[Daniel] Day 19: Getting Warmer, Warmer . . . Hot (open tag)

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Finding the source of the temporal fluctuation actually proved not to be all that difficult. It was a sensor embedded in a tree about twenty-feet in the jungle beyond the pillar. The means of deactivating it came down to entering a code into the pillar itself. Of course, it did cause them more a few more time jumps as Tara and Damon worked on locating the thing, and by the time Rodney declared that it was deactivated, night was falling. Due to the temporal fluctuations and distortions, contact with Blaise and the Doctor via radio had been impossible.

That would have worried Daniel, but Blaise was a soldier and the Doctor had seen his share of battle. The standing rule when contact was impossible was to simply continue along the predetermined path. There was nothing else to be done for it; one of their groups would have to reach the women.

Sensor deactivated, Daniel transported back to the tunnel and updated Ash and Kenzaki. Rodney insisted that he should go, but Daniel made him remain behind in the clearing, reminding the man that they might need his genius and his laptop in the near future if they came across anymore devices needing "security codes." The scientist groused a bit, but acquiesced.

They slept in shifts, keeping a guard. They all understood that although they hadn't encountered any hostiles or even seen anyone watching them, that didn't mean that they were safe or free and clear. Daniel contacted Blaise before the solar charge on the radio was lost, once the temporal field disappated completely, and though the marine wasn't surprised that they'd encountered a time trap of a sort, he did seem a bit annoyed about it.

"Just another day at the office," Daniel told him and Blaise agreed.

They ate breakfast and broke camp at dawn. Damon assured them that they were on the right track. The man said that his awareness of Ami was stronger now, and yet still tenous. "Don't ask me to explain," he said without preamble, and a bit miserably, "It doesn't make any sense to me either." Ripley seconded the direction being correct by climbing a tree and pointing out that the smoldering tree was behind them.

Daniel checked in with the Doctor and Blaise, and both groups agreed to resume their trek. The plan was for Daniel's team to march for three hours and then make temporary camp while overland team caught up with them. The only person who grumbled about that was McKay.

Three hours later, they reported their position, scoped the perimeter and sat up camp. A quick scouting around the area, and tracks were discovered where the jungle broke away into a large open clearing and plateau. Not just any tracks, but vehicular tracks.

"I think that it can safely be said that of all the things I expected to find, that was not one of them," Daniel declared.

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[Megabyte] Through the Looking Glass (open tag)

[island-muses.livejournal.com]

Megabyte blinked as the tire tracks reappeared. "Just when I think this place can't get any weirder, we get invisible tire tracks." Shaking his head, he continued forward a good twenty or so feet before he realized that he didn't hear anyone behind him.

"So far, so good, gang. I found them again, must have been some sort of illu –"

His words froze in his throat as he turned one hundred eighty degrees. There was no one behind him. The rest of the team was precisely where he'd left them, staring in his direction. He waved his arm, "Hey! Come on. It doesn't look like they're going back into the trees."

No answer. Not even an acknowledgement of his wave or his words.

That familiar feeling of 'something just isn't right' settled over him and Megabyte jogged back to the team – and collided with a wall of nothing that shocked his body, feeling as though it was trying to fry every cell from the inside out as he recoiled and landed on his ass.

Even more oddly, the faces of his companions didn't change. In fact, no one on the opposite side of the invisible wall moved at all; it was like he was staring at statues and not living, breathing people. Only wax museums had ever been as still or as life like.

"Guys?" Megabyte waved his hand in front of Locke, the closest person and didn't even get a blink for his effort.

(Okay, now this is really fucking weird.)

Reaching forward, he attempted to touch Locke, pushing against the resistance. It felt as though hot needles plunged into his fingertips and his hand, slashing, cutting, burning; a knife of acid began to pull at the skin on his hand. Megabyte stumbled back, clutching his hand. He looked down, expecting to see burned or irritated flesh, and was surprised to see that his hand was unmarred. Still he flexed and unflexed his fist to be certain.

Throughout it all, the others on the opposite side never moved.

"What the fuck is going on?" Megabyte asked to no one in particular.

[Megabyte] Through the Looking Glass (tag George, Locke)

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As weird as the situation was, or maybe because the situation was so weird, Megabyte knew better than to go wandering off to parts unknown. However, staring at the rather still and creepy visages of his companions was not the most comforting thing in the world, so Megabyte turned away and resumed following the tire tracks for a short distance of maybe fifty feet. At that point he could see that they would dip down over a slight hill, and he was less than inclined to follow the hill.

(I haven't been attacked by the bad guys, so if they know I'm here, they don't see me as a threat. If they don't know I'm here, I'm not going to announce it yet.)

From there, he walked to the far perimeter of the clearing, stopping just short of the treeline. Megabyte turned and did the same in the opposite direction, but he never reached the treeline; that pins and needles burning wall of nothing stopped him again. And that gave him an idea.

After scouting around near the treeline that he could actually reach, he came up with a thick stick.

(Weird,) he noted on his way past his still companions. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he could have sworn they all changed position a bit and that George had that pre-sprinter look to her.

Discounting that oddness for the moment, he began to map the perimeter of the invisible wall with his sticks, digging a deep rut into the dirt. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, and while doing it telekinetically *would* have been easier, it would have worn him out psychically and he wanted to save all his psychic strength for when he needed it most. In addition to the work of digging, there were also the unexpected bumps and brushes up against that invisible wall.

He stopped and drank and had a snack halfway through and then finished his rough map of the perimeter border. Satisfied, and left with nothing else to do, he resumed tire tracking, dropping to his stomach and wiggling forward to peek over the hill. From his vantage point he could see that the tracks circled a short distance from two heavy metal doors set into the ground at an angle and then continued around beyond it.

But it was the doors that held his attention. From here, he could actually, truly sense Ami and she was right beyond the doors. Megabyte's sense of her was muted though, even this close, and indescribably fuzzy. It took every ounce of his self-restraint to not simply charge down the hillside and through those doors.

Instead, he reached out mentally, /Ami?/

He *felt* acknowledgement. He heard nothing, but somehow he knew that she knew he was there. Megabyte tried a few more times, then realized that for whatever reason, she couldn't actually answer him.

(She's there, good enough. Claire and the others are probably there, too.)

Backing away on his belly, Megabyte eventually stood again and made his way back to the perimeter where he'd entered. He blinked. Okay, now he was certain that something was different with his companions. George and Locke were *touching* the barrier. George was appeared to be halfway through, although no part of her could be seen on this time.

"It's a temporal bubble," he muttered to no one in particular. "Just great."

Especially since he had no idea how much time passed here as opposed to on the other side.

Frustrated and annoyed with the kidnappers and the island in general, Megabyte sat down, pulled out a guava, began to peel it and wait. It wasn't much longer before George literally stumbled through and looked around.

"Hey, Dorothy, guess what?" Megabyte called out, getting her attention, "You're not in Kansas anymore."

He glanced at the statue that was Locke and added, "Locke will probably be joining us in about ten or fifteen minutes, I guess, that's if he was right behind you. I haven't had the opportunity yet to figure out the time differential, lacking a point of reference."

[Verlin] Through the Looking Glass (tag George, Megabyte, Locke, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

"Positively amazing," Verlin said after the ginger haired Yank gave his commentary on time differential. George, naturally, was looking at the young man in a vaguely confused fashion, so Verlin hurriedly explained. "Apparently, this is a time bubble within a time bubble. Time is moving more quickly here than it is on the other side, as can be seen if you study your companions.

"This type of technology or even magic in the wrong hands could be dangerous," Verlin concluded.

"It already is in the wrong hands," George told him. "And it's dangerous."

With an exasperated sigh, Verlin turned his attention from the Reaper to the invisible barrier behind them. He peered closely, looking at the unmoving visages of those on the other side, "Fascinating."

George's yelp of pain drew his attention momentarily.

"I told you that it would hurt too much. If it had been that easy, do you think I would be sitting around on my ass waiting?" Mr. Damon remarked in that far too-smug, unprofessional 'I told you so,' cadence that the young and annoying were fond of. It was quite the contrast to the man being able to string together words like 'time differential.' "I'm sure it has something to do with the temporal field that's holding us here. Time's moving faster for us, so passing through the field is easy – we're moving forward. Going back is different, it requires your body to slow down, while part of your body is still moving rapidly ahead. It might even be a fail safe or a protective device."

"Well, it sucks," George declared.

Verlin returned to his study of the invisible barrier.

[OOC: I thought I would just throw in some filler to give Locke time to breach the barrier]

[Locke] Through the Looking Glass (tag George, Megabyte, open)

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

Locke held the handgun ready, expecting armed men, Others, or even another pillar in an underground chamber. George and Damon appearing out of thin air seated on the grass eating guavas was truly a surprise. He frowned, looking around cautiously. "Where are we?"

[Megabyte]Through the Looking Glass (tag George, Locke, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

"The island still," Megabyte announced in answer to Locke's question. He waved back over the older man's shoulder. "Several hours ahead and removed from where we were, but we're still on the island. The bad news is that the bad guys seem to like playing with time. We're in some sort of temporal field or bubble.

"The good news is that the tire tracks keep on pretty steadily, over that hill and down to some kind of underground bunker. I can sense Ami pretty strongly, but for some reason, I can't get an answer from her." Megabyte frowned, thoughtfully. "But it's a good bet that if Ami's that way, so are Claire and Daisy and Rose. George and I were thinking about sending Verlin scouting."

Verlin must have said something because George stared at the empty air, "Well, if you had been listening to us instead of muttering and talking to yourself, you would have heard the plan."

Megabyte managed a bit of a smile. George's one-sided conversations were definitely amusing.