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.
"Doctor...?" Something very odd is going on here, he was fine not ten minutes ago, and now... well now he looks far from fine. Irate with him she may be, but not when he's clearly hurt, and not just hurt; he seems to be completely disorientated and scared. The Doctor doesn't get scared.
"What the hell happened? Where are you? What are you talking about, the Master? You think it's him now that did this?"
After the man and the dog have disappeared, it doesn't take two moments for the holo image to change again. It's a woman this time, but it still takes the Doctor a moment to recognize her. It's the voice that does it; he knows that voice.
"River? What are you-- Why are you here?" Did the Master kidnap her as well? Does the Master even know about her? She seems to know about him. "You can't be here. You're dead."
Well, not dead. But caught in a computer program. Right now, the Doctor's head is hurting too much for him to be paying attention to little details like that.
"Okay, let's drop the why's and where's and how's for now. I haven't got the answers any more than you have. I thought we'd established that, stalemate sweetie."
She's frowning at his hologram though, despite her shortness and attempting to gear the conversation to just cut to the chase. Brows knitting tightly with concern, something more surreal than just her ordinary surreal is going on.
"Send me your location." Because he knows how to do that, right. 'Least the Doctor that arrived three hours ago does.
"Send you--" Right. Location. He looks down at the comm device in his hand. This should be easy, it's technology, of mediocre standard, he's worked with much more complicated devices than this. But the picture in front of his eyes is blurry, and the buttons and legends and captions refuse to arrange themselves into a pattern that makes any logical sense.
"Give me a moment. Just a moment."
He lets himself slide down the wall so he ends up sitting on the floor of the corridor. This is much better. The floor had started to tilt underneath his feet. He rests the comm device on his thigh and uses an unsteady left hand to go through the menu items, while he's still got his right hand cradled close to his chest.
"Location." The menu items make little sense, mostly because he has a hard time reading the small font. "How do I send my location?"
The voice that comes out of the tablet sounds almost ridiculously cheerful, given the circumstances, although Luna is really being nothing more than her usual calm self. She isn't the sort of person to let an alien abduction bring her down, and, in the time since her own arrival, she has learned how to use the strange device that they've all been given. Despite being powered by something other than magic - or imps, for that matter - it seems to be cleverly designed, and quite useful. Her father would find it fascinating.
This entire place is worth a double page spread in The Quibbler, at the very least. Perhaps she should start making notes, for when she gets home?
"Don't worry," she continued, "This isn't a game, although I'm sure you can find a place to play when you think you have the time."
This time, when the device turns on again, there's no holo image to accompany the message. The voice he hears is that of a young woman--or maybe a girl--and she doesn't sound frightened. Or worried, or dangerous. He's not sure where he's ended up here, but he's beginning to get the vague idea that it may not be the Master's doing.
"No, I don't want to play. I really don't." And because ending his response there feels rude, he adds, "Who are you?"
"I like exploding snap," she said serenely, "But I've never been very good at Quidditch. A lot of the people who play it try to avoid keeping their feet on the ground at all."
There was something inherently odd about a girl like Luna Lovegood - who was herself inherently odd - talking about keeping her feet on the ground, since she lived in a proverbial world of her own. She did have a certain sense of perception (and a knack for honesty) that a lot of other people - a lot of theoretically normal - people lacked, though. It was a strange combination.
"Hello, Luna." The Doctor doesn't have the faintest clue what the girl is talking about, but her tone of voice is calm and balanced and normal, and right now, having someone talking to him like that is calming his nerves immensely. "My name's the Doctor. Pleasure to meet you."
[He's had the audio on for hours now, listening to the new arrivals, saying hello and questioning where needed -- but this one makes him freeze in what he's doing. Give him a moment.]
[By now, he's used to random voices and people addressing him via the comm device, and his momentarily somewhat overtaxed brain has stopped wondering who they are and why they're here. He's just going with it for now. This voice, however, makes him look up.]
Comments 66
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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"What the hell happened? Where are you? What are you talking about, the Master? You think it's him now that did this?"
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"River? What are you-- Why are you here?" Did the Master kidnap her as well? Does the Master even know about her? She seems to know about him. "You can't be here. You're dead."
Well, not dead. But caught in a computer program. Right now, the Doctor's head is hurting too much for him to be paying attention to little details like that.
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She's frowning at his hologram though, despite her shortness and attempting to gear the conversation to just cut to the chase. Brows knitting tightly with concern, something more surreal than just her ordinary surreal is going on.
"Send me your location." Because he knows how to do that, right. 'Least the Doctor that arrived three hours ago does.
Reply
"Give me a moment. Just a moment."
He lets himself slide down the wall so he ends up sitting on the floor of the corridor. This is much better. The floor had started to tilt underneath his feet. He rests the comm device on his thigh and uses an unsteady left hand to go through the menu items, while he's still got his right hand cradled close to his chest.
"Location." The menu items make little sense, mostly because he has a hard time reading the small font. "How do I send my location?"
Reply
The voice that comes out of the tablet sounds almost ridiculously cheerful, given the circumstances, although Luna is really being nothing more than her usual calm self. She isn't the sort of person to let an alien abduction bring her down, and, in the time since her own arrival, she has learned how to use the strange device that they've all been given. Despite being powered by something other than magic - or imps, for that matter - it seems to be cleverly designed, and quite useful. Her father would find it fascinating.
This entire place is worth a double page spread in The Quibbler, at the very least. Perhaps she should start making notes, for when she gets home?
"Don't worry," she continued, "This isn't a game, although I'm sure you can find a place to play when you think you have the time."
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"No, I don't want to play. I really don't." And because ending his response there feels rude, he adds, "Who are you?"
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There was something inherently odd about a girl like Luna Lovegood - who was herself inherently odd - talking about keeping her feet on the ground, since she lived in a proverbial world of her own. She did have a certain sense of perception (and a knack for honesty) that a lot of other people - a lot of theoretically normal - people lacked, though. It was a strange combination.
"My name's Luna. Luna Lovegood."
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... Hello?
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What? Who are you?
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I'm... the Doctor. Who're you?
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I'm you. I mean, I'm the Doctor. Like you.
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