for lightyearsahead Prompt 008.4
You just found an android's head. Still activated and still speaking, at that. It would really like to be attached to its body again. Help it out.
A corridor. A depressingly dark, damp-smelling corridor similar to all the other depressingly dark, damp-smelling corridors in this crashed star-liner, and the Doctor's first inclination was, naturally, to explore. The exploration grew much more urgent when he'd noticed that Amy was no longer a shadowy figure right by his side but a distant, fear-filled voice, constantly calling out his name.
Don't wander off. He'd told her the very first time they'd met not to wander off. Why did they never listen? Humans. Short lifespans apparently meant short attention spans as well.
"Doctor?"
"Amy! Not to worry! I'm coming for you. Just keep talking! Need to triangulate your location." He flicked his sonic screwdriver to full extension, prongs out and ready to detect any discernible noise coming from a wayward human who'd never once been able to take directions very well.
No wonder he liked her.
The Doctor waved the screwdriver around, the tool's obligatory buzzing a familiar comfort. But still no sign of Amy.
"Doctor?"
"Keep talking, Amy. Just keep talking! I'll be with you in a moment..." Readings on the screwdriver made so little in the way of sense. "I hope." He gave his head a solid clunk with the end of screwdriver. "C'mon, think!" Odd, now, how discomfort caused him to better his concentration. He'd never had to physically pummel himself to bits just to get through a problem before. That was new.
And unwelcome.
And rather painful.
But it did help him to rally up those brain cells and think!
"Ah-hah!" He clicked a setting on the screwdriver. "Forgot to compensate for ship's gravity. I...am an absolute fool. And!" He raised the screwdriver a moment, making a point. "...talking to myself. Ought to stop with that. Could be dangerous. Never know what...might be listening."
"Doctor?"
He clamped a hand over his mouth, the other hand still brandishing the screwdriver. Slipping into a depressingly dark, damp-smelling room, he once again heard Amy's voice.
"Doctor?"
But the source of Amy's voice, the Doctor soon discovered, was not Amy's throat and lungs and teeth and tongue and mouth. No. Not that remarkable combination of biological processes but--
He uncovered his mouth and pocketed his screwdriver. "You're not Amy Pond."
The Doctor stepped across the space, reaching the table where the source of Amy's voice resided. A table strewn with the flotsam and jetsam of invention: tumbleweed tangles of wires, burnt out circuits, a fuse or twelve, soldering tools left to gather dust, screws left to rust. Among the piles of electronic rubble sat a head.
The head once gleamed like quicksilver, but the passage of time had dulled its sheen. It was humanoid, with the prerequisite binocular vision, a prim bump beneath those two eyes suggested a nose, and a slit of a mouth beneath that.
"Would you have come if I did not mimic her voice?" asked the head in a pleasantly neutral tone.
"Yes."
"You are attached to the human. It was logical to utilize her voice in order to get your attention."
"Ah. Of course. Yes. Speaking of Amy, where is she?"
"With the rest of me."
"Rather convenient."
"It is the truth."
"Oh, well, then my next course of action's set in stone, isn't it?" He clamped his hands around the head and lifted it off the table, dislodging layers of dust undisturbed for ages. The dust swirled around the Doctor, bits of it settling onto his tweed jacket, gray specks in his hair. "Come along, then." He tossed the head into the air, catching it gracefully in one hand. "What is your designation?"
"I am called Sanbyaku," said the head, not appearing to be fazed by the Doctor's playful handling of itself.
"Three-hundred of you, then, at least?"
"Five-hundred and thirty-two."
"Then where's the rest? You're the first android I've met since coming aboard."
Silence.
"You're not sure, then, are you?"
Silence.
"Not a very talkative AI for being a protocol android...?"
Silence.
"Hm." He carefully lifted the head up to his ear, squinting and straining to pick up any vocalizations from the android, and yet...nothing.
"Oh. Oh! I have been an idiot! Separated from your body means separated from your power source! And any reserve power, well, you've used up attempting to communicate with me! Am I right? Don't answer that, best reserve your strength. Yes. I'll do the talking for both of us. So! If I find Amy, I find your body, correct? Correct. Yes!" He held the head close in a sort of awkward hug. "No time to lose. Amy?"
From far away, came a familiar voice. "Doctor?"
"Ah-ha! We'll get your body back and I'll get my Amy back. Not...that she's mine. She's a friend certainly but she's human and why am I explaining this to a head?"
"Doctor, is that you?"
"Coming Amy! Here's hoping that you aren't Yonhyaku trying to find its body as well."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Amy! Just keep talking and I'll try to pinpoint your location. And try to reunite an android with his body and try to keep from getting lost in a turned-sideways starliner crashed and abandoned on a lush, tropical planet."
"That's all well and good, Doctor, but if you could just put away some time to find me as well?"
"That's the Amy I know!" And the Doctor waltzed out of the dark laboratory, hurrying to reach Amy before anything else did.
Not that they would, because the Doctor thought that Sanbyaku was quite the charmer, for all of the three seconds he'd spoken with him.
Well, they'd have a nice long conversation later, where they'd figure out what happened to all of the people.
For it was terribly quiet for being aboard a starliner. The Doctor would have to find out why.
Character: The Eleventh Doctor, feat. Amy
Wordcount: 976
A corridor. A depressingly dark, damp-smelling corridor similar to all the other depressingly dark, damp-smelling corridors in this crashed star-liner, and the Doctor's first inclination was, naturally, to explore. The exploration grew much more urgent when he'd noticed that Amy was no longer a shadowy figure right by his side but a distant, fear-filled voice, constantly calling out his name.
Don't wander off. He'd told her the very first time they'd met not to wander off. Why did they never listen? Humans. Short lifespans apparently meant short attention spans as well.
"Doctor?"
"Amy! Not to worry! I'm coming for you. Just keep talking! Need to triangulate your location." He flicked his sonic screwdriver to full extension, prongs out and ready to detect any discernible noise coming from a wayward human who'd never once been able to take directions very well.
No wonder he liked her.
The Doctor waved the screwdriver around, the tool's obligatory buzzing a familiar comfort. But still no sign of Amy.
"Doctor?"
"Keep talking, Amy. Just keep talking! I'll be with you in a moment..." Readings on the screwdriver made so little in the way of sense. "I hope." He gave his head a solid clunk with the end of screwdriver. "C'mon, think!" Odd, now, how discomfort caused him to better his concentration. He'd never had to physically pummel himself to bits just to get through a problem before. That was new.
And unwelcome.
And rather painful.
But it did help him to rally up those brain cells and think!
"Ah-hah!" He clicked a setting on the screwdriver. "Forgot to compensate for ship's gravity. I...am an absolute fool. And!" He raised the screwdriver a moment, making a point. "...talking to myself. Ought to stop with that. Could be dangerous. Never know what...might be listening."
"Doctor?"
He clamped a hand over his mouth, the other hand still brandishing the screwdriver. Slipping into a depressingly dark, damp-smelling room, he once again heard Amy's voice.
"Doctor?"
But the source of Amy's voice, the Doctor soon discovered, was not Amy's throat and lungs and teeth and tongue and mouth. No. Not that remarkable combination of biological processes but--
He uncovered his mouth and pocketed his screwdriver. "You're not Amy Pond."
The Doctor stepped across the space, reaching the table where the source of Amy's voice resided. A table strewn with the flotsam and jetsam of invention: tumbleweed tangles of wires, burnt out circuits, a fuse or twelve, soldering tools left to gather dust, screws left to rust. Among the piles of electronic rubble sat a head.
The head once gleamed like quicksilver, but the passage of time had dulled its sheen. It was humanoid, with the prerequisite binocular vision, a prim bump beneath those two eyes suggested a nose, and a slit of a mouth beneath that.
"Would you have come if I did not mimic her voice?" asked the head in a pleasantly neutral tone.
"Yes."
"You are attached to the human. It was logical to utilize her voice in order to get your attention."
"Ah. Of course. Yes. Speaking of Amy, where is she?"
"With the rest of me."
"Rather convenient."
"It is the truth."
"Oh, well, then my next course of action's set in stone, isn't it?" He clamped his hands around the head and lifted it off the table, dislodging layers of dust undisturbed for ages. The dust swirled around the Doctor, bits of it settling onto his tweed jacket, gray specks in his hair. "Come along, then." He tossed the head into the air, catching it gracefully in one hand. "What is your designation?"
"I am called Sanbyaku," said the head, not appearing to be fazed by the Doctor's playful handling of itself.
"Three-hundred of you, then, at least?"
"Five-hundred and thirty-two."
"Then where's the rest? You're the first android I've met since coming aboard."
Silence.
"You're not sure, then, are you?"
Silence.
"Not a very talkative AI for being a protocol android...?"
Silence.
"Hm." He carefully lifted the head up to his ear, squinting and straining to pick up any vocalizations from the android, and yet...nothing.
"Oh. Oh! I have been an idiot! Separated from your body means separated from your power source! And any reserve power, well, you've used up attempting to communicate with me! Am I right? Don't answer that, best reserve your strength. Yes. I'll do the talking for both of us. So! If I find Amy, I find your body, correct? Correct. Yes!" He held the head close in a sort of awkward hug. "No time to lose. Amy?"
From far away, came a familiar voice. "Doctor?"
"Ah-ha! We'll get your body back and I'll get my Amy back. Not...that she's mine. She's a friend certainly but she's human and why am I explaining this to a head?"
"Doctor, is that you?"
"Coming Amy! Here's hoping that you aren't Yonhyaku trying to find its body as well."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Amy! Just keep talking and I'll try to pinpoint your location. And try to reunite an android with his body and try to keep from getting lost in a turned-sideways starliner crashed and abandoned on a lush, tropical planet."
"That's all well and good, Doctor, but if you could just put away some time to find me as well?"
"That's the Amy I know!" And the Doctor waltzed out of the dark laboratory, hurrying to reach Amy before anything else did.
Not that they would, because the Doctor thought that Sanbyaku was quite the charmer, for all of the three seconds he'd spoken with him.
Well, they'd have a nice long conversation later, where they'd figure out what happened to all of the people.
For it was terribly quiet for being aboard a starliner. The Doctor would have to find out why.
Character: The Eleventh Doctor, feat. Amy
Wordcount: 976