Everything was white. Pure, blinding white. Daniel had no idea what had just happened. One minute he had been hurtling through the Stargate, the next, he was engulfed in white. What puzzled him most though was that he couldn't have just died; he was already dead. Plus he was still completely self-aware, although temporarily unsure of where his 'self' might be. If his surroundings could be described as the epitome of nothingness, than so too could his form. He was gone. No light, no energy, no shape whatsoever. Just a free-floating awareness, with nothing around worth noting. It was more than a trifle disconcerting. He had been on the brink of disunity, having cast his senses too wide. Yet should that result in this absolute sense of nothingness? Or if it did, should he be aware of that nothingness? Nothing about this situation seemed quite right.
Daniel tried to search the white nothingness around him, but ended in vain. His awareness seemed fixed in place, unable to look around, to examine the nothingness surrounding him. If this was the end, it was not what he had expected. He couldn't even begin to imagine the horror of spending an eternity trapped fully aware in a completely barren landscape such as this. The frustration and tedium were already gnawing at him. There had to be more. There had to be some explanation for this.
Daniel focused on his 'memories', the knowledge of the Ancients gained during Ascension. There must be something in there that could help with this, or at the very least account for what was happening to him now. This had definitely not been part of the Oma Desala brochure for achieving enlightenment and 'life' everlasting. Daniel wracked his brain, or more precisely, whatever passed for his brain at present. There were untold amounts of information stored deep within his mind which would need to be dredged back to the surface in order to process and understand on a conscious level, although this, at least, was somewhat more interesting than seeking answers from his dismally bland surroundings. Throwing himself into the painstakingly introspective task, Daniel quickly lost track of all sense of self, suffering, or time. Weeks could have passed and he would have never known.
SG-1 Defeated on P7X-294, read the newspaper headline. Teal'c blinked in surprise, one eyebrow launching itself higher than the other as he read the words a second time. Something twinged deep within his memory, but it was gone again before he could fully grasp it. Reading the words a third time, his mind began to race with even more questions. Had this defeat been the cause of the Tau'ri disappearance? And if that was the case, then why was a public newspaper reporting it? For that matter, who had been left to write the article, much less read it? Teal'c eyes skimmed hurriedly over the article, seemingly unable to make sense of any of the text. He tried again, this time concentrating more intently on gathering information. Still, the words swam before his eyes, refusing to coalesce into meaningful information. Teal'c tried again and again, desperately trying to make sense of what was right before him. Finally, he threw the newspaper down, and made his way quickly back to the Jeep. He needed to remember.
Driving as fast as he could back the way he had come, he raced back to Daniel Jackson's apartment, taking two stairs at a time once he was inside. Stopping at last in Daniel's living room, he searched hurriedly for the candles he knew were in there somewhere. Setting them up and drawing the blinds, Teal'c took his place on the floor, letting his mind drift in the familiar process of Kel-no-reem. Since losing his symbiote, he had had little need to Kel-no-reem daily as he once had, but Teal'c had found that the best way to remember something forgotten was to undergo the ancient practice of meditation. Sure enough, within minutes he was finding images, memories, of the planet designated P7X-294. He saw the ruins by the gate, and the dense forest all around. The faces of his friends, Colonel Samantha Carter and Doctor Daniel Jackson, swam before him, each one engrossed in a separate task. The mission had been to locate the source of some anomalous energy readings. They had gone into the forest, a long and difficult trek, searching.
The images stuttered. Teal'c conscious mind fought to re-assert itself, trying to reconcile his memories with the headline he had read. This mission had taken place before he had left for Dakara. It could not have been responsible for the depopulation of Earth. He re-focused his mind, allowing himself to drift deeper into his meditative state.
Again, he was shown the ruins, his friends, and the forest. The mission had taken place over several days. There was much walking, and little talking among the friends. It was to be their last mission together. Colonel Carter had accepted a position at Area 51. He, Teal'c, was preparing to leave for Dakara. Even Daniel Jackson had been unusually silent. They had made camp on their third day there near an outcropping of rock. Their mission had been unsuccessful. They would be heading back towards the Stargate the next morning.
Once again, the memories faltered. Teal'c saw a blurred and confused image of the trio returning through the Stargate, but it didn't seem to fit. He pushed his mind past the distorted memory and let it linger on the last clear image he had, sitting around a camp fire with Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson. They had been arguing. Colonel Carter had stood, moving closer to the outcrop, preparing to take a sample. And then...
Teal'c's memories shifted and blurred, once again showing him the distorted image of SG-1 returning safely to the Stargate. Discarding the image within his own mind, he returned to the memory of the argument and Colonel Carter's sample. She had chiselled a small sample of stone into a sample-container to return to the SGC, in an attempt to settle once and for all her disagreement with Daniel Jackson. However, at that precise moment, Teal'c had sensed something amiss. Rising as well, he had put himself on full-alert, preparing for an attack. The others had followed suite.
Teal'c convulsed suddenly, slipping from his Kel-no-reem into the reality of Daniel Jackson's empty apartment. His awareness was fading quickly, bombarded with images from his time with SG-1, his son and life on Dakara, and the mission to P7X-294. A white haze engulfed him, and his last conscious thought was that he needed to survive long enough to learn the fate of his friends.