Aberrant: Stargate Universe - Kyria Thea Donnigal

[Mr Fox]

Things were grim in the SGC and everyone was tense and jumping at their own shadows. Three SG teams had been lost in less than a week over some artifact on RL1137. Two entire teams dead except for one member who the shrinks were nearly ready fit for a straight-jacket. Worse, another team had gone in to secure the site had disappeared and by the looks of it there had been a fire fight, and to top it all off the damned artifact was missing. General O'neil was itching to shoot someone, anyone! Everyone else was tiptoeing around the SGC and trying to stay out of his way and notice.

At precisely 13:30 the Gate started spinning up. Unexpectedly. Unscheduled Activation Alarms sounded throughout the facility and O'neil came hustling out of his office into the control room.

Technician Walter Harriman sat at the console and looked worried and not just because the General was out of sorts. "Sir, Unscheduled Activation, and Sir, the shield won't raise. There is some kind of energy feedback effecting the system. Never seen anything like it."

O'neil leaned over to the a mic that was sticking up from the console and activated it, "We've got uninvited guests, be ready to shoot if they aren't friendlies."

The soldiers who had rushed in and taken position in three firing lines and from multiple angles looked even more alert if that was possible. Several checked their rifles to verify that rounds were chambered and safety's off.

The wormhole that formed was like a normal gateway except for one thing, there was a slight white glow to the event horizon. The soldiers didn't pay attention to the wormhole itself, they were just looking for what would come through.

What stepped through the gate was about as unusual a pair of individuals as could be imagined. The man was big, very big, and moved with the grace of a warrior, except for the skin color and lack of a system lord tattoo he could have been a Jaffa. His cloths were Earth clothes however, expensive ones, although the cut and style was a bit odd.

The woman was smaller, but moved with equal grace. Whereas he moved like a natural warrior, she had the grace of a cat, and her blue eyes were piercingly intelligent.

The odd pair looked around confused at what they saw and glanced at each other questioningly for a moment before looking back to the room full of heavily armed uniformed men. Perhaps the thing that scared those men most was the fact that despite their confusion, the man and woman didn't look worried in the least by their circumstances.

One of the men in the gate room, the leader perhaps, yelled, "Put your hands above your heads, slowly!"

The big middle-eastern looking man looked at his companion and shrugged then glanced back at the gate as if to say "perhaps we should just go?" As he did however, the event horizon of the wormhole destabilized and winked out of existence. He staggered then and almost went to one knee before righting himself. The woman looked as is she would throw up for a moment then also got herself under control.

A voice came from the speakers in the walls before anyone could fire their weapons, "HOLD YOUR FIRE!!!" Many of the men had to force fingers away from triggers so ready were they to end the threat.

After their recovery the pair didn't look quite so confident as they had before, and slowly put their hands over their heads.

The voice came from the speakers again. "Escort them to separate guest rooms."

[z028 Riley]

Kyria was separated from Omar and taken to small room with a couch, some chairs, and coffee table. It would have been cozy if not for the concrete walls and the armed guards. She flopped into one of the chairs. Ever since that moment after the warp had closed she’d felt disoriented and strange, as if part of her were missing.

She was puzzling on this when a blonde woman strode into the room. The two guards snapped to attention and saluted; the woman smiled at them and murmured, “At ease, Airmen.” She looked Kyria over and took the chair opposite of her; she smiled. “My name is Major Samantha Carter of the US Air Force.”

Kyria nodded in acknowledgement. “I am Kyria Donnighal. Where am I?”

The Major listened to her speak, “You speak English quite well, Miss Donnighal, but I can’t place your accent. Does the world you come from speak English?”

“I was born and raised on Earth, Major Carter, on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean that was a gift to my father from a friend of his.” She smiled at the officer, mostly pleasantly. “You haven’t answered my question.”

“You’re in a secure US Air Force facility.” Major Carter pulled out a legal pad and began taking notes on it, her manner efficient. “How did you come to be here? Where did you come from?”

Kyria rolled her eyes. “I figured that much out from the uniforms and the saluting, Major.” The annoyance in her tone was tinged with an arrogance either of youth or of being used to being obeyed. Or both. "You saw how I came here. Through a warp. My apologies if it was not better aimed, but as it was not my warp I rather resent being so....handled. As for where I came from, it was a place called Atlantis. Now, I have been more than forthcoming with you. Would you please tell me where I am? Something other than in a room or surrounded by guards. I can see that quite well enough for myself!”

Carter blinked in obvious surprise at the mention of Atlantis. "I am sorry, but I can't give you the answer you are wanting. The existence of this facility is classified. Perhaps after we have assured ourselves that you are not a threat we can tell you more. For now please be patient and answer our questions." She leaned forward and continued, "You said you came from Atlantis? How did you come to be there if you are from Earth?"

Kyria sat back in the chair, her face going from angry annoyance to thoughtful. She was silent for a long moment, then looked up at the Major. "Well, it's not your fault. You didn't actually tell me."

For the first time in her life Kyria is utterly shocked: her telepathy, the main inheritance from her father, failed. Instead of reading the Major’s thoughts, she instead projected her own musing on what these people might know of Atlantis and the Watchers.

Carter sits back in her chair in surprise, looking concerned. "Did you just project an image into my mind?"

Kyria puts a hand to head. She's felt weird ever since coming to this place, and that was just....she hadn't done that since she was five! She didn't seem to hear Carter a muttered to herself, "What is wrong with this place? I feel almost baseline."

Carter took the moment to push. "So that was Atlantis that I saw? Not what I was expecting. Interesting. So how did you come to be there?"

Kyria gave her a look. "I walked." Sarcasm, the favorite tool of teenagers.

Carter pursed her lips then frowned, "Taking a bad attitude will not help your cause. I would like to help you but you have to help me by telling us what you know."

"And I've asked you for one thing, and you won't even give me that.” Kyria clenched her hands together to keep from breaking the arms of the chair. “Why should I be helpful to you? So far all you and your people have done is point guns at me and interrogate me. I didn't do anything. I haven't hurt anyone. What exactly, then, is my cause? Being held against my will?"

"Well, you just stepped through a wormhole into a top secret government facility, from an ancient city on a planet in another galaxy, a city that no one outside of this facility even knows exists. That alone makes us very uncomfortable, so please excuse us for pointing guns at you and holding you prisoner, but we have to know how someone from Earth comes to do these things." Carter’s testiness matched the previous sarcasm beautifully.

The guard on Carter's right made a exclaimation of surprise. "She just did it to me too. Wow, that is really cool how Atlantis looks though. But Major Carter, she thought Atlantis was on Earth."

Carter looked around at the guard and raised an eyebrow. "Airman, you two wait outside please, and inform the General that Kyria seems to have the ability to project thoughts."

Kyria sighed as the Airmen left. "So, not the same Atlantis." She ran a hand through her hair and stood up to pace.

Carter looked confused now. "Not the same Atlantis? Your Atlantis was on Earth?"

Kyria shrugged. "Yeah. And yours is in some other galaxy. They're probably not related at all."

A look of realization crossed Carter's face, "You are from an alternate Earth. A very different one by the sound of it." She pushed a button on an intercom on the table, "Please have some refreshments brought in." She looked back to Kyria, "That changes things. I still can't tell you much, but this facility is called Stargate command. It is here to protect Earth from hostile alien threats, and so that we can explore the other worlds and meet their people. Kyria, we will do what we can to help you get back to your reality if that is in our power, but in order to do that please tell me how you came to be traveling through a Stargate? Did it look like the gate you saw when you arrived here, or was it different?"

Kyria blinked at the rapid change in the Major's demeanor, and couldn't quite stop a laugh at the end. "Major, going back is the last thing in any universe I want to do. We didn't come here by accident, we just weren't aiming anywhere in particular. I don't know what this Stargate of yours is. A friend, I suppose, of ours transported us here by warp." She stopped then, her own mind catching up with and suppressing her childish emotions long enough to get through. "You don't have novas here, do you? You have no idea what I mean by a warp."

"Warp? It looked to us like you came through a wormhole. It was slightly different than normal, but except that it was glowing, it looked like any other wormhole. What are Novas?"

Kyria was pacing again, "Well, I suppose a warp is a wormhole. So that ring thing we were under, that's your Stargate? It makes warps, wormholes for you?"

Carter nodded, "Yes. You don't use those where you come from?"

Kyria shrugged. "No, not quite. I could see how it could be a lot more convenient, though. Machinery is much simpler than people." She grinned, "Usually."

"Are Novas these people that create warps?"

Kyria shrugged again, "Some of them can. It really just depends on the nova. Well, if you won't give me an x on the map, will you at least tell me what the date is here?"

Carter smiled brightly, a very friendly expression, "It is 2004."

Kyria nodded in thanks and sat down, looking very thoughtful again. "Hmn. Well, where does that actually leave us then? I assume if you have secret military bases then there are separate nations on Earth? And you said something about alien threats. Are you at war then?"

Carter nodded, "We are not at war, but we do have enemies that wish us harm. Yes, there are separate nations. You seemed to be familiar with the United States when I first mentioned it. Have you traveled to more than one reality, one where there is no United States?"

"Where I grew up there was a US, but that was more a geographical reference than a political one. The Paragons and my father had guided the world to Unity well before I was born." She frowns slightly and shakes her head, then moves on. "As for other realities, existence is infinite. Of course there are places where the US doesn't exist. There are Earths where the western continents don't exist, or Earth itself isn't there any more or is just a ball of..." She shudders at the memory of the place they found Meri in. "Nevermind. Yes, I've been places where the US isn't, for whatever reason."

The door opened and a guard brought in a tray and sat it on the table nodding to Carter in passing and smiling at Kyria. Carter picks up a piece of toast and nibbles at it, gesturing for Kyria to help herself. "I would love to hear about those worlds, and especially your home."

Carter smiled and settled in to her chair, pen in hand.

[Luchian]

[i guess this is the place to post an "invitation"?]

A couple days after his interrogation, Taylor has made what contact is allowable to friends and family, and acquired the latest issues of the New Yorker and US Weekly. He has already asked where he might find Kyria, and discovers that he has wandered down her corridor. Assuming there are no accidents, or at least no point in wasting the opportunity, he walks over and knocks on her door.

"Specialist Kyria? Are you in?" Taylor clicks off his digital recorder, realizing it's rude to take notes without permission.

[i was hoping we could do a "crash course" so I can justify Taylor's knowing at least the bare bones basics about his telepathy, and it won't hurt to cement some interactions, especially since it'll be someone outside their own teams-just my thoughts. We can always nix this if you don't have time.]

[z028 Riley]

Kyria opened her door to reveal a room with little furniture, covered in books. "Yeah, Taylor, right? What's up?"

[Luchian]

"Actually, if you have a minute, I was hoping we could take a walk." He makes a motion, as if pointing at some unseen path. "I'd like to pick your brain if you don't..." He pauses, and laughs in a soft, self-deprecating way, "I suppose that's a poor choice of words. I was hoping you wouldn't mind chatting for a bit."

[z028 Riley]

She shrugs and steps out. "Sure. Anything in particular you're wondering about or are you just bored like me?"

She grinned at that last bit.

[Luchian]

"Well, I haven't been bored yet. This place, and, well, everything lately is quite new to me. I'm still reeling slightly to tell you the truth." He smiles. "But I did have one big question, and I'm not sure what the etiquette is here, so forgive me if it's rude, but were you born with your telepathy? Or was it something that came later?"

He smiles, and releases a nervous cough. "I'm just asking, because I feel like a fish out of water here. And I'd rather not go jostling around in other people's minds, when I don't have my own head straight just yet. If you could help with that, I'd be willing to supply you with all the bad coffee you can drink." He gives her a genuine, slightly boyish smile.

[z028 Riley]

She grinned at him and nodded, "Yeah. Both my parents were novas, so I was born with my abilities. It's taken me a bit to get used to how things are here. My father Micheal was a telepath, too, and it was just sort of normal, where I grew up. There baselines around, sure, but the world had already gotten used to novas and psiads."

She strolled through the facility with him, nodding to the personel and occasional other nova they ran across. "Sometimes you're going to pick up on other people's thoughts, especially if they're thinking 'loudly' because they're upset or just...well, kind of a loud thinker. General Oneill is like that sometimes, but just ignore anything you pick up from him. He gets all cranky about it." She looks thoughtful for a moment. "Dr. Jackson and Major Carter wanted to run some tests with me to see the range of my telepathy and how reliable it is. They've been on missions and dealing with everyone else here for the past few weeks, but I think if we went to them as a pair they'd make room for us in their schedule."

She grinned again, an irrepressible teen most of the time, "It'd be good practice and we'd get access to the labs and whatnot."

[Mr Fox]

Almost as if he'd been summoned Dr. Jackson came walking down the hall. He wasn't looking at anyone though, or even were he was going. His feet were taking him somewhere on their own, his head was buried in a book and he was reading as he walked.

[z028 Riley]

Kyria gave Taylor a wicked look that the base had come to dread (as much for the General's subsequent rants as for whatever mischief Kyria had actually committed). She ghosted over to the good doctor on silent feet and peered over his shoulder.

Wha'cha readin'?

[Luchian]

I suppose, he thinks to himself, it would be good to know my limits before I'm tested on an actual mission.

Before Taylor can protest, Kyria is already on her way towards Dr. Jackson. Taylor walks over casually, awaiting whatever shenanigans transpire.

[Mr Fox]

Dr. Jackson jumped slightly and looked up frowning then smiled as he saw that it was Kyria. "Uh, Hello. Garland's 'Early Mayan Dieties.' Something I can do for you?"

[z028 Riley]

Her grin said 'you are such a dork,' but it was a friendly tease; half the books in her room were borrowed from him. She jerked her head in Taylor's direction. "He wants some mind-to-mind practice, and I thought you and Major Carter might like having two lab rats 'stead of just one."

[Mr Fox]

He looked confused for just a moment then brightened, "Oh, yeah, that would be great. I think Sam is available today at least for a while. Lets go see if she's in her lab."

He led the way up several levels to where the scientists had their labs and offices. Major Carter's door was open and she could be seen typing away at her laptop. Daniel knocked and waited for her to look up before walking in.

"I see you've brought us some guinea pigs eh?" Carter smiled a friendly smile at the two young novas. "Come in and have a seat."

Once everyone was comfortable, Kyria and Taylor on opposite sides of the table, she continued, "Lets start small." She moved her laptop so that neither Telepath could see the screen. "Specialist Donnighal, I'm going to put several images on the screen and look at them, you tell me what they are by reading my thoughts. Think you can handle that?" Seeing her confident smile she looked at Taylor, "Specialist Price, after she is finished we'll do the same thing."

[z028 Riley]

Kyria sat down and seemed to zone out before nodding to the Major. "Square. Triangle. Squiggly Lines. Square. Circle. Circle. Cross. Triangle..."

She went on like for a while. The other techs slowly joined Dr. Jackson in watching the screen as Kyria rattled off answers. They went from shapes to colors to numbers to words, each time with a different 'tester' for Kyria to pull from.

After about a half hour of testing the teen nova their attention turned to Taylor. They had him start by taking a version of the test without anyone looking at the answers, the machine cycling through on its own. This made sure that he was reading their minds and not reading the machine. Apparently there was precedence for that on the base.

Dr. Jackson took was Taylor's first tester. He smiled at Taylor as he started up the test. "Just relax and let me know when you're ready."

[Luchian]

Taylor nods. "Understood." Well, this certainly seems like it'll be simple enough.

(((OOC: Unless I say otherwise, italics will just indicate that he's thinking to himself. I'll always make a note if he's broadcasting.)))

[Mr Fox]

((Luchian, go ahead and post your test the way Kyria did then when you are done I'll make a post about what happens afterward.))

[Luchian]

(((OOC: For some reason Kyria's test didn't show up when I made my last post.)))

"Alright. I'm ready." Taylor sits patiently, and tentatively peeks into the Doctor's mind. He notices, that with his anticipation of the test, his thoughts are very clear. Most people are more jumbled, with several layers of thoughts overlapping on occasion, where one voice stands out, but there's always a murmur in the background. He doesn't find that with Jackson.

"Square. Diamond. Rectangle. Oval. A Greek cross." He continues for several minutes.

Jackson fiddles with the computer for a moment. "Now, we're going to add colors to the composition. It'll be the same, but this time, I want you to indicate the color of the shape as well. Just stay relaxed."

Taylor nods, and waits for a moment. "I like your wallpaper. The waterfall is beautiful."

Jackson looks up, "Yes, well. Just switching screens. Now, let's begin. Anderson here, will be the tester." The assistant sits down. She looks a little uneasy.

"A blue star. A sort of apple red? Rectangle. Green diamond. Green square. Yellow, squiggly lines."

They continue on, each subsequent time with other alterations, and a new person. He notices that the other minds are not typically as orderly as the Doctor's. It does make the testing a little more challenging, but he quickly adjusts. They match and mismatch words to the pictures, and have two shapes together. He has to read them left to right, and then right to left. After some time, they finish with the first battery of tests.

I never knew how tedious, and nerve wracking this can be. It's been so long since anyone used tests on me. I guess I'll have a little more sympathy for my patients from now on.

Jackson looks up as they finish, "Very good, Specialist Price."

(((OOC: Just used a random name for the assistant. Didn't figure it would matter too much.

[Mr Fox]

After about three hours had passed Dr. Jackson, Major Carter and a hand full of other assistants had all taken turns testing the two telepaths. Carter looked over at Jackson, "I think the results are pretty conclusive. Of course we would have to introduce various control elements if we were going to actually publish the results, which of course we aren't, but I am convinced regardless."

Daniel nodded agreement and added, "Something else to put in the notes. I can feel it when Kyria uses her telepathy, but not when Taylor does. That's a very interesting distinction. I wonder what the cause of that is." Looking from Sam to Kyria, "You are familiar with these abilities from your home universe, do you have an explanation?"

[z028 Riley]

Kyria purses her lips, looking briefly annoyed. "I was like Taylor in my own timeline, but there were telepaths there more like I am now. It may be the weakness that came over me when we got here, or that there is a difference between the minds here and the ones I'm used to." She shrugs. "I'm sure I'll pick up the trick of being undetectable here in time."

She shakes off her beginning bad mood and smiles at Taylor, "So, feeling worked out a bit? I'm sure there are other tests we can do that are more interesting later, like seeing how far you and I can hold a connection on the base, or seeing if it works through the Stargate." She seemed excited at trying that out. "That would be the farthest I've ever held a connection except when Cody, Father, and I gestalted with humanity to deal with the Chromatics."

[Mr Fox]

Carter and Daniel both looked very interested all of a sudden. "Gestalted with Humanity?" Daniel blurted out.

"Deal with the Chromatics?" Carter added.

Daniel finished with, "We didn't see anything about this in the reports we read."

[z028 Riley]

Kyria bit her lip and shrugged. "I didn't put it in the report. It didn't really matter, here. There were some aliens in my home time-line. They were afraid of how powerful humanity was becoming so they started plotting to destroy us by getting a hold of some people and making them into super psiads. Those people then, either themselves or through dominated people, infiltrated different parts of the government, the economy, the military. Their plan was to cripple the world, cripple humanity so that we'd never reach our potential and be a threat to them. My father and Cody, one of the Paragons, were supposed to meet with them to try to negotiate peace, but one of their super psiad people had hurt him. Michael, my father I mean. He was in a coma. Cody asked me to help out since I had inherited my father's ability to meld telepaths together in a way that makes them stronger together than apart. The attacks still happened, but the Paragons had diffused the worst of it. The world was still pretty shocked and damaged. We hadn't had any violence on that scale in...decades, my entire life. Cody and I sort of reached out or were reached out to..."

She frowned, her brow furrowing cutely, "It's a little hard to separate out. We became One. True Unity. Not just Cody and me and Father. All of us. We touched the minds of every human, gathered Us all together, and then confronted the aliens. We called them the Chromatics." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "They were so afraid of Us. We hadn't meant any harm, but they....they couldn't interact with us, couldn't be friends. We settled for agree not to cross into their regions of space, and they agreed to the same."

She shook her head, then looked up and smiled at the room. "Sorry, that's all I meant."

[Mr Fox]

Carter looked worried, "In your universe, there were no Goa'uld or Asgard or Ancients where there?" Seeing Kyria nod conformation she added, "I hope it is safe to assume that these Chromatics don't exist in our reality. What do you think Kyria?"

[z028 Riley]

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "If there were, they've either gotten over their xenophobia with so many other races around, been destroyed, or control an area of space in the galaxy you haven't explored with the Stargate yet. More than likely, they simply don't exist here or developed differently than the Chromatics in my timeline. This place is much different."

[Mr Fox]

"That's a relief. I would also think that if they were around then we would have seen some mention of them in the writings of the Ancients or others. Or the Jaffa would have legends of them." She pauses for a moment to make a quick note on her laptop to question Teal'c about any other alien races they might have encountered that would match Kyria's description.

"Well, I don't know about you all but we've worked right though lunch. I have a meeting with some scientists this afternoon. Let's try and work in a few more sessions of testing over the next few days. While we are at it I would like to see if Specialist Donnighal still has the ability to work with other telepaths."

[Luchian]

Taylor nods. "Melding? Honestly, I'm not sure I'm up to something like that. I'm not even comfortable with what telepathy I've developed thus far. But I suppose it would be worth knowing if that's even possible. It's feasible that we won't be fully compatible. Then again, humans can receive transfusions from apes. If we're closely linked enough..."

Taylor coughs, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, I suppose I'm rambling. It would be good to know, regardless. But lunch sounds good for now."

Rather than hazard some sort of salute, Taylor simply nods to the Major and Doctor. "Specialist Donnigal, care to join me? I think I did say something about coffee."

[z028 Riley]

Kyria nodded to him and waved goodbye to the techs and half of SG1. She took Taylor's arm, squeezing it reassuringly. "You'll get used to it, promise. As for the meld thing, we can try it later sometime. Since you weren't born a telepath and aren't really used to it all or to having other telepaths around, we should get to know each other better, first. Melding is....." She thought about it for several long moments. "Well, it's more intimate than just about anything else. Even when it was billions of people, afterwards everyone had a sense of Cody and me and my father. They knew things about us, occasionally even had some of our memories running about in their heads." She shrugged again, trying to act nonchalant but it was obvious to his empathy that the experience had effected her profoundly and she was still dealing with it. "So, pretty intense."

They had reached the cafeteria by the end of her explanation, she caught site of something and lit from his side. "Ooh, Chocolate cake!"

[Luchian]

Taylor nods, reassuringly, knowing that he doesn't fully grasp any of this, but also not wanting to push Kyria more than is needed. "I see. That would-", and before he can finish his thought the chocolate cake steals the show.

Moments later, they're sitting down to eat, and Taylor has opted for fruit instead of cake. "You know, I've never been big on sweets. I don't know why. Maybe it's just because my sister always snagged them first." He smiles.

"So, we've delved into your life a bit. And I really do appreciate the help. Is there anything you'd like to know about me? It seems kind of unfair for you to do all the sharing."