The Doctor surveyed the battlefield in front of her, hands on her hips and her brow furrowed in determination. She had to get out of here.
"No sonic, no TARDIS," she muttered. "But I do have a half burnt Dalek shell, bits of Cybermen, and my own brain. That'll have to do for now. I've been in worst straits."
She knelt down beside the smoldering Dalek and peered inside. Most of the wiring had burnt away, but the gun actually looked mostly functional. She wrenched it away and tested the firepower. A blue bolt shot out at the force field, causing it to bubble and warp.
"Interesting," she remarked.
"The Doctor is coming, right?" Jenny asked.
"What, you don't think I can get out of here by myself?"
"Well, without the TARDIS we're still stuck on the planet."
"I was taken from the TARDIS," the Doctor said, examining a Cyberman leg. "It might be here, too. Even if it isn't, I'm sure we can find a ship of some sort."
"Maybe."
"Next up, the biggest mystery of the planet," a voice echoed down the path.
"Here they come," Jenny sighed.
The Doctor paused to watch as half a dozen excited tourists came into view. She was immediately fascinated and went right up to the force field for a closer look. They were tall, slender creatures with long, skinny necks and small rounded heads. Their three round eyes stared at Jenny curiously, and their skin was a marbleized blue and red. One little one turned from Jenny's exhibit and looked at the Doctor innocently.
"Aren't you beautiful," the Doctor whispered.
A serrated, reptilian tongue flickered out of the child's mouth as she giggled and smiled.
"What's your name?" the Doctor asked softly.
"A-ray-a," the girl said slowly.
"Araya? I like that."
"Not so close, Araya," the girl's mother snapped, pulling her back. "That one's dangerous."
"Ah, yes," the tour guide announced, walking over gracefully to the Doctor's exhibit. Although they used their legs, the motion was seamless, and they seemed to glide across the ground. The zookeeper's voice was silky smooth, almost hypnotizing. "This is our newest addition and the pride of all Pandloria! The Doctor, Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm, Destroyer of Worlds, Scourge of the Universe, and the most powerful and dangerous creature on this moon!"
"Aw, you don't have any Daleks?" the Doctor asked, feigning disappointment. "They're much more dangerous than me, I can assure you."
The zookeeper looked annoyed. "The Doctor has killed millions of creatures across the universe, even obliterating her own planet!"
"Actually, that's not true either," the Doctor said apologetically. "I put it in a pocket dimension for its own protection so the Daleks killed each other. Everyone's alive, don't worry."
"The Doctor is known as the master of lies, the greatest manipulator, escape artist extraordinaire, and king of deception," the zookeeper continued. He or she looked angry now, though their voice maintained the same tone.
"You're just saying that because you didn't like what I said. Although I do agree with the escape artist one."
"Silence!" the zookeeper said commandingly. "You are all now about to witness a rare moment, the regeneration of a Time Lord!"
"Whoa!" the Doctor said, jumping back and putting up her hands in protest. "You can't do that!"
"Indeed, we can," the Pandlorian said with a sinister smile. A gun rose from the ground in the center of the exhibit and slowly turned to point at the Doctor.
"You really can't!" she exclaimed, desperately racking her brain for an answer. "Because...this is my last regeneration! This is it! Once you kill me I won't regenerate again."
"Lies. The Doctor is immortal, changing shape and form when killed to better hide from enemies."
"We only have 12 regenerations, 13 bodies," she explained rapidly. "I'm on my last one, I swear!"
The Pandlorian suddenly held up their hand and the gun retracted. There were multiple of disappointment groans from the onlookers. The zookeeper leaned close to the force field.
"You will be tested on this, Time Lord, and if you are lying, we will kill you."
"Time Lady, please," the Doctor said in a threateningly low tone.
"I am sorry, ladies and gentlemen," the zookeeper said, withdrawing. "Until we verify the information about the Time Lord, we are unable to witness a regeneration. If you will please follow me, we will now return to our shuttle for lunch and questions as we head back to Pandloria."
The Doctor glared after them as they left, but smiled when she noticed Araya turn back to look again.
"What do they mean, regeneration?" Jenny asked when they had left.
"You don't know?" the Doctor asked. Jenny shook her head and looked concerned. "To make a long story short, when a Time Lord is about to die, every cell in our body is burned and re-birthed. We get a whole new body completely healed from any previous injuries. New face, new personality, everything. It's sort of a chance to move on to a different era of life. That's why people think we're immortal."
"Has the Doctor regenerated, then?" Jenny asked, looking down at her feet.
"I don't know what he was like when you saw him," the Doctor said, stalling for time. She wasn't quite sure if she trusted Jenny yet. Everything in her wanted to race across the path and wrap her arms around her daughter, never letting go. But she knew it could still be a trap; something was definitely wrong here. "How do you know him?"
Jenny didn't answer for awhile. "I'm his daughter," she said finally, forcing the words out. "I was cloned from his DNA on the planet Messaline. It was taken against his will; he never really wanted me. I had only just connected with him when I was shot. There was a war. He was able to stop it...but someone tried to assassinate him. I got in the way first. I think I died. But somehow I got brought back to life. Was that a regeneration?"
"Only if you changed your whole body and face," the Doctor said gently.
Jenny shook her head. "That's the thing. I have two hearts like a Time Lord, but I didn't regenerate. I just came back to life somehow. That's why no one can figure out what I am. The Timeless Child. I'm not human and I certainly don't age like one. I'm not Time Lord. I'm not a clone. My brain was programmed for me by the progenation machine. Even I don't know what I am. The Doctor left before I came back to life, so he never even knew about it. I've been trying to find him ever since."
"How long has it been?" the Doctor asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"Twenty years," Jenny said falteringly.
The Doctor felt her heart break. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
Jenny shrugged and turned away, going back to mess with the scientific equipment around the room. The Doctor turned back to the Dalek and Cybermen parts, hiding her face so Jenny couldn't see the tears. Her heart ached. She wanted to tell Jenny how long she had waited, hoping beyond hope for a regeneration, and the desperation when nothing happened. She wanted to tell her how guilty she had felt for years afterward. How did Jenny survive? It had been thousands of years since Messaline, so the details were fuzzy at best. She couldn't remember exactly what happened. What did she miss? The Doctor poured all her energy and focus into re-wiring the circuits. She couldn't dwell on that now. They had to escape first, and she had to determine that it really was her daughter Jenny before she could tell her anything. It was hard to concentrate. Being a mother felt very different than being a father.