Chapter 3 – Revelations
General Hoffman looked down at the limp body of the linguist with mixed emotions. The unconscious man seemed to know a lot about languages, which was good for what he was going to be doing. He also had an amazing determination and acceptance for leaving everything he knew to be sane in order to come to a new version of reality…especially when he knew that here, the impossible could become possible.
Looking up, the General looked around the room quickly, not really concerned for the lack of consciousness from Daniel. Everyone in The System had all had endured this adjustment, and it usually wasn't as bad as it looked.
Surveying the steel-grey room with the Spacegate standing in the center of the back wall, he looked up, facing away from the Spacegate. There, 20 feet or so above the floor was a transparent Transsteel window looking into the Control Room. From that room, the computer's operator used the special computer to dial to other worlds. A room that branched off from that room was the General's office, so he could know what was happening around him.
Coming back to reality, Joseph said, "All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's get this done quickly. It will take a long time for us to explain everything to him and time is short. Someone get over here! We need to get his shirt up so we can continue the muscle regeneration process. We've already done his head and neck. Now it's for the torso and arms. Quickly! Quickly, please!"
The General's orders were carried out. "All right," Hoffman said as he turned to look at Daniel. "What have we—?"
The General stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the bared chest of the unconscious man. Right where the hole in his shirt had been, imbedded into his chest, was a teardrop-like red jewel, about the size of a large hen egg…and it was glowing slightly.
"The prophecy is true!" Hoffman breathed, as he examined the jewel Daniel possessed. "Everyone! Doctor Daniel Matthewson is a red jewel!"
"What?" the rest of the crew exclaimed.
"A red jewel? But that is only of legend!" the woman who had spoken earlier, said.
"Well, the legend is not one anymore. We have found the Preserver. He's the man who will save us from the Androidians! Let us continue the regeneration process!"
Daniel awoke to a dim room with a searing migraine. Looking around himself, he found that he was on a bed that was built into the wall of his room so that he was literally inside the wall with the side of the room acting as a partial ceiling. Above him, on the partial ceiling, was a light fixture that was off, and shelves had been built into the walls on either end of his bed. All the shelves were filled with different things that Daniel guessed were now his.
Not being able to see anything else, Daniel sat up and was surprised he could move without pain, let alone move at all. Patting himself down, he was glad to see that he was all there, but there was something not right. When he had turned to look at the bare metal wall across from his bed with a mirror on it, he saw there a dim red glow coming from his chest under the blanket that was over him. Looking slowly down, Daniel nearly fainted. The red jewel embedded in his chest gave him a start, and he knew he needed to get answers.
"You want to know what happened to you," a voice said from the darkness of his room. Daniel looked around and was startled to see Hoffman standing there, his olive green jewel—which the linguist hadn't noticed earlier—glowing slightly, as well. "I will tell you most of it now, but you still need your rest.
"We believe you are our Preserver, the man who will save us from the Androidians…yes, the Androidians are still around. The Guardia found a way to banish them to this alternate reality in order for the people of Old Earth to evolve once more. The problem is that they really want to go back to Earth and take those resources once again…and so are slowly conquering things over on this side while trying to get the seven Stargates—yes, they're still around—to get to the other dimension.
"When the Guardia banished the Androidians here, they foretold the future. The prophecy was that a man with a red jewel would join The System and would put an end to all our enemies. We believe that that man is you.
"You are now 'reborn' into The System. The System is somewhat like a 'computer program' in which you were 'uploaded.' Everything that you created in the real world has been destroyed; everyone you knew has forgotten you. Your mother, your father, your friends and relatives…everyone will have no knowledge of you. You're part of our family now, and you'll be with us for the rest of your life.
"You are at the SGB, or Spacegate Base. We are in a parallel universe with Earth…it's not exactly the same as Earth—as there are no known humans—but it's not too different. We have no alternate selves here.
"We've found out long ago that we are above a planet we named Tierra. It is where we can dock whenever the need arises, and is our home away from the ship. We go there four times a year, or so, to stock up on supplies and talk to our superiors. We're scheduled to go there two weeks after the Christmas Ball back on Old Earth, though you'll hear more of that later. And yes, getting used to the fact that you're now by Tierra instead of Earth takes a while, but I'm sure you know that Tierra is Spanish for Earth. It won't be so bad, right?"
Daniel shook his head numbly, and Hoffman continued. "The Spacegates and Stargates have been kept a secret from Earth's people because we feel that it would cause people to go crazy. The Stargates here in this universe do not work as they did on Old Earth. There are few Stargates in this reality and each SG-Team has one Stargate and one Spacegate apiece. The only reason to have the Stargates is that they allow people to come into The System, but they don't have to stay here…they don't receive a jewel like we did. The Stargates are not grey anymore, like you have learned; the metal, over the years, oxidized on them for some reason, turning the Naquadah, the metal, into actual gold."
The General stopped for a minute, and then smiled slightly. "It's a bit complicated, I know, but it'll make sense to you later, son.
"With us at this base, we have quite a few teams that carry out presidential orders. There are seven teams, all with four or five people on them. You've been assigned to GC-1—short for Team One of the Gate Crews. I will have you meet your teammates later.
"We are a special branch of the military, similar to the Army because we mostly have to fight here. Being so, I think it won't be much to expect you to call me either sir or General from now on. Your crewmembers on GC-1 won't require that for them, however."
Hoffman sighed. "All right. You're wondering about the jewel in your chest, I know. The jewel is, we're not sure why, a way to measure how good our health is, and it maintains our health for us—somewhat like a immune system to all the foreign viruses and germs out here. The duller it is, the healthier we are. It also reacts to emotions such as pain, fear, anger and love. It shines brightly when in love, and dully and menacingly when angered or in pain. We're not sure why it does, nor why we have them. We've tried to take them out, but, well, it didn't exactly work out that well… The man died, but I guess that was a better alternative than dying a slow death in the real world…
"Oh! I forgot. Now that we are in The System, we cannot stay in the real world more than a month, or thirty days—whichever comes first. After that, the program running us there starts to crash and we start to die there. If we get back, however, even if we're on the verge of dying, we'll heal."
"How is that possible?" Daniel wondered. He was mesmerized by what the General had been talking about.
"Our minds and bodies are connected to The System. After being reborn into it, the mind cannot live without it. It's like the energy source to a computer. The computer cannot work unless it has a power source. Now rest! We need you well and functioning to go on missions, as GC-1 is a field team. I'll leave you to your thoughts. Good night."
The General got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. Daniel flopped back on his bed and sighed. He didn't need sleep, but he needed a lot of time to process all the news he had just received.