Echoes Of The Past

"You're watching this, which means that all my efforts to stay alive have gone somewhat skew-whiff."

The holographic image of Jane Smith is sitting down on on my bed,crying. And I cannot help but cry, also.

"I'm so sorry for this, I really am. I've done all I can to prevent it, I really did. I know how badly you're feeling right now. It's this huge tear inside of you. The agony... I tried to stop you suffering, I really did." She wipes away the tears, and sniffles. "I also have to apologise about the Cathedral. I can't let you have it, but it's because you're not... You're part Lord of Time. But you're not alien enough. The Cathedral doesn't recognise you. It recognises me, because all that alien DNA is active inside me. I just wish that you could have it, I really do. So, I've gone and modified Emergency Protocol One. I needed the others to think that it's time to abandon ship. The reality is that it'll go back to eighteen eighty-eight, and wait for me. You know I've gotten out of tight spots before now, and I'm just hoping that somehow, I'll survive.

"But that means you'll be without a means of two-way time travel. There's a store room that no-one can get to. Not Derek, not Jack, and not this Chinese woman I keep seeing. If the visions are holding true, you'll have another arriving soon, if she's not already there. This store room is only accessible by you. Inside is enough equipment and parts to build your own capsule. I doubt you'll have much space – not in Cathedral terms, anyway. But you'll be able to create... I dunno, a Chapel as opposed to a Cathedral. You're helped me repair and maintain the Cathedral. You know the systems.

"Also, you'll be re-inserting yourself back into the chain of events. This is very, very important. To carry forward, for things to be right, you have to let me go. And this will be the hardest thing for you to do, I know. But you'll understand, I know.

"Oh, and another thing... be careful. I've seen things, terrible things, and they centre around you. This guy, in a factory, or something like that. Smoking? I dunno. But he keeps turning to me and says that your song is coming to an end. And I've seen you in an explosion, or explode... I can't get a background. I don't have the faintest clue if it's going to happen, or some fear I have for you... But you have to be careful.

"One last thing. I know that you're feeling awful, but if I haven't survived, then you have to be there for John. He needs you. You have to tell him that it's okay. He's not evil if he's fighting for himself and his mother to live. He has great potential. Help him to become the great and noble leader this planet needs. Oh, and Sweetpea... Be all you can be. Embrace life." A small, cheeky smile appears on her face, her eyes twinkling with mischief and tears. "Don't stop singing."

I just stare, unable to move. The image fades away, and I'm suddenly alone. The dress... She'd made the recording just before we'd gone to that Ball. Before we'd learnt about the Clockwork Army, and the Legion of Terma-Domes. She must have been preparing everything for a while...

And on my bed are the clothes and weapons I had when I had patrolled the woods with Derek, when we had found her, badly wounded from that... creature. She thought it was Arcadian... but I don't know.

I hear footsteps behind me. I don't recognise them... Oh. There is JJ walking past in a bright pink bra, and pink underwear. No, not JJ. The Metal sent to replace her. How did they get that thing to work again? Jack is coming up the corridor. I watch as I see him look at her, annoyed, turn her around and tell her to go back to his room. He looks at me sheepishly.

"Well... you have to admit it was a waste of potential..." I frown at him.

"How did you repair its chip?" He smiles at me.

"Didn't. I created a new one after your chip." I suddenly feel like throwing up.

"But my chip is damaged..."

"Yeah... but it also is quite a design, though... I just stabilised it." he looks up the corridor after her. "Still working out the bugs in her programming."

"It might be disorientated," I say to him. "After the Jump, I needed time to adjust. It had effected me. It might be the same thing for it."

"Really? You ended up walking around in your underwear?" I just nod to him. I close the door, and we walk towards his room.

"So... you shacked up with a demon," he says as shouting begins to get loud and nasty behind us. I look up at him, not certain about what I should say.

"Everything has gotten very confusing," I confess. Jack just chuckles.

"You know, that's a good way to describe my life... so much has happened, and in the end, it's confusing." he places a hand on my shoulder.

"Let you in on a little secret: Life is confusing for everyone." I can tell from his expression he's going to change the subject. "So... what was it like? Being with a demon?" He smiles slightly. "Things get a little scorched?" I just close my eyes and cringe at his words. I feel deeply embarrassed. The shouting is continuing behind us. I think it's gotten louder.

"It's reminding me of when me and Jane had arguments..." I look at Jack suspiciously. "Have they ended up together?"

"No, but I reckon it's just a matter of time. Particularly as the Major looks exactly like an old girlfriend of his. Apparently she was the XO to a submarine that was part of an anti-Skynet naval fleet," he explains.

"Jesse." Of course... His initial confusion when she first appeared... It makes sense now...

"Look, you want some advice? Go out and have a lot of sex. Chat people up, make friends, whatever works for you. Because you need to be comfortable being with someone else. You need to get on with your life."

"But I cannot do that! That's an insult to-"

"She'd dead."

I look away, the words crushing me.

"She didn't want you to stay lonely. She loved you. She wants you happy."

"How do you – Oh." She left him a message as well...

"The problem with people is that they die. If not by accident or murder, then by growing old." We have both stopped walking, and he's brushing a hand through my hair. I hold on to it, my eyes tightly shut, desperately remembering her touching me, and wanting it again so badly.

"She wanted me to look out for you. Because I'm different. I'm not like everyone else. And you know it." He lifts my chin up. "So don't be afraid to go out there, and live life to the full. It's what she wants."

I close my eyes. I can't cry. I'm not allowed to. I have to keep going, keep on... I don't know. I don't care. I'm going to lock up all of the pain and the hurt. I'm going to make myself strong. I have to be strong. For John. Because she's right. He need to be ready. He needs to be the General. He has to be made into the man I remember. No, better. And I can do it. I will do it. And I shall. Because I realise that it is needed. How can I do it, though? Wait... if I have my own version of the Cathedral, I'll be able to use it to find people coming through. Because the Time Lock is failing. I remember seeing the readings when I got in. The whole system is in disrepair. Jane had put it in place a system to prevent the Time Displacement technology from working. But it was put in place over a hundred and twenty years ago... and she's no longer around to maintain it.

I'll just have to create a new system. And use my version of the Cathedral to keep filtering the temporal damage, to repair the universe. Because every time the technology is used to move individuals through time, it tears at the fabric of reality.

It is my duty. Because when I ended up having all of the Arcadian genetics inside of me, I also ended up with other DNA. Alien DNA. DNA from the race that built the Cathedral of Time. It is inside of me.

It means that the matter of time is my duty. I have to work towards preventing Judgement Day.

It is my destiny.