Epilogue

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The Doctor entered the console room several hours later. A hefty book was tucked under his arm. He found Adric bent over one of the computer screens, hastily scratching notes on a thick pad.

"You look busy," the Doctor commented.

Adric glanced up. "I'm reviewing some basic programming algorithms."

The shadow of a frown flickered across the Doctor's face. "And how is the review going?"

"I think I still understand all of this." He pressed his hand over the screen. "But then I suppose I wouldn't know if it had been taken from me—"

Setting the book carefully on the other side of the console, the Doctor moved to stand next to Adric. "I've had a rather lengthy discussion with Tegan about her experience with Morra. I believe that the children took only small fragments from you and her. In her case, Morra took her memory of the landslide. In retrospect, she realized that she was thinking about it just before Morra touched her head. Of course she can't recall precisely what Morra took, but the only memory that seems to have vanished is that of the landslide. Nyssa and I have asked her numerous questions about other events and information from her life, and we can't find anything else that has disappeared."

"But Morra only did it once to her," Adric protested.

"That may be, but I still believe that the children took very little. Tegan said that Rannal was writing equations on his slate, and from the few symbols she could recall, it seems that he was reproducing the formula for the rate of decay of subatomic particles—precisely that bit of information that you were missing."

"But what if he took more? What if…" Adric paused and looked down at the screen again.

"What, Adric?"

"What if he took memories of my brother or my home? What if those are gone forever?"

"You have to believe that they aren't. You must cherish the memories that you have, whatever they are." He placed his hand on the young man's shoulder. "A rather great man—Earth's Abraham Lincoln—once described memory as a 'midway world 'twixt earth and paradise.' Think about that, Adric."

Adric took a long breath. "He meant that memories can sometimes be more than we make them out to be, didn't he?"

The Doctor smiled. "Perhaps. It is for each of us to decide, just as we must each decide how to use our memories."

Adric was quiet for a few moments, then pointed at the book upon the console.

"What's that?"

The Doctor rested his hand on the volume. "The book you were studying just before we landed. I think that you'll be able to relearn the information quickly. Here," he paused to open the book and rest his finger on the page, "have a look at this."

Adric complied, his eyes moving rapidly over the symbols before him.

After perhaps half a minute, the Doctor asked, "So what would be the rate of decay of tamallium?"

Immediately the boy replied, "Fourteen thousand, seven hundred twelve."

With a grin, the Doctor said, "Excellent, Adric! The last time you saw this equation you misinterpreted one of the values."

Frowning, Adric asked, "I did?"

In response to the Doctor's nod, he added, "Well, I suppose there are some things that really are best forgotten."

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