Chapter 18
The door to the gym opened, old Jack leading the charge. The school bell rung, 12:00 pm.
“Isis, bring me home,” Jon said.
Six holographic rings rose from the gym floor, each one spinning in the opposite direction of the previous. Everything inside the circle was illuminated. The ring system extended way out beyond the 12 foot perimeter of the center circle of the basketball court. Jon, Jack, and Lakeisha were bathed in a light so bright they could not be seen. Jack, Samantha, Teal’c, Daniel, and Janet slid to a halt, bringing their hands up to shield their eyes against the flaring light. The ghostly rings descended back into the earth, as if they had never been.
“So, I guess he got a good connection?” Jack said more than asked.
Young Jack and Lakeisha were unconscious on the floor. Jon seemed on the verge of falling, except a woman was there. A twenty something year old, dressed in Bohemian fashion. She held Jon’s hand in both of hers, securing the grenade.
“This isn’t our way,” she was saying.
“Loxy?” Jon asked, his knees giving way.
“It’s okay. I got you,” Loxy said, easing his fall. She came back up with the grenade in her hands to find old Jack and Samantha had their weapons drawn.
“Who are you?” old Jack said.
“Not to be rude, but could we find the pin, please?” Loxy asked.
“It’s a live grenade?” Samantha asked. Loxy shrugged.
Teal’c stepped forwards. “I believe this is what you’re looking for.”
Jack holstered his weapon and took the pin from Teal’c. He carefully inserted the pin into the grenade and relieved Loxy of the device. Janet was kneeling over Jack and Lakeisha.
“We need to get them back to the base,” Janet said.
“You think?” old Jack asked, already dialing. “Um, good morning, Sir. Yeah, Sir, sorry to interrupt, but could you send me a helicopter for an immediate evac. The high school. Yes, that high school. Umm, yet to be determined. A Black Hawk would be nice. A bit showy, if the goal is to contain this. Care flight would be okay. Three stretchers. Oh, and a general survey team in hazmat gear, possible clean up team. Just being precautious. That would be great, Sir.
See you there.” Jack pocketed his phone. “Choppers on the way. Teal’c, keep everyone out till the help arrives.” He turned the new girl while simultaneously signaling for Samantha to put her weapon away. “Now, who are you?”
“I am Loxy Isadora Bliss,” Loxy said. She offered her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Colonel O’Neill.”
Jack took a step back, not accepting her hand. “You know me? Have we met?” Loxy looked up and to the right. “Technically, yes,” she said.
“You’re Jon’s tulpa,” Daniel said.
“Yes, Doctor Jackson,” Loxy said.
“You’re telling me Jon’s invisible friend is real?” Jack asked.
“I was there this morning when you introduced yourselves,” Loxy said.
“Daniel?” Jack said.
“Okay, according to the Tibetan tulpa a practice, you can essentially create a thought form and give it sentience,” Daniel began.
“And an actual body?” Jack asked.
“The Tibetans believed this,” Daniel said.
“Technically, all thought forms are real. Further, there are no bodies, there are only thought forms. Your definitions of reality are faulty, which explains why you get the results you do,” Loxy said.
“That is one of their beliefs, actually,” Daniel said. “Another way to look at it, Jack, is that our brains are simply sophisticated computers that run personality programs. You, Carter, and I are just personalities that were created through external and internal events, the accumulation of all our experiences and choices. The brain doesn’t care what personality runs the hardware. Jon created a personality in his head. That personality is real.” “To a crazy person, maybe,” Jack said.
“Like multiple personality complex?” Janet asked. “That could be explained by his past trauma.”
“Yeah, but how do you explain we can see her now,” Jack said. “I mean, we can all see the same invisible friend, can’t we?”
“Folie à deux, or shared psychosis, is a real thing,” Janet said.
“I assure you, I am quite real,” Loxy said.
Jack pushed her shoulder. “You feel real,” Jack said. He reached to touch her bosom.
“Jack,” Samantha corrected.
“Just wanted to be thorough,” Jack said.
“I would not be offended,” Loxy said.
“I would,” Samantha and Janet both said.
“The Tibetan Monks maintain that their thought forms could manifest into our reality and be experienced by the community,” Daniel said.
Jack nodded for them to gather around him as he stepped further away from Loxy. Loxy remained where she was without be instructed, and simply smiled, watching. Daniel, Samantha, and Janet came over. Jack looked over Daniel’s shoulder to Loxy, she smiled, and then back to Daniel.
“She’s a thought form?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know, Jack,” Daniel said. “She believes that. Jon seemed to believe that before he passed out.”
“It’s more likely that she is an alien that Jon contacted telepathically, and he was necessary for her to Ring in,” Samantha said.
“Those didn’t look like our Rings,” Jack said.
“No, those were new. More sophisticated,” Samantha agreed.
“Maybe the Rings were also thought forms, and this was all part of a necessary ritual in order for Jon to make her manifest,” Daniel said. “You can’t just think people into existence, Daniel,” Jack said. “God knows, I have tried. No matter how much I contemplated Mary Steenburgen, she has not manifested in my room.” “That’s a bit creepy,” Samantha said.
“I am illustrating a point,” Jack said. “If people could make invisible friends real, then every lonely, horny teenage boy would have special friends. I still have that Farah Faucet poster and she hasn’t moved from that poster pose once.”
Daniel looked back to Loxy, prompting everyone to look at her.
“She does seem pretty special,” Daniel said.
“Well endowed,” Samantha said.
“Hyper feminism,” Janet said. She felt the need to explain that. “It could be a medical condition…”
“Or, she is a psychological construct where Jon took all the attributes of what he considers to be an attractive female and made her,” Daniel said. “She is an archetype.”
“I am voting for alien,” Samantha said.
“Well, Earth boys are easy,” Jack said.
“I think that was girls, Jack,” Daniel said.
“Which was written by boys imagining extremes scenarios for what it takes for boys to get laid?” Jack asked. “They just got the title wrong is all.”
“Times have changed, Jack,” Janet said. “Girls today are just as aggressive as boys.” “Really?” Jack said. “Why didn’t I get to be the young one that could go back to high school?”
Teal’c passed the medics through, followed by three stretchers. “I guess we’re done here,” Jack said. “See you back at the base.” “We’re in the same car, Sir,” Samantha said.
“Oh, yeah, well, come on then,” Jack said. “We’re burning daylight.” “I thought the rule is one cliché a day,” Daniel said.
“It’s one of those days,” Jack said. “Janet?”
“Go ahead,” Janet said. “I’ll travel with the patients.”
“Very well,” Jack said. “Loxy, you’re with us, please.”
As they were passing out of the room, he stopped a LT. and gave instruction. “Do a scan for radiation and any of those other things that we worry about,” Jack said.
“Yes, Sir,” the LT. said, starting to salute.
Jack motioned him to stop. “Oh, not in the field, son,” Jack said. “You know better than that.”
“Sorry, Sir,” the LT. said.
Chapter 19
“Unscheduled off world activation.”
“It never rains, but it pours,” Hammond said, leaving his office and going straight way to the gate room. “Any radio signals?”
“Um, yeah,” the tech said, turning up the volume.
“Stargate command, can you hear me…”
“This is Stargate command, General Hammond speaking. Identify yourself.”
“Oh, thank god it’s you, Sir. It’s me. Jack.”
Hammond frowned at the tech. “Jack who?” Hammond asked. “How many Jacks do you know, calling from a Stargate?” “You’d be surprised,” Hammond said.
“It’s me. Really me. And Lakeisha and Jon,” Jack said.
“Listen, son, I don’t know how you got our frequency, but…” Hammond said. “I got it because I am really Jack. The younger one, who you keep dismissing because you have this thing against children who are smarter than you,” Jack said.
“So, you’re Jack O’Neill, just calling home to say hi,” Hammond asked. He made a face like, he was just going to go with it. “How are ya’ll doing?”
“We’re fine, Sir,” Jack said. Even with audio only, the sarcasm was obvious. “And next time I ask for help because something is weird, I would like to be taken a little more seriously.” “We took you seriously,” Hammond said.
“Then why am I on a spaceship outside the galaxy?” Jack asked.
“Are you sure?” Hammond asked.
“Well, it could be any galaxy, I suppose,” Jack said.
“We’ll open the iris, son. Come on home,” Hammond said, ‘okaying’ by gesture for the Iris to be spun open.
“Yeah, about that, we have a little problem here,” Jack said.
“Stand by,” Hammond said.
“Sir, there is a secondary code imbedded in the signal,” the tech said. “It appears to be chevrons. It’s repeating itself.”
Hammond nodded and continued speaking to Jack: “It seems your radio is transmitting what appears to be a repeating series of symbols that translates into a good gate address. It’s odd, as it specifies ten digits, but its pinging back solid. We will send a team over.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that, Sir,” Jack said.
Hammond frowned, as he did not like being told what he should or shouldn’t do, especially by a boy. He had enough insight into himself that maybe young Jack was right, he dismissed the child too easily because of an unexplored bias. He breathed through it and reasonably eliminated the signs of irritation from his voice. Mostly. “What’s going on, Jack?” Hammond said.
“Well, the gate on this side is like HO scale,” Jack said. “You could send some Star Wars action figures over. I would really like a classic Bobba Fet if you have one.”
“Stand by,” Hammond said. He motioned the audio be cut. “Can you redial this gate?”
“I don’t see why not, Sir,” the tech said. “It’s a great signal. In fact, I have never seen signal strength this good. It’s like they’re right next door.”
“You mean, like they’re on Alpha Centauri?” Hammond asked.
“No, I mean like, they’re in Texas,” the tech said.
“If that was true, son, they’d have a bigger gate than HO scale,” Hammon said, and motioned for them to reconnect the audio. “Alright, we’re going to shut the gate down on our end. If you don’t hear from us in two hours, call us back.” “What’s the plan, Sir?” Jack asked.
“Well, we’re going to miniaturize a probe,” Hammond said.
“Gotcha. Talk to you soon,” Jack said.
The gate powered down. An aid approached the general
“Sir, SG1 is in the conference room,” she said.
“Of course they are,” Hammond said. “About that probe?”
“On it, Sir,” the tech said.
निनमित
“If people could make invisible friends real, then every lonely, horny teenage boy would have special friends,” General Hammond was saying.
“That’s exactly what I said, Sir,” Jack said.
“Great minds,” Samantha said, not finishing the cliché.
“Clearly, if she is what she says she is, the process for manifesting a tulpa is more involved than just wanting to get laid,” Daniel said. “I mean, the monks meditate on thought
forms for years. It’s a dedicate process on the verge of being obsessive…” Janet arrived in the conference room and sat down.
“How are they doing?” Hammond asked.
“They appear to be fine,” Janet said.
“They’re unconscious,” Jack said.
“It looks like sleep,” Janet said.
“But it’s not just sleep,” Jack said.
“No, it’s not. I have not been able to rouse them,” Janet said.
“Tell me about Loxy,” Hammond said.
“She appears to be human. Her DNA says human…” Janet said.
“If she were a tulpa, how would she have DNA?” Jack said.
“Sir, we’re not still seriously considering she is a manifested thought form, are we?” Samantha said.
“We can’t rule it out,” Daniel argued.
“Yes we can!” Samantha said. “Okay, technically we can’t, but theirs is no way she is a dream girl come to life.”
“She is fairly dreamy,” Jack said.
“Look,” Daniel said. “Our brains make models of personalities. It’s how we predict behaviors. It’s why we get mad at televisions show when actors break character and do something inconsistent. Maybe we don’t just make psychological models. Maybe we encode all of that information into a genetic map which would include personality and physical attributes.”
“There is absolutely zero evidence…”
“That we store information genetically? Yeah, there is,” Daniel said. “That’s not what I was going to say,” Samantha said.
Daniel leaned into the table bringing his hands together. “Look, we recognize each other by sight, by sound, by touch, even smells,” he began.
“Which reminds me, Daniel, you need to shower more,” Jack said.
Daniel gave Jack that incomprehensible look that suggested he wasn’t sure if Jack was being serious or even relevant. He pushed on without answer to the dilemma, even pushing his glasses back into place: “We recognize smells on a subconscious level. That is information exchange on a genetic level. We breathe out our genes, we inhale each other’s genes. In the course of this meeting, we have intimately exchanged much more information than just our verbal banter. It is not an unreasonable reach that we’re capable of more. I could not have ascended if there wasn’t more. Jon created the perfect girl with his mind. His mind is not his brain. He stored that information in his brain. Brains can influence genetic outcomes. The placebo effect would not work if that weren’t true. So, here’s a real possibility: Jon accessed via telepathy an ancient computer. He activated it. The Light Rings ascended into our plane, scanned him, found the additional personality, removed her from his head and made her real.” Samantha bit on her nail. Jack waved at her not to do that and when she lowered her thumb, she said: “I have a theory. Jon was in contact with an alien via telepathy. When circumstance allowed, he activated her Ring system and she came here.” “Kind of like releasing a jinn from a bottle?” Jack asked.
“Shades of I dream of Jeannie?” Hammond asked.
“That might explain the HO scale gate,” Jack said. “She was in a bottle somewhere, and they released her, and she is holding their consciousness hostage in the bottle she was imprisoned in.”
Samantha dropped her head to the table. “Why can’t we have one normal meeting without a bunch weird television hypothesis?”
“General Hammond, I feel it necessary to disclose that if I find that bottle before Major Nelson, I am not going to limit Barbara’s ability to do magic,” Jack said.
“I hear you,” Hammond said.
“Can we come back to reality for just a moment,” Samantha said.
“I would like to know more about this jinn,” Teal’c said. “And why this Major Nelson would limit her potential. Was she evil?”
“No,” Jack said.
“Then why was she locked in a bottle?” Teal’c asked.
“I don’t remember that part,” Jack said.
“Plot contrivance,” Daniel said.
“Most likely,” Jack agreed.
“It seems to me the entire plot was a vehicle to compete with Bewitched, which explains the parallels between the two shows,” Hammond said.
“Yeah, if you want to compete, you don’t do more of the same,” Jack argued. “For example, if you learn that the competing studio is making an Asteroid movie with Bruce Willis, you don’t rush to make your own deep impact movie.” “Ghost, Ghost Dad…” Daniel said.
“The Abyss, Leviathan,” Jack said. “I mean, if you hear the other studio is doing something, come up with something different, don’t just make more of the same and hope yours will do better…”
Jack’s voice trailed off as he was distracted by the interruption. The aid entered to inform the general that the miniaturized probe was ready. She smiled at Jack and departed.
“New aid, Sir?” Jack said.
“Yes,” Hammond said. “Anita Gonzales.” “I bet she doesn’t last a week,” Samantha said.
“I’ll take that bet,” Daniel said.
“There is already a pool going,” Janet said.
“We’re betting on the longevity of my staff?” Hammond said.
“There’s always news faces i