[Henry Pratt]

Morning
Unfamiliar monastery

Without really thinking about it Henry pinched himself. It was after all the thing that seemed most logical when someone told you that you were dead. He immediately flinched in pain. Next he rapped his knuckles on the floor beneath him, which as expected felt solid to the touch. Finally he poked Billie, feeling that she was very much a real object.

Still, his mind swam with the possibilities. Being dead did explain a lot - such as how the team had gotten here, where their equipment was, and why they couldn't remember their last mission clearly. While the monk seemed genuine, he could have been playing them.

"And just how do we know we're actually dead?" the archaeologist asked. "Everything seems real to me."

The monk shook his head in what was likely dismay. "You perceive the world around you as real because you still cling to false truth that you are alive," he replied, mystical as ever. "Let go of your conscious body and embrace the one real truth - that you are on a journey to eternal enlightenment."

Some of what the monk was saying sounded familiar. While the events had transpired long before his time at the SGC, Henry had read mission reports about SG-1's interactions with the Ancients and ascension. Doctor Jackon in particular had experienced the phenomena a number of times.

"I think we might be dealing with an Ancient," Pratt muttered to the rest of the time.

"I am ancient, yes, but not Ancient," the monk replied, implying that he somehow knew about the Ancients but was not a member of their species.

"Let me show you something."

There was a blinding flash of light, and Henry and SV-2 were transported back to the planet they were meant to be on. Except everything was different. The village they'd been working in was a raging inferno. The few surviving locals were either frantically trying to bring water from the nearby river to fight the fire or attending to the wounded, of which there was many. The wounded however were vastly outnumbered by the dead, who had been laid out in neat rows. Looking along the piles of bodied, Henry saw a sickening sight.

The dead bodies of SV-2, including his own.

Another bright flash and he was back in the monastery with the rest of the team, who were all wearing the same looks of shock and confusion.

< Tag Kata Harris , Billie Jean Witwer , Vanessa Whitmore & Kelly Bertrand >

[Billie Jean Witwer]

Morning
Unfamiliar monastery

Dead?

One word that had her world crumbling.

And the word was anything but simple.

At the given moment she was way too young to be dead. Her mind traveled to her parents, then her brother. She could feel her heart squeeze at the mere idea of her devastated twin. If they all were really dead the news wasn't going to be taken well by anyone.

She had said nothing, as she listened to Doctor Pratt and the monk talk. She got to her feet, paced, "False sense is bullshit," she snapped clearing having a hard time believing they could be dead under an experienced CO. Where the heck was Colonel Oxford when they needed him? The monk had looked at her with calm and that alone irritated her further.

As their surrounding changed, she saw what Henry did. In shock she took few steps back, "This can't be real." Disbelief was evident on her face, "It can't be real."

It didn't feel true about what they were seeing. The monk could be showing them what he wanted them to see. SV-2 had taken a lot of blows during the time they had been here. They came out of a hellhole alive. Yet this wasn't and didn't seem possible.

<<Tag: Kata Harris , Henry Pratt , Vanessa Whitmore and Kelly Bertrand >>

[Henry Pratt]

Morning
Unfamiliar monastery

The monk considered Billie’s outburst from his cross-legged position, his face calm and not showing a hint of fear or surprise at her reaction. Just like Henry, the Lieutenant was having trouble coming to terms with the revelation that SV-2 had been killed and were now in some sort of heavenly realm.

“Where are we?” the archaeologist asked. “Are we in a higher plane of existence?”

“In a sense,” the monk replied. “This world around is both real and unreal. It is an opportunity for your mind to come to terms with your new state of being.”

“We have a term for it - limbo,” Henry replied. The monk nodded.

So the team was neither alive nor Ascended, rather they were at a midpoint between the two. The monk’s role was to train their minds to set go of their physical bodies so they could achieve full Ascension. The peaceful Asian-inspired villa was the perfect backdrop for the mediation and existential conversations the team would need to have to continue their journey.

“The decision to continue on your journey will not be an early decision,” the monk explained. “But it is a decision you must make on your own.”

“So we can return to life as we knew it?” Henry asked.

“Yes, but not without cost,” the monk explained. “Your human minds are not capable to remembering this experience. You will awaken where you died, with no memory of being here.”

“And if we continue on our journey?”

The monk smiled and raised his hands above his head, slowly rotating and twisted them. Colourful lights rose out of his palms and began to spin rapidly above him, forming in a solid object - an apple. Using what Henry could only assume to be telekinetic powers, the monk lowered the apple onto the ground before him in a demonstration of his power.

“You will be able to learn the secrets of the universe. You will witness the passage of time but be untouched by it, able to travel to any point in the known and unknown universe in an instant. You will become one with the invisible energies that bind together every living being past, present and future.”

That was one hell of an offer.

< Tag Kata Harris , Billie Jean Witwer , Vanessa Whitmore & Kelly Bertrand >

[Kata Harris]

Morning
Unfamiliar monastery

When you ask how you died, you should be ready to hear about it, but actually seeing your bloodied, lifeless body was another thing all together. Her body was not the only one on the ground, the rest of SV-2 was also there. Kata felt her heart drop, one point of her job was to make sure she kept her people safe, and to see them dead amidst the burning village was a failure on her part.

Then just as it had appeared, the bodies and burning village was gone and the group was back in the quiet of the monastery. She wanted to question it all, say it was an allusion, smoke and mirrors, but something in her gut said it was true. So they had died and now were in limbo. "What if we never come to terms with what happened?" she asked, "Are we stuck here?" she added. That would be even better, first you die and then you are stuck even longer.

Pratt continued on with the questions, while Billy seemed to be having a hard time with the fact that they had seen their dead bodies. Kata stayed seated on the floor, as unnerving it was to see her team dead, she was oddly okay with the idea of death. But at the same time she did not feel like she was ready yet, but where you ever ready to die? But they did not really die, if what the monk said was true..they would just move onto a higher plane...and learned more than they ever would have as humans. 

Could she do it? More so was she ready to say goodbye to that part of her life, without even seeing her family again. Yes she could go see them but they would not see her. She'd literally be a ghost. With time traveling abilities. "Is this a one time offer? Or the next time we die we will not be made this offer and that is it."  she asked. 

[Billie Jean Witwer]

Morning
Unfamiliar monastery

She turned away from the view of their dead bodies. The sight broke her and it was something she was sure she would remember for years to come. If she was feeling like this, but those who would be told about the news, their feelings was not something she could comprehend. When she had gated out she had known what she was getting into. Knew that one of these days she would fall in battle. The hellhole they had visited once would have been the end of them.

The difference between the two was that this time they were dead, and sitting between two worlds. Being asked to make a choice of leaving behind their moral existence and moving to another plane existences. When Henry used the slang, Billie looked at him then the monk. She didn't want to be stuck on a limbo and quietly listened. In fact she would rather deal with the pains of injuries than inflict pain on her loved ones.

While she would agree that the offer was tempting, it was not something Billie craved for, "What enemies?" she asked, once composed, "And for the record, I wanna go back." Secrets of the universe might be the tagline of the day.

She faced Harris and shook her head, her CO wasn't really considering this. Now was she? Witwer hoped not. One thing she had said right, there were chances that they would never come to terms with this.

<<Tag: Kata Harris , Henry Pratt , Vanessa Whitmore and Kelly Bertrand >>

[Henry Pratt]

Morning
Unfamiliar monastery

OOC: There was a typo in my previous post - the monk was meant to say ‘invisible energies’ instead of ‘invisible enemies’. Billie might need to edit.


“The future is forever in motion Captain Harris,” the monk replied serenely. “Did you arrive here today through chance or destiny? These questions I cannot answer. However, soon you must choose which path to walk, otherwise insanity will be your only reward.” In a round-about way, their host was giving them a deadline. He’d made veiled reference before to the inability of their minds to process what they were going through. If they remained in limbo, their ‘primitive’ human minds might be damaged beyond repair.

Billie declared that she wanted to return to the mortal world. To this the monk nodded.

“I have returned your possessions to your rooms,” the monk declared. “Meditate on your decision and return at noon.”

Henry had returned to him room as instructed to find his equipment and weapons carefully laid out next to his bed. Well, they weren’t actually his weapons, rather a mental projection of them created by the world of limbo he inhabited. On the other side of the room was a simple robe, the same colour as the one the monk was attired in. The significance of the clothes was clear - make your choice, and gather at noon dresses in either your old clothes to return to the land of the living, or the monks robes to continue on the road to Ascension.

Henry sat down on the edge of his sleeping mat and stared out the window. He had some thinking to do.

Noon
Unfamiliar monastery

Hours later to team regathered with the monk, dressed in the clothing they had chosen.

Henry was wearing the monks robes. Ascension was an offer he couldn’t turn down.

“This is bigger than any of us,” he explained to the team, some members of which looked shocked at his choice. Others appeared as though they had been expecting it. “None of us can begin to imagine what is out there, what our eyes can’t see and our minds cannot begin to comprehend.”

Two doorways had appeared on opposite sides of the room. One glowed blue around the edges and sounded like an active Stargate wormhole - it was symbolic of returning to the way things had been. The other door glowed yellow around the edges, and was the first step taken along the path to Ascension.

Henry thanked each of his team members in turn, offered hugs and hand shakes. They'd all be through a lot together, and had grown close as a result. He counted the men and women around him as his dearest friends. After saying his final good byes, he stepped toward the glowing yellow door and pulled it open. Before he stepped through, he looked back at the team.

“For the record, I don’t think this is a goodbye. Rather, a see you later.”

With that, Doctor Pratt stepped into the light, and disappeared.

< Tag Kata Harris , Billie Jean Witwer , Vanessa Whitmore & Kelly Bertrand >

[Billie Jean Witwer]

Morning - Noon
Unfamiliar monastery

Billie already had decided to go back. Staying wasn't and hadn't been an option. There was more to explore, to learn. While losing members of any expedition was expected in the line of fire, she wasn't ready to become one of them. Since she had a chance to go back she wasn't going to give that up. She wanted to acquire knowledge while in the moral world. Looking at both sets of garments, she walked over to the combat uniform. She wasn't ready to cross over. One could call her a little selfish, but she wasn't going to do something she wasn't ready for.

She had the Admiral to keep safe, the expedition needed most of its members to make it a success. A home to protect. Here and back in the milky way. Exchanging her garments, she picked up combat boots and placed them on her feet. Billie sat on the floor to tie the lace. Walking out she looked at Pratt's choice garments in shock, "No," Billie exclaimed softly freest one to take a step towards Pratt. She was sure the man's former CO from SV-1 would have words, but they weren't going to be kind ones. How the heck were they suppose to explain this to Admiral Oxford. She held him tight when a hug was offered, "Don't be a stranger," she managed to joke. She was well aware that there were rules and laws that were to be followed. Oddly Doctor Jackson had broke every single of them. After his leaving, Billie looked at her team, and stepped through the other door that led to the moral world.

~*~

1546
Koshi

Billie gasped sharply as she was being carried out. The pain that she could feel all over body was unimaginable, every nook and curve hurt. "We have you Lt," a voice called out in relief who began to administrate the needed meds and whatnot. Whatever the woman had given her placed the Witwer into medical induced sleep till they could do proper scan and tests. Once the wormhole had been established the Tau'ri who had been looking for their missing ones gated back to their in this galaxy.

<<Tag: Kata Harris , Henry Pratt , Vanessa Whitmore and Kelly Bertrand >>

[Kata Harris]

Morning
Unfamiliar monastery

Even with everything she had seen and been through in life, she was still on the fence if it all happened by chance or destiny. If it was chance, then she had been both lucky and unlucky at several times in her life, but if it was destiny...what was her actual destiny in life? How did you go about discovering that? They all knew you had to take what life gave you, but was that chance...or your destiny?

They all returned to their rooms, like the monk said, all their gear was neatly laid out. Kata paused in the doorway and looked at the items, some of which she had carried with her since before her time on Delta, her dog tags, watch and even the well worn dark blue Braves hat she had worn all these years. Then across the room was a simple robe, neatly folded into a square. Walking to the bed she reached down and picked up her watch, Kata glanced down at the watch face and saw that noon was several hours away. She turned back to where the rob lay on the floor and lowered herself down so she was now sitting across from it, staring at the bundle of fabric as if it was going to move anytime soon. 

Noon
Unfamiliar Monastery

Her watch face said it was noon, once again she adjusted the strap on her arm so it was back in its comfortable spot, before she finished putting on the rest of her stuff. After making sure everything was in its proper place she headed towards the door, only to pause and glance back at the robe where it still laid on the floor. Once again doubt was tickling the back of her mind as she could not help but wonder if she was doing the right thing. 

She knew she was. Years of being in the military had taught her that you did not have time to doubt yourself. Once you make a choice you have to stick with it. You just hope that choice is the right one. Taking her eyes from the robe she nodded to herself and walked out of her room. As she entered the common area again the first person she saw was Pratt dressed in the same robes as the Monk, Kata fought the look of displeasure she knew was trying to cross her face.

 “This is bigger than any of us,” the man said,  “None of us can begin to imagine what is out there, what our eyes can’t see and our minds cannot begin to comprehend.” 

The Doctor came around to say his goodbyes, reaching the Major last. "Pratt..." Kata paused, she knew what was coming next, they were saying goodbye to one another, she doubt they'd ever see each other again anytime soon. "Henry...I have enjoyed working with you, I just have one request..if you find out what the meaning if life is, and the answer is not 42, let us know."  Kata gave him a smile and shook his hand. She was going to miss having him around. 

A few moments and thoughtful words later, Pratt was gone.  

_/\/\/\

1546
Koshi

"Major we need to get you back to base.."

The voice was firm but kind. Kata stood looking back at the village, several building still smoldered, and bodies laid scattered about. She had her right arm wrapped around her chest trying to stop the pain and pressure, but each time she took a breath it hurt,  her head felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. She was sure she was bleeding, there was a large gash on her leg that she did not remember receiving. Things hurt and she wanted to sleep, but that did not have her focus. 

Henry Pratt was gone.

It had been one of the first things she had learned upon waking, all but one had responded when she ordered a sound off, then the rescue team confirmed what she had been wondering "Major Harris, can you hear me?" the medic said again, this time moving so he blocked her view of the village and where she thought Pratts body was, she still did not know if there was anything.  "We have already gotten everyone else to the Stargate,  you need medical attention, I know you're hurting." she looked at him, her eyes blank. Hurting, did he mean physical or the emotional pain she was feeling because she knew a friend and teammate was dead.  Did the others know yet? Most likely not. She'd tell them later once everyone had rested for a bit. Kata sighed and winced because her injured ribs moved, turning from the village she started back towards the gate and home.