Before I Sleep/Transcript

Episode Guide
Before I Sleep" Episode Guide

Transcript
TEASER

EXT&mdash;ATLANTIS BALCONY

[Weir is there. Sheppard steps out to join her. He is geared up and carrying a backpack.]

SHEPPARD There you are.

WEIR Hey, I was just stealing a breath of fresh air. I thought you were off exploring the city.

SHEPPARD About to.

[He pulls out a bundle wrapped in maroon fabric.]

SHEPPARD I picked this up on the mainland. The Athosians made it. Happy birthday.

[She unwraps it. It's an old ceramic pot.]

WEIR Hmm. It's beautiful. How did you find out?

SHEPPARD Mum's the word.

[He leaves.]

WEIR Hmm.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[McKay watches a large display of Atlantis.]

SHEPPARD (over radio) All right, we're done with the living quarters. We're moving on.

MCKAY (into radio) Whoa, whoa, whoa, before you go, did you see anything better than our current quarters?

INT&mdash;ATLANTIS CORRIDOR

[Sheppard, Teyla, and Ford explore the dark hallway, using flashlights.]

SHEPPARD (into radio) A few. Some of them are pretty nice, actually.

MCKAY (over radio) Well, what kind of square footage are we talking about?

SHEPPARD (into radio) What am I, your realtor, Rodney? We're here to unlock the secrets of Atlantis.

MCKAY (over radio) Yeah, well, I'm looking for a one-bedroom with a den. Preferably with a balcony, but I'm not married to it. Look&mdash;

FORD (to Sheppard) Sir, check this out.

MCKAY (over radio) We might as well be comfortable, at least until the Wraith get here&mdash;

SHEPPARD (into radio) Shut up for a second.

[Sheppard joins Ford at the entrance to a room. They look inside.]

INT&mdash;ATLANTIS LABORATORY

[They enter the room. The lights come on.]

MCKAY (over radio) What? What is it?

TEYLA (into radio) Some sort of laboratory.

MCKAY (over radio) We've come across dozens of those. The city's full of them. Something unusual about it?

[Sheppard passes his hand over a console, and it lights up. In front of them, a chamber lights up to reveal a very old woman standing up inside.]

SHEPPARD (into radio) I'd have to say&hellip;yes.

END TEASER

OPENING CREDITS

EXT&mdash;ATLANTIS, EVENING

[A large group has gathered in front of the stasis chamber.]

MCKAY Well, we could stand here looking at her all day. What we've got to do is get her out of this box.

BECKETT Rodney, we can't take that chance. Look at her. She's at least a hundred years old.

MCKAY Which is why every second counts. I mean, she could drop dead while we stand here arguing.

SHEPPARD How can she drop dead? You said she was frozen.

MCKAY Technically, she's in a state of metabolic stasis. Aging slowed considerably, yes, but not entirely suspended.

TEYLA You are saying this woman is still alive?

MCKAY Yes. Life-sign systems indicate viability. According to the initial data I've been able to access, she's been in that chamber for ten thousand years.

FORD Ten thousand years?

SHEPPARD Doesn't look a day over nine thousand.

MCKAY She'll continue to age at a very slow rate until she dies, which, judging by the look of her, seems more likely to occur sooner rather than later&hellip;bringing me back to my original point.

BECKETT Look at her. She's so old, I'm afraid the process of reviving her might actually kill her.

MCKAY We cannot let this chance to talk to a living, breathing Ancient slip through our fingers. Again.

[He gives Sheppard a sour look, and Sheppard scowls back at him.]

BECKETT And who knows what state of mind she'll be in? Not to mention the fact that she might carrying some horrifying contagion.

MCKAY And who knows what she knows about our city? More importantly, does she know about any ZPMs lying around?

SHEPPARD Ah, there's a thought.

WEIR Revive her.

BECKETT But, doctor&mdash;

WEIR That's my call.

MCKAY Thank you.

[Beckett and McKay step away to the control station.]

SHEPPARD And the whole time we thought the city was abandoned.

TEYLA Is it possible the Atlanteans left her behind when they abandoned the city for Earth?

SHEPPARD Maybe she wanted to stay behind.

FORD Maybe they forgot about her.

SHEPPARD In which case, she's going to be really pissed when she wakes up.

WEIR If she remembers anything at all.

[Later, the old woman is out of the chamber and lying on a table as Beckett tends to her.]

BECKETT Breathing, shallow. Pulse, rapid. I'll run an EEG to determine any brain activity.

[Beckett takes a piece of paper from her hand.]

WEIR What is it?

BECKETT I don't know.

[Weir opens it, and McKay reads it.]

MCKAY It’s gate addresses, five of them. M7G-677. We've been to this planet.

TEYLA Dr. Weir&hellip;

[Teyla has noticed the woman has opened her eyes. The woman looks at Weir.]

WEIR Hello. Can you hear me?

[She doesn't respond. McKay waves his hand above her face.]

MCKAY Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Freezer burn.

FORD I thought she wasn't frozen.

BECKETT Ten thousand years, you expect her to dance a bloody jig?

MCKAY Yeah, but it's the eyes, Carson. You got to look at the eyes. The lights are on but nobody's home. Doesn't take a medical professional to know that&mdash;

WEIR Of course she can see us&hellip;and hear us. Hello. How are you feeling?

OLD WEIR It worked.

MCKAY What was that?

WEIR She said, "It worked."

MCKAY What does that mean?

SHEPPARD I assume something worked.

MCKAY Yes, that's very sharp.

SHEPPARD Thank you.

WEIR Hello? Huh. She fell asleep. When she's a bit more stable, transfer her to the infirmary. And I want video on her at all times, recording everything. We might not get a second chance at anything she may say.

MCKAY Let's hope we get a first, huh?

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[Sheppard and McKay lounge in front of big-screen display of the Atlantis lay-out.]

SHEPPARD Too big, huh?

MCKAY I'm not saying it's too big. I'm just pointing out its dimensions.

SHEPPARD Hmm. It's not that big&mdash;

WEIR Gentlemen?

SHEPPARD We were just wondering whether there are any other frozen bodies out there in Atlantis that we haven't discovered.

MCKAY And I was just saying there's no way of knowing in the short term. It'd be like searching every room in every building in Manhattan. It'll take a while. God knows what other kinds of surprises are out there, not showing up on the sensors.

WEIR Ah, that's what we're here to find out.

BECKETT (over radio) Dr. Weir?

WEIR (into radio) Yes?

BECKETT (over radio) You'd better come to the infirmary.

WEIR (into radio) Is our patient awake?

BECKETT (into radio) Aye, and she's saying the most peculiar things.

WEIR (into radio) On our way.

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[The old woman lies on an infirmary bed, monitors attached and running. Weir and McKay arrive.]

BECKETT She's drifting in and out, still very weak, but there's something a wee bit odd about this woman. She called me Carson. She knows my name.

MCKAY Maybe she overheard you talking to someone.

BECKETT No. I was alone in here when she woke up.

WEIR What about subconsciously? I've heard stories of coma patients being able to hear&mdash;

BECKETT No, no, it's more than that. She knows things.

[Weir approaches the woman.]

WEIR How are you feeling?

OLD WEIR Look at you. I didn't think I'd see any of you again. Missed you all so terribly&hellip; Even you, Rodney.

BECKETT You see?

WEIR I'm sorry? Do we know you?

OLD WEIR Oh, yes. I'm you, Elizabeth.

EXT&mdash;ATLANTIS, DAY

INT&mdash;ATLANTIS BRIEFING ROOM

FORD Time travel?

WEIR That's what she said. She&hellip;somehow found a way to travel back in time to when the Ancients inhabited the city.

TEYLA How did she&hellip;do this?

WEIR That will be one of the first questions I ask her when she wakes up again.

SHEPPARD If she ever wakes up again.

MCKAY Let's not be too quick to exclude the possibility that the woman might be, um&hellip; What is the clinical term? "Nuts?"

WEIR She may be senile, yes, but that doesn't explain how she knows so much about all of us.

FORD Is time travel even possible?

MCKAY Well, according to Einstein's general theory of relativity, there's nothing in the laws of physics to prevent it. Extremely difficult to achieve, mind you. You need the technology to manipulate black holes to create wormholes not only through points in space, but time.

SHEPPARD Not to mention a really nice DeLorean.

MCKAY Don't even get me started on that movie.

SHEPPARD I like that movie.

[Beckett enters.]

BECKETT Results of the DNA test. (to Weir) It's a match. She is you.

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

MCKAY I know what you're thinking. If she's been waiting in that stasis chamber all these millennia for us to arrive, why didn't the system automatically attempt to revive her the moment we got here? Answer? It did. I've been going over the data from our arrival. One of the first things we noticed was a sudden power surge in the section of the city where the stasis lab was. It was trying to revive her, only we didn't know that. All we saw was more power draining from an already nearly depleted ZPM, so we shut down all secondary systems. I almost killed her. You. How weird is that?

WEIR Very. Very, very weird. Looking at yourself&hellip;how you will be&hellip;

MCKAY (smiling) Actually, how you will be, will be different than how she is right now. See, the moment she went back in time she created a separate reality, a second you, living in a&mdash;in a parallel world. According to one of many interpretations of quantum theory. I mean, simply put, this interpretation states that the universe is, in fact, split into an infinite number of copies of itself in which every possible outcome to every decision ever made all exists somewhere in this infinitely layered "multi-universe."

WEIR Simply put.

MCKAY Yeah, in a nutshell.

OLD WEIR Elizabeth? There's so much to tell you. The note&hellip;I had a note.

WEIR Yes.

MCKAY (speaking quickly) Yes, yes, yes, yes. We got your note. And forgive my bluntness, but we really need to know everything about your encounter with the Ancients, beginning at the point where you went back in time. Specifically, how you went back in time, because that would be very useful for us&mdash;

WEIR Rodney&hellip; Let me talk.

OLD WEIR There was an accident. I remember, we arrived through the Stargate&hellip;

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;ATLANTIS GATE ROOM

[The expedition is arriving through the Stargate.]

OLD WEIR (voice over) The lights came on by themselves, sensing our presence&hellip;

WEIR Who's doing that?

OLD WEIR (voice over) The city slowly awoke&hellip;

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER BAY

[Crew-members find the Puddle Jumper bay.]

SCIENTIST (into radio) Dr. Weir, you have to see this.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

WEIR (into radio) There are a lot of things I have to see. Just be careful.

[McKay and Sheppard uncover the control stations in the control room.]

MCKAY This must be the control room. This-this is obviously their version of a DHD.

SHEPPARD Oh, obviously.

MCKAY This area is probably power control systems, some sort of a computer interface of some kind.

WEIR Why don't you find out?

MCKAY Well, see, that's the hitch. We've got lights coming on all over the city, air starting to circulate, but no power coming out of these consoles, so&hellip;

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

MCKAY Wait a minute. Back up a second. That isn't the way it happened. Everything came online when we arrived. It was lights, computers, power control systems, everything. I was able to access the database immediately.

OLD WEIR That's not what happened. Not the first time.

[She falls asleep.]

INT&mdash;BECKETT'S OFFICE

WEIR Isn't there something you can give her?

BECKETT She's in an extremely fragile state. Her blood pressure is low; her heart is very weak. If I administer a stimulant, I'm afraid it may induce a dangerous arrhythmia, or worse.

WEIR I'm not talking about a strong stimulant, just enough to keep her alert for a few more minutes at a time. We hardly get a couple of words out of her before she dozes off.

BECKETT Which, I might remind you, is not uncommon for a woman of ten thousand.

WEIR Carson, I understand your reticence, but trust me when I say I believe she can handle it&hellip; And I know she'd want it.

BECKETT (smiling) Okay.

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[Beckett takes Old Weir's blood pressure. She is sitting up in the bed now.]

OLD WEIR It's okay, Carson. I'm just as freaked out about all this as you are.

[Weir arrives.]

WEIR How's our patient doing?

BECKETT Pressure's improving, and as you can tell, she's much more alert.

WEIR Are you up for getting out of here?

INT&mdash;GATE ROOM

[Weir brings in Old Weir in a wheel chair. Personnel go about their business as Old Weir looks on.]

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

[The team and both Weirs have gathered.]

OLD WEIR Seeing the city like this, sitting on the surface of the ocean. You can't imagine how relieved I am.

MCKAY What are you saying? The city didn't rise the first time 'round?

OLD WEIR No. No. The city was in serious trouble from the very moment we arrived.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

MCKAY We're trying to interface these consoles with a temporary battery power, see if we can access the city's main power systems and get this place up and running.

SUMNER (over radio) Dr. Weir, Colonel Sumner. Can you come down here and meet me, please? We're three levels down from you.

WEIR (into radio) Right away.

[Sheppard and Weir leave.]

MCKAY How we doing over there?

GRODIN Nothing yet.

MCKAY Well, let's see what we can do, then.

INT&mdash;ATLANTIS OBSERVATION ROOM

[Sheppard and Weir arrive.]

SUMNER We've only been able to secure a fraction of the place. It's huge.

WEIR So it might really be the lost city of Atlantis.

SUMNER I'd say that's a good bet.

[They approach large windows.]

WEIR Oh, my God. We're underwater.

SUMNER I'd say we're under several hundred feet of ocean. This could be a problem.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[The console in front of McKay beeps.]

MCKAY Oh, no. (into radio) Dr. Weir, I need to see you in the control room immediately.

[Sheppard and Weir return. McKay has wired a device into an Atlantis console.]

MCKAY The city has a shield, some sort of an energy force field holding the water back. That is, it had a shield. The power systems are nearing maximum entropy. Our arrival hastened their depletion, big time.

[A large display shows flashing red boundaries around the city, and a warning message.]

MCKAY I mean, you can see, the shield is collapsing rapidly. Several sections of the city are already flooded.

WEIR Can we use our own power generators?

MCKAY I doubt our Naquadah generators can supply enough power to sustain the shield, and we probably don't have time to try. When I say rapidly collapsing, I mean rapidly.

WEIR (into radio) Colonel Sumner, I need you to order all your security teams to stop searching the city and fall back to the gate room immediately. Sumner, do you copy?

SUMNER Dr. Weir, this is Sumner&mdash;

[Over the radio comes the sounds of crashing glass and water, then nothing but static. Weir and Sheppard are horrified.]

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

WEIR Colonel Sumner drowned?

OLD WEIR (nodding) And he wasn't the only one to perish.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

SHEPPARD We should start evacuating people through the Stargate.

MCKAY We can't. Whatever power's left in the system has been diverted to sustaining the shield holding the ocean back.

WEIR Do we know why this is happening now?

MCKAY The shield might've held the water back for another 100 years, but power consumption spiked when we arrived.

SHEPPARD This is happening because we arrived?

MCKAY Yes.

WEIR What about auxiliary power?

MCKAY I'll try to interface the gate with one of our generators. Hopefully there's enough time. Grodin, access the Stargate control systems, see if you can locate any gate addresses in the database. Won't be nearly enough power to gate back to Earth, but maybe we'll have enough to gate elsewhere in Pegasus.

[He goes to work.]

WEIR Some of our team discovered a bay full of what they're calling ships.

SHEPPARD As in space ships? We should check them out.

WEIR You think you could figure out&mdash;

SHEPPARD I can fly just about anything.

WEIR Good. Go.

[Sheppard rushes out. The room shakes, causing concern from Weir and McKay.]

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER BAY

[Sheppard and Ford arrive and rush up to one of the Jumpers.]

SHEPPARD I'll start with this one. You start with one of those.

FORD What am I looking for?

SHEPPARD See how many people they can fit. Maybe we can fly out of here.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

GRODIN Two piers of the city are almost entirely flooded; a third about to collapse as well.

SHEPPARD (over radio) Dr. Weir, these ships look like a good fallback. They can hold several people each. Learning how to fly them's going to be another matter.

MCKAY (into radio) I'll see if I can pull up a schematic, find a way out.

SHEPPARD (over radio) This ship seems different than the others.

WEIR (into radio) Different how?

SHEPPARD (over radio) It's a different control console. I've radioed Zelenka. He's on his way over to check it out.

WEIR (into radio) Good, I'm on my way, too.

MCKAY Oh, no.

WEIR What's wrong?

MCKAY The city's going into a last-gasp self-protect mode. Airtight bulkheads are slamming shut all over the city. We've got people trapped.

WEIR Wouldn't that protect them?

MCKAY It's too little, too late. Most of the rooms are already breached. We've got people trapped with water rising.

WEIR Damn.

MCKAY I'll try to override the system, open the doors, but that's seriously hampering efforts to rig power to the Stargate.

[The room shakes more violently.]

WEIR If these ships turn out to be our only way out of here, I don't want you waiting too long to get up to the bay&hellip; Rodney&hellip;

MCKAY Yes, yes, yes, I heard. Go.

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER

[The Jumper has a time-travel console in the center. Zelenka is looking at is as Weir arrives.]

WEIR How are we doing?

ZELENKA This ship is different than the others.

SHEPPARD Yeah, we know that. Why? What's it do?

ZELENKA I do not know. I will need more time.

WEIR We don't have time. It's airtight, I assume.

SHEPPARD It's a space ship. It'd better be.

MCKAY Major Sheppard, I've located a roof hatch in the gate ship bay. I'll try to get it open.

[There is a loud bang in the distance.]

WEIR (into radio) What was that?

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

MCKAY (into radio) Bulkhead doors leading out of the control room have all slammed shut. We're locked in.

WEIR (over radio) Can you get it open?

MCKAY (into radio) I'm trying!

[Around the control room, water starts coming through the doors. McKay looks into the gate room and sees water flooding in, already covering the bottom third of the Stargate and rising fast.]

MCKAY (into radio) Forget it. The gate room's flooded.

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER

WEIR (into radio) Get them open and get up here. We're waiting for you.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

MCKAY (into radio) Elizabeth, we're going to keep trying to retract the roof. As soon as it opens, you go.

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER

WEIR (into radio) Rodney&mdash;

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

MCKAY (into radio) Look, there's no time to argue! Catastrophic failure is imminent. Just lock yourself in and go.

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

OLD WEIR Despite your efforts, there was nothing you could do, Rodney. Within seconds, the control room was flooded.

MCKAY I died?

OLD WEIR You never gave up trying, right until the end.

MCKAY (shaken) Well&hellip;a man wonders how he would choose to go out, given such dire circumstances. Now I know.

OLD WEIR Trying to save the lives of others.

SHEPPARD (casually) But ultimately failing.

MCKAY I'm sure if I had a few more seconds, I could&mdash;

WEIR Wait a second. Why didn't the fail-safe mechanism engage and raise the city to the surface?

OLD WEIR Because there was no fail-safe the first time. Atlantis remained on the ocean floor. The shield completely collapsed. Water came crashing in, flooding every room in the city. (to Ford and Beckett) You both drowned while attempting to get our people into ships (to Sheppard) And we, along with Dr. Zelenka, we found ourselves trapped.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER

[Water is rushing in the Jumper bay, as seen through the windshield.]

SHEPPARD We need to get out of here!

[The rear ramp shuts; Sheppard takes a seat in the pilot's chair.]

SHEPPARD Did McKay get the hatch open?

ZELENKA I do not know.

FORD (over radio) Major, there's six of us stuck in one of the ships! What do we do?

[The pilot station lights up after Sheppard touches it.]

ZELENKA What did you do?

SHEPPARD I don't know. I think I just turned it on. (into radio) Stand by, Sergeant. (to Zelenka) I'm not much for instruction manuals, but I could use one right about now.

[He pushes a button, and suddenly the ship is in space above the planet.]

WEIR Oh, my God.

SHEPPARD We're in space. What happened?

ZELENKA Now what did you do?

SHEPPARD I don't know. I just&hellip;

[The ship is rocked by an explosion.]

WEIR What was that?

EXT&mdash;SPACE

[Wraith darts speed past the Jumper.]

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

OLD WEIR (upset) We were under attack. We didn't know where we were or who was shooting at us. And that's when John&hellip;

[She starts to falter, her eyes fluttering.]

WEIR Carson!

BECKETT (into radio) This is Beckett. I need medical assistance in the conference room ASAP.

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[Old Weir is asleep on an infirmary bed. Weir and Sheppard look on.]

SHEPPARD How's she doing?

WEIR Stabilized, but still very weak, and getting weaker.

SHEPPARD Your own mortality, staring you right in the face. I can't imagine how you must be feeling.

WEIR When she looks at me, it's as if she's sensing my thoughts, and I'm sensing hers. It's very unsettling.

SHEPPARD Just when you thought this place couldn't get any weirder.

[McKay arrives.]

MCKAY Well, it's obvious. The Puddle Jumper they escaped in must've been some sort of a time machine. It had to have an additional component built into it.

SHEPPARD Flux Capacitor.

MCKAY Yeah. Question is, where is the time machine now, hmm?

WEIR Why don't we ask her?

[Old Weir wakes up.]

OLD WEIR What happened?

WEIR Can you tell us? The ship that you escaped in, where is it now?

OLD WEIR It's gone.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER

[The ship is being fired on by Darts.]

ZELENKA Who is shooting at us?

SHEPPARD Better question is, how do we shoot back?

EXT&mdash;SPACE

[The Jumper's weapons bays extend and fire, taking out one Dart.]

INT&mdash;PUDDLE JUMPER

SHEPPARD Did I do that?

[A ship is heading right for them.]

SHEPPARD Hang on!

[The Jumper appears to fire, and there's a white flash.]

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

OLD WEIR The next thing I knew&hellip;I woke up here.

SHEPPARD What, you mean now?

OLD WEIR No. Then.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[Young Weir is lying on an infirmary bed.]

JANUS You're awake.

OLD WEIR (voiceover) His name was Janus. He healed my wounds and explained to me what had happened.

[Janus is a young man. Weir is dressed in white clothing, the original version of what she was wearing in the stasis chamber.]

JANUS Your ship was shot down. We retrieved it from the ocean floor.

WEIR Major Sheppard? Dr. Zelenka?

JANUS No one survived.

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

MCKAY (to Sheppard) Ha! Ah, the bitter taste of ultimate failure, hmm?

SHEPPARD Well, if you had just figured out how to fix the damn shield in the first place, none of us would've died.

[Old Weir smiles and shakes her head at the banter.]

MCKAY I did everything I could, including valiantly attempting to save your sorry&mdash;

WEIR Gentlemen&hellip; Focus. (to Old Weir) Please continue.

OLD WEIR Needless to say, I was very confused. He explained to me that the ship we had escaped in was&hellip;a time machine. He was the one who built it. After I was feeling better, he brought me before the Atlantean Council.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

[Weir and Janus speak to the counsel.]

MELIA We welcome you to the city of Atlantis.

WEIR Thank you.

MELIA Unfortunately, your arrival has come at a time of great conflict. We've been under siege for many years and have submerged our city as a measure of protection.

WEIR Yes, it's extraordinary. It's how we found the city when we came through the Stargate.

MOROS From Earth?

WEIR Yes.

JANUS (smiling, standing) Ten thousand years from now. It should be noted that our actions have succeeded in protecting the city for so many years.

MELIA Let us hope Dr. Weir's arrival has not altered this eventuality. By directly encountering the Wraith, she may have already set in motion a chain of events that could lead to a future far different from the one she left.

WEIR I'm sorry, what are the Wraith?

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

OLD WEIR They told me of beings called "Wraiths," a vicious, formidable enemy whose power and technology rivaled their own.

MCKAY Yes, actually, we've already, um&mdash;

OLD WEIR The Atlanteans sent a delegation, protected by their most powerful warships in the faint hope of negotiating a truce&hellip; One on one, Atlantean ships were more powerful, but the Wraith were so many. After that great battle&hellip;it was only a matter of time.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

MELIA We're awaiting the last of our off-world transport ships before beginning our evacuation through the Stargate.

WEIR Where will you go?

MELIA We're returning to Earth. You are welcome to join us.

WEIR Thank you. That's very kind, but&hellip; I'm sure you must understand my desire to return to the future, to my people. I was hoping I would be able to use the time machine again, and program it to arrive at the precise moment we came through the Stargate. And if it was possible, and you had a ZPM I could take back with me, that would help us considerably. See, the power systems of the city were virtually depleted when we&mdash;

MOROS No. Enough of this tampering with time. Causality is not to be treated so lightly.

JANUS No one's treating it lightly.

MOROS You are, with your insistence on continuing these experiments despite the condemnation of this council. We ordered you to cease these activities, and yet, here we sit face to face with a visitor from the future who arrived here in the very machine you agreed not to construct.

JANUS We are about to evacuate this city in the hope that it will lie safe for many years, and then one day, our kind will return&hellip;and they have. It is because of my experiments that we now have the opportunity&mdash;

MOROS Enough! We have no time for this. I am hereby ordering the destruction of this time-travel device and all the materials connected with its design. You are welcome to return to Earth with our people. You shall not be returning to yours.

[Weir is upset by the order.]

END FLASHBACK

EXT&mdash;ATLANTIS, EVENING

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[Beckett briefs Weir, Sheppard, and McKay. Old Weir overhears.]

BECKETT The last set of test results only confirm the obvious. Her skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and neuroendocrine systems have all been decimated by age. I'm seeing renal failure, liver failure, and evidence of a stroke from her recent collapse.

SHEPPARD How long does she have?

BECKETT I doubt she'll live out the night.

OLD WEIR Please&hellip;I don't know how much time I have left to tell the story I have waited so long to tell. Oh&hellip;the council&hellip;they were very upset&hellip;

WEIR Yes. You said they decided to destroy the time machine.

OLD WEIR I tried to talk them out of it. I couldn't give up hope. Thankfully, I had an ally.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;ATLANTIS CORRIDOR

[Janus and Weir speak to Melia.]

JANUS You need to talk to Moros. Dr. Weir was brought here through no fault of her own. She shouldn't be punished for it.

MELIA She's free to come with us back to Earth and live among our&mdash;

JANUS She needs to return to her time, not remain in ours.

MELIA That's not possible. I'm sorry.

WEIR Wait. I don't think you understand how far we've come, or how much my people have sacrificed in the hopes of meeting you. We call you the Ancients. The gate builders. We've crossed galaxies in the hopes of finding a great people. Please, is there no other way you can help?

MELIA We could block the Stargate permanently after the evacuation. That way, in the future, your team will be unable to come here.

JANUS If they can't come, the city may never be found.

MELIA But the lives of her expedition would be saved.

WEIR Thank you for your generous offer, but we are explorers, just like you.

JANUS Which should come as no surprise, since they are the second evolution of our kind. Don't you understand? This city will survive ten thousand years.

MELIA (sympathetic but firm) The council's decision is final.

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

OLD WEIR Of course, Janus refused to concede defeat. The more someone told him not to do something, the more he had to do it. So he came up with an alternate plan behind the council's back. It was all I could do to try to keep pace with him.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;ZPM ROOM

[Janus works at the control console.]

WEIR May I ask what it is you're doing?

JANUS Calculating the necessary power needed.

WEIR Needed for&hellip;

JANUS You said the shield collapsed shortly after your arrival. I have to find a way to extend the supply of power. What is it you called them?

WEIR ZPM. Zero point module.

JANUS Yes&hellip; They're designed to operate in parallel, all three providing power to the city simultaneously. However, used in sequence, it may be possible to sustain the necessary power for the needed time.

[He pushes a button, and 3 ZPM's rise out of the power unit.]

OLD WEIR (voiceover) I couldn't believe my eyes. Three ZPMs, right in front of me.

JANUS There is one small problem, however. Someone will need to remain behind in the city to transfer the power from one device to the other, to rotate them sequentially.

WEIR Over thousands of years?

JANUS It is possible.

MELIA (over intercom) Janus, please report to central control.

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

OLD WEIR Their transport ship was inbound. It was taking heavy fire.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

PILOT (over comm) Cloaking shields damaged! We're returning fire, but we cannot access!

MELIA There's too many enemy ships.

TECHNICIAN And there are more coming.

JANUS (into radio) Engage auxiliary power. Try to outrun them. (to Weir) There are over 300 people on that transport.

[Over the comm is heard the pilot and people on the transport yelling instructions and screaming, and explosions. The map display in the control room shows the tactical situation. The transport blips out of existence.]

MOROS Begin evacuation. We must leave, now.

[Weir looks at Janus questioningly.]

END FLASHBACK

EXT&mdash;ATLANTIS, NIGHT

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[McKay sleeps on an infirmary table, Sheppard in a chair. Weir touches Old Weir's hair, and she awakens.]

OLD WEIR Damn! Fell asleep again.

WEIR Well, you're not the only one. Are you in any pain?

OLD WEIR Would we admit it if we were?

WEIR I wish there was more we could do for you.

OLD WEIR Oh, look at you. Always worrying. You put too much pressure on yourself. Remember that miserable Baltic negotiation? What Simon told us afterwards?

WEIR Breathe? Among other things.

OLD WEIR Enjoy the moment. What's here right now. The sun, the breeze&hellip;Our birthday.

WEIR Sheppard couldn't keep it to himself, huh?

OLD WEIR I'm just saying stop being so damn hard on yourself. Life is quick.

WEIR Not for you.

OLD WEIR It was my choice, Elizabeth. I didn't second-guess it then, and I don't regret it now.

FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;GATE ROOM

[The Stargate activates. Ancients start to go through.]

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

MELIA Where is Dr. Weir?

JANUS She's gone through the gate. She was among the first to evacuate.

MOROS Good.

[Janus makes inputs on a few controls.]

INT&mdash;ANCIENT LABORATORY

[Weir and Janus are in the room with the stasis chamber.]

OLD WEIR (voiceover) Janus prepared the stasis chamber for me. Said it would be like a deep, dreamless sleep.

JANUS I'm inputting commands for the system to revive you twice at intervals of approximately 3.3 thousand years, so that you can rotate the ZPMs. I'll give you instructions on how to reactivate the stasis process afterwards. I'm also entering the necessary commands to commence final revival the moment sensors indicate the presence of your expedition team. Look&hellip;I feel that I must tell you that there is a possibility, remote as it is, that this might not succeed.

WEIR I know.

JANUS It's impossible to predict what'll happen over such a long period of time. I'm convinced that you will survive. But, in the highly unlikely eventuality that you don't, I've programmed a fail-safe mechanism to protect the city.

WEIR A fail-safe?

JANUS Yes. If the power drains to a critical level, the mechanism holding the city on the ocean floor will release, and it will rise to the surface.

WEIR Really?

INT&mdash;GATE ROOM

[Weir watches discreetly as the Atlanteans continue to step through the event horizon.]

OLD WEIR (voiceover) And then they left, all of them, returning to Earth through the Stargate.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[Janus is still there, collecting crystals.]

WEIR What's all that?

JANUS My research.

WEIR You're going to build another time ship?

JANUS I doubt I'll succeed, seeing that the council will be watching my every move.

WEIR I'm sure you'll find a way.

JANUS I've blocked all addresses to the gate except Earth. You will be safe.

WEIR Thank you.

JANUS Thank you&hellip;for giving me the hope that Atlantis will survive another ten thousand years after you discover it again.

[She kisses him on the cheek then heads down the stairs to the Gate room.]

INT&mdash;GATE ROOM

[Janus joins the other leaders.]

JANUS I'm ready.

[They step through. Janus looks back at Weir and smiles, then goes through. Weir looks around, realizing she is alone.]

OLD WEIR (voiceover) And then I was alone. I set the city to slumber&hellip;

[Weir works in the control room, shutting down systems and covering them with silk-like fabric. She goes to the stasis chamber and steps into it.]

OLD WEIR (voiceover) And began my long journey home.

END FLASHBACK

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

WEIR It worked&mdash;the stasis, the fail-safe. You gave up your entire life.

OLD WEIR No, because we are the same person. The best part of my life is just beginning. I'm exploring a new galaxy. I have years ahead of me still. (touching Weir's face) Trust yourself, Elizabeth. All that matters&hellip;is right now. The note&mdash;I wrote it in case I didn't survive. Has Rodney figured it out yet?

WEIR Five gate addresses.

OLD WEIR Outposts&hellip;each one with a Zero Point Module. Janus told me.

[Weir wakes up Sheppard and McKay.]

WEIR The note she left, it's coordinates of planets to have known ZPMs.

[McKay pulls out the paper, and they look at it.]

SHEPPARD They could still be there.

MCKAY M7G-677's on here. This is amazing. Elizabeth, we've got&hellip;

[Old Weir dies, the heart monitor signaling the flat-line. They all stare. Weir approaches the bed and takes her hand.]

WEIR (whispering) Thank you.

EXT&mdash;ATLANTIS BALCONY, DAY

[Weir holds out the pot Sheppard had given her for her birthday, tipping it to empty some of Old Weir's ashes onto the city. Sheppard steps out and joins her.]

SHEPPARD We're about to start our mission briefing, so&hellip;

WEIR I'll be right there. Actually, John? Give me a minute, will you?

SHEPPARD Sure.

FADE OUT

END CREDITS

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