[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

[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."