Chapter 4
Carolyn's body was lying on a surgical bed. Burn marks were visible on her face. Michelle stood back as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to scan Carolyn's body. "There do not appear to be any unusual readings. Energy residuals from plasma burns, the beginning of cellular decomposition."
Michelle grimaced slightly at this clinical account of her dead friend's body. The Doctor snapped the sonic shut. "I see nothing that connects these bio-readings to your recent sense of discontinuity."
"But how did this happen?"
"Don't you remember? The Plasma Conduit exploded when the Sontarans attacked. Carolyn was seriously injured."
"No, I don't remember it that way, and I've seen Carolyn since then, and so have you!"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Michelle." The Doctor crossed the room and connected his sonic to a diagnostic instrument. He hit a control.
Michelle had a mild wave of dizziness, as before. She saw that she was now dressed in different clothing.
"Michelle… are you alright?" came Nita's voice.
Michelle looked up. Nita was now standing there.
"Have you noticed another discontinuity, Michelle?" asked the Doctor.
"A moment ago, Nita was not here."
"I wasn't?"
Michelle glanced at her clothing. "And my clothing is different."
The Doctor suddenly reacted to his sonic. "I am detecting a quantum flux in your cellular RNA."
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know. I will have to analyze these readings."
Nita was sitting behind the desk in her study. It was her study now. She was the TARDIS pilot. Michelle was reporting to her. Michelle noticed minor changes to the study: the Doctor's hatstand was gone and replaced with a plant, "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells was replaced by a photo of Nita and the Doctor's wedding.
"I have found that the quantum flux in your cellular RNA extends to the subatomic level. It is asynchronous with normal matter," said Nita. "In essence, Michelle, you don't belong in my universe."
"What?"
"All matter in the universe resonates on a quantum level with a unique signature. This signature is a constant. It can't be changed by any known process. It's the basic foundation of existence."
"And you believe that my quantum signature is different from yours?"
"Yes, Michelle. I can't explain it. It's as if you originate from a different quantum universe."
"But I'm standing right here in front of you. I've been on the TARDIS for years."
"I can't explain that either. According to my understanding of physics, you shouldn't exist."
There was a long beat as Michelle considered this strange theory.
"You say these discontinuities started to occur after you returned from a fencing tournament on Fagiros."
"Yes."
"Now, I know for a fact that you didn't attend that tournament, and that the shuttlecraft has not left the TARDIS for over a month."
"I understand. But I also clearly remember attending the tournament, and returning to the TARDIS in a shuttlecraft."
"Do you remember the course you took to return to the TARDIS?"
"I think so."
"Let's backtrack that course, see if there are any unusual readings or anomalies."
"Ok."
Michelle went to the door but stopped, then turned to Nita. "If I may inquire, how long have you been piloting the TARDIS?"
"Four years. Ever since the Doctor was killed during an incident with the Cybermen," replied Nita. "You don't remember any of this, do you?"
"I do remember. I just remember it differently."
The TARDIS flew through space.
In the Control Room, Nita and Michelle were at the console. Their old friend Ace was also there, working the Tactical panel.
"Nita, I'm picking up a minor subspace disturbance," said Ace.
"Full stop. Analysis, Michelle?"
Michelle worked. "It appears to be a quantum fissure in the space-time continuum."
"On screen."
"The anomaly can't be seen. However, I believe I can enhance it with a warp field to make it visible." Michelle worked.
The viewscreen showed a quantum fissure in the middle of the screen – a very small glowing speck that was distorting the area of space just around it.
"Is it dangerous?"
"Not at this distance. I am also detecting an ion trail intersecting the phenomenon. I believe it was left by a Gallifreyan type-six shuttlecraft. So I was here…"
Nita read her console, then turned to Michelle. "I have an explanation."
A short time later, Nita, Michelle and Ace were in the observation lounge.
"I believe the quantum fissure we discovered is a fixed point across the space-time continuum – a 'keyhole' that intersects many different quantum realities," Nita began.
"What do you mean by 'quantum realities'?"
"For any event, there is an infinite number of possible outcomes. Our choices determine which outcome will follow. But there is a theory in quantum physics that all possibilities that could happen do happen in alternate quantum realities. For instance, in a different quantum reality, I may have chosen to sit at the other end of the table. While in another reality, I may be standing."
"So at this moment, there are an infinite number of TARDISes, and in infinite number of Michelles having this discussion."
"Yes. Although on some of those TARDISes, there may not be a Michelle."
"And somehow I have been shifting from one reality to another." Finally, Michelle had been vindicated.
"How did this happen?"
Nita moved to the wall monitor and tapped a control. The monitor displayed a graphic that showed a single point at the center of the screen, representing the quantum fissure. A single line representing Michelle's shuttlecraft began moving toward the fissure. "When your shuttlecraft made contact with the quantum fissure, I believe its warp engines caused a small break in the barriers between quantum realities. You were thrown into a state of quantum flux."
As the single line made contact with the fissure, the line suddenly branched out into dozens of different lines, like a complex tree-branch.
"You immediately began to shift to other realities."
"And something about Carolyn somehow triggered that."
"Exactly. She had created special glasses, modelled off my sonic screwdriver, that used a subspace field pulse. I think that whenever Carolyn came near you, the field pulse intensified the quantum flux and pushed you into another reality."
They considered this bizarre concept.
"How can we find my original quantum state, and return me to it?"
A tense beat. Ace got an idea. "Nita, what if we scanned the quantum fissure using a subspace differential pulse? Maybe we could locate the quantum state that shares Michelle's signature, and find a way to get her back."
"An excellent idea, Ace." Nita considered, then – "Proceed."
They all stood and headed for the door.
The TARDIS was holding position near the quantum fissure. The TARDIS was sending out a thin energy beam into the fissure.
In the Control Room, Nita and Michelle were at the console. Michelle looked on as Ace worked the tactical panel. "I've used a differential pulse to analyze over ten million quantum states within the fissure, but I still haven't found the one with your signature," said Ace. This may take some time."
Nita reacted to something on her console. "There is a Rutan ship approaching. Mauve Alert."
The TARDIS went to Mauve Alert. Michelle noticed the Mauve Alert sound was different from before. "The Rutans?"
Nita looked at her, realizing that Michelle was unaware of what had been happening in this reality. "Ever since the Rutans overthrew the Sontaran Empire, they've been getting more and more aggressive. Yesterday they destroyed one of our subspace telescopes, they thought we were using it to spy on them."
Michelle considered this.
"They're charging their weapons," Ace warned.
"Shields!" shouted Michelle.
Suddenly the TARDIS was rocked hard.
"Return fire!"
Ace worked, reacted to her console. "Nita, they've damaged our power systems – it's caused an energy surge within the subspace pulse. The quantum fissure is beginning to destabilize."
"Can you disengage the pulse?"
WHAM! The TARDIS was jolted.
"Too late."
The quantum fissure rippled slightly, and emitted a colourful flash of light. Suddenly, another TARDIS appeared, and a second later, a third TARDIS appeared.
"What the hell's happening?" asked Nita.
"The barriers between quantum realities are breaking down. Other realities are emerging into our own."
On the viewscreen, they saw yet another TARDIS appear – and another.