|
Post by Nord Ronnoc on Jun 30, 2017 10:44:46 GMT 1
Synopsis: Something brought the Doctor and the TARDIS to an alternate Earth ravaged by nuclear war. There, he encountered a lone wanderer and together, they contended with strange creatures and powerful beings. To find the source of these troubles, they would have to work together and travel throughout the multiverse, willingly or not. All in a day’s work for the Doctor.Mass Foundations: All the World's a Stage
Prologue: Opening "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
—Murphy's Law
A spaceship, either very cleverly or very clumsily disguised as a police box, tumbled through the space-time vortex. As it landed on a street in London, a strange wheezing and groaning sound echoed in the night. Inside was a large control room sprawling beyond the deceptive doors; its many surfaces and devices awash in a golden glow. Everyone who passed through those police box doors for the first time all commented on the most remarkable thing about the box: not the many dials or central component of moving glass, but how much bigger it sprawled on the inside.
By the many-sided room was a pale, tall man with a thin face and a mop of wild silver hair. His hair went along quite well with his thick eyebrows, sharp blue eyes, and a hooked nose. His dark coat and trousers would give anyone the impression that he was a rock star still on tour. That old man was a time traveler, a Time Lord from the lost planet Gallifrey, and he was known as the Doctor.
"Whew! That was quite an adventure there, Doctor."
He wasn't alone. He turned away from the monitor. In front of him was a lithe young woman, short and rosy-skinned. Her brown hair held by a headband, she wore a red dress and a pair of sneakers with matching colors.
"Indeed, Clara. At least we made it the night before the parent-teacher conference, no?" The Doctor grinned rather awkwardly. "Never a fan of them myself. I wasn't so well-behaved when I was a child."
Clara Oswald, the young woman, rolled her eyes. "Of course. Can't say I'm surprised." She walked to the only exit.
"Try not to get yourself into trouble while I'm away," she called out like a parent requesting their child to behave. "And don't be late, okay?"
With that, she stepped out of the TARDIS and closed the door behind her.
The Doctor smirked and crossed his arms. "Ah, you know me better than that, Clara. I always find trouble, wherever that may be," he said to no one in particular.
As if on cue, frantic numbers flashed on the screen. The alarms blaring out caught the Doctor by surprise. Before he could analyze the data, the whole room—no, the entire TARDIS—shook violently, as if in the middle of an earthquake. He could barely keep his balance as he held onto the console.
Sparks flew in all directions, and loose wires dangling about. The lighting flickered a fiery red before everything turned pitch black.
In hindsight, the Time Lord wished he hadn't said those words.
|
|
|
Post by Nord Ronnoc on Mar 9, 2018 16:59:05 GMT 1
Chapter One: A Touch of Glass Consciousness returned to the Doctor. With a pained groan, he stood up to his feet, using the console for support. The main control room was still well-lit, sparing him the pain of stumbling around in the dark. He moved the monitor toward him and pressed buttons and flicked switches. The screen lit up, revealing an image gathered from one of the satellites. He would have dismissed it as his own world by the early 2010s, if not for a sickly shimmer over select parts of the planet, the year 2286. “Something happened to this world. Radiation, most likely,” he muttered to himself, his expression grim. He took another look at the readings. According to his current coordinates, he was somewhere in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. “Something’s not right here.” He stood up with his hand on his chin and paced around the console. “Normally, traveling between parallel universes would drain the TARDIS of all energy. Without the Time Vortex, it would be out of commission. Now, if I were prepared, it would be a temporary setback.” He snapped his fingers together. “Question: if all that applies, then why does the TARDIS still have power? Why is it still running?” He pointed his finger upward. “Answer: There is one of two possibilities. One: The Time Vortex also connects to this universe. Two: A rift in time and space has appeared, preserving the TARDIS’s energy.” The Doctor looked at the monitor after pressing more buttons. The monitor now read: RIFT DETECTED
SEVERITY: LOW
SIZE: SMALLER THAN BELGIUM“Well, that sounds more than anticlimactic,” the Doctor commented. “Question is, where is it?” Another command prompt and the monitor now read: SCANNING – IN PROGRESS…He scoffed. “Of course, you ol’ girl. Of course.” He was about to step away from the console, if not for the sudden buzzing coming out of the radio attached to the console. The Doctor recognized it was a distress signal. “This is Knight Jefferson of the Brotherhood of Steel, requesting backup,” the man on the radio spoke. “We arrived in Baltimore at 0432 hours today. Something has been picking off my men. They're not deathclaws, super mutants, not even those ferals. Whatever these creatures are, they're worse. Much worse.” The radio buzzed as the man paused before continuing. “There were… eight of us. Now, there’s me and Initiate Samuel. There’s a RobCo facility in Baltimore. You’ll recognize it when you see the sign at the front. We’re holed up in one of the storage rooms. Whatever you do, avoid the broken pieces of glass. I repeat, avoid the broken glass. They form bodies around them. That’s how they got to my team!” There was a faint echo, almost like a growl, followed by banging noises soon after. Another voice, that of a younger man, said in a panicked tone, “Sir? They’re here.” The older man sighed as if he resigned himself to his fate. “I see.” A hum sounded out. It wasn’t the man humming. It was a machine humming to life. “Relay the signal and loop this message. Steel be with us.” The message ended right there before looping back to the start. The Time Lord turned off the radio. He heard enough. “I don’t know if I’m too late to save him,” the Time Lord stated. “But whatever is causing this nightmare, I’ll put an end to it. Wherever the universe—or any universe, really—call for help, it shows its true face. I show mine by my response.” He set out to the exit behind him but paused, nodding with a small smirk on his face. “Hm, I probably should say that again someday. With some refinement, of course.” He smiled. “Bet Clara would love to hear it.” Stepping out of the TARDIS, he looked around and saw crumbling, ruined buildings that stretched for miles. Rusted and broken down 1950s-style cars filled the streets, something that made the Time Lord raise an eyebrow. What inconvenienced him as he walked around was the debris that randomly fell from some old building many years ago. Centuries, by the looks of it. Another thing that hindered him was the streetlights. He dreaded that at any moment, a streetlight could shorten out and leave him in utter darkness. Either that, or it would flicker in and out. He looked up at the nighttime sky. “At least there are stars,” he remarked to no one in particular. Aside from the howling winds and the scuttles of old paper flying about, there was an uneasy silence filling the air. He never saw a single soul. Of course, he mused. Pockets of radiation, a ruined city; it was clear this Earth had suffered from atomic annihilation, as some had predicted back on his Earth. Going down another block away from the blue box and around a corner, he saw a sign flashing and flickering on the front side of an otherwise unassuming office building, only about a few stories tall. There was only one word plastered on the wall: RobCo. With a determined look, the Doctor brisk across the street and opened the double-doors. Inside was a large lobby room complete with formerly comfy chairs and a desk at the other end of the room. The plain paint was peeled off from the walls and ceilings due to centuries worth of wear and neglect. It was surprising that the lights were functioning, albeit yellow and worn down from years of neglect. He even tasted something in the air. “Mold. And… dust particles.” He licked the dust off his fingers before spitting them out. His face wrinkled in disgust. “How this managed to get through environmental regulations is beyond me,” he remarked sardonically. “Oh, right…” There were also inert robots placed on display all around him. Most of them were biped in shape with stiff legs and wiggly tubes for arms, like they shamelessly ripped off The Forbidden Planet and other B-movies. One robot that stood out was very large and very bulky, standing on four-legged wheels; the other was a round torso with three arms and eyes folded toward it. No doubt this Earth stuck with everything about the 1950s to the bitter end. Much to his disappointment, however, each inscription was scratched off in some chaotic pattern. Everywhere he looked, from some of the bathrooms to the offices, there were signs of an intense battle. Scorch marks on the floor and the walls, random metal pieces laid out everywhere, and strangely enough, claw marks, three parallel to each other and in equal length and depth. And on every occasion, he heard heavy footsteps above him, creaking as bits of wood fell off, trailing along with them. While the Doctor’s hearts nearly leaped with joy, he couldn’t help but wonder: was that Jefferson? Samuel? Or was it somebody else? While exploring another office adjacent to the lobby, he spotted a glowing screen in the darkness. When he crept closer, he found it was a blocky computer with an integrated keyboard and no mouse attached to it. A smile spread wide across his face. “Oh, I do love those pop-up buttons. Everything was so swipey these days!” he made a sweeping motion with his right hand before pressing the red power button next to the screen. A series of green letters line out as a block of the same color traveled to the right, spelling out: ROBCO INDUSTRIES UNIFIED OPERATING SYSTEM COPYRIGHT 2075-2077 ROBCO INDUSTRIES -Server 16- Welcome, Kevin Ross.Below were several lines marked as dates. Pressing the enter key on the first one brought him to a log detailing his first day on the job. He found it really boring and skipped that one out. The next one detailed his date, claiming that his girlfriend would always belong to him, and all that creepy and melancholic stuff. 8/16/2077
Out of the blue, one of the researchers came from another facility in Portland with a glass orb. He said he got it from an expedition in Afghanistan. He showed it to the others, and I admit it does look rather pretty. Why he didn’t bring it over to the government, a museum, or whatever was beyond me. Never got the chance to ask some questions.
My shift ended early, so I’m outta here.Intrigued, the Doctor selected the next one and pressed the enter key once more. 8/30/2077
All I did was ask him how he was doing, and he gave me that look—the one that screamed, “I am going to kill you.” Aside from him muttering about the orb, he said he kept it in the basement, he said nothing. That creeped me out bad. I filed a complaint with HR and they said they would look into this. Matter of fact, he was never transferred here, like he decided to live here or something.
********************
9/17/2077
I swear to god, I thought someone was standing right next to me, whispering in my ear. But no one was at my desk. What the hell is going on?
I’m leaving early. My boss will understand.
********************
10/19/2077
Bastard scientist tried to attack my coworkers. All he got was being institutionalized. Good riddance. That wasn’t the end of it, however. Things have gotten worse since he left. It started out with glass breaking, mostly mirrors and windows. Our janitor wasn’t thrilled about cleaning up the mess. Neither was our boss.
We’ve been on a shoestring budget for a while, so we had to cancel some projects to pay for the mess. Thrilling.
The other guys went in to investigate in the basement but didn’t bring anything up. All they told me was not to go in the basement and not to tell anyone. Didn’t stop me from writing this down. Idiots.
********************
10/22/2077
Malcolm was at the hospital. He got cuts and bruises all. How he was alive was anyone’s guess. Someone or something attacked him with something sharp, which would explain a lot. I stopped by to check to see if he was okay. In the meantime, the police stopped by my workplace. Their investigations turned up empty. Were they slacking off or am I missing something here?
I got a bad feeling about this.Strangely enough, the next entry did not have a date, but it was titled. It was labeled ‘THAT ORB’. As if the bombs falling wasn’t enough, the orb made that paradise in comparison.
The same thing that happened to the egghead was happening to me right now. It called to me, whispered my name. I couldn’t help myself, so I unlocked the door to the basement and looked inside. Now I wish I hadn’t.
Something had been killing my friends. I’m getting out of here with that spare hazmat suit I conveniently found. To hell with the radiation. If you want to live, then whatever you do, if the colors of the glass don’t match, AVOID THEM!
If you don’t, don’t say I didn’t warn you.The sound of the glass breaking from a nearby room had impeccable timing, breaking the Doctor’s concentration. The Doctor craned his neck backward with a sigh. “Can’t I get a moment of peace to myself? Is that so hard to ask?” More glass broke, this time from the hallway outside. He turned around and stepped away from the terminal, his right foot stepping on something that crunched under his weight. He knelt to inspect what he stepped on. Some of the pieces of glass to the floor were of different colors, and they seemed to be moving on their own. Seconds later the small pieces formed into an unsettling smile. His thoughts turned to what the last entry log on the terminal warned him about. Chitters, like glass pinging together, could easily be heard. He was not alone here. A quick survey of the room revealed a plain, metal cabinet on the well-lit side of the room. With quiet footing, he hurried across, avoiding the ever-shifting pieces of glass on the floor. As he opened it, he searched every inch of the cabinet, both on the inside and on the outside, for any piece of glass with mismatched colors. With nothing inside, the Doctor squeezed into the only spot he could fit into and shut the door. It was cramped and no light came in through the silts. The Time Lord slowed his breathing down to not draw attention to whatever was out there, looking for him. Aside from that, the other things he heard were more glassing pinging along with growling and hissing. The noises went on for minutes. The Doctor considered himself lucky that whatever hadn’t found him yet. Everything went quiet after that. He opened the door and hopped out of the cabinet. He made his way out of the office and surveyed the well-lit hallway. He did not want any nasty surprises waiting in the dark. Finding nothing, he went to the stairs and onto the next floor. This one was very much like the one below: well-lit and empty but had several doors on both sides. As he stepped in, there was a loud crack, bringing his attention to the source, which came from the end of the hallway in front of him. He froze, his eyes wide open. It emerged from the shadows. Roughly in the shape of a lizard the size of a dog, its glass shards had every possible color and opacity, with four legs of slightly varying lengths. Its head resembled a spider with three dark orb-like eyes at each side of its face and perfectly smooth pincers at the front. Each spike lining on its back, from the tip of its tail to the base of its head, was a spiral. Its tail had curved upwards in the shape of a question mark, and larger shards jutted out from its underside at such extreme angles. The Doctor could barely make a move before the creature took notice of him. “Good… kitty-spider… glass…” Now wide-eyed, the Doctor raised his hands in front of him. The creature hissed and pounced, zipping down the hallway like a lightning bolt. He would have made a run for it, if not for a sudden blue light appearing behind the creature, disintegrating it instantly. He looked and saw a large, imposing figure in the room at the end of the hallway. “Are you alright?” the stranger asked as she stepped out of the room with heavy thuds for every step she took. Her scratch-riddled, gritty gray armor, from head to toe, was massive and covered with backpacks, pouches and fanny packs. Her helmet’s visor had angled downward, giving her a menacing look. The armor’s bulkiness and its shoulders’ blocky appearance made her look like a tank on legs. Her weapons hung at her side, including the rifle and the high-tech sledgehammer, further supported the assumption. “I’m fine, thank you,” the Doctor answered, finally lowering his hands. The woman approached the Doctor, towering over him by about half a meter or so. She took a glance at him, almost like she was studying him. With her helmet on, he had no idea what she was thinking. “Most scavengers I’ve met are hardly this clean. And they tend to carry lots of junk,” the stranger pointed out. “Who are you?” The Doctor stepped past her and stared at the ash pile. “I’m the Doctor.” He turned at the armored stranger. “Nice to meet you.” He turned back at the pile and took a pinch of it. “So, you came here to investigate the signal?” He tasted the pinch, only to spit it back out. Nothing out of the ordinary, he noted. “Either this Jefferson and this Samuel were very good at hiding or these things have already disposed of them already.” “They’re dead.” She showed him dog tags hanging from her right hand. One tag informed him of a man’s expiration date, was hours before; the other had his name on it—Seth Jefferson. “I see.” He hung his head low. “What a shame. Were you planning on retrieving them?” She put the dog tags in a pouch wrapped around her waist. “Not a good time to talk about my dealings with the Brotherhood of Steel right now.” “Of course.” The Doctor stood up and found himself gawking at a rifle that resembled a grenade rifle but with a blocky scope held in her hands. “What’s that?” The woman in armor lowered her rifle and briefly investigated it. “That’s a Holorifle. A friend of mine gave it to me years ago.” “What happened to your friend?” She fell silent for a moment before walking past the Doctor. “He’s gone.” “Shouldn’t we be concerned about this strange and mysterious orb that’s been causing all sorts of trouble down in the basement? Or is that just me?” he inquired, pointing his finger upward. The woman sighed as she looked back at him. “I’ll check it out, then. You coming or what?” “Of course,” the Doctor replied. “Oh, and what’s your name?” “It’s Jocelyn Song. People called me the Lone Wanderer in the Capital Wasteland,” she answered. She turned back to her general direction and continued walking, the Doctor following close behind.
They spent the next several minutes traversing from one room to another, their eyes alert for any of the glass creatures. Unfortunately, they had to travel upstairs to traverse around debris that blocked their way to the basement. As they snuck through the assembly line on a walkway, they saw two of the creatures gnawing on one of the dome-shaped robots’ heads. Jocelyn was ready to fire her weapon, but she seemed to hesitate when the Doctor laid a hand on her wrist, silently urging her not to get unwanted attention. She nodded in response and they passed through without incident, despite her armor making some noise with each step she took. They arrived at a storage room on the ground floor, and the Doctor gazed around the area. The room was stuffed with empty cabinets and broken terminals laid out on top. At the end of the room was a metal door with a cog in the center, with a terminal mounted on the wall at its right. Jocelyn hung her gun around her chest and approached the door. With steady hands, she gripped the cog and twisted it. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t get it open, let alone even move it slightly. “Need help?” the Doctor asked in a slight snide tone as he watched. “Nope, I’m good,” she grunted. He cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Doesn’t that armor enhance your strength? I mean, come on, look at you!” He stretched his arms in front of him. “You’re huge wearing that thing!” The Wanderer let go of the cog with a shake of her head and a sigh. “Looks like this door’s tied to this terminal, and it doesn’t look like there’s a lock to pick. They really don’t want this orb to get out.” The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Well, of course they don’t want it out! It didn’t really work out for them, don’t you think?” She ignored his remark as she turned her attention to the terminal. When she pressed the power button, the keyboard unfolded into view. “Keep an eye out, okay?” “Yes, ma’am,” the Doctor nodded with a smirk, watching Jocelyn do her thing. A casual glance around the room, finding yet again none of the glass creatures in sight. He got a bad feeling about this. With his arms folded in front of him, he couldn’t help but ponder in his mind. If this all could go well, then they would part ways without incident, and he would surely lose his chance to inquire about her history. Given her hesitation, it wasn’t a pleasant one. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try. “Earlier, you mentioned this… Brotherhood of yours,” the Doctor spoke. Jocelyn said nothing. He hoped she was focusing on the terminal and not ignoring him. Because that would be rather rude of her. He sighed as he rubbed his face. “Look. It’s clear you have a lot on your mind, but you don’t want to talk about it. That’s fine. Really. I understand. Not everybody wants to talk about their traumatic experiences. But I think you want, you know…” He shrugged with curled lips. “Closure. Catharsis. Get it off your chest. Because if you don’t, you’re going to wonder for the rest of your life whether you would get another chance and regret not taking it the first time ‘round.” He paused for a second before taking a deep breath. “Wouldn’t you want to take that chance? It would do you a whole lot of good. Trust me on this one.” Finally, as if on cue, Jocelyn pressed enter on the right word flashing on the screen among lines of random symbols and other words that made no sense in rhyme or pattern. “Alright, we’re in,” she said. The cog sprung as the two outer parts sliding into the walls, the metal lowered into the floor with metal grinding against each other. It wasn’t a pleasant sound, to say the least. At least nobody else in their vacancy had heard it, judging by the silent response. Ahead of them was a passageway wrapped in a thick blanket of darkness. The Doctor took a step toward her with a stern frown. “Have you listened to a word I said?” The Lone Wanderer turned on the lamplight at the side of her helmet, revealing a stairway just after a sharp turn to their left. “Yeah, I hear you.” “Don’t you think this would be an excellent time?” He pointed at the passageway. “I mean, surely this will be a long stairway.” She picked up her rifle and braced it against her shoulder. “If anything happens to me, do you know how to defend yourself?” He looked at Jocelyn. “Have I told you I’m not big on guns?” She turned to the Doctor. With the way she tilted her helmet, he had this feeling she was giving him a curious look. “Yeah, you’re not from around here.” “I’ll explain later.” The Lone Wanderer seemed to take it in stride, as she entered without a word. Since her headlight was the only source of light here, they had to be careful as to where they stopped as they descended on the stairs. “Why don’t we start things out with you?” the Doctor asked. “So… where did you come from?” “I was born at the Jefferson Memorial. My mom died, and my dad raised me in a fallout shelter. People call them Vaults,” Jocelyn answered after a moment of hesitation. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t be. My dad really loved her. He said she was passionate about a lot of things. About life.” “Sounded like your mother was a good person,” the Doctor commented. “What was it like, living in one of these Vaults?” That question made her go quiet again. “It used to be paradise down there. No fear, no worries, not much fighting, and I had people looking after me…” There was a wistful tone in her voice. “Until my dad left.” The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows, his mouth forming into a frown. “Your father doesn’t sound exactly like a good person to me.” “He had a good reason,” she insisted. “Besides, Vaults like mine weren’t meant to save anyone.” “So they were experiments,” the Doctor guessed. “Yeah. It’s pretty rare to find one that did what they were advertised back then,” the Lone Wanderer explained. “Mine was Vault 101. Vault-Tec made sure nobody would enter, and nobody would ever leave. I escaped not long after my dad did, and I went out to look for him. Turns out he was looking for a terraforming device that would make Project Purity work properly.” “And this project does what, exactly?” “To provide clean water in the wasteland,” the Wanderer answered. “The Capital Wasteland was one of the worst places to live in. When I found my dad, we resumed the project, but… he died protecting me and his dream.” “And you went to the Brotherhood of Steel for help.” “It took a lot of effort in finding the GECK,” said Jocelyn. “If you ask me, Liberty Prime did all the hard work in retaking the facility.” “What, is Liberty Prime a giant robot?” Jocelyn let out a small chuckle. “ Yes. He’s this giant, bombastic robot and he certainly lives up to the name.” The Time Lord had to resist forming that smile on his face. “Oh, I would love to see that.” “I bet you would. You should’ve seen him in action.” She stopped in her tracks, and the Doctor nearly slipped and fell, bumping against her. Luckily, her armor was bulky enough to fill the space ahead of him and sturdy enough to have her hardly notice. As he regained his balance, she turned toward him. “Have you ever done so much and worked so hard to make things right, only to have everything just... fall apart around you?” The Doctor sighed deeply, letting her words sink in enough to make his hearts throb. “More times than I can count.” She said nothing, even as she looked away and went on ahead. Just as the Doctor began to wonder if they would ever reach the bottom, their feet met the flat floor beneath them, her left hand meeting the handle of a plain metal door. “Looks like this is the place,” she said. “Ready?” The Doctor nodded. “Are you? I mean, you clearly are ready.” Jocelyn opened the door quietly as it cracked softly, and they both stepped inside. The basement was large and had little light, supported only by a single flickering light bulb attached to the ceiling. One of the few things in here was a plain pillar placed in the center of the room, crowned on top by a glowing, transparent orb and blue markings surrounding it. The other thing—or rather, things were the glass creatures by the dozen, seemingly asleep. They didn’t react when Jocelyn shone her lamplight on each of them. None of them made a move nor made any noise as if they were like statues. The Doctor went past his new companion and looked at one of the markings on the floor with furrowed eyebrows. It didn’t look like anything that lacked rhyme or reason. Rather, they were all about the many-worlds interpretation. The uncertainty principle, the measurements of a wormhole, and others that relate to wavelengths, quantum mechanics, and particle physics. There were also a couple of equations that seemed far too incomprehensible for any human being to write. He looked up at the orb as he rubbed his chin. Something bothered him about that thing. How did it survive for so long in such perfect condition? And how did it manage to withstand a nuclear war? To be fair for that last question, it was stored here. But that begged another question: Why didn’t anyone bother to destroy the orb? What exactly stopped them? For some reason, he wanted to touch it, just to see how it would react. “Doctor?” the Lone Wanderer called out through a whisper. “Are you okay?” The Doctor blinked as he spurred himself out of his thoughts. Before he even realized it, he was muttering to himself, and his hand was hovering centimeters away from the orb. He lowered his hand and straightened his posture, clearing his throat in the process. “Sorry, I… uh, got carried away.” A hum vibrated in the Time Lord’s teeth, which he found particularly odd. He looked back, and the orb suddenly lit up, taking on a blue hue like it deflected off a daytime’s skyline. As if in response to the orb, the glass creatures woke up and raised their heads. All of them screamed in unison, like multiple tuning forks playing all at once. The equations on the floor glowed of its own accord. Before either of them knew it, the orb grew so bright they had to look away and close their eyes, lest they go blind. He collapsed in pain as a jolt of electricity coursed through his body. When he came to, the Doctor stood up and found himself back in the TARDIS control room, the same as he had left it. He looked around and saw Jocelyn had also regained consciousness. The back of Jocelyn’s power armor unfolded suddenly, and she hopped out. The armor soon folded back into shape as it hunched over. She turned around to the Doctor, revealing her narrow brown eyes, rounded jawline, and wide nose. She was a massive woman with chestnut skin, standing almost as tall as him. Her shoulders were wide, and her limbs were as thick as tree trunks. She looked even bulkier with her white-gray, heavy polymer armor along with her backpack and the pouches on her chest. How she managed to fit into that armor she hopped out of would be somewhat of a mystery to him. She had a tired look on her face (for that he could relate), her black hair tied in a messy bun. Her leather waistcloth had a similar story to her hairstyle, with a green hood being a part of her scarf. What caught his attention was a contraption strapped on her left forearm. “What’s that on your arm?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “It’s a Pip-Boy. Standard equipment for vault dwellers, like me. But that’s not the…” She made her way to the exit and opened the door, looking outside. It didn’t take long for her to close it quickly before going back to the Doctor. “Okay, I have to ask you something.” The Doctor nodded, his back leaning against the railing. He saw this one coming. “Go on.” “Why is it bigger on the inside, why is it a blue phone box, and how the hell did we end up on a space station?”
|
|
|
Post by Nord Ronnoc on Oct 2, 2018 10:48:30 GMT 1
Chapter Two: Satellite Rock
Year: 2277 Location: Vault 101, Capital Wasteland"Come on, you've got to wake up!" Jocelyn's eyes fluttered as she woke up, and she stared at a gray, sterile ceiling, highlighted by a harsh and artificial light. Alarms blared out in the hallway. Something had gone wrong. She sat up from her bed, stupefied and half-tired. She found a close friend standing in front of her. Dark hair tied into a ponytail, peachy skin, and hazel eyes; Amata took up a lot from her father, the Vault's overseer. Like Jocelyn and everyone else in the Vault, Amata wore a blue jumpsuit with a gold line running around her collar and down the middle of her chest. "Huh? What's wrong, Amata?" she asked, still a little drowsy. The overseer's daughter breathed deeply, trying to settle her nerves. "You've got to get out of here! Your dad is gone, and my father's men are looking for you!" Jocelyn stared out in disbelief, and all sleepiness vanished instantly. "What do you mean, my dad is gone? He…" "I mean he's left the vault! I don't know how, but he's gone and my father…" Amata hesitated. "He's kind of gone crazy." Jocelyn was dumbstruck. "I've never seen you so scared in your life, Amata. What happened?" "It's Jonas… they killed him! My father's men. They took him and…" Amata's voice wavered, and her eyes watered, she nearly fell to her knees. "Oh my god. You have to leave, now!" "Oh my god. Are you okay?" Jocelyn asked as she helped her friend up to her feet. Amata nodded and looked back at her. "Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm just sorry you had to find out like this. I know Jonas was your friend. But we've got to go now! My father's men will be here any minute!" Jonas had been around for as long as she remembered. As her father's assistant, he always helped him in her father's research. Hell, she even remembered the dorky smile on Jonas's face when he told her of a surprise from her dad on her 10th birthday. And he kept that smile when he took a picture of her with a radroach she killed with her new BB gun. And now… now he was dead. For what? Why did her father leave her behind with a man who snapped? What led him to set out to the outside world? "That's impossible. My dad couldn't have left. The door's sealed shut." Jocelyn had her mouth agape. He couldn't have just left. Could he? "Not anymore, apparently. But… are you honestly telling me you had no idea your dad was leaving? He really didn't tell you?" Jocelyn shook her head. "No. I had no idea he was planning to leave." "Oh." Amata was surprised at her answer. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was supposed to explain everything to you? But it doesn't matter. I can help you escape. I have my own plan!" She sure sounded confident. "Escape from the vault? How?" "Listen. There's a secret tunnel that leads directly from my father's office to the exit. You'll have to hack the computer in his office to open it." Amata pulled a small box of bobby pins out of her pocket and gave it to Jocelyn. "Use it to get in. That's how I always get in," she said with a wry smile. It was either escape to the world outside to find her father or stay here and have the Overseer's men execute her. Jocelyn's lips curled after coming to that conclusion. "Sounds like a plan. Let's get out of here!" "Oh, one more thing." Amata gave Jocelyn a blocky laser pistol along with its holster. "I stole one of my father's guns. I hope you won't need it, but you'd better take it just in case." She also gave her several fusion cells. Jocelyn lifted the pistol in her trembling hands. Mint condition, like it had never been fired before. She had no problem killing radroaches and other pests. But a human being, people she knew all her life? She wasn't so sure. She looked back at her friend. "Thanks, Amata. I promise I'll use it as a last resort." Amata nodded. "Okay. I'll try to meet you at the exit. Watch out for security. Good luck!" Amata made a beeline for the exit. Jocelyn put the holster on her right thigh and placed the new pistol in it. She looked around the room and grabbed a baseball bat and her old BB gun, with its pellets, on the desk. If she didn't stop, she would forget to grab some spare Vault jumpsuits, her baseball cap, and the 14th issue of Grognak the Barbarian. On the way out, she grabbed a stack of stimpaks from the first aid kit at the door. She stopped and looked back at her bedroom. There would not be any going back. Amata made that clear. She would need to get out of here and find her father. Hopefully, he had some answers. With a sharp intake, she stepped out of her room. Year: 2286? Location: UnknownThe Doctor blinked in surprise, but going by that toothy smile of his, he was quite happy to answer. "Well," he said as he clasped his hands together. "Normally people don't ask. They just go all 'Oh!' and 'Ah!' and 'It's bigger on the inside!'" "You haven't answered my questions," Jocelyn replied. "For why it looks like a blue police box, it's meant to adapt to its surroundings. But the thing that's supposed to make it work broke. On why the inside is bigger than the outside, that might be an extraordinary and involved answer, but I will do my best to answer. One moment." The Doctor raised his bony index finger and rushed off to a nearby stairway leading to a level below. She wasn't quite sure if she should call out to get his attention, but he came back up with two featureless cubes in his hands, one larger than the other. "To start things off, insides and outsides are not in the same dimension." He placed the larger one on the console and stepped back. "From your perspective, which box is larger?" "The one on the console," she answered, pointing at the box. "Technically that's correct," the Doctor replied. "But from where I'm standing, the box in my hand is larger than the one on the console. If you keep that same distance away and have it here, the larger one can fit inside the smaller one." Jocelyn raised a finger in protest. "But that doesn't—" She internalized the irritated grunt that almost escaped her lips. "Are you talking about different dimensions?" "Yes. That's trans-dimensional engineering," the Doctor answered before placing both cubes back in the cabinet below. "We're in the TARDIS. Short for Time And Relative Dimension in Space." "We're in in a time machine?" Jocelyn noted. Her gaze went off in a slightly different direction. "Yes. Does that help?" "I—yeah, but…" Jocelyn tilted her head before setting her eyes on the Doctor. She wasn't sure what to make of him. "Is it possible to travel between different universes?" "Speaking of which…" The Doctor couldn't finish his sentence before approaching the console, bringing the monitor from the other side to this spot. Jocelyn stepped behind him as he pressed a series of buttons and flicked some switches, his eyes focused on the screen. She leaned forward as words appeared on the screen. DATE: APRIL 14TH, 4356More words appeared on the screen. RIFT DETECTED
SEVERITY: LOW BUT RISING
SIZE: SLIGHTLY LARGER BUT STILL SMALLER THAN BELGIUM"Belgium? That small Pre-War nation?" Jocelyn wondered with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. She was so glad she paid attention in class at Vault 101, unlike Butch. "Bit anticlimactic, I know," the Doctor replied, still studying the screen, his face stoic yet indecipherable. "So what kind of rift are we talking about? Did it bring you here?" He shrugged. "Do you have any idea where it is?" After the Doctor pressed more buttons, the words on the screen now read: LOCATION: UNKNOWNThe Doctor sucked his cheeks in, disappointed. "Oh. That's… unfortunate." There was a knock at the door. Once, then twice, both urgent. As their attention was brought to the door, they exchanged looks. With a tilt of her head, Jocelyn urged the Doctor to go check it out, which he did by opening the door. A man barged in, bumping into the Doctor. He was pale with combed dark hair, reaching down to the base of his neck while his angular chin sported a short beard. A hunched posture and a worried look in his eyes would tell her and the Doctor that there was a lot on his mind or something terrible was going on. "Oh, so sorry," said the man with an English accent after dusting off the shoulder of his green uniform. "What in God's name took you so long?" The Doctor arched an eyebrow. "Pardon?" "Well, I saw the TARDIS appearing, so I…" The man stopped himself and cleared his throat before straightening his posture. "My apologies, sir. I'm Dr. Alexander Rand. I'm the administrator of the Icarus UGIT station." "What's UGIT?" Jocelyn asked. "United Galactic Intelligence Taskforce. Used to be called the United Intelligence Taskforce back in the day," Dr. Rand answered. "They're the ones that defend Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats," the Doctor finished. The administrator offered his hand, and the Doctor shook it. "A pleasure, Dr. Rand. Mind telling us what's going on?" "Well, uh…" Rand hesitated as he snapped his fingers and paced around. "Do either of you know a thing or two about the Ania?" The Doctor shook his head. "What are they?" "Well… Imagine if… itsy-bitsy organisms—whole colonies of them—are able to bond with any crystalline or amorphous solid. They latch on the glass; they rely on glass. They're one of the deadliest predators in the universe. They're quick on their feet and can rip apart any flesh in seconds." Jocelyn stepped toward the two men. "What do these Ania look like?" she asked. "They're shaped like lizards, larger than your average household dog. Some of them vary. Tail length, the shape of the head, width… You name it," the administrator answered. "Several of them disappeared a couple of months ago. They didn't break free from their containment, nor did they sound any alarms. They just… disappeared, like that." He snapped his fingers together. "Why? You've found them before?" The Doctor nodded grimly. "We've encountered them before." "I see. But that's not all." Alexander took a deep breath. "We're also having problems with the Cybermen." The Lone Wanderer furrowed her brow. "Cybermen?" "It's best if I show you." The administrator left the TARDIS in a hurry, and the Doctor followed. As she slipped back inside her power armor, Jocelyn stepped out of the TARDIS. Looking around, this room matched what she imagined a CEO would have. Large, open space between a singular, a futuristic door and a wooden desk carved so well it almost looked natural. And no executive office would ever be complete without an extravagant red carpet laid out beneath her feet. The holographic-looking globe of an alien planet on the desk was just the cherry on top. She turned to her left toward a window encasing the entire wall before her. Out there, she saw a blue sun shimmering in the starry, black void of outer space. The star vastly dwarfed over a smaller celestial body that was wreathed in an atmosphere that gave off a sickly, green-brown glow. She couldn't exactly tell what surrounded the planet, but it let out a beautiful gleam to it. All this about outer space and being in a space station reminded her of Mothership Zeta and her crew. With that, her heart sank just a little. Last he heard of them was years ago, back when she traveled to the ruins of Chicago. She couldn't get a hold of them, nor could she use the beacon at the Capital Wasteland to teleport her up to the ship. With everything that had happened since Chicago, she could only assume the worst. "If you're done gawking about, we could use you for a moment," Alex called out, snapping Jocelyn out of her thoughts. She followed her gaze to the Doctor and the administrator standing in front of a giant floating screen. "What is it?" "We have a bit of a problem." The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Clearly, that's understating what I've said," Alex added. "Two problems, in fact." "What's the first one, then?" she asked. "Cybermen," the administrator answered while looking at her. "You said you wanted to know what they are, right?" She nodded. "Yeah." The administrator turned to the screen and tapped on it as if it was solid, conjuring footage of a group of humanoids in silver armor, shooting beams from their light bulbs on top of their heads at men and women in a large lobby. Their faceplates were flat, having beady circles for eyes and thick lines for mouths. A moment later, one of them trained their eyes on the camera. A light appeared on their head and the feed cut off. Only static remained before Alexander swiped the video off the screen. This whole time, Jocelyn looked on in horror. Deep inside her was an urge screaming and whimpering at the back of the mind to turn away, not to watch it any further. But she won't. She had seen things far worse than this. The Doctor turned to look at Jocelyn before she could say a word. "The Cybermen were once human, like you." He paced around, left to right. "Driven by survival, they augmented themselves with cybernetic implants. Perfectly sound idea but unfortunately, they added in more and more cybernetics, stripping away all the organic parts, becoming obsessed with converting every other life form in the universe. They provided an ultimatum: convert or die." "Sounds like that's what the Brotherhood is afraid of. The endpoint of technological process without restraint," Jocelyn muttered. The more she thought about these Cybermen, the more it looked… wrong in so many ways. "How many of these Cybermen are there?" "Enough to be called an army. Maybe an entire fleet," Alex replied. "If we don't stop them…" Jocelyn looked at the administrator and uttered the words she never thought she would say in a long time, "Then we need to take care of them before people get killed." "You're brave, I'll give you that. But here's another thing." He raised his hand and moved it to the right of him, bringing up an image of the planet to them. With a tap on the planet's image, it revealed a pulsing red dot near the equator, where a large cloud had formed. "There's an anomalous signal that's been agitating the Ania colonies for months." "There are colonies of these creatures?" Jocelyn asked in surprise. "How did this signal agitate them?" With a wave from Alex's hand waved, an image of a massive, eight-legged, creature appeared. Its glass-like scales were of all colors, its underside rimmed with shards long enough to be a few inches above the ground. Jocelyn couldn't help but compare it to a dragon from fantasy books and fairy tales but with those tree-like limbs on its back wings. "That's the Ania queen. Think of her colony like how a bee queen overlooks a bee colony," the Doctor explained. "What we found on your Earth were stragglers. The RobCo employees have sealed them off in the basement. I can imagine, most of them went docile because they couldn't bear the reality without their queen. It would be like a child growing up without their parents' guidance. Feral, alone, afraid. Because if they weren't…" He pointed at the screen, now showing a room with crystals growing over the metallic floor, walls, and ceiling. "You're containing them. For what purpose?" Jocelyn asked. "To save them. Icarus is a research station. While the planet's impossible for colonization due to its sulfuric atmosphere and constant volcanic eruptions, its unique minerals make anyone willing to harvest the planet and exploit its inhabitants for a quick buck," Alex added. "But the Ania are dangerous. Some of Montreal's men were injured one time when one of the big ones broke out." "Montreal?" the Doctor asked incredulously. "That's a bit of a silly name, isn't it?" "Max Montreal. He's the Chief Head of Security. Bit of an arse, but that's his job," Alex answered. "Outside of that, he's pretty cool. You just have to get used to it." The Doctor had his hand on his chin as he contemplated his answers. After a moment, he said, "Take me to the planet. We still need to find out what's wrong with the Ania hive queen." "I'll come along," Jocelyn added. The Doctor shook his head. "That would be nice, but no. I have to do this the only way I know how." "And that is?" "Talk some sense into it," he stated, shrugging. "Well, in a way, I suppose. Trust me on this one, okay?" Despite the Doctor giving her a wink and a smile, she still wasn't quite so certain. "You certainly have this inspiring effect on people, Doctor," Alexander commented before looking at her. "What about you, then?" Jocelyn looked at the administrator. "I guess I'll help take care of these… Cybermen." "Okay," Alex acknowledged with a nod. "You'll rendezvous with OMI and Dr. Sami Yoko. They'll fill you in on the—" "Wait. Stop. Stop right there." The Doctor pointed at the administrator. "OMI? What's OMI?" "Omni Mutual Intelligence for short. They're mostly into linguistics and communication, but everything else? You'll be very grateful for them. We paid them for their job, by the way." Alex cleared his throat. "Then it's settled, I take it?" Both the Wanderer and the Doctor confirmed their decision. "Yes," they said separately. "Max and his team will provide you with backup, Doctor." Alex tapped on the right side of his head, pressing his fingers against an earpiece. "Max, get your team ready and set up an expedition. The Doctor will join you in a moment." And with that, the administrator and the Doctor made their leave. Jocelyn's eyes followed the Doctor and Alex before looking back at the blue sun and the planet. She still tried to wrap around what she agreed to. It had been years since she was being all heroic, doing big things for everyone, saving lives and all that. "I have a bad feeling about this," she said to no one in particular. Planet: Ania System: Icarus Cluster: Rico Type: Rock Mass: .8 Earth Mass Orbital Distance: 25 AU Orbital Period: 12 Earth Years Keplerian Ratio: 0.5-1.5, varying on time of year Radius: 4,103.19 km (2549 miles) Day Length: 8 Earth Hours Atmospheric Pressure: 1 atm Surface Temperature: 50 ° C Surface Gravity: 0.56 g Satellites: n/aThe Doctor sat in the back of the shuttle, his body bracing against the harness as he was sandwiched between two of Max's security team members. The shuttle itself was small, only enough to fit a dozen people. Save for him and Max Montreal, everybody's armor was the same; camo gray with padding all over their bodies and armed with blocky pulse rifles. The Doctor had his orange hazmat suit, or a spacesuit as he insisted to Clara one time. One moment, Montreal, a broad-jawed, black-haired man in armor fancier than the others, was ready to make a speech. Next, alarms blared out as a sudden force brought the shuttle out of course. Max flew off his feet with a surprised yelp, his hands maintaining a firm grip on the railing planted on the ceiling as the others rocked forward and collided with the harnesses. A long, crystalized limb smashed through the front, crushing the pilot into nothingness before he could do anything. The limb retracted, showing three long, giant talons as it disappeared into the green mist. "Ah hell, that's the queen!" the pilot exclaimed with wide eyes through his visor. "Better hope we make the landing!" The shuttle landed on solid ground. Every piece that still hung on the shuttle broke off with each bounce before it came to a grinding halt. The Doctor looked up after swinging the harness up, finding Max checking on the others. With the front gone, a fourth of the team went missing. Everyone else was too injured to move. Worse yet were cracks forming on the Doctor's faceplate and Max took notice. He gasped to breathe for air. "Let me get that fixed right now." The security chief went for a container nearby that read 'Repair gel'. Swinging it open, he grabbed a canister and sprayed the gel on the faceplate. Within seconds, the cracks vanished. The Doctor let out a gasp as he found himself able to breathe again. "Thank you." "Just doing my job." A roar bellowed and echoed outside the wreckage of a shuttle, causing the ground to shake. The Doctor went past Max and hopped down from the ship. He looked upward, finding the massive crystal creature raising its head to the sky, its jaw with its many, many teeth wide open. The Doctor knew this problem was far larger than anyone would realize. Back at the station…The elevator raced down. Jocelyn noticed it was slower than she thought. Was it just her or did these Cybermen sabotage it somehow? She was alone in this circular and nearly pristine elevator. She felt cramped in her power armor. Only the transparent door in front of her gave her the view of the station's inner works, and that was very brief as each floor sped by. She wasn't certain if she could tolerate that cheerful bit of music looping on repeat. How anyone could tolerate that for so long would be a mystery to her. Still, she had occupied the time by checking her weapons. The Wanderer brought up her holorifle and cocked it. Inside, the barrel was filled with four fusion cells, enough for a full round before reloading. That alone brought relief to her. As she was about to check on her plasma pistol, the Glock-like MPLX Novasurge, a sound chime on an interface next to the door. She brought her hand up in front of it, only to yank it back somewhat when the interface brought forth a moving image of a woman in a uniform like Alexander's but red. The Japanese woman looked young, somewhere in her twenties, with fair skin and dark brown hair. "Hello? This is Dr. Yoki Sami, chief engineer," the woman spoke, looking at Jocelyn. "Are you receiving this?" Her form flickered and simmered. Jocelyn's hand tapped on the interface, the button reading 'respond'. "Signal's a little spotty, but I read you loud and clear," she replied. "We need help with—" The engineer's image flickered once again. "—ybermen have sabotaged the—Only way to disable the overload is at the reactor—." Jocelyn's eyes grew wide under her helmet as worry started to set in. If what she inferred was right, then not only would many people die, but the station's destruction would certainly cause chaos in its vicinity. "Are you and OMI safe?" she asked. "I'm sorry? I didn't catch that." "Are you two somewhere safe?" Jocelyn repeated. "Yeah, but not for long. I—" There was a booming sound playing through the speakers, soon followed by the elevator rating for several seconds. Jocelyn stumbled as she lost her footing for a second. As she regained her balance, she saw the chief engineer's expression on her face turned into that of fear. "Oh no…" Sami muttered as she turned her head toward the source of the noise. The quality of the engineer's image worsened to a point the Wanderer could barely tell what was going on. "Dr. Yoko, just hold on as long as you can!" the Lone Wanderer exclaimed. She tried to say more, only for Sami's image to vanish. Jocelyn let out a sullen sigh as her shoulders slumped. She hoped the elevator would bring her in time. After what seemed like minutes to her, it thankfully did stop as the door slid open in front of her. " Now arriving at Engineering," a cheerful masculine voice toned out of the intercom. She stepped outside of the elevator, the stack of holorifle pressed against her shoulder. It was a good thing this weapon had night-vision; there was little in the way of lighting. Looking down the scope, she found the elevator had brought her down to a three-way hallway, each walkway fashioned by a series of pipes and thick wiring. Some of the pipes were leaking with thick steam, obscuring her vision. Moving around a little informed her it shouldn't be cramped for the size of her armor. But which way should she go? Left, right, or forward? What did Alexander say about which way to go? "As soon as you get out of the elevator, take a left," she remembered the administrator instructing her. "That way, it should give you easy passage to the main reactor room, but hurry. We don't have much time. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed a dark but small sphere hanging down from the ceiling. A blinking red light had followed her every step. The Wanderer couldn't help but wonder who was watching her through that camera. Was it the administrator safely at his office while keeping tabs on any survivors on the station, or was it the Cybermen tracking them down? At the bottom of her heart, she hoped it was Alexander. He brought himself to direct anyone still alive to the escape pods, should the worst come to pass. Doctor, you better make it through this.Taking careful steps on the walkway, she noticed a faint red glow traveling through the little holes below her feet. At every passing moment, the light grew slightly brighter. There was also an echo throughout the hallways, and Jocelyn could barely hear a deep, booming voice blaring out, " Main reactor room compromised! Requesting repairs!" She picked up the pace, dashing down the walkway. She didn't care if the noises she made would attract the attention of either the Cybermen or the Ania. Or maybe both. As cliché as it sounded, it was a race against time. Not only was the chief engineer and the robot in danger, but the reactor would also soon go into a meltdown. It wasn't long before she couldn't take another step without something or someone shooting at her. As she entered a rather large room with rows of consoles, interfaces, and construction lights, a blue plasma beam grazed her left shoulder, chipping the top of the piece. " Del-ete. Del-ete!" a monotonous voice chanted. The Lone Wanderer looked up and saw three Cybermen aiming their wrist-mounted guns at her as they descended a wide staircase in unison. Jocelyn aimed with her holorifle and activated her Pip-Boy's VATS—Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System—increasing her accuracy. Her perception of time had slowed down, adrenaline pumping through her body, her heartbeats pounding against her eardrums. Two shots and two clusters of holographic cubes whistled through the air, leaving behind blasts in quick succession as they flew straight into the one standing in the middle. The Cyberman's head combusted into a million pieces made of metal and brain matter flying in all directions. The rest of its body fell and slid down the stairs. The others paid no mind to their fallen comrade and continued their push. They both fired at the same time. Before she knew it, both shots hit her, one in the chest and the other in the head. She stumbled back and there was a loud crack as she closed her eyes for a second. She shook off her daze and opened her eyes, finding her visor had cracked open, exposing her now-angry right eye. It will be a long night for her to fix her power armor once this was done. With a furrowed brow and clenched teeth, the Wanderer charged forward, hip-firing her rifle at the nearest Cyberman in the chest before slamming into it with her right shoulder. The impact had sent it rolling towards the console, smashing into it as sparks flew all around. " We… are… superior…" That Cyberman twitched and stuttered as electricity overloaded the cyborg's systems before giving it a quick death. In a single motion, her super sledge in one hand and her rifle in the other, she swung the hammer at the remaining Cyberman with one hand, and its chest caved inward. For a second, the Cyberman looked down at its chest as if it was shocked by the turn of events. " This can-not be… p-p-oss-i-ble…" With its broken arms, the Cyberman tried to fire before it met its fate, its head ripped clean off from the swing of her hammer. People said she was fierce in battle, but with some cybernetic implants and the T-60 power armor, she bet she could wrestle a Super Mutant Behemoth to the ground and make it cry uncle. With the last Cyberman down and out, she left the room, loading two fusion cells into her gun. They were stalling her, but she made short work of them. Now back in the dark hallway, there was a crunching sound as she took a stop. She stopped and lifted her foot, finding that crystals were growing on the metallic floor, walls, and ceiling. As impossible as it seemed, Jocelyn couldn't help but find it fascinating somehow. She followed the trail of crystals, which traveled down the hallway before taking a sharp right. She wasn't quite sure if she could follow the trail, but the sounds of gunfire and growls convinced her otherwise. She followed the trail, and it led her to a wide long path that went to a door sealed by the crystals trailing from the ground. There was a flashing yellow light at the top, with a pack of feral Ania growling as they closed in on two people, one human in a red jumpsuit and one not human. One of the Ania laid on the floor, seemingly dead. Dr. Yoko was there, slumped against the wall behind her with a pistol in her hand. She was alive but injured. There were pieces of glass sticking out of her right leg. As for her robotic companion, the best way she could describe the robot was a person with a terminal for their head. They wore a black-and-orange padded jumpsuit with gloves of matching colors, the black on their palms. Only the terminal screen displayed a pair of simple eyes and a line for a mouth, with fins at the base of their face. "Oh, hello!" The robot's screen flashed a smile as they noticed the Wanderer stepping in. The glass creatures also turned their attention to her. "I am OMI, short for Omni Mutual Intelligence, and we would be very grateful if you would help us." Jocelyn didn't say anything as she readied herself for combat. However, she realized not only the Ania had their attention on her, but they went past her in an instant. Her brow furrowing under her helmet, she looked over her shoulder, finding a lone figure standing at the other end of the hallway with a staff in hand, the lighting behind them casting a great shadow before them. As the shadowy figure went into a combat stance, the staff in both hands and to their side, the glass creatures pounced at the figure, only for one of them to be knocked aside with a swing of the staff. The grunts the figure made sounded masculine with a slight metallic echo to it as another Ania leaped onto the stranger. Seeing it clawing and chewing on the stranger, the Wanderer aimed her Holorifle and, with the help of VATS, fired once at the glass creature. As the creature turned its back against her, a cluster of holographic cubes collided on it, and it let out a pained yelp. Its grip now weakened, the stranger tossed aside the Ania to his left, crashing into the pipes. For a second, Jocelyn thought she saw a flash of silver through her scope. Lowering her file, the light flashed a bright yellow, confirming her assumption. In front of her was very much a Cyberman, much to her dismay. Unlike the others she fought and killed, however, this one had what seemed to be silver clothing underneath his chest piece. His head was rounder and squarish than the usual Cyberman. "Thanks for helping me out." Something about this tipped her off. His voice wasn't like the monotonous, robotic, and sing-song ones the rest of the Cybermen have. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…" she heard OMI muttered. Jocelyn turned around to look at Sami as she tried to get up to her feet, seething in pain, the look in her eyes turned wide-eyed when she looked up at the stranger. "Oh hell! Cyberman!" she cried and raised her pistol at the strange Cyberman. The Cyberman dropped his staff like a bag of bricks, the clanging sound it made echoing down the hallway, and raised his hands in the air. "Whoa, okay! Let's not get hasty here! If it helps, I will surrender." Jocelyn just stood there, stunned and silent, as she gave the Cyberman a strange look. Well, if anyone could see the look on her face underneath her helmet. She was not expecting that response from a Cyberman, of all things. "What?" she asked, confused. "That doesn't seem…" "Logical, right?" the Cyberman guessed, finishing her sentence. He chuckled slightly, which confused Jocelyn even further. "It's what I've told the Doctor once a long time ago: to hell with logic!" His attention was then brought to something moving around, like someone sweeping pieces of glass around. Jocelyn, as well as the others, turned around to see a seemingly dead Ania on the floor now standing on its legs. "Excuse me for a bit." The Cyberman, without warning, swiftly picked up his staff and dashed, leaping over Jocelyn. The sudden force pushing her down made her grunt a little, and struck at the Ania, piercing through its body. The glass creature let out a death wail before he pulled the staff out and crushed its head into a million pieces. He stood up and latched his staff to his back. "Maybe now I can earn your trust." "That would be wise of us to do so, methinks," OMI agreed, wrapping one of their arms around the engineer's shoulders as the robot and Yoko began walking. "Just one question: who are you?" "It's Kroton," the Cyberman answered. "So what are you three up to?" "I could ask you the same thing," Dr. Yoko demanded before nearly tripping on her bad leg. Even taking a casual look made Jocelyn realize the wound would get infected without treatment. "Don't move, all right?" she requested, gently holding onto Sami's leg. Sami let out a pained grunt in response as Jocelyn dug into her fanny pack and pulled out one of her stimpaks. "Ready?" Sami stared at the syringe incredulously. "What's this?" "It's a stimpak. Speeds up your healing process," Jocelyn explained. "Now hold still." The engineer flinched at first, but she relented and relaxed, allowing Jocelyn to gingerly drive the syringe into her forearm. The red liquid inside traveled to her bloodstream, and the cuts and gashes all over her leg all washed away, pushing the shards out as the skin on her leg stitched itself back together like cloth in a sewing machine. "That's… an interesting medical application," Kroton commented, watching the engineer taking one step, then two, before continuing onward at a hurried pace. "Indeed," Sami agreed before glancing at Kroton. "Look, I appreciate you didn't attack us. Right now, we need all the help we can get. We need to get to the main reactor room. Your brethren…" She caught her breath before continuing. "…the Cybermen have sabotaged it. The sooner we get there, the more likely we can stop it before it can cause catastrophic damage to the station." "You'd think you would have some sort of safety measures, innit?" Kroton replied with a shrug. Two dots and a straight line appeared on OMI's screen. They didn't seem to be amused at the sentient Cyberman's remark. "How rude of you!" The robot passed by, glancing at the Cyberman before catching up to the engineer. Before Jocelyn could catch up with the others, she looked back at the Cyberman while standing a good foot or so taller than him. "You know the Doctor?" "Indeed, I do," the renegade Cyberman answered. "Long story."
|
|
|
Post by Nord Ronnoc on Jan 5, 2019 6:38:18 GMT 1
Chapter Three: Journey to the Center Year: 2277 Location: Jefferson Memorial, Capital WastelandIn the rotunda, the circular control room hung above a pool of irradiated water, built around the statue of Thomas Jefferson. The statue itself was perfectly preserved, encased in a tank full of water at the center. Alarms continued to blare out, even as two people were trapped inside the control room with a pale, gray-haired man in a long coat and soldiers in large, hulking power armor with devilish helmets. One of the hostages, a scientist in a lab coat and high heels, was Janice Kaplinski. The other was her father. He still wore his worn-out Vault jumpsuit, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Jocelyn had to hurry before this could get any worse. She had only reached the top of the stairway, meeting up with Doctor Madison Li, when the man in the long coat made his demand, his hands crossed behind his back. “The person in charge is to step forward immediately and turn over all materials related to this project.” There was a twang in his voice, a sign typical for Southern accents. Despite not being able to see his face as she went to the emergency bulkhead, it was clear he was not here with the best intentions in mind. “That’s quite impossible,” her father replied, keeping a stern look and tone. “This is a private project; the Enclave has no authority here. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” The Enclave? The remnants of the US Government she kept hearing about from Three Dog along with the eyebots flying about in the wasteland? “Am I to assume, sir, that you are in charge?” the man asked. “Yes, I’m responsible for this project,” her father replied. “Then I repeat, sir, that you are hereby instructed to immediately hand over all materials related to the purifier.” Jocelyn turned to the console to her right and pressed the button on it. The bulkhead did not open. She pressed it again. Still nothing. No matter how many times she pressed it in frantic motion, the bulkhead would not open. Somebody must have overridden the command. “I’m sorry, but that’s…” She heard her father tried to protest but was cut off. “Furthermore, you are to assist Enclave scientists in assuming control of the administration and operation of this facility at once,” the man added. “Colonel… is it Colonel?” her father guessed. “I’m sorry, but the facility is not operational. It never has been. I’m afraid you’re wasting your time here.” “Sir, this is the last time I am going to repeat myself.” Despite the professionalism in the colonel’s voice, it was clear his patience was wearing thin. “Colonel, I assure you that this facility will not function,” her father explained. “We have never been able to successfully replicate test results.” Jocelyn heard a shot rang out through the glass, followed by a woman’s pained cry, and she turned her attention to Janice on the floor, dead, a bloody hole between her eyes. The colonel had a 10mm pistol out, smoke trailing out of it. Jocelyn could only stare out in shock, anger welling up inside her. “I suggest you comply immediately, sir, in order to prevent any more incidents. Are we clear?” The tone in the colonel’s voice remained unchanged. Her father’s nostrils flared. “Yes, Colonel,” he seethed. “I’ll do whatever you want; there’s no need for more violence.” As her father turned his attention to the central console, a wave of fear and panic swept over Jocelyn. Without thinking, she got out her plasma rifle and slammed it on the emergency bulkhead with its stock. But the door was too sturdy to crack open. A small explosion rumbled in the control room, and the Geiger counter on her Pip-Boy started to tick as the radiation began to leak in. The soldiers collapsed in agony, the overwhelming radiation inside killing them swiftly and silently. The colonel was next, but not before he pulled a syringe out of his coat and stuck it into his forearm. Standing among the corpses, her father hobbled to the bulkhead. Her hand shaking, she dropped her rifle as she pressed her hand on the glass in response to her father’s. “Run… run!” her father pleaded, looking at his daughter one last time. His body crumbled to the floor next to the colonel. Her knees gave up, and she fell. She wanted the radiation to kill her in hopes she could be with her father in a better world. She went through hell and back to reunite with her father. “We have to get out of here,” Madison Li called out. “They’ll be coming for us next. We’ve got to evacuate now!” “ Look, it just… you have to know these things. I’m not going to be around to hold your hand forever,” she remembered her father telling her the day before he left the Vault. Why did it have to end here? Year: 4356 Location: Engineering Core, Icarus Station“Ah, hang on. Allow me,” OMI insisted as the group approached the door. The sign above it flashed ENGINEERING CORE. The robot opened the panel, which exposed circuit boards and loose wiring. Jocelyn had to pull her head back when sparks crackled and flew out of the thing. “My word, it’s worse than I thought! Those Cybermen were quite thorough, weren’t they?” “I am one. Well, technically,” Kroton remarked, looking behind them in case any other Cybermen would get the jump on them. “What about the backup generator?” Jocelyn asked. “Wouldn’t they go after that, too?” “If they wrecked the backup generator, we would all be dead,” Dr. Yoko answered, watching OMI stretching their right hand as mini appendages emerged and unfolded out of their fingers. “I must say, this will never get old.” “Indeed!” OMI replied cheerfully, their face-screen flashing a smile before thrusting the little devices into the wires and board and started working. The tiny whirs and whines came off those little machines as the mending of the wires came together. The robot pulled out the burnt-out circuit board, grabbing a fresh and unused one of out of their chassis and inserted it into the slot inside the panel, all with a smirk flashing on their face. “And… done!” They tapped on the interface and the door slid open. “Alexander was not kidding about you,” Jocelyn commented with astonishment. It was not every day when something like this happened. Had she always missed this? That feeling in her chest… did she? “He hasn’t paid me enough,” OMI grumbled. She had rarely found a robot to be so emotional like that. The group stepped inside without incident. There was little light here, supported only by holographic interfaces flickering and hellish red flashes from a giant, sparking collider set in the center. Jocelyn’s headlight revealed something else, much to the shock of Dr. Yoko and OMI. There were bodies laid all over the floor down the staircase in a random pattern. Even from a distance, they could tell a few of them were shot down by Cybermen, but others had some sort of growth that gleamed in the sporadic light. In the space between the consoles, there was a metal-rimmed circle laid out on the floor. They stepped down, the Wanderer and Kroton taking point and their weapons at the ready. The Wanderer turned around and noticed a sense of dread rising among the doctor and the robot, judging by how shaky its face looked on its screen. Jocelyn was no stranger to these heinous acts, that was for certain. She was sure Kroton was, but him being a renegade Cyberman, his expression remained indecipherable. “Do you know any of these people, Dr. Yoko?” Kroton inquired. The engineer said nothing, still stunned by the carnage laid out before them. It only took her stubborn legs pushing her down the stairs to bring her out of her stupor. “…Yes. I… did my best to remember every one of their names.” After they stepped off the stairs and spread out, Yoko went toward one of the bodies and knelt beside it. “Marta Diana. That’s who she was, before, well…” She stood up and pointed at another body, draped over a console. “This one was Niko Pingov.” Another point of her finger. “And L-Lapo Vidal, and…” Her hand shook as a sharp breath escaped her body. “I can’t mourn them if we all die now. We have a station to save.” There was now a determined look on her face as she scanned the area. “OMI, could you see if you can turn on the lights?” She turned at Jocelyn and the Cyberman. “Wanderer, Kroton, help me start up the restart sequence.” Jocelyn nodded and set out to one of the consoles the engineer guided her to. “One question, though,” said the engineer. “Do you know a thing or two about nuclear physics?” “Shall I refer to you the differences between fusion and fission?” Jocelyn replied. “Formal education?” Dr. Yoko guessed. “More or less,” Jocelyn answered, hesitant and embarrassed. While she got her education thanks to paying attention in class, she also received less… formal education from science textbooks and plenty of experience. The problem was, however… “Uh…” She looked at the now-overwhelming number of buttons on the console, the screen above flashing red along with numbers counting down by the second. MELTDOWN IMMINENT IN 4:34:92
4:33:49
4:32:62“Is this thing user-friendly?” The Lone Wanderer squeaked urgently. “It’s not the kind of user interface I’m used to.” “Yes, thankfully,” Dr. Yoko said as if she had sighed. She had to step over one of her dead co-workers to another console, much to her chagrin. She turned her attention toward the Wanderer. “Just do as the interface says and it’ll be fine. I hope. If it gives out some weird or contradicting command, refer to me.” “And if that doesn’t work?” “Then you and every other organic on this station would suffer a slow and excruciating death as life support shuts down,” OMI answered while tapping commands on their console left and right. “I have no intention of pressuring you, but there you go.” “What OMI said,” Dr. Yoko remarked before going back to her console. “Being helpful does wonders, doesn’t it?” A mirthless laugh escaped her lips. Pressure sure did funny things to people. “Everybody ready?” the engineer called out. “Keeping watch,” Kroton answered, his staff in hand as he scanned their surroundings. “Ready,” OMI also answered. “I’m ready,” Jocelyn nodded. The Lone Wanderer knew plenty of things about nuclear physics as well as other scientific fields ranging from chemistry to life science to biology. She also knew her way around a RobCo terminal, including those very top-secret, government terminals. If there was a bone to mend together or a nasty cut to stitch, she could do that. And she could get a robot to do her bidding or have them self-destruct at her whim. The countdown continued. 3:44:73
3:43:12Jocelyn pressed a button after the engineer gave the signal, which turned green immediately. Dr. Yoko was right: the interface was easy, especially as a list of instructions scrolled across the screen, accompanied by images depicting the fusion power generator that was glowing at the center. She looked up to find tiny little robots flying around the generator, using little arms to mend gashes all over it. The color of the generator’s light slowly turned away from red to blue. 3:22:77
3:21:44
3:20:89She hoped the others were making progress. “Oh, do I get to join the fun or is that not allowed among your little group of would-be saviors?” It was an unfamiliar voice, feminine, middle-aged, with a pompous accent. It took them nearly an instant to find the source, as Jocelyn and the others turned to see a woman in a black blouse and high heels standing in the metallic circle, now glowing a bluish light around her. Having an angular face and a narrow nose, this woman who appeared out of nowhere had rather pronounced cheekbones and wild, black hair that tied in an updo. “Who are you?” Jocelyn demanded, now looking at the woman who had piercing, cold-blue eyes. She was ready to draw her weapon out. “That’s the Master. A Time Lord, like the Doctor, and his archenemy, to put it simply,” Kroton answered, his stance readied as he cautiously approached the woman. The ‘Master’ rolled her eyes as she placed her hand on her hip. “Please. Time Lady. I’m Missy, short for Mistress. I couldn’t very well call myself the Master, now do I?” Every word she had spoken had a hint of a sneer to it. She turned her gaze at the renegade Cyberman. “You.” She pointed at him. “Haven’t I met you somewhere? Well, I used to be a different person back then, so the memory’s all… jumbled up. Would you be so kind as to jog my memory? Just a teeny, tiny bit?” “Yes, that’s correct. You look different, but you’re still the same nutjob all the same,” Kroton retorted. “Last time we met, I trapped you somewhere where you couldn’t escape.” “Yes yes, I remember now.” Missy waved off dismissively. “You fought off an immortal samurai and won, taking control of the Glory and acting as its guardian or some sort.” She scoffed, still eyeing the Cyberman. “What? Does the prospect of godhood bore you or were you kicked out of the job?” “Center of the Omniversal Spectrum. A… guardian of the multiverse, in other words,” Kroton corrected Missy. “Not that it matters to you.” “Nevermind that. How did you hijack this channel?” Dr. Yoko questioned. “So this is a holographic projection, then?” Jocelyn tried to ask. “In a way. If I remember correctly, this station is equipped with quantum entanglement communicators,” Kroton remarked. “You should try it someday.” “That sounds fascinating, but that’s not what we’re here for.” Jocelyn. looked at the Time Lady before her. “And I take it you were the one who started this whole mess.” “And what makes you say that?” Missy shot back. “Oh, how would I love to hear it!” “You’re you. You do love to cause chaos and destruction wherever you go,” OMI responded. Missy curled her lips. “It’s true, I do cause a lot of death and destruction.” She let out a faux gasp, her eyes wide as if she mocked all of them. “Oh, were you referring to the Cyberman? Well, it is true I led them here.” The Lone Wanderer grunted in disgust. “Why?” “Try to keep up. Although…” The Time Mistress hummed childishly, turning her attention toward her. “Clara, Clara, Clara… Where’s Clara? Don’t tell me the Doctor replaced her with you!” 1:50:59This Missy’s words would have given Lone Wanderer some offense, but she recovered. “Does that matter? We have lives to save and you’re distracting us.” The mistress clasped her hands together in childlike glee. “Oh goodness me! It would be fascinating to see how many lives would be lost by your spectacular failure!” Jocelyn tried to ignore her as she, the engineer, and the robot refocused on their respective consoles. “I wonder how the Doctor is faring, all stuck with who-knows-what on that planet, hm?” Missy pondered. Just keep ignoring her, just keep ignoring her… Jocelyn told herself. 1:01:82
1:00:02
0:59:44Jocelyn was starting to get worried as she took a quick look up at the generator. It hadn’t transitioned further. She looked down at her screen, which flashed ERROR. Undeterred, she entered another command, one that should be circumvented. This shouldn’t be different from hacking RobCo terminals, right? “How’s it looking on your end?” Jocelyn asked. “Getting there,” OMI answered. 0:18:46“Any second now!” Kroton called out. For a moment, he was about ready to go for the generator and try to disable it somehow. “Almost… there,” the engineer grunted. The numbers on the screen, on every screen, now showed a single number. 9…
8…
7…
6…
5…
Thinkthinkthinkthink! Jocelyn thought to herself. She looked over the commands and found one: restart the generator. With a shaky hand, she pressed the button and waited. 3…
2…
1…And everything went dark, like a blanket of darkness had washed over the room. Then, the generator glowed a calm blue and one by one, the consoles flickered to life. Both Jocelyn and Dr. Yoko let out a sigh of relief, now that the generator was restored in the nick of time. “Oh! Well, how about that!” Missy appeared once again, more than a little disappointed. “So, you’ve succeeded in saving the day. How marvelous.” Her arms were crossed in front of her. “Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things. Everything dies, one way or another. You all know that. I mean, why bother, anyway?” Jocelyn frowned and let out a sigh. She had enough of this. And she was tired, oh so very tired of this. With her eyes narrowing, she straightened her posture and stepped toward the quantum projection of the Time Lady, the great height of her power armor towering over her. “I’m not gonna let you hurt any more people.” Missy only rolled her eyes in response. “Yes, well… how are you going to follow that statement if there is something scary and nasty coming your way? Especially without a certain Doctor?” As if on cue, the projection had vanished, leaving her and the others alone with the unearthly growls and screeches echoing in the core room. “Okay, I got some good news and some bad news,” Dr. Yoko announced, turning away from her console as she and OMI gathered around Kroton. “Let’s start with the good news,” Jocelyn replied, unholstering her Tommy gun-like laser RCW and readied herself, the stock pressed against her right shoulder. “Well, according to our readings, the generator reset had released an EMP of some sort, rendering the Cybermen and their ships inert,” said the engineer. “Can it do that?” Jocelyn wondered. Before the engineer or OMI could speak out, Kroton asked, “Nevermind that. You can explain later if we get the chance. What about the bad news?” OMI looked up and jolted back, a look of terror with a pair of shocked, cartoonish eyes and a gaping mouth appearing on their screen. “Oh my! The Ania have gotten here!” The others joined OMI and looked up as well. Traveling along the walls and the catwalk above were a swarm of Ania of all colors and sizes. “What OMI said,” the engineer remarked, her face being indecipherable and stoic. Jocelyn fired her laser RCW. A burst of fire had grazed several of them, but more came. Some even leaped and bounced off the walls. Few ran up to the group, only to be swatted aside with a sweep of the rogue Cyberman’s staff. Another charged at him, only for its toothy jaw to bite down on the staff, and a struggle ensued. It wasn’t enough for the Wanderer and the Cyberman to hold them all off. Two of the Ania slashed and diced at Jocelyn, leaving behind deep gashes all over her legs and chest piece. Before she could retaliate, pieces of glass slammed against her head. For a moment she saw nothing but whiteness before finding herself on the ground, pinned down on the floor by another one of the Ania, this one some bizarre mix of a lion’s body with the head of a beetle, its pincers gnawing at her helmet. Her helmet cracked, then split in two as she wrestled the creature by its neck. She ignored the glass piercing her right as the Ania pushed even further on her until she could barely feel the pincers touching her cheeks. Then she felt something heavy laying all over her, and she could only move the arm on the glass creature. She could feel the armor all over her being torn apart like scissors cutting through paper. Through gritted teeth, she tossed aside the Ania and found herself face down on the floor. She could hear the back of her armor unfolding, and someone had yanked Jocelyn out before the armor could turn into a pile of scrap metal or any of those glass creatures could strike the fatal blow against her. She stood up to her feet and looked at Kroton, who was no worse for wear. The robot and the engineer were already making a break for it up to the stairs. “We have to get out of here!” Kroton exclaimed. Jocelyn was more than inclined to agree. In what little time was spared, she grabbed her packs, bags, and weapons and made her way with the others. As she was the last one to dash through the exit, three Anias, the size of cats, leaped from the middle of the stairway only to meet an untimely end as she closed the door tight on them. The Wanderer wanted to rest up for a moment, but she had a feeling this place wasn’t exactly the safest. “Can it hold?” she asked, her hands on her knees. She paused, realizing what they had sealed the Ania into. “What about the generator? Wouldn’t these things wreck it just like the Cybermen had done?” “It’ll hold. The drones are automated to make any further repairs and are programmed to fire if any of them get too close,” Dr. Yoko explained after resting her back against the wall. She closed her eyes for a moment and her nostrils flared, letting her shoulders slump for a moment. “Shall we report this as a success to the administrator, ma’am?” OMI wondered as a pixelated image of Alexander appeared on the screen. The engineer nodded, straightened her posture, and the others quickly agreed. With that, the four sauntered down the hallway. Back on the planet…“Bloody hell,” Max Montreal gasped, a mix of awe and terror all over his face, as he caught up to the Doctor. “Any idea how we’re gonna approach this?” The giant creature bellowed its roar once again. In a way, it was majestic, a hum like that of a tuning fork or a whale crying out in the Earth’s oceans. Help… lost my…The Doctor blinked. “What?” He turned around at Max. “Did you hear that?” “Hear what?” Max responded in confusion. The Doctor turned back and looked up at the Ania queen. From where the two men stood, it was close, only about a few hundred or so meters away from their position. Nevertheless, it never diminished its overwhelming size, standing on its multiple legs at several stories. Its scales, all crystalline and stalactite, gleamed in the thick, sickly-green mist, contrasting with the barren, rocky land it stood on. Its head could easily be compared to that of a dragon, its horns curved like a ram’s. Did not mean… hurt…An idea sprung in the Doctor’s mind. He had communicated with animals before, even a T-rex that swallowed the TARDIS and spat it out in 19 th century London one time. He stretched out his right arm, his fingers on his left hand pressed against his helmet where his temples would be and closed his eyes. With a slow exhale, he opened his hand, as if making an offer of friendship. “What are you doing, Doctor? What’s going on?” The chief approached the Time Lord but stopped dead short when he shushed him. “Talking, so shut up!” In a matter of seconds, the Doctor could sense with his mind’s eye a presence, giant and grand, and he could feel something looking back at him. “Can you hear me? Can you see me?” he called out. There was a booming bass, a rumble happening all around him. He assumed the Ania queen was resonating with his inquiry, but he also assumed it was moving its massive body around. Yes. Can hear you. Help us. Scared…“How can I help you?” the Doctor asked. It was then he felt another presence residing—or to put it more accurately—trapped within the Ania queen. Two. One was malevolent, chaotic, and pulsing with a vile power that made the Time Lord’s stomach churn. The other felt tranquil, orderly, and peaceful but somehow wrong, and he had no idea why. The two forces, despite being each other’s opposites in every way, collided with one another. If he could hazard a guess, two vied for control over the queen. For what purpose, he did not know. Pain. Hurts…Suddenly, as if these known beings became aware of him, pushed him out and back to reality. Either that or his concentration broke. As he opened his eyes, he found himself off his feet. Max was off his feet as well but quickly recovered. “Talk about using the Force. Are you alright Doctor?” He offered to help the Time Lord get back upon his face. Taking Max’s hand, the Doctor stood up with a grunt escaping his lips. He looked around, finding the ground had cracked in many places and the field of crystals and strange trees below had all but decimated. “Eh, I’ve been through worse,” he answered. His condition, though none the worse for wear, did worry him. The destruction around him did. The two men turned and found themselves face to face with the queen of the Ania, its beads for its many eyes gazing right back at them. Taken by surprise, Max cried out a yelp and was ready to aim his rifle… …only for the Doctor to push it aside with furrowed brows and a frown. “The hell are you doing?” Max asked incredulously. “I’m—looking—for a way—to help her!” the Doctor seethed, wiggling the weapon left and right. The look on the security chief’s face said it all, a mix of confusion and anger, which was typical for a human being put in a stressful situation. “We help it!?” he repeated the Doctor’s words. “After it tried to kill us and injured about half of my crew, the other half went missing, and caused our shuttle to crash?” “ Yes.” The Doctor’s voice turned dark. “Because it’s the right thing to do! She never wanted to hurt us! Whatever’s happening to her, she was cut off from the rest of her species. She is calling for help!” “Really? You sound so sure.” The Doctor nodded. “I’m always right.” He let off a toothy smirk. “Well, there were a few instances where—ah, what the hell,” Max sighed, and the Doctor dropped his grip on the gun as the chief’s anger began to recede. “I need to check on my crew, but I couldn’t leave you here…” His posture straightened, but his face cringed with anguish. “I appreciate the offer, Max. I do. Tend to your crew’s wounds, call for evac. And look for other survivors, for God’s sake! They could be alive for all we know! Everybody gets out of this alive. You hear me?” Max’s lips curled, the fog from his helmet coming from his nostrils flaring, and he saluted. “Of course. Godspeed, Doctor.” “Thank you.” The Doctor and the security chief went their separate ways, the chief disappearing into the mist. The time traveler inhaled then exhaled, watching the Ania queen lowering her head. He paused, pointing at the giant crystal creature with an incredulous look in his eyes. “So… they’re on your back, then?” The creature silently stared back at him. “And you want me to climb on your back.” No response, though the Doctor swore he heard a rumble, until… Hurry…The Doctor snapped back into action and nodded, noting the queen’s urgency loud and clear. “Well, I do hope, and with the utmost sincerity, that we all get out of this alive. That would be bad on my conscience, yes?” he mumbled to no one in particular as he began climbing over the Ania’s face and reached the top, which he found surprisingly easier than he thought. He never was one for climbing, anyway. He stumbled on the first few steps as he nearly let out a yelp. While the Ania’s back was massive, to say the least, thus hard to fall off by accident, getting jabbed by crystals left and right was on the bottom of his wish list. If that had been on his list at all. Ahead of him was a forest of crystal formations. It was thick enough for the mist to only reach up to his ankles. It was also thick enough for him, unfortunately enough to find himself having trouble traversing around and finding a feasible path. Stepping by one large crystal formation, glowing bright pink, he felt a jab at his right arm. He glanced at it, only to find it hadn’t pierced through his spacesuit at all. He trenched on, going in deeper and deeper, the forest ever so becoming thicker with more crystals, meaning the Time Lord had to squeeze through a hole at one point. At the corner of his eyes, as he slipped out, he saw something moving swiftly, only to find nothing around him. A chill ran down his spine and breathing became apparent with fog gathering on his faceplate. He tapped the side of his head. “Max?” he called out. “Max, can you read me?” Only static answered back. The Doctor scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Ah. Of course. Alone with no way of outside help. It’s a terrible idea, wouldn’t recommend it for anyone, but somebody has to do it. And that somebody is me.” He was ready to continue undeterred. Wherever these presences were, he had no clue. Making another step, the tiny green crystals crunching underneath his feet, he stopped when he was more than certain that he heard something. It was like someone was right next to him, somehow whispering in his ear past his helmet. He looked around for the source as he picked up the pace. Past the dimming bioluminescent crystals, two lights shone in the dark distance. One was a pale blue, and the other a dark red. Traversing to the lights was easier than squeezing through a hole. All he had to do was go between two cliff sides, the gap more than large enough for him to go through. He sauntered forward until he looked down a whole, where he could see two strange shards embedded at the bottom. One was a clear-sky blue, crystalline object much like the rest of the queen’s body while the other was an uncanny mix of flesh and metal. He climbed down the hole and reached out tentatively as he wiggled his fingers. Grunting, he grabbed the shards and… Nothing. Nothing happened at all. He was relieved as he pulled the shards out and he heard the Ania queen’s bellow once more. This time with much more clarity than the painful gutturals. Thank you.He sighed. He scanned his surroundings after climbing out. “All in a day’s work. Don’t suppose you could make an easy way out of… you?” It will be done.Everything around him rumbled as crystals and rock had cleared out, making a pathway, an opening to the outside world. With nothing else but to move forward, the Time Lord made his way into the passageway. He placed the blue shard into his right hand and tapped the side of his helmet again. “Max? Max, can you hear me?” “I hear you, Doctor.” Max’s face appeared on the Doctor’s faceplate. The background behind him indicated that he was in another shuttle. “I saw the Ania queen calming down, so I assume your crazy method worked.” The Time Lord stopped in his tracks with a look that was nothing short of serious. “That’s obvious,” he deadpanned. He continued walking. “How are your crew?” Max sighed, lowering his head. He made it clear he wouldn’t like what Max would say next. “A few of them died. The rest will be taken to the infirmary at the station.” The Doctor’s hearts sank. He knew there was nothing anyone could do, but he wished he could have done better. “I’m sorry.” “I know, Doctor. They knew what they signed up for, but…” Max hesitated, his eyes welling up with tears as he wiped them down. “It didn’t make things any easier,” the Time Lord finished. “Yeah,” Max replied. “Your friend managed to override the overload. From what I gathered, she had help from a rogue Cyberman.” The Doctor paused and blinked several times. The news hit him like a bag of bricks. “I’m sorry? Did you just say a Cyberman? A rogue Cyberman? How’s this possible? Who’s this Cyberman?” “Kroton, I think that’s his name. You know him?” The Time Lord sighed. “A long time ago. I’ll explain later. Over and out.” With that, Max nodded before his screen vanished. The Doctor continued trekking to the light outside. Still, he smiled. It was a small but warm smile. “I knew she could do it,” he thought out loud. “But Kroton? That isn't a name I’ve heard in a long time. I wonder why he was here…”
[/HR][/CENTER] Location: The TARDIS control roomThe cloister bell rang out once, then twice, and one of the console’s screens turned on of its own accord. At first, it was nothing but a random string of numbers and words, all without rhyme or reason. Eventually, the screen flicked into lines of code that read out: RIFT DETECTED
SEVERITY: RISING, RISK OF DANGER
SIZE: STILL SMALLER THAN BELGIUM
LOCATION: EARTH?
EXACT COORDINATES… UNKNOWNThe screen turned black.
|
|
|
Post by Nord Ronnoc on Jan 31, 2019 2:23:30 GMT 1
Chapter Four: Come Go With Me
Year: 2283 Location: Chicago, the MidwestThey were trapped in an old freight car they used as shelter the night before. Their enemies were closing in on all sides and a sandstorm swept across the city, covering everything in a blanket of sand. These crumbling ruins were once skyscrapers, the pride of the Old World. It was fortunate she was in her new T-60 power armor. Otherwise, her eyes would hurt like hell. "I always wanted to see Chicago. Never knew what it was until ED-E told me. But it could do without all the murderous, rampaging robots here." A beep in protest came from a floating Sputnik-shaped robot. It was an eyebot and a unique one at that. The Courier called him ED-E—short for Eyebot Duraframe Subject E. His old master, Dr. Whitley, died while she raided the Enclave's mobile base years ago. Or at least, that was what the Courier told her. "Not you, ED-E!" Even as they were in danger, the man who called himself the Courier found a way to make a joke. She turned to him, who had crouched next to her. He wore a military helmet with red lens that covered his chiseled and scarred face, protecting it from headshots and his eyes from sandstorms. He also wore a Vault jumpsuit, the number 21 marked on his back. From his neck to his shins, leather paddings covered parts of his body. "Quiet, you two!" Jocelyn quietly hushed the two and poked her head out. She raised the holorifle the Courier gave her and looked through the scope. As the winds intensified, silhouettes moved in the distance—and closed in fast. There were dozens of humanoid-shaped robots, no doubt the infantry. Accompanying them were two spider-shaped behemoths of robots with cannons large enough to prove their immense firepower, manufactured and sent by the Calculator. According to old Brotherhood archives, the Calculator was a unique computer system that used human brains for processing, not unlike robobrains. Decades ago, a renegade Brotherhood faction destroyed the Calculator, but somebody found hosts for the vast machine years later. A laser beam flew across the street, missing Jocelyn's head by mere inches when she ducked. Despite the laser's intense heat, the freight car surprisingly held up. She bet one of them was an assaultron. These feminine robots were fast and deadly, their heads equipped with powerful laser beams and razor-sharp dual blades in their arms for close-quarter combat. She turned to the Courier once more. She couldn't help but imagine the smirk hiding underneath his helmet. "We're in a city tag-teamed by nukes, we're fighting an army of robots, and we're knee-deep in brass and power cells. None of this makes sense!" the Courier remarked. Jocelyn sighed. "What's the best course of action?" The Courier pointed in a random direction and her head turned toward the military outpost nearby. It was abandoned, and they had destroyed the turrets that were mounted on the rooftop in their first go. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked. "Yeah. It has to have some weapons we missed in our first sweep." He looked and patted his robotic friend. "ED-E, listen to me. You gotta fly far and fly fast, okay?" ED-E beeped in protest again. "Don't give me that! You know me. There's a non-zero chance I'll make it through this." "A non-zero chance? So there's somehow a negative chance in there," Jocelyn replied. "Laugh it up. Trust me on this one, okay? I know what I'm doing," he insisted. With some reluctance, she nodded. "Need my power armor?" This gave the Courier some pause. He seemed to be contemplating her offer when he rubbed the back of his neck. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea, but… how good is that fusion core?" "Still pretty fresh," she answered. The Courier nodded, and the back of her power armor unfolded as she hopped out and folded back afterward. "I'll cover your flank. Just… be careful," she urged him as he hopped inside the power armor. "Loud and clear." With a thumbs up, he hopped out of the freight car and charged into the raging sandstorm. She could only hope that plan of his would work. If it didn't, then he had made a death wish. She can take on many things: deathclaws, malfunctioning robots, elite Enclave soldiers. Hell, even aliens, of all things. But giant robots deadlier than Chimera tanks? Their chances of survival would feel low to anyone else. She took a deep breath to settle her nerves and steadied her aim. She fired her holorifle, taking out a foot soldier going after the Courier in a single shot. ED-E, defying his master's orders, fired its blue laser at the assaultron who fired on them. He got out of the laser's path when the feminine robot charged and fired, unscathed. The assaultron tumbled forward to the ground as bolts of laser and protons hit its legs. The Courier dashed across the street, taking out a sentry bot with a few well-placed shots from his assault rifle, causing enough damage for the bot to overcharge and explode into a million pieces. The damaged assaultron dragged itself and grabbed his ankle, making him stumble a few steps forward. He pulled out his semi-automatic pistol and fired at the robot at the same time as Jocelyn did, turning the damn thing into scrap. More robots converged on the Courier as he ran closer to the building. He shoved a few along the way though one managed to stab him in his side with a blade. Blood trailed down his body as he burst the door open with his good leg and stepped inside. Now all she and ED-E had to do was hold the line. She fired once, twice at each of the robotic soldiers, reloading the holorifle every so often. As if it happened instantly, she looked up to the Courier standing on the rooftop, lofting a large, handheld catapult on his right shoulder—a Fat Man. Several mini-nukes were beside him. He grabbed one of the mini-nukes, stuffed it into the Fat Man, and fired. The mini-nuke landed on the top of one giant robot, leaving behind a blinding, devastating mushroom cloud that blasted anyone in its vacancy. The behemoth of a robot crumbled, landing on top of a large squad of robots. Jocelyn was knocked off her feet. Meanwhile, ED-E crashed into the wall behind him with a pained noise. The freight car rattled, nearly flying off the ground. She grabbed the eyebot and stepped forward, using the momentum of the car to put it back into place. Just as the Courier loaded and launched another mini-nuke, another behemoth turned and fired its cannons at his spot. Pieces of rock and metal flew in all directions. The top of the building collapsed, and the rest of the infrastructure followed. What remained now were demolished robots all over. Where the building once stood, a pile of rock and rebar were in its place. She looked through the scope to double-check. Still nothing. His body was nowhere in sight. ED-E squealed in anguish and zipped out of the old train. Jocelyn could only stare in shock. No. He couldn't have gone out like that, she told herself as she stumbled out of the freight car. He was tougher than that. He could have gotten out of the way and landed safely. She hoped that was the case, but if he didn't, she wouldn't know what to do. The sandy winds raged on… Year: 1607 Location: Somewhere in Hungary, EarthDeep in the dungeons of the castle, there was a massive and complex machine. It was originally built for examining particles of the universe. Within the machine known as the collider, there laid a transparent orb mounted on a plain pillar. The collider whirred and the disks moved around the orb, with a rift in time and space that was slowly expanding. Through the rift were distant worlds and ages of the past and future, overlapping one another as if they were layers of onions. "What an incredible sight, I must say!" Missy's associate, Azwel, commented with a gleeful smile. The two observed through the monitor mounted on the console from a room high above, safe from the force and pull of the rift. If she hadn't seen everything at this point, Missy would be inclined to agree. But the Time Lady was neither pressed or in awe. Without moving her head, she focused her sight on the scholar. "You do see it, yes? The beauty, the juxtaposition of order and chaos, all around this magnificent orb!" he was as giddy as a child in a candy shop, with his hands shaking with excitement. He cackled on like a madman. "Oh, wunderbar! So much potential for the human race!" One thing that was certain of him was that his madness might match her own. Calling himself the Savior of Humanity supported that assumption. Azwel was almost sickly pale and lean, tall for his time, with strange star-like markings all over his wrinkled face. His dark robes were rimmed with gold, having elaborate and extravagant decorations all over, with golden gauntlets on his hands. The left gauntlet had a blue crystal embedded on the back while the right had a red crystal instead. He once told her these were the shards of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge respectively, weapons that grant their users powers. Despite his long hair turning white, Azwel did well for his age. Even his eyes had a slight, golden glow to them. She couldn't help but sigh in indignation. "Yes, yes. I see exactly what you mean." She straightened her posture as she placed a hand on her hip. "Shall I try to ignore you while you ramble on like an idiot?" Azwel balled his hand, brought it up to his face, and coughed in embarrassment. "Ah… my apologies." Still grinning, he turned and looked back at her, his hand now rubbing his bearded chin. "Might I ask that your attempt at contacting your universe was a success?" Her lips curled. How would she put this when tact was not her strong suit? "Well," she trailed off, pacing around for no reason. "If you call sending metal men to the far future at a… space station, only to have them screw up as a success, then yes." Azwel groaned as he rubbed his temples together. "Is there a method to your madness or is it all random?" "It varies from moment to moment." Missy shrugged playfully. "Sometimes I just like you; other times I might stab you in the back when you least expect it." He gave her a strange look. "You're rather forthcoming. Are you certain you're joking?" "Oh, yes I am." she giggled childishly with a dismissive wave of her hand. The echoes of footsteps bouncing off the walls at the stairway interrupted the madman's spiel, and a dark-haired man, barely into his twenties, in a simple leather armor had entered the large chamber. For a moment, he found himself dumbstruck by the massive collider before him before he turned his attention to the two standing by. His skin was pale, and his eyes were an unnatural red, the irises a golden-yellow. Missy wouldn't find it quite revolting. After all, she had seen worse things in her lives. "Sir Azwel, Madam er… Missy?" said the messenger, a slight vibration in his voice. He didn't seem to be sure how he would properly address her. Missy turned and gave the messenger an incredible annoyed look. "Yes, what is it?" An awkward silence filled the metallic, well-lit room. "Spit it out, already!" The messenger, the poor sod that he was, gulped and nodded. "Graf Dumas wants to see both of you. Immediately," he answered. Almost immediately, he turned and went back up the stairs. Azwel let out a disgusted scoff and rolled his eyes. "Pitiful creatures, aren't they? Then again, who am I to judge?" he commented as he left the observation room. "Shall we?" "If we must. I have other things to do, wanton destruction and all, but I suppose I could fit that oh very pointless meeting into my very crowded schedule," Missy answered. She followed close behind him, traversing through the maze-like corridors of the dungeon, the illumination only supported by the touches mounted on the stone walls. The two went by the torture chambers, ignoring the cries and pleas of the victims soon meeting their untimely and painful ends. They also passed by the cages, the many bars rattled by chimeras behind them, hungry for blood. As they entered a large room with a bridge over a floor far below, Missy glanced around and saw large golems and doll-like automatons working on the pipes connected to the collider before continuing. Eventually, they came upon a large, wooden double-door reinforced by steel. It opened on its own, and they stepped out of the dark and cold dungeon and into the enormous and glamorous castle. Above them was a chandelier swinging at the whims of gravity, the walls decorated with detailed paintings and landscapes. Through the large windows, it was close to sundown, the orange rays of sunlight shining through them, but it would not be for much longer for the night. Unusual for a castle of that size, it was empty save for the two of them and the messenger, who beckoned them to follow him. They were led to the hallways and out on the balcony, a compass-like pattern carved onto the stone, and the messenger went back inside without a word. Missy could hear the screeches of the giant birds patrolling the castle. She was accustomed to noises like these. The outer walls were well-fortified save for one gap at the far end, where a lone figure stood at the edge. The figure, a man standing tall, was covered from head to toe in dark-blue armor, crowned with a horned, bat-like helmet. Red hair trailed down past his back, and his black, gold-rimmed cape softly flapped in the wind. The most noticeable thing about him was his horribly deformed right arm, twisted into a mess of hardened flesh and spikes with a three-digit claw for his hand. Azwel briefly bowed before his master. "How may we serve you, Graf Dumas?" The lord turned around to them, his eyes glowing red beneath his helmet. In his left hand was a giant sword covered in flesh. Many tales of this world have been told about Soul Edge, known to many as the Sword of Salvation. In truth, it was a demonic weapon. Those who grasped its hilt fell under its curse, enslaved by its desire to feed on souls and turning them into a bloodthirsty monster. The giant eye blinked and, for a moment, glared at Missy, making her shiver a little. She had been to the Dalek sewers, and she still found that creepy. The first time they had met, she almost gagged at the stench swirling around him. The lord was Nightmare, the Azure Knight. " My patience grows thin with each passing day," Nightmare growled. His voice boomed with a greater vibration than the messenger's voice. " Tell me of your progress, Azwel." Azwel drew a deep breath, sweat traveling down his brow like a river. Missy couldn't help but grin a little, her posture prim and proper. "It has been going well, my lord," she answered calmly. "Though I've met the Doctor's companions. One an old friend, the other who was rather new at this sort of thing." "Hmmm…. Interesting…" The scholar rubbed his chin in contemplative thought. "What a fascinating thing you have discovered. I wish you would have mentioned this earlier." " The Doctor? Ah, yes. You have told me about him." The Azure Knight trailed off. " What of his companions? Perhaps their souls shall quench my thirst as well as his." "He was one of the metal men but not part of their little group. Kroton was his name. Had a more retro look than I remembered," she answered. "What an interesting choice of words," Azwel commented. "Indeed." She placed her finger on her chin with a mischievous smile on her face. "The new companion, I never asked for her name. She was quite confrontational and all, announcing that she would stop me and all." She scoffed dismissively as she rolled her eyes. "Can you believe that?" "Not to interrupt, but could you, ah, change to a more… presentable form, perhaps?" Azwel pointed his finger upwards. "You do have tasks to attend to for the Holy Roman Empire, do you not?" The Azure Knight let out an annoyed grunt, but he complied. He planted his sword onto the floor. Black lightning flew out of the sword, and everything became bright for a moment, causing Azwel and Missy to avert their eyes. As the light receded, they adjusted their eyes to find his form was now a nobleman with a stylish mask on his face. Fair-skinned with angular features and blue eyes, the sword he had was now gone, and so was his malformed right arm. His armor was the same but silver that gleamed in the sunlight, his hair a short but stylish blond. "Is this better?" he asked with a French accent. "Much. Thank you, my lord," Azwel replied. He clapped with a wide smile on his face. "Excellently done." "Now then, I have other matters to attend to personally. I trust you would take care of this… experiment our lady is conducting while I'm away?" the Graf requested. "Of course, my lord." Azwel bowed with a wide, toothy smile on his face. "Are you certain you don't require my assistance?" The Graf chuckled. as he turned and stepped past the two, the Time Lady's gaze following him. She always was a sucker for the classic, maniacal laugh. "With my blade, none shall stand in my way," he boasted. "Not even that defiant child of the Holy Warrior." Year: 4356 Location: Icarus Station, Alexander Rand's office"Alex, do you know what these things are?" The Doctor observed the shards. They emitted faintly, mounted in glass containers on the administrator's desk. He and Kroton barely had enough time to catch up on their ordeals before the administrator had called them all into his office. Jocelyn and her robotic companions looked on as Alex leaned in with squinted eyes. "Not the faintest idea, Doctor," the administrator answered, rubbing his chin. "You said they made the Ania queen miserable?" "Obviously," the Doctor deadpanned. "But you didn't suffer from any effects of these shards, right?" "Seems like it." The Doctor pressed his lips together and turned an uncertain gaze at the administrator. "I know what you're thinking," he sighed. "Don't; it won't end well. It never ends well." "We need to know exactly how dangerous they are, Doctor. It was dangerous to the Ania, but we have no idea how they would affect human beings, most of all," Alexander replied firmly, with his hands behind his back. "Surely you know better than that." "Or a Cyberman," Kroton injected. "Or a robot." The Doctor tried to protest, to make his case with a pointed finger, but even the Time Lord would realize that argument was pointless when Alex turned toward Jocelyn. "Wanderer, would you mind being a guinea pig for a moment?" Jocelyn hesitated. If only Moira could see me now. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Because I don't think that's a good idea." The administrator frowned. "I don't suppose you have a better idea in mind?" "Yeah. I can think of several on top of my head." "Such as destroying it?" Alex asked. "Probably a sensible course, but if we go through with it, what then? How would we prepare for it next time, if there is a next time? And should OMI or the Cyberman be willing, would they follow through?" Jocelyn sighed. Perhaps there was no point in arguing. "Guess I'll try the red one," she answered and approached the desk. As she opened the glass box and grabbed the strange red shard, she felt a sudden jab in her hand. Looking down at it, she found that the shard had cut the tip of her index finger, on her left hand. As her finger bled, a wave of dizziness washed over her. She stumbled past the Doctor and others, who looked on with a mix of confusion and worry. The Doctor's eyes became wide with alarm and he and the others hurried toward the Lone Wanderer. "Guys? I… I don't feel so good," she muddled in her words as she spun toward the Doctor. "I don't know what's happening." "Let go of the shard!" Kroton commanded. Jocelyn, baring her teeth, lifted her left arm and looked at the shard, now glowing a hellish red, once more. Try as she might, she could not let go of it, as if an unseen force kept her hand closed. "I can't," she responded. "OMI, can you help me out?" Kroton asked. "At once!" OMI replied, their face nodding, as they and Kroton went forth and tried to pry the shard away from Jocelyn's hand. As the robot touched the shard, a red wave appeared around Jocelyn and pushed them back. OMI flew headfirst into the wall nearby; Kroton was merely knocked off his feet. It felt like there was a fever burning inside her body as she collapsed, but it wasn't the floor the Lone Wanderer landed on. Rather, it was like she started to fall, darkness enveloping around her. She looked upwards, only to see a dot of light quickly growing smaller and smaller. The last thing she heard before she fell into complete darkness was the Doctor calling out, "Stay with me!" She tried to stand up, but she found herself floating in a vast space, as there wasn't a ground to stand on. The sky and everything around her appeared to stretch onto infinity. Surrounding her were chunks of masonry floating nearby, a pillar broken from a temple, a fully collapsed house, and a fallen tower. All of them were structures of every shape of size from every place on the planet. In the center, where she landed on a massive rock, was a presence, shining like a fire at a campsite. Bricks ripped from their mortar and a piece of rubble made contact then disappeared under silence. At a glance, the fire seemed comforting to her but at the same time, it had filled her heart with a sense of uncertainty. Did the shard resonate with this thing? She gazed at the still-glowing shard in her hand. The fire suddenly burst forward, wreathing everything in its vicinity, including her. Her eyes stung even as she covered them with her arm before putting on her gas mask, the tips of her waistcloth beginning to blacken. She gritted her teeth, small grunts of pain escaping her lips. Amidst the red hellfire was a speck of blue light, floating at where the fire once stood. As far as she knew, it could be her way out of here. She stepped forward, the sheer force of the flames pushing her back, yet she ignored it and the pain with it with every ounce of her strength. Each step brought her closer to the blue light, her right arm stretching out to grab it. After what felt like agonizing minutes, she finally came upon the light. Over her hand was a small, blue stone. Looking at it, she felt as if she was at peace. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was a blinding flash of light emitting from the stone as she grasped it. "Stay with me!" the Doctor called out. He reached out to Jocelyn, only for her to disappear before his very eyes. Looking at his now trembling hands, his breathing became shaky as he clenched his teeth together. His face was scrunched into a frown, a mix of anger and despair written all over it. "Did she… Is she…?" Kroton was a difficult one to read, being a renegade Cyberman and all. But it was clear he shared the Doctor's sentiment. "What just happened?" The administrator, stunned at this sudden turn of events, could barely stand, his legs quaking beneath his feet. I had no idea a shard of Soul Edge would do that." This caused the Doctor to perk up at him. "What did you just say?" "Soul Edge," the administrator answered. "Did you not know of this before?" "No. Moments ago, you said you had no idea what it is," the Doctor pointed out. "Of course, I always know!" Alexander insisted. "I just didn't know what sort of effects it had." The Doctor turned to OMI. "Do you know that, too, OMI?" An image of a thumbs up appeared on the robot's screen as they tilted their head. "Well, of course, Doctor! It's in my database, as a matter of fact. Would you like to know more—" "Nevermind that. Kroton?" The Cyberman shrugged. "I'm in the same boat as you are. This is the first time I've heard about this Soul Edge." He paused as if something had dawned on him. "Er, Doctor? This is why I'm—" The Doctor raised his index finger without a glance before the Cyberman could finish his sentence. "Quiet! I'm thinking." He rubbed his chin, as if in deep thought. "This isn't right. Something's off…" he mumbled to himself. "We're faced with contradictory information here. Normally, somebody's lying, but consider this." He whipped out a piece of chalk from his coat. "Hey, don't do that!" Alex exclaimed. He straightened his stance and moved toward the Time Lord. The Doctor ignored his protests when he knelt and planted the chalk on the floor. As he began to move it, the chalk snapped in half. Not only that, but it didn't leave a mark on the floor. He sighed, dropping his head in embarrassment. "Uh… anyone got a marker I could borrow?" Nobody answered. "Well, I'll take that as a no, then." He picked up the pieces in stride as he stood back up. "I'll make do." He paced around the room. "Now, then… where does that leave us?" "What do you mean?" Alexander asked. "I'll give you a straight answer: time is being rewritten as we speak," the Doctor finished firmly. "Maybe even reality itself. Now that's a chilling thought." He chuckled a little, only to stop when he noticed the unsettled looks on OMI's and Alex's faces. "Sorry, got carried away." He cleared his throat. "Now, the question is…" He turned at the blue shard in the glass box, still closed and sealed up. "Where is the source of the paradox? How do we stop it?" "Doctor, what are you doing?" Alexander called out. "Trust me on this one." The Doctor opened the glass box and grabbed the crystalline shard. As soon as it was in his hands, he felt a sense of tranquility washing over him. He needed to find the Wanderer. He needed to stop a paradox from ripping all of reality apart. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind like it had jogged his memory. He turned around to the others, a grin spreading across his face. "I got it, now. This shard…" He waved the shard around like it was a tiny flag. "Can take me wherever I need to go." "But Doctor—" the administrator replied. "My apologies and I do appreciate meeting you all, but we must make haste!" He made a beeline for the TARDIS while beckoning to the rogue Cyberman. "You should go with me, Kroton. I think this is what you're here for." "Of course, Doctor!" Kroton exclaimed. "It's good to be back!" With that, Kroton followed, closing the door behind them as they entered inside. The shard still in hand, the Doctor rushed the console of the TARDIS and ran a diagnostic check on it. The Doctor looked over the diagnostics of the shard on one of the console screens. It took him some effort to read through the seemingly random numbers and other gibberish, but he found the coordinates of the shard's origins, as a projection of Earth had emerged on the screen. A different version of Earth, to be exact. Suddenly, the screen flashed out: RIFT DETECTED
SEVERITY: DANGEROUS
SIZE: LARGER, BUT STILL SMALLER THAN BELGIUM
LOCATION: EARTH.
YEAR: 1607
EXACT COORDINATES: UNKNOWN"Oh, that can't be good…" the Doctor muttered in horror. "What is it?" "We're running out of time," the Doctor answered. He stepped away from the console, waving his hands around to clear his thoughts. "This shard came from a parallel Earth. Renaissance era. Early 17 th century." "Great! So we can take the TARDIS there," said Kroton. A pregnant pause from the Doctor, his hand resting on his chin. "You are sure the TARDIS will pull through?" "It won't be easy. We'll have to cross through the Void—empty space between dimensions. Think of it like, like…" He clapped his hands together, struggling to come up with an appropriate metaphor. "I know what that is, Doctor. Two universes stacked against one another; the space between worlds." Kroton crossed his arms in front of his chest. The Doctor flashed a grin on his face. "Well, yes! That should be obvious, no? Now, this thing…" He gestured toward the shard. "…can give us a safe passage. Well, a safer passage. Probably a good thing I happened to have some spare power cells from the last time I went to a parallel universe, but…" He puffed his cheeks. "…I admit it's not a perfect set-up, so I can guarantee it'll be a rough ride." Kroton acknowledged his warning with a nod and grabbed onto the rails of a nearby stairway as the Time Lord approached the console and pulled the lever. This time the entire TARDIS—once again—shook like an earthquake. "Steady now!" the Doctor bellowed out. He gripped the console as much as he could. "Steady!" Outside, the blue box tumbled through the space-time vortex, as galaxies and planets and stars all seemed to bend and fold, then unfold, giving away to a spiral of a wormhole.
|
|
|
Post by Nord Ronnoc on Apr 12, 2021 10:08:15 GMT 1
Chapter Five: Far from Home
Year: 2278 Location: The Citadel, Capital WastelandElder Owyn Lyons, the leader of this branch of the Brotherhood, was dying. He had lived a long life and had faced many dangers of the wastes during his service, but he was mortal just like anyone else. Anyone not equipped with cybernetics or mutated beyond recognition, that is. Some things don't last forever. He laid on a hospital bed, draped under a white, clean blanket. His left arm was attached to a multi-armed Auto-Doc via an IV tube, the monitor on the machine showing his fading life signs. Next to him was his blond-haired daughter, Sarah, weeping silently as she held his hand tightly. It was unusual for Sarah to be out of her power armor and only wearing her orange-and-gray uniform, Jocelyn noted as she sat on a chair nearby sturdy enough to hold her weight. The Elder smiled back at her. It was a weak, wrinkled smile, but it was the thought that counted. He slowly turned his head toward Jocelyn. "I want to speak with you one last time, child." With a free hand, he beckoned her to come closer. "Okay." Jocelyn took a sharp, deep breath before standing. She kept her composure, even as her lips started quivering and her eyes watering up. She stepped closer to the two without rancor. "I'm proud of you. Both of you," Elder Lyons said. Jocelyn knelt and held his hand as well. "Sarah, you've made the Brotherhood proud. I'm more than certain you'll do great things as my successor." "Thank you, Father. I won't let you down," Sarah replied, holding back tears. "And you, Wanderer. If only your parents could see you now." He coughed harshly. "The… the Project had been successful. The Enclave had all but been eradicated. People now have a source of clean and plentiful water, all thanks to you and your father." Jocelyn smiled. She was proud she could help, but deep down, she wished he could see her father, many years from now, resting on his deathbed. But she knew why he had to do what he did, sacrificing his life not only for her own sake but for everybody else's. "For my final command as Elder, I shall grant you the title of Sentinel. You'll be placed as my daughter's second-in-command as well as her advisor." It was getting difficult for him to breathe. "If only… if only… there were more people like you… helping out… fighting the good fight, then the world would surely be a better place." The Elder drew his last breath and closed his eyes with relief. The monitor was flatlined. "Time of death: October 23, 2278. Hell of a date, if you ask me," Sawbones, the Mr. Gutsy doctor, remarked. "I'll inform the others of his passing. May God watch over him." Neither Sarah nor Jocelyn said anything as the multi-armed, multi-eyed robot left the infirmary. "I'm sorry, Sarah," said Jocelyn. "If there's anything you need from me, just ask. I'm here for you." Sarah shook her head and gently placed her father's hand on the bed. She stood and said, "Thank you but no need. It's fine. I'm all right." By the tone of her voice, she wasn't. Year: 1607 Location: SomewhereThe Time Lord and the renegade Cyberman looked on as the shard disintegrated right in front of their eyes. "Well, then…" The Doctor had no idea what to say about this. "That was unexpected," Kroton finished. "Do you think that's supposed to do that?" The Doctor shrugged. "How should I know? It's not like I know how to use this for navigating parallel universes." He looked around the still-lit console room. "Though I am mostly surprised everything here is intact." "Half the time neither of us knows what we're doing," Kroton pointed out. He and the Time Lord leaned against the console, careful not to hit any buttons or levers. The Doctor gave the Cyberman a strange look. "Were you always like this before? I don't quite remember…" "It has been several lifetimes for you since we last saw each other, Doctor. I don't blame you for not remembering everything." Kroton stood up straight. "Anyway, where are we? Better yet, when are we? I believe it said 1607, right?" The Time Lord turned back to the console and pressed a few buttons. As he spun the screen to their spot, it flashed a confirmation and a location: Hungary. "Huh," he muttered. "Shakespeare's still around. Ten years before his death. Dealt with a coven of witches one time." He swore he heard a chuckle in that metal head Kroton had. "Oh, how I would love to hear more, but maybe we should check and see where we are." "Indeed," the Doctor agreed. When they stepped out of the time machine, the Doctor was met with a gentle but cool breeze. The sun was high in the cloudless sky. Looking around, the two found the TARDIS had landed by a flagstone road. It led to a town by a narrow river that stretched on for miles. From where they stood, it would take less than an hour to get to the town on foot. The time traveler wished Kroton would smell the scent of fresh water, feel the wind against his skin. While Kroton was able to retain his humanity, the Cyberman had stripped these little moments away from him. He wondered if Kroton had gotten used to it by now or had he always wanted to crave them. "So, we just landed by a quaint little Hungarian town," the Doctor commented. He knew he was stating the obvious, but he had nothing else to go on. "Not too far south from Szolnok. Pretty popular town, rich with a history like the rest of Hungary. Been there once or twice." "But why here? Why this time period?" Kroton wondered. "You'd think the TARDIS would've landed near your friend." The Doctor pursed his lips. He sighed, embarrassed. "Navigation system's a bit knackered." "Of course." A caw from behind surprised them. The Doctor and Kroton turned and found a raven resting on top of the TARDIS. The Doctor stepped in closer, his arms parted and his eyes squinting. The raven stared back at the Time Lord with glowing red eyes. It was obvious this was no ordinary raven. The raven took off, flying for the town ahead. "Okay, we should definitely find out what's going on," Kroton suggested. "Do you think we can find our friend over there?" "Perhaps," the Doctor replied. He smiled as he let out a small chuckle. "At least you still have your sense of optimism."
At first, everything was enveloped in a bright light. Then Jocelyn's eyes adjusted as everything around her took shape and form. The first thing she saw was that she was wearing her old Vault 101 jumpsuit. The second was that she was on the dirt with the morning light basking on her body.
She sat up from her sleeping mat, finding her father sitting by the now burnt-out campfire.
"Good morning, sweetie." Her father looked up at her with a smile. Many of his facial features had a similarity to her's. The broad jawline and the narrow brown eyes came from him, but the wide nose and darker skin compared to his came from her mother.
Her father's Vault jumpsuit was dirtier than hers, the sleeves rolled up and the torso was partially unzipped, showing a black t-shirt underneath.
"Morning, Dad," Jocelyn replied. "How's Mom doing?"
Her father stood up. "Your mother, ah… she misses you."
"I know." He said this before, she noted.
His hands on his hips, he surveyed their surroundings. There was nothing that stretched on for miles, apart from the scant hill or a burnt-out tree sticking out like a sore thumb. He frowned. "Why here? You always picked some desolate spot in the middle of nowhere."
She wondered if she picked this spot because in isolation, even with friends and allies, it was when she felt the safest. Or perhaps it would represent a crossroads of some sort, deciding on what she would do next in her life. Still, she couldn't bring herself to answer. Why would she?
Her father looked at her. "Never mind that. So… what's on your mind this time? You can talk to me, sweetie."
Jocelyn stepped toward the campfire with her arms folded in front of her. "I... I have no idea what to say. Even you wouldn't believe what I went through today. It'll sound like it came out of a bad comic book story."
Her father shook his head as he let out a small chuckle. "Try me. I was a dog in a simulation run by a madman before you brought in a simulated squad of Chinese soldiers."
"Okay…" She curled her mouth. Where to begin? "Do you remember that Brotherhood emergency signal in Baltimore?"
"Yes, but you haven't told me why you followed that signal to begin with," her father replied. "Still, it's a shame they're not what they used to be. But they're good people. They still have good people in them."
"I know," she said. "The people who sent out the signal, they died. Killed by some glass creatures called the Ania."
Her father nodded, not showing any judgment. "Go on."
"But I did meet someone else, though. He's a time traveler from another universe who called himself the Doctor."
"Doctor who?" he asked.
She shrugged. "No idea. I don't think I could get a straight answer out of him," she answered. "So we went to the basement, where this… orb brought us to his time machine. Not only that, but it brought us to his universe on a space station, far into the future.
"You're right, it does sound like it came out of a comic book. Or those cheesy sci-fi flicks!" he laughed.
"I did warn you," she remarked, giving him a dirty look before continuing. "Turns out, that's where the Ania came from, and a pair of shards caused them to go berserk. The Doctor took care of the queen while I took care of an army of cyborgs called the Cybermen."
"Sounds like there were some complications," her father remarked.
"Of course there are." She scoffed. "There will always be complications, problems to take care of." She paused for a moment. "I am so, so tired. There's so much I can do before…"
Her father placed a hand on her shoulder. "Before someone, like a friend, picks you up to your feet and dust you off. I know you're in a rough spot."
"But—"
"Think of all the lives you've affected, the lives you've saved. Of all the things you did to make the wasteland a better place. Yes, bad things happen. They always happen. You can't always predict how people will act. The only thing you can control is how you respond. Sometimes that's all it matters in the end."
She nodded. "Yeah. You know, talking to you always makes me feel a little bit better."
"I know. And you know what, sweetie? I want you to know that I'm proud of you."
She smiled. There was a warm feeling now lingering in her chest. She needed it. "I miss you, Dad."
"I miss you too. I love you."
She sighed, closing her eyes. "But I can't stay here any longer. I have to go now."
Her father nodded as he parted, understanding what she meant. "Come see me again when this is all over, okay? Maybe we can talk about happier things."
And before she knew it, everything had enveloped in a bright light once more…
Sunlight. Golden rays of light went through the drapes of a tent as Jocelyn's eyes fluttered and opened. "Hey, Maxi! I think she's waking up!" a girl exclaimed. Before the Wanderer could glance at who it was, the girl was already out, apparently quick on her feet. Jocelyn laid on a simple bed, draped underneath a thick red blanket. While it was warm to the touch, she also found it to be rather itchy. After tossing it aside as she sat up, she scratched that itch away on the side of her neck. Why did she feel lighter suddenly? She stopped in shock as she checked and patted herself. All she had on her now were her denim shirt, her jeans and boots, and her Pip-Boy. She bolted off the bed and looked around. The tent she found herself in was small and circular, with only the bed she laid one with a wide wooden chest in front of it. Gentle winds brushed against the linen walls, and sing-song chirps had filled out the silence. They didn't sound like the ravens that occupied her world. Rather, they sounded like… birds? Real, actual birds like from shows and movies she watched back at Vault 101. She opened the chest. Her armor, backpack, pouches, laser RCW, plasma pistol, Holorifle, even her super sledge managed to fit inside... all her stuff was here, much to her relief as she sighed. At least whoever brought her here was courteous enough to not steal her stuff. Digging through more of her stuff, she frowned when she couldn't find any of her food and water. She took it back; they were not that courteous. She moved around a bit as she put each piece of her armor, along with the belt that was part of her waistcloth. As she slipped her scarf and hood on, one thought lingered in her mind. Where's that crystal? Did I get it?"Hey. Glad to see you up," someone called out. She turned around, seeing a swarthy man of medium height appearing to be in his late-20s, his fur-collared white jacket showing off his rather toned chest. What caught her attention was his unusual hairstyle. The bang of his black hair was longer than the rest, hanging at the side of his head. She couldn't help but stare at it with a confused yet curious look. "Um… hello? You here?" The man waved his hand in front of her face, causing her to step back with a flinch. He sighed as he crossed his arms. "Lemme guess, it's the hair, isn't it?" "Yeah. It's… it's a hairstyle," she admitted. For some reason, she had to stop herself from smiling, if only to not embarrass herself to the first person she had seen here. The man laughed. "I get that a lot, trust me. Don't worry about it." With a wipe of his nose, he took on a confident posture, his back straight with his hands folded on his hips. "The name's Maxi. What'd you go by?" "My name's Jocelyn Song. Most people used to call me the Lone Wanderer, or Wanderer for short," Jocelyn answered. "Wanderer, huh? Gotta admit, that's a catchy nickname you have," said Maxi. "We found you unconscious while we were setting up camp. Didn't take your stuff. Wouldn't feel right stealing from you." Jocelyn nodded before curling her lips. "Well, thanks. I guess. What year is this?" Maxi gave her a strange look. "1607. What, you live under a rock or something?" Jocelyn scoffed. "Technically. I was raised in an underground shelter." Right as she said that, they heard someone retching outside the tent. "Oh." Maxi sighed, rubbing his temples together. "Guess Xiba ate something that disagreed with him." "The water bottles should be fine, but he might have to be careful with the food. Some of them are old, maybe even radioactive," Jocelyn pointed out. Maxi froze with a shocked look on his face. "Wait, what? Radioactive? What'd you mean? Is it bad? Should I be worried?" "Only in large doses. Your body can absorb them easily in tiny amounts, but…" Maxi left the tent in a hurry, and the Lone Wanderer followed soon after. She was then greeted with a forest, green and vibrant. And nearby were… horses? She couldn't believe her eyes. Real, breathing horses, though tied to a carriage. By her was a campfire with a slab of cooked meat hoisted above. Surrounding it were two other tents of similar fashion. Jocelyn hadn't seen this much green since her visit to the Oasis in the Capital Wasteland. Ever since she accelerated Harold's growth, the trees and the plants expanded beyond, and more parts of the wasteland thrived. The two followed the unusual noises and found a teenage boy sitting by a tree, empty bottles and boxes surrounding him. He groaned as he rubbed his belly. The boy with a similar skin tone to Maxi's had messy red hair and brown eyes. Barefooted, he wore a black vest and a pair of yellow trousers, with an ordinary-looking pendant around his neck. Despite eating practically all her food, his mouth caked in powdered milk, he somehow still maintained a well-built body. "You're Xiba, right? Ate too much?" Jocelyn asked with an internal sigh. The boy nodded. "Yeah. Wasn't so sure about the taste at first, but man, they're so good!" He burped loudly, which lasted for several seconds, and licked his lips. Jocelyn groaned, resisting the urge to bring her hands up to her face. The stench of vomit lingered in the air, and she did not want to know where he threw up, nor would she want to know what else he ate. "Dammit! We just ate lunch!" Jocelyn looked to her right to find a short teenage girl with her blond hair tied in a ponytail, wearing garments that strangely reminded her of that Japanese samurai on Mothership Zeta years ago, with her pants being red. She swore that girl was not there seconds ago. "Xiba, you're such a piggy!" another teenage girl complained, this one with black hair and more obvious Asian facial features, as she ran up to the rest of them. By the looks of it, none of the girls nor the boy couldn't be more than half of Jocelyn's age. The Asian girl's hair was decorated with flowers while she wore a blue, elegant outfit that gave the impression that she was a Chinese noblewoman. What caught Jocelyn's eyes, however, was a tiny blue stone attached to her necklace. "Is that… what's that on your neck?" she asked, pointing at the necklace. "Oh, this? My mother gave this to me. It's a piece of an artifact called the Dvapara-Yuga." The girl smiled, giggling playfully. "Do you like it?" "What's the Dvapara-Yuga?" "One of the three treasures from the Ling Shen-Su Temple," Maxi answered. He tried to get Xiba, the young man, up to his feet. "It was a mirror that can purify pretty much anything of corrupted energy. My old buddy, Kilik, used to wear it back about… twenty, twenty-one years ago. It shattered." He sighed after Xiba got up to his feet. "Ah, sorry. I got ahead of myself. The ninja with blond hair? That's Natsu. And the girl with the pendant's Leixia. She's the daughter of another friend of mine, Xianghua." The blond-haired ninja lazily waved her hand as she now leaned against a tree nearby. "Yo." "Hi there, nice to meet you!" Leixia shook the Wanderer's hand excitedly, all the while the Wanderer just stood there, dumbfounded at how… quirky these kids were. Not even Fawkes nor Charon could match up to them, she reckoned. "Hiya, lady. Name's Xiba," the boy said before grabbing a red staff with golden tips on both ends nearby. Jocelyn turned toward Leixia. "I saw something like that before I got here. Another piece of this Dvapara-Yuga. Has anybody seen it?" "What? This?" Between Natsu's thumb and index finger was a blue stone, which gleamed brightly under the sunlight. "You can have it." She tossed it over to the Wanderer. "Yeah, that's it!" Jocelyn exclaimed, looking at it in her palm. "There's another thing I had. A shard of something called Soul Edge." Everybody's eyes were all on her now. As if she had reached down into her pocket and pulled it out, the red, flesh-like object appeared in her other hand. Then, she felt something was close. Like if someone was whispering into her ear. Some part of her wanted to bring the shard back, make this Soul Edge whole again. In return, it would grant whatever she desired. Her thoughts turned to her father, her friend Sarah Lyons, and others she cared about. It had been years since they passed away. Would they be the same if they were brought back? Would that be possible? The expression on Maxi's was filled with dread, his eyes wide with shock. "Look, to put it one way, that thing's bad news. You might wanna tell us where you get it. Like, right now." Jocelyn had to agree. It wasn't like she had a viable alternative in mind. They gathered around the campfire, the heat still permeating from the embers. Maxi grabbed a plate, sliced up a few pieces of the meat with a hunting knife, and offered the plate to her. "Before we get this sorted out, you hungry?" he asked. "Yeah." It felt like Jocelyn hadn't eaten anything all day. She could feel her stomach twisting, yearning for something to fill it up. "What's this?" "Eh, some deer," Maxi answered. "You can thank Natsu for getting some game." "Can I have some more?" Xiba asked, his eyes now wide like a puppy's while watching the plate being passed along. Almost immediately, Maxi glared at Xiba. "You just ate her food!" he called out. And it was then Leixia and Natsu started a spirited argument with Xiba about his eating habits. Jocelyn sighed. It wasn't worth getting involved as she cut up a piece and placed it in her mouth. Upon chewing and swallowing it, she found the taste to be rich, earthy, not like the juiciness of a brahmin steak. Especially if it was well made. She cut up another part, not saying a word. "At a loss for words?" Maxi asked. "Yeah, give me a moment," Jocelyn replied. She told them everything that transpired, from her perspective, over a day. The teenagers stopped their arguments and joined Maxi in listening. She told them about her home universe, where she encountered the Ania and the Doctor, and her brief adventure in his universe. "Huh, that sounds like this white-haired guy I keep hearing about twenty years back," Maxi commented. "And that other guy with a hammer who can shoot lightning a couple years later. People say he was a god of thunder or something. If I'm talking to you, then I guess these rumors are true." Jocelyn's eyes perked up. So she wasn't the only one who arrived on this Earth. Still, there was something that bothered her this entire time. "So you two," she asked, pointing to Maxi and Natsu, "are Japanese, right?" Natsu and Maxi nodded. "And you two are Chinese?" she asked Leixia and Xiba. "Yeah. Something wrong?" Xiba asked. "Is it food?" Jocelyn blinked as she gave Xiba a strange look. "What is with you and food?" Xiba looked away meekly, as if in shame. "I just like food," he whined and muttered. Jocelyn sighed, shaking her head. "Anyway, so how come all of you are speaking English?" Maxi gave her a strange look as if he had no idea that he could do that. Xiba and Natsu exchanged looks before Leixia looked around in confusion, her mouth agape. "Huh? What? What do you mean?" Maxi asked. "What I mean is—" Before the Wanderer could finish, she heard the unmistakable boom of a gunshot. A hail of pellets slammed into the ground nearby, dirt spreading everywhere when they narrowly missed her and Leixia. The Chinese princess gasped and scrambled to her feet, grabbing her thin sword as her eyes darted around for the source of the shot. The others followed suit immediately. Jocelyn unholstered her laser RCW while Xiba already had his staff out. Natsu leaped onto her feet and assumed a combat stance, her hands on the hilts of her blades as she drew them. "C'mon! Show yourself!" Maxi demanded as he swung around a pair of nunchucks. Jocelyn looked at where the pellets had landed, which incidentally extinguished the campfire. Her eyes followed where she believed the trajectory led to and set her sight on the forest with evergreen trees and bushes upfront. Four people stepped out of the trees and approached them. "Well, well, well! It looks like Le Bello has found quite the opportunity," said a lanky, light-skinned man in a top hat as he tugged on his ridiculously long mustache with a smug, toothy smile on his face. Underneath his frivolous, yellow-sleeved jacket was a striped jumpsuit and a blue bowtie, with a gambling-themed necklace underneath it. "Thought my aim was good. Ah well, maybe next time, huh?" Following behind the man in a top hat was a burly man with a jaw full of beard, his bellow a burst of loud laughter. His potbelly strained heavily against his green shirt and black vest. In his right hand was a short blunderbuss, smoke trailing out of the barrel. "No need to get ahead of yourself, Alphard," said a pale, red-haired woman in a somewhat revealing purple dress as she cocked her hand crossbow and placed a dart in it. Somehow, her petite frame was able to hold up her ample breasts. "As you wish, Gisele," the burly man, Alphard, replied. The man in the top hat turned around to a thin man with a long-angular face and a blond bob cut, his purple-gloved hands on his hips. "My dear Ludovigo, Le Bello would surely be disappointed that you haven't grown that spine. If there is a time for it, this is it!" Ludovigo nodded, the shyness on his face faded as he adjusted his red cap and dusted off his puffy light shirt. Not determined, he readied himself, his sword at the front. "Yeah, you're right, boss. I can do this," he muttered. The top hat-wearing man turned back to Maxi and the others. "Now then…" "What, Dampierre?" Maxi smirked. "Running out of schemes?" "Oh, come now!" Dampierre, the man in the top hat, scoffed and chuckled. He spread his arms wide, still maintaining that smug grin on his face. "Le Bello always has a plan, even after you and these meddling brats have foiled Le Bello at every turn! You, on the other hand…" He set his eyes on Jocelyn as he tiptoed his way toward her, his hand rubbing his chin. "Le Bello has not seen you around here before. Perhaps you must be… some unplanned variable. Hm… Yes…" Jocelyn frowned and pointed her gun at Dampierre. His eyes bulged in surprise, the smugness on his face faded away. Alphard and Gisele pointed their weapons at her in return, the smirk on the burly man's face turned into a gnashing sneer, while Ludovigo's legs shook underneath him at the sudden turn of events. Xiba and Leixia took a step, their weapons still at the front. "What do you want?" Jocelyn growled. "Let us be reasonable here." Dampierre chuckled, shrugging as he stepped back. "Le Bello here is with a proposition." "Yeah? What's that?" Natsu inquired. "Le Bello is so glad you asked, little girl." Dampierre grinned as he rubbed his hands together. "Instead of Le Bello and his friends killing you, how about Le Bello, eh…" He shrugged, a smug smirk still on his face. "…put you all into indentured servitude. It would surely put Le Bello and his friends back in their place!" "That sounds like slavery," Jocelyn replied. "What an improper word, having many volunteers at Le Bello's disposal. Slavery!" the man in the top hat scoffed. "Though Le Bello must say, you would—" Jocelyn fired a burst at his feet, causing him to yelp and jolt up. She had trouble not laughing after seeing him dancing around in a flamboyant manner. "I've been through that hell years ago. I'm gonna make sure no one else would be bound by your chains," she retorted. Dampierre stopped what he was doing and shifted his twitching eyes straight at her, a wild, angry look on his face. "How dare you speak to Le Bello that way!" His teeth started gnashing together. "You shall pay for your insolence!" He turned his attention to his henchmen and woman, motioning them aggressively. "Friends of Le Bello… attend!" Alphard and Gisele could barely react before Natsu lunged forward, putting one of her blades on the stout man's throat. Ludovigo had to fend off Leixia by parrying her blows, and yet he couldn't get a hit on her. Despite him seeming to be older than her, the noble seemed to be more skillful, more graceful with every step she took. Xiba charged, deflecting a bolt from Gisele's hand crossbow with a swing of his staff. She stepped out of the way on the first strike from him, but he managed to pin her down with the tip. As she struggled to get up, a grinning Xiba balanced on top of the staff and slid down. His head collided with hers, and a grunt escaped her lips as her eyes rolled up, now unconscious. Dampierre raised and rolled his fists in front of him. "Careful, he may look like an idiot, but he knows how to fight dirty, like the fact that he has daggers in his sleeves," Maxi warned Jocelyn. "Now would you go out and ruin the surprise for her? That's rather rude!" Dampierre pouted, but he recovered quickly. "But enough talk. Have at thee!" A pair of wrist blades emerged from his sleeves, just as Maxi had predicted, and charged at him and Jocelyn. He thrust several times at Maxi, but each of them had deflected his strike. A few of them landed on his face for good measure, and he stumbled about. Jocelyn used VATS and fired another shot, grazing his head. Not only did it leave behind a vicious burn mark on his face, but it also nicked the right side of his mustache. "My face!" he wailed out in pain, holding it tight. "You ruined Le Bello's beautiful face!" "Boss!" Alphard exclaimed. Using his stout strength, he twisted Natsu's arm. Through gritted teeth, Natsu struggled to maintain her hold on him, but he grabbed her and tossed her at the tree. She landed with a thud, and she could barely get on her knees. Alphard whipped out another pistol with an ax head attached to the barrel and fired. The pellet landed on Jocelyn's shoulder pad, denting it. Jocelyn aimed her laser RCW at him and fired. The beams pierced through the stout man, and immediately he collapsed, writhing in pain with ragged breaths escaping his lips. Ludovigo stopped locking blades with Leixia before dropping his sword in shock. The Chinese princess stepped back, prepared to strike with fury in her eyes as she pulled her sword back. The man with the bob cut raised his hands. "Whoa whoa whoa! I surrender, I surrender!" Ludovigo pleaded. "Please don't hurt me!" Leixia lowered her blade as he fell to his knees. She grinned and giggled, placing her finger on her chip. "Stay out of trouble." "Coward," Dampierre murmured as he stood up, his face red with fury. "That… is… it! This has gone long enough! Do you have any idea who you are dealing with!?" "Someone who got knocked down several pegs, that's what." Maxi grinned. Dampierre said nothing, even as he went straight at them. Jocelyn pulled the trigger, but no burst of lasers came out of her rifle. Instead, the gun clicked and hummed. She lowered her weapon, incredulous. Great. Fusion cell died at a time like this…She barely had enough time to replace a cell when the con artist was right upon her, his arms pulled back to carry the momentum. "Watch out!" Maxi called out. Dampierre, with a yelp, thrust his blades and plunged them into Jocelyn. Though she defected one of the blades with her rifle's stock, the other managed to find itself into the left side of her torso, barely able to get past the plating. He barely had enough time to pull it out before she snapped it in two with her elbow. The con artist reeled back; a look of terror etched across his face as Jocelyn headbutted him. When he tumbled to the ground, she hung her rifle at her side and rested her super sledge on her shoulders "N-no! Please! Stay back! Stay back!" the con artist screeched. With every inch he feebly crawled away from the Lone Wanderer, she only stepped closer. As she raised her weapon above her head, ready to deliver the killing blow, she hesitated. She felt uneasy, like her heart throbbed in pain. She knew a part of her wanted to make the con man suffer. Slowly and painfully. Break his bones one by one, shoot his knees out, watch him bleed. There were so many ways a person could experience pain. It was tempting to inflict such sadism but after everything she went through, was this really her? "Hey, that shard you're carrying is corrupting you!" Maxi called out. "Don't let it control you!" Jocelyn lowered her hammer slowly as if some invisible force was struggling to keep it up. She turned around, looking over her shoulder at Maxi. "And that changes the fact that what he did, what he admitted to, is unforgivable?" she asked, gritting her teeth. "Look, lady, I want to kick that guy's ass as much as you do, but if you kill him, Soul Edge'll start taking a hold on you," Maxi explained. "You don't want that. I know what it's like, wanting to kill someone for revenge or justice. Mostly revenge in my case. I've been there. I…" He sighed as he craned the back of his head. "Oh man, where do I begin with this?" "I went after someone, a monstrous creature named Astaroth," he began. "He killed my friends, my crew, so I joined Kilik all these years ago so I could find the bastard who did. I killed him for it, but I got hurt in the process. Someone healed me, but he used a shard of Soul Edge to do it, erased my memories, and changed me. You can say I was lost and lonely and on the brink of becoming yet another monster. But there was this old guy who was Kilik's teacher, Edge Master. He showed me that there's a light at the end of a tunnel." "Where are you going with this?" Jocelyn demanded as she approached him. "All I'm saying is that he brought me out of the brink," Maxi answered. "So can you." "Then how do I…?" She trailed off as the world suddenly started spinning around her. "Fight it!" Maxi spoke. "Try using that piece of the Dvapara-Yuga." Jocelyn pulled the piece of the Dvapara-Yuga, the blue stone gleaming once more under the fading sunlight. As she focused her attention on the stone, it shone more brightly. She blinked, shaking her head to fight off the temptation gnawing at the back of her head. She blinked once more, and she felt like a great weight was lifted off her shoulders. She felt the fogs of her mind fade away and she sighed, closing her eyes in contentment. "Watch out!" Xiba called out. Jocelyn opened her eyes and whipped around, turning to see the con man lunching at her with his daggers, desperation palpable in his eyes. She lifted her hammer to deflect the strike, only for one of the blades to scratch her cheek. In response, as their weapons locked, she yanked the con man closer, using the momentum to headbutt him over her weapon. A crack and a brief flash of white, and he fell backward toward the ground, dazed, his hat landing right beside him. The lack of that fancy hat revealed balding brown hair. "Yeah, we showed 'em!" Leixia cheered as she pumped her fist, with Xiba joining in the celebration. With a sigh, Maxi relaxed his shoulders before holstering his nunchucks. "Gotta admit, I was worried for a minute there that you'd turn into a malfested." "A what?" Jocelyn asked as she rubbed her cheek, the cut closing in by itself. The Monocyte Breeder implant she bought from Pinkerton all these years ago was ungodly expensive, but it was worth it. It's someone that's been corrupted by Soul Edge," Maxi answered. "Its power makes them stronger, amplifies their fighting ability. But their humanity, their soul? Well, they can kiss goodbye to 'em." She let in a few deep breaths, panic beginning to settle in. "And this piece of the Davapara-Yuga?" " Don't lose it or you're gonna lose yourself," Maxi stated rather pointedly. "'Specially if you're keen on carrying that shard of the sword with you." Jocelyn pulled the shard of Soul Edge out of one of her pouches. She could feel something was close yet again, with the temptation gnawing at the back of her head, but it was like someone was pushing it back. If this piece of the sword were that dangerous, who knew how much more powerful a complete form would be? She knew what to do. "Hey, wait! That—" Maxi raised a finger but stopped when Jocelyn dropped the shard to the ground, pulled her pistol out, and began firing. Each shot rang out an echo as multiple plasma bolts slammed against the shard. Through gritted teeth, she continued firing until her pistol clicked, the plasma cartridge completely drained. She sighed, dropped her shoulders, and closed her eyes for a moment. She hoped that would be the end of it. But when she opened her eyes again, her heart dropped like a bag of rocks as she saw the shard still intact. "—will not work at all," Maxi finished, meekly dropping his finger. "Right. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy." She rolled her eyes, exasperated, as she removed and replaced the plasma cartridge. She doubted her other weapons would do the trick. And she couldn't bear to just leave this thing lying around. Who knew someone else would pick it up on a whim and succumb to it? As she picked it up, she glanced at the shard. She wondered if there was another way… "We're supposed to be heading off to this town called Veres to meet someone from a group called Schwarzwind," said Maxi. "Guess you can call them a resistance because they protect innocent people from a witch hunt. You know how that goes. I hear they have people who can help someone like you. And hey, maybe you can find your friends in the town while we find our contact, yeah?" Jocelyn's eyes shot up to Maxi. Things may be looking up after all. "That's not a bad idea. When will we head out?" she asked. "Tomorrow," Maxi answered. "But we'll find a way to help you get rid of that shard for good. You have my word on that." Jocelyn glanced down to see Maxi had touched her shoulder. At that moment, she was reassured by it, as if she were at peace, if only for a moment. "Thanks. So what will you be doing in the meantime?" "I'll help the others tie these jerk-offs up, assuming they're still alive, and turn 'em in for a bounty," Maxi answered. The groans from Dampierre and his henchmen instantly told them they were alive. Hurt, bleeding, bruised, with the one with the bob hair being tied up by Natsu, but alive. "Well, guess that answers that." With that, Maxi parted with her and walked toward the others, bringing the would-be bandits to a carriage parked nearby. The Lone Wanderer joined soon after, picking up the bandits and placing them next to each other by the carriage, each bound by ropes. "Hey, I call dibs on the hat!" Jocelyn heard Leixia called out. "Nope, I saw it first!" said Natsu, who yanked the hat before anyone could do or say anything. At least the rest of the day and the journey would be bearable. For the rest of the day, she said nothing, lost in her thoughts. Even with the shard of the Dvapara-Yuga, she could still feel this… presence. She hoped she could hold on as long as she could before it was too late. I apologize for how it initially ended with a cliffhanger. Originally, this chapter had scenes that are out of order, with the Doctor and Kroton meeting Bernice Summerfield, with the following chapter then have Patroklos from Soulcalibur V meeting the Lone Wanderer around the same time, then back to the Wanderer resolving her fight with Dampierre. I now realize that it would be confusing. It was mostly because I had trouble coming up with a satisfactory way to end that scene at first.
|
|
|
Post by Nord Ronnoc on Jul 16, 2021 8:24:58 GMT 1
For clarification, this fic takes place between Sleep No More and Face the Raven of Series 9 of Doctor Who. On the Soul Calibur side of things, while this takes place during SCV, it's built off VI and uses many of its story elements while I would discard certain elements from SCV's side. For example, if I were to write Patroklos into this fic, he would be much less of a psychotic jackass as he was in the first half of V's story mode. Fallout's side, well, it's clear in the first chapter.
I can't believe I haven't brought it up earlier. Sorry about that. Chapter Six: Rejuvenation
Year: 1605 Location: Athens, Ottoman EmpireA clash of blades flashed underneath the bright afternoon sun. The two contestants, locked in combat, struck blow after blow as they were locked in combat. The audience gathered around the ring and looked down below, watching a young man with curly blond hair and pale skin fighting a young woman with olive skin and black hair. They were the finalists in a tournament that honored ancient Greek traditions but with a lack of killing each other. The young man, Patroklos Alexander, spun his sword around with a confident, and some would say cocky, grin on his face. He raised his shield in front of him, waiting for his opponent to strike. He took a deep breath, then another, to fight off fatigue that had built up throughout this duel. And without missing a beat, his opponent charged at him, kicking the sand around her. He muttered a prayer to the gods. He hoped the training Neve gave him would pay off, as it did so far. Right as the strike landed on him, Patroklos deflected it with his shield. She struck again, pushing him back with her shield in retaliation. As she swung her sword again, he parried back. With a flick and a twist of his wrist, her sword flew out of her hand. It landed nearby, the blade now embedded in the ground. The woman knelt. Her brown eyes gave him an almost defiant look as the tip of Patroklos' blade met her neck, pressing at her skin. "Well, would you look at that? I won." Patroklos smirked. "Do you yield?" The woman sighed before nodding. "Yes." The crowd above them roared and cheered. "Patroklos! Patroklos! Patroklos!" they bellowed out. "You fought well, Savvina," said Patroklos as he sheathed his sword into his red shield. He offered the woman, Savvina, his hand and she accepted, helping her get up to her feet. "Likewise, Patroklos," Savvina replied. "But do you have to be an ass about it?" Patroklos shrugged. "It's part of an act," he insisted. "You understand." Savvina rolled her eyes as she picked up her sword. "If you insist." As the two warriors walked up the stairs out of the arena, the host of the tournament suddenly placed a crown of flowers on his curly head, much to his surprise. At least they smelled nice, Patroklos noted to himself. He smiled and waved to the crowd as he passed them by. It was nice not to be teased about being the son of Sophitia for once. "Thank you, thank you so much! I'm honored, truly." What stood among the crowd, was a middle-aged man with a sullen look on his face. He was dressed in blue, a white cloak draped around his shoulders. Blond hair, green eyes, and pale skin were common in Patroklos' family. He and this man, his uncle, were no exception. His uncle's graying hair was swept back, the bangs hanging by the temples of his weathered face. "Uncle Lucius?" Patroklos approached his uncle. "Did you see me win?" "Yes, I did. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you," his uncle answered. "But there is something I need to tell you." He took a sharp intake. "Your mother, she—she needs to see you." Patroklos blinked in confusion. "What? What do you mean, Uncle? Please, tell me!" His uncle's silence answered his question. His mother had fallen ill months ago and she had struggled to recover ever since. If she needed to see him right now, then… He couldn't bear the thought of his mother leaving this world. Patroklos came to a sprint, running past his uncle as he headed back to the city. "Patroklos, wait up!" his uncle called out, following behind him. It was all a blur as he dashed down the familiar Greek streets, bristling with activity. He went inside his home, ignoring the scent of baked bread wafting from the oven nearby. He made a quick left down the hallway and into his parent's bedroom. Inside, only his father, Rothion, sat on the bed by his mother, gently holding her hand. His heart broke upon his mother's gaunt, sickly body. A gray blanket draped over her up to her neck, save for her thin arms. "Mother, I…" Patroklos ran and sat on the bed by her. He held her hand gently. It was still warm, but barely. She squeezed his hand. His mother smiled weakly. "It's okay, Patroklos. It's okay." She wheezed as if struggling to breathe. "How was the tournament?" Patroklos opened his mouth but found himself unable to say a word, if only for a moment, his eyes welling up with tears. Finally, he said, "I won. My opponent was strong, but I prevailed." He smiled. "I… I hope I've made you proud, mother." "You already have, Patroklos," she replied. "I can only…" She coughed. "…hope you find your sister." Patroklos clenched his jaw. The thought of his sister's kidnapper, that malfested Tira, made him boil. "I will find my sister and make that malfested pay." "Promise me. Promise me that you won't let vengeance consume you. Follow your heart, do the right thing. Promise me…" As his mother drew her breath one last time, she closed her eyes and let go of her son's hands. Patrokolas said nothing. He leaned forward in a crying fit. He wanted her to be healthy, to live out the rest of her life in happiness. But she was happy, wasn't she? All he had were his father giving him a comforting hug. His uncle joined in. Patroklos heard all the stories of his mother. The adventures she went on, the perils she faced in her holy mission to destroy Soul Edge, and the measures she took for the sake of her daughter and his sister, Pyrrha. He wanted to show his mother that despite not receiving the blessing of the gods, he could live up to their legacy. But fate had other ideas, it seemed. It was not fair. It simply was not fair. If only that supposed god of thunder did everything he could in his power to save her, rescue his sister, none of this would have happened. Year: 1607 Location: Veres, Hungary (near present-day Szolnok)The trip to the town was thankfully uneventful. When they reached the stables by the gate, the guards in simple garments eyed the rogue Cybermen with suspicion. The guards' uniforms were buttoned-up tunics with a pair of loose pants that bagged over their leather boots. One of the guards, weary with squinting eyes, rested his hand over a curved sword sheathed at his hip. "Not fond of Cybermen, are they?" the Doctor remarked, looking back at the guard. "Or rather, with strangers." "I heard that, you old twit!" the guard shot back. "Oh sorry!" Ignoring Kroton's audible groan, the Doctor approached the guard in question. The stench the guard gave off would put anyone else off. Or perhaps it was the stables, and no one bothered to clean them up. "Have you seen a friend of ours? Wears armor, carries a glowing red shard." "And guns," Kroton added. The guards exchanged looks before the one with the curved sword and crooked teeth gazed back at the two. "Nah, nah. Want my advice? Try God's Rest. Somebody might point ya in the right direction." He pointed at the opened gate. There, a marble lion statue was surrounded by a cluster of market stalls. The place itself was packed and crowded with customers and traders. "Has there been anything unusual going around?" Kroton stepped in. The guards jolted back, nervously clutching their weapons. "Maybe like a raven with glowing eyes?" "Things have been quiet around here, not even Graf Dumas and his forces have passed through here, thank God," the guard with the pike seethed. "And we would like it to stay that way, sir." "Who is this Graf Dumas?" the Doctor asked. The guard with the pike glared at the Time Lord. "Graf's the Count of Hungary! Haven't you heard? He was chosen by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire himself! Where have you been, living under a rock?" Kroton let out a beleaguered sigh as he brought his hand up to his face. Still, the Doctor ignored him. "Directions? To this tavern?" He pointed past the gate while looking all wide-eyed at the guards. "Take a right once ya reach the statue, past the slums. You'll know it when ya see the sign." The guard with the sword grunted, and his friends joined him. "And keep your strange-looking friend out of trouble, ya hear?" He pointed in an accusing manner at Kroton. The Doctor frowned, his eyes narrowing and his brow furrowing. He stepped toward the guard, who found himself caught off guard at how close the Time Lord was to him. It was close enough for the tips of their noses to be centimeters away from each other. The others looked on in a mix of confusion and surprise. "I want you to listen and listen very carefully." The Doctor seethed through his teeth. "My friend is not here to cause any trouble. Nor is he here to harm anyone. And neither am I, for that matter." "Doctor…" Kroton called out. "Little busy here." The Doctor glanced at the rogue Cyberman before turning his attention back to the guard. "Now, I'm certain you mean well, wanting to protect this town. I get that. But I won't tolerate anyone pushing my friends and innocent people around." "So what are you gonna do about it, ya coot?" the guard with the sword asked, sneering. The Doctor smirked as he stepped back, his hands in his pockets. "Nothing. But here's something for you to ponder: would you be willing to risk everything to strike down a defenseless old man such as me? None of the guards, not even Kroton, uttered a word. "I thought so. Thank you for your help and be on your best behavior, all of you," he said. "Come, Kroton." The two went through the gate. Inside the town, as they neared the fountain, a massive building rested up ahead. The chatter around them was immense, as most of them were from traders showing off their products. As the Doctor no longer heard the clanking sounds of Kroton's footsteps, he stopped and turned around. Kroton was still at the fountain, staring at a tall white church with a bell on the rooftop. Even if he were a Cyberman, the Doctor could tell something was troubling him. "Something wrong?" the Doctor asked. Kroton looked at the Doctor. "Is it necessary for you to antagonize them?" The Doctor scoffed, the corners of his mouth curling slightly. He went on down the slums with the Cyberman close by. "Well, yes. They're being rather unbecoming towards you." "I'll manage, but this is not like you." That last sentence by itself caught the Doctor off guard, dropping his shoulders. But he recovered as he straightened his posture. "I'm… worried about our new friend. I'm not even sure if she's alive or not." His voice quivered, just a little bit. "Is there something else that's making you all tense?" The Time Lord's face fell. He paced around with his hands on his hips. "Clara. I almost lost her when she had been exposed to an infectious signal on Neptune. It's a hell of a miracle she was cured so soon." "Look, it's clear you care about her but she's human. She won't be around forever," Kroton pointed out. "Yes, I know that." The Doctor sighed, rubbing his face down. "God knows what I will do if anything happens to her." "I wouldn't want to find out either. I'd say none of us all would want to," Kroton commented. The Doctor said nothing when the two saw the sign mounted next to the entrance of a tavern, the words "GOD'S REST" engraved on a wooden sign. As they went inside, they found the tavern was anything but quiet. Rowdy, unruly men sang and drank to their hearts' content while the maid fetched for more drinks. To their left, the bartender cleaned the serving table after spitting on it. At the other end of the room was the fireplace, burning dimly as it emitted a bit of heat. Everything about this tavern, from the stone walls, the stained-glass windows, to the stone floor with wooden columns made this tavern look like it came straight out of a fantasy novel. As the Doctor scanned the place, a roar of laughter broke his concentration. His face followed an empty glass as a somewhat plump man with a bushy beard threw it across, hiding the edge of a table at the far corner. The recipient, a rosy-skinned woman with ruffled black hair and high cheekbones flinched as the glass bounced off the table then landed as it shattered into pieces. The woman grunted in annoyance. "Bloody hell! Somebody better clean this place up!" she said, still holding onto her jug. The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise. Not only did he recognize her voice, but her space-age tailored suit also made her stand out. She was an archeologist but probably not the one he was expecting. "Benny? Bernice Summerfield?" the Doctor called out as he and a curious Kroton approached her. Most of the patrons here ignored them, the few eyeing the Cyberman with suspicious looks. When the Doctor last met with this face, they were in Sydney in Australia dealing with a strange pyramid. Bernice looked back with her hazel eyes. She blinked, and in an instant, she recognized him in return. "Doctor? Well, this is a surprise. And you have a Cyberman with you. Friendly, I suppose." "You take this rather well," Kroton commented. Bernice gave the Cyberman a curious look, her head tilted to the side. "Huh. You talk like a normal person. Not that monotone nonsense." She shrugged and set her cup on the table. "Eh. It's been an eventful day." The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Likewise, Benny. Likewise." He noticed there were empty seats at the table. "Uh, mind if we…?" "Oh, sure. Go ahead," Bernice answered, making a quick gesture. The Time Lord settled in his seat next to hers, scooting into the table. Kroton had to adjust the staff latched onto his back to set properly across from her. "So…" the Doctor began as he placed his arm on the table. "How exactly did you get here?" "Funny story, that," Bernice answered, leaning in. "It all started with your average archeological dig into ancient ruins. Well, average for me. Till I find this." She dug into her pocket and placed a red, glowing object on the table. The Doctor stared at the shard. It was in a slightly different shape. Jagged and less pointy, yet it was the same fusion of flesh and metal, and the same hellish glow it emitted. "Let me make a hypothesis: You found it and it brought you here," the Doctor stated. "Yes," Bernice replied. "How did you know that?" "Because it happened to an acquaintance of ours," the Doctor answered. "Do you happen to know where she's at?" Cool yet gentle winds bushed against Patroklos' hair, the late-afternoon sun basking on his long white coat as he paced around the busy Hungarian streets. His narrow red shield, his sword sheathed behind it, hung around his left wrist. Ever since his mother passed away, he left his home in search of his sister. But like many places he had been to, she and her kidnapper remained elusive as ever as he looked around seemingly many of the streets and corners of this town. Passing by the fountain, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed what appeared to be a man in solver clothing and armor, his strange helmet resembling more like a mask than anything. The man gazed up, entranced by the tall white church nearby. Patroklos looked on. He wasn't sure what to make of this when a pale old man with a mop of wild, silver hair and unusual clothes approached the man. The man in silver struck up a conversation before they sauntered off toward the slums. As he stepped forward, the two men were nowhere to be seen. "Dammit!" He sighed, bringing his hand to his hip. Those two were definitely not the townsfolk, and he missed his chance in finding out if they knew anything about his sister's whereabouts. "Is something wrong?" His heart jolted for a second as he turned to see a rather wide woman. She stood a little taller than him, clad in a suit of light-gray armor made of a material he did not recognize, her shoulders draped in a green scarf. "Ah, I'm looking for my sister here, but I haven't had much luck," he answered after catching his breath. "Maybe I can help. What does she look like?" Patroklos gazed at the stranger with suspicion. "And why should I trust you with this? People who claimed to know my sister's whereabouts tend to be liars and thieves, including the Graf," he said. Even he began to believe the information given to him by Schwarzwind made him wonder if they were lying as well. "I'm sorry, who?" the woman asked, confused. His nostrils flared as he frowned. Of course, she had to bring up a sore topic. "If you must know, I'm talking about Graf Dumas. The Count of Hungary, chosen by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire himself." His tone could come off as condescending to most people, as he could tell by the squinting look the woman gave him, but he was not in the mood to be reminded. "Just another sniveling bastard who's more concerned about hoarding wealth and power, if you ask me." "I see. I'm sorry to hear that," she replied. "Look, I understand why you're like that. I'm starting to get out of that position myself, but you can't find your sister if you keep viewing everyone with that attitude. You need to have hope." He closed his eyes with a grimacing look on his face. Hope. Like the myth about Pandora's box, it only led to disappointment and grief, but maybe she had a point. With debilitation, he sighed and opened his eyes. "Okay, I believe you. For now. Her name's Pyrrha Alexandra. She has blond hair and green eyes. She also wears a white dress with long boots." "Anything else?" "Yeah, there is." He lifted his shield and pointed to a pair of golden elk horns inscribed on his shield. "She carries a sword and shield that used to belong to my mother. Her shield's blue, but it should have a similar emblem like mine." The woman nodded. "Okay. I can't promise anything, but if I see her, I'll point her in your direction." "Thank you." There was an uplifting feeling welling within him. Perhaps she could be his best shot. "What's your name, by the way?" "Jocelyn Song," she answered. "I'm just a wanderer stopping by. You?" "It's Patroklos. Patroklos Alexander," he answered. "If you see my sister, tell her…" He couldn't help but give himself pause, his lips trembling. "If you see her, there's usually another girl with her, carrying a ring blade. Do what you can to save my sister from that madwoman." "A ring blade?" The woman gave him an incredulous look. "Is it a blade in the shape of a ring? Is that what I'm thinking?" "…Essentially, yes." "That's not the weirdest thing I've heard or seen in the past couple of days," she remarked. "Well, see you later. Maybe." Patroklos could only watch as the woman sauntered to the church. He was grateful someone was willing to help, but who exactly was this woman, anyway?
The journey to the town took her and the other two days. As promised, Maxi and the others went off to meet with their contact, whoever they were. "Meet ya at God's Rest," she remembered Maxi telling her before they parted ways. Soon after meeting the young man, whom she thought was rather intense, Jocelyn took in the sight of a tall white church in the middle of the town. She sauntered inside, walking in the crack between the giant, open doors. Ahead of her were rows upon rows of plain, simple wooden benches. At the other end of the church was an altar, draped in a white blanket, crowned by a cross. The windows that reached near the ceiling had cast a bright, almost twilight light. The other source of illumination was the candles mounted on the pillars, the smell of melting wax whiffing in the air. There were several occupants, many of them appearing to be peasants in simple and colorless garments, praying in the church. Compared to every other building back in her world, the church was very much intact. While constantly being in danger was familiar to her, she had to admit this was a nice change of pace. "Err, excuse me?" She looked down to find a boy looking up at her. Pale and dark-haired, he wore a pair of green trousers to go with his fluffy white shirt. He couldn't be older than… six, maybe seven? She knelt beside him with a smile. "Hey there. Where are your parents?" "Well, my parents told me to wait here in case I get lost." The boy twiddled his thumbs together. "So, um… are you here to slay a dragon, like the knights in shining armor in fairy tales? Because you, uh, seem knightly." "I, uh…" She hesitated. "Maybe. It's been a while since I did that. Slaying monsters, saving lives," she answered. "Until recently, I've been helping people by doing small favors for them." Her answer brightened the boy's face. "Then are you here to stop the malfested?" Jocelyn looked back. "They're the ones that used to be human, right?" The boy nodded rapidly. "Yeah! I hear some of them get big. Like, really big!" Before he could say more, Jocelyn stood up when a man and a woman approached them. The man wore a ruff collar around his neck, a tell-tale sign of his nobility aside from his tights and his puffy shorts. The woman's dress was simple yet elegant, having jewelry laid out on her sleeves. The man went up to the boy with open arms, a joyful smile appearing on his face. "Oh dear God! Your mother and I have been looking for you!" He picked up the boy and gave him a firm hug. By the look on the child's face, he was happy to see his parents again. "I miss you too, father. I was so scared." Jocelyn stood up and met the mother. "Thank you so much for finding him!" the mother exclaimed. "Actually, he happened to find me," the Lone Wanderer replied. The father had put the boy down and took his hand. "We'll be best on our way, then. Best we tell our boy not to wander off like that!" The family turned toward the exit after making eye contact with Jocelyn. The boy groaned, mumbling about not looking forward to being disciplined. "Do be gentle with him; he's just a boy!" the mother protested. "Even little boys have to grow up to be men," the father retorted. The Wanderer's eyes followed the family until they were out of sight as they walked through the door. "So… here to confess your sins?" a familiar, Scottish voice called out in a sardonic tone. "I know I have my fair share." Jocelyn's heart leaped out and she turned around to see the Doctor leaning against a nearby pillar, his hands in his pockets. "Oh hey, Doctor," she said. "How did you get here?" The Doctor smirked, standing up straight. His hands out of his pocket, he paced around a few steps. "It's a long story. Maybe I'll explain later. Maybe not. I'm quite pleased you were able to understand what anybody was saying. Have you noticed they were not speaking English?" "Okay, what?" Jocelyn stared at the Doctor in confusion. "I thought it had to do with trade languages, not… this. How's that possible? Translator microbes?" "Less with brain germs and more like a telepathic field that digs inside your brain. Wait, that does sound like a brain germ, doesn't it?" The Doctor waved his finger around. "Ah, forget it. It's a translation circuit from the TARDIS. That's why everything sounds English to you. Long as I'm conscious, it will work." "That is probably one of the craziest things I've ever heard about your universe." The Doctor let out a small chuckle with a toothy grin. "I have seen things in my lifetimes that defy logic and reason. You think you would get used to it by now, but you being a human with a finite life expectancy, I understand." "You realize that's condescending, right?" "Obviously." She sighed. "So now what? Where do we go from here?" "You always find something over there. Some drinks and rumors spread around like wildfire... long as you know where to look. I'd like you to meet up with the others." "The others? You got someone else?" "Yes. An archeologist from the far future named Bernice Summerfield. She goes by Benny," the Doctor answered. "She got here like you did. I'll explain more at God's Rest. It's a tavern with… tavernous stuff." "Okay," Jocelyn replied before chuckling. She couldn't help but find this convenient. "Lead the way." As she began following, she paused midway before turning around. "Something wrong?" the Doctor wondered. "There were buildings like this. Back before the Great War," she answered. "Churches, monuments, museums, schools… All of them were gone in an instant when the bombs fell. All that was left were ruins, corpses, and silhouettes of people who didn't make it. Not a whole lot of intact buildings left." She sighed, letting her shoulders drop. "I miss living in the Vault. It wasn't perfect, but it was home. I really do." The Doctor unfolded his arms and stood up. He said nothing as he bowed his head, even as he left the old church. "You're gonna walk away just like that?" she bellowed out. "Yes!" the Doctor retorted as he continued walking. She could swear he was grinning smugly. Jocelyn couldn't help but roll her eyes as she caught up to him, not far behind.
|
|