Sam
The following morning we were huddled around the stone water fountain sorting through color coded cords and a control panel that was cleverly designed to mimic the look and feel of the stone around it. Aesthetically it was compelling in design but from someone like me who was not from this planet and still wanted to fix the issues with it, it was a headache. After managing to solder together the final wires that seemed as if an animal had chewed through them, I flipped the panel back and placed the stone into the slot.
"Well, that should do it." I reassured myself. Jack stood there looking out into the tree line with Teal'c as Daniel came back from the village.
"None of your ghosts are out there Jack," he shrugged.
"Not even Teal'c's candle in the window. I wonder if the setting of the sun triggers some sort of evening display that is malfunctioning and that's why we were able to see the images projected. Either way, there is no trace of them currently." The fountain began to bubble with murky water from the top and trickle down over the control panel and he grimaced. "You fixed the uh, water fountain?"
"That seems like a poor design." Jack murmured. "Having a control panel in the water I mean."
"Well, it goes untouched." I shrugged. "But it didn't really do what I had expected." In that same moment a pixelated collection of two dimensional multicolored squares popped up in the air at eye level from us and moved in a fluid collection as if trying to morph together into a collective shape. All four pairs of our eyes were glued to the image as they swirled together to create the caricature of an off white tapered candlestick sitting on a bronze circular base. A flame flickered atop the candle making it appear as if it had been lit, but the most compelling feature of this floating two dimensional candle cartoon that appeared in thin air, was that it was clearly anthropomorphic. Two oversized eyes, a smile and a nose, a set of two arms and that was it.
"What the fuck is that?" Jack whispered and the candle blinked back.
"He-he-hello!" It glitched and smiled back at him. "I'm Flickwick Candlestick, bu-bu-bu-but you can call me Flick. Th-thank you for rep-rep-repairing my circuit board." His voice was charming and as he waved at us in a friendly gesture I still felt my face frown in confusion.
"Um, hello." Daniel was the first to speak and glanced over at Jack whose mouth was slack jawed. "We are travelers from a planet called Earth. We ventured through the uh, the Stargate up the path that way." He motioned to the woods and created a circle with his hands.
"Ah! The the the circle of prophets." The candlestick called Flick grinned back. "Creation date is unknown, but it is composed of various metals that are not local to the area and believed to be painstakingly hand carved for religious purposes."
"Sure," Jack cocked his head to the side, still taking all this in.
"Flick was it?" Daniel tried to maintain a polite gaze but his brows were knitted in obvious confusion. "Could you tell me more about who you are? What this place is?"
"One-one-one moment to reboo-boot my systems and fix any internal processing da-da-data issues please." He nodded disappearing from the air around us. Jack let out a loud puff and started laughing.
"What was that? Am I the only one here who saw that?" He gestured to the empty space.
"If this is an educational site, I imagine there would be a tour guide of sorts." I shrugged. "And it's this candlestick guy."
"Flick," Daniel corrected.
"Well we should be careful of what we say to Flick when he comes back online. If he is a form of artificial intelligence that is difficult to get rid of, we don't want to make any mistakes." I mentioned.
"Oh yeah, great. I thought we got rid of the replicators but we may have to worry about a cartoon candle following us around the galaxy now." Jack smacked his lips together and rolled his eyes. The space in the air digitized around us again and Flick was back smiling and waving.
"So sorry about all of that, sometimes when I've been asleep for a while, I need something to relight my spark." He giggled at his own joke and I saw a small smile spread on Teal'c's face. "Now, you inquired about who I am, what place this is. My name is Flickwick Candlestick. I am an automated intelligence escort here to hopefully provide you with any answers to your questions in relation to the inner workings of the Village of Gretzfeln. I was designed to provide you with a comprehensive and detailed account of daily life here. Gretzfeln, founded in," he paused and looked around him. "Oh. Have you repaired the dome?"
"What dome?" I asked and the little candlestick's eyes grew as large as saucers before returning to normal.
"When I am damaged the dome goes off line as a safety precaution. You're able to breath? The air is clean?"
"Clearly," Jack snapped back. "Can we have some answers?"
"Where are the villagers?" Flick looked around again, making an exaggerated show of it in his little two dimensional body. The flame on his head dimming as he saw no sign of any life aside from us. All together he was only two feet tall, and occasionally as he would speak I would try to find a light source of some kind projecting him, but came up short.
"I'm not sure, but perhaps you can tell us what happened?" Daniel asked calmly and Flick turned back to him.
"Oh yes, allow me to shed some light on the situation," he straightened up and the little flame on his head brightened as he began, "Gretzfeln was established in solar year 2638.76. The primary role of the interactive community is to allow people of all ages to enjoy life in a more primitive environment."
"So, like a museum of sorts," Daniel's eyes slid to Jack who's own rolled in response again.
"Precisely, commonly a nuclear family will come intent on staying a desired amount of days, free from the hassles of technology, and enjoy life as it was in the before times." His little flame started to diminish again as his face fell into a sad and melted expression. "The past 217.56 solar rotations though, the residents have all been safeguarded inside the dome. In 2745.12 a state of emergency was declared and those residing in the dome were placed on lockdown. You see," Flick waved his hand and a diagram of the town as well as a large doming force field above it was pictured in the air next to him. "The dome acts as a barrier to the outside world so that when inside, you cannot see or interact with the world outside. It truly feels as if you are stepping back into the past. The dome was then used as a sheltering ground in the middle of a Great War that devastated the local populations. Survivors came back looking to get in," his face fell even more and his flame extinguished completely, "but it was not in my programming to allow entrance in case the air was polluted and would affect those inside."
"I'm sorry to hear that Flick," Daniel responded sympathetically. "That must have been very difficult."
"But," his flame reignited and a smile pasted back onto his face, "you're here! You are new! The air is clean, you said? Where did you say you're from?"
"We came through the Stargate." Jack squinted, still scowling at the little figure.
"Ah, the Circle of Prophets you claimed. But where? For that is just a statue."
"No," I shook my head gently, "it is a sort of doorway from our planet, to yours."
His eyes shifted back and forth in thought as if it didn't make sense to him in return. "Would you please excuse me? I will be bright back momentarily." He disappeared once again and within a blink continued. "My sensors are showing there are 426 life forms, not including the four of you."
"This place is clearly deserted." Teal'c responded.
"You said the shield was a type of protection? Perhaps the dome itself is hiding them," I turned back to Jack, "if we were not supposed to be able to get through, clearly the shield has fallen somehow."
"Would you be able to guide us to the control panel of the dome?" Daniel asked Flick and the little candle straightened up and glowed.
"What a bright idea!" He beamed and motioned for us to follow as he started bouncing from location to location around us. We took the cue and all started forward but Jack grabbed my hand carefully.
"I don't like that thing." He murmured.
"No? I think he's kind of cute. Like a little mascot of sorts." I chuckled back.
"A candlestick? And what's with all the puns?" He shook his head no.
"I'm more interested in his projection ability and how he's able to just appear without a surface to beam onto." I responded as we finally came to a stop. On the side of another stone wall, one that matched the same stone of the water fountain, Flick pointed to a carving that stood out. I pressed on the block and it popped it from its home easily. It seemed simple enough, a collection of switches all coded and marked in symbols.
"Well?" Jack motioned, "which one is it?"
"Unfortunately, I am not programmed with that knowledge." Flick shrugged.
"What good are you then?" He snapped back.
"Someone has a fiery temper," Flick giggled, "I am designed to answer questions about the lifestyle, cultural practices, recipes, folklore, and farming techniques of the time period around which this village was designed to mimic."
"I see," Daniel leaned over the panel and did some quick translations in his field journal. "These all look like the symbols of the signs in town in front of the buildings. I had assumed they were guild crests, but now I think they're more likely an organizing marker." He pointed to a switch seven down, "that's the only one that doesn't match. That has to be it." He flipped it and a static charge coursed through the air.
"You're so bright!" Flick beamed and a goofy smile spread across Daniel's face.
"Careful Daniel, you don't want to melt." Jack grunted. There was a wave of shrieks of panic all around us and Flick seemed shocked.
"One moment please." In another blink he went away and returned once more. "Ah, my villagers are back, and rightfully confused. I'm helping them momentarily."
"You're helping them?" Daniel looked around and the candle nodded.
"I have the ability to appear wherever, whenever, and however I'm needed. After the outside world fell, I've been caring for the villagers here generation after generation teaching them farming techniques and sustainable practices." A woman came running up to us, she appeared to be in her early twenties. Her long tan skirts shuffled around her feet as she rushed toward us.
"My Lord!" She cried out, "what has happened to our homes? A curse is on this land! Do you grow angry with us?" She fell to her knees in front of us and the candle projected down to her eye level.
"Hello Plyel Louisen, I am collecting data on the situation now. I have a bright idea! These four have helped restore my wiring. Perhaps they can illuminate the situation." Flick smiled, flame glowing brightly.
"My Lord?" Jack hissed in my direction. "Is he a god?"
"Flickwick is our holy light. He provides us with great knowledge and asks for nothing in return." She sobbed on her knees, "why have you forsaken us? One moment we are doing our daily tasks of maintenance and the next everything looks like, like this. Like a scourge on our home."
"I am no god Plyel Louisen." He giggled again, "I am your humble information guide. I'm here to serve you all."
"How are they going to rehabilitate?" Daniel asked the candle.
"One moment please while I strike up an inquiry," he giggled again and Daniel took the three of us off to the side as we assessed the surrounding townsfolk speaking to matching candle projections all on the street and in their homes.
"The only thing I can come up with is that the shield must have been triggered when Flickwick's panel was damaged, possibly trapping the inhabitants inside a sort of quantum loop. They seem to have no idea that they were in this loop though." I looked back at them equally as confused but it seemed like the most reasonable solution. "The ghost you saw Jack, Daniel, it had to be fragments of the villagers stuck in their loop shown as a playing light from the setting sun."
"But the candle I saw?" Teal'c asked and we looked up at the windows. Multiple villagers were setting a burning candle out their window as we spoke and Daniel pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose before turning to us.
"It looks like a religious practice. If they view Flick as a diety, it would make sense this would be his shrine of sorts."
"I want to extinguish that candle." Jack muttered, staring at all the various Flicks consoling the villagers. "Find me a leaf blower."
"He seems fine enough," Daniel responded, "and he very quickly denounced any role he may have of god. However, if you've been living in a primitive society for generations, at some point you'd also think a floating talking candle with all the answers was a savior."
Flickwick popped up in front of us again waving, "hello friends I have a match for your question!" He chimed, "the villagers indeed seem to be very confused on the situation, but now that the dome is up they are back to maintaining their home. Thank you for helping! I'm absolutely melting at your kindness." Daniel turned to Jack and smiled playfully.
"Is everyone safe and accounted for?" Teal'c asked and the candle nodded.
"Safe and sound, a little shaken up in confusion, but nothing we can't shed a little light on and fix." He giggled.
"Can we leave? Now that the dome is back in place?" I questioned.
"Oh yes! Atmospheric conditions have returned to normal! You may come and go as you please. Do you have any more brilliant questions, or am I extinguished?"
"I think you've covered it, let's blow." Jack snarked and the candle giggled again.
"Bye hot head," he winked and disappeared. After speaking with the leaders of the village we arranged for another future meeting to determine the uses of the technology, and went back to the path home.