The Boy That Time Remembered
ML: (Wanders into my room) Taiyo-chan? Taiyo-chan? Where are you-chazu?
(Clanging and banging noises are heard along with copious swearing)
ML: Taiyo-chan? (Walks toward the closet from where the noises originated from and opens it) What in the-?!
(Inside the closet is a spacious rectangular room colored an ocean blue with wooden paneling on the floors. Various technological devices and instruments covered the wall at the far back. Wooden two-step stairs on the ground floor led to a slightly elevated floor which circled the room, directed to over a dozen doors on the left and right walls. Pathways made out of metal gratings emerged from walls leading up to an array of staircases, like a maze, leading to even more doors. These doors were made in various designs and styles from a wooden oak door from the Victorian era, to a bright pink door made for a little girl to a thick steel door that was rusted at the ages, looking like it hadn't been opened for some time. The room was covered with bright furniture and in the center was a large contraption. It was 3 feet tall with a console holding buttons, switches, levers and screens displaying data. Underneath the console was Taiyo-chan with only her legs sticking out as she fiddled with something inside it.)
ML: Taiyo-chan!
(Bangs head against something) Ow! Crap! (Drags myself out from under console) Oh hey ML.
ML: Taiyo-chan, what in the name of all that is pure and sane have you done-chazu?
(Jumps up) I made my own TARDIS console room! Isn't it great?
ML: ….. There are no words to describe the soul crushing confusion I am feeling right now.
(Snorts) And you call me dramatic.
ML: Whatever. But really, why would you build this in the first place?
Because it is awesome and I wanted one. So I used my mystical author powers to make it happen. And Cheez. (Takes out giant buster pencil, Cheez) He helped too.
ML: I thought you got rid of him?
Never! (Gets up from the floor and turns toward the audience) Hey there guys! Sorry about the ignoring you bit. Got a bit distracted you see.
ML: (Mutters under her breath) Well isn't that a first?
Hush up you. Anyways as I have been converted into a Whovian over the past few months, I have decided to assert my loyalty to the fandom further by writing this fic. I sincerely hope that you all will appreciate this.
ML: She actually did her research. She read up on all the lore of Doctor Who, looking up phenomenon's and theories that would make what will happen in her story seem plausible. I am actually impressed.
Ha!
ML: But only a little.
(Glowers) Who asked you anyways? Do the thing ML.
ML: Taiyo-chan does not own Doctor Who. And it is a good thing too as I shudder to think of the things she would come up with of she did.
Enjoy the show guys! Ichinichi wo! Neeehhh!
Chapter 1
"Come on….Come on…." Adric frantically whispered under his breath as his fingers flew across the control panel. So many numbers and codes flew across the screen before him and he tried to keep up with them as he fought back. Behind him, an incessant whine pulsed in the air as the antimatter stabilizer was propelled further.
"I know! I know!" he screamed at the noise even though he was aware that it would not listen nor hear him. Nothing could hear him now as he worked alone on the freighter. Adric glanced up at the view screen to look at the planet he was on a collision course for.
Earth. The planet that the Doctor talked so fondly of and where Tegan had been born and raised. He never truly understood what the Doctor saw in the planet but now here it was before him. It was so much more beautiful then he could have imagined. From swirling blue oceans that covered most of the planet, the shifting land that held forests, grasslands and deserts to the white clouds that looked like torn cotton hovering above the surface. Oh what he would give to be able to go there one more time but he knew that if he didn't do something that the entire planet will be destroyed, himself along with it.
He continued to type and prayed that the Doctor had a plan.
Linebreak! Linebreak! -
"Doctor do something!" Tegan's voice was layered with panic and fear as she stared at the view screen in horror.
"I'm-trying!" The Doctor yelled back as he fiddled with the TARDIS console. He was rewarded with sparks that singed his fingers. He inwardly swore. "It's no good. The console is damaged. I cannot do anything to fix it."
"But Doctor, Adric will die if we don't do something!" The expression of pure heartbreak on Nyssa's face made the Doctor want to go out and make whoever made her wear it pay. But then he realized in the same second that the person was himself as he was failing her. Failing Tegan. Failing Adric.
Solutions ran rapidly inside his head as he tried to get the TARDIS to respond to him. 'Please, please, please.' He glanced up at the viewscreen where the freighter inched closer and closer to impact. The Doctor closed his eyes against the sight. 'Please do not let him die.' The Doctor continued his efforts to save his young friend. But deep down inside him, he realized that he might be too late…
Linebreak! Linebreak! –
Adric swore under his breath as he was rejected once again. He banged his hand against the console and tried to gather his jumbled thoughts together. Everything he put in, every calculation and equation, was dully tossed out like trash. He paced back and forth, trying to understand the problem before him as the klaxon whine grew louder each passing second.
"Something's missing." He whispered to himself, his nerves starting to fray under the stress. Adric steeled his fingers together and pressed them against his forehead. He often used this tactic when a particularly frustrating problem was presented to him. It really wasn't helping now.
"There's something I've forgotten." He tried to figure out what exactly he was missing but the numbers only continued to swirl unbidden in his vision, an inconceivable sea of digits and integers. He glanced back at the console and blinked rapidly. The numbers slowly becomes a little less unintelligible. "But maybe…." It was like a fog was lifted off his mind(and it felt so wonderful, the numbers were practically singing to him now) and he rushed forward typing on the console at a rapid rate.
"Of course that's it!" Adric crowed in excitement. It was easy now, so so easy and why hadn't he thought of it before? The numbers made so much sense now and Adric felt the knots in his stomach start to unloosen. He could do it, he can stop the freighter from crashing and no one else will have to die, his friends will be safe, the Doctor would be so proud of him and everything will be all right –
BOOM!
He jumped back as the console exploded in a shower of fiery sparks and flying metal shards. Adric could only stare at it in shock before hearing a gurgling noise. He turned to the right and saw a Cyberman leaning against the doorway, its gun drawn. It raised its head towards him and made a churning noise that sounded almost forced from its chest, almost sounding like laughter(which is impossible for Cybermen were mentally altered to not feel anything, not even satisfaction) before collapsing on the floor.
Adric stared in silence at what had occurred in such a short amount of time (15.45 seconds to be exact) before his mind registered what just happened. His heart stopped cold.
"No, no, no." He reached for the console, trying to find a way to fix it, but he knew there was nothing he could do. It was ruined, the smell of burnt plastic and smoke leaving a horrible smell in his nose. It was utterly useless.
He stepped back, the energy and fervor he held draining out of him. There was nothing else for him to do.
Adric stared at the screen. At the sight of the Earth and the imminent impact he knew was in store for him. His numbers have failed him.
"Well," Adric said as despair threatened to consume him completely, "now I'll never know if I was right."
He reached down and took off his brother's marsh reed belt, the only thing he had left of his home. He held it to his chest and thought about the life he used to have. Adric wondered if he should have simply stayed and boarded the starliner along with his people. But then he would have never seen all the amazing worlds and the people with them. The unnamed medieval planet controlled by the Three Who Rule, Publius and the villagers, J and the Structure, the Farrian and the planet Ballustra. The Tharils, Traken and its citizens, the Master (such a horrible man, so insane), Mauritz and his citadel, Logopolis, the Castrovalvans, the rebels and their war with the Scientifica. Isopterus, Deva Loka and the Kinda, the Urbankans and the Monarch, the costume party at Cranleigh Halt in 1925 England. K-9. Romana. Nyssa. Tegan. The Doctor.
He thought of all of them and only held his brother's belt tighter. As he watched the Earth come within a few yards he could only think of one thing.
He didn't want to die.
Then the freighter crashed and everything disappeared in a fiery crash and the sound of metal giving in. Adric let himself succumb to the darkness. The numbers stopped their song and he knew no more.
…..
…..
Adric!
…
…..
The boy woke up.
He looked around. He was lying on a small bed. He was in a medium-sized room, the walls painted a dark red and the floors were made of a shiny wood. To the right was a large book case filled with dozens of books, most of them on mathematics and science. There was a window in the wall in front of him and underneath it laid a desk. To the left was a single door. Everything was quiet.
The boy did not understand.
The boy was home.
His home was a small village located in the deep woodlands of a space colony. The village was highly focused on the well being of themselves and each villager was responsible for each other. The leader, known as the Chooser, was responsible for what the village will take on as a whole. Every day, each villager was assigned a task they had to do along with others. These jobs ranged from growing crops to building the housings to, for the more technologically advanced, making repairs to the machinery they had.
There were also the exploration teams who gathered information about their new home. They take all of the information that they could gather and run it through the Chooser. Only then does the Chooser send the data to the government who brought them to the colony.
The boy lived with his mother, father and older brother. They came here to find a better life. It was a life filled with work, but it was better nonetheless.
The boy was content.
The boy was confused.
For the past few days he sees something very strange.
Whenever he would go near the river that divided the village from the forest, he would see a woman. She wore robes of fine silk colored dark crimson with gold linings over the wrists, neck line, waist and bottom. The hem line reached the ground and covered her feet. Her hands were raised and covered most of her face but he was still able to see dark hair stop just above her shoulders.
The boy knew that she was not from here. Her clothes alone told that she came from a privileged life. Also she was not a member of the village. The boy knew every single adult that lived here and the woman was not one of them.
So where did she come from?
Before he could call out to her she turned away and walked into the forest.
He reported the occurrence to his parents but they only told him that he was simply imagining things. He let it go but the very next day, in the very same spot, the woman was there again. And again. And again for the next five days.
The boy did not know what was happening.
The boy was curious.
After the initial scare he felt because of the woman, he was now interested in her. Who was she? Where did she come from? Did she have a home? Why was she always there across the river?
He wanted to know everything about her.
His family was concerned about him. They wanted him to stop thinking about the woman across the river. They said that he was becoming distracted from his duties to the community.
"You need to stop all of this foolishness about that woman." His father told him one day at breakfast.
"It's not very good for you to keep looking for someone that doesn't exist." His mother told him as she washed the dishes.
"Come on little brother. Let's go get some fruit. Maybe that will get your mind off all of it." His brother led him out of the house to do their chore.
But he could not forget about the woman. So every day, when there was a lull in the work load, he would sneak off to the river to watch the woman. She did not say anything and neither did him. He simply watched her as she kept her face covered. The woman didn't have to do anything.
The boy could wait.
The boy was worried.
He has been hearing voices lately. The voices of people he had never heard before.
"You, young lad - you are going straight home."
"One good solid hope's worth a cart-load of certainties."
"If I knew everything that was going to happen, where would the fun be?"
"It's the end…. But the moment has been prepared for…"
"I feel quite like my old self. Well…. Well… Whoever I feel like, it's absolutely splendid."
"I think it does us good to be reminded that the universe isn't entirely peopled with nasty creatures out for themselves."
"An apple a day keeps the… Ah, never mind."
"Look, if we turn out to be hostile, then fair enough. Until we do, why not give us the benefit of the doubt? Its common sense, really, don't you think?"
"Why do you always have some incomprehensible answer?"
"Call yourself a Time Lord? A broken clock keeps better time than you do. At least it's accurate twice a day. Which is more than you ever are!
"You call three hundred years a small error?"
"Adric, I'm warning you, get out of my way!"
"The iron bonder. I stepped up the iron rate. They'll sleep for quite a bit, yet."
"Try and think what the Doctor would do if he were here."
"So much for my friendly aliens."
"What about love?"
"Time reveals everything, Adric."
Who were these people? Why did they talk as if they knew him? But really… It felt like they truly did know him. The boy could not explain it.
And Adric. Why did they call him that? It wasn't his name. His name was….
…
…
The boy realized that he did not know his name.
The boy was frightened.
The boy was determined.
He wanted to find out what exactly was going on. He knew that everything was not as it seems in the village. Whenever he went to ask why exactly they came to this colony, they would all say 'for a better life'. But why? Why did they specifically leave their homes to come here? They would never say. As if they didn't have a past at all before coming here.
He would ask questions. What they were doing here, who was in charge of them and who were they reporting to every week? But he was simply ignored and told not to ask so many questions. But what was wrong with asking questions?
And the problem with the names. Every person he walked by, every person he caught a glimpse of, he was startled to find he didn't know any of their names. He didn't even know his own family's name.
When he asked his mother what his name, she answered "Don't be silly dear, you already know your name."
"Then remind me what it is." The boy said in return. But his mother simply told him to stop playing around.
There was something strange about this village. He thought that he belonged here but now he found that he didn't. He shouldn't be here at all.
The boy was going to get his answers one way or another.
The boy decided to call himself Adric.
He thought of it as a way to separate himself from this dull society. To remind himself that he shouldn't be here. Everything seemed so quiet and perfect, but it lacked any humanity. Nobody showed any emotions beyond that of contentment. Everything seemed so false. Wrong. Artificial. Not real.
No one here was real. But he knew someone who was.
Adric ran to the river and found her there, just like before. He didn't know what she was doing there before, but know he understood. She had the answers. Answers to why he was here. How it came to be. How to get out.
He shuffled into the freezing cold river water and swam towards the bank on the other side. The cold seeped through his clothes and into his skin making his teeth chatter, his limbs feel like they were made of lead. But Adric kept swimming because he knew that this was his last chance. If he turned away then he would never see the woman again and remain here in this closed off village for the rest of his life.
Finally he reached the bank and heaved himself out of the water. Adric gasped for air, trying to keep down the tremors that racked his body. He looked up and saw the woman had moved on to the edge of the forest. Her face was still covered like she was trying to hide something.
"You know." He gasped out.
She didn't say a word.
"You know why I'm here. You know that this place isn't real. Tell me why I was sent here!"
Nothing.
"Please…." Adric's voice cracked a little. "I hear things. Voices of people I never met before. But I know them. I'm sure of it. They're not from here. So where are they? How can I find them? I just want to know please…. Why am I so different?"
He expected her to keep her silence. But to his amazement she started to speak.
"You were sent here to be happy." Her voice had a musical lilt to it, as if she wasn't really there.
"But I'm not happy!" he replied. "Everyone else here thinks that they're happy but they're not! And I'm the only one who notices it. So why did you send me here if you knew I wasn't going to be happy?"
"I didn't."
"Then who did?" Adric stepped closer to her.
"HE did."
Adric blinked. "Who is he?"
"The Doctor."
He doesn't know why but that name sent a shiver that wasn't from the cold up his spine. Was it from fear or anticipation or joy?
Before he could ask anymore the woman stepped to the side and revealed a dirt path leading into the forest. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed it before.
The woman tilted her head in his direction and slowly removed her hands from his face. He didn't know what he was expecting to find but it wasn't this. She looked so… normal. Her face was pale and covered in small wrinkled from age. There were lines around her mouth came from a lifetime of smiling. Her eyes were a calm ocean blue that looked as if they could go on forever. It felt like she was gazing right into his soul from how she was looking at him. But he was not scared. He had stared into a similar pair of eyes. From a man he could not properly remember.
"Go now. The Doctor is waiting for you."
Adric didn't know what compelled him to do so but he walked to the path presented before him. With each step he took he felt the connection he had to this world fade away. When he finally reached the edge, he turned back to the woman. "What do I do now?"
For the first time since he saw her face, the woman made an expression. She smiled.
"Run. Just run. And never look back."
And that's exactly what he did. He took off into the forest without a hint of hesitation. He ignored the thoughts of his family (they are not his), the peace the village held (no peace for himself) and the fact he was running carelessly into an unknown world. He ignored it all.
The boy was Adric and he had an awful lot of running to do.
(Collapses onto the ground) Oh sweet popsicle Jesus that was a doozy.
ML: Huh. (Looks at chapter) I think you might have broken your record Taiyo-chan. Over 3000 words. How are you still coherent-chazu?
(Snoring on the floor)
ML: Oh damn. Well Taiyo-chan is going to be gone for a while so I guess I'm in charge. We dearly hope that you guys enjoy this story. Make sure to read and review. It may revive Taiyo-chan-chazu.
(Twitches in my sleep) Reviews….
Goodnight everybody.