Stargate: Atlantis (2004–2009): Season 1, Episode 14 - Before I Sleep - full transcript

Sheppard, Teyla and Ford are inspecting one of the unexplored sections of the city. They discover a strange room with a stasis pod that contains a very old looking woman and a note with gate addresses. It is suspected she is at least ten thousand years old. Weir orders to revive her. Carson soon notices there's something strange about this woman. She seems to know each and everyone's names. When fully awake she claims she is actually Weir and tells an entirely different story of Earth's troublesome arrival on Atlantis. Apparently she ended up with the Ancients ten thousand years ago by using a time machine.

- There you are.
- Hey.

I was just stealing a breath of fresh air.

- I thought you were off exploring the city.
- About to.

Picked this up on the mainland.
The Athosians made it.

Happy birthday.

Hmm.

It's beautiful.

How did you find out?

Mum's the word.

Done with the living quarters.
Moving on.

You see anything better
than our current quarters?



A few. Some of them are pretty nice.

What kind of square footage?

What am I, your realtor, Rodney? We're
here to unlock the secrets of Atlantis.

A one-bedroom with a den and preferably
a balcony, but I'm not married to it.

- Check this out!
- Be comfortable until the Wraith get here.

Shut up for a second.

- What? What is it?
- Some sort of laboratory.

We've come across dozens.
The city's full of them.

Something unusual about it?

I'd have to say... yes.

We could stand here looking at her all day.
We've gotta get her out of this box.

We can't. She's at least 100 years old.

Which is why every second counts!
She could drop dead.

How? You said she was frozen.



She's in a state of metabolic stasis,
ageing slowed but not entirely suspended.

- This woman is still alive?
- Yes.

Life-sign systems indicate viability. She's
been in that chamber for 10,000 years.

10,000 years?!

Doesn't look a day over 9,000.

She'll continue to age until she dies,
sooner rather than later,

bringing me back to my point.

She's so old I'm afraid
reviving her might actually kill her.

We cannot let this chance to talk to
an Ancient slip through our fingers - again.

Who knows her state of mind? She might
be carrying some horrifying contagion.

Who knows what she knows
about our city, or any ZPMs?

Ah, there's a thought.

- Revive her.
- But...

- It's my call.
- Thank you.

And we thought this city was abandoned.

Is it possible the Atlanteans left her
when they abandoned the city?

- Maybe she wanted to stay.
- Or they forgot about her.

In which case she's gonna be pissed.

If she remembers anything at all.

Breathing shallow.

Pulse rapid.

I'll run an EEG to determine
any brain activity.

- What is it?
- Don't know.

It's gate addresses, five of them.

M7G-677. We've been to this planet.

Dr Weir.

Hello?

Can you hear me?

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of.

- Freezer burn.
- I thought she wasn't frozen.

10,000 years.
You expect her to dance a jig?

It's the eyes. You look at the eyes.

Lights are on but nobody's home. Doesn't
take a medical professional to know...

Of course she can see us.

And hear us.

Hello. How are you feeling?

- It worked.
- What was that?

- "It worked."
- What does that mean?

- I assume something worked.
- That's very sharp.

Thank you.

Hello?

She fell asleep. When she's more stable,
transfer her to the infirmary.

And I want video on her at all times.

We might not get
a second chance at anything.

Let's hope we get a first, huh?

- Too big, huh?
- I'm just pointing out its dimensions.

- It's not that big...
- Gentlemen.

We were wondering if there were
any other frozen bodies out there.

There's no way of knowing.

It'd be like searching every room
in Manhattan. It'll take a while.

God knows what other surprises
are not showing on the sensors.

- That's what we're here to find out.
- Dr Weir.

- Yes?
- You'd better come to the infirmary.

- Is our patient awake?
- Aye, and she's saying peculiar things.

On our way.

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.

- She overheard you talking to someone.
- No.

- I was alone here when she woke up.
- Subconsciously?

I've read stories of coma patients...

It's more than that. She knows things.

How are you feeling?

Look at you!

I didn't think I'd see any of you again.

Missed you all so terribly.

- Even you, Rodney.
- You see?

I'm sorry? Do we know you?

Oh, yes.

I'm you, Elizabeth.

- Time travel?
- That's what she said.

She somehow found a way
to travel back in time

to when the Ancients inhabited the city.

How did she do this?

That will be the first question
when she wakes up.

- If she ever wakes up.
- There is the possibility she might be...

What is the clinical term... nuts?

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

Is time travel even possible?

There's nothing in the laws of physics
to prevent it.

Extremely difficult to achieve.

You need to manipulate black holes
to create wormholes

through points in space and time.

- Not to mention a nice DeLorean.
- Don't get me started on that movie.

I like that movie.

The results of the DNA test. It's a match.

She is you.

I know what you're thinking.

If she's been waiting
all these millennia for us to arrive,

why didn't the system attempt
to revive her the moment we got here?

Answer: it did. I've been going over
the data from our arrival.

One thing we noticed
was a sudden power surge

in the section where the stasis lab was.

It was trying to revive her,
only we didn't know.

We saw more power draining
from an already nearly depleted ZPM,

so we shut down all secondary systems,
almost killed her... you.

- How weird is that, huh?
- Very. Very, very weird.

Looking at yourself...

how you will be.

Actually, how you will be
will be different than how she is right now.

The moment she went back in time,
she created a separate reality,

a second you living in a parallel world.

According to one interpretation
of quantum theory.

Simply put, this interpretation states that

the universe is split into
an infinite number of copies of itself

in which every possible outcome to every
decision ever made all exists somewhere.

- Simply put.
- Yeah, in a nutshell.

Elizabeth?

There's so much to tell you.

- The note... I had a note.
- Yes.

Yes, we got your note.

Forgive my bluntness, but we need
to know everything about your encounter,

beginning when you went back in time,
specifically how you went back...

Rodney... let me talk.

Yeah.

There was an accident.

I remember
we arrived through the Stargate.

The lights came on by themselves...

..sensing our presence.

Who's doing that?

The city slowly awoke.

Dr Weir, you have to see this.

There are a lot of things I have to see.
Just be careful.

This is the control room.
Obviously their version of a DHD.

- Obviously
- Power control systems.

- A computer interface.
- Why don't you find out?

We've got lights coming on, air circulating,

but no power coming on
to these consoles.

Wait.
That isn't the way it happened.

Everything came online when we arrived.
Lights, computers, power systems.

- I accessed the database immediately.
- That's not what happened.

Not the first time.

- Isn't there something you can give her?
- She's in an extremely fragile state.

Her blood pressure is low,
her heart is weak.

If I administer a stimulant, it may induce
a dangerous arrhythmia, or worse.

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.

Which, I might remind you,
is not uncommon for a woman of 10,000.

Carson, I understand your reticence,

but trust me when I say
I believe she can handle it,

and I know she'd want it.

OK.

It's OK, Carson.

I'm just as freaked out
about all this as you are.

How's our patient doing?

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

Are you up for getting outta here?

Seeing the city like this,
sitting on the surface of the ocean,

you can't imagine how relieved I am.

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

No. No.

The city was in serious trouble
the very moment we arrived.

With temporary battery power,

we're trying to access
the city's main power systems.

Dr Weir, Colonel Sumner. Can you
come down here? We're three levels down.

- Right away.
- How we doing over there?

- Nothing yet.
- Let's see what we can do.

We've only secured
a fraction of the place. It's huge.

- It might really be the lost city of Atlantis?
- That's a good bet.

Oh, my God!

We're underwater.

I'd say we're under
several hundred feet of ocean.

This could be a problem.

Oh, no!

Dr Weir, I need to see you
in the control room immediately.

The city has a shield,
a force field holding the water back.

Or it had a shield. Power systems
are nearing maximum entropy.

Our arrival hastened
their depletion big time.

The shield is collapsing rapidly. Several
sections of the city are already flooded.

- Can we use our own power generators?
- We probably don't have time to try.

When I say rapidly collapsing,
I mean rapidly.

Colonel Sumner,
order all your security teams

to stop searching the city and fall back
to the gate room immediately.

Sumner, do you copy?

Colonel Sumner drowned?

And he wasn't the only one to perish.

We should evacuate through the Stargate.

We can't. Power's been diverted
to the shield holding the ocean back.

Do we know why this is happening now?

Power consumption spiked
when we arrived.

- This is happening because we arrived?
- Yes.

- What about auxiliary power?
- I'll interface with one of our generators.

Grodin, see if you can locate
any gate addresses in the database.

There won't be enough power to get back
to Earth, but maybe enough for Pegasus.

Some of our team
discovered a bay full of ships.

Spaceships? We should check 'em out.

- You could figure out...?
- I can fly anything.

Good. Go.

- I'll start with this one.
- What am I looking for?

See how many people they can fit.

Two piers are almost entirely flooded,
the third about to collapse.

Dr Weir, these ships
can hold several people each.

Learning how to fly 'em is another matter.

I'll see if I can pull up a schematic.

- This ship is different than the others.
- How?

It's a different control console.
Zelenka's on his way over.

- Good. I'm on my way too.
- Oh, no!

- What's wrong?
- The city's in self-protect mode.

Bulkheads are slamming shut.
People are trapped.

- Wouldn't that protect them?
- Most rooms are already breached.

We've got people trapped
with water rising.

I'll try to override the system, but it could
hamper efforts to power the Stargate.

If these ships are our only way out,
don't wait too long to get to the bay.

- Rodney!
- Yes, yes, yes. I heard. Go.

- How are we doing?
- This ship is different.

- What does it do?
- I don't know. I need more time.

You don't have time!
It's airtight, I assume?

- It's a spaceship. It better be.
- I've located a roof hatch.

I'll try to get it open.

What was that?

Bulkhead doors have slammed shut.
We're locked in!

- Can you get it open?
- I'm trying!

Forget it! The gate room's flooding.

Get up here! We're waiting for you!

I'm trying to retract the roof.
As soon as it opens, you go.

- Rodney!
- There's no time to argue.

Catastrophic failure is imminent.
Just lock yourself in and go.

There was nothing
you could do.

Within seconds
the control room was flooded.

I died?

You never gave up trying,
right until the end.

Well... a man wonders
how he would choose to go out,

given such dire circumstances.

- Now I know.
- Trying to save the lives of others.

But ultimately failing.

- I'm sure if I had a few more seconds...
- Wait.

Why didn't the failsafe mechanism engage
and raise the city?

Because there was
no failsafe the first time.

Atlantis remained on the ocean floor.

The shield completely collapsed.

Water came crashing in,
flooding every room in the city.

You both drowned while attempting
to get our people into ships.

And we, along with Dr Zelenka,
we found ourselves trapped.

We need to get outta here!

- Did McKay get the hatch open?
- I do not know.

There's six of us stuck
in one of the ships! What do we do?

- What did you do?
- I think I just turned it on.

Stand by, Sergeant.

I'm not much for instruction manuals,
but I could use one right about now.

- Oh, my God!
- We're in space. What happened?

- Now what did you do?
- I don't know. I just...

What was that?

We were under attack. We didn't know
where we were or who was shooting at us.

And that's when John...

- Carson!
- I need medical assistance asap.

How's she doing?

Stabilised, but still very weak,
and getting weaker.

Your own mortality
staring you right in the face.

I can't imagine how you must be feeling.

When she looks at me,

it's as if she's sensing my thoughts,

and I'm sensing hers.

It's very unsettling.

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

The puddle jumper they escaped in
must have been a time machine,

had to have an additional component.

- Flux capacitor.
- Yeah.

The question is,
where's the time machine now, hmm?

Why don't we ask her?

What happened?

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

It's gone.

- Who is shooting at us?
- How do we shoot back?

Did I do that?

Hang on!

The next thing I knew...

..I woke up here.

You mean now?

No. Then.

You're awake.

His name was Janus.

He healed my wounds

and explained to me what had happened.

Your ship was shot down.

We retrieved it from the ocean floor.

Major Sheppard, Dr Zelenka?

No one survived.

Ha! Ah, the bitter taste
of ultimate failure, hmm?

If you'd figured out how to fix the damn
shield, none of us would have died.

I valiantly attempted to save your sorry...

Gentlemen. Focus.

Please, continue.

Needless to say, I was very confused.

He explained to me
that the ship we had escaped in

was a time machine.

He was the one who built it.

After I was feeling better, he brought me
before the Atlantean Council.

We welcome you to the city of Atlantis.

Thank you.

Your arrival has come
at a time of great conflict.

We've been under siege and have
submerged our city for protection.

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

- From Earth?
- Yes.

10,000 years from now.

It should be noted that our actions

have succeeded in protecting the city
for so many years.

Let us hope Dr Weir's arrival
has not altered this eventuality.

By encountering the Wraith,
she may have already set in motion

events that could lead to a future
far different from the one she left.

I'm sorry. What are the Wraith?

They told me of beings called Wraiths,

a vicious, formidable enemy

whose power and technology
rivalled their own.

Yes, actually, we've already...

The Atlanteans sent a delegation,

protected by
their most powerful warships,

in the faint hope of negotiating a truce.

One on one, the Atlantean ships
were more powerful,

but the Wraith were so many.

After that great battle...
it was only a matter of time.

We're awaiting our offworld transport
ships before beginning our evacuation.

- Where will you go?
- We're returning to Earth.

You're welcome to join us.

Thank you. That's very kind, but...

I'm sure you must understand my desire
to return to the future, to my people.

I was hoping to be able
to use the time machine again

and programme it to arrive at the moment
we came through the Stargate,

and if you had a ZPM
I could take back with me,

that would help us considerably.

- The power systems were depleted...
- No.

Enough of this tampering with time.

- Causality is not to be treated lightly.
- No one's treating it lightly.

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.

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.

And they have.

Because of my experiments,
we now have the opportunity...

Enough! We have no time for this.

I'm 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.

The tests confirm 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.

- How long does she have?
- I doubt she'll live out the night.

Please.

I don't know how much time I have left

to tell the story
I have waited so long to tell.

Oh...

The Council, they were very upset.

You said they decided
to destroy the time machine.

I tried to talk them out of it.
I didn't give up hope.

Thankfully, I had an ally.

You need to talk to Moros. Dr Weir was
brought here through no fault of her own.

- She shouldn't be punished.
- She's free to come to Earth.

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

That's not possible. I'm sorry.

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?

We could block the Stargate permanently
after the evacuation.

That way, your team
will be unable to come here.

The city may never be found.

- But their lives would be saved.
- Thank you for your offer.

But we are explorers, just like you.

Which should come as no surprise,

since they are the second evolution
of our kind.

Don't you understand?
This city will survive 10,000 years.

The Council's decision is final.

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.

May I ask what it is you're doing?

Calculating the necessary power needed.

- Needed for...?
- The shield collapsed after your arrival.

I have to find a way
to extend the supply of power.

- What is it you called them?
- ZPM. Zero-point module.

Yes.

They operate in parallel, providing power
to the city simultaneously.

However, used in sequence,
it may be possible

to sustain the necessary power
for the needed time.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Three ZPMs right in front of me.

There is one small problem, however.

Someone will need to remain to transfer
the power from one device to the other,

to rotate them sequentially.

- Over thousands of years?
- It is possible.

Janus, please report to Central Control.

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

Cloaking shields damaged.
We're returning fire.

- There's too many enemy ships.
- And more coming.

Engage auxiliary power.
Try to outrun them.

There are over 300 people
on that transport.

The shields are down!

Begin evacuation. We must leave now.

Damn. Fell asleep again.

Well, you're not the only one.

- Are you in any pain?
- Would we admit it if we were?

I wish there was more
we could do for you.

Look at you.

Always worrying.
You put too much pressure on yourself.

Remember that miserable
Baltic negotiation?

What Simon told us afterwards?

"Breathe", among other things.

Enjoy the moment, what's here right now.

The sun... the breeze.

Our birthday.

Sheppard couldn't keep it to himself, huh?

I'm just saying stop being
so damn hard on yourself.

Life is quick.

- Not for you.
- It was my choice, Elizabeth.

I didn't second-guess it then,
and I don't regret it now.

- Where is Dr Weir?
- She's gone through the gate.

She was among the first to evacuate.

Good.

Janus prepared
the stasis chamber for me,

said it would be like
a deep, dreamless sleep.

I'm inputting commands
for the system to revive you

at intervals of 3.3 thousand years
to rotate the ZPMs.

I'll give you instructions
on how to reactivate the stasis process.

I'm entering commands
to commence final revival

the moment sensors indicate
the presence of your... expedition team.

Look, I feel that I must tell you
that there is a possibility,

remote as it is,
that this might not succeed.

I know.

It's impossible to predict what'll happen.

I'm convinced that you will survive.

But if you don't, I've programmed
a failsafe mechanism to protect the city.

- A failsafe?
- Yes.

If the power drains, the mechanism
holding the city will release

and it will rise to the surface.

Really?

And then they left, all of them,

returning to Earth through the Stargate.

What's all that?

My research.

You're gonna build another time ship.

Doubt I'll succeed.
The Council will be watching.

I'm sure you'll find a way.

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

- Thank you.
- Thank you...

for giving me the hope that Atlantis
will survive another 10,000 years

after you discover it again.

I'm ready.

And then I was alone.

I set the city to slumber...

..and began my long journey home.

It worked... the stasis, the failsafe.

You gave up your entire life.

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.

Trust yourself, Elizabeth.

All that matters is right now.

And the note,
I wrote it in case I didn't survive.

Has Rodney figured it out yet?

- Five gate addresses.
- Outposts.

Each one with a zero-point module.

Janus told me.

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

- They could still be there.
- M7G-677! We've got...

We're about to start
our mission briefing, so...

I'll be right there.

Actually, John...
give me a minute, will you?

Sure.

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