The Stranger: A Diary/Journal/Log
Dear Diary Howdy, I'm the Stranger.
...Yes, that is my actual name. There is a good reason for that. You see, I am a stranger to everyone, even myself.
...
Okay, that sounds a bit pretentious. I'm sorry. The point is, I chose the name because I can't remember who I am or where I came from. I'm keeping this diary because...
...
...I don't know. I don't even know why I'm adding these long pauses. Maybe that's something I do? Maybe I'm the kind of person who writes their pauses down when writing. Oh yeah! I'm writing a diary. It all started...well...it all started about an hour or two ago...
I remember waking up. My head was swirling with muddled thoughts and faded memories. My vision was blurred, but I could make out a metal room, and a red and grey object across the room. As I regained focus, I could see it was shaped vaguely like a salt-shaker. It had a black base for a bottom, and above the base columns of grey hemispheres going almost all the way around a skirt-like section. Above the "skirt" was a grey band in the middle with a box in the front, with what appeared to be a toilet plunger and an elongated egg whisk potruding from it. Above the grey band was four grey discs that seemed to form a "neck", topped with a red dome. On either side of the dome, about halfway up, were conical lights, and potruding from the front was a stalk ending in a wicked looking eye. The lights lit up as it spoke in a harsh, grating, electronic voice, the word, "EX-TER-MI-NATE!" I didn't know it yet, but the creature before me was a Dalek, and this would be far from my last encounter with them.
Seeing something so strange and alarming caused me to jump back. In doing so, I felt myself collide with a man who stood behind me, almost knocking him over. Getting a good look at him, he was clad in a tweed jacket, white button-up shirt, black slacks, black boots, and a red bow tie. He had long, thin, gangly limbs, a wide forehead, a long chin, and floppy brown hair. I felt myself stumble, only to be grabbed by the wrist and pulled along by the strange person. He too spoke only one word to me, "Run!"
I remember being pulled along, my legs only moving by instinct. I saw beams of light shoot past, causing sparks as they collided with metal. I saw shorter, bronze versions of the metal creature from the other room, with cage-like necks with rings around them and golden panels instead of a band around the midsection. I'd only get a better look at them much later, though. I'm getting ahead of myself.
My head was heavy. I couldn't recall how I'd gotten here. I was supposed to come back home, right? I was heading... back home... to someone. Why couldn't I remember? "What's going on?! Where are we?! Who are you?!" I shouted at the strange person.
"I'm the Doctor and-" he ducked to avoid a beam of light. "-this really isn't the time for explanations! We can do all that when we get back to the TARDIS!" He practically dragged through the cooridors, avoiding Daleks, until we happened upon a tall, wooden blue box. I barely got a glimpse at it before being pulled through, the door shut behind me.
"That was a close one! Good thing I showed up when I did, eh?" said the Doctor, running up a short flight of stairs to a strange console. I didn't answer. I was too busy looking around the massive room I now found myself in. There were orange metal walls decorated by black hexagons with white lights shining through them. On one wall was a massive, circular screen, and up a short flight of stairs was a hexagonal glass floor with a metal framework supporting it, as well as some kind of console. The console looked almost organic, but had various devices attached to it. Alien levers and buttons were accompanied by, among other things a typewriter, a record player, and a pinball machine, making up six panels. Brown panels securing a clear pillar extended upward from the center of the console into the ceiling, with white rings around the top. Hanging from the white rings was what looked like an old TV set. I was so busy marvelling at this room, it took me some time before I realized the man was talking to me. As the man dashed about the console, pushing buttons and pulling levers the center pillar seemed to be rising up and down, and a wheezing groaning noise could be heard.
"Are you going to answer me, or are you just going to stand there gaping?" asked the Doctor, clearly exasperated.
"Sorry, but... it's bigger on the inside... isn't it?" I said, blinking. It had certainly looked smaller, unless it led to another room. "Sorry... is this another room?"
"On the Dalek ship? Nah. This is my own ship, and yes, she's bigger on the inside." The annoyed frown was now replaced with an enthusiastic smile. "You know, I love it when people say that. Anyway! You probably have more questions! Go on! Ask me!" He gave a friendly, encouraging smile.
"Uh... Where was I?" Before he could respond, I spoke again, my mind wandering. "Come to think of it... Where did I come from...? And... who am I...?"
The Doctor frowned. "Oh dear... I was afraid of this. I'd heard the Daleks had been experimenting with nanobots. They took you aboard one of their ships because they figured out a way to convert human DNA into pure Dalek. At least, in theory. It's very experimental, and unfortunately, I had to rescue you before I could destroy their findings. Anyway, it's likely whatever they did has affected your memory. You look human, so you're probably from Earth. Judging by your accent, you're from the American country. Going by your clothes... i'd say early 21st century."
"I have amnesia?" I exclaimed. "Wait... if they turned by DNA into theirs... how will that affect me?" I asked, fear and uncertainty evident in my voice.
"'Fraid so. Hopefully it's not permanent, I'm gonna have to properly scan you just to be sure. It'll also tell me if they made any major alterations," said the Doctor. He took out a tube-like, silver and bronze thing no more than nine inches long, with a black handle in the middle, and four prongs as well as a green light at the end. This was the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, as he would go on to tell me. It lit up and made a buzzing noise as he scanned me. He stopped and looked at it a moment.
"So... what's going on? Am I going to turn into a loud trash can, or something?" I asked, uncertainly.
"No, wait, yes. No... yes..." He seemed confused by what his tube-thing was telling him. At least, I assumed it was conveying some kind of information. It was honestly hard to tell. "It's odd. It's kind of fluctuating back and forth."
"What does that mean?" I asked. I was extremely confused, and growing more frustrated and scared by the second.
"...Do you feel any different? Anything at all?" asked the Doctor.
"No! I don't know! I can't remember what I normally feel like!" I snapped. I looked up at the man, who suddenly jumped back, looking very worried. "What? What is it...?" I dreaded the answer.
"Oh no... I was afraid of this..." said the Doctor. "You're unplugged from the machine, but the nanobots must have gotten into your bloodstream..." He gulped, looking afraid and guilty. "You're going to turn into a Dalek..."
"What?! I'm gonna turn into one of those... things?!" I doubled over, clutching my stomach. I felt a surge of anger and rage. "Ugggghhhh! Aaaagggghhhhh!" I exclaimed. Looking down at my hands, I cound see them withering away, replaced by the egg whisk and plunger.
"Fight it! Don't give into the hatred! Fight it!" shouted the Doctor, desperately.
"AAAAOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" I exclaimed. It was too late. I could feel so much hate, so much anger... "EEEEEEEEEXXX...TEEERRRRRR...MIIIIIIIIINNNNAAAAAAAAATE!" I can't even begin to describe what the change felt like. The only thing I could focus on was the anger and the hatred. I felt more hatefull than I felt I'd been before.
"NO!" shouted the man, rushing over. He put his hands on my metal shell, holding onto it. "I'm so sorry!"
I looked at him. It felt like I was looking at footage from a camera. "EX-TER-MI-NATE!"
"No, please! There has to be something left! Some... memory! Your mum or dad! A good friend, siblings!" he said. The words meant nothing to my Dalek mind. "Come on! Help me help you! There has to be some trace of humanity left!"
"YOUR WORDS ARE IR-REL-EV-ANT!" I said in that electronic voice. "SIB-LINGS! SIB-LINGS..." The words were familiar. They invoked feelings... No! Daleks do not feel! I had to kill the enemy. I had to... remember...
"That's it! Siblings! Your brother! Your sister!" encouraged the Doctor.
"BRO-THER... SIS-TER... I HAD BRO-THERS AND SIS-TERS..." I said. I couldn't remember their names. I couldn't even visualize their faces, but I remembered the emotions... I could feel the memories of appreciation and annoyance, laughter and brotherly love. I would never again remember my family so vividly.
"That's it! Now you're in control! Those nanobots are a part of you! You control them, not the Daleks!" he said. "Control them now! Change back!"
"CHANGE..." The change back wasn't quite as painful. Of course, I'd later learn that your body gets used to the change the more it's put through it.
"There we go!" said the Doctor, catching me, and helping me into one of the chairs by the console. "There!"
"Thank you, Doctor..." I gasped, catching my breath. It was a bit exhausting, that first time. "That was unpleasant... Am... Am I going to turn into that thing again? That-that Dalek?"
The Doctor scanned me again with his Sonic Screwdriver. "That's up to you. Like I said, the nanobots are part of your body now. When you turned back, you overwrote their imperative to turn you into a Dalek. They still have that ability programmed into them, they just need you to-to..." he stopped, noting my lack of understanding. "Basically, you can turn into a Dalek at will now. You should be able to control your Dalek form just fine, but be warned, I am guessing."
"What happens now? I mean... I can't remember my family, and I bet those Dalek things will be looking for me..." I sighed, feeling sadness welling up within me. "I can't go home again, can I?"
"No... you're right. The Daleks will hunt you to the ends of the universe," the Doctor agreed. He gave me a sympathetic look. "They'll see you as an affront to their 'purity', and do everything they can to exterminate you."
"So... where do I go, then?" I asked, looking up at him. "I can't even remember who I am..."
"Tell you what, it's too dangerous to bring you with me. I have some friends who can look after you. The Daleks won't be able to take you even if they found you!" he said.
"What are you talking about...?" I asked, standing up and walking over to the console.
"See, the thing about the TARDIS, it's not just a spaceship, it's also a time machine!" the Doctor grinned. "I have some friends in Victorian London. They'll look after you. I'll even drop in on you sometimes!" He beamed at me, awaiting my answer.
"Alright... I am curious about the time I came from, though. When you visit, Doctor, could you bring me stuff from my time? Who knows, maybe it'll trigger some memories or something..." I suggested.
"It's possible, I suppose. You're kind of unique. The only human-Dalek hybrid alive!" he said, dancing around the console and flipping switches. The TARDIS made its wheezing groaning sound. "Geronimoooooo!"
I had no idea who I was, or where I came from. I didn't know why my life had changed, and I wasn't sure what exactly I'd become. However, I now felt ready to face my future, whatever might lie ahead. I shrugged, and joined in the Doctor's exclamation: "Geronimoooo!"'
Author's Note: This is a remake of a story I wrote a while back, featuring my Doctor Who self-insert/OC, the Stranger. Looking back on it, I wasn't very proud of what I had accomplished back then. I knew what I wanted the character to be, but I dragged my feet with getting where I wanted to go with the character, and simply lost interest. This is an attempt to try and make it easier on myself, and give the story a more episodic format. I don't think it's absolutely perfect, but I'm satisfied with what I've written, as it establishes the character, his situation, and his abilities. I just hope I did a good enough job that you, the reader, are at least somewhat entertained by this story.