NLoT: The Book of the Dead (Sisi, Amy, Eleven)

[River Song]

"Thanks," the woman in the space suit with the super-curly auburn hair said to the Tenth Doctor.

"For what?" he asked, completely clueless.

"The usual. For coming when I call," River stated matter-of-factly.

"That was you?" the Doctor asked, seeming a bit more surprised than River was happy with.

"You're doing a very good job acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason," she said - but, she already knew. Even though she'd already met this version of her husband - he had't ever met her, yet.

This was the day she'd been dreading all her life... River just didn't want to admit it - she wasn't ready for this.

"Oh, a fairly good one actually," the Doctor rambled on in a rather lovely accent.

"Okay, should we do diaries then? Where are we this time? Going by your face I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So, um.." Professor song trailed off for a moment while she flipped through the pages of her TARDIS-blue diary. "Crash of the Byzantium. Have we done that yet?"

The Doctor gave her a blank look.

"Obviously ringing no bells. Alright, um. Picnic at Asgard, Have we done Asgard yet?" Professor Song asked the Doctor.

Again, it was clear that he hadn't the foggiest idea what she was talking about.

"Obviously not. Blimey, very early days then. Ooh! Life with a time traveler, never knew it could be such hard work."

She looked quite carefully at the Doctor's face and exclaimed in awe, "Look at you... You're young!"

But, maybe she was wrong? Maybe he was just pulling her leg.

"I'm really not, you know," the Doctor countered.

"Oh, but you are! Your eyes... You're younger than I've ever seen you," River gushed, reaching out gently to stroke his hair, while Donna Noble looked on.

"You've seen me before then?" he asked, clearly irked that he didn't know the whole story - but there was nothing to be done for that. Not today, anyway.

"Doctor, please tell me you know who I am," River pleaded, moving her hand to his shoulder. She didn't want to believe this to be so, but... there was no denying it.

"Who are you?" he demanded, sounding quite frustrated as he looked from her hand to her face. It wasn't often that the Doctor didn't get what he wanted.

~~~~~~~~~~

"You travel with him, don't you? The Doctor, you travel with him," River said to Donna while the Doctor sought out something that was supposed to be hiding in the shadows.

"What of it?" Donna haughtily asked. "You know him, don't you?"

"Oh, God, do I know that man... We go way back, that man and me. Just not this far back," River explained.

"I'm sorry, what?" Clearly, Donna wasn't following.

"He hasn't met me yet. I sent him a message, but it went wrong, it arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does," River painfully explained.

"What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?" Donna demanded.

"Donna! Quiet! I'm working," the Doctor called out from across the room.

"Sorry!" she called out.

"Donna? You're Donna? Donna Noble?" River asked the ginger with a bit of surprise.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I do know the Doctor. But in the future. His personal future," River hurriedly explained.

"So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?" Donna explained. And of course, River knew the answer to that. She just didn't particularly wish to answer...

Thankfully, she was saved by the Vashta Nerada:

"OK, we've got a live one! That's not darkness down those tunnels, this is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man-eating swarm," the Doctor announced, throwing a cooked chicken leg into the shadows. But by the time it reaches the ground, only the bone remains.

"The piranhas of the air, the Vashta Nerada. Literally 'the shadows that melt the flesh'. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive," the Doctor explained.

"What d'you mean, most planets? Not Earth?" Donna asked in disbelief.

"Mmmm, Earth, and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams."

"If they were on Earth, we'd know," Donna persisted.

"Nah, normally they live on road kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark."

"Every shadow?" River asked, seeking clarification.

"No. But any shadow," the Doctor said ominously.

"So what do we do?" River asked, determined to keep a clear head and get her team through this ordeal.

"Daleks - aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans - back of the neck. Vashta Nerada... Run! Just run," the Doctor advised.

---

OOC: Again, Donna & 10 are just being puppet-ed, to rehash what happened in the episode we're working with. *HUGS*

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

The Doctor hit the bottom of the shaft, checked the display on the neural relay, and then lept across the cables. In two quick motions he had the butt of the sonic screwdriver plugged into the worldframe, and then he looked back at the flesh mask of the node.

The face of the little girl smiled, and nodded.

With a sigh of relief he sagged against the machine. "I can't wait to meet you properly, River," he whispered against the worldframe.

He started to access the worldframe, then stopped. Started again, then stopped again. Finally, he stuck his hands in his pockets and stepped into the gravity shaft. With a final wink and a wave, he pushed himself upwards.

A minute passed.

"I think he's finally gone," came the Meddler's voice from nowhere. There was a rattling and a shaking, and a panel covering a maintenance shaft popped open. Light streamed out, as the Meddler pulled himself out and slid to the floor.

Stretching, trying to work the kinks out of his muscles, he stared at the shaft. "Yeah. Finally gone." He reached in, helping Amy and the Dreamweaver out in turn. "Good job we found those hairs. Now we can just get that psiprint, get back to the TARDIS, and get out of here."

[Amelia Pond]

After he helped her out of the maintenance shaft, Amy looked at the Meddler with tear-stained eyes. They'd just seen Professor Song die... and yet, he didn't seem at all bothered. It was like he knew that was all going to happen!

Had they all come here for the sole purpose of watching that woman die?

Amy wasn't sure how she felt about this... The least the Meddler could have done would have been to warn her - to give her a heads up about the tragedy that was going to happen - right?

"Good job we found those hairs. Now we can just get that psiprint, get back to the TARDIS, and get out of here."

Amy sniffled and then hurriedly said, "Wait - wot?!?!" She hadn't been paying all that much attention to what the Meddler was doing. Amy had been far too preoccupied with trying to sort out who this Professor Song was to the Doctor - not even he had known that...

"Wot's that about hairs...?" she asked, clarifying what she was feeling so mystified about. "An' wot's a psiprint?" She hadn't any idea what the Meddler had planned...

[sisilaya]

Oh by Danu name, that had been cramped. For a while she had been worried about the oxygen supply for Amelia, but soon enough her worry had been broken by the sound of soft sobbing as the inevitable happened. Doctor Song died. Even Sisi had felt a heavy heart at seeing the woman die, she had instantly liked the woman. Recognised the way she had looked at the Doctor.

And made her realise too, that if she would see her Meddler for the very last time, and he would be so young he'd see her as his little niece still, her heart would be broken too. That she would have to die without seeing that special love in his eyes. Something more then just family's love.

She was rather silent and a tad bit relied as the got out of the cramped space.

"Good job we found those hairs. Now we can just get that psiprint, get back to the TARDIS, and get out of here." She heard the Meddler say, and gave him a sad smile. Glad at the intimacy between them even though their eyes only met, her heart heavy at the way she had just seen Doctor Song die.

But Amelia was worse for wear, the tears streaming down her face. Ofcourse, she hadn't known she was going to die. Her own daughter.. but they couldn't tell her that. She placed a hand on the other Ginger's shoulder, leaning closer to whisper to her.

"She was to die here, we couldn't change that. The consequences if we had would have been disastrous for time."

Her husband would probably disagree, but now was not really the time.

"Wot's that about hairs...? An' wot's a psiprint?"

"I thought we were going to download her back off the database..?" She asked softly, his declaration had not made sense to her either.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"She was to die here, we couldn't change that. The consequences if we had would have been disastrous for time."

From his position by the Worldframe, the Meddler nodded. "Her death was witnessed by a Time Lord. It became a fixed point. The simplest way to save her, was to let her die."

"Wot's that about hairs...? An' wot's a psiprint?"

He attached a small object to the data port, and then waved a fist-sized lump of black crystal near it. "A psiprint, Amy, is a copy of a person's mind." He looked over at the two redheads, and grinned. "Everything she was. Her thoughts, her memories, all of it. Saved."

He thumped his free hand against the Worldframe. "Right here."

"I thought we were going to download her back off the database..?" She asked softly, his declaration had not made sense to her either.

"We are, Dreamweaver. We are. That's what I'm doing right now." He leaned against the Worldframe, free hand in the air. "The hair contains genetic material. After all, she'll need something to be uploaded to." A pause. "And, from what I've seen of Miss Song, I don't think she'd appreciate an artificial body."

His eyes flicked down to the crystal in his hand. "67% complete. Less than a minute, and we'll be able to call in the TARDIS."

There was a rushing sound and a wave of darkness exploded from the upper air vents of the Worldframe room, slamming into the Meddler like a high-pressure hose. He tumbled end over end, cane flying one direction, crystal another.

"time lord..." the darkness howled as he thrashed under the impact, "prakasakasani..."

Shrouded utterly in darkness, he was lifted into the air as the swarm fled the light. "meld... with... us..."

Lying where he had dropped it, the crystal chimed to signal that the download was complete.

(OOC: And things go pear-shaped... now.)

[Amelia Pond]

Everything happened so fast...

The Meddler had just been explaining to Amy and his wife what he had planned for the late Professor Song - or rather, for her return - when all of a sudden he was swarmed by darkness. Amy watched, horrified, as the Vashta Nerada - or whatever it was (it sort of reminded Amy of the smoke monster from 'Lost') - lifted the Meddler up into the air and away from the light.

She had no idea what to do. No idea what to say to Sisi, and god knew that she must be in quite a state - that man was her husband! And now... Now, he was lost to the shadow, perhaps melded with it, just like it had said it wanted.

Lying where he had dropped it, the crystal chimed to signal that the download was complete.

The little 'ding' sort of brought Amy back to the here and now, and her eyes moved to find the source of the sound. She saw the little psiprint-thingie laying there on the ground and just realized that the Meddler must have dropped it when he got rushed by the darkness.

That little black thing was very, very important. That was all that Amy knew, and that was all she could know - 'spoilers', you know.

So, what did she do? Amy reached out quickly, almost reflexively, and grabbed up the tiny device.

"Gotcha..." she uttered, feeling a surge of accomplishment - that is, until she glanced over at Sisi... Then, Amy's stomach dropped, and she asked a bit nervously, "Uhh... Sisi? Ye okay? Did ye see where that thing's taken yuir husband?"

Amy hoped he was alright... wherever he was - wherever the shadows had dragged him off to.

[sisilaya]

She was in the process of moving closer to him, seeing what he was exactly doing as he was downloading the psiprint of Doctor Song to the crystal. She grinned at his declaration that should wouldn't appreciate an artificial body, and she had to give it to the woman, she would most likely cause hell too if she realised her own body was artificial after just coming back from the dead.

"67% complete. Less than a minute, and we'll be able to call in the TARDIS."

"Good, I don't exactly like the thought of going back the whole way where we left it pa-" Her voice trailed off at the rumbling above them, her eyes widening soon after as the wave of despair and darkness hit her like a tidal. It was right above them and they hadn't noticed it at all she realised to her own distress.

She wanted to scream at her husband to move it, but her voice was muffled as she was thrown back by the impact force, skiddling back quite a few steps before she forced herself to a halt.

"ROBIN!"

His cane had come to standstill against her foot, instinctively her first clenched around it's hilt.

She watched as her husband trashed as he was lifted into the air, a voice coming from his mouth that was definitely not his. Her face went pale, her mouth opening as she took in the sight before her with distress. No, no this could not be happening.

"prakasakasani...meld... with... us..."

She flinched at the sound that came from his mouth, the sound alien, cold and distorted to her. That was not the Meddler, that was the Vashta Nerada.

Do note that I will kill you before that happens.

Duly noted

Her own voice and that of the Meddler replayed back in her mind, after they had heard the threat of the Vashta Nerada wanting to merge with him. She hadn't completely meant by what she said, she couldn't just kill her own husband like that. It wasn't that.. simple. She just couldn't, not like that.

But the dark face that stared back made the hairs at the back of her neck rise.

She looked at the other woman beside her, who was even in greater danger then she was. Amelia Pond might be strong willed, but thanks to the fact she grew up with an interdimentional crack in the universe right on her house, she was an extra tasty morsel for the Vashta Nerada. She would be consumed instantly. She was somewhat glad to see the woman had picked up the psiprint crystal. Good thinking there.

"Uhh... Sisi? Ye okay? Did ye see where that thing's taken yuir husband?"

"I.. I saw.." She stuttered, something very uncommon for her. She turned back to the man floating in the shadows before them.

"Robin..? Love..? Come on this isn't funny.. say something! ROBIN!" She said, hysterics barely controlled in her tone.

Her senses were telling her to grab Amy and run for it while they still could. Her hands started to tremble.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

He thrashed and struggled against the blackness.

Time Lords do not have the same fight or flight reflex that humans have. But even they may succumb to panic, when helpless and hopeless. And as he felt his feet leave the ground, felt the burning pain as billions of nanoscopic entities began tearing at his flesh, the Meddler panicked.

He tried to break free, but it was like trying to fight a riptide. He tried to scream, in despair and terror and pain, and the creatures flooded his throat and lungs. He would have wept, but his tear ducts had already been consumed. Along with his eyes.

His last thought, as everything went black, was a pair of luminous green eyes.

---

The swarm of Vashta Nerada exploded away from the ceiling, and a rain of tiny objects began. A quartz crystal point shattered as it struck the floor of the chamber. A silver fountain pen bounced and clattered along the cables, while a bottle of ink exploded in a shower of black fluid. A wind-up spaceship, a toy he'd intended to give to Ken, bounced from the Worldframe server as a gold ring tangled in nearly invisible platinum wire sparkled while it fell.

There was silence, broken only by the footsteps of Amelia Pond as she snatched up the computronium storage crystal.

"Uhh... Sisi? Ye okay? Did ye see where that thing's taken yuir husband?"

"I.. I saw.." She stuttered.

Was there a figure in the shadows? Or merely a trick of the light?

"Robin..? Love..? Come on this isn't funny.. say something! ROBIN!" She said, hysterics barely controlled in her tone.

The shadows began to stir once more, flowing together into a deep pool that bunched and rippled as if a stone had been thrown into it. Tendrils of blackness lashed upwards, braiding and knitting into something like an art deco sculpture of a nervous system, surrounded by a halo of shadow, with two burning ameythist-and-amber holes for eyes. And then in the blink of an eye, it changed.

Whatever it was, it resembled the Meddler. The suit, the build, the features, all were the same. But its hair was the color of midnight, and its eyes were pools of ink with pinpricks of ameythist-and-amber unlight, and its skin was the color of ash. It smiled the Meddler's smile, and held out it's hand. A tracery of black webbing was visible on the fingers and palm.

"^{Prakasakasani}Dreamweaver_{Time Lord}," it said gently, it's voice like the Meddler's except for the hissing echoes in its speech. "^OurMy_Our ^hopelove_future."

[Amelia Pond]

"Uhh... Sisi? Ye okay? Did ye see where that thing's taken yuir husband?"

"I.. I saw.." She stuttered. "Robin..? Love..? Come on this isn't funny.. say something! ROBIN!" She said, hysterics barely controlled in her tone.

Amy watched in horror as the Darkness formed itself into a dark replica of her friend the Meddler. It's like it was him, but... it wasn't. It was impossible to say what exactly had happened to the Time Lord when he'd been snatched up, but... it didn't look like it was anything good.

Whatever it was, it resembled the Meddler. [SNIP] It smiled the Meddler's smile, and held out it's hand. A tracery of black webbing was visible on the fingers and palm.

"^{Prakasakasani}Dreamweaver_{Time Lord}," it said gently, its voice like the Meddler's except for the hissing echoes in its speech. "^OurMy_Our ^hopelove_future."

Amy did not like the look of this - not one bit! She looked from the Dark Meddler to Sisi, and with a very unsettled look on her face, shouted, "Sisi, no! It's time ta git out 'o here - we gotta run!" Amy held out a thin, pale, graceful hand for the Dreamweaver to clasp - that is, if Sisi chose to... That is, if she didn't wind up reaching for her husband's hand, instead...

[sisilaya]

She had already staggered back when a shape seemed to form itself from the pool of darkness, it didn't take long either for her to realise it was taking on the shape of a body, her anxiety rising fast. Her eyes darted to Amelia beside her, but the girl too was looking with a horrid expression to what was unfolding before them.

When she looked back, the shadows had taken shape and she barely managed to choke back her strangled cry at seeing what her most important person had become. The face of her husband staring back her, his eyes black pools of unlight. He smiled at her then, that smile, his smile and she felt something inside of her crack, choking back a sob as she shook her head vigorously.

"^{Prakasakasani}Dreamweaver_{Time Lord}," it said gently, it's voice like her husband, but with hissing echoes that made her Sidhe senses bristle with danger.

"^OurMy_Our ^hopelove_future."

"No.. I am not yours." She choked, her voice broken. She was nailed to the ground, the shock of what was happening and what had just happened keeping her body numb and her mind consumed with grief. That was, until Amelia beside her yelled at her.

"Sisi, no! It's time ta git out 'o here - we gotta run!"

Her gaze shifted to Amy, and she more looked like a deer caught in headlights, her cheeks stained with illuminated tears reflecting the the glow from her eyes, her eyes watery. She managed a shaky nod before she looked back at the creature which had become like her husband, it even felt like him she realised with a shuddered gasp.

"You are not Robin." She whispered before she exploded into a violent golden light, dropping her glamour.

She took Amy's hand and sifted them back to the Meddlers TARDIS.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

The creature that resembled the Meddler hesitated at the look of horror Amy gave it, and at the choked, strangled cry the Dreamweaver made. Then, smiling the Meddler's smile, it held out it's hand. A tracery of black webbing was visible on the fingers and palm.

"^{Prakasakasani}Dreamweaver_{Time Lord}," it said gently, it's voice like the Meddler's except for the hissing echoes in its speech. "^OurMy_Our ^hopelove_future."

"No.. I am not yours," the Dreamweaver choked out, her voice broken.

The thing in the Meddler's shape seemed to rock backwards as if it had been slapped, and a look of agony crossed its face.

"^{Prakasakasani}Dreamweaver_{Time Lord}," it said, voice simultaneously like and unlike the Meddler's, "^{We are}I am_{We are} still your ^matehusband_love."

It lifted its hand again, beckoning towards her. A look like mingled hope and despair crossed its face. "Please, don't ^fearleave_hate ^usme_us," it said, softly.

"Sisi, no! It's time ta git out 'o here - we gotta run!" Amy cried, reaching for the Dreamweaver's hand.

"^NoNo_No!" the Meddler-thing cried, voice filled with pain. It hesitated, then took another step closer, reaching desperately for her. "^{I would not}Ní ba mhaith liom_{We would not} ^wishmian_wish ^anyaon_any ^companionchompánach_queen ^{in the world}ar fud an domhain_{in our forests} ^butach_but ^youtú_you, ^{Prakasakasani}Dreamweaver_{Time Lord}. ^{I love}Is breá liom_{We need} ^youtú_you ^moreníos mó_{níos mó} ^thanná mar_than ^wordsfocail_touch ^canis féidir_can ^wieldwield _describe ^{the matter}an t-ábhar_{the need}. ^{You are}Tá tú_{You are} ^moreníos mó_more ^deardaor_essential ^thanná_than ^eyesightradharc na súl_perception, ^spacespás_darkness ^andagus_and ^libertysaoirse_prey."

The Dreamweaver glanced at Amy, then looked back at the shadow Meddler. Tears glistened in her eyes. "You are not Robin." She whispered before she exploded into a violent golden light, dropping her glamour.

Screaming in agony, the shadow Meddler threw its arm before its eyes and turned away. When it could see again, it was alone in the worldframe room.

With a cry of despair, it fell to its knees. "^SheShe_She ^fearsleft_fled ^usme_us," it choked out, tears like tar slowly oozing down its cheeks. "^AbandonedAlone_{Without a queen}."

A glint of light near the worldframe caught the shadow Meddler's eye. Slowly, almost painfully, it rose and closed its hand over the source. When it opened its fist, a plain golden band - scratched and dented from ten years of wear - gleamed like fire against the creature's ashen skin.

"^TillTill_Till ^endingdeath_reproduction ^dodo_do ^weus_we ^seperatepart_{hive off}," it whispered, staring at the ring. "^ButBut_But ^whatwhat_what ^isis_os ^endingdeath_reproduction, ^toto_to ^aa_the ^SikarachayaTime Lord_hive?"

Silence, for the space of three long heartbeats.

"^SheShe_she ^mustwill_{has to} ^comprehendunderstand_accept."

And then the Meddler-thing shattered, flowed into the shadows, and vanished.

[sisilaya]

She had heard his agonising scream before she sifted, leaving her body still trembling by the time the appeared inside the TARDIS and she banged the doors shut behind her. She staggered, leaning against the door, tears still gathered in her eyes. She choked as she slid down the smooth marble surface to the floor, her breath coming in choked gasps as she clutched her knees to her chest. She seemed to forget Amelia was there for the moment, consumed in her own personal grief.

Kiki had already put the kids to bed, luckily, she wasn't in a state to face her children right now. Not while the look of the Vashta Nerada who consumed her husband was still burned in her mind. She pushed the tears from her cheeks and staggered back to her feet, red from crying eyes flitting over Amelia's form. It had seem easy enough to get her future daughter from the library, how did things get so bad so quickly?

She should have made them all turn back the moment she felt something was wrong, but she had ignored her instincts at that moment because of him. And now he was consumed by the flesh eating darkness, and most likely dead.

Most likely, but not a hundred percent sure. And that's why she couldn't kill him. Just couldn't.

"Bhandia," she called in Gaelic, and the central control column seemed to respond to her, the time rotor giving a soft roar. "I need all information on the Vashta Nerada. Any weakness, any confirmed logs on other Time Lords.. merging with them." She swallowed heavily, pushing more tears from her face, she was slowly getting it together, she had to if she had any chance on saving her husband.

She looked over at Amelia, giving her a small smile that didn't fully reached her eyes. Amelia had gotten stuck in the middle of this, which had never been hers or the Meddler's intention.

"I think it would be best to ask The Doctor for help.. he has better knowledge on what Time Lords are about, and we're going to need his experience with the Vashta Nerada. I.. maybe he can still be saved" She choked at the last word, her lower lip trembling, but she managed to compose herself again while biting her lip.

"Amelia.. this wasn't supposed to happen. If you want to return home then I understand.. we never intended to get you involved with something this dangerous.."

They were interrupted by a dial tone that came out of the speakers and she turned her head back to the central column. A phone rang on the other side, and she sucked in her breath, the TARDIS had gone ahead and called the Doctor and put it on speaker.

This was it.

[Amelia Pond]

"Amelia.. this wasn't supposed to happen. If you want to return home then I understand.. we never intended to get you involved with something this dangerous.."

Amy did her best to stand tall and firm - she wasn't about to bail on her friend. Not now. Not when Sisi needed her! Her husband, the Meddler, might be dead - OR he might be able to be saved. Amy preferred to believe the latter.

"Nae way - I'm nae leavin' ye, Sisi: we're gonna git tha Doctor, an' he's gonna help us git yuir husband back. And THEN..." Amy went on, gently touching the orb in her pocket - the orb that contained the essence of River Song. "Then, comes Professor Song."

They were interrupted by a dial tone that came out of the speakers and she turned her head back to the central column. A phone rang on the other side, and she sucked in her breath, the TARDIS had gone ahead and called the Doctor and put it on speaker.

"Uhh... Doctor?" Amy called out in the direction of the telephone. "Is that ye?" Amy very much hoped it was her Doctor... She'd been waiting to see him since Christmas, when they'd been separated after that whole Dalek-thing with Churchill.

"We could really, really use yuir help... Somethin' terrible's happened ta tha Meddler..." Amy briefly explained, hoping that they would soon be joined by the Eleventh Doctor.

[Deleted]

The Doctor had been on his own for some time now, a good while really. Up until about five years ago, he and Sarah Jane Smith had been reunited, more than just traveling together, they'd admitted some serious things to each other, and spent seven years together. However, as fate would have it, they'd been torn apart, Sarah Jane went on to live her life as he'd seen in his past, and The Doctor was alone again.

That was in the past now, The Doctor had gotten over it as best he could, and gone off to travel like always. One day in particular, his phone rang, it was Amelia Pond of all people.

"Uhh... Doctor?" Amy called out in the direction of the telephone. "Is that ye?"

The Doctor answered happily, "Amelia Pond! I haven't heard from you since Christmas 2012, that was a fun one, you, me, Rory, the Dalek Death Star thing. Oh, and the Christmas turkey dinner! When did you learn to cook like that?"

"We could really, really use yuir help... Somethin' terrible's happened ta tha Meddler..."

"The Meddler?" The Doctor asked in slight disbelief. The Meddler was not one who usually got into trouble, and even more interesting to him was another aspect, "Amelia, why are you with The Meddler?" Very odd situation indeed.

Shaking it off, The Doctor spoke again, "Never mind, I'm on my way. I can have the TARDIS track you by your cellphone signal. See you in just a few moments." And with that, he killed the call and went to the controls to track down Amy.

With a few moments more, The Doctor had arrived not ten feet away from the group, not bothering to check their location, he stepped out and looked around, catching sight of his friends, "Pond! Sisi! Where's The Meddler, what's happened." He could tell just by their worried looks that something was horribly wrong.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

Across the Library, the darkness was in motion. It flowed like water, oozing and dripping, down into the lowest levels of the planet. As it passed from shadow to shadow to dark tunnel, the blackness intensified and softened again. Each mote of darkness bore a single byte of information, gleaned from the seemingly limitless stacks.

Deep in the bowels of the planet, near the massive fusion reactors that would maintain the automatic systems and the environment of the Library well past the death of the system Primary, the darkness deepened. Deepened, and absorbed the disparate bytes of data carried by each mote of the Vashta Nerada.

A man must dream a long time in order to act with grandeur, and dreaming is nursed in darkness.

And so the darkness dreamed as it grew. Dreamed of light. Dreamed of stars and worlds. Dreamed of a golden light that burned like the sun, with two pinpricks of viridian flame, and of thre more golden lights that blazed like the stars.

"Dream manfully and nobly, and thy dreams shall be prophets," a small but vital part of the Hive had once said.