8. Morning on Gallifrey.
Simeon is waiting for Chloe as she emerges from her apartment. They kiss, and Simeon takes her hand in his. They walk together to work.
"You said you came from Tinsel?" Simeon asks.
"Yes, it's a lovely place," Chloe says.
"I hope you don't mind - I looked it up."
"That's very thoughtful of you," Chloe says as they quicken their pace to arrive before the start time.
"That's such a lovely name for a planet, I wonder how they arrived at that name?"
"The planners were probably dreaming of Christmas," Chloe says. It had long been a point of humour at home.
"I saw it has a blue star," Simeon says. "Nice spot?"
Chloe is glad that Simeon is taking an interest in her. "Yes, it's beautiful."
There are so many other things Simeon could ask Chloe, but he senses that if he asks too early her answer won't be as clear and might be evasive. Besides which, he likes Chloe and is enjoying engaging her playfulness.
"That was a lovely day we had yesterday," Simeon says as they enter the building. "See you in the manufacturing area." He strides off to the men's changing area to put on suitable clothes for the nominally sterile environment.
After changing, Chloe goes to see how the other new joiners are faring. She hears a noise coming from a break room, but pauses and hides between two lockers so that she can overhear a conversation...
"Are you sure they kissed?" an unknown voice says.
"Yes, I saw them," Harry's voice says. "I wouldn't have thought it proper for them to be mentor paired."
Chloe groans quietly. She and Simeon must have been seen last night. She returns back down the corridor and into the manufacturing area. Then she heads straight for Simeon.
"Simeon, I just overheard someone talking about us kissing, and how it wasn't right for you to mentor me."
Simeon groans. "If it comes to it, they might make us work separately, but we can still date. That's far more important to me. But wait; see what happens."
"Thank you, Simeon. I value that." Heartened, Chloe sets about her assigned tasks for the day.
As Chloe works, she finds more information. It is supposed to be on a need-to-know basis, but she arranges to work on the teams that perform tasks that carry the most interest for her.
At work, this takes her away from Simeon, but that doesn't seem to bother him, maybe he's half expecting that now.
She continues to date Simeon, and so far he has kept her secrets, but will he continue to do so? She worries.
As Simeon walks Chloe back to her apartment one day he has a burning question.
"You're the only person ever to work in the Tardis factory who has travelled in a Tardis. What are you hoping to gain from working there, apart from meeting me?"
Chloe has been expecting this question. "I'd like to register my Tardis," she says.
"But why? It seems to work perfectly well without registration. When we went to Nolland, it wasn't prevented from going, or returning."
They arrive outside Chloe's accommodation. Chloe feels she ought to say more. "Please come in and we can chat longer."
The enter Chloe's lounge and sit down.
"Why are the Tardises registered now?" Chloe asks.
"Nice easy question," Simeon says. "So that the Master can't so easily approach and arrive. Every Tardis can be identified before it materialises. If his Tardis arrives, it will be ejected strongly and firmly!" As Simeon says this he glows with pride at this Time Lord achievement. "It's said that he will be ejected so strongly that he won't be able to stop for a year! That might be over-egging it a bit, but you'll get the idea."
"Yes, it sounds impressive," Chloe says. "At least we know we're safe here!"
"We needed that safety while we were re-building Gallifrey."
"But the Master is safely behind bars now," Chloe says, "so, he won't be troubling us."
"Did you know he escaped?"
"Yes, it was my mother who then returned him to the Judoon Master Palace prison."
There's a silence. Chloe suddenly recognises that she's accidentally said something too revealing.
"Wow!" Simeon whispers. His eyes open wide as he looks at Chloe. "You're the daughter of Crystelle? Wow!"
"Is that alright?" Chloe says.
"Alright?" Simeon says. "It's fantastic! And I'm dating you. Wow!"
Simeon seems over-awed. He has heard a while back on the News that the Master was re-captured and re-interned, and the name and image of the person who managed it, but no further details. He now feels like he is dating royalty.
Simeon quickly gets a grip of himself. "I'm so pleased. I'm hoping this doesn't affect us. I like you so much."
"And I like you loads, too," Chloe says. They kiss.
"You weren't kidding when you said you had some secrets to tell me," Simeon says. "But these are amazing and lovely secrets. I'm still puzzled as to why you're here - it's like you're undercover."
"Yes. I had to find out a bit about Tardis registration before presenting my Tardis to be registered. It felt too risky to just walk in and try to register it."
"I've an idea. I'll arrange for you to go to the Tardis Registration office. But rather than ask to register a Tardis, ask about the procedure. Explain that you're a new starter. I've never personally needed to go there yet, but I hear there are two procedures. One for a new Tardis, the other for a new Model of Tardis."
"Sounds fun," Chloe says, feeling the opposite as her stomach tightens at the challenge. Yet this will bring her mission into focus and answer many of her outstanding questions.
This begins another step in her mission to register her Tardis. How will this step go?