Chapter 4: Perception
Claudia bent down at the mouth of the alley to inspect a puddle of steamy, purple goo. Mr. Valda ducked under the police tape behind her. Claudia didn't exactly know how the Regents had gotten control of this place, nor did she particularly feel like asking. It was convenient for their investigation and she would leave it at that. She poked a pencil into the now gelatinous substance and pulled it away, watching the viscous corrosive trail in a thick strand even as it burned away the pencil.
"Double yuck. What is this stuff?" Claudia commented, making a face and dropping the ruined pencil.
"I haven't seen it before." Mr. Valda admitted. Claudia looked up at him in surprise. He ignored it and walked over to the blue police box at the other end of the alley, carefully avoiding any caustic goo. Claudia shrugged and went back to her perusal of the scene, taking a tiny sample in a tempered glass jar and tucking it away in her bag. Valda tried the TARDIS door. It was locked. He paused for a second, then knocked experimentally. No answer.
"Hmmm. Feeling a bit contrary today, are we?" He remarked quietly. "Your passengers have headed out again, I suppose."
"What?" Claudia called, looking over her shoulder at him from where she'd been inspecting the dumpster.
"Nothing. I wasn't talking to you." Valda clarified taping a piece of folded paper to the door before making his way towards her.
"Oh… Okay. Well, whoever these people are, I think we can be pretty sure they're using an artifact." Claudia announced. Valda eyed her with mild interest.
"Look what their buddy did to this mega-heavy, sturdy, iron chain." She said, holding up one half of the chain Rory had ripped apart in order to shield himself and the Doctor earlier. Valda didn't look at all surprised. "Hold up. Why do you look like you don't think this is weird?" Claudia queried, narrowing her eyes at him.
"It's not so strange for Rory." Valda replied.
"Rory." Claudia echoed. "You know him!"
"Yes." Valda confirmed. "I know all of them… Well…" He looked back at the remains of the amphibious alien behind him. "I didn't know him."
"Wh—I—You weren't going to tell me anything?!"
"I just did."
"Oh, yeah. Awesome!" Claudia remarked sarcastically. "Okay, so you know them, and you think it's totally normal for one of them to have super strength."
"For Rory to, yes." Valda agreed calmly. Claudia looked like she wanted to yell but then deflated, leaning against the dumpster.
"I don't know anything, do I?" She asked sounding defeated. "All I know is that I am going to die, and I don't even know why."
"You aren't necessarily going to die, Miss Donovan."
"I saw it: a premonition of my seemingly pointless death in the near future."
"The future can be changed." Valda told her then smiled at the memory the words brought back. His expression changed to a frown as his gaze returned to the broken chain. "It seems strange, though." He observed. "Why go to such trouble to anchor a dumpster?"
Koschei knelt down at the side of the road and pulled out his laser-screwdriver. They were in a mostly disused industrial district. The street sign behind Koschei was on a permanent lean and the grass and shrubs attempting to grow on this side of the street were in various states of failure. Amy wandered over to join Koschei from the side of the old pickup truck, where the Doctor was chatting happily with a local couple that had given them a lift. She plopped down next to him on the curb, watching the familiar sheet of red light sweep over the area in front of him, making the grass glow an other-worldly orange as he scanned it.
"What'd you find?"
Koschei eyed his screwdriver.
"This is it." Koschei announced, standing and taking a few steps forward before spinning dramatically to face her. "This is the exact spot where the temporal distortion originated." He held out his laser-screwdriver briefly as though she'd be able to see the readout. "The chronon radiation peaks right where I'm standing."
"Also… What's this?" The Doctor added as he and Rory joined them. He came over to look at something shiny and dark in the middle of the road to Koschei's left. Koschei picked up a twig out of the grass beneath the street sign, spinning it in one hand as he flitted over to see what the Doctor had found.
"It looks like you're right. This is the point of origin." The Doctor concluded.
"But what about Seattle?" Rory pointed out.
"One half-point of origin? A point of origin? Don't know yet, but I'll figure it out." The Doctor said easily, poking at the hardened venom with the toe of his shoe. Koschei looked at him pointedly and used his stick to push the younger alien's foot away from his toxic discovery. "You're getting bossy." The Doctor noted. Koschei continued to stare at him, tossing his stick aside without looking. It flew through the window of the old, abandoned building on the other side of the street with the sound of breaking glass. The Doctor followed the movement then looked back at an unapologetic Koschei. The Doctor sighed and squatted down to get a closer look at the venom.
"Hmm. Days old, completely solidified…" He scanned it with his sonic. "Yep, two days ago." He pulled a hunter's orange, plaid handkerchief out of his pocket and used it to pick up the hardened venom. It now looked not unlike violet-colored volcanic glass.
"Careful." Koschei said in a detached tone. The Doctor smiled.
"It's nice to know that you still care." He replied, scanning the glassy venom. Koschei glared at him and walked over to stand beside Rory.
"He's holding Noirglass." Koschei muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Rory nodded sagely. "It's highly explosive." Koschei added, still observing the other Timelord. Rory just nodded again. "I don't see what makes him think that means I care about him."
"Mmhmn." Rory replied, trying not to smile.
"I think it's cute." Amy remarked. Koschei glared harder.
"Are you quite finished?" He asked the Doctor.
"Mmmm." The Doctor hummed, seeming more focused on testing the Noirglass with his screwdriver than on what was going on around him. Koschei rolled his eyes and began to walk off toward the nearest shop, which was a block and a half away.
"Fine. I'm off to find something to eat." He said over his shoulder causing the Doctor to look up.
"It's okay. I've got him." Amy volunteered and jogged after Koschei. Rory frowned.
"You know, the last time those two went off on their own like that…" Rory remembered.
"I know. You go on ahead. I'm almost done here anyway." The Doctor told him casually, gesturing to the others with one hand.
"You sure?"
"I'll meet up with you in a bit." The Doctor confirmed. Rory studied him uncertainly for a moment before hurrying off after the others. As soon as he was out of sight, the Doctor's amiable façade slipped off his face. He stood up and walked over to the other side of the road. As he'd expected, he found another, smaller splotch of venom in the grass there.
He headed for the abandoned factory, taking note of other signs of habitation, but felt himself stop in mid-step. His every muscle had tensed up as soon as he set foot on the packed dirt of the open lot. That subliminal urge to turn away and forget the place existed amplified tenfold.
"That's quite the perception filter! Where'd you get it from I wonder?" The Doctor remarked, stumbling back a step or two. He closed his eyes and forced himself onward. When he reached the outer wall, he faltered again and had to catch himself against the window frame and winced at the sight that met him. There was a little hole dug into the dirt beneath the broken window, filled with torn, bloody clothing, two discarded wallets and a brown-leather purse. The purse had bloodstains on the strap. He sniffed the air and grimaced. ~How is it that Koschei didn't notice this?~ The Doctor wondered, continuing toward the derelict building. The rusted metal doors were chained shut with an even rustier padlock. The Doctor eyed it thoughtfully before simply pulling the lock open with a firm tug and ducking inside.
"Hello?" The Doctor called out of habit. "Is anyone here?" No one answered, but he'd sort of expected that. "Now if I were a nesting pod, where would I be…" He thought aloud as he searched the empty factory by the light of his screwdriver. "Ah. There you are."
The office on the second story platform built against the far wall was full of glistening, white webbing. There was a set of rickety-looking metal stairs leading up to it. The air around the office was saturated with the stench of peroxide. Halfway up the stairs the Doctor triggered his respiratory bypass system in order to avoid the inevitable lung damage, stubbornly continuing into the nest. All around him the slimy webbing dripped pearly-blue fluid onto the dark-green carpeting, leaving yellow and white splotches in their wake. The Doctor noted the patches with a certain amount of grim resignation before he squeezed his tearing eyes shut against the powerful sting. He would have mere seconds to search for clues before the hydrogen peroxide in the air began to cause his eyes and skin grievous harm. So he forced his eyes back open and continued, ignoring his protesting nerves as best he could as he began to search the nest. The Doctor finally caught sight of a hidden console in the far corner. He hastily activated it and watched the code stream across the screen, blinking rapidly as his vision began to blur. ~Come on, almost there…~ He silently urged, sonic-ing the screen and fussing with the controls while he fought his faltering vision. A planetary diagram appeared showing a blinking blue light in planetary orbit. He could no longer see well enough to read the location, but didn't let that stop him, snapping a couple pictures with his mobile before hastily fleeing the noxious enclosure. The Doctor grinned victoriously as he burst out of the abandoned warehouse, tossing his mobile to himself as he leaned back against the outer door. "Gotcha!"
Rory frowned slightly as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He glanced at the screen despite knowing who it probably was. Koschei barely glanced up at him from the other side of the aisle before turning back to his perusal of the candy selection.
"Excuse me." Rory told Amy as he began to leave. " It's the Doctor. I'll be back in a moment."
Amy nodded and put back the sandwich she'd been considering in it's cooler on the other end of the aisle. She looked over at the cashier and flashed him an awkward smile before heading toward Koschei. He was definitely an odd one. The textbook emo that was manning the register had a plaster-white face accented by too much deep-magenta eyeliner. His algae-green hair was combed over one eye with conspicuous intent and his black plastic name tag proudly pronounced his name to be 'Twinkie'. All of this would be mildly amusing in most cases, but the kid just weirded Amy out. For one thing, Twinkie never blinked. At first it seemed merely pretentious. Then, it began to become distracting, especially after she realized the odd way the guy fixated on Koschei, as if waiting for something. The brief moment of looking at him caused Amy's eyes to water in sympathy and she turned away a tad too quickly in an attempt to hide it.
She crept up behind Koschei, watching him sort through the candy in front of him with an air of severe OCD. After a few more deliberate, focused movements of the items before him, he spun around to face her.
"What?" The Timelord demanded rudely. A hungry Koschei was rarely a pleasant one.
"Haven't you decided yet?"
Koschei narrowed his eyes at her before whirling back around to resume his sorting. "No."
"They're only sweets." Amy pointed out, setting down the bag of crisps she'd chosen for herself. She picked up a couple bags that she'd seen the alien consider more than the others and held them out to him. "Here, pick one: licorice or jelly babies? You like these."
"Maybe I'm not in the mood." Koschei returned stubbornly.
"Too bad, I'm paying. So choose." Amy said, shaking the bags to stress her point. Koschei paused, weighing his chances before letting out a little huff.
"Fine." He relented, snatching the bag of licorice.
"Thank you." Amy replied patiently as Rory rejoined them.
"He finally decided? Good. Anyway, change of plans: the Doctor wants us to meet him back at the TARDIS. Also he said there's some note he wants us to read for him."
Koschei raised an eyebrow at the strange news.
"Something about his vision going wonky." Rory elaborated. "I don't know. Are we ready to go?"
"Just a minute. We've gotta pay for this." Amy told him, gesturing to Koschei's licorice with her bag of crisps. She started toward the register, but stopped and turned back when she noticed that he wasn't following. Koschei promptly tossed her his sweets.
"You can go without me. The weird kid smells funny." Koschei explained. Amy shot him an annoyed glare.
"Behave." She told him but continued toward the register anyway.
"Yes, Bhai." He agreed with a winning smile. He turned back to Rory after she'd gone.
"He's hurt himself, hasn't he?"
"He didn't say." Rory replied, beginning to feel suspicious. "Why?"
"He did."
"Okay…"
"He probably found the nest. Hydrogen peroxide vapor causes damage to the eyes, skin and lungs. Respiratory bypass would help him avoid injury to his lungs." Koschei deduced. "Knowing him, neither the pain nor the hazard of exposure would be enough to dissuade him from poking around inside. It would explain his change of plans and his sudden lack of reading ability."
"Makes sense. I'm not seeing the point, though." Rory admitted.
"Did he sound excited?"
"Yep."
"Oh dear." Koschei observed in monotone.
"You aren't going to explain it, are you?"
"Nope."
Rory sighed and followed Amy as she headed out of the store. Behind him Koschei smoothly lifted a lighter, a beanie, and a pair of sunglasses, pocketing them as they left.
A/N: Sorry for the wait guys, this is as soon as i could manage it. Hope you like it. Thanks for reading, and special thanks to Princesspevensie for reviewing. Oh yes, and of course Happy New Year!
