Destiny interface chair

The Destiny interface chair is a device that was created by the Ancients and installed on Destiny. It is an earlier design of the Repository of Knowledge and Control chair units that have been seen in various other locations once controled by the Ancients.

Overview
"A repository of knowledge that can be literally...downloaded...to one's mind."

- Dr. Rush

This unit predates the later version of the Repository of knowledge, possibly by millions of years. The device, located aboard Destiny, is built into a chair and contains electrodes placed either side of the user's head which facilitate transfer of information to the brain. The electrodes do not normally puncture the skin during operation, but the seizures induced in some cases can cause the user's head to cut itself on them. The user is not conscious during use, but is still restrained. The chair doubles as a neural interface, allowing the one using it to control the ship by thought.

Because this technology predates the ATA gene technology, it does not require the gene to activate it as its successor does. Due to its age, it holds a smaller and far safer amount information than its later counterpart. Conversely, it transfers knowledge at a far greater rate; while the Repository of Knowledge allows the information to unfold in the recipient's mind, the early version bombards the subject with its entire database in mere minutes. This leaves the user catatonic until their mind can process the information and recover.

The early repository likely holds much knowledge regarding Destiny, including, as Dr. Rush believes, the master code that allows access to the ship's core systems. Rush was able to glean the pattern behind the master code when using the chair in a modified state, which suggests it does possess the code.

Drs. Rush and Adam Brody, following the failed first attempt at using the chair, made modifications to the technology which slow down the rate of transfer to a pace somewhat safe for humans. By using a buffer to store most of the information then deliver it slowly, along with modifications to the interface to limit the transfer to a single area of the brain's memory center, they made it possible to download the information in the form of a lucid dream.

History
"Hey, looks like we found the dentist's office."

- Msgt. Greer

The repository was found aboard Destiny by a team, led by Msgt. Ronald Greer and monitored via Kino by Dr. Nicholas Rush. Upon entering the room, Boone activated a console and the device sprang to life; the bindings closed at the ankle and wrist positions and the neural electrodes swung down and protruded to where a person's head would be if the chair was occupied at the time. Rush quickly advised the team not to touch anything and went to the location himself to investigate further.

Later, Col. Young was informed of the discovery and he decided the device was too dangerous to be used. Despite Rush's insistence that the device is not as dangerous as those used by Jack O'Neill, he was not willing to sit in the chair himself until he was sure it was safe. Greer volunteered to sit in the chair if it meant saving the rest of the crew, but he respected Young's order not to.

First attempt to use
Though the order stood that the device was not to be used, Col. Young relinquished command of Destiny to Camile Wray when he became the prime suspect in the murder of Sgt. Spencer, at which time Wray granted Dr. Rush a science team, dedicated to researching the device. Late one night, while working alone, Jeremy Franklin sat in the chair. When he was discovered by Eli Wallace five minutes later, he was convulsing and the chair's electrodes had cut into the sides of his head, drawing blood. Eli was unable to deactivate the device himself, so he desperately called for help. Rush, Young and T.J. arrived at the scene and the chair soon deactivated. Franklin's convulsions eventually stopped, but he then went into a catatonic state. Wray ordered T.J. to administer a high dose of Lorazepam, though it apparently didn't have any immediate effect.

Second attempt to use
Some time later, the expedition developed modifications to prevent the transfer of data from overwhelming the user, giving them access via lucid dreaming. Doctor Rush sat in the chair in an attempt to find the master code, it helped him to narrow it down, using 46 as a base. Unlike with the first test, Rush suffered no damage other than two nosebleeds and a minor cardiac event.

Third attempt to use
In a desperate attempt to save Destiny from an attack, Colonel Young decides to use the chair to bypass the damage which was keeping Destiny from jumping to FTL. Franklin, who seemed to be snapping out of his catatonic state, managed to vocalize that he'd like to do it. He was allowed to take Young's place. When Franklin used the chair, he began lowering the temperature in the room for some reason, and ordered everyone to leave. He successfully bypassed the damage and took the ship to FTL. Strangely, when Young came back to check on Franklin, the chair was empty and Franklin was nowhere to be found.