#mcshep

McKay starts working on the reason why he had wanted to bring Weir with them on the mission, which was to use her to essentially hack the replicators. He informs Weir of what he is doing like he was performing an operation on her and when Weir asks him what she should be doing in the situation, sounding concerned and apprehensive, he further explains with a soothing voice that there is nothing to worry about, this should be a painless experience for her. It is notable that McKay is able to talk so calmly to her possibly because in some ways she is a piece of technology for him to manipulate, which he does well, being much less of a people person.

Weir understandably has further questions since not only is this particular experience new to her, she is still getting used to the fact that her body is overrun by tiny robots that are keeping her alive. it seems like they have not been influencing her before this moment, and certainly not in the same kind of way as in The Real World (S03E06) when they had created a whole false reality for her -- and to be sure, their attempt at the time had been to trick her immune system to accepting them as being a part of her. They had skipped over this whole process when McKay had reactivated the nanites and had allowed them to take over her body to fix it, and therefore the nanites would not even have a reason to keep her sedated in some fake reality. But it is now that McKay initializes the link that Weir seems to experience for the first time what it means for her to be part replicator, her mind flooded with data from their world, the link-up looking like it might come from The Matrix (1999). She starts seeing everything in code.

McKay: I did it! I mean, she did it. Look, we have to move fast. Even though Elizabeth's nanites are only in lurking mode, it won't take long for the Replicators to figure out another player has joined the game. Sheppard: How're you feeling, Elizabeth?

McKay excitedly announces that he had done it, immediately amending it to she had done it, even though the whole thing was really a combination of their efforts. Weir would not be doing this or much of anything if McKay had not reprogrammed the nanites dormant in her body to save her life, and it seems like they might have stayed inert even now if McKay had not purposefully initialized a link and allowed her nanites to make contact with the nanites all around them, proving that he had been right about having rendered them harmless.

But at the same time, she seems able to navigate independent of him the information provided by the nanites that appear to form some kind of a planet-wide network, and for once McKay seems willing to give credit where credit is due -- even though her sister had cast doubt on McKay's readiness to share credit in McKay and Mrs Miller (S03E08). Of course his little sister had been a little unfair in her assessment, thinking of a much less mature McKay, and it seems like McKay has learned how to commend people for their work, even if he is super-sensitive about the assigning of blame even now, preferring everyone to know when something had definitely not been his fault and he would like not to be blamed for it. Assigning credit is easier for him because basking in praise is not something that he is prone to doing, not expecting people to say nice things to him anyway -- and while expecting to be blamed is familiar to the point of being comforting to him, he would rather avoid it.

But McKay allows only a moment for them to feel elated and reminds Sheppard that they need to hurry because they will not be able to stay concealed for long, and even though Sheppard probably does not need the reminder, we see him immediately pick up his pace. Not only had McKay used the catch-word "Look" to impress how important what he was saying is, which seems to have caused a Pavlovian response in Sheppard where he pays attention to anyone using the words because he has heard McKay using it in many situations commanding his entire focus, but he is keen to get out of this planet as soon as they are able anyway. He wants to keep the man that he loves safe, and bringing him over to the lion's den, the shark pit, tugging on the dragon's tail, what ever euphemism one wishes to employ describing how dangerous this mission is, it all seems counterproductive toward that aim. McKay does not need to tell him and definitely does not need to tell him twice for him to pick up his pace here.

We see Sheppard put his game face on when McKay is still in the middle of his explanation, focusing all of his efforts into getting them to their destination even though he does not even know where they are supposed to be going yet. McKay uses the euphemism of a player having joined the game, which is fitting the digital environment that we see Weir trying to navigate but that also seems to recall Game Theory and perhaps even Pierre Bourdieu's Field Theory where society is seen as a kind of game where the players are all vying for optimal positions on the game board of life. "The Game" is a metaphor with multiple uses, as pointed out by Carter when she had commented "Oh, that game" to McKay's dismissive line about his sister having left "the game" previously. On the meta level, they might also be announcing Carter herself joining the crew this season as another player joining "the game."

Weir: Very strange. I can suddenly see the entire city directly in front of me. I mean, every corridor, every single room. That way.

Sheppard asks Weir how she is feeling, which is easy to interpret as him showing concern for her well-being, him caring about how this new and strange experience is effecting her because he is such a caring and considerate guy when it comes to her.

While that may be partially true, the onus of Sheppard inquiring about her feelings here is wanting to know if she is feeling any murderous urges. Sheppard's main concern with Weir and bringing her over, seating her in the same seat she had been sitting with Niam had suddenly turned on them at the flip of a switch and started choking her, is his concern that she might turn into a killer robot at the drop of a hat. He is keeping an eye on her, constantly scanning her for signs of danger, and Weir's response where she starts describing how she is actually feeling here, how strange the experience is, suggests that she had not understood Sheppard's motivation for asking her -- or if she does understand where he is coming from, she is trying to put him at ease by describing the experience to him, trying to give him an accurate representation of what she is experiencing. No murderous urges yet but she is definitely getting a flow of information from the nanites. Knowing that they are on the clock here, she also gives him a direction where to go, having determined the best place for them to make a raid for a ZPM.

Weir: The ZPM, fourth quadrant, top level -- easy access. There's hardly anyone around. Sheppard: Alright, works for me.

Weir gives more accurate instructions to Sheppard on how to get there, possibly having realized that a "That way" from the back seat is not very helpful -- although the address she gives would seem to require Sheppard to understand where the quadrants of the city are. But they seem to get there regardless, and Sheppard sounds pleased at Weir having done precisely what they had brought her over to do, to make their heist easier and quicker.

They do not have to search very long for the ZPM that might have taken them forever to find, even if they had taken Niam at his words that they had more ZPMs than they knew what to do with (which they probably do). Trying to get to the ZPM in the only place they could expect to find them based on the analogue of their own city would also have been a very difficult, very dangerous endeavour. Sheppard both looks and sounds pleased as Weir announces that the ZPM will be easy to access, barely able to contain his glee and easily confirming that this plan "works" for him -- and having easy access to a top may work for him in general too. Ronon likewise seems glad and impressed by what he is witnessing, glancing at McKay as they approach the spot Weir had pointed out for them. He had admitted to Sheppard in First Strike (S03E20) that he felt like he needed to learn some science because he felt useless in situations that did not require him to break in somewhere to kill someone, and even though this mission had the chance of requiring him to use his particular skill-set to the maximum, he still seems to appreciate McKay's expertise tremendously. He knows that it would not have been as easy as it is starting to seem without him -- and her.

Sheppard: Alright, we're down. Rodney, stay here with Elizabeth, keep sifting through the intel. You guys can guide us through by radio.

Sheppard parks them on the roof of the building Weir had pointed out for him, keeping the jumper cloaked so that no one would be able to see it or even sense it using scanners. Ronon gets up immediately, ready to get on with the mission and Sheppard himself knows that they are on the clock.

As he gets up, Sheppard tells McKay to stay back with Weir, and it seems to be more an invitation than an order, even though as we see later, the definitely would have made it an order if McKay had argued with him about his call. He also asks McKay to "shift through the intel," meaning that he needs McKay to keep an eye on the replicator nanites the whole time, not actually needing or even expecting McKay to discover any intel but to keep on top of anything dangerous that might be heading his way, whether from further away or from right next to him. It seems like Sheppard is trying to make sure that McKay keeps an eye on Weir and her kill-switch and stays safe without having to say it in so many words, trying to manipulate McKay into acting the way he needs him to be right now. He also tells them that they can guide them through the radio, meaning that he wants to be in constant radio contact with McKay the whole time. It was hard enough for Sheppard to bring McKay over to this planet but he would damned if he was going to let anything happen to him.

Weir: Twenty metres to the left behind the jumper, there's an access door. Down one flight of stairs, you'll enter Auxiliary Corridor Seven. Go now -- it's clear.

Weir gives Sheppard some last minute instructions on where to go while he and Ronon are grabbing their anti-replicator guns for the heist, and her giving him intel here is likely designed to put him at ease. There is a curious moment here where Sheppard looks at her, does not reply to her but we see his eyes narrow briefly and just before he goes, he seems to bite his lower lip. This would be so easy especially for the mainstream viewer to interpret as desire -- as Sheppard feeling desire toward her that he is fighting to repress. And like we see again later when Sheppard fails to keep his thoughts on penetration to himself, Sheppard seems to suffer from a misattribution of arousal that is not uncommon in career soldiers where his body translates all arousal to sexual arousal. As they are preparing to embark on their mission, he may well be experiencing arousal -- but that is not what this is.

It is not easy for Sheppard to leave McKay behind, even though he knows that he definitely does not want to take him with either, not knowing where they are heading -- he does not know whether he can trust Weir to be on the level. Leaving McKay in the jumper able to monitor Weir is safer, although it is far from safe. Sheppard is uncomfortable leaving him with what might be a killer robot -- he is suspicious of Weir and leaving McKay alone with her. Niam had turned on them at the drop of a hat and he anticipates the same thing happening to Weir. It seems like Sheppard wants to say something here, whether to Weir or to McKay, to leave with a warning or some advise. It is Weir he watches here and he seems to bite down on his lip to keep from saying what he wants to say. It is difficult for Sheppard to leave McKay with her, he is not sure he is doing the right thing but is praying to God that she will not turn on him while they are gone. But at the same time, he also does not want to say anything that might place McKay in even greater danger. We have seen many times that Sheppard seems to become almost paralyzed when McKay's life is threatened, not wanting his own actions to make the situation worse, and so it seems like he makes the conscious decision to keep the words that he might have wanted to speak to himself. Certainly Sheppard has no intention of telling anyone anything resembling goodbye just in case, he knows better than to jinx them like that.

It seems like Sheppard bites down on his own lip to prepare himself for the mission, and this is actually something that soldiers are known to have done since ancient times, Greek warriors preparing for battle by biting down on their lips. Sheppard knows that he needs to have his head in what they are doing and not on thinking about whether McKay is safe if he wants them to succeed in this. The gesture is erotic but not because he intends to communicate desire to her since Sheppard feels no lingering desires, secret longings for her touch. This is not the two of them communicating wordlessly, which we have seen Sheppard only really do with McKay, but instead this is Sheppard keeping his thoughts to himself. He is thinking about McKay's safety. He is thinking, but trying not to think, that this might be the last time that he sees the man that he loves because there are a thousand things that might go wrong when they step outside. He is trying to assess the level of danger Weir poses and if there was any other way he could swing this mission. But there does not seem to be anything that he can do here. He intends to be quick about it, and he is praying for the best. Sheppard does not want to leave McKay behind but he does it now believing that it is the safest thing to do.