The Doctor hurtled himself out of the way of a bomb blast, as he frantically tried to think up a plan. In the absence of one, he was waving his sonic screwdriver about and pretending to look clever, all while frantically trying to keep himself alive. That usually worked until he could figure out a plan.

"EXTERMINATE!"

The Doctor spun around, realizing too late that he'd failed to take into account whatever was behind him. Just before the shot impacted, someone grabbed him by the hand and dragged him down into the mud, where he rolled down a small hill and was pushed into an alcove carved into the hill's underside. He was in the process of spitting out the mud he'd swallowed during his fall, when a stern voice whispered, "Sh!"

They both fell silent, as the Dalek approached. It scanned the battleground ahead of it, surveying the bodies of dead Time Lords for several long seconds.

Then, finally, it decided to assume it had killed its target, and turned around and left.

The Doctor wiped the mud from his eyes and turned to his rescuer. He blinked. "Seo?"

She was covered in mud, and her eyes looked far more tired and weary than normal, but she beamed at him as she always did. "Hello! I'm here to bug you!" She waved her hands to the right. "Oh, and I brought a friend. She's over there-ish."

Another blast exploded above them, showering shrapnel and mud around their hiding spot.

"These paper dolls really have to stop using live ammo," Seo complained, as she and the Doctor huddled together, waiting for the Dalek to pass. "They'll burn themselves up. Me, too, I guess." She thrust her hands in his face. "Why am I made of paper? Please tell me there's a way to un-paper me. I don't like being a doll — it's giving me Celestial Toymaker flashbacks."

The Doctor grabbed Seo's hands. Frowned, examining them. Then, to Seo, "Your hands look fine."

"They're not fine!" She showed him from the side. "See? They're thin, like paper — like the Daleks and the other Time Lords are."

The Doctor shot her a quizzical look. Then he brought her hands up to his face, peering at them more closely. Ducked down to see them from below. Shook his head.

Her hands seemed completely normal.

"Yes, well, that's... worrying," the Doctor decided. "And fascinating! But worrying. Because, see, I built this place — so I know how it works. The systems should still be recalibrating themselves to accommodate you as the prisoner. Until that happens, then what you're talking about — the division of yourself into numerous different Seo-slices — shouldn't be happening. And even if it is, you probably shouldn't be able to see it."

Seo yanked her hand away from him. "What do you mean, you made this place?"

The ground shook, and little bits of dust and rock dropped all around them, as the alcove they were in threatened to collapse.

"This way!" someone shouted at them.

The Doctor looked around. Couldn't see the source of the voice, but it sounded female — and scared.

Seo looked around, but she clearly saw something the Doctor didn't. Her eyes lit up. "Oh, brilliant! She's found us a way out!" She glanced up past the top of the alcove. "We just need to wait until that paper Dalek tries to swivel around."

"Swivel...?"

"So the paper contorts around its gun and it can't fire anymore!" Seo insisted, like it was obvious.

The Doctor couldn't help but give a little laugh. Some days, he'd give his right arm to see the world the way she saw it. First, on the fake Gallifrey, and now, on this fake Nitvenah...

"Now!" Seo shouted, dragging him after her as she ran towards a nearby ruined brick building. Just as the Dalek started firing, the ground dropped out below them and they smashed down into a dried-up sewer. A woman in a muddy business suit grabbed them by the arms and dragged them off. As the Dalek began firing and flying towards them, she kicked a button to her right and the platform that had dropped zoomed back upwards, fitting in place once more.

The only light that remained were the flickering luminescent globes lodged into the walls at regular intervals. The Doctor blinked, as his eyes adjusted.

"How did you know about this place?" Seo asked, impressed. "Or that button?"

"I remembered seeing something about this battle in the data banks of the Battle TAR..." She stopped, as her eyes finally landed on the Doctor. She stared at him. "Oh."

The Doctor looked down at himself. "Oh? Why oh?" He patted his forehead, just in case he had something really obvious poking out of it — like a Dalek eyestalk. He didn't. "What's 'oh' about me?"

"Nothing. Just... nothing." The woman turned around, and began to run down the empty sewer pipe. "Come on. We have to get out of here."

As the Doctor began to run after her, he glanced at Seo — running beside him. "Who's your friend?"

"Zeera something." Seo beamed. "She's three-dimensional, so I saved her."

"Ah!" The Doctor grinned, pat Seo on the back. "Exactly the woman I wanted to meet. Well done." He sprinted forwards so he was running directly beside Zeera Kardeni. "So... 'oh'."

Kardeni said nothing.

"You recognized me," the Doctor asked, "didn't you?"

"Mr. Stenman had me run a scan on you when you entered the Main Complex," said Kardeni, refusing to look at him. "I recognized you from your image on the cameras. That's all."

The Doctor hopped a bit on his feet. "Yes, but I'm betting you didn't 'oh' back then. Not until you saw me in person — and recognized my telepathic Time Lord signal."

Kardeni didn't answer.

"Does the name Bivazeerilordonrayum mean anything to you?" the Doctor asked.

Kardeni's breath caught in her throat. Then she blinked, regained her composure, and kept running. "I know where you're going with this, Doctor. You're going to be disappointed."

They turned a corner and found themselves in a hidden base filled with symbols of Rassilon on the walls and burnt out surveillance machinery around them.

"Let's just get this out of the way," Kardeni said, halting in the middle of the room and turning to face the Doctor. "I know what you're talking about. I know why it's important. But this is all just some stupid joke that went too far." She held open her hands. "Truth is — I don't have a broken fob watch. Never have. I'm human."

The Doctor stopped in front of her. "Ah." Hesitated. Then, leaning in towards her, "Nothing sort of vaguely fob watchy? Something you can't bear to part with? Something you never thought to open, but aren't sure why? Locket? Ring? Very stuck jam jar?"

"There's this." Kardeni reached around the back of her neck and undid the clasp of her crucifix necklace. "Craig gave it to me when we first started dating. Oldest piece of jewelry I've got." She took it off and handed it to him. "Go ahead. I don't mind."

The Doctor took it. Scanned it with his sonic. Shook his head. Tried to open it — but it didn't open. Frowned, staring at it for a few moments.

"Disappointed," the Doctor sighed, handing it back. "Right."

"I'm sorry." Kardeni put the necklace back on. "I just didn't want you to get your hopes up. My friends have always called me a 'Time Lord' as a joke. Every so often, Time War survivors hear the nickname, take it seriously, and come looking for me. The Monans, the Nekkistani, the Unvos — I don't even remember them all. My friends think it's very funny."

"Yes, well, I suppose..." The Doctor stopped. Frowned. Then reached over and put a hand over her eyes. "Describe my face."

Kardeni tried to take his hand away. "What are you...?"

"No, really," said the Doctor, firmly keeping his hand in place. "What do I look like? From memory. Chop, chop!"

"I don't know! Old!" said Kardeni. "Scraggly. Kind of a beard. White hair..."

The Doctor lifted his hand to reveal his actual face.

Kardeni gave a nervous laugh. "I guess it's a little dark down here."

The Doctor nodded slowly. Caught Seo's quizzical look, and answered it back with his own. "How are your parents doing, Zeera?" the Doctor asked. "Have any childhood chums you keep up with? Old neighbors? Grade school pen pals?"

Kardeni turned away. "We should probably..."

The Doctor gave an annoyed sigh and grabbed her by the arm, spinning her back around. "Yes, yes, you don't want to talk about it. But if you haven't noticed..." He pointed his sonic upwards. "Big evil killy space monster. Out there. Right now. Hates you. Thinks you're Bivazeer." Tucked away the sonic. "So — parents?"

For a second, Kardeni didn't speak. Then, finally, she admitted, "Dead."

"Yes, yes, yes, but dead how?" the Doctor insisted. "When? Why? Where?" He clapped his hands in front of her. "Details! I need details!"

"House fire!" Kardeni shouted at him, grabbing his hands. She shoved him away from her. "I was sixteen. I don't want to talk about it."

Seo looked upset about this.

The Doctor draped a hand over her shoulders. "Don't worry. Not real! I forgot you don't know how this works." He quickly explained the chameleon arch process to her. Then he waved a hand at Kardeni. "Standard chameleon arch backstory, really. Conveniently allows her to show up with no past, relatives, belongings, etc."

Kardeni turned on him. "That's not true. I had relatives. They just didn't want anything to do with me." She fidgeted with her necklace. "I was taken in by a family friend. I..." She bit her lower lip. "It was the worst time of my life. The nightmares came back. I started hearing things again. No one wanted to have anything to do with me. Then the rubble from my burnt-out home was burglarized and my parents' office was torched and — I have nothing of theirs, Doctor. Not a photo. Not a keepsake. Nothing." She held her necklace tightly in her hand. "If it hadn't been for Jesus..."

Seo's frown deepened. "Sorry, the rubble was burglarized? Is that a thing?"

"You've never lived in a rough neighborhood, have you?" Kardeni stepped back, slumping in place. "Weekly burglaries. Monthly fires. Pretty much everyone I knew was threatened or beat up or shot at some point or another." She looked into the distance, smile lighting up her face. "But I had my Time Lords. My stories and books and Lanterns. It was this beautiful other world where I could escape real life and just enjoy the adventure and excitement and magical majesty of all of it. I read about them. Wrote about them. Dreamed about them."

The Doctor perked up at the word 'dreamed'. "Good dreams? Nightmares?"

The smile dripped off Kardeni's face. "Both." She looked away. "My dad was kidnapped and tortured for information when I was little. My brain meshed it into the Time Lord dreams. It was the only way I could cope."

"Ah." The Doctor grimaced. "That does sound a bit dire for chameleon arch memories, actually." Clasped his hands behind his back. "Well, I suppose maybe you really are just a normal human..." He paused. "No. Just a minute!" Pointed at her. "The Battle TARDIS rescued you."

"Me?" Kardeni put a hand to her chest. "No, it didn't..."

"Yes, it did — because Seo shouldn't be here yet," the Doctor insisted. "That's not the way it's supposed to work. But she is here." He waggled a finger at her. "Why? Because your TARDIS sped up the process, so it could send you a Seo-slice to keep you safe." He stepped towards her. "Zeera, did you say you 'started hearing things again' when your parents died? Hearing how?"

"I don't want to..."

"Big evil killy space monster!" the Doctor reminded her. "You hear the TARDIS, don't you?" Tapped his head. "Up here."

Kardeni fidgeted uncomfortably. Then, muttering, admitted, "I don't know what I keep hearing. It's always been there. Kind of a... singing. Humming. I have medication for it."

"Medication? To stop you hearing the TARDIS?" The Doctor made a face. "Why?"

Kardeni didn't answer.

"Because you told someone about it, and they thought you were mad," the Doctor realized. "Oh, dear." He grimaced. "Did the medication work? Please tell me it didn't work."

"It worked." Kardeni shuddered. "It felt awful."

"Oh, it'd feel rubbish," the Doctor confirmed, scratching his own head. "Like a mouse crawled up and died inside your brain." He paused. Then, with a smile, "Did you say felt?"

Kardeni said nothing.

"You stopped taking it, didn't you?" The Doctor winked.

Kardeni fidgeted with her necklace. "I... um..." She closed her eyes. "Please don't make me say it. I don't want to be institutionalized again."

The Doctor quickly assured her that she wasn't insane and this was all perfectly normal. But he was feeling more and more disturbed by the whole thing. If these were chameleon arch memories, they seemed unusually dismal and miserable. And the chameleon arch didn't usually incorporate its own side-effects into the constructed memories. "Zeera, this rough neighborhood of yours — where was it?"

"All over," said Kardeni. "We kept moving around."

"Planet?"

"Liron-2, mostly."

"Oh, Liron-2!" the Doctor's face lit up. "I've been there. Lovely place. Very suburban and collegial. Where did you live?"

"All over," said Kardeni. "We never stayed in the same neighborhood for long. When I was nine, we lived in Varhopman, around Emmer street and Page."

The Doctor began drawing a map of the city of Varhopman in front of him. "Emmer street and..." He paused. Looked back at Kardeni. "That's the nice part of town."

Kardeni shrugged.

"And you say that everyone you knew around there was routinely shot, beat up, or burgled?" The Doctor scratched his head. "And you were institutionalized? And your father was kidnapped and tortured?" The Doctor began pacing up and down. "That's odd. No. Not just odd. That doesn't make sense." He clasped his hands behind his back, head bent. "That doesn't make one tiny little bit of sense at..."

He trailed off, as he realized that Seo was standing beside them, arms akimbo, glaring at them.

"You're talking about me, aren't you?" Seo demanded. "Specifically talking about me, specifically in a language I can't understand."

"In a language you can't understand?" Kardeni asked. "I don't..." Then, as if realizing, she clapped her hands to her mouth. "Oh, God. I didn't even... How long have I been speaking it?"

"Minute or two," the Doctor said. "I flipped you into it." He winked at her. "You realize you speak Gallifreyan like a native, right? And with a rather distinctive accent from the eastern mountains area — a bit south of where I grew up."

The hidden base shook with the noise from a nearby explosion, and they all found themselves thrown to the floor. A broken red light behind them began blinking.

"What was that?" Seo asked, picking herself up from the floor.

The Doctor jumped to his feet. "No clue. Probably something bad." He brought out his sonic screwdriver and buzzed it at the nearby burnt-out machinery, trying to coax it back to life. "Any ideas, Zeera? You were in this battle. What did they drop?"

"I promise you, I wasn't," Kardeni insisted, but came over and tried to help him fix the equipment, anyways. She swore beneath her breath softly, as she failed to produce any results. "I've got no clue how any of this is supposed to work." Then, wryly, "Told you I wasn't a Time Lord."

The Doctor checked the readings on his sonic screwdriver. "What?" Hit it. "No, no. Make sense!" Pointed it at the machine again. "Nothing!" Checked his sonic. "What? No! Stop saying that! Why is...?"

He stopped.

Looked up at Seo, who was standing next to the little red light, looking on at them and stifling laughter.

The Doctor sighed and dropped the sonic to his side. "There isn't actually any machinery, is there? As far as you can see, we're just rearranging the wall coverings."

Seo beamed.

"Is anything here real?" the Doctor asked.

Seo flicked the little red light, which bobbled to and fro. "Yep." She leaned down, pressing her ear against it. "And there are voices coming out of it. I can barely hear them." She screwed up her face and closed her eyes, concentrating. "I think it's Jenny!"