somethin' happenin' here - what it is ain't exactly clear (open)

[cricketycricket]

[is in the midst of making rounds for the day, when he stumbles, catching himself on one of the roundels inset into the hallway] AH--!

... [hauls himself back up to his feet] There it is, again. ... That ... feeling, like something isn't ...

[and then, throughout the whole TARDIS, there's a loud chiming, like the bell of a clock tower. low,

Comments

[thelabking]

[Fff Hodgins is still here, because he firmly believes the TARDIS is the Safest Place to Be]

Dude, what's with the noise? It sounds like something that happens before the fight scene in a kung-fu movie

[cricketycricket]

It's an alert - it means something in the operating systems is broken. [okay so it actually means Impending Danger and Doom, but he knows better than to say that over open journal channels in a TARDIS full of people hiding from a murderer]

I'll have it figured out soon, no worries ---!

[thelabking]

You know, saying 'no worries' doesn't really work so well when there's a crazy killer about.

Can I help with anything? I'm good at [blowing things up] physics.

watch as mun magically predicts lines from THE FUTURE

[cricketycricket]

Physics. [thoughtfully, as he scurries down the halls, opening doors and trying to remember where the hell he's going] Physics, physics, physics. ... Physsss-ics. Ahhhm .... well, it couldn't hurt, I suppose?

Where and who, exactly, are you?

oooooo aaaaaahhhhh!

[thelabking]

[That might have been a giggle. Hodgins gets to play with a SPACESHIP!]

I'm Doctor Jack Hodgins, and I'm [pause] somewhere in the TARDIS. You really should put some signs up or something.

[cricketycricket]

I'm not used to this many guests. ... If you can find your way back to the console room, take the fifth right, bear left at the fork, then take your third right and seventh left, respectively. I'd come and meet you but I'm rather preoccupied at the moment.

[there are a few odd electrical beeps and sizzles, and then--] --ah!

[thelabking]

[Hodgins takes a moment] I'm just gonna write that down.

[And a little while longer, after a few bad turns, Hodgins shows up. Oogling at all the shiny things]

[cricketycricket]

[the Cloister Room is indeed, very shiny. there's a staircase at the back that splits in two at the top, into two thin spiral staircases. each set of stairs likely leads to more controls. the roundels on the walls here are larger, big enough to crawl inside once they're removed, and in the center of the room is a column with what looks like a lid on top, firmly clamped down, and panels all around its sides. one of the panels is open, and there's a pair of legs in unmistakable stripey cricket pants sticking out from behind the door. something's smoking, faintly, and there's the sound of quiet cursing in a language Hodgins hasn't heard before, interspersed with angry clicks and a few short, huffy sighs]

[thelabking]

[Hodgins is just gonna GAWK for a bit. On man, it's a SPACESHIP. He finally blinks out of it when he notices the smoke]

...Yeah, that looks healthy.

Cloister Room Filter from here on, y/n?

[cricketycricket]

[sits up abruptly and smacks his head] AH-- [and then peeks up from behind the door, eyes bright, but frowning]

You must be Dr. Hodgins. No, it's ... it isn't healthy at all. I ... I'd appreciate it if you didn't let this get around just yet, but ... the TARDIS outside defenses have gone down. [holds up a rather mangled-looking piece of circuitry with bits of melted glass and wires coming off it]

Cloister Room Filter Forever!

[thelabking]

[Hodgins winces]

Okay, really, really not healthy. [He wanders over to give it a prod] So, we're now officially sitting ducks?

\o/

[cricketycricket]

Well, the TARDIS can still move throughout the castle and the grounds. That's not a problem. Keeping things out, however ...

I might have a replacement part, somewhere. I don't think I used up the ones I picked up, last time I was on Gallifrey. Just the spare temporal inhibitor ... and that's fine. [huffs and sets the broken part down on top of the column] I don't know WHAT could have happened - everything was fine last night.

[gets to his feet, leaning heavily on the column. he's using the irritated huffs mostly to disguise that he's having a slightly hard time breathing in here] Oh, and ah ... don't touch the locks on top here - they open the TARDIS power source. Since I'm not hooked into the Eye of Harmony anymore, I'm not sure what we'd get if we opened that up.

[thelabking]

[Hodgins shrugs] The castle happened. It messes with us whenever it can. I remember when the zombie aliens showed up, the TARDIS...es just turned into regular police telephone boxes.

[Have an arched eyebrow]...I think I can keep my curiosity to a minimum for anything that could do me harm..

[cricketycricket]

The castle. ... Yes, of course. [peers suspiciously at the column - since he knows that's what keeps it running, now]

... Here, Doctor, help me look for a replacement part... [gets up and makes his way toward the stairs. leans on the railing as he heads up]

[thelabking]

When in doubt, blame the castle. [Nods]

[Hodgins might be having a bit of a fangasm at being called 'Doctor', brb, he's pretending he's a Time Lord] Sure, what does it look like? When it's not, you know, mangled.

[cricketycricket]

[stops at the landing near one of the small spiral staircases]

Well ... these bits here are flat and go along the sides, paralell - the glass is basically just a stabilizing wall that slides into the brackets. Rather like the shelves in a stove. ... The middle part still looks the same, only all the wires are connected here, and here. [points]

... I'll check this room here, if you'll look in the other? [gestures toward the other set of stairs]