Chapter 2:
Theta couldn't find Koschei when he ran after him. He went to all the places he knew Koschei was likely to go; all around the forest; the old castle ruins; even the back streets behind the Citadel but he knew if Koschei didn't want to be found he wouldn't be. He also knew he couldn't just let Koschei go that easily, even if it meant getting hurt. There was a throbbing pain on his jaw and he knew there was going to be one hell of a bruise there. He rubbed it gently trying to sooth the pain, Koschei apparently had a very strong arm.
He sat on a bench in the centre of town trying to make sense of it all. Koschei wasn't himself and had hurt him, Theta knew he hadn't meant to, he knew he hadn't been in control but he couldn't understand that. The more he thought about it the more he realised the signs had been there for a while; Koschei had been prone to mood-swings, getting angry quicker, but Theta had thought noting of it because he always calmed down quickly.
He sighed, hating feeling so helpless, hating not knowing where Koschei was, hating that Koischei was pushing him away. He jumped up and headed home, not sure what else to do.
"Afternoon Theta," his Dad said without looking at him when he got in. Dr Sigma was stood in his lab looking over an x-ray on a holoscreen.
"Hi." Theta replied, pausing before added "Dad…?"
Dr Sigma didn't turn to look at him or pause from his work when he replied "Yes?"
"What…" Theta started nervously, unsure how to ask this. He paused and began again "What do you know about… um… people losing control? Like… I don't know" he struggled to find a way to explain and in the end settled for an explanation he always gave, using Earth. "Kinda like the Earth story of Jekyll and Hyde."
Dr Sigma sighed quietly "Theta you've got to stop with this obsession with-" he had been turning around to face Theta as he spoke and instantly broke off when he saw him "Thea, what happened to your face?" he took hold of Theta's chin gently to look properly at his bruised jaw and cut lip.
"It's fine, Dad." Theta replied pulling away from him.
"Who hit you?" his Dad asked.
"It doesn't matter." Theta insisted.
"Theta, who hit you?" Dr Sigma repeated, saying the words slowly to emphasise that he expected an answer. Theta just stared at him refusing to answer. Dr Sigma sighed again. "Sit down, Theta," he placed his arm around Theta's shoulder and led him to a seat by a table. "Right, lets get you cleaned up." He pulled an antiseptic wipe out of his cupboard and wiped the blood away from Theta's lip. Theta winced but didn't pull away. "Gonna tell me what happened?" Dr Sigma asked, disgarding the antiseptic wipe and looking for something to use as a cold compress.
"No." Theta replied simply.
Dr Sigma stopped and gave him a sharp look "Theta."
"Dad repeating my name isn't going to get me to talk."
Dr Sigma shook his head slightly and went back to his search. A moment later he returned to Theta with a towel wrapped around a bag with some ice in it. "Hold this to your jaw," he said, passing it to Theta who did so. "Why were you asking about Jekyll and Hyde?"
"Jekyll and Hyde is about the good and bad side of a person. Hyde came out and did terrible things that Jekyll would never have done but couldn't actually stop, right?" Theta started, "It was all because of some experiment Jekyll was doing and in the end Jekyll had to kill himself to stop Hyde, right?"
Dr Sigma nodded, having taken a seat opposite Theta "I know the story yes."
"Could it happen naturally?" Theta asked, "Like… to a Time Lord?"
Dr Sigma didn't reply, giving Theta the chance explain in great depth what he meant.
"Say someone was a really nice guy but there was another side to him who was really dark and angry and that darker side made him do things he wouldn't normally do. How would you stop that?"
Dr Sigma didn't answer for a long moment, thinking through what Theta was asking. Eventually he replied with another question "Who are we talking about?"
"Hypothetically." Theta answered too quickly.
Dr Sigma didn't press it, he simply stated "You don't need to lie to me Theta."
"I'm not" Theta lied. "So how would you stop it?"
"It would be psychological, I believe…" Dr Sigma begun, "It's impossible to say for definite because I haven't dealt with such cases. I deal with the body not the mind, after all."
"I know that, I just thought that since you're a doctor you'd maybe know a bit about it."
"Well, as I said I believe it would be a psychological thing. I don't think any drugs or anything would be able to help but rather since fighting it. There would probably be better people for this 'hypothetical' person to talk to than me, people who are trained in the workings of the Time Lord mind. But I think it would be a case of training the mind to ignore the 'other self' to the point where it no longer exists. Although it wouldn't be that simple for the other self has to have been caused through something."
"So what you're saying is, the other self would need Ko- the person's co-operation to be in existence at all. Like if this other self is making them do things it's because a part of them was thinking about and wanting to do it all along?"
Dr Sigma nodded, "That's not to say they're a bad person, everyone has dark thoughts, dark moments, but some people let it fester until it becomes too much, that, I suppose, come in effect cause another self which tries to take control of the person with the darkness."
"And it could be fought, right?" Theta met his Dad's gaze, unable to hide the need for reassurance in his expression.
"I believe so. It could be a case of something traumatic happened in the person's life and they need to face up to it to be able to deal with it to be able to get past the darkness."
Theta nodded, "Thanks Dad."
"Now will you please tell me what this is about?"
Theta shrugged "It's nothing really. I was just thinking about Jekyll and Hyde and then started thinking about it a bit too much I guess."
Dr Sigma shook his head while smiling, "You really do need to stop with this obsession with humanity."
Theta smiled innocently "And we both know that's not going to happen."
A/N: If you haven't read Robert Louis Stevenson's 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' then I have just ruined the whole storyline and ending for you, but go read it anyway, it's very short but very deep. One of the best books ever in my opinion – possible because I have a fascination with twins/alter-egos/other-selves. Please R&R and let me know what you think, and also let me know if you think I rely on dialogue too much in my writing? It's something I worry about.