Chapter 6: 20 Minutes I Forgot

I don't own Doctor Who whatsoever BBC does, and I'm just a fan with an idea.

Avery's POV

The Doctor and I had just left Amy to interrogate Mandy, and ask about the creepy figures. While we were now climbing down a ladder to where the engine room should be located in a ship. As soon as we got down, the Doctor placed his hands on the wall before leaning in to listen. I joked "Do you need a water glass to hear?" He gave me a look that said not now. I held my hands up in surrender before looking around us. "Can't be." The Doctor said before using his sonic to get a reading. He then saw a glass of water on the floor. He lied down and stared at it.

I raised an eyebrow with my hands on my hips, but not saying anything. He was thinking, and I wasn't about to disturb it after my remark earlier. A woman with a hood and golden mask approached us and whispered to the Doctor "The impossible truth in a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?"

"You know me?" The Doctor replied

"Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass." The masked lady whispered again. I wondered if she was of royalty or something. Like a noble and rich. She seemed to have that air about her, the way she spoke and held herself.

"Who says I see anything?" The Doctor said.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?" the woman replied in her whispered tone.

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So...I thought I'd take a look." He opened a power box on the wall. "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look - they're dummies, see?" He crossed the hall and tapped the wall. "And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was..." The Doctor reasoned.

"No engine at all." The woman finished for him. I crossed my arms, and leaned against the wall. I was having strange feelings towards the Doctor. Strange feelings indeed.

"But it's working. This ship is travelling though space. I saw it." The Doctor answered.

"The impossible truth, Doctor. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly." The woman replied.

"How?" The Doctor asked

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe." She replied and handed him a device. "This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!" She began to walk away from us, I was wondering what in the world happened to Amy.

"Who are you? How do I find you again?" The Doctor asked. The woman turned to face the Doctor, and whispered "I am Liz 10. And I will find you." We heard a crashing sort of sound, the Doctor looked around and I looked behind us. When we turned back to Liz 10, she was gone, vanished. I took the Doctor's hand and said "Let's go find Amy." He nodded, we started walking towards where Amy should be, according to the device, but not before he looked back at where Liz 10 once was.

We arrived at this voting station thing. We found Mandy outside of rooms. I looked around us and said "Well the device led us here... Where's Amy? I wonder what these things are." The Doctor looked around for Amy, I was expecting him to answer but Mandy answered for him "Your friend is in there. These are voting booths. You're welcome to vote as you wait."

I looked at the Doctor, who didn't give me any indication whether I should or shouldn't. I let go of his hand, and went into one of the cubicles. I sat in the chair in front of these four monitors, which were like old televisions. A computerized voice said "Welcome to voting cubicle 330B. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it. The United Kingdom recognises the right to know of all its citizens." In front of me, there were three large buttons, one that said Protest, another with Record, and the last one with Forget. "A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll. Name – Avery Alecia Pond. Age - 1,306. Marital status – Single."

The four screens changed, as a video started showing an older man as a presenter. He began talking "You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest...or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just 1% of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme will be discontinued, with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation - and we hope that you will - then press the "forget" button. All the information I am about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here, then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls." Before I knew it, images flashed across the screens. I gasped and hit the Forget button. I wiped tears that I didn't know I had cried. A video message appeared on the screen, it was from myself. This was odd... "This isn't a trick. You've got to find the Doctor and get him back to the TARDIS. Don't let him investigate. Stop him. Do whatever you have to. Just please, please get the Doctor off this ship!" I stepped out as the Doctor was done waiting for Amy, he grabbed my arm and dragged me to the room right next to the room I had been in.

"Amy? What have you done?" The doctor asked as we walked into the room, he was on the chair using the sonic on the lamp above. "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about 20 minutes. Same with you Avery." He jumped to the floor.

"But why would we choose to forget?" I asked

"Cos everyone does. Everyone chooses the forget button." Answered Mandy.

"Did you?" asked the Doctor.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years..." Mandy replied

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action." The Doctor said before heading back to the monitors.

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?" Mandy asked the Doctor.

"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me." The Doctor replied

"It played for me." Amy answered

"Me too." I added

"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as human." the Doctor said

"Why not?" The Doctor and I looked at her. "You look human." Amy joined us.

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first." The Doctor answered. Jack had told me that the Doctor was a Time Lord.

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" asked Amy.

"No. There were, but there aren't... Just me now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Cos this is what I do - every time, every day, every second. This. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government." the Doctor pounded the Protest button, and the door slammed shut, leaving Mandy outside. The Figure of a man in his booth, turned to show his very angry face. He pulled us into the corner of the room as the floor slides open.

"Say, Wheeee!" said the Doctor. Amy and I screamed as we fell down the chute.