The white walls of the TARDIS stood tall, connecting to the same white sealing, Tan circles imprinted into the walls in a symmetrical pattern. In the centre of the room stood the console, 5 sides full of buttons, switches and pushy-pulley things. The round, clear central column had a crystalline structure inside. White lights shining throughout as the clear column rose and sunk from the main console. A figure entered the console room he was a full head shorter than the average man. His face was round and had some age to it. His lips were thin, his eyes slightly sunken, curled black hair around his head and barely reaching the top of it. He wore a plain brown safari jacket with rather large pockets. Out of one of the pockets, a red and grey paisley scarf hung loosely. A similar paisley scarf draped around his neck and under the collar of his large jacket ending just above the edge of the jacket. His jumper was of a curious pattern, overall tan colour with blue-green zigzag lines across it and red question marks in between the zigzags. He wore some plain grey trousers that were loose around his legs and plain black shoes. The figure stepped slowly towards the console, resting his hands on it with a quiet sigh,
"You alright professor?" A woman's voice asked from behind the man, the woman was a little shorter than the man, with her long brown hair tied into a high ponytail. Her face was round and smooth, with cheeks perfect for smiles. She wore a big black jacket with various patches and badges adorning it, one very large patch was the sole occupant of the back of the jacket, it said "Ace". Under the jacket, she wore a black and white striped T-shirt. She also wore a pair of black jeans and some plain black boots with red laces,
"Yes Ace, I'm fine." The man said quietly, looking at Ace,
"Just...thinking." He added in a glum tone,
"Well...your actin like a sourpuss." Ace replied, wearily wandering to the other side of the console while keeping eye contact with the man,
"Sourpuss Ace? I'm simply acting like my dignified self." The man replied in a happier tone,
"Yeah...dignified." Ace sarcastically retorted.
Suddenly a metallic, static like voice was heard all around the pair,
"Doctor? Doctor~ Talk to me~" the strangely charismatic voice said. Ace jumped to attention, looking around in worry before looking back at the man,
"Yes. This is the Doctor." The man replied to the voice with great confidence and a roll of his 'R', which was a habit of his.
Ace walked cautiously round to the Doctors side, the safest place in that room at the moment,
"Who are you? What do you want?" The Doctor asked seriously and in quick succession,
"The first question is irrelevant at the moment. However the second...is far more interesting." The voice replied with charm,
"Well, you better get on with it!" Ace said aggressively,
"I have to agree with my friend here." The Doctor added,
"Hold your horses, I'm getting to it." The voice exclaimed before clearing his artificial voice,
"You have been summoned by name Doctor." The voice explained,
"By who? And where?" The Doctor asked,
"To the Crentra Systems 34th planet, Florina 6." The voice continued.
The Doctor looked like he was thinking, trying to remember something...or someone,
"Professor?" Ace asked cautiously,
"We accept." The Doctor replied in a determined tone, working the controls as he did,
"What?! Doc we can't trust the robo-voice." Ace protested defiantly. The Doctor pressed some buttons, assuring their uninvited guest could not hear them,
"Ace I recognise that planet, that system, that universe. I haven't been there in years, I was a very different man…" The Doctor explained to Ace, resting his hands on the console,
"So...you went there and now they want you back?" Ace asked, trying to understand,
"Possibly, we need to investigate." He said, the TARDIS landing with a thud. The Doctor walked over to a hat stand, taking a singular umbrella from it. The umbrella was mainly black, but the gloss red handle was shaped into a question mark.
He walked with the umbrella to the door, Ace following him closely.
They both exited the TARDIS, leaving the white room behind and revealing the blue police box exterior. Ace closed the door behind them and looked out at her surroundings,
"Blimey...this place is gloomy." Ace commented. Indeed the area was gloomy, the ground was grey with ash and dust. The sky was bland and pale, no sign of sun ever appearing. There were rolling hills that were a darker grey than the ground that Ace and the Doctor stood on, but the hills were too far from them to make anything out. One solitary building stood tall in the horizon, grey, tall and imposing. A blue, neon, logo adorned the building, flickering on and off with obvious age. The sign read 'Jarrus Tech'. The Doctor took a few steps forward, poking at a small hill of dust with his umbrella as if he was trying to uncover something buried deep in it. Ace walked aimlessly close by, kicking up grey dust with each large kick of her legs,
"This place is a bummer, isn't it Professor?" Ace said in a slightly joking tone but meaning it all the same,
"Yes, Yes Ace…" The Doctor mumbled under his breath, distracted by the grey landscape he was faced with. Ace quickly stopped and looked at the Doctor,
"Professor, what's wrong?" She asked, stepping closer to him. The Doctor looked Ace in the eyes, a serious grimace on his face,
"Ace...this planet used to be luscious, green, full of life. Now it's dead...we walk on its corpse." He said plainly but with hints of anger in his voice,
"But, what happened then?" Ace asked quietly, digging her hands into her pockets. The Doctor looked towards the horizon pointing at the large building with his umbrella before lowering it,
"I don't know Ace, but there seems to be a good place to start." He said calmly, walking with Ace towards the familiar building.
The inside of Jarrus Tech was as grey, dark and depressing as the outside. Broken stone desks laid against the walls, covered in damaged machinery, computers and wires. At the back of the room was a large metal door, the was rusted closed. Above it was a Jarrus Tech logo, barely staying on the wall. Water dripped from the ceiling down to form puddles on the floor.
Ace sat on one of the slightly damaged stone desks, kicking her legs in boredom. She looked up at the Doctor, who was looking at the machinery on the opposite desk,
"This place looks worse than my old art room...after it blew up." Ace said, simply trying to break the silence,
"Yes, Ace…" The Doctor said quietly before looking up at Ace,
"This place is strange, the equipment wasn't broken from age, it was damaged by a person." he continued. Ace jumped up from a perch and hopped over to the Doctor,
"Tactical espionage? Wicked." Ace said in mild amazement,
"Yes…" The Doctor said quietly. The Doctor tapped a few keys on a black keyboard, trying to get something to work.
Ace looked around the mostly empty room, noticing a screen come to life with static. She began to tap the Doctor's shoulder, the Doctor turning to Ace with a questioning hum. Ace pointed to the flickering screen, the Doctor giving her an approving smirk as the two approached the screen. The Doctor tapped the top of the old screen with his umbrella with no result. He quietly hummed to himself as he tried to think. Ace rolled her eyes and slammed a fist on the top of the screen, the image becoming clearer. Ace smiled at the Doctor and crossed her arms with pride, the Doctor rolling his eyes and looking into the screen. The image was only a fraction better, single frames of a man on stage as he was being applauded,
"Comedy night?" Ace sarcastically asked. The Doctor shushed her as the audio became clearer and the applause died down,
"Hello! Hello! Calm down! I just started!" The man said with impertinent yet contagious charm. Ace looked at the Doctor with realisation,
"That the voice from the TA-" She said before the Doctor shushed her,
The man on the screen continued,
"When I founded Jarrus Technologies in 2019, I never expected to go past making phones, spaceship parts and basic consumer Androids. When Jarrus Technologies took over as the leading Android provider in 2029, I strived to create lifelike, personalised and obedient andr-" The screen quickly faded into white noise. Ace hit the screen a few more times with no result. Ace took a half step back and crossed her arms,
"Bloody things bust." Ace exclaimed in disappointment,
"Age is not kind to the old…" the Doctor said as he walked to Ace,
"Ace we need to get through that doo-" He said as they noticed a small smile group of semi translucent androids,
"Get down!" The Doctor yelled and pulled ace behind one of the stone desks. Green layers hit the stone desk, breaking parts of the stone slab off. Ace looked at the Doctor, a strange amount of excitement on her face,
"What now Professor?" She asked, ready for a fight,
"We must get rid of our friends here." The Doctor said, a chunk of stone near his head being blown to parts,
"Do you have any Nitro 9?" He asked,
"Umm…" Ace mumbled,
"This is no time to be coy Ace, yes or no?" The Doctor asked with urgency.
Ace dig around her pockets and pulled out the silver, cylindrical can. The Doctor took the can from Ace and twisted the top, setting the timer for 10 seconds. He threw it over at the androids. The Doctor instinctively pulled Ace behind another Stone desk as the large fireball erupted, sending various parts of the androids flying. Ace and The Doctor looked over the stone desk they were behind. The fireball had died down, leaving behind a gigantic scorch mark and the burning remains of the androids. The Doctor walked out from the side of the desk, with Ace jumping over it instead. The Doctor noticed the large door at the back of the room had now had a small hole blown out of it. Ace and the Doctor walked over before a voice came over the intercom,
"Hello again Doctor…" it was the same voice from the TARDIS, but it sounded older, more damaged,
"Is this the famous Jarrus I've been hearing about?" The Doctor asked loud enough to be heard,
"Come and see...but. The girl must stay outside…" the voice explained.
The Doctor places a hand on Ace's shoulder, reassuring her before he entered the room.
The interior of the large room was like a cross between an office and a hospital. Large tanks filled with blue fluid stood in each corner of the room, connected with extensive wires to a smaller pod behind a ornate, wooden desk. The pod stood tall, full of the same blue liquid from the larger tanks. Inside a figure floated, missing both it's legs and an arm. It was connected via the mouth to a breathing apparatus on it's deformed chest. The face, mostly covered with the breathing mask, was malformed, covered in scars and cuts. It's eyes were a pale yellow in colour,
"Hello...Doctor…" The strained voice of the floating figure said, raising his arm stub to a chair opposite the desk. The Doctor nodded in acknowledgement and took a seat, leaning his umbrella against the desk. The figure lowered his stub and tilted his head,
"You...look...different?" He said inquisitively. The Doctor smirked slightly,
"Yes...I have.." He said glumly. The figure looked down,
"Do you even remember me?" He asked quietly. The Doctor looked to his side,
"Not entirely. I know your name, your condition, your fate…" he added, looking back at the figure. The figure looked up at the Doctor,
"My...fate?" He asked, then remembered,
"Oh...yes...time travel." The figure said as the pair shared a quiet chuckle. The Doctor stood,
"What happened here Shaun? This place was full of life and hope and love. Now it's dead.." the Doctor asked with interest. Shaun tried to think back, back to the old days,
"It started with you…you came and helped that little rebellion...I gave you some help...in return you let me stay in charge. But the people wanted more...they started killing each other...my Android army was sent to keep the peace...everyone ended up killing each other anyway…" Shaun explained dismissively,
"You sent an army to squash a revolt?" The Doctor asked seriously,
"The innocent would've died if I didn't...but I paid the heaviest price…" Shaun said, referring to his current state.
"Shaun Jarrus. Creator of a near utopia...floats in a tank. Dying. Slowly." He said slowly, walking round to the side of the desk, Shaun following him with his eyes,
"I hate seeing you like this. You try to stay alive but really you know you're going to die. In great, horrible pain." He added in a glum tone, being a blunt as possible. Shaun looked away,
"You don't understand." He said quietly, tears dripping down his deformed cheeks. The Doctor stepped in front of the tank,
"Oh but I do. To fear death, the endless void, Heaven, Hell, the end. I understand that fear, but you need to let go. The strain your body goes through is horrendous and obscene. It must end." The Doctor explained,
"You feel like everything's in slow motion, you can't move, everything's stopping, but only you can mo-"
"And take one step closer to death?!" Shaun shouted, slamming a hand on the glass tube he was stuck in. The Doctor jumped back slightly, then steadied himself,
"Is that really a bad thing?" The Doctor added quietly. Shaun lowered his hand, letting it float in the blue liquid. He was thinking deeply, about what the Doctor said. Is it really bad? Of course it is. It's death, the great ending, the last hurrah. A terrible terrible thing. Then Shaun began to think deeper, is this life as a limbless, floating abomination really better than death? He can't move, he can't touch, can't make, can't invent, he can barely talk, he can't even breathe without the use of a blasted breathing apparatus! Is that really a life worth living? One of pain, agony and horror? He isn't…him anymore…
Shaun opened his eyes and looked at the Doctor with deep sadness in his eyes,
"Yes…" He said quietly.
The Doctor nodded and wandered to the small computer display on the pod, pressing a few buttons, turning off the life support. The Doctor locked eyes with Shaun, watching the life fade and soon...he was dead.
Ace had been sitting on a small lump of rock, kicking her legs and messing with a part of the destroyed androids. Ace looked up and saw the Doctor, looking at Ace with a grimace on his face while leaning on his umbrella. Ace put down the android part and hopped of the lump of rock,
"You Okay?" Ace asked sympathetically,
"Yes...I think." The Doctor said quietly,
"The man decided to leave this mortal plain.." he added. Ace held the Doctor's arm and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. The Doctor smiled weakly at Ace, who returned the smile.
The pair walked slowly and quietly to the TARDIS, entering and leaving the silent planet without a word.
