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Cleaning Up After The Ancients - Chapter 26
🕑 Added 2024-12-18 18:01:24 +0000 UTCChapter 26 - Election Speedrun
Weir, Caldwell, and Everett wanting to discuss things without him around was moderately understandable from a security perspective. Though Eventus didn't really have the heart to tell them that with the ZPM plugged in he could just bring up the internal sensors logs to review everything they said if he actually wished to do so.
On the upside, that left him free to slip over to the core interface room and initiate the high councilor vote.
“How's it going?” Sheppard inquired as he fell in step.next to Eventus as he exited into the control room.
“Tired but still have a couple things that need doing before I can crash for a half day or so..” Eventus admitted, not even remotely surprised the man had been waiting for him. “They put you on Ancient duty again?”
“Pretty much.” Sheppard confirmed with a wry grin as he followed Eventus down the steps. “Surprised you're taking the stairs.”
“Core room is just a couple floors down.” Eventus told him as they reached the floor, after which a quick turn right and a dozen meter walk down the passage quickly found them at the room in question.
“So the hologram room is the core room?” Sheppard asked in interest as Eventus stepped onto the platform.
“Not exactly.” Eventus said as he set his hands.on the plith to let the neural interface connect with his mind. “The core interface rooms are direct pathways to Atlantis's virtual intelligence.”
With those words a hologram of head archivist Ganos Lal materialized on the platform.
“Hello.” It greeted with the general lack of inflection Eventus had long come to expect from the questionably intelligent program. “How may I help you today?”
“I'd like to initiate the complete extinction somehow avoided protocol.” Eventus answered, noting with some amusement the odd look Sheppard shot him at the name.
“Last Lantean access exceeds the required limit for protocol activation, please wait while a population check is performed” The hologram replied.
“Complete extinction somehow avoided?” Sheppard asked in amusement as the hologram silently stood there.
“By its very nature the word somehow covers all possibilities.” Eventus returned simply, though that hadn't stopped various petitions over the centuries to more specifically define just what it covered. “Also, that bad at naming things problem is a long running historical one.”
“Population depletion confirmed.” The hologram finally said as its head shifted slightly to focus on Eventus. “Current Lantean population, two.”
Eventus blinked in surprise at the number, it being one more then he had expected given he couldn't exactly recall any more members of his people being around the city.
“List current Lantean population.” He instructed just in case he had missed someone.
“Eventus Iuxta Devera, Atlantis Maintenance Engineer. John Sheppard, Terra Civilian.” The hologram answered without so much as a hitch, and it was Eventus's turn to five the other man an odd look.
“Is there something I should know, John?” He asked the man, not even remotely sure how that might have come about given the general weirdness of their universe.
“Got me.” Sheppard returned with a shrug.
“Do you wish to begin the nomination process?” The hologram interjected.
“Yes.” Eventus told it before turning fully to Sheppard. “When the hologram pops up, you'll probably want to poke the no button.”
The moment he finished saying that a one sided holographic screen appeared in front of each of them, angled in such a way that neither would be able to see what the other was actually doing.
“It's asking me if I want to run for high counselor.” Sheppard said as his eyes flicked over the text on screen.
Eventus sighed as he poked yes on the screen in front of him. “It's an authorization side step, once the process finishes I'll be able to restart the city's production facilities.”
“At which point we'll be able to use them?” Sheppard asked in a slightly suspicious tone as stared at the screen in seeming thought.
“Anyone with the activation gene should be able to use them for most things.” Eventus offered with the slightest hint of impatience in this voice. “The only exceptions are weapons, nanites, anti-matter, radioactive material, and complex self replicating biological structures.”
Sheppard nodded as if that made perfect sense. “So no killer plagues, got it.”
The Major began reaching towards the screen only to pause as something seemed to occur to him. “You know, this feels like something Doctor Weir might want to know about.”
“The city is listening, you know.” Eventus said in an expectant tone as he pointed at the hologram.
As if to prove his point the hologram turned to Sheppard in a movement Eventus knew was pre-programed to make it seem more approachable. “John Sheppard, are you in any way under duress or being compelled by an outside command structure to try and seize control of this city?”
“It’s going to check either way.” Eventus said in a slightly dramatic whisper that had no real point but to amuse him. “But if you say no it will at least pretend to believe you.”
Sheppard looked between Eventus and the hologram for a moment before shaking his head at it. “Nope, didn’t even know this was a thing till a few minutes ago.”
“What happens if it doesn’t believe me?” He asked in an aside as the virtual intelligence continued to stare at him.
“It would lock down the city and escalate from there depending on the threat level.” Eventus explained, the concern behind that particular contingency having been that an outside force might kill almost everyone and then later use a survivor to try and seize control of the city.
“Escalate?” Sheppard questioned as he shot a concerned look at the still silent hologram. “Like sending killer robots after us or something?”
“We stopped doing those after the Asuran project.” Eventus reassured him. “It’s mostly things related to the environmental system controls. Gas, temperature, radiation, gravity, that sort of thing. We weren’t usually ones for immediately lethal responses, you understand. But this situation was one of the few exceptions due to the damage a hostile force could do with full access to everything.”
“I get it.” Sheppard said as he gave a nod of understanding. “We put self-destruct systems on our bases for a similar reason.”
“So.” He continued after a moment as he shot a furtive glance back at the hologram. “Do we just wait or what?”
Eventus chuckled at that. “It’s already done the check, found nothing that triggered a response, and is now back to waiting for you to fill in the hologram.”
“Ah, well.” Sheppard mused as he looked back at the holographic screen. “High Counselor sounds like a job with a lot of paperwork, so I might as well pass.”
With that the Major finally poked the hologram, at which point both screens winked out before another one instantly appeared in front of him.
“Now it's asking me if I want to run for the Military or Exploration Councilor positions.” He said as he frowned at the screen.
Eventus raised a single eyebrow at Sheppard, moderately surprised the virtual intelligence had decided the man had met the minimum criteria for either of those positions. “You must have spent an inordinate amount of time on the Jumper flight simulators.”
“It’s what I do.” Sheppard admitted as he considered the screen for a moment before poking a button.
“Nominations registered.” The hologram announced as the holographic screen in front of the Major winked out. “Beginning voting.”
Once more two screens materialized in front of them, and Eventus turned a glare to other man upon noticing Sheppard’s name on the ballot under the open Military Councilor position.
“Dad always wanted one of us to be a politician.” Sheppard offered with a shrug once he noticed the look. “Figured I might as well give it a try.”
That was a deflection if Eventus had ever heard it, but given Sheppard had selected the Council position with the least actual authority and the most paperwork, the Ancient was going to let it lie without further complaint just to see the look on the other man's face when the first five thousand page readiness report showed up on his computer.
He touched the two points on the hologram without saying anything else, and then waited for Sheppard to finish doing the same.
“Tabulating votes.” The holographic woman announced as the two screens vanished.
A moment of silence passed, and then in an act that Eventus knew was being repeated in front of every single human in the city a tiny holographic representation of him appeared and the hologram's voice began echoing out from within it.
“With one hundred percent of the vote Eventus Iuxta Devera has been elected to the position of High Counselor.”
The hologram remained there for a moment before switching to a tiny representation of Sheppard.
“With one hundred percent of the vote John Sheppard has been elected as the Military representative of the Council.”
Another moment passed before the holograms disappeared entirely, coinciding to almost a moment with the radio on Sheppard’s vest crackling to life.
“Major Sheppard.” Weir’s voice echoed out in a tone that was very clearly not amused. “What did you just do?”
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Author’s Notes: Poor Weir, in Sheppard’s defense however he wasn’t wrong in thinking it would give them the ability to at least have a say in how the city is run. He just misjudged the fact that to the Ancients the Military was pretty much the least important of all council positions. Onwards!
Comments
Denn Mael
Palpatine says: "...Do it."
Pearl of the Orient
Interesting. I had assumed his lover had reworked his DNA into a full Alterran. Eventus will have to scan earth and set drones to keep an eye on other Slterran humans. Whisking them away even the various asshats, the Trust for example, try to take them in a plot to take Atlantis
Pearl of the Orient
look on the other man's face when the first five thousand page readiness report showed up on his computer. Oh dear god! This will be hilarious! I'd it's anything like EPA environmental impact study reports John has my sympathy
Edar
Fair enough. Shepard was alway seen as a kind of black sheep/troublemaker on earth anyhow lol. I think the only reason he wasn't black balled or sent to some nowhere command is because of Jack O'Niell.
Fateor
Well, if it makes you feel better I can assure you this is going to cause Sheppard no end of trouble. Because the IOA isn't just going sit idle and let an American military officier claim membership in an alien polity. Nor will the US military be very happy about it once they know there's more then just a single ancient still around. As to the rest, keep in mind that for the computer Terra was the Lantean homeworld that the people of Atlantis evacuated back to. Technically as a direct enough descendant anyone with a non-artifically activated ATA gene could apply for citizenship without trouble. (Those with an artificially activated one would have a much steeper climb.)
Edar
I really don't think that any person other than an actual Lantian should be able to have a position of authority or even run for an office. It's like comparing the ATA Gene to being a full citizen, when all they can do is use SOME of the Alteran/Lantian technology, especially when there is an actual Lantian alive and running for High Councilor and the city's systems still have Lantians as MIA, not confirmed dead. For comparison, it would be like saying that because someone is of African or European descent, they could go to those continents and run for office (outside of a dictatorship) or vote because it's part of their DNA. I mean, the AI even specified that Shepard was a human from Terra, has been watching the expedition the whole time so should know Shepard answers to someone in a different polity, but he still was not eliminated from the running anyway. Just a bit frustrated that now this is something else that could encourage/validate Earths sense of entitlement to what isn't theirs. Evantus is already being more than accommodating to their "demands."
Fateor
It takes 4 out of 7 members of the Council voting to do so to over rule the High Councilor, Eventus has absolutely nothing to worry about.
Pin
At least he has Asgard to fall back on. They could easily spare a ship if he asked for help from them, especially for something as valuable as Atlantis. If he asked, the Asgard could kick out Expedition anytime, either by suggesting it or outright. If there is one place that might have a solution for the cloning problem, it's Atlantis or Vanir. Ex: they sent 3 top of line ships to the Milky Way to stop the gap. Also, there are a lot of reasons they have to play nice with him as Asgard arre watching how they treat him now.
Cesar gonzalez
Paperwork. Probably the reason why the ancients ascended.
Rockinalice
Unfortunately he is now Crying in a Conner because Atlantis has Enlightened him to the Mountains of Paperwork he now has to do before he can go Fly around and Shoot people
Rockinalice
Good God Ganos must be fucking pissed that Even has gotten this past while any friends he has that Ascended are likely Laughing their Asses off at everyone that thought even wasn't going to fuck with them when they left him behind (like a Certain Prank buddy of his)
Marius Petrauskas
nice
James W
Another point to consider was that wasn't actually the Hologram of Ganos Lal, and she was both ensuring John remained military head of the city, and was trolling Evan... Something which will frustrate him when he realizes it. Though amusingly, he is now the direct superior of Captain whatsherface of the Tria and her crew. Which means she can't just boot them and the Athosians off Lantea now either...
Zerlestes
Maybe make a point of him getting access to Military data strategy's etc and point out the many ways they screwed up ending up in a seminar for the aurora crew how to not suck in war that even a primitive like me knows you suck and of course HOW THE HELL DID YOU LOSE :P
Eternity Smut
I guess it's time to rewrite the City's permission system because he universe almost screwed him over right there and then. Recoverable when there's still the Asuran but problematic in the long run. This one time is bad enough. He can't have this happen again such that there can't be an impasse between his permission and anybody else in the city or any of the lantean survivors. He got infinite time to live but he can't be dragged by the paces of these guys.
Fateor
On the up side, he's just garunteed he won't be re-assigned any time soon. :D
Fateor
And now I want to throw in the line. "Congradulations Sheppard, you're literally the most compentent military commander we've ever had."
Endymion2314
"At what point in the history, tech, or ruins you've seen that we were at any point able to competently run a Military?"
Cesar gonzalez
Ah Sheppard, making problems even when trying not to.
