Altered History: Echoes on Ood Sphere (5/7)
Title: Altered History: Echos on Oodsphere
Genre: Doctor Who
Rating: T (violence, angst-ridden Doctor)
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: On another major journey the Doctor and Donna land on a planet of beings aware of him, but he doesn't know them. The danger compells him to reveal more about the past he is still fighting against, how he fears the Moment is still haunting him. And Donna sees reason to share his worries.
Disclaimer: Imagine what might have been had the Movie turned into a series as originally intended. What else would have been? So... clearly not mine. Still.
Dedication: cassikat, who kept pressing me to write more of this series. Thanks to Camp NaNoWriMo, I got started on this story when the others stalled hard. Although it took me a while to get cranking on it again.
Author's Notes: Now the series starts providing more answers about the differences the Eighth Doctor's still being alive has caused, and the effects they have. And it's clearly leading toward more. And please, go back and read the first two stories, The Runaway Bride and Prophecies and Pompeii, before reading this one.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that some of the lines in the first chapter were influenced by both the Big Finish audio “Max Warp” and the BBC documentary “The Petrol Age”. The former is an Eight and Lucie adventure set on a space station in the future, and involves both spaceships and a mystery. (Worth finding!) The latter is a four-part series all about British automotive history, and hosted by Paul McGann. I will admit that I originally watched it out of an idle curiosity about the history of cars and had discovered it via a YouTube search for stuff PM was in. While he definitely made it more enjoyable to watch and listen to, I think I would've still found it interesting with a different host; there's a lot of interesting history surrounding the evolution of the car.
And no, you won't find the full thing on YouTube anymore. I enjoyed it so much I may buy a copy. While Amazon Prime members can stream it, it isn't shown in the order I saw on YouTube, the order it was aired in. Oh, and the closed captioning is off. As in comically off.
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four
Altered History: Echos on Ood Sphere
Started April 24, 2017
Unfinished as of original posting
Finished December 15, 2018
Chapter Five: Twists in the Tale
The Doctor walked through the snow-covered area, concentrating on the map as he determined which path they should take. “Okay, so there are a lot of places not properly identified on here. We need to find where the focal point of operations is and-”
A loud whistle stopped him in his tracks. He turned in its direction and realized Donna was the source. She was letting him know that he had walked past an unmarked, locked door.
He stared at her with huge eyes as he rejoined her. “Where did you learn to whistle? I've never heard a Human woman do that before.”
Donna grinned smugly. “West Ham, every Saturday.”
The Doctor got no further than bringing out the sonic when he turned to look at her, frowning. “Aren't there closer teams where you live?”
“My dad's brother lives near West Ham. My cousin plays for them, so he has season tickets. When I figured out the off-side rule he decided I'd be included every week. My whistle almost got my cousin into a fight because it distracted an opponent,” she added, flushing at the memory.
“I'll ask later,” he said, using the sonic to open the door. He had a feeling the story would be good.
The hallway led them in a huge hangar, filled with containers like a shipping warehouse. In the midst of it all was a giant claw lifting and transporting the containers.
The Doctor looked for where the claw came from as the enormity of the situation became sharper. “Ood export. So the claw lifts up the containers, takes them to the rocket sheds, ready to be flown out, all over the three galaxies.”
Donna looked at him, stilling and wide-eyed as he led her to one. “What, you mean, these containers are full of...?”
“What do you think?”
On opening the door, they found it almost completely filled with Ood. The beings stood motionless.
“Oh, it stinks!” Donna cried. “How many of them d'you think there are in each one?”
“A hundred, perhaps.”
“A great big empire, built on slavery,” she whispered.
“It's not so different from your time.”
“Oi! I haven't got slaves!”
“How much do you know about where your clothes come from? Do you think most people know?”
Her eyes turned into sharp steel. “Is that why you travel round with a human at your side? It's not so you can show them the wonders of the universe, it's so you can take cheap shots?! Not all of us have much choice in where we can buy clothes!”
“You know I don't bring Humans along for that! And how was I to know about clothing prices? I'm a dumbo when it comes to certain Human traits, as you've said.”
Donna chose to focus on the Ood themselves. “I don't understand, the door is open, why don't you just run away?”
“For what reason?” answered one Ood.
“You could be free,” Donna said, speaking like she had just been asked to explain passed down sayings she thought she understood completely to a non-English speaker.
“I do not understand the concept.”
That got both time travelers' attention.
“What is it with that Persil ball?” Donna asked, fixing on something specific. “I mean, they're not born with it, are they? Why do they have to be all plugged in?”
“Excellent question, Donna. Ood, tell me, does 'the circle' mean anything to you?”
“The circle must be broken,” all the Ood in the container suddenly said.
Donna recoiled. “Whoa, that is creepy!”
“Agreed. But what is it? What is the circle?”
“The circle must be broken.”
“Why?” demanded the Doctor.
“So that we can sing.”
“Sing? Like the song we heard from that dying Ood.”
“You heard it,” Donna corrected.
Alarms blared. Over them they could hear a computerized voice calling out, “Intruder alert! Intruder alert!”
“Oh, that's us! Come on!” the Doctor said, grabbing her hand and helping her run between the containers.
It was so twisted they had to let go of each other. Donna noticed something and stopped. “Doctor, there's a door!”
Unfortunately guards rushed in right through that door. “Don't move,” said one to her.
Further inside the Doctor suddenly realized he was alone. “No, where are you?!” he cried as he evaded the guards.
“Stay where you are,” the Guard continued as his colleagues grabbed Donna and pushed her into an open container partly filled with Ood.
“Get off me! Get off me!” Donna screamed just before the door was slammed in her face.
“Donna! Where are you?” the Doctor shouted back, trying to guess where he had to somehow double back to.
But he soon had bigger problems. The claw changed course and headed right for him.
“I never thought I'd be one of those toys Lucie tried to win,” he rasped, dodging the grab attempts. He tried a container, but it was locked.
Meanwhile, inside the container, Donna turned to her fellow captives. “Can you help me?”
Their eyes turned towards her, as red as the dying Ood's had been.
Donna shook her head wildly. “Oh, no, you don't! What have I done? I'm not one of that lot. I'm on your side! Stay where you are. That's an order! I said, stay! Doctor! DOCTOR!”
Using the containers as a shield kept failing. Even as his stamina was failing him, the Doctor kept pushing himself. “Got to get her out!”
But a fast movement from the claw drove him to dive to the ground, trapped against another container. The claw rushed him.
And stopped inches from crushing him.
Panting, he gasped a laugh. “A reprieve?”
He heard some guard approaching. “So Mr Halpen wants them alive,” he heard one remark as they grabbed him and led him away.
Inside Donna watched as the Ood approached as one, reaching out for her. “That can't be good. Doctor, get me out! Doctor, get me out of here!”
The sound of her muffled voice was a relief to the captive Doctor as they approached the container. “Do what she says or you're really in trouble. Not from me, from her!”
The clear leader grimaced but Solana, who was also there, glared in a silent command. So he nodded. “Unlock the container!”
Two guards opened the door, and Donna - with Ood hands inches from her - bolted out to hug the Doctor, who managed to shake off the guards enough to hug back.
“Doctor!”
“There we go, safe and sound,” he breathed.
Screams caught their attention. The Ood had electrocuted the nearest guards.
“Never mind about me, what about them?!” Donna cried.
“Red alert! Fire!” shouted the chief guard in the face of all containers opening, revealing more red-eyed Ood on a steady rampage.
“Shoot to kill!”
“Time to run,” the Doctor whispered and took Donna's hand to lead her quickly away.
They had one person in tow following them outside. After a bit he allowed them a rest so Donna could catch her breath and he could get some answers.
Yet Donna was first. “If people back on Earth... knew what was going on here...”
“Oh, don't be so stupid,” Solana said, in a tone that reminded the Doctor of Lance's tone towards Donna. “Of course they know.”
“They know how you treat the Ood?”
“They don't ask. Same thing.”
The Doctor had enough. “Solana, the Ood aren't born like this. A species born to serve could never evolve in the first place. What does the company do to make them obey?”
“That's nothing to do with me!”
“Oh, because you don't ask?” he challenged, sharp and short.
Solana hesitated a few seconds. “That's Dr Ryder's territory.”
“Where is he? What part of the complex? I could help, with the red-eye, and save lives. But I need you to show me!” the Doctor demanded, showing her his map.
Solana barely needed to look at her before pointing. “There. Beyond the red section.”
“Come with us. You've seen the warehouse, you can't agree with all this. You know this place better than me, you could help.”
The woman was silent, thinking about it for a few seconds before reaching her decision.
“They're over here! Guards! They're over here!”
“We'll have you!” Donna promised as the Doctor took her hand and hurried her away.
Two guards were in hot pursuit, but the Doctor was taking advantage of his smaller stature to create a diversion to buy them time to look.
“This way!” he told Donna, changing direction again.
Just as they nearly passed another door he stopped. “Oh, can you hear it? I didn't need the map, I should've listened instead.”
The door was unlocked, shockingly. He then used the sonic on the lock.
“Hold on. Does that mean we're locked in?” Donna protested.
The Doctor held up his hands. “Listen. Listen, listen, listen, listen...”
Donna frowned as she did, but then her frown fell in horror as her friend grabbed his head and groaned. “Doctor? Are you-?”
“Oh, my head!”
“What is it?”
He looked at her, finally able to. “Can't you hear it?” he gasped. “The singing?”
Donna's gaze followed where his seemed drawn to, and they found a cage with several Ood inside. Unlike the others they lacked the red eyes, and they drew themselves towards the back of the cage as they approached. To Donna's eyes, they seemed like frightened children. “They look different to the others.”
The Doctor quickly spotted why as he led her slowly towards the cage. “That's because they're natural-born Ood, unprocessed, before they're adapted to slavery. Unspoilt. That's their song we're hearing.”
“I can't hear it.”
The Doctor's eyes snapped to hers. He heard the curiosity, the compassion. “Do you want to?”
“Yeah.”
“It's the song of captivity,” he cautioned. “I'm having trouble coping with it and my species is used to telepathy.”
“Let me hear it,” she said, determined.
He sighed. “Very well. Face me. Please, no Star Trek jokes.”
She frowned but was silent as he placed his fingers on her head, evoking memories of watching Spock with her granddad. The seriousness of their situation ensured that she would respect his request.
“Open your mind, and prepare. Hear it, Donna. Hear the music.”
Where there had been silence Donna's mind flooded with singing. The skill would put the best Human choirs to shame, and would have made Donna's hairs stand on end for that alone. But the emotion, the plaintive lament, choked her throat and took away her ability to speak. Tears filled her eyes, clouding her vision.
It took several seconds before Donna found enough air to force the words through her lips. “Take it away!”
The Doctor could not believe she had lasted that long. Still, he did not go into someone's mind lightly. “Are you sure?”
“I can't bear it.”
He promptly reconnected with her mind through his fingers. In just two seconds he restored her natural barriers.
“I'm sorry,” Donna choked on her tears.
“It's OK,” he whispered as he touched her arms. Establishing something to ground her. Just as she had with him earlier. “Just stay with me.”
She found the ability to look back at him. “But you can still hear it?”
His eyes watered in the face of that massive compassion aimed right at him. “All the time.”
Loud thuds came from the door, bursting into their awareness.
“They're breaking in,” Donna said, fear creeping back in.
“Oh, let them,” the Doctor replied as he broke into the cage using the sonic. He led Donna inside, but the Ood drew as far back as they could.
The Doctor knelt to their level. “What are you holding? Show me. Friend.” He pointed at himself and Donna in turn, to highlight his softly spoken words. “Doctor. Donna. Friend. Let me see... Look at me... Let me see.”
One, evidently braver or more trusting than the others, slowly moved towards them. The movements were shaking with terror. And he was not using his hands to balance. Instead he - at least Donna assumed these were all males; it was hard to tell - kept them cupped.
“That's it,” the Doctor encouraged with a smile. “That's it, go on. Go on...”
The Ood opened his palms, revealing the small object he was hiding.
Donna sucked in a breath. She knew enough anatomy to spot a resemblance to something she knew about. “Is that...?”
“It's a brain,” the Doctor breathed. “A hind brain. The Ood are born with a secondary brain. Like the amygdala in humans, it processes memory and emotions. You get rid of that, you wouldn't be Donna any more. You would be like a processed Ood.”
“So the company... cuts off their brains?”
He nodded, unable to look away. “And they stitch on the translator!”
“Like a lobotomy,” Donna whispered, trembling at the enormity of the cruelty her species was capable of.
“The Ood are nothing more than a resource to Halpan and his corporation. Just like Lucie was to Hulbert Logistics. Just like you were to the Empress and Lance.” He paused, forcing the next words through the pain in his throat. “And like me to the Moment.”
“I want to go home.”
Chapter Six: Robes, Wigs and Trouble-makers
Genre: Doctor Who
Rating: T (violence, angst-ridden Doctor)
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: On another major journey the Doctor and Donna land on a planet of beings aware of him, but he doesn't know them. The danger compells him to reveal more about the past he is still fighting against, how he fears the Moment is still haunting him. And Donna sees reason to share his worries.
Disclaimer: Imagine what might have been had the Movie turned into a series as originally intended. What else would have been? So... clearly not mine. Still.
Dedication: cassikat, who kept pressing me to write more of this series. Thanks to Camp NaNoWriMo, I got started on this story when the others stalled hard. Although it took me a while to get cranking on it again.
Author's Notes: Now the series starts providing more answers about the differences the Eighth Doctor's still being alive has caused, and the effects they have. And it's clearly leading toward more. And please, go back and read the first two stories, The Runaway Bride and Prophecies and Pompeii, before reading this one.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that some of the lines in the first chapter were influenced by both the Big Finish audio “Max Warp” and the BBC documentary “The Petrol Age”. The former is an Eight and Lucie adventure set on a space station in the future, and involves both spaceships and a mystery. (Worth finding!) The latter is a four-part series all about British automotive history, and hosted by Paul McGann. I will admit that I originally watched it out of an idle curiosity about the history of cars and had discovered it via a YouTube search for stuff PM was in. While he definitely made it more enjoyable to watch and listen to, I think I would've still found it interesting with a different host; there's a lot of interesting history surrounding the evolution of the car.
And no, you won't find the full thing on YouTube anymore. I enjoyed it so much I may buy a copy. While Amazon Prime members can stream it, it isn't shown in the order I saw on YouTube, the order it was aired in. Oh, and the closed captioning is off. As in comically off.
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four
Altered History: Echos on Ood Sphere
Started April 24, 2017
Unfinished as of original posting
Finished December 15, 2018
Chapter Five: Twists in the Tale
The Doctor walked through the snow-covered area, concentrating on the map as he determined which path they should take. “Okay, so there are a lot of places not properly identified on here. We need to find where the focal point of operations is and-”
A loud whistle stopped him in his tracks. He turned in its direction and realized Donna was the source. She was letting him know that he had walked past an unmarked, locked door.
He stared at her with huge eyes as he rejoined her. “Where did you learn to whistle? I've never heard a Human woman do that before.”
Donna grinned smugly. “West Ham, every Saturday.”
The Doctor got no further than bringing out the sonic when he turned to look at her, frowning. “Aren't there closer teams where you live?”
“My dad's brother lives near West Ham. My cousin plays for them, so he has season tickets. When I figured out the off-side rule he decided I'd be included every week. My whistle almost got my cousin into a fight because it distracted an opponent,” she added, flushing at the memory.
“I'll ask later,” he said, using the sonic to open the door. He had a feeling the story would be good.
The hallway led them in a huge hangar, filled with containers like a shipping warehouse. In the midst of it all was a giant claw lifting and transporting the containers.
The Doctor looked for where the claw came from as the enormity of the situation became sharper. “Ood export. So the claw lifts up the containers, takes them to the rocket sheds, ready to be flown out, all over the three galaxies.”
Donna looked at him, stilling and wide-eyed as he led her to one. “What, you mean, these containers are full of...?”
“What do you think?”
On opening the door, they found it almost completely filled with Ood. The beings stood motionless.
“Oh, it stinks!” Donna cried. “How many of them d'you think there are in each one?”
“A hundred, perhaps.”
“A great big empire, built on slavery,” she whispered.
“It's not so different from your time.”
“Oi! I haven't got slaves!”
“How much do you know about where your clothes come from? Do you think most people know?”
Her eyes turned into sharp steel. “Is that why you travel round with a human at your side? It's not so you can show them the wonders of the universe, it's so you can take cheap shots?! Not all of us have much choice in where we can buy clothes!”
“You know I don't bring Humans along for that! And how was I to know about clothing prices? I'm a dumbo when it comes to certain Human traits, as you've said.”
Donna chose to focus on the Ood themselves. “I don't understand, the door is open, why don't you just run away?”
“For what reason?” answered one Ood.
“You could be free,” Donna said, speaking like she had just been asked to explain passed down sayings she thought she understood completely to a non-English speaker.
“I do not understand the concept.”
That got both time travelers' attention.
“What is it with that Persil ball?” Donna asked, fixing on something specific. “I mean, they're not born with it, are they? Why do they have to be all plugged in?”
“Excellent question, Donna. Ood, tell me, does 'the circle' mean anything to you?”
“The circle must be broken,” all the Ood in the container suddenly said.
Donna recoiled. “Whoa, that is creepy!”
“Agreed. But what is it? What is the circle?”
“The circle must be broken.”
“Why?” demanded the Doctor.
“So that we can sing.”
“Sing? Like the song we heard from that dying Ood.”
“You heard it,” Donna corrected.
Alarms blared. Over them they could hear a computerized voice calling out, “Intruder alert! Intruder alert!”
“Oh, that's us! Come on!” the Doctor said, grabbing her hand and helping her run between the containers.
It was so twisted they had to let go of each other. Donna noticed something and stopped. “Doctor, there's a door!”
Unfortunately guards rushed in right through that door. “Don't move,” said one to her.
Further inside the Doctor suddenly realized he was alone. “No, where are you?!” he cried as he evaded the guards.
“Stay where you are,” the Guard continued as his colleagues grabbed Donna and pushed her into an open container partly filled with Ood.
“Get off me! Get off me!” Donna screamed just before the door was slammed in her face.
“Donna! Where are you?” the Doctor shouted back, trying to guess where he had to somehow double back to.
But he soon had bigger problems. The claw changed course and headed right for him.
“I never thought I'd be one of those toys Lucie tried to win,” he rasped, dodging the grab attempts. He tried a container, but it was locked.
Meanwhile, inside the container, Donna turned to her fellow captives. “Can you help me?”
Their eyes turned towards her, as red as the dying Ood's had been.
Donna shook her head wildly. “Oh, no, you don't! What have I done? I'm not one of that lot. I'm on your side! Stay where you are. That's an order! I said, stay! Doctor! DOCTOR!”
Using the containers as a shield kept failing. Even as his stamina was failing him, the Doctor kept pushing himself. “Got to get her out!”
But a fast movement from the claw drove him to dive to the ground, trapped against another container. The claw rushed him.
And stopped inches from crushing him.
Panting, he gasped a laugh. “A reprieve?”
He heard some guard approaching. “So Mr Halpen wants them alive,” he heard one remark as they grabbed him and led him away.
Inside Donna watched as the Ood approached as one, reaching out for her. “That can't be good. Doctor, get me out! Doctor, get me out of here!”
The sound of her muffled voice was a relief to the captive Doctor as they approached the container. “Do what she says or you're really in trouble. Not from me, from her!”
The clear leader grimaced but Solana, who was also there, glared in a silent command. So he nodded. “Unlock the container!”
Two guards opened the door, and Donna - with Ood hands inches from her - bolted out to hug the Doctor, who managed to shake off the guards enough to hug back.
“Doctor!”
“There we go, safe and sound,” he breathed.
Screams caught their attention. The Ood had electrocuted the nearest guards.
“Never mind about me, what about them?!” Donna cried.
“Red alert! Fire!” shouted the chief guard in the face of all containers opening, revealing more red-eyed Ood on a steady rampage.
“Shoot to kill!”
“Time to run,” the Doctor whispered and took Donna's hand to lead her quickly away.
They had one person in tow following them outside. After a bit he allowed them a rest so Donna could catch her breath and he could get some answers.
Yet Donna was first. “If people back on Earth... knew what was going on here...”
“Oh, don't be so stupid,” Solana said, in a tone that reminded the Doctor of Lance's tone towards Donna. “Of course they know.”
“They know how you treat the Ood?”
“They don't ask. Same thing.”
The Doctor had enough. “Solana, the Ood aren't born like this. A species born to serve could never evolve in the first place. What does the company do to make them obey?”
“That's nothing to do with me!”
“Oh, because you don't ask?” he challenged, sharp and short.
Solana hesitated a few seconds. “That's Dr Ryder's territory.”
“Where is he? What part of the complex? I could help, with the red-eye, and save lives. But I need you to show me!” the Doctor demanded, showing her his map.
Solana barely needed to look at her before pointing. “There. Beyond the red section.”
“Come with us. You've seen the warehouse, you can't agree with all this. You know this place better than me, you could help.”
The woman was silent, thinking about it for a few seconds before reaching her decision.
“They're over here! Guards! They're over here!”
“We'll have you!” Donna promised as the Doctor took her hand and hurried her away.
Two guards were in hot pursuit, but the Doctor was taking advantage of his smaller stature to create a diversion to buy them time to look.
“This way!” he told Donna, changing direction again.
Just as they nearly passed another door he stopped. “Oh, can you hear it? I didn't need the map, I should've listened instead.”
The door was unlocked, shockingly. He then used the sonic on the lock.
“Hold on. Does that mean we're locked in?” Donna protested.
The Doctor held up his hands. “Listen. Listen, listen, listen, listen...”
Donna frowned as she did, but then her frown fell in horror as her friend grabbed his head and groaned. “Doctor? Are you-?”
“Oh, my head!”
“What is it?”
He looked at her, finally able to. “Can't you hear it?” he gasped. “The singing?”
Donna's gaze followed where his seemed drawn to, and they found a cage with several Ood inside. Unlike the others they lacked the red eyes, and they drew themselves towards the back of the cage as they approached. To Donna's eyes, they seemed like frightened children. “They look different to the others.”
The Doctor quickly spotted why as he led her slowly towards the cage. “That's because they're natural-born Ood, unprocessed, before they're adapted to slavery. Unspoilt. That's their song we're hearing.”
“I can't hear it.”
The Doctor's eyes snapped to hers. He heard the curiosity, the compassion. “Do you want to?”
“Yeah.”
“It's the song of captivity,” he cautioned. “I'm having trouble coping with it and my species is used to telepathy.”
“Let me hear it,” she said, determined.
He sighed. “Very well. Face me. Please, no Star Trek jokes.”
She frowned but was silent as he placed his fingers on her head, evoking memories of watching Spock with her granddad. The seriousness of their situation ensured that she would respect his request.
“Open your mind, and prepare. Hear it, Donna. Hear the music.”
Where there had been silence Donna's mind flooded with singing. The skill would put the best Human choirs to shame, and would have made Donna's hairs stand on end for that alone. But the emotion, the plaintive lament, choked her throat and took away her ability to speak. Tears filled her eyes, clouding her vision.
It took several seconds before Donna found enough air to force the words through her lips. “Take it away!”
The Doctor could not believe she had lasted that long. Still, he did not go into someone's mind lightly. “Are you sure?”
“I can't bear it.”
He promptly reconnected with her mind through his fingers. In just two seconds he restored her natural barriers.
“I'm sorry,” Donna choked on her tears.
“It's OK,” he whispered as he touched her arms. Establishing something to ground her. Just as she had with him earlier. “Just stay with me.”
She found the ability to look back at him. “But you can still hear it?”
His eyes watered in the face of that massive compassion aimed right at him. “All the time.”
Loud thuds came from the door, bursting into their awareness.
“They're breaking in,” Donna said, fear creeping back in.
“Oh, let them,” the Doctor replied as he broke into the cage using the sonic. He led Donna inside, but the Ood drew as far back as they could.
The Doctor knelt to their level. “What are you holding? Show me. Friend.” He pointed at himself and Donna in turn, to highlight his softly spoken words. “Doctor. Donna. Friend. Let me see... Look at me... Let me see.”
One, evidently braver or more trusting than the others, slowly moved towards them. The movements were shaking with terror. And he was not using his hands to balance. Instead he - at least Donna assumed these were all males; it was hard to tell - kept them cupped.
“That's it,” the Doctor encouraged with a smile. “That's it, go on. Go on...”
The Ood opened his palms, revealing the small object he was hiding.
Donna sucked in a breath. She knew enough anatomy to spot a resemblance to something she knew about. “Is that...?”
“It's a brain,” the Doctor breathed. “A hind brain. The Ood are born with a secondary brain. Like the amygdala in humans, it processes memory and emotions. You get rid of that, you wouldn't be Donna any more. You would be like a processed Ood.”
“So the company... cuts off their brains?”
He nodded, unable to look away. “And they stitch on the translator!”
“Like a lobotomy,” Donna whispered, trembling at the enormity of the cruelty her species was capable of.
“The Ood are nothing more than a resource to Halpan and his corporation. Just like Lucie was to Hulbert Logistics. Just like you were to the Empress and Lance.” He paused, forcing the next words through the pain in his throat. “And like me to the Moment.”
“I want to go home.”
Chapter Six: Robes, Wigs and Trouble-makers