Jess had been allocated an average sort of bedroom, with a bed and a bedside table, chairs and another table. Lamps were unnecessary, and the lights were operated mostly by a little turning knob rather than a switch.

The sleeping girl was nestled comfortably in the smallish sort of bed. Or she was, until she suddenly propelled herself upwards, eyes wide open.

"The Doctor..." she muttered vaguely. She got up out of the bed and felt her way along the dark room before locating the knob that controlled the lights, then turning it. She then sat back on the bed, scratching her head in frustration.

"That man..." she continued to mutter. "That vile, despicable..." She paused and stared at her reflection in a mirror on the wall. She stood up and poked it experimentally. "Well, of course nothing would happen," she assured herself, resting herself on the bed again. "He's... he can't..." she frowned. "Who's he? Well, the Doctor, of course. But who's he? Who's the Doctor?"

She stood up, prowling the room and frowning. "Doctor what? Doctor what? I know this. I know I know this. So I know I know something I know I've quite forgotten at the present moment." She deepened her frown. "Logically, I suppose that makes sense. But it's rather difficult to say..." She held the fist at the end of her left arm with her right hand. "Doctor who?" she asked herself, irritated.

Jess sat sullenly in what appeared to be a doctor's clinic made of the same bland white metal as the rest of the building. Yes, Christine was a lot like her several-hundred-times great grandmother. When Jess had asked her who the Doctor might be, Christine decided to take Jess to the medical ward.

If Jess hadn't been keen to do research, she would had laughed at the pure irony Zoe wouldn't have understood. Since she was, though, she had decided to be sullen instead.

For the past hour.

For a doctor with no other patients, he sure was rather busy.

Finally, Jess was allowed to see the incredibly lazy doctor – human, like everyone else in the place.

"What's your name?" the doctor asked.

"Jess Smith," Jess replied grumpily. "Can I go now?"

"No no, Miss Smith, your friend made you come here for a reason."

Yes, but it wasn't like I agreed or anything, Jess felt like pointing out, but didn't. Logically, the less complaining she got done the faster the doctor could finish and the faster she could do her research.

"So, you remember someone but don't remember exactly what you remember?"

Jess blinked. "I guess," she replied uncertainly. This doctor had a gift for babble second only to her.

"And your mind thinks of him as a Doctor?"

"An idiot Doctor," Jess corrected. "Absolute imbecile."

"Uh, and your friend thinks I can help somehow?"

Oh brilliant, an entire hour wasted thanks to a Li. Again.

"Well, I think I can!" the doctor beamed. He found a small bottle and gave it to Jess. "This is a memory-inducing drug. It's like the cure for amnesia. Have some."

Jess stared at him. "What, here?"

"Why not?"

"No reason." Jess smiled and took a swig of the small bottle. The drug was surprisingly tasty – in fact, it tasted rather like tea. How Jess missed tea. She handed it back gratefully and paused. "Should it have worked by now?"

"Any moment no-"

Jess screamed and fainted.

"Jess? Jess? Are you all right?"

Jess opened her eyes to find Christine kneeling next to her.

"What did you remember?" a worried, tearful Christine asked. "What made you collapse like that?"

Jess shook her head. "Horrible," she brushed the question off.

"Tell me," Christine insisted.

Jess ignored her. "First, I want you to tell me everything you know about Doctor Frank Sloth."

"Didn't you remember everything? That drug was supposed to induce total recall."

"Just... just do it," Jess smiled and Christine agreed.

"This is ancient history," Christine told her. "The time before year 8 is known as the Dark Age. One of the ancient rulers of Neopia had tricked the populace, and over a period of time replaced Neopets – ancient creatures that died out completely in the fifteenth century – and their owners – humans – with androids. The androids ran amok. Nearly everyone was killed, and the gateway to Earth was sealed."

Jess nodded. "Go on."

"A wonderful scientist appeared out of nowhere. He was Doctor Sloth. He gave the few humans who survived weapons needed to fight the androids. They won." Christine grinned proudly. "Zoe Li was a prolific fighter," she declared.

Jess grinned. "That sounds just like Zoe," she mused. "Go on."

Christine nodded. "There were very, very few citizens in Neopia at that time," she continued. "Less than three hundred over the whole planet. Naturally, they rallied around the Doctor, who confessed that he was embroiled in a battle to wipe similar androids off Detrum, Rostoca, and several nearby planets. We Neopians – we helped him defeat the robots. In return, Sloth gave us technology beyond our wildest dreams. Videos. CD players. IPods."

Jess smiled as she remembered how primitive technology had been back in her time. "Is that it?" she asked.

"Of course not," Christine replied. "He valiantly defended our universe against these android creeps. They appeared everywhere, massacring entire planets and the like."

"Until the end of his life?" Jess prodded.

"I imagine so," Christine stated. "Until the end of time."

"Time?" Jess asked. "What do you mean, time?"

"Sloth gave us the gift of immortality in the seventeenth century," Christine breathed happily. "I am a hundred and fifty-three years old."

"You mean... you can't be killed? You're indestructible?"

"That is what indestructible means," Christine replied, puzzled. "Now you're just moving on to unrelated questions. Tell me what you remember. What was horrible?"

"Nothing," Jess lied. "I overreacted. I... I remembered the time my sister stabbed my calf."

"Your sister stabbed your calf?"

Jess nodded. "Look. I'll show you." She rolled up her left jean leg and pointed out the dark patch on the back of her calf. "I was five at the time."

"Your sister's really mean," Christine decided. "No wonder you were fooled... imagine the blood!"

In truth, Jess barely remembered the incident – though it had happened. She remembered that much. Though at least it was a reasonable excuse.

Then Jess looked around. "Where'd Dr. What's-his-name go?" she asked.

"Kratasky," Christine replied. "And he went to lunch. As should we."

Jess smiled. "Excellent. I'm starving."

"Excellent," Christine grinned. "They're serving fish today. It's a food they even had in ancient times."

Jess smiled. "I know." She allowed Christine to drag her to her feet and lead her to the canteen.

Neither girl noticed the security camera that had documented their entire discussion.