Prologue
Working for Madeline had become a chore, just like she knew it would. Her mum had told her specifically that. "If you start working at a job you don't like just for the sake of it, you'll hate waking up every morning," and she wasn't wrong. But Madeline never gave up, even if she was barely scraping minimum wage, she needed this to work out. So what she'd struck out of luck with that job at the local library, a retail store was no different.
Except the only thing interesting she found at Henrik's was the conversations she would overhear between her coworkers. Gossip wasn't her favourite thing, but it stopped her from caving the head of whoever she was serving like a zombie, that and her one and only friend.
Rose Tyler seemed to be the only person who's ever wanted to talk with Madeline back when she started as a shop assistant almost two years ago. And ever since the two were never without each other.
Madeline had pushed for her friend to ask out her newest boyfriend Mickey, and it was going well considering they'd be coming up to being together four months soon. And Rose had done her fare share of trying to set her up on blind dates, each ending in a disaster that may or may not have been intentionally instigated by the young woman. She wasn't giving up on finding someone, she was just refusing to settle for someone she'd grow to hate within a few weeks.
Dating wasn't her thing anyway. Books and science, now those were definitely always on her to do list, especially since she was preparing herself for the next year of medical school.
Soon she'd have it all figured out.
But for now she was stuck in that annoyingly loud and overcrowded department store. And she was okay with that, as long as she was stuck there with Rose by her side, then she could do anything.
However that day she was sorely unlucky as she'd promised Christine that she'd switch shifts for her as she needed to take her nan to the doctors, for what she didn't know and didn't ask. She didn't like prying into people's lives. And she didn't like other people prying into her's.
--
After gulping down her morning coffee and basically inhaling her pastry she began working. Fortunately she had the morning shift so afterwards she could go straight home and read, study or nap. Or possibly all three in whichever order she preferred.
Now it was about twenty minutes before her shift ended and she was reorganising some of the shelves and clothes racks. Until she head a weird noise. A beeping sound like a heart monitor or a metal detector. Whatever it was, it was distracting and getting louder.
Just as she turned to find where the noise was coming from she found a device shoved near her face, soon becoming acquainted with the cause of the infernal beeping that never ceased.
"Can I help you?" She asked, sighing as she noticed the hand gripping what appeared to be a homemade device and soon followed until she was eye level with a man.
A man with very big ears apparently.
"That's weird," he said, ignoring her question, continuing to scan her from head to toe, well more like head to torso because even for him that would look weird. "You're not made of plastic by any chance, are you?" He finished, leaving her perplexed.
"No." She drawled out, beginning to consider his question, before she mentally shook herself out of it.
"Hmm, hope this isn't broken then. Only just fixed it earlier on, it's been at the bottom of some old suitcase for a while." He muttered, mostly to himself. "Oh well, probably just a slight glitch, haven't worked out all the kinks yet."
Madeline just nodded, wanting out of the conversation. Perhaps he was drunk, or more likely just a straight up madman.
Nodding along was all she could do as she went to pick up the severed hand of a mannequin that had fallen onto the floor not too far away. She'd put it down on the closest shelf she could reach when she had heard the beeping. Now all she wanted to do was get on with her job and leave so she could call Rose to tell her about her boring and uneventful day.
Now she'd have an interesting story to tell about the madman who came in the shop interrogating her about her claims of being human.
"Anyway, I'm the doctor. And you never saw me, got that." At first she thought it was another question but realised it was a statement, and it wasn't like she could report him he didn't give her his name. So if he wanted to be a ghost she'd let him stay that way. No prying. So she nodded. "Good. Have a nice day." He gave her a toothy grin as he rushed away to another side of the store.
Men are weird.
"Alright Doc, whatever you say." She laughed as she pictured the man in a messy white wig and a lab coat, all he needed was a time travelling DeLorean and he'd have the perfect Halloween costume, shame it was March.
Soon she'd be at home, and that was all that kept her from following the man and figuring out what he was up to. She could never resist an adventure. But today she would have to.
Perhaps another day.
