A House with Many Doors

He was the last to enter the room. While Peter had given no verbal indication of his thoughts on the room, there was something about the way he had reacted that suggested his discomfort. The last thing he wanted to do was upset the people he was with, but they needed to do something.

"Is there anything...odd about this room?" he gently asked.

James turned back around to view them, looking at Maahes. "It's a memory," he explained, though even he wasn't sure why he used that language.

"Is it an important one?" he added, trying to discern anything that could be used to help them better understand their situation.

"Only to me," he replied vaguely. "I don't see how it would bear any significance to the situation."

He nodded. "I think it might, though not in the way that we would expect it to. We all can agree that the person or people that brought us here know more than they should. But if they know about memories and not just snippets of information..." The thought of confronting any of his memories in another room terrified him, and he was momentarily grateful that Peter was the only currently battling his demons.

James didn't finish the sentence. He was focused on trying to stay calm and keep a grip on his sanity.

If they know memories then they talked to people from everywhere. They had to have done their research. He began rolling through a list of his enemies, and who would be likely and able to do something so elaborate, and so dramatic. He was able to narrow it down, but he still couldn't be sure.

"I, um, know of technology that might have done that," he suggested, noticing Peter's worry. He absentmindedly raised a hand to the side of his forehead. Would that technology even work on him? It seemed unlikely, but a rule of thumb was to never judge the extent that technology could advance to. "It usually requires a device to be put into your head, and your memories can be displayed on a screen connected to it. I don't think any of them are currently being used, but we might have scars from where they were taken out."

Spoiler

This is what Maahes was talking about, in case anyone is curious! I know my explanation of it was pretty poor. Also, does anyone mind if they go into one of Maahes' rooms next?

James only stared at Leo with furrowed brows. "A... device?" What in the world was he talking about? Magic, or something? Could magic do that?

He nodded. "I think it accesses the electrical signals of the brain-" he started to explain, only to stop when he remembered how difficult it was for people from less technologically advanced societies to understand something like that.

"Basically, there's a logical way for something like this to happen," he hastily concluded. "So before any of us start assuming that our worst enemies did this to us, let's look for other solutions."

These people aren't from now, are they?

No, I think not, the cool voice replies. But their blood will taste the same as the rest.

She clenches her jaw, a part of her wanting so terribly to do just that. The mere idea of the dripping crimson liquid sets her alive, a fire, a hunger that can't be quenched by anything but following through with her sadistic urge. But even then nothing really changes; it just grows the hunger, feeds it, makes it stronger. She knows this, dares not add fuel to the fire, but then...can one drop really hurt?

He looked over at Auryon. "Are you alright?" he questioned, noticing how tense she suddenly seemed. She must have been getting stressed out about what he had said. He would be, too, if he was thrust into a situation where there were things he couldn't possibly comprehend, and the only explanation was from someone who probably wasn't making any sense.

So he did what he did best - he improvised, which was something that almost always produced cataclysmic results. "Don't worry about what I'm talking about," he hurriedly said. "I know it might seem like I'm lying or something like that, but it's honestly not that bad! The Goa'uld use technology like this all the time, and your government still is able to protect yo-"

He suddenly fell silent, staring at her with wide eyes as realization set in. He had not only alerted her to a terrible threat plaguing the people of Earth - no, he had also let her know of the Stargate Program which he, theoretically, shouldn't have been so knowledgeable about.

James stared at Leo and the look of shock that fell over his face. The information that he was sharing meant absolutely nothing to him, but clearly it did to Leo. But what he was saying... if finally confirmed what he'd fearfully been suspecting.

He looked from Auryon, to Adamine, to Leo. "I don't think we're from the same universe."

It would have been the first time he had heard of something like that, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. Wouldn't it be more likely that they were from different worlds? He didn't know what Peter and Mina's homes were like, but Auryon was from California.

"Are you sure we're not just from different planets?" he asked, meeting Peter's eyes. "That could explain the differences. I haven't mentioned this before because I didn't know if I should, but I travel the galaxy. So I've run into a lot of different cultures before..."

James blinked a few times. "Travelling through... space?" He thought only dragons could do that. Other planets? What other planets? James did not know how to wrap his head around that concept.