Trapped In A Box
OOC: This is really my boredom coming through, and I have no clue why I'm writing this ... oh well, I wonder how it'll go.
Lieutenant Darwin J. Addison had encountered a lot of surprising events in his lifetime. First of all, he was shocked to discover that his parents disapprove of his joining the Navy. The second thing was when he was working on a secret mission for the Navy, and found out that his finance was betraying his trust. The third thing was being asked to join the Stargate project, and soon after the Atlantis mission. The fourth thing was when he took over as CO of Delta Team after Gina was forced out by injury. This would have been the last surprising thing for the young American, if it had not been for the startling events that were to unfold one Saturday morning.
Back in Tim's old life - the life he had well before joining the Army - Saturday mornings had been a sacred bond between him and his nice, warm covers and mattress. That was a very long time ago, and he was thinking about it this particular Saturday morning, as he struggled to keep his eyes open, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand. He needed to be awake.
Mice and Men was a fantastic book, in Adam's opinion. He had therefore lent it to Kayla in an attempt to show her the quality of literature back on Earth. Unfortunately, Kayla had been left with the impression that back on Earth, best friends turned on each other very quickly.
"No, you don't understand, that's not what it's meant to portray ..." Adam was explaining hurriedly as they paced through the corridors of Atlantis. "The point is that he was unable to ... well, he was so far away from everyone else - the society didn't understand him or accept him."
"So then if you're different, it is acceptable to be killed?" Kayla questioned, looking stunned.
"No, of course not!" Adam replied. "He was a gentle soul, poor chap. George tried for so long to keep him up to speed, you know, with normal behaviour. It didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to. Lenny understood that he made mistakes, but he didn't understand how to stop making those mistakes. He was going to continue to wreak havoc - and it didn't quite work, did it?"
"That doesn't matter." Kayla started firmly. "I understand that he was not like other people, nor was he the way George expected or wanted him to be. There was no excuse for George to give up. He could have protected his friend."
Adam decided that Kayla actually understood the book, and had put forward a very valid argument. Of course, Adam didn't believe in murder or capital punishment or anything like that, but he did see why George had acted the way he did at the end of the novel.
"But don't you think that he was protecting him?" He queried.
"No." Kayla shook her head.
Adam grinned at her. "Well, okay, then."
Darwin appeared in front of the pair - a few meters away at that point.
"Good morning Lieutenant!" Adam chirped.
"Ah, morning, Adam," Darwin replied, smiling. "Kayla."
"Good morning." Kayla returned.
"Where are you off to on this fine day?" Adam asked politely.
Darwin probably would have given a valid response to this question, if it weren't for two entrances. The first was Timothy Stackhouse's less than enthusiastic response to being around people.
"Oh, holy g -- you people are everywhere!" The New Zealand Captain snapped the moment he came up behind the three others.
He turned around abruptly to escape whatever annoying chatty torture Adam could think of subjecting him to at that moment; but apparently, such torture would have been by far the better option that what was to come.
Bessie Gallagher didn't know why the damned thing was beeping. She didn't even know what it was. She was excited about it, but she was nonetheless frightened of it. One doesn't usually find it comforting to wake up to a beeping sound and see a wooden box sitting on the floor next to their bed. Bessie didn't much like it, either. The Irishwoman was in a panic - there was any number of things that this beeping box could do to her or others around her. She was in desperate need of help.
Thus, she had began walking at a swift pace on her way to the labs, not actually expecting anyone to be awake this early in the morning. Of course, since it was a foreign object and there was no point in taking risks, Bessie wasn't walking all that fast, she was looking where she was going and she rounded the corner along the far wall in case there happened to be a group of people exchanging polite morning greetings.
The one thing Bessie hadn't considered, however, was a cranky Stackhouse with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand forcing his way around the corner.
There was a loud gasp.
There were shocked expressions.
There were also amused expressions (to begin with).
There was a squeal.
This was followed by splashing and a groan of pain from the scalded.
Then there was a thud.
Silence followed the thud for about a second, before a groan echoed through a dark space. Five figures seemed to have landed with their faces meshed into the bottom of some splintery floor.
"Can I just be the first to say 'ouch'?" An English accent moaned.
Tim hated everyone at this precise moment in his life.
Adam, Darwin, Kayla, Tim and Bessie all pushed themselves up from the floor and stared around them. It was pretty dark, although there were a few cracks of light coming from the walls of wherever they were.
"Where are we?" The Athosian woman's voice was unsteady.
Tim wanted to know who he could blame for all of this.
"I really don't know," said Darwin, "but this place smells very much of pine. Is anyone else getting that?"
"Yeah ..." Adam sniffed around. "Yeah, you're right. Pine."
"Well, how wonderful!" Tim snapped at them. "We're in a pine ... place. That's fantastic. So what are we going to do now?"
"Scream for help?" Darwin suggested, mildly.
"Oh no ..." Bessie's eyes closed and she hit herself over the head.
"'Oh no'?" Adam repeated. "'Oh no' is not good. I don't particularly want to be hearing 'oh no' right now."
"Oh, shut up Donovan," barked Tim. "We're stuck in god-knows-where, of course this is not good."
"No, no, I mean ..." Bessie stumbled over the words. "This might sound a little strange to you all, but I think we're stuck in a box."
"Pardon?"
"I think we are stuck in a box." Bessie repeated. "Because ... I was carrying a box. It, um, it smelled a little bit of pine, you see. I found it in my room and I didn't know what it was. I was going to get it checked out, but then I ran into you."
Only half of Bessie's face could be seen thanks to the minimal amount of light, but they saw her nod at Tim.
"Yeah, did I thank you for that by the way?"
"Actually, Tim, it was more your fault." Adam pointed out.
Tim rounded on the Englishman.
"Yeah," Adam nodded seriously. "It was. You were barging around the corner, and she was looking where she was going, walking at a normal pace, attempting to avoid collision. I saw it all. So did Addison and Kayla. It was your fault."
"Donovan ..."
"Do you want us to take a vote to see if it was your fault or not?"
"No, Donovan, I do not want you to take any vote." Tim replied forcibly.
"Okie dokie, then." Adam nodded.
The group lapsed into silence.
"So, what was the end of your story, Bessie?" Darwin inquired.
"Oh, right. I think we're inside a box which is about six centimeters by eight centimeters." Bessie explained.
"We've shrunk?" Tim said, incredulous.
"I ... um ... I think so." Bessie confirmed, hesitantly.
"We've shrunk?" Darwin repeated.
"Oh ..." Kayla let out a little whimper. "We could ... be ... stepped on by anyone ..."
"Now, now," Adam put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. No one is going to step on us. If they see a wooden box sitting on the ground in the middle of the hallway, they're very likely to pick it up and --"
"Throw it away. Discard it. Because it's just a box!" Tim interrupted.
"It's not 'just a box'," countered Bessie. "It's not very ... okay, it's box-looking, sure. But it's got these things on it, you know, little buttons and lights and it beeps."
"It beeps?"
"It beeps!" Adam cried. "Good! Someone will surely take it to the lab then! If it beeps! They'll take it to the lab and check it out and find us!"
"And laugh."
"Yes. That is quite a large possibility."
"Fantastic."
"Anyway! Who wants to play a game?" Adam asked, enthusiastically.
"Oh, god," groaned Tim. "We can't play cricket here ..."
"No, not cricket," Adam said. "I wish, but there's no bat or ball, unfortunately. No, I was thinking something more like, I don't know, hide and seek."
"Hide and seek?" Tim repeated. "How exactly are we going to do that? Hide behind each other or something?"
"How about murder in the dark?"
"There is light, Donovan."
"Yes, but not that much of it."
There was a silence, in which Kayla, Darwin and Bessie looked at each other with similar expressions of confusion on their faces.
"Okay. So we won't play murder in the dark." Adam paused. "Who has a match?"
"Donovan!"
"Okay, okay. I'm just trying to amuse myself."
"You know what would help?"
"Err ... what?"
"If you would shut up."
Lieutenant Darwin J. Addison had encountered a lot of surprising events in his lifetime. First of all, he was shocked to discover that his parents disapprove of his joining the Navy. The second thing was when he was working on a secret mission for the Navy, and found out that his finance was betraying his trust. The third thing was being asked to join the Stargate project, and soon after the Atlantis mission. The fourth thing was when he took over as CO of Delta Team after Gina was forced out by injury. This would have been the last surprising thing for the young American, if it had not been for the startling events that were to unfold one Saturday morning.
Back in Tim's old life - the life he had well before joining the Army - Saturday mornings had been a sacred bond between him and his nice, warm covers and mattress. That was a very long time ago, and he was thinking about it this particular Saturday morning, as he struggled to keep his eyes open, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand. He needed to be awake.
Mice and Men was a fantastic book, in Adam's opinion. He had therefore lent it to Kayla in an attempt to show her the quality of literature back on Earth. Unfortunately, Kayla had been left with the impression that back on Earth, best friends turned on each other very quickly.
"No, you don't understand, that's not what it's meant to portray ..." Adam was explaining hurriedly as they paced through the corridors of Atlantis. "The point is that he was unable to ... well, he was so far away from everyone else - the society didn't understand him or accept him."
"So then if you're different, it is acceptable to be killed?" Kayla questioned, looking stunned.
"No, of course not!" Adam replied. "He was a gentle soul, poor chap. George tried for so long to keep him up to speed, you know, with normal behaviour. It didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to. Lenny understood that he made mistakes, but he didn't understand how to stop making those mistakes. He was going to continue to wreak havoc - and it didn't quite work, did it?"
"That doesn't matter." Kayla started firmly. "I understand that he was not like other people, nor was he the way George expected or wanted him to be. There was no excuse for George to give up. He could have protected his friend."
Adam decided that Kayla actually understood the book, and had put forward a very valid argument. Of course, Adam didn't believe in murder or capital punishment or anything like that, but he did see why George had acted the way he did at the end of the novel.
"But don't you think that he was protecting him?" He queried.
"No." Kayla shook her head.
Adam grinned at her. "Well, okay, then."
Darwin appeared in front of the pair - a few meters away at that point.
"Good morning Lieutenant!" Adam chirped.
"Ah, morning, Adam," Darwin replied, smiling. "Kayla."
"Good morning." Kayla returned.
"Where are you off to on this fine day?" Adam asked politely.
Darwin probably would have given a valid response to this question, if it weren't for two entrances. The first was Timothy Stackhouse's less than enthusiastic response to being around people.
"Oh, holy g -- you people are everywhere!" The New Zealand Captain snapped the moment he came up behind the three others.
He turned around abruptly to escape whatever annoying chatty torture Adam could think of subjecting him to at that moment; but apparently, such torture would have been by far the better option that what was to come.
Bessie Gallagher didn't know why the damned thing was beeping. She didn't even know what it was. She was excited about it, but she was nonetheless frightened of it. One doesn't usually find it comforting to wake up to a beeping sound and see a wooden box sitting on the floor next to their bed. Bessie didn't much like it, either. The Irishwoman was in a panic - there was any number of things that this beeping box could do to her or others around her. She was in desperate need of help.
Thus, she had began walking at a swift pace on her way to the labs, not actually expecting anyone to be awake this early in the morning. Of course, since it was a foreign object and there was no point in taking risks, Bessie wasn't walking all that fast, she was looking where she was going and she rounded the corner along the far wall in case there happened to be a group of people exchanging polite morning greetings.
The one thing Bessie hadn't considered, however, was a cranky Stackhouse with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand forcing his way around the corner.
There was a loud gasp.
There were shocked expressions.
There were also amused expressions (to begin with).
There was a squeal.
This was followed by splashing and a groan of pain from the scalded.
Then there was a thud.
Silence followed the thud for about a second, before a groan echoed through a dark space. Five figures seemed to have landed with their faces meshed into the bottom of some splintery floor.
"Can I just be the first to say 'ouch'?" An English accent moaned.
Tim hated everyone at this precise moment in his life.
Adam, Darwin, Kayla, Tim and Bessie all pushed themselves up from the floor and stared around them. It was pretty dark, although there were a few cracks of light coming from the walls of wherever they were.
"Where are we?" The Athosian woman's voice was unsteady.
Tim wanted to know who he could blame for all of this.
"I really don't know," said Darwin, "but this place smells very much of pine. Is anyone else getting that?"
"Yeah ..." Adam sniffed around. "Yeah, you're right. Pine."
"Well, how wonderful!" Tim snapped at them. "We're in a pine ... place. That's fantastic. So what are we going to do now?"
"Scream for help?" Darwin suggested, mildly.
"Oh no ..." Bessie's eyes closed and she hit herself over the head.
"'Oh no'?" Adam repeated. "'Oh no' is not good. I don't particularly want to be hearing 'oh no' right now."
"Oh, shut up Donovan," barked Tim. "We're stuck in god-knows-where, of course this is not good."
"No, no, I mean ..." Bessie stumbled over the words. "This might sound a little strange to you all, but I think we're stuck in a box."
"Pardon?"
"I think we are stuck in a box." Bessie repeated. "Because ... I was carrying a box. It, um, it smelled a little bit of pine, you see. I found it in my room and I didn't know what it was. I was going to get it checked out, but then I ran into you."
Only half of Bessie's face could be seen thanks to the minimal amount of light, but they saw her nod at Tim.
"Yeah, did I thank you for that by the way?"
"Actually, Tim, it was more your fault." Adam pointed out.
Tim rounded on the Englishman.
"Yeah," Adam nodded seriously. "It was. You were barging around the corner, and she was looking where she was going, walking at a normal pace, attempting to avoid collision. I saw it all. So did Addison and Kayla. It was your fault."
"Donovan ..."
"Do you want us to take a vote to see if it was your fault or not?"
"No, Donovan, I do not want you to take any vote." Tim replied forcibly.
"Okie dokie, then." Adam nodded.
The group lapsed into silence.
"So, what was the end of your story, Bessie?" Darwin inquired.
"Oh, right. I think we're inside a box which is about six centimeters by eight centimeters." Bessie explained.
"We've shrunk?" Tim said, incredulous.
"I ... um ... I think so." Bessie confirmed, hesitantly.
"We've shrunk?" Darwin repeated.
"Oh ..." Kayla let out a little whimper. "We could ... be ... stepped on by anyone ..."
"Now, now," Adam put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. No one is going to step on us. If they see a wooden box sitting on the ground in the middle of the hallway, they're very likely to pick it up and --"
"Throw it away. Discard it. Because it's just a box!" Tim interrupted.
"It's not 'just a box'," countered Bessie. "It's not very ... okay, it's box-looking, sure. But it's got these things on it, you know, little buttons and lights and it beeps."
"It beeps?"
"It beeps!" Adam cried. "Good! Someone will surely take it to the lab then! If it beeps! They'll take it to the lab and check it out and find us!"
"And laugh."
"Yes. That is quite a large possibility."
"Fantastic."
"Anyway! Who wants to play a game?" Adam asked, enthusiastically.
"Oh, god," groaned Tim. "We can't play cricket here ..."
"No, not cricket," Adam said. "I wish, but there's no bat or ball, unfortunately. No, I was thinking something more like, I don't know, hide and seek."
"Hide and seek?" Tim repeated. "How exactly are we going to do that? Hide behind each other or something?"
"How about murder in the dark?"
"There is light, Donovan."
"Yes, but not that much of it."
There was a silence, in which Kayla, Darwin and Bessie looked at each other with similar expressions of confusion on their faces.
"Okay. So we won't play murder in the dark." Adam paused. "Who has a match?"
"Donovan!"
"Okay, okay. I'm just trying to amuse myself."
"You know what would help?"
"Err ... what?"
"If you would shut up."