eastbound | video | un: dollhouse

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video | un: dollhouse

Hello, gang! ...Gang? No, not the right word. Team? Better. Do we have a name? Those of us displaced and trapped here. Well, there we are.

[ As if the semantics are really important. Moving on. ]

I'm the Doctor, if we haven't spoken yet. And if we haven't - first of all, why haven't we? Second of all, I'm very glad we are now.

[ He's moving around a lot as he talks, walking in slow circles, just restless. ]

Hearing what everyone's uncovered recently has been helpful and I believe I can add something of value to the mix.

In conversation with our caretaker in the Mouse House, Ma'am Mariol, I learned more about the plague that swept through. When the sickness struck, it fractured Serthica. Those up here believed it came from down below, the Mouse House; the first to touch anything imported, anything crossing the sea, they assumed. Prior to that, it was easier for those down below to come and go up here. Much more difficult now, nearly impossible, and so the people down there, the children, they suffer.

[ He has to note that for a moment because he will remain displeased until he can fix their situation. ]

The children we've met in the Mouse House were orphaned as a result of the sickness. All of them. To anyone's knowledge, not a single person who was infected survived. They referred to it as the coal sick; called that because an infected person's hands, toes, face would go dark, like coal dust and rot. Rot - familiar word, that one, eh?

What else - right - it infected quickly. Someone could be healthy one day and then nearly dead the next. Coughing up blood, teeth chattering, wandering back and forth to keep warm.

I hoped to ascertain how the splitting of Serthica was decided, how people were sorted, if some were exiled down below who'd previously lived in the citadels, simply for fear of spreading illness. There's at least one woman that I know of in the Mouse House, who used to live in the citadels. She receives letters from her daughter, who lives up here. Evidently, this woman ended up in the Mouse House around the time the sickness swept through, yet her daughter remains here.

Don't worry, that won't be the end of what I learn. I'm still working it out. [ He gets a bit more restless, impatient almost, pacing more urgently. ] Brain isn't working fast enough. Thinking and thinking and more thinking. I have to be careful how often I go down there, so I'm told - not that I've ever listened to that sort of thing - but if there are other questions I've missed, tell me. Maybe I'm standing too close to see everything.

Many heads are better than one, so the saying goes. Unless it's a multi-headed predator of some sort. Not the best odds, in that case, if you're the prey, though very good if you're the predator. All creatures have a right to it, though, of course, so can't judge that one. Survival of the fittest. You'd be surprised, though! A very good friend of mine, his name was Bertram; a beautiful, tiny Snorclax with a rainbow shell. He told me once he faced down a three-headed serpent wielding nothing but a pencil. [ This has nothing to do with anything at all, but that hardly matters. He just likes to tell stories and he has a captive audience. Unfortunately for the audience. ]

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What happened to Betram?

( the story has her interested. more interested than watching ships )

[ Oh, yes, very good. He likes her already. Well, he likes everyone generally, but extra points to the one who asks about his travels. He loves sharing his stories, after all. ]

Oh, that dear fellow! Miss him. He was still a young lad when he faced down that serpent. He'd worked out even then, you don't need a weapon to win a fight. [ At least, that's how the Doctor's approached dire situations. Avoid weapons at all costs. ] Distracted the serpent with a pencil and managed to hide himself under a leaf until that old thing got bored and left. And my friend, he grew up into a bigger, beautiful Snorclax, living in the mountain forests of Adalexia with his wife and their many, many children. I haven't been back there in a long time, but it's a beauty, that planet. The clouds change color every hour, the seas sing a song when the tides change.

Is it weather patterns that make the clouds change colour or the time of the day?

( because the planet sounds beautiful and she wishes she could see it )

[ Someone to be science-y with! He's very excited, as his huge grin denotes. ]

Oh, good question, very good question! A combination, actually. They orbit their twin suns very quickly. The velocity and speed of their rotation combined with their unique atmospheric gases and the consistently high winds at sea level, causes those beautiful colors.

There are wonders out there, so many. What have you seen out there?

[ The way she's accepted the notion of space travel, well. He's curious to know her stories, too. ]

( she also definitely appreciates having someone to be space-y and science-y with. it's a rare thing here )

They'd have a unique time schedule. ( the length of those days... incredible ) I wish I could see them.

( the colours, hear the songs from the sea... so different from anywhere she's visited before )

I've visited several planets, each unique in their own way. Structures, atmospheres, climate. Nothing like this one.

[ Because he's still settling in here and his faith in his TARDIS is unwavering, he remains optimistic in spite of it all. ]

Music to my ears! You can see them all, you will. When my ship finds me here, we're all going home. The long way 'round, if you like.

[ Forget the transportation beacon. ]

And you're right, this place is...wholly different to anything I've seen myself. How long have you been here?

As incredible as that sounds, somehow it feels a bigger task than possible.

( the universe is just too large for anyone to see all of it, especially to properly see it and enjoy it )

A few months. I was fished out of the water by pirates. ( along with what is sort of her crew. they're hers now ) There are parts of this planet that we'd typically ignore, we have rules about it, but the differences here to what I've heard people describe elsewhere seem as if they should be different planets themselves.

( pirate ships to a higher technological society? )

Anything's possible, though I do get a bit carried away sometimes with the thrill of it all. You understand.

[ Her interest in it tells him she does, and he enjoys that very much.

She's right, though; in his very long life, he's never managed to see it all, either, and he'll never stop trying. ]

This place being different planets altogether - well, it would certainly be the more reasonable explanation than anything else at the moment.

Hang on. Back to other part. Fished out of the water by pirates? My entrance sounds almost dull in comparison.

I'd prefer something more dull. The pirates weren't especially fond of me.

( and she wasn't fond of the time she spent in the brig either )

Dare I ask how it happened?

Bit of excitement, waking up in the desert. Handed over to the Merchant, dropped off in the Mouse House. I did alright, just fine actually - alien physiology - but those in my group weren't exactly comfortable. I did file quite a few complaints on their behalf at the time with management! Even now, no one's bothered responding to me. Terrible customer service. They'll regret it eventually when I give them a one-star review.

And your pirates, too. I'll have a word with them if they ever come 'round again, though let's hope not.

Somehow I doubt that reviews or complaints are their priority.

( especially when they were the displaced and apparently caused as mych chaos as they did help )

You also seemed to show up ahead of us arriving there. Almost as if it was controlled.

Clearly not, though it'd go a long way to improving morale if they even pretended to care.

[ Not that the Doctor really cares that they don't care. Of course they don't care. People who abduct others for the purpose of conscripting them in some sort of army to battle against the undead already have a rather warped sense of morality. ]

You're onto something there. Yes, very controlled. There's little that's happened here that seems to be by any sort of chance, even the clues that are uncovered by our group. Someone - many someones - seems to be enjoying their little game of chess, moving all of us along like dutiful pawns. It's a game, a mystery, and I've known no shortage of those in my time.

And yet we're not the sorts of people that wouldn't play along. They give us clues, we use them to try and help, we get more. Their game would only end if we didn't take their clues, which goes against us.

( and the people that they're trying to help )

Have you come across any world like this before on your travels?

We have been chosen with intention, clearly.

[ No one he's encountered yet here so far has been the type who wouldn't help. So of course, they do everything they can, find the clues, and continue forward. ]

Certain elements of this world are familiar, though the way it's all fit together here, this multi-layered mystery, is entirely unique. A new world to uncover day by day, and we will! Brilliant, the lot of us. We know so much more today already than we did yesterday.

[ Or whatever day. Ugh why does time have to be so normal and boring here. Also please excuse the way his eyes light up a little... ]

A new world I'd better enjoy exploring if the circumstances were different.

( if she were on her ship, actually with her crew, if she'd arrived here rather than being dragged here. it meant that exploring was less on her mind than the other goal: help and get out, get everyone out )

I think I've thought about it less as exploring... figuring out the mystery but not seeing the place.

The circumstances are less than ideal, and no one should be taken anywhere against their will. We'll change it all for the better, I believe that.

[ He doesn't like the element of being trapped, being without his TARDIS, the lack of consent in their circumstances, but he's also used to being called to help and being pulled in all different directions without knowing what's to come, all across the universe. It's easier for him to adapt, but he can at least recognize that wouldn't be true for everyone. ]

Do you have a favorite place, of everywhere you've been? A place you look forward to seeing again when we leave here?

( she's quiet for a moment, carefully considering his question. there are a lot of places that una's been that she's enjoyed, some that she'd like to see again on different terms (though that would require her taking leave). really, she enjoys the journey, everything she sees on the way whether it's a planet or something else.

which is why she veers slightly off from his question a little. what she's about to admit she hasn't mentioned to anyone, particularly not in full detail. she doesn't know if it's somewhere she will see again, if she can... but it's always a hope )

I haven't seen home in a long time. That would be nice one day.

[ Oh, well, there's a depth of emotion he hadn't expected to suddenly feel himself. Home is his TARDIS, always will be, but alongside that, it's Gallifrey, and the reminder of it always feels like the breath being choked from his lungs. He'd run from it, the first chance he had, and he misses it so much now. ]

Home. A simple word with a big, beautiful, complicated meaning. I miss home, too. Where would you go first? What's the first thing you'd have to see?

My family. We speak occasionally but it's different to seeing them.

( seeing what has changed, sharing joys and sadnesses together. and there were certain things that she hadn't done since leaving home, illyrian customs, greetings, a way of being together, things humans didn't do )

After that... perhaps hike, there was somewhere I used to go, to sit and watch the stars. Those stars are why I left to travel.

[ Can't relate. Nope. It's not like he has anyone to miss, apart from the...many, many, so very many that he does. No, can't relate at all... ]

Oh, well done, you. I love people, but especially the dreamers. The dreamers are my people. There you were, young and with the whole of your life spread out ahead of you, the possibilities so endless. You climbed up a hill and you looked out at the stars and you wondered and you wanted to go there, you wanted to see it. We understand each other.

[ He smiles proudly; as if she needs any kind of approval from him at all, but he can't help himself. ]

How long has it been, since you went back, since you saw your family?

Twenty years. It's harder going back.

( whilst starfleet knows the name of the colony that she's from, the planet, what they don't know is the origins of the colony, who her people really are. there are humans on the planet, not many, a smaller colony, but it helped una provide a reasonable explanation for being human on an illyrian colony )

It's further away, my ship never passes in the right direction. When we dock we're usually nearer Earth.

It's always harder, the further away we get from something. You wonder sometimes if the memory is better, safer with the distance.

[ So often why he prefers to "forget" and not look back. Or, why he says that. If he says it enough, maybe it will be true. ]

Tell me more about your home, what's it called? Maybe I've heard of it.

( there's a pause, some hesitation. even with the safe details about where she's from una doesn't talk often about home, though you could also say that una doesn't generally talk much about herself.

but something about him is comforting, feeling safe. he doesn't need to know why it's hard, even if he seems to understand in his own way being a traveller himself. maybe it is okay )

It's a small colony on a planet in the Delphic Expanse. It's a little warmer, clear views of the stars... I spent a lot of time walking and exploring the planet -- forests, trails...

[ He smiles at the thought, the picture she paints in his mind of her just young, wandering, wondering, exploring, growing up with the hope of traveling amongst the stars. ]

You sound like me, when I was very young. Oh, a long time ago now. Lying under the stars, dreaming under a burnt orange sky. All of the universe, everywhere I wanted to go, all just stories I couldn't wait to tell, to live.

[ Delphic Expanse. Not familiar with it, not that he can recall. He's generally well versed in how far humans have traveled, where they've gone, though they do still surprise him. It's not unheard of. There could be humans there, or humanoid species. It makes him even more curious about her. ]

And now you travel the stars in your beautiful ship! What's your ship called? Are you its Captain?

Enterprise. I'm her first officer.

( she sounds proud there and far more comfortable talking about space and her ship than she did of him )

Would you tell me of one of your favourite places?

video ► un: girl on top

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