OMG! An actual fiction prompt!!!!!
For doctorwho_100
Title: A Historic Interlude
Rating: PG, I suspect, for one anatomy reference
Prompt: 049 History
Claim: Peri
Spoilers: Um, a very teeny one for "The Parting of the Ways," in passing
AN: This story is many years in the making....
Peri checked the connections one last time. She didn’t see how the teeny camera could pick up any image, let alone connect via the mechanical spider thingie to the TARDIS viewscreen. She balanced the camera on one of the console panels, flipped the switch, and glanced expectantly up at the viewscreen. She saw herself larger than life, looking surprised. She looked again at the camera, then back at her picture, and snorted. “And people are going to hook up these doohickies to their computers and broadcast themselves all over the world. Right. He’s sooooo full of it sometimes….” She noted she was showing a little more flesh than usual, and used the viewscreen to help her adjust her bikini top.
“Enjoying yourself?”
Peri jumped, but hid her surprise behind a glare. “Geez! Can’t you at least announce yourself before coming into a room?”
The Doctor, smiling at her reaction, approached the console to inspect the hook-up. “And I am not full of 'it,' whatever 'it' is.”
“I didn’t realize I’m traveling with a voyeur.”
“You’ve got it working, I see.”
“Yeah. Just like you said, as easy as setting up an Atari. How far in the future does this come from?”
“From where I picked you up? Oh, fifteen years or so. No time at all, really.”
“Says you.”
“We do have different perceptions of time.” He began futzing with the console, pushing the odd button and spinning the odd dial in what Peri had come to call his Looking Busy act.
“So you keep telling me. Let’s see…” Peri bit her lip, working on the math. “15 years.. that would make me… 34. Man, that’s old.”
The Doctor smiled at that. “If you say so…”
“But… there’s something I don’t get. You said that people used these cameras to broadcast-“
“Webcast.”
“Ok, webcast. But how does the signal get transmitted? Over the air? Over a cable tv hookup?”
“Over the Internet.”
Her nose wrinkled. “The what?”
The Doctor sighed, pushing a blond lock out of his eyes. “Erm… Peri… if you don’t know….”
“What?”
“The problem with time travel is that it’s so easy to find out things one’s not supposed to know.” He made a point of not meeting her gaze.
She stared at him for nearly a minute before asking, “Does that mean you’re not going to tell me?”
He smiled apologetically. “Sorry.”
“But you told me about the camera. You even let me set it up.”
“Yes… well… I had little choice."
“Just because I grabbed it out of your hands?” The Doctor gave her a sour look. She grinned back. “So now that I’ve yanked Pandora’s box out of your grip, let’s just rip the top off.”
“Meaning…?”
“Let’s go check out my future.”
His eyes widened. “That’s something we absolutely cannot do.”
“Why?”
“One shouldn’t know about one’s future.”
“Why not? It’s not like the future’s malleable.”
“Well-“
“And there’s no guarantee you’re even going to return me to where I left from. I may not have been traveling with you long, but I already know the all about the TARDIS’ accuracy.”
The Doctor looked hurt. “She’s not that bad, Peri. She may not get us to where we want, but she always gets us to where we’re needed.”
“Wait… are you saying the TARDIS is sentient?”
“Semi-sentient, actually.”
“Then that means the TARDIS is smart enough not to land us someplace where an older me is.”
“Ah-“
“Oh, just go for it.”
“Very well. How far into your future would you like to go? Thirty years? Fifty?”
“Twenty.”
“That would make it 2004, wouldn’t it?” He entered coordinates with a surprising fierceness, then stepped back and watched the rotor move with his hands firmly jammed into his pockets.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“No, of course not.” He sighed. “I’m annoyed at myself, if you must know.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to railroad you into things. We don’t have to go, if you really don’t want to.”
“No, we’re going. It will be a learning experience.”
“For whom? You or me?”
“Yes.”
The time rotor stopped. The Doctor checked the coordinates. “Ah… New York City, 2004. Let’s take a look, shall we?”
He flipped the viewer switch, realized it was still hooked up to the webcam, and pulled the connections out of the console. The viewer switched to an exterior view of lower Manhattan. Although many high-rises dominated the skyline, the absence of a familiar pair of twin towers seemed suspicious.
Peri looked at her companion and gave him an apologetic grin. “Doctor… I hate to break this to you, but you’re way off. I think we’re in like the 1960's.”
“What makes you say that?”
“When I was 5, my parents took me to New York, and I remember being totally awed by the sight of the World Trade Center being built. That was in 1970.”
“Hmm…” He rechecked the coordinates. “The coordinates definitely read 2004. There must be some kind of fault in the system. Unless…” His whole expression changed; he suddenly looked like someone who was going to be the barer of very bad news.
“Unless what?”
“It's not that the World Trade Center hasn't been built, Peri. It’s that the World Trade Center hasn't been rebuilt.”
Peri looked at him dumbfoundedly for a moment. “Rebuilt?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Dare I ask why it needs to be rebuilt?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t be able to do anything to prevent it.”
“Not at all?”
The Doctor shook his head sadly.
“But… why?”
“Oh, the usual Human obsession with wiping out the imagined enemy. “
“Oh.” She thought about it a moment. “So… do I live with just knowing that the World Trade Center has to be rebuilt some day, or do I go for the whole story?”
“There is the possibility that it wouldn’t have to be rebuilt. At least not by the time you’re dropped off.”
“How can that be? If we’re in 2004 now….”
“Time actually is malleable, Peri.”
“You’re not just telling me that so I can sleep better at night, are you?”
The Doctor avoided answering by hurriedly setting new coordinates. “I think we need some place more exotic, don’t you? How about Barcelona?”
"I've been to Spain, actually, several times, thanks to Howard…."
"No, no, no, this Barcelona is a planet. Warm, like its namesake, so you're properly dressed."
"I guess that's good. Not like you have access to a mall here."
"Well, there is a wardrobe. I think. Unless it was part of the 25% ejected to escape Event One."
Peri smiled. "So you live to not make sense, right?"
"It makes sense to me." The Doctor flashed her a defensive face.
She couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice. "Oh, and I am just psychic enough to keep up with you." Noticing his deepening frown, she added, "So, what's the best thing about Planet Barcelona?"
"The dogs have no noses."
"Oh, so they smell terrible."
The Doctor grinned, his demeanor brightening like a sunrise. "I think I really like you, Peri."
She rolled her eyes. "Gosh. Thanks. I think. Let me know when we get there, okay? I'm going to search for this alleged wardrobe in the meantime." She retreated through the interior door.
Title: A Historic Interlude
Rating: PG, I suspect, for one anatomy reference
Prompt: 049 History
Claim: Peri
Spoilers: Um, a very teeny one for "The Parting of the Ways," in passing
AN: This story is many years in the making....
Peri checked the connections one last time. She didn’t see how the teeny camera could pick up any image, let alone connect via the mechanical spider thingie to the TARDIS viewscreen. She balanced the camera on one of the console panels, flipped the switch, and glanced expectantly up at the viewscreen. She saw herself larger than life, looking surprised. She looked again at the camera, then back at her picture, and snorted. “And people are going to hook up these doohickies to their computers and broadcast themselves all over the world. Right. He’s sooooo full of it sometimes….” She noted she was showing a little more flesh than usual, and used the viewscreen to help her adjust her bikini top.
“Enjoying yourself?”
Peri jumped, but hid her surprise behind a glare. “Geez! Can’t you at least announce yourself before coming into a room?”
The Doctor, smiling at her reaction, approached the console to inspect the hook-up. “And I am not full of 'it,' whatever 'it' is.”
“I didn’t realize I’m traveling with a voyeur.”
“You’ve got it working, I see.”
“Yeah. Just like you said, as easy as setting up an Atari. How far in the future does this come from?”
“From where I picked you up? Oh, fifteen years or so. No time at all, really.”
“Says you.”
“We do have different perceptions of time.” He began futzing with the console, pushing the odd button and spinning the odd dial in what Peri had come to call his Looking Busy act.
“So you keep telling me. Let’s see…” Peri bit her lip, working on the math. “15 years.. that would make me… 34. Man, that’s old.”
The Doctor smiled at that. “If you say so…”
“But… there’s something I don’t get. You said that people used these cameras to broadcast-“
“Webcast.”
“Ok, webcast. But how does the signal get transmitted? Over the air? Over a cable tv hookup?”
“Over the Internet.”
Her nose wrinkled. “The what?”
The Doctor sighed, pushing a blond lock out of his eyes. “Erm… Peri… if you don’t know….”
“What?”
“The problem with time travel is that it’s so easy to find out things one’s not supposed to know.” He made a point of not meeting her gaze.
She stared at him for nearly a minute before asking, “Does that mean you’re not going to tell me?”
He smiled apologetically. “Sorry.”
“But you told me about the camera. You even let me set it up.”
“Yes… well… I had little choice."
“Just because I grabbed it out of your hands?” The Doctor gave her a sour look. She grinned back. “So now that I’ve yanked Pandora’s box out of your grip, let’s just rip the top off.”
“Meaning…?”
“Let’s go check out my future.”
His eyes widened. “That’s something we absolutely cannot do.”
“Why?”
“One shouldn’t know about one’s future.”
“Why not? It’s not like the future’s malleable.”
“Well-“
“And there’s no guarantee you’re even going to return me to where I left from. I may not have been traveling with you long, but I already know the all about the TARDIS’ accuracy.”
The Doctor looked hurt. “She’s not that bad, Peri. She may not get us to where we want, but she always gets us to where we’re needed.”
“Wait… are you saying the TARDIS is sentient?”
“Semi-sentient, actually.”
“Then that means the TARDIS is smart enough not to land us someplace where an older me is.”
“Ah-“
“Oh, just go for it.”
“Very well. How far into your future would you like to go? Thirty years? Fifty?”
“Twenty.”
“That would make it 2004, wouldn’t it?” He entered coordinates with a surprising fierceness, then stepped back and watched the rotor move with his hands firmly jammed into his pockets.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“No, of course not.” He sighed. “I’m annoyed at myself, if you must know.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to railroad you into things. We don’t have to go, if you really don’t want to.”
“No, we’re going. It will be a learning experience.”
“For whom? You or me?”
“Yes.”
The time rotor stopped. The Doctor checked the coordinates. “Ah… New York City, 2004. Let’s take a look, shall we?”
He flipped the viewer switch, realized it was still hooked up to the webcam, and pulled the connections out of the console. The viewer switched to an exterior view of lower Manhattan. Although many high-rises dominated the skyline, the absence of a familiar pair of twin towers seemed suspicious.
Peri looked at her companion and gave him an apologetic grin. “Doctor… I hate to break this to you, but you’re way off. I think we’re in like the 1960's.”
“What makes you say that?”
“When I was 5, my parents took me to New York, and I remember being totally awed by the sight of the World Trade Center being built. That was in 1970.”
“Hmm…” He rechecked the coordinates. “The coordinates definitely read 2004. There must be some kind of fault in the system. Unless…” His whole expression changed; he suddenly looked like someone who was going to be the barer of very bad news.
“Unless what?”
“It's not that the World Trade Center hasn't been built, Peri. It’s that the World Trade Center hasn't been rebuilt.”
Peri looked at him dumbfoundedly for a moment. “Rebuilt?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Dare I ask why it needs to be rebuilt?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t be able to do anything to prevent it.”
“Not at all?”
The Doctor shook his head sadly.
“But… why?”
“Oh, the usual Human obsession with wiping out the imagined enemy. “
“Oh.” She thought about it a moment. “So… do I live with just knowing that the World Trade Center has to be rebuilt some day, or do I go for the whole story?”
“There is the possibility that it wouldn’t have to be rebuilt. At least not by the time you’re dropped off.”
“How can that be? If we’re in 2004 now….”
“Time actually is malleable, Peri.”
“You’re not just telling me that so I can sleep better at night, are you?”
The Doctor avoided answering by hurriedly setting new coordinates. “I think we need some place more exotic, don’t you? How about Barcelona?”
"I've been to Spain, actually, several times, thanks to Howard…."
"No, no, no, this Barcelona is a planet. Warm, like its namesake, so you're properly dressed."
"I guess that's good. Not like you have access to a mall here."
"Well, there is a wardrobe. I think. Unless it was part of the 25% ejected to escape Event One."
Peri smiled. "So you live to not make sense, right?"
"It makes sense to me." The Doctor flashed her a defensive face.
She couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice. "Oh, and I am just psychic enough to keep up with you." Noticing his deepening frown, she added, "So, what's the best thing about Planet Barcelona?"
"The dogs have no noses."
"Oh, so they smell terrible."
The Doctor grinned, his demeanor brightening like a sunrise. "I think I really like you, Peri."
She rolled her eyes. "Gosh. Thanks. I think. Let me know when we get there, okay? I'm going to search for this alleged wardrobe in the meantime." She retreated through the interior door.