Repository of knowledge

"Why wouldn't we want to gain access to the greatest repository of knowledge in the known universe, once and for all finding the lost city of the Ancients, and use their technology to save the entire galaxy from the evil oppression of the Goa'uld?"

- Daniel Jackson

A Repository of Knowledge, also known as an Archive of Knowledge and as a downloading device, was a device created by the Ancients just before they ascended to hold massive amounts of information.

Overview
"It basically downloads the entire library of Ancient knowledge into a person's mind. That massive amount of data then slowly unspools into your brain, eventually taking over your consciousness completely."

- Daniel Jackson

Repositories of Knowledge are libraries that download the entire knowledge bank of the Ancients into the brain of a person; however the knowledge is far too vast for the human brain to comprehend at its current evolutionary level, so much so that the mind of the person exposed to the data within will slowly degrade after being exposed until the brain can no longer function.

The device
"It's one of those things that whips up from the wall, grabs your head and rearranges your brain, right?"

- Albert Reynolds

Each Repository possesses an interface that allows it to transfer knowledge directly into the mind of the user. Once the interfaced has established a direct link to the mind of the recipient the device downloads all of the knowledge contained within. The entire process only takes a few seconds, and likely drains a large amount of power.



The interface itself consists of a metallic circle with a dark window in the center. When activated, the device extends to encompass the user's head while the knowledge is transferred, although there have been cases where the device does not grip the head. The device downloads information only to certain beings, as witness when Jack O'Neill recieved a download and not Teal'c. The two main theories on this differentiation are that the user either requires the ATA gene, or the device is programmed not to download the knowledge into any being with a symbiote. It also appears that the interface is only compatible with human physiology, as the Asgard required the use of computers to obtain the information.

Only the Repository's interface has been shown; it is suggested but left unclear as to whether or not there is a larger structure behind the interface that contains the information itself and supplies the necessary power (since SG-1 has considered taking a Repository with them the total size of the equipment is probably not enormous, and Adria was able to fit one onto the wall of an Ori mothership easily enough).

A similar store of Ancient knowledge was found in Atlantis, though the much more conventional computer interface is used to access the information within instead of having it downloaded directly into a person's mind.

The knowledge
"All the knowledge of the Ancients." "That's a lot." "As a matter of fact it's too much for a human brain to handle. It's fatal."

- Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran

The Ancients were among the most advanced races in the universe and their Repositories contain the most up-to-date knowledge they possessed before they ascended to a higher plane of existence, which far surpasses that of every other encountered race in the universe in its scope (except for the Ori, who have also ascended).



The vast amount of knowledge the device contains will kill the recipient if their brain is unable to fully absorb it, despite the fact that the knowledge unfolds gradually. When Jack O'Neill used two such devices, once by accident, the information slowly and inevitably took over his mind. While he was able to build many advanced technologies, such as a power generator that allowed the Earth Stargate to dial an eight-chevron address and a weapon capable of defeating any Replicator, it also caused his brain to slowly degrade, eventually rendering him unable to speak any language apart from that of the Ancients. This degredation would have eventually led to his death had the knowledge not been removed in time, both times by the Asgard.

While possessing the knowledge of the Ancients O'Neill was also able to heal Bra'tac, who was severely injured by one of Anubis' many spies; however he was left in a weakened as his brain was already dying from the knowledge it contained. This healing ability exhibited by O'Neill indicates that the device vastly increases the brain activity of the recipient, to the point where they are able to ascend if they so choose.

Thousands of years ago the Asgard managed to download only a small amount of the information within a Repository to their own computers to learn from the knowledge within. They have learned much, but the amount of information contained within even that small portion was so great that they had only begun to scratch the surface of what they had downloaded by the time the Asgard became extinct. Thor speculated that the amount of knowledge contained in a Repository is so vast that it could very well be truly infinite.

Encountered Repositories
"What's the last thing you remember?" "Getting my head sucked by one of those dang Ancient head suckers."

- Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill

The first encounter with an Ancient Repository was during SG-1's visit to the planet they had designated P3R-272, where O'Neill's accidently activated the device. Upon returning to the SGC O'Neill began to develop strange techonlogies, added new Gate addresses to the dialing computer, and lost the ability to speak English. The other team members discovered that the knowledge in his brain was far too powerful for it to handle and that his body wouldn't be able to handle the stress. Luckily, his subconscious mind realized the danger he was in and directed him to another galaxy, where the Asgard were able to remove the information before he died. The Asgard then informed him of the Alliance of Four Great Races and that the Tau'ri were well on their way to becoming a part of it, and sent O'Neill home.

Five years later, SG-1 located another Repository; however, Anubis was aware of its existence as well. SG-1 attempted to remove the Repository and bring it back to Earth to safely store the data before Anubis cold use the knowledge in the Repository for evil. While a Tau'ri search team was searching for the Repository Anubis attacked the planet, and O'Neill had no choice but to download the information into his mind again. Fearing what the Tau'ri would now be capable of should they have time to utilize the information, Anubis set an immediate course for Earth to destroy his enemies. Using the knowledge in his mind O'Neill locate an Ancient outpost in Antarctica, and used the weapons platform containing thousands of drone weapons to destroy Anubis' fleet. Afterwards, O'Neill had to put himself in stasis to escape death. A few weeks later, Carter and Teal'c attempted to seek out the Asgard using the Tel'tak that O'Neill modified using the Ancient knowledge. Thor later linked O'Neill's mind to the computer of his ship to create a weapon to use against the Replicators, and again the information was removed at the last second.

Merlin's variant
"Now this is obviously some sort of virtual interface, like a computer-assisted design program. Only in the past, we've seen it used to download information into someone's mind. But what if you could control it? Use it to store and load something more specific?"

- Daniel Jackson

A variant of the Repository of Knowledge was discovered in Merlin's tomb that, when used in conjunction with a molecular construction device, allowed one to visualize a program and machine, and then make modifications to it; basically a far more advanced version of the control chairs used by the Ancients before they returned to Earth after the war with the Wraith. This version of the Repository was interactive, and not only sent information, but also received it, and did not grab the head of the recipient. It is also unique in the sense that it did not download all of its contents at once, meaning the user's would not be overwhelmed, and could encode the DNA and mental state of a user to return to a previous state after a certain amount of time had passed.

The formerly ascended Ancient would interface with the device and use two rods that slid out at the bottom of the device, where he was then able to create any object at the molecular level with a great deal of concentration. Merlin used his Repository to recreate the Sangraal as much as he could and then transfered both his memories and quasi-ascended powers to Daniel Jackson when he was too weak to continue (even programming a failsafe into this tranfer that erased the modifications made to Jackson's mind and body to compensate for the weaknesses of human physiology). The device was then moved aboard an Ori mothership and used by Dr. Jackson to complete the Sangraal, which was then used to eliminate the Ori.