Reflections, Part Thirty
Title: Reflections, part thirty
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: none.
Summary: While making upgrades to the hub, Jack & Ianto come face-to-face with decisions past.
A/N: Part Five in the Horizon's Sing generated AU Something that Starts with "S"; written for the new redismycolour challenge, day thirty.
PART TWENTY-NINE
Jack and Ianto stared at the man encased in the crystal stalagmite, they both recognized the pink shirt and ice cream tie. Ianto with an even more intimate knowledge than Jack. Ianto looked to Jack for answers and saw something in his face, "You knew?"
Jack wouldn't make eye contact, "I guessed. Everything we experienced was either from your memories or an offshoot of your actions. Somehow, you were the stone falling in the water and we saw the ripples." Jack thought for a moment then added, "Or more like snow swirling in a rising wind."
Ianto frowned while resting a hand on the crystal pillar, "How is this even possible? From the report, the reality bomb would have destroyed all of existence, all reality would have ceased." He slid his hand down the side and looked back at Jack, "But it's here and we just passed through several realities other than our own to reach this. It doesn't make sense!"
"Things rarely make sense when paradox is involved." Jack said quietly as he looked at a crystal surface that acted as a computer screen of sorts, "Take a look." Ianto went to Jack and read the display, trying to make sense of the data; Jack finally answered, "Remember the Torchwood One motto about not messing with the flow of time? Well, this little last ditch device basically took a giant dump on that philosophy."
Jack scrolled the data until he reached the pertinent information, "About ten years after mainframe started to really grow, Harriet had the wild idea of feeding it a series of rift keys. They contained specific balances of rift energy that when opened in order would create a bubble outside normal time and space. Someone else added manual crank flux generators, then an enigma-type computation machine. Nearly one hundred years of tinkering created a latent paradox machine within the mainframe, but a special one that created a small pocket." Jack ran a hand across the crystal panel in admiration, "Got to hand it to them, the most technologically advanced pieces were clockwork so mainframe could absorb them, but not de-compile them to change their purposes."
Ianto looked at Jack curiously, "But that still doesn't explain how I ended up in here and this entire reality was blasted out of existence."
Jack answered quietly, "You always say you know everything Ianto. How do you activate protocol zero zero zero one?"
Ianto nearly answered out of instinct, but Jack rest his fingers over Ianto's mouth, "That's how you ended up here Ianto."
"And I'm afraid I'm the reason this reality ceased." The mainframe spoke using Toshiko Sato's voice.
The both looked around, but it was Ianto that spoke, "What did you do? What did I do?"
Mainframe answered the simplest way she could, she played back the final minutes, where Ianto outmaneuvered every attempt by the mainframe to stop him from activating the bubble. They watched in horror as the crystalline structure encapsulated him then watched the images stop. Ianto was confused, "But that doesn't explain why this reality ended?"
"It's my fault. The field I generated threw the Doctor's TARDIS out of the cascade; without it at his disposal they didn't stand a chance. I believe that the paradox bubble both stopped the complete collapse of this reality and contributed to the Dalek weapon doing more than they'd planned. The Time War is finally over here, everyone lost."
Without warning, the light within the crystal faded and when it returned, several patches of the violet crystal were blackened. Before they could ask, the mainframe answered. "I can't maintain the bubble, without a power source. I'm dying; but I can't let him die alone; he's never given up hope."
The crystalline structure around the sleeping Ianto melted away, leaving him unconscious on the floor and the light significantly dimmer. It was only a few moments before that Ianto began to stir and choked out, "Jack?"
Jack and Ianto looked between each other, and Ianto gave a nod then backed away into the darkness. Jack knelt down by the other Ianto and rest a hand on his face, "I'm here Ianto, just like I promised."
Half lidded eyes flared and a smile crept over his face, "I knew you'd come back."
Jack cupped the man's face as he leaned in closer, "I'll always come back for you Ianto."
PART THIRTY-ONE
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: none.
Summary: While making upgrades to the hub, Jack & Ianto come face-to-face with decisions past.
A/N: Part Five in the Horizon's Sing generated AU Something that Starts with "S"; written for the new redismycolour challenge, day thirty.
PART TWENTY-NINE
Jack and Ianto stared at the man encased in the crystal stalagmite, they both recognized the pink shirt and ice cream tie. Ianto with an even more intimate knowledge than Jack. Ianto looked to Jack for answers and saw something in his face, "You knew?"
Jack wouldn't make eye contact, "I guessed. Everything we experienced was either from your memories or an offshoot of your actions. Somehow, you were the stone falling in the water and we saw the ripples." Jack thought for a moment then added, "Or more like snow swirling in a rising wind."
Ianto frowned while resting a hand on the crystal pillar, "How is this even possible? From the report, the reality bomb would have destroyed all of existence, all reality would have ceased." He slid his hand down the side and looked back at Jack, "But it's here and we just passed through several realities other than our own to reach this. It doesn't make sense!"
"Things rarely make sense when paradox is involved." Jack said quietly as he looked at a crystal surface that acted as a computer screen of sorts, "Take a look." Ianto went to Jack and read the display, trying to make sense of the data; Jack finally answered, "Remember the Torchwood One motto about not messing with the flow of time? Well, this little last ditch device basically took a giant dump on that philosophy."
Jack scrolled the data until he reached the pertinent information, "About ten years after mainframe started to really grow, Harriet had the wild idea of feeding it a series of rift keys. They contained specific balances of rift energy that when opened in order would create a bubble outside normal time and space. Someone else added manual crank flux generators, then an enigma-type computation machine. Nearly one hundred years of tinkering created a latent paradox machine within the mainframe, but a special one that created a small pocket." Jack ran a hand across the crystal panel in admiration, "Got to hand it to them, the most technologically advanced pieces were clockwork so mainframe could absorb them, but not de-compile them to change their purposes."
Ianto looked at Jack curiously, "But that still doesn't explain how I ended up in here and this entire reality was blasted out of existence."
Jack answered quietly, "You always say you know everything Ianto. How do you activate protocol zero zero zero one?"
Ianto nearly answered out of instinct, but Jack rest his fingers over Ianto's mouth, "That's how you ended up here Ianto."
"And I'm afraid I'm the reason this reality ceased." The mainframe spoke using Toshiko Sato's voice.
The both looked around, but it was Ianto that spoke, "What did you do? What did I do?"
Mainframe answered the simplest way she could, she played back the final minutes, where Ianto outmaneuvered every attempt by the mainframe to stop him from activating the bubble. They watched in horror as the crystalline structure encapsulated him then watched the images stop. Ianto was confused, "But that doesn't explain why this reality ended?"
"It's my fault. The field I generated threw the Doctor's TARDIS out of the cascade; without it at his disposal they didn't stand a chance. I believe that the paradox bubble both stopped the complete collapse of this reality and contributed to the Dalek weapon doing more than they'd planned. The Time War is finally over here, everyone lost."
Without warning, the light within the crystal faded and when it returned, several patches of the violet crystal were blackened. Before they could ask, the mainframe answered. "I can't maintain the bubble, without a power source. I'm dying; but I can't let him die alone; he's never given up hope."
The crystalline structure around the sleeping Ianto melted away, leaving him unconscious on the floor and the light significantly dimmer. It was only a few moments before that Ianto began to stir and choked out, "Jack?"
Jack and Ianto looked between each other, and Ianto gave a nod then backed away into the darkness. Jack knelt down by the other Ianto and rest a hand on his face, "I'm here Ianto, just like I promised."
Half lidded eyes flared and a smile crept over his face, "I knew you'd come back."
Jack cupped the man's face as he leaned in closer, "I'll always come back for you Ianto."
PART THIRTY-ONE