"As the Specialist said," Caine responded pointing to Gwyn. "We consider a races humanity - how it treats other sentiants to be important. To many of us it is the most important factor in race relations. I am sure you will learn about this, as you add knowledge of us to your Library."

He scanned the room then pulled out his camcorder.

"I would like to record this for posterity and the knowledge of my People."

The Librarian's didn't seem to have any issues with Caine's recorder, if anything they seemed to become just a touch more friendly. "That is a very odd device, how does it function and in what way does it record?" All of the seven who were present seemed quite curious although it was Three that spoke.

___

Four looked at Livy an cocked his head in curiosity. "This entire edifice is to one degree or another a testament to and record of Lord Ra's greatness. I am afraid you must be more specific on what you wish to read about."

"It transfers the visual and auditory image onto a solid state/non-crystal file storage device that then can be read by a different device that takes the imputted date and recreats the sound and image of what we see down to high resulotion. I'm sure it appears primative to you, but our recording technology remains behind yours."

"From our experiences your techology can be adapted to ours, so you should have no technical difficulties having information transfered to whatever means you require."

Technically it was true. Technically they could record thier informatin. Getting permission from General O'Neil on the other hand ...

Seeing as they seem happy about the camcorder's, Gwyn get's one of his out and pages through the book they supplied him to effectively get a copy of it while they wait. As he does so he looks out to see if it is in the 'modern' form of Goa'uld or one of the more ancient dialects that he has seen in Daniel's and Tealc's reports.

"Alright," Olivia said, nodding. "That's fair. I'd like to see the book or books regarding the reseeding of the humans across the galaxy. That's where we all come from, at the root of things."

It was a chance to see some of Earth's history, from a totally different point of view.

Gwyn finds that the dialect is a bit out of date, but perhaps not as much so as some of the earliest things Daniel had found.

Meanwhile preparations proceeded at what appeared to be a snails pace, but that was due mostly to everything being automated. All the many things were being done by the machines and devices. In all there just wasn't that much to see and record before the implantation itself.

When the time came it was fairly anticlimactic. Seven, took a Goa'uld larva from a stasis jar and placed it in a vat of fluid for a few minutes to let it get it's bearings then pressed a few buttons on a console. One of the horizontal tubes drained of fluid and opened. Seven took the larva in hand and walked over to the body and opened it's mouth and the larva slid inside. A few seconds later the eyes lit up in the way Goa'uld do and the body started breathing on it's own.

One looked to Caine, "You may stay further if you wish, but our brother will need to clean himself and attend to other bodily functions. Otherwise I can show you to Lord Ra's chambers."

______

Olivia's wish was granted and she and Cam were shown to another section of the massive library. "This is the history of the early seeding of your race among the stars."

The room was easily fifty feel long and 15 wide and both walls were floor to ceiling books. The ceilings were 10 feet tall as well. There were hundreds of books in this section alone. Luckily the librarian pointed to one end at the top. "There you will find the book regarding the discovery of the Tauri homeworld and the books follow mostly chronological order from there. Toward the end much of the information was given second or third hand after the Tauri revolt. Lord Ra was very disappointed with the Tauri and what we know from that point was a result of his spies reports from among the other System Lords who made occasional visits by ship to cull more slaves."

Gwyn turned to One as his 'brother' collected himself, "Do you take turns in stasis, or do you only re-activate one of your brothers when there is a need for further man-power?"

"There has never been a need to awaken one of our brothers before. We seven have been the guardians of the works of Ra since the library was first built. Every few hundred years we do switch bodies to avoid the side effects of the resurrection process, but that takes only minutes."

Olivia reverently took the book from the shelf and found a place to sit down. Cam, the goa'uld and her situation were forgotten. Hatchins himself could have walked by her and she wouldn't have noticed. She was far too engrossed in the earliest recorded history of her planet to notice something as mundane as the man she'd once feared more than anything else.

His first sensation was of being wet. He had been so before, but it was different through the skin of his host. As his body began to expand, to dig out and take over the nerves of the body he had found himself in, Eight learned more and more. He was the first Eight, which made him two numbers. His brother were many, and had been two numbers many times.

These thoughts were unhelpful, he decided. Too complicated, without any real meaning. He resolved to think of something else. He turned his attention to the information waiting for him and he began to Learn.

Learning would always be capitalized, to him. It was important. It was his mission. His brethren collected and he Learned. He would share what he Learned to them, to add to their collecting. Someday, he might be here to help them. But Learning would always be his mission.

Sitting up for the first time, with his new back, he considered the way that this body folded and moved, shifted and slid. Skin caught against itself and pulled, but instead of adjusting himself, Eight let himself feel the sensation of discomfort. His brothers waited patiently for him, letting him get used to the strange sensations of his body.

When he was ready, they took him to the baths. He washed, becoming even more familiar with his body, with its strengths and limits. There were clothes waiting for him, and as he dressed, his brothers told him more about the strange visitors.

Gwyn continued talking to One as some of the others lead the newly 'hatched' Eight away to get cleaned up etc. "So Eight will have no experience of using a host body, it's strengths and limitations? Did you reach your maturity within a Jaffa before being placed into stasis, or go from growing in water into stasis?"

He looks towards the door by which they left and then back to One, "Forgive the questions, but I wondered what sort of background knowledge, experience and skills that Eight might possess if he is to travel with us."

Three considered a moment. "We did not spend time in Jaffa hosts, Lord Ra wished us to be as insulated from the factors which make our race what we are as possible. He did not wish for us to take the knowledge we were accumulating and use it against him. Still, we must protect this place so we were all given some knowledge of defense and attack and tactics and while we do not have the genetic memory of our parents this basic knowledge in Eight will be somewhat augmented with training programs. I am afraid all the information he will need to acquire will take many hours. Come let us show you to your rooms now unless you wish to wander the library or join your companions."

Gwyn glances over to Major Caine, before replying, "I think we should catch up with the others before we head to the rooms. I'm sure Olivia will be fascinated by the information you have acquired here."

Olivia was already fascinated by information. They found her on a bench in the library, her nose deep in a book. "We are taking your companions to their rooms for rest while we wait for Eight to become ready for travel. Would you like to join your companions?"

Olivia blinked up at him; she was visibly gathering her thoughts. "Well, unless I can take the book with me, I'd rather stay here and read," she said, smiling. "I mean... this is fascinating!"

The Goa'uld librarian smiled noticeably pleased at her attitude. "You may take as many books with you as you wish, so long as you don't attempt to remove them from the library. They have tracking sensors so that they can always be located within the facility and there are automated defenses that would activate should you attempt to leave with a book. If you wish we could make you copies of several books to take with you upon your departure but they would have to be books deemed non-sensitive. By which I mean they could not contain information about the library itself or technology directly harmful to this facility."

Cam looked up from a book at the discussion, "So we can move books about anywhere within the building and that's ok, so long as we don't try and take them with us. Nice."

Their watcher nodded at the accuracy of the statement. Cam grabbed a handful of books on gou'ald technology that he hadn't be restricted from viewing and looked to Livy, "Ok, lets meet the others at the rooms."

____

Half an hour later the group met up as they were both arriving at the top most floor of the pyramid. If the entryway on the floor below was opulent then this floor was the quintessence of luxury. Every surface, every piece of furniture, and everything in sight was made from the most precious materials and with the top craftsmanship. It still had the Gou'ald style and design, but unlike their normal construction this place literally was wall to wall precious metals and woods, and stone. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was Ra's personal sanctuary, his place of security where no others came.

Above the door to the entrance was Ra's symbol in solid gold. One spoke a phrase in Goa'uld before the doors opened. "Until now, no other than my brothers and I or the lord's personal slaves have ever entered the chambers. I have disarmed the security, but please do not attempt to remove anything from these rooms. Slaves will be outside your doors on watch should you need anything during the night. Or if you wish and the need is urgent simply speak one of our names aloud and we will attend you with haste."

The four Gou'ald that had accompanied you to your rooms made gestures of respect then filed back into the lift and the doors closed. The rooms themselves were large and had very high ceilings and a balcony faced out on every side to give a beautiful view of the desert. From this vantage it was clear that there was no other civilization in any direction as far as the eye could see. Only an endless expanse of sand with an occasional outcrop of stone exposed temporarily by the wind, but even that stone was far off in the distance. Closer to the library was only sand and the entrance pyramid where the stargate was housed.

From a tactical standpoint it did make sense, the exit from the pyramid faced away from the library so no heavy weapons could be brought to bear easily from the stargate without enough time to mount a defense.

The lift down was actually offset to the north side of the rooms leaving all but the very center of the room open much like a loft apartment. Even the lift was small and hardly blocked the view compared to the size of the large room. Olivia with her special senses could tell the room was 123 feet exactly on each side or roughly 15000 square feet of floor space. There were areas in the room that were portioned off besides the elevator that you exited from. There was a large closet of sorts that seemed to contain Ra's clothes and personal items. There was a toilet facility with a deep pool for bathing and relaxing, an area for eating numerous areas for lounging to read or do whatever it was Ra did. Raised on a pedestal was one of the resurrection sarcophagus. Everything in the chamber was done in the finest materials with the finest craftsmanship. Trying to duplicate what you see of the contents of the room would bankrupt a small country easily.

Olivia was more interested in the books until she saw the pool. "Ooo," she cooed, putting the books on a table and taking a closer look. It was walled off by ten-foot tall dividers, and the more Olivia considered the idea, the better it sounded.

She turned to the others and drew herself up to her full five foot, five inches. "I'm taking a bath," she announced as a blush touched her cheeks. "And I'm doing it naked. So no peeking. Right? And Gwyn, no flying over the dividers, right?"

Cam chuckled. "No peaking. Got it." Setting his stack of books next to Olivia's on an ornate desk of some unknown but beautiful wood he found a chair nearby and took a seat.

"Major, you're in charge, but if it's all the same to you, I'm going to scan these books tonight and possibly go back for more. It won't be the same as actually studying and learning the information in them, but it might help and I'll be able to review what I've read later. Photographic memory came with my upgrade."

With the Major's nod he got comfortable and started flipping through the pages of each book spending about a second on each pair of facing pages. He figured at the rate he was going he could memorize about 50 books before they had to get ready to depart in the morning. He wouldn't know anything from any of them, but his recall was perfect so eventually he could reproduce the books and even translate them.

Gwyn grinned at Olivia, "Don't worry I won't. But I wouldn't guarantee that this place isn't under surveillance."

Having said that he found a table and slowly starts translating the book on cloning technology using data on his PDA, storing the translation back on his PDA.

With out looking up from the book he was flipping through he added, "I wouldn't worry about that, these are Ra's personal quarters. I doubt he would want them watched. Of course I could be wrong."

((Feel free to investigate the rooms. Everyone please give me an Perception + Awareness roll.))

Gwyn looks up from what he is doing briefly, "True, I guess he wouldn't in the normal course of things, but they did say they'd come if we called for them, which suggests that they may be able to listen to us at least." While talking he looks around the room again.
"After all it's not like there isn't plenty of places to hide such things amid all the decoration here."

Olivia looked around and decided that they were right. Grumbling to herself about missing the chance to bathe like a queen, she took a seat near Cam and started reading. The history of her world, as viewed through an alien species waited.

Twelve hours later but still two hours before being due to check in Cam closed the cover on the last of the books he and Olivia had brought with them. Even though he didn't need to sleep he found that over the last couple hours he had needed to spend fractionally longer with each page in order to set it in his memory. He was going to need some sleep to be at peak performance again. Looking around he just didn't want to get it here. No matter how luxurious this place was he didn't trust it enough to be comfortable. Besides he wanted to snoop as long as the opportunity was available.

"Hey Gwyn, Caine, let's poke around in here before we go. Maybe we can locate something similar to Ra's data terminal that will lead us to other places or something?"



((Perception + Awareness rolls please. Gwyn can make 4 total rolls assuming he spent his evening snooping around the place, or less for every 3 hour period he spent dedicated to some specific task. Don't remember if Caine sleeps or not, but he can make rolls accordingly. Cam and Livy only get one roll each for the morning.))

Gwyn could only bear to spend 3 hours trying to translate the book onto his PDA, the screen and interface was just annoying to use for any longer, and he resolved to bring a laptop with him in the future.

Leaning back and stretching he found the others still engaged in their various activities. Getting up he examined Ra's quarters for a while looking for anything interesting or useful. Having spent some time there he expanded his search out into the nearby levels, but remembering to maintain radio contact with the others.



Eventually he hears from Cam that they will be getting ready to go in the next while and summons one of the seven.
"Do you have a book which contains a list of all the Gate addresses that Ra had explored, preferably with a short summary of what was there on the last visit to that address? Or if you don't could you create one from the information here for a further visit from us?"

Olivia pushed through the book relentlessly, trying to finish it before they had to leave. It was fascinating, and she read for hours, her super-human endurance letting her continue long after she should have been forced to stop.

Cam's words jarred her back to the present and she set aside the nearly finished book. She stood slowly, aware she'd been sitting too long. Putting her arms over her head, she stretched, drawing small, pleased noises out of her. Realizing that she needed a break, she joined in the search.

((Wow, we're a bunch of un-observant clueless peeps.))

Cam moved through the room with his video camera filming and trying to capture everything on the digital device for further study back at the SGC. One thing he did find that sorely tempted him to petty larceny was Ra's personal equipment. In the very center of the room was a walled off chamber. Unlike the rest of the segregated areas of the room this one did have a roof so Gwyn wasn't able to just fly over the wall and drop down inside. It was a matter of a little effort by Cam did manage to coax the security panel into opening.

When it did he couldn't help but be impressed. Inside were Ra's personal devices, or at least a backup of what he would normally wear. On lighted shelves were three hand ribbon devices. Two sets of his morphing armor on stands, two healing devices, and numerous other gadgets that the SG members were not familiar with.

Cam sighed as he filmed, "And that sad thing is we can't take any of it with us."

After Cam had closed the central chamber and the Goa'uld librarian had arrived the big man answered, "We have that information compiled, but we will not give it to you at this time. Let us first learn if we can trust you with our brother first. If in time you prove yourselves to be worthy allies then we will be willing to share that."

The Gou'ald seemed more decisive this morning, more confident even. Obviously something had changed during the hours that SG21 had spent in Ra's chambers. As he stood there, three of the other Goa'uld and what could only be Eight, came into the room. They all had the same more confident look that One displayed, though perhaps not to the degree that one showed.

Gwyn shrugged, "That's fine One, like any information request at a library, you are unlikely to learn much if you do not ask for the information."

"Quite correct. Ask for information here and it may be granted."

Looking at the room and the large stack of books that Olivia and Cam had gone through over the course of the evening he sighed. "My brothers and I have discussed the news that you bring of Lord Ra's death. We believe you to be telling the truth and rather than seeing you as enemies we will consider you to be our strongest allies. So much so that our brother Eight will go with you and be part of your travels."

From his expression there was more he had to say and he didn't keep the team waiting, "Now that Lord Ra is no more we find our selves without two essential things, a purpose and the means to continue here." He waved a hand about indicating the library, "Surely we have supplies left to last us many more years, but in terms of our lifespans that is a short time indeed. Purpose we still have, but it is now no longer some command of an omnipotent lord whom we were bred and created to obey. The purpose is now our own and we have decided that we wish to continue for our own sake."

His gaze became more intent and his eyes flashed in the Goa'uld way commanding attention and respect thought he did not seem to be doing it out of the usual gou'ald arrogance, but rather out of determination, "To continue, we will require supplies and occasionally may request that you bring us equipment, or other necessities that Lord Ra once would have provided. As such we have decided that the presence of your people will be allowed on certain conditions. No more than two of your people in the Library at any time although you may have the rest of your team wait in the chamber of the Chapa'i. Second, when your people come to us to study they must bring those things with them that we request. In this way both our peoples will benefit. We shall benefit from the material you bring, and you will benefit from the knowledge we possess. Certain things will be restricted for now, that knowledge we believe most valuable such as Lord Ra's stargate addresses and the current state of those worlds, or certain technical works that might affect our security."

Major Caine had been uncharacteristically silent through out what One had said, and Cam feared he might just burst, so he spoke instead, "We must speak with our superiors, but if your requests are reasonable we should be able to help supply you with your needs." Knowing that Caine had been right to take a position of strength with the Goa'uld he added a demand of his own. "There is one other thing. Ra's chambers will be reserved for our two people when we come and all that is here within these walls will be ours to use at our whim."

Consternation could be seen on the faces of the Goa'uld, but Cam continued before they could object, "We conquered Ra, all that was his is ours by right. We do no wish to subjugate you as the System Lords would but welcome you as friends and make alliance with you. But, we will consider what is within this room and it's use when we are here as sufficient to satisfy our people."

One's brows had drawn down and he looked to be on the verge of saying something but then just nodded and spoke in a calm voice, "Very well. There is nothing within this chamber that is vital to us nor would reserving the rooms for your pleasure be an issue, we have no guest chambers other than these in any case."

Finally he turned to Eight, "Please meet our newest brother, Eight. He will be your companion now and as long as our alliance lasts. Treat him well and with respect and perhaps trust can grow between us and then mayhap we will share the deeper things with you."

Gwyn gave the two officers a quick, slightly worried glance. Here they were being presented with a Goa'uld dedicated to collecting information, and expected to take him with them when they hadn't even spoken to SGC about any of this yet. Oh well, he mentally shrugged, that's why the officiers got paid the big bucks.

"While we welcome Eight to accompany us, I feel I should remind you that the final say on this arrangement remains with our superiors. And in the same way that you would not give us free access to all your information I know that there will be areas of information that our superiors will be unwilling to share initially."

"We might also want to get the general's permission before we gate in with him," Olivia muttered softly, her voice pitched for her teammates' ears. "Generals don't really subscribe to the 'begging forgiveness rather than asking persmission' idea."

"We will. I think the General will see the value of the arrangement." Cam knew he would but it wasn't going to be a fun debriefing when it came to explaining the terms of the agreement. The supplies and equipment in trade for info was fine. That wouldn't be an issue, but making a Goa'uld part of an SG team was going to cause the IOA fits.

Eight listened quietly, his eyes keenly focusing on the people he was to go with. He was wearing clothes, and had a small bag with a few other items.

He was also wearing a ribbon bracelet.

"May I have your names?" he asked politely. He'd been told who and what they were already, but it was nice to ask. And while as a Goa'uld, he didn't feel the need to be nice, the did feel the need to survive and get on the good side with these new companions. If he angered them, it would be hard to accomplish his task. One had been very clear: treat them carefully, because they were bloated with their own significance.

Cam spoke up and indicated each team member with a gesture, "I'm Colonel Cameron Mitchell, and these are Major Damien Caine, Specialist Gwyn Jones, and last but not least, Specialist Olivia Jennings-Izumi." Even though he hadn't been part of the SGC all that long the thought of a Gou'ald joining their team and wearing the hand ribbon device very nearly creeped him out.

"Nice to meet you Eight, welcome to the team."

Gwyn joined the low voiced conversation, "Yeah, I can't wait to see what they are going to say about the whole Specialist thing in relation to Eight."

Louder he addressed the eight Goa'uld, "Well, I guess I should welcome you to the land of the conscious Eight, and I hope that you will enjoy your time in the wider universe."

Olivia pursed her lips speculatively, then nodded. Odds were looking good that she'd have to work with the snake-head, so she should be polite to him. "Yes, welcome," she said, feeling the old, hidden scar on her throat throb.

Of course, if she were lucky, the General would just toss Eight in a cell and 'lose' the key for a while.

Major Caine took charge and gave Cam an approving nod. "Let's get back to the gate and dial home. I'll radio ahead to let the General know we are bringing a guest."

Since the ring room was just one flight below Ra's quarters it was only a matter of a few minutes before the team was once again assembled in the gateroom and standing before the shimmering event horizon of a wormhole. General Landry hadn't been too thrilled about the team bringing a Goa'uld back with them, but promised a civil greeting pending debriefing.

On the other side the guards were tense and alert, but not overtly hostile. The general was waiting in the debriefing room seated at the head of the table and there would be no waiting the debriefing was to be immediate. When the team entered he did not stand but waited for everyone to salute and be seated.

Finally he stood and nodded his head respectfully, but with wary eyes at Eight. "Welcome to Earth. Please be seated."

Once Eight was seated he retook his own chair and said without preamble, "Colonel, Major, please explain to me your mission and why you have brought this guest with you."

Major Caine spent the next few minutes giving a short explanation of what was discovered and why the agreement was necessary.

Cam followed up with, "Sir, I know this is a very unusual situation, but given the altered nature of Eight and his brothers and what we have to gain in return, I would advise agreeing to the terms."

Landry looked around the room to Gwyn and Olivia, "What about you two?"

Olivia was silent for a moment. "I don't like or trust goa'uld," she said, and her dark eyes swiveled to meet Eight's. "One hurt me and tried to enslave me, take me as a host." And my boyfriend is going to lose his mind over this.

"But these goa'uld didn't treat us like the others do, so maybe we should give them a chance." She hated to say that, but even maniacal, evil, oppressive parasitic snakes deserved a second chance... right?

"All the indications that we saw while we were there support there claims, as does the other information we managed to read up on while there. That being the case the information that they may be able to supply would be invaluable. In addition we have already made clear to them that just as they are unwilling to share everything from the start, so would we have areas of information that we could not share."

He looks around the group, finishing with Eight, before turning back to the General, "With that proviso General, I think that we would be fools to turn down the agreement."

"I'll take that into consideration." Looking to Eight, "For now we will put you in guest quarters and provide you with an escort. Please don't try to leave this facility."

Looking to the group, "Now if that's all, you are dismissed. I will want you to sit with Dr. Jackson sometime next week and review the tapes that you recorded of the facility there. I'm sure he will be the first volunteer to go on behalf of Earth as a researcher."

"Excuse me, please," Eight interjected with polite calmness. It grated on him a bit to come so close to groveling before these creatures, but the Learning was greater than his pride. And for the Learning to happen, he needed to gain trust. He could only do that by treating these beings as equals.

"I have instructions to give a gift to the leader of this facility," Eight said, rising. The guards in the room tensed and Eight paused, letting his face go blank.

General Landry nodded to him and Eight pulled out the wrapped book, moving just close enough to present it to him with a bow. "This is a history of Earth," he said, pleased that he didn't stumble over the alien word, "as recorded through the eyes of Ra's Scribes. My brothers and I hope that this will be only the first knowledge that we can share with one another."

He noted that everyone was eying the book eagerly. Eight approved of a people that was so thoroughly interested in knowledge. Perhaps he and his brother had more in common with these people than they had thought.

General Landry gave a crooked smile and hefted the book in his hands as if weighing a bar of gold. "We thank you for the gift. I am sure it will provide an interesting read. Now if you will excuse me, I have a great many things to do and I'm sure you would like to get settled in."

He rose to leave but gave Eight an appraising look before departing through his office door.