Chapter 9: Temporal Distortion

As the Doctor and I cautiously worked our way out of the school, passing countless scrap creatures that were completely frozen in place, I began to realise that I was starting to think and act just like the Doctor; whether this was good or bad was one topic up for debate. I could tell this because I was making nonsense connections between everything I knew about the situation, and everything I 'knew', after the memory share.

After a long silence;

"They aren't moving because the feedback is getting stronger." He said.

In that case, what's keeping us safe? For that matter, what's causing it?

"Maybe we haven't been exposed to the trigger quite enough."

I took his silence about the cause as 'I don't know, and if I admit it I might well freak out'.

Suddenly, steam started bellowing out of one of the creatures not too far ahead of us, even though it remained frozen in the air, its mangled hands (fingers made of plastic spoons) outstretched as if it was about to fall over.

"The loop has almost flattened out, and it's about to revert to its original state".

Basically, the amount of time that kept repeating was slowly becoming absolutely 0 seconds, and once that happens the loop breaks itself, releasing the creature. Now I was wondering, why did the Doctor think it was a good idea to wander out of the room when he just destroyed one of them?

Of course, he was silent about this; maybe he had just hoped that blue crystal thing would have worked, but maybe he should have waited a little longer? Also, why didn't he assume that at least one of them was smart? It has to be said, that 'Discord Paradise' person went straight for the kill, rather than listening to the Doctor weasel his way out of danger.

"Hey, why did you think it was a good idea to leave the room? I mean, you could have given the crystal a little more time to work."

As I spoke those words, a strong sense of Déjà-vu drummed in the back of my head. And then, I thought about how smart the 'Discord Paradise' person was for going straight for the kill. Then I wondered why the Doctor thought it was a good idea to leave without giving the crystal more time to work.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had wandered on ahead, turned around slowly, and came running back.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm now caught in my own loop. It was hard to focus, but I was aware of it; Every time I tried to think or act differently, I went right back to how smart the 'Discord Paradise' person was for going straight for the kill.

As I desperately tried to break the cycle, to call out something, anything, I felt like someone smashed a huge weight against my head, and I wondered why the Doctor thought it was a good idea-

I felt an extreme surge of heat, as a massive amount of steam suddenly surrounded my body; I realised the Doctor had just grabbed my hand and manually broken the loop.

In a nutshell, he had to do that because we aren't beings connected to any sort of data-based life form, even a half broken one, once the loop became 0 seconds long, I would have vanished out of existence; things like that are never fun.

As we both walked out of the school, and the Doctor locked the gates again, I decided to voice my mind.

"You know, it's weird, but I think I'm thinking more like you do."

The Doctor gave me a short glance.

"That's a bad thing."

"Ah yes, right; Well, once this is all over I'll sort it out, but right now it could be handy, couldn't it?"

That means you don't know how to fix it.

It's a difficult thing, having a change of perspective. As I walked into the TARDIS, I contemplated how I now saw things differently; the sun, slowly setting in the sky was no longer just 'the sun', but it was a function of gravity and time, a star that lasts for a relatively short time of around 8 billion years until it goes out in the year 5.5/apple/26.

Without realising it, I think about the mechanics of the universe, about spirals and numbers, hypotenuse and pivots, how light travels, how sound works, and most importantly, why my phone is able to go off.

Wait, my phone?

I'm standing not a few feet from the TARDIS doors, which the Doctor closes behind me as I pull my phone out of my pocket. Without looking at the number, I can make a guess to who it is.

That's right, her.

"Damnit Kyon, where the hell have you been today? I called everyone a dozen times, and only Koizumi picked up the first time, and even then he was busy! What's your excuse?"

Before I can say a word in response, Haruhi began yelling in my ear again. I glanced at the Doctor, who was hovering over the controls, giving me a 'make it quick' look.

I interrupted Haruhi, and gave her a quick speech about how she shouldn't count on everyone being available at all times of every day, and waited for her response.

I got none.

She didn't say a word, I couldn't even hear her breathe; there was just silence.

"Hello again."

My heart might well have stopped beating for a moment, because I could feel my body weaken when I heard it – that forced, rasping voice.

It continued.

"We have her. Tell him that we have her. Tell him... that we have them all."

Faint static in the background began to become louder.

"This is a challenge."

They hung up. I closed my phone, and turned to the Doctor. It was as if he could tell what happened just from my face.