Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007): Season 4, Episode 20 - Entity - full transcript

After a MALP goes out of remote control, even flying wild, an energy burst during an emergency Stargate shutdown causes serious damage in SGC, and wounds operator Sergeant Harriman; Dr. Frasier keeps SG-1 down for check-ups. It soon becomes clear a 'computer program' has entered trough the wormhole, and is taking over the SGC computer network; even after Sam shuts it down, it reemerges, constantly requiring more memory. It not only 'nests' in a hardware constellation it creates, but even manages to take over Carter's brain, and communicates. It's a non-corporeal life form, whose entire home was damaged by a virus caused by the MALP radio waves, and believes its best survival chance is inside Sam, as the humans won't sacrifice her; true soldier Jack however decides to play hardball...

Chevron six encoded.

- Glad you could make it, Colonel.
- Wouldn't miss it, sir. This is the best bit.

Chevron seven locked.

Proceeding with MALP transit.

MALP en route.

You look tense.

No, I'd say anxious.

I am neither tense nor anxious.

Perhaps concerned.

Why?

The address of this planet came
from the repository of the Ancients.



Receiving MALP telemetry.

Nothing I can see resembles
anything we know about the Ancients.

Architecture, technology, writing.

Maybe it came to this planet
after the Ancients left it.

Teal'c, do you recognise any of this?

- I do not, General Hammond.
- Nope. Neither do I.

I'm just saying.

- What's it doing?
- Flying, sir.

- MALPs can't fly.
- Apparently they can.

- Shouldn't there be a memo on this?
- I do not believe we are still in control.

Run a systems diagnostic on the MALP.

- It's stopped transmitting.
- Negative, sir.

We have a strong signal.
We should be receiving video.

Uh, Major, you should take a look at this.



Sir, very high frequency oscillations are
being transmitted on a feedback loop.

- They may be trying to communicate.
- "They"?

Well, whoever "they" are.

- Exactly.
- What?

Sir, I recommend we disengage
the Stargate and analyse this data.

Agreed. Terminate the link.

Whoa! We got an EM spike!
The system is overloading.

- Shut down.
- I can't get in.

- Try override!
- Control systems are locked out! Argh!

The computer's
no longer under our control.

- Emergency disconnect, sir?
- Do it!

- Major, are you OK?
- Yes, sir.

Let's get him to the infirmary.

He's got first- and
second- degree burns, sir.

- I'd like to run some more tests.
- Very well.

The Stargate control systems
and their redundancies are inoperative.

The circuitry in these terminals is fused.

- Any idea what that was?
- None, sir.

The secondary systems are running,
but it was one hell of an EM spike.

I'd like to run a diagnostic
on the main computer.

- Yeah. After I treat this hand.
- As soon as I...

- It is a very bad burn, Sam.
- Five minutes.

- Now!
- Do as the doctor says.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Colonel.
You, Daniel and Teal'c are next.

- What? I'm fine.
- What? We're fine.

I would like to be the judge of that.

Some form of energy
came through the Stargate.

It's only prudent to make sure there's
no physiological effects to you all. ASAP?

- Who put her in charge?
- The US Air Force.

In medical matters, Dr Fraiser
may overrule those of any rank.

I'm not gettin' all my memos.

Well, by the looks of the control room,
I'd say you're both very lucky.

I guess it could have been worse.

I'd like to know what it was trying to do.

Unfortunately, our best diagnostic tool
for figuring that out was trashed.

- You're all done here.
- Thanks.

- Reporting as requested.
- Thanks, Teal'c. Just have a seat, please.

Can you freeze it just before it cuts out?
I want a video capture of this hub thing.

I might be able to cross- reference
the architecture.

No, I don't think this place is even
remotely connected to Ancient Earth.

There. This is the start of
the high- frequency oscillations.

They began seconds after we lost video
and started to multiply exponentially.

Then the oscillations fused our equipment
and made it impossible to measure them.

Now, if I isolate the smaller, more detailed
signal and expand the time line...

There. It's a waveform of some kind.

- Alien signal.
- Piggybacked on the MALP telemetry.

That must be how it came back
through an outgoing wormhole.

I can't analyse it until I get the computers
back up. My hands are tied.

- There are other computers.
- Not that I can access.

General Hammond's
put the SGC under quarantine.

- So information was accessed?
- Apparently.

Why? By what?

We don't know, sir. But it branched out
through very specific areas:

.. network and language software,
system and application software.

- Learning to read, learning to talk.
- And knowledge of our systems.

You're saying something
was inside our computers?

We're just guessing at this point, but...

Whatever it was, we interrupted it before
it completed its scan of our computer.

Did you determine any more
from the MALP transmissions?

Nothing on or off world resembles
the architecture. It's entirely alien.

We're running a virus scan
and purging the entire mainframe.

Our file allocation tables were corrupted.
There are sectors we'll never recover.

I'm maintaining DEFCON 2
and keeping the mountain locked down...

.. until you can tell me with confidence
there'll be no further repercussions.

Yes, sir.

So it's a probe?

No, it's like a probe.
We actually don't know what to call it.

Before we were able to cut it off,...

.. a structured EM wave navigated
over half of our computer system.

- For what reason?
- Well, we sent a probe to their world.

- So we're calling it a probe?
- Sure.

We don't know what would have
happened if we hadn't interrupted it.

- It did an awful lot of damage.
- Perhaps that was the intention.

Maybe it was intended to be passive,...

.. but was so advanced
that it fused our systems.

- We really have no way of knowing.
- Now, what is this?

The high- frequency oscillations we
received, time magnified and scaled.

Looks like high- amplitude tracings
of an EEG.

- Like a brain wave?
- Yeah.

Hello?

- It's still here.
- What, the probe?

Well, whatever it is.

It sustained itself
within our secondary systems...

.. while we were cleaning up
the main computer.

Do I look fat?

It's like it wants us to know that it's here.

Come here often?

Yeah, all right, that's me.

Beg your pardon, sir. The dialling
sequencer just went down.

- Take it off line, Sergeant.
- Yes, sir.

- It's learning.
- Learning what?

Uh, about us. Who we are,
what we do here.

Put a stop to it, Major.

- Yes, sir.
- We don't even know its intentions.

Doctor, I can't allow an alien technology
into our computer systems.

Have we
maintained quarantine?

Yes, sir. We're still isolated.

I don't want to contaminate
the outside world.

I want whatever this is
stopped right here, right now.

I think it likes me.

From what I can decipher, sir,
it's like a computer program:

.. incredibly invasive,
but as complex as a DNA strand.

And it's growing.
It's eating more and more memory.

- Can you remove it?
- This will take a shutdown...

.. of all systems
connected to the mainframe,...

.. followed by a format of all drives.

Unfortunately, sir, all data not backed up
before this event will be destroyed.

- But it's the only way to be sure.
- Understood. Do it.

We'll be out of commission
for a while, sir.

I've already alerted all offworld teams
to stay put until further notice.

Yes, sir.

- Sergeant?
- Stand by for systems power down.

Powering down.

Hey!

- All scans came back clean, sir.
- Thank you, Sergeant.

We may have only lost data
from the last 24 hours before the event.

We'll know more when I can access
the SGC archives in the Pentagon.

I'd like you and Sergeant Siler to
double- check your results before we do.

Yes, sir.

Major.

You're kidding!

Carter!

- Emergency lighting?
- In the MALP room, yes, sir.

A small power- usage anomaly.

General Hammond
said we should check it out.

- Forget to change a light bulb, Siler?
- That's not my job, sir.

Yes, sir. Light bulb. Very amusing.

- It's warm.
- Fire?

Alarms would be
going off by now, Major.

It's been welded, from the inside.

By who? There's been nobody
on this level since the power shutdown.

Get a torch.

- What is it?
- I don't know, sir.

I think we robbed the alien program
of an environment, so it created one.

It appears to be sustaining itself from the
electric power from the emergency lights.

It must have gotten into a MALP,
survived on battery power...

.. and built this... memory mainframe
while we were on emergency power.

- "Memory mainframe"?
- I know for a fact we wiped out a ton of it.

This program must be able to reproduce
itself from a fraction of its original size.

And now it's expanding into
whatever available memory it can find.

OK!

General, we're gonna need
some claymores down here.

I'm on my way.

You want to blow it up?

- Yes.
- Why?

Why?

Sir, we've isolated this area. There is
no chance of reinfection of our computer.

It's obviously fighting to survive.

So do bacteria!

It's trying to communicate.

So do bac...

Sir, I agree with Daniel.
This is a life form - obviously intelligent.

We've been in the same position as this
alien entity I don't know how many times.

On another planet, cut off
from our world, trying to stay alive.

What in God's name...?

Well, General, whatever got into our
computers apparently has built a nest.

- Overnight?
- According to the security log,...

.. there hasn't been any human activity
in the MALP room for 36 hours.

For the record, sir, I want to blow it
to hell. These folks want to chat with it.

Are you absolutely certain
it can't reconnect to our computers?

General?

It's surviving on an emergency circuit,
so it's isolated from the rest of the base.

We can kill it just by
severing that connection.

- How do you intend to proceed?
- Well, sir, it's provided an interface.

I'd like to try to make contact with it.
If anything goes wrong, we cut the power.

Very well.

Maybe it's trying to figure out
why we sent a probe to its world.

Major Carter?

Carter!

Start an EKG and EEG.

OK. On my count.

Three, two, one.

We in?

Charge the paddles 100.

Take over.

It's normal sinus rhythm.

Sir.

What? What is it?

These readings match those that infected
the computer in the first place.

It's inside her.

These weaker readings are
Major Carter's, these are the entity's.

How can a computer program
be inside a human brain?

Sam said it was looking for memory
within which to expand.

The human brain is capable
of storing terabytes of information.

- How do you intend to remove it?
- I doubt it's even possible, sir.

More and more of her brain's
being stimulated.

It's impossible to tell if her memory's
being suppressed, overwritten or erased.

General Hammond. I advise that Major
Carter be placed under armed guard.

What?

If an alien entity
has somehow invaded her body,...

.. then she is a security risk,
and must be treated as such.

I agree with Teal'c.

The entity has fooled us twice.
I'll be damned if I'll let it do it again.

She's to remain under guard at all times.

Yes, sir.

Carter?

She's conscious.

Can you talk?

Colonel, her PET scan
resembles that of a stroke victim.

Parts of her brain seem very active.
Others seem dormant or suppressed.

The entity has full motor control.

However, it might be able to communicate
with a speech synthesiser if I explain it.

Just concentrate on
getting it out of her, will ya?

I don't know how, sir.

What about the Tok'ra or Asgard?
Don't they owe us a favour by now?

Till this situation is resolved, Colonel,
we're still under quarantine.

That means from ourallies as well.

We cannot risk the entity
leaving this facility.

It used a capacitor from the MALP...

.. to deliver a charge
right through the keyboard, sir.

- Well, don't touch it.
- Yes, sir.

- Sam said it was growing. Expanding.
- Perhaps the entity that possessed her...

.. sensed that Major Carter's mind
was a better memory- storage vessel.

- It was a trap.
- A trap?

Yep. It was watching us the whole time.

Uh, so you're saying it knew Sam and I
wanted to make contact with it?

Yeah.

The device was created as a delivery
system, in order to invade her body.

- Yes.
- Basically, what you're saying is that...

.. if we'd just listened to you
in the first place and blown it up...

No, seriously. Is that what you're saying?

If we had destroyed the entity,...

.. Major Carter would not
have been adversely affected.

OK, look.

I know your first instinct is to protect,
both of you - that's your job - but...

.. no matter what happens,
no matter how this turns out,...

.. Sam wasn't wrong
to try to communicate with it.

O'Neill.

That's right.

Go get the doc.

And you are...?

I am within.

- You are O'Neill.
- Yeah. We've established that.

This one has memory ofyou.

The "one" you're
talking about is a person.

Her name is Major Samantha Carter.

Then... I am Major...

No. No, you're not.

We understand that you've taken control
of Major Carter, but you're not her.

There was no other choice.

No otherplace to go.

You wished to terminate.

Still do.

But you will not. Not now.

I have observed.

You value the life ofone.

Yes, we do.

This one is important.

She is.

For this reason, this one was chosen.

You will not terminate this one
in order to destroy me.

It went into Sam out of self- preservation.

I cannot be removed from
this mind without terminating.

You will not terminate this one.

None ofyou will.

Therefore I will survive.

The entity insists Sam's mind is intact,...

.. but I can't detect anything
beyond the barest trace.

I believe, even if I was
somehow able to remove it,...

.. she would be essentially braindead.

I see.

Then why does the entity insist
that Sam's mind is still within?

It's the only way to keep us from killing it.

Or it's telling the truth
and we just can't detect it.

Even if Sam is still in there
somewhere, it won't be for long.

The entity's influence is still growing,
and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

What course of action remains?

Well, it wants to survive,
so... we offer to send it home.

This alien technology is capable
of travelling back to us...

.. through an outgoing wormhole.

I won't risk the same thing
happening again.

I've already ordered that the coordinates
be locked out of the dialling computer.

Let me talk to it. Maybe we can...
convince it to leave willingly.

Very well, Dr Jackson.

Dismissed.

Jack.

Sir?

We may have to make
some difficult choices.

I know that Major Carter
means a great deal to you.

She's a very valuable
member of my team, sir.

Yes, she is.

My name is Daniel.

I am aware.

Right. You, uh... you read my file.

- Yes.
- Then you know I am a scientist.

Yes.

You have determined
I cannot be extracted.

Yes.

I will now offerinformation
in exchange for continued survival.

We don't want your information.
We want Sam.

Leaving this mind
would cause termination.

You left that thing you constructed
in the MALP room. Go back.

I have already grown beyond its capacity.

Why... why did you do this? Why did
you come here in the first place?

- You attacked.
- No, we sent a probe.

Yes?

It's, uh... something we do to determine
whether or not a place is safe for humans.

Radio energy was emitted
from yourprobe.

Contagion.

- Much damage was caused within.
- Within what?

Within us.

It spread before we
understood it was poison.

You're saying your world was damaged
by radio waves from one probe?

Yes.

We didn't mean to hurt you.
It was a misunderstanding.

Yet it is done.

So you came here to... to what?

- Preserve.
- Preserve your world?

- Yes.
- How?

By destroying you.

Well, that's not gonna happen.

Transmission was interrupted.

Ifl had been able
to complete transmission,...

.. you would have been destroyed.

My world would have been preserved.

Well, in a way, you succeeded.

We won't go back there.

You can repair the damage and we
won't send any more probes through.

Yes, we will.

Jack?

We'll send dozens of'em.

One after another.

I don't care what it does.

- No.
- Leave her. Now.

You won't.

You've read my file. Think again.

- I must preserve.
- Fine. Stick to your guns, then.

- Jack...
- Daniel, we're gonna do this my way.

You can't.

- General?
- You're damn right we can.

No. Please.

Leave her.

- I must preserve.
- If you want to preserve your world,...

.. leave Major Carter right now.

Stand down!

Let her go!

We have an emergency situation:
corridor 649.

I believe the alien is attempting
to return to the mainframe.

Still no change.

I don't know if she ever told you this,
Colonel, but Sam made a living will:

.. "No extraordinary means. "

Yeah, she told me.

There's, uh... there's no
brain activity of any kind.

No brain wave for
either Sam or the entity.

She's being kept alive
entirely on life support.

I think it's time to let her go, sir.

Just, uh... give it a minute, huh?

Hammond ordered the mainframe thing
in the MALP room destroyed,...

.. in case the entity managed
to find its way back in there.

That's probably
what it was trying to do.

Sir, we're go for a systems restart.

- Proceed, Sergeant.
- Yes, sir.

All operational systems are back on line.

Get back!

It's the MALP room, sir.

SG-1 to the MALP room immediately.

I think our friend is back, sir.

All right, let's blow it.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Look at this.

- The entity.
- No, it said it couldn't go back.

- It's Sam.
- Daniel... I shot her twice.

After it transferred Sam's
consciousness out of her body.

You killed the entity after it
put Sam into this... this thing.

- She's in here.
- Why?

- Why would it do that?
- You demanded it.

You threatened to send an army
of probes to its home world.

Saving Sam and allowing
itself to be killed...

.. was the only way
to preserve its home world.

Get me Hammond.

- Hammond.
- General, we've got a situation here.

Same here, Colonel. I'm on my way.

This EEG matches Sam's.
I don't know how, but it's her.

- What do we do?
- There's nothing I can do, sir,...

.. but to provide a conduit for her
to return into her own body.

The entity has deceived us
on several occasions.

Go ahead, Doctor.

Yes, sir.

She's back.

Hey, Carter. Where you been?

- It's gone?
- Yes, it is.

I was shouting... for you to hear.

We heard.