Vworp vworp vworp. Thoum. Krrik.

The Doctor poked his head out of the blue police box. He squinted his eyes, looking vaguely disappointed. "Well, I can't say this is the most exciting planet I've been on. Still, the readings looked interesting." He stepped out and looked over his shoulder. "Come on!"

Katie stepped out of TARDIS, adjusting the strap on her messenger bag. The Gallifreian words on it were extremely faded, but still there. Her red hair was tamed by a tight braid, and she was wearing a long sleeve button down shirt and gloves, as precautions against accidentally killing someone by an energy drain.

Katie made a face as she looked around herself. "After you talked so much about the random lever, I thought it would be a bit more…more."

She wasn't far off in her assessment. The planet was completely barren. There were no people, no animals, no trees, no bushes, no grass, no dirt, no sand, no loose pebbles. There wasn't even any wind. It was nothing but gray, hard, smooth rock as far as they could see.

"I wonder what's wrong," the Doctor mused. "Plenty of light, it's warm, and somehow we even have air. With so much rift energy, I would have pictured stuff everywhere."

"Is that what it is? I was wondering."

The Doctor looked curiously at Katie. "What what is?"

"Everything tastes blue, feels the way a tree looks, and when I blink, instead of the usual energy-color swirl I get, it looks the same way a cranberry sounds. Seems odd, but that's really the only way to describe it. What is rift energy?"

"A rift in time and space gives off energy. What else would you call it?"

Katie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Is there any reason a rift in time and space wouldn't spit stuff out the other end?"

"I don't-ow!"

Seemingly from out of the air, a square brown thing had flown at the Doctor and hit him upside the head. Katie bent down to pick it up. "We spoke too soon," she said, examining it. "It's a wallet. No actual ID, but there is an access card with a "T" made from hexagons. I think the currency is from 21st century Britain. Whoever lost this must be really ticked. It seems like a lot."

The Doctor scanned the wallet and flashed a smile at Katie. "You're getting better at this. 21st century, just like you said. Except…" His voice quieted as he took the wallet. He tore open a seam and pulled out a small computer chip. Peering at it and scanning it, he said, "Definitely earth. But it seems someone's been using alien technology to make it. Whoever made this is brilliant. There must be at least five different species in here. All different times too. Completely unrelated areas of space."

"What's it do?" Katie asked, taking back the wallet and the chip.

"Oh, just tracking really. Well, suppose it could also serve as a homing device."

Katie could tell that the Doctor was starting to lose interest in the computer chip. The rift mystery was far more intriguing to a mind like his. "Maybe the rift is new, and hasn't had time to start piling up."

The Doctor turned away from her, stepping away a bit, swinging his screwdriver. "No, this is an old one. Does it have someone coming by to take things? There might be a society living nearby who survives on what the rift drops off. Perhaps we're just on the wrong side of the planet. The rift might take things back after bringing them here. What do you think?" He looked back to where Katie was. She wasn't there. "Kathryn?" He started to search the horizon and call for her. "Kathryn!"

The only thing he saw was the TARDIS. The young girl he had come to trust, almost without reserve, had vanished.

"Kathryn!"

I want it to stop. Why will it not stop? It hurts. It hurts. It drains, it fills. Stop. Stop.

Everything is…I do not know what it is. It is there, it is not. I can see worlds, but there is nothing. I hear voices, but there is only silence. I can feel and taste and hear and see and smell and think and know, but I do not exist. What is this? Why will it not stop?

Where is he? Where is the Second Friend?

Why is he Second Friend? Where is First Friend?

First Friend is gone. Where did First Friend go?

Something is wrong with First Friend. Why are those thoughts wrong?

Thoughts. I feel thoughts. I need thoughts. I am thoughts.

Second Friend is not here. Second Friend is always here. I never look, but Second Friend is always here. Why is he not here? Did I send him away like First Friend?

Thoughts. Give me thoughts.

Stop. Please, stop the thoughts. I want to die. I cannot die. I have too much life in me. It takes it, it gives it. What is it?

Energy. I remember that word. Important word. Why is energy important?

Thoughts are energy. Energy is thoughts. I feel both.

I am energy. I float in energy. I am filled with it. I take it in until it is me. I am in energy. It steals mine, and gives its own to me. It seeks to kill me, yet cannot because I take the energy to me.

New energy, new thoughts.

Do not leave!

Please, stop. Stop giving me yours. Take mine if you want, just stop this place. Please, stop.

I want to die, but I cannot. Am I here forever?

What is forever?

A long time.

If I must be here forever, I want him to be here. I am lonely. I don't want to be lonely.

You will not be. I am here. I am FirstSecond he.

I want to die.

*Constructive critisisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*