You whom I could not save, Listen to me…

[the_vesmier]

On the TARDIS, who's still watching over everyone, not letting Thane's former prisoners out and probably driving Hart halfway to madness with the unrelenting psychic Ò_Ó she's giving him, people are doing various things.

The Vesmier is ensconced in the Cloister Room, on a bench with his back resting against a wall, a multiphasic holographic

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[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor likes the Cloister Room. He's not in it often, not for... a while now, and the Cloister Room here is different from the one in his TARDIS, but that's hardly the point. If anyone asked, he's not looking for the Vesmier, but he does wander by, and then stop, tilting his head to frown at the hologram.

"Thank you," he says at length. "For... you know... getting them out." Himself, he's not so sure about.

[the_vesmier]

The Vesmier sets aside the hologram for a moment, letting it collapse into sleep mode. He looks older than his thousand years, at the moment - still a young Time Lord, but not feeling it.

"It was apparently the most I could do," he says. He won't chide the Doctor for inflicting the damage that made it impossible for him to do more. He can't speak to the Doctor's position.

Which leaves him here, studying the mechanisms - such as they are - in Thane's mind. Wondering if he can come up with a solution, or if there is a solution to come up with before the Rani completes her phage.

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor's silent for a moment, looking at the Vesmier, and then trying not to look at him as he glances around the rest of the Cloister Room, and finally he says, "I'm sorry."

Apologies aren't exactly unexpected, if you know the Doctor - he does this sort of thing, whether it's actually necessary or not - but this is... just a little different. He still hasn't sorted out... most of what happened, it just seems like the appropriate reaction. He's probably got something to apologize for.

[the_vesmier]

The Vesmier takes that in, wondering what and how much the Doctor's apologies mean. His own Doctor is so different - never tends to apologise, not like this one; tends, as they both do, toward arguments more than this. And that would make the Vesmier more comfortable, really, right now - he's firmly in the Doctor's territory in all these crises and conflicts, and the fact that the Doctor doesn't seem to know what to do doesn't help.

After a while, he sighs. "As am I," he says, because regardless of his own thoughts and convictions, he hasn't been able to bring this to a close either.

[thatsortofaman]

There are easier people to have a conversation with. Not that that will stop the Doctor, who, given the right circumstances, could hold a conversation with a brick wall (both the normal kind, and those that are bigger on the inside). He waits for just a moment, in case there might be more coming, and then sighs, moving around to lean against the wall beside the Vesmier.

"The TARDIS won't let me out," he says conversationally. "I don't suppose you could convince her...?" It's not like he's going to go running off to find Thane again, he just wants to go to the Kashtta. Nothing's going to happen on a short trip across the street.

[the_vesmier]

The Vesmier weighs that request. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asks. "Instagur Thane is still at large, and from what I hear, he's visited the Kashtta Tower at least once. It goes without saying that he'll be looking for you."

At least, it goes without saying if you've done a complete psychic inventory of Thane's brain.

I'm not sure whether or not I could convince her in any case," he says, though quieter. "Once she's taken up a conviction..."

[thatsortofaman]

"It's not like I'd be gone for long," the Doctor says, pouting a little. It's both adorable, and somewhat pathetic. "I just wanted to... they've got a Chula robot. It bought me suits. I thought I should... say hello." And, you know, poke at it a little. To find out what it's doing here, if nothing else.

It's either that or wandering into the depths of the TARDIS to see what he can find in storage closets and what he can assemble out of that. The Doctor bored and sort of avoiding people is a bad combination.

[the_vesmier]

The Vesmier looks... somewhat skeptical, at the mention of a Chula robot, but the expression soon vanishes. "Ah. Yes; I'd heard about that. Apparently they contacted the Chula to see if they would render assistance in bringing Instagur Thane under control. Predictably, the Chula were less than helpful." He stands, easing out stiffness from his joints - he's been sitting for quite some time. "As unreliable as Chula technology is, I still find it hard to believe that it will cease to exist before Thane is caught and controlled."

He pings the TARDIS, sounding out her mood, and what may be a faint expression of irony appears on his face.

"...And I'm not sure how the TARDIS will take to the information that you'd like to leave her protection in order to converse with a Chula agent. Especially as, if I'm not mistaken, you were the one who informed her of the various threats, one of which is still at large."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor sighs, looking somewhat disappointed - not that he really expected the Vesmier to help him get out, but he had hoped... "But... I'm not..."

Oh, this is completely unfair. And ridiculous, and everyone is just being overly paranoid about this, and... "Alright, fine. Let me help you catch him, then." Or kill him, if that's what it takes. All of this... he should have found a way to fix it a long time ago anyway.

[the_vesmier]

Possibly they are being overly paranoid about this. Then, their paranoia has so far managed to keep most of them well and uncaptured, whereas the Doctor's "rush right in and deal with things" technique has... not gone so well.

And they're about 0-0, as far as solutions go. Well. 2-2, technically, but 0-0 if you count ones that actually work.

Maybe combining their efforts will end in less disaster.

The Vesmier nods. "If you have an workable plan, feel free to inform me," he says. "The Rani has a design by which she can make a bacterium which will consume brain tissue faster than he can regenerate it, and given the Rani's attitude toward charity on her best of days, I'm not sure we'd ever be able to persuade her to develop a cure."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor stares at him for a few seconds without saying anything, his expression hardly changing. "I'd, ah... rather not do that." Not that he has a better plan, but he'll... find one. Before the Rani destroys Thane's brain and any chance of actually fixing this, and if anyone's going to kill him it's going to be

"I need to... go... um..." He glances around the cloister room as if that's going to give him any answers, and then back to the Vesmier. "That... thing you sent with Sark. Do you have any plans, any notes, anything I can look at?"

Maybe... There has to be some way he can modify that, make it better, make it usable without sending someone right in to Thane. Or... surely there's something...

[the_vesmier]

And this, Doctor, is the look that tells you from the Vesmier's point of view, at least, that you're not nearly so all right as you'd like everyone to think, and it shows. Ves may be too polite to call you on it aloud - for the moment, at least - but it's there, plain to see

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor sees that look, and pointedly ignores it, instead bounding around the hologram to study it, though the usual energy seems a bit forced. He knows how it should look, but it's so much harder right now than it ought to be... Never mind. It's not as if the Vesmier's going to comment on it.

"Right. Um... sorry about that." It's off-hand and distracted - he doesn't sound particularly sorry, but considering he did sort of tear apart the nice, simple structure the Vesmier had been working with. "This is all a bit beyond me, honestly. And I don't say that often. Could you fix him, though? Given time to sort this mess out, assuming someone could keep him in one place for long enough and his brain wasn't liqudfied or anything like that?"

If there's even a chance... Does he want to give him that chance, or- He's still out there, and in the time it takes to find a way to bring back Jack, he could kill people, destroy the Kashtta, destroy the city. The Doctor frowns at the model without really seeing it for the most part, his thoughts

[the_vesmier]

"Yes, you've said that before," the Vesmier chides in response to his apology. "Given time, given... prolonged contact, I could rebuild Captain Harkness' mind the way it was. Buried conscious buried, higher consciousness secured. But it would be difficult - more difficult even than addressing the damage done to April's mind, in fact, as I doubt Instagur Thane will be a willing subject." He exhales. "...which has posed a moral dilemma since the beginning.

"Much easier, though still... a challenging proposition, would be to complete the work you started, although in a much more focused manner. Destroy the systems of suppression entirely. Let the two consciousness modes equalize between themselves." His expression is controlled. "Even I can't predict what the long-term effects of that might be."