"They say that everything has its time, and everything dies. It's true. At least, it was true for my people. The Shining Star of the Seven Systems they called it, wrote songs about it, told stories to their children about the majestic, glittering empire of the Time Lords. The heavens soared over the city, the silver of the great buildings like an echo of the stars high above. Mysterious, cruel and yet still somehow mighty." His eyes had tears in them as he spoke, hands clenched in his lap. "It's hard to believe that it's gone forever."
"Once a year, every citizen of Gallifrey would stop whatever they were doing and walk outside, waiting. As if they were expecting something. Then, in the cold and the dark, a voice would begin to sing. It was a high voice, icy and cold. Slowly, another voice would join it, until soon the singing had spread to every person, every child, every being across the whole of Gallifrey. It would project out into the heavens, travelling like a call to arms." The man's eyes suddenly seemed very old, gazing into half-forgotten memories. He opened his mouth, trembling with the onrush of emotion. "And then, slowly, we would hear voices begin to reply. From across the stars, every race would answer. Basses rumbling across vast distances, sopranos soaring to meet each other, the faint flicker of an alto, tenors replying richly. Voices singing out just for the joy of it, until the whole Universe was full of melody, and reverberating with sound." His voice trembled. "A celestial choir, singing to thank us with gratitude that words alone could never express."