Doctor Who: The Remaining Immortal
It had been there for longer than anyone could remember, the old Diner. It had been there when the small settlement had been established, centuries ago (the exact founding date was unclear, but it was certainly before the American Revolution), and it was still there, now in the mid-21st century when the settlement had long ago faded into the dust. Very few families remained there. The Diner was in the middle of town. No one remembered when it had ever been open (Nor did anyone comment on their ancester's anachronistic descriptions of it). All they knew was that it had always been there.
Little did they know that it had been there longer than that, centuries longer...
2 January 2046
Tabitha Elysia Allan,approached the Old Diner, her shoes crunching the freshly fallen snow. She was an inquisitive sort, always ready any mystery or other. “Tabi, wait!” her cousin, Gwendolyn Elanor Davis, called out.
Tabi paused and turned around. “Gwen! There is nothing to be worried about,” she said in a reassurring tone.
Gwen caught up with her cousin. “Worry about! There's lots to be worried about! No one has been inside for years, possibly decades. It's probably falling apart,” she said in a worried tone.
Tabi walked up to the door. “This is probably my last chance,” she said. “I will be at college next year, and then I won't have time for investigating old buildings in my mother's home town.” Her family lived back east, near one of the major cities.
“So will I,” Gwen said. “I can't wait to get out of this boring old town.”
Tabi pushed against the door. “It won't budge!” she said.
“See, we can't get in,” Gwen said with a toss of her hair. It fell back, covering most of the left side of her face as it usually did.
“Sure we can,” Tabi said. “Help?”
“You're impossible!” Gwen said. She turned around and backed up against the door. She put her weight into it. Together the two girls pushed the door open.
Tabi flicked on the flashlight she had brought with her. “Amazing. Remarkably well preserved.”
“It's colder than outside,” Gwen remarked. “Probably whatever it's made of killed all the pests that tried to eat it.”
“Maybe,” Tabi said as she continued further inwards. “But there is plenty of plant life.”
“Spoilsport!”
“See, nothing but antiquidated food preparation devices,” Gwen said ten minutes later.
“We haven't seen everything,” Tabi said. “There's a door here.”
“Looks like Presley,” Gwen commented.
“Who?” Tabi asked. “I'm not familiar with a person by that name.”
“He was called the 'King of Rock-n-Roll,'” Gwen said quietly.
“OK,” Tabi said. Gwen could be relied upon to recall any obsure fact regarding 20th Century America. “Open it,” she added.
“Sure,” Gwen said with a roll of her eyes. Out of all things she expected to see, she didn't expect to see what was behind that door. She pulled it open. “This is easier than the other door....” She stopped. “What is this?”
Tabi came alongside her. “This part of the building is in better condition,” she said. She stepped into the white room, which had what looked like computer equipment in the middle of it.
Gwen followed her. The door with 'the King of Rock-n-Roll' on it closed, followed by a second pair of doors. The lights came up and a quiet hum could be heard, as of equipment powering up. “We may have stumbled onto something, secret,” she said with a warning tone.
“Cool,” Tabi said. “We still have plenty of time.” She looked around the room, walking up to the equipment in the middle. “There is another door over there.”
“Probably doesn't go anywhere. Not enough room,” Gwen said.
“I'll have a look anyway,” Tabi said.
“Of course!” Gwen moaned.
Tabi went over to the other door, and opened it. “Gwen!”
Gwen came over. “Impossible!” she said. She leaned through the door and confirmed that there was indeed a corridor leading off into the distance in both directions.
“Interesting,” Tabi breathed. “It's a whole complex.”
“Impossible! It has to be an optical illusion,” Gwen said.
“Unless the inside of the Diner is on an angle,” Tabi mused.
“Still not enough, we'd have noticed,” Gwen pointed out.
“I suppose this room could be an elevator,” Tabi said.
“No, that's not it,” Gwen said, quietly, trying to think.
“But the Diner can't be bigger on the inside than the outside,” Tabi said. She thought for a moment. “Can't it?”
“Impossible!” Gwen grouched.
“Yet, it is,” Tabi said, she walked along the corridor a short way.
“Somehow!” Gwen said, resigned to the seeming impossible.
“It is possible,” someone said. Both girls turned. They could then see a girl who looked to be about their age walking towards them.
Gwen gave out a squeak. She ducked behind her cousin. “Who are you?” Tabi asked, curious about the newcomer, while at the same time, annoyed at her cousin's shyness.
“You may call me, Lady Me,” the dark haired girl answered.
Lady Me, otherwise known as Ashildr (to a rare few) had been in the main library, when the TARDIS had notified her of intruders from the town. She knew that the day would come, ever since she had fled from Gallifrey after returning Clara to the extraction chamber. They had travelled the universe for an unknown length of time. It seemed like forever, but according to her record keeping a mere two millenia. (An approximation, it could be less, or more, most likely the latter.)
After leaving Gallifrey, the TARDIS had landed in 11th Century North America. There, Lady Me had mourned Clara, only leaving the TARDIS from time to time when she wanted a change in scenery. Now, after a thousand years on the slow path, the TARDIS wanted to travel again. Lady Me couldn't fault it, she figured it was about time to leave anyway.
The shorter of the two newcomers, with the midlength strawberry blonde hair remained silent behind the other. The other, with the close cropped hair that had colouring reminiscent of a tabby cat spoke up. “Lady Me? What kind of name is that?” she asked with curiosity.
“The name of one who isn't defined by what others think of them,” Lady Me answered.
“Good answer,” the shy one murmured.
“And you have stumbled into my TARDIS.”
“TARDIS?” The tabby haired one asked.
“Where have I heard that before?” the shy one asked herself.
“Your friend knows,” Lady Me said.
“My cousin. She's my cousin,” the tabby-haired one said defensively.
Lady Me walked past them into the console room.
“TARDIS. The time vehicle of the legendary 'Doctor',” the shy one said as if by rote.
The tabby-haired one gave a huff. “More like UNIT wants good press,” she said.
“Actually, the Doctor exists, although I haven't seen him in over a thousand years,” Lady Me said as she approached the console, and took the sonic specs out of a storage compartment. There were several times that she and Clara had crossed paths with the Doctor (usually incarnations from his first regeneration cycle), but he hadn't noticed them.
“Right...” the Taby haired one said.
“I know you come from the village,” Lady Me said. “What are your names.”
“Tabi,” the tabby-haired one said.
“Tabi!” the shy one cried out.
“What?” Tabi asked.
“We shouldn't give them our real names,” the shy one said.
“Just because I did, doesn't mean you have to,” Tabi said.
“Fine,” she said. She then turned to Lady Me. “You can call me Ella,” she said.
“It's still part of your real name,” Tabi said.
“Cool,” Lady Me said. She then worked the console, directing the TARDIS to take off. Suddenly it gave loud noises and shuddred greatly. The cousins were knocked off the feet. “Odd!”
“What's odd?” Tabi asked, getting up off the shaking floor, and still annoyed at Gwen for giving 'Ella' as a name.
“The TARDIS won't take off!” Lady Me said, quite perplexed.
“Maybe it's because it has been here so long,” Tabi said.
“No, that's not it,” Lady Me said as she worked the console. The noises continued. She took out the manual. “What's wrong?”
“Something probably got into a mechanism somewhere,” Ella said.
“Possible. But I don't think so,” Lady Me said. She put in more instructions in the console and the engine sounds stopped. The scanner screen switched on. “Ah! You left the front door open,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Ella asked. “The door is closed.”
“No, you left the door to the Diner open,” Lady Me said. She pressed a button and the inner doors opened.
“Wait,” Tabi said. “The TARDIS won't take off because we left the Diner door open?”
“You misunderstand. The TARDIS isn't in the Diner. The Diner is the TARDIS,” Lady Me clarified.
“Oh, that makes things clear!” Ella said, with heavy sarcasm.
Lady Me emerged from the console room, into the Diner area. She quickly went to the door and closed it. “There, you should take off now. Silly old TARDIS.” She went back to the console room.
Lady Me re-entered the console room. She looked at the cousins as she pressed the button to close the door. “Ready to go.”
“We can't just go,” Ella objected.
“Actually, the TARDIS still has lots of supplies. Remember that it travels in time. We could be back ten seconds after we leave,” Lady Me said.
“Time Travel. Cool!” Tabi said enthusiastically.
“Of course, you would be enthusiastic about this!” Ella said.
Lady Me then input the instructions to take off again. The column in the middle console started moving up and down, and the vorrrp! vorrrp! sound didn't stutter. The TARDIS was moving for the first time in a thousand years.
Outside, there was noone to witness the TARDIS' departure, as there had been no one to see it arrive a thousand years before. Within seconds, where the Diner had been, was an empty lot full of weeds.
It had been there for longer than anyone could remember, the old Diner. It had been there when the small settlement had been established, centuries ago (the exact founding date was unclear, but it was certainly before the American Revolution), and it was still there, now in the mid-21st century when the settlement had long ago faded into the dust. Very few families remained there. The Diner was in the middle of town. No one remembered when it had ever been open (Nor did anyone comment on their ancester's anachronistic descriptions of it). All they knew was that it had always been there.
Little did they know that it had been there longer than that, centuries longer...
2 January 2046
Tabitha Elysia Allan,approached the Old Diner, her shoes crunching the freshly fallen snow. She was an inquisitive sort, always ready any mystery or other. “Tabi, wait!” her cousin, Gwendolyn Elanor Davis, called out.
Tabi paused and turned around. “Gwen! There is nothing to be worried about,” she said in a reassurring tone.
Gwen caught up with her cousin. “Worry about! There's lots to be worried about! No one has been inside for years, possibly decades. It's probably falling apart,” she said in a worried tone.
Tabi walked up to the door. “This is probably my last chance,” she said. “I will be at college next year, and then I won't have time for investigating old buildings in my mother's home town.” Her family lived back east, near one of the major cities.
“So will I,” Gwen said. “I can't wait to get out of this boring old town.”
Tabi pushed against the door. “It won't budge!” she said.
“See, we can't get in,” Gwen said with a toss of her hair. It fell back, covering most of the left side of her face as it usually did.
“Sure we can,” Tabi said. “Help?”
“You're impossible!” Gwen said. She turned around and backed up against the door. She put her weight into it. Together the two girls pushed the door open.
Tabi flicked on the flashlight she had brought with her. “Amazing. Remarkably well preserved.”
“It's colder than outside,” Gwen remarked. “Probably whatever it's made of killed all the pests that tried to eat it.”
“Maybe,” Tabi said as she continued further inwards. “But there is plenty of plant life.”
“Spoilsport!”
“See, nothing but antiquidated food preparation devices,” Gwen said ten minutes later.
“We haven't seen everything,” Tabi said. “There's a door here.”
“Looks like Presley,” Gwen commented.
“Who?” Tabi asked. “I'm not familiar with a person by that name.”
“He was called the 'King of Rock-n-Roll,'” Gwen said quietly.
“OK,” Tabi said. Gwen could be relied upon to recall any obsure fact regarding 20th Century America. “Open it,” she added.
“Sure,” Gwen said with a roll of her eyes. Out of all things she expected to see, she didn't expect to see what was behind that door. She pulled it open. “This is easier than the other door....” She stopped. “What is this?”
Tabi came alongside her. “This part of the building is in better condition,” she said. She stepped into the white room, which had what looked like computer equipment in the middle of it.
Gwen followed her. The door with 'the King of Rock-n-Roll' on it closed, followed by a second pair of doors. The lights came up and a quiet hum could be heard, as of equipment powering up. “We may have stumbled onto something, secret,” she said with a warning tone.
“Cool,” Tabi said. “We still have plenty of time.” She looked around the room, walking up to the equipment in the middle. “There is another door over there.”
“Probably doesn't go anywhere. Not enough room,” Gwen said.
“I'll have a look anyway,” Tabi said.
“Of course!” Gwen moaned.
Tabi went over to the other door, and opened it. “Gwen!”
Gwen came over. “Impossible!” she said. She leaned through the door and confirmed that there was indeed a corridor leading off into the distance in both directions.
“Interesting,” Tabi breathed. “It's a whole complex.”
“Impossible! It has to be an optical illusion,” Gwen said.
“Unless the inside of the Diner is on an angle,” Tabi mused.
“Still not enough, we'd have noticed,” Gwen pointed out.
“I suppose this room could be an elevator,” Tabi said.
“No, that's not it,” Gwen said, quietly, trying to think.
“But the Diner can't be bigger on the inside than the outside,” Tabi said. She thought for a moment. “Can't it?”
“Impossible!” Gwen grouched.
“Yet, it is,” Tabi said, she walked along the corridor a short way.
“Somehow!” Gwen said, resigned to the seeming impossible.
“It is possible,” someone said. Both girls turned. They could then see a girl who looked to be about their age walking towards them.
Gwen gave out a squeak. She ducked behind her cousin. “Who are you?” Tabi asked, curious about the newcomer, while at the same time, annoyed at her cousin's shyness.
“You may call me, Lady Me,” the dark haired girl answered.
Lady Me, otherwise known as Ashildr (to a rare few) had been in the main library, when the TARDIS had notified her of intruders from the town. She knew that the day would come, ever since she had fled from Gallifrey after returning Clara to the extraction chamber. They had travelled the universe for an unknown length of time. It seemed like forever, but according to her record keeping a mere two millenia. (An approximation, it could be less, or more, most likely the latter.)
After leaving Gallifrey, the TARDIS had landed in 11th Century North America. There, Lady Me had mourned Clara, only leaving the TARDIS from time to time when she wanted a change in scenery. Now, after a thousand years on the slow path, the TARDIS wanted to travel again. Lady Me couldn't fault it, she figured it was about time to leave anyway.
The shorter of the two newcomers, with the midlength strawberry blonde hair remained silent behind the other. The other, with the close cropped hair that had colouring reminiscent of a tabby cat spoke up. “Lady Me? What kind of name is that?” she asked with curiosity.
“The name of one who isn't defined by what others think of them,” Lady Me answered.
“Good answer,” the shy one murmured.
“And you have stumbled into my TARDIS.”
“TARDIS?” The tabby haired one asked.
“Where have I heard that before?” the shy one asked herself.
“Your friend knows,” Lady Me said.
“My cousin. She's my cousin,” the tabby-haired one said defensively.
Lady Me walked past them into the console room.
“TARDIS. The time vehicle of the legendary 'Doctor',” the shy one said as if by rote.
The tabby-haired one gave a huff. “More like UNIT wants good press,” she said.
“Actually, the Doctor exists, although I haven't seen him in over a thousand years,” Lady Me said as she approached the console, and took the sonic specs out of a storage compartment. There were several times that she and Clara had crossed paths with the Doctor (usually incarnations from his first regeneration cycle), but he hadn't noticed them.
“Right...” the Taby haired one said.
“I know you come from the village,” Lady Me said. “What are your names.”
“Tabi,” the tabby-haired one said.
“Tabi!” the shy one cried out.
“What?” Tabi asked.
“We shouldn't give them our real names,” the shy one said.
“Just because I did, doesn't mean you have to,” Tabi said.
“Fine,” she said. She then turned to Lady Me. “You can call me Ella,” she said.
“It's still part of your real name,” Tabi said.
“Cool,” Lady Me said. She then worked the console, directing the TARDIS to take off. Suddenly it gave loud noises and shuddred greatly. The cousins were knocked off the feet. “Odd!”
“What's odd?” Tabi asked, getting up off the shaking floor, and still annoyed at Gwen for giving 'Ella' as a name.
“The TARDIS won't take off!” Lady Me said, quite perplexed.
“Maybe it's because it has been here so long,” Tabi said.
“No, that's not it,” Lady Me said as she worked the console. The noises continued. She took out the manual. “What's wrong?”
“Something probably got into a mechanism somewhere,” Ella said.
“Possible. But I don't think so,” Lady Me said. She put in more instructions in the console and the engine sounds stopped. The scanner screen switched on. “Ah! You left the front door open,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Ella asked. “The door is closed.”
“No, you left the door to the Diner open,” Lady Me said. She pressed a button and the inner doors opened.
“Wait,” Tabi said. “The TARDIS won't take off because we left the Diner door open?”
“You misunderstand. The TARDIS isn't in the Diner. The Diner is the TARDIS,” Lady Me clarified.
“Oh, that makes things clear!” Ella said, with heavy sarcasm.
Lady Me emerged from the console room, into the Diner area. She quickly went to the door and closed it. “There, you should take off now. Silly old TARDIS.” She went back to the console room.
Lady Me re-entered the console room. She looked at the cousins as she pressed the button to close the door. “Ready to go.”
“We can't just go,” Ella objected.
“Actually, the TARDIS still has lots of supplies. Remember that it travels in time. We could be back ten seconds after we leave,” Lady Me said.
“Time Travel. Cool!” Tabi said enthusiastically.
“Of course, you would be enthusiastic about this!” Ella said.
Lady Me then input the instructions to take off again. The column in the middle console started moving up and down, and the vorrrp! vorrrp! sound didn't stutter. The TARDIS was moving for the first time in a thousand years.
Outside, there was noone to witness the TARDIS' departure, as there had been no one to see it arrive a thousand years before. Within seconds, where the Diner had been, was an empty lot full of weeds.
