| Date: 18 January 2008
Characters: Professor Yana, The Tenth Doctor Location: hotel lobby Link to IJ: thread #40066 |
 He was sitting at a table in the hotel lobby because the light was decent there, taking apart what might once have been a small clockwork elephant. If there was nothing here for him to build or fix, well, he'd settle for taking things apart, for the moment anyway.He was rather hoping that someone would come along and distract him before he actually had to try to put the thing back together. |
 The Doctor nearly passed the man sitting in the hotel lobby, but his outfit looked so familiar out of the corner of his eye, that he turned his head to look again.He came closer and stared. He knew that face well, although it had looked much younger. There was no way that face and outfit together couldn't be the Master, in the body before his most recent one, but the Doctor wasn't getting getting a vibe that said "Timelord" off of him, much less the presence that should be there. He just stood there for a minute, mouth open. What in the world was going on here? He's prepared himself for a lot of unusual things in this place, but he couldn't have imagined this one. He reached forward and touched the older man's shirt sleeve gingerly, to make sure he was actually there. |
| The Professor looked up from his tinkering and smiled. "Doctor! Hello!" Then he hesitated when he got a good look at him. "Are you all right?" |
| Alright, that was all the more disconcerting, because it seemed so normal. "You know me?" the Doctor asked, confused. |
| "Well, yes. Or...maybe I know a later version of you? Maybe you just haven't met me yet. This place needs a whole new vocabulary, I think." |
| "A new vocabulary, yes, probably." The Doctor shook his head, still trying to make sense out of what he was seeing. "I'm sorry, what's your name? And did we meet here, or before you got here?" |
| "Yana," he said, offering his hand to shake, "People tend to call me Professor. Nice to meet you again." "I met you before I got here, but there's a version of you here who remembered me. Ever think of going to the end of the universe, by any chance?" he asked, grinning. |
| "Not me," he said softly. But Yana's words brought up a memory of the Master confessing that when he'd thought the Doctor might never come back to lucidity after Arcadia, he'd considered taking them both to the end of the universe, in the hopes the Daleks would never find them. The Doctor reached forward and slowly shook Yana's hand. |
| "Sit, if you like," he said, pushing out the chair next to him. He studied the Doctor with gentle concern. "Is there something wrong?" |
| Yana's hand was warmer then his. Of course it was. He sat down heavily in the chair offered to him. "You're human," the Doctor said, like he didn't believe it. |
| Oh. He had a sinking feeling that he knew where that reaction was coming from. He rubbed the back of his neck, looked down at the gears and springs on the table, and then back up at the Doctor. "I think it's more complicated than that," he admitted. |
| Well, the Doctor's emotions at the moment were certainly complicated. He felt angry at the idea that the Master could have actually chosen the coward's way out, and have run away. A little sick, to think the Master had done this to himself. Confused that the human in front of him seemed to have an inkling of what was bothering him. And he couldn't help but respond to the warmth of Yana's concern. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm down. "Yeah, just a bit. Did the Doctor you met tell you he's a Timelord? Obviously I am, too...you probably know what I mean." He was really curious now, where and when the Doctor Yana had met came from. |
| "He did. I'd never heard of them when he told me. Since I've been here, though...well, I've met a couple of them." He rubbed his forehead. |
| "Huh. There does seem to be a few of us around." The Doctor could hear now, that sometimes the inflection of Yana's voice was different from what he remembered. A little lighter. Which was intriguing. But that gesture - that was exactly the same. "Headache?" he asked. |
| He grinned ruefully. "Habit, I think. I don't generally have headaches any more. Thanks to you. Or the other version of you, anyway." |
| "Let me guess. You used to have them a lot? Literally pounding headaches?" |
| "Yes. Literally." He sighed, and admitted, "Drums. The sound of drums in my head, for as long as I can remember." He didn't think he was telling the Doctor anything he didn't already know. |
| "Yeah," the Doctor sighed, "And he got rid of them. That's...probably good. That's good," he said a little more definitively. |
| "It's good. I've seen what happens if they stay." He felt a little sick just thinking about it. "I've...met the one that comes after me. Evidently. However it happens that Time Lords can become human, and humans turn back into Time Lords. No one's explained that one to me yet." |
| Oh, God, what was wrong with his other self? Well, he was a bit mad from being totally alone, probably, but why didn't this Yana's Doctor want to fix that? It was easy. Just - open the watch. Of course, maybe the other him knew when the watch would be opened and was afraid of screwing with own timeline too much. Not enough information at the moment to make a conclusion. "I know how it works. I'm almost certain the other me does, too. Not sure why he hasn't told you, so I'm not going to touch that at the moment, without talking to myself, so to speak. Sorry. But at least you know I'm holding back information, yeah? I think he and I are not from the same timeline, by the way. From different universes. Really different." |
| He studied the Doctor for a moment, and decided that there was no point pursuing the question of how Time Lords could change species. "Different universes. Different how?" |
| "Are you asking about basic theory on the existence of multiple, alternate realities, or asking me how my reality is different?" |
| "How yours is different." |
| "I know your face very well." The Doctor reached out to touch Yana's cheek gently with his fingertips for a second. "My best friend and comrade-in-arms wore it while we were fighting a very long, very bloody war against a race called the Daleks. The Daleks wanted to wipe out all life that wasn't themselves, and they had to be stopped. And we won. The price was high, but we did it." The Doctor drew his hand back. "So you see, it's a bit of shock to see you. Not being...well, you, from my perspective." |
| "I can see how that could be a shock, yes," he said, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. He'd never heard the word Dalek, but if his nightmares were anything to go by... "I think," he said hesitantly, "that the war might have happened in my universe, too." He shook his head, focused on the Doctor again. "You two aren't exactly friends in my universe," he said wryly. Then again, he had trusted the Doctor almost from the moment he met him. Whatever the history was between the two of them in Yana's universe, he was betting on complicated. |
| "Oh, we were, ah, 'best enemies' I called it once, for a long time in my universe, too. Too much alike, and unwilling to see eye where we had our differences. We got past that, though." The Doctor studied Yana. He looked older because he was older. How long had he been living as human? What had he been doing with his life at the end of the universe? |
| "'Best enemies' sounds about right," Yana said, amused now. "Are all Time Lords stubborn, or just the ones I know?" |
| "It's a pretty universal trait," the Doctor agreed, "Although the two of use are probably, ah, particularly so?" He shrugged. "So, you met - I'm just going to say 'him' when I mean the Doctor you know - at the end of the universe? And? I'm terribly curious what happened. Tell me..everything you feel like telling me." |
| "I was trying to develop a propulsion system for a rocket to take the people on Malcassario to, well, to a place they're calling Utopia. The Utopia Project was started thousands of years ago to try to devise a way for humanity to survive beyond the collapse of reality. We don't know what's there, if they've come up with anything or not, but it seems like the best chance there is." He shrugged. "Trying being the operative word. I'd about run out of ideas when you-- when he and his friends arrived. He figured out the problem annoyingly quickly," he said, flashing the Doctor a quick grin, "and we were in the middle of actually getting ready to launch the thing when I wound up here." |
| The Doctor smiled brilliantly. "So humanity is still kicking around after all those trillions of years. That's brilliant! Indomitable! I knew it!" He glanced around, leaned forward, grinning playfully, like he was divulging a secret, "Don't feel bad about him figuring out the problem immediately. My specialty is fixing things at the last minute, and whipping together gadgets in a pinch. A long term project like you're talking about, well, I'd probably get frustrated half way through designing it, much less building it. I usually leave that to, um, my friend. But he misses little details sometimes, so then I get to annoy him by pointing it out. See?" |
| The Professor smiled back. "Indomitable is right. I just wish there was a way to see what happens next." He laughed. "Seems like a good system. It's worth a little annoyance, if it works in the end. I think," he finished, with a mock glare at the Doctor. |
| The Doctor laughed, "More then worth it, I promise." "So, you found out about your...complicated status here?" |
| He nodded. "Had no idea, until the Doctor started trying to get rid of the drums, and somebody in my head had objections." |
| The Doctor cocked his head, peering at Yana closely again. "Do you really think of the Master as someone else entirely?" he asked, finally saying the name they'd been dancing around. He knew theoretically, how the chameleon arc worked, but he'd never actually seen the results before, much less experienced them. He really hoped he'd never have to. |
| The Master. He hadn't heard the name said before, but didn't it just figure? He thought of the version he'd met by the lake and wasn't sure if he was going to laugh or be sick. He shut his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and when he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to laugh hysterically or throw up, he opened them again. "Feels like someone else entirely. To start with, I wouldn't call myself that." |
| He hadn't quite expected quite that strong a reaction. "But me calling myself the Doctor, running around saying I'm a Time Lord doesn't bother you?" The Doctor shook his head, not quite understanding. "I didn't mean to upset you. But I've know you all of five minutes, and I can see the similarities are more then physical." He ducked his head, and poked at the clockwork pieces on the table. Bored and taking things apart just to see how they ticked. Yeah, that was about right. |
| "'Time Lord's a bit pretentious, I grant you, but the Master? Master of what?" |
| "What are you a Professor of?" the Doctor shot back. |
| He blinked, then gave a bit of a rueful grin and rubbed his hand across his face. "Fair enough. He's your friend, and I don't even know him." He looked away. "It's just strange," he said quietly. "I mean, I don't remember being him. I am him, evidently, but I don't know who he is, or what he's like, not really." |
| "I imagine it must be very strange," the Doctor mused. "He's brilliant. Not that I'm saying you're not," the Doctor hurried to say, "But he's brilliant even by the standards of our people, who tended to look down on other species. Neither one of us ever liked to follow the rules - thought they were meant to be broken. He could always charm the pants off anyone, which got us out of trouble when were at school more times then I can count. When he puts his mind to something, he doesn't really know when to stop, which can be bad, but means he's capable of tremendous things. And yeah, as you may have guessed, he's terribly proud. Even now that we're friends again, I have to take him down a notch sometimes. But he held me together during the worst time of my life. Even if I hadn't loved him before, I always will for that." "I think I've met the version of the Master you did, here. He's...ill, and has been for a long time. He's not exactly his best self." the Doctor explained. |
| "I think not knowing when to stop might have survived the change of species," he admitted wryly. "And there were a few times, just a very few, when I talked my way out of things, dangerous situations, I mean, and now I wonder. Had the worst headaches afterward, too. Looks a little different in hindsight." He paused a moment, thinking. "Is there any way to tell if the one we met is from my universe? Or if getting rid of the drums here might have helped, if he is?" |
| "I don't know of a sure way to tell if you're from the same universe. He fooled me into thinking he was from my universe for a few minutes," the Doctor admitted. "I can tell you that getting rid of the drums helped my Master a lot. We did that quite a while ago." |
| "Live in hope, then. Well, that's not so different from what I've been doing for years. I can do that." He nodded. "So, what were you up to before you ended up here? Exploring anywhere interesting?" |
| "Live in hope. Quite right!" the Doctor agreed. Clearly Yana didn't want to talk about his identity any more right this minute. The Doctor decided he'd let it go - for the moment. "Let's see," he considered. "I guess it depends on how you define interesting! I was going back to Earth in the 21st century - that's home for me right now - but I landed here instead. Before that- 1953, but Earth again. I'm terribly fond of the place, it seems to attract so much trouble. And before that I was in the Crab Nebula, sealing off a rift in space that had been growing where a planet used to be. There's all sorts of damage left over from the War with the Daleks, you see. Needs to be taken care of." |
| "This place seems to attract people from 21st century Earth. Well, the 20th and 21st centuries. I wonder why." What he'd said about the nebula sunk in. "You can do that? Just find a rift in space and fix it?" |
| "Well, I've spent an an inordinate amount of my life in those centuries, on or near Earth - for a time traveling being from no where near there. But I like it." The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, it really, really depends? 'Rift' is really a general term for all kinds of phenonemom. This one, I had a pretty good idea was there, and what had caused it. So yeah, I could take care of it. It's technically still there, but it's a like I cleaned out an infection, so scar tissue could form." |
| "I wasn't even sure Earth had ever existed before I started talking to people here. It's practically mythical, by my time." |
| "It's very real. Very beautiful. It's my very favorite planet, in case you hadn't guessed. I'm sorry you don't remember it." |
| "What makes it your favorite?" |
| "Mostly because it's where humanity started. But from an aesthetic perspective it's top notch, too. Deep blue oceans, light blue sky during the day. One sun. One moon. A tremendous variety in climate. Which is possibly part of why humanity is so adaptable. In order to become the dominant sentient species on Earth, they had to learn how to live in these different kinds of places, before they even left their planet. Everything I visit, seems like there's something new." |
| "It's amazing to think about, humans starting off from one planet and exploring all across the universe, surviving all the way to the end." |
| "Isn't it?" He couldn't stop grinning. He knew he'd become irrationally found of humanity, but here was objective proof that Earth was the perfect jumping off point to influence the flow of history. He couldn't wait to tell the Master when he got home. |
| He grinned back. "So what's next? When you leave here, I mean?" |
| "Back to Earth, 21st century. I'm the science adviser to an organization dedicated to defending the Earth from less then friendly aliens. Who seem to drop in about every week." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I haven't checked in, in a while." |
| He grinned mischievously at the eye-rolling. "No rest for the wicked." |
| Oh, he'd almost begun to be able to seperate this Yana and the Master in his mind. But those words, with that expression on his face - his hearts constricted. "None, indeed," he said softly. Then he perked up. "You know, I just realized I haven't had breakfast yet, and it's calling to me. Would you mind if I took off to do that? Sometimes I can't tell if I'm being rude." |
| "Of course not. Go right ahead, go," he said, waving him off with a grin. "Wish me luck with this thing." |
| "You don't need luck - I'm sure you'll figure it out," the Doctor said as he got up. "I'll see you later." He walked very purposefully out of the lobby, towards the street. |
| "See you later!" More than likely, he thought. One or the other of him, anyway. |