Chapter Text
“Sorry if it’s a bit messy,” Ragatha told her two guests.
Zooble looked around and couldn’t really see anything that they would call messy.
There were a bit of mixed elements: the room felt like the inside of a toy box, but it also had a rustic, almost ranch-like vibe, with wooden furniture in a basic design. A big quilt on the bed, a bookshelf with dozens of books, and a timey toy-like piano.
And near the center, a small table with a plastic tea seat, one you’d expect to see in a kid’s room where they’d be playing tea with their dolls.
“Everything looks great!” Gangle tried to reassure the doll.
Ragatha smiled at the kind words but waved them off: “It’s better, but the bookshelf is a complete mess.”
“Mess?” Zooble blinked; it took them a moment to notice that the books were neatly organized, some of their side on stacks in the middle of the shelf.
“I guess you read a lot.” Zooble made small talk.
“Yeah.” Ragatha admitted, “It’s something I do to unwind. It's very relaxing and-“ Ragatha didn’t want to say out loud it was something she could do all alone. “Whenever, just something I can do whenever.”
Ragatha went over to the table, placed the snacks, and just got the last steps ready for their tea party.
0000
Pomni sighed, annoyed. She pulled on her hair, annoyed.
Why was she getting all worked up?
Why did she care what Ragatha did?
Why did she start seeing that weird woman?
Was she just losing her mind?
Pomni threw herself onto her bed, letting her face plant into the soft cushion. She hoped that the buzzing in her mind would die down, that she could sleep, and finally get some peace.
0000
“This looks familiar.” Clockworks muttered as they wandered through the halls of the office building.
“Yes, familiar.”
“Over here.” Clockworks waved Kinger over.
Clockworks couldn’t help but feel the sensation that this was familiar. Something in the back of his mind itched, more like screamed that he was missing something important. At the moment, he could only feel this sort of voice he heard from a distance. They found dozens of open red doors.
“This is wrong.”
“You know, I was thinking the same thing.” Clockworks admitted, “Everything feels a tad off.”
“Like remembering something out of a dream.”
“Dream. Yes. The desks are just a little bit too small. Colors seem wrong, off somehow. Shading is weird; it’s like looking through a blurry memory.” He paused and looked at Kinger. “Does this remind you of something?”
“I don’t know.”
Clockworks slowed his pace, letting Kinger overtake him and lead the way. Kinger looked a little confused and lost, but the way he moved through the room made it feel like there was some familiarity there.
Eventually, as they walked, Kinger made his way through some cubicles and sat down at a desk, one that Clockworks noted as familiar, and had a headset resting next to it.
Kinger sat down, and his finger rested on the key.
“Kinger?”
“…”
Clockworks didn’t want to push it, but this might be a chance to help Kinger stimulate his mind and memories and might give him a chance to delve into his mind. Clockworks had suspected that Kinger worked on the program that underpinned the world. He was too familiar with the building. If he worked here, this could jog his memory; it could not only help Kinger reclaim what he lost but also provide clues on how to free everyone, but he couldn’t just force it.
Kinger’s finger suddenly danced across the keyboard, and the ancient-looking computer came to life. Code flashed on the screen before dozens of programs filled the screen; then it went black, with stylized eyes flashing, staring at him.
Kinger jolted back, pushed the chair away from the computer, and he almost fell out of the chair. The screen flashed to the C&A logo. Kinger, trembling, turned from it to the pillar in the middle of the room, which held the C&A Logo.
Kinger looked on, petrified.
“Kinger?”
Kinger got up and, without looking away from the logo, went through the next door. Clockworks raced after him when he heard the voice louder than before.
0000
The Osgoods sat across from Malcom.
Osgood, the first one, asked, “So is that the only thing you’ve discovered since studying the computer?”
Malcom fixed his glasses. “I’ve discovered why the Doctor hasn’t escaped.”
“Why?”
“That computer we recovered- almost immediately after we started running experiments, it started to emit chronons.”
“Time Particles?” The first Osgood asked.
“Yes, our scans suggest that time has started to go slower; we haven’t figured out much. If the computer is a link to something else, or there’s a pocket dimension somehow hidden inside, but it is important and whatever it’s connected to, wherever people are being sent to is being slowed down.”
The second Osgood began, “But the Doctor is a Timelord; they are immune to time effects.”
“Right. But we have no idea how this world is affecting him. What if the entire space-time he finds himself in was being affected? In fact, his abilities might have forced him to adjust to that time rate to stay in tune with the world at large.”
The First Osgood adjusted her own glasses. “Would explain why he’s taking so long? Most of us assumed he’d escape in a day or so.”
“Yes, and it does suggest something is aware of him. Things changed after he entered. Wherever the Doctor is, someone in power has enough control over it to adjust reality and is planning against him.”
“So, he could be there for a long time, and maybe only a few days will have passed for him.”
0000
Ragatha was humming to herself as she played host, pouring tea for her guests and serving the snacks she had made.
They started chatting about random little things; Zooble thought this was the best way to go. They couldn’t just come out and ask her if something was happening with her and Clockworks.
Gangle said out loud, “So, what do you think about Clockworks?”
Zooble hadn’t wanted to be that blunt, but they figured it was harmless enough. “Yeah, I mean, they just got her. What are your initial thoughts?”
“Golly,” Ragatha said with clear admiration, “What can I say? He’s amazing! He’s like a wonder!”
Gangle looked at her closely to try and find any hint of anything.
“That’s pretty big praise,” Zooble admitted. “Guess stuff happened during that Wild West Adventure you guys got caught up in.”
Ragatha still didn’t know how to explain the whole mind thing he did, and she certainly didn’t feel like lying, especially when they were just starting to get along.
“Sort of, I mean, things got messy during the adventure. The evil clones were robbing a bank, and I guess Caine thought it would be funny to make me the sheriff. The Evil Gangle snuck up behind us and knocked me and Clockworks out.”
“Evil me,” Gangle said, mildly annoyed. She was left out last time, and this time didn’t even get to see her clone.
“When we came, the clones had taken Pomni, leaving us a note that they planned to tie her to the rails and run her over with a train they were hijacking.”
“Yikes.” Zooble hissed.
“So, I started to panic at the idea. Poor Pomni tied up waiting to get run over!”
Gangle noted Ragatha’s panic.
“I’m sorry to say I couldn’t even focus. Clockworks stepped in and made a plan right away. I went to find Pomni and untie her before the train; he’d go face the bandit and steal the gear. If he got the gear we escaped, if he failed, then maybe I would get Pomni out before the train came.”
Zooble nodded, “Okay, that’s actually a pretty good plan. I mean, it’s not great odds to face an entire group on your own, but it does increase the odds.”
“And it worked.”
“Did you get Pomni out?” Gangle inquired.
Ragatha blinked; she was suddenly reminded of how she had failed to free her and how all she could do was try to shield her with her own body.
“No,” Ragatha admitted. “I forgot to bring a knife. I tried to pull the ropes, but I don’t know how things would have turned out if Clockworks hadn’t gotten the gear.”
“Good,” Zooble admitted, “I guess he must have snuck around and gotten the gear.”
“Y-yeah.” Ragatha had actually forgotten to ask how he managed it, with the train and Pomni getting upset with her, she didn’t get a chance to ask.
“I guess he’s pretty crafty,” Zooble added. “He seemed to come up with the plan against the Cyberme-“ Zooble didn’t finish noticing how they might react to the name. “He was pretty quick; that idea of putting the cleaning supplies in the fire extinguishers' water is pretty clever.”
Zooble paused, “Wait, how did he know the thing about cleaning supplies messing with them?”
Gangle changed subject, eager to take her mind off the cybermen, “You seemed awfully close during the kitchen adventure.”
Ragatha wanted to choose her words carefully.
“Well, after everything, I was pretty upset and… he came to my room afterward and something happened.”
If Gangle was wearing her happy mask, she was certain it would have cracked.
“Something?” Gangle poked.
“Well, I don’t know how to explain it. And in all honesty, I’m not sure how much I can say without asking him about it. He did this thing with his hands, and well, it was intense and … I don’t know. Really intimate.”
“Intimate?”
“Like, wow, just he got … I don’t know deep into me.”
“Deep?” Zooble blanched.
“Like- he got to know me. Like, in a way no one has ever known me before, maybe even before the circus. I really don’t know how to explain it. But I felt so amazing afterward, and a lot of pent-up stress and tension got released. I honestly haven’t felt as good since he didn’t that thing with his hands.”
Gangle just stared blankly. Zooble had done to take a drink but was now just spilling their tea; there was no other way to take that.
“Zooble, you’re spilling,” Ragatha pointed out, grabbing a napkin.
Ragatha needed to choose her words more carefully.
0000
If Clockworks had ears, the sound would be burning, the words vague and muddled, and some static.
Kinger ran, trying to get away from whatever scared him, and he pressed through another door.
“Kinger!”
Clockworks grabbed him at the last second before he tumbled out and into a vast white space.
Clockworks pulled Kinger back.
The chesspiece just said, “The void.”
“Void? As in the howling? As-“ He blinked, “Oh.”
Clockworks finally got a good look at the empty space before them. “Not THE Void, well, very close. That’s- that’s Limbo, a liminal metaphysical space between the space of our universe and … well, the actual Void. It’s a space where the laws of physics are flexible. Some people call it the White Void. Got trapped there during a wedding…”
His clocks spun as he remembered a woman’s face.
“Clockworks, are you okay?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine.” He shook his head, “We shouldn’t dally here too long. I still haven’t figured it all out, but this makes sense. Get a program, and you can do whatever you want, but you can’t make any ever-expanding space from something with no matter. But if you’d got the right power, somewhere like this place, you can expand it into an entire realm.”
“Power.”
“Right, that kind of power isn’t-“
“Did your clocks stop?” Kinger gently slapped his head as if trying to start up a stubborn computer.
“OI! No! No! It can’t be!” He looked deep into the white void before him. “I wish I had my 3d glasses.”
“Oh, here you go!”
Clockworks blinked as he was handed a pair of glasses.
“Thank you.” Clockworks put on the glasses and looked on.
“It’s not safe to stare into the void.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” He grumbled, “Void stuff, actual void stuff. The Void is bleeding into Limbo, into our universe. The power you need to make this all happen isn't native to our universe; it hasn’t been present in the universe since the Dark Times. This whole circus is dab in the middle of a realm with lingering traces of that power. You see those powers predate our universe, or so they claim at least, or come from another. They used our universe as a playground, but for them play is great big destruction for us. They can’t enter our universe easily; they require the right things to happen, the right rituals. They can get as close as possible to entering our universe in this liminal space; they can touch our universe through here, reach out to people, whisper, or, if things go right, bring them here. Make deals, form pacts, trick people, make people into their puppets.”
Kinger stared into the void.
Clockworks mumbled something,”Oh! I’m starting to figure things out.”
“Something like that-“ Kinger struggled to form the words.
“Oh! No! No! No!” He tapped his own head. “We are in danger. We are in so much danger! Think how much danger we are in and add another case of danger! I know who's behind this. We need to get everyone out of here now!”
He needed to focus everything on getting them out as soon as possible. If they realized who he was, he didn’t want to think of what they would do. He beat them once before; they would not be happy to see him again, and you only get one trick against their kind.
“Theta Sigma. Quidquaequod. Merlin. John Smith.”
“What?” He muttered.
A glowing cube floated from the vid towards them.
“That’s a weird-looking bug.” Kinger glanced at it.
“I got mail!” Clockworks smiled, tucking the glasses into his pocket, “Someone sent me a message! It’s calling out using names I’ve used. This is what we need! A lifeline! A psychic link into the physical reality! I can use this to yank us out! We need to get everyone here and now! It’s going to be rough! But if the other end is still waiting for a reply, I can use this and yank us out tonight!”
He was delighted; a miracle came to them just when they needed it.
But sometimes gods take away miracles.
Something hard slammed on the back of his head and grabbed the hypercube as it tried to escape.
Kinger looked on in horror, tempted to jump into the Void as he started to put things together and remember things.
The mannequin stood there before turning to the unconscious figure, “Forget.”
The robotic figure twitched.
“I remember now,” Kinger said. Maybe he should jump into the Void; it couldn’t be worse.
“You will not die.” The mannequin spoke. “That was the bargain that was struck. No one can die here, and we will not let you leave. For now, you may forget again.”
Kinger’s eyes unfocused, and he collapsed onto the floor.
Figures peered out from the whiteness and looked upon the mannequin.
The mannequin dragged the two of them along as it exited the final door; it tossed the cube into it, and its glow faded. The door closed, and it vanished. The NPC tossed Kinger into his pillow fortress before dragging Clockworks into the halls.
0000
Ragatha was pretty content with how their little tea party went. She noted she’d have to speak to Clockworks about his power; maybe he couldn’t help Kinger right away, but maybe he could help everyone. Get some of their lost memories back, maybe get their names back.
She waved goodbye to her friend as they went to their rooms.
Ragatha happily went and picked a book from the shelf and hoped to relax before bed. She was so happy that everything was going great. She found a book she’d had for a long while, one she hadn’t read. It was actually an odd romance, A Journal of Impossible Things.
She smiled to herself. Maybe she could lend it to the others; she had a feeling that Gangle and Zooble might enjoy it.
0000
The door closed, and the pair looked at each other.
“They didn’t- I mean- it’s not-“ Gangle stumbled on her words.
“I mean, uh- we don’t look so human and part-wise we- uh-“
“But they are human shaped and-“
“Could they? I mean, Ragatha isn’t that kind of person, right?”
“What else could she have meant?”
“They they-“
“$%&#!”
“Yeah.”
They paired up and locked before stumbling back to their rooms. They closed the doors just in time to miss the sound of metal scraping on the floor, and were too stuck in their thoughts to notice.
0000
Pomni swore she heard some noise.
“What?”
It didn’t sound like steps- maybe an element of steps, but something else too, something like metal.
Pomni opened her door, though, by instinct or just reaction, she slowly opened it. And quickly closed it up, everything but a crack. She caught a glimpse of an odd sight: a mannequin dragging Clockworks, and he seemed unconscious.
The mannequin kicked the door open and moved inside, but flinched for some reason, almost like it could not enter. The faceless NPC seemed perplexed, maybe even angered, and it took a step back before hurling Clockworks into the room. Pomni could barely make out some sounds; maybe he crashed into something.
The NPC struggled but managed to reach for the door and pull it close.
“What the #$%&?” Pomni let out. The NPC turned towards the door.
Pomni covered her mouth as it started to walk towards her door.
Pomni pulled the door closed and locked it.
Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Why would Clockworks get dragged like that? Caine controlled the NPCs; why not just teleport him back into his room if something happened?
Her doorknob began to twist as someone tried to force the door open. The following slams as they were forcing their way into it.
Pomni couldn’t help but wonder why. Caine could just pop in.
What was going on?
SLAM!
Another hit and the door started to budge.
Was it coming for her?
What was going on?
Pomni heard a sound behind, something ethereal and strange. Before she could turn around, a pair of hands slammed over her mouth. Pomni tried to scream as she felt something move her back, and she suddenly felt the sensation of falling.
The door gave way, and the mannequin stood in the doorway. Cautiously walking into the room, they looked around but found no signs of anyone being there. No one was hiding.
They stood for a moment, observing. Had they just imagined something?
The mannequin with nothing to do walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.
Soon, the empty room fell into silence.
As they prepared to leave, the mannequin paused. For a split second, they thought they saw something: one of the doors seemed to change.
The door was a blank slate, just another door waiting.
They walked down the halls; the threat was dealt with for the moment. They had plans for the Time Lord, and he could not be killed yet.
0000
Missy sighed, annoyed, and there was a twinge of something. “Something intercepted it. That’s no easy task.” Missy started to pace, “It takes something phenomenal to intercept a hypercube. So something powerful got my message before it could reach him.” She sighed, “Oh, he’s in trouble. He’s in big trouble. Handles!”
The flying head hovered near her. “Mistress.”
“To the best of your- let’s face it- somewhat limited abilities, you managed to track the Tardis and the Doctor to this era. So, a terribly powerful thing and the Doctor- what are the odds that he hasn’t gotten himself in some serious trouble?”
“Considering it’s the Doctor, I estimate a non-zero chance.”
“What does the Doctor do when they get themselves into trouble?”
“Calculating.”
“No, never mind, they count on his companions.” Missy smiled to herself as a plan formed.
0000
The old C&A building had seen better days; UNIT had locked it down for some time now. But they hadn’t done much with it. After spending days scanning and taking anything that looked half important, they left and just fenced off the building. They were now all but gone and didn’t have enough influence in America to keep things. After a hefty amount of paperwork, they took back the building.
The construction workers entered the building, removed the moldy desk and equipment, and began their work.
A man in a dark suit walked with purpose; soon, he found himself at his destination. He reached for the C&A logo and, with a hammer, struck it three times. After the third blow, the hole formed large enough, he reached into it and pulled out a large stone with runes on it.
He smiled, pulling it out, for now, he could let the men work. He had his own work to do.