The Alterra shrugged. "All Padawans must undergo trails before they become Knights."

John looked at his disbelievingly. "You're saying this is all some sort of test?"

Stevenson nodded. "Pretty much."

"You son of a bitch," John said, stepping forward and punching Ryan off his feet.

Stevenson fell onto his back then sat up smiling. "I suppose I deserved that."

"You have any idea how many times I've died?" John yelled.

"I know exactly how many," Ryan said, standing up. "But…there are a few things I need to explain. First of all, I'm not the person you believe me to be."

"Oh no?" John asked, not really caring. He was considering punching him again just for the hell of it.

"No. I'm the tiny chip inserted in your head."

John's eyes narrowed dangerous. "What?"

"This is a virtual testing simulation, similar to what the Alterra have used for eons when live testing became too lethal for practical applications. Such danger was only applicable for training purposes in a synthetic environment, one with pain suppression protocols so the subject won't experience the full pain of…failure."

"Let me be the first to tell you," John said slowly and angrily. "I think you're broken. I felt everything!"

The image of Stevenson slowly shook his head. "No…you felt enough to treat it as real, but had those scenarios been live, the pain would have been much more intense. However, given your background and experience, the pain suppressors were diminished slightly to maintain a sense of realism."

"Oh they were, were they?" John asked sarcastically. "Let me guess. Stevenson?"

"He wanted to ensure a valid test," the program explained. "You've had similar real life experiences that would have belied the sanitized nature of the program in comparison, thus the realism had to be enhanced to avoid that eventuality."

John turned away from him for a moment, his fists balled in anger. "I don't believe this! I am so going to kick his ass, ancient powers or not."

"I understand how traumatic this has been," the program half apologized, "but it must be. An easy challenge would prove little. In order to measure your caliber you have to be pressed. Those with exceptional skill require exceptional testing."

"Is that some sort of backhanded compliment?" John asked, still quite angry but now beginning to get intrigued.

"You could take it as such," the program said. "However, my presence here is not merely to explain the test to you. You have reached the end, if you choose. The gate is quite real. All that is required to end the test and earn the transformation into a Lantean is to walk through that gate."

John's eyebrows rose. "Wait a minute. You're saying this test was to determine whether or not I get to be an Ancient?"

The program nodded. "Yes. Walk through that gate and you're finished. Stevenson will be informed of your success and will make the necessary genetic alterations."

"That's it?" John asked. "I just walk through the gate?"

The program nodded.

"The ground's not going to fall out from under my feet or anything?" he asked suspiciously.

"No. All that is left for you to do is to step through."

"That doesn't make any sense," John complained. "Why tell me now? Why not just let me go through and find out afterward from Stevenson?"

"Because it doesn't have to end here," the program said, its tone darkening. "There is the other path."

John immediately caught on. "There's another gate, isn't there? An Alterran gate?"

"Correct," the program said, a hint of admiration in its eyes.

"What happens if I die up there?" John asked.

"Then the entire program resets and you must make your way back here. The only way to end this simulation is to pass through one of these two gates. You have already earned the privilege of becoming a Lantean, but if you move on you risk losing it…"

"…and having to redo all that again," John finished for him.

"Yes."

John sighed. "Can you be killed?"

The program raised an eyebrow. "I will reset along with the simulation, if you're referring to this avatar. If you're referring to the microscopic insert in your brain, there's nothing you can do from inside the simulation to harm it…and very little you can do once you're awake without doing significant damage to yourself."

"Thanks," John said, igniting his lightsaber's blue blade. He lunged forward and decapitated the image of Stevenson.

John glanced between the blue glow from his blade and the blue glow coming from the gate's chevrons. "That felt good."

He stepped over the body and started up the other path that led to the Alterran gate.

Two weeks later John emerged onto the top of the nighttime mountain. There was a small clearing on the plateau surrounded by dense forest and ominous sounds of trouble. Bloodied and limping as he climbed the last few feet of trail to the summit, John studied the open red gate on the other side of the clearing.

He turned around quickly at the sound of another raptor call, his blue blade interposed between him and the trail up the mountain.

"Too easy," John declared, looking at the few dozen meters left to get to the gate. He spied a small rock about the size of his head off to his left. He pointed his free hand at it…

The rock lifted off the ground and John Force-threw it across the clearing to the ground in front of the gate…

Suddenly a rectangular patch of soil disappeared down into a large pit. John carefully walked up to the edge and looked down inside it. At the far bottom were a number of vertical spikes.

"Thought so," he said as he heard a very nearby raptor call. He didn't have much time before they caught up to him again. He took a few long steps backward then hobble/ran towards the edge of the pit and jumped…

Using the Force to enhance his fatigued muscles, John launched himself into the air and across the small chasm directly into the open event horizon…

The ever so sweet view of passing through the wormhole signaled his success and deposited him in an empty stone room. The gate shut down and disappeared behind him…when he turned back around the Stevenson avatar stood before him, clapping.

"Well done," the program congratulated him.

"Is that the end?" John asked, wanting to be sure.

"It is…and I've just relayed your completion of the scenario to Stevenson. The message went into the transfer buffer, so he must not be on Atlantis now, but when he returns he'll transform you into an Alterra."

"Good," John said satisfactorily. "But there's one thing I want to know first."

"Yes?"

"Did Stevenson design this test? I mean, with all the Star Wars stuff and the rest? It doesn't seem very…Ancienty."

"He designed the basic parameters for the test, but the…particulars…were drawn from your memories. In essence, you designed your own test."

"I had a feeling it was something like that," John said, mentally kicking himself.

"So, are we finished here?" the program asked. "Or would you like to review your stats?"

"I'll pass, thanks," John said irreverently.

"For what it's worth, your testing parameters, both those imposed by Stevenson and those you imbued for yourself are far above the standard simulations we use in training. My program is an enhanced version of the original, so I have the base template for comparison."

"Meaning what?"

The Stevenson avatar smiled. "You earned it."

John nodded his thanks then there was a flash of white light…and he woke up in bed.

He sat up slowly, running everything through his head. The memories were clear…they weren't fading away this time.

He swung his feet out from under his thermal covering, stood up and stretched…feeling better than he'd felt his entire life. He frowned and stretched out a hand toward a can of silly string on his counter that he was saving to use on Rodney.

It didn't move…he hadn't been transformed yet. So why was he feeling so good?

Just another question, he guessed, that'd have to wait for Stevenson when he got back.

Oddly enough, it was Stevenson that found Sheppard first three days later. John was in one of the sparring rooms going at it with one of the training replicators. They both had what looked and sounded like wooden swords and were engaged in a clumsy, yet energetic fight.

Stevenson stepped aside from the doorway and leaned against the wall, not interrupting as he watched them spar. It was more of a learning fight than a contest, and the replicator had obviously been geared down to a lower level for Sheppard to contend with, but John was showing as many bouts of skill as he was awkwardness. Ryan wondered what had prompted him to pick up sword fighting. He'd always known him to favor guns.

"That's enough," Sheppard told the replicator. "Return to your bin."

The replicator, in the form of a tall male, walked over to one of the equipment racks on the wall and disassembled into base components and reformed into a small cube where it would await its next opponent.

"Not bad," Stevenson commented.

"Care to step in?" Sheppard asked.

"Alright," Ryan said cautiously. "But I have to warn you, I train with Bra'tac every now and then with staffs."

"Not exactly the same as a sword, but thanks for the warning," John said amicably.

"After you," Ryan said, pulling the replicator's sword up into a guard position.

Without a word Sheppard stepped forward and thrust his 'blade' toward Ryan's midsection.

The Alterra swept it aside easily with his enhanced strength, but to his surprise Sheppard reversed his motion, undercut his opponent's blade, and took a swipe at his legs which Stevenson hopped over.

"Not bad," Ryan commented, taking a decent overhead swipe at Sheppard, who ducked to his left out of the way of the blow and pushed it further aside with his own sword.

"I've had a lot of recent practice," John implied heavily.

"So I've heard," Ryan said, continuing to spar with him. "I thought you would have been a little mad at me for not asking your permission?"

"I was," Sheppard admitted, swatting aside Ryan's thrust. He spun his blade around in a 180 and nicked the Alterra's shoulder. Stevenson got his blade into place before Sheppard could make a second, harder hit. The blades locked for a moment, with their faces less than two feet apart.

"But not now?" Ryan asked.

"No…" Sheppard said, forcing Stevenson back, then he disengaged his blade and made two quick swats at his head before ducking down and swiping at his legs. Ryan caught his attempt on the middle of his blade then ran his sword up John's and jabbed into his torso.

Sheppard rolled backward out of the blow onto his back, then rolled onto his feet, bringing his blade back up as he did so.

"I assume the program explained why I had to make it harder than usual?" Ryan asked.

"It mentioned something," John said, increasing the ferociousness of his attacks. Apparently he'd been holding back against the replicator.

"I had to make absolutely sure," Ryan said, backing up as he played defense, "that you were ready to become my second in command."

Sheppard froze. "Second in command?"

Ryan nodded, touching his sword's tip to the ground. "I needed to know that you were the type of person that wouldn't give up…no matter how difficult the situation became."

"What about your clones?"

"They each have their chosen niches, but right now I'm the only coordinator. You'll be the second."

"Coordinator? Is that some sort of title?" Sheppard asked.

Ryan shook his head. "We don't use titles or positions. We also don't use a hierarchical command structure like you're used to. We co-op along our skill sets instead of using a chain of command."

"Then what does 'second in command' actually mean?"

"I'm in charge of everything that happens within our civilization," Ryan explained. "Right now that's not a lot, but eventually that will be thousands of planets and billions of Alterra. That's too large a number for me to monitor, let alone control. I coordinate the civilization-wide issues and imperatives, but I don't get heavily involved in any one thing."

"Jack of all trades, master of none," Sheppard offered.

Ryan smiled. "Something like that, but since I have the knowledge of the Repository I'm a bit more well rounded. Right now I'm the best at almost everything, but that will change in time. Take Matt for example. His medical knowledge is equal to my own, but he's elected to head up the medical division. Over time he will gain a bit more knowledge in that area than me, and a lot more experience. When that happens, I won't overrule him in medical matters because I'll trust him to know what he's doing more than me. Likewise he won't overrule me in my area because he won't have the experience."

"So, everyone just gets along," Sheppard asked, not believing it, "without any chain of command?"

"Yes, we do."

Sheppard shook his head. "I don't see that happening."

"You're still Human. Once you begin to change you'll see a difference. Besides, you've done this before, just on a smaller scale."

"When?"

"How you dealt with your team while Atlantis was under I.O.A. control."

"Ok, so we didn't stick with protocol all the time…"

"Because?" Stevenson prompted.

"Well, I guess it was because we trusted each other to get the job done."

Ryan smiled. "Exactly. That's the way the Alterra work on a civilization-wide level. Those with the skill and expertise fill the niches in the structure where they will be the greatest assets. Because I'm the first of the new Alterra, and because I'm the one that used the Repository, my niche is guiding the civilization rebirth and coordinating between the various divisions of our society as they develop. Someone has to be aware of everything that is going on while everyone else focuses on specific areas."

"I don't know," Sheppard said. "Coordinator sounds like a desk job. I want to be in the thick of things when the fighting starts."

"Perhaps 'coordinator' was a bad description…" Ryan offered. "How about 'troubleshooter?'"

"Hmm…does that mean we go where the trouble is?"

"It does."

Sheppard nodded. "That sounds better. Where do the others fit in?"

Ryan nodded. "Bra'tac is a System Lord. That basically describes itself. The System Lords will always be Alterra, without exception, but if I put you or someone else in that position it wouldn't work well, myselves included."

Sheppard considered that. "Because we don't know the Jaffa like Bra'tac does?"

"Bingo…the skill makes the position, not the other way around. I know that's backward from everything you've experienced on Avalon, but you'll get used to it."

"Why do you always call Earth Avalon?" Sheppard asked. He'd wondered about that for a long time.

"Because that's its real name," Ryan scoffed a bit. "Right now the people on 'Earth' are just posers. Avalon was the center of our civilization for 41 million years. We've still got dibbs on it."

"Really…" Sheppard said, catching his meaning.

"Not any time soon," Ryan assured him. "It's not on the top of the priority list, but it's something we'll get around to eventually."

"Wow…I hadn't thought about that."

Ryan frowned. "You really think we were just going to let the I.O.A. stay in charge."

Sheppard pointed a finger at him. "Good point. I've still got a score to settle with them anyway."

"Yes, well, the fun will have to wait for now. We've got bigger problems to deal with…and the Jaffa can keep Avalon in line until we're ready to go back."

Sheppard nodded. "The Wraith."

"Big fish in the little pond, I'm afraid."

"Meaning what?"

Stevenson sighed. "The Wraith are going to be tough to beat given our low numbers, but in the grand scheme of things they aren't that tough. There are many other enemies in the 22 other galaxies that we're going to have to fight that make the Wraith seem inconsequential."

Sheppard's eyes went wide. "And when were you planning on telling us about them?"

"When you needed to know," Ryan said pithily. "Which in your case is now. I need to bring you up to speed on everything that's going on, which includes meeting our allies in other galaxies."

Sheppard smiled. "Does that include Andara?"

"Yes, but let me warn you up front, the Feriorla are a very tactile race of Humans. Andara not so much, now that she's becoming an Alterra, but her people have a habit of touching you while you talk to them. It's a bit disconcerting at first, but I've gotten used to it. Phil, I imagine, is going to have to establish some boundaries with them, but since I don't see them very often I can tolerate their 'touchiness' on occasion."

"Phil is another of your clones?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes. He's liaison with them and helping Andara combat a disease that renders their population extremely lethargic."

"She a scientist?" Sheppard guessed.

Ryan nodded. "Biologist."

"What about Teyla?"

"Warrior."

"I guess that one should be obvious," Sheppard said. "Are there any others?"

"Not yet, but I have my eye on a few. You're next on the list."

"Right…so, a few treatments in the gene machine, I take it?"

"No, that machine can't advance you to Alterran level, only prerequisite levels of development. Lanteans are a lesser form, so it works for them."

"Why not Alterra?"

"Let's just say our current level of development isn't completely mapped out. We don't fully understand it, so trying to artificially advance someone to our level would be risky."

"Isn't that what the head sucker did to you?" Sheppard argued.

"Not exactly," Stevenson told him. "The technology is different, but the end result is the same. The DNA resequencer can only make changes up to a certain limit of variance from current form, that's why Elizabeth and the others had to have several treatments. It's a stable way to make changes to one's genome."

"I take it the head sucker isn't so stable?"

"No…it transforms you very fast in a state of genetic flux to a predetermined template. My body, as a Human, was a different body than I have now. There were wholesale changes made that incorporated some of my previous genome into the mix, but I'm mostly standard Alterra with a little bit of old Ryan thrown in."

Sheppard frowned. "Did you used to look different?"

"My bone structure changed a little. My form smoothed out and I gained three extra organs, but the most visible change was my hair. I was blonde before the Repository."

"Did you have Teyla use the Repository?"

"No."

"Then how did you change her?"

"The Repository gave me the ability to change the seed species into Alterra by touch."

"Seed species? You mean Humans?"

"And Lanteans," Ryan added. "It takes a bit of effort on my part…I have to actively troubleshoot the differences between your current physiology and mine. The transformation will take about a year to unfold, making it safer than the Repository or the DNA resequencer, but it's a one shot deal. No multiple treatments."

"By touch?" Sheppard asked.

"Think of it like a 20 minute mind meld."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "Can you change my hair color too?"

Ryan smiled. "I could give you polka dotted skin if you wanted."

Sheppard glared at him. "You better not."

"Any requests?"

Sheppard thought about it for a moment. "No, let's just stick with the standard package," he said, readying himself. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just stand still," Ryan said, touching his head with his right hand.

"My mind to your mind," Sheppard said sarcastically.

"Shhh…I need to concentrate," Stevenson said smiling.

18 minutes later Sheppard began his long, slow conversion into an Alterra.

After Sheppard got his chip removed and changed into Alterran clothing, the pair walked down to the gateroom and Stevenson began taking him around the galaxies, bringing him up to date with everything that they had going on.