After the phone rings for a short while a slightly bored sounding man answers. "Hello, may I ask who's calling?"

"Yes, this is Dr. Alex Lustig, I'm a consultant on Blue Book. The challenge phrase I've been given for this week is Rutabaga. I need to talk to someone either in the engineering department or the General's Office."

There's a pause and a faint sound of typing. The man is much less bored now. "I've confirmed your identity Dr. Lustig. Is this line secure on your end? Can you explain what you're calling about?"

"I'm currently inside the Gates of Eternity video game project by Dr. Daisy Decker. I expect that answers both of your questions."

"Wait really? No you wouldn't joke about that. Let me put you on hold and figure out who you need to be talking to."

Alex waits as the line goes to hold music for a few minutes. He looks over his notes and idly scribbles down some more thoughts. They aren't really anything new or important but it's one way to manage his anxiety.

"Hello, Dr. Lustig are you still there? This is Major Carter."

Oh wow, this went to her did it. He restrains his excitement though. "Major Carter it's good to hear from you. I expect you were told I'm in Dr. Decker's game. I've talked with Veria, one of Decker's AIs and I have some thoughts about her overall goals. I'm also happy to answer any questions you might have."

"I did get told that. Is your position stable?"

"It is. The Sanctuary seems every bit as safe as we were told it would be."

"That's good to hear. We have to assume your end is monitored so I won't be able to tell you much from our end but we are working to find a way to get you and all the other people out. You're the one with boots on the ground so before I get into specific questions what do you think we need to know?"

"Should I be worried about eavesdroppers other than Dr. Decker?"

"This call is reading as encrypted to our systems so we shouldn't need to worry no."

"From my conversation with Veria I was told that Decker doesn't think Earth's chances are good and that this is Decker's plan for how to fix that. Veria acknowledged that the choice of this specific plan was in part to give Decker more leverage and refused to elaborate on how exactly it would prove helpful. She did say that I would probably be able to figure it out."

Carter sighs. "Well that's better than it just being for personal aggrandizement. Probably."

"It's something. She'd rather save the planet than herself if given the option but she'd prefer to save both. That's better than some people. Of course, what her plan is and whether it will work is a bit up in the air.

"I've been trying to figure out what it is she's trying to do and my first wild guess is that she wants to force disclosure. Thinking back the physics modelling code is better than a game would usually need and she really played up the educational value of the game in the marketing. I'm wondering if part of her plan is to teach people enough to recreate some of the technology we've developed and use that as proof when she tells people the Yuan'ti are real but actually called the Goa'uld."

"Taking Daniel's idea to its logical conclusion. Maybe, do you really think it could work though? Most of the people in the game haven't got bachelors degrees let alone masters or PHDs. Unless she's planning to keep you all in there for years it won't be easy to actually teach people everything they'd need."

"True, maybe she doesn't actually need to teach us though. We've seen several examples of memory implantation technology. If she somehow got her hands on that and incorporated it... that would speed up the timeline by a lot."

"We'll try to follow up on that idea. Is there anything else that you can pass on."

"I wrote down Decker's speech to the player base, or at least something close to it. I guess I'll read that over though I expect you'll find other sources of it." He does so. "The part that's really sticking out to me is the idea that there's real world rewards. And talking to Veria she said that the rewards were for those who were truly worthy."

Carter is silent for a few moments after he finishes. "What an asshole! I do see what you mean about memory tech though. For whatever prizes she's offering to be real... well either she's offering things that could be taken away from people by the government or it's something that can't really be taken away, knowledge would fit the bill.

"And... well it's a good theory. She could just be lying though."

"She could be. I'm a little resistant to that just because I don't want it to be true. But you're right it's a possibility."

"We will be trying to get you out. I obviously can't make promises but you know how many smart people we have working with us."

"I do. But don't underestimate Daisy, or her AIs. She's not going to make it easy on you."

"We'll be careful. Is there anything else we can do for you Alex? Do you need plants watered or a pet taken care of? Or any information you need?"

"I do have some plants. I am wondering about one thing though. If Daisy is modelling things on Gate missions as much as we think she might be. I'm wondering if there's any flexibility I can get with respect to my NDAs."

"I'll have to pass that question on to the General. Be careful yourself though. Even if you do get permission people might be suspicious about where you got your information and that might not end well for you."

"Right. I'll keep quiet for now."