Rodney McKay

Introspective posts based on a character's experience of almost getting transformed into a heartless. 1-5 exp based on posts.
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Rodney McKay

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Post by Hal_Emmerich »

Rodney's mind raced as he stared at the sudden change in fortunes. From victory within their grasp only moments ago, people were beginning to collapse left and right. His hands suddenly pat down his front with a sudden shocked look of '... But not me. Why?' Glancing at the growing list of casualties from an unknown peril, he suddenly starts self-analyzing, his scientific mind grasping at straws trying to formulate a plan of action or explanation for this phenomenon. The Canadian scientist brings his hand to his neck only to discover his glowing gold pendant he had almost forgotten about.

"That's right.. whenever I've worn this.. magic just hasn't worked as well on me. There's got to be a correlation there.. but what?" Rodney thinks back a moment to the away mission to Black Omen. "It must be some kind of magical defense. I must be immune to the effects because I'm wearing the magic equivalent of a deflector shield."

In the minds eye of the self proclaimed Genius, Rodney stood in the chamber watching the scene, only to hear his own voice echo out from behind him. "Oh, well that's great! You're all they need anyway. We'll uh.. formulate a few plans. Do something heroic, save the day.. you ... well, you know how it goes.". Spinning around in place, Rodney is greeted by a doppleganger of himself. The equally chubby man differs from Rodney only in attire, wearing a casual black turtleneck and jeans to Rodney's Atlantis Expedition uniform. "I'm you.. obviously. You figured that out. I represent your intelligence, actually." Rodney shakes his head a moment "Right. Of course. I'm a genius.. I've got.. an assistant. Right. OK. We need a plan. I'll just find Sam and.."

"Sam!" Rodney glances over and suddenly rushes to the womans side. Unfortunately, she was afflicted by the same spreading curse and starting to turn into something demonic. In his minds eye, Rodney's alter ego turned to him and spoke up "Don't worry. This is great. We'll save her, look like we're better than her--" "That isn't the point! Save her HOW exactly? This isn't some stupid popularity contest, she's going to die and there is NOTHING I can do." Rodney's alter ego suddenly grabs him by the shoulders "That just means you're better than her, doesn't it? Once and for all, you are better than Samantha Carter. ... Survival of the smartest!" "No it doesn't. It means I've got some stupid artifact thats keeping me alive. That's the only reason I'm still here and not down there with her.. it's not going to help me save her!" A female voice joins into the crowd as ... a Samantha Carter walks out in front of the real Rodney "Unless you give her the artifact". The fake however immediately interrupts the thought, raising his finger to the real Rodney and stepping between the two "No. Nonono. That artifact is the one thing keeping you alive McKay. You give her that, you're a dead man and you know it. Don't do something we're going to regret. You need to live, you're the genius here."

Rodney glances between the two interpretations with a disgusted look, raising his hands in disbelief "Not only am I having a mental episode, my mental hallucinations are fighting with each other. Look. Why don't I just take my zat gun, go up there, and..." "Fight some ancient superpower that can wipe out an entire ship full of people including you, all by yourself" , the Samantha states incredulously with folded arms, "You know that won't work, come on Rodney, you're smarter than that." But the fake McKay raises his hand again "Look, Sam. Let the genius work, we'll find something. You just.. just sit in a corner." "Rodney..." she states with a disapproving but sympathetic tone "I wouldn't be here if you didn't already know what you were going to do. You know I'm right. I mean.. you and I both know that I can take care of what you do just as well as you can. Could you live with yourself knowing you let me die? I thought you loved me."

These words hit Rodney hard, but it isn't a second before the fake McKay grabs him and shakes him "RODNEY. If you give her that amulet. YOU. DIE. You will die. You're too brilliant to die. The world needs your genius." The real McKay however angrily shakes his head "No. I'm too brilliant not to know what you are. You aren't my intelligence, you're my ego." He turns around and raises his finger defiantly "I know I'm intelligent, and I'm brilliant, and so does everyone else. And a little showboating is fine. But you're trying to convince me to let Sam DIE to save myself, all because I think I'm important. My ego isn't going to solve this ..." Sam smiles with a slight tear in her eye as Rodney in real life tears the amulet off his chest. Actually speaking, he says something to her softly "This team needs you more than me Sam. Don't leave." as he slips the amulet into her hand.

The effects are immediate. Sam's recovery is virtually instantaneous as Rodney physically doubles over in pain, his body going numb as unfathomable darkness overcomes him, his senses dulling. Catching his reflection in the debris, he notes his eyes starting to shift to a yellow feral state like a cat. His minds eye begins growing dark, the others disappearing leaving him in a darkening space with only himself and his illusory Samantha remaining. Rodney shakes his head with a scared look as he watches the room disappear slowly "That's it. I just... I'm going to die, aren't I?" Sam shakes her head "I'm very proud of you Rodney. What you did was noble and heroic. I think you'll be alright." "Alright?" Rodney shoots back "Are you joking? I'm about to turn into a monster, HOW IS THAT ALRIGHT? Some mental image you are. You just got me killed and you didn't even take your clothes off... again." Sam just offers Rodney a warm, reassuring smile "I think in your heart we both know you'll live Rodney."

As the darkness begins to close in around them, Rodney hunches over onto the floor, his eyes on Sam. He mumbles to himself, knowing in his heart of hearts even if he died, he had done the right thing. In a soft tone, he whispers to Sam "It.. was worth it..". Samantha begins to speak silently almost crying as Rodney strains to hear her, taking his hand tightly in hers. The words barely register in his mind until one sentence dominates the rest loud and clear.

"I love you. Please, Rodney.. don't go."

He almost begins to laugh at the stupidity of his own hallucination telling him he loved himself.. but the warmth of the words was strong within him, the sole warmth in the room in fact. Clinging to it, he holds Sam's hand tighter, gripping it as she starts crying. What is left of his attention span suddenly notices he's seeing double... Samantha Carter was standing behind Samantha Carter. The hallucination hadn't moved from it's spot away from him, which left only one possible outcome that was almost as unlikely as survival. The real Samantha Carter had just said she loved him. A smile crosses Rodney's face as his dark blue eyes gaze back into hers. Overwhelmed, his mind slips into a peaceful warm unconsciousness as his heart recovers from it's tiring ordeal and prepares for better days ahead.
Hal_Emmerich
Master of Games
Posts: 355
Joined: October 9th, 2008, 4:50 am

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