In or Out by miriel (PG)

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Title: In or Out
Author: miriel
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through The Return Part 2 (03x11)
Word Count: 425
A/N: So I hand waived the rules of injection a little. No more than they've handwaived Carson before.
Summary: There is a secret society within the Atlantis Expedition.

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There is a secret society within the Atlantis expedition.

In the manner of secret societies everywhere, it is rarely discussed and never in an official capacity. Its ranks are as varied as the expedition members themselves – it draws from all ranks and all nationalities indiscriminately. Rodney McKay is a member, but John Sheppard is not. Evan Lorne is a member, but Radek Zelenka is not.

Every member of the society bears an identifying mark, a brand of sorts. It is a mathematically perfect circle, dark purple in color almost to the point of being black, roughly half an inch in diameter and a millimeter thick. The location of the brand varies from person to person; some bear it on their arm, others on their backs or legs. It is never visible below the uniform line; if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you’d never find it.

Elizabeth stepped out of the shower, flushed and dripping. As the ventilation system kicked in and sucked the steam out of the air, she turned and caught sight of her back in the mirror. The skin was pale, with a speckling of bruises that were finally beginning to fade after a week’s time. They were souvenirs of the fight to retake Atlantis. While she knew they were a small price to pay, the sooner they faded, the happier she would be. The towel slipped lower, and a small mark caught her attention. It was low on her back, just on the edge of the bruising; that explained why she hadn’t noticed it before. She twisted to get a better look, and there it was – a small circle, dark against the now greenish-yellow bruising.

She smiled, reveling in the private triumph that the mark signified. She knew she was positive; she’d known so since their first day back, but now she had visual proof. She belonged.

* * *

Two floors and half a wing away, Radek sat on his bed and stared at the small white circle on his forearm. He traced the mark, hating the fact that he couldn’t feel the movement on his skin, what that meant. With a sigh, he tugged his shirt down to cover the mark. Staring at it did no good, and would change nothing. He was an outsider, a reject. No one else cared, not really, but it mattered to him. For the first time since entering the field of science, he was not the outsider because of his accent. He was the outsider because of his genes.

~ Finis ~

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A/N (Beta): I feel I should mention that I have this pet theory that Elizabeth never received the gene therapy prior to "The Return". This was done out of a desire to keep one member of the command staff "clean" in case any late-blooming side effects surfaced, or an ATA-specific ailment appeared. During the events of "The Return", most of that motivation goes out the window - it's been two years since the injections started, and nothing's surfaced. In a siege of the city, they need everyone they can get with a gene; if her therapy doesn't take it's no harm/no foul. Carson totally swiped a vial in the scurry prior to the 'escape' from SGC.

Comments

[aillen.livejournal.com]

This is... wow! Wish I could give you a more coherent comment but this leaves me speechless.

Very well done!

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Blushes* Thank you!

I stumbled on the challenge prompt yesterday, and just had to do something with this theme. Thanks for reading!

[scififreak.livejournal.com]

I thought this was going to be much longer the way you were telling me about it. *g* I like the idea. Poor Radek, though. But it's not too sucky I guess as long as there aren't sekrit handshakes and meetings, lol.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Well, the thing is that it could have been much longer, but I wanted something short-ish. And my 2 settings are 500 & under, or 10,000. There's just not much in between. I mean, it happens, but not that often, and not on something that's not light fluff. I can do short fluff.

Myerp.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

oooh, this is very nice. Loved it. Poor Radek, though.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Nods* You have to imagine that the lack of successful gene therapy eats away at Radek on those rare, slow nights when he's lying in bed waiting for sleep to come.

[iamrighthere.livejournal.com]

So, okay, the mark is on people who were given the ATA gene therapy and it took? (Sometimes I forget whose therapy was successful and whose was not. Sorry!)

Either way, I do like your concise prose. You and others amaze me with being to pack a lot of emotion and description into such a small piece. Really impressive (even if I'm dense!).

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Well, technically there's a mark on you simply if you had the therapy, the marks just differ in positive and negative reactions. If the therapy took, you end up with a dark circle. If the therapy fails, you end up with a white circle and superficial nerve damage. Lorne & McKay are both artificials, Zelenka's therapy failed, and Sheppard's a natural.

Thanks for the compliment! I often worry that I write too sparsely ^_^

[iamrighthere.livejournal.com]

I hear you about the "sparsely." I have the same worries and my betas tell me that sometimes I use brevity to the extreme. Some stories lose impact because they rely on lots and lots of words to tell us what you could probably condense down to a couple of short, effective paragraphs. But then we do run into the opposite thing, which is not giving *enough* information.
I like the little circle in your story. Made me think of a tiny stargate tattoo. That's how I imagined it, anyway!

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Hee! So nice to meet a like-minded author.

*Nods* I like your observation on it being like a small Stargate Tattoo - it's a tattoo w/out the active acquisition normally required, you know?

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

There is an art to writing short-shorts. It is not one that I have mastered. Excuse me while I have a fit of insane jealousy.

(But I completely understand what you mean by having two writing speeds.)

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I write in 'short' or 'epic', and the only thing that lands in-between is fluff.

Don't be jealous; all things come with practice. *Hugs* Patience, grasshopper.

Thanks for reading!

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

I do too; it's just that my "short" tends to run to five pages rather than five inches.

Thank you for the hug.

And you're very welcome!

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Have I mentioned the "14 Valentines oneshot" that grew into a 57,000 word epic, complete with sequel that's still-in-progress?

[havocthecat]

Elizabeth fic! And Elizabeth with the gene therapy! Hooray!

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

I just have this sneaking suspicion that she's suddenly going to show up with the gene at some point, because it's needed to get her through a situation or something.

*G* I can dream, at least.

And something I forgot to mention...

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

//In a siege of the city, they need everyone they can get with a gene; if her therapy doesn't take it's no harm/no foul.//

And that, by the way, is also why I wouldn't be surprised if, especially after the first year, Carson doesn't have at least some of his research time scheduled for "why didn't it work in some cases?" and "is there a therapy 2.x/3.x/whatever that would?"

Your theory acknowledging the concerns about possible side-effects and specific vulnerabilities also makes a great deal of sense.

Re: And something I forgot to mention...

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

I can very much see Carson doing something like that - looking at the why's and the how's and the minor genetic variation in those who came out + and those who came out -. Good point.

Yeah, I wish I could say that I think the writers will have thought it through to this level? But I'm not sure I could say it with a straight face :(

[earyn-black.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why John Sheppard was excluded - surely even though he didn't get the gene therapy, he'd be a part of the society because he has the gene naturally. Otherwise it seems horribly exclusive. But in saying that, this fic is good in ways I can't describe, because it's so painful. I re-read Radek's part a few times, it's so horrible because it really emphasises the exclusivity of his not having the gene. But it's balanced by the nice sense of solidarity in those who do have the gene - and it's such a painfully human emotion, that idea of being part of the group or an outsider.

xx

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Sheppard's not part of the "club" because he *is* a natural. He's never had that rush that comes from the city suddenly being alive and there where before it was silent and dead. He's not excluded actively, as Radek is, but being excluded passively is just as strong a distinction. There's a silent brotherhood amongst the natural carriers, as well, but it's not as strong because they didn't choose their status, they just lucked into it (and might not have voluntarily sought the treatment or the expedition otherwise).

I'm really glad you liked this - the whole Natural ATA/Artificial ATA social thing is something I've played around with several times, because it's such a fascinating concept (and there's so much potential for things to have gone wrong. What if there were side effects to the therapy, and once exposed to Ancient tech the artificials couldn't leave, for example).

Thanks for reading!