[for Sam--timed to 1/17/2010]

[has_2ls]

Jack had been puttering around New Atlantis looking for something to do. It might have been better if he had someone to do it with, but he couldn't find Daniel and Carter seemed to be MIA as well. He guessed he could go running but, again, without Carter, wasn't half as enjoyable. He'd always liked PT with Carter. She kept his pace and made just enough conversation to make it enjoyable without distracting him from the workout.

He settled for push-ups. Good for the upper body strength and not something he was going to get from running...round of push-ups, then he'd go swimming, and then maybe there'd be someone around to bug. If it stayed too quiet he guessed he could go bother Vala to babysit William, but Jack was trying to keep that for when Vala needed it, not when he needed it. Even a mom's gotta have a break sometimes.

He was halfway through his third rep of twenty when he saw Carter's shoes. Funny, recognizing a woman by her feet, but when you'd known her as long as he'd known Carter...

Jack shifted to stand and grabbed his shirt to mop off his face. Damn island got hot after a while, especially since Jack had gotten used to the snow.

"What's got you so happy, Carter?"

Comments

[gate_expert]

Sam had practically skipped all the way back to New Atlantis, fresh from the high of spending half the day talking shop with someone who could mostly keep up with her, and seeing something completely amazing. "Oh, hi, sir," she answered. "I've just seen the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time."

[has_2ls]

Jack smirked a little. "I realize I'm a good looking man, but I didn't think I got that kind of response." Teasing Carter was always fun, even if it did have a tiny kernel of truth. He tossed his shirt back on and watched her, trying to figure out what had her so excited.

"What gives. Someone show you a computer that can bake its own pies or something?"

[gate_expert]

She was still in such a good mood from learning about the TARDIS that she didn't even blink an eye at his joke. "Even better," she assured him. "Sir, have you ever seen the TV show Doctor Who? Comes on between Wormhole X-treme and old Star Trek reruns?"

[has_2ls]

"I try to miss stuff like that," Jack admitted, making a face. "Figure you and Daniel can watch it and give me the highlights. I'd rather watch hockey."

[gate_expert]

That was pretty much what she suspected, so she just nodded. "I don't really watch sci-fi television much myself--it makes me so mad when they say stupid things like 'the singularity is about to explode' or 'weapons at maximum' and I just can't enjoy it," she said.

"Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, sir, that there is a TARDIS on this island. The Doctor's, well, time machine, for lack of a better word. It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I thought Jack Harkness was pulling my leg when he told me about it, but he took me over there this morning to check it out, and I've never seen tech like this before. I thought it was a hologram, or an illusion, or come kind of very elaborate fabrication, but it isn't. It's absolutely real."

[has_2ls]

"Huh. Does it work?" Jack guessed that was probably a stupid question, considering they'd all have gone home if it did, but he thought he'd ask anyway. Besides, with Carter and Harkness working on the thing, if it didn't work, it'd at least get somewhere close. Jack figured they could fix anything.

[gate_expert]

"Not exactly, though I don't really know just what's wrong with it," Sam said. "It's so far beyond anything I've ever seen before that I wouldn't even know where to start. But sir, do you realize what this means?"

[has_2ls]

"Got the sense you're about to tell me," Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck a little. "What's it mean for the regular guys without genius IQs?"

[gate_expert]

"What it means is that it's very possible that my theory that this is an artificial reality is correct," she said eagerly. While it wasn't the theory she was most fond of, to have something that fit her hypothesis, to see little pieces falling into place, gave her a scientific thrill that for the moment outweighed any anxiety she had about who or what might be ultimately responsible.

"Sir, Doctor Who is a television show. It's fiction. But what I just saw was definitely not a prop or a replica. It was... bigger on the inside," she said, gesturing. "And the only way I know of that fictional people and things could exist in any actual reality is if they were created by an outside entity to be as real as possible in every way, and that can only exist within the confines of a virtual reality scenario."

[has_2ls]

Jack contemplated that for a moment, trying to boil it down to its basic parts so he could start making some sense of it. He was a smart man, even dabbled a little in astronomy when he had the time, but following Carter had become something of an art cultured over time.

"So let me get this straight. You walked into this thing, it's bigger on the inside than on the outside, so you're pretty sure we're in somebody's Nintendo game? Cause I like Mario as much as the next guy, but I don't like the idea that someone's pulling my strings up there. I like to think I'm on vacation."

[gate_expert]

"No, sir, that's not what I'm saying," Sam said, feeling more than a little irritated and not being entirely sure why. "I've had this theory pretty much from day one. This only validates my hypothesis. I'm not just saying this because I saw something that is 'bigger on the inside'. I'm saying I saw something today that completely defies the laws of physics as I understand them and the only way this can possibly exist outside of a fictional context is if this is a virtual reality." She wasn't doing a very good job of hiding her irritation, even though she was trying.

"I don't like the idea of someone pulling my strings either, sir," she said. "I don't. I really don't, for reasons I can't even begin to explain to you right now. But I'm not going to discount a perfectly logical hypothesis just because I'm not comfortable with the possible ramifications."

[has_2ls]

"I'm not asking you to," Jack said, frowning a little as he tried to figure out what had Carter all worked up. She seemed a little on edge about it, to him, and he had to wonder if maybe he'd said something wrong. She'd never seemed overly sensitive or anything and had usually seemed all right with his take on stuff...maybe the island was just getting to her.

"It's as good a theory as any," he conceded. "I don't follow that stuff as well as you and McKay, but from what I know about the stargate and the crap we've seen out there, what you're saying is making sense. I trust you. If you say you think it's virtual reality, I'm behind you 110%."

[gate_expert]

The inexplicable irritation subsided a little, and Sam felt a little foolish as she suddenly realized what had bothered her so much. When the general had equated what she'd experienced before with a Nintendo game--unknowingly, of course, because she hadn't said a word of it to him--it had touched a nerve. It wasn't fair of her to get angry with him, though, because he didn't know. He couldn't have known, and if he had he wouldn't have said it.

Her expression softened a little. "Sir, I haven't said this to anyone else, because I'm not really sure which of these alternatives I believe in, but in this hypothesis... either all of the SG personnel here are real and the rest of the island is created by the island, or..." She hesitated, unsure what his reaction would be.

Maybe she was hoping his reaction would help push her towards one idea or the other.

[has_2ls]

"I don't know about you," Jack said, picking up on her train of thought, "But I'm pretty damn real. I'm not something that's made up and I like to think I know myself. I don't think you're made up either. I know you said it can't be a solar flare, but it's like that to me...different time and place, but me and you and Daniel are exactly the same."

Thinking about the alternative made his head hurt.

[gate_expert]

That was exactly what she had expected the general to say, and it was kind of a relief, even if there were some lingering doubts she wasn't quite willing to share. "I'm pretty sure that you're all real," she confided. But she'd been fooled before, even if temporarily.

[has_2ls]

"You can poke me if you need to verify," Jack teased. "I'll even poke back if it hurts."

[gate_expert]

That got a smile out of her. Not quite the smile she'd walked back to New Atlantis with, but she wasn't grumpy anymore. "That's okay, sir," she said. "No poking necessary." She tugged at her ponytail. "I need to go and get some of this down in my notes before I forget the details."

[has_2ls]

"I was thinking about heading up the compound for coffee," Jack said, nodding in that direction. "If you wanna bring the notes with, you can do it up there."

[gate_expert]

She'd been thinking of doing it on her own, but Sam had never been able to resist an offer of coffee. "I'd like that sir, thanks. I'll just go and get my things."