Author's Notes
These are two little shorts that I wrote at the request of angiepen on the slavefics LJ community. They're very different from what I usually write. The first is from the POV of an AU Daniel; the second from our own.
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Sometimes, I wonder what it must be like to live in that other world.
For five days they stayed here, their Samantha and ours combining their considerable intellect to fix the problem that had stranded the four of them in our universe.
The sight of my duplicate standing there, with no chain around his neck and no tattoo on his hand, gave me a feeling of envy like I'd never felt before. We assumed that he must be military, because why else would he have been allowed to travel with SG-1? Soon, however, we found that was not the case; that he was both civilian, and free.
Later, we learned that they did not have slavery. Not legal slavery, at least.
Learning that we do have it obviously shocked and disgusted our counterparts. It's not the first time I've met free people who believe in the evils of slavery. There is an active abolitionist movement in America, and the USA is one of the few remaining Western countries where slavery is still legal.
Yet, to meet a Jack O'Neill, a Samantha Carter, who hate slavery in the same way that I do, was... stunning. My master, Jack, is someone I care about dearly, as I do my mistress Lady Samantha, and I believe that they both return those feelings - but neither truly understand what it is like for me. Both have been raised to believe that I am inferior - that I am a servant, and they have the right to treat me however they desire. To give me orders, and to punish me when I fail to obey.
During the time that the duplicates were here, I believe that they had many conversations with my owners, and I am sure that some of them were about me. Unfortunately, five days is not enough time to change beliefs that have been held since childhood, no matter how passionately the duplicates may have argued their case.
My life is not bad, compared to many other slaves out there. I am aware of how privileged I am to be with owners who care about me, who treat me well and never physically hurt me except in punishment. I am grateful to have been so well educated; to have been allowed to become an archaeologist, and then to take part in the Stargate program. Despite all of that, the fact remains that legally I am still property, just like a sofa or a car, and the only thing that could truly make me happy would be being set free.
My counterpart asked me something, before he left. He asked why I had never tried to escape. Why, in all my trips off world, I had never claimed asylum somewhere, and gained my freedom. The truth is, I have thought about it, many times… and yet, I have never attempted it. This may be the land that oppresses me, but it is still my home.
I care about my world, my friends, my master and my mistress. I can make a difference here, and so I stay. I have to hope that one day, things will be different, and that slavery will become as illegal here as it is in that other universe. I have to keep believing in the goodness of the people on this earth, because otherwise there truly is no hope for mankind.
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Sometimes, I think about how lucky we are to live in this world.
A world where slavery is seen as immoral, where only criminals practice it. Where being a different skin colour does not make you property, or committing a crime gets you a jail sentence, not torture.
I know that not everyone in this world is free. In truth, even in this country there are slaves, regardless of it professing itself to be the land of the free. And yet, compared with what the alternative could be, this is paradise.
Sometimes slavery seems like a thing of the past, and yet how long ago was it still legal? Not even two centuries. It is not hard to imagine how that alternate universe could have come to be.
While we were stranded there, I spent time with both the duplicate Jack and Lady Samantha. Neither were cruel people. I doubt that there is a sadistic bone in either of their bodies. And yet, both believed absolutely that slavery was okay. I suppose that when you are taught something as a child, it is hard to change your views as an adult, especially when nobody around you is changing theirs.
Eventually, all oppressed people fight back. It has been shown throughout history. According to my own counterpart, the Abolitionist movement in their universe is already gaining momentum. Perhaps it will not be too long until their Daniel is free.
Meanwhile, I look at Teal'c and all the others of his race who were enslaved, I read the history books of our own world, and all I can do is – selfish as it may be – thank everything that I live in a world where slavery is illegal.