River of Stars Ch 9 bit – Paper Trail

~ crossovercreativechaos

“So if her Sanzos are being targeted – and Kanzeon’s no dummy, she knows they are,” Jack picked up the thread, “then soul or no soul, what better guy to grab for a backup apprentice than somebody who knows the Tok’ra screw people over?”

“How could she know that?” Daniel objected. “All she’d know was he was from the SGC… and the guy who just saw his team wiped out because the Tok’ra gave us bad intel. Right.” He sighed, and glared at the tablet again.

“What’d those poor reports do to you lately?” Jack wondered.

“Poor reports,” Daniel snorted. “After what we’ve seen Sanzo do with a paper scroll… how does that even work? It’s paper, but it’s tech, and there’s no way that should mix, I don’t care what techno-origami types think.”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” Sam breathed, slipping out specific pages into a separate stack. “Sir, I’ve got it!”

Oh, thank god. “I looked,” Jack pointed out. “Didn’t see any codes in that mess.”

“It’s not a code, sir.” His major looked downright delighted. “Daniel, I think I need that tablet. Did you see the watermarks in the pages?”

“Locally made paper,” Daniel frowned, handing it over. “It would have more watermarks than we’re used to in factory sheaves. That would be a tricky way to set up a code.”

“It’s not a code. And it’s not handmade.” Sam’s eyes gleamed. “They’re printed circuits. All the pages have them. But Sha said to use divisible by itself, which means primes. Take out the non-prime pages, starting with four, and give it a power source….” Sam shuffled a stack together, set it down, and rested the tablet on top.

A pale shimmer, and a hologram flickered into being.

“The non-primes act as buffers, keeping the whole circuit from linking up.” Sam leaned over the pretty lights, ruefully admiring the tech. “If you don’t know what pages to use, it’s unreadable.”

If you’re smart enough to read this message, floated over the translucent model of the Heavenly Palace, hopefully you’re smart enough not to need it.

“Floorplan, good,” Jack stated, as Sam played with the blinking lights, zooming in and out of various levels to focus on a highlighted path that led down into what looked like a back subbasement set of rings. “Not much good getting out of here if we don’t have a key to the ‘Gate-”

One corner of the stacked pages smoked, darkening with an audible hiss. A line of sparks flared, and a small oval of no-longer-paper dropped away.

…You’re welcome, flashed up under the first message.

Daniel picked it up before it’d even stopped smoking. “It looks like one of the Tok’ra ‘Gate talismans.”

“What did we say about not poking hot stuff?” Jack let Daniel drop it into his hand, eyeing it gingerly. “Does at that.” He glanced at Teal’c.

The Jaffa inclined his head thoughtfully. “If Daniel Jackson is correct that Sanzo is allowed to break certain rules, then it seems likely Kanzeon is relying on him to use his knowledge of the Tau’ri to decide when it is best to intervene. And in what fashion.” A fraction of a shrug. “Would we trust a ‘Gate talisman given to us by a System Lord, when we are otherwise at her mercy?”

“We wouldn’t.” Daniel rubbed at his eyes. “So she gives it to us by not giving it to us, so Sanzo will. Right.”

24 thoughts on “River of Stars Ch 9 bit – Paper Trail”

  1. >“We wouldn’t.” Daniel rubbed at his eyes. “So she gives it to us by not giving it to us, so Sanzo will. Right.”>
    That headache you’re feeling Daniel, is what Sanzo gets every day he needs to deal with Kanzeon. She’s a tricky old witch.

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  3. Kanzeon is the Queen of Sneak . . . and Sanzo isn’t too shabby himself . . . not to mention he’s used to things going wrong so better have at least a Plan B but you are better off making Plans B through Z by playing a game called ‘Worse Case Scenario.’

    If this happens, then x, but if this happens while I don’t have a, then I do z and so for on – you won’t think of everything but you will think of much of it if you are paranoid enough.

    Side note: Ja’far plays this game a lot. You have to around Hancock. Because Simon. AND Because Alan (which is why he’s thinking of changing it to Because Kings).

    Side note 2: If the sutras are giving them a headache while trying to wrap their brains around it, then magoi, ruhk, and magic are really going to give SG-1 fits. Especially since those terms alone have separate but overlapping meanings . . .

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      1. Are we talking about What Comes Around? Because I’m waiting for Sam’s reaction to the rukh. It will be a thing of legends

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    2. If and when the Magi crew meet the SGC, They’re are going to have to keep the higher abilities of the Djinn equips under wraps. Or things are going to get nasty.

      Because various members of the Us government (far more than just Kinsey and the NID) are going to get very twitchy (and will probably start setting up preemptive strikes etc) that a bunch of civilians have the capability to wipe a fair chunk of the country off the face of the planet.

      Won’t matter that none the Metal Vessel wielders will want to (at least the sane ones). That sort of power not being in the government’s hands? Not going to happen. They are going to hand that technology over NOW.

      Let’s have a moment of silence for the poor fools shall we? Because if they do manage to enrage Alan, Simon and any other wielders sufficiently the Pentagon (along with several other government installations and facilities) will be smoking holes in the ground and there is jack-all the US can do against a bunch of Djinn-empowered Kings and King-candidates.

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      1. *Wry G* Magi canon and the various tactics the Shays employed in this story ought to be fair evidence that there are, in fact, several things people can do against someone with a Djinn. All you have to do is make sure they don’t see it coming.

        That said, if Hancock ever meets government officials, the school is going to be leaning pretty heavily on 2 things: 1) Right to bear arms (if it gets that far) technically does allow a civilian to be just as well armed as the government – that’s what it was meant for!

        But hopefully, they plan to rely on 2) “Oh, aren’t those great special effects? We’re glad you were impressed!”

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      2. >*Wry G* Magi canon and the various tactics the Shays employed in this story ought to be fair evidence that there are, in fact, several things people can do against someone with a Djinn. All you have to do is make sure they don’t see it coming.>
        Oh sure there are ways, but can you really see the politicians being rational about this situation when they know these people can summon volcanoes or tidal waves with a little bit of concentration?

        >That said, if Hancock ever meets government officials, the school is going to be leaning pretty heavily on 2 things: 1) Right to bear arms (if it gets that far) technically does allow a civilian to be just as well armed as the government – that’s what it was meant for! >
        I suspect that defense would not go over very well.

        >But hopefully, they plan to rely on 2) “Oh, aren’t those great special effects? We’re glad you were impressed!” >
        That I can see. The G-men will know something is going on but they don’t have the proof. Of course that means they’d then try to get the proof.

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      4. And the thought of that is probably why somewhere in Ja’far’s brain (and any of others who are sufficiently paranoid) is asking if it’s possible to open portals that aren’t to a Djinn’s Dungeon and where might those doorways lead . . . . as a fallback plan so they have somewhere to go if they ever need to pull a Shinomori Magi style.

        If staying on Earth ever becomes too dangerous for them and their precious people. Especially their precious people. Because the last thing they need is for Sinbad to have to come fully back because Simon has been ripped apart by grief and rage. Especially since Alibaba might be right there – he’s never Fallen but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be broken. Everyone has limits.

        Wow that’s depressing . . . hopefully they can keep the big things a secret . . . through I have the feeling that even when magic is more commonly known, they’d prefer to keep exact details of what a Metal Vessel User is capable of under wraps. Very need to know – and unless you are a Metal Vessel User or one of their Household (complete with Vessel and/or strong ties of loyalty/own must be kept secrets like Yamraiha), than you don’t need to know.

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  4. *cackles* Sanzo is tricksy, but Kanzeon is more tricksy. Yeah they wouldn’t trust anything that came from Kanzeon, but if it was delivered to them in a “secret” message from one of “their” guys, that’s a bit more trustworthy.

    *snerks* This is gonna be *fun*!!!

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  5. Oh look! It’s “I know that they know that I know, but do they know that I know that they know that I know,” as it spirals into infinity (and with at least four (five?) players… I think I just caught Sanzo’s headache.

    But the Tok’ra don’t know as much as they think, and Stargate-both Command and SG1- are gaining puzzle pieces quickly. My personal money is that Kanzeon is at least one level ahead of everyone, but willing to be surprised.)

    Also, techno-paper! *grabby hands* I want it, so badly. Multi-level books!

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      1. ….I just pictured two flocks of origami cranes squaring off against each other for a fight to the death. I have problems.

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