I took my time taking a long, hot shower. There was no bathtub and I wouldn't have used it anyway. For me there was either the shower or going for a swim properly. The TARDIS seemed to know that, so she hadn't provided a tub in the first place.

I stumbled over that thought, wondering how I might know that. Turning off the water I stepped out of the shower and looked around.

"You… can understand me, right?"

No words answered me, but I felt a light tingle in the air, a sense of moving electricity or maybe something similar to sound.

"There is no bathtub."

This time the tingling wore a strange, but distinct note of amusement.

"Then I was right. You knew I wouldn't use it anyway."

A soft hum in the air. I smiled. It really was communicating. And that with an almost childlike joy.

"You're a wonderful thing, aren't you." I walked out into my room and sat down on the bed. The mattress had a perfect hardness to it and the sheets were soft and smelled nice. The light-hose gave off a cosy orange glow, perfectly dim and soothing to my light sensitive eyes. There was a shelf with books and others filled with what looked to be random objects, probably souvenirs. I had always loved collecting them.

Everything in here was perfectly tailored to my tastes and needs. Not even for a second could I doubt the room was made for anyone else. How strange. Especially when I thought back to the cheap apartment I had been living in, with barely enough money to scrape by, random furniture I had either gotten because someone else wanted to throw it away or so cheap that it hardly held together. The perfect opposite to this.

It was the first time in my life it actually felt like a space was mine.

I dropped backwards on the bed and glared at the ceiling. Glowing dots stuck to it, creating a fake starry sky. How could someone's memories just… vanish? I couldn't imagine that I actually had wanted to forget. Not something like this. Let alone whatever else might wait for me outside. On a spaceship! With aliens!

All of those mysteries had to wait. My curiosity was killing me, sure, but there was also the strange fact that I clearly was intoxicated. I must have had consumed alcohol before the incident and I also felt the effects of having been up for too many hours. Unconsciousness sadly didn't compensate for sleep. And judging by this room I seemed to live here now. So everything would still be here the next day.

Probably. If it didn't turn out to be a weird dream.

.

"You did what?!"

I winced at the loud outburst of Donna. She hadn't needed long to introduce herself, practically tackling me with a hug as soon as I came in sight. Her joy had turned to anger within a single second when she realised I had no clue who she was. A moment that scared me more than the whole memory thing itself. It was one of those moments when you get aware that you can't give what people expect of you, that you can't fulfil the image in their minds. It usually is the moment they either hurt or discard you.

But not Donna. I had apologised and promised to get lost to not bother her further and the look in her eyes had gotten even darker for a moment. But only for a moment. Then she had suddenly hugged me tight and had promised to kick some marsian arses before grabbing my hand and dragging me along to the kitchen.

We had found not only the aliens but also coffee. The latter made, for me at least, everything a little more bearable, while Donna showered the other two with a tirade of curses until they explained to us what had transpired.

"I didn't know!" The Master growled at her.

"I don't care! It sounds flippin' dangerous!" She tried to slap his arm, but he evaded with a dark look.

"So, how can I get my-" I started, hoping to interrupt them. But, as usual, no one paid me any attention. It was always the same in a group. Whenever I spoke up, no one listened. Sometimes I truly wondered if I was even real or simply stopped existing as soon as there was more than one person in the room with me.

"And why's no one doing anything about that void thing on her?" Donna demanded, pointing in my direction.

Right, that thing. I had seen it in the mirror, sitting on my chest and ever changing, black and a hint of purple. I had decided to just ignore it for the time being, getting no answer on my own anyway.

"We don't know yet," answered the Doctor. "It seems to be connected to the void inside her mind. And ever since the dragon vanished it got that purple too. 'S hardly noticeable, but I think it's the little one's doing."

"You're kidding, Doctor, are you? This is getting more insane by the minute." Her head snapped towards the Master. "Have you apologised at least?"

"Why would I?" he whined. "Stop bugging me, human!"

He seemed to like using our species as an insult and I wondered why. They didn't look different to humans. They didn't even behave that much differently. The Doctor wriggled around as if he had a hard time standing still for longer than two seconds and he could talk a million miles per hour, while the Master appeared to be on the moody side, calm on the outside, but quick to snap.

Their names were curious, I thought, watching them. Both were titles, but they used them as their actual names. Did they use them in the sense of professions or academic grades?

"What do you think, Lucy?"

I blinked and shook my head, startled at being spoken to all of a sudden. All eyes were on me now and my heart sped up with a short burst of anxiety that vanished surprisingly quickly.

"I uh… spaced out. Sorry. You were so loud and…"

"It's okay," Donna assured. "The Doctor suggested visiting some places to maybe jog your memories."

"I could conduct some tests in the med bay too," the tall man said, smiling. "But with the subject we're dealing with I'm not sure we'd get results."

I nodded. This whole situation wasn't as bad as it could be. I had no way to tell whether or not I could actually trust any of them, but what choice did I have?

"It would also be perfectly alright if you want to go home," the Doctor added. "We can drop you off with your dad if you want."

The thought of my father made my head spin for a second. When I tried to think of him I had different sets of memories. One where he lived his life under the rule of my abusive mother, but also one where the woman had mysteriously vanished and my dad had moved to a nicer place with my younger sister. Another puzzle to solve.

I shook my head, this time. "No. I'll stay here." My look wandered down to my wrists. Long hoodie sleeves covered them now, but I had seen the scars. "I don't know how much I told you guys about my past, but the last I can remember it has never been so bad that I seriously considered to…" I traced a finger over my wrist and peeked up at awkward faces. Only the Master wore the same sour expression as before. "So, if things really got that bad in my life… I don't see a reason to return to it."

The Master huffed and folded his arms. "You have me to thank that you're still here, remember that."

"You waited until she was almost dead before doing anything!" snapped the Doctor.

The other one shrugged.

"Doesn't matter." I played with my cup and then couldn't help but smirk. "I'm on an alien spaceship and there is no way I'd leave it just like that. I used to joke that if I'd ever meet aliens I'd beg them to take me along." I chuckled.

It was true. I had never felt like I belonged on earth. Humans were so different to me that it was often almost impossible to accept that I was the same species as them. Even after discovering autism I could never shake the feeling that I just didn't belong there. My lack of friends or any kind of social connection confirmed it.

And now I had this. Whatever this was. Despite having no actual memories the place still felt familiar. It felt like… home. And there had never been anything like that for me. Not on earth.

"Brilliant!" The Doctor beamed from ear to ear. "You might even enjoy this. Imagine! You can see everything for the first time again!"

"Mhm." I smiled. "It would be better though to know that I have seen it before. You could tell and show me whatever and I'd have to believe it."

His face fell again and Donna tapped a finger against her chin. "We could give you a rundown on everything, how's that?"

"No!" The Doctor interrupted, before she could say more. "We don't tell her anything."

"Rubbish, Doctor," growled the Master. "Why do you want to leave her in the dark? I want her to know everything."

But the other man shook his head and gave a sad look. "Human brains," he simply stated.

"Useless and cluttered, yes, I'm aware. So what?"

"Yes," Donna seconded, "what about our brains?"

"False memories," I said and waited for any reaction to see if they had heard me this time. Obviously, they had, because all heads turned towards me. "A human brain can't cope with empty space so it takes whatever it can get to fill those. If you tell me anything, I will create memories-" I air-quoted the word - "based on that."

"But isn't that good?" asked Donna.

The Master grunted and folded his arms in front of his chest, scowling at the floor. "No, it's not. It would only be a mimicry of actual memories. But nothing true. And yes…" He cast a glance at me. "You would have no choice but to believe our viewpoints. Hate to say it, but for once the Doctor is right."

"Am I?" For a single second he looked surprised, but quickly smiled. "Of course I am!"

"How do you know that, though, Lucy?" Donna cocked her head and sat at the table with me. "And that's really okay for you?"

"It is, yeah." I nodded. "I don't want anything that's not true for me. And I uh… I might have been a liiittle obsessed with neurology and stuff for a while. Wanted to know how my brain works, you know? And why I'm so wrong."

"You're not wrong! Don't tell nonsense."

I gave her a sad smile, but didn't answer. Whatever I might have told her about my life would not be able to fully convey how it felt to grow up and live with everyone around you treating you like you're something that shouldn't exist.

One more thing that made me want to stay here. Those people, they seemed to care.

"Well then!" The Doctor clapped into his hands. "Where to first?"

.

A/N: It's true, actually.

You can very easilly create fales memories in a person. One of many reasons why memory isn't reliable and why what you experienced doesn't necessarilly have to be "true".
Or, as someone once, said: In a way, you really can change the past.
Just not with a time machine.