| Date: 12 January 2008
Characters: Romana, The Tenth Doctor Location: outside Link to IJ: thread #32264 |
 Romana wandered out of the hotel and down the street, looking for any sign of the Doctor, whatever point in time he might come from. Being brought here and her encounter with the Master had rattled her, but she was still determined to try to discover the rules of this strange place, and get back to her proper time, if possible. She was fairly certain that if the Doctor had been here for while, he'd be investigating too. He might even have answers. And despite what the Master said, she was sure he'd be happy to see her. |
 The Doctor stepped out of the shop she'd just been buying spare parts from, though she doubted that was the intended use of most of the bits she bought, humming cheerfully, and nearly stepping right into someone else."Oh, sorry, didn't see you there. I'm the Doctor, by the way, haven't seen you before, what's your name?" |
| Romana stared in astonishment. Well, it was possible to regenerate into the other sex, but usually it happened because...she wasn't going to think it. But this women didn't know her! Still, there was something inexplicably Doctor-like about her. "It's quite all right. I'm Romana. I'm afraid I'm quite confused. I know the Doctor very well. I traveled for a long time with him. Er...you. And in this body, too! You don't recognize me?" |
| "Nope!" The Doctor tilted her head, blinking slightly. "Don't know you at all. I mean, I haven't really recognized anyone here yet, except the silly bit who got me stuck here, but she's off goodness knows where, and it really doesn't matter. Though I do know someone who has a name very similar to yours that I traveled with once. Snuck off while he was on his own in E-space before I decided to push him out the door of the TARDIS while we were in the Vortex. He became Lord President of Gallifrey, eventually." She shrugged uncomfortably. "And... well, I haven't seen him in a while, and you really do have a similar name, so perhaps you're much the same person, only he's a he, and you're a she, and that's pretty much how it's been with the last few people I've met. Koschei and Jack and Mickey... I'm told there's a male version of me around here somewhere, but I haven't run into him yet." She bounced on her toes a moment. "Anyway. Nice to meet you, I have no clue who you are." |
| "Ah, well I chose to stop traveling with you to stay in E-space. I'm currently serving as Lady President of Gallifrey. There do seem to be some parallels there. So, you've always been a woman I take it? You're from some universe where pretty much everyone is the opposite sex from what they are in my own universe?" She wondered about species that didn't have simply binary sex identification, or people people of binary sexed species that were born intersexed....but that wasn't really relevant to this conversation. And seemed like her universe the parallel male version of herself, and this lady Doctor didn't get on so well. Well, she'd just tiptoe around that. |
| The Doctor nodded. "Appears so." She studied Romana a moment. "So, you're currently serving as Lady President of Gallifrey? Well, that would put you earlier in my timeline if we were from the same universe. It's been.... a few years, subjective, since there's even been a Lord President on Gallifrey." She didn't add that it'd been equally as long for her since there'd even been a Gallifrey, but... maybe the timeline would unfold differently for Romana. "And yeah, always been a woman. Ten regenerations of female self." She bounced on her toes again. "Sounds like you and male-me got along better than the... um... me and male-you." The Doctor grinned brightly, pretending that she hadn't nearly called the Romana from her universe an idiot... well, she'd called him worse, but that wasn't something she needed to share. "So, I take it you haven't run into a woman in a black suit who's forgotten how to smile, and has delusions of universal domination?" |
| "No, no I haven't met a woman in black suit with delusions of universal domination, yet. I did run into the Master, who, come to think of it would fit that description if he were a woman. Although he actually has a charming smile, when he uses it." Romana sighed. "You're describing your version of the Master, I take it?" No President of Gallifrey for a few years? That sounded...ominous. Had there been a Time War in her universe? Was Gallifrey doomed in every pat history took? No, mustn't think like that. The Master was probably lying. After all, he was still alive, and he claimed the Doctor was. The Doctor may have had his differences with his people, but he'd rather have died than see Gallifrey utterly destroyed. |
| The Doctor grimaced. "Oh, don't tell me there's a male version of her here too! If she runs into him... Oh, that's a scary thought. And bad. Very bad. I mean, one of them is enough. But two?" She shook her head vigerously. "No, bad. Very bad." She worried her lip between her teeth a moment. "Well, if you run into her, don't listen to her. She likes to cause trouble. A lot. And mess with people's minds. But if there's a Master in your universe, than you know that already, because your Master and mine can't be too different, can they? "Well, I suppose they could be, since they'd be gender-reversed, but... I mean, parallel time-lines, even if we're opposite genders." |
| "Oh, I'm well aware of what the Master is capable of. My version is quite fond of his mind games as well. I just extracted myself from one of those. I may have even come out on the upper hand. Hard to tell." |
| "Isn't it always?" The Doctor shifted the bag with the bits she'd found, setting it at her feet. It was getting annoying, just holding it. "She's always such a pain. What was the Master trying to do this time, your version, I mean?" |
| "Here? To mess with people's minds a bit, because he thinks it's amusing, I gather. He was trying to taunt me about potential less then pleasant future events. If he's to be believed, he's from further along in time then me. But that means I've no idea what great scheme he might have going in his own time." She peered at the bag. "Were you going somewhere? I can walk along with you, if you like." |
| "Oh, this? Just finding interesting bits to see if I can't make some repairs to my TARDIS while I'm here. Might was well make the best of a rest, and all." The Doctor shrugged. "I've had someone named Kurt offer to give me a hand. He's an older, and male, version of one of my companions. Knows his way around a TARDIS. And really, I'd rather not have more help, and I'm kinda already nervous about letting anyone else into my TARDIS, maybe some other time?" She gave Romana a half-smile. "I mean, I don't mind the company, and the conversation, but I have all the time in the universe to get back to my TARDIS and repairs, and so talking out here is just fine. It might be a good thing to find someplace to sit down, though. Maybe something to drink, too. Something with fruit in it. I liked that banana-mango thing they had back at the hotel, that was tasty." |
| Romana, smiled and shook her head at the Doctor in amusement. "Some things really are the same, no matter how different the universe. It's quite alright. If you want get started on those repairs, I won't feel shunned. I'm sure I'll eventually I'll bump into who is both friendly and who knows me." She paused biting her lip for a moment. "I am a bit curious..Does the chameleon circuit of your TARDIS work? Or is she stuck in a shape?" |
| "Still stuck!" The Doctor beamed, though there was more manic to it than cheerful. "Got her stuck as an old London call box, all blue and anachronistic most places I go. Not that anyone notices. I mean, not anyone who matters, sometimes there are people who do notice, but not a whole lot. They just accept it as part of their environment. At least the perception filters still work. And I have plenty of time to repair the chameleon circuit while I'm here, if I get around to it." |
| Romana beamed back, but she was genuinely cheered at the thought of that old police box. It was a bit silly that the Doctor still hadn't fixed the TARDIS, but by now that form was so familiar she would almost be sad to see it go. "Exactly how I remember it then. Just checking!" |
| "The parallels never stop." The Doctor rolled her eyes theatrically. "So, I have repairs to do, and I promised I'd make sure to leave the TARDIS unlocked, and I haven't gotten back to do that, and I'm really craving another of those yummy banana-mango drinks at the hotel. Would you care to walk with me that direction after all? I mean, I wouldn't mind the company, really, and there's drinks in that direction. And they're really rather good. Not sure I recognize all of them, but they're still good." |
| "I'd be happy to." |