Hope That Someone Gets My (The Deca)

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

he Meddler nodded. "Good point." He considered his options for a moment. "Jelpax? Set a course for the end of the Stelliferous Era instead. 100,112,358,132,133 years from the Prime Event." He grinned again, but this time the grin was predatory. "We'll just rip the heart out of Utopia."

"You've got it." Jelpax paused, "What's Utopia?"

"A matrioshka orbital, built around a black hole, out on the borderlands of the stelliferous and degenerate eras," the Meddler said, a hard look on his face. "I haven't looked into who built it, originally, but - at the time we're going to - it's inhabited by a posthuman species that calls itself Toclafane."

His eyes, concealed behind his dark glasses, were unreadable as he stared at the two Masters. "Either one of them can tell you more about the Toclafane..."

At about that moment, the Rani punched the blonde Master right in the mouth.

Meanwhile, Drax was cackling with good humor. "Nobody move!" he laughed. "Let me memorize this scene!"

"Once he finds his teeth, that is. Suffice it to say, I owe the Toclafane a great deal of misery. Leaving them to die as their heat radiates away into the Long Night sounds about right to me."

Clearing his throat, the War Chief called out to the group, "I hope you have a plan on how we're going to change Millennia from a doll back into a flesh body."

Tearing himself away from the unexpected floorshow, Drax shrugged. "Not me, nope," he admitted. "Biosciences ain't no specialty of mine. I mean, I'll build whatever the brain trust here comes up with, but the best I could do for her on my own would be to build an android body for her."

"No," the Meddler said, flatly. "She won't be made a machine."

"Yeah?" Drax made an obscene gesture at the Meddler. "Didn't say I was, now did I? Didn't argue for it or anything. Seems like - to me, anyway - that I said that was the best I could do for her."

The Meddler and Drax glared at each other for half a minute. Finally, without saying a word, the Meddler reached down and threw a switch on the Navigational Panel. With a grinding roar, the ancient engines of the Doctor's Type 40 TARDIS surged to life.

[Koschei]

Oh all the anger he felt towards Drax just seemed to melt away as he felt a surge of victory through his being. He let out a powerful, almost insane laugh. "Just from before the Eye? That's all?"

"Oh, as to that?" the Master said. "I never said I only remember events from before the Eye. I remember quite clearly..."

But the other Master, lost in the sort of megalomaniacal rant that he'd been prone to his entire life (lives?), didn't heed him in the least. Instead, he launched into a boastful litany of his lives and success (and even a few failures). And as he spoke, the Master could see it all again.

"...remember being a being of pure energy..."

Agony. That had been agony. Torn and stretched and burned by the tidal forces of the Eye of Harmony, it had been the closest he'd ever come to wishing for death.

"...resurrected by the Time Lords during the Last Great Time War. They thought I would be a perfect warrior..."

He hadn't been. He'd been a weapon of terror, an amoral monster set to kill amoral monsters. Been a blade without a hilt, cutting the Time Lords even as they wielded him.

"...the Cruciform..."

The Master barely heard the other Master's words, now. He was lost in memory, watching the inexorable advance of the Daleks up the Royal Road once more, deploying his troops, his weapons, his every strategem. But for every Dalek he slew, ten took its place.

And the Cruciform fell. And hope fell with it.

"...Professor Yana..."

A joke of his TARDIS, perhaps. Professor Yana. At the end of the Stelliferous Era he had all but become the Doctor. A hero. A champion. A symbol of hope, for a dying species, in a dying universe. And for what?

"...Utopia..."

Remorse. Guilt. Mere words to him. After decades of study, he'd managed to develop a dim, intellectual understanding of the concept. But he'd never felt it. But Utopia, now, left him with a vague sense of... regret? It had been a terrific joke, at the time. A dagger, forged to pierce the hearts of the Doctor. But perhaps... perhaps...

It had been a waste, really. They had practically worshipped him as a god. How much more could he have achieved with them, if he had been struggling under the fetters of madness?

"...Lucy Saxon..."

Lucy.

She'd been so utterly unexpected. Like finding a diamond, when you expected gravel. Her mind had been a labyrinth, unexpectedly complex beneath such a simple appearance. An utterly charming child, unfettered by ordinary human concerns of morality. And when she'd shot him, tearfully buying a measure of safety by presenting him as the sole architect of the Year that Never Was.

How could she have thought he'd kill her, later? She was art.

He turned his head back to the Doctor. "Do you wish to tell them how I stayed dead for three whole years? How I came back to life? How I brought back Gallifrey and Rassilon and all the other Time Lords from the Time War, despite your Time Lock? How even after they were all sent back, including myself, how I managed to escape?"

The Master lifted an eyebrow. That was the difference. He'd only been dead for six weeks. While this other Master... "The cult of Saxon," he murmured. "Oh, well done. I never actually thought they'd be of any use."

"Either one of them can tell you more about the Toclafane..."[/i] the Meddler said, voice stiff with anger.

It was the anger that caught the Master's attention. Why would... ah. "Yes," he said. "I can. And, as I recall, the Toclafane did report that they'd captured and killed an intruder in Utopia. Was that you?"

But then, the Rani marched forward to the blonde Master and promptly punched him in the mouth. “Enough!” She shouted, absolutely livid with rage.

Although he hadn't been the target, the Master rubbed his jaw in sympathetic pain. He also decided - perhaps wisely, perhaps cowardly - to keep his own mouth shut. Although the on-again off-again relationship he'd had with her was certainly exotic, a straight-fisted blow to the face was not on the list of games he enjoyed playing.

The Doctor paused before picking the Master that had proven to be easier to work with. He looked to the Ebony Master and nodded, "Come with us." To be diplomatic, he looked to the other Master and said, "I'd like you to consider doing some computations. It may not work, but it's worth trying to restore Milliennia via Block Transfer." He also knew that he'd prefer to work alone.

"Of course," he said. Then he paused, eyeing the Rani critically. "After you, my dear," he said, bowing and sweeping an arm. After that punch, he'd rather be behind her than before her.

And besides, behind her was such a delicious view.

[Deleted]

With that punch, the Master fell back into the chair in the front of the main console. He grabbed his jaw and rubbed it. "Oi! What the bloody hell is your problem?"

He slowly got back up and was very close to pushing her off the console platform. Very, very close. He regained his good mood however when the Doctor suggested he try working on making Millennia a new body via Block Transfer.

"Now there's something I haven't done in a while," he said, his face now forming a grin. "Alright. I think I will. At least Millennia knew how to be gentle," he taunted the Rani. It would be better that they had time appart. He still had a few murderous tendancies after all. He walked away from the console's platform and took one of the flights of stairs leading away from it. "To think that one day I'd be creating a body for another Time Lord!" he laughed to himself as he shouted that throughout the console room. "I'll make her the best body she's ever seen!"

He searched the Doctor's TARDIS for a suitable workstation. He was going to need it for the extreme amount of mass calculations he was going to need to prepare. He'd settle in a small area of the main console room, away from the others.

It seemed like an empty space at first. He set his bag down against the TARDIS's walls. No doubt she'd sense that the Master's bag was actually another TARDIS. But even then, she wouldn't dare share the others that fact yet now would she? He's set his TARDIS inside her before on numerous occassions and yet she was never able to specifically warn the Doctor that it was one of his TARDISes. Unless she decided to use that annoying cloister bell of hers.

He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Alright. Let's see if I still remember how to do this."

He closed his eyes and began to chant a set of Block Transfer Computations. When he was finished, he openned his eyes as he watched a new wooden desk appear inside the TARDIS, complete with its own chair, a stack of parchment, and a pen.

"Perfect. Absolutely perfect," he said as he pulled the chair out and sat down. He hunched over the desk and began writing out the instructions.

Block Transfer required a very large amount of complex and precise calculations in order to perform them. Even the slightest mistake could ruin the entire process. A Time Lord body would no doubt take the Master some time to construct. There were many factors to consider; the many elements and chemical formulas that were required to create a body, the speeds various liquids and chemicals would travel throughout the body, the amount of electrical energy in the nervous system was required for every specific process...

Making himself the template to be implanted into every human on the planet barely took any effort out of him. The calculations alone will take him much longer, maybe even longer than an Earth day to complete. Double checking every bit of data and calcuation would take longer. Reading all the calculations aloud with precise pronunciation and no mistakes and stutter would also increase the amount of time. Transfering Millennia's mind was also to be taken into consideration.

At some point, he is going to need a proper way to preserve the body parts of each component of Millennia's new body as they are created.

"To think it takes 12 people reciting these calculations to time travel," he muttered to himself.

[Deleted]

Satisfied that she had smacked the blonde Master in the mouth; much to the amusement of the others, especially Drax; the Rani regained her composure by adjusting her top and peeling her dark hair behind her ears. Her hearts had returned to a normal speed and her knuckles had stopped their tingling as she was rubbing them to restore feeling. Watching the blonde Master writhe in pain was clearly not enough, but now was not the moment to tell him the reason why she had hit him. As the Doctor chose the Ebony Master over the blonde Master, the Rani's attention turned to him as the Ebony Master rubbed his jaw.

She had to keep her cool. She was acting reckless; allowing the emotions belonging to her previous regeneration get to her. No one knew the cause of her regeneration and she wasn't going to reveal it any time soon. The Rani swallowed, looking to the Doctor with a confident brow raise; and she felt restored. They had to keep moving.

Merely nodding once but not without a passing glare to the blonde Master; the Rani passed the Ebony Master and quietly squeezed his shoulder as her lips lingered near his ear. “My sanity is fragile. I am still reeling in the after-effects of a regeneration that no therapist could offer advice for. That punch was just the start”. Bowing her head in respect to his own bow; the Rani followed the gesture by the sweep of his arm; acting as if no conversation had taken place.

[Deleted]

Ever dreaming, ever awake. There were numbers that sang and words that altered the very fabric of reality, but to the last they all fell from the tip of her tongue unspoken.

Even dolls that do not wish to be heartless cannot speak.

All she could do was wait. Watching Rallon, watching all of Time as it burnt through her mind. Wondering which version of possibilities would be the one to have played out.

Was this the one when the sane Master kissed Ushas? Was this the one Ushas punched her blonde former lover? Was this the one when her brother had only one shadow?

Perhaps, more importantly, would she be the Millennia that the rescuers found? It was hard to alter causal possibilities to the point of becoming a nexus of different pathways when one cannot move, but observation has a funny way of affecting the nature of the beast being observed.

This was no more true for shy pots that refuse to boil than electrons or the very time vortex itself.

[Deleted]

"Not me, nope," he admitted. "Biosciences ain't no specialty of mine. I mean, I'll build whatever the brain trust here comes up with, but the best I could do for her on my own would be to build an android body for her."

"No," the Meddler said, flatly. "She won't be made a machine."

"Agreed," Magnus cut back in, "She wouldn't want that."

"Yeah?" Drax made an obscene gesture at the Meddler. "Didn't say I was, now did I? Didn't argue for it or anything. Seems like - to me, anyway - that I said that was the best I could do for her."

The various members of this crew were butting heads. Magnus sighed, trying to remain as neutral as possible. He looked at Jelpax, who was doing the same, but for different reasons. Jelpax didn't like confrontation. While Magnus loved it, he knew he had to stay in the middle to referee any further fights that broke out.

[Deleted]

The Rani was apologizing to The Master. Well, one of The Masters, she was trying, at least, that was something. The Doctor figured that this group would behave just fine together. Well, until the next time someone said something the others disagreed with.

"Okay then," The Doctor started, "Let's go Team Rallon. Time to get cracking on restoring his regenerative energies and talk about his limit. As you all know, he burned up all twelve to keep the Toymaker at bay. So we really ought to pay him back for that. Or, I ought to, and you all owe me for all the grief over the years."

He motioned for them to follow him down the spiral staircase to a miniature laboratory where they could bounce ideas off one another and then get cracking on whatever devices they would put together. Really, he just needed to get The Master and The Rani started and they'd work it all out on their own while he tended to the Millennia situation.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"Okay then," The Doctor started, "Let's go Team Rallon."

"Oooh," drawled Drax, as he followed the Doctor down the spiral staircase. "Team Rallon. Do we get t-shirts?"

"Time to get cracking on restoring his regenerative energies and talk about his limit."

Drax glanced around the tiny lab, then perched himself on a workbench. "Yeah, well... I still got nothin' on that. Get me some theories, maybe some maths to go with it, an' I'll build whatever y'all need." He flashed a grin. "But dammit, Jim! I'm the Engineer, not the Doctor!"

A pause.

"Oh, come on! That's a joke! Honestly."

"As you all know, he burned up all twelve to keep the Toymaker at bay. So we really ought to pay him back for that. Or, I ought to, and you all owe me for all the grief over the years."

The reminder of what had happened seemed to sober Drax. "Yeah, well..." He brightened, a little. "Hey... Master. Wasn't it you an' the Rani that worked up the Regen-Inf soldiers? Couldn't we use something similar to that, an' just expand the cycle?"

---

The Meddler smiled slightly, satisfied with his work so far. It was mildly inconvenient, having the Doctor abscond with Drax - the Engineer's skills would have come in handy, forging a new Eye. But he'd done it before, and by himself. But there were other plans to make.

"War Chief?" he called, strolling around the console. "We are, of course, going to require your expertise in this area as well. Here is the tactical situation, as I see it."

In the background, the Master was talking about block transfer computations in a way that made the Meddler's palms itch. It sounded fascinating, and he really wanted to take notes. Instead, he began ticking points off on his fingers, the ebon psionic circuitry enlaid in his palms and fingerprints glittering dully. "We have two TARDISes at our disposal - the Doctor's Type 40 and my Type 67, which will be meeting us some two milennia-parsecs from our destination - and we have nine of the cleverest, most dangerous Time Lords ever to burden the Spiral Politic with a sense of our own importance."

He thought for a moment. "That pretty well sums up our advantages, except for - most likely - surprise. Arrayed against us are an unknown number of insane posthuman cyborgs, who will be extraordinarily motivated to prevent us from succeeding because it will mean their extinction."

"To think it takes 12 people reciting these calculations to time travel," the Master muttered to himself.

A pause. "It can be done with three," he answered, his train of thought derailed. "Three Time Lords, with the psychoenergetic training and capabilities of the Sidhe. I wrote a monograph on the subject, a few decades before the War." Another pause. "It was... suppressed. And it was entirely theoretical, as well."

Another pause. "Well, until recently."

Without missing a beat, he returned his attention to the War Chief. "So... how should we proceed?"

[Koschei]

"Of course," the Master said. Then he paused, eyeing the Rani critically. "After you, my dear," he said, bowing and sweeping an arm. After that punch, he'd rather be behind her than before her.

And besides, behind her was such a delicious view.

She approached, but stopped beside him instead of passing him. She rested a not-entirely gentle hand on his shoulder, and her breath was hot in his ear as she murmured “My sanity is fragile. I am still reeling in the after-effects of a regeneration that no therapist could offer advice for. That punch was just the start.”

::I have some experience,:: he answered, his thoughts - tasting of ice and steel - echoed gently in her mind, ::with awkward regenerations. Should you wish to talk.::

Honestly, he couldn't remember what had triggered her most recent regeneration. Hopefully, he hadn't caused it. That would make his 'good will' gesture remarkably ineffective.

Bowing her head in respect to his own bow; the Rani followed the gesture by the sweep of his arm; acting as if no conversation had taken place.

Smiling faintly, enjoying the motion of her hips as she walked - his body wasn't even seventy, yet - he followed the Rani and Drax down the spiral staircase.

By the time he reached the floor of the laboratory, Drax had already staked out a seat. With a graceful shrug, the Maste instead claimed a spot near a memetic projector.

"But dammit, Jim!" Drax was saying, clearly building up to a big finish. "I'm the Engineer, not the Doctor!"

The Master folded his arms and cocked his head to one side, watching as Drax laughed, and then stopped.

"Oh, come on!" Drax complained, "That's a joke! Honestly."

The Master sighed. "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Shall we focus, now?"

Drax glared back. "Yeah, yeah. Sure. We can focus. Go ahead, then, and show us how to successfully lay a plan, why don't you."

The Master's eyes narrowed. "You impudent little..."

"As you all know," the Doctor interrupted, "he burned up all twelve to keep the Toymaker at bay. So we really ought to pay him back for that. Or, I ought to, and you all owe me for all the grief over the years."

Long centuries ago, he'd been the unofficial 'leader' of the Deca. Even now, he seemed to have a talent for taking charge. Drax looked abashed, and the Master allowed his anger to drain away.

"Yeah, well..." Drax muttered, then brightened a little. "Hey... Master."

He lifted a single eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Wasn't it you an' the Rani that worked up the Regen-Inf soldiers? Couldn't we use something similar to that, an' just expand the cycle?"

The Master thought about that, eyes flicking to the Rani as he did. "That would be... problematic. The procedure did allow for a - theoretically - unlimited Regenerative cycle. It also weaponized both the Regenerative process itself, and it transformed the soldier into a biodatic weapon platform over time."

He considered that for a moment. "Also, the process tended to render the subject psychologically unstable. Handy, I'll admit, for a weaponized member of a lesser species. But hardly the fate we'd want to subject Rallon or Millennia to."

Then he lifted an eyebrow at the Rani. "Unless, my dear, you've made recent improvements to the process...?"

(OOC: So, the Regen-Inf Soldiers are something from the Faction Paradox novel The Book of the War. They were non-Gallifreyans, biodatically engineered with the ability to Regenerate. Almost without limit. But that Regeneration was tweaked so that, even more than the Time Lords, they would evolve defenses against whatever had killed them. They also developed weapons, and put on mass, until some were the size of elephants with the firepower of battalions.

In my head-canon, they were a joint creation of the Rani and the Master during the War.)

[Deleted]

A pause. "It can be done with three," the Meddler answered, his train of thought derailed. "Three Time Lords, with the psychoenergetic training and capabilities of the Sidhe. I wrote a monograph on the subject, a few decades before the War." Another pause. "It was... suppressed. And it was entirely theoretical, as well."

Another pause. "Well, until recently."

"Remind me to ask you for that later," the Master said to him. If the Meddler's calculations were correct, assuming of course he's caught up to be somewhat near his own level of mathematical expertise, they may be useful to him.

Without missing a beat, he returned his attention to the War Chief. "So... how should we proceed?"

"Oi! Before you get too involved with him, come down here Meddler!" the Master called him as he waved his hand for the Meddler to come down to the Master's desk.

He wouldn't wait for the Meddler to come down, if he even chose to come down at all. He simply muttered a few of the calculations he wrote down, and there was a long poster of...well, the image on that poster looked very close to Millennia in terms of her face and the blue hair, but the body shape seemed...different. It was definitely the same age Millennia was when she and Rallon were captured by the Toymaker, but there were a few differences. Body shape seemeda little bit slimmer and curvier than it used to along with a few other...noticeable details.

"What do you think? Sure her body will be different. Thought I'd give Rallon and her a few extra...shall we say presents," he said as he twirled his pen in his hand.

(OOC: This was the best way I could think of to describe the..."changes" the Master made while being PG-13.)

[Deleted]

“Team Rallon?” The Rani quirked a brow as the Doctor had given them a rather meaningful team name in relation to their cause. To be honest, it nearly made her dry retch, but she kept her dignity and merely uttered a low chuckle. As much as she wanted to get involved in another argument with the Doctor and how he had been 'mistreated' by both her and the Master; she swallowed another choke. Drax mentioned t-shirts. Another choke was swallowed. The Rani assumed that swallowing her anger was probably not the greatest idea in history.

Something poked the Rani in the deepest cavern in her mind. It was the voice of the Ebony Master; reminding her of his troublesome regenerations.

Now is not the time to talk, Koschei. Perhaps after we're wearing our 'Team Rallon' t-shirts I might be willing.

They all entered the lab, Drax seating himself on a workbench.

Anyone would think the Rani needed a cough drop with the way she was choking. Drax's attempt at humour only made it worse.

Once settled, she felt her ears perk when Drax mentioned the Regen-Inf soldiers she and the Master had been working on before their relationship turned sour. Her arms folded and she allowed herself to lean against a nearby bookcase; also catching the Master's brief glance as he spoke.

“Accessing the regenerative cycle was easy enough. Lessons learned from the Valeyard helped in that aspect – despite the fact that I would not want to admit experimenting on his ideas”. She frowned at the thought. “Seemingly because in doing so would affect your own life; Doctor”. A thin lip smirk followed. “I have been working on various methods involving pulling ones self from their regenerative cycle – accessing their previous forms. I feel incredibly unstable in this body and mind and I want nothing more to return to my first form. There are some moments where I have been close – yet my body unfortunately automatically hits the so called 'kill switch' and sends itself into healing mode before I could regenerate or degenerate”. A pause followed as she shifted her position against the book case, and then recalled some very important information. “Doctor...” She began and approached him carefully. “...didn't you once have a wife by the name of River Song? Conceived by humans in this very TARDIS yet... after being exposed to the Time Vortex during conception she herself became a Time Lord? And if I recall correctly – she had given you her remaining regenerations so you could survive her initial plot to kill you?” The Rani grinned.

“I thought I recognised that stench the moment I came on board. You're literally soaked in excess regenerative energy!”

[Deleted]

"War Chief?" he called, strolling around the console. "We are, of course, going to require your expertise in this area as well. Here is the tactical situation, as I see it."

Upon hearing that, The War Chief's smirk couldn't have been quicker to rise, he looked to the group settled around the TARDIS, "Well, that's something I haven't heard since someone needed help rallying the Shobogans so long ago."

He interlaced his fingers and then pushed out, cracking them, "Well then, let's get to work, no time to waste when we've got friends to save." Oddly enough, outside of The Doctor, The War Chief seemed to be the one who was most concerned for their old friends.

If anything, the rest had either been guilted in, had nothing better to do, or joined out of fear of The Doctor's wrath (he was of course, referring to Jelpax there). Speaking of, Jelpax was minding his controls very carefully, as if he was coddling a small child. No wonder he'd had the role he had back on Gallifrey, as odd as he could be, he was obviously quite good at what he did.

And then, there was The Master, or one of them, it rather bothered The War Chief that there were two. This one, apparently, was fiddling about where he wasn't meant to fiddle. He'd called The Meddler over, but The War Chief could hear from where he stood.

"What do you think? Sure her body will be different. Thought I'd give Rallon and her a few extra...shall we say presents," he said as he twirled his pen in his hand.

"Hey!" Chief shouted, "If you change one hair on Milli's head, I'll rearrange your face. It'll be an early looming-day gift from me to you."

[Deleted]

"Oooh," drawled Drax, as he followed the Doctor down the spiral staircase. "Team Rallon. Do we get t-shirts?"

“Team Rallon?”

"Well," The Doctor responded to The Rani, "We weren't going to call ourselves The Prydon Pathfinders, not after you blew up all the star athletes besides Magnus and Maxil, I don't think the former Commander ever forgave you for that by the way, they were having a strong year before you sent everyone to the hospital. Anyway, you sort of forfeit your right to the name after something like that."

"Now, t-shirts. I could go to the wardrobe and have The TARDIS make us some lovely shirts, we could even get a Team Milli for the other Master. Of course, our shirts will have to be red. Milliennia has blue hair, so naturally her shirts ought to be blue. And what should we call the others? I don't have a lot of airline pilot outfits left, and I'm pretty sure that only The Rani would fit into the one that Amelia left behind."

He blinked, realizing how off topic he was getting now, they really ought to get back to work. Everyone began to start on plans for how they could help Rallon out of his predicament, of course dealing with the Toymaker would be the first issue, however, they had plenty of time to do this, as making the Eye of Harmon could be a bit time consuming.

“Doctor...” She began and approached him carefully.

He didn't like the way she was walking towards him. He was starting to flash back to their very first and only date when they were quite young. He really didn't want to be bitten today.

“...didn't you once have a wife by the name of River Song? Conceived by humans in this very TARDIS yet... after being exposed to the Time Vortex during conception she herself became a Time Lord? And if I recall correctly – she had given you her remaining regenerations so you could survive her initial plot to kill you?”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know all this? Practically all of my records around the universe have been deleted." He paused, "She told you, didn't she? Before she died. Oh, she sure loved to cause trouble when she could."

“I thought I recognised that stench the moment I came on board. You're literally soaked in excess regenerative energy!”

"That's true," The Doctor answered, "She'd regenerated a few times before she gave it to me, but yes, I have a large surplus of regeneration energy. Are you suggesting we use it?"

-----

"What do you think? Sure her body will be different. Thought I'd give Rallon and her a few extra...shall we say presents," he said as he twirled his pen in his hand.

"Hey!" Chief shouted, "If you change one hair on Milli's head, I'll rearrange your face. It'll be an early looming-day gift from me to you."

Vansell looked up between the duo of Time Lords and said, "Shouldn't we do our best to maintain a sense of this TARDIS's state of temporal grace? It feels like the function is only hanging by a thread in here."

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

"War Chief?" the Meddler called, strolling around the console. "We are, of course, going to require your expertise in this area as well. Here is the tactical situation, as I see it."

The War Chief smirked as the Meddler explained the task ahead of them. "Well, that's something I haven't heard since someone needed help rallying the Shobogans so long ago."

"I sincerely hope that this turns out better than that did."

He interlaced his fingers and then pushed out, cracking them, "Well then, let's get to work, no time to waste when we've got friends to save."

The Meddler gave him a long, searching look. "We're Time Lords, War Chief. We have all the time we need, to make sure we do this right."

---

Drax listened as the Rani began riffing off the regen-inf process. He hadn't even pretended to understand it the last time - machinery was his thing, not biological systems - but you never knew when something might come in handy.

“Doctor...” She began and approached him carefully. “...didn't you once have a wife by the name of River Song? Conceived by humans in this very TARDIS yet... after being exposed to the Time Vortex during conception she herself became a Time Lord?"

"Wait... hold on, here," Drax demanded. "Back up and tell me about this wife. Was she raised on board, or just - y'know - instantiated? And, more importantly, was she hot?"

The Rani, at least, ignored him.

"And if I recall correctly – she had given you her remaining regenerations so you could survive her initial plot to kill you?”

"Whoa," Drax blinked. "Kinky." He smirked. "Were you already married when that happened? Cause I know what that's like. I've had three different girlfriends try to murder me, and one was planning on trying to sell my organs."

---

"Oi! Before you get too involved with him, come down here Meddler!" the Master called him as he waved his hand for the Meddler to come down to the Master's desk.

Curious, the Meddler strolled over to the Master's desk and examined the preliminary rendering. Then he crossed his arms and studied it some more, looking at it from different angles.

"What do you think?" asked the Master.

"That's... not quite how I remember Milli," the Meddler finally decided.

"Sure her body will be different."

"Clearly."

"Thought I'd give Rallon and her a few extra...shall we say presents," the Master smirked.

"Will she actually be able to stand up like that? Without gravatic assist, I mean?"

"Hey!" Chief shouted, "If you change one hair on Milli's head, I'll rearrange your face. It'll be an early looming-day gift from me to you."

"Don't worry," the Meddler deadpanned. "He isn't planning on changing her hair."

He considered the rendering of his creche sister's new body, then shook his head. "Why don't you just go with her original proportions?" Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, he added "that seems to be the War Chief's vote, at least."

Vansell looked up between the duo of Time Lords and said, "Shouldn't we do our best to maintain a sense of this TARDIS's state of temporal grace? It feels like the function is only hanging by a thread in here."

The Meddler half-turned, and looked at Vansell. "We're in a Type 40," he said. "Everything's function is hanging by a thread."

[Koschei]

Then the Master lifted an eyebrow at the Rani. "Unless, my dear, you've made recent improvements to the process...?"

“Accessing the regenerative cycle was easy enough. Lessons learned from the Valeyard helped in that aspect – despite the fact that I would not want to admit experimenting on his ideas”. The Rani frowned at the thought. “Seemingly because in doing so would affect your own life."

"The Valeyard!" the Master said in surprise, clapping his hands once at the statement. "I'm almost embarrased to admit that I never thought of the Watcher phenomena as part of my studies into Regeneration. Well played, my dear. Well played indeed."

A thin lip smirk followed. “I have been working on various methods involving pulling ones self from their regenerative cycle – accessing their previous forms. I feel incredibly unstable in this body and mind and I want nothing more to return to my first form. There are some moments where I have been close – yet my body unfortunately automatically hits the so called 'kill switch' and sends itself into healing mode before I could regenerate or degenerate.”

The Master thought hard about that. "That may be a biological manifestation of the Law of Historical Conservation." He tapped his fingers on the memetic projector, only to snatch them away when he realized he was tapping out a familiar four-count rhythm. "I wonder... I have heard rumors that the Meddler has found a way to manipulate that Law. Perhaps we should consult with him?"

“Doctor...” She began and approached him carefully. “...didn't you once have a wife by the name of River Song? Conceived by humans in this very TARDIS yet... after being exposed to the Time Vortex during conception she herself became a Time Lord?"

Drax began to babble on at that, and the Master only ignored him with an effort of will. "He did, yes. I only met her briefly, but she seemed quite charming."

"And if I recall correctly – she had given you her remaining regenerations so you could survive her initial plot to kill you?” The Rani grinned.

Drax babbled again. "Drax, do shut up," the Master snapped, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Grown-ups are speaking."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know all this? Practically all of my records around the universe have been deleted." He paused, "She told you, didn't she? Before she died. Oh, she sure loved to cause trouble when she could."

The Master rolled his eyes. "'Practically all of my records around the universe have been deleted'," he echoed, mockingly. "And the Matrix was tamper-proof, and the Transduction Barriers could never be breached." A sigh. "Did you really think you could keep us from learning your secrets?"

“I thought I recognised that stench the moment I came on board. You're literally soaked in excess regenerative energy!”

"That's true," The Doctor answered, "She'd regenerated a few times before she gave it to me, but yes, I have a large surplus of regeneration energy. Are you suggesting we use it?"

The Master looked at the Rani with something approaching admiration. "Yes! That would be perfect! And with the new Eye of Harmony that the Meddler plans to build, we wouldn't even need that much! Just enough to, as it were, prime the pump!"