When General Hammond and Jack entered the room, Adam was still sprawled across the bed, having not moved since he got there.
From the other side of the bars, Adam looked up from his contemplation of the bunk above him.
"General, Colonel, nice of you to visit." he cocked an eyebrow at them, staying in his prone position. "So, how long until I start melting?"
The two Air Force men exchanged glances, then General Hammond stepped forwards.
"You know about the entropic cascade failure?"
Adams shrugged, and sat up. He smiled lopsidedly. "Not in so many technical terms, but I've got the general idea."
General Hammond nodded. Jack smirked, because he felt the same way sometimes. "Well, Dr. Jackson apparently knew...you in this universe, and has assured me that you're in no danger of.....melting, as you put it."
Adam looked surprised. He said "So, I'm dead. Never would have thought of that." He stared off into space for a few seconds, as Hammond and Jack watched curiously.
"Maybe.." Adam said quietly, probably talking to himself.
"Maybe things are different here...of maybe they're not. Dead. Who'd have thought." he shook his head.
"Or am I?" That was said so quietly that the General obviously didn't hear it. But Jack did.
What's THAT supposed to mean, I wonder? Note to self: Find out.
Adam shook his head, and came back to the present conversation. He could tell from the look on Jack's face that he'd heard that comment, and that he was wondering what it meant.
Adam wondered how much he should tell these people. Obviously about the being from a different reality, probably about the show, how else would he know so much about them? But what about his Immortality? Should he tell them? Or not?
Once more, Adam glanced between the General, and Jack. "So. I'm guessing that you've got lots of questions. I've got a few of my own. Now, the question of the moment is..Do we stay here, or go to the briefing room, where I'm sure we'll all be much more comfortable?"
"We're taking you up to the briefing room, if that's ok with you." Jack said sarcastically.
Mentally, Adam shook his head. You'll never win in a sarcasm contest, Jack. Especially with me.
Adam stood up, and stretched. "By all means. That's where this all started anyhow." he muttered to himself.
"What do you mean, where it started? You've been here before?" the General wanted to know.
Adam smiled again, and said, "In a manner of speaking, yes, I've been here before. I promise, I'll explain everything. Not sure if you'll believe me, but I'll try."
"There's very little that I won't believe anymore, son." the General said.
Jack unlocked the cell door, and Adam walked through.
He smirked at Jack, and said, "There are some things that are stranger then space aliens and large mettle rings." He gestured dismissively, "But you're not here to tell me your story, you're here to hear mine. Lead on, gentlemen, I'm sure they're waiting with baited breath. We wouldn't want them to turn blue."
General Hammond led the way out of the room, followed by Adam, then Jack. As they walked down the hall towards the elevator, Adam quipped "Love what you've done with the place. Quite -- cheerful."
Hammond and Jack just rolled their eyes, having heard that joke from every visiting dignitary and politician in the last 5 years.
They reached the elevator, and Jack swiped his security card, and they waited for it to appear. When it did, they all got on, and Hammond swiped his security card, and pushed 27. They waited while the numbers went slowly past. Then the waited for the elevator to stop, and the doors to open.
Once they finally reached level 27, the doors opened, General Hammond got of first, and led the way to the briefing room.
As they stepped off the elevator, Adam was hit by a low-level buzz, instantly creating a headache, that seemed to be coming from the room that the Stargate was in. He frowned, and glanced towards the source of the headache.
Hope that goes away, if I'm going to be stuck here for any length of time. Wonder if it gives anyone else a headache, or if its just an Immortal thing.
When they entered, Sam leapt to her feet, then sat down when Hammond waved her back to her seat. Adam wasn't surprised to see Daniel and Teal'c there also.
He also wasn't surprised to see two SF's standing by the doorway.
Teal'c was sitting by Sam, and Daniel was across from him. Jack sat down by Daniel, and the General sat at the head of the table, leaving the other end open for Adam to sit at. He shrugged, and sat down.
Adam glanced at the seat he was sitting in, the snorted quietly.
Same spot he'd been sitting in when this whole damned thing started. How ironic.
Jack looked at him, quirking an eyebrow (something he'd learned from Teal'c, no doubt) in question.
"Different reality, same furniture." He chuckled quietly at that.
Hammond cleared his throat, and Adam looked down the table at him. Adam smiled his "I'm harmless" smile at him, and said, "Answers now, right?"
Hammond nodded. "We'd appreciate it."
Adam nodded too. "So, I'm guessing that you've guessed that I'm from a different reality, right?" Sam nodded, and said, "That was our best idea, yes. But we've got no idea how you got here. There wasn't a quantum mirror anywhere in the Gateroom."
"On that topic, you're guess is as good as mine." He shook his head. "What am I thinking! Your guess is more then likely better than mine, considering your background. I can tell you, and I'm sure I can find a few who'd agree, I'm not a rocket science. And I'm definitely not an astrophysicist."
Quiet chuckles met that statement, and a small smile from Sam. Adam sobered slightly. He looked at Daniel. "So. Entropic cascade failure, hunh. Sounds painful. And you're sure I'm not gonna pull a Wicked Witch of the West, right?"
No one but Jack got it. He started laughing. Daniel glanced back and forth between them, then said "Hunh?" But that only set Jack off more. Adam just smiled, and shook his head. SG1 and General Hammond just watched Jack until he subsided.
"He asked earlier if he was gonna start melting, Daniel. Ya know, wicked witch, 'I'm melting, I'm melting.' Ahh, guess ya had to be there."
The confusion cleared from Daniel's face. "Ah. I see. And yes, I'm pretty sure that you're not going to...melt. The Dr. Pierson I knew died around 10 years ago."
"How sure are you that he's dead?"Adam smiled, and it wasn't a nice smile. "If he's anything like me, then I'm sure he'd be a bit hard to kill."
Jack looked at him sharply, wondering what that meant.
I wonder a lot about this man, don't I. I'll bet he's doing that on purpose.
Adam looked at Jack for a moment, then he looked down at the table in front of him. He rubbed a finger across a mark in the table. "Tell me," he said abruptly, "how did he -- how did I die?"
Daniel looked surprised. "Well..um. Duncan told me that you were attacked by some escaped mental patient named -"
Adam went pale. "Kronos." Daniel shook his head. "No, Duncan said it was a man named was Melvin Koren."
Adam waved that away. "Same man, different names." He was still pale, but was slowly gaining some color again.
"You said Duncan. Macleod?" Daniel nodded.
"Yes. I couldn't make it to your funeral, I was looking for Nick at the time, but he and Ritchie made sure-" he broke off when Adam paled even more.
"Ritchie? He's alive?" Adam leaned back in his chair, and stared at Daniel in dazed shock. Daniel nodded, and watched Adam nervously, wondering if the information was overloading him.
Adam stood up and walked to the window overlooking the Gateroom, and leaned against the railing. He stood there and waited for the lightheadedness to pass. He turned to face the room, but kept his eyes closed for a minute. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and slowly shook his head. The last few minutes had escalated the pain in his head.
"What happened to Kronos after I was - after he killed me?" he glanced up at Daniel.
Daniel looked down at his hands, then back up at Adam. "Duncan said that after you were killed, Koren - er, Kronos, whoever, went after him next. Well, he was after Ritchie, but he found Duncan first. Um..apparently he attacked Duncan with one of the swords on the wall, you know the ones that I mean?"
Adam nodded. Daniel continued, "Um..Duncan apparently fought back, and I guess Duncan was better at fencing."
Adam snorted. "You could say that. He almost beat me a few times." He slumped in relief. "So, Kronos is dead. Thank Gods." He blew out a breath, and straitened. He moved back to his seat, and sat back down. He glanced around the table, and said, "Ok. Now I'll answer your questions." He glanced down at his hands. "The ones that I can, that is."
Jack leaned forward quickly. "First of all. Fencing? Swords? Excuse me while I say 'HUNH?"
Adam laughed. "Well, in my reality, Duncan's an antique dealer, and we're both trained in fencing. I'm better than he is. I'm guessing that Duncan's an antique dealer here, too?" Daniel nodded. "That's why he's got swords on his walls. Most are from the 16th century forward."
"Ok, that explains a few things. Next question. Who, exactly, are you, and how do you know so much about the Stargate program?"
"Ah. Figured you'd go for the jugular next. Who am I. Good question, Jack. Lets see. This might take a bit. You see, one question involves the other. And I can't answer the first, without answering the second. Well, I can answer some of the first. My name, as Dr. Jackson pointed out, is Dr. Adam Pierson, and I'm a history professor. And archaeologist, and anthropologist, and linguist, etc."
Jack and Hammond exchanged a look. Hammond leaned forwards, and asked, "Exactly how old are you, son?"
Adam snickered quietly. "Older than I look." He saw the frustrated look on Jack's face, and shrugged. "Sorry, Colonel, I'm not being frustrating on purpose. Its merely difficult to explain. And its not that I don't trust everyone in this room. Its the people outside the room that I don't particularly trust. Especially a man named Kinsey."
Jack nodded slowly. "You know about him, hunh."
Adam cocked his head sideways, and nodded. "I know about him. I think I might know more than you do. But don't worry. He'll get his." He glanced around the room, and winked conspiratorially. "Not yet. But soon. Don't worry about him."
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