HI! ANOTHER CHAPTER! I know. I know. Keep calm my little pretties. ;-) ENJOY!
"Ok! Ok!" the Doctor exclaimed, holding his hands up in surrender. "No need to get hostile!"
"I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO GET HOSTILE!" Tammi's voice echoed through the speakers, indicating pure rage.
"Now hold on!" Clara said, taking a few steps closer to the camera. "Please try to understand that you're not the only one who's confused! Me and the Doctor have no idea where we are or how we got here! How do you think we feel?"
Silence followed shortly after that. Clara could only stand there in suspense and look pleadingly into the lens. While she waited for her answer, she tried to picture herself talking to an actual human being instead of a security camera. Surely this girl Tammi had enough humanity and sense to try and reason with them. Even if this was just a game.
Finally, she heard a sigh come out along with Tammi saying, "FINE. BUT I STILL WANT ANSWERS."
"That's what we all want," Clara said, looking back at the Doctor to see if she should go on. He gave her a nod and a quick thumbs-up. She smiled a little before turning back around and saying. "Ok. You already know the Doctor, so… Hello. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm a human from Lancashire, England. I am the Doctor's… assistant. And… we were supposed to go to Bangkok. But our…"
She stopped for a moment, trying to figure out a way to include the TARDIS without making herself sound like a lunatic. She looked back at the Doctor again, pleading with her eyes for a little help. He didn't miss a beat when he said, "Mobile phone… got into a bit of a wreck."
Clara shook her head in disappointment and sent the Doctor one of her "Really?" looks.
"MOBILE PHONE?" Tammi asked. "IS THAT REALLY THE BEST YOU CAN DO?"
"It's a surprisingly accurate description," the Doctor replied, smirking a little as his mind took him back to the day he gave that same response to Clara. She couldn't help but smirk along with him. But that smirk was quickly wiped off of her face as she realized that the Doctor's "accurate description" made them sound even more insane than they probably looked.
"OK…" Tammi said, drawling out just a little, "SO WHERE IS THIS 'MOBILE PHONE'?"
"Well, see," the Doctor began, bringing himself more closer to Clara, "It's not exactly… right here with us."
"OH REALLY?" Tammi asked with hints of suspicion in her voice.
"Yes!" the Doctor exclaimed. "See, we were supposed to be heading over towards Bangkok… surely you've heard of Bangkok? Capital of Thailand. Home to over eight million people. Fabulous architecture. Amazing food services. Quite the little party city! Anyway, we were supposed to go there, as Clara mentioned earlier, but our 'mobile phone'," he paused to add air quotes, "was caught in a sort of jam and we ended up… here!" He then, began spinning around for extra effect. "We landed about a block down this road here, saw the diner and thought 'What the hell? Let's go get some tea!'" For the big finale, he shot his arms up in the air over his head and looked into the camera with the biggest smile his face could hold.
Silence.
No applause.
No "ooo's" or "ah's".
Just more silence.
Until….
"UH HUH. OK, SO, WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME IS THAT YOU, A REALLY OLD 'TIMELORD' FROM THE PLANET 'GALLIFREY', AND YOU'RE TRAVELLING HUMAN ASSISTANT CRASHED YOUR MOBILE PHONE HERE IN OUR GAME WHILE YOU TWO WERE ON YOUR WAY TO BANGKOK? AND NOW YOU HAVE NOOO IDEA HOW YOU MANAGED TO DO SO?" Tammi asked.
"Yes!" the Doctor said simply, smiling like an optimistic child and keeping his arms up high.
He began hearing things through the intercom. He tried to make them out, but he already knew that the three were whispering. His smile slowly began to fade, as well as his hope.
Clara began having doubts of her own. What they didn't believe them? Hell, she had been with the Doctor for some time now and there were times when even she had to slow down and realize that this was actually happening.
Anything could happen. This was a game after all. They could have them blown up. Catapulted to a desert. Smashed with a sledgehammer! Just WHAT were they talking about?
Suddenly, the whispers stopped. Clara shot her head up towards the lens. This was it…
"GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T DELETE YOUR ASS FROM THE SYSTEM," Tammi managed to croak out.
Both the Doctor and Clara let out sighs of udder relief. This was both good news and bad news for them. The good news was that it gave them just a few extra minutes to live. The bad news was that those few minutes could easily turn into a few seconds if they didn't come up with a good reason.
"Ah!" the Doctor let out, setting his arms back down by his sides. "Right! Good reason. Good reason. Good reason…." He began banging his fists against his head, trying to make his brain work properly. Getting nothing, he ran back up to Clara and whispered into her ear, "What's a good reason?"
"Doctor?!" Clara exclaimed as quietly as she could.
"LOOK," Terrance quickly came on, "IT'S NOT THAT WE DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE YOU. WE WANT TO. HONEST WE DO. BUT… YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HOW…. RIDICULOUS YOUR STORY SOUNDS."
"Oi! It's not that ridiculous!" the Doctor shot upwards, but then, quickly, took a moment to evaluate Tammi's original summary of the situation. He, finally, gave in. "Ok. I see your point. But if you really really think about it… you know, refer back to your 'Star Trek' and 'Astro Boy' or whatever the hell it is you kids watch in 2213, you'll realize it's not really that bizarre!"
"THOSE ARE JUST FANTASY!" Tammi shouted. "THEY AREN'T REAL!"
"Neither is this game!" the Doctor yelled, which only earned him more silence. Damn! he thought. Surely they were going to fry him and Clara now. He stared hard into the camera, blocking Clara with his arm, protecting her from whatever was sure to come.
"YOU STILL HAVEN'T GIVEN ME A REASON," Tammi came back on.
The Doctor could only blink a couple of times in amazement as his brain automatically began turning again. "Right," he said. "Reason to live. Why? Well…."
"Doctor," he heard Clara call from behind.
"Not now Clara. I'm thinking."
"Doctor?" she tried again.
"Not now!"
"DOCTOR!" she shouted.
"WHAT?!" he cried, swinging himself around to face her, his face a mix of anger and curiosity.
"The people…." she started, turning her head back around towards the diner. The Doctor looked through the window. What was inside surprised him.
All of the people were… frozen.
People holding forks in their hands stopped in midair. Waitresses taking orders were stuck in place. Cooks preparing hot meals held their pans above their heads while the food they were flipping just hung there. No one was talking. No one was blinking. There was nothing.
"The people," the Doctor whispered to himself, gazing intently into the window. Clara looked along with him, then looked up to him, trying to put herself in the Doctor's place and see what he was seeing. Think what he was thinking.
"The people," he said again, a little louder this time. "THE PEOPLE!" He, then, charged for the window and stuck his whole body up against the glass. He couldn't help but smile and laugh at the sight he was seeing. This was perfect!
"HEY!" he called, running back up to the security camera while waving his arms above his head. "Hey! Hey! You want a reason for us to live, right?"
He saw the camera close in on its lens a little, indicating that he now had the audience's full attention.
"Well check this out!" he exclaimed, rushing back over to the diner's window and pointing at it. He looked behind him and saw that the camera had now swiveled in his direction. "Look inside! Look at the people!" The camera resized the lens again, and he went on, "All of them are frozen. FROZEN! Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but usually when a virtual world or any other type of game gets frozen, there's usually something wrong. Something bad. A bug. A virus. Whatever. The point is… SOMETHING IS WRONG."
He then walked slowly up towards the camera, making sure he looked straight into the heart of the lens, into the souls of the people on the other side. "You asked me to give you a reason. Here it is. You have a problem. I believe me and my assistant can fix it. Trust me… I'm the Doctor."
Ooooo... NOWWW we're getting somewhere...! Please view and review and thanks to all of you who have put me on your 'Favorites' list! It really makes my day! Thank you!
