Fic: A Tale of Two Tylers (4/6)
Chapter Four: The Animals Have Eyes
“Doctor? Jack? What’s a Mineite?” Rose asked for the second time. The first time neither Jack nor the Doctor had answered. The pair still seemed in shock over what the animals had just revealed. “Anyone?” Rose asked.
Jack turned to her, keeping his pistol cocked at a little wax lion. “The Mineites are aliens from the future-brand new in the 51st Century. They don’t belong in this time; they shouldn’t be here.”
“You would know a thing or two about that Jack, wouldn’t you?” the Doctor asked.
“What are you trying to say, Doctor?”
“We’ll deal with it later.”
“We are here,” the now-animate animal objects chanted again.
“Yeah, okay,” Jack agreed.
“Jack’s right, though,” the Doctor said to the creatures. “You shouldn’t be here.” He explained to Rose. “The Mineites are a peaceful race from the future, very clever, and who usually keep to themselves.” This last part was directed to the animals. “What are you doing here, and why are you using Jaye?”
“What time are you from?” Jack asked.
“We are here,” they chanted.
“Okay, this is getting annoying,” Jack said.
“They’re peaceful, Doctor?”
He nodded. “Usually.”
Rose kneeled down until she was eye-level with the wax lion. She touched the creature’s concave cheek. “Your face is broken,” she murmured. “Are you hurt?”
“Our existence is transitory.” This answer came from a bespectacled brass monkey just like Dr. Ron’s paperweight. It was sitting across the room, stroking its chin thoughtfully. “Our form cannot pain us…This situation does have its advantages.”
“You wanted immortality,” the Doctor said angrily. The monkey did not answer.
“Please,” Rose begged. “Please talk to us-we’re trying to help.”
“Drop the gun,” a boxed ladybug squeaked to Jack.
“You can’t be hurt!” Jack cried.
“Drop the gun.”
“Jack, please,” Rose asked, and Jack reluctantly obeyed.
The Doctor dropped down next to Rose, addressing the lion, ladybug and monkey at once. “I think you’d better tell me how you got here.”
The ladybug seemed to sigh, as if wooden ladybugs could sigh. “Just like you, Doctor-we came across the stars. We were curious; we used the water to pull us backwards in time. That’s why we ended up here-the falls pulled us in.”
“In my time you weren’t possessing women,” Jack said.
The brass monkey spoke up. “In your time we had bodies of our own. We underestimated the energy exchange, and arrived not in physical form but as mental fragments-we became part of time.”
“Oh, but that’s brilliant!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Preliminary time travel, in its simplest form, using a unilateral energy constant. You all are very clever. Which doesn’t mean,” he said, face darkening, “that you can stay in Jaye’s mind.”
“She was lost!” the ladybug cried. “Lost like we were!”
“You give her orders, though” Rose wondered. “Even if you needed somewhere to live, why do that?”
“We lost much on our journey,” the monkey said, “but we grabbed hold of what we could. We can sense timelines now, and can sometimes play with coincidence. We led Jack to meet you; we made Jaye talk to you.”
“Why?” asked Rose.
“We were naïve- left unattended our race will make the mistake again. The Doctor can use his machine to go back and warn against such travel.”
“I can,” the Doctor agreed, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. “But only if you leave Jaye.”
“We are helpful!” the ladybug cried. “We make people happy!”
“How about Jaye?” Jack challenged. “She didn’t seem too happy to have invading her mind.”
The monkey stroked his chin. “Jaye is… a challenge. We like challenges. And we do not harm her,” he said, anticipating the Doctor’s question. “This is the only possible existence left for us. We will die when she does.”
“Well…” the Doctor mused.
“They’re innocents, Doctor,” Rose begged. “You can see that.”
“But they’re too powerful. They can control people’s actions, change their future timelines through coincidence. Even in one human lifetime, think of the damage they could inflict. They shouldn’t exist-they’re wrong.”
“Alright Doctor, I’m more than just a very pretty face,” Jack said. The angry glare he had assumed for the aliens was now trained on the Doctor. “This isn’t just about the Mineites.”
“No,” the Doctor agreed. He watched as the monkey began to read his little brass book. “It’s not.”
“You just don’t like anyone who has power like the Timelords.”
The Doctor stood and turned to face Jack. “The Timelords were the only race meant to have this power! Besides, did I mind your technology in World War Two, or on Satellite Five?”
“You were a different man then. You know, I think I just found a change in you that I don’t like.”
“I’m not the one who joined Torchwood,” the Doctor fumed.
“See? You can’t stand the idea of anyone else with power!”
“Remember the Time War? I’ve seen what happened to people with too much power! Do you want to die?”
“I already have!”
“Doctor!” Rose said. “Jack! I think the Mineites are gone.”
The Doctor glanced at the motionless animals. He waved the screwdriver around and listened to its slow, regular beeping. “Not for good. They’re still in Jaye’s mind.” He turned to Jack. “If you hadn’t distracted me-”
“Am I cured? Are they gone?” A newly awakened Jaye asked. She looked around suspiciously. “I don’t see any dead aliens.”
The Doctor left the domestics to Rose.
“Er, they sort of…got away from us,” she responded desperately.
“Patch it up!” a parrot pendant squawked from its hanging place over the sink. Jaye groaned.
“I have aliens in my brain. Permanently. God.” She leaned in to tell Rose, “the parrot just talked.”
“I know.” Rose responded. “I saw it.”
“You…really? How?”
Rose pulled the sonic screwdriver from the Doctor’s jacket pocket. She waved it around and listened.
“There’s still some…um…oh, some residual energy in the air. From the last time we talked to the Mineites-they’re the aliens. They’re really clever, if that’s any help, and I’m sure they wouldn’t use that energy to talk to both of us unless they had a good reason.” She glanced at the Doctor and Jack, who were glowering at each other. “And I think I know what it is.”
“I don’t have to do anything? Oh, good. Because I need to go deal with the fact that I will never hear silence again.” She stalked to her bedroom and shut the door.
Sighing, Rose turned to the two men. She knew her assignment, but she wasn’t even sure she could carry it out.
Solving everyone’s problems, one at a time, and sometimes doing it without knowledge of the Mineites’ whole plans-Jaye really must be some kind of saint.
Chapter Five
“Doctor? Jack? What’s a Mineite?” Rose asked for the second time. The first time neither Jack nor the Doctor had answered. The pair still seemed in shock over what the animals had just revealed. “Anyone?” Rose asked.
Jack turned to her, keeping his pistol cocked at a little wax lion. “The Mineites are aliens from the future-brand new in the 51st Century. They don’t belong in this time; they shouldn’t be here.”
“You would know a thing or two about that Jack, wouldn’t you?” the Doctor asked.
“What are you trying to say, Doctor?”
“We’ll deal with it later.”
“We are here,” the now-animate animal objects chanted again.
“Yeah, okay,” Jack agreed.
“Jack’s right, though,” the Doctor said to the creatures. “You shouldn’t be here.” He explained to Rose. “The Mineites are a peaceful race from the future, very clever, and who usually keep to themselves.” This last part was directed to the animals. “What are you doing here, and why are you using Jaye?”
“What time are you from?” Jack asked.
“We are here,” they chanted.
“Okay, this is getting annoying,” Jack said.
“They’re peaceful, Doctor?”
He nodded. “Usually.”
Rose kneeled down until she was eye-level with the wax lion. She touched the creature’s concave cheek. “Your face is broken,” she murmured. “Are you hurt?”
“Our existence is transitory.” This answer came from a bespectacled brass monkey just like Dr. Ron’s paperweight. It was sitting across the room, stroking its chin thoughtfully. “Our form cannot pain us…This situation does have its advantages.”
“You wanted immortality,” the Doctor said angrily. The monkey did not answer.
“Please,” Rose begged. “Please talk to us-we’re trying to help.”
“Drop the gun,” a boxed ladybug squeaked to Jack.
“You can’t be hurt!” Jack cried.
“Drop the gun.”
“Jack, please,” Rose asked, and Jack reluctantly obeyed.
The Doctor dropped down next to Rose, addressing the lion, ladybug and monkey at once. “I think you’d better tell me how you got here.”
The ladybug seemed to sigh, as if wooden ladybugs could sigh. “Just like you, Doctor-we came across the stars. We were curious; we used the water to pull us backwards in time. That’s why we ended up here-the falls pulled us in.”
“In my time you weren’t possessing women,” Jack said.
The brass monkey spoke up. “In your time we had bodies of our own. We underestimated the energy exchange, and arrived not in physical form but as mental fragments-we became part of time.”
“Oh, but that’s brilliant!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Preliminary time travel, in its simplest form, using a unilateral energy constant. You all are very clever. Which doesn’t mean,” he said, face darkening, “that you can stay in Jaye’s mind.”
“She was lost!” the ladybug cried. “Lost like we were!”
“You give her orders, though” Rose wondered. “Even if you needed somewhere to live, why do that?”
“We lost much on our journey,” the monkey said, “but we grabbed hold of what we could. We can sense timelines now, and can sometimes play with coincidence. We led Jack to meet you; we made Jaye talk to you.”
“Why?” asked Rose.
“We were naïve- left unattended our race will make the mistake again. The Doctor can use his machine to go back and warn against such travel.”
“I can,” the Doctor agreed, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. “But only if you leave Jaye.”
“We are helpful!” the ladybug cried. “We make people happy!”
“How about Jaye?” Jack challenged. “She didn’t seem too happy to have invading her mind.”
The monkey stroked his chin. “Jaye is… a challenge. We like challenges. And we do not harm her,” he said, anticipating the Doctor’s question. “This is the only possible existence left for us. We will die when she does.”
“Well…” the Doctor mused.
“They’re innocents, Doctor,” Rose begged. “You can see that.”
“But they’re too powerful. They can control people’s actions, change their future timelines through coincidence. Even in one human lifetime, think of the damage they could inflict. They shouldn’t exist-they’re wrong.”
“Alright Doctor, I’m more than just a very pretty face,” Jack said. The angry glare he had assumed for the aliens was now trained on the Doctor. “This isn’t just about the Mineites.”
“No,” the Doctor agreed. He watched as the monkey began to read his little brass book. “It’s not.”
“You just don’t like anyone who has power like the Timelords.”
The Doctor stood and turned to face Jack. “The Timelords were the only race meant to have this power! Besides, did I mind your technology in World War Two, or on Satellite Five?”
“You were a different man then. You know, I think I just found a change in you that I don’t like.”
“I’m not the one who joined Torchwood,” the Doctor fumed.
“See? You can’t stand the idea of anyone else with power!”
“Remember the Time War? I’ve seen what happened to people with too much power! Do you want to die?”
“I already have!”
“Doctor!” Rose said. “Jack! I think the Mineites are gone.”
The Doctor glanced at the motionless animals. He waved the screwdriver around and listened to its slow, regular beeping. “Not for good. They’re still in Jaye’s mind.” He turned to Jack. “If you hadn’t distracted me-”
“Am I cured? Are they gone?” A newly awakened Jaye asked. She looked around suspiciously. “I don’t see any dead aliens.”
The Doctor left the domestics to Rose.
“Er, they sort of…got away from us,” she responded desperately.
“Patch it up!” a parrot pendant squawked from its hanging place over the sink. Jaye groaned.
“I have aliens in my brain. Permanently. God.” She leaned in to tell Rose, “the parrot just talked.”
“I know.” Rose responded. “I saw it.”
“You…really? How?”
Rose pulled the sonic screwdriver from the Doctor’s jacket pocket. She waved it around and listened.
“There’s still some…um…oh, some residual energy in the air. From the last time we talked to the Mineites-they’re the aliens. They’re really clever, if that’s any help, and I’m sure they wouldn’t use that energy to talk to both of us unless they had a good reason.” She glanced at the Doctor and Jack, who were glowering at each other. “And I think I know what it is.”
“I don’t have to do anything? Oh, good. Because I need to go deal with the fact that I will never hear silence again.” She stalked to her bedroom and shut the door.
Sighing, Rose turned to the two men. She knew her assignment, but she wasn’t even sure she could carry it out.
Solving everyone’s problems, one at a time, and sometimes doing it without knowledge of the Mineites’ whole plans-Jaye really must be some kind of saint.
Chapter Five