taxonomites | [holo]

Sometimes, if you’re not paying attention or too busy working out the bigger-picture puzzle, you might miss the pieces that are right in front of you. The Doctor uses that against people more often than she falls prey to it herself, but say, for the sake of argument, that she allowed herself to be a little too distracted doing Doctorly things: even then, ‘Too distracted’ doesn’t generally mean ‘wandered into a chamber that oughtn’t be in 1980s Earth without even noticing’. The former implies a certain amount of harmless absent-mindedness, and the latter is just horrifically careless. So. In realizing her sudden change of location, the Doctor will assume that other forces at work. (Probably.)

She stands up on the raised platform first and wiggles her fingers at the ceiling for a moment – of course there’s a reason for that, she’s checking for some sort of motion sensing tripwire that might send her back where she came from – which nicely leads her to realise someone’s implanted a bracelet into her wrist. She probably didn’t just stumble onto a transmat, then, unless it’s a highly advanced transmat capable of materializing additional objects without interfering with the original pattern. Regardless, she has a bit of work to do now.

Basic assumptions: she can’t have gone too far on a level of transportation technology that didn’t even leave her nauseous; she’s in the same basic time period (she’d know if there was a time jump involved); and there has to be someone behind this, presumably watching her (or what would be the point?). And to support her theory, there’s a device on a pedestal next to her, probably for communications. She fiddles around with it for a moment until she finds what she can only assume is the broadcast setting.

“Tax.” She glances back at the Tablet. “Taxon? If you insist. I’d just like you to know that this is completely wrong for this time period on Earth, so if you’re attempting to masquerade or blend in – you won’t do well with this.” She straightens out her tone and posture out a bit, moving on to business. “All right, then, I’m the Doctor. I’m guessing you know who I am since you’ve brought me here, and I can only hope there’s a good reason. I certainly don’t have all day, so you might consider getting things started.”

But first, because the Doctor is the Doctor and prone to scientific curiosity no matter what, she can’t help but add in an aside of: “- And if we get through this and turn out to be friends, I wouldn’t mind having a look at your transportation system. Very tidy, didn’t even leave me dizzy. Well done.”

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She looks almost as appalled as he. "No! Of course not - can you imagine the chaos? No, I'm not human. Quite fond of them, but not one myself."

Edited 2010-07-07 17:25 (UTC)

Aximili relaxes, but only a fraction. Yes, he can imagine the chaos. He's seen it. Still, it doesn't please him to know that an entire species has access to time travel. He might have commented that the Doctor looks exactly like a human, but then he realizes that he ought to know better. The face he sees before him may not be the Doctor's true form; it could be an illusion altogether, as per the Ellimists.

«I am fond of humans as well, but they cannot be trusted with the power of time travel. Indeed, there is only one being I have met who used that power without threatening the fabric of spacetime itself, and even then, it would be better if that being did not use it. Our captors have clearly abused the power of time manipulation.»

"Oh?" She can't help but be curious. DO TELL MORE, SIR OF THE SPECIES SHE CAN'T PINPOINT. "And who was that?"

«The Ellimists. Or the Ellimist. It is hard to know for certain. They are to me as I am to prokaryota. The Ellimist uses the power of time with some restraint, though without wisdom. If it is possible to use it wisely.» His tone grows darker. «There is also one other power in the galaxy I know of with that power, though he uses it only for his own gain. He, or it, is called Crayak.»

She listens carefully, nodding vaguely at appropriate times, and - well. She has a theory, here.

"What galaxy is this?"

«My people call it Ithna Kerent. The word in Galard is Ekerenkanot, or Mutter's Spiral. Humans call it the Milky Way.»

Now Aximili looks intrigued despite himself. «You know of other galaxies? My people have identified many, but have intercepted only a few transmissions from such a great distance. There is much debate among scientists as to which forms of life may lie beyond our galaxy.» He has many more questions, of course, not least to find out whether the Doctor can be trusted with time travel. The fact that she can travel through time makes her automatically suspect in his mind; the temptations of that power are too great for anyone to bear.

- Well, that blows her theory out of the water. It's worrying that there's a time-sensitive species in the Milky Way that the Time Lords were unaware of, but she supposes they could just have been in another universe.

"Oh, yes. My people are very well-traveled, when they bother." Mmmm, the taste of unresolved issues in the morning. Delicious.

The Doctor's people discovered time travel, but she doesn't approve of her people's use of it. That shows some amount of moral restraint, but Aximili is still wary.

«It is worth the caution with time travel. I have seen the consequences of its rash, ill-considered use,» he says darkly Though, come to think of it, he's also seen it used well. Nonetheless, the bad has outweighed the good.

«I am glad to meet someone else who seeks to actively work against our captors. I have seen much here that has given a troubling insight into their goals and their history.» He stands at attention, as if to address a superior officer. «I am Prince Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, official liaison between Andalites and humans.» He adds, a little bitterly, «Or so is my mission in my own place and time.»

She bows her head a little, in a vague attempt at acknowledging his title. Providing, of course, that Prince doesn't have some sort of different meaning, because that might just be awkward.

More importantly, though: "And what sorts of insights are those?"

«Our locations and communications are monitored at all times. We are taken here without explanation, but we are given every comfort. I and many others have concluded that this place is an experimental facility or a sort of zoo. However, there has been a recent discovery that has contributed to our knowledge of the situation. There was a total failure of life support, climate, building simulation, and force field barriers. Firstly, this proves that our captors are not all-powerful, despite their ability to power such a large city and to keep a large number of very determined people captive. Secondly, the failure of the barriers allowed us access to another city beneath this one. It contained mostly the same buildings and the same people as this city. There were two key differences, however. One, there were no communication devices of the kind we are using now, and none of the occupants had bracelets of the kind we are both wearing. Two, all the buildings were in ruins and every occupant of the city was dead.»

He says this bluntly, impartially, but beneath it is the slightest quaver of emotion.

«This leads me to two further conclusions. The undercity was a failed experiment. They did not monitor the population with communication devices and bracelets. The result was chaos, leading to the destruction of the city and everyone in it. The more unsettling conclusion is that we are all expendable. The undercity contained all of the people in this city. I saw my own body there. When the experiment failed, all our captors needed to do was create a new city atop the old and take everyone from a different point in their personal timelines, thus starting the experiment anew. If this one were to fail as well, then they could just as surely create yet another.»

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[holo] The Ellimist and Crayak are totes the White and Black Guardians, amirite

[holo] ahahahahah I'd believe it.

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