taxonomites | [Visual]

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Daniel had been moping. Plain and simple. He'd holed himself up in his lab when he could get away with it-which only lasted a couple days before he had to seek Vala out to avoid the lingering side effect of the bracelets. It had been bad enough finding out the first time around the hard way that Vala had not been affected in the slightest.

And he'd discovered the hard way that Vala had been going through all of his computer files, everything that was in his lab. Which, really, considering his job, was quite a lot. He'd even be impressed at the amount she'd managed to get through if he hadn't been so irritated that she'd invaded his personal space. Again. He really should stop being surprised by that, it happened so often.

"What a mess.." He muttered, rubbing a hand over his eyes. He didn't realize his tablet had switched to visual on its own. He'd been ignoring it as much as possible, occasionally using the map to get around. But it seemed that Taxon was tired of that, and wanted to make him be heard.

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"Join the club."

Holed up in her lab again, Abby had taken to only responding to her tablet when the mood struck her. She'd given up trying to hide her strange new face. It would go away on it's own, or. Not. Regardless, there wasn't anything she could do about it. She'd made the most of it and had a bit of fun with hair and makeup. It was a learning experience, but she was nearly happy with her switched-sex appearance.

"Every time I turn around, someone is upset about this place. Can't say it's put me in any good moods lately." She knew she'd never spoken to this man before. Maybe he wouldn't know the difference? She didn't know which she liked better.

At the sudden, unexpected voice, Daniel started and cast a glance at the door before realizing it had come from the tablet. He blinked, a bit owlishly, at the unfamiliar face.

"This place is alright, though my lab could be in better shape."

He cast a glance around the neater lab, neater than it had been when he'd first found it again.

Then, because he was curious, he asked. "..What's been done to you?"

Abby debated whether she should go into it or brush him off, but what did she have to lose.

"Well, I woke up one day with this crick in my neck. Oh, and a penis." She had a very disgruntled expression. "But beside that, I really can't complain." Sarcasm was something Abby had perfected lately.

"Sorry to hear about your messy lab, though." She rolled her eyes. Really, she was normally more pleasant. It was too bad that Daniel had to meet her under such stressful circumstances.

That simple statement made Daniel pause for a long moment. He mentally backed up to replay what had just been said. Still rather incredulous, he took a breath before attempting to verbally translate.

"..You're usually female..?"

Yeah, the rest of what Abby had said went unheard for the sheer unbelievableness of the first bit.

Abby nodded, "Born and bred, then changed by this god forsaken city. I just hope the bastards fix their little 'glitch' before it becomes more of a problem than it already is." She made a disgusted face. Learning how to deal with male issues was not very fun at all.

She paused, "Unless. This isn't normal. Does this happen to other people? Did I..?" She started to panic. Crap.

Daniel grimaced in sympathy. "How long has this been going on?"

Seeing the beginnings of panic set in, the archaeologist put up his hands in a gesture he occasionally, read often, back home on missions, meant to help calm others. "Woah, while I don't know anything about these glitches that are inflicted on people here, I doubt it has anything to do with something you did."

"Couple days. No end in sight." By that, she meant it hadn't been slowly disappearing. It wasn't as if Abby knew how this worked at all. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. It wasn't going to help anything if she had a freak-out right here, on the tablet with a complete stranger.

"This place is going to kill me." She muttered. Maybe that was the point. One giant test. She took another breath in and let it out slowly. "I'm Abby, by the way." Might as well pretend to be normal. "Though for now maybe I should change it to Abner or Abe or something more gender appropriate." She laughed in a sarcastic sort of way.

Daniel had a feeling what she meant, and, in a way, was glad of that. Wouldn't it be even more awkward if the changes gradually reversed themselves to the point Abby had bits of both genders?

Still, it couldn't be much fun to be in her situation. At least she seemed a bit calmer now. "Considering people who have been here a while haven't died," the yet was not actually spoken, yay for some tact, "I doubt people will start now." Then again, he hadn't heard of those that did die, then come back to life.

"I'm Daniel."

Talking like this almost made her feel close to normal. Abby smiled, despite her current situation. "Nice to meet you, Daniel." And she meant it. He seemed like a decent enough guy. "Have you been here long?" She hadn't quite worked out the timeline, or if time worked the same here. For awhile, Abby had flirted with the idea that Taxon operated on a totally different frame of time, altering the way they could perceive days, weeks, months.

"I can only hope that I won't be the first." She snorted through a bit of laughter.

While it was a bit strange for him to think of the person he was talking to, as actually being a woman, Daniel was still doing his best. H--She, seemed nice, if sarcastic. Almost like a female version of Jack. No, no. Do not think of that, Daniel, one Jack is enough.

"Nice to meet you too." He gave her a real, if small, smile. "From my reckoning, I've been here a couple months. How about you?"

Daniel gave a quick smile at her comment, more a slight grimace than anything. "Yeah."

Abby was feeling much better, even in this short time talking to Daniel. With her head a little clearer, she had time to realize that she had completely taken over the conversation with her problems. Great way to make friends, Abs.

"So what has you down, exactly?" She pushed a hand through her hair, trying to forget about how short it was. "Earlier you were acting. Upset. I kind of railroaded this whole exchange with my issues. Sorry about that." She offered him another smile, genuinely sorry.

Daniel didn't mind talking to people about their problems, it kept his mind off his own. Such as a certain black-haired teammate of his...With the penchant of causing trouble. He waved the apology away with a smile. "You needed to talk."

He couldn't help the wry twist of his lips as he explained the comment he apparently had given that had caught Abby's attention.

"Oh..Well, apparently before I arrived here, there was another version of me that came here before. Along with a teammate of mine. It seems that during the disappearance of that version of me...And my arrival, my teammate decided to go through my lab. And didn't put everything back. So it's rather a mess."

Abby listened. She was rather good at it, but this situation in particular struck a nerve. It was a huge pet peeve of hers for people to mess with her lab, especially when she wasn't around to keep an eye on them. Her face clearly showed the disgust she felt and there was plenty of irritation in her voice.

"Did you kick her ass?" The question was completely simple in her opinion.

Finally. Someone who seemed to understand Daniel's frustration. Abby even didn't sound too confused over the whole doubles-thing, which seemed to confuse even his teammates. It had certainly thrown him for a loop, as, apparently, he was from before this other Daniel.

He sighed when she asked if he'd kicked Vala's ass. "Not this time. She's been avoiding me as much as possible. Though I doubt it's because of the lab."

Oh, she had skipped over that whole 'other Daniel' part and skipped right to the part she actually understood. If she got hung up every time someone in Taxon said something she didn't understand, she'd never get through a conversation.

"That's just. I can't even. God, I would have put her through a wall." Abby is very, very protective of her lab, obviously. "Want any help putting it back together again?" Alright, maybe she just wanted an excuse to leave her lab. It took a good excuse these days. First fear, now embarrassment. Abby hadn't stepped outside of the lab since the change, and she was getting a bit antsy.

Daniel wouldn't blame her for that skip if he knew. He wasn't about to ask, it was confusing to him enough to avoid it if he could.

He actually managed a quiet chuckle at what Abby said she'd do to Vala. That could be amusing, possibly, more so if he knew what Abby could do. At the offer, he gave a slight shrug.

"It's more going through files now and seeing how far she got.." Still, he couldn't say he'd mind the company. And as he doubted the whole confidentiality issue was not a problem in Taxon...

"Why not? Do you know where Cheyanne Mountain Complex is?"

Despite her situation, Abby smiled bigger than she had in days. "I can find it." She was, after all, pretty good with the tablet. She poked around at the map before nodding, "Yeah, I see it. Not sure how long it will take. I haven't really been on that side of Taxon before." She shrugged, "Guess we'll find out. I'll let you know when I'm close." She cut the visual feed to her tablet and headed out for the trams.

Crossing town didn't take too long, and it was a learning experience. She hopped off at the nearest stop and walked the rest of the way. Flicking on the tablet, Abby tapped into Daniel's feed.

"Daniel? Uh, I think I'm close."

Daniel just nodded his understanding. "See you soon then." When the visual feed was cut, he used the time to make his way up. And up. And up, until he came to the entrance of the Complex. Which, while it didn't take as long as it took Abby to get close, still took a while.

Hearing the statement, he flicked his tablet back on, even as he looked around. "Yep, I think I see you." He raised his free arm and gave a wave at the figure he could see.

She waved back and walked towards him, looking around at the mountain as she did. "This is a nice place you've got here." She said with a snort. "This from wherever you came from, or is this just a part of Taxon?" She hadn't figured out the difference between programmed locations and permanent ones.

"Big mountain. Lab. You sure you're not a mad scientist or something?"

Generally speaking, Cam had kept to himself since Sam vanished. Team did not count as 'generally speaking'.

He cocked his head to the side, and squinted at the screen. "Everything okay over there?"

Daniel had been a bit busy during Sam's short stay, so hadn't entirely been aware of the fact she had even been there. Sure, he'd heard the tail end of a few conversations involving her, but he hadn't realized she'd been there. Which would probably make him feel terrible for having missed the opportunity to talk with her.

Hearing the question, he let his head fall to the desk. One word summed it up quite well, really. "Vala."

It didn't feel much better to have spoken to her, or to have gone to the Halloween party with her.

Still, Cam couldn't help a wry grin. Fortunate for him, Jackson was busy burying his face in the desk. "What's she up to now?"

With a resigned sigh, Daniel lifted his head to cast a glance at Cam, a rather put-upon expression fixed on his face.

"She was in my lab, going through my files apparently. I've been spending the last couple months cleaning it up, and it's still a mess."

He arched an eyebrow. Well...she did have the run of the place before Jackson arrived. He could have pointed out that she'd primarily been in there because she missed him, but he was pretty sure Jackson still needed to be eased into that concept.

"Yeah? How much could she have done?"

Because Jack is Jack, and has this keen Daniel sensing ability, he rounded the hall and into the lab. It could also be because he knew that there was a 90% chance he'd find Daniel there.

"Hey," Jack wasted no time in poking at some random artifact on his desk. It looked fragile. Meaning more fun.

And because Daniel knew his best friend as he did, he wasn't surprised that Jack had come searching for him. What was surprising was how long it took him.

He glanced up before reaching to grab the delicate artifact.

"Jack! How many times do I have to tell you? Do not touch things in my lab!"

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[visual]-Don't mind Danny having a hernia...

[visual]-Have a sympathetic Abby

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[visual-location, Cheyanne Mountain Complex]

[location, Cheyanne Mountain Complex]

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[Visual] ffft, sorry for how long this took >.<

[Visual] Back at ya.

[Location - Lab]

[Location - Lab]