Chapter 9 - Noticed Academics Pt One
Some students spend centuries in the Timelord Academy, some only a few months. There were rules, harsh grading and a standard that you had to live up to, to remain a student there. The Locksmith was bright, very bright, he thought he would skip through his time at the academy but it ended up being much harder than he initially believed. That was until he met the Doctor. Together they worked through the tough parts and ran through the rest. What one lacked the other made up for, they were truly a great team.
"Hey, Lock?" they sat together, as they often did, in the workshop of the academy, the Locksmith had little talent with building but had the constant desire to improve. The Doctor had natural flare and was more than happy to spend hours tinkering with his own inventions whilst helping him out.
"Yes?" He was currently struggling with a device that would allow someone to better control a vortex manipulator, it was a pet project he had been working on out of hours for many years.
"What do you think the Rani does in the labs at night?" he asked absentmindedly, as though simply speaking a thought aloud.
"She doesn't like to be asked."
"I know, but if you were to make an educated guess."
"My educated advice, would be to leave it well alone, she'll get caught with her experiments eventually." He said, not looking up.
"You're telling me you don't want to know what is really going on?" the Doctor pushed. The Locksmith sighed, putting down his sonic screwdriver and meeting his eyes.
"Of course I do. But I don't want you going to investigate, only to find yourself strapped to a table and experimented on."
"True, that's not ideal." He smiled, but then his face went serious, "You think she's experimented on other students?"
"I'm certain she has. But no one's gone missing so it's nothing she can't hide. Yet." He noted the Doctors raised eyebrows, "What? I'm keeping tabs, its only logical." The Doctor decided to change the subject.
"How's the vortex sorter-outer coming along?"
"I'm still not calling it that." He shook his head in amusement, "Its fine, except It still doesn't work."
"That does seem a fatal floor…" the Doctor grinned "What seems to be the problem?"
"The main point of the vortex manipulator is that its small, discreet and that you can travel through time/space."
"Yes, but the range is rubbish and it hurts like being trapped in a small box with an angry Zocci."
"True, so that's what I'm trying to improve." He held up the machine for the Doctor to view. "This time around, I'm trying to take parts from the chameleon circuit of the scrap Type 20 TARDIS."
"So, you're changing the appearance of the manipulator?"
"I'm trying to allow the appearance to be changeable so I can make the device bigger, but not look or feel bigger."
"More space to improve the mechanics, but without losing the convenience of its size. Nice"
"It would be, if I could make it work. What makes it harder if that I can't test it without a professor present." He stood picking up the device and storing it in his personal container in the workshop. "Anyway, its late, I'll work on it more tomorrow."
"The Rani would probably be in the labs about now…" the Doctor said innocently.
"For time's sake, Doc! Is it really bothering you so much?" the Locksmith was exasperated, but he had to admit he too was intrigued to confirm the rumours. All the reply he got was a pouty pleading face and overly blinking eyes. If years of knowing the Doctor was anything to go by, he would just end up going by himself anyway. He may as well keep him from doing something stupid. Sighing in resignation, "Fine.". The Doctor jumped up from his seat and together they travelled to the labs.
The Time Lord Academy was settled snugly the Gallifrey mountains, and covered over 28 miles of the planet's surface. Its glass turrets gleamed in the light of the many natural satellites surrounding the planet. The labs were in the more underground sections of the compound, the rumours said that the Rani had made her own space in the labs that were considered out of bounds to novices and were rarely even touched by the masters. Students would get around the large building by tall purple portals that linked main places together, with just a touch of a screen they travelled 11.3 miles in under a second.
"Never liked this place." The Doctor said as a chill went down his spine. The labs were darkened in the evening hours and the lights were completely shut off at night to dissuade night workers, no professors kept watch but there were sensors everywhere. With no natural light to aid them, their movements were slow and careful as they kept an eye out for alarm tricking devices.
"Rani would have shut off the alarms leading to her lab space so we just need to follow where the alarms aren't."
"She could have re-activated them behind her?"
"No, the only way to turn them on is through the access panel by the portal back there, but you can turn them off at each device."
"How do you know so much about this?" the Locksmith shrugged.
"Well I didn't have anything more interesting to do, until you came along." He said with a smile. They continued along the long corridors, looking for where sensors had been turned off. Eventually they came to a door, a singular ominous door at the end of an empty hallway. Both students exchanged a look of apprehension and excitement before peeking through the small window in the door.
