The Tardis was abuzz with concern, when the Doctor re-entered carrying Rose. A warming table with heated blankets and warm IV fluids had been placed in the console room while he had been out retrieving her. They really must have a strong connection, if the Tardis knew exactly what she was suffering from even though she was outside of her protective walls.
"Fantastic ship! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He called out.
The Doctor peeled the clothing off of her until she was left in her vest top and knickers. He had already sonic-ed everything dry, but the more skin contact she could have with the specialized warming table, the better. The temperature of the table had to be just right in order to reverse the effects of hypothermia. It had to be warm enough to bring her temperature back up, but not so hot as to shock her system. If his internal temperature weren't so much colder than hers, he would have held her skin to skin to help the process. Instead, he occupied himself hooking up the warm IV system and monitoring her vitals, to keep from going mad with guilt. This never should have happened, he never should have opened that damned box. Life with him put her in danger far too often.
When her vitals stabilized he pulled a chair over to the warming table and sat next to his beloved companion. Allowing himself to breath again, he assured himself that she would wake soon and that there was nothing more he could do for the time being. The only thing he could do was hold her hand. But when he reached for the aforementioned hand, he discovered that it was balled up into white knuckled fist, like she was holding onto something for dear life. Strange that she should be holding something so tightly while unconscious. He gently pried one of her fingers back and caught a glint from a tarnished piece of metal.
"Well hello… What are you now?" The Doctor put on his glasses and carefully extracted the short silver chain from her clutch. He raised his eyebrows to inspect it. "Aren't you a pretty thing."
He set to work painstakingly cleaning away the sand and tarnish, it was a time consuming process due to the intricacy of the chain. The more he cleaned, the more amazed he became. This really was a peculiar find. It's delicate links were made of various symbols from the circular Gallifreyan language, interlocking and twining around and through each other. There wasn't any specific order to the words nor a specific phrase it spelled out, but depending on how it was turned or coiled, it could say any number of things. The Doctor was entranced watching it spin and twist, as he dangled the object from his fingers. The way the light caught the links just then, it seemed to read: Have I been found?
"That's interesting."
More interesting than that however, was the time signature integrated into its construction. It pulsed with time, not just any time, but a personalized time signature... Could it be an External Rassilon Imprimatur Containment System? If he weren't holding one in his hand, he would have sworn that they were nothing more than an elaborate myth propagated by idealistic wannabe time travelers. No non-Gallifreyan could ever hope to make one, and no Gallifreyan would ever have a use for one... Peculiar indeed. The symbols in the chain continued twisting, and for an instant they read: Then why am I here?
"Creepy." The Doctor said out loud, furrowing his eyebrows and setting down the chain.
"Mmmmh... What's creepy now?" His blonde patient remained horizontal on the bed, but her eyes were partially open and she was rubbing her forehead.
"Rose! You're awake!" Bounding over to her, the Doctor pulled her up into a tight embrace. "I thought I'd lost you."
"Wha... What happened?" She was still more than a little groggy.
"I did a foolish thing Rose."
After sitting up slowly and wrapping her arms around herself, she said. "Lemme guess... You finally gave into that weird paradox thing you've been obsessing about, and something happened to me as a result?"
"How did you..."
"I'm not daft, Doctor. You've been mumbling about it in your sleep, when you're distracted, when you think I'm not listening... Plus, I was in your head last night remember? I saw your interaction with Bad Wolf."
"Oh, right, that..." The box was probably one of the first memories she had seen in his storm, since it had been at the forefront of the emotional part of his mind.
"S'ok... Don't worry about it. I was going to ask you about it this morning, but I guess that's a moot point now, huh?... What I meant was, what happened to me after you opened the box?"
"Nothing at first, you were asleep. A few hours later I woke up, and you were gone. The Tardis then informed me that you had flown her to 21st century Norway, with your eyes closed."
"That is creepy."
"No... Well yes, it was, a bit... But the creepy thing is actually this chain that I found held in your hand... You were in the cold water of a Norwegian beach suffering from moderate hypothermia when I got to you. Luckily I was able to get you warm and dry before anything worse had happened."
"And I had that chain in my hand?"
"In a death grip... Curious trinket, you found here."
"Pretty. It looks like the writing I see around the Tardis."
"Precisely. The links are in the shape of Gallifreyan letters... But more than that, it appears to be an External Rassilon Imprimatur Containment System... See the pulsing energy running through it?"
"In English please, Doctor."
"Right, well prolonged time travel puts unnatural stresses on the brain cell biology of any creature. Time Lords have a symbiotic nucleus in their cell structure that allows them to withstand these stresses for centuries. That phenomenon is referred to as a Rassilon Imprimatur... Coincidently, it is also necessary for a cerebral link to a Tardis machine."
"And the external containment system part means that this chain would allow someone to travel in space for centuries with being born with that Rassilon Impromptu whatever, yeah?"
"Brilliant as always, my Rose."
"So should keep this thing, would it help me travel with you long term?"
"Not exactly. You see, this sort of device is bound exclusively to its maker. It can only ever hold one time stream, and the energy you see in it shows that it already is maintaining one. Whomever made this chain is tied to it forever, and is probably having serious withdrawals without it."
"Oh..." She sounded slightly disappointed, but added: "I suppose we should find who ever lost it then, n' give it back."
"Maybe, but for all intents and purposes, this should not exist in the first place."
"What do you mean?"
"The reason it shouldn't exist is simply this: It must be created by the individual that is permanently bound to it... At the same time, it could have only been fabricated by a master-smith Time Lord... However, a Time Lord would have no need for such an item, because the Rassilon Imprimatur is intrinsically part of their biological cell structure... Therefore, its existence would be entirely paradoxical... Paradoxical... Paradox... Rose this is the paradox! The box wasn't a trap after all! It worked! Ha-ha, take that universe!"
The two of them grinned and hugged each other excitedly, as they were filled with renewed hope. This meant that there was still a chance at a future for them, together. Ever benevolent, Bad Wolf had given them this piece to the puzzle. If they found the owner of this chain, they might also find a clue on how to avoid their otherwise inevitable separation.
"So then, is there another Time Lord out there that we were meant to find?" Asked Rose brightly.
"Anything is possible, no matter how unlikely. Theoretically, they would have to be severely genetically damaged in some way that would require them to need this device... But a Time Lord never the less... Do you know what this means? Someone else survived the Time War!... Bad Wolf, where ever you are, I love you almost as much as Rose!"
An ecstatic Doctor put the chain under a microscope, to verify its origins. Just as he had predicted, layers of silvered graphene were laminated around living protoplasm. It was a bizarre and virtually indestructible composition. Only someone with years of advanced time-smithing could have achieved such a perfect fusion.
Upon placing the chain back on the table, its coil of Gallifreyan circles clearly read: Find me, I am in dire need of your help.