melodiesoflife | Event || Revelations

There is no better way to silence Duster than to talk a lot. He has a lot of questions, sure, but he has a feeling the Doctor wants to finish everything first.

...If he is going to ever finish.

So as the two panic (over K'pandolu? What's going on?), Duster waves at the doctor, bringing some attention to the man in the armor and spear.

K'pandolu looks amused, for the most part- at least until she's brought into the conversation. She blinks, mid-wave, and tilts her head, assuming a politely puzzled expression. "The Sisters of Plenitude? I've never heard of them." She straightened up, offering a smile. "In any case- Jack's been a good friend."

"The Doctor? This is the Doctor you've told us all about? The one who might be able to fix all of the problems we've run into back on Crystallis?" She looked the man up and down. He didn't seem like much but she knew looks could be deceiving. And then there was that hair. There was no way a normal man had hair like that.

She looked about at the space around them. Bigger on the inside. No way this was natural, or even technology from this time. Possibly even this world.

"The rift that Jack mentioned. How things come through it. Are you from there?"

Lydia followed the others in, easily forgotten due to her smaller stature. Not to mention the utter silence in movement and form, as well as lack of shadow, that the Vampire Job granted her. This was amazing! Seriously it was like something out of the Neitherworld, and yet she'd never been to anywhere in the Neitherworld this advanced?

She's exploring around the control room while everyone else is arguing or discussing. She might also be holding tightly onto Betel-Po, lest he go off exploring the other corridors. (She wants to as well, but Lydia is telling herself she shouldn't. So far it's working.) With all the questions and everyone distracted though, it's not hard to come closer to the Doctor. A polite throat clearing, to draw his attention she hoped. "Excuse me. We're sorry for interrupting, but we just saw Jack take off running and he doesn't usually do that without a good reason."

No reason to not be polite. Holding out her hand, while Betel-Po offers a wave of his paw and a 'yo!' in greeting. "I'm Lydia Deetz. It's nice to meet you, sir."

The Doctor almost stumbles over himself apologizing to K'pandolu, then. "Sorry, then. Sorry. I must've mistaken you for a different- tribe? If Jack's been a good friend, how can I be any different?"

Duster gets himself a cautious look for bringing a weapon into the doctor's ship. "Good things, I hope..." The doctor responds to Kidd.

But his absolute full attention is grabbed by Lydia. He bends over slightly to get closer to her level and grins at her. "Miss Lydia, Glad to meet you. I am the Doctor, and I'm here to help." He pulls a slight face at Jack. "Really? Am I 'Jack's Doctor' now?"

"Since we've always been 'The Doctor's companions?' Turnabout not fair play?"

"Well..." The Doctor straightens back up and looks at Jack squarely. "Considering how they aren't Torchwood, I'm wondering how your friends know about me?" Jack flinches as if he's just been caught, but the Doctor presses on. "Jack a second rift in time and space right on top of the first one is too much for even you to handle. That brilliant little machine you've got downstairs could certainly help, but if you've got even more people coming here for all times and places and you can't get them back where they came from," the Doctor sweeps a hand at Jack's friends.

"This is going to get worse before it gets better. And I can't help unless I know how bad it is. Captain. Please. You've done wonderfully so far, let me take it from here."

Edited (.) 2016-08-23 16:26 (UTC)

K'pandolu nods. "The Hipparion tribe, as a matter of fact," she says. "And I'm sure you will be- how could you not?" Assuming that Jack makes good- or at least decent- choices in the people he knows doesn't seem like that much of a stretch.

She cocks her head, listening intently. "You deal with these kinds of things, too?"

And here comes the false modesty again, "Deal with? We-"

"Yes." Jack cuts across whatever he was about to say. "End of the world-level catastrophes? End of multiple world-level? That's him."

Jack has definitely gotten the Doctor's attention with that. "This- portal that you're talking about. It leads to another world that is slowly getting devoured. And when it goes, it could pull this world with it." That's the short short version, but if the Doc can help...

"Right!" The Doctor claps his hands. "Better get started snapping that connection, then! We're going to need to borrow a few wavelengths from the Rift, buuut, a negative-phase waveform dropped right into it should do the trick..."

Because there's no potential bad consequences of cutting off one of the Heroes' Worlds from Crystallis?

"Wait."

Chiaki speaks up from out of the small crowd Jack has gathered here, holding her hand out as she steps forward.

"That's a bad idea. A really bad idea."

It's time for a Hope Speech. And if everything Jack has told her about the Doctor is true, Chiaki knows it will get through.

"We can't just cut off the energy flow from this world to Crystallis," she explains. "...Well, we can, but we shouldn't. Jack is being sustained by his crystal right now, which is powered by his connection to this place. If you cut that off, even if he isn't instantly crystallized on the spot, he likely will be when we return. Also, he'll lose all of his powers, since they originate from here."

But even more than that...

"Also, the energy from the Heroes' worlds is currently what's helping to hold back the Calamity. Severing that connection is the same thing as dooming Crystallis. We have a chance to help them, and free their world from the cycle of despair."

Shaking her head, she looks the Doctor straight in the eye.

"It's wrong to make that decision for them. Shouldn't we believe in hope, and give their world the chance to live instead? Even if the odds are next to impossible, don't they deserve that chance?"

Sparks, who'd been hanging back quietly prodding over things in the TARDIS, speaks up. He's heard a little about this guy from Jack, and while he sounds like he could be a big help, they shouldn't go rushing into things.

"She's right. We're either savin' everyone, or no one, if I got anythin' to do with it. And I sure as heck ain't gonna let everythin' get ruined on my watch."

Of course, everyone had been blaming Sparks and his big mouth for the situation the Heroes were in currently.

"...Y'know. Again, anyway."

Lydia is glad Chiaki spoke up. They worked together a time or two before, and Jacques and Chihiro had clearly been friends and close. Maybe she could help best now too.

"Doctor?" Lydia spoke softly, trying to command his attention. "You want to help. And we know you could--Jack has told us some things, and he clearly thinks very highly of you. But sometimes...there's a right way to help and a wrong way. Having you simply sever the connection between the worlds? That would be the wrong way to help in this case. It will only make things worse, and you want to make things better right?"

There is a genuine smile, if not a little sad as well, on her face. "WE were the ones called, everyone who has been a Hero of Light has been called--and it's our responsibility to fix this." Said with conviction, heartfelt belief and determination. "You can advise us, and help us, but you shouldn't be the one to fix this. WE have to be the ones to do it. Please believe in us."

K'pandolu twitches one ear back, less convinced that they should be the only ones dealing with it, but still with one thought to share. "It seems like the sort of thing better dealt with at the source, besides."

"Like as not, if you cut off the connection between the worlds, that could also possibly trap us here at best, and kill us at worst. Or else connect the Calamity to this world trhough us and in a way we can't stop." She looked around the space. She couldn't begin to guess how this craft worked, but she couldn't shake the impression that it was a grand ship she was standing in, despite the outside appearance.

"Surely you have something here we can use. To take back and use against the Calamity on our end and close things off properly."

Even Jack looked absolutely ready to buy whatever the Doctor was selling, until all of his friends speak up. The Doctor almost looks like he's about to open his mouth in protest a few times, but they are very good at keeping the momentum going. By the time they are done, his expression has settled into that one that Jack can never quite read. Sad, or distant, or pleased, or trying not to get attached, or that second where he's having to accept a weight for someone else? The only thing Jack knows it it makes him look old.

The Doctor moves to Chiaki, takes a knee and puts a hand on her shoulder. "It's normally my job. When a planet can't, or won't save themselves, that's when I come in. I could take care of this all, for this world, right here, right now. But if it would doom another planet, doom- several other planets?" He sweeps a look around at the group. "Not a one of you belong here, there are other worlds, other connections that can't be broken from here, can they?" Settles for a second on K'pandolu, the reason he was wrong about her species and hasn't heard of what she is.

He stands back up, and fixes Jack with that same unreadable look. "Whatever this Calamity thing is, it's bigger than me, and bigger than you. But you're saying," glances at Chiaki again, "it's fed your life force through some crystal? Like a- a focus lens?" Theeeeere's the scientific curiosity and the confusion back again.

The Doctor closes his eyes for a second. "The hardest thing for me to do is to just walk away."

Jack audibly snorts, cutting off whatever the Doctor was about to follow that up with.

"Therefore," the Doctor actually glares at Jack as if to tell him to shut up because they do not have the time for that conversation, "what help can I give you that does not involve cutting the connection between this world and this other one? What is it you're trying to do, there? Cut all the cords, leave this thing trapped in the Dark Space?"

Sparks folds his arms, looking thoughtful.

"We don't just need to stop it. We need to reverse it too. Right now, a huge chunk of Crystallis is covered by crystal, thanks to this. Leavin' it like that makes half the planet unusable. Thousands of people have lost their homes 'n their loved ones."

He lets out a long-suffering sigh. "We also have to stop this nonsense from happenin' every coupla' thousand years, too. Otherwise, why go through all the trouble? Oh, and it's kinda threatening, like, all of our home planets too. So that's a thing."

"It's a cycle, Doctor." Duster speaks up from the back of the room, taking several steps closer to the man in the jacket. "Cutting off the connection between our worlds would help, but Crystallis is dying and stealing us in order to save itself. Doing that will only speed it up."

He bites his lip, recalling the truth of his own world. How humanity destroyed all but one corner, how quickly the Nowhere Islands could be wiped out thanks to the whims of an eternal child. Severing the life source of the planet would make them no better than Porky.

"We have to find another way for that world to survive. Find another energy source...I don't know how, but there has to be a way. I can't abandon everyone who lives there and let them die."

The Doctor grins at Duster's proclamation that he won't abandon the people on Crystallis, itself. "Quite right, too! No sense in doing a job unless you're going to do it all the way. Save everyone, you said?" He shoots that grin at Sparks as well. "Now...Energy source..." those words start to strike an idea in the Doctor, and he looks thoughtful for a moment.

"The crystal is sort of the problem, but, well, Owen described it as almost an autoimmune response. We had an idea, though." In brief, Jack explains what Palitutu and Jade spoke of about the Soul Divider, what their plan has turned into, and the idea of funneling the broken part of Crystallis, through the Rift, through the Soul Divider, to attempt to make the planet whole again. Throughout it all, the Doctor's face remains contemplative, and only once Jack falls silent does he straighten up.

"There's a way I could help. It would be better if I were there-"

Jack shakes his head. "When we go back...I'm pretty sure this is a one-way trip, Doctor. And this world needs you."

The Doctor breathes out a sigh and ruffles his own already messy hair. His eyes scan over the faces of everyone with Jack. "Then I can offer a piece of Time Lord knowledge. If they were still around, they'd be veeeeery cross that I was even making this offer. But the Time Lords knew how to safely tap into a void, time travel was created by feeding off a gap in time and space. If you want to feed energy from one of those through something designed to clean and purify energy, then this might help."

The Doctor's face grows grave. "I can leave one of you with the knowledge, telepathically implant it. But I can't give it to Jack. He's too...." The Doctor pauses at the look on Jack's face, and he knows that he needs to choose his next word carefully or he's about to get punched. "...antithetical to what the Time Lords are. The knowledge wouldn't take."

"So it's got to be one of you. And I'm really sorry about that."

"I'll take it."

There's no hesitation whatsoever from Chiaki as she steps forward. The knowledge the Doctor is talking about sounds vast enough to be risky to absorb, and given Chiaki's origins as an AI, she feels like she can handle a sudden influx of information like that. Besides, she isn't going anywhere anytime soon - she's resolved to see this thing through to the end.

Mary watched the exchange, taking all of it in while considering the space around her. She watched Jack and the Doctor talk. She watched the others as they stepped in. When Chiaki volunteered herself she offered a nod of agreement. The girl was probably the best to take this information, considering the group they had with them.

She settled herself against one of the railings and waited. She had little to offer right now, but she wanted a word with the Doctor before they departed.

After a few moments, Sparks nodded with conviction to the decision he just made in his head.

"Reckon if it's gonna help, I'd take it too. I did mean it when I said save everyone."

The Doctor did say this was done telepathically, though. Sparks frowns a bit, then points to his own head.

"Ya better not, like, monkey around in there, though."

Edited 2016-09-01 00:11 (UTC)

K'pandolu cocked her head, watching the Doctor, clearly interested in the whole thing. "It would probably be a good idea to share it," she remarked- not because she thought anything would happen to Chiaki; she'd do her best to make sure of that if it came down to it- but she hoped more people knowing would help. "I'm willing to take it as well- I've a little experience with transference," she added, with a quirk of her lips, "I doubt it'd take much fiddling around beyond what's necessary to understand it."

She leaned back, lifting her chin. "Is… was this a common thing for your people?"

"I'm not a fighter...but I will do what I can. I'm more than willing to help share the burden too." Lydia chimed in, looking up at everyone (darn it, she was due a growth-spurt!) with conviction. Especially the Doctor; Jack believed this man could help, and it was clear how strong that belief was.

Duster lifted a fist and held it at chest level, staring at the floor. He had to help with anything he could offer, but knowledge to use advanced technology that could save them all? Duster understood fighting and music, but he didn't have much experience when it came to learning. He knew, his friends reminded him that he was better than he thought he was, but the hesitation remained.

"...I don't know if I'll understand, but I want to help. In case anything happens...I should be there."

He could hold some of the lifesaving wisdom. Even as a container, he can use it.

The Doctor was ready to apologize to Chiaki, when Sparks speaks up, and then K'pandolu, and Lydia, and Duster. Jack smiles in that way as if he already knew what was going to happen. The Doctor's gaze sweeps over all of them, proud, impressed with what he's seeing. He breathes out. "Blimey. Awfully good team you've got yourself here, Jack."

The lights in the console room dim, as if the TARDIS herself is trying to help. "All of you, join hands," the Doctor indicates they should form a circle around him. "Breathe deep and relax. If you have any sort of psychic training or shielding please do what you can to open your mind. And close your eyes."

Instead of taking the hands of the two people on the ends, the Doctor lightly touches each person on the temple (Chiaki and Duster, by chance.) Strung across so many minds, the process is not painful at all, the burden is not so heavy. A slight rhythm passes through each of them, tap-tap, tap-tap, charging each of them to the others presence, tuning them all in the mentally to the same wavelength.

'Omega.'

The word- no, the name hums along that frequency, resonating within each of them, as a trigger to unlock the knowledge that the Doctor seeks. For suddenly, they all know that this is the name of the Time Lord who was able to unlock the secrets of the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of time and space that lay next to the planet Gallifrey.

The knowledge they receive gets framed by everyone's individual perspectives. Was it the greatest scientific acheivement of all time? Was it a trick of magic? Was Omega truly a God like the stories say? But they each learn how it was done, harnessing an energy that is too big and vast for anyone to even contemplate, taming it and granting the people of Gallifrey mastery of time: truly letting them become Time Lords. But it was achieved by taking that energy and funneling it through something native to the planet. Without that- thing from Gallifrey (an accompanying word does not translate, but everyone receives a very odd image of growing coral), this knowledge can't be used to achieve time travel. Not on Crystallis. But the principle might just work for the Soul Divider.

Alongside all of this knowledge comes memories, feelings, and a warning. For Omega, himself, after he had granted such an incredible gift to his people, sought an even higher power. His greed and his ambition eventually destroyed him. And all throughout, all of this knowledge comes with a feeling of the deepest loneliness. It is never said in words, but they can all feel the truth that the Doctor is the last man who would be able to pass this knowledge on: it is the final gift of a lost civilization.

And now they are the last who would be able to take this knowledge to Crystallis.

Lydia's brain had wrapped around some interesting concepts--but this.... She was so grateful she wasn't doing it alone, although she would've if she'd had to. Jack hadn't talked with her often of the Doctor, but she'd known enough.

She could see why Jack admired him so... While the information was safely contained in a part of her mind, shared among them all--that loneliness struck a chord. A chord that had been pinged far too recently, even if she didn't have this man's reasons for it.

Once she was sure it was over, Lydia didn't quite think. She just did--moving from the group and latching around the Doctor's waist in a hug. Trying to convey that she understood. They couldn't take away the loneliness--nothing could, but they could help balm against it. She wasn't sure if it was so tight for herself (given her recent issues Crystallis had provoked) or for him, but she's not letting go easily.

Luckily for Lydia, this Doctor is one of the regenerations more okay with physical contact, so he returns the hug, make sure he isn't the first one to break it. For his part, he is keeping a straight face, although each of them now knows what kind of a facade it is that the Doctor keeps up all the time.

Jack's expression is similarly hard to read. Adoration? Gratitude? With a touch of sorrow in there. "Thank you. That might've made the difference in saving this world or not." Jack huffs an unhappy laugh. "I really wish I could hang the consequences. Take you with me for once." The Doctor shares Jack's not quite amused smile. A wonderful wish with his heart in the right place that they both know could never come true. That's not how whatever this thing between them is works.

"I just wish you could see it. Magic is real. Creatures are all so fantastic. These birds! They get around by riding on these fluffy running birds!" Jack's entire face is lighting up and his hands gesture as he tries to barely scratch the surface of describing Crystallis to the Doctor. "There's a massive forest that's made entirely out of Crystal. It's not petrified that way or anything, it grows that way, it's alive!" The Doctor looks suitably impressed, he loves hearing about wonderful and fantastic things even more than Jack does.

"And-" Jack briefly loses steam. "And we could use you there. I've been trying to do things as close to your way as I can. Sometimes it works great. Walking up to the front gates of the capital city of a nation that we were supposedly at war with, all we had was a bunch of bags of Christmas toys! And it saved so many lives. But it's not the same as having you there. It doesn't always work out for me the same way it does for you."

The Doctor breathes out a very long and heavy sigh. He shoves his hands deep in his pockets again. "Trying to be me... I don't know if I'd wish that on my worst enemy."

Jack's face gets such a look of absolute pure confusion it's as if the Doctor started speaking another language in there.

"Jack, if I'm not there then I'm not there. If you're trying to find a peaceful way to resolve things, then you're doing it because you know it's the right thing to do, not just because I would do it."

"Because even I have my limits." The Doctor gives Jack an almost chiding look, and Jack frowns. Because he knows it. There's something unspoken between these two, an affirmation that doesn't need to be said out loud.

"But!" And then the Doctor's tone and expression turns on a dime to the high energy bunch of smiles it was. "Jack Harkness saving the world, I can't think of anything more brilliant and I do wish that I could see that! But I'll stay. If it helps you out to know that I'm here with my finger on the button, a back up plan to save this world, then I'm not going to be needed!"

He briefly grows serious again. "Play it your way. Second guessing yourself when you need to act might put more lives at risk, Captain."

There's that look on Jack's face again. By the stars, how he loves this man. But he swallows it down and instead stands up very straight and nods sharply. "Yes, sir."

Jack heads for the door of the TARDIS. The portal to take them home has opened up outside. But he stops at the door, spins and shoots that over large grin back at the Doctor. "By the way. Merry Christmas, Doc."

"Is it? Blimey, Merry Christmas to you too, Jack. I might just stick around for a little bit then."

With a patented floof of his coat, Jack walks out of the TARDIS, far more ready now for what is awaiting him back on Crystallis.

Edited (.) 2016-09-04 20:32 (UTC)

Event || Revelations

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