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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 3, 2011 20:34:49 GMT -5
(OOC: Don't worry about it. Life happens.)
"Tardis..? You mean this is an airship or space ship called Tardis? Interesting name.."
"No, no," he said with a laugh. "TARDIS is the name of a class of time capsule, or time ship if you prefer." He patted the hexagonal tiling of the corridor wall. "I've never given her a name - it'd be presumptuous of me, really. I know who she is, she knows who I am. We've never needed names."
He grinned at the stunned, amazed look on her face. "Don't expect me back for a good two hours. You just opened the candy store for me dear Uncle."
"Take as long as you need," he said indulgently. "I'll be in the main electronics lab when you're ready. Just ask the TARDIS where it is, and she'll show you the way."
He turned to leave, then stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Also, just ask the TARDIS if you need anything. She'll either tell you where it is, or put you in touch with me so I can tell you."
With that he wandered off, closing the (bronze on one side, odd grey stone-like material on the other) doors behind him.
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Post by Sisilaya Vulmecura on Jul 9, 2011 13:10:28 GMT -5
She staggered for a moment, did she hear him correctly, time ship? She shook her head, disoriented. She would certainly inquire more about this so called.. ship of his later on. But right now, first her body needed a desperate clean up.
The bathing space before her made her hands itch to get changed and dive into the clear waters in the pool. She nodded absently and heard him walk off, the big door behind her closing.
Her face broke off into a grin and she almost skipped into the dressing room, soon to come out with a few towels and wearing a bathing robe. Toeing the warm water she had a last spy about the room before dropping the bathing robe and sinking into the warm water. Giving a deep sigh she allowed herself the luxury of the warmth seeping into her bones, soothing her still slightly aching muscles from the fall earlier today.
She stayed like that for a while floating around in the warm water, washing herself from tip to toe and emerged from the bath with her pale skin positively glowing from all the scrubbing and cleanness of it all.
The wardrobe as much as a surprise as the bath initially had been, it was filled from medieval type of clothing to certain fabrics she could not even place. She eventually decided to go for a simple cream coloured peasant style blouse with a beige and brown embellished fitting waistcoat over it. She couldn't help but go for the brown leather pants she found on the bottom somewhere, she preferred leather on her legs in case she had a need to fight. If she hadn't been wearing leather before her fall her legs would have been way more damaged then the initial bruising. She found some dark boots her size not far off and slipped her feet into it, lacing them up. A wide leather belt was soon strapped around her hips to carry the holsters to her daggers. Strapping her tigh holsters to her upper legs she checked herself out to see if she had everything on her she needed to have on her.
Soon enough she was walking through the corridor. She had been hesitant at first to speak out to something that just didn't seem to be there. But soon enough the Tardis had told her where to go, which resulted in her now stepping through a door and being greeted with the back of the man who brought her here to begin with. She smiled to herself, even though they may not be blood relatives.. this man had known her mother, which was a great comfort to her.
"Your wardrobe is bigger then any woman's I've seen. I'm not sure that is a positive thing Robin." She chuckled softly, teasing him kindly before walking up beside him.
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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 9, 2011 21:20:52 GMT -5
A bean-shaped silver object floated in a suspensor field, about eight inches above the table. The Meddler examined it closely through a jeweler's loupe, rotating it with subtle fluctuations of the field. Carefully, working by touch, he set up a small device - looking like nothing more than an old filmstrip projector - and flipped a switch.
There should have been fanfare, or a crackle, or something. Instead, the object merely turned itself inside out as the topology of local space distorted. Carefully, he poked at the revealed circuitry and mechanisms with the tip of a probe.
A door opened behind him. "Your wardrobe is bigger then any woman's I've seen," Sisi said in a teasing tone. "I'm not sure that is a positive thing Robin."
"I've heard it said that clothes make the man," he answered, not taking his eye from the object.
He let the remark hang in the air for a moment. "To tell you the truth, it's fairly spartan for a capsule of this size. The Mark IVs were grown for construction and repair, not for exploration."
Removing the loupe, he looked up at his niece. "Excellent choices," he remarked. "You look very nice."
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Post by Sisilaya Vulmecura on Jul 14, 2011 16:45:47 GMT -5
Sisi's eyes were on the bean shaped device the moment she got it into view. Her green eyes narrowed at the sight of it, it didn't take an idiot to put two and two together and she figured that was what had been in her head. She absently heard Robin's reply to her, but it took her a moment before she noticed he had something to her and was looking at her. By the way he was eying her outfit, she realized he had commented on her new attire.
"Yes, well.. the Victorian dress was a bit too constricting for my tastes" She said with a smile before taking her eyes back on the object, her expression losing it's humor again. She loathed that thing, that thing there was the cause of all her trouble for the last 17 years.
"I can not believe that has been in my head for 17 years. I thought my dad was some sort of.. superhuman.. a sorcerer. That he controlled time and space as a natural gift like we control our own heartbeats. But it was just a trick, a tricky little device in my head that if I had known could have been out of my head years ago."
She had to take a breath, her hands had been clenching in fists by the end and little golden sparks were coming off them sporadically. They made the air around her hands waver.
"I could have had a normal l-life.." Her voice wavered slightly. Clenching her jaws to keep herself in control again.
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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 14, 2011 20:27:55 GMT -5
"Yes, well.. the Victorian dress was a bit too constricting for my tastes."
He snorted. "The Victorian dress was, I believe, designed for women who believe tapeworms are aides to good health."
"I can not believe that has been in my head for 17 years. I thought my dad was some sort of.. superhuman.. a sorcerer. That he controlled time and space as a natural gift like we control our own heartbeats."
The Meddler had turned back to the small, inside-out object. "We actually can," he remarked, not yet registering the stress in her voice. "To a limited degree, anyway. It takes training to exercise any significant control without aid, though. But it's not sorcery. It's just the nature of a Time Lord."
"But it was just a trick, a tricky little device in my head that if I had known could have been out of my head years ago."
He peered closer at the object. "I'm not certain that's true. This is a chimera - it's made using Gallifreyan principles, but from non-Gallifreyan materials. It has a crude perception filter of sorts. I believe most medical exams would..."
"I could have had a normal l-life.." Her voice wavered slightly.
The Meddler looked back up at his niece, watching the golden sparks leap from her, seeing her jaw clench. He stood up, and gripped her shoulders. "Sisi, listen to me."
He looked her in the eyes. "Listen," he said firmly. "A normal life is nothing to treasure, nothing to aspire to. I am confident that in your seventeen years, you have seen wonders and terrors undreamed of by the vast rank and file of humanity. Embrace those wonders, hold them close."
He paused. "And the terrors? For that," his eyes flickered to the object in the suspensor field, and his smile turned cruel. "He will be repaid."
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Post by Sisilaya Vulmecura on Jul 15, 2011 13:02:52 GMT -5
The woman gave the Meddler beside her a sidelong glance as they had been looking at the probe, him explaining of what the Time Lord could do. She was finally getting a grasp of this.. breed. These Time Lords. She had no where believed that they would even exist, that something powerful enough to live for centuries and could control time would even be allowed to exist. And as she understood, her own father was one of them as well.
"You know, you're not exactly making me feel better by telling me how powerful you lot are" She said with a small laugh, but it was true.. it worried her her father could possess such strength. Yet, that he had used her for so long angered her. Had used this thing on her.
When Robin took hold of her shoulders she was finally pulled out of her anger, wide green eyes staring at the man in front of her. Wonders and terrors indeed. She had seen terrors; famine, abuse, depression of whole civilisations. But during those hard time she had gotten to know individuals who were like shining beacons in those dark times. Who gave people hope in times others would have long given up. Who created doors for others where one would think they were surrounded by walls.
"I.. I'll try.." She replied, her voice thick with emotion. When her eyes followed his to the suspensor field she sighed at his cruel smile.
"..Mama always told me pain only gets answered by more pain though." She said softly. Even though her father deserved some sort of repercussion for what he had done to her, she was afraid she would be opening a whole new can of worms she could never be able to contain.
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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 15, 2011 21:18:10 GMT -5
"You know, you're not exactly making me feel better by telling me how powerful you lot are" She said with a small laugh.
"Ah, don't let it get to you. We still bleed and breathe and eat like any other humanoid..." he stopped for a moment and thought. "No, actually, we don't. I mean, there are similarities, but... well..."
He looked back at the object. "So, anyway, about this thing..."
He watched her look at it and react, and took her by the shoulders to try and bring her out of the reaction, telling her to cling to the wonders and promising retribution for the rest.
"I.. I'll try.." She replied, her voice thick with emotion. When her eyes followed his to the suspensor field she sighed at his cruel smile."..Mama always told me pain only gets answered by more pain though." She said softly.
The Meddler shrugged, and the anger seemed to vanish. "That's your call, then. But he is still a menace, and something needs to be done about him. The few of us that are left are dangerous enough, without allowing someone like that to run loose."
He sat down in front of the suspensor field, and poked the object with a probe. "And this, this will let us track him to... well, to wherever he transmits signals to it from."
Looking up at her, he grinned. "So what do you say? Leaving aside the questions of retribution and revenge for the time being, shall we at least hunt him down and make sure he can't do something like this again?"
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Post by Sisilaya Vulmecura on Jul 15, 2011 21:39:28 GMT -5
Sisi placed her hands on her hips as she took another look at the bean shaped piece of technology. She leant in closer to the suspensor field, the dim light illuminating her face as her eyes scanned the thing more up closely. The thing was marvellous really, so much intricate technology build into such a little thing. Shame she wanted to throw it against a wall and then crush it under her boot really, or she'd be able to enjoy the beauty of it. Leaning back on her heels she looked at the Meddler curiously.
"You can track the receiver on this thing? That is splendid! I'm pretty sure knowing him he's probably terribly frustrated on why it's malfunctioning. He won't be far off then. He's probably throwing a hissy fit somewhere."
She slowly started circling the suspensor field, wanting to see the thing from up close on all angles.
"I never understood why he felt necessary to do all this. I mean he had mum killed so quickly the Seelie Court could not even be warned, he could have done the same to me, right? Are some of your people really that twisted they'd keep persons alive just for the soul purpose of making that person's life as miserable as possible..? ..Entertainment?"
She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer to that question, the thought of knowing that her life had been nothing more then a way to kill time for someone else was something that stabbed even deeper. She finally got beside her uncle again and sighed, sitting down next to him.
"I never said anything about revenge. I just want to make clear he will never mess with my life again, which degree I'll have to use to get the point across is up to him. If I have to severely injure or kill him to get it done, so be it. He killed ma, for that he won't get mercy from me. Ever." She rubbed her face with her hands, growling softly. Just thinking about the man made her angry.
"Tell me what I should know about your people that may be vital if I face him later on, if you please?" She turned to the man next to her.
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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 16, 2011 9:17:32 GMT -5
"You can track the receiver on this thing? That is splendid! I'm pretty sure knowing him he's probably terribly frustrated on why it's malfunctioning. He won't be far off then. He's probably throwing a hissy fit somewhere."
He laughed. "A 'hissy fit'. Yes, I can see some sadistic traditionalist throwing a 'hissy fit'."
She slowly started circling the suspensor field, wanting to see the thing from up close on all angles.
"I never understood why he felt necessary to do all this. I mean he had mum killed so quickly the Seelie Court could not even be warned, he could have done the same to me, right? Are some of your people really that twisted they'd keep persons alive just for the soul purpose of making that person's life as miserable as possible..? ..Entertainment?"
"Long ago," he said, "We were. During the Dark Time - long before my time, let me add - we would capture beings from across the Spiral Politic and put them through gladiatorial survival games. Back in the days when we had first Anchored history, and behaved like petty gods."
He shook his head. "But we... they - most of them, anyway - hadn't been like that for ages. The Time Lords turned inwards, focused away from material things, concerned with their rituals and traditions and the sanctity of Time. But then the Time Lords - slowly, inexorably - went to War. And that work the worst in them."
He looked away, filled with shame and disgust. "Yes. Some of them, some of the Time Lords that fought the Last Great Time War, they would have been capable of everything your father did."
"I never said anything about revenge. I just want to make clear he will never mess with my life again, which degree I'll have to use to get the point across is up to him. If I have to severely injure or kill him to get it done, so be it. He killed ma, for that he won't get mercy from me. Ever." She rubbed her face with her hands, growling softly. Just thinking about the man made her angry.
"As you wish. Like I said: you're the injured party here, so I'll leave it up to you."
"Tell me what I should know about your people that may be vital if I face him later on, if you please?"
He lifted an eyebrow. "Where do I start?" There was silence as he thought. Finally, slowly, he began to speak."
"We are the Lords of Time," he said in a rhythmic, ritualistic tone. "We hung the Framework of Causality and Anchored the Threads of History. We cast down the Great Vampires, and led the Fledgling Empires to victory over the Racnoss, the G'll sha v!a!r, and the Muon Raithe. Who shall deny our claim?"
He made a small laughing sound, but there was little humor in his eyes. "That's all true, incidentally. That's the first thing to know - you could use our pride and arrogance as an anvil to work neutronium. We're attuned to the flow of time. We can, with effort, speed it up or slow it down to small - but useful - degrees. Most of us are at least mildly telepathic and precognitive, and more elaborate psychic abilities are - although rare - not unknown."
He thought for another moment. "We don't die easily. I don't think anyone has ever learned what our natural lifespans are, but the oldest Time Lord I ever met had lived for more than five thousand years. We can tolerate much higher doses of radiation than humans and we heal rapidly from non-fatal injuries. A fatal injury throws us into a regenerative coma as our bodies rebuild themselves, repairing the damage and altering us to better cope with that type of trauma the next time - although that particular ability begins to break down somewhere between the 10th and 15th time we're forced to call on it."
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Post by Sisilaya Vulmecura on Jul 16, 2011 18:35:10 GMT -5
Sisi listened with surprise and interest as the Meddler explained what the Time Lord had put other species through in the past, gladiator games.. just for their own amusements. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, for a moment not knowing what to say. From what he had just all explained of their breed, she knew she was in for one tough cup of tea. She hoped her father was alone, or she had a real problem. She had never expect them to grow so old, five thousand was an insane age to be alive without wiping your memory every now and then to keep yourself from slipping into utter madness from data overload.
"Good to know dad is not the only odd ball, but I can expect more lunatics like that. Though I have to say, the Tuatha Dé Danann were cruel aswell.. but this cruel? I'm not sure. With the Fae folk it was mostly just ignorance, what they'd call having fun could very well be fatal for a mortal, or at least the lower breeds thought that way. I get the feeling from what you're saying, the Time Lords knew exactly what they were doing and still didn't care. It's a whole new level of cruelty"
She suddenly blinked, as if a realisation came to her. She turned to Robin sitting next to her, her arm slinging back over the back of the chair.
"Are the Fae Royal family also a type of Time Lords, a side evolution? I remember the Faery Queen being able to reverse time, and bring in new seasons. Reeks of time play to me. Or are there more breeds that can manipulate time? It all matches, the pride, the arrogance, the life span.."
She sighed and sat back again.
"So in all dad is a Time Lord, mum is a Faery woman. But what just doesn't make sense.. on all scans I've had, human DNA always showed up next to the Tuatha Dé DNA.. how does that happen? I just wonder how come I cannot control time, really I had thought of it before and tried but it never worked.."
Sisi had no idea what the chameleon arch was, and that her dad had actually been human when she was conceived.
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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 17, 2011 13:41:32 GMT -5
"Good to know dad is not the only odd ball, but I can expect more lunatics like that. Though I have to say, the Tuatha Dé Danann were cruel aswell.. but this cruel? I'm not sure. With the Fae folk it was mostly just ignorance, what they'd call having fun could very well be fatal for a mortal, or at least the lower breeds thought that way. I get the feeling from what you're saying, the Time Lords knew exactly what they were doing and still didn't care. It's a whole new level of cruelty"
The Meddler shrugged. "Well, for what it's worth, we're an extinct species now. A handfull of survivors, scattered across time and space, witnesses of our own doom. So you don't have expect too many more lunatics like that."
He laughed without mirth. "On the down side, it does increase the odds that any Time Lord you do meet will be... eccentric." A real smile now. "Except me, of course."
"Are the Fae Royal family also a type of Time Lords, a side evolution? I remember the Faery Queen being able to reverse time, and bring in new seasons. Reeks of time play to me. Or are there more breeds that can manipulate time? It all matches, the pride, the arrogance, the life span.."
"No," he said, firmly. "They are not. Many species and cultures have developed control over time, to one degree or another. The Fae, with the power they wield, simply happened to be better at it than some."
That obviously required further explanation. After a moment, he continued. "They are something else - and everything I am about to tell you is what Gallifrey knew about them. The Courts, of course, have an entirely different opinion on the matter."
"The Fae are, we believed, related to the Daemons - enormously powerful constructs of psychic energy, able to manifest physical forms. Assuming this to be true, that would mean the first of them were manufactured 8 to 9 billion years ago. The Fae are individually far less powerful than the Daemons, but smarter. We believed that this intelligence is what allowed them to break the boundaries of their programming and achieve free will."
"As far as we could tell, they first crafted humanoid bodies out of curiosity and then kept them as a convenient anchor for the psychic matrices that comprised their original forms, modifying them over time to make them more useful."
He smiled. "Again, I know for a fact that the Courts have a different view of things. I once spent a week arguing the point with Cian and Lugh, before Auberon brought an end to it."
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Post by Sisilaya Vulmecura on Jul 18, 2011 16:53:03 GMT -5
The woman's eyebrows raised slightly when Robin told her 'they' were extinct now, was he talking about a genocide? How did such a thing happen so fast..?
"You mean a genocide...? You're one of the only few left?" Just a moment ago she was frightened of the idea of such a powerful race being alive, even though there was one next to her and she had been sired by one. Now she learned they were probably as rare as blue diamonds these days. She wasn't sure if she had to say something comforting, Robin seemed uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry for your loss" She said quietly, but did not interrupt him to talk on as he answered her prior question about the Fae. She listened with interest, so there were more races that could control time? She had a small smile on her face as he told her how the race had come into being, it matched somehow with what she knew. "Ma told me back then that the Royal ones used strong glamour because their true forms are more then just 3-dimensional.. a human brain would not be able to handle looking at their true forms and would faint on the spot. Yet you seemed to have interacted with Oberon and Titania, so I guess Time Lord brain could handle it?" She was glad she had never walked into such a creature.
"It still does not explain why I have clear human DNA in me though, if dad was anything but human" She commented, troubled.
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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 18, 2011 20:30:40 GMT -5
"You mean a genocide...? You're one of the only few left?"
A shadow passed over his face. "More of a mutually-assured destruction than a simple genocide. There was a War, fought across time and space for control of Time itself. The kind of War that, in the end, nobody wins."
He looked away, staring at nothing in particular. "But yes, I'm one of the few left. As far as I know, the Doctor and the Professor are the only other survivors. And your father, now. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that a few others were still alive - criminals, renegades, outcasts, monsters. The last remnants of a civilization once heralded as the Shining World."
"I'm sorry for your loss."
He sighed, then took her question about the origins of the Fae to change the subject.
"Ma told me back then that the Royal ones used strong glamour because their true forms are more then just 3-dimensional.. a human brain would not be able to handle looking at their true forms and would faint on the spot. Yet you seemed to have interacted with Oberon and Titania, so I guess Time Lord brain could handle it?"
He laughed at that. "Everyone's true forms are more than just three-dimensional, but I see your point. Yes, the architecture of a Time Lord's brain could handle them, uncloaked and revealed in their full glory. Not that the sight of a Sidhe lord revealed isn't sobering - it's a reminder of just how powerful they are."
"It still does not explain why I have clear human DNA in me though, if dad was anything but human" She commented, troubled.
"I have a theory about that." He smiled a self-deprecating smile. "I have theories about lots of things, actually. Even things I know nothing about - and that's extremely rare, I assure you." The grin got broader. "Most TARDISes have a device within them, called a Chameleon Arch. Sometimes, there are advantages to being able to pass for the local species for a span. The Chameleon Arch tears us down, rebuilds us into an example of that species - a human, for instance - and stores our full biodata away. The Arch then coordinates with a second device, called a Nornir Loom, that builds a reasonably solid identity and history for us in the local temporocultural matrix."
He looked uncomfortable. "We then get turned loose for a set period of time, acting and living as a human, until it is time to return. Then we're programmed to seek out a Chameleon Keystone, which is a mobile component of the Arch that reverses the process. If that goes missing, returning to the TARDIS that initiated the process, or any TARDIS with a functioning connection to the APC Net, will perform the same task."
He shuddered, clearly finding the subject uncomfortable. "My theory is that, for some reason, your father had gone through a Chameleon Arch - what you describe certainly fits the pattern - and that would have made him fully, biologically human at the time of your conception."
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Post by Sisilaya Vulmecura on Jul 26, 2011 17:35:28 GMT -5
She listened to his explanation about the Chameleon Arch and as usual there were words in there she did not understand, but she got the overall picture just fine. At least, she thought so.
"So let me get this straight. Inside a TARDIS there is a device called a Chameleon Arch, which is connected to a network that is also hooked up to other TARDISes. It basically tears one's DNA down to that of the local species of wherever it is located, even wiping the entire collection of what that person originally was from them so they really start over with a clean slate. If that is really true then it's really the perfect undercover mechanism.."
It was fascinating such a thing existed. Sure she was used to technology in the future.. but it was technology to make one's life easier. Luxury. Men get lazier by the time technology got more advanced. Even the soldiers were mostly reliable on their technology, it made them strong and ridiculously fast to train soldiers. The suit was really doing all the work for them. She looked up at the room around her again, fascinated by what she was surrounded with. She suddenly stilled, it was clear something had come up in her head.
"Say.. would it be possible to put a said Time Lord again under the Chameleon Arch... but destroy the keystone? Then manipulate the network to throw away the data.. so even if they get in contact with a TARDIS their memories and powers are lost.. for good?" She said tentatively.
It was really the perfect way to kill someone without actually killing them.
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Post by The First Doctor on Jul 26, 2011 21:26:25 GMT -5
"So let me get this straight. Inside a TARDIS there is a device called a Chameleon Arch, which is connected to a network that is also hooked up to other TARDISes. It basically tears one's DNA down to that of the local species of wherever it is located, even wiping the entire collection of what that person originally was from them so they really start over with a clean slate. If that is really true then it's really the perfect undercover mechanism.."
There was a pedantic correction right on the tip of his tongue, and he almost - almost - launched into a highly technical dissertation on the subject. And then he stopped, and shrugged. "Close enough, yeah. That'll work. And yes, it really is a near-perfect undercover mechanism. That was the whole idea."
He watched her look around the lab curiously and then stop, as if she had been struck by something. "Say.. would it be possible to put a said Time Lord again under the Chameleon Arch... but destroy the keystone? Then manipulate the network to throw away the data.. so even if they get in contact with a TARDIS their memories and powers are lost.. for good?" She said tentatively.
He started to respond, then stopped at the implications of her question. A look of horror, mingled with serious consideration, crossed his face. "That's... that's horrible," he muttered. "But... yes... it might just work. Destroying the keystone would be the hardest part. It can be done - there is nothing utterly indestructible in the universe - but the forces required would be incredible. It would be simpler to try and keep the keystone away from him."
The Meddler thought, hard. "That's simpler said than done, though. The keystone wants to be near its Time Lord. And it can subtly alter probabilities to make that occur - you might drop it without noticing, or someone else might pick it up and put it down somewhere a little more convenient, or a million other things like that. They're slippery things, not impossible to contain, but devilishly difficult nonetheless."
"The APC Net portion of the equation is easier, since it never existed anymore. It was wiped away by the War, so there's no way to access it."
He thought a little more. "That would pretty much sew up the fate of the Time Lord in question, although I'm not positive about it being permanent. I think there's a final failsafe built in, that would allow a dying Time Lord under the influence of the Arch to regenerate anyway. I think. But I think that might have required the existence of the APC Net, so even if the failsafe is there, it still might not work." A smile. "It's still worth a try."
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