5 Oscillations Toward Destiny
It only took about an hour for Nina to insert Rose into the system. Rose asks for Nina's assurances that Massive Dynamic will remove all official records of her visit once they are finished. Nina agrees readily. She'd already decided the same; this was a one off.
Nina is extremely intrigued by this young woman. Her confidence and soldier-like demeanour remind her of Olivia, but her humour and easy banter are all her own. She made note of the weariness and hints of grief that shadow her eyes at times, and it makes Nina wonder what trials she's persevered through. She's so young to have that weight of knowledge behind her golden brown gaze. And for all the unusual circumstances that surround her, ones that ought to trigger Nina's alarm bells, she instead wants to trust Rose. If she's learned anything from Olivia—both the child she remembers and the amazing woman she knows now—it's to trust her instincts. She will assist Rose.
Being a Sunday, it should be a moderately simple process to get Rose into the gateway. Massive Dynamic is in charge of monitoring the gateway and the machines. Scientists with high enough clearance have at times traveled far to have the once in a lifetime chance to observe something so incredible. Sundays are when these sanctioned visits are undertaken. Nina inserted Rose into the system as a British theoretician visiting as part of a diplomatic agreement. Rose's timing had been brilliant as this meshed with an actual visit happening on the outside.
The drive to New York is uneventful. They chat about inconsequential subjects, steering clear of future events, though sharing the past to see where they may line up. Rose is fascinated at how similar this Universe is to her Prime Universe. The attack on the Twin Towers in NY, the intact British Monarchy, so many parallels. And yet, she can feel the constant near ache in her bones that this is not her Universe.
The only similarity between her alternate, Pete's World, and theirs is the zeppelins. Otherwise they are vastly different. None of her companions have much information on the alternate Europe, but certainly by comparing what little she knows of the two Americas, there are no matches. Rose is again amazed at the vast number of possibilities made manifest in the Multi-verse. It makes her miss her life on the TARDIS with the Doctor. Sure it was dangerous at times, but there was always something new to explore. Thinking over how she felt back then, she realises what she really misses is her innocence. This realisation washes through her and a single tear slides down her cheek as she watches the landscape whiz by through the SUV's windows.
She's startled out of her reverie by Walter patting her hand. "Are you alright, Blossom?" he asks quietly. Peter and Nina are conversing easily in the front of the SUV about plans for Olivia's birthday party next month. Apparently, it will be a surprise.
"Yeah, Walter, thank you. I'm always alright," she replies, chuckling at herself for using the Doctor's most irritating answer to the same question and Walter's inability to get her name right.
"I know what that means, dear, and it is not true. Peter has told me about his timeline, but in my memories, he died—twice. I know how it feels to lose the one you love, to have them ripped from you. And later when my Elizabeth died…," Walter says, pausing a moment. Taking a deep breath for strength to continue, he goes on, "When Elizabeth died I couldn't keep going. I was weak and I fell apart; I was lost for so long." Looking up at Rose, she can see the tears standing in his eyes. She reaches out and places her hand on his arm this time.
Squeezing her hand, he continues, "But now, I have him back! It wasn't easy and I'm ashamed to say I was not particularly agreeable to his addition at first, but I know he's my son; in here," he says as he pats his chest over his heart. "Somehow the Universe gave him back to me. Perhaps the Universe will be kind to you as well."
"Thank you, Walter," Rose replies simply, squeezing his hand in return.
He's right. She has to believe she can do this. She's come so far, fought for so long to make the cannon project work, and she has no choice—she must find the Doctor. All of Reality is depending on his finding a solution. There isn't anyone else.
—∞—-
Arriving at the facility on Liberty Island is an eye-opening experience for Rose. She's glad she managed a way in diplomatically. Without a Vortex Manipulator, there's no way she would have been able to get passed all this security on her own. It's very impressive, and she's the second in command of a very impressive secret organisation of her own. Observing the protocols and procedures, she gleans several that she'll be implementing as soon as she returns. These Yanks are paranoid, she thinks.
As they enter the elevator and begin their decent, Rose starts to feel a different vibration in the air around her. Looking over at Peter, she finds him observing her, too.
"Are you feeling it?"
"Yeah, like a prickle under my skin," she replies.
He nods. "I hear it in my head as a background of white noise. It doesn't get loud enough to impact my hearing, but it intensifies," he observes.
"Interesting," she says blandly.
"You think?" he smirks at her understatement.
The doors ping open and they move to the final guard. Each of them place their palm on the scanner and line up to go through the gateway in pairs—first Walter and Nina and then Peter and Rose. Rose watches as the scanner's light washes over Walter and Nina, then they step through into the room beyond. As Rose and Peter enter the scanner, Rose feels her senses start to register that she is at the merging point of the two differing Universes. The intensity of the sensation startles Rose and she sways slightly, Peter reaching out to steady her.
"Are you okay?" he asks, worry on his features.
"Yeah, I just haven't ever been at the point where two Universes merge before; it's disorienting apparently. Usually it's 'pop' I'm in one Universe and then 'pop' I'm in another Universe. This is weird," she says as they step through into the vast room beyond the gateway where she gasps at her first look at the machines.
Seeing the drawings and the schematics of the machines had not actually prepared her for the enormity of the them. They definitely look alien. They're textured with parts and pieces of symbols that almost look like the Doctor's language, portions of circles and dots. Learning from Peter that Walter designed the device in a future timeline that will no longer occur fascinates her. Why would he go out of his way to make them look so extraterrestrial? Then it occurs to her that the man does LSD on a regular basis, he probably just did it because it would look cool. Silly man, she thinks looking over at him.
Walter has shuffled forward and is peering at one of the computer terminals monitoring the machines. Rose and Peter are still hanging back. Peter and Nina both surreptitiously observing Rose as she observes the machines, waiting to see her reaction. Neither, knows why she insisted on coming.
Rose is looking at the machines, cataloguing various structures and attempting to extrapolate visually what the pieces are designed to be doing. The technological level of Pete's world is more advanced in the civilian sense, but at Torchwood they actively retro-engineer alien devices and purposefully incorporate alien components into their own inventions. Rose has more experience than anyone with alien technology, both through her current job and her two years of traveling with the Doctor. She can see the alien-like exterior of these machines, but all the working pieces are, to her, obviously terrestrial in origin. Clever but still made by humans.
Finally attuned to this other Universe's vibration, Rose relaxes. Taking a deep breath, she looks over to where Peter and Nina have been watching her.
"I'm good. It just took a few minutes for me to adjust to this other Universe," she tells them smiling, and they can see her colour is back to normal.
Peter nods and moves to Walter's side. He understands how she feels, but doesn't seem to sense the differences as viscerally as she does. Nina moves to Rose's side to ask her a couple of questions.
"So you can feel the difference like Peter can?" she asks, still looking Rose over.
"Similarly, but I think it is more intense for me. Don't know why, before you ask," she says, grinning at Nina.
"I see. But you're okay now?" she asks and surprisingly Rose can hear sincere concern in her voice. She wasn't sure how to gauge Nina, but this moment's warmth shows a little of Olivia's Nina that Peter had told her about earlier.
"Yep! Thank you, Nina. Really, I feel fine now," she replies with a smile, hoping to alleviate the woman's worry. This is certainly not the worst she's felt in another Universe.
"Care to show me what you've got goin' on?" Rose asks. "I'd like to see what the computers are doing or controlling, then I'd like to take a closer look at the machines themselves." Seeing Nina start to protest, Rose hastens to assure her. "Don't worry, I won't touch anything. Promise." Nina looks like she still wants to argue, but decides against it and nods at Rose who grins her thanks in reply, looking eagerly toward the machines
Unfortunately, it was a promise Rose was unable to keep. Nina starts toward the main computer terminal expecting Rose to follow her. Turning though, she sees Rose has stopped and is staring at the machine. Nina reaches out and touches Peter on the shoulder. When he turns to see what Nina needs, his gaze is arrested by Rose's stillness. It seems unnatural.
"Rose?" he calls out to her.
"Can you hear that?" Rose asks, her voice sounding distracted and her gaze never leaving the machines.
"Hear what?" Peter asks her. Checking the readouts, he can't see any change in the rooms harmonics.
Turning back to look at Rose again, he sees her take a step forward, and then two. She begins walking slowly toward the machines, almost like she's being drawn toward them. The little group at the terminal is so caught up, they stay rooted to the spot. That is, until Rose begins to glow and bleed golden dust. The tone of the vibration from the machines changes noticeably, suddenly sounding higher and more discordant.
Two bright golden streams of dust start to come from both machines as well, flowing toward Rose, who is now standing in the exact centre of the floor between the machines, only meters from their bases and surrounded by a maelstrom of strange bright particles. Peter rushes between tables and computers on his way to Rose, calling out to her. She turns within the storm of bright dust and her eyes are glowing the same gold, almost too bright to look at.
"Stop," Rose says, her voice hollow and echoing.
Peter stops his headlong race to reach her, freezing to the spot.
Walter and Nina are trying to figure out what's happening. The change in vibration should have set off all kinds of alarms, and the place should be swarming in soldiers and scientists; but it's not. The readouts in front of them show the machines functioning at 250% beyond their previous efficiency. They are drawing next to no power at the moment while producing more than twice what they were previously. Walter is gazing at the glowing figure of Rose in fascination as Nina continues tapping frantically at the keyboard, trying to gain insight form the results. It appears that they are in some sort of bubble, the effects within not reaching beyond last table.
"Rose, what's happening? How can we help you?" Peter yells toward Rose.
"Peter Bishop, you have brought Rose Tyler here, this must be." Her voice and the way she's speaking reminds him eerily of the Observers. What the hell is going on?
"But…What…" Peter begins to question again, but she interrupts him.
"Peter Bishop will succeed, Rose Tyler will succeed, Walter Bishop will succeed in all the trials that are to come. I see all possible futures, Peter Bishop." Rose tilts her head in a way that screams 'not human'.
Peter couldn't look away from this unbelievable glowing goddess now if he tried. His field of vision has narrowed and nothing exists beyond Rose's incandescent gaze. "For Etta to live, Olivia must die, Peter Bishop. There must be balance." Releasing Peter from her heavy gaze, she looks to Walter, whose eyes widen when he's caught by the weight of her regard. "They are coming," she says to him.
Walter opens his mouth to ask what that could mean, but snaps it shut again as Rose closes her eyes and her head lolls back. Her body rising perceptibly off the floor, her hair is being whipped around in a phantom gale only she can feel. The timbre of the harmonics between the machine begins increasing again as the glow around Rose reaches a point where they all have to look away. The image of Rose's floating body is seared onto Walter's retinas as he finally covers his face with his hands. Released from his momentary paralysis, Peter turns around and bolts to Walter and Nina's sides, dragging them to the ground and covering them with his body.
The rising tone of the oscillating harmonics evens out into a high, piercing, and perfect tone that both Peter and Walter immediately categorise as a perfect 'A.' The note is held for only moments, but they feel like the longest hours of their lives as they huddle behind a table in a room stuck at the impossible juxtaposition between two Universes while some tidal force they don't understand works an alchemical magic only meters from them. Feeling the pressure increase to a point where Peter notices both Walter and Nina fall limp beneath him; he feels his own consciousness flee. Peter's last thought is that if everything's about to end, at least Olivia knows he loves her. That's enough.
A/N: I'm starting to think no one likes this story! :-) I would love some feedback, one chapter left!