It was early morning (Delorous Time) when the Doctor awoke. As he looked around for Rose and felt the cold sheets next to him, he instinctively knew that Rose was no longer in the TARDIS, and that something was terribly wrong. He quickly pulled on his trousers and jumper, running down the corridors to the Control Room. He tapped the console to get the ship's attention.
"Locate Rose Tyler," he stated clearly. A map flashed up on the screen in front of him, scouring the city for Rose. After a while, there came an apologetic sounding bleep from the control panel.
"What do you mean, you can't find her?" The Doctor's voice had risen slightly, a clear indication of his worry. There was another couple of bleeps and information scrolled across the screen in several languages.
"Something's blocking you?" The Doctor frowned, sighed and quietly thanked her for her effort. "Wake up Jack, will you? We're going to need him."
The Doctor ran through all the worst possible scenarios in his head, and found them getting decidedly darker as the minutes passed.
Eventually Jack burst in, hair wet and clothes rumpled. "Rose is gone?"
The Doctor nodded, eyes flicking to the Captain's wet hair and skin. "Decided to take a shower, Jack?" He said, in an unreadable tone.
"No. She turned the sprinklers on in my room," he gestured to the console. "Woke me up fast enough," he turned back to the Doctor. "What happened to Rose?"
"She's not here, and the TARDIS can't find her." The Doctor sighed heavily, "I should have kept a closer eye on her."
"'Should have' isn't going to help us now," Jack rubbed his hands together. "Time we start asking around."
"Asking people? Jack, there's a population of one million on this city alone. It's take hours"
"Well, she can't have gone very far; besides, more people to ask about Rose."
The Doctor nodded slightly and they left; the TARDIS bleeping sorrowfully for her missing inhabitant behind them. They started asking around for a young, blonde female human, but everyone they spoke to had just arrived for work. A couple said they had seen her walking through the square early that morning, but were unable to tell them the direction she went in.
After a few hours of searching, they slumped down in a couple of chairs outside a small café, tired and no closer to finding Rose.
"So she got shot, was dizzy and disorientated for a few minutes, that cleared away and she felt normal, but with no memory of what had happened, and then she disappeared of her own accord," the Doctor said, mentally ticking off what they knew, and sighed again.
"I hate to interrupt, but I think I may be able to help..." the Doctor's taut face relaxed for a moment as he greeted the fair-haired man now standing across from them.
"Noel." Noel grinned and nodded his head in reply. "I thought you were still in that bar I left you at."
"Nah, decided to clear off after the guards turned up. Thought they might ask me for my name, age and address."
"And you'd confuse them with the answer: 'I don't know my age'."
Noel gave a lop-sided grin. "Exactly. I'd have to explain the whole 'being born between times' thing."
"Oh, right. Jack, this is Noel Trivescar, Noel this Jack Harkness," the Doctor introduced them. "What were you saying about being able to help?"
"I know someone who had the same symptoms as your friend. He only turned up again yesterday. Doesn't remember a thing about what he's been doing for the last few days. His family reckons he's been out on the razz, but that's something even I can't manage, and I remember at least something after drinking Mars's best bar dry of its strongest alcohol in one night."
"Can we meet him?" the Doctor asked, leaning forward hopefully.
Noel shrugged and nodded. "Sure, I just don't know how much help he's gonna be."
They all stood and Noel led the way through the crowds, returning the greetings people called to him, and yet Jack noticed he didn't completely fit in, much like he and the Doctor didn't.
"What did he mean by 'born between times'?"
With his eyes still on the man in front of them, the Doctor replied to Jack's question. "Noel's parents were Time Agents; he was born in his father's ship as they were going to this century from another time in the past. So while his mother insists he was born in 2502, he's not too sure himself. He likes to confuse people by telling them he doesn't know his age."
"Here we are!" Noel broke into the conversation; he was standing at the open door, which had a tiny dark headed girl peering out. Noel crouched down and spoke to her gently.
"We'd like to speak to your brother, Kitty, is he in?" The dark head nodded once "Can we see him?" Another nod and a tiny hand seized Noel's jacket sleeve, pulling him along and into the house. Noel nodded to them, and they followed him in, closing the door. Jack and the Doctor entered the room, finding Noel already talking to a young man near a window facing out into the street.
"Neil," The young man introduced himself. At their expressions he added "My parents are old-fashioned. I'm not sure if I can help you but I can try."
"You don't remember anything at all?"
"No," Neil shook his head. "And what's strange, is that the same thing has happened to a few other people as well. I know some of them from the University I go to off-world. At first we thought they had spent the last few days drunk, and hung-over, but it's strange, nobody remembers anything in the slightest."
"University...are they all about your age?" Neil nodded. "Smart and young...vulnerable..." the Doctor mused, starting to pace.
"They seem to be disappearing for longer too. The first was only gone for a day or so. A freshman, I think. The students seem to be getting older too, I'm in the last year of University," Neil added helpfully.
The Doctor had been watching Neil carefully while he spoke, and had noticed something in his eye. He leaned forward with his sonic screwdriver ready.
"Hold still please." The blue light flashed over Neil's right eye, and something dropped into the Doctor's waiting hand "Thanks."
Jack leaned forward, curious. "What is it?"
The Doctor examined, the tiny wires, and picked out the even smaller writing along one side of a wire. He cursed darkly.
"I should have known."
Jack took the wire and read it: 'kyrios' and 'kosmos'. "World Lord?" Jack translated, looking blankly at the Doctor.
The Doctor scowled. "Not for long"