Another new arrival. Claire didn't really like welcoming people into Taxon, because it was hard to make someone who was trapped in an alien city feel welcome there. Still, when the hologram of a new arrival popped up, she picked up her tablet to attempt an explanation for the poor guy. If she was lucky, someone else would get to him before she did - someone who could explain without freaking him out. "Hey," she started, sitting back in her leather desk chair and trying to appear as relaxed as possible. "This probably isn't what you think it is." It never was.
"That room that you're in? Everyone starts out there, but there's a whole city outside of that building. And we're not guests in the...traditional sense." And the rest of it wasn't going to go over very well at all. "We're more like prisoners. Comfortable ones."
"Well, I can appreciate the honesty, at least," the Doctor said. He stepped over to the tablet, where a hologram of a pretty blonde woman appeared. Human, by the looks of her, and comfortable, as she'd said.
"But a gilded cage is still a cage," he said, waving the sonic over the tablet's surface to try to determine its origin. "Where are we, exactly?"
"Taxon," Claire answered. It surprised her that he could receive information like that and move on to the specifics without questioning her story. Most people didn't want to believe that they had been kidnapped in the first place. "The device that you're using right now is a tablet. There's a map function on it. You can use it to see if there's something that belongs to you in the city. Maybe a house, or a possession that means a lot to you. Everyone gets something."
She straightened up in her seat, unsure as to how much help this man would want. They hadn't gotten to the 'alien' part of the explanation yet. "I know how weird all of this sounds, but you get used to it after a while."
"Well, I've been through stranger," the Doctor said. "Remind me to tell you about driving a bus between worlds sometime, it's quite the story." He fiddled with the tablet, but the whole thing seemed to be set in a deadlock seal. He brought up the map function.
"Nothing there," he said. "But, well, I haven't got a whole lot for it to transport. And bringing the TARDIS here wouldn't be a good idea if they want to keep me around."
For a long moment, River just looks at him. Like she knows him, and in a way she does. She knew one of him. A version, though she can't tell by looking at him over the tablets.
"Don't blow anything up this time," she says sternly.
The Doctor leans over to the tablet. He doesn't recognize the girl, and he can't figure out how she must recognize him, unless---well, it's obvious, isn't it?
"What do you want with me?" he demands. "You must've used colossal energy to pull me from my TARDIS, and that means you were looking for me specifically. Why?"
She rolls her eyes dramatically, and the message in that gesture is clear. Wrong, Doctor. Very wrong.
"We're all mice. Mazes." She pauses for a second to roll her eyes back to look at him. "I didn't do it," she says then with all the defensiveness of a little girl who has definitely not taken any cookies before dinner, really.
There's that familiar thrum flaring with life again in its corner of the Master's mind. It knocks him off guard for only a moment, and after closing his eyes and breathing deeply, his awareness of the Doctor slips back under the drumbeat and settles.
This was unsurprising; he had told Astrid that the Doctor was bound to be back quite soon. He wasn't absentminded enough to leave Taxon to the Master himself - that would have been kind of him
( ... )
There's no calmness in the Doctor, not from the moment he hears that voice. He closes his eyes and feels it, feels the presence of another Time Lord.
"But that's impossible," he says, his voice no more than a breath. "Y-You're---"
No, but he wouldn't be, would he? Not the Master. Not after everything that happened to them. Not with how desperately the Master wanted to really and truly win.
"I should've known. I should've should've known you'd figure out some way to survive. Survive and bring yourself here. Who else would've gone to the trouble of capturing me and my TARDIS?"
He races to the tablet and picks it up, immediately struggling to find the source of the other signal, to find where the Master is.
[visual] / [Location: the Sanctuary]beholdthedrumsJanuary 2 2010, 05:16:01 UTC
The Doctor's reaction causes the Master to completely freeze his work, and he lifts his gaze to the tablet - to really look at the Doctor. He frowns at what he sees.
"You idiot," he scowls, then slams his tablet shut and leaves his room. He's never bothered with finding a location outside of the Sanctuary. Sleeping is no concern of his, and it's just as well he does his work from within the main building. It also helps with quickly hunting down newcomers.
He rubs a hand over his brow as he goes down the hall to the most likely place for the Doctor to be spat out - once he gets himself out of that room. From just that one glance he discerned two things: the Doctor was younger, and he wasn't wearing the same black suit he had in Taxon.
Great. So he had the goody-two-shoes to deal with again, didn't he? Oh this was going to be a grand old time.
Not even bothering to hide his irritation, he waits within a hall of the Sanctuary for the Doctor to find him, for once allowing his present location to be read.
[visual] / [Location: the Sanctuary]rude_not_gingerJanuary 2 2010, 05:28:18 UTC
"Master, don't---" He claws at the screen where the hologram of his enemy had been.
Alive. Of course he was alive. Of course he was alive, why did the Doctor think he wouldn't be? Probably wrapped up in the prophecy somehow, he's going to have to figure out how. And, without a doubt, the reason the Doctor is here, now.
Without hesitation, he darts down the stairs, scooping up the tablet with him. He doesn't have any real idea where the Master might be, but he knows he's somewhere close.
He searches the immediate areas and, finding nothing, turns back to the tablet. How did he turn it on the first time? How did he get communications to go through? It can't be that difficult, it's just a bit of alien technology. Alien technology with a deadlock seal, but still!
He flips through screens, eventually finding a map. A map with locations all around a city. Locations, and people. And one stands in a hallway not far away from the small diode labeled DoctorHe grabs the tablet and races down another hall, skidding to a stop as
( ... )
"Oh good, you're back." Vala announced with a smile, foregoing the usual explanations, enough other people are bound to have done that. No point in going over already covered ground, besides it was boring saying the same things over and over again.
"I appreciate you probably don't remember me, so to make things easier I'm Vala, you're the Doctor, pleased to meet you, likewise. Any questions? No? Good. Because I have one. That recipe you gave me for New Earth's Long Island Iced Tea, would you believe I forgot it?"
It was one of those moments where not too many words were really necessary. It was a combination of the time, of the confusion from meeting people on the tablet, and possibly hunger, he really should've started looking for somewhere to eat.
All those things combined to create something primal in him, something that didn't often come out, but when it did, it came out with a fury. One word, one utterance, one all-told moment of confusion.
And here she was thinking he was one of the smarter ones, he'd certainly come across like that last time they'd spoken. Surely he'd managed to pick up that he'd been here before by now. As is her wont though, Vala (instead of backing up and offering any means of explanation) simply says, "The cocktail. You told me that they make better ones on New Earth. But I forgot the ingredients, and then you left!"
There may be a hint of bitterness there, not to mention irritation. People leaving Taxon isn't her favourite subject, not by a long-shot, especially those she actually liked.
Oh. The Doctor nods, understanding completely. Well, actually, not understanding at all, but he's pretty sure he's got an idea.
"Sorry! Sorry. Things don't always happen in the right order for me," he explains. "Makes me a bit rubbish at parties, weddings, and sending over recipes."
He sniffs, and then tries on his most charming smile. "I appear to have been kidnapped, though, so if you help me out, I'll make sure to get you what you need right away."
"Unfortunately, our captors really have no concept of how to treat their guests." Helen spoke at the direction of the tablet. A new arrival, something that wasn't so new anymore. Not after being here months. Still, her focus mainly remained on the work in front of her.
"I suppose you could call it that." She shrugged slightly. "Technically, we are here against our will. We've just never seen our captors face to face... or at all, really. Just each other."
She flicked her hair over her shoulder to turn her eyes to the tablet. Helen smiled at the feed of the young looking man with brown spiked hair. "And then, if I can't be so bold to use proper manners, what should I address you by?"
"Oh, manners and me, we never got along well at all," the Doctor said with a grin. "But you can call me 'Doctor'. I'd say that's what my friends call me, but being in here, I've got a feeling that I haven't got a lot of friends on this world."
Haven't seen the captors. That was interesting. The Doctor tucked that information away, along with the layout of the room and the exact sensation he felt when he arrived.
Comments 147
"That room that you're in? Everyone starts out there, but there's a whole city outside of that building. And we're not guests in the...traditional sense." And the rest of it wasn't going to go over very well at all. "We're more like prisoners. Comfortable ones."
Reply
"But a gilded cage is still a cage," he said, waving the sonic over the tablet's surface to try to determine its origin. "Where are we, exactly?"
Reply
She straightened up in her seat, unsure as to how much help this man would want. They hadn't gotten to the 'alien' part of the explanation yet. "I know how weird all of this sounds, but you get used to it after a while."
Reply
"Nothing there," he said. "But, well, I haven't got a whole lot for it to transport. And bringing the TARDIS here wouldn't be a good idea if they want to keep me around."
Reply
"Don't blow anything up this time," she says sternly.
Reply
"What do you want with me?" he demands. "You must've used colossal energy to pull me from my TARDIS, and that means you were looking for me specifically. Why?"
Reply
"We're all mice. Mazes." She pauses for a second to roll her eyes back to look at him. "I didn't do it," she says then with all the defensiveness of a little girl who has definitely not taken any cookies before dinner, really.
Reply
He looks around the room, then down at the wristband he can't remove.
"Experiments, you mean? Is that what we are?"
Oh, the Doctor was not going to let that happen to him. Too many years running from various scientists, he wasn't about to be cut up by anything here.
Reply
This was unsurprising; he had told Astrid that the Doctor was bound to be back quite soon. He wasn't absentminded enough to leave Taxon to the Master himself - that would have been kind of him ( ... )
Reply
"But that's impossible," he says, his voice no more than a breath. "Y-You're---"
No, but he wouldn't be, would he? Not the Master. Not after everything that happened to them. Not with how desperately the Master wanted to really and truly win.
"I should've known. I should've should've known you'd figure out some way to survive. Survive and bring yourself here. Who else would've gone to the trouble of capturing me and my TARDIS?"
He races to the tablet and picks it up, immediately struggling to find the source of the other signal, to find where the Master is.
Reply
"You idiot," he scowls, then slams his tablet shut and leaves his room. He's never bothered with finding a location outside of the Sanctuary. Sleeping is no concern of his, and it's just as well he does his work from within the main building. It also helps with quickly hunting down newcomers.
He rubs a hand over his brow as he goes down the hall to the most likely place for the Doctor to be spat out - once he gets himself out of that room. From just that one glance he discerned two things: the Doctor was younger, and he wasn't wearing the same black suit he had in Taxon.
Great. So he had the goody-two-shoes to deal with again, didn't he? Oh this was going to be a grand old time.
Not even bothering to hide his irritation, he waits within a hall of the Sanctuary for the Doctor to find him, for once allowing his present location to be read.
Reply
Alive. Of course he was alive. Of course he was alive, why did the Doctor think he wouldn't be? Probably wrapped up in the prophecy somehow, he's going to have to figure out how. And, without a doubt, the reason the Doctor is here, now.
Without hesitation, he darts down the stairs, scooping up the tablet with him. He doesn't have any real idea where the Master might be, but he knows he's somewhere close.
He searches the immediate areas and, finding nothing, turns back to the tablet. How did he turn it on the first time? How did he get communications to go through? It can't be that difficult, it's just a bit of alien technology. Alien technology with a deadlock seal, but still!
He flips through screens, eventually finding a map. A map with locations all around a city. Locations, and people. And one stands in a hallway not far away from the small diode labeled DoctorHe grabs the tablet and races down another hall, skidding to a stop as ( ... )
Reply
"I appreciate you probably don't remember me, so to make things easier I'm Vala, you're the Doctor, pleased to meet you, likewise. Any questions? No? Good. Because I have one. That recipe you gave me for New Earth's Long Island Iced Tea, would you believe I forgot it?"
Reply
All those things combined to create something primal in him, something that didn't often come out, but when it did, it came out with a fury. One word, one utterance, one all-told moment of confusion.
"What?"
Reply
There may be a hint of bitterness there, not to mention irritation. People leaving Taxon isn't her favourite subject, not by a long-shot, especially those she actually liked.
Reply
"Sorry! Sorry. Things don't always happen in the right order for me," he explains. "Makes me a bit rubbish at parties, weddings, and sending over recipes."
He sniffs, and then tries on his most charming smile. "I appear to have been kidnapped, though, so if you help me out, I'll make sure to get you what you need right away."
Reply
"Welcome to Taxon, sir."
Reply
"Taxon? Prison planet?"
Reply
She flicked her hair over her shoulder to turn her eyes to the tablet. Helen smiled at the feed of the young looking man with brown spiked hair. "And then, if I can't be so bold to use proper manners, what should I address you by?"
Reply
Haven't seen the captors. That was interesting. The Doctor tucked that information away, along with the layout of the room and the exact sensation he felt when he arrived.
Reply
Leave a comment