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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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?

Oh, beautiful. Enterprise. I look forward to meeting her someday!

[ He does so love a spaceship, after all. And, there he is just inviting himself and assuming it will happen. Because of course it will. ]

Good question! So many places, though I've just been to a favourite one recently. The Rings of Akhaten; seven worlds all orbiting the same star and the inhabitants believe all life in the universe originated there. Beautiful story. There's a market there, nearly every species imaginable pops 'round now and again. I'd gone there a very long time ago with my granddaughter so I was delighted to see nothing at all about it had changed.

I do love Earth, of course, and humans, oh, they're magnificent. I never can stay away long.

You're not human.

( it's barely more than a whisper, though the communicator picks it up easily enough, amplifying the sound for him to hear. it doesn't amaze her, not that it's impossible for that to be true, after all she's not human and when you visit other planets you meet other species... but most of those species had a tendency to look something other than human, very few were human-appearing. even her own species differed though for different reasons.

he'd had such understanding to him and una wonders if this is why. he's not just a space traveller but another species, one that blends in. does he pretend to be human? though with how he'd given himself away with simple words she wonders how well he does blending in around humans.

but she's not dwelling, flipping quickly back to his story because it had been a good story )

Seven worlds would have a lot of stories on them, I imagine you collected many of them.

( really, what should be more surprising to her is the mention of a granddaughter but somehow (for the moment) that didn't even register )

Alien with two hearts, in fact! Well, and a few other unique, very clever, and totally awesome qualities! I'm a Time Lord, to be more specific. All humans look like Time Lords to me, but we came first.

[ He's not pressing her for details just yet, when he could and has, for less. He's intrusive with questions sometimes when he's very curious, and doesn't really understand the meaning of boundaries. The way she whispers clues him in to something more going on here. She's traveled around, visited other planets, she's met non-humans before surely, but something about him leaves her thinking a bit more. Despite what he's said, he recognises that he looks human to other humans, or other species familiar with humans. So...who is she? What is she? He's ever more curious about her, just in a gently fascinated way. ]

Every story is precious, it's a memory. When you get very old, that's all you have, those beautiful, wonderful stories.

Visiting there this time, we happened to coincide with the Festival of Offerings, which occurs every thousand years, or thereabouts. The Sun Singers of Akhat, they had a very important task, singing what they called The Long Song. A lullaby without end to feed the Old God and keep him asleep. It'd been going for millions of years, chorister handing over to chorister, generation after generation after generation.

[ Of course, then some stuff happened and it ended up not being the peaceful holiday he'd imagined. But an adventure, certainly, and he never tires of those. ]

It sounds beautiful.

( it's one thing that una loves about getting to see other places: she'd wanted to explore the stars but learning different traditions and cultures, knowing more about other people? she'd needed a quick crash course in human culture to be able to blend in at the academy... and she'd quickly learned that wasn't enough, though in her early days she kept to herself more than anything, afraid of being discovered and it helped her build up her cultural knowledge without anyone knowing.

over the years she's learned a lot more, some from academy teaching, some from her own personal study, others first-hand from first contact situations or visiting a planet. she's particularly fond of vulcan culture, though it's not the only one )

There are many things we can learn from everyone we meet. I don't often see a festival, though they're interesting to read about after. Music's one thing I like sampling from where we go. It tells its own stories.

[ She’s holding a secret close, that much is clear to him. The scope of it, of course, is a mystery to be solved and he always loves those. It’s not that he thinks of her as something to study only, something to be seen through a microscope; it’s not clinical in nature, his curiosity, the way the Doctor enjoys knowing people and their stories, though at times, his unique behavior may come across that way perhaps. She intrigues him and since he senses no ill intent in what she keeps held so close, for now, he’s patient enough to simply share stories. He knows a bit about secrets himself, after all.

He’s not often a patient man; rarely, in fact, but it depends on the context. There’s no urgent need to unravel the threads that make her, her. He so rarely encounters that, and here now, he gets to just enjoy the conversation. ]

Oh, you’re right. Always. That’s life, isn’t it? Learning as we go, everywhere we go. Terribly dull if it were ever otherwise.

[ Some people don’t see it that way, though, and that’s why he likes her very much already. ]

Music, oh yes! Tell me your favorites, then.

You likely don't know them.

( not if he doesn't know the delphic expanse, unless he's from somewhere much further in the galaxy, though he does know earth. though that small detail isn't stopping her from telling him anyway )

I tend to use it to relax, quieter pieces more of music than words. ( sometimes voice alone with no words. it was a beautiful thing )

Andoria's music is a favourite.

Not knowing of them actually makes it more fun. Leaves a bit to the imagination.

[ There's a smile on his face that's nearly full of wonder, almost dreamlike in quality. ]

What do you feel when you hear that song, you know the one. That song that seems to make the universe stand still, the totally impossible made possible. When it's been a very long day or week or month or year and you sit alone for a while, and there it is, just you in the quiet with your song. You close your eyes and you feel...

[ He trails off purposefully, letting her fill that in what what she does, in fact, feel, if she's willing. ]

Calm.

( it's a simple answer, though there's more to it than that. though whilst una is private about herself she's privater still about things that she feels, that are a little deeper )

As if nothing could ruin the day. It's a different kind of peace.

It is. There's nothing quite like that.

[ He smiles knowingly, softly. Oh, of course, there are many things, many pleasures, that have brought him peace, calm, contentment through his many years. But the peace that music brings is, naturally, unique unto itself, as all things are. ]

You describe it well. I'd like to hear more about your ship and your travels, too.

[ He is still, for now, reasonably comfortable sharing details over these devices, though he understands when others aren't; should she feel a different venue would be better suited to that conversation, he would be more than willing to accommodate. ]

( it isn't that una isn't comfortable talking about her ship or her travels, those are things that she will happily talk about, but that she's as curious about his, that this conversation lends to something friendlier and more personal. in person )

I'd like to hear more of yours as well.

( few here seemed to know space as they did or had travelled. she'd keep him close for good stories and gentle familiarity, for a friend )

Perhaps with coffee? I'll tell you more of my ship too.

Tea for me, but yes, we'll meet for our preferred beverages, we'll chat, we'll be grand friends!

[ He's had a positive interaction with her, so she's pretty much his friend already, from his perspective. ]

Oh! I've forgotten. Barreled on ahead with stories and I didn't ask. What's your name?

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