Call to the area 51.

[hedwig]

Except the pool for the ATA gene is pretty low.

Despite having the Therapy, and it working, the best ATA gene users were naturals. We've never seen "therapy" users be truly *good* at that particular craft.

Regardless, there's still bound to be at least one person (naturally gifted with the gene or not) that would be willing to participate. It only takes one person to be willing, and I'm quite sure there would be at least one who would think it was so cool they couldn't pass it up ... until they found out how serious the situation was, and by then they couldn't back out.

[thekillman]

Regardless, there's still bound to be at least one person (naturally gifted with the gene or not) that would be willing to participate. It only takes one person to be willing, and I'm quite sure there would be at least one who would think it was so cool they couldn't pass it up ... until they found out how serious the situation was, and by then they couldn't back out.

Yet the weapon only seems to truly work if a powerful user is in the chair. E.g. Beckett controlling Atlantis only managed small volleys of drones. Ancient!Oneill managed hundreds of thousands. even in the AU the drone chair fired massive streams. Thus, by observation and inferring, the weapon only works if a powerful user sits in the chair. And that's exactly the one luxury they don't have.

I don't even think the IOA would allow anyone but Sheppard, Beckett or O'neill to sit in the chair, given not only the above requirement, but the simple fact that Beckett almost killed O'neill and Sheppard because he was not properly trained. If that's an indication of what a weak ATA gene user does*, anyone of lower power may actually do more harm by sitting in the chair, than by not sitting in the chair.

*note how beckett controls the city in an inferior manner to it's full potential. We know drones can be fired however the controller wants, e.g. Lost City or No Mans Land. If Beckett had full total control over the city, he'd have fired three mini-superweapon streams out of the drone piers and blasted the Superhive to bits Ala Vegas. This indicates that you need a certain level of ATA gene presence to do a certain difficulty of task, and that inferior levels give inferior results. This also brings me back to point #2: an inferior drone chair user may do more harm than good.

[hedwig]

Yet the weapon only seems to truly work if a powerful user is in the chair. E.g. Beckett controlling Atlantis only managed small volleys of drones. Ancient!Oneill managed hundreds of thousands. even in the AU the drone chair fired massive streams. Thus, by observation and inferring, the weapon only works if a powerful user sits in the chair. And that's exactly the one luxury they don't have.

I don't even think the IOA would allow anyone but Sheppard, Beckett or O'neill to sit in the chair, given not only the above requirement, but the simple fact that Beckett almost killed O'neill and Sheppard because he was not properly trained. If that's an indication of what a weak ATA gene user does*, anyone of lower power may actually do more harm by sitting in the chair, than by not sitting in the chair.

*note how beckett controls the city in an inferior manner to it's full potential. We know drones can be fired however the controller wants, e.g. Lost City or No Mans Land. If Beckett had full total control over the city, he'd have fired three mini-superweapon streams out of the drone piers and blasted the Superhive to bits Ala Vegas. This indicates that you need a certain level of ATA gene presence to do a certain difficulty of task, and that inferior levels give inferior results. This also brings me back to point #2: an inferior drone chair user may do more harm than good.

So they test for the strongest gene they can find and then keep searching. On a planet with the billions of people we have, there's bound to be a few whose gene is as strong or stronger than O'Neill or Sheppard. I'm not willing to believe that there are no more people out there who have a really strong gene.

And as for the IOA, with the way they compete against each other, who is to say they wouldn't start searching through their own countries to find someone with the strongest gene possible. This is more or less the subject of one of books published by Stargate Novels. A search has been made throughout the world for people with the gene (naturally born with the gene), and in finding a handful of them, they are brought to Antarctica to be trained to use the chair (obviously before the chair was moved to Area 51). O'Neill is there, along with a bunch of others to see how the training is conducted and how well the subjects do.

[garhkal]

Just because one person refused to sign the NDA doesn't mean another person (or more) would also refuse to. There's always one person willing to do what others won't.

While yes, one could want to do it while another doesn't, it does not necessitate that there wouldn't be a lot of nay sayers..

Regardless, there's still bound to be at least one person (naturally gifted with the gene or not) that would be willing to participate. It only takes one person to be willing, and I'm quite sure there would be at least one who would think it was so cool they couldn't pass it up ... until they found out how serious the situation was, and by then they couldn't back out.

True. Though the big question, is HOW would they mass test for it?

[thekillman]

So they test for the strongest gene they can find and then keep searching. On a planet with the billions of people we have, there's bound to be a few whose gene is as strong or stronger than O'Neill or Sheppard. I'm not willing to believe that there are no more people out there who have a really strong gene.

And as for the IOA, with the way they compete against each other, who is to say they wouldn't start searching through their own countries to find someone with the strongest gene possible. This is more or less the subject of one of books published by Stargate Novels. A search has been made throughout the world for people with the gene (naturally born with the gene), and in finding a handful of them, they are brought to Antarctica to be trained to use the chair (obviously before the chair was moved to Area 51). O'Neill is there, along with a bunch of others to see how the training is conducted and how well the subjects do.

In an ideal world, yes. But the secrecy hampers this, as well as privacy regulation. The gene, that is a true, proper strong gene seems to be exceptionally rare among naturals and naturals are exceptionally rare among the population. (based upon observation) So i think the chances aren't that good to begin with. And therapy users seem to be limited to mediocrity.

Of course, we don't have enough information for a true, proper statistical overview. So there's plenty of wiggle room. However, i would simply raise the argument that thousands must now be part of the Stargate program, yet it seems the vast majority doesn't even have the gene (or the Arctic Outpost would've been a LOT busier with testing and training in Rising), and of these people there's only one sheppard and the second best they could get to Atlantis was Beckett.

All in all, the numbers don't seem very good, and again: the secrecy would make it a LOT harder to do proper screening.

True. Though the big question, is HOW would they mass test for it?

I believe that they could verify via a simple blood test. Else, they could use some gene-activated device from atlantis to test. Something harmless, e.g. the lifesigns scanner (which needs gene activation, then stays active until de-activated). No need, at least, to put someone in control of the most powerful weapon ever accessible to humans.

[hedwig]

In an ideal world, yes. But the secrecy hampers this, as well as privacy regulation. The gene, that is a true, proper strong gene seems to be exceptionally rare among naturals and naturals are exceptionally rare among the population. (based upon observation) So i think the chances aren't that good to begin with. And therapy users seem to be limited to mediocrity.

Carson didn't do so badly when he flew Atlantis in "Enemy at the Gate". Plus, he was the one flying the city against the wraith super ship. Somebody mediocre wouldn't likely be able to do that.

[jelgate]

I always thought EATG was inconsistent in Beckett's gene ability. He usually had trouble using the gene IMO.

[thekillman]

Carson didn't do so badly when he flew Atlantis in "Enemy at the Gate". Plus, he was the one flying the city against the wraith super ship. Somebody mediocre wouldn't likely be able to do that.

nonononono. I agree with you. Carson performed (very!) well. But keep in mind, this is the #2 best ATA gene user.

I always thought EATG was inconsistent in Beckett's gene ability. He usually had trouble using the gene IMO.

I think inconsistent is judged too harshly. he did well, but the drones were lacking in numbers and the city didn't perform very impressive maneuvers. All in all, it was good -better than expected- but not so over the top good that it was out of character.

[garhkal]

I believe that they could verify via a simple blood test. Else, they could use some gene-activated device from atlantis to test. Something harmless, e.g. the lifesigns scanner (which needs gene activation, then stays active until de-activated). No need, at least, to put someone in control of the most powerful weapon ever accessible to humans.

And what reason would they give the general population, to 'blood test' everyone?
That's what i am getting at. As it is, there are still millions who lack health insurance, and quite a few 'preppers' who live off the grid. And that is just here in the USA. SO what sort of back story/cover up would you see them using to get everyone's blood/dna, so they CAN do that mass check up to see how many have the ATA gene and to what extent?

[jelgate]

nonononono. I agree with you. Carson performed (very!) well. But keep in mind, this is the #2 best ATA gene user.


I think inconsistent is judged too harshly. he did well, but the drones were lacking in numbers and the city didn't perform very impressive maneuvers. All in all, it was good -better than expected- but not so over the top good that it was out of character.

And every other episode he struggled with firing drones.

[thekillman]

And what reason would they give the general population, to 'blood test' everyone?
That's what i am getting at. As it is, there are still millions who lack health insurance, and quite a few 'preppers' who live off the grid. And that is just here in the USA. SO what sort of back story/cover up would you see them using to get everyone's blood/dna, so they CAN do that mass check up to see how many have the ATA gene and to what extent?

"we just want to inject you with small nanites that take over control, nothing to worry about".



But yea, secrecy hampers large-scale testing.

And every other episode he struggled with firing drones.

He IS the #2 gene guy, so i would expect him being trained to fire the damn things. He may hate it, yet if push comes to shove... he won't have a choice.

I'm not saying his improvement wasn't remarkable. I just think it's too harsh to call it inconsistent.

[jelgate]

Their are more qualified people. We know from past episodes military personal on Atlantis have the gene. I'd pick them over Beckett.

[thekillman]

Their are more qualified people. We know from past episodes military personal on Atlantis have the gene. I'd pick them over Beckett.

More people have the gene, yes. But once more, it's also about the "strength" of the gene. In EATG they talk about it and say that they have a list of people ranked to use the chair, and beckett is #2. There's more than one component to this.


I think it's an intriguing subject, because the whole deal was never really explained. It was introduced as a "key" gene, but then expanded into something that varies with strength. There's more going on.

[garhkal]

I think part of it was also a reason to keep carson relevant.

[jelgate]

I think part of it was also a reason to keep carson relevant.

That's the obvious answer. I just dont buy that Beckett was the second best gene user in Atlantis.