Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to wonderful people at BBC. This story is my way of saying thank you to all of them.

If you have found this story just now, please, be advised that it is a second episode of my virtual series 5. It might be better to read the episode 1 - "Past Future Continuous" first. I am translating this story from its Polish version "Sztuka Niepamięci." My language may be clumsy, I know, but I swear I'm trying my best. Please, read and review. I hope you'll like it:) - HermitsUnited.

DOCTOR WHO

THE VIRTUAL SERIES 5 – EPISODE 2

THE ART OF FORGETTING

.1. The Adventure Emporium

At this time of the day the Adventure Emporium's corridors were desolate and quiet. Behind closed chamber locks projections continued – consecutive episodes of fanciful, baroque sagas, so larded with details, the plot seemed to be at a complete standstill; thrilling stories full of blood and violence; romantic novelettes wrapped in the roar of the waves and the crackle of flames on the fireplace; pseudo-historical epics populated by dwarves, elves and dragons; cheap horrors and sketches just long enough to fill in a lunch break.

Bottle green fibres of a luxurious carpet sprang gently under Theta's feet, making him move soundlessly – a grey shadow in discreet puddles of light and half-light of corridors. The Ood walked deliberately; a waddling, seemingly clumsy gait typical of his species; with arms hanging at his sides and the translator ball swinging on its catch by the shirt's pocket. The Emporium's owners would not let him wear his grey jumpsuit he got used to in the past; a dark trousers and the graphite coloured shirt had to replace Theta's secure camouflage of greyness.

Deep within his mind he could hear quiet singing of Kappa. He suspected that the older Ood was somewhere in the east wing of the complex, several miles and floors away from Theta. Kappa's song was melancholic and nothing more than that. It carried emotions, but contained no words nor pictures. It did not paint the story. Empty, just like muzak accompanying passengers in the lift. Theta and Kappa lived in accommodations provided by the Emporium's owners – small bedrooms facing each other, located in the north wing of the building. Humans must have thought that the Ood, belonging to a social species, would be happy with each others company. Kappa and Theta could as well live in separate galaxies – none of them was showing any interest in the social sphere of life.

At another level of emphatic communication Theta was receiving human transmissions. He had learned not to pay attention to the emotional chaos they carried. Those were artificial feelings, so Theta spared them only as much notice as was necessary for faultless working performance. If Theta was ever good at something, it was definitely a full, unconditional, honest dedication to his work.

He reached the bend of the corridor and pulled the chain attached to his belt. There was a bunch of cryskeys at the end of the chain. With a quiet rattle of thin, transparent plates, Theta started shuffling through cryskeys in search of the right one.

Wham!

Theta dropped the bunch of cryskeys and only the chain saved them from inevitable damage. Growth-phase-coded crystals had plenty of advantages, but one serious flaw as well – they were impossible to forge, but they were also very fragile.

"Oooo, sorry," said someone in a winded voice. "Sorry. Are you all right?"

Theta looked at the man, who had just bumped into him. The man was wearing a dun striped suit, a beige coat and dusty white trainers. The man's face seemed quite expressionless to the Ood's eyes. There was also nothing to tell it apart from thousands of faces of other Emporium's guests. The Ood was wondering sometimes how two people could recognise each other in the crowd. Most of them sang haste; haste and time flying by. Usually they also sang money, insatiable needs and countless fears. This man sang something completely different, although his song was also soaked in haste and time.

"Everything's fine, sir," answered the Ood respectfully. "Thank you for your consideration, sir. How can I be of service?"

"Oooooh!" The expression on the man's face, as he raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth, touching the palate with the tip of his tongue, did not mean anything to Theta, but the Ood picked up a wave of surprise, disappointment and sorrow. "Don't tell me nothing has changed. Nothing? You still have to... serve? Because you didn't have to, not anymore. Ever since your brain had been found. On the Ood-Sphere. Or hadn't it been found? Oh, tell me we'd found it, 'cause if we hadn't, it'd be my fault and I'd have to take it into account; I'm a genius, all right, but I'm really starting to loose track of all the..."

"I am an employee of the Adventure Emporium," said Theta raising his translator ball.

"An employee?" A shade of relief, still mixed with uncertainty, coloured the man's emotions. His lips bent in grimace the Ood had learnt to identify with contentment. "Meaning you're not kept here against your will? You could go back home, to the Sphere, if you wanted to? They pay you, and all?"

"Thirty credits a week, sir."

"No... No 'sir,' I'm not a 'sir'," said the man quickly.

"Of course." Theta had also learnt that humans were always right. At least human guests of the Emporium. „I have noticed you were in a hurry. Can I be of service?"

„Eeeem... Yeah... I guess so, yeah. I would like to report a fault. Well, not a fault, all's fine, all's superb, perfect, fantastic; just... I can't program the projection details in my chamber. The computer rejects my data. Weeell, not rejects, just won't accept it at all. Buffer field's too limited. I tried to access the core software, seeing as this computer has a colossal capability and empty areas in the core, much more extensive than accessible sectors..."

"Software manipulation is not allowed, sir."

"'Sir' again!"

"At the basis of our system lies a multilayered, self-regulating software complex Emporium Everdream 2.1, all rights reserved, property of the Adventure Emporium Corporation Unlimited. The article 12, point 3 of regulations for the Adventure Emporium, Emporia Moon, Triangalla System, in respect of all unauthorised access to the core software says as follows: 'Each and every unauthorised access to the core software can cause serious consequences to the integrity of the software of Emporium Everdream 2.1, all rights reserved, property of..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know." The man dismissed Theta's lecture with a careless wave of a hand. "I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. Genius and so on. But... this system of yours, it has gigantic, unused capability, if only you tweak the buffers a bit..."

"Please, give me your chamber's number and I will send an authorised Adventure Emporium programmer as soon as possible," said Theta.

"Eeeem, I doubt it'll help. My data... Well, it's quite a lot of data. It seems that an input device in my chamber has a tad low trafficability; what I need is an octalinear, unsymmetrical projection transcoding field, 'cause all my data clumps into noodles before it gets sent to the core; into right dumplings; so I just wanted to obtain the base memory upgrade straight from the main pillar, to relieve the buffers, but..." The man looked around quickly. "...these corridors! All identical! A colour code, if you don't mind me suggesting it, a colour code, not green all over. 'cause, I must admit, this is worse than the Labyrinth, and the Labyrinth could be a right pain in the arse. Especially when you were running away from genetic engineering's creations of the Minots, and believe you me, the bull wasn't the worst of them all... But I've got distracted, yes? My thoughts have got labyrinthined."

The man suspended his voice for a while.

"Labyrinthined? No? Nothing?"

Theta did not quite know how to answer, so he remained silent, with the translator ball still held in his raised hand.

"So... Central pillar?" said the man.

"I'm sorry but users cannot access maintenance levels," said Theta. "You can apply for a memory and system upgrade. It will cost from twenty to seventy thousand credits, according to the revised version of the price list of the Adventure Emporium, all rights reserved."

"Ah. Yes. No. No, it's not a problem." Theta caught a shade of hesitation in the man's voice and emotions. "Seventy thousand. It's a lot, I presume. Money... is not my strong point."

„You are staying in the chamber...?"

"What... eeem... Chamber One Thousand," the man said. „At the very top. Easier to find."

"A Penthouse One Thousand?" For someone who did not think money was his strong point, the man stayed in an exceptionally luxurious and expensive apartment. "But it means the fiftieth floor. And we are on the third floor right now. It is a long way to get... labyrinthined."

The man's surprise and amusement rang clearly like the Ood's song.

"Labyrinthined?"

"I am obliged to use your preferred method of communication," explained Theta.

"Ah. Yes. Well. I'll find my way, you don't have to bother."

"As you wish." Theta pulled a spatial slide from his shirt pocket and handed it over. "In such case, please, accept the map."

"O, thanks." The man took the map and turned it in his hands so that underground levels of the Emporium landed on top, and the East Wing pointed north.

"You're welcome." The Ood straightened the slide in the man's hands, highlighted the fiftieth floor, then hung the translator ball back on the shirt's pocket, turned away and started walking down the corridor.

Behind his back he heard retreating steps. Quick steps. The man in the dun striped suit, the beige coat and dusty trainers was running somewhere again.