The journey from Richmond to the Tower, experienced four times over, from four different perspectives. Was very trippy…the whole matter was rather confusing. Four yet one, and all. The Doctor found himself resorting to nicknames for his future and former selves.
Chinny, at first, was mercifully quiet; simply sitting there, with a big smile on his face that if seen on any other face would suggest a slight concussion. Granddad sat off to one side, obviously indignant. "You're quite quiet."
"His hands are tied," piped up Poppins, noticeably attempting to mask her giggles, which wasn't easy with her hands tied as well.
"Laughing at your own jokes is a bad habit, isn't it?," Chinny said, before laughing at his own joke.
"By the way, noticed the wink back there," said The Doctor. "What was that about?"
"Non-verbal communication?," inquired Poppins.
"Should try it sometime," replied Chinny, the two of them once more slipping into a double act.
"Honestly," snapped Granddad. "Do you take anything seriously?"
"Yes..no..possibly..depends," stammered Poppins.
"Enough, all of you!", demanded the Doctor. Returning his attention to his future self, "You've got a plan, don't you?"
"Yeah, I might have one"
What followed next was a rapid-fire conversation covering the merits of the plan, the dangers of revealing said plan too early, the option of simply pretending to have a plan til something came up that you could pretend was the plan along, the need for a particular plan as well as the need for a particular plan to be clarified sooner rather than later, a reminder thsat the driver might overhear them devising a particular plan, and a request from said driver to keep it down a bit.
"Look, I like plans, rather fond of them really."
"First time for everything," murmured Chinny.
The Doctor glared at him, while continuing on. "But I would really like to know what the plan actually is, because in case it's slipped your notice, we're all about to get the chop!"
"At which point," said Grumpy,"is there the slightest chance all of you will stop talking?" The Doctor, and his future selves looked affronted at their past self. "Because I'm putting in a request," he continued,"not to be on the next spike."
After what seemed to take forever, but was probably a few hours. All Four Doctors eventually found themselves in a cold cell deep under the Tower of London. Once inside, The Doctor started around the walls, attempting to find anyway out of their predicament. Bow Tie immediately rummaged around the floor til he found an old, rusted nail and flicked it. He appeared to be happy about something as he turned to scratching away at a stone column. Their future feminine self was staring at the door, a bewildered look on her face while Grumpy was scanning the door with his sonic screwdriver, its red tip glowing.
There was now a scraping sound coming from behind the Doctor. When he turned around, he saw Chinny busy scratching at the wall with the nail he had found. "What are you doing?," The Doctor asked.
"The plan?"
"What plan?"
"The office plan," said Chinny.
"Oh, that's clever! Wish I had thought of that."
"You will have!," Poppins said over her shoulder, and all three of them started laughing together. Grumpy turned back to the door, focusing once more on scanning the door with his screwdriver.
Poppins was at his side in a moment, "What are you doing?"
"It's either investigate alternatives to our current predicament," Granddad said, "or listen to the three of you prattle on. So, if you don't mind, i will concentrate on alternatives."
Poppins slipped on her glasses, and took a glance over the door herself. "That's not going to help, you know"
"You're not exactly helping, now are you?'" snapped Granddad.
Poppins tapped the side of her head. "Jumbly wumbly remember..still recovering from regeneration. Scrambled memories.."
THe Doctor decided to try to seize control of the moment. "Okay, let's sum up, shall we? The Doctor began to pace as he spoke. "The Queen of England is now a Zygon, but that's not what interests me."
"Interests me," Poppins murmured, earning her a glare from both the Doctor and Granddad. She replied indignantly, "Fine, but i can still taste calamari..just saying."
The Doctor graced her with one more glare before continuing on, "Anyway, you know what does interest me? You!"
Poppins pointed at Granddad first, the herself, then back to Granddad. A startled look on her face. "Him? Me? It's him, right? is it me?"
"Here's the thing. This is where I'm supposed to be. Tracking Zygons in Elizabethan England.."
"Snogging the Virgin Queen.."
"Hey! This is my part of our timeline, my patch. That vortexy thing opens up, and basically my past and future get dumped on my head. Very Christmas Carol. But why?"
"Why don't you ask your little playmates. They're not supposed to be here either.," Grandad declared as he continued to scan the door.
"I'm asking you why, Grandad?" said The Doctor. "Me and Chinny, we were surprised. She was surprised too..but you showed up already looking for us. As if you already knew. How? How did you know?"
"Don't you remember?"
"Oi!," came a plaintive cry. "Chinny?"
"Wheels on the bus go round and round..round and round.." The male incarnations all turned to look at their future female self in varying states of confusion. "Don't you see? Of course, he doesn't remember.," replied Poppins. "Our timeline is tied up in a nice little bow..bows, snows, rows, knows, who knows? Memories all over the place..selective amnesia. Meet yourself, forget til the trigger event repeats."
"Chinny?" repeated Chinny indignantly.
"You do have a bit of a chin."
"Well, that's something for him to look forward to then."
"I'm booking the extra shaving time now."
"I'm trying to get through the door. Four of us contained in one space over time could cause some very nasty anomalies." Grandad turned to faced them, braced for their stares. "I could trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules-in theory the door should disintegrate."
"You'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire door at the sub-atomic level," said Chinny, and it struck the Doctor that his future self didnt look so young anymore. "Even with the sonic, it would take years."
"More like centuries", stated Poppins, now seated on a rotting, wooden bench. Her hands clasping the handle of her umbrella as she rested her chin upon them.
"Might as well get started.", said Grandad as he activated his sonic. "It might help to pass the timey-wimey."
The Doctor and Chinny exchanged glances while Poppins giggled softly to herself. Then Chinny returned to scraping at the wall with his rusty nail, while The Doctor leaned against a column. Casually tossing his sonic.
"Timey-wimey," repeated Grandad. "Do you have to talk like children? What makes you so ashamed of being grown-up?"
Three pairs of eyes turned toward him, Chinny's scraping stopped again. The look the trio gave made it obvious that there was no doubt as to their answer: Grandad. He was the source of their shame.
"The way you all look at me," he said. "What is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than dread.
Once more, the three Doctors shared a knowing glance. One of fear, weariness, and regret.
"It must be really recent for you," said The Doctor, to break the silence.
"Recent?" asked Grandad.
"The Time War," said Poppins softly.
"The last day. The day you killed them all."
The Doctor shot his future self a look. "The day we killed them all."
"Same thing," he said.
"It is not the same thing," The Doctor told him. His words kept bouncing round the walls, and The Doctor realized he'd shouted. Chinny only looked back at him oddly. "How recent?" The Doctor said, turning back toward Grandad. "The last day, the end of the Time War. I'm asking how recent that was for you."
"I don't want to talk about it," he said.
"You're not talking about it," The Doctor pointed out. "There's no one else here."
Grandad fell silent and looked at the floor. The Doctor left him to it. The Doctor turned his attention to his successor, he had nearly finished scratching a string of numerals into the wall.
"Did you ever count?" The old man had joined Poppins on the bench across the room. His gaze rested on the floor, and his voice was low.
"Count what?", asked Chinny.
"The children." The response was greeted with silence, growing about the room. "Did you ever count how many children were on Gallifrey that day?"
The silence dripped and scuttled and paced.
"I have absolutely no idea," Chinny said.
'How old are you?" asked Grandad finally, looking up at Chinny.
Chinny shrugged. "I dunno. I lose track." He turned back and began to scrap again on the wall. Twelve hundred and something, I think. Unless I'm lying. I can't remember if i'm lying about my age, that's how old I am."
"Four hundred years older than me. And you've never wondered how many there were. Never once counted?"
"What would be the point?"
"2.47 billion," said the Doctor angrily. He grabbed his future self by the lapels and spun him round to face him. "2.47 billion!" He was screaming now. "And you forgot?" He roared into his other self's face. "How do you forget that? Four hundred years? is that how long it takes?"
"Please" Poppins was suddenly up between The Doctor and Chinny now, one hand on the Doctor's and the other on Chinny's. "Stop this.."
"No, I want answers.." declared The Doctor.
"Sorry spoiler alert!"
"Why don't you ask her, she's one of us too.." said Chinny.
"Don't..", murmured Poppins.
"Don't what?", asked The Doctor.
"Just don't.." The sadness in her eyes was very tangible. "please.."
"Why not? You show up, act all wonky..claiming to be our future. Yet you refuse to remember the past?"
"Pot..kettle."
"Tell me!", yelled The Doctor. "I want to know here we are going.."
"The time has come, to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax. Of cabbages and kings", murmured The Poppins Doctor. Her other selves watching her in various degrees of disbelief as she seemed to drift off into a trance, mesmerizing in her stillness..words flowing freely from her lips. "Nothing could bring me closer..Nothing could bring me near.. I lost myself, I lost the..Heartache calling me. I lost myself in sorrow..I lost myself in pain..I lost myself in gravity. Memory, leave, leave, leave"
"What?" murmured The Doctor, unable to understand what was happening right now. Was his future self beginning to go insane before his eyes?
"Answers you seek, answers you find..", murmured Poppins, her cheerful demeanor shifting into something else entirely..her eyes seeming to bore right into his..their soul. "I suffer the dreams of a world gone mad..I like it like that, and I know it. Try having your past a blur..getting only hints and glimpses. Knowing the basics: I'm the Doctor, check.. Considerably older than two thousand. Double check..I'm a Timelord of Gallifrey, pardon..Timelady..sorry, chipped in for the upgrade!" Their female counterpart began to pace back and forth, obviously becoming more distraught as she tossed her umbrella aside. "Now..now..All those flashes begin to become clearer. And then, you know what else?" She stabbed a finger angrily at Granddad. "You begin remembering what he..we did! Trust me, when i say..ignorance is the truest bliss. Imagine remembering again so much..feel it rushing into your brain. Remembering again why we run..always having to move forward, afraid to look back. Eagerly seeking out that grand next adventure..the next distraction..anything to keep from remembering! All of it! Happy now? Satisfied?" Poppins turned away and returned to the bench, snatching up her umbrella along the way, and slumping down on the bench. Tears could be seen glistening in her eyes, reflected in the light.
Chinny began to chuckle himself.
"Is something funny?", asked The Doctor snarkily. "Did I miss our funny thing?" Pointing at Poppins, "She amuse you?"
"No.." Chinny's chuckles grew silent, a more serious look crossing his face. "I was just reminded of how we become when we are alone..even with ourselves."
"Strangers even onto ourselves..," murmured a forlorn Poppins.
"I don't know you.. any of you.", declared Granddad quietly. "You can't possibly be me?"
"They are who you will become", said The Moment. Sitting beside The War Doctor. "The Man Who Regrets, The Man Who Forgets, and The Woman Who Recollects.."
"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?", murmured Thirteen softly. The War Doctor flashed her a startled look. She placed a finger to her lips. "I'll never tell…"
Turning his attention from his future feminine self, he saw another of his future selves. The skinny fellow in the striped suit and sand shoes, leaning casually against a column. A thoughtful look upon his young face as he idly tossed his sonic up in the air and catching it as it fell.
"It's the same screwdriver." murmured The Moment. "Same hardware. Different case.."
Granddad climbed to his feet, holding up his sonic. 'Of course," he whispered. "It's the same screwdriver."
"What do you mean?", asked the Doctor.
"If I scan the door, and turn it into a subroutine in the screwdriver's software architecture, then the calculations will keep going..and if you really are me, and those are still the same screwdriver.."
"Of course!", exclaimed The Doctor, flicking up his own screwdriver.
"No, calculations still going on for mine", said Chinny.
Poppins stood up, drawing out her own sonic. Hers was actually buzzing. Glancing down at the graph display on its back, she said, "Calculations complete.."
"Pack your bags, ladies! It's moving day!" exclaimed Chinny excitedly. "You know we've had our differences," He continued as he aimed his screwdriver at the door. "But when it comes down to it, whatever anyone says, we are four awesomely clever TimeLords."
To underline his point, he spun round on the spot and..aimed his sonic right at Clara Oswald!
Poppins leapt to her feet, a startled look on her face. "You?!"
"H..How did you do that?", asked Chinny.
"It wasn't locked", said Clara.