Lu's getting used to talking to his wrist, and to having his wrist talk back. It makes him feel very special-agent, if he gets right down to it. The voice talking to him now, though, sounds a lot like one he's already heard-the skinny guy who calls himself the Doctor. A lot like him, but not quite. So instead of just talking back, via speaker-wrist, he pulls out his tablet and pops it into holo-mode. Hells, he feels so sci-fi.
And the speaker looks like the Doctor. Except the Doctor didn't look like that, hopeless and caught between exhaustion and twitchy hyperactivity-his eyes and his fingers keep moving, and there's a general jitteriness that Lu almost more senses than consciously sees.
"Doctor?" The names here are easy to remember, at least. "Hey. What happened?"
Even though he'd been waiting for something to happen, the Doctor still starts when the holographic image of the communication device suddenly switches from showing the map to showing a small three-dimensional image of a man dressed in black and accompanied by a black dog. The dog looks scared, the Doctor notices.
He licks his lips, blinking at the hologram. All of this is starting to make less sense by the moment. "Who are you?"
Nos still isn't used to the smell of the place-or, more, the smelllessness. No dust, no life. Just metal and plastics and emptiness. Lu feels similarly, about the aesthetic, if not the smell.
"Luduan. You, uh, hailed me earlier. You don't remember?" Lu's heart sinks in his chest. Is that what this is? Dark City? Mind games? The last thing he wants is someone in his head, rearranging things for the lulz-or messing with his body chemistry. Someone's been messing with the Doctor's, that's damned obvious.
"I-- " He did what? Should he know this man? He knows that he doesn't, but he can't really think. Maybe he does. Maybe he forgot. He's been forgetting so many things. "I don't know you. Who--" No, wait, he already asked that. "Where are you?"
And he'll start walking down the steps towards the door. No point in staying here; in fact, if this is the Master's version of the Game, the Doctor wouldn't be surprised if the Master were to transport in a few "adversaries" sooner or later. Best to get away from the transmat as quickly as possible.
"Where am I?" Lu looks around-the room's silver and black and white, white chairs grouped in a circle in the room's center, each facing inward. "An Invisible Persons Anonymous meeting. Uhhhh . . ."
He snaps the device over from holo to map. Here we go, he's still in the Sanctuary-big place, the Sanctuary. Is there a system users list on this thing? You are connected with? Anything? Arr, new tech toys.
"I'm . . . where are you?" Maybe that'll be easier.
As he steps out of the transmat room, the hologram of the man with the dog disappears. The Doctor can still hear the man's voice, though. The communication device seems to have both a holo and a voice setting. Which makes sense, since it says so on the small menu just below the display.
The Doctor stops and blinks a few times, looking around himself. He's in a corridor. There's a window, showing him a city--a big one that doesn't look like any city he's ever visited, not as far as he can remember, anyway--but aside from that, there's nothing. Not even the door he just walked through.
He leans against the wall. Staying upright takes effort. "I was in a room. With a transmat. It's gone now."
"Ooookay, yeah, it does that." Don't ask him why or how. "Wait, hey, no. What? You got back in?" No one else has gotten back in. Well, not that they've mentioned over the comm system. The Doctor'd already been in the arrival room and left, hadn't he?
Oh, sweet. Share Location. Yes, datapad, way to hide the options in a menu three layers down.
"I'm sending you my location." Gods. Did he just say that and mean it? If this place keeps up like this, he'll hit all the classic action film lines, from 'cover me, I'm going in' to 'so it was you. I should have known.'
The holo display changes yet again to show him a location on the map. The Doctor squints. He's wearing his glasses, because he seems to be needing his glasses if he wants to make out anything that's more than four feet away, but they are more of a hindrance right now as he's trying to decipher the small caption on the map. Luduan, it says, and next to it there's another dot with a tag that reads Nostradamus.
The Doctor just looks at the two black, blinking dots for a moment. "Is that your dog?" he asks then. "Nostradamus? Is that the black dog?"
How did you know that? [Lu squints at his own screen, even though he's wearing his contacts and can see the holo map perfectly well. There's just the "You" dot, what . . . oh, hey. Display Pet? Seriously? Did he fall into World of Warcraft?] Never mind, got it. Aw, Nos. Look at that-you've got a dot, kid.
Doctor. [The Doctor is still leaning against the wall with his right hand pressed to his chest and his left holding the comm device. He's starting to feel a little dizzy, so he closes his eyes and leans his head against the wall.] Not Doc. Doctor.
[He hasn't traveled as far away from his starting point as he thought he had. Or maybe the starting point moves. He wouldn't put that past this place. He'll be within line of sight of the Doctor within minutes, if the map's accurate.]
Okay. Doctor. The Doctor. [He's had that conversation already. The Doctor, no other name, okay, the man's serious about it.]
[He keeps watching Nos' dot. It's enormously reassuring. Ever since he arrived, he's been keeping Nos close, hand wrapped in his collar, afraid of losing him. It's good to have one worry gone.]
[Yes. The Doctor. Accept no imitations. Which he isn't. He's still the Doctor.]
[He uses the time while he's waiting for Luduan to slide down the wall and sit down on the floor. This is better. The world's still a bit unsteady around him, but it's less disorienting when he's sitting down.]
[He's not sure how long it is until he can hear footsteps, and sees Luduan turn the corner with Nostradamus in tow. That makes him frown slightly; he should know how long it was. Five minutes, maybe? Ten minutes? He doesn't know. His head is hurting.]
Hello. Luduan. Do I call you Luduan? [Some people prefer shortened versions of their names. He has a feeling this man might.]
And the speaker looks like the Doctor. Except the Doctor didn't look like that, hopeless and caught between exhaustion and twitchy hyperactivity-his eyes and his fingers keep moving, and there's a general jitteriness that Lu almost more senses than consciously sees.
"Doctor?" The names here are easy to remember, at least. "Hey. What happened?"
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He licks his lips, blinking at the hologram. All of this is starting to make less sense by the moment. "Who are you?"
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"Luduan. You, uh, hailed me earlier. You don't remember?" Lu's heart sinks in his chest. Is that what this is? Dark City? Mind games? The last thing he wants is someone in his head, rearranging things for the lulz-or messing with his body chemistry. Someone's been messing with the Doctor's, that's damned obvious.
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And he'll start walking down the steps towards the door. No point in staying here; in fact, if this is the Master's version of the Game, the Doctor wouldn't be surprised if the Master were to transport in a few "adversaries" sooner or later. Best to get away from the transmat as quickly as possible.
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He snaps the device over from holo to map. Here we go, he's still in the Sanctuary-big place, the Sanctuary. Is there a system users list on this thing? You are connected with? Anything? Arr, new tech toys.
"I'm . . . where are you?" Maybe that'll be easier.
Reply
The Doctor stops and blinks a few times, looking around himself. He's in a corridor. There's a window, showing him a city--a big one that doesn't look like any city he's ever visited, not as far as he can remember, anyway--but aside from that, there's nothing. Not even the door he just walked through.
He leans against the wall. Staying upright takes effort. "I was in a room. With a transmat. It's gone now."
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Oh, sweet. Share Location. Yes, datapad, way to hide the options in a menu three layers down.
"I'm sending you my location." Gods. Did he just say that and mean it? If this place keeps up like this, he'll hit all the classic action film lines, from 'cover me, I'm going in' to 'so it was you. I should have known.'
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The holo display changes yet again to show him a location on the map. The Doctor squints. He's wearing his glasses, because he seems to be needing his glasses if he wants to make out anything that's more than four feet away, but they are more of a hindrance right now as he's trying to decipher the small caption on the map. Luduan, it says, and next to it there's another dot with a tag that reads Nostradamus.
The Doctor just looks at the two black, blinking dots for a moment. "Is that your dog?" he asks then. "Nostradamus? Is that the black dog?"
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I'm heading your way now, Doc.
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Okay. Doctor. The Doctor. [He's had that conversation already. The Doctor, no other name, okay, the man's serious about it.]
[He keeps watching Nos' dot. It's enormously reassuring. Ever since he arrived, he's been keeping Nos close, hand wrapped in his collar, afraid of losing him. It's good to have one worry gone.]
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[He uses the time while he's waiting for Luduan to slide down the wall and sit down on the floor. This is better. The world's still a bit unsteady around him, but it's less disorienting when he's sitting down.]
[He's not sure how long it is until he can hear footsteps, and sees Luduan turn the corner with Nostradamus in tow. That makes him frown slightly; he should know how long it was. Five minutes, maybe? Ten minutes? He doesn't know. His head is hurting.]
Hello. Luduan. Do I call you Luduan? [Some people prefer shortened versions of their names. He has a feeling this man might.]
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