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John was starting to move slower�his theory that he�d get anger-fuelled adrenaline from hearing about life on Earth after he disappeared didn�t seem to be working as well as he�d hoped. Which was incredibly unfortunate because the only button my data stores told me to press was the Elizabeth button, but I wasn�t programmed for that kind of emotional appeal.
Unable to I was about to start talking about some of the other policy changes that screwed both Atlantis and the SGC over when a voice in my head cut through my thoughts. �I need to cut the feed to your visual representation, Doctor McKay.�
Atlantis was neutral on most subjects, caring primarily for the welfare of her inhabitants�though, for over ten thousand years I�ve been her only inhabitant, and I�m not so much an inhabitant as a stream of Ancient ones and zeros�but she had helped Doctor McKay when he was loading my programming�Earth tech always needed a tiny bit of jury rigging to work at optimum, because Earth tech and Ancient tech weren�t as �plug and play� as it always seemed�and Atlantis even fixed a few teeny flaws in Rodney�s calculations that could have caused problems down the line.
Even though it was completely irrational I looked up, the motion pointless since I knew the voice, such as it was, belonged to Atlantis herself. �Why?� I demanded aloud.
Still, as neutral as Atlantis was, she had always had a soft spot for John Sheppard, and, I�m sure, has been stretching the limits of neutrality for him since he arrived.
�Why what?� John asked, confused, over the radio.
�I�m not talking to you, Sheppard,� I snapped, still waiting for a response from Atlantis.
�Great. My Jiminy Cricket�s gone crazy,� John muttered. �Why the hell are you talking to?�
�Atlantis. She wants to shut me off,� I said.
John was silent for a moment. Probably thrown by the fact that I was talking to Atlantis. �Why? She getting sick of you?� he asked, mostly teasing.
�If you�d shut up for a second maybe she�ll tell me,� I snapped in the most McKay way possible.
�Do not take that tone with John, or with me, Doctor McKay,� Atlantis rebuked.
I scowled darkly. �I knew you liked him better,� I muttered. I heard John make some sort of choking noise (A cough? A laugh? Something in between the two? I couldn�t tell) but managed to refrain from commenting. �Why do you want to shut me down?� I asked Atlantis.
�With the additional power stores that power your visual representation I will be able to modify the exterior temperature in the immediate vicinity of John, hopefully making his task less arduous.�
�That sounds crazy,� I said.
�What sounds crazy?� John asked.
I knew he had stopped moving�the city sensors were tied into my programming giving me full access to John�s movements and bio readings�and while his frustration was rational�only hearing one side of a conversation was, I realized, probably more than a little crazy-making�there wasn�t time for him to pause. �Move, John. I�ll talk, you move. That�s the only way any of this is going to work.�
John muttered something foul about Doctor McKay�s parentage�apparently he either didn�t quite grasp that I wasn�t really Rodney McKay or he had stopped caring about the distinction�but the sensors alerted me to the fact that he had started moving toward the Control Tower again, which was good enough for me.
�He will not survive the trek to the Control Tower in his condition, Doctor McKay. The only way he stands any chance is if I divert power from your visual representation to create an artificial environment