The Strange Case of Dr. McKay and Mr. X by dossier, Missing Person Challenge

[dossier.livejournal.com]

Title: The Strange Case of Dr. McKay and Mr. X
Author: dossier
Length: ~13,000 words
Rating: Mature for graphic images and some language
Category: GEN
Beta: invaluable assistance rendered by the wonderful gaiaanarchy, to the extent that she could probably be listed as co-author. thank you! Any errors or omissions are my own. I fully expect the rotten tomatoes.
Disclaimer: Not mine, and I bet they are all quite relieved.
Warnings: The short form: Dark, graphic descriptions that may not be for the faint of heart. Extended warnings available for those that would like them. Off site link due to length.
Summary: "I think we've lost Dr. McKay."


The Strange Case of Dr. McKay and Mr. X

Comments

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

I got nothing. I did kind of tear up, and right now I feel angry with you. Not like personally, just kind of... good writting though

[dossier.livejournal.com]

I kind of suspected that the story would evoke some anger, and it's okay. I didn't even tear up when I wrote it, so you're one up on me. thanks for the honest opinion!

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

I think it was kind of I was angry with you for hurting them so badly. Not that I think they are 'real' except in our heads.

I assume (hopefully) you haven't taken what I said personally?

[dossier.livejournal.com]

oh, not at all! I knew from the beginning that I was probably going to not be a lot of people's favorite person for doing what I did! I fully expected the rotten tomatoes--it means the story was effective, if brutal.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

The story is well done, excellent and terrifying and creepy. But I don't get the ending. Where was it Rodney went? Did he space himself? I quickly scrolled through the other planet desigations, but didn't see it. Also, why was Teyla teary and hesitant at the end? I don't quite get what she was trying to say. I think I know what you intended, but it's just a hair too subtle not to feel like the story ended abruptly, and that it needed a sense of finality.

The ending currently does have a certain horror to it which is good, incredibly effective, but I'm left feeling like I'll never know what happened. Which, in a way, is very cool, and if so, could you email me the answer so as not to ruin the affect for everyone else? Purty please? :D

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

Sadly, me too. I finished the story and then scrolled through looking for that stargate designation to see if there was something I missed. Or perhaps some science I missed regarding wormholes.

I get taht McKay's gone, but I don't get 'how'.

[ratcreature]

I googled M6R-867 to see whether I should know the designation, and apparently it's the one from Coup D'etat where Ladon was, but that didn't help me understand the ending better either. :/

[seratonation.livejournal.com]

It's been a while since i saw that ep, so i don't remember everything, but is the planet the one where Cowen (the big fat guy) was uhm, blown up? in the big warehouse thing? does any one remember? because apperently they used a nuclear bomb and even two years later it could probably still have radiation, but that doesn't explain why the wormhole is still open, my theory here (and dossier oh great writer, correct me if im wrong) Rodney went in to the wormhole, but didn't come out (hence the still open wormhole) I don't know how that can be done and I'm not sure if theres a way to pull someone out once they're *flails* not corpereal? (hence John's resignation)...

sorry I'm rambling... although a fic that makes you think is always a pleasure to read :D

[ratcreature]

Yeah, iirc there was a nuclear bomb made by the Genii that exploded, and I'm sure there's still radiation but I figured with it being an early nuclear bomb it'd be like being in Hiroshima shortly after WWII ended or something. Sure, probably not great for the cancer risk, but probably not like you'd die on the spot from being there.

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

Maybe there was a shield on that gate?

[dossier.livejournal.com]

My main mistake was using a concept from SG1, and the planetary designation was red herring that didn't work. Your comments this am were very helpful, and I made a few changes at the end.
thank you!

I'd rather not spell it out here, but if you need more clarification, let me know.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

LOL Your comment clarified the mistake I made at the end. I changed a couple of lines to clarify and deobfuscate, but I'll be pleased to send you an email!

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

I just went back and read your changes. Poor Rodney. That's just so heartbreaking. I know he destroyed 5/6 of a solar system, but that was a truly inhumane punishment and misguided healing. Again, great job, and I'm glad my early morning question dump was helpful!

[dossier.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Sometimes I think that SGA muddles through and nothing of consequence ever happens--but it's early years, and serial TV to boot.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there have been some weird blips morally that I sat there thinking "Nuh-UH!" Like the whole Michael/Carson as Dr. Mengele, Elizabeth as really pretty shaky morally/genocide thingy and I'm not sure if you've seen the recent episodes post "Return, pt 1" but John recently had an old time shoot out with a bad guy and bang, he was just dead and things just...moved on. I mean, it was one of the biggest missteps and anti-climaxes I've ever seen anywhere.

I just don't know what to think sometimes of TPTB over at that show. It's baffling.

Also? Also? :;waves finger excitedly:: Back towards the end of The X-Files, Chris Carter, overburdened by the mythology he always made up by the seat of his pants, really stumbled the last season trying to patch holes in a leaking roof o'plot. It was crazy, man. Craaaazy. I honestly think that he sent Scully's baby out for adoption because he couldn't figure how to have a stroller in their escape-across-the-desert scene. Hand to God. I think that's why. And he never followed through with a bunch of stuff like the baby as messiah kind of a thing. Just kept building up and fizzling.

I have a feeling we might be having some similar mis-steps here.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

ACK! Chris Carter the Anti-Christ. I watched XF faithfully every season, and I'm still mad that he had Skinner shoot Krycek. I hadn't considered the baby stroller across the desert, but that is such a delicious image, it totally cracked me up! The whole William plot line always bugged me, and I penned Rubicon (http://www.zonezine.net/~dossier/html/rubicon.html) as my little fix-it. It's rather dark like DrMcKay/MrX.

But yeah. I know they've got all of these people that are under contract, so please PTB, if you're going to do something with long lasting consequences? Please don't cheap out on us.

I've been keeping up with the Canadian episodes, and I'm of two minds about Irresponsible. Sheppard did do what he'd been threatening to do for two years, so kudos to them for just DOING it. It was kind of a brave decision, and it really did give me a sense of continuity along with The Eye in re: Sheppard's capabilities. But it *felt* like cheating, because--boom! problem solved.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Not that I disagree with him shooting Kolya, because that man is the scum scum scum o' the earth, but it was just so...baldly done. No Rodney saying, "Hey, you okay?," or "Good for you, or whatever."

It reminded me a lot of the scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," when Indy just up and shot the guy with the sword. Except with slightly more baggage.

I watched the X-Files faithfully too, and even did reviews for the final season for a friend of mine's website, which was ironic because the season made me FURIOUS!!!

Gonna go read your Rubricon.

[ratcreature]

That was creepy and kind of depressing. The personality transfer was a cool idea though. I didn't quite get the ending. I googled the planet to see whether it was one from an episode I should recognize, and it turned out that it was the abandoned planet that Ladon used, but the ending somehow seemed to imply that he would never come back?

Also right at the beginning I didn't get why they were so freaked out by the neutrinos in the radiation specifically? I mean they almost never interact with matter which makes them so hard to detect and shield against, but also means that afaik there are unlikely to be any medical effects what with the no interaction thing. Doesn't earth's sun some produce many billions of neutrinos that reach us too, I think I've read it's even billions per second and square centimeter of earth's surface for a neutrino stream? So why does Rodney think the neutrinos on that planet would harm them? I don't get it.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

Alas, all I know about radiation is from TV and the internet. You're probably right. The planetary designation was a failed red herring, and the modified ending is a little more specific.

It was creepy, probably more horror than anything. thanks for reading it!

[seratonation.livejournal.com]

my first reaction at the end was Noooo!! and then yes i scrolled back up to see if he went back or to another mentioned plant. I loved the rest of the story (gave me chilles) with the blood and the creepy Mr. X and Ronon and John loosing their hair... it was very unsettling, but the ending didn't feel like it ended you know? and I still feel like I missed something, at the end. I really hope theres a part 2 here, coz it would be a shame to leave such an awesome fic just hanging.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, part two. I hadn't considered it, but I can see where I went astray so that it would feel like it needed it. I added a few lines, removed the red herring of the planetary designation. Thank you for reading, and commenting, I know it was not an easy story to read.

[seratonation.livejournal.com]

so I went back and re read the changes and it reads a hell of a lot better, and see I thought it'd be something like that but to have it confirmed *heavy hearted sigh* poor Rodney.

I know it was not an easy story to read. but that fact that it is like that just means that it was effective, I still loved it, through the things you put them all through, and the ending, which was perfect (I'm not sure any one has told you that?) because really theres no way to live with memories like that, especially when it wasn't him who did it, Oh poor Rodney I'll probably read this again, when i get over the first shock.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad the change worked for you! I didn't want to hit it too hard, but I went too far in the other direction.

I agree--I think Rodney keeps rocking and rolling along, but there's got to be a line that he can't just cross and I think that this scenario would be pretty untenable. Thank you so much for your patience and kind comments, I really appreciate it!

[quasar273.livejournal.com]

This was excellent, and harrowing.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

thank you! It *is* awful, in that sense that there wasn't any easy solution. I appreciate the comment!

[sholio]

This was really fantastic! I don't normally read darkfic (not sure if this'd count as a darkfic; I guess it is) but I really liked this one. Plausible and terrifying, and past a certain point I figured that even if they could get Rodney back, they wouldn't get him back, if you catch my meaning. Good job with the character relationships; understated, a little bit caring and a little bit distant -- it worked very well.

I normally have a knee-jerk reaction to suicides in fanfic (i.e. it doesn't work for me) but that's only because normally it's done so *wrong* and OOC, and the way that this was so very matter-of-fact made it work.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

I normally have a knee-jerk reaction to suicides in fanfic (i.e. it doesn't work for me) but that's only because normally it's done so *wrong* and OOC, and the way that this was so very matter-of-fact made it work.

I agree with you actually, and I didn't set out with that goal, but by the time I got there, it was pretty much Rodney's only solution. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't allow the Mediyan's to perform the execution, but I think Rodney's interior marshmallow couldn't deal with the memories. I think that for all of Rodney's bluster, once he'd come to that point, he knew he had to just do something, and that was the most painless way he had at his disposal.

thank you for taking a chance and reading it, and for the lovely comments.

I like the distance in this story. It allows more room for the reader's own reactions to the text, rather than wrapping them up in the same emotional state as the characters--which is certainly effective, too.

[ellex42.livejournal.com]

Oh, jeez. Wow. Eep.

That was scary and painful and horrifying and...amazing. I'm really, really impressed by this story.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

thank you, that's exactly what I was going for: eeep! Thanks for the comment!

[korilian.livejournal.com]

sick sick sick sick sick. I love it!

[dossier.livejournal.com]

lol It is sick, isn't it? thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

Ow. And right after reading "Nil Nisi Bonum," too. I don't remember how I discovered your stories, or which story it was that led me to bookmark your website, but now I'm starting to go through your SGA stories. I've just read these two so far. Very good writing, but seriously, OW! If all your stories are like this, I might just keel over. XD

As for the story itself, as heartbreaking as the ending is, it is fitting. I really can't see things working out any other way. I mean, if I was in McKay's shoes? Probably would have done the same, except with different means because I probably wouldn't have thought of the wormhole thing. Crazy, dark, creative plot. If the Mediyans had survived, I would gladly have supported unleashing Wraith upon them. The bastards.

-fox

[dossier.livejournal.com]

heh, the Mediyans, I suspect that from their point of view, what they did to McKay for the utter destruction of their entire civilization was only the tiniest bit of justice. But no, I really couldn't see Rodney ending up any other way; even if the Mediyans hadn't mind-wiped him, I think he would still have been a very changed man afterwards.

thanks so much for the lovely comment. I do tend to kill off characters, and do very mean things to them, actually. I did a chart once of all my stories, and SGA was the fandom where I did the most killing. Take that as you will, and you know, a warning. *g* though there are a couple of humorous pieces, too.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, you're probably right about the justice part. But I'm biased, and can't help hating what they did, even if it was deserved. Though I thought about the story later, and about the mind-wipe; even if they hadn't punished McKay, he probably would have punished himself just the same, knowing that he had caused the deaths of most of the people on that planet.

-fox