BIG BANG
Part VI
Beyond Comprehension
"What are you doing here?" The Doctor's voice said.
"Huh?" Jack's shoulder hurt. And not just his shoulder, but that's what hurt the worst.
"What are you doing here?"
Jack opened his eyes. He was in the TARDIS, but not the TARDIS. It was different in vast and unimaginable ways; he was tempted but he'd have to categorize them later. He was different, too, but he'd have to deal with that later as well.
And he was looking at The Doctor, but not The Doctor. "I'm here because something has gone wrong."
The Doctor spoke to him, but his mouth did not move. "Yes, you are correct, something is wrong, but it is you that is wrong. You're not supposed to be here."
"What have you done with my friend?" Jack changed the subject, not liking the direction the discussion was going.
"What friend? Who?" There was a pause. "Oh, you mean this one?" The Doctor's voice replied. "He's gone. He didn't fight as you did. He didn't hold back. But he was interesting. There was a lot more to him than you."
"Gee, thanks," Jack muttered beneath his breath.
"Where am I?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation moving.
"You are in our reality; we've looked into your mind and have tried to approximate your existence as closely as possible to accommodate your limited ability to communicate." It hurt Jack to hear the harsh words spoken by the Doctor's voice. "From what we've seen of your various imperfections, our reality would cause you to go mad, if not cease to exist totally."
"Well, that doesn't sound so good."
"No, as we said, you don't belong here."
"We?"
"Yes, there are many of us – vast numbers of a type and quantity beyond your comprehension."
"Beyond my comprehension… You must think I'm pretty stupid."
"Compared to us, you are."
"You remind me of a friend, the way you talk."
Jack asked, he thought it wouldn't hurt to try: "Can I have my friend back?"
"No. Tell us why and how you came to be here."
Jack quickly weighed his options. He saw no reason to lie… perhaps to retain some information just in case, but there was little reason to not be honest; and perhaps powerful incentives to speak the truth.
"We were brought here, to this point in our temporal reality, because our existence and the existence of others like us were threatened."
"Brought here by what?"
"By an intelligence I do not understand or control" – he was being at least partially truthful there. "It brought us here because it is safe."
The Doctor's voice laughed at this. "You are hardly safe."
"At least I'm alive."
"You are not even that. You are in between life and completely ceasing to exist."
A Simple Goal
The conversation, as well as voice of The Doctor, was starting to depress Jack.
He fought the urge to go silent and give up. He knew the part he was playing was critical and that for the moment a lot depended on him.
"I've shown you mine, now you show me yours," Jack said, thinking that he'd always wanted to say that to The Doctor.
"Yes, we can tell you this. We will use terms harvested from your mind, so that you can understand." Jack thought he noted a derisive tone to the words. "We've come to terraform this place, your universe. We've come from your before, and we do not want to cease to be; we wish to continue. This we will do, but we must change all things. We can not live in your universe, with your physical laws. We are not matter as you know it, our universe developed differently and we will alter the development of yours to suit our needs."
"It's a straightforward enough goal, I suppose, but what of those whom you destroy?"
"They will never be. There will be no destruction because they will never have existed. It is as simple as that."
Again, Jack didn't see the point of pursuing the topic, so he moved on. "Can I see you?"
"No we are so unlike you, the place we come from is so peculiar as to be beyond…"
"Yes, beyond my comprehension, I know," Interrupted Jack. He'd heard that once too many times for his liking.
"You are primitive…" the voice had a quality of becoming weary. Jack worried that he was running out of directions, so he retried an old one.
"Can I have my friend back?"
"No… Why?"
"Ah-ha!" thought Jack. At least something different this time…
"I don't know… what do you want to hear? I miss him. I love him. I want him back. He's special and unique and should be allowed to exist. He's important to me and is deserving of your respect. He's got a wonderful sense of humor, is smarter than anyone I know and has a great body. He's got beautiful brown eyes, a smile that would melt your heart, if you had a heart, and the most magnificent, contagious laugh.
"He has freckles on his face and a mole between his shoulders. He constantly amazes and astonishes me. He has a brilliant mind, a kind heart and a gentle soul. He is phenomenally brave. He has elegant, graceful hands. He makes me laugh and he makes me cry. He drives me crazy sometimes, and people who meet him either love him or fear him. He is my friend and more. I love him and would die for him."
Jack wasn't sure if this last bit had been wise, but he continued, "Is that enough or do you want more?"
"But he is not simply dissimilar; he is vastly different from you."
"My universe is one of infinite diversity; we coexist."
"Yesss…" the voice hissed. And Jack's world went black.