Time Scars [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

The whirring sound of the TARDIS were like music to his ears, as sound returned to him. “Uh?” The man in the blue box pulled himself up from the floor, hands clinging to the central console, and blue eyes moving up to look at the tubes there, blue accordion-esque structures moving up and down as it traveled.


He had expected it to travel, of course.


He hadn’t expected to hear it. “Mm. Longer fingers now, I see,” he assessed as he looked at his splayed hands. He put force down on his arms and pushed himself up to stand. He brushed a hand back through his blonde hair, though he was unable to see the color. “Still long,” he commented to himself, “And is this how I sound now?” He cleared his throat, “Hm. Yes.” He pursed his lips, then smiled to himself, “Now this voice ought to have a boom!” He added it, and laughed. “Oh, to speak at Stonehenge with this voice!”


Which reminded him, as he adjusted the collar at his throat and felt a tie there. Or, rather, a bowtie. He sighed and shook his head, then pulled it off and let the bit of red fabric drop down to the floor. “Clean it up later,” he commented, then reached a hand up to pull the monitor towards him, “Where am I?” He asked as he tapped the screen.


Immediately, it gave him an image of the outside world. At first glance, the architecture looked Victorian. It might have fooled him into thinking he was looking at London, did he not see a robot of gears at a stall, selling wares. “Huh? Now this is new,” the creatures that roamed the streets looked to be humans, and their attire spoke of Victorian eras, but the technology he was looking at did not appear to be the same. Steam was puffing out of buildings and dissipating into the atmosphere. Despite the robots, there were horses pulling carriages.


A quizzical smile came to his lips, “Now, this looks new,” something he hadn’t yet seen or explored. He patted the central console, “I suppose no one would look for you, someplace I’d never been, eh? Smart girl,” he praised, then pushed himself away from the console. “I’ll go give it a look. I need new clothes anyway,” as he walked, one hand pulled at the suspenders. “Ugh, I must have been influenced by Jack,” he shook his head.


That man needed suspenders, belts, and so much more, to keep his pants on.


The Doctor grabbed the blue blazer he had near the door of the TARDIS and he slipped it on before stepping out of the TARDIS and taking in the fresh air. “Definitely moist,” the steam was no doubt responsible for that, but it was crisp. Clean. The smile came to his lips again and he left the alley that the TARDIS was parked in to walk out onto a cobblestone street with vendors. Robots and humans alike mingled here, and the Doctor couldn’t help but keep looking this way and that as he began to wander down the street, listening to the calls of merchants to get people to come over to their stalls, or into their stores.


The robots were a bit crude. He noticed that more and more as he walked through the market. The gears ground and they, too, produced steam with their movements and gestures. Much of their insides were also visible, and some of them sparked—faulty wiring, no doubt. The voices cracked, and seemed pre-recorded. Automated things, no true intelligence to them.


The Doctor was a touch disappointed.


He finally noticed a store with books, and decided that would be the best place to locate information. He strode right in, wishing for a moment he had brought his cane with him, and approached the counter. He wrapped his knuckles on it.


A robot came to his service rather than a human, “Good day, sir or madam, how can I be of assistance?”


“Do I really look that feminine?” He had to ask, briefly forgetting the lack of intelligence to the robots. He pulled at the blonde hair again.


“I am sorry, your question does not compute.”


The Doctor frowned. “Where am I?”


“You are at Blue Moons Bookstore, the finest book store on all of Anza Lea!”


“Anza Lea? Is that the city?” He looked around himself again.


“I am sorry, your question does not compute.”


Flustered, the Doctor ran his fingers back through his hair and let out a sigh. “Right then.” He shook his head.

 

[NovelJunkie]

"I just need another copy of this book here."


"You already have a copy of History of the World in your hand."


"But I need a second copy. Two copies of this book."


"I'm sorry, your request does not compute."


Stupid things. It was amazing to think the same robots that were so helpful the day before could be so impossibly frustrating the very next time you interacted with them. Tamra's fingers clutched the spine of the book, her knuckles turning white as she attempted to configure the correct request for the robot working in the back of the store to help you. Tamra hid the book behind her back and tried again. "I need a copy of History of the World, please." Her eyes focused on the robot as the mechanical gears whirled and worked under the glass dome meant to mimic the human skull cap. Suddenly they stopped and the robot was more helpful than he'd been moments before. "History of the World. I'll bring that to you shortly m'am." Tamra watched as the small brass robot rolled away towards the shelves of books to grab her the book she requested. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she leaned against one of the pillars near the center of the isle, rubbing her temples with her fingers. You would think that they might give the robots a more complex interface to fully comprehend human requests. The fact that the little tin can didn't understand someone could want two copies of the same book was frustrating to say the least. Tamra decided filing a complaint with the human who ran Blue Moons might do more good than simply sitting back and stewing over it.


She crossed the store and found herself at the front desk, her fingers dancing over the surface trying to decide on the right color pen to use for her note. Red seemed too aggressive, might make the owner less likely to help. Pink felt foolish as well, she wasn't sure why they made pink to begin with. She settled on a blue ink pen; soothing but purposeful. As she began penning her "suggestion" the bell above the door rang and her attention was pulled for a moment over to a man walking into the book store. Tall. Very tall. Much taller than the men on Anza Lea. And strikingly blonde, another characteristic foreign to natives of her home planet. As not to be rude she focused back on her "suggestion" to the owner but kept a keen ear listening in on the man who had saddled up at the counter and was requesting help from the other robot working the shop.


Anza Lea? Is that the city? Foreigner for certain. Tamra placed the pen down and folded the paper neatly along the crease so the edges of the paper seamlessly melded together. She placed the note in the suggestion box and turned towards the man currently having his own struggles with the service bot. "Anza Lea is the planet. It's just one large township, most of the life here stays concentrated in one area." she told him, assuming he was in fact as lost as she assumed he was. All sorts of people accidentally found themselves on Anza Lea. Mostly from their ships crashing into the earth because of the smog and pollution that floated off the industrious little planet. The government said that it protected them from unfriendly attacks from neighboring planets but it did have side effects, mostly that ships were often crashing into the surface of their planet. Just as Tamra was certain she was bothering the poor man the robot came back with her copy of the book she'd requested. "Oh good, now both the kids will have a copy." she murmured to herself, reaching out for the book. But the robot paused when it saw the first copy in her hands.


"You already have a copy of History of the World. I'll return this to the shelf. My apologies."


"No! Come back, I need that!" she called after the robot as it rolled away again. "Oh, come on."


Tamra raked her hands through her long chocolate locks and set the first copy down on the shelf. Unbelievable. She was certain she looked like a mad woman raving about needing two copies of the same book to the only other human in the store but certainly he'd understand her frustration. "You'd think they'd build them a bit more sophisticated." she complained, looking over at him. Mostly hoping for a reassuring nod to confirm he didn't think she was absolutely bonkers. Tamra pulled her money out and started paying for the first and now only copy of the book she had; she'd buy the other copy later the next day once the robot memory core was reset and it didn't know she already had a copy. "They really should just have people run this place." she decided to herself, unsure of if the man was still there or if he'd fled the location after getting the information he needed. When it came to being a pleasant and hospitable face for her home plant, Tamra wasn't exactly batting a thousand currently.

 

[Lucyfer]

A dark-haired woman approached him, apparently having overheard his question. The Doctor looked up, a bit startled when he heard her voice. His surprised expression softened quickly as he registered her words. “Oh, thank you,” he said, “Anza Lea,” he repeated, “I’ve never heard of it before.”


From the way she spoke, he gathered that visitors weren’t an unknown thing. Another difference from his London.


Well, a new planet could be fun to explore, too. He wondered about when he was, considering the technology and life around him. Their history was foreign to him, so was this early in their development, or late? Were their neighbors like this, too? ‘Do they even have ships here?’ He wouldn’t have guessed it on first glance, but now he imagined it as a possibility.


He was distracted from his thoughts as the robot returned with a book, and the woman seemed relieved. He smiled a bit, and stepped back to allow for ease of transaction.


It didn’t occur that way, though. Before the woman ever took the book in her hand, the robot declared she already had one, and so couldn’t possibly need another. The Doctor had to bring a hand to cover his lips as the woman yelled after the robot. ‘Ah, technology.’ Finicky thing. He couldn’t help but find it amusing, though. Her complaint caused him to lower his hand, “Trial and error,” he chuckled, but agreed with her. “I’m sure they’re working out the kinks,” he turned his head to the robot as it returned, empty-handed. “Excuse me,” he said to it, “I need a copy of History of the World, please,” he stated.


“History of the World,” it repeated, “I’ll bring that to you shortly, sir or ma’am.”


“Really, do I look that feminine?” He asked the woman. “I’m pretty sure it isn’t my voice,” it was deep enough to really boom, after all! Then he shook his head, said, “I think we can get you that book if I pretend to buy it, but, ah…I don’t quite have currency for Anza Lea.”


She was going to buy two books anyway. Hopefully this would be no problem, since the Doctor ‘buying’ it ought to make this situation easier.

 

[NovelJunkie]

"We're a bit secluded." she admitted. Of course he'd never heard of them before. Anza Lea was a blip on the radar for any space ship that flew past. They were a small rock in the midst of a few heavy hitters, clouded by the smog generated from all of the new and budding technology they had. Of course she didn't get the chance to tell him all of this because she was currently dealing with one of the robots working in the shop trying to keep her from buying her book. It wasn't until there was a pause in the chaos that he mentioned trial and error with technology. Tamra watched him order himself a copy of the book, waiting until the only other robot in the store scuttled off as well before she spoke again.


"They're top of the line, new models from this year, hardly any error to be had."


That singular line said more about Anza Lea than anything she could've told him. Those buckets of nuts and bolts, in all their error and mediocrity, were the front line of Anza Lean technology. If there was any question the man might've had about the planet he'd landed on, a simple look around would give him all the answers. Anza Lea was stuck in a technological dark age and it wasn't as the result of setbacks, it was a result of intention stagnantation by their government. Of course one wouldn't be able to deduce that if they'd been born into the society and raised to believe certain things. But an outsider as clever as the Doctor might be able to string the pieces together if he tried hard enough.


His question caused Tamra to blush a bit. "Feminine?" she asked, looking him over. Not in the slightest. He was tall and handsome, had a very defined face and distinct voice. Hardly the sort of look you'd see a woman in Anza Lea sporting, especially his clothing. "They don't know you because you're not in their internal registry. Because you're an outsider they don't have your information on file, they say sir or ma'am as a way to cover their bases. You're off the grid here, it will happen a lot if you find yourself interacting with anymore bots here." she told him. When he admitted he had no money she nodded and pulled out her pocket book, a few crisp government marks tucked away before she handed them to him so he might buy her the book.


"Here is your copy of History of the World. May I help you with anything else ma'am?" the robot asked the Doctor.


Tamra snorted.


"I stand corrected. It's decided you're a woman. Good luck with that then."

 

[Lucyfer]

“Hardly any error?” The Doctor found issue with that, and this coming from the woman who had just experienced so much trouble interacting with the machine. He glanced the way the robot had gone, frowning. “It seems there are lots of things to work out with them. I mean, how does one buy sugar, one grain at a time?” He laughed, trying to imagine someone buying sugar on this planet.


Would the robots really try to sell it one grain at a time? Or a potato, one potato at a time, and people couldn’t have seconds? “How do you ever make omelets here!” It was an exclamation rather than a question.


He assumed it wasn’t this way with food, though. He hoped.


Fortunately to the dark-haired woman, he didn’t look feminine. He gave a sigh of relief, and accepted the currency offered to him, “Good, because the last time, my hair was really too long,” he didn’t explain what he meant by ‘last time’, for the robot returned with his book and decided he was a woman.


He narrowed his eyes on the thing and snatched his book, “You know, you can call me Doctor. That’s rather gender neutral.” He then chuckled, “Well, at least you don’t have this problem.” Though he couldn’t imagine her being mistaken for a man. The dress helped—though he’d known enough men who wore dresses—but she had that beauty that would have inspired Victorian artists. Or, any artist, really. It was a wonderfully classic look.


He briefly wondered if he was in the future, and this was a human before him. He ought to ask. ‘No, it can’t be. They’d be much more advanced than this. But, wait...they have a concept of other planets and....?' The thought was broken, but the epiphany of it remained. This wasn't natural, this low technology. It couldn't be.


The robot spoke. “Doctor?” The gears seemed to be whirring strangely as it spoke the name. “Doctor,” it repeated, “That name computes. Welcome, Doctor.”


Why didn’t the Doctor like that? He arched an eyebrow, “Do they ever use people’s names?” He asked, while handing the book back to the robot along with the money he’d been given to check out.


“Your change is two bills, Doctor. Do you require a bag?”


“I don’t, thank you,” he took the book rather hurriedly, almost as if it were his and he intended to dash. He might have, but he remembered soon enough that it wasn’t, and handed the bills to the woman. He held the book, just in case handing it back to the woman was going to cause that problem of ‘two of the same copy’ again. He didn’t want to have to deal with that after having already purchased the book.

 

[NovelJunkie]

"No, they don't." Tamra told him, setting her book down on the counter. She leaned over a bit to try and get a closer look at the robot behind the counter, her hands reaching over as she tapped the glass on top of the dome and watched as the robot remained perfectly still. It held the book in its hands with a vice like grip as if it had been programmed to never let the thing go. It was only once the man who called himself The Doctor pulled the book away from it that the robot seemed to jolt back to life and it wheeled away without wishing them a good afternoon, something every robot in Anza Lea had been programmed to do. Tamra pulled herself away from the counter and watched the distance where the robot had run off to. "That's very peculiar. They're usually much more helpful and polite, I'm sorry on their behalf. This isn't exactly a very friendly welcome you're getting." she murmured.


The book. In all this fuss about trying to get the book and then meeting this exciting new fellow, she'd forgotten that she'd come her for a book for one of the children. Tamra reached out and waited for him to hand it to her, smiling as he did. "Thank you. I'm sure there's just some system issue that's causing them to act this way. For the record, we buy our sugar by the pound and I'm known for my omelettes." Her own warm tone surprised her as she spoke to this mystery man. Tamra wasn't the sort of woman to even speak to strangers but now here she was telling him what a great cook she was. It was a weird day to say the least.


And it was about to get weirder. Before Tamra could thank the man for his help and leave the store, the lights inside of the building all shut off at once, the sound of mechanical locks echoing around them as every last door and window sealed itself shut from the outside. "Oh, shoot! No. No, this isn't good at all. I'm going to be late for work!" Tamra said, running over to one of the doors and tugging it, no such luck. She rested her head on the smooth wooden paneling and began smacking her fist against the wall, hoping someone outside would hear and help get them out. "Hello?! Can someone please help us, we're trapped in here!" she called out.


DOC-TOR.





Tamra froze. She looked over her shoulder at the man she know knew to call the Doctor. That voice wasn't human, it was mechanical. She pushed herself away from the door and slowly walked back towards the man into the heart of the book shop where he had moved from his original location. "D-Doctor?" she called, hoping he'd answer her. DOC-TOR?! Tamra sped up a little, looking in-between the isles for the mystery man. "Doctor?!" she called out again, more frantic this time around.


DOC-TOR.


DOC-TOR.


DOC-TOR.





Tamra froze, the sound of the robot also calling for the man had gotten closer. She remained perfectly still in one of the isles, grasping her two copies of 'History of the World' as she tried to calm down her breathing. She was anxious. Why? She didn't know. There were two robots in the store with them earlier but she hadn't recognized the new voice calling out for the man. Tamra closed her eyes and covered her mouth as she heard movement coming from an isle over, moving slowly past her. She didn't know what it was but in that moment of panic she reverted back to an old childhood thought process. If I can't see it, it can't see me.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Mmm.’ The Doctor found himself fretting over that detail.


It was rarely a good thing when robots recognized him. The only robot he really agreed with recognizing him was K-9. ‘Or the funny Martian…one….’ His thoughts darkened as he recalled what had happened there. The light that had been in his eyes faded for a moment.


It sparked right back up when the woman distracted him, “It’s quite all right. I’m used to it,” too many enemies in the universe to expect a happy greeting everywhere, but this would require investigation. The technology was way behind, and it clearly knew him. He was certain of it. Before they reached the door, she looked for her book and the Doctor handed it over.


“Really? I may have to pop back for an omelette someday,” he smiled at the thought. What kind of omelette would he even want, though? Ah, decisions, decisions! His hand reached for the door to open it for both of them, but then the lights went off, leaving only the sun to provide illumination. Of course, with the light off, the door had locked. Apparently it was all held together as part of the same system. He pulled, growled, and turned away from the door.


Tamra had run to another, but he decided to find the breaker system or whatever this planet used. He dug into his inner jacket pocket to retrieve his sonic screwdriver, imagining that would work to fix things up so they could get out of here. “Just a minute!” He called to the woman.


DOC-TOR.


The Doctor, also, froze.


He knew that voice. How could he mistake it for anything? “No, no, no, not here,” his pace quickened as he walked towards the counter, and then used the wooden desk to hop over it, intending to go to the back of the store. The woman called for him, and he called back, “Just hold on a minute!”


He’d have to get the doors open, if only to get her out.


That voice called out to him again. “I’m right here!” He shouted, and there was no denying the anger that pierced his tone as he stormed down more aisles of books. It continued to call his name. “Oh, come on now, lover,” he hissed, “I’m RIGHT HERE!”


He reached the end of one of the book cases and slammed a palm against it. They weren’t as easy to knock over as in television shows, but the sound caused a moment of silence in all movement. Just breathing. Just whirring.


Tamra hadn’t stayed back. He could hear her breaths near, and he could hear the thing nearer to her. It began to move again, creeping forward, and the Doctor burst into a sprint and rounded aisles into the one where Tamra was. Her eyes were shut, and her mouth was covered.


He let out a frustrated little sigh and then ran forward and reached to take hold of her spare hand. If need be, he’d use his other hand to cover her mouth, in case she wanted to try and speak.


‘Come on now.’ He hoped his expression would express the urgency for movement.

 

[NovelJunkie]

She didn't know that sound. Living in a world of robots, you knew what each one sounded like. And it wasn't the fear of the dark, or even the unease of being locked inside the book shop that was paralyzing her with fear. It was the unknown that was truly crippling her in that moment. The wheels dragging across the floor of the store didn't register as anything she recognized in her life and that was terrifying. Tamra had become a tutor because she was logical, curious, but by the book and methodical. In order to teach anything, you had to know about it. She made a point to learn about a little bit of everything in the world so that if either of the children she tutored asked her about it, she could answer them correctly.


So why didn't she know what was happening?


The Doctor knew though, he knew what was happening and the tone of his voice was agitated. It was angry. A moment ago he'd been laying on the charm thick about what sort of omelette he wanted and now they were both playing hide and seek inside of a book store and only he knew the rules. How frustrating. Tamra heard the wheels stop and she opened her one of her eyes carefully, looking over to see what on earth was in the store with them. If her mouth hadn't been covered she might've screamed at the sight. The robot was advanced beyond anything she'd seen before. Shiny and chromatic, with a long eye stalk and one, big red eye that was looking right at her.


"What is that thing?" she caught herself saying. It turned to face her and it was in that moment that the Doctor appeared, grabbing her hand to pull her away into a full sprint. They both bolted out of the isle she'd hidden in and something about the jolt of movement had knocked her out of her daze, putting her mind back in the right place. There was a crashing behind them, the robot had fired something off and it had collided with one of the book shelves, causing the merchandise to catch fire and the wood to explode and splinter. "Doctor, what is that thing?!" she asked again as he pulled her along, running towards the back of the door. They crossed into the back storage room with all the extra books and Tamra tugged at the door, thankfully it was only the exits that would aid them in escape that had been locked, she sealed it shut and leaned against it. Not like it would help them if that thing decided it get trigger happy again and blow another hole in the book store.


"Doctor. What is going on? What aren't you telling me?" she asked him, her voice hushed and hurried. They were operating with limited time here. Tamra moved across the room over to the window and boosted herself up on her feet, looking out to see what was happening outside. The picture wasn't much prettier. Hundreds of the exact same robots she'd seen moments earlier were all roaming the streets, shooting at things and setting things on fire. Each one screeching his name. DOC-TOR. DOC-TOR. DOC-TOR. Tamra pulled herself away from the window hoping that she hadn't been spotted. She looked to the man, who was looking less and less like someone she should've associated with by the second.


"Doctor, who?"

 

[Lucyfer]

The Doctor was furious. It kept his lips shut tight as he ran with the young woman, and he promptly released her once they were in the storage area. She was smart enough to shut the door behind them, and lock it. It wouldn’t last forever, but it was something. The Doctor remained quiet, though questions had been asked of him.


A bitter humor was in his throat and his thoughts. Rude answers were the only thing in his head as he made his way along the wall, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the wall as he walked. It wouldn’t react to wood, but it might help him find what he was looking for.


The tip flickered blue, the beeping speed increased, and the Doctor knocked books off a shelf to reveal a panel in the wall. He flipped it open just as the woman asked who he was. “Just the Doctor,” he said, finding his voice under that very old, and very familiar, question.


The Doctor was all he was, and all he would ever be. “Those things out there are daleks,” he said as he started to examine the panel. Realizing he didn’t understand it, he shoved the silver screwdriver right into it and let it run. The humming started to cause the wires to spark. The lights started to come on, fast and bright, to the point the Doctor knew they’d all soon explode.


Well, he didn’t care about the lights working anyways. “To put it simply,” he said as glass shattered onto the floor. He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of the panel, hearing all the locks moving to unlock. He darted to where Tamra was, “they’re egotistical maniacs who believe they’re the only species that deserve to exist in the universe. Now, open that window, we’ll have to get by them.”


Best she understood the risks of being seen in as blunt a way as possible. She had mentioned kids, so he imagined she would want to get out, and get to them, as quick as possible. He'd have to go find the leader and deal with them.

 

[NovelJunkie]

"What exactly are you a doctor of?" she asked, watching him pull out a strange contraption from his coat and began tampering with the electrical board. The lights began to flicker on and off, sparks flying from the electrical wiring. Tamra was becoming less and less certain how much she trusted this man who had yet to tell her anything about himself other than his title. Despite her skepticism she listened to his speech about what the robots were and what exactly the were doing in the book shop in the first place. Daleks? "You made that up. That's not real." she told him, taking a step toward him, "And I don't think you're a bloody doctor at all, I think you're lying to me."


Despite her concern and mistrust in the man, when he told her to open the window so they could get past them all, she felt a sudden urge to do exactly as he asked. There were a lot of answers she wasn't getting and none of this was adding up in her head. Maybe he worked for the government and these Daleks were new prototypes that had gone a bit awry. That would be a logical explanation for why he wasn't answering her questions; she didn't have the right government clearance or something. Tamra decided that for now, that was the best answer, and she kept her mouth shut and did exactly as he told her. She pushed on the window and it opened with a loud creaking. Using a pile of boxes in the corner she piled them up and then climbed out the window, landing with a *thud* as she did. These Dalek creatures were crawling all over the place but none had found their way into the ally that the window led to. She moved out of the way and waited for the Doctor to land next to her before speaking.


"You've got my trust for the moment, alright?" she decided to tell him, even though it wasn't true. She didn't believe a damn word he was saying but for now she was going to swallow her skepticism and just listen. He'd gotten them out of the book shop and apparently he knew what these things were, even though she did not. That meant if she wanted to find out any of the truth, she needed him on her side. "What's the plan then?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Of course the humanoid kept asking questions. Really, the Doctor couldn’t blame her, but his nose did wrinkle when she accused him of being a liar. “Oi, and I suppose you know what a dalek is better than me?” It was rhetorical. Of course she didn’t know better. “I’m a Doctor of Daleks.” That implied he was fixing them, didn’t it?


‘Destroying them is fixing them.’ He didn’t have the decency to banish the thought. He believed it. Such was his hatred for those creatures that he believed the best cure for them was death.


The window opened, and boxes were piled up quickly so they could escape through it. First went Tamra, and then the Doctor, just as he heard the sound of the dalek firing at the door. It didn’t give away immediately, but it would. The Doctor had no delusions of that.


He landed right besides her, not gracefully. He didn’t land on his feet, but fell, back scraping the wall on his way down. “Ow,” he muttered, rising and rubbing his bottom as he did so. Not enough flesh there, really. Darn shame. He stepped away from the evil, scraping wall, and looked to Tamra as she decided to trust the liar. “Here’s where I’d tell you that’s a bad idea, but your best chance at living is sticking with me,” that wasn’t a lie. People did die around him, too, but they had a better chance around him.


He was surprised the kids weren’t her concern. “Well, first things first, where’s ah…where’s the power here? Not the electricity, the, ah, government,” he found the word he needed, glanced up at the window as he heard the breaking of the door inside. He reached for her hand, “Take me that way.” No point to question her priorities right now. He needed her. He needed someone to get him to the right place, so he could try and deal with the daleks.

 

[NovelJunkie]

The government. That was an easy one. "I work there." she admitted, grasping his hand and tugging him along through the crowded and chaotic streets towards the home where she was a governess. Tamra didn't feel a particularly strong connection to the children in terms of protecting them simply because of how many people were in the employment of the Anza Lean government and their respective families. In fact most of the actual people on Anza Lea worked for the government while the robots took up the small jobs like running the book store or ringing up groceries at the local corner mart. Thankfully for the pair of them seemed to be slipping through the crowd with relative ease because of just how much mayhem the sheer number of these Daleks were causing. Paired of course with her knowledge of the city and how to get about in the quickest way. It was only a few moments before the building he'd requested to be brought to was in full view.


It was a towering Victorian-like estate, with large wrought-iron gates and guards armed outside. Tamra surveyed the area for a moment before pulling the Doctor along with her to the side entrance she used to sneak into when she was late for work. Her fingers fumbled with the key and she unlocked the door, forcing it open before stepping through. They'd wound up in the kitchen and Tamra walked through, pulling the Doctor along until they found themselves in a large hallway, ornately decorated with paintings along the walls and family coat of arms spanning the length of it all.


"Down this way, my mistress has an office, maybe she's here." Tamra said. As they walked down the hall Tamra noticed she was still holding onto his hand, she released it and rubbed the back of her neck, looking around for the right door. "This sounds foolish but I've never actually met my employer. She likes to communicate via letters, very busy woman it seems." A simple statement to let him know what was happening in case she happened upon her employer and din't know it was exactly her. "She calls herself Dawn." Tamra explained, coming to the door that she was often grabbing her assignments from. There was a note placed where her daily tasks usually were. Tamra pulled it off the door and flipped it open. She paused, reading the letter. Four simple words that caused her blood to run cold.


Careful dear, he's dangerous.


- Dawn

 

[Lucyfer]

The Doctor didn’t refuse the pull, and followed along, always alert. Fortunately, they seemed to be slipping through the crowd. Either the daleks didn’t all know how he looked yet, or there was just that much chaos.


Curiously, the woman pulled him into the house through a side entrance, avoiding the guards. The Doctor frowned at that, but let the dark-haired woman pull him along. He took in the pictures of the family, and the coat of arms. He almost stopped there. ‘That….’ On the coat of arms, there looked to be a familiar image of the cross-haired vision the dalek eyestalk had.


It was the release of his hand that jarred him. So used to it, he found it disappointing to lose that contact. He followed along behind her, now crossing his arms over his chest.


‘Calls herself Dawn?’ The Doctor didn’t like the phrasing. He imagined this woman didn’t realize what she’s said, “And what do you call yourself?” He realized then that he didn’t know her name, or else he’d forgotten it. Possible. He was still in regeneration-brain. At least he wasn’t fainting every five minutes.


Just regeneration-brain.


There was a note left outside the door, and the Doctor was close enough to look over her shoulder when she read it. “Your mistress, or your mother?” He was so used to mothers thinking he was dangerous, that he couldn’t help the joke. He didn’t seem phased by it at all—he was dangerous.


At least the daleks were admitting it. He pushed the door open into the Victorian room, but he didn’t believe the design of it at all for an instant. “Well, since Dawn isn’t here, let’s see what she has to hide!” Walls were usually a good bet. Though it would be extraordinarily rude, the Doctor walked right to the first bookshelf he laid eyes on, and pushed all the books down onto the floor, hoping to reveal something behind them.


‘Nothing.’


He pushed the shelf, more out of irritation than from any hope he’d find something.

 

[NovelJunkie]

"Oh, we really shouldn't be going in there!" Tamra called after him, running in behind him. Never once had she been inside her mistresses office but she had to admit the curiosity of what was behind the door had often kept her awake wondering at night. The door shut gently behind her as she watched this Doctor fellow push all of the books off of one of the shelves. Out of reflex Tamra ran over and knelt down, picking up up one by one and carefully setting them on top of the desk on the center of the room. "You really should be more careful." she told him in a huff as she grabbed the last of the books. "And I call myself Tamra because that's my name." she told him.


Tamra shuffled the books around a bit and sighed. "Alright, party's over in here. Let's get out of this room before you cost me my bloody job, yeah?" she said, reaching to grab the books from the desk to place them on the shelf. In her haste to grab one of the bigger anthologies she knocked over a bronzed statue on the very corner of the desk. But instead of falling over completely it halted only half way, leaving the statue in a sort of levitating state. Suddenly there was a loud creaking sound from underneath the desk and Tamra set down everything left in her hands to walk around and kneel down to see what was there.


Underneath the desk a small staircase had appeared, dropping below the floor of the office to some sort of subterranean area. Tamra remained there, baffled by the fact that something like this existed; but more-so that this was exactly what the strange man had been looking for. How had he known there was something in the office and what wasn't he telling her about all of this. Tamra stood and looked over at the man, who couldn't seem to wipe the smirk off of his face to save his own life if he had to. "Something tells me you're just loving every second of this." she said.

 

[Lucyfer]

The Doctor found her sentiments about the privacy of a dalek’s ally amusing. Of course, he’d already determined the woman was guilty of it by the note. The other details only solidified it, such as the fact Tamra, as she called herself, had never met Dawn. “Tamra. Good name. Strong.” Unlike Tammy. It had the strength of the ‘Tam’, with the ‘Ra’ aspect. Quite strong, yes. Unique. Terribly unique.


She started to pick up the books and he rolled his eyes, moved on to move chairs, looking under them as the squeaked across the floor. Of course, it wasn’t he who discovered the way forward, in his frustration. "Oh, you don't need to pick them all up. I'm sure they don't get read, anyway," likely just here for looks. This whole room existed just for looks. Now if only he could find out where the truth was! It had to be here, somewhere, in a personal room. He was certain of it.


And then Tamra found it.


The daleks used the obvious trick of a statue. “No creativity,” the Doctor sounded disappointed as the path revealed itself. Statues were so overused as a method to access secret hideaways. He had expected more of the daleks, though he wasn't sure why. They weren't a creative race on the whole, after all.


He also sounded a little smug. That must have earned him Tamra’s derisive comment. He grinned, “Yes.” It was a bit too fake to be sincere. If she understood the daleks the way he did, she’d know this wasn’t at all fun. It was just good to be going this smoothly. “Let’s go down, shall we?” The Doctor didn’t wait for an answer. He was on the steps in an instant and moving down into the subterranean levels.


He reached for the screwdriver again, but didn't turn it on. There were lights on the way down, so it wasn't necessary for light. Still, he imagined he would need. There would be locks or something that the sonic would have to be used for. "So, how long did you say you worked for this woman, again?" He asked back to Tamra, "Who did you meet, when you were employed here?" He imagined she had to of met someone, besides the kids.


The kids were another strange factor. Were they real kids, or fakes?

 

[NovelJunkie]

No creativity. Perhaps this Doctor fellow was unimpressed but Tamra couldn't help but let her mouth fall agape as she stood back from the secret tunnel and tried to process what was happening. This was beyond the realm of creative; it was madness. How long had there been a secret passage underneath the desk of her mistresses office and where on earth did it go? "Thank you." she murmured about her name. She'd always hated it, felt it wasn't girly enough and had overcompensated by pouring femininity into her looks. Tamra always felt a bit 'meh' to her but it seemed she'd finally found someone other than her mother who liked it.


The Doctor disappeared down the passage and Tamra scrambled after him, reaching out to grab his sleeve as she walked. "I-I'm sorry. I'm just nervous." she told him, hoping it would be okay. She'd held his hand leading him through town, this shouldn't be any different, right? Though it did feel a bit rude to clutch onto him and hope he'd be agreeable about the entire thing. Thankfully he asked her a question that allowed the awkwardness of the situation to dissolve and for her to refocus her worrying onto something more productive.


"I, um..." she started, wracking her brain for an answer. "Gosh, forever. I've worked here since I can remember." But why couldn't she remember any of the details. This was turning out to be harder than she thought. Tamra closed her eyes and focused. Who had she met here? Who had given her the job? After going over everything in her brain she remembered. Tamra spoke quickly because it felt as though she might lose all of the information if she didn't get it from her brain to her mouth immediately.


"I've never met the children." Stop, that wasn't right. She shook her head and the memories changed. The plethora of things she'd just had slipped away in an instant and were replaced by a different version of events. "No, that's not true. I teach them every day. I'm their tutor. I hold lessons in the library. I, I don't know why I told you that." she said. His other questions were giving her the same amount of confusion the more she tried to grasp a singular, concrete answer for him. "I've always worked here. With the children. And I've never met Dawn." she decided finally.

 

[Lucyfer]

The Doctor chuckled a bit at her confession of fear. That, he understood, and so his laughter wasn't to mock her. It was an understanding of the anxiety that came with the confession, an acceptance of that oh-so human emotion. There was no need to apologize.


He moved to adjust her hand so that he was holding it, rather than have her holding onto his sleep. It was always better to actually have a hand, or so he thought. He preferred it, certainly.


His question took a bit longer to answer than it should, and when Tamra was finally able to answer, the Doctor’s frown deepened. His steps struck the stairs a bit harder as he continued to descend. Her answers and corrections were not a good sign, and he stopped before he ever reached the bottom of the stairs. He turned around to face her.


He studied her face. ‘No, she doesn’t seem dead.’ Then again, the dalek puppets were always difficult to truly see.


There was no reason for her to blurt out that she’d never known the children. “I need you to relax, and close your eyes,” he said calmly. His free hand would reach up, and if she didn’t move away, he would cup her cheek and chin in his hand. “I need to check your health.” Not her physical health, though.


The Doctor wanted to try and get into her head, and see what was going on with her memories. He hoped it wouldn’t be difficult, but if daleks were involved, there were never any guarantees. They weren’t psionic, but they were good at brainwashing and generally screwing people over. Sorting real from fake could be difficult.

 

[NovelJunkie]

Why was it so hard for her to remember the answers to such simple questions? Though she didn't vocalize it, she felt a bit of fear catch in her throat at the idea of not being able to recall things. Tamra was young and sharp, she'd lauded herself on being brilliant more often than not. It scared her to think that she could be getting foggy. Or worse, that she was losing parts of her knowledge or memory. Tamra laced her fingers in with the Doctor's own and simply tried to just relax a bit in the hopes that she could stop herself from having a full blown freak out over this new worry.


I need you to relax and close your eyes. Tamra stopped when he faced her and resisted the urge to flinch was he cupped her cheek and chin. The fear was etched in her features, she knew it. But she did what he told her and closed her eyes, trying her hardest to relax. There were a few moments of just them standing there in the silence with his hand cupping her face. Tamra stopped herself from opening her eyes as his hand pulled away and she felt his fingers resting on her temples. Then there was a sudden jolt and she felt her mind flood with all sorts of memories that she didn't remember. She didn't remember any of them at all. There was one of her running through the streets of Anza Lea with a little boy her own age, chasing after him. There was another of a man who was tucking her into bed. So many of them flooded her mind along with the ones she could remember. The children, though their faces were blurred a bit and hard to distinguish, and her teaching them. A lot of memories of her simply wondering around inside of the estate they currently stood in. The last one was of her looking over in the book shop and spotting the Doctor before looking away and smiling to herself.


Tamra pulled herself away and opened her eyes, hot tears running down her cheeks. She wiped them away, not knowing why she had even teared up in the first place. She wasn't crying, so why the tears? "I don't..." she started, stopping herself for a moment. Tamra looked up at the Doctor. He'd gotten inside of her head and seen all of it. This man wasn't human at all, not normal either. She decided to keep her mouth shut and wait to see why on earth he'd invaded her mind like that and just how dangerous he might be.

 

[Lucyfer]

Once her eyes were closed, the Doctor moved his fingers to press against her temples. He shut his own eyes then, and focused on pushing forward. He knew she’d see everything that he was seeing as soon as the door into her mind opened.


Memories flooded into his head, and he found it wasn’t as difficult to sort the real from the fake. The daleks must not have had a lot of time here yet, because the fake memories were blurred. Facial features were indistinguishable. The children didn’t really exist, then. The Doctor could also sense Tamra’s—if that was her name—confusion over some of the memories. The ones she didn’t remember. The ones buried.


The Doctor took his fingers from her temple and opened his eyes just as he got caught up to where they met, and he took a step down to give her space. He knew he’d just invaded her mind, and he knew that was a violation to most people. He hadn’t told her. He had just needed the access. “Take a deep breath,” he spoke in a fashion he’d once used with his own children. Though the voice had changed, he still knew the tone and rhythm. “The daleks have altered your memories. I’m sorry, I suspected it, and I had to check.” He explained, said, “I’m a Time Lord of Gallifrey.”


Now she wouldn’t have to wonder about what he was anymore, “The daleks have been my enemy for…centuries, and we need to get them off your planet."

 

[NovelJunkie]

"That's not real." she repeated again, insisting that he was making all of this up. Tamra pulled out her copy of History of the World he had purchased for her earlier and flipped to one of the pages before turning it to him. "Gallifrey, or whatever you called it, that's not a real place. You're lying to me." Her voice was shaking with fear but not because of what the man was saying; it was because she believed him. When he dove into her subconscious he had scrambled all of her memories into one giant mess, each one combating with the other to get to the forefront of her mind. And for some reason she knew she was supposed to know who the little boy was in one of them but she couldn't remember who he was for the life of her. This man, The Doctor, claimed that these Daleks from earlier had been tampering with her memory and his theory was looking like it might be true.


But the book, it would prove she was right. The page she had flipped to listed all of the planets in existence and Gallifrey wasn't listed. In fact, most of them weren't. In total there were about fifteen and they were all within the immediate range of Anza Lea. Tamra was so panicked about all of this that she didn't contemplate the possibility of the Daleks tampering with everything around them churning out propaganda for the masses to consume in order to to reinforce their lies and deception. But that was exactly what was happening.


TAM-RA. It was that sound again. Despite the Doctor moving to give her a bit of space she stepped down next to him, moving around him to see where the sound was coming from. DOC-TOR. TAM-RA. Those were the Daleks he'd talked about, the things he claimed had altered her memories. And although her trust in the man next to her was shaken slightly she did want to know what on earth was going on. Fear be damned, curiosity and logic ruled Tamra's actions at the end of the day and she was going to find out whether or not the man next to her was lying or telling the truth. Tamra brushed past the Doctor and started walking down the illuminated hallway, following the sound of the Dalek calling out for the both of them.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Well, no. Not anymore.’


The Doctor didn’t want to say as much. It still hurt to think that Gallifrey was gone, even though he knew why it had to be gone. Rassilon had decided genocide of the universe was the best route, and the Doctor couldn’t have that. He couldn’t have the Time War destroy everything.


Of course, Tamra couldn’t just take his word for it. She had to search her book, and the Doctor shook his head in a disappointed way. “And you said you trusted me,” not that he had believed her then. “If you really don’t believe me, you can go back upstairs, and not be a part of this, you know.” It was only going to hurt her more when she learned the truth. She could instead live in blissful ignorance.


He wouldn’t be proud of her if that was her choice, though.


Then came that calling voice, the siren call of the daleks. The Doctor turned to face away from Tamra, and look back down the stairs. It was coming from there, of course. Tamra stepped closer, but he didn’t reach for her hand this time. Before he could step forward, Tamra did, walking ahead.


So, this time, the Doctor played at follower. He crossed his arms behind his back, and reached the floor where the daleks were waiting for them. He lifted a hand, “’Ello there,” he waved, then put his hand right back behind his back, “In case you’re not sure, I’m the Doctor now. Regeneration Number Impossible,” and his grin became quite cheeky. The daleks would understand. It ought to put a little fear in those emotionless salt shakers, to know he’d died and exceeded what a Time Lord should be capable of.


Forever, their enemy. "Oh, but you should know that. You should know all my faces up to this point, right?"

 

[NovelJunkie]

"I did trust you until you went into my brain and sorted through my mind on a whim. You've been lying to me. One minute you're a Doctor of Daleks, the next you're a Time Lord from some made-up planet. Can you blame me?" she asked him in a huff. What was she supposed to do? They were already down in the recesses of some peculiar secret passageway. As ludicrous as his lies up to this point had been he was right about there being something wrong about this place and she'd accidentally helped him find it. Now they were being beckoned towards the truth and possible danger. "Like hell I'm going back upstairs." she muttered.


They walked towards the sound and when they finally came upon the source, Tamra was shocked. There were three of them, these Daleks, or so the Doctor claimed. But she only saw one, two of them were children. Her mouth remained shut as the Doctor spoke to them, apparently he only saw three Daleks and no human children. Was this one of those tricks of the brain he was talking about earlier? "I only see one, Doctor." she told him in a hushed tone only he could hear. The tidbit about there being other humans in the room was kept to herself for now.


IMPOSSIBLE. THE DOCTOR LIES.





The Daleks seemed fretful at what the man had said. What was a regeneration anyway? Though she shared their sentiment about him lying, she wasn't sure they were angry at him for the same reason. The Dalek she could see moved forward a bit and the laser attached to it pointed at the pair of them. Tamra didn't move from her spot; deciding it was best to follow his lead in all of this mess. The laser scanned them both before the tin trashcan of a robot spoke again.


IDENTIFICATION. THE DOCTOR AND HUMAN FEMALE. EX-TER-MINATE. EX-TER-MI-NATEEEEE.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘I can be a Time Lord and a Doctor.’


The Doctor didn’t get to inform her of that, though. He was both, of course. He was a Gallifreyan, who achieved the rank of Time Lord, who then took on the name Doctor after leaving Gallifrey as a renegade. He could blame her. He’d done such things before.


Of course, right now, blaming her would just be petty considering there were three daleks pointing weapons at him. “There’s three of them,” he said, right after the dalek accused him of lying. He cackled after that, “Oh, come on! Look in your memories!” He challenged.


Perhaps they did. They moved forward to scan him and Tamra, calling her human. ‘Yes, the daleks are hindering things here, then.’ No human on another planet would live with such low technology. The Doctor reached for Tamra’s hand right before the infamous words of the daleks left them, and he moved to run between a gap that existed between two of the daleks. He had go forward, after all, not back.


That meant moving by the obstacles in front of him, those annoying salt shakers of death. “Sorry, no time to be exterminated!” He called back as he bolted by the lasers and rounded the first corner he saw. He’d keep running. He’d keep making turns at random, mostly to ensure that if the daleks gave chase, their lasers would hit walls and not him. He’d wait to pause until he was certain that he’d lost the three daleks, and no others were going to come after him and Tamra.