Episode Twenty Three: Eighth Wonder

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1326
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Captain Cromin was ordered to wait for Keller and his group because they were short on men, so he did as the Colonel suggested, and in that time more and more people came but none the less they still lacked the appropraite amount of people that would have been needed to adequately do the jom in a much faster time. Cromin anticipated that their walk down deep in the caves would require that they take three trips but looking at the schematics that they had he had plotted out a way to reach each UAV in a much more shorter time that originally anticipated, thats assuming that nothing had changed in the short time that the UAV had be down. Being that these crystals grow suggesting life and some sort of intelligence.


Colonel Loveridge then addressed the search team saying "Grab what you think you'll need, We need that black box and we needed it ten minutes ago" The veteran captain having heard the Colonel needed the UAVs back ASAP now addressed the search team "Alright listen up, search team on me. Our mission has just changed from recon to search and rescue. Grab what you need only, this is not the time for experimentation but search and rescue only. About 20 minutes ago we sent three UAVs into this cave systems and after scanning for a little bit they all went offline or cut communication with us all at the same time, this is not a coincidence as far as the Colonel is concerned and I agree. As a result we are going into that cave system to find those downed UAV's, they might not be in the air any longer but they might still be working, scanning and at the minimum we can recover their black boxes if they are out of commision to atleast fill us in on how they went down and why. Do not bring in any unnescessary equipment except it is needed. I suggest that you all be light and mobile when you go into those caves with me, because we are dealing with the unknown here, that is all, Search team I want you at the mouth of the caves ready to go in 60 seconds, move out" and after that he waived to Keller suggesting that he fill him in on any intel he might need to consider as they both go into the deep.

<Tag all and whomever wants to be on the search team>

[Vanessa Collins]

1325
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Since Robert hadn't responded to her yet, Vanessa wondered if he wasn't speaking to her due to the fact that she was a shrink or over Kat coming to her after the rescue mission from her Prior experience. Afraid that Major Logan had shared secrets which, weren't meant to be told. If that was the case, he really needed to relax. Kat hadn't shared that much. Perhaps the man was still debating whether to talk to her or not.

She was in the middle of finding one mission report when Troy came over and had her full attention, she lifted a finger, motioning him to wait a second, "I almost have it," she told him without looking away from the monitor of the small laptop that set on her lap. Clicking a suspected report, she gave a once over with her eyes, trying to find keywords, she smiled when she realised she hit the jackpot. "Ah ha! Gotcha."

Facing Troy, "Do you remember the Original SG-1 encountering an alien Crystal species?" Not waiting on a reply, she talked on, "The ones that duplicated O'Neill? Carter spoke to the one they brought back. Given the similarity of the situation, I do think there's more to it. Finding a way to talk to them is worth a try. How did Cormin come by them?" She didn't think just tumbling upon them was the case. There had to be more to the way they were discovered. A sheer chance wasn't something she believed with this.

<<Tag Troy/All>>

[Matthew Keller]

1326
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Cromin had called Keller over, "Captain what you need to be aware of is that its drawn to any form of energy, including us so keep as far away as possible and make sure that if the UAV's are down that they don't have any crystal on them at all, things could go nasty from there, otherwise everything is as per usual", he says turning his attention back to where Vanessa and Troy were talking about the intelligence side of the crystal.

"Sir, Ma'am if you don't mind me getting in here, but wasn't that entity very aggressive? This doesn't seem like an aggressive lifeform, if anything it seems to me as if it means well but is being taken in the wrong way. I have an idea of how we could remove the crystal from the planet entirely but I've got no way to test it completely other than to take more readings and make a simulation", he says adding to the conversation. "If worst comes to worst and we need to think quickly, much like the lifeform the SGC encountered, if we believe its in the same makeup then I'll volunteer to be a host for it", he also says, not even knowing if it was part of the same species.

< Tag Troy & Vanessa >

[Kindle Knox]

1327
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

[/i] call a prison cell…for some reason. If you can’t leave and aren’t given rights – that sounds like a prison…in her eyes, anyway. The man that had last visited her in that room had been odd. Military getup. Proper – but she could almost smell a slight tweak from the norm, squirming around inside him. It had been him, who had basically talked her into a corner with two choices: death or “yes”. Being only twenty-one – young by even her standards – death just didn’t seem like a good idea. The “yes” that caused shackles to inhibit her movement, as the final hiss of the damn word slid between her teeth…had landed her here. Apparently since she had spent the last several years avoiding being caught by any sort of government, while stealing and playing with the world around her – they had viewed her as a dangerous asset. But an asset, nonetheless. However the ‘danger’ part landed her somewhere she honestly wasn’t expecting. When he had originally told her to ‘accept being banned from the countries you have committed crimes in’ – she expected to find herself in a Wookie-speak country. Not…another galaxy.

But life is funny like that.

As she stood with the others, she couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward. These people all knew each other and were probably all qualified individuals. Did any of them know of her past? Had there been some G-man who had showed up before her arrival, explaining that they were about to get a criminal? Yay anxiety. Taking a slightly shaky breath, as her over-active mind played through it all.

Kindle had honestly demonstrated her age by zoning out a few times during critical conversation, so she wasn’t exactly one-hundred-percent crystal (ha) clear on what was happening. She was aware that there were power eating crystals. A for effort?

The only way she had survived high school with her attention span, was being observant and lots of educated guesses. Plus she had taken her GE test before she was technically done…but that’s beside the point.

Silently, Kindle watched the others figure things out and run in circles, as she crept around in the shadows. It was simply her nature. She wasn’t comfortable around everyone, therefore she felt the need to be illusive.

Watching a man run back to the main area with the dude in charge, she decided to eavesdrop, so her understanding of everything would be less vague.
"Sir, I think the crystal had already reached an outer unmapped part of the city, its acting as a conduit to the city, any power it receives goes into the city's systems, but when we power up the city it acts as a buffer, storing the energy it receives, think of this lifeform as a living charger, its not enough to power the city, unless it was in a smaller form",

So there was an engery-sponge-crystal….thing…?

Kindle remained silent, absorbing everyone’s theories, as she lurked in the back of the group. Some people wanted to take samples of it. Others wanted to talk to it. Apparently SGC had seen this type of thing before…ish. Plus there was the possibility for needing a host...?

Kindle’s eyes became unfocused as she pondered their situation.

Clearing her throat slightly, the previously dead-silent girl brought the attention to her.
“Have you tried seeing if the crystal is putting off any sort of vibrations…then try…I don’t know – annoying it somehow and seeing if it changes? When I think crystals I don’t exactly think saying, ‘hey whuddup dude,’ and it giving me a fist-bump. If it is putting off vibrations, maybe record the set or see if it’s putting off something super-sonic or super-low – like a whale, and simply play it back to see how it responds…?” she half shrugged, still not quite sure what she was talking about, but thought throwing in her opinion was worth a shot.

She didn’t know these people – but she had to be nice or she’d face death on Earth. No pressure.[/ul]

<Tag people in area>

[Troy Loveridge]

1327
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

The Colonel stood by patiently as Vanessa attended to a laptop, and pulled up a file on a very old SG-1 mission, dating back to the late 90's when the team had only just began to explore the galaxy. "You mean the crystal that mimics Colonel O'Neill and walked back through the Stargate?" he asked, skimming over the file to bring himself back up to speed. While there was ten years worth of reports from SG-1 alone, it was always the early 'classic' missions that stuck in his mind. Their adventures had lost his attention when Cam Mitchell came along, and it wasn't long before the team had been stood down.

"Finding a way to talk to them is worth a try," the psychologist suggested. "I'll get the team to try and make first contact," Troy replied, though he wasn't sure at this exact moment how they were going to talk to what was essentially a piece of rock.

Thankfully, Ms. Kindle seemed to have an idea. "Have you tried seeing if the crystal is putting off any sort of vibrations?" she asked, and went on to explain how vibrations were a possible way the crystal could communicate. The expedition had encountered species that spoke with all sorts of noises, scents and smells, and in some cases telepathy. Vibration-based communication wouldn't be the strangest thing they'd ever encountered. "Grab some kit and follow Cromin and Keller," Troy said to the young women. "They could use someone who thinks outside the rock." Sending Kindle down into the tunnels on her first day to try and talk with a energy-eating rock formation wasn't ideal, but sometimes you just had to be pushed in the deep end.

Corporal Keller offered himself up to act as a 'host' for the crystal, should that be the way it communicates. "Remember what that Ancient database did to Colonel O'Neill when it was downloaded into his head?" Troy asked. There was a long history at the SGC of people having alien entities get inside their minds, and it rarely ended pretty. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

As the team grabbed the last of their gear before heading out, Troy turned to Vanessa, to finish answering her question. "Cromin picked up some strange EM readings when he was out on a training run," he explained, handing her a sheet of paper with the readings recorded on it. "So far we haven't been able to determine if they're good or bad."

< Tag Base Personnel >

[Vanessa Collins]

1327
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

She let troy skim over the file himself as he also refreshed his memory on that particular mission. It was surprising how one could find old mission quickly if one knew where to look. It was at times impossible to find mission reports that were almost 14 years old. If archived properly, it wasn't all that hard to dig out. Waiting once he was done, "That very one," she confirmed as swing on the chair and way from the table and laptop. "While I'm aware these are not the same crystals. Chances are that they are living creatures due to their growth is very...likely."

Vans frowned at what Keller said, "I wouldn't call them aggressive, just cautious?" Their behaviors seemed to have indicated that they hadn't been out to kill anyone. "They only mimicked O'Neill because they didn't understand the pain of loss Jack was going through, thus they thought they could heal his pain by finding his son for him."

Their new Tech expert threw an idea out of the table, "I think that idea could be worth trying, see the results before moving on to something drastic actions." She looked closely again to the crystals that were embedding with the Jumper, trying to find something that could also be worked in their favor.

They didn't know what the crystals were capable of, But given they were draining the ancient vessel, "What happens if someone with ATA gene talks to them?" she faced Troy and Kindle. "I mean they are eating or merging with Ancient Tech."

It was after all Troy's decision. He couldn't ask for the Shrink's POV is front of his personnel.

<<Tag Troy, Kindle, Keller>>

[Kindle Knox]

1327
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

[/i] thought she would have to best - then again...she never really expected to be in another galaxy in the first place.

After throwing out her 'tracking vibrations' theory, the slight beat of silence, sent a nervous chill down Kindle's spine. Being as smart as she was, she had a slight phobia of failure and being wrong. The girl had thrown herself out there, and was feeling unusually shy, thanks to everything that had occurred recently.

Finally - even though it was simply a fraction of a second later - the dude in charge broke the silence, "Grab some kit and follow Cromin and Keller," the Colonel began, "They could use someone who thinks outside the rock."

Not only was her idea accepted, but a bad pun was used. She was going to like it here.

"I think that idea could be worth trying, see the results before moving on to something drastic actions," Collins agreed - the city's shrink, from what Kindle could tell.

Kindle smiled and gave a two-finger-off-the-forehead salute, "Right-o, sir, before she started to turn away. The sanity-doc began speaking again, before Kindle could grab the equipment and get out of earshot.

"What happens if someone with ATA gene talks to them?" Kindle turned back, recently learning what the 'ATA' gene was, "I mean they are eating or merging with Ancient Tech."

"From what I understand - please correct me if I'm wrong - this 'ATA' gene allows people who carry it to use the same things that the Ancients created. Their tech is somehow gene catalyzed, yes? So if the crystal monster is sucking on a ZPM with a curly straw, we should technically be able to go through the ancient tech it's nomming on and use that to access its...um...well we're assuming it has some sort of brain - so thoughts. It's kind of like hacking a computer really," Kindle smiled, "Plus I have that funky gene, so I can give it a go while testing my vibration theory," she gave a slight nod.

Kindle was already starting to feel more comfortable with these new people. They actually seemed to care what she said, and weren't treating her like some low life...even though she was probably the only one that had been in jail (and not a prisoner of war) and didn't have a college degree.[/ul]

<Tag Troy+Vanessa+Other people>

_{((OOC: sorry if it's too soon to post, I'm just about to go post a brief LOA and didn't want Kindle falling out of the mix: BIC))}

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1327
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Captain Cromin was about going into the cave when he heard various suggestions on what the group around was suggestng. He thought hat they were being quite optimistic and wreckless all at the same time by suggesting to merge with the crystals. Cromin quickly made his concerns known to the Colonel "Sir before anyone gets wreckless enough to merge with the crystal, as far as we know at this point, these crystal might just be the evil twin of those crystals that General Oneil got knocked out from, these crystals as far as we know might just have taken out our UAV's and at the same time it is attempting to take over Akrotiri. We don't really know that much about these crystals other than the fact that they zap energy from any and everything including human beings. Besides who knows what they could have mixed with in the medical jumper, weren't there all kinds of Biological stuff in ther both usefull things and hazzards. I recommend we back off any direct human interaction and do whatever communication through our equipments until we know more. And our first message should be leave our city the heck alone." Cromin was all for diplomatic solutions but not at the expense of human life because then it becomes war and he and other military personel will be the ones to fight it while all the civies hide behind them. Not that he didn't respect different approaches he did but he wasn't for that which unnessararilly risked human life. Turning to the Colonel he said "Sir any change of plans on the current mission or we stay on mission.?"

<Tag Loveridge and base personnel>

[Troy Loveridge]

1327
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Troy stood silent as Doc Collins put forward the idea that the crystals encountered by SG-1 might not have been intentionally dangerous. It was all about perspective really. For all they knew these crystal weren't meaning to do any harm by tapping into the city's power grid or shutting down the UAVs they sent to investigate them. The crystals could have been living on this planet since before time itself, making the expedition the foreign invaders. Still, the Colonel was unconvinced the magical growing rock beneath them could yet be classified as a living creature.

Vanessa brought up the question about the ATA gene that allowed people to use technology built by the Ancients like the Puddle Jumper. "Cromin said the Jumper activated when he first examined it, but it wouldn't start up properly, might have something to do with the crystals getting into its systems." Kindle added in her own observations about using Ancient technology as an interface with which to access to crystal. If it had 'consumed' enough of the technology from the Jumper it might have adopted Ancient or even English as a language.

Captain Cromin approached and asked if there had been an update in his orders, his team ready to go and recover the black box from the crashed Puddle Jumper. "Just... be careful Captain, as always," Troy added "And get me that black box. There's too many unanswered questions." They may be under estimating the crystal at the moment, but being hooked up their outposts power grid gave it the potential to do quite a bit of damage.

< Tag Base Personnel >

[Alec "Wildcat" Styles]

1327
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri


To Cromin's rear, an older soldier with a battle-worn face stood. Having been listening to the conversations to this point without interference, Sergeant Major Alec Styles spoke now, "It is true that having the ATA gene allows you to access Ancient tech, but it doesn't stick with some. Now in humans, it isn't a straight all-or-nothing ability. Those that have it naturally-occuring still need to be trained, typcially, in the use of it for the best efficiency. Someone who receives the ATA treatment could theoretically have a stronger connection with the equipment than someone who has it occuring naturally, simply from the desire to be able to use it and focusing that into the operation. Partially-active equipment being controlled by an ATA user can have some devastating effects. If this thing does have it, and it helps it gain access to the Ancient tech on the Jumper, it could do more damage than it realizes, without even knowing it."

<Tag Anyone>

[Vanessa Collins]

1329
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

She had listened as Kindle presented more of her ideas to the small group. Vanessa had to admit that ideas were good. Something that could work. Making a mental note in regards to have the new member of the expedition on a team off world when needed was going to help everyone. Miss Knox's curly straw comment made her chuckle. There was no doubt that the crystals were draining power from the base. Nodded to the rainbow haired woman, "Have a check if that works also. While it may, may not work. We can try exhausting every option available to us."

Hearing Cormin's comments, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, they all were aware that the crystals could be evil, or they could be a species who trying to survive just like them. They couldn't shoot first and ask questions later with what they were dealing at hand. Sometimes she had to wonder why the military was so close minded. His comment on taking energy from humans caught her attention, "Do we actually have any causalities Captain Cormin?" she asked as she tilted her head. They could deal with that kind of situation when they crossed the bridge.

She turned her head to Troy when the man spoke up, "That could support the theory that the Crystals are recognizing the ATA gene. It could work in our favour, if we handle this right."

She smiled as Alec presented some words of wisdom, from his experences with the expeditions, "Or we can help stop the thing before he actually does damage, Alec."

<<Tag All>>

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1330
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

As soon as the Colonel gave the go ahead for the second time, Captain Cromin nodded his head towards him as if to say, i hear you sir. And as he was about leaving Sergeant Major Styles made a comment about the use of the ATA gene and how it works and the potential damage the crystals can cause knowingly or unknowingly. Captain Cromin cuncured further strengthening his position on why they need to stop the crystals. Dr Collins who obviously was on the side of direct human communication and not a fan of Cromin's concern said: "Do we actually have any causalities Captain Cormin?" Captain Cromin responded saying "No mam and that is exactly what I am trying to avoid, I don't want anybody dying before we know to exhaust all other options. When we get to human interaction I will gladly volunteer if needed but it is my recommendation that we stay off that bridge entirely except we have no choice. Excuse me mam, if you don't mind I will like to get to work." And with that The Captain waited for a sign from her that dismissed him. He walked of thinking all these Civilians always push stuff until the celing hits the roof then they call us.


1331
Cave Entrance
As the Search and acquisition party met at the mouth of the cave Captain Cromin turned to them saying "I am going to make this sweet and short. Don't get killed, I will take point, we go in retrieve the UAV's and then we all come back out. Do not touch anything except I give you clearance to. If I feel you are a threatening this mission I will have you escorted out, if you become a threat by interacting with these crystals I will shoot you my self. Let's move on" and with that they moved on. Captain Cromin led the search and acquisition party down the cave they all tried to avoid any kind of problems. The cave walls were entirely crystalized as they made their way deep into the caves. It was emiiting some bluesish tint in flashes. Cromin ordered everybody to stop and turn off their flashlights, the blueish tint was bright enough for them to be able to make their way down the cave .

Captain Cromin realized that the flashes weren't random. It was morse code and it translated "HELP, NEED ZPM TO EXPAND AND SURVIVE" Cromin realized what this was, anything trying to survive is deperate. He informed the party about the communication and they concurred. He then got on the radio and informed the Colonel about the morse code. They continued further down into the cave where they saw the first UAV, it seemed intact, only that it was almost completely crystalized. They were able to get the black box out of it but Cromin ordered that the UAV be left behind, they had nothing on them to fully secure it.

<Tag All>

[Troy Loveridge]

1332
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

With everything settled the team departed under Captain Cromin's guidance and made their way toward the tunnel entrance and into the darkness. Returning to his position in front of the monitors Troy watched the live feed coming through from the helmet mounted cameras a number of the team members were wearing, allowing the FOP to keep up the date.

He fidgeted as he sat, trying to keep himself still and calm. He'd been on the sharp end of missions like this for two and a half years - SD-1 had always been sent in first to find answers. He was still adjusting to his new position as expedition commander, a job that left he bound to a desk all day long. Getting out on an operation like this was a rare occasion, and he was enjoying the fresh air and being somewhat closer than normal to the action. Regardless, he'd feel a lot better if he was down in the tunnels leading the way.

He really didn't understand how General Kepler had done it.

Although the tunnels were dark, a blue light came into view, flicking on and off. At first Troy thought it was from the Jumper or the crashed UAV, but as the team approached the source they realized it was some from the crystal itself. The team paused for a moment to examine the strobing light, with Robert soon noticing it was Morse code. The crystal, it seemed, was trying to communicate with them. The Morse code was a good sign - if that was how the crystal communicated then people wouldn't need to have it take over their bodies.

Of course, the Colonel wasn't entirely convinced. "Could just be a coincidence Captain," he said down the radio. "Try and.... communicate with it, I guess? Flash some Morse code back at it?" There was no way of knowing if the crystal would be able to 'see' the message, but if it someone did and changed its response then it would indicate intelligence life.

"That rock might be smarter than I thought," Troy said out aloud.

< Tag Base Personnel >

[Robert "Scarecrow" Cromin]

1333
Forward Observation Post
Outskirts of Akrotiri

Captain Cromin had passed the perceived message from the crystals to the colonel and they had moved on deeper into the cave but the flashes continued as they moved on. Not long after that a message came over the radio and it was the Colonel "Could just be a coincidence Captain, Try and.... communicate with it, I guess? Flash some Morse code back at it?" Captain Cromin responded saying "Copy that Colonel" and then turning to the rest of the team behind him, he said "Alright, i need your flash lights turned off" and then he pointed his flashlight to the crystal and flashed a message to it saying "WHAT IS YOUR NAME" The crystal's flashes changed and after translation it said "WE ARE UNITY, WE ARE ONE, WE ARE DYING, WE NEED ZPM, WE MUST GROW, AT ALL COST!"

Captain Cromin said under his breath "At all cost hunh?" He passed the message back to the Colonel saying it wasn't coincidence after all. He went on saying "Sir it doesn't seem that this is a coincidence after all, they call themselves unity, they say that they are one, and that they are dying and they need the ZPM because they must grow at all cost. I don't mean to be forward sir, but i think that we just might have a problem on our hands." Cromin waited for a response from the Colonel as the team moved forward to recover the second drone or it's black box at the very least.

<Tag base personel>

[Kindle Knox]

1334
Caves
Outskirts of Akrotiri

[/i] be, and what it might do, Kindle could have run some tests on it, and possibly answered some of these questions. Instead, she allowed her eyes to fall out of focus before refocusing them...several times. It was a bad habit she had been doing since a small child, to amuse herself.

Finally, people were starting to move and actually accomplish something. Kindle uncrossed her arms, and followed Cromin and the others to go save the UAVs and prod the crystal. Well - she was planning to prod it, anyway, with the proper tools thrown into a bag that was slung over her shoulder. Feeling the slight ribbing in the material as she walked towards the group, her dark eyes fell to Cromin, as he said something that was most likely targeted to be an inspirational speech.

It roughly said something along the lines of, 'Don't die. I'm in charge. We have a mission. I'm in charge. Don't lick anything. I'm in charge. I kill you. I'm in charge. *hiss*'
Kindle rolled her lips in, and dropped her gaze as he spoke. She was never one for one to rule with an 'iron fist' - but she new she had to play nice. He seemed like the sort to reject everyone and everything unless they acknowledged his power and bowed to him. Sure - that was the meanest and most pessimistic way to look at the man, but Kindle wasn't exactly the best at viewing the good side of people. She could easily blame that on being a wanted criminal for several years. The girl basically didn't trust anyone.

Walking along with the group, her deep eyes focused around the cave - half wanting to poke to to simply see what it felt like. But Cromin would bite and/or shoot her apparently, so she continued walking.

A bright flash in the distance caused the group to stop, and their fearless leader to investigate. The flashes seemed...to have a pattern.
Four quick flashes - a slight pause. One quick flash, a slight pause. Another quick flash, followed by a long one - and two more quick. The next can simply be summed up with • - - •. Kindle had learned the Morse code alphabet years ago - and the first word she memorized was the overused one in movies. H. E. L. P.

The group silently stood there, as the message continued - Kindle repeating the message in her head over and over as the letters kept being revealed one at a time. Her final message was something, "HELP NEED ZFM TO EXPUND AND SURVIVE."

The girl paused a moment, realizing she had made some errors, as Cromin suddenly reported the findings (which he had figured out too) to the group, with a message that made more sense ("HELP, NEED ZPM TO EXPAND AND SURVIVE"), before telling the Colonel.

Suddenly the group was ordered to turn off lights, and Cromin sparkled his lights at it - causing it to reply. It was neat and all that they discovered how to communicate with the crystal...but how the frak did an alien space crystal learn morse code? That was invented on Earth in another galaxy.

"Sir it doesn't seem that this is a coincidence after all, they call themselves unity, they say that they are one, and that they are dying and they need the ZPM because they must grow at all cost. I don't mean to be forward sir, but i think that we just might have a problem on our hands," Cromin reported, as Kindle moved towards him from the side of the group.

"Captain," she began, staring at the indicated rank that was presented upon him, "I don't mean to interrupt, but there's another strange thing happening here. How the hell did an alien space crystal-swarm-monster-thing learn something that originates in another galaxy?" she asked, honestly curious if he had the answer to her question, "Also - if it eats energy, what is the waste? I might not be a Xeno-biologist, but every creature on Earth at least is not fully efficient, meaning it produces waste. I'm thinking a power eating monster might excrete some other form of energy from its crystal rear, that technically has the potential to be more powerful then a ZPM. A low potential - but it's still an option."[/ul]

<Tag Cromin+others>