Chapter Text
"I think he's fine. The wound has already healed."
"Yes. All thanks to your care."
"You're absolutely right, my dear."
Vastra contemplated the body of the young human lying on the bed still unconscious. The more she observed him, the more incredible she noticed how much similar he was, she would almost have mistaken him for him: the hair, the face but above all the chin were practically the same. Only the clothes were different and it was perfect. Despite this, he wasn’t the same person.
Sighing, the Silurian began to walk through the corridors of the TARDIS with Jenny to simmer her frustration and worry. The girl gently shook her hand, dissolving that tension and managing to snatch a smile from her.
"I'm sorry dear... It's just that..."
"You know what needs to be done."
"What if it doesn't work?"
Jenny thought about it and a little hesitantly responded trying to look calm.
"Well... we will start all over again."
"Unfortunately for us, Jenny. We don't have much time. Or this... plan, if we want to call it that, works or we've done nothing."
An embarrassing silence fell between the couple who continued to walk without adding a single word. Vastra still thought about it, but in order not to worry her young wife, she tried to breathe slowly and slow down the beat of her heart. A thousand thoughts crossed her mind and among them a single question did not leave her quiet.
Why?
Arriving at the central controls of the TARDIS, the two women looked around disoriented, as they did not find Asia in her usual place.
"Where's Asia?" asked Jenny."
"That little girl... always around and doesn't think about driving properly."
"Oi, I hear you!" a little girl came out from under the console of the TARDIS completely covered with smoke and tangled in a skein of cables: she pulled up the welding glasses and frown squared the Silurian with her green eyes. "And anyway, I set the autopilot."
Asia freed herself from the cables by snorting. With a wet towel she wiped her face and settled her hair. Satisfied with the work, she closed the metal door and stretched herself. " That should be fine!"
"Sorry, but since when is there an autopilot here?"
"Since this morning."
"And... is it safe?"
"Vastra, don't you trust me?"
" Oh, I completely trust a fourteen-year-old girl, who almost always uses a hammer to repair a sophisticated time machine like the TARDIS," replied the green woman.
"That is a compliment to me."
"What do we do with the human?"
Asia stiffened. She looked seriously at the reptile-woman who was anxiously waiting for her answer. A second later the girl rippled her lips into a wide smile and began to press buttons and pull levers.
"Nothing."
Vastra shook her head shocked "What does this mean?"
"I...I just wanted to meet him. That's it! It's unfortunate that I found him in a rather uncomfortable situation."
"Maybe you want to tell me... what did you want to tell him?"
" Nothing! I only wanted to see him and then he was hurt and I..I don't know, I just thought to take him here."
"Oh, she will get so angry for this. Do you know, don't you?" the Silurian replied, but froze when she felt Jenny wrap around her forearm. Her voice was calm.
"Anyway, we thank you for this tour, Asia."
"You’re welcome Jenny!" With a dry blow the girl lowered a lever. "Here we are! We have arrived!"
Jenny approached the door of the TARDIS and went out first, Vastra, before crossing the threshold, sighed. "Boring."
"What?"
"That human. He seems boring."
Asia stifled a laugh, greeted with one hand and closed the door. Again, she circled around the countless controls of the time machine and within seconds was already inside the time vortex. She walked through the corridors of the TARDIS just to wait for her guest to wake up.
**
The deafening whistle of a teapot caused the man to frown, but the sweet scent of flavored herbs soothed him and slowly opened his eyelids. A strong orange light forced him to cover his eyes with one hand and he got out of bed yawning.
"Where am I?" the man was struggling to orient himself: the room was all orange with light yellow shades and a high ceiling. Besides the bed, there was nothing else in the room.
He tried to remember what he was doing but above all what had happened to him. He tried to put together several images and the only thing he remembered was a white light that almost blinded him and three or four people around him. Then it was total darkness. On impulse he touched his forehead and remembered everything.
He was working when, due to his usual clumsiness, he tripped over an electric cable and a spotlight fell on him, hitting him in the head.
"You woke up!"
The man gasped. A little girl came in with a tray smiling: that scent of flavored herbs was nothing less than a cup of tea. Next to it was also a nice plate of butter biscuits.
"Hello!"
"Uhm..hello...» still a little nervous, the man continued to rub his forehead.
The girl smiled amused. "If you're looking for some kind of wound, you don't have any more. It was just a small injury"
"Oh, well... in that case I should see it anyway."
"I wouldn't say so. The instant ice was enough to heal it. How much sugar?"
"Two lumps. Thank you... "
As the girl fuddled with the spoon, the man looked at her a little perplexed. Shoulder-length brown hair, green eyes, dressed in a pair of jeans, a blue T-shirt and at the foot of sneakers. He just couldn't remember if he had already seen her but strangely, she looked familiar.
"So... Have you always been here?"
She thought about it. "Yes, I would say yes."
"Really? Strange... I have never seen you."
"Oh well, because this is the first time we met."
"Ah, I understand... anyway, where are we?"
"Oh, that's ... it's a bit complicated to explain but... Ah! Wait a second! I forgot to take one thing!" Trying not to pour the cup, the girl quickly placed it in his hands and ran out of the room. "You stay here! I'll be back!"
As the girl's footsteps rumbled into the void and went further and further, the man shook his head confused. He thought back to the strange girl's words, drinking his tea in large whispers and eating all the cookies. If a bit of ice was enough, he thought, evidently, he wasn't at hospital. So, he never moved.
"But the rooms were not... orange." from the half-closed door the guest could see the corridor a little. "Not to mention the floors. They are not made of metal."
His curiosity pressed him so much that he wanted to get up and leave the room. With a hint of uncertainty, before opening the door he sighed and decisively lowered the handle
"What the hell..." the man could not believe his eyes. That was the strangest place he had ever seen. He checked that he was awake by slapping himself on the cheeks. "No, I'm awake... but where the hell am I?"
Trying not to think about it too much, he began to scour all the corridors. With each step his amazement increased incredibly. He counted at least a dozen different rooms: a library, a wardrobe, two bedrooms, a kitchen, several bathrooms, and so on. He was about to consider the idea of being passed out or even being in a coma.
"This place... it's really crazy, it seems..." suddenly the man shook his head denying his idea, because it was impossible. "No, it can't be! That would be absurd..."
Out of the corner of his eye, several lights caught his attention: he walked with great strides to the source of the lights, but for some strange reason he knew that he would regret it.
The man opened his eyes wide. The small room and the endless corridors were nothing compared to what he found in front of him: not because he did not know what it was but precisely because he knew what that was.
"But this is.... The console of the TARDIS" he touched the buttons, the levers, his eyes wandered in that huge room that really looked like the TARDIS; yet in his eyes he also looked so different.
"Hey! Here you are!"
The human's eyes moved from the ceiling resting on Asia, who reached him down the stairs holding a notebook and a pen. "I told you to stay in the room!"
"Well, ... I wanted to walk." He justified himself, still shaken.
"Oh, I see."
" Tell me one thing. This... is a TARDIS?" he pointed to the console with an index finger, babbling.
The girl smiled amusedly. "No. This is the TARDIS."
"This .... What?"
Asia cursed herself by rubbing her neck. "Oh gosh. Here... that was the complicated thing. Well, it doesn't matter. I'll tell you now: welcome to the TARDIS. This is, as you well know, the mythical time machine and please... don't think you're crazy."
"No wait... You're kidding me! This... can't be the TARDIS!"
"Yet it is"
"No, it's not because the TARDIS doesn’t exist!"
Asia rolled her eyes snorting. "It's the TARDIS! Yes ok, there are a few differences from the one you know, but I can assure you that it is the real TARDIS."
Silence fell between them but after some thoughts, the man finally decided to smile for the first time and began to wander enthusiastically around the console. With each button he threw a smile at Asia “Now I understand!"
"Really? That's great! I thought I had to work harder to convince you. So, what do you think?"
"Well, I have to say you did a really good job. Of course, it took you a lot of time I think, but I must admit that is a beautiful replica!"
The girl stopped smiling "Replica? Do you call replica the real TARDIS? You must be dumb"
"Oi, I didn't want to offend you. It's just that it's very different... but I have to say it's still great the way you built it. Really a great job. Even if... I still wonder how you did it."
The girl brought her hands to her hips angry, then began to handle the control panels with confidence. She set the coordinates and let the TARDIS do its job.
"Now let's go to Vastra. So, you will change your mind."
"Wait..did you say Vastra? But how, who.." he couldn’t find the words to express his confusion.
"Oh, spoilers! Just wait and you'll see"
Matt froze immediately and stared at the little girl speechless. The way she moved, the way she spoke ... She was too familiar…but she couldn’t be..
The girl took the notebook and placed it in his hands
"What should I do?"
"I admit I'm not really a fan of yours, but I told Vastra that I would ask for your autograph."
"Oh... yes of course!" he said surprised. He opened the notebook and began to write "What's your name?"
"My name is Asia. Nice to meet you. Matt Smith."
**
Jenny's fingers ran fast on the keyboard and her eyes controlled the screens in front of her at the same time.
Vastra, on the other hand, recorded on her handheld all the values that Jenny sent to the central computer.
"These are the latest reports, but it seems that after only two days they have been canceled because they are considered non-existent now" she announced worried
"It's not possible. Another dead end" Vastra threw the handheld against the floor in anger. She considered that research useless and a waste of energy, yet something inside her required her to continue searching.
Jenny turned to her wife and tried to calm her down. "You can't give up like that! I'm sure we'll find him soon."
"How, Jenny?! How can we find him?! He... doesn't even give us a clue, a signal or even better... he does not send us a message!" she sat on an armchair massaging her forehead. "Even she is losing hope"
Jenny walked away from her station to assist Vastra. " She's not, she never will! You know her, she won't give up and neither will us. Now, if you want, we can stop here for today. Right now, Strax is doing the searches on the place. We can rely on him for now."
"Stop? Yes, we can stop: but they... They will never stop. We desperately need help. The entire Universe is in danger again." Vastra stood up and watched the countless red signals flashing on the center screen.
"We need you: where are you Doctor?"