Hello! This little ditty struck me as interesting, so here's my first DW fanfic. This here is the prologue, just so you know. The rest will be written in the form of diary entries.
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It was all falling apart too quickly. On the planet Mizkal, The Doctor and his companion Eva were being tossed by an earthquake overtaking the room in which they stood. A large roar over took the air, making them unable to talk. Both of them looked at each other with fear in their eyes, their arms clinging to bits of rock. This was supposed to be a vacation. But, of course, when did the Doctor ever take a vacation?
This planet was a wonderland of virtual reality games. The Doctor came here many years ago and he wanted to show Eva, since she was so fond of computers. He even let her help him drive the TARDIS. They'd stumbled out in glee, staring starry eyed at the giant spheres of the Virtual City. All the spheres hovered feet off the ground, changing colour rapidly. They looked as if to be made of the daintiest of glass. The ranged in size, from small as a telephone booth to large as a football stadium. Around them the planet looked just as fragile. The ground was littered with cracks and a mix of grays and browns. Fat little brown and purple trees grew sporadically and a sun much larger than Eva's own shone in the purple sky. "Wow." She breathed.
The Doctor grabbed her hand and led her over to a small sphere that only hovered an inch off the ground. He knocked and a small panel opened. A little creature with big eyes and small fingers smiled at them.
"Toss for two?" The creature squeaked.
"Yes, please." The Doctor said. The creature handed him two sphere's about the size of a pair of marbles. It then shut the panel.
"What are those, Doctor?" Eva asked, reaching out to touch them. They bounced when she pushed down on them.
"They are our tickets in." He handed her one. "Don't worry. Just trust them." Eva looked at him questioningly, but he just popped the sphere in his mouth. The instant he swallowed, he disappeared. Eva jumped back and looked around rapidly.
"Doctor?" She said. When he didn't reappear, she looked down at the sphere. It hovered quietly in her hand. "Alright then." She muttered and slowly put it in her mouth. As soon as she swallowed, she felt herself get dizzy and the whole world blurred. She blinked rapidly and rocked backwards. Just as suddenly, the world stilled and she was somewhere completely new. The room was black as night, but she could see just fine, thanks to the small floating spheres shining out a brilliant white light. She blinked and looked around.
"Doctor? Please tell me you're here." She said. She hated it when he did this. Hesitantly, Eva took a step forward, trying not to touch the spheres. Yet, she couldn't help but look at them. They appeared like fireflies, lightly bobbing as if in their own breeze, some bobbing faster than others, some not at all. She slowly reached out to touch one.
"I wouldn't do that." The Doctor said.
"Jeezus." She jumped. "You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." She turned around and glared at the Doctor, who was still grinning.
"Oh, now that wouldn't be good." She said, giving her a mock frown.
"Shut up." She muttered, a smile betraying her.
"Come on. Allons-y." He said, bouncing off. Eva giggled. He was so amazing that man, and yet, so weird. She trotted after him, still smiling.
"Where we goin'?" Eva asked.
"We are picking our destination."
Eva had no idea what he meant, but decided just to wait and see. When he tried to explain, often it made even less sense. They walked for only a few minutes before they stood in front of a large wall. The Doctor tapped it a couple times and the wall changed into a bright screen. A large face similar to the creature they'd seen earlier started to speak.
"Welcome to Virtual City. Please, do not touch the light spheres. If you wish, you may now choose your destination." Several buttons popped up, each saying something different. The Doctor peered over at her.
"Where you want to go?" He asked.
"Uh," She bit her lip. "The beach?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The beach? No, I'm going to take you somewhere better." He tapped the screen rapidly, all while muttering about the beach. Eva rolled her eyes.
"Ok." He said, suddenly clapping his hands. The face filled the screen again.
"You have chosen the Dusty Trans. If you will wait, the computer will send you to your destination in a matter of seconds." Eva shook her head and watched the screen go black. She'd been traveling with the Doctor for several months now, and yet it never ceased to surprise her. Like right now. She knew that creature was not speaking English, and yet, she understood it all perfectly. She laughed quietly to herself, making the Doctor stare at her. She waved a hand.
"Just thinking." She said. He opened his mouth as if to ask, but suddenly, the dizziness was back and the world was moving. She stumbled backwards and waved her arms out. It felt like she was getting tossed around the room.
The room snapped into focus, but this time, she couldn't keep her focus. Eva tripped and fell flat on her butt. She shook her head and looked around. She was on top of a huge sand dune. All around was a sloping desert, but the sand was the colour of gold mixed with reds, browns, and a deep blue. In the sky hung twin suns, one right next to the other, both a brilliant shade of blue.
"Wow. Is this a real planet outside the virtual?" Eva said.
"No. This is the computer's creation." He said, plopping down beside her. He ran his hand through the sand. "Feel. It's all like real, except it's all fake. Amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Eva said. She couldn't believe her eyes. All of this looked so real. "This computer must be amazing.
"Ah yes," He said, laying back, arms behind his head. "Yarga-7-1-7. It is quite the amazing machine. It knows just what to put and what to leave out. It's also great at sensing your needs."
"Really?"
"Oh yes. Last time I was here and I started to get thirsty, a beautiful banana daiquiri appeared beside me." He sighed. "Oh, it was wonderful." Suddenly, a large drink appeared beside him. He sat up quickly. "See." He said. His grin was back. He snatched up the strange drink and began to slurp it.
"So, if I just want something bad enough," Eva said.
"You'll get it." He said.
Eva sat back and concentrated. She opened her eyes and grinned. On her chest sat a little Rottweiler puppy. He barked. Eva laughed. She sat up and scooped him up in her arms, scratching him behind the ears.
"I've always wanted a puppy." She said, snuggling him.
"Good to know." The Doctor said.
Eva smiled at him. "Thanks for this. This is amazing."
He smiled back. "I thought you might like this."
The puppy hoped out of her arms and trotted over to the Doctor. He sniffed his leg and barked at him, his head cocked. The Doctor laughed and petted him. "Well, I guess he likes you." Said Eva.
"I guess so." The Doctor muttered. He sat forward to pet him better, when the ground started to shake. The Doctor sat up sharply and peered around.
"Doctor?" Eva asked, looking around. The shaking stopped. "What was that?"
He sat staring at the horizon for a few minutes. Eva was just starting to feel uneasy when the Doctor jumped up, smiled down at her, and said, "Nothing. Come on. I want to show you something." He bonded off and Eva was left to scramble after him. 'Nothing my butt.' She thought.
They ran down the sand dune and skidded to a stop at a small pool of water. The Doctor kicked off his converse and walked towards the edge. Eva stared at him questioningly as she stepped closer.
"If you want something bad enough, anything can happen." He said. And then he was walking on top of the water. Eva could only watch as he stood in the middle of the lake, feet steady as a rock. She moved to the edge and touched the water with her foot. It was water alright. She looked over at the Doctor again and laughed.
"This is awesome!" She yelled. She immediately kicked off her shoes and slowly touched it barefooted. The water gave way and she grimaced. 'You got to want it. Come on.' She thought. She made herself want this. To be able to walk over water. The need it. Then she slowly reached out her foot. It didn't fall. She tentively reached out the other one. 'Want it.' The chanted silently. And with that she began to walk across water.
Eventually she made it to where the Doctor was standing. "I love Yargi." She blurted. The Doctor laughed.
"It's quite obvious. You, my girl, are in love. With a computer. Never seen that happen. Well," He paused. "Once. Well, twice. Although that one didn't really count." He was muttering more to himself when the rumbling began again. Eva's eyes went wide as she felt the water begin to stir. Their eyes caught just as the surface tension broke and they both fell into the water.
Eva sputtered, trying to clear the water from her throat while simultaneously trying to keep herself afloat. 'Thank goodness I'd taken those swimming lessons.' She thought. The Doctor was already swimming for shore. She made after him, although much slower. By the time she got to shore, he had his sonic out and was waving it about.
"You have that in here? What, is the TARDIS somewhere around as well?" Eva shook her head.
"Want, remember? Something's wrong here. Nothing should be shaking." He looked down at his sonic and frowned. He started mumbling incoherent words to himself.
"What?"
The Doctor looked at Eva. "We should be dry now. The computer should have sensed out discomfort and gotten rid of it. It hasn't. Meaning, something has knocked it's sensors out of balance." He ran a hand through his hair. I need to get to city hall. The only way to do that," He put his sonic into his jacket pocket. "Is to find the emergency fail-safe."
"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Eva said, throwing her arms up.
"If I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am, the fact that I have my sonic means that part of this is still working. Meaning we should be able to wish our way out of here." He grinned.
"Just like that?" Eva raised an eyebrow.
"Just like that. Now, concentrate, Eva. All you want is to get out of here." He shut his eyes and, warily, so did Eva. She tried hard to concentrate as she did before. It was harder since this wasn't something she really wanted to do. This place was amazing and oh so beautiful. If she could just stay here-
'I can't think about that now. The Doctor needs me. I want to leave. I want to help." She shut her eyes tighter as she started to feel dizzy. 'Out. Out. Out.' The world started to move, but she kept her eyes shut. It seemed to help. She was balanced faster than she could think.
Eva blinked open her eyes to find herself back by the little floating sphere where they got they first saw the creature. The Doctor was standing in front of it and knocking. He seemed to be getting frustrated.
"Something's always wrong." He muttered, then turned around and saw her. A smile instantly sprung to his face. "There you are. I think we're going to have to explore a bit. Care to join?" He held out an arm.
"Yes, please." Eva said with a smile. She linked her arm to his and they started off for the larger coloured spheres.
It took them longer than Eva expected. She was panting by the time they arrived under the largest sphere. "Kind of wish I was back in that desert. I could use a drink right about now." Eva said.
"Agreed." He looked around. "There should be-ah!" The Doctor pulled her forward to a small patch of earth that looked loose. He kneeled down and pushed away the dirt to find a small half circle. He pressed down on it and a sharp whine came out of it. Eva bit her lip, wondering if he'd activated some sort of alarm, when a sphere about the size of a small car slowly rose out of a larger patch of disturbed earth. It was flashing colours just like the other spheres, but a large panel opened up as it settled to hovering inches above the ground. The panel became a ramp and the Doctor grabbed her hand and dragged her inside.
"Our ride." He said, and he pushed another half circle. The panel closed and suddenly the whole inside lit up with the same white light Eva had seen in that dark room. Unlike the outside, the walls remained one colour. Little half circles littered one side of the sphere. Thankfully, there was plenty of room and Eva was able to lean back against one side of the sphere as the Doctor pressed buttons.
"Do you know what you're doing?"
"Of course." He said.
Eva rolled her eyes. "'Of course.' You remember the last time you said that? We ended up stuck on that moon for a week before the TARDIS rematerialized."
"I said I was sorry. Plus, this time, I've done this before." He said, looking at her pointedly.
"You said that last time, too." She muttered.
"Hey, I'm not that bad." He said.
Eva scoffed and The Doctor shook his head. "Yeah, well, just watch." Eva could then feel the sphere begin to move.
"I'm still not sure you know what you're doing." Eva said.
"Well, you'll just have to trust me, eh?" He grinned at her and Eva couldn't help but smile. 'Damn, that man.' She shook her head. 'Can't stay mad because he smiles. What's wrong with me?'
They sat in silence for a few minutes, the Doctor pushing seemingly random buttons. Finally, the sphere stopped. "We're here." The Doctor frowned and pushed a few more buttons. "I think."
"Figures." Eva muttered. The panel opened and the lights inside went out, but she could still see just fine. The Doctor peeked out.
"Perfect." He said and walked out. Eva followed and found herself in another amazing place. All over the walls were the bright white light, and on the walls were hive-like structures, all as big as a small house. They covered the entire inside of the sphere, all the way to the ceiling. On where they stood was a long pathway that cut through and around all the hives, creating the most interesting of pathways.
"Beautiful." Said the Doctor. Eva nodded. "So then, if this is the main housing area, city hall has got to be right next door. Hmm." He took out his sonic and waved it around again. "Ah ha. Back inside. I've got a lock on it." He waved her back inside and she complied, settling back into her spot. He closed up the panel and pushed some more buttons. Soon, the sphere was stopped again.
"This should be it." He said, reopening the panel.
The Doctor and Eva stepped out into a smaller sphere than the previous one. And in this one, there was only one thing. In the middle of the sphere was a large building like structure made with what appeared to be honeycombs, but it was the colour of white ash.
"Well, this place is full of surprises, huh?" said Eva.
The Doctor nodded. "The Mizkallians. Such a lovely bunch. And so inventive." He headed towards the honeycomb building. "They've created all this and in so little time. They did all this faster than the human race could find electricity. Amazing. Simply amazing."
They stopped inches from the building and immediately the Doctor felt around the building. "There has to be a door around here somewhere. Ah-ha!" He tugged on a section of the building and it slid open. Inside it was pitch black.
"Um, it's a bit dark, don't you think?" said Eva.
"Yes. Yes. Uh," He pulled out his sonic and shone it into the room. "Close enough." He started in and Eva quickly followed. She really didn't feel like getting lost. That wouldn't help anything.
"So, where is this 'city hall.'" She asked.
"You're in it, I believe. I'm not sure why it's so dark. Probably haven't found the light source. Although, could be part of the problem."
'Great. He's as clueless as I am. That's encouraging.' Eva thought. The sonic barely illuminated two feet in front of them, but what it did didn't surprise her. Inside it was the same honeycomb structure, but the floor was extremely rocky. She often stumbled and once almost fell over, but managed to stay up right by catching the Doctor's coat. It was slow going, but eventually the Doctor seemed to find whatever he was looking for.
"It's close. Should be right behind this door." He said, moving his sonic around the wall.
"Uh, Doctor. That's a wall." Eva said. He didn't answer, just pulled the wall open like he had the first door. "Ok then. I stand corrected." Eva laughed quietly but the Doctor was preoccupied.
"Yes. This is it. Wow, you're a beauty up close as you are far away." He walked forward and Eva stepped inside to see what he was looking at. What she saw took her breath away.
Built into the far wall was a giant piece of machinery that had the look of glass. Many spirals of all sorts of colours covered the surface and circuits were arranged in such patterns that they created a beautiful tapestry of colour and design. The silver of the machinery glinted in the light of the many spheres surrounding it. Metal curved and dipped in and around the circuits and want Eva believed to be wires.
Swallowing, she walked over to where the Doctor was licking the machine. She sighed. "Why in the world do you need to do that?"
"Crystalline Iron. Interesting." He cocked his head and put an ear to the machine. "Can you hear it, yet?"
"What?"
"The rumbling. It's about to start." Just then, the ground started to move and Eva stumbled back into the wall.
"How'd you know?" She yelled.
"Someone has knocked out the circuits made to stabilize the machine." He yelled back. "It's going to over expose, killing everyone hooked up. The rumbling in the virtual state is the reality falling apart. Here it's the spheres. They're falling apart." The rumbling slowly died down, but Eva's stomach was rolling. This was really bad.
"I can stop this. But I need time." He hurried to the touch screen pads on the front of the machine. "Which, of course, I don't have." He tapped them and they all turned on, spurting words faster than Eva could read them. The Doctor seemed to though and started rapidly clicking and dragging things. Eva bit her lip and looked around.
"Doctor, is there anything I can do?" If she could help with anything, she would. Her stomach was twisting itself into knots doing nothing.
"Do you have a bobby pin on you?"
"Yes." She pulled the one keeping her curly hair in place out and handed it to him.
"Thank you." He stuck it between his teeth and soniced open a small silver panel underneath the screens. Inside was more circuits, although these were more complicated, and some other things that didn't look like anything she'd seen before. The Doctor grunted and pulled out some swirly thing. He chucked it over his shoulder and used the bobby pin to twist something inside.
"Come on. Come on." He reached up and tapped the screens while holding two squares together in the open slot. Eva's curly hair kept bouncing in front of her eyes and she was having trouble seeing everything. She was just starting to give up when she heard the telltale rumbling again. Although this time, it sounded deeper. She didn't even have time to speak before the ground started moving. It rocked so hard Eva was tossed to the floor. Her hands scraped the floor and she looked up. The Doctor had been knocked sideways and was gripping a large rock attached to the ground. Eva couldn't balance as the rocking continued and fell over completely. This time her ribs flared up in pain.
"Eva, grab onto something!" The Doctor yelled across to her. She crawled best she could to the nearest rock and held on for dear life as the rocking became critical and a roar split the silence. She caught the Doctor's eye and saw her fear mirrored in his. This was going to end badly. She just knew it.
The Doctor gritted his teeth and started to stand, grabbing onto the holes in the wall. He stumbled forward, almost losing his balance several times, until he finally made his way back to the screens. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but he seemed to be muttering to himself about the machine. He stuck his sonic in the panel and tapped the screens. The roaring intensified, so much Eva wanted to cover her ears. The Doctor changed the position of the sonic and slammed his fist down on the screens. This time the rocking started to go down and the roar slowly abated. Soon there was nothing more than a faint ringing in Eva's ears.
"Is that it then?" Eva said.
"Yep." He grinned. "Ha. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" He looked over her shoulder and his expression changed in a flash. He looked scared. Eva froze.
"Eva, walk towards me. Slowly." Eva stared wide eyed at him. "Please." He said, staring into her eyes. She nodded and did as he said. "Ok, good. Once you reach me, I want you to drop to the ground when I count to three, Ok?" Eva nodded. "That's good. Only a few more steps. Almost there." He started to smile and so did Eva. Then, she felt it. The dizziness. His smile dropped and an expression of horror came upon his face. "NO!" He screamed, reaching out for Eva, but she felt the world tilt and she was spinning. Within seconds, she was gone.