Give them strength, Lord.
Let their hearts beat as one.
Who might this be, Daniel?
I'm not sure. Maybe early Greek, but I don't recognise the god form.
Sorry, we didn't mean to scare anyone.
- You are not Pelops? - No, no... You mean him?
Uh, no. We're visitors. Friends.
Husband, the child is near. Please.
The midwife has gone. I do not know the birthing mysteries.
And the village is too far. Please, help us.
What?
Don't look at me. I don't know what to do.
Push. Push. Push.
- You're doing just fine. - Where did you learn how to do this?
On a dig in the Yucatan.
After the first one, I made friends with the local midwives and they taught me a lot.
How many babies have you delivered?
Two... counting today.
Alekos...
It's a boy.
Congratulations.
May he grow strong and bring you honour.
You never cease to amaze me with all your talents.
Thank you.
Wow, this place is incredible.
It's like we just stepped into the citadel at Mycenae.
I thought you said it was Greek.
Oh... Mycenae was an ancient city in the southern Peloponnesus region.
Where's that?
- Greece. - Why do I do that?
I don't think you should be walking now. Shouldn't you be resting?
- Daniel, shouldn't she? - I'm fine!
We wish for you all to be the first to see.
- A birthmark. - A tri-point.
It will bring him luck.
I would call him Dan'el, to honour the stranger who birthed him.
- You don't have to do that. - May we offer you our hospitality?
That'd be nice. Who are you folks?
We are the Chosen.
Where do the gods reside?
Doesn't everyone know?
In the sky, of course.
Of course.
I have a son.
Look at these people. Guess they've never heard the word "unattractive".
They all look as healthy as a Jaffa.
- That's a good thing, right? - Can't see anyone who looks over 40.
Do things feel a little off here?
Are you crazy? It's a paradise.
Yeah, sure. Have an apple. What could happen?
I am Kynthia. Welcome to our village.
Thank you. Jack O'Neill.
- It is pleasing? - Very.
- You should have some. - It is only for you.
Only for me?
Thanks.
"It is only for you."
I think you have a fan, Colonel.
I believe this woman wishes to spend time with O'Neill.
Thank you, Teal'c.
This place must be loaded with artefacts.
That statue in there must be the Mycenaean hero Pelops,
who fought from his winged chariot, hurling lightning bolts.
Poetic way to describe a Goa'uld death glider.
Yeah, probably.
These people are obviously not labourers.
I must wonder why a Goa'uld would bring them to this planet.
Perhaps it was a good Goa'uld.
Right Like there is such a thing.
I did not intend for my statement to be humorous.
Trust me. They weren't.
Hello, girls.
Colonel, where are you goin'? Hello?
Please, sit down.
Unto every man the Creator gives 100 blissful days.
It is a sin not to celebrate each and every one.
A 100-day celebration?
Guess we should pace ourselves.
What... exactly just happened?
Kynthia!
Kynthia.
What happened?
- To them or you? - We'll talk about that later.
I've seen parties end abruptly, but never like this.
They all just collapsed.
- It happened just as the sun set. - Kynthia did the same thing.
What is it? Some kind of sleeping sickness? What?
There's no sign of fever or pain.
Breathing's shallow. Heartbeat's slow but regular.
A disease can't affect everyone all at once.
It seems to be nothing more than a deep state of sleep.
Now, how about you?
Let's just stick to the matter at hand.
How does an entire village pass out?
Was it something in the food?
We all partook of the same food.
Except for that cake.
Which was "only for you".
Damn. She drugged me.
He's still feeling the effects of the drug.
No. I'm just a little tired.
Colonel?
From now on, we stick to rations.
No fever. Shallow breathing, slow heartbeat, just like the others.
What the hell is going on here?
Hey, Colonel! How you feeling?
Hung over... but OK.
Gettin' any answers out here?
No. They act as if what happened was normal.
They party until sundown, they fall asleep and they wake when the sun rises.
I'd like an explanation.
Daniel, get back to that temple. See what you can find out. Take Teal'c with you.
Go on!
Carter, keep asking questions out here.
He is the Creator. Pelops, the giver of days.
This was his home when he lived among us.
We keep it as it was then, and we'll do so until he returns.
- When will that be? - That is a mystery.
Until it is revealed, it is the duty of the Chosen to rejoice and wait.
Why are your people called the Chosen?
My ancestors were so beloved by Pelops
that he fashioned this garden for us.
It is said he chose us and brought us here from beyond the stars.
Are there any writings of your history?
"Writings"? I do not know this word.
More of this.
Writings. Do you know what this is?
It is of Pelops.
It is Goa'uld. An obscure dialect.
- Why didn't you tell me that before? - You never before enquired.
Well, you call it Goa'uld.
I call it Linear A script.
We found pictographics like this in Ancient Greece,
but we never completely deciphered this form.
The symbols are a sequence.
What, like a combination?
- What is a combination? - It's a sequence of symbols...
- Can you read this? - I believe I can.
It seems to be some sort of record.
An archaic dialect.
Very difficult to decipher.
- I want to show you something! - OK, I'm coming.
Hi.
I found this shell this morning. I thought Dan'el might like it.
He can use it as a rattle. Can you give it to him for me?
Oh, you can do so yourself. This is Dan'el.
- No, no, I meant the baby. - This is baby Dan'el.
OK. That's not possible.
Do you not have children who change and grow?
Well, yeah, sure we do. But not like that.
How old is that boy?
That is Philippos. He's 12.
OK, he's a little big for 12 years old, but...
"Years"? What are "years"?
It would be different for each planet, but a year is the time it takes
for the globe to complete one orbit around the sun.
Let's just keep this simple, OK?
Where we come from, there are 365 days in one year.
No, we have no such counting of time on Argos.
Philippos is 12 days old.
- How old are you? - 21 days.
And, um... Kynthia?
31 days.
I think Pelops brought humans here to be lab rats.
From what we've translated so far, he wanted to know how humans evolve
so he shortened the life span to about 1/250th of normal.
So, instead of having to wait 100,000 years
to see how human physiology evolves, he could do it in 100?
That is correct. Pelops wanted to determine what the human host's body
would become in the future, and perhaps accelerate the process.
How did he do it? Was it genetic alteration?
We do not know. It is an archaic dialect.
Daniel?
OK.
I didn't want to say this till I was absolutely sure, but...
I think he may have created some kind of virus.
And viruses are often spread through bodily contact.
- Some are, and some are airborne. - But I think that this one isn't.
What has drawn you to this conclusion?
Only one of us passed out last night, and that was Jack.
You have to give them credit for one thing - they do enjoy life.
Perhaps it is because they do not have much life to enjoy.
Great. You're telling me this virus - which, by the way, I do not have - is deadly?
If the Kids age five years in five days, what happens when they reach 100 days?
Colonel!
I guess it wasn't the cake.
Maybe it was your physical contact with Kynthia.
Get back to Earth, Captain. Figure this thing out.
Tell me you brought the blood back in sealed containers.
Of course I did. What is it?
I'm not sure. First I ran a routine check for antibodies: Nothing.
So I thought maybe this alien bug found a way
to hide from the immune system, so I ran a protein analysis.
Take a look at what I found.
These are the blood samples you brought back.
Look at the strange particulate in there.
So that's from one of the Argosians?
Now, that's from Colonel O'Neill.
- Wow. What is it? - Something we don't have a word for yet.
How come the Colonel has way more of it than the Argosians?
Maybe because he started out older than they did, like a head start on this thing.
- I better wake up General Hammond. - Yeah.
Jack! Carter's coming back!
Jack!
Welcome back, Captain.
So what did you find out?
Come on, now. Don't keep the elderly waiting. It's rude.
- It isn't a virus. - All right. What is it?
Doctor Fraiser and I came up empty. She's still working on it.
- But it's gonna take time. - Time is something they don't have.
- Nor dol. - Colonel, there's something else.
Your blood sample showed way more organisms compared to the Argosians.
- How many more? - Maybe on the level of 100 times more...
and they are multiplying.
- Which means? - It means the organism, or whatever it is,
seems to be compensating for your natural age.
You've lived longer than anyone with this - for lack of a better word -
disease, ever should.
Cut to it, Captain.
At the rate you're changing,
by the end of two weeks, you'll be the equivalent of 100 years old.
- So in two weeks I'll be dead? - Not if I can help it.
- I'd like to set up a lab here. - Negative, Captain.
We may be able to retard the process long enough to find a cure.
I want you to pack up and head back to Earth... now.
All of you. It's an order.
We're not gonna bring another disease back through that gate.
I will remain here with O'Neill.
I cannot be affected by whatever this is.
I don't need company, I need a cure.
Daniel needs help translating that Goa'uld tablet thing. It might hold the answer.
- Jack... - Don't you dare say goodbye.
Cos you damn well better be coming back soon.
Now get out of here. All of you.
My God!
What?
They're not multiplying, they're replicating.
What's the difference?
Living organisms multiply. Machines replicate.
Machines inside the body. How is that possible?
They're molecular devices that take on atomic particles
and use them to make more of themselves.
Well, you're talking nanotechnology.
- Do you know anything about that? - No.
Yes. At the Pentagon, I worked for a year with a group that studied nanotechnology.
We were looking at it for a lot of different uses, one was medicine.
Creating artificial immune systems, repairing individual cells,
even manipulating DNA to stop the ageing process.
Sounds like Pelops succeeded in what you were experimenting with, in reverse.
Nice guy.
What are you lookin' at?
Think you're hot stuff doin' this to me from six billion light years away?
Can you really talk to the great Pelops?
Sure. Why not? It's just a piece of rock.
He's not so great, anyway.
Your people, they have gone?
Yeah. They've gone.
Then you will leave also?
No, I'll be here for a while.
I am glad.
I would like to learn of your customs.
Maybe some other time, hm? Kinda got a lot on my mind.
But you ate the marriage cake. Came to my bed.
Marriage cake?
Kynthia, you thought we were married?
By all our customs, yes.
Sweet...
Kynthia...
What you were feeling wasn't really love.
That takes time.
You can't get to know someone in one day.
Unto every woman the Creator gives 100 blissful days.
Kynthia, will you stop that!
Your "Creator" was not a god.
He certainly didn't give you life, he took it away.
We are the Chosen. He made this place for us,
to be happy, to love...
To be experimented on!
I mean, look at me!
I'm 40 years old, or I was.
That's thousands and thousands of days.
You do not tell the truth.
The average human life span is 60 or 70 years.
Some people live to be 100 years!
It is not possible.
Pelops was an alien who used your people.
He shortened your lives to satisfy his curiosity.
No.
We've given the nanocytes live tissue to interact with, but they aren't touching it.
The only thing they appear to do is make more of themselves.
So how are they causing the ageing on Argos?
Maybe there's something on Argos that they need to make them do another task,
something in the air, or the food.
- Is there a problem, Captain? - I don't know!
Well, it's eating through the rubber.
Oh, God.
What? What is it?
They're trying to spread.
Is it true that you have lived thousands of days?
I should have kept my mouth shut.
But wouldn't you rather know the truth?
Why do we deserve this?
He can't hear you.
We are good people.
We love each other and this land you have given us.
Why?
Science. Progress. Knowledge.
Alekos.
What would you do if you had thousands of days ahead of you?
I would walk out into the world,
beyond the borders of the Chosen.
- Why? - To see what is there.
No one knows. Pelops has forbidden us ever to leave.
How has he done that? He's nothin' but a big piece of rock. He's a statue.
- He will strike us down. It is taught. - He will not strike you down.
Trust me on that, will you?
Look, go on out there. Take a walk, see what's there.
Go on.
Then I could return,
and teach the people what I know.
In their thousands of days, they would learn more and teach their children.
Now you're talkin!
Come back to the village. It is not good to be always alone.
Whatever time I have left,
let me spend it my own way.
But you do not spend it. You waste it.
I don't think reflecting on my life,
or tryin' to figure out how to get the rest of it back, is a waste.
You are angry.
Yes.
Yes, I am.
Aren't you, now that you know the truth?
What can we do but live in the way we always have?
We do not have thousands of days,
but we treasure every moment.
I know, Kynthia.
But in my heart,
I'm a military man.
A warrior.
That's my life.
To which my ex-wife will attest.
You love her still?
And now, because of me, you will never see her again.
You meant no harm.
Then let me give what I have taken.
The time of one heartbeat can become eternity.
I'm sorry, people. My decision is final.
Sir, neither of us show any evidence of the nanocyte.
We can keep working here in total isolation.
All blood and tissue samples are to be incinerated.
Work on the Argos project stops now.
General, you are condemning Colonel O'Neill and the Argosians to death.
Captain Carter, these things appear to possess artificial intelligence. Correct?
Yes, sir. They adapt their programming to their situation.
So they could adapt themselves out of here.
Sir, if we destroy the samples, we will have nothing to work from.
Sorry, the risk is just too great.
- The order is final. - Sir!
We cannot just leave him there.
Doctor Jackson, Colonel O'Neill is one of the finest men
it has ever been my pleasure to serve with.
He will be a great loss to this country, and to all of us in this room.
But I am sure he would not hesitate
to make the same decision for himself that I am making now.
We're working with computer simulations and practical simulations.
Realistically, sir, I'm afraid it might take years.
The general says gate travel to Argos is off limits for the next few...
millennia.
But we can send objects through so, if you need anything, just call.
Say something.
Colonel, I have learned very much from you.
Thank you.
You know, goodbyes really suck.
Excuse me.
What are you doin'?
Your people do not have enough knowledge to help us.
We must ask Pelops to return.
For cryin' out loud!
Old Pelops doesn't give a rat's ass about things like love.
His kind kidnap people like you and take 'em to other worlds to be used as slaves!
Pelops thinks of us as his slaves?
Then I will no longer be one of the Chosen.
Nor will I.
That's the message you oughta be sendin'.
He... He did not strike us.
So you like older men, do ya?
- What is it? - We should go back.
We have gone too far from the village.
Pelops forbids it.
He's gone, Kynthia. He's gone.
It'll be OK.
I promise.
Here.
Oh, hell!
I'll have to teach you a game I can win.
It is good to see you smile.
Tell me, will you live the rest of your days without making love?
Oh, God, I hope not.
Oh, we'd probably just pass out.
Why aren't we unconscious yet?
It should have happened already, Kynthia.
Why aren't we asleep?
- No one has awakened. - Except for us. Why?
How important is this rule that no one can leave the village?
It is Pelops' first law.
Whatever it is that knocks us all out at night, it's right here.
What?
I'll bet you and I stayed awake because we walked out of range.
The cure could be as simple as just gettin' the hell out of Dodge.
If we stay out of proximity, no sleep.
They all stay here, they get no wake-up call.
There's got to be some other variable.
Some other change.
Excuse me.
I've got a phone call to make.
Welcome back, kids.
It's damn good to see you again.
Don't worry.
Aside from a little prostate problem we won't go into,
it's not so bad.
I was right. It's a transmitter.
Two sets of glyphs were quite tough to translate,
until Teal'c realised they weren't words.
- They were, in fact, numbers. - Two different frequencies.
One to put the villagers to sleep and activate the nanocyte,
the second one to shut it all off for the day.
When you broke the statue, you must have damaged the wake-up call.
Can you recalibrate this thing to wake these people up?
No, sir, it's useless. I have to use the equipment that we brought with us.
I've loaded the frequency. I'm switching it on now.
Alekos, the sun has already journeyed!
Why do we wake so late?
Our tests show that your body is cleansed of the machines that plagued you.
I figure the immune system must attack them if they aren't operating.
From now on, you and your people should age at a normal rate.
What about Jack?
Me?
I'll probably move to Florida.
Get into little retirement home of some kind.
You'd look pretty out of place there at your age.
Why? I look like my grandfather.
"Look" is the operative word here.
If our hypothesis is right, the nanocytes in your system only imitate ageing.
They weren't meant to start the process in a full-grown adult.
- What are you sayin'? - Without these buggers in your system
to maintain the changes, you should return to normal in a week or two.
That is wonderful news!
I don't know.
I was kinda lookin' forward to a little shuffleboard with the fellas.
Then you are leaving?
You will not be staying with me, then?
No, I won't.
What will happen to us now, if Pelops returns?
I don't think that's gonna happen.
But just in case, we'll send some folks by now and again, check up on you.
My heart would be glad if you were one of them.
Sweet Kynthia, I've learned so much from you.
I'll treasure every day of my life
cos of you.
For thousands of days?
I sure hope so.
That is almost forever.
Almost.