediary with a proposal. They had found a a way to destroy the 456. And maybe...” she looked at Ianto out of the corner of her eye, “give you back something they had taken from you. In exchange, they would support the Techs' claim to personhood. We,” her other hand swept around the room, “thought it was a good trade.”
“What did they ask you to do?”
“To build a transmitter using the station as the modulator.”
Jack's jaw dropped. “What kind of an input signal would need a modulator this big?”
“That's where I come in,” Ianto said. “Remember I told you about the energy needed to maintain an angel's wings? I believed I wasn't given wings because they needed me to move about without attracting attention. But that wasn't it. I need the energy to transmit a message to the 456.”
“A message? Marcus's skepticism was plain. “What are you going to say? Shoo, go away?”
Ianto laughed. “Something like that.”
Jack made an attempt at marshaling a logical argument. “Ianto, there's no way you can reach across the galaxy even with a transmitter this large.”
“I don't need to. The station will amplify my thoughts to reach every every 456 in this quadrant. That will be enough.”
“Ianto, that won't work,” Jack said urgently. “They're not a hive mind. We tried that on Zeta Ophiuchi and we barely got out with our lives.”
“You were on the right track, Jack. You just didn't go far enough. The 456 are not a hive mind. The 456 is a single mind. The bodies are nothing but mindless remotes, like the ones the Techs use. It is an ancient and powerful mind, and it believes it has the absolute right to take what it needs. ”
“What does it need?” Marcus asked.
“Energy. Immense amounts of it, in a very specific frequency. The bodies collect it and feed it to the mind and in turn the mind uses some of it to support the bodies.” Ianto's smile grew vicious. “I'm just going to introduce a little positive feedback into the system.”
Author: Emma
Characters: Jack Harkness, others
Rating: Starts PG. It didn't stay there
Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?
Summary: Far in the future, Jack meets someone he never expected to see again
Author's Note: I don’t know where this came from. I really don’t.
Chapter Seventeen is here; Chapter sixteen is here; Chapter fifteen is here; Chapter fourteen is here; Chapter Thirteen is here; Other chapters here
“Have I finally managed to shock you, my captain?”
Jack stared at the exquisite golden form in front of him. He hadn’t known what to expect; Ai-Shi had refused to discuss any aspect of her conversion. Now he realized that, in spite of everything he knew about cybernetic technology, part of him had been bracing for a Cyberman, a heavy, clumsy, metal Frankenstein with antennas and switches sticking out all over. Instead he was looking at a perfect female body made of interlocking silver and gold rings etched with delicate patterns that Jack suspected were actually circuitry. They gleamed as she moved, revealing and concealing at the same time. It was a body that made no pretense to being flesh and blood but raised the human shape into a work of art. He looked into the space where the human face would have been, and found Ai-Shi looking back at him, gold and silver but unmistakeably herself.
“You are as exquisite as ever,” he managed to say through a dry throat. “My beautiful beloved.”
She smiled – or gave the impression of a smile, he didn’t know which one – and turned to Ianto. “Welcome to Navtech Main, young Angel.”
Ianto raised her metal hand to his lips. “I am honored, Madame.”
“Grandmother, you are gorgeous!” Marcus snuck around Ianto and grabbed Ai-Shi in a bear hug. “And heavy. Bloody heavy.”
She smacked him lightly. “You never discuss a lady’s weight, you lout! Now, though I’d love to keep on flirting with all you pretty boys, we have some business to take care of.” She led them to a massive array of workstations. “Galthorpe, status report.”
The servo made a motion eerily reminiscent of a human bow. 'The security forces have barricaded themselves in the hospital wing. The 456 are employing remote controlled equipment to retrofit the quarantine facilities.”
Jack shivered as memories of kneeling in front of an unbreakable glass wall. “Can we jettison that section?”
“No, sir,” Galthorpe said, sounding rather disappointed. “They have disabled the sealing mechanism. If we blow them into space all that section will be exposed to vacuum. There are several thousand people trapped there.”
Jack studied the holographic map of the station that hovered above the workstations. “Schematics, please, Galthorpe.” The hologram changed, splitting apart to show each level separately, with every life support system color-coded. He traced a dark blue line with a fingertip. “They're converting the quarantine sections into a habitat. Oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen flows are shut off, and argon and methane have been opened wide. The only thing keeping those people alive is that the station's gravitational field is holding the old air in.”
“The recycler systems are off too,” Ai-Shi said. “Without new flows it's going to get very hot and stale in there.”
“What happens then?” Marcus asked.
“Depends on what the 456 need. If they haven't fed in a while, they will let them die slowly. Adults aren't as good as children, but they will do. If they're full, they'll blow out the air and kill them fast.” Jack examined the hologram again. “Let's hope they're hungry. It'll buy us time. Marcus, how fast can you mount a rescue mission?”
“Not long at all.” The fierce grin transformed Marcus's face into a near carbon copy of Jack's. “Galthorpe and I have been planning for all sorts of contingencies since we caught on to the Espinoza's plans.”
“I don't think you have more than one hour. Use remotes to bring people out. We can't afford to lose either one of you. Worse case scenario, we will have to jettison the medical section, no matter what.”
“No.”
Jack turned his head and met Ianto's eyes. The eerie certainty in them sent a flash of memory tumbling through Jack's mind. It was gone before he could grasp it, but it did leave behind a revelation. “You know what you have to do.”
“Yes.” Ianto smiled. “My lady, was the installation completed?”
“Yes, young Angel.” Ai-Shi made a gesture towards the hologram and a new set of lines appeared. Glimmering orange-gold, they twined themselves in every direction, a spider web covering every area of the station. “It has been tested. It works.”
Jack stared at the two of them. “Ai-Shi?”
Her elegant metal hand came to rest on his arm. “I am sorry, beloved. I have been keeping secrets from you.”
For a moment, the pain was more than he could bear. Then he drew a deep breath. If Ai-Shi had kept something from him, she had had a good reason. “Will you tell me why?”
“A few years ago the Ylnagii sent an intermediary with a proposal. They had found a a way to destroy the 456. And maybe...” she looked at Ianto out of the corner of her eye, “give you back something they had taken from you. In exchange, they would support the Techs' claim to personhood. We,” her other hand swept around the room, “thought it was a good trade.”
“What did they ask you to do?”
“To build a transmitter using the station as the modulator.”
Jack's jaw dropped. “What kind of an input signal would need a modulator this big?”
“That's where I come in,” Ianto said. “Remember I told you about the energy needed to maintain an angel's wings? I believed I wasn't given wings because they needed me to move about without attracting attention. But that wasn't it. I need the energy to transmit a message to the 456.”
“A message? Marcus's skepticism was plain. “What are you going to say? Shoo, go away?”
Ianto laughed. “Something like that.”
Jack made an attempt at marshaling a logical argument. “Ianto, there's no way you can reach across the galaxy even with a transmitter this large.”
“I don't need to. The station will amplify my thoughts to reach every every 456 in this quadrant. That will be enough.”
“Ianto, that won't work,” Jack said urgently. “They're not a hive mind. We tried that on Zeta Ophiuchi and we barely got out with our lives.”
“You were on the right track, Jack. You just didn't go far enough. The 456 are not a hive mind. The 456 is a single mind. The bodies are nothing but mindless remotes, like the ones the Techs use. It is an ancient and powerful mind, and it believes it has the absolute right to take what it needs. ”
“What does it need?” Marcus asked.
“Energy. Immense amounts of it, in a very specific frequency. The bodies collect it and feed it to the mind and in turn the mind uses some of it to support the bodies.” Ianto's smile grew vicious. “I'm just going to introduce a little positive feedback into the system.”
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