Speedrun 9

(Stargate – Earth - Daniel Jackson's POV)

"I'm going to be late," I muttered, jogging through the corridors of the base, clutching notes and images derived from the alternate reality TV show Andrew had left behind.

Samantha and I had meticulously combed through the material multiple times, dedicating days and nights to documenting every detail. We found ourselves both amazed and disconcerted by the discoveries we unearthed from the series that revolved around our lives. The experience was humbling, reminding us of the extensive challenges that still lay ahead. We were resolute in our determination to alter certain outcomes.

"Excuse me for my tardiness," I began to explain, only to halt abruptly as I noticed the multitude of people already in the room. The room was brimming with attendees, including key figures from various Stargate teams. To my surprise, even Chekov, the Russian team's liaison, was present. However, it became clear that I wasn't the last to arrive, there was still one person missing and that made me release the tension I was holding in.

"About time, Daniel," Jack interjected with an annoyed undertone, pulling me from my momentary daze. His arms were crossed, and he lounged back in his chair, his feet resting uncouthly on the table.

"My apologies. I needed a bit of time to collect my notes," I stammered, feeling a tinge of awkwardness.

Once I settled beside Samantha, General Hammond, the last person who we were waiting for, entered the conference room, exuding a confident aura, though the pragmatic side of me couldn't help but suppress a chuckle at how comically put-together he appeared.

"Everyone is here, perfect. Let's begin straight away," he declared upon sitting down. "First and foremost, let's address the recent events from a few days ago." He cast a glance toward Samantha and me. "As you all know, we had an uninvited guest in the base that caused quite a bit of chaos. Dr. Jackson and Colonel Carter have already presented me with a thorough report on the incident during the blackout, which I forwarded to my superiors," he explained.

"Coo!"

"Blackout? That's what we're going with? 'The blackout'?" Jack quipped with a snort, his expression brimming with amusement.

"Yes, Jack, that's the term we're using. Clear?" The general responded, his tone curt, causing Jack's grin to fade and his posture to straighten.

"Coo-roo!"

"Understood, General," Jack promptly replied, drawing a faint twitch at the corner of my lips.

The general's approval of Jack's answer manifested in a nod as he shifted his attention back to address the assembled individuals. However, before he could utter a word, his gaze landed on Captain Ben, the leader of SG-15, whose hand was raised.

"Coo!"

"Colonel Pierce, save your inquiries for a later time," the general reprimanded, his stern gaze fixing on Ben, who lowered his hand with an awkward tremor.

"Returning to our main focus, the Pentagon isn't satisfied with the recent event," the general resumed, his tone measured. "Due to certain classified aspects, I won't elaborate further. Nonetheless, they're issuing a warning: if the situation happens once again, they might proceed to seal the Stargate and discontinue our operations."

"Roo!?"

Those words ignited a storm of disagreement within the room, prompting a sigh from the general. He raised his hand to restore order, his expression a blend of fatigue and determination.

"I understand your sentiments, but no decisions are final yet," he continued, his tone rising in an effort to quell the uproar. "I've engaged in discussions and conveyed the circumstances. I've also forwarded the reports I've received. However, it's clear they fear a recurrence of the incident."

"Is there any way my people can assist?" Chekov inquired, his words laced with a distinct accent.

"A bit of persuasion from your end could certainly be beneficial," General Hammond responded his nod signifying agreement. Chekov's expression twisted into a smug smile in response.

"My people—or rather, humanity as a whole—have too much to lose if this program is terminated. Consider it a done deal," Chekov asserted confidently, and the general acknowledged his stance with another affirmative nod.

"Thank you," he said before returning his focus to the room. "Everyone here has already received the report and his sketch. Please be on full alert if and when you meet him. He is extremely dangerous with unknown capabilities."

"I was wondering about that," interjected Albert from SG-16. "My team wasn't here when it happened, so we only know about this from the reports. However, why did we receive a sketch and not an image of him? Isn't the base filled with cameras?" He asked, looking confused.

"If you've taken the time to read the reports, you would have known that he has shown an ability to remotely control electronic equipment," the general answered, his expression annoyed. "All of our surveillance systems magically malfunctioned the moment he appeared. Not a single image exists of him."

"Coo."

"Oh..." Albert said awkwardly.

"Oh, indeed," replied the general with a shake of his head.

"Actually, we do not know how he does that," I interjected. "During my discussions with him, he continued to claim he was a god, with a big 'G'," I explained, but after noticing the grimaces around the room, I swiftly added. "Although advanced technology could explain some things, I wish it wasn't true for everything we saw and currently see about his capabilities. So, regrettably, there might be a bit of truth to his claim." I said with a wry smile, giving a glance at the top of the general's head.

"Coo-roo!"

"Okay, I can't take this anymore!" Ben rose from his seat and pointed at the general. "My team just arrived back half an hour ago, so I've got no idea what happened before, but why the hell is there a pigeon nesting on the general's head?!"

"Coo!" Josh, the pigeon Andrew conjured, cooed once again, and the room descended into an awkward silence.

"Colonel Pierce," the general said with a dangerous tone, "Do you think I'm letting this... Creature nest on my head out of my own goodwill?!" he shouted before his shoulders slumped. "We've already tried everything; it's simply untouchable." He added with a tone of resignation.

"Um... What do you mean, General?" Ben asked in a wry tone, while his eyes scanned the room for answers. The general flashed a self-deprecating smile and raised his hand to his head, only for it to pass through the bird without any resistance. "As you see, it's partly immaterial."

"Partly?" He asked, but he immediately received a response, as Josh nibbled at the general's hand.

"Yes, as you can see, nothing can touch him, feel him, or interact with him. He, on the other hand, can freely interact with anything he wants. For some reason, he keeps pestering me and only leaves when he's hungry or needs to use the toilet. Thankfully, he seems to be house-trained." The last part was barely a mumble, but everyone heard it in the silent room.

"It might be a preposterous question," Chekov interjected with a smile, "But have you tried poisoning it?

The general looked at him and slowly nodded. "Yes... Even with the worst things we had... It didn't even faze him..."

"How do we know it's not dangerous? Were there any tests done on it?" Asked Kevin, from the SG-17 Team.

"We don't. But the only thing we observed it do is Eat, Shit and Coo." The general responded in a deadpan tone.

"Coo!" Josh cooed unhappily pecking the general's head.

"Also, Josh seems to be semi-sentient." The general added ignoring the bird's pecks, "But let's leave it out of the talks for now."

"Josh?" Asked Ben, confused, and I could only wonder how he got his captain position with so little common sense.

"Coo?" Josh cooed once again while tilting its head to the side and looking at Ben in confusion.

"Yes, to my knowledge, that's what the base has named this creature," the general answered his question as he shook his head in displeasure. "We've digressed from the main topic. From now on, Dr. Jackson and Colonel Carter, you have the podium. What kind of information has your research brought?"

"As if watching TV could be called research," Jack muttered under his breath but swiftly shut his mouth as the general squinted his eyes at him.

Nodding at the general, I picked up my papers and stood up, then moved towards the whiteboard, ready to display our findings. However, before I could say a single word, the alarms started blaring, and a warning came through the speakers.

"Unscheduled Stargate activation!"

General Hammond clapped his hands, pulling all of our attention. "Alright, everyone, you know the drill. Get to your posts and be prepared for anything. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time. We'll continue this meeting after the coast is clear. Dismissed!"

In a flurry of action, the gathered personnel swiftly evacuated the room, moving to gather their equipment and get to their posts. I, as a noncombatant, moved with the general to the command room.

"What do you think? Is it our recent visitor once again?" General Hammond asked with a worried tone.

"I don't think so, general. He was here with a purpose last time, and after he completed it, he went on his way. There shouldn't be anything he wants here."

"Let's hope that's true, or else I might not be able to explain it to the higher-ups," he said with a tired tone as we made our way into the command room.

"Status?" he asked, no one in particular, but the answer swiftly came.

"The wormhole seems to be coming from the Tok'ra homeworld, but we're yet to receive a GDO authentication code," replied Walter, the chief technician. "Scratch that, it's Major Carter. Our response, General?"

"Open the iris and allow him through," The general's posture relaxed a bit, only for it to stiffen once again as Major Carter, the host of the symbiote called Selmak, jumped through the gate and rolled out of the way while shouting, "SHUT THE GATE!"

"Shut the iris now!" General Hammond commanded immediately, but Major Carter interrupted, "The iris won't stop it, shut the gate!"

"Do as he says now!" He barked the command, before adding, "And get the medical team down there!"

"Manual gate override activated," replied a technician to our right as she engaged the manual shutdown sequence.

The gate was forcefully depowered. However, in the infinitesimally small moment just before the wormhole dispersed and the gate was shut down, something impacted the iris with such force that it dematerialized it before our eyes, simultaneously taking half the landing platform with it.

The room descended into complete silence as we processed what we had just witnessed. There was no melted metal or any indication of what had caused the destruction. The catwalk simply vanished, the moment it was touched by whatever that was.

"Shit," I muttered in shock, struggling to comprehend what we had just witnessed.

The general remained silent for a moment, then said, "Let's get some much-needed answers out of Jacob," and as he moved toward the medical bay, I followed in his step.

The short walk was quiet and gloomy, not a single word was uttered between us as our minds tried to process the fact of how close we truly were to death. The idea of leaving this place briefly crossed my mind, but it was quickly dismissed. There was way too much to learn, way too much to discover, and I wanted to be part of it all.

"Jacob, what the hell happened?" asked the general, the moment we set our feet into the medical bay, however, he froze as he saw his state.

Major Carter was worse for wear than he initially seemed. He was missing an arm, and his clothes were tattered.

"What happened to you?" the general asked in confusion.

"I don't know," Major Carter answered with a wide grin, "But whatever that was also killed all the Goa'uld, from what we uncovered, everywhere."

"Everywhere?" I asked in shock.

"Everywhere," Major Carter responded, with a chuckle that seemed almost irrational.

"Coo~" Josh cooed softly sounding amaized.

(Tales of Demons and Gods – Olivia's POV)

"You're courting death!" exclaimed an irritating individual, repeating himself for the fifth time as I attempted to ignore his persistent interruptions while walking through the town. "Can't you hear me? I said. You're. Courting. Death!"

With a resigned sigh of frustration, I turned to him and asked, "And do please tell, why?"

"Ho, ho, ho. You're merely a frog in a well! Do you not know who I am?" he boasted, puffing up his rather unimpressive chest.

"No clue. But you're the fifth person to halt me with the same nonsense, so I couldn't care less. Serena, do your thing. I'm running out of patience."

"I would have initiated it without your input, My Lady," she replied, and her magical energy began gathering in her pendant.

"A sentient artifact!" His eyes widened in astonishment. "This young master will be merciful if you offer compensation. I'll accept the artifact and a night with you as fair recompense."

"My Lady, my personality assessment matrix has reclassified him as a tier two threat, and I'm deploying countermeasures."

"That won't destroy the town, will it?" I inquired, my hope showing.

"Hopefully not," she responded uncertainly.

I attempted to object, but Serena brushed me off, declaring, "Quantum-Temporal Nullification engaged."

"How dare you ignore this young master?" he protested, raising his voice in frustration.

"Serena, you know what, I don't care, just proceed," I said with resignation.

"Affirmative." As her voice echoed, a beam of light shot from the pendant, faster than the bodyguards could react, striking the young man squarely in the chest.

Reality appeared to waver and slow to a crawl as Serena's voice resounded, "Coordinates set. Temporal Erasure activated."

Another beam of light struck the young man's body, glowing brightly as cracks spread across him. With the sound of a shattering mirror, his form disintegrated, and reality readjusted itself. The bodyguards surrounding me and the onlookers standing nearby vanished into thin air. Sky and I remained unaffected, remaining in place.

"Umm... Serena?" I asked, bewildered by the dramatic change in our surroundings.

"Yes, My Lady?" she responded wearily.

"What did you do to him?" I inquired with a wry smile.

"That was the second line of defense, a spell crafted by Master. It locates the target's moment of conception and erases it from the fabric of time, retroactively altering the present."

"Alright..." I nodded with understanding. "It's like something out of Back to The Future," I chuckled. "But what does this mean for us?" I inquired further.

"Nothing, in this current timeline, he never existed, so you've never encountered him. My actions won't bring any trouble our way," Serena explained. "However, we should continue our journey to find someone who can clarify those mysterious techniques."

"Indeed, and hopefully, this time they'll use English, not the same gibberish the last old man kept muttering."

"Agreed, his explanation left much to be desired," Serena concurred. "My initial scans of this dimension suggest that we can find the Heavenly Note sect half a kilometer to the west."

"Okay, let's go check them out.