Dust was a Wraith scientist behind the effort to convert Dr. Rodney McKay into a Wraith.
Biography
Background information
As chief cleverman for Queen Death, Dust proposed a plan to capture Dr. Rodney McKay of the Atlantis expedition and transform him into a Wraith using the work he has done on human DNA and the Iratus bug retrovirus the expedition used to turn Lastlight human. Dust's plan was to use the effects of the virus that induces amnesia to make McKay believe he is a Wraith in truth and gain his cooperation against the Atlantis expedition and through it, access to all of McKay's knowledge which Dust and Queen Death believe could be the key to destroying Atlantis if McKay can be made to remember his knowledge of Atlantis without remembering who and what he really is. As a Wraith, McKay would look enough like Dust for Dust to pass himself off as McKay's brother and McKay as a lord amongst the clevermen. (SGA: "Allegiance")
Following Dust's plan, the Wraith launch a raid on New Athos that successfully captures McKay. Dust is able to transform McKay into a Wraith he names Quicksilver and guides him in acclimating to being a Wraith, claiming that Quicksilver had been captured and experimented upon by the expedition, resulting in his memory loss. Dust tries to help Quicksilver remember things about Atlantis and is disappointed when he appears to remember nothing. He also tries to help Quicksilver acclimate to life aboard Bright Venture without much luck as the other Wraith are aware of Quicksilver's true nature and see him as an abomination.
While Bright Venture is in a dormant state, the ship comes under attack by the George Hammond. Realizing the gravity of the threat, Dust arms himself with a Wraith handblaster he had hidden in the lab in case of emergencies and is surprised by the courage Quicksilver displays. When Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan enter the room calling for McKay, Dust attacks them with his handblaster, narrowly missing Teyla. In response, Sheppard shoots Dust with his FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon, killing him. Enraged by the death of the Wraith he believes is his brother, Quicksilver grabs Dust's stunner and shoots Sheppard with it six times. As Bright Venture wakes up and the George Hammond takes serious damage, the team is forced to retreat and leave McKay behind. (SGA: "The Lost")
While on Bright Venture to aid with repairs, Ember learns of what Dust has done and warns Guide. Following Dust's death, Queen Death and her followers attempt to decide what to do with the project with the cleverman Wintersun believing that he cannot pick up where Dust left off with the farse or changing the drug Dust was using to aid Quicksilver in regaining some of his knowledge without remembering who and what he really is. Instead of killing Quicksilver, Guide proposes having Ember pick up where Dust left off, a suggestion that is accepted.
Over time, Quicksilver grows more and more curious about what has happened to him and after vaguely recognizing Guide, Guide gives him the name "Michael" to conjure with. Upon Quicksilver's prompting, Ember tells him the story of Lastlight, the Wraith that was turned briefly turned into a human called "Michael". Quicksilver begins to wonder if the same happened to him, but in reverse, but mostly dismisses the idea until the Wraith react violently to Quicksilver mentioning McKay after a new mechanical iris foils an attack on Atlantis. Quicksilver is eventually able to hack into the hive ship's database and access Dust's records. Amongst Dust's notes, Quicksilver finds information on a surgery to conduct repairs to an earlier surgery Dust conducted on his feeding hand, but can find no information on the original surgery. The lack of information further confuses Quicksilver and draws his suspicions along with the reactions of the Atlantis expedition to him during the Raid on Atlantis and causes Quicksilver to decide to send a covert message for Sheppard to meet him on Gaffen to find out for sure one way or another. (SGA: "Allegiance")