taxonomites | 1 [Holo-Location: Sanctuary]

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1 [Holo-Location: Sanctuary]

All he did was blink, how could everything have changed so drastically? Daniel blinked again, hoping despite himself that he’d only imagined he’d seen a metal room with him standing on a platform. No luck. He glanced around, warily, before calling out.

“Thor?” Surely it had to have been the Asgard’s transporting beam, right? Except without the flash of white.

“Jack?” He tried again. Despite the fact Jack hadn’t been on the Prometheus with him, weird things tended to happen when Jack was involved, so it was generally a safe bet to assume he had something to do with this. Still nothing. He gave a sigh, reaching a hand up to ruffle his hair.

“This isn’t funny, guys.”

Only then did he look up and spy a rather odd and unusual device.

“..Okay, definitely not Asgard.”

Feeling a strange weight on his wrist, he sent an enquiring glance at it, only to do a double-take. What the heck was on his wrist? It didn’t hurt, despite the fact the metal seemed to be fused to his skin.

“Oh that can’t be good..”

He also noticed at that point the pedestal standing next to him. Was something wrong with his sight that he’d not noticed that? He stared at the tablet resting on top of the pedestal, the metal bracelet attached to him temporarily forgotten as he walked carefully around it before reaching out and picking the tablet up. Then he glanced around again.

“Jack?” Silence. “Isn’t someone going to say I shouldn’t have done that?”

This was getting tiresome, and he was starting to feel even more uneasy. He stared back down at the tablet, if only so he wouldn’t be looking around the large room anymore and see no one. Without really expecting anything to happen, he tried to open the tablet, finding it flipped open quite easily, as if it were a cell phone. He sighed again, glancing around once more despite himself.

“Jack, I know you have to be there. I get that you must be laughing your socks off, but this really isn’t funny.”

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The strange voice startled Daniel into almost dropping the tablet. He blinked a few times before hesitantly speaking, assuming that the tablet was actually on and transmitting.

"Uh..yeah? And you are..?"

How did she know his name?

Oh lovely. "I'm Charlotte Blaine." She took in his confusion, then shook her head. It didn't really matter what was wrong with him. Taxon would become blindingly obvious pretty quickly. "I'm a friend of Vala's."

"Nice to meet you," he automatically replied. And then the comment of her being friends with Vala sunk in. His head jerked back a bit as he sorted through that. Something was strange.

"..I see. When did you last see her?" It was just a hunch that made him ask that, but he'd learned to follow them.

Charlotte looked away, pretending to be distracted by the soft sound of a cat meowing, then looked back at the tablet. "Too long. Days. Weeks. I should have seen her before now, but..." She shrugged. "This place has a way of eating days."

Daniel had no idea there was a cat near wherever Charlotte was, so he was unaware of why she might claim to have glanced away. What she said really didn't make sense, regardless of how he looked at it. He chose not to ask why she seemed to have expected to have seen Vala recently, the Stargate program kept her rather busy most of the time, after all.

"..This place?" Was he close to a temporal distortion, or something along those lines?

She waved her hand to indicate a place bigger than just where she was sitting. "This place. Taxon. Our own little hell where nothing stays the same for long." She rolled her eyes, more at herself than at him. She was having a bitter day. "She'll be glad you're back."

She wouldn't say anymore than that, not over the tablets. She liked Vala enough to protect her dignity.

Definitely not good. While he worked through the new information, he was studying the tablet, trying to figure out how he might change the settings, as it was apparent there were different ways of using it.

But his thinking stalled when Charlotte said Vala'd 'be glad' he's 'back'. Sure, he could see that she'd be happy he was near by, if only so she could torment him again. He stared at her image for a moment, then shook his head and spoke slowly.

"I think you're thinking of a different Daniel..I've never heard of this place before, much less been here."

Charlotte shook her head. "Jackson, right? Archeologist? You and Vala are...friends. We've talked before at least once." Not that she could blame the man for blanking out being in Taxon. She'd certainly like to do it. "I'd love to say I met you at some conference somewhere, but sorry. Nope. Right here."

Very not good. Yet that's when the tablet decided to click, switching over to visual due to a button he apparently hit.

"Yeah..That's me." His voice still held that confused, hesitant quality that showed he was trying to think things through but wasn't succeeding as well as he'd like.

"Any idea how I got here then?"

"The same way we all did." She couldn't help smirking a little. "Current theories have something to do with little green men, but I have no idea the accuracy of that as I haven't seen any."

Daniel gave her a wry smile in return. That, he could understand. Though he still doubted the Asgard had anything to do with this place.

"How long have you been here?"

Charlotte frowned deeply. She'd lost track a while back. It hardly mattered in a place where the days were all the same. "Couple months. I think I'm among the longest..." She nodded slowly. "Yes, I was in the first wave. New people showing up all the time."

His brow furrowed a bit. "So...this place is still pretty new?"

As much as Charlotte would have liked to wallow in her own misery, her innate professionalism kicked in. Knowing that Daniel was in a similar field didn't help. Exhaling slowly, she sat up a little as she formulated her answer. "I can't speak with any certainty, of course, but when we arrived, there were only a handful of us. Under fifty, all wearing the bracelet things." She waved her hand at him, showing hers off. "We couldn't find anything that told about the people who might have lived here, nothing that showed a history. Even after the fake people showed up, nothing about where they came from or who they were."

She laughed bitterly. "I'd have given my eyeteeth for some sort of artifact, but nothing."

Daniel listened carefully, shifting through the new information and storing it away with everything else he knew or suspected. At her gesture and mention of the strange bracelet he also now wore, his eyes shifted to it before returning to Charlotte's image.

"What do you mean by the 'fake' people?" He knew he'd probably be following along the same lines on his own later, but it was always nice to have other peoples' feedback. Especially in a strange place where he probably didn't know the culture or what was expected of visitors.

"You'll see after you get out of the building, but the majority of 'people' around here come off like background noise. If you talk to one, they'll talk back, but..." She wasn't sure how to explain it. "They are like stand ins. They know the story, but they don't have the lines down. I think they are here just to keep us busy."

That was definitely different than anything he'd ever experienced before, and his expression probably displayed his perplexed thoughts. Well, there wasn't much he could do about anything just standing there, that he knew, right? He gave a small nod after a moment.

"What is everyone expected to do here, if anything?"

Charlotte snorted, loudly. "At the moment I think most of us are expected to go a bit insane. We've got no work, no goal, nothing. It's the single most boring and relentless vacation you will ever go on and the pool boys don't flirt."

That wasn't the most helpful answer, she knew, but it certainly conveyed the idea.

Daniel frowned. He'd had the insane experience already and didn't feel the need to relive it, thanks.

He could guess, from that, that everything besides a way to escape was provided, to the point where they wouldn't have to strain to get anything. While that was nice, it got boring rather quickly.

"All the more reason to find a way home then."

And here she hadn't even mentioned the charming little upsets where people changed completely. He'd love that part, particularly when he heard what had happened to Vala and Inara. He'd just love it and start packing right away. "If you can figure that one out, I'd buy your drinks forever. So far we don't have a clue."

Daniel would love to start packing instantly. It wouldn't even take him long. He rolled his eyes at Charlotte.

"I'll keep that in mind."

She shook her head. He'd see. Whatever it was that had happened with him leaving and returning, he'd figure it out. Then he'd probably come back to her apologizing to her for being so doubtful.

Holding onto that happy image, she smiled sweetly. "Does Vala know you're back?"

Oh boy, sweet smiles like that tended to set Daniel on edge, especially when Vala was mentioned immediately after. Somewhat wary, his tone reflected that.

"No.."

Charlotte let out a soft laugh, the perfect feminine companion to that smile. Poor boy was doomed. Vala was either going to jump on him or treat him like an utter pariah. No middle ground with her. Either way, he was pretty much doomed. It was probably wrong she found that amusing, but then she found the oddest things amusing right now.

"I'm sure she'll help you get things all straightened out."

Eventually.

And Daniel was getting that feeling of certain doom, or at least a great deal of frustration. Both seemed to follow him around, and Vala being nearby only added to it.

"I somehow doubt that."

1 [Holo-Location: Sanctuary]

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[Visual] I'm tagging as if he's not spoken with anyone else

[Visual] Gotcha. bends space and time

[Visual] xD Time bendyness is fun

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1 [Holo-Location: Sanctuary]

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[Visual] I'm tagging as if he's not spoken with anyone else

[Visual] Gotcha. *bends space and time*

[Visual] xD Time bendyness is fun

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[Visual] Gotcha. bends space and time