Stargate: Atlantis s04e13 Episode Script
Quarantine
Come on, dude, one more round.
Nope, I can't.
We don't have to do 18.
We can do nine, easy course, par three.
No, Katie's expecting me.
Well, be late.
Women like it when guys are late.
No, they don't, and I can't be late.
Not for this lunch.
- Why's that? - Can you keep a secret? - No.
- Right.
I I got this on my last trip to Earth.
I feel it's time that Katie and I move the relationship to the next level, so - Second base? - No.
Marriage.
- Really? - Yes.
- You? - Yes.
Married? What, you don't think I'm ready? You think I'm rushing things? - I didn't say that.
- Well, I'm not.
I'm not ready to set a date or anything, but - Is this a diamond? - Yeah, it's an eighth of a karat, actually.
Conflict-free, and I got a good deal, actually.
Oh, I'm sure you did.
All right, so, here I go.
Well, I'll buy you a beer later, and we can celebrate.
Yeah, or drown my sorrows, should she say no.
No, no.
None of that.
Well, go get the girl.
- Rodney - No, can't talk.
John.
Do you have a moment to talk? Another sparring accident? Actually, I slipped in the shower.
- Oh, really? - No.
Sparring accident.
This is the third time this week I've had to patch you up.
You know, there are a lot of other ways you can spend your free time.
Not as much fun, though.
- Hi, Colonel.
- Doctor, where are you headed? - Control Room.
- Oh, me too.
- We can share.
- Splendid.
- Katie? - I'm in here! Great.
Awesome.
- Hope you're hungry.
- Oh, I am.
Yeah, me too, very hungry.
Hungry, hungry, hungry.
Are you all right? I'm fine.
Uh, yeah.
Wow, this is much more, uh - You're sweating.
- Oh, am I? I suppose I am.
Okay.
Um, I guess I should just, uh, jump right into this.
You know, rip the Band-Aid off, as they say.
Not that this is painful in any way.
It's quite the opposite, actually.
Rodney, what's wrong? It's nothing.
In fact, everything's right.
With us, I mean.
So I was thinking, and I don't know about you, but the way I see it, I thought that maybe it's time that we, you know, start entertaining the notion What happened? Why'd the doors close? Rodney, what's going on? It's locked.
We're trapped.
We're locked in.
Rodney, come in.
This one's locked, too.
What the hell's going on here? Dr.
McKay, this is Dr.
Keller.
Are you there? Rodney, this is Sam, do you read? The control mechanism is not responding.
Perhaps I can physically open the door.
Transporter doors are lighter, they're not nearly as heavy as other doors in the city.
Rodney, this is Sam.
Please respond.
Colonel Sheppard, do you read? - Are you getting anything? - No.
Communications must be down.
Oh, great.
All right, I'm going to need a radio.
I left mine in my lab.
Radio? It's in there.
What do you mean? What, you don't have a radio in here? It's a plant cultivation room.
We haven't needed one.
Well, you need one now.
Look, that alarm was a quarantine lockdown.
- Quarantine? - It's Atlantis's self-protection against another outbreak.
It's sealing off sections of the city to prevent the spread of a disease.
I, uh, tweaked the, uh, system after the recent Kirsan fever outbreak.
But there was no lockdown during that outbreak.
Well, hence the need to tweak the system.
You know, institute more vigorous protocols.
Okay, I need to get to a computer, assess the degree of the situation.
I mean, is this just a few sections that have been sealed off, or maybe the whole tower? Computer's in the other room, isn't it? With the radio.
There must be another disease outbreak.
McKay said he was going to modify the quarantine system to make it more efficient.
How does cutting off the radios make it more efficient? Obviously there's a glitch in the program.
Problem is, without communications, he can't tell me how bad the outbreak is or give me the passcodes to open whichever doors are deemed safe.
Ah.
Great.
Well, in any case, I should be ready to treat the sick when they bring them in.
- Will you help me? - Tell me what to do.
I could really use Ronon's gun right about now.
John, look.
What? It appears there's been another outbreak.
What is a "category five"? I'm guessing it's a lot worse than categories one through four.
We could be here a while.
What? It's just that every time one of these things happens in the movies, the pregnant woman goes into labor.
I am still a long way from my due date.
Yeah, it's the same thing in the movies, and then, wham! - Relax, John.
I will be fine.
- Why don't you sit down? I'm all right.
You know, just to be on the safe side, let's sit down.
Let's see what else we can find out.
Quarantine lockdown.
Yes.
Well, I don't know why communications would be affected.
Well, Rodney did say he was going to modify some of the Ancient protocols.
Perhaps he made a mistake, made the security measures a little too aggressive? We need to try to access the mainframe.
Yes, but unfortunately, that's all you'll be able to do.
This tablet has limited RAM.
It's configured mainly for read-only field diagnostics.
Well, we should at least be able to determine the extent of the lockdown.
Yes.
Oh, sorry.
That's one of my pigeons.
I raise them, as a hobby.
Back home.
Ah.
Let's see what we have here.
You comfortable? You want anything? You want to lie down, eat? This is what I wanted to talk to you about.
What? Your decision to remove me from the team's missions.
We're not going to go through this again, are we? No, no, no, it's all right.
I understand.
It's not permanent.
You're just going to have to ease off, then you have your baby, and, in a few months, you're back in action.
Will I be? If it is wrong to place myself and my unborn child in danger now, will it be any less to do so when he is born? John, it's bad enough that my son may grow up without a father, but if I were to be hurt or killed, he would be left without a mother as well.
It's tough.
I know.
I got a friend from college.
She's a cop.
Three kids.
She goes through this every day when she goes to work.
How does she make peace with herself? Well, she figures she's fighting the bad guys, keeping them off the street, so not only is she protecting her kids, she's protecting other kids, too.
Look.
You have to understand.
Your child has a family here, in case anything ever happens.
Category five? The entire city? Either this disease spreads more rapidly than anything I've ever encountered before, or something Or something's wrong, yeah.
Look at the levels.
Primary and secondary systems.
Look, wild fluctuations in every sector.
Other systems are down, too, not just communications.
Long-range scanners are out, ventilation in several areas, including this tower.
Oh, oh, and plumbing, too.
Oh, dear.
It's like the city's entire operating system is on the fritz.
Oh, this may not even be an outbreak at all.
This entire lockdown could be the result of a malfunction.
Don't worry, I'm sure McKay is sitting at a workstation, fixing this problem as we speak.
I'm sure others are working on the problem.
Dr.
Keller, Dr.
Zelenka, Colonel Carter Oh, they'd better be.
Hey! Hey, hey, hey! You tore your stitches.
God, honestly, I don't think I've ever met anyone with such reckless aggression.
- That's not a compliment.
- Lf you say so.
Lay down.
Okay, look, I don't think we're going to have any luck opening those doors on our own.
We're probably just better off waiting for McKay and the others to figure out what needs to be done and which doors are even safe to open.
So we're just supposed to sit here and wait? Yes.
And be ready at a moment's notice to treat the sick.
I'm not very good at sitting and waiting.
No kidding.
Well, maybe we could pass the time by getting to know each other better.
What do you have in mind? Oh! I mean, I didn't You know, I meant just, like, talk.
I didn't mean Yeah, so, anyway Let's talk.
Can't you fiddle with this thing and get the door open? I could fiddle with it, sure.
As to actually getting the door open, not a chance.
The quarantine protocol completely disables the door's control mechanism.
The whole point of it is to keep people from getting out.
Oh, it's going to be okay.
- Dr.
Keller and Zelenka - We don't know that.
We have no idea if it's going to be okay.
For all we know, Zelenka and Keller could already be infected.
We don't even know how much of the city is in quarantine.
If this is serious, and we have no reason to believe otherwise, we could be looking at a city-wide lockdown.
You are thinking the worst-case scenario.
Hello! This is what I do.
Someone needs to think ahead to the worst possible outcome to any situation, in order to properly defend against it.
Any situation? Even the good ones? Hey, it doesn't take much for a good situation to turn ugly.
One minute, you're happily riding your bicycle back from acing your Lagrangian mechanics mid-terms, you know, the warm breeze in your face, and next thing you know, you're flying through the air 'cause you just hit a pothole.
Oh, Rodney, did that happen to you? The point is, one must always be on guard.
You know, always looking out for the potholes.
Now, you can call me a catastrophist, but it's a necessary burden I bear.
A mindset like that, and a person would live in a constant state of worry and fear.
You forgot despair.
Well, it's definitely a malfunction.
And surprisingly, it's nothing Rodney did.
Look at that.
I'm reading a sudden spike in power caused by an intense ionospheric storm earlier today.
This new planet continues to surprise us.
It is going to require some drastic recalibration to account for any future ionospheric activity, that's for sure.
Well, first things first.
We need to get to a workstation and fix this malfunction.
Yes.
I agree.
You know, I'm a little bit puzzled as to why Rodney hasn't solved this problem yet.
He's been a little off his game lately.
Maybe he doesn't have access to a computer.
Rodney? Without his computer? - This I have yet to witness.
- Well, whatever the cause, since there's no outbreak, there's no reason for us to be stuck in here.
Well, yes, other than the doors being sealed shut.
And heavier than we had previously thought.
Can you use this tablet to access this control panel? Maybe we can at least figure out a way to get the doors open.
Doubtful.
The transporter panel has no wireless interface, and even if we could hook it up directly, you know, with the limitations of the RAM on this tablet May I? Thanks.
Yes.
Of course.
Well, lifesigns all over the city.
Everyone is trapped as we are.
Ventilation is down, which means we're running out of air.
He's in the botany lab.
- Who? - Rodney.
He went to pick up Katie Brown for a lunch date.
Have you been in that plant room? There's no computers, no radio - If he's locked in there - He's going to be freaking.
- Oh, are you all right? - I don't know.
I feel a little dizzy, a little feverish.
Here.
Rodney, come on, sit down.
You don't feel warm.
Are you sure? 'Cause my joints ache.
It's usually the first sign of a fever.
Pulse 120? - That's normal.
- Oh? Yes, I've always had a rapid heartbeat.
Ever since I was a kid.
I mean, even when I was in a deep sleep.
Our family doctor once wrote a paper about it.
Oh.
How are you feeling? I'm fine.
Okay, well, you let me know when you start feeling sick, all right? It seems that there was some sort of disturbance in the planet's ionosphere a few hours ago.
After that is when the system became unstable.
New planet, new problems.
Well, there may not even be a disease outbreak.
Yeah, but the city's still on lockdown.
You know, if Rodney can't get ahold of a computer, he's not going to be able to shut it down.
Perhaps Dr.
Zelenka or Colonel Carter can do it.
Well, if they could've, they would've done it already.
They probably can't get ahold of one either.
Well, can anyone do it? They'd have to know Rodney's password.
Fortunately, I do.
He told you his password? Well, he didn't think I'd remember it.
One, six, four, three, one, eight, seven, nine, one, nine, six, eight, four, two.
See? Doesn't take a genius.
It doesn't? The year Rodney was born.
Never underestimate the size of that man's ego.
Wait.
Weren't there other numbers? - 42.
- What is that? It's the ultimate answer to the great question of life, the universe, and everything.
Okay.
We're in.
Oh, that's a good idea.
- Okay, much better.
- Yes.
Much better.
The control panel won't recognize authentication.
It's because it's not configured, as I said earlier.
I know, which is why I've written a workaround, to free up memory to allow for local device input.
Oh.
So fast? Well, there's obviously not enough RAM to handle the city's entire operating system, but we should at least be able to open these doors.
All I need to do is get it to recognize the authentication command.
Perhaps if you bypassed the secondary crystals, and go directly No, I think I Oh, God, Radek! - They didn't open.
- No.
And the tablet's fried.
Oh, crap.
What is it? Part of the lockdown program includes broadcasting an alert beacon to approaching ships to warn them about a disease outbreak.
The city is doing this right now? Five by five, clear enough for the entire neighborhood to pick up.
- Can you shut it off? - Not from here.
It can only be turned off from a subspace transmitter, which is up in the Control Room.
Which means the guys upstairs either haven't noticed, or, more likely, they don't have Rodney's password to turn it off.
As long as that signal is broadcast, Atlantis is vulnerable to discovery.
If it hasn't already happened.
How are you feeling? McKAY: The same.
Hey.
You look like you could use some cheering up.
As a matter of fact, I could.
What is it? It's nothing.
Uh Oh, hey, isn't that the The rodneyana villosa? - The plant I named for you.
- Right.
It's It's grown.
Yes, it's really flourished here.
I've been kind of doting on it, giving it a little extra TLC, and it just gets bigger and bigger.
We need to get you to the infirmary.
I already told you, it's impossible.
I mean, the whole point of the lockdown is to prevent the spread of disease, which means no one's going anywhere.
But how are the doctors supposed to treat anyone if they can't reach them? I'm sorry, Katie.
Look, I've no doubt infected you by now.
I feel fine.
You'd think I'd have at least a few symptoms.
Every disease is different.
I mean, we have no idea what the incubation period for this strain is.
It could be hours, it could be days.
I mean, who knows when I caught it? No, it's just a matter of time before you succumb, too.
Anyway, what were we talking about? You were going to cheer me up.
Oh.
Right.
Are you okay? Yeah.
I just I don't like sitting around either.
Especially when there's people out there who need me.
You're not letting them down.
There's a disease outbreak.
- And I'm a doctor, stuck in this room - That's right.
Stuck.
It's not your fault you can't get to them.
So don't put the blame on yourself.
You remind me of someone I used to know.
She put way too much pressure on herself.
Someone from Sateda? Yeah.
Who was she? She She was someone I cared about.
She was killed during the siege.
I'm sorry.
I wanted her to leave, but she chose to stay behind and help the others.
Should've forced her to go.
It's not your fault.
She chose to stay.
Don't put that blame on yourself.
No.
Oh, come on.
Nothing's working.
- Okay, on to plan "B.
" - Which is? Which is, blast our way out of here and get to the Control Room.
Start searching for any explosives Rodney might've left.
Well, I doubt that he would Don't tell me that you're The baby just kicked.
Really? There it is again.
Here.
Little guy wants to get out of here as much as we do.
Teyla? You okay? Just hang in there.
I'm going to get everybody out of here.
You stand back.
What are you John, what are you doing? The Control Room is only four floors above us.
All I have to do is climb up and I'm in.
Climb the tower? Is that even possible? Sure! Batman did it all the time.
Piece of cake.
Don't worry.
I'll be fine.
I'll turn off that beacon.
I'm sorry.
I honestly thought that if we bypassed the secondary crystal Radek, I know.
We've been through this.
I'm not angry with you.
We could really use one of your pigeons around now.
Well, they're not for eating.
No, no, I meant, you know, to get help.
Like homing pigeons.
You attach a little S.
O.
S.
Note to their feet, and Boop! Yeah, but there's no window in here.
I know, I was just Okay, I got ventilation restored to most of the tower.
Still working on getting air up here, but so far nothing's Colonel! How did you get out there? Long story.
We've got to turn off the beacon that's broadcasting our location, to every ship in the neighborhood.
We already tried that.
It's password protected.
What happened? Colonel, where the hell did you come from? Beacon's deactivated.
The computers just shut down.
- All of them.
- Is that the, uh Self-destruct.
That's the self-destruct sequence! Why would anybody arm it? More importantly, how much time do we have? I don't know.
Whoever arms it designates the duration, you know, depending on how quick he wants to blow up the city.
The hell with this.
Ronon Ronon! We've already tried.
It's not going to open.
We'll just have to blast a hole in it.
With what? You don't have your gun.
You got any C-4 in here? In the infirmary? Anything we could use to act as an explosive? I don't know.
Uh The oxygen tanks, maybe? Right! Shoot 'em like Sheriff Brody did.
In the movie Jaws.
Yeah, I know, I've seen it.
How do you Sheppard showed it to me.
It's a good movie.
"Flammable.
" All right.
All we need is a gun to shoot it with.
You got one in here? Again, infirmary, not armory.
I don't get it.
Why would you arm the self-destruct? I didn't.
Finally.
You shut it down? No, just the alarm.
The city actually armed the self-destruct by itself, Major.
Well, why? Last thing I saw on the screen was a "breach of quarantine" alert.
My coming into the room caused the city to think the disease was spreading.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
But you said earlier that there was no outbreak.
No, there isn't.
The city doesn't know that.
It's all part of the system-wide malfunction.
The city must think there's a disease, and now it's out of control.
So blowing up Atlantis is its final countermeasure.
Did you see how much time was left on the self-destruct? No, computers shut down before I could see.
All right.
If we can't shut it down from here, we're going to have to turn it off at the source.
- That's in the main power room.
- That's six levels down.
We can't get there.
The jumper room's sealed off, We can't get there.
The jumper room's sealed off, as well as every other corridor out of the Gate Room.
I'll just have to climb back down.
The power room's in the center of the tower.
Even if you climbed back down, you'd still have to get through several sealed doors before reaching it.
You got any C-4? Yeah, a little bit.
That's it? That's it.
You two, with us.
The alarm turned off.
That's a good sign, right? I don't know.
Well, I mean, maybe someone found a cure for the disease, or at least figured out how to turn off the self-destruct.
Or maybe someone just figured out how to turn off the alarm.
Oh, I have to lie down.
Rodney, you can't give up.
You have to keep fighting.
I know it looks bleak, but What's this? Oh.
That's When I came here today, I was going to propose.
Ask your hand in marriage.
- This is not going to work.
- What are you talking about? This was your idea.
Yeah, after which I immediately said there was a one-in-a-million chance it would work.
It will, this is that one.
If I cut more than a millimeter too far The tank'll blow.
I know.
So just make sure you don't cut too far.
Just score it, like you said.
Okay, look.
If you don't do it, I'm going to do it.
Come on.
You got this.
Okay.
That's it.
I mean, that's That's as far as I should go.
All right.
Let's do it.
All right.
You ready? No.
You okay? Yeah.
All right.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
It's a lot stronger than a shark.
Fire in the hole.
What was that? Hello? - Hey! We're in here! - Hey! In here! Do you hear that? The transporter.
Somebody's in there.
Grab a side.
Colonel.
You all right? - Yeah.
I'm fine.
- I'm fine, too.
There's no outbreak.
It's just a malfunction.
We know.
Was Rodney the one who finally disabled the self-destruct? No, it's still armed, and I haven't heard from Rodney.
I need to get to a workstation.
Computers are down.
We're trying to get to the main power room, so we can physically cut the power to the self-destruct.
But all the doors are sealed shut.
We just used the last of our C-4 getting here.
Does that mean we're still stuck here? That's what it looks like.
How much time is left on the self-destruct? We don't know.
Computers shut down before we could see.
So it could happen any time.
Great.
You were going to propose to me? Today? Well, I mean, before the Before the lockdown.
So? Why don't you? Now? You want me to propose now? Don't you want to hear my answer? Well, it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? How can you say that? Oh, I don't know.
Maybe because we're moments away from our deaths.
Don't talk like that! There's still a chance someone could come through this door Katie, please, enough already.
As much as I'd love to believe that someone's going to swoop in and save the day, the fact that no one has tells me it's probably not going to happen.
I'm sorry if that's bleak and horrible and fatalistic, but there it is.
What are we going to do now? Well, what can we do? Does this vent go to the power room? Yes, yes! I believe it leads to the tower's main ventilation flue.
But that system's shut down.
Those vents will be closed off.
Not anymore.
We were able to get it back online in most of the tower just before the computers went down.
All right, looks clear.
It's going to be a tight squeeze, though.
There's no way I can move in here.
- I'll do it.
- No.
I'll do it.
- Are you sure? - Yes.
I'm small enough.
I can crawl through there.
I'll have the power off in no time.
All right.
Attaboy.
Ready? Yeah.
I had you wrong.
When you first came here, I thought you were weak.
That you didn't belong.
It's the story of my life.
Growing up, I skipped three grades.
I graduated at 15.
Got my bachelor's degree before I was even old enough to vote.
I missed out on a lot of things.
Any kind of social event.
You know, parties.
And dances.
I don't ever remember a time in my life where I belonged.
Yeah, well, blowing up that tank You really showed yourself.
But it didn't work.
That's not the point.
"I'll have the power off in no time.
" Idiot! Ah Come on, Radek.
He'll make it.
He did it.
Oh, my God! They found a cure or figured out how to override the program.
I don't believe it! We're going to make it! We're not going to die! Oh.
You crawled the entire way there, in those tiny vents? I'm surprised he even fit in there.
Oh, he fit, all right.
There's plenty of room.
Well, not plenty.
You should have seen him.
He looked like one of those little hamsters, in one of those Yes, yes, yes, listen, the important thing is I was able to make it and shut off the power in time.
Did you hear? McKay thought it was a real outbreak.
He even started getting sick, thought he was Hi.
You mind if I join you? Sure.
Go ahead.
What? Nothing.
Well, it's been several hours now, and there is no indication that anyone out there has picked up our alert beacon.
I think we're in the clear.
Well, we should keep an eye out, just in case.
Great work, Radek.
Everyone on this base owes you a debt of gratitude.
Well, thank you.
McKay would love this.
Katie? Hello, Rodney.
I see you're feeling better.
Uh Yes, I, uh Well, I mean, it was probably just, you know, an allergic thing.
I'm fine.
And the, uh, quarantine? Is it true there was no outbreak? No.
It was a malfunction.
A planetary anomaly.
lonospheric disturbance.
I've actually recalibrated the system, so it'll take into effect future activity.
So we should be fine.
Someone said it was Dr.
Zelenka that finally turned off the self-destruct? Technically, yes, but it was actually more of a group effort.
But that's not why I came here.
I, um Here's the thing.
Over the last year and a half, I have become aware that I have certain I don't want to use the word "flaws.
" Shortcomings, perhaps? For example, on occasion, I can be negative.
And demanding and a tad arrogant.
But, uh, I'm also finding that, just being aware of your, uh, shortcomings, is just the first minute step on the road to betterment, and that the real trick seems to be to actually do something about it.
I know.
It's difficult.
The point is, I came here earlier today to propose marriage to you, but after what happened, I realize that I may have been rushing things.
I just don't think I'm ready for this.
I know.
You do? I don't think I'm ready, either.
Oh.
Okay.
Good.
That's good.
It's not that my feelings have changed or diminished No.
No, of course not.
Just I mean, if we got married now, I would make your life miserable and you are far too good a person for that.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Easier said than done, right? Okay.
So, rain check on lunch? Absolutely.
- Rodney? - Mmm? Bye.
Right.
Bye.
Nope, I can't.
We don't have to do 18.
We can do nine, easy course, par three.
No, Katie's expecting me.
Well, be late.
Women like it when guys are late.
No, they don't, and I can't be late.
Not for this lunch.
- Why's that? - Can you keep a secret? - No.
- Right.
I I got this on my last trip to Earth.
I feel it's time that Katie and I move the relationship to the next level, so - Second base? - No.
Marriage.
- Really? - Yes.
- You? - Yes.
Married? What, you don't think I'm ready? You think I'm rushing things? - I didn't say that.
- Well, I'm not.
I'm not ready to set a date or anything, but - Is this a diamond? - Yeah, it's an eighth of a karat, actually.
Conflict-free, and I got a good deal, actually.
Oh, I'm sure you did.
All right, so, here I go.
Well, I'll buy you a beer later, and we can celebrate.
Yeah, or drown my sorrows, should she say no.
No, no.
None of that.
Well, go get the girl.
- Rodney - No, can't talk.
John.
Do you have a moment to talk? Another sparring accident? Actually, I slipped in the shower.
- Oh, really? - No.
Sparring accident.
This is the third time this week I've had to patch you up.
You know, there are a lot of other ways you can spend your free time.
Not as much fun, though.
- Hi, Colonel.
- Doctor, where are you headed? - Control Room.
- Oh, me too.
- We can share.
- Splendid.
- Katie? - I'm in here! Great.
Awesome.
- Hope you're hungry.
- Oh, I am.
Yeah, me too, very hungry.
Hungry, hungry, hungry.
Are you all right? I'm fine.
Uh, yeah.
Wow, this is much more, uh - You're sweating.
- Oh, am I? I suppose I am.
Okay.
Um, I guess I should just, uh, jump right into this.
You know, rip the Band-Aid off, as they say.
Not that this is painful in any way.
It's quite the opposite, actually.
Rodney, what's wrong? It's nothing.
In fact, everything's right.
With us, I mean.
So I was thinking, and I don't know about you, but the way I see it, I thought that maybe it's time that we, you know, start entertaining the notion What happened? Why'd the doors close? Rodney, what's going on? It's locked.
We're trapped.
We're locked in.
Rodney, come in.
This one's locked, too.
What the hell's going on here? Dr.
McKay, this is Dr.
Keller.
Are you there? Rodney, this is Sam, do you read? The control mechanism is not responding.
Perhaps I can physically open the door.
Transporter doors are lighter, they're not nearly as heavy as other doors in the city.
Rodney, this is Sam.
Please respond.
Colonel Sheppard, do you read? - Are you getting anything? - No.
Communications must be down.
Oh, great.
All right, I'm going to need a radio.
I left mine in my lab.
Radio? It's in there.
What do you mean? What, you don't have a radio in here? It's a plant cultivation room.
We haven't needed one.
Well, you need one now.
Look, that alarm was a quarantine lockdown.
- Quarantine? - It's Atlantis's self-protection against another outbreak.
It's sealing off sections of the city to prevent the spread of a disease.
I, uh, tweaked the, uh, system after the recent Kirsan fever outbreak.
But there was no lockdown during that outbreak.
Well, hence the need to tweak the system.
You know, institute more vigorous protocols.
Okay, I need to get to a computer, assess the degree of the situation.
I mean, is this just a few sections that have been sealed off, or maybe the whole tower? Computer's in the other room, isn't it? With the radio.
There must be another disease outbreak.
McKay said he was going to modify the quarantine system to make it more efficient.
How does cutting off the radios make it more efficient? Obviously there's a glitch in the program.
Problem is, without communications, he can't tell me how bad the outbreak is or give me the passcodes to open whichever doors are deemed safe.
Ah.
Great.
Well, in any case, I should be ready to treat the sick when they bring them in.
- Will you help me? - Tell me what to do.
I could really use Ronon's gun right about now.
John, look.
What? It appears there's been another outbreak.
What is a "category five"? I'm guessing it's a lot worse than categories one through four.
We could be here a while.
What? It's just that every time one of these things happens in the movies, the pregnant woman goes into labor.
I am still a long way from my due date.
Yeah, it's the same thing in the movies, and then, wham! - Relax, John.
I will be fine.
- Why don't you sit down? I'm all right.
You know, just to be on the safe side, let's sit down.
Let's see what else we can find out.
Quarantine lockdown.
Yes.
Well, I don't know why communications would be affected.
Well, Rodney did say he was going to modify some of the Ancient protocols.
Perhaps he made a mistake, made the security measures a little too aggressive? We need to try to access the mainframe.
Yes, but unfortunately, that's all you'll be able to do.
This tablet has limited RAM.
It's configured mainly for read-only field diagnostics.
Well, we should at least be able to determine the extent of the lockdown.
Yes.
Oh, sorry.
That's one of my pigeons.
I raise them, as a hobby.
Back home.
Ah.
Let's see what we have here.
You comfortable? You want anything? You want to lie down, eat? This is what I wanted to talk to you about.
What? Your decision to remove me from the team's missions.
We're not going to go through this again, are we? No, no, no, it's all right.
I understand.
It's not permanent.
You're just going to have to ease off, then you have your baby, and, in a few months, you're back in action.
Will I be? If it is wrong to place myself and my unborn child in danger now, will it be any less to do so when he is born? John, it's bad enough that my son may grow up without a father, but if I were to be hurt or killed, he would be left without a mother as well.
It's tough.
I know.
I got a friend from college.
She's a cop.
Three kids.
She goes through this every day when she goes to work.
How does she make peace with herself? Well, she figures she's fighting the bad guys, keeping them off the street, so not only is she protecting her kids, she's protecting other kids, too.
Look.
You have to understand.
Your child has a family here, in case anything ever happens.
Category five? The entire city? Either this disease spreads more rapidly than anything I've ever encountered before, or something Or something's wrong, yeah.
Look at the levels.
Primary and secondary systems.
Look, wild fluctuations in every sector.
Other systems are down, too, not just communications.
Long-range scanners are out, ventilation in several areas, including this tower.
Oh, oh, and plumbing, too.
Oh, dear.
It's like the city's entire operating system is on the fritz.
Oh, this may not even be an outbreak at all.
This entire lockdown could be the result of a malfunction.
Don't worry, I'm sure McKay is sitting at a workstation, fixing this problem as we speak.
I'm sure others are working on the problem.
Dr.
Keller, Dr.
Zelenka, Colonel Carter Oh, they'd better be.
Hey! Hey, hey, hey! You tore your stitches.
God, honestly, I don't think I've ever met anyone with such reckless aggression.
- That's not a compliment.
- Lf you say so.
Lay down.
Okay, look, I don't think we're going to have any luck opening those doors on our own.
We're probably just better off waiting for McKay and the others to figure out what needs to be done and which doors are even safe to open.
So we're just supposed to sit here and wait? Yes.
And be ready at a moment's notice to treat the sick.
I'm not very good at sitting and waiting.
No kidding.
Well, maybe we could pass the time by getting to know each other better.
What do you have in mind? Oh! I mean, I didn't You know, I meant just, like, talk.
I didn't mean Yeah, so, anyway Let's talk.
Can't you fiddle with this thing and get the door open? I could fiddle with it, sure.
As to actually getting the door open, not a chance.
The quarantine protocol completely disables the door's control mechanism.
The whole point of it is to keep people from getting out.
Oh, it's going to be okay.
- Dr.
Keller and Zelenka - We don't know that.
We have no idea if it's going to be okay.
For all we know, Zelenka and Keller could already be infected.
We don't even know how much of the city is in quarantine.
If this is serious, and we have no reason to believe otherwise, we could be looking at a city-wide lockdown.
You are thinking the worst-case scenario.
Hello! This is what I do.
Someone needs to think ahead to the worst possible outcome to any situation, in order to properly defend against it.
Any situation? Even the good ones? Hey, it doesn't take much for a good situation to turn ugly.
One minute, you're happily riding your bicycle back from acing your Lagrangian mechanics mid-terms, you know, the warm breeze in your face, and next thing you know, you're flying through the air 'cause you just hit a pothole.
Oh, Rodney, did that happen to you? The point is, one must always be on guard.
You know, always looking out for the potholes.
Now, you can call me a catastrophist, but it's a necessary burden I bear.
A mindset like that, and a person would live in a constant state of worry and fear.
You forgot despair.
Well, it's definitely a malfunction.
And surprisingly, it's nothing Rodney did.
Look at that.
I'm reading a sudden spike in power caused by an intense ionospheric storm earlier today.
This new planet continues to surprise us.
It is going to require some drastic recalibration to account for any future ionospheric activity, that's for sure.
Well, first things first.
We need to get to a workstation and fix this malfunction.
Yes.
I agree.
You know, I'm a little bit puzzled as to why Rodney hasn't solved this problem yet.
He's been a little off his game lately.
Maybe he doesn't have access to a computer.
Rodney? Without his computer? - This I have yet to witness.
- Well, whatever the cause, since there's no outbreak, there's no reason for us to be stuck in here.
Well, yes, other than the doors being sealed shut.
And heavier than we had previously thought.
Can you use this tablet to access this control panel? Maybe we can at least figure out a way to get the doors open.
Doubtful.
The transporter panel has no wireless interface, and even if we could hook it up directly, you know, with the limitations of the RAM on this tablet May I? Thanks.
Yes.
Of course.
Well, lifesigns all over the city.
Everyone is trapped as we are.
Ventilation is down, which means we're running out of air.
He's in the botany lab.
- Who? - Rodney.
He went to pick up Katie Brown for a lunch date.
Have you been in that plant room? There's no computers, no radio - If he's locked in there - He's going to be freaking.
- Oh, are you all right? - I don't know.
I feel a little dizzy, a little feverish.
Here.
Rodney, come on, sit down.
You don't feel warm.
Are you sure? 'Cause my joints ache.
It's usually the first sign of a fever.
Pulse 120? - That's normal.
- Oh? Yes, I've always had a rapid heartbeat.
Ever since I was a kid.
I mean, even when I was in a deep sleep.
Our family doctor once wrote a paper about it.
Oh.
How are you feeling? I'm fine.
Okay, well, you let me know when you start feeling sick, all right? It seems that there was some sort of disturbance in the planet's ionosphere a few hours ago.
After that is when the system became unstable.
New planet, new problems.
Well, there may not even be a disease outbreak.
Yeah, but the city's still on lockdown.
You know, if Rodney can't get ahold of a computer, he's not going to be able to shut it down.
Perhaps Dr.
Zelenka or Colonel Carter can do it.
Well, if they could've, they would've done it already.
They probably can't get ahold of one either.
Well, can anyone do it? They'd have to know Rodney's password.
Fortunately, I do.
He told you his password? Well, he didn't think I'd remember it.
One, six, four, three, one, eight, seven, nine, one, nine, six, eight, four, two.
See? Doesn't take a genius.
It doesn't? The year Rodney was born.
Never underestimate the size of that man's ego.
Wait.
Weren't there other numbers? - 42.
- What is that? It's the ultimate answer to the great question of life, the universe, and everything.
Okay.
We're in.
Oh, that's a good idea.
- Okay, much better.
- Yes.
Much better.
The control panel won't recognize authentication.
It's because it's not configured, as I said earlier.
I know, which is why I've written a workaround, to free up memory to allow for local device input.
Oh.
So fast? Well, there's obviously not enough RAM to handle the city's entire operating system, but we should at least be able to open these doors.
All I need to do is get it to recognize the authentication command.
Perhaps if you bypassed the secondary crystals, and go directly No, I think I Oh, God, Radek! - They didn't open.
- No.
And the tablet's fried.
Oh, crap.
What is it? Part of the lockdown program includes broadcasting an alert beacon to approaching ships to warn them about a disease outbreak.
The city is doing this right now? Five by five, clear enough for the entire neighborhood to pick up.
- Can you shut it off? - Not from here.
It can only be turned off from a subspace transmitter, which is up in the Control Room.
Which means the guys upstairs either haven't noticed, or, more likely, they don't have Rodney's password to turn it off.
As long as that signal is broadcast, Atlantis is vulnerable to discovery.
If it hasn't already happened.
How are you feeling? McKAY: The same.
Hey.
You look like you could use some cheering up.
As a matter of fact, I could.
What is it? It's nothing.
Uh Oh, hey, isn't that the The rodneyana villosa? - The plant I named for you.
- Right.
It's It's grown.
Yes, it's really flourished here.
I've been kind of doting on it, giving it a little extra TLC, and it just gets bigger and bigger.
We need to get you to the infirmary.
I already told you, it's impossible.
I mean, the whole point of the lockdown is to prevent the spread of disease, which means no one's going anywhere.
But how are the doctors supposed to treat anyone if they can't reach them? I'm sorry, Katie.
Look, I've no doubt infected you by now.
I feel fine.
You'd think I'd have at least a few symptoms.
Every disease is different.
I mean, we have no idea what the incubation period for this strain is.
It could be hours, it could be days.
I mean, who knows when I caught it? No, it's just a matter of time before you succumb, too.
Anyway, what were we talking about? You were going to cheer me up.
Oh.
Right.
Are you okay? Yeah.
I just I don't like sitting around either.
Especially when there's people out there who need me.
You're not letting them down.
There's a disease outbreak.
- And I'm a doctor, stuck in this room - That's right.
Stuck.
It's not your fault you can't get to them.
So don't put the blame on yourself.
You remind me of someone I used to know.
She put way too much pressure on herself.
Someone from Sateda? Yeah.
Who was she? She She was someone I cared about.
She was killed during the siege.
I'm sorry.
I wanted her to leave, but she chose to stay behind and help the others.
Should've forced her to go.
It's not your fault.
She chose to stay.
Don't put that blame on yourself.
No.
Oh, come on.
Nothing's working.
- Okay, on to plan "B.
" - Which is? Which is, blast our way out of here and get to the Control Room.
Start searching for any explosives Rodney might've left.
Well, I doubt that he would Don't tell me that you're The baby just kicked.
Really? There it is again.
Here.
Little guy wants to get out of here as much as we do.
Teyla? You okay? Just hang in there.
I'm going to get everybody out of here.
You stand back.
What are you John, what are you doing? The Control Room is only four floors above us.
All I have to do is climb up and I'm in.
Climb the tower? Is that even possible? Sure! Batman did it all the time.
Piece of cake.
Don't worry.
I'll be fine.
I'll turn off that beacon.
I'm sorry.
I honestly thought that if we bypassed the secondary crystal Radek, I know.
We've been through this.
I'm not angry with you.
We could really use one of your pigeons around now.
Well, they're not for eating.
No, no, I meant, you know, to get help.
Like homing pigeons.
You attach a little S.
O.
S.
Note to their feet, and Boop! Yeah, but there's no window in here.
I know, I was just Okay, I got ventilation restored to most of the tower.
Still working on getting air up here, but so far nothing's Colonel! How did you get out there? Long story.
We've got to turn off the beacon that's broadcasting our location, to every ship in the neighborhood.
We already tried that.
It's password protected.
What happened? Colonel, where the hell did you come from? Beacon's deactivated.
The computers just shut down.
- All of them.
- Is that the, uh Self-destruct.
That's the self-destruct sequence! Why would anybody arm it? More importantly, how much time do we have? I don't know.
Whoever arms it designates the duration, you know, depending on how quick he wants to blow up the city.
The hell with this.
Ronon Ronon! We've already tried.
It's not going to open.
We'll just have to blast a hole in it.
With what? You don't have your gun.
You got any C-4 in here? In the infirmary? Anything we could use to act as an explosive? I don't know.
Uh The oxygen tanks, maybe? Right! Shoot 'em like Sheriff Brody did.
In the movie Jaws.
Yeah, I know, I've seen it.
How do you Sheppard showed it to me.
It's a good movie.
"Flammable.
" All right.
All we need is a gun to shoot it with.
You got one in here? Again, infirmary, not armory.
I don't get it.
Why would you arm the self-destruct? I didn't.
Finally.
You shut it down? No, just the alarm.
The city actually armed the self-destruct by itself, Major.
Well, why? Last thing I saw on the screen was a "breach of quarantine" alert.
My coming into the room caused the city to think the disease was spreading.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
But you said earlier that there was no outbreak.
No, there isn't.
The city doesn't know that.
It's all part of the system-wide malfunction.
The city must think there's a disease, and now it's out of control.
So blowing up Atlantis is its final countermeasure.
Did you see how much time was left on the self-destruct? No, computers shut down before I could see.
All right.
If we can't shut it down from here, we're going to have to turn it off at the source.
- That's in the main power room.
- That's six levels down.
We can't get there.
The jumper room's sealed off, We can't get there.
The jumper room's sealed off, as well as every other corridor out of the Gate Room.
I'll just have to climb back down.
The power room's in the center of the tower.
Even if you climbed back down, you'd still have to get through several sealed doors before reaching it.
You got any C-4? Yeah, a little bit.
That's it? That's it.
You two, with us.
The alarm turned off.
That's a good sign, right? I don't know.
Well, I mean, maybe someone found a cure for the disease, or at least figured out how to turn off the self-destruct.
Or maybe someone just figured out how to turn off the alarm.
Oh, I have to lie down.
Rodney, you can't give up.
You have to keep fighting.
I know it looks bleak, but What's this? Oh.
That's When I came here today, I was going to propose.
Ask your hand in marriage.
- This is not going to work.
- What are you talking about? This was your idea.
Yeah, after which I immediately said there was a one-in-a-million chance it would work.
It will, this is that one.
If I cut more than a millimeter too far The tank'll blow.
I know.
So just make sure you don't cut too far.
Just score it, like you said.
Okay, look.
If you don't do it, I'm going to do it.
Come on.
You got this.
Okay.
That's it.
I mean, that's That's as far as I should go.
All right.
Let's do it.
All right.
You ready? No.
You okay? Yeah.
All right.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
It's a lot stronger than a shark.
Fire in the hole.
What was that? Hello? - Hey! We're in here! - Hey! In here! Do you hear that? The transporter.
Somebody's in there.
Grab a side.
Colonel.
You all right? - Yeah.
I'm fine.
- I'm fine, too.
There's no outbreak.
It's just a malfunction.
We know.
Was Rodney the one who finally disabled the self-destruct? No, it's still armed, and I haven't heard from Rodney.
I need to get to a workstation.
Computers are down.
We're trying to get to the main power room, so we can physically cut the power to the self-destruct.
But all the doors are sealed shut.
We just used the last of our C-4 getting here.
Does that mean we're still stuck here? That's what it looks like.
How much time is left on the self-destruct? We don't know.
Computers shut down before we could see.
So it could happen any time.
Great.
You were going to propose to me? Today? Well, I mean, before the Before the lockdown.
So? Why don't you? Now? You want me to propose now? Don't you want to hear my answer? Well, it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? How can you say that? Oh, I don't know.
Maybe because we're moments away from our deaths.
Don't talk like that! There's still a chance someone could come through this door Katie, please, enough already.
As much as I'd love to believe that someone's going to swoop in and save the day, the fact that no one has tells me it's probably not going to happen.
I'm sorry if that's bleak and horrible and fatalistic, but there it is.
What are we going to do now? Well, what can we do? Does this vent go to the power room? Yes, yes! I believe it leads to the tower's main ventilation flue.
But that system's shut down.
Those vents will be closed off.
Not anymore.
We were able to get it back online in most of the tower just before the computers went down.
All right, looks clear.
It's going to be a tight squeeze, though.
There's no way I can move in here.
- I'll do it.
- No.
I'll do it.
- Are you sure? - Yes.
I'm small enough.
I can crawl through there.
I'll have the power off in no time.
All right.
Attaboy.
Ready? Yeah.
I had you wrong.
When you first came here, I thought you were weak.
That you didn't belong.
It's the story of my life.
Growing up, I skipped three grades.
I graduated at 15.
Got my bachelor's degree before I was even old enough to vote.
I missed out on a lot of things.
Any kind of social event.
You know, parties.
And dances.
I don't ever remember a time in my life where I belonged.
Yeah, well, blowing up that tank You really showed yourself.
But it didn't work.
That's not the point.
"I'll have the power off in no time.
" Idiot! Ah Come on, Radek.
He'll make it.
He did it.
Oh, my God! They found a cure or figured out how to override the program.
I don't believe it! We're going to make it! We're not going to die! Oh.
You crawled the entire way there, in those tiny vents? I'm surprised he even fit in there.
Oh, he fit, all right.
There's plenty of room.
Well, not plenty.
You should have seen him.
He looked like one of those little hamsters, in one of those Yes, yes, yes, listen, the important thing is I was able to make it and shut off the power in time.
Did you hear? McKay thought it was a real outbreak.
He even started getting sick, thought he was Hi.
You mind if I join you? Sure.
Go ahead.
What? Nothing.
Well, it's been several hours now, and there is no indication that anyone out there has picked up our alert beacon.
I think we're in the clear.
Well, we should keep an eye out, just in case.
Great work, Radek.
Everyone on this base owes you a debt of gratitude.
Well, thank you.
McKay would love this.
Katie? Hello, Rodney.
I see you're feeling better.
Uh Yes, I, uh Well, I mean, it was probably just, you know, an allergic thing.
I'm fine.
And the, uh, quarantine? Is it true there was no outbreak? No.
It was a malfunction.
A planetary anomaly.
lonospheric disturbance.
I've actually recalibrated the system, so it'll take into effect future activity.
So we should be fine.
Someone said it was Dr.
Zelenka that finally turned off the self-destruct? Technically, yes, but it was actually more of a group effort.
But that's not why I came here.
I, um Here's the thing.
Over the last year and a half, I have become aware that I have certain I don't want to use the word "flaws.
" Shortcomings, perhaps? For example, on occasion, I can be negative.
And demanding and a tad arrogant.
But, uh, I'm also finding that, just being aware of your, uh, shortcomings, is just the first minute step on the road to betterment, and that the real trick seems to be to actually do something about it.
I know.
It's difficult.
The point is, I came here earlier today to propose marriage to you, but after what happened, I realize that I may have been rushing things.
I just don't think I'm ready for this.
I know.
You do? I don't think I'm ready, either.
Oh.
Okay.
Good.
That's good.
It's not that my feelings have changed or diminished No.
No, of course not.
Just I mean, if we got married now, I would make your life miserable and you are far too good a person for that.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Easier said than done, right? Okay.
So, rain check on lunch? Absolutely.
- Rodney? - Mmm? Bye.
Right.
Bye.