The Rebel Flesh, Part 1
Muse's song called 'Supermassive Black Hole' bleared through the TARDIS console speakers as Amy and Rory played a game of darts on a board that they had set up in one of the roundels by the front doors, the two of them laughing as they took turns, keeping score on a black board that they had hanging up beside the dart board, all four of the ships occupants completely ignoring the mess that the rest of the console was in with bits of clothing having been tossed around, some littering the floor. The Doctor and the Hatter stood back up at the controls, looking at the monitors screen as they continued to run the same scan over Amy, but still nothing changed, the results still kept flashing between positive and negative.
Rory stood before the board, preparing to release the dart in his fingers as he took aim, concentrating as he threw the dart and it hit the board with a small, dull thud. He broke into a grin, looking very pleased with himself.
"Forty six," Amy remarked as she wrote the latest score down on the chalkboard, glancing back over her shoulder to him, "Rubbishy, rubbishy, rubbish," she smirked.
"Hello?" he frowned at her, pointing at the dart board, "It's a double top".
She shook her head at him, moving into position to take her turn, "Wrong side of the wire, mister".
"You're on the oche, Red," he reminded her, moving to stand by the black board.
Amy laughed slightly, aiming her dart up at the board, "No, I'm not. Stop trying to put me off".
The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a look, glancing back over the happy, smiling couple, both of them completely unaware of just how worried both Time Lords truly were for Amy. The scanner results hadn't changed in the slightest over the past several months, so they had come to the only real conclusion that they possibly could come to, which was that Amy was pregnant, but that the Amy they had been travelling with all this time wasn't the real Amy.
The Time Lady had already suspected ever since America that something had happened to the girl, that perhaps she had been kidnapped and cloned, which was what would account for the strange readers that the TARDIS was getting. If this Amy wasn't the real one but still connected to her real body, then the TARDIS would find it hard to tell the difference between the two, hence the different readings. It would also account for why Amy hadn't shown any symptoms. If the real Amy truly was out there and pregnant, then they needed to find her fast. The Hatter had around made a rough guess of how far along she would have to be judging by America, guessing that she would have to have been at least two to three months pregnant already by the time they had met them in the dinner, which meant that she would be well and truly about to give birth by now. They had to find her and her child, and as soon as possible.
The Doctor sighed heavily and reached across the controls, flicking a switch that turned the music off, the Hatter flicking the screen off, "Who wants fish 'n chips?" he asked, looking over to the humans, hoping to find a way to get them out of the way for a little while so that they could investigate a promising lead that they had discovered.
Rory turned around for the blackboard and raised his hand.
The Hatter smiled broadly at him, amused, "Excellent," she glanced at the Doctor, "We know a brilliant little shop, you simply have to try the crab sticks. We'll drop you off".
"Take your time," the Doctor added quickly, pointing over to them, "Don't rush," he turned back to the controls, preparing to enter the coordinates.
Rory and Amy frowned, exchanging a slightly confused look before he looked back over to them, "Er, and you two?" he asked, realising that they hadn't mentioned a thing about them joining in.
"Oh, we've got plans," the Hatter said, trying to sound as casual as she possibly could, which was probably failing badly. She avoided looking at them as she focused on the controls, "Things to do…"
The Doctor nodded, skidding across the glass floor as he came around the other side of the controls, "Yes, things involving…" he looked away from them, trying to think of a believable excuse, "…other things".
The Time Lady tried hard not to cringe; knowing that they really weren't doing a very good job of trying to sound causal and like they weren't up to something. They should probably have just held up a big, flashing neon sign that said 'we're lying!' and save themselves the trouble and embarrassment of even trying to pretend differently.
"Well, we'll stay and come with you," Amy said, making her way up the steps towards them, still frowning slightly at them as Rory followed, "We'll do other things".
"Nope," the Doctor shook his head quickly, pulling a lever, exchanging a hurried look with the brunet as she stepped around to stand beside him.
Amy eyed them carefully, pointing the end of one of the darts she was still holding at them, "Whatever you're up to, I'd personally like to be a part of it," she told them firmly. The Time Lords looked at each other again, almost seeming worried, "What?" she questioned, her frown deepening as she tried to laugh it off.
The Hatter took a step forward, opening her mouth, when the sound of a klaxon horn bleared loudly throughout the room and the TARDIS began jolting violently. The Doctor immediately grabbed the Time Lady, pulling her closing to him as Amy screamed, trying to grab hold of the console while Rory clung onto one of the railings, all of them desperately trying to keep their balance as they were jolted around. The Time Lords managed to get back over to the console controls, struggling to run around them as they worked to try and steady the time machine.
"It's a solar tsumnami!" the Hatter called, grabbing the monitor and swinging it around to look at the results, "It's coming directly from the Earth's sun!" she winced as the TARDIS gave a sharp shake. She grabbed a lever, pulling it down, "There's a tidal wave of radiation, a massive one!"
"Oh," Rory groaned from across the other side of the room, half hanging off the railing as he gripped his stomach, "My tummy's going funny!"
"It'll be over soon, Rory!" she tried assuring him, knowing just how he felt, though she had luckily moved past that stage of her pregnancy now.
"Well, the gyrator disconnected!" the Doctor announced, moving around the brunet's side, "Target-tracking is out!" he grabbed a lever and tried pulling it with a grunt, but nothing happened. His head snapped around to look at the Hatter, his eyes widening in alarm, "Assume the position!" he shouted.
Amy screamed and took off running over to one of the jump seats, hunching over with her head between her legs, her hands covering the back of her head. Rory spun around on the spot for a moment, looking completely clueless as to what to do, before he simply dropped onto the floor, covering his head, too. The Doctor and the Hatter clutched each other, kneeling onto the ground as they grabbed hold of the console above them, the Doctor doing everything he possibly could to try and protect the Time Lady from being jostled around, when they suddenly landed with a hard thump that made them all jump slightly, before everything stilled. Slowly, Amy and Rory looked up, panting slightly as the Doctor helped the Hatter back onto her feet, still clutching each other.
The Doctor broke into a broad smile, looking at the brunet proudly, "Textbook landing," he said brightly.
The Hatter rolled her eyes, reaching up to straighten her hat, "Like you would even know," she muttered.
"I read our textbooks at school!" he defended himself quickly.
"There's a difference between looking at the pictures and reading, Doctor".
"There's….you…" he opened and closed his mouth, letting go of her to wave his hand at her, searching for the right word. She simply raised her eyebrows at him, "Oh…hush, you," he muttered, blushing faintly.
She laughed and planted a kiss on his cheek, "Never, sweetheart".
He grinned back at her and took her hand, leading the way around the console and down the stairs, heading over to the door. He pushed them open and they stepped out to find that they seemed to have landed on an island out in the middle of the ocean that had a large stone ruin that towered over them, looking as if it might have once have been a monastery. The Hatter blinked slightly, eyeing the weathervane that was sitting on the top of the main spire of the building, spinning around in the wind. Now that certainly didn't belong, which meant that someone must have recently installed it.
"Behold!" he exclaimed, holding a hand up towards the spire as Amy and Rory stepped out of the doors from behind them, "A cockerel! Love a cockerel," he said fondly, moving closer towards one of the stone walls, "And underneath, a monastery," he turned back around to face them, taking a moment to calculate the era in his head, "Thirteenth century".
"Oh, we've gone all mediaeval," Amy commented, looking up at the building curiously.
"I'm not sure about that," Rory shook his head, looking around.
"Really?" she raised her eyebrows at him, not noticing the Time Lords wondering away from them, hand-in-hand, "Mediaeval expert, are you?"
"No, it's just that…I can hear Dusty Springfield".
They all stopped and listened carefully, hearing over the noise of the wind 'You Don't Have to Say You Love Me,' playing softly from within the monastery. Amy and Rory looked at each other before following after the Time Lords, who had only moved a short distance away and were examining an exposed pipe that was in a hole in the ground.
"Interesting," the Hatter muttered, running her eyes along the pipe as the Doctor crouched down on the edge of the hole, "Have a look at this fissure, it's new. The solar tsunami would have sent out a massive wave of gamma particles," she frowned, casting her eyes around, "This would have been caused by a magnetic quake that began right before the wave hit".
"Well, the monastery's standing," Amy pointed out, glancing over to them.
The Doctor frowned and reached into his pocket, pulling out a snow globe, giving it a shake, watching for a moment as all the little flecks of white snow floated around inside, "Yeah, for now," he agreed grimly, tucking it back inside his pocket.
"Hey, look," Rory said, nodding down at the pipe where the words 'Danger-Corrosive,' was written across the side of the pipe in black print.
"Ah, yes, that would make sense," the Time Lady nodded, moving around to the side of the pipe to take a closer look at the warning, "This is a supply pipe, though for what…" she looked back to the Doctor.
The Doctor retrieved his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and flashed it over the pipe, before checking the results, "Ceramic inner lining," he determined, climbing back onto his feet as he frowned again, "Something corrosive," he looked back across to the Hatter, tucking the sonic away, "They're pumping something nasty off this island to the mainland".
"Acid, perhaps?" the brunet murmured, nodding thoughtfully, though she couldn't be sure until they knew more.
"My Mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield," Rory remarked fondly, looking back up at the building with a slight smile crossing his face.
"Who isn't?" the Doctor said, glancing back over to them, "Right, let's go," he clapped his hands and grabbed the Hatter's hand again, the two of them leading the way over to a set of wooden stairs that went up into the monastery, "Satisfy our rabid curiosity," he grinned at the brunet.
"Hear, hear!" the Hatter cheered, laughing as she high fived him.
They made their way up the stairs, Amy and Rory following close behind them, the music still drifting through the air around them as they reached the top of the stairs and made their way through a large, wooden gate and through to a courtyard-like area, looking curiously around at all the ancient building surrounding them, most of it seeming to be still in quite good condition and liveable, though the Time Lady imagined it would still be terribly draftee.
"So where are these Dusty Springfield loving monks, then?" Amy asked as she trailed behind the Time Lords, looking around.
The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver back out of his jacket and flashed it around as they walked, scanning, "I think we're here," he meet the Hatter's eyes, "This is it".
"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Rory questioned, frowning deeply at his back, "We've never been here before".
"Oh?" the Hatter said absently, not really listening as she cast her eyes around as they made their way up another set of wooden steps.
"We came here for accident," Amy reminded them, starting to frown, as well.
"'Accident?'" the Doctor repeated, coming to a stop at the top of the stairs and spinning back around to look at them. The Hatter's eyes widened and she hastily nudged his side, trying to do so as discreetly as she possibly could. He jumped and glanced at her, earning a pointed look, "Yes, we know," he nodded quickly, turning back to Amy and Rory, who were both eyeing them strangely, "Accident".
"Nothing out of the ordinary," the Time Lady said, clearing her throat as she shifted awkwardly "Happens all the time".
Rory didn't seem to notice anything odd as he caught sight of another pipe running out from some of the stonework beside the stairs railing, reaching out to touch it, when he suddenly pulled it away, "Ah!" he cried, pained, shaking his hand rapidly, "Ow!"
The Hatter hurried back down the stairs to him, grabbing his injured hand as he winced, "Yes, as I thought," she sighed, examining the nasty red burn that had appeared on his fingertip, "Acid, that's what they're pumping off this island".
"That's old stuff," the Doctor added, gesturing over to the pipe, "Fresh acid, you wouldn't have a finger".
"Cheery," the Time Lady smiled faintly, and gave Rory a comforting look, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Here, put this on…" she reached into her jacket pocket and found a box of bandaids, handing him a bright yellow one with little pictures of stars scattered across it.
Rory blinked slightly and took the bandaid, eyeing it, "Uh, thanks…"
A siren suddenly began going off, "Intruder alert," a computerised voice sounded, making them all look up, "Intruder alert…"
The Doctor, who had continued walking while they had been distracted, came dashing back to them, "There are people coming," he told them, before pausing, "Well, almost".
Amy looked up to him, frowning slightly at the way he worded it, "Almost coming?"
"No," the Hatter shook her head, tucking the box of bandaids away inside her jacket once more, "Almost people," she corrected, making her way back up the steps and taking the Doctor's hand, the two of them heading off again.
Amy followed after them while Rory remained behind, "I think we should really be going…" he began, just a little bit reluctant to be going any further after almost getting his finger burnt off by acid.
"Come on!" Amy shouted back to him.
"I'm telling you," he reluctantly started walking up the steps, "When something runs towards you, it is never for a nice reason".
Amy rolled her eyes and jogged back to him, grabbing his arm and dragging him along after her.
….
The Time Lords, Amy, and Rory made their way further into the monastery, jogging up and into a large room to see several people hooked up into human shaped harness all around the room in small window alcoves, each one wearing a matching orange jumpsuit and seeming to be sleeping.
"What are all these harnesses for?" Amy asked, looking around the room, jogging after the Time Lords as they didn't pause or slow in the slightest, making their way over to an older, dark haired woman at the furthest end of the room.
"Uh, the almost people?" Rory suggested, shrugging, completely clueless himself.
"What are they, prisoners?" she looked back to the Time Lords, who had turned away from the woman, their eyes flying all around the room, seeming to be taking it all in, "Or are they meditating, or what?"
"Well, at the moment they fall into the 'or what' category," the Doctor replied, exchanging a quick look with the Hatter as they took a step back towards the middle of the room.
"Halt and remain calm," the computer ordered over the still blearing alarms, making them all pause and look up again.
"Well, we've halted," he glanced back to the others, "How are we all doing on the calm front?"
"Personally, I'm feeling quite chill right now," the Hatter commented happily, before making a face and shaking her head, thinking over what she had just said, "Oh no, I'm never saying 'chill' again. Blimey, now that's a much better word for me".
The Doctor smiled fondly, about to say something, just as three people ran into the room, an older and slightly younger man, followed closely by a dark haired, young woman, both men carrying two lance-like weapons that they had aimed at them. The Time Lords moved closer together, eyeing the weapons carefully.
"Don't…move!" the older man shouted as the men approached them.
"Stay back, Jen," the younger man called back to the woman, not taking his eyes off the four of them, "We don't know who they are".
"So let's ask them," the woman, Jen, said reasonably, turning to the strangers, "Who the hell are you?"
"Hello, I'm the Hatter," the Time Lady introduced herself, smiling broadly as she gave them a little wave.
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor added cheerfully, "And this is Amy and Rory…" he gestured to the humans as he spoke, breaking into a grin, "And it's all very nice, isn't it?"
Amy frowned as she slowly looked around the room, taking note of the fact that both of the men standing before her, currently pointing weapons at them, looked identical to two of the men also hooked up into the harnesses around the room, "Hold up," she cut in, looking back to the men, growing quite confused now, "You're all…what are you all?" she asked, shaking her head, "Like, identical twins?"
The three men and woman frowned at them slightly, seeming confused, just as another young man and the older, dark haired women entered the room through a door off to the side of the room, both wearing thick, dark brown suits made from some sort of protective material.
"This is an Alpha Grade industrial facility," the older woman said calmly, eyeing the four strangers as she neared them, seeming to have an air of authority about her, "Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble".
"Actually, you're in big trouble," the Doctor replied, and pulled the psychic paper out of his breast pocket, holding it up for her to see.
She frowned, reading it, "'Meteorological Department?'" she said suspiciously, grabbing the paper off him, "Since when?"
"Since you lot got hit by a rather nasty solar wave," the Hatter informed her, crossing her arms across her chest, trying hard to look professional in her bright yellow shoes.
"Which we survived".
"Just, by the looks of it," the Doctor cast his eyes around the room, before looking back to her, very serious, "And there's a bigger one on the way".
"Which we'll also survive. Dicken, scan for bugs".
The young man that had entered the room with her stepped forward, holding a scanner device in his hand, "Backs against the wall," the first young man ordered from behind them, still pointing the lance at their backs, "Now".
The Doctor and the Hatter held up their hands, smiling pleasantly at them as they slowly backed back towards the stone wall behind them, Amy and Rory carefully following suit with their own hands held up.
"Apparently, we were wrong," the Hatter glanced back to Amy and Rory, making sure not to make any sudden movement, since they all seemed to be a little trigger happy for her taste, "This isn't a monastery, it's a factory. A twenty second century factory that seems to be mining acid and, at a guess, I would say owned by the army," she threw the lances a quick, wary glance, "Judging by the weapons".
Amy blinked, looking back to the men and women still eyeing them carefully as they reached the wall, pressing their backs against the cold, uneven surface of the stone, "You're army?" she asked, sceptical.
"No, love," the main woman rolled her eyes, "We're contractors, and you're trespassing".
Dicken's moved closer to them with the scanner, holding it out towards them for a moment, before checking the results, "It's okay, boss," he announced.
"All right, weatherman, your ID checked out," the woman remarked as the Doctor and the Hatter moved back over to her, "If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it?" she handed the psychic paper back to the Doctor, "Hand out sun block?"
"You know, you remind me a little bit of a younger me," the Hatter said thoughtfully, smiling slightly as she thought about her Third regeneration's fondness for sarcasm.
The Doctor fake chuckled, growing serious almost at once as he fixed the woman with a look, "We need to see your critical systems".
She gave them both a long look, "Which one?"
The Hatter grew just as serious, meeting her eyes, "Oh, I think you know perfectly well".
…
The woman in charge, Cleaves, as they soon learnt, lead them down into another room that had a large vat sitting on a slightly raised platform at the back of the room, while in front of it there was a large, open tub that could have easily have fitted a fully grown person within it. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a look as they stepped further into the room, taking it all in carefully as they made their way around to the opposite side of the vat, peering over the rounded edge to see it filled with a milky white, bubbling liquid, hardly even noticing as the others entered the room after them, their eyes fixed onto the substance.
"And there you are," the Doctor murmured, taking the Hatter's hand.
"Meet the government's worst kept secret," Cleaves said, looking over the bubbling liquid, not seeming to notice just how interested the Time Lords seemed to be by it, "The Flesh. It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level".
"Right," Amy nodded, her breath rising into mist in the cold air, "Brilliant. Lost…"
"Okay," she frowned slightly, glancing over to her, "Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything," she explained, "Replicate a living organism down to the hairs on its chinny chin chin. Even clothes. And everything's identical. Eye's, voice…"
"It's mind," the Hatter added softly, her eyes still glued to the liquid, "Their soul".
"Don't be fooled, Hatter," she looked back over to them, her eyes coming to rest on the Time Lady, "It acts like life but it still needs to be controlled by us, from those harnesses you saw".
"Wait, whoa, hold on!" Rory cut in, his eyes widening slightly as he shook his head, "So…you're Flesh now?"
She looked back to him, calm, "I'm lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer here," she nodded across to where the younger, dark haired woman was standing, "Don't be scared. This thing, just like operating a forklift truck," she gestured to herself.
The Hatter frowned at her, crossing her arms across her chest as she stepped around the vat towards her, leaving the Doctor leaning his arms against the edge, "But you just said so yourself, it's learning to grow," she reminded her, nodding her head back towards the vat, "Only living things learn to grow".
"Moss grows," the Time Lady's frown deepened, not liking just how uncaring she seemed to be speaking about the Flesh, "It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous we were losing a worker every week. So now we mine the acid using these doppelgangers. Or 'Gangers'. If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid…"
"Then who the hell cares?" the first young man, Ganger Buzzer, looked across to Jen, "Right, Jen?"
Jen looked up, almost seeming startled for a moment, "Nerve endings automatically cut off, like airbags being discharged," she told them as the Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, eyeing the bubbling surface, "We wake up and get a new Ganger".
"It's weird," the older male Ganger, Jimmy, agreed, "But you get used to it".
"Jennifer," Ganger Cleaves turned to the young woman, "I want you in your Ganger. Get back to the harness".
Jen sighed slightly, looking almost reluctant, before she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.
The Hatter moved back over to the Doctor's side, noticing him preparing to scan the Flesh. She grabbed his arm, making him pause and look back to her, "Be careful," she said firmly, not knowing just what might happen to him if the Flesh got a taste of his DNA.
The Doctor smiled softly, gently kissing her forehead, "Always am, dear".
"If always is never, then of course you are," she shook her head fondly.
His smile widened even further before he forced himself to grow serious, turning back to the vat and aiming his sonic screwdriver over the surface of the Flesh, scanning it.
"Hang on," Ganger Buzz called, frowning as he noticed what the Doctor was doing, "What's he up to?" he demanded, "What are you up to, pal?"
The Doctor's hand began shaking, his knuckling turning white as he held onto the sonic screwdriver, his expression growing tenser as he tried to pull his arm away. The Hatter's eyes widened, growing alarmed as she realised that something wasn't right.
"Doctor, what is it?" she asked urgently, resisting the urge to grab his arm and pull it away herself, "What's…" her eyes snapped down to look at the Flesh, wondering if perhaps it could be reasoned with, considering the fact that it was alive, regardless of what Cleaves and the others might believe, "Hey!" she glared at the Flesh, "Let him go, right now!"
Suddenly, whatever pull the Flesh had held over the Doctor vanished and he stumbled back, almost falling over, but the Hatter grabbed the sleeve of his jacket before he could, helping to regain his balance, "Ah!" he gasped, taking a deep breath, glancing at her gratefully, "It was like…for a moment there it was scanning me,"
"Incredible," the Hatter murmured.
He tucked the sonic away and moved back over to the vat, holding his hand out over the surface of the bubbling Flesh.
"Doctor…" Ganger Cleaves began, watching him.
"Ah!" he suddenly cried out in pain, his hand once again seeming to be taken hold by the force of the Flesh, his hand shaking as the Flesh began bubbling even more as he tried to pull his hand away.
"Get back, Doctor. Leave it alone!"
"Doctor!" the Hatter shouted worriedly, grabbing his arm, feeling it shaking beneath her finger tips as he tried desperately to pull it away from the Flesh. She used all of her strength to try and help him, hoping that she wouldn't end up bruising his arm to badly, when he finally broke free with a loud gasp of pain, his eyes snapping open as he stumbled back with her.
"I understand!" he breathed, his eyes widening, suddenly spinning around to grab the Hatter's shoulder's, making her blink at him in surprise, "Can I…?" he pointed up to his temple.
It took her a moment for her brain to catch up with what he was asking before she realised that he wanted to know if he could show her what he had learnt. She very nearly smiled, finding it very sweet that despite being married and best friends for so long, he still felt like he had to ask if he could enter her mind, though she had to admit that she couldn't help but fall just a little bit more in love with him for it. The Master had entered her mind once without her permission when they had been in school and ever since then she had become very careful and sensitive about people entering another's mind without their permission first. On Gallifrey, it was considered to be one of the very worst violations that someone could do to another person.
"Of course," she allowed her smile to cross her face. He returned it and lifted his fingers up to her temples and pressed his forehead against hers, their eyes automatically closing as their minds opened up to each others. It took less than a second for him to transfer his memories across to her and once he did, her eyes flew open with a gasp, staring back at him as his own eyes opened and he pulled back slightly to look at her properly, "That's…" she trailed off, sounding almost breathless.
"Doctor…" Amy started, looking between the Time Lords, confused and slightly concerned, "Hatter, are you alright?"
"Incredible," the Doctor finished for the brunet, who could only nod in amazement, her eyes drifting back over to rest on the bubbling surface of the Flesh. He looked back over to Amy and the others, "You have no idea," he gasped, "No idea. I mean…" he looked back to the vat, gesturing up to his head as he spoke, "I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it and it to me".
"Don't fiddle with the money, Doctor," Ganger Cleaves told him, rolling her eyes.
"How can you be so blinkered?" he glared at her, the Hatter's frown returning as she pulled her gaze off the surface, "It's alive. So alive. You're piling your lives, your personalities directly into it…"
Lightening crashed outside, the sound of the thunder rumbling so loudly throughout the room that it actually made the stone shake slightly. The Doctor reached into his pocket and retrieved the snow globe, eyeing it carefully.
The Hatter winced as the ground shook beneath them, "And that'll be the solar storm we warned you about," she sighed, raising her voice slightly to be heard, grabbing the Doctor's shoulder to steady herself, "The wave always comes in pairs, and the fore-shock is always the worst".
"It's close," the Doctor agreed, tucking the snow globe back inside his pocket as the shaking and lightening finally calmed, taking the Time Lady's hand as they walked back around the vat.
"Buzzer…" Ganger Cleaves turned to the young man, "We got anything from the mainland yet?"
"No, the comms. are still too jammed with radiation," Ganger Buzzer reported.
"Okay," she nodded, glancing around to the rest of her crew, "Then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says 'stop," she focused on the Time Lords, "Now, why don't you stand back and let us impress you?" she gestured over to the tub.
They all looked at the bath and watched as the milky white liquid of the Flesh began to pour into it from a pipe, steadily filling the tub as they gathered around to take a closer look. After a moment, lines began to form in the liquid as a blurry outline of a face started to form, and then a mouth appeared and two eyes suddenly grew, snapping open to stare back up at them. Slowly, the Flesh started to condense into itself and a human body took shape, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and taking on the appearance of Jennifer, right down to her hair being tied back in a ponytail, except her face was only half-formed, her skin still having the Flesh's milky white colouring and almost moist glean to it. She grabbed hold of the edge of the tub and pulled herself upright with a gasp, her face now fully-formed, not looking the slightest bit different from the original Jennifer.
The Doctor and the Hatter stared at her, their eyes widening as they slowly exchanged a look, slightly amazed and even a little impressed by the technology. The Time Lady was stunned that she had never come across the Flesh before, but then she supposed that she very well could have and not have known a thing, judging by just how accurate Jennifer's Flesh copy looked to the original.
"Well, I can see why you keep it in a church," the Doctor remarked, rubbing his hands together as he glanced back to the Ganger Jennifer, "Miracle of life".
"Huh, I didn't even catch that one," the Time Lady smiled at him, amused.
"No need to get poncey," Ganger Buzzer scoffed at them, not seeming to share the Hatter's amusement, "It's just gunge".
"Guys, we need to get to work," Ganger Cleaves cut in firmly.
"Okay, everybody," Ganger Jimmy nodded, helping Ganger Jen to climb out of the tub, "Let's crack on".
Lightning and thunder rumbled outside once more, making Amy and Rory flitch and eye the ceiling worriedly. The Hatter ignored the noise, frowning deeply the Ganger's, "Did you lot conveniently forget about the little issue with a solar storm that's about to hit this place?" she asked them, crossing her arms across her chest, "You have to get out of here, get somewhere safe".
"Where do you want us to go?" Ganger Jimmy questioned, looking back to the Time Lords, "We're on a tiny island".
"Well, we can get you all off it," the Doctor replied calmly.
"Don't be ridiculous," Ganger Cleaves rolled her eyes, walking past them, "We're got a job to do".
The Hatter took a deep breath and closed her eyes, grabbing the Doctor's hand, tasting the metallic twang at the back of her throat, "It's getting closer," she said quietly, opening her eyes to look at him, "There isn't much more time until it hits".
Suddenly, an alarm began blearing; making the Ganger's pause and look up.
"That's the alarm," Ganger Jen commented warily, glancing back over towards the Time Lords.
The Doctor quickly looked back over to them, "How do you get power?"
"We're solar," Ganger Cleaves informed them, still seeming to be completely unconcerned, "We use a solar router. The weathervane".
"Oh, that's not good," the Hatter groaned, shaking her head, "That's very not good".
Ganger Jimmy frowned slightly and turned back to Ganger Cleaves, "Boss, maybe if the storm's back we should get underground," he suggested, starting to look a little concerned, "The factory's seen better days. The acid pipes might not withstand another hit".
"We have two hundred tons of acid to pump out," Ganger Cleaves reminded him, shaking her head, "We fall behind, we stay another rotation," she looked back to the rest of her crew, raising her eyebrows, "Anyone want that?"
The Hatter almost growled in frustration, "Oh, when will we meet a group of humans that actually listen to us for once?" she complained, and quickly grabbed the other woman's arm, holding it tighter when she tried to pull away, "Please, just listen," she said, a touch of urgency entering her tone, meeting her eyes, "You're making a huge mistake and you're putting yourself and everyone else's lives in danger right now. Forget about the job, what's important is that you are all still alive to actually do the job once this is all over. If you don't do something to prepare for this storm, then there's a very high chance that some of you might just die here today. You have to listen to us, please!"
She glared at her, "My factory, my rules," she said simply, yanking her arm out of her grip and walking away. The Time Lady sighed heavily and closed her eyes briefly.
The Doctor watched her go, shaking his head as he turned to Ganger Jen, "We need to check the progress of the storm," he told her, talking fast, "Mentoring station?" he clicked his fingers at her, but Ganger Jen hesitated, looking uncomfortable, "Monitoring station!" he insisted, snapping his fingers at her again.
"Please," the Hatter said hurriedly, giving the young woman a gentle smile, seeing her jump slightly, "It's important".
Ganger Jen sighed, "Three lefts," she answered, "A right and a left. Third door on your left".
"Thank you," the Doctor nodded to her, giving her a quick thumbs-up before he took the Hatter's hand, the two of them heading out of the door, Amy and Rory following close behind them.
…..
It didn't take them very long before they managed to find the monitoring room, dashing into the rounded room just as the entire building began shaking, the storm mere minutes away from hitting. In the middle of the room, a large metal column went up into the roof, attached to several monitors and controls that were sparking as they arrived.
"Oh, this isn't good!" the Hatter called over the noise of the thunder outside, glancing back to Amy and Rory as they stepped through the doorway, "The storms waves are going to disturb the Earth's magnetic field!" she hurried over to the controls, ducking just as the panel nearest to her sparked, "There's going to be a massive and very nasty power surge!"
"See this weathervane?" the Doctor gestured up towards the ceiling for Amy and Rory's benefit, moving to the brunet's side as she began working at the controls, her hands flying across the keypad, "The cock-a-doodle-do? It's a solar router feeding the whole factory with solar power. When that wave hits…" he glanced back over to the humans, "Ka-boom!" he turned back to the Hatter, who had finished typing, "I've got to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose," he ran across to an archway with a staircase that lead up to the roof, spinning back around to grin at them, "I never thought I would say that again".
The Time Lady smiled and swiftly kissed him, "Just be careful and try not to fall off the roof," she told him sternly, sighing fondly, "Again".
"I'll try, dear," he grinned at her, planting a kiss on her forehead, very nearly knocking her hat off in process as he turned on his heel and ran up the stairs and out of sight.
She shook her head and turned back to Amy and Rory, her smile dimming as she focused on the red head, "Amy, remember to focus on breathing," she said to her suddenly, growing very serious. Amy blinked, confused, but the brunet was already going back to working on the controls, "I want you two to get back to the harness room," she instructed them over her shoulder, "Keep an eye on the others, okay? Make sure they get out of them alright".
Amy frowned, glancing blankly at Rory, "Yeah," she nodded, eyeing her strangely, "I mean, thanks. I'll try to keep that in mind".
"Please do," the Hatter muttered, her attention on the screen before her, a slight frown crossing her face.
Amy and Rory exchanged an equally baffled look before hurrying back out of the room to do as she had told them to do. The Time Lady twisted a dial and pressed a button, glancing back up to see the screen fill with static before it cleared very slightly, allowing her to get an live video feed of what was going on up on the roof. The image wasn't very good, but it was still good enough for her to watch as the Doctor made it out onto the roof, pausing to stare across to where the solar router was spinning around and around in the strong wind, lightening flashing in the sky above him.
He quickly dashed across the roof and over to the small tower that housed the router, throwing the wooden door open. She lost sight of him for a moment as he disappeared inside the small tower torrent and she groaned as the image flickered, quickly hitting another button. She managed to get the image back, but barely and she could only just make out through the static on the screen what appeared to be the Doctor climbing up the ladder that lead up out of the top of the torrent and along the side of the router's tower.
"Come on, sweetheart," she breathed, gripping the edge of the control panel with white knuckles, desperately wishing that she could have gone out there with him, but in her current condition that would have been impossible. She watched tensely as he climbed up to a small power box, but just as he reached out to grab the doorhandle, the video feed cut out and the machinery sparked. She yelped and jumped back, turning her back on the sparking, when suddenly the biggest clap of thunder that had sounded so far rang out and everything turned black…
….
The Doctor awoke with a jolt, his eyes snapping open to find himself lying on his back on the roof, his mind taking a moment before he remembered that he had fallen off the tower with the storm had finally hit. He sat up sharply, ignoring the wave of dizziness that came over him as he looked up at the top of the tower to see that the weathervane was completely gone, nothing but black smoke swirling in the air where it once was while lightening continued to flash across the sky.
He climbed back onto his feet and ran back across to the doorway, almost tripping down the spiral staircase in his hast to get back to the Hatter, needing to know that she and the baby were okay. He made it to the bottom of the stairs, jumping down the last two steps to find the Hatter sprawled across the stone floor, her hat lying a short distance away from her and her hair covering her face.
"Hatter!" he cried, feeling his hearts skip a beat at seeing her lying so still. He ran to her side and fell onto his knees, not even noticing the bruising impact upon his knees as he pushed her hair off her face and pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, flashing it over it, checking the results. He sighed in relief and closed his eye briefly, willing his hearts to calm as the results came back fine. Both she and they baby were fine, in fact they were better than fine, they were both perfectly healthy.
He noticed the Hatter's eyes start to flicker before they opened, blinking up at him blearily for a moment, "Doctor?" she murmured, making him smile and place a hand on her cheek.
"I told you I would be careful," he said lightly.
She frowned slightly, eyeing him for a moment, "You fell off the tower, didn't you?"
"No, I…." he paused, sighing as he realised that there really wasn't any point lying to her, "Okay, yeah, I did a bit".
She began to smile, when her eyes widened and a look of panic crossed her face. She quickly sat up, her hand flying to her stomach, "The baby…" she began, almost frantically.
"Shh, it's okay," he quickly assured her, covering her hand that was resting on her bump, his smile growing softer, "You're both fine. The baby is strong, just like you".
She sighed in relief and closed her eyes tightly for a moment, before she winced, "And it seems to have inherited your ability to kick," she remarked, her eyes opening once more to look at him, sounding more fond then annoyed as she winced slightly again, "Honestly, if this is any indication for what he or she is going to be like when it starts walking, we're going to be in trouble".
"With our genes, I think we are going to be in trouble no matter what our child inherits from us".
"Ah, yes, you do make a good point there".
The Doctor laughed and took her hands, helping her back onto her feet, placing a steady hand on her lower back when she wobbled slightly. She gave him a grateful smile, watching as he stepped over to where her hat had rolled off and picked it up, moving back over to her to settle it back on top of her head.
"There," he smiled broadly at her, looking proudly at his handiwork.
The Hatter returned his smile, reaching up to adjust her hat slightly, "We really ought to be checking on the others".
He clicked his fingers at her, only just remembering that they had more important things to be doing, "Yes, right," he took her hand again, the two of them making a dash out the door.
They ran back through the hallway and down a set of steps, finding themselves back in the main courtyard where they found Cleaves standing at the foot of the stairs, staring up at the sky, looking slightly dazed.
"Cleaves, you're not in your harness!" the Doctor called to her as they jogged down the steps towards her, the Time Lady taking extra care as she went.
Cleaves looked over to them as they neared, "I'm sorry," she said to them, her voice sounding softer then they had heard it since they had first meet her, "You were both right".
The Hatter sighed, glancing at the monastery, "I'm afraid that the factory lost power in the storm," she informed her, recalling how the live video feed had died right before she had been knocked out.
She looked between them, guilt crossing her face, "Doctor, Hatter, I abandoned my team".
The Doctor lightly clapped her arms, "Then let's go get them," he said simply, grabbing her hand and the Hatter's, leading the way back inside the monastery, making their way down another hallway. After a while of walking in silence, he glanced at Cleaves, "How long would you say we were unconscious for, Cleaves?" he asked her.
"Not long," she replied, shrugging, "Minutes, two minutes?"
"Oh, I'm going to say that it was a bit longer than that," the Hatter remarked thoughtfully.
"Well, how long?"
She sighed grimly as they came to a stop at a crossroads in the middle of the hallway, "About an hour, give or take a minute".
The Doctor nodded, looking very serious as he glanced back to Cleaves startled expression, "I've seen whole worlds turned inside out in an hour," he said solemnly, thinking back to a time when the Master had very nearly destroyed the Earth by trying to save his own life. Thankfully, the Hatter hadn't been involved in that little adventure, though thinking about it now she probably would have been a great help after he lost his memories due to a rather nasty regeneration, "A lot can change in an hour".
He and the Time Lady continued walking as Cleaves sighed heavily, cringing slightly before following after them. Soon enough, they found themselves running up a set of stairs and back into the harness room to find Amy and Rory already there, the red head checking on Buzzer, Dicken, and Jimmy, while Rory comforted a rather distressed looking Jenifer.
"Doctor, Hatter," Amy called as they hurried into the room and over to them, "Look, these are all real people, so where are their Gangers?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"Don't worry," Cleaves told her as the Doctor looked around, as if he might actually find the Gangers hiding in one of the darkened corners of the room. The Hatter moved to try and help Rory with Jen, eyeing the girl worriedly as she clung to Rory's arms, "When the link shuts down the Gangers return to pure Flesh," she explained, focusing on her team, "Now, the storm's left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time".
They all froze as Dusty Springfield began playing in the distance.
"That's my record," Jimmy realised, frowning, "Who's playing my record?"
"I believe it's your Gangers," the Hatter said calmly, looking up at the ceiling, "Looks like they've decide to go for a little stroll".
"No, it's impossible," Cleaves insisted, shaking her head, "They're not active. Cars don't fly themselves, cranes don't lift themselves, and Ganger's don't…" she trailed off as the music grew slightly louder, the truth finally hitting her:
The Gangers had gotten loose.
…
They followed the sound of the music that led them to a large hall-like room that had been set up like a dinning/rec-room, slowly parting a set of thick, plastic curtains that hung over the archway as they crept into the otherwise empty room as the sound of the song filled the air from where a record player was set up.
"No way…" Buzzer breathed, staring around the room for any sign of the Gangers hiding, but it was clear that they had missed them.
"I don't…" Cleaves shook her head, slowly stepping further into the room, her eyes wide, "I don't believe this".
"They could've escaped through the service door at the back," Jimmy commented, pointing across the room to a second doorway.
"This is just like the Isle of Sheppey," Buzzer said, casting his eyes around the room.
The Doctor and the Hatter made their way up to the end of the long table in the middle of the room, taking a seat as they eyed the house of cards that one of the Gangers had carefully built before them, "It would seem the storm has animate your Gangers," he remarked thoughtfully.
"They've ransacked everything," Cleaves frowned, looking around at the clothing that had been tossed all around the room, most of it ending up on the ground.
"They weren't ransacking," the Hatter corrected, shaking her head, "They were searching, there's a difference".
"Through our stuff!"
"To them, it belongs to them, too," she replied simply.
Jimmy looked back over to the Time Lords, looking slightly startled by the idea, "Searching for what?" he asked.
"Confirmation," the Doctor answered at once, prepared for the question, "They need to know their memories are real".
"Oh, so they've got flaming memories now?" Buzzer huffed, throwing the house of cards a dark look.
The Hatter sighed, "Their just trying to form a connection to their lives," she tried to explain, though she doubted that anything she or the Doctor might say was really going to have much of an effect right now.
"Their stolen lives," Cleaves cut in, glaring slightly.
"No, bequeathed," the Doctor said quickly, looking across the room to her, "You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, everything".
"You are the reason that they are alive," the Hatter continued, nodding along with him as she looked around to each member of the team, "You gave them not just life, but your very lives and memories. They are you in every way that matters," she smiled faintly, "You humans with your lives, so short and yet so bright, why wouldn't your Gangers want to live just like you lot do?"
"I'll say it again," Buzzer shook his head, "Isle of Sheppey," the others looked at him in confusion, the Time Lords sighing and exchanging a look as he went on, "Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator right there in his harness," the other's grew alarmed, some even looking slightly horrified, "I've seen the photos. The bloke's ear was hanging…"
"Even if this has actually happened…" Jimmy interrupted sharply, looking slightly unsettled, "They can't remain stable without us plumbed in to them, can they, boss?" he looked over to Cleaves.
Cleaves considered it for a moment, "I guess we'll find out," she said quietly.
Jennifer suddenly gasped, leaning against the edge of a large box, her face very pale, drawing everyone's attention to her. The Hatter frowned and rose from her chair, eyeing the girl worriedly.
Rory turned to her, "Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned as he moved towards her, "Do you need some water?"
"I feel funny," Jen told him weakly, looking ill, "I need the washroom…" she hurried out of the room, pushing the plastic curtain apart and disappearing out of sight.
Rory hesitated, glancing back to the Time Lords, meeting the Time Lady's eyes as she gave him a nod and small smile. She would have gone after the girl herself, but it seemed like Jennifer and Rory had developed something almost close to a friendship already and besides, Rory was more than capable of taking care of the woman if she was ill.
"I'll come with you," he called after Jennifer, running after her, disappearing out of sight.
Dicken sneezed loudly into his hand, making Amy jump and flitch slightly. His head snapped back up, glancing at the red head apologetically, "Sorry," he muttered, sniffing.
"…okay," Amy waved him off.
The Doctor exchanged a look with the Hatter before he leaned forward, eyeing the house of cards closely.
"That's me," Buzzer said, noticing his interest in the cards, "It's good to have a hobby. So what?" he frowned, glancing at the house of cards and back to the Time Lords, "My Ganger did that all on its own?"
"Who taught you to do this?" he asked, nodding to the cards.
"My Granddad".
"Your Ganger shares the same memories as you do," the Hatter reminded him, "If your Grandfather taught you how to do this as a child, then so did your Ganger," she gestured towards the house of cards as she spoke, "Everything that you remember, he does too, exactly like you do, just as real and clear".
Buzzer shook his head, "No," he snapped, slamming his hands down onto the house of cards, knocking them over.
The Doctor frowned at him as the Time Lady sighed heavily, "They're scared, disorientated, struggling to come to terms with an entire life in their heads," he tried to make them understand.
….
Jennifer and Rory still hadn't returned from the bathroom, while, in the meantime, the Doctor had decided to have a poke around in the small kitchen that they had set up along the side of the room, finding a couple of pre-made meals. He grabbed one of them and put it on a plate as the others gathered around the table, the Hatter sitting beside Amy with a frown on her face as she listened to the human's talk.
"We need to protect ourselves," Jimmy was saying to the others, a glint in his eyes that made the Time Lady feel nervous, just as she always felt whenever she saw a human get that look in their eyes. It never ended well for anyone.
"Tell me, Jimmy," the Hatter cut in, crossing her arms across her chest as the Doctor stuck the plate in the microwave behind her, "Are you a violent man?" she asked him, fixing him with a long look.
He blinked at her, surprised, "No".
"If that's so, then why would you even worry about the possibility that the other Jimmy is, too?" she raised her eyebrows at him, keeping her tone light, "After all, he is everything that you are".
He stared at her, startled by the questioned, and for a second he actually looked unsure of just how to respond.
Cleaves glanced back over her shoulder to the Doctor, hearing the hum of the microwave starting up as he began heating up the meal, "Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor," she remarked, eyeing him as she stepped over towards him.
"It's not for me," the Doctor replied, shrugging as he spun around to flash the Hatter a smile, "Believe me, my wife's scary when she's hungry".
"Pregnant and hormonal," the Time Lady grinned back at him, holding up a hand, "Need I say more?"
He laughed and shook his head fondly, before forcing himself to grow serious as he turned back to Cleaves, "You told us we were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves, when in fact it was an hour," he said, frowning at her.
Cleaves shook her head, confused, "Sorry, I just assumed…"
"Well, it's not your fault. Like I said, they're disoriented".
"Amy," the Hatter glanced across to the girl, her eyes quickly moving back to rest on Cleaves, who looked even more confused than before, "Tell me, when you got to the alcoves, who had already managed to get themselves out of their harness?"
"Um…" Amy paused, thinking back, just as the microwave dinged and the Doctor grabbed a dishcloth as he popped the door open, grabbing the plate out of the machine with his hand protected against the heat by the cloth, "Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out," she informed them.
The Time Lady nodded, "And what about Jennifer, where was she?"
"She was standing on her own when we got to her".
"Interesting, very interesting".
The Doctor turned and handed the plate to Cleaves, who took it with her bare hand, not flitching in the slightest bit at the hot surface of the plate. He eyed her carefully for a moment, "It's hot," he told her.
Cleaves hissed painfully and dropped the plate, which shattered as it hit the stone floor, "Ah!" she opened and closed her hand, looking down at it to see not a single mark or burn.
The Hatter rose from her chair, walking over towards them as the Doctor took her hand, examining it, "That'll be due to the transmitter still being a bit rubbery," she commented thoughtfully, giving the woman a comforting smile, "The nerve endings are extremely complex, I imagine they must take longer to fuse properly".
Ganger Cleaves snatched her hand away from the Doctor's, staring at them both, "What are you talking about?" she demanded.
"It's okay…" the Doctor tried to assure her, holding up his hands.
"There's no need to panic," the Hatter said gently, resisting the urge to try and reach out to touch the Ganger.
Slowly, she looked back up to them, almost fearful, "Why didn't I feel that?"
"You will," the Doctor gave her a kind look, "You'll stabilise".
"No, stop it. You're playing stupid games. Stop it!" she shouted, making them both jump slightly as she backed away from them and turned away, staring down at her hand.
The Doctor glanced at the Hatter, who sighed but nodded in agreement, knowing that while the Gangers were still trying to stabilise and in such a emotional state, there was no telling just what they might do out of fear and confusion. He stepped closer to Ganger Cleaves, slowly approaching her, "You don't have to hide," he said softly, "Please, trust me. I'm the Doctor".
Ganger Cleaves whirled back around with a loud hiss, her face half-formed and having taken on the milky white of the Flesh. The Doctor stepped back from her, taking the Hatter's hand as Buzzer grabbed a knife off the table and went to run over to Ganger Cleaves, but Jimmy grabbed him, holding him back as he struggled.
"Where's the real Cleaves, you thing?" Buzzer shouted at the Ganger, glaring, "What have you done with her?"
"Shh, it's okay," the Hatter smiled at Ganger Cleaves, forcing herself to ignore Buzzer, raising her voice slightly to speak over the man's shouting, "You're okay. You remember".
"This is early Flesh," the Doctor commented, eyeing Ganger Cleaves half-formed face curiously, "The early stages of the technology…"
The Time Lady reached out and took her hand, giving her a comforting smile and squizzing her hand as she flinched, releasing a shuddering breath at the contact, "It's okay," she said soothingly, "I'm not going to hurt you. Goodness, you have so much still to learn…" her smile widened, delighted as Ganger Cleaves very slowly and almost fearfully, tightened her grip on her hand.
"Doctor, Hatter," Amy cut in, looking backwards and forwards between the Time Lords and Ganger Cleaves, "What's happened to her?"
"She can't stabilise," the Doctor replied, glancing back to Amy, but he swiftly returned his attention back to the Hatter and Ganger Cleaves, just in case something went wrong and he needed to pull the Time Lady back, "She's shifting between half-formed and full-formed, for not at least".
Ganger Cleaves let go of the Hatter's hand, suddenly glaring furiously at the Doctor, "We are living!" she cried, and lunged at him with a hiss, forcing him to stumble backwards as she took off running across the room for the door with a scream, disappearing out the door as the others stared after her.
The Hatter blinked, slightly startled by how suddenly she had turned, but she did note that Ganger Cleaves hadn't tried lunging at her when she was closer to her then the Doctor had been, a much easier target, "Let her go," she told the others, taking the Doctor's hand, "Are you okay, sweetheart?"
The Doctor shifted slighted, looking even more stunned then the brunet, "That was…unexpected".
"Doctor!" Amy gasped suddenly, spinning around to look at them, her eyes widening fearfully, "Hatter. Rory!"
He frowned, giving her a confused look, "Rory?" he repeated.
The Hatter's eyes widened, "Oh, my…Rory!" she exclaimed, her hand flying up to cover her mouth, unable to believe that she had forgotten all about Rory and the fact that he had gone off, alone, with Ganger Jennifer without having any idea what was going on.
"Oh, Rory," he nodded as it finally hit him what they were getting at, "Rory!" he shook his head and pointed at Amy, "Always with the Rory!"
And with that, he grabbed the Hatter's hand and took off running out of the room; Amy and Jimmy following close behind them.
And finally, I got around to posting this. I apologise for not updating it last week, I had planned to, but I watched 'Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them,' and I loved it so much that it got me distracted by the Potter Universe all over again, and, as usual, a story idea popped into my head and I've been unable to think of anything else all week. I don't know if I will ever actually post the story, but I really wasn't expecting just how much fun it is to toy with and how fond I've grown of the OC, so if anyone is curious about it, send me a PM and I'll happily tell you a bit more about it.
Anyway, I've got to say that the Rebel Flesh isn't one of my favourites. I don't know why, I just wasn't overly fond of the episode, but I did love watching the Doctor interact with his Ganger. Tell me what you thought, please review :)
Guest reviews:
Guest (1): A good Master? Sounds like an interesting idea, I would imagine that the Doctor would have to take on the Master's evil role, though, but still an interesting idea to toy around with. Same for the idea about a story of the Hatter leaving Gallifrey but the Doctor staying behind, so I might just do an AU chapter for Time and Space that involve those ideas, if I ever get the time, of course. Thank you for the idea and review :)
Guest (2): Hmm, what episode am I least looking forward to writing? Oh, that's a tricky one, mainly because it's not so much an episode, but more like scenes from episodes. For instance, I'm both excited and very, very nervous about writing the 'Day of the Doctor,' just because it's such a hugely important and emotional episode, and the scene when the Doctors and Clara are about to activate the Moment is one that I can't wait to reach and can't help feeling worried about not doing it it's proper justice for what I have planned in my head. It's going to be a very emotional episode that one and the more emotional the more nervous I usually get about not giving it its full justice. But, as for episodes, I guess I'm not overly fond of 'A Town Called Mercy'. I'm not into Weston's and it just didn't capture my attention like Doctor Who usually does, so I've only ever watched the episode once since it very first aired and I don't think I even really watched it properly, I think I got distracted because I just didn't like it as much as other episodes.
Guest (3): Ooh, what am I looking forward to in the next season? Hopefully more Classic Who references, I love Classic Who and seriously need more references. I'm also hoping that Jenny the Doctor's Daughter will turn up again, but I'm not holding my breath on that one and really wouldn't be surprised if we never see her again, but I do think that it would be a missed opportunity. But as for the show, just a lot of running and adventures and I can't wait to see what the latest companion will be like.
Guest (4): I actually have thought about writing an AU about what would happen if the Ninth Doctor found the Hatter, and I would imagine that they would have ended up together a lot faster than with the Tenth Doctor. Ten had feelings for Rose, he might not have been in love with her like he was with the Hatter, but he still felt something for Rose and that held him back from telling the Hatter. But Nine, he would have probably have ended up confessing his feelings for her by the end of the first season, if not in the middle of it. Nine was still grieving for her, his pain was still fresh, he wouldn't have waited very long to be with her if he got her back. For some reason, I can just imagine Nine being a lot more assertive in regards to just coming straight out and telling the Hatter how he felt about her. As for Rose, you're right; she and the Hatter would have been very close without the jealousy getting in the way.
And for the Eleventh, well, it actually breaks my heart a little bit just imaging what would have happened if Eleven had been the one to find the Hatter. He would have still loved her, but River would have complicated and changed everything for them. You're right, they wouldn't have had a child or gotten married, the Hatter would have been a lot more interested in finding her own TARDIS and going off on her own. It would have simply have been too painful for her to be in love with him and to watch as he slowly fell for River, unable to do anything but smile and act as if she was overjoyed for them when really, inside, she would have felt as if someone had stabbed her in her hearts.
As for Twelve, it would have been different again. Twelve would still have feelings for her, buried deep, deep down after centuries of being without her and they probably would have just have had a very close friendship like they always have had. Too much time would have passed between them for anything romantic to happen, and I imagine the Hatter would have been very sad to see what her best friend had done and all that he had endured. But, even still, they would still love each other, just very, very deep down.
Guest (5): That's…actually a very good idea and one that I will have to think about. I've actually got a plan for the Hatter's mother, though she's not a part of the Council, but she is involved and there will be a scene with her and the Hatter, though that is a long time off and I'm known to change my mind as I'm writing even after carefully planning a scene.
Guest (6): I didn't write Love and Monster because it just didn't have any impact on the story because it didn't involve the Doctor or the Hatter until the very last scene. It wouldn't have been worth writing it when the story is written mainly from the Hatter's perspective. I almost didn't write Blink for the same reason, but in the end I decided that it was an important episode for the sake of the Angels and I managed to turn it into a chapter that also featured quite a bit about the Doctor and the Hatter's relationship. Also, Love and Monster's is possibly my least favourite episode of them all and to me, seems more like a filler episode, so I didn't bother.
Guest (7): The Gifted One as more like a useless title by the time the Hatter was born. In the ancient days of Time Lord history, the Gifted One was a Time Lord that was born with a higher than average telepathic ability, and you have to remember that this was during a time when Time Lords communicated only through their minds, so having a high telepathic ability was very important and highly regarded. They were also considered to be smarter, though that isn't completely true with the Hatter because the Rani was just as equally as clever as she is and the Doctor could also be considered to be just as smart, it's just that the Hatter and the Rani were better academically then he was. The Gifted One is also considered to have superior sensors, the Hatter has excellent hearing and sense of smell, even for a Gallifreyan, and flexibility.
The Gifted one, as I mentioned above, was a pretty useless title by the time the Hatter was born. In the old days they were highly regarded and expected to help build Gallifrey, so it could be speculated that Rassilon himself was a Gifted One, but by the time the Hatter came along Gallifrey was already well established and the title become more of a traditional one rather then one of any great importance or need. She was still treated like the past Gifted Ones had been and had great expectations placed on her, but she wasn't needed and the Hatter has always considered it to be the most ridiculous title and position that she has, hence her rebelling against it and her disdain for the title. So, basically, the Gifted One is a title that while still greatly respected and regarded on Gallifrey, is nothing more than an old tradition and Time Lords have always been rather set in the old ways of doing things.
To be honest, one of the things that I regret bringing into this story has been the whole Gifted One thing. I began writing these stories four years ago, when I was about fourteen, fifteen and I've grown a lot since then and now that I look back on them, this is one element that I wish I hadn't come up with, but it's now become such a big piece to the Hatter's past that it would be impossible for me to completely erase it, but you might have noticed that I try not to bring it up in the stories if I can help it :)
Guest (8): That sound like a very interesting idea and I'll have to seriously consider it and how I could make it work, but at this point my knowledge on anything to do with audio adventures is nearly nonexistent, so I won't be doing anything from any of the audio adventures until I've got around to listening to any of them. I'm afraid that I'm one of those people who has to research almost every little bit to try and make sure I'm being accurate, so I'll really have to listen to the adventure before writing anything for it. But thank you for the idea and suggestion :)
Guest (9): Oh, no, it really is fine. I'm one of those people who will read the last page of a brand new book just to make sure that their favourite character hasn't been killed off. Seriously, I know it's terrible, but I just have to know and make sure otherwise I just end getting more and more worried. I'm constantly asking my dad to tell me spoilers from TV shows that we both watch, but he never does. I do tend to avoid Tumblr if there is a new episode of Doctor Who, but I really don't mind if I get a sneak peek or spoiler, I knew that Clara had died an hour before I even got to watch the episode. So don't get upset, I really don't mind spoilers and I really do hope that you don't feel too bad because I seriously don't mind.
That's very nice of you, I'm so glad that you like the stories, and you have no idea how happy you made me getting all of these reviews. 11 in total for one chapter! I almost died of shock and happiness, and nine in total from you. I really am stunned and so grateful, so don't feel bad about spoilers, you couldn't possibly have made my day any better :)
So, for all nine reviews, thank you so, so much :)
