4. The Master's Office.
The Doctor's Tardis materialises in a large room in the mansion. A desk stands on one side of it. There's no disguising the Tardis! .
The Master is sitting at the desk and glances up as they emerge.
"I was expecting you! Do have a seat."
The Doctor glances at Chloe, raising his eyebrows as if to say He's remarkably civil today!
How could he have expected them? What does he know? How has the Master brought them directly to his office?
He has plenty of Gallifreyan technology!
Chloe suddenly feels slightly insecure with the Master in the room and instinctively reaches to check her wristwatch...
She has a horrible moment recognising she doesn't have it! She must tell the Doctor somehow without alerting the Master. .
Chloe sits and stretches her arms to hold her knees. She hopes her empty wrists will alert the Doctor, but he smiles. She must try something else. .
The Doctor notices immediately but smiles as he recognises that they must do everything his way! .
After a minute, the Master looks up. "Still here?" As if they were simply going to walk out after coming all this way!
"Okay, Doctor, and ..."
"Chloe," Chloe naturally completes his welcome. She knows that the Master knows her, she's met him a few times, but maybe not since her most recent regeneration, and maybe he can't detect her identity because she's not Gallifreyan.
But it's all out in the open now! She feels that all surprise is lost.
"I suppose you're going to flit away now?" the Master asks, apparently innocently, but purposely betraying his knowledge of her usual transport.
"Maybe," Chloe has an idea. Maybe if the Master thinks she can just go, he won't connect her going with her wristwatch? She doesn't have it on. It feels little enough information disguised.
"Guards!" the Master shouts and claps his hands. Four guards enter the room and surround the Doctor and Chloe.
"Remove the Doctor and detain him! I'll interrogate Chloe first, ... if she'll stay!" .
The Doctor is hustled out of the room quickly leaving Chloe alone with the Master. Without her wristwatch she knows she has no instant escape.
"What do you want with me?" Chloe asks as nonchalantly as she can. "It's usually the Doctor you want!"
"Ah. Am I addressing the Empress of the Universe?" He refers to a title Chloe had permitted herself to toy with briefly (ref. 52). He must have heard something about what happened.
"No, you are not!" Chloe says forcefully, maybe even a little scornfully. She's left that fanciful idea far behind!
"You are Chloe, are you not?" the Master says. "You look different from how I last remember you!"
Chloe toys with pretending she's another Chloe, but recognises the story is unlikely to wash. Neither would teasing him about his memory. .
"I am Chloe." The simple statement of fact without giving him a clue as to why she looks different. A fear starts to rise, but she grounds herself, breathing slowly, deeply and carefully. She recognises she will have to bluff her way out of this!
"So, tell me how your transport works!" the Master demands curiously. He's being civil enough and careful enough not to scare Chloe off completely.
It's a fairly direct question. Chloe feels the need to deflect some of the attention.
"Tell me about your operations here," she says coolly, while feeling anything but cool! It's a bargaining move with a lot of bluffing! .
Chloe's question appears to make the Master pause. Has she caused a stalemate? The Master thinks she can flit off at a moment's notice, and normally she could have done, but just today, without her wristwatch transport, she can't.
"How much do you know about superconductivity?" Chloe asks calmly. Obviously the Master must know a lot by now, while Chloe knows very little.
"How much do you know about Space Warp?" the Master parries.
Things start to come together in Chloe's mind. Space Warp Drive using large magnetic fields from superconducting magnets ... perhaps held at a specific temperature controlled by the Pyroxium? It's only a guess! .
Maybe she should back off the apparent knowledge and pretend to know nothing about it at all? As this isn't far from the truth it should be easy.
"Warped minds?" she says to try to defuse her lack of knowledge. .
The Master sighs. Maybe she might have made a better apprentice than his last few short-lived companions. .
"And your transport?"
Chloe's keen to avoid telling him anything about her own method of transport.
"I came by Tardis," she says coolly, while keeping her eyes on him and hoping he'll desist.
Maybe her exposure to her Ring of Confidence has left her with some slight powers (ref. 52)? But surely the Master will know all the tricks and be on the lookout ... but maybe not from her - after all, she's not Gallifreyan! .
The Master blinks a few times. Surely he's noticing something.
He narrows his eyes and starts to stare at her. Is he trying some sort of mind game with her?
Chloe seizes the bull by the horns. The Master has asked how her transport works and she came by Tardis! .
"The Time Vortex is a wonderful thing," Chloe says, careful not to say to which method of transport she's referring. "And so is miniaturisation!" she continues, hoping to conclude there. "Good luck with the miniaturisation," she says.
With that, Chloe gets up and simply walks the short distance to the Doctor's Tardis. She turns for a last pleasantry.
"I assume you're into miniaturisation," she says with a smile, referring to his claim about Space Warping. The Master appears to be hanging on her every word! What was that about?
Stepping into the Doctor's Tardis and closing the door is then so simple.
Once inside the Tardis, Internal Time takes over. She can have as much time as she wants now without a second passing outside.
We've all seen the Tardis arrive and they immediately step out having doubtless discussed what they're doing! .
Chloe's Ring of Confidence has left her with some useable powers even when she isn't wearing it!