"Chan, welcome, tho." A blue woman with appendages around her face and a large head spoke to the group as they entered a lab.
"This is the gravitissimal accelerator. It's past its best, but it works. And over here is the Footprint Impeller System. Do you know anything about end-time gravity mechanics? But we can't get it to harmonize."
"Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor heard over the professor's explanation.
"Stop it," he warned Jack.
"Can't. I say hello to anyone?"
"Chan, I do not protest, tho," the alien woman smiled.
"Maybe later, blue. So what have we got here?" Jack asked.
"And all this feeds into the rocket?"
"Yes, except without a stable Footprint, we'll never achieve escape velocity. If only we could harmonize the five impact patterns and unify them, well, we might yet make it. What do you think, Doctor? Any ideas?"
Angel got a funny feeling from the man. Something was familiar about his exaggerated behavior in the back of her mind. His close proximity to the Doctor was a little odd now that she thought about it. It reminded her of her father. But some human at the end of the universe surely had nothing to do with him. And he certainly didn't look anything like her father.
"Well, basically, sort of, not a clue." The man scrunched his face in disappointment.
"Nothing?"
"I'm not from 'round these parts. I've never seen a system like it. Sorry."
"No, no, I'm sorry. It's my fault. There's been so little help…"
Martha was looking in Jack's bag, trying to figure out how he tracked down the Doctor. "Oh, my God." She said as she pulled a bubbling hand out of the bag. Jack approached her to try to gain control of the situation. Angel followed and stood next to him, wanting to get a look for herself. "You've got a hand. A hand in a jar. A hand, in a jar, in your bag." She accused Jack.
"But that..that..that's my hand," the Doctor managed to get out in his bewilderment.
"I said I had a Doctor detector," Jack explained. Angel chuckled quietly beside him. They exchanged smirking glaces.
"Chan, is this a tradition amongst your people, tho?"
"Not on my street! What do you mean, that's your hand? You've got both your hands, I can see them," Martha said with her voice raised too high for comfort.
"Long story. I lost my hand, Christmas Day in a swordfight," the Doctor explained to calm her.
"What, and you grew another hand?"
"Um, yeah, yeah I did, yeah. Hello," Martha's face fell as she was once again reminded how little she really knew about him.
"Might I ask, what species are you?" The professor inquired politely.
"Time Lord. Last of. Heard of them? Legend or anything?" The aged man and the blue woman shook their heads. "Not even a myth? Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling."
"Chan, it is said that I am the last of my species too, tho."
"Sorry. What was your name?"
"My assistant and good friend, Chantho," the professor introduced. "A survivor of the Malmooth. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."
"The city outside. That was yours?" She nodded.
"Chan, the conglomeration died, tho."
"Conglomeration! That's what I said!"
"You're supposed to say sorry," Jack reminded the Doctor with a pointed look.
"Oh, yes." He sobered and leaned forward. "Sorry."
"Chan, most grateful, tho."
"You grew another hand?" Martha was astounded at her alien friend, who looked completely human.
"Hello again. It's fine. Look, really, it's me." He reached out and gave her a handshake with his currently attached and fully operational hand.
"All this time and you're still full of surprises." Her confusion slowly turned to admiration. The Doctor made a clicking noise and beamed at her.
"Chan, you are most unusual, tho," Chantho gushed at the Doctor.
"Well…" The Doctor said, not coming up with a response.
"So what about those things outside, the Beastie Boys? What are they?" Jack asked the aged scientist, ready to get the group back on topic.
"We call them the Futurekind, which is a myth in itself, but it's feared they are what we will become. Unless we reach Utopia," the professor explained.
"And Utopia is…?" The Doctor prompted.
"Every human knows of Utopia. Where have you been?"
"Bit of a hermit," he said nonchalantly.
"A hermit," the professor tilted his head. "With friends?"
"Hermits United. We meet up every 10 years, swap stories about caves. It's good fun. For a hermit. So, um, Utopia?"
The professor's face contorted into a shit-eating grin. He wiggled a finger at the Doctor to come to look at his machine's display. "The call came from across the stars. Over and over again. Come to Utopia. Originating from that point."
"Where is that?"
"Oh, it's far beyond the Condensate Wilderness. Out towards the Wildlands and the Dark Matter Reefs. Calling us in, the last of the humans scattered across the night."
"What do you think is out there?"
"We can't know. A colony, a city, some sort of haven. The Science Foundation created the Utopia Project thousands of years ago to preserve mankind, to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself. Now, perhaps they found it. Perhaps not. But it's worth a look, don't you think?"
"Oh, yes," the Doctor said. The scientist shut his eyes, not feeling well, hearing the sounds of drums beating. Angel, whose psychic damper was now at only 75% felt his sudden overwhelming drumbeat along with him. The drumbeat she only ever heard when her father was around, had now returned. What in Rassilon's name was going on? "And the signal keeps modulating so it's not on automatic. That's a good sign. Someone's out there. And that's a navigation matrix, isn't it? So you can fly without the stars to guide you, Professor? Professor? Professor? Professor!"
"I… Right, that's enough talk. There's work to do. Now if you could leave, thank you." The professor and Angel broke out whatever attack he was receiving from the psychic drumbeat. The professor walked away from the group, too overwhelmed to deal with them. Angel stood behind her comrades in silent horror, trying to think of an explanation for what she just experienced.
"Are you alright?" The Doctor wondered why the man changed so suddenly.
"Yes, I'm fine. And busy."
"Except that rocket's not going to fly, is it? This Footprint mechanism thing, it's not working."
"We'll find a way!"
"You're stuck on this planet. And you haven't told them, have you? That lot out there, they still think they're gonna fly."
"Well, it's better to let them live in hope."
"Quite right, too," the Doctor yelled out. "And I must say, Professor… What was it?"
"Yana"
"Professor Yana, this new science is well beyond me. But all the same, a boost reversal circuit, in any timeframe, must be a circuit which reverses the boost. So, I wonder what would happen if I did…this." The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on the device. A red light lit up and an alarm sounded.
"Chan, it's working, tho!"
"But how did you do that?"
"Oh, we've been chatting away. I forgot to tell you, I'm brilliant," he gave Professor Yana a wide self-satisfied smile.
Everyone got busy doing what they could to prepare for the ship's flight. All the passengers began picking up their belongings, the Doctor's gang helped in the lab where instructed alongside the workers.
A male voice came through on the intercom. "Professor, tell the Doctor we've found his blue box.
Angel tried to look busy while staying out of her comrades' sightlines, heading for the TARDIS. Her mind was still connected to the neverending drumming in Professor Yana's. The group bounded through the doorway of the room, and she dropped to the floor. She ended up huddled behind some large machine parts next to the TARDIS.
"You don't have to keep working. We can handle it," she overheard the Doctor speaking with the professor.
"It's just a headache, just noise inside my head, Doctor. Constant noise inside my head."
"What sort of noise?"
"It's the sound of drums. More and more, as though it's getting closer."
"When did it start?"
"I've had it all my life. Every waking hour. Still, no rest for the wicked."
Angel took the moment they both turned around to slip into the TARDIS. She ran down the corridors and into her room, slamming the door shut and leaning against it. The TARDIS cut off the drumming for her. She stayed put and stared at the trees while relishing in her silent mind.
The rest of the group continued to assist the humans in their launch to Utopia. A man was trying to fix the couplings so that the Footprint could work when a stray Futurekind sabotaged the system. Nearby security guards shot her down. The stet radiation rose quickly in the red glowing room, becoming too much for the man's human body. Jack took over the task, as the man who can't die.
Martha and Chantho were constantly rebooting the communications to the Doctor and Jack.
"Doctor, are you there?"
"Receiving, yeah. He's inside."
Martha smiled at the miracle of Jack's life. "And still alive?"
"Oh, yes."
"But he should evaporate. What sort of a man is he?"
"I've only just met him. The Doctor sort of travels through time and space and picks people up. God, I make us sound like stray dogs. Maybe we are."
"He travels in time?" The professor heard whispers.
"Don't ask me to explain it. That's a TARDIS, that box thing. The sports car of time travel, he says." Martha went quiet while the Doctor and Jack caught up during his no-so-life-threatening act of heroism.
"When did you realize?"
"Earth, 1892. Got in a fight on Ellis Island, a man shot me through the heart. And then I woke up. Thought it was kind of strange. But then it never stopped. Fell off a cliff, trampled by horses, World War I, World War II, Poison, starvation, a stray javelin."
"Ooh!"
"In the end, I got the message. I'm the man who can never die. And all that time you knew."
"That's why I left you behind. It's not easy, even just looking at you, Jack, 'cause you're wrong."
"Thanks."
"You are. I can't help it. I'm a Time Lord. It's instinct. It's in my guts. You're a fixed point in time and space. You're a fact. That's never meant to happen. Even the TARDIS reacted against you, tried to shake you off. Flew all the way to the end of the universe just to get rid of you."
"So what you're saying is you're prejudiced?"
"I never thought of it like that."
Jack chuckled. "Shame on you."
"Yeah."
"Last thing I remember, back when I was mortal, I was facing three Daleks," Jack shared. The word Daleks reverberated through the professor's mind. "Death by I came back to life. What happened?"
"Rose"
"I thought you'd sent her back home."
"She came back. Opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the time vortex itself," the Doctor explained. Martha's face fell, finally hearing about the mysterious Rose.
"What does that mean exactly?"
"No one's ever meant to have that power. If a Time Lord did that, he'd become a god, a vengeful god. But she was human. I bring life. Everything she did was so human. She brought you back to life. But she couldn't control it. She brought you back forever. That's something, I suppose. The final act of the Time War was life."
"Do you think she could change me back?"
"I took the power out of her. She's gone, Jack. She's not just living on a parallel world, she's trapped there. The walls have closed."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah."
"I went back to her estate in the '90s, just once or twice. Watched her growing up. Never said hello, timelines and all that."
"Do you want to die?"
"This one's a little stuck. Jack? I thought I did. I don't know. But this lot, you see them out here surviving and that's fantastic."
"You might be out there somewhere."
"I could go meet myself."
"Well, it's the only man you're ever gonna be happy with."
"Heh, this new regeneration, it's kinda cheeky." They smile at one another through the window of the door. The word regeneration repeated in the professor's mind.
"I never understand hald the things he's saying," Martha said smiling at Chantho. She looked over to see the professor looking crushed. "What's wrong?"
"Chan, Professor, what is it, tho?"
"Time travel. THey say there was time travel back in the old days," he said with tears in his eyes. "I never believed. But what would I know? Stupid old man." He sniffled. "Never could keep time. Always late, always lost. Even this thing never worked." He pullout out his fob watch from his waistcoat. Martha's face fell when she saw it, the object reminding her very clearly of the Doctor's Chameleon ar-whatever. Her eyes went wide as he continued speaking. "Time and time and time again, always running out on me."
"Can I have a look at that?"
"It's only an old relic. Like me!"
"Where did you get it?"
"Hmm?"
"I was found with it."
"What do you mean?"
"An orphan in the storm. I was a naked child found on the coast of the Silver Devastation. Abandoned. With only this."
"Have you ever opened it?"
"Why would I? It's broken."
"How do you know it's broken if you've never opened it?"
"It's stuck, it's old, it's not meant to be. I don't know." He handed Martha the watch. She turned it over. There they were, the same strange markings that she saw on the Doctor's watch! "Does it matter?"
"No, it's nothing. It's… Listen, everything's fine up here. I'm gonna see if the Doctor needs me." She ran down to the Doctor and Jack.
"Yes!" Jack said as he finished up in the stet radiation room.
"Now, get out of there, come on!" The Doctor picked up the phone. "Lieutenant, everyone on board?"
"Ready and waiting."
"Stand by! Two minutes to ignition."
When Martha reached the Doctor and Jack they were both bouncing around in action. The Doctor excitedly explained what the Footprint was to her, it still went over her head.
"Doctor, it's the Professor. He's got this watch, he's got a fob watch. It's the same as yours, same writing on it, same everything."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I asked him. He said he;s had it his whole life."
"So he's got the same watch." Jack yelled, not understand the significance.
"Yeah, but it's not a watch. It's this chameleon thing."
"No, no, no, it's this thing… This device, it rewrites biology. Changes a Time Lord into a human."
"And it's the same watch!"
"It can't be." Just then an alarm started blaring.
"That emans he could be a Time Lord. You might not be the last one!" Jack yelled to him excitedly.
"Jack, keep it level!" The Doctor ordered.
"But that's brilliant, isn't it?" Martha asked.
"Yes, it is. Of course it is. Depends which one. Brilliant, fantastic, yeah. But they died, the Time Lords. All of them, they died."
"Not if he was human," Jack noted.
"What did he say, Martha?" He turned to Martha. "What did he say?" He yelled in her face.
"He looked at the watch like he could hardly see it. Like that perception filter thing."
"What about now? Can he see it now?"
The professor held the watch and listened to the voices in his mind. Open me, you human fool. Open the light and summon me and receive my majesty.
"Chan, Yana, won't you please take some rest, tho?" She asked the professor as he stared at the Doctor's hand.
The countdown was quickly approaching 0.
"If he escaped the Time War, then it's a perfect place to hide. The end of the universe," Jack said running over to them.
"Think what the Face of Boe said. His dying words. He said… " The ship launched, cutting off Martha.
Chantho looked up, pleased they managed to launch the ship. The professor eerily stood, finally opening the fob watch. A golden glow reflected on his face.
The Doctor felt the presence of the other Time Lord from another room. He thought of the Face of Boe saying, "You are not alone." He shook his head, bringing himself back to their current situation. He called the Lieutenant to confirm they reached the correct velocity and wished them good luck.
The professor pull a switch, locking Martha, Jack and the Doctor out of the room.
"Chan, but you've locked them in, tho."
The Doctor yelled for the door to open, and desperately tried to use his sonic on it.
"Not to worry, my dear. As one door closes, another must open," the professor said as he flipped another switch, cutting power to the gates outside that held back the Futurekind.
"Chan, you must stop, tho. Chan, but you've lowered the defences. The Futurekind will get in, tho"
The Futurekind busted throught the gates into the compound.
"Chan, Professor, I'm so sorry, but I must stop you. You are destroying all our work, tho." He turned around to see the blue woman pointing a gun at him.
"Oh! Now I can say I was provoked," he informed as he held up the sparking end of an electric cable.
The Doctor, Jack and Martha ran from the Futurekind.
"Did you never think, all those years standing beside me, to ask about that watch? Never? Did you never once think, not ever, that you could set me free?" He slowly approached Chantho, the sparking electricity cast a yellow glow on the blue woman as she apologized. "And you, with your "Chan" and you "tho", driving me insane." She begged for him to stop. "That is not my name! The professor was an invention. So perfect a disguise that I forgot who I am.
"Chan, then who are you, tho?"
"I am the Master," he whispered before connecting the electrical end to his assistant. Her body shook and she fell to the floor.
"Professor!" He heard the Doctor calling from the door to the room.
The master spied the Doctor's hand and decided it might be —handy.
"Professor, let me in! Let me in! Jack, get the door open, now!" The Doctor yelled, situation dire. "Professor, Professor, where are you? Chantho, Chantho, are you there? Please, I need to explain. Whatever you do, don't open that watch."
The master pulled out an oddly shaped floppy disc from the coordinate system. "Utopia," he said with a smirk.
"Hurry!" Martha screamed.
"Open the door! Open the door, please. I am begging you, Professor. Please listen to me. Just open the door, please." Chantho stirred awake and saw the gun next to her. With all her effort, she picked it up and pointed it at the man she thought she knew and loved. She pulled the trigger, sending a blue beam at the Master. She collapsed again after seeing she hit her target.
The Doctor finally made it through the door. He saw the once-man bent over in front of his TARDIS. Then he quickly slipped through the door and locked the Doctor out of his own TARDIS so that the key wouldn't work. The Doctor pulled out his sonic, pointed at the upper frame. The Master limped to the console and flipped a switch. "And locked," the Master whispered.
"Let me in. Let me in!" The Doctor howled with desperation.
"She's dead," Martha said after checking Chantho's vitals.
"I broke the lock. Give me a hand," Jack called out.
"I'm begging you. Everything's changed. It's only the two of us. We're the only ones left. Just let me in!" The Doctor screamed.
"Killed by an insect. A girl. How inappropriate. But still, if the Doctor can be young and strong, then so can I. The Master, reborn." The aged Master held out his arms and screamed as he willed himself to regenerate into a younger man.
"Doctor, you'd better think of something!" Jack held the door back with all his might.
The Master opened his new eyes and hopped up from the floor, laughing. He raced around the console with his new body, turning on the intercom. "Now then, Doctor! Oh, new voice." He lowered his voice, "Hello." He raised his voice, "Hello." He landed on a mid tone, "Hello. Anyway, why don't we stop and have a nice little chat while I tell you all my plans and you can work out a way to stop me? I don't think!"
"Hold on, I know that voice," Martha said with a grunt trying to help Jack keep the door shut.
"I'm asking you, really properly, just stop, just think."
"Use my name."
"Master. I'm sorry."
"Tough!" The Master quickly adjusted the setting on the TARDIS to leave. The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver again.
"I can't hold them much longer, Doctor!" Jack called.
The Doctor used the screw driver to fuse the coordinate of the TARDIS. Sparks flew out at the Master. "No, you don't." He pushed a button. "End of the universe. Have fun. Bye-bye." He pushed another button.
"Doctor, stop him!" Martha yelled. "Hurry up, they're getting in!"
The Doctor stood and watched the TARDIS dematerialize. Finally, he ran to the door, leaned against it and grabbed Jack's wrist. He whipped out his sonic to try his best to get it to work and get the coordinate system straightened out.
"It's broken. It hasn't worked for years," Jack disclosed. He got it to boot up and entered the coordinates.
"That's because you didn't have me. Martha! Grab on." As soon as she did he initiated the device. "Now!" A time vortex pulled them through and dumped them into 2007, the day after the election, four days after Martha left with him.
The Master stalked through the TARDIS, getting familiar with it and his new body. He passed by a door and sensed the woman he had forgotten about on the other side. He knocked quietly a couple times, so as not to alarm her. He'd rather keep her compliant if she's useful.
Too late, she was already alarmed. She sensed him too, and heard his drums. She knew him though, and knew making things more difficult would only make it worse for her in the end. She stood and opened the door just wide enough to show her face. She looked at the face of the Master, now as her father and was immediately stunned. Her fear dissipated, now that her father was really here and she wasn't going mad.
She threw the door open, latched her arms behind him and melted into his torso. Now he was stunned. He had never received genuine physical affection, or if he had, it had been so long ago that he forgot. He placed a hand on her temple and psychically sifted through her memories. Most of it she was alone. But it amazed him to see his new face blazing through it like a dear loved one.
While he looked in her mind, she looked in his. She saw so much pain and anger. He found her recent memories with the Doctor, and she found a dark cloud of bitterness and hate towards him. She pushed through it and found admiration and love. It was only then that he realized she was a skilled psychic like him. His face broke into a wide smile. It seemed she would be useful after all.