2. What have you been doing?
"Now, tell me, what have you been doing?" Crystelle asks casually.
The Doctor instantly intervenes. "Sorry, we can't answer that!" He taps his nose three times. "It isn't for you to know the future!"
Actually, it's far worse than that - they mustn't tell Crystelle anything!
Crystelle sighs. She's aware she's in a much later timeline for Chloe. She'd met up with Chloe not long before and been heartened by Chloe's resilience (ref. 46).
"I can ask you that, though," Chloe says.
The Doctor winces. Yes, it's true that Crystelle might tell everything about her exploits, but during that time, little clues might transfer back to Crystelle - in the telling, in the listening and in the visual feedback to her telling!
Crystelle sees the Doctor's wince and considers his motives. "Maybe we shouldn't, you know, Chloe. The Doctor's quite right - information transfer of any type might upset the Universe."
Chloe sighs. "I still remember all the bedtime stories you told me, Mum! They were fantastic!"
The Doctor turns away to avoid them seeing his further winces. Re-relating the stories now might come across differently, then what? How much must he intervene and how much can he leave to chance here?
"I'm so glad, Chloe," Crystelle says, now acutely aware of the Doctor concealing his face. Yet she knows that Chloe might know key information she needs to know. She's dying to ask. .
"Chloe, am I still alive now in your timeline?" A much more direct question!
The Doctor coughs loudly. Surely Crystelle must know that she must know nothing of her own demise?
Chloe glances in the Doctor's direction. She knows she mustn't answer this question, or others will surely follow.
"Sorry, Mum, I can't answer that one!" It sounds like one of the Doctor's blocking answers. It probably is, she's heard them often enough! To replace the missing answer, she hugs her Mum.
"I can't tell you how special it is to see you, Mum," Chloe says.
"It's special for me, too. Oh, how I wish I could ask you so much! There's so much I need to know that I know that you know." .
"Yes, Mum," Chloe says. She longs to be able to tell her mother so much. Particularly with the Doctor listening in she knows she mustn't divulge anything. Everything will simply happen without deviating as long as she keeps quiet.
Yet would it really matter if she told her mother something about her own death - what she died of? She would still die, and she would still die of the same thing - her own regeneration fighting her own body, purely because it wasn't in every cell in her body (ref. 40).
"You already know how you'll die, Mum," Chloe says. She knows that her mother knows she won't live forever.
The Doctor turns quickly. "You mustn't say that! Any knowledge of the future can wreak havoc with future events in your mother's timeline!" But the damage has been done.
"What damage could that possibly do?" Chloe asks. She's shocked that such a tiny piece of information might give a problem.
"I'll tell you later," the Doctor says. "I'm sorry, Crystelle, it must all seem odd when I jump up and down about a tiny snippet of information. Certain things simply mustn't be talked about."
Later.
"Doctor, my Mum already knew why she'd die - her regeneration isn't as good as ours."
"If Crystelle knows that she will die naturally and not at the hands of an enemy, she might take more risks when facing an enemy. That will change the future!"
"True, Doctor, but you once told me that I'd have an extremely long life, perhaps even longer than yours!"
"Yes, but that was from a prophecy that you'd already read. It doesn't mean that your life might not be cut short by some enemy action. You still have to weigh up the risks! ... Is that why you've been taking massive risks recently? You think you'll live through everything?" .
Chloe's unsure what to say. "I'm sorry, Doctor." She knows he's right - at least about her mother. But what about her own life expectancy? She's unsure now. Surely the prophecy will be fulfilled about her. She's been counting on that. Yes, she's taken massive risks. Yes, she's felt reassured by the prophecy that she will live to a very old age, maybe even older than the Doctor! .
Doubts enter her mind about her own lifestyle. Her extreme longevity is assured, but only if she doesn't get cut short first!
Oops! Or maybe she'll fade away? .