Title: Manipulation of the Mind
Author: Trustno1
Disclaimer: Not mine, please don't sue me, I'm poor.
Chapter VIII
Rose wandered around the labyrinth of corridors in the TARDIS. Just as she had thought, the Doctor managed to polish off his tea and half a dozen chocolate biscuits, stare alternately into space and at Rose, before jumping off the couch claiming to have heard 'something' in the general vicinity of 'everywhere', if the vague sweeping of his arm around the control room were any indication. Rose had rolled her eyes good-naturedly and let it go gracefully, even though she knew she had won.
Deciding that she didn't want to spend about five hours watching the Doctor's head bob up and down under the grilles, and occasionally see small sparks, or hear the odd bang and alien expletive, Rose told his rather unresponsive form she was off to explore the TARDIS.
Thus, she found herself in a gigantic, dark room; it was about four times the size of her mum's entire flat, if she had to hazard a guess, and it contained an equally huge 3D model of the Universe. She was currently standing in the projection of the Milky Way, and had discovered with delight that if she concentrated her thoughts particularly hard on an area of the Galaxy, the TARDIS would make it zoom in. The Solar System – hers – sped towards her, just level with her head, at a remarkable velocity, before coming to an abrupt halt, planets and moons orbiting a shining Sun about the same size as a dining room table. Rose just stared at the perfect replica of Earth orbiting slowly around her, before realising, with some embarrassment that her jaw was trailing the floor in a rather undignified way. She closed it hurriedly.
Rose spent almost two hours in the astrology lab, looking at her Galaxy, the system they were in at the moment, and the planet they had just visited, as well as taking a brief glimpse at elsewhere in the Universe. She was wondering how much longer the upgrade would take, and if the Doctor would have enough time to point out some interesting, safe planets for them to visit, when she was overcome with fatigue. It crept up on her slowly, then engulfed her like a tidal wave; Rose just managed to make it to a small couch in the corner of the room before her legs gave out and unconsciousness swallowed her.
Hi Rose, remember me? I'm sure you don't, you were pretty out of it. I expect you remember what we talked about though, don't you? You should. I'm sure you've been getting some strange feelings – they won't seem strange for much longer, you just need educating on real life, and this is what it is – an education. You need to learn, Rose, and if you don't learn fast enough, you'll be punished. It's a shame to punish someone like, you, but, needs must. And you must learn to behave and think more sensibly. You know what happens if you don't comply with my little rules; it happened last night, and don't tell me you don't remember – you've been remembering all day. You don't want to dream that again, do you? You don't want that to really happen? Because it will, if you don't listen, and learn. Don't forget.
Rose stirred slightly. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and the astrology lab swam into focus. Newtonia was still orbiting a large red sun in front of her. Carefully she swung her legs to the floor; her head throbbed uncomfortably with the movement, at the base of her skull, almost at the back of her mind. She shook her head to clear it, but a sharp pain shot down her spine, and she had to stifle a cry.
A strange sense of déjà vu descended on her again; she felt like this when she woke up. It felt like a lifetime ago now – how long had she been asleep for? Walking gingerly to the door, she started to hope that the Doctor had finished the upgrade, but stopped herself. Somehow, she knew she shouldn't be thinking like that. An instinct, gut-feeling, that if she continued along that train of thought, he head would ache all the more, and her body would feel as if it were on fire. Rose didn't question this instinct; it actually felt quite good if she thought about it. Like a long dormant knowledge that, now wakened, will improve life immensely.
So she didn't hope the Doctor had finished. Instead, she thought that if he had finished, it would be nice because they could go and see the birth of her Sun. But if he hadn't (which, she thought, was almost certainly more likely) that wouldn't matter at all. There was, after all, no point in worrying about something that may not even occur.
End Chapter VIII