Rushing through the doors of the blue box, Arthur was certainly not expecting what he saw as he followed the Doctor. Half running to keep up with her, his head was spinning. A shape-shifting assassins, mysterious strangers, and now a tall blue box that was more than it seemed! There was only so much he could take before he truly went mad!
He found himself standing in a small area that resembled the front and sides of the interior of an actual police box. An electronic whine behind him startled him, and when he stumbled through another sort of doors at back of the vestibule. Arthur let out an undignified startled shriek as a pair of doors closed behind him. Whirling around, he discovered a striking entry cut into a wall of colorful stained glass that projected multiple spots of colors on the walls, giving a whimsical vibe to the space. Had they really come through those doors? Arthur found himself leaning against abstract shaped railings that ran along side a short set of stairs as he tried to wrap his head around everything. Taking in his surroundings, Arthur stared in a sort of wonderful horror. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"Hmm, bit jumpy, aren't we?" Inquired the Doctor. She definitely was not what Arthur was expecting. He was thinking that whoever this place belonged to would be all green, and scaly with antennas. Instead, adding to the surrealism of his situation, standing before him in this place was a woman he had just met! She was a short young woman with pale skin, and wavy red hair that was swept up into a loose pompadour-like style with the rest wrapped up in a bun in the back and some that fell in loose waves down over one side of her face. Her forehead was broad, her cheekbones high, the mouth full, and her chin curved a little widely which gave it a hint of strength. Her nose was a little too long and narrow for true beauty. Her eyes were stunning: large and almost frighteningly intelligent, a deep green. Her choice of clothes was definitely eccentric: She was dressed in a black and purple jumper, a dressy pale grey waistcoat, a pair of high waisted black flared trousers with tan pinstriping and matching suspenders, and white and brown Oxford shoes under a battered black leather jacket. A colorfully patterned silk scarf tied as a necktie, camel fingerless leather gloves, and round glasses with yellow-tinted lenses perched on her nose. The only name she had even given him was simply The Doctor, not Doctor whoever, just the Doctor. Doctor Who?
"Uhm..what?", stammered Arthur.
"You ..shaky" The Doctor raised her hands, shaking them as if to emphasis his point. "Too much caffeine in your diet?"
Arthur felt rather ackward as he tried to compose himself, running shaky fingers through his hair and straightening his clothes. "Yes..no...well..you know..just kinda out of my depth here. Feeling sorta overwhelmed."
The Doctor flashed Arthur an enigmatic smile, "I do tend to have that effect on people." The Doctor waved her hand at Arthur as she turned back to the console that rose from the center of the room, her attention focused on a display screen. "Just make yourself at home, while I short out a thing or two,k?"
"Huh. Uhm Doctor", asked Arthur nervously, "W..what's going on? Are we on a spaceship?"
"Oh well, the Tardis is far more than just a mere spaceship," proclaimed The Doctor proudly, spinning around and stretching her arms wide with a manic grin on her face.
"You're what?", exclaimed Arthur, as he took in the strange surroundings he now found himself in. He had been rushed into a battered tall blue box standing in an alley, only to find himself inside of a strange room that was so big that it couldn't possibly fit within something like the box he'd entered. The room before him was a beautiful chamber composed of undulating walls and arched ceilings, with abstract shaped partitions running throughout. It was arranged into an inviting and comforting space. Materials that resembled translucent acrylics, fine woods, and polished glass further enhanced the light, airy feeling of the space.
An elliptical dome that appeared to consist of geometrical cutouts and glass panels rose high overhead, supported by arches and sculptural pillars lent a somewhat futuristic geometry to the large space. The curves of the chamber gave way to several doorways that lead off from the center of the room to who knows where.
In the center of the chamber resided a polygonal platform atop which was rose a circular console. It seemed to be composed of sweeping curved lines and angular surfaces divided into six translucent panels that were strewn with a mix of technologies some of which he recognized like buttons, switches, and levers that rested along side more modern controls such as digital dials, touch screens, and holographic interface.
A tall column that consisted of an elongated creamy porcelain and gold structure whose simple, flowing curves incorporated an interwoven network of struts that varied in thickness and encased an opaque glass cylinder rose from the heart of the console, and shown with a swirly blue light.
Arthur couldn't believe it. This was an alien ship, the control room or something of an alien ship! An alien ship disguised as a battered blue police box sitting in an alley. He was standing in an alien control room..him! Arthur Davis..was on an alien ship! This was soooooo different from all those shows he watched. Arthur's hands racked through his hair as his mind raced and attempted to comprehend it all.
"TARDIS", replied the Doctor as she spun on her heels and made her way towards the console again. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space."
"Dimension in space?", yelped Arthur, "Are we in another dimension?! Is that how you got this.." Arthur gestured wildly at the room around him, " into a blue tool shed?"
The Doctor groaned as she spun back around to focus on the console display, holding up two fingers. " is not a tool shed. It's a police box. Can't you read?" She lowered one finger as she continued on, "Two: No matter how many times I hear it, still never gets old, but once..just once, I wish someone
...anyone...would say something different, you know change it up abit."
"What?", asked Arthur, feeling flustered and off putted.
"Oh, you know...the whole 'It's bigger on the inside' thing..mean honestly abit obvious right?" The Doctor shrugged as she glanced at a read out on the console before returning her attention to Arthur. "Just would like a bit of variety, you know..a different response. Just once." Waving her hand as if waving away her train of thought, she continued on. "Anyway, as I said before..this" The Doctor indicated the room around them by raising both index fingers and twirling them round. "Is my Tardis, and it's soooo much more than just a spaceship! Oooohhh hello!" A flashing light on the console caught his eye, drawing him back to the console.
"What?" Repeated Arthur. All of this was so utterly bizarre. It couldn't be real, could it? Seriously?
"TARDIS!," exclaimed The Doctor excitedly, "Time and Relative Dimension in Space, Artie! Can I call you Artie?"
"I..I would rather you didn't.", murmured Arthur. "So this is a time machine?"
"Hmm, prefer keep,things abit formal I see.." The Doctor shrugged, as she began to flick switches, fiddling with some of the myriad controls on the console. "To each their own, I guess. Also..wrongo! It's a space and time machine!"
"W..whoa, hold on..a space-time machine?" This Doctor woman has got to be kidding. "Seriously? Disguised as a..a police box?"
"Aaaahh starting to get it now, eh?" The Doctor's smirk had grown into an mischievous grin that stretched from ear to ear rather like the Cheshire Cat, "Pretty cool, huh?" She seemed to be practically bouncing on her heels, rocking herself excitedly like an eager child, before abruptly spinning in her heels and dashing around the console.
"This can't be real!", murmured Arthur. "I must be hallucinating or something!"
"Honestly?", The Doctor murmured, as she rolled her eyes in a decidedly teen fashion before continuing what she was saying, "Didn't know you were that creative."
"Huh? Hey?!", exclaimed an offended Arthur.
"Hmmmm?", murmured the Doctor distractedly.
"I am soooo having such a surreal moment right now," Arthur whispered, slumping down on the stairs by the doors. He put his head between his knees, murmuring to himself.
His groan caught the Doctor's attention. "Whoa..hey, Artie? Uh hey Arthur, you ok?"
Arthur raised his head slowly, blinking as his eyes dilated, as he started to regain comprehension of his surroundings to find a hand waving in his face.
"Earth to Artie, come in Artie!" Fully aware of his surroundings now, Arthur saw The Doctor standing over him, her eyebrows stitched together, and a moderately concerned expression on her face.
"Wha..what?", asked Arthur with a subdued tone to his voice.
"Asked if you were..you know," The Doctor waved her hands vaguely. "okay?"
"Oh. Uh No..yes..maybe..not really. Just feeling overwhelmed right now, you know? I mean aliens are real..Hell, a..a girl I just met turns out to be what? An alien who travels through time and space in a spaceship disguised as a blue box! Oh and..and I've just been chased by another alien, whose a shape-shifting assassin! So uh yeah..just a bit overwhelmed!"
"Happens..kinda get used to it after awhile", stated the Doctor matter-of-factually.
"I..I don't believe this." Arthur was beginning to feel like he was at his wit's end. "Must be Thursday, can never get a grip on Thursday's."
"What?"
"Eh? Oh nothing..so why was an assassin after us?" A thought suddenly occurred to Arthur as he climbed to his feet, pointing wildly at the Doctor. "You?! He was after you, wasn't he?!"
The Doctor's head snapped up, and she turned to look at Arthur with a raised brow. She raised her hands towards Arthur, backing away slowly. "Whoa.. No way..wasn't my fault..This time..They were probably just looking for something else. Not my fault!"
"Really?! You're alien, the assassin is alien.. I mean, what? Just happen to be a coincidence that you were there? Things like that don't just happen!"
"Like I said, happens quite a lot to me," stated The Doctor, a mad gleam in her eye and an eager grin on her face. "Rather exciting really!"
"Well it doesn't happen to me..not here..not before you showed up! Was my day off..was gonna just go to a simple costume party, have some fun..maybe meet a girl. Did that happen? Noooooooooo! Instead the party was full of idiots, an alien assassin tries to kill me..then you show up! So what the hell is going on, huh? What aren't you telling me?"
"Quite a lot I suspect," stated the Doctor matter-of-factually, "Then again, Arthur Thomas Emerson of 514 Garden Ave, everyone has some kind of secrets. Don't you think?" The Doctor flashed another enigmatic smile before returning to studying read-outs on the console, soon her fingers tapping away at one of the scattered keyboards while Arthur stared after her with his mouth open and an utterly stunned look on his face.