Jackson Lake was dying… he knew he was dying. His wife was lying dead, right there in front of him, murdered by those… metal things… it was the end, he wanted to die, so it was only right tat now, here, he was going to die… because that, above all other things, was what he wanted now.
And it was only right that those things died with him. He'd murdered them, using a thing, that shot lightening out of itself, killed them, left them screaming, good, that they die in agony...
He was dying. That was enough. Oh God, it felt like the worst thing in the world… and so many words were running through his head…
It's reassuring to know my future is in safe hands…
Something else. New words, things that made… some sense, though not much.
Renewed? Have I? Yes that's right… I've been renewed.
Renewed, made better. Who was he? He was… someone. Words rang through his head, unfamiliar, yet familiar… who was he?
Well he's not so much one of them as one of us. One of me to be precise.
Something was wrong. He knew something was wrong. Who were those metal men…? A name kept coming out of his head. Who were they…?
You've got no home planet, no influence, nothing! You're just a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers skulking about the galaxy in an ancient spaceship!
He was… there was a name. A name. Who was he? What…? Wait… someone was speaking. Him…
That could blow a hole in the space time continuum, the size of... well actually, the exact size of Belgium. That's a bit undramatic, isn't it? "Belgium"?
Yes, it was rather. It was very undramatic. Drama… was that his life? Was he an actor…?
Suffice it to say that I… am known, as the Doctor. I'm also a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterbourous.
Was that him? The Doctor? Time Lord… Gallifrey… yes, that was him… wasn't it? There was certainly no one else he wanted to be. Yes, I must be the Doctor. The Doctor… but what do I do? What is it the Doctor does…?
There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the seas asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on. We've got work to do.
Yes… work to do. He had work to do. Stop the… the Cybermen! The Cybermen! Yes! He as the Doctor, he was a Time Lord, and he had to stop the Cybermen! Yes!
I know who I am!
And this time he yelled.
"I… am… the Doctor!"
He stood up, and smiled, because that was who he was. He knew who he was… but what were the Cybermen?
An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm gettin' old.
Yes. Ony they weren't exhibits here, were they? Very odd. Still, as he stood up, he decided to think for a moment about it – but then, one final set of words ran through his head.
But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're gonna end up with… See, Time Lords have this little trick, it's sort of a way of cheating death. Except.... it means I'm gonna change…
He put a hand to his face, and felt it. It felt familiar, yet not familiar. He looked around, trying to find a mirror. He needed to find something, something to…
A window. He looked at then reflection. He looked at the reflection long and hard, rubbing his nose.
"Not too bad," he said. "Not as good as it could be but hardly the worst face in history."
He smiled at it, then frowned at the simple, plain suit he wore.
"Oh come on," he said. "Come on. There has to be a better set of clothes than that."
He looked around, surrounded as he was by luggage. He raised an eyebrow. Was it his? Probably. He thought long and hard about it, then decided to rummage through his pockets – money. Yes, he needed something. Accommodation. Better clothes. And the TARDIS.
What was a TARDIS?
TARDIS.
Yes, he needed that. Right. TARDIS. He looked in a corner, at the body of a woman. Vaguely, he recognised it. Then he stopped. No. It would do no good. Path not taken and all that.
He sighed, and looked at himself in the window again.
"The Doctor," he muttered. "Simply, the Doctor."
Then he smiled softly.
"The one, the only, and the best."