when a Doctor needs a doctor [ota]
He hadn't responded to the message from his older self concerning one Perpugilliam Brown, as opposed to the multiple versions of her he'd already encountered in the corridors of the station. His fault. All his fault. If he had kept better tabs on her rather than allow the TARDIS to drag him to this infernal place without her--
He'd promised Erimem that Peri wouldn't come to any harm--
And now there was a very real danger that Zion 8 will be overrun by dead corpses, all bearing her face. The public plea for a geneticist proved his suspicions, that something was causing individuals to mutate into exact genetic clones of Peri Brown. Well, they could replicate her DNA, but not her experiences. And to identify the true Peri from the groups of impostors would require a bit of ingenuity. Luckily, the Doctor had that in spades.
Before heading to the sickbay, he zipped to the TARDIS first, frowning a little at the logs kept dutifully by the ship's computerized data bank.
"So she was here," he murmured. "Ought to have known. The food machine on the third level was active. Why didn't you try to stop her?"
The console had no answer; not even a responding vworp.
He went to work anyway, concocting a hand-held device capable of detecting artron radiation. Though everyone who was pulled into this place from some other realm had a bit of time energy decaying within them, those who've traveled with the Doctor on the TARDIS had much higher levels of it. All the Doctor had to do was go into the sickbay and find the Peri with the highest dose of background radiation in her cells.
Not a needle in the haystack scenario, as some might have feared.
It wasn't long after he arrived at the medical facility that he was greeted by a desperate-sounding "Doctor!"
"Peri?" the Doctor said, tone cautious. "Are you all right?" Ah, so he didn't in actuality need to have located the artron radiation. He only had to rely on Peri's bond with him.
"No, I'm not 'all right'! I mean, look at what's happening to all these people! And it's my fault and I'm gonna get in awful trouble and..."
"Peri, do try to calm down." And the Doctor placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Don't...touch...me..." she said. "Oh, God, Doctor. Not you too. I-I'm sorry. I d-don't..."
"We don't know if the mutation affects Gallifreyan genetics as yet. You do know you must tell these people that you're the carrier, don't you? It will help them...help them fashion a cure."
"But, I can't. Right now, they think I'm just another patient but--"
"You must. The entire station is c-counting on...on it." He paused, then gripped at Peri's shoulders again. "Peri, you must tell them that you're the carrier!"
"It's starting," Peri said, her voice soft, and sounding very very far away in her ears. She backed off from the Doctor, shoving a thumb between her teeth as she watched him double over in pain.
"Tell them..." the Doctor sputtered out through clenched teeth as he slumped to the floor, his body shuddering as it began to accept Peri's DNA as its own. "...before it's too...late..."
"Hello? Hello?" she called, desperate to grab the attention of a medical staffer or a guard or anyone else who might be close by. "I...I think he needs help. Please!"
He'd promised Erimem that Peri wouldn't come to any harm--
And now there was a very real danger that Zion 8 will be overrun by dead corpses, all bearing her face. The public plea for a geneticist proved his suspicions, that something was causing individuals to mutate into exact genetic clones of Peri Brown. Well, they could replicate her DNA, but not her experiences. And to identify the true Peri from the groups of impostors would require a bit of ingenuity. Luckily, the Doctor had that in spades.
Before heading to the sickbay, he zipped to the TARDIS first, frowning a little at the logs kept dutifully by the ship's computerized data bank.
"So she was here," he murmured. "Ought to have known. The food machine on the third level was active. Why didn't you try to stop her?"
The console had no answer; not even a responding vworp.
He went to work anyway, concocting a hand-held device capable of detecting artron radiation. Though everyone who was pulled into this place from some other realm had a bit of time energy decaying within them, those who've traveled with the Doctor on the TARDIS had much higher levels of it. All the Doctor had to do was go into the sickbay and find the Peri with the highest dose of background radiation in her cells.
Not a needle in the haystack scenario, as some might have feared.
It wasn't long after he arrived at the medical facility that he was greeted by a desperate-sounding "Doctor!"
"Peri?" the Doctor said, tone cautious. "Are you all right?" Ah, so he didn't in actuality need to have located the artron radiation. He only had to rely on Peri's bond with him.
"No, I'm not 'all right'! I mean, look at what's happening to all these people! And it's my fault and I'm gonna get in awful trouble and..."
"Peri, do try to calm down." And the Doctor placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Don't...touch...me..." she said. "Oh, God, Doctor. Not you too. I-I'm sorry. I d-don't..."
"We don't know if the mutation affects Gallifreyan genetics as yet. You do know you must tell these people that you're the carrier, don't you? It will help them...help them fashion a cure."
"But, I can't. Right now, they think I'm just another patient but--"
"You must. The entire station is c-counting on...on it." He paused, then gripped at Peri's shoulders again. "Peri, you must tell them that you're the carrier!"
"It's starting," Peri said, her voice soft, and sounding very very far away in her ears. She backed off from the Doctor, shoving a thumb between her teeth as she watched him double over in pain.
"Tell them..." the Doctor sputtered out through clenched teeth as he slumped to the floor, his body shuddering as it began to accept Peri's DNA as its own. "...before it's too...late..."
"Hello? Hello?" she called, desperate to grab the attention of a medical staffer or a guard or anyone else who might be close by. "I...I think he needs help. Please!"