The Doctor sat at the control panel of the TARDIS and stared at the little bundle on the bench across from him. The little bundle stared back. The Doctor looked away and put his head in his hands. He could feel those blue eyes burning into the back of his neck, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe if I give her a name, she won't seem so frightening. For the child was, indeed, a female. The Doctor had discovered her gender when he dressed her in fresh clothes and wrapped her in a blanket, for her skin was abnormally cold to the touch.

The Doctor took his head out of his hands and looked the baby in the eyes. As always, the baby stared back. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, but he ignored it.

"Alice," he said. "Your name is Alice."

Alice's face lit up and she grinned a wide, toothless grin that made her eyes sparkle. If not for the white hair and odd eyes, she would have looked like a normal child. The Doctor bit the inside of his cheek as he looked at her. For better or for worse, there was no turning back now. He had to find out what the child was and where she belonged in the universe.