There's room at my table, why don't you pull up a seat - Unfinished Symphony-E7-Hallelujah-Part Ten

Unfinished Symphony Episode Seven

Hallelujah-Part Ten

Rassilon's Palace:Gallifrey, End of the Old Era

“We are dying.”

The reigning head of Gallifrey looked over the remaining members of the Prydonian Chapter and sighed. As a group they had seized the reins of history and moved Gallifrey away from just another planet to absolute masters of time and space. They were young, rebellious boys who saw the future like a sprinting gazelle. And instead of watching it race by, they pursued it with a passion. Hunted it. Stalked it. And there, on the outskirts of Qqaba they sank their teeth into it's neck and bleed the future dry. They made it their own. They perfected time travel for their race, ensuring Gallifrey's dominance for all time. But that was then.

And this was now.

The table was now inhabited by old men, old dying men who were once gods. They looked at him with old and defeated eyes. They were all hundreds of years old, and they were dying. They had done everything they could to extend their lifespans out. They perfected the genetic manipulation that allowed them to live upwards of a thousand years old, and at the time that seemed more than enough.

But here, a thousand years later it wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough. They needed more, they needed much more. They wanted immortality. And none of them know how to get it. So they sat now, a collection of old men who once dared great things, defeated by the one foe that fells all in the end. A group of old codgers fearing death.

And to Rassilon, that was unacceptable.

“We are dying, and we need to change that.”, he said again.

He looked over to Omega, his best friend since the dawn of time it seemed. The man who perfected the technology to make the star Qqaba go supernova, allowing space and time around Gallifrey to unlock and become mailable. The man who held the off the Trickster's brigade as Rassilon himself detonated the star. The man who was as much as an architect of the New Gallfrey as Rassilon himself. Who now sat in his chair drooling like an invalid. He communicated only through his computer interface now, his body long given up the ability to respond to his commands. He cammed it a matrix interface and he was sure it was their way into immortality. They would all be digitized and stored within this matrix, ruling Gallifrey for all of time from a computer terminal.

Most idiotic idea he had ever heard.

“I am immortal.”, the computer said, speaking in an electronic version of Omega's voice.

Rassilon growled as he got to his feet, taking both hands and a fair amount of breath he noticed silently. He stomped over to Omega's form as the computer stressed, “What is this?”, as Rassilon grabbed the oxygen feed leading into Omega's nose and pinched it off. “Stop! STOP!”, the computer intoned, trying to invoke panic with no inflection of tone at all.

“Immortal?”, Rassilon hissed into his friend's ear, “Now immortal can a walking vegetable be?”

Omega began to cough as his face turned a ghastly shade of blue. Finally a hand slammed on the table, “Enough Rassilon, your point is made!”

Rassilon looked over to Harmony, the only female member of the Prydonian Chapter and it most sympathetic of other's pain. As the person who designed the containment chamber for the black hole that powered the planet, she was only third behind Rassilon and Omega themselves. She was part of a distressing trend among Gallifreyian's to actually care and feel for the universe at large and not just for Gallifrey itself. Her youngest son had just entered the academy and he seemed to share his mother's insane empathic tendencies. Calling himself a Doctor, who does that? Seeing the fire in her eyes, though withered they may be he released Omega's air, ignoring the large gulping breathes the Time Lord took.

“We are dying.”, he said to her.

“We all know that.”, Harmony said, “Maybe it's just time.”

Rassilon glared at her for a long moment. Breaking the silence Diplos said, “Is that supposed to be a joke?” Diplos was an odd bird. A ruthless warrior, in his time he had spilled more blood on the battlefield than any other Gallifreyian before him. Quiet and calculating, his calm eyes and slow movements masked the monster that laid just beneath the surface. Now an odd man it was hard to believe the this was the butcher of Sontar, but as he looked across the table at Harmony, it was easy to believe if he had a blade he would kill her. “Because it if it is a joke, a pun about time when we are not only running out of time but time travelers, I find it distasteful.”

Harmony smiled a brittle smile back at him, “And in the universe the list of things you find distasteful are so rare...”

“Enough!”, Rassilon commanded, “We are dying and I will not have it end like this. We are Gods dammit!”

“We are not Gods.”, Validos said, his visage was the only not changed since their youth with the small exception of his skin being composed of living metal. Horribly scarred during the Millennium War he had invented a substance that could only be explained as living metal to act as his skin. Invulnerable from all external forces he looked like a silver statue of his youth. But inside, he was as old and feeble as the rest of them. “We are far from Gods.”

“And why do you say that?”, Rassilon asked.

Validos looked him straight in the eyes and said, “Gods don't worry about death.”

The Master of the Time Lords had to admit, he had a point.

“There has to be a way, some way in which to extend our lives ever further.”, he rationalized.

“There is.”, the Other said. The entire table turned to the old man who had not spoken aloud for almost three years now. Along with Omega and Rassilon, The Other was the third founding member of the Prydonian Chapter and was the one responsible for the theory that a block hole could in fact allow time travel for Gallifreyians. An incredible scientist with an intellect that was second to known, The Other, as he called himself, was considered to be the smartest Time Lord in existence. He had devised the system that Harmony had perfected and constructed the vast fields of living machines that were still growing on the outskirts of the capital. Living time machines he had said they would become, living time machines that would bond telepathically with Time Lords. He was the promise that everything the New Gallifrey could be. And then one day, five years ago he stopped talking.

It was as if a switch had been thrown and he had simply turned his vast mind off. Trained telepaths had tried to read his mind, a vain attempt to see if he had suffered a stroke of some kind. But as they found out, The Other was alive and well in his mind. He simply had no desire to communicate any more. He kept his seat on the council and the other members had long since given up on the hope he would one day emerge.

It seemed that today was that day.

Rassilon looked at his friend in undisguised shock, “Other? Did you just speak?”, he asked.

The Other looked at him and said again, “There is a way to extend our lives. But not in the way you think.”

The council begun speaking amongst themselves in shock and Rassilon said, “Silence! How Other?”, he was desperate to get an answer before he fell silent again. If there was a way...

“Have you ever heard of the planet Ralafea? Of course you haven't, not yet. But you will, you will go an find them. And there, on that planet. You will find our salvation. And our demise.”

“What does that mean?”, Rassilon demanded, but the Other had stopped talking again. “Answer me! What does that mean?”, he screamed. But the elderly man stared off as if alone.

“My records show this planet.”, Omega said in his computer voice, “It's location has been logged in the Matrix.”

“Then we must go there, find this planet and take what we need.”, Rassilon said making a fist.

“Harmony what if the planet is inhabited? What if they people are using what we need?”, she asked.

“We kill them.”, Rassilon said, “We kill them and take it, It's not like they are Gallifreyian's after all.”

“But they didn't kill them.”, Susan said interrupting the Doctor, “They didn't know what they were looking for, instead they found a class 3 planet with a race of humanoids that seemed completely ordinary.”

The Doctor nodded, “Yes they did, but how did you know that?”

Susan blinked twice and was silent. After a pause she said, “You told me.”

“I certainly did not.”, he said and then held his tongue. She knew, she knew the story, Which was impossible because he, in his entire life, had never told her anything of her real past. And he knew that her first guardian didn't either. It was important that she live as a Gallifreyian, completely. If for even a moment the general populace found out what she really was...so then how did she know?

“When did I tell you this?”, he asked carefully.

She smiled, “Oh Doctor. It was when you were infected on the Arcadian ship. The virus, you said many horrible things in your anger.”, she cocked her head, “Don't you remember? You chased me and Donna around? Your other regenerations were running rampant. I tried to talk to my grandfather and he told me then. That we weren't related, that i was a actually a chronomorph from Ralafea and that he owed me nothing.”, she looked down and said softly, “I was terribly hurt, but I understood.”, she looked back at him, “You really don't remember?”

His mind raced as he started to understand. She knew what he knew. Everything. Her mind was constructing a past that would allow her to know all she knew, but she wasn't there. Instead she had taken the knowledge from his mind, and copied it into hers. He marveled at how powerful her race must have been. She couldn't jumble his thoughts around like other races, but she could still duplicate the entirety of his knowledge and make a passable copy of it. But if that meant she knew what he knew...

She knew! She knew but she hadn't accessed the memory yet.

“Of course Susan.”, he said getting up quickly, “Let's check on Donna.”

“You don't remember! You really don't!”, she said standing with him. “Doctor, you told me about finding me that day, when you were a boy.”

He had to stop her from finishing that thought. Her mind was going to construct a way for his memories to become hers, and if she knew what they had done...

“And you told me...”, she paused,”...wait a minute. You told me more than that.”

“Susan!”, he barked, “Donna is...”

“...you told me that we had been hit by Vervoids...”, she mummered.

He raced towards her, not knowing what he was going to do when she looked up at him in shock, “You! Your people did that!”, she said.

“Susan wait, let me..”, he said still moving towards her. She backed away, trying to get away from him.

“No! Get away from me...you...you killed...”, she stammered as the memories flooded her mind.

He grabbed her shoulder, “Susan wait, let me explain...”

She turned on him, a look of pure fury on her face, “Your people, your people sent the Vervoids back to kill my race. You are the ones that killed us!”

“Susan, it's not what you...”, and he looked down at her hands

And saw the Tagin pistol that Donna had stashed in her pocket.

They were both silent as they looked into each other's eyes. The Doctor closed his as she pulled the trigger and blasted him in the gut, sending him flying across the TARDIS. He slammed against the back wall, a plume of smoke coming off the wound.

Susan watched him lay there for a moment, her eyes filling with tears, looking at the gun. Not knowing if she should throw it away, or shoot him again.

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“We are not killing her.”, Donna said standing in front of Turn Right Donna. Doctor Donna had taken a few steps toward her as the other Donna pressed its way into her mind. “Get out of the way Donna, I know you are squeamish about this sort of thing. Let me handle it.” She moved to go past Donna and found her wrist locked in Donna's hand.

“Do not take one more step towards her.”, Donna said through gritted teeth.

“Or what?”, Doctor Donna said half smiling.

Half a smile more than Donna wanted and threw her across the endless expanse. Doctor Donna's eyes were wide as she flew across the way, as if thrown by superhuman strength. “This is my mind bitch.”, she said, “Try that again and you'll be sporting a black eye.”

Doctor Donna flashed and was standing next to her again, “So what are we going ti do Donna? Let us all die?”, Donna looked at Turn Right s she thought, “Come on Donna, time is running out and everything rides on this. So tell me, what do we do?”

“SHUT UP!”, Donna screamed as she turned on the other her, “JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!”

Doctor Donna actually stopped in mid word, a look of utter shock all over her face.

Donna took a deep breath, “Ok the reason you two are here is because my mind couldn't take it right?”, she looked at Doctor Donna, “Too much information on your part I am sure, but why her? What's so traumatic about her?”

The hybrid Donna said simply, “She died Donna. She has the memory of being hit by a truck and feeling her life slip away from her. What do you think that does to a mind?”

Donna bit her lip and looked down at the poor woman. She couldn't even begin to understand what she felt, knowing her life had to end, had to be thrown like a sacrificial lamb into the cogs of history. The last thought flashing through your mind, knowing it was the last thought you were going to have.

“He would have done it.”

Donna looked down at the poor woman on the ground and saw her looking up, “That was my last thought. He would have done it for me.”

Donna half smiled and choked back tears as she knew exactly what she was talking about. She knelt down and looked her in the eyes, “You did though. We really did it.”

And Turn Right Donna smiled and nodded, “We did it.”

And without thinking Donna threw her arms around her and hugged her. She felt her own arms wrap around her as they embraced, and then merged. She accepted the memories of the other Donna into her, and in a flash it was there. Rose. Her Mother, The aliens ships. The Doctor on the gurney. Hearing Sarah Jane was dead. Watching the truck racing at her. Everything.

Donna gasped and fell back as the memories absorbed themselves around her own. Doctor Donna looked at her in complete shock for a few moment and then helped her up. After a few seconds she asked Donna, “How did you do that?”

Donna smiled, “Simple. I accepted the fact and moved on.”,she put a hand on Doctor Donna's shoulder, “Another fascinating trait humans possess. The ability to get over it.. They both looked over to where the other Donna had been coming through the wall, and saw a confused and dazed Donna sitting on the floor.

“This one's gonna need some help.”, Donna said to other other self, “I;m willing to bet in Susan's little melodrama, there was no Doctor Donna. So good luck with that.”

Doctor Donna looked over to Donna walking away, “Where are you going?”

Donna didn't even look back, she just said over her shoulder, “Out”, and snapped her finger.

And like that, she was out.

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Susan finally threw the pistol away and slammed her hand down on the door switch. As the doors opened she ran, ran as fast as she could.

That blast wouldn't keep him down, and he would be coming for her. Coming after her to finish what her race had started.

She ran as if he was behind her, and that this time he was the enemy. She ran and ran until her chest felt like it was about to burst. As she made her way over the small ridge, she felt her foot slipping out from under her she called out in frustration as she slid down the other side of the hill.

Her leg was throbbing as she tumbled down over and over, all the while knowing he was coming after her. Her head was spinning as she came to a rest at the bottom of the expanse, her body ached from head to toe. As she laid there trying to gain her mind, she heard the sound.

The sound of the TARDIS appearing.

She looked up and saw a red telephone box appear in front of her. It looked new and shining and impossible on a Trell moon. She blinked several times, trying to clear the image from her mind. The doors began to slide open and she gasped.

Standing there was Ten. He was wearing a blue jacket and held a cobbled together looking device in his hand. He looked down at her and with sad eyes said, “I'm sorry. I am so sorry.”

And he shot her.

Next time on Doctor Who:The Other Side, we learn the origin of the other Doctor and how the events of this season happened from his point of view. Stay tuned as we find out the reason of all our ails...and what the end of the beginning means