Specters

[Sarah Jane]

"Doctor Sambur, I do have quite remarkable resources at hand. The good news is I believe I've proven my alliance with the Human race quite clearly enough that you know have nothing to fear from me.

I'll be bringing along with me a scanner used by the Alliance of Shades. The 'Men in Black'. It is of android construct, but human materials. However, it's been modified with a component of Gallifreyan origin to make it telltale in Audio waves instead of Radio waves, beings as I am not equipped, personally, to receive radio waves. It detects aliens. I'd be happy to show it to you when we meet. It resembles a bronze, metallic, electric razor.

I have pressed you, Doctor Sambur, and you have been quite kind to me. Thank you."

All through this conversation, she is watching Arian very carefully, watching how he and Lutessa interact. She frowns as she contemplates him. Frowns thinking that she really is about to use Lutessa's brain as a crash test dummy. It was a bold move, but she'd run out of time, and better Sarah Jane ready to act if Lutessa went down, than leaving the girl alone to watch over Sarah Jane herself.

Or so her theory went.

[agentx]

"Yeah, I guess I will." The Sentinel agreed. He still couldn't help but think of the last time he had seen that rotor, powering a complex portal to an unknown part of the galaxy. It had been in the hands of a dangerous being. That being had been Davros, creator of the Daleks.

* * * * * * * *

"It is over, Sentinel! You cannot win!" Davros wheezed, as the teleporter began to go online. The two had been fighting for a while, and it showed by the exhaustion on both of their faces.

"You may try and stop us, but it will be futile. Soon, you will die. Soon, the Daleks will conquer the galaxy once and for all!"

The Sentinel's eyes narrowed. Behind him, he was aware that a Dalek was charging at him to knock him into the portal. "No....you won't." he said calmly, dodging out of the Dalek's way. It collided with Davros, sending them both falling in. Only holding onto the time rotor saved them from being sucked away by the time currents inside.

The Sentinel realized that Davros was going to use the rotor to pull himself up, and ran to stop him. Suddenly, the time rotor started dislodging from it's spot in the portal. Davros watched in horror as the device finally came out. He only had time to scream in terror before the three unlikely companions went soaring into the abyss.

* * * * * * * *

"...and they've shown some improvements. The lab guys finally got the armor lock problem fixed, and the only thing we have left to worry about is the AutoMag Cannon jamming after overheating too many times." Jacoby finished.

The Sentinel nodded. "Glad they got that done. It was starting to be a problem." Suddenly, a thought came to him. If the rotor was here, then where was Davros?

"You didn't happen to find anything else at the crash site, did you, Lieutenant?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"No particular reason. I'm just curious, that's all."

Jacoby shrugged it off as they arrived at the training room of the Specters. "Well, here we are. There's no one present at the moment, but we can look around."

[The Inventor]

When The Inventor finished repairing the outside scanner, he stood up, feeling very proud of himself for having the motivation to fix something this morning. Then, he noticed that the "vooorp, vooorp" had stopped, so he went towards the door to see where he was. Suddenly, he remembered that he had finished fixing the scanner this morning. He went over to the scanner, turning it on, he saw that the exact year was still not showing and instead he saw that he was in the 21st Century, local time. Also, it said that the planet he was on was Earth. He said, "Goodie for me, I don't need anything extra."

[The First Doctor]

"Doctor Sambur, I do have quite remarkable resources at hand. The good news is I believe I've proven my alliance with the Human race quite clearly enough that you know have nothing to fear from me."

Sambur chuckled, just a little. "I've no concerns in that area, Ms. Smith. Your record speaks for itself."

"I'll be bringing along with me a scanner used by the Alliance of Shades. The 'Men in Black'."

"The 'Alliance of Shades', you say?" Sambur typed a few notes. "We've never actually gotten a formal name for them. But do go on."

"It is of android construct, but human materials. However, it's been modified with a component of Gallifreyan origin to make it telltale in Audio waves instead of Radio waves, beings as I am not equipped, personally, to receive radio waves. It detects aliens. I'd be happy to show it to you when we meet. It resembles a bronze, metallic, electric razor."

"Gallifreyan?" Sambur asked, making another note. "I'm not familiar with that. I'll need to have one of my people look at it before you clear customs, but that should be simple enough."

"I have pressed you, Doctor Sambur, and you have been quite kind to me. Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, Ms. Smith. I'm quite looking forward to meeting you in person. Just e-mail me you itinerary - I believe your assistant has the address - and I'll meet you when you arrive."

---

The Specter's "training room" - the name was a bit of a misnomer, as actual training happened above ground - was a combination of a gymnasium, a machine shop, and a hospital. Nautilus equipment and freeweights sat next to diagnostic computers, which sat next to treadmills and stationary bicycles, An emergency medical kit hung on the wall next to a cabinet full of electronic components. Weight training diagrams and Nautilus instructions hung on the walls next to circuit diagrams and pin-ups. Twelve lockers lined one wall, framed by a water cooler and an iPod docking station.

"We do routine maintenance here," Jacoby was saying, "along with strength training and cardio routines to keep the men healthy. Chris - MAJESTIC BLUEBOX LONELY GOD COYOTE, or COYOTE in shorthand, if you only know who he is from the briefing documents - pointed out that the Specters shouldn't depend exclusively on their prostheses, and the General agrees."

Jacoby patted a bench press machine. "Actually, the men do too - although they complain about doing PT. They say that breaking a sweat and having sore muscles helps them feel like they're still human."

"Anyway, like I said, this is for routine maintenance and exercise. We've got a clean room for significant maintenance or upgrades of the cyber-systems, and an operating theater for working on the organic-cybernetic interfaces and the embedded systems. There's another clean room for testing prototype systems, and a few labs as well. Chris claimed one of them as his own."

He turned to face the Sentinel. "So, Mr. Harper. What would you like to see first?"

---

"I'll get you for that!" Jasmine howled with laughter as her mother splashed her.

The Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile had a pool, it turned out. And when you have a pool, and an eight year old that loves to swim, you end up poolside.

Jim sipped his Coke, and sighed contentedly. He still couldn't smile worth a darn, but he was doing his best. In the chair next to him, Chris looked a million miles away.

"Penny for your thoughts," said Jim.

"Eh? What?" Chris replied with a start.

"You looked completely lost, there."

Chris exhaled, not quite a sigh. "I was just thinking..."

"I could see that."

"You're a lucky man, Jim."

Jim flexed his free hand, listening to the almost inaudible whine of the servos. Concealed under a thin layer of laytex, matched to his skin tone and embedded with simulated pores and hairs, he could pass for normal to all but the most dedicated observer. "I know."

Chris didn't seem to hear him. "We wanted children of our own so badly," he said softly. "We were happy, but..."

Jasmine shrieked with laughter as Mindy scooped her up and tossed her back into the water. Jim stared at Chris, uncomfortable, unsure what to say. "I..." he began, "I didn't know you were married."

Chris seemed startled again. "What?" He waved it off. "Ignore me. Just the ramblings of an old man." He drained his drink - a vile-smelling mixture of coffee, almond extract, and Jagermeister - and stood up. "I'm going to get a refill. You want anything?"

"Uhm. No."

"Suit yourself."

Jim watched him leave, confusion and sympathy chasing each other in his head.

(OOC: Inventor? Bookkeeper? I'm not trying to ignore you. I'm just not sure where to work you in yet.)

[The Inventor]

(OOC: It's okay, that's what I thought, um... I'm not really sure either but I'll think about it.)

[The Bookkeeper]

((I am waiting for Jane to get to America. I will make contact with her after that.))

[agentx]

"The operating theater. Things had been progressing pretty fast the last time I was here." The Sentinel answered. Jacoby nodded in agreement, said "It's this way.", then led him into a room with a projector. "Now this is where we hold the briefings and transmit recon intel. We've managed to root out a particularly tricky groups of GREEN EYES that way." he explained.

"Gamma Squad led that op, didn't they?" The Sentinel asked. "Yep, that was them. It took them a while, but they mopped them up like dust under a carpet." Jacoby replied.

The two were now passing a table were a group of scientists were studying two unknown creatures. One looked like a cross between a man and a squid, with a scaly body, a squid's head, and wings on it's back. The other one looked like some form of mutant dog, and yet there was something disturbingly human about it.


"We still have no idea what those things are. They're pretty creepy, though." Jacoby told the Sentinel.

The Sentinel glanced at them with a disturbed look on his face, then moved on.

((OOC: H.P Lovecraft and Clive Barker references, anyone? ))

[Sarah Jane]

"Perfect, Doctor Samburg, thank you, I'll be in touch." She said, and rang off.

While she she had been on the phone with him, she could not consider the fact that the man she was talking to most likely had some degree of culpability in the nasty goings on over there in America. Better to come from a place of truthfulness, it had helped her play her part.

Anyway, it truthfully wasn't a bad idea to put in a visit to the Majestic 12 for exactly the reasons she had stated. Sarah Jane just wished it didn't also have to feel like entering enemy territory. Perhaps she was a stickler for style when it came to saving the world, for even the brilliant Torchwood put her on the defensive sometimes as well. So be it if she could not change their minds. Somewhere, the Doctor was out there getting it right. She dare say Luke would carry on the tradition as well, having shown no liking for fire arms, regardless of how often they might have come in handy.

She slipped her phone into her pocket, letting out a big puff of air. She'd enjoyed playing verbal chess with Doctor Sambur. He'd been quite a challenge. Feeling better now that her plan was taking shape, she smiled over at Lutessa and Arian.

"Ahh, is Lutessa introducing you to her Rubik's Cube?" Sarah Jane saw that as a good sign. It was one of Lutessa's first belongings, and here she was sharing it with the Hybrid man. "You should try scrambling it up for her some time, but not right now, please." She went over and stood near them.

"Lutessa, what do you think? Do you trust him enough to try a look mind to mind with him, or however this works out? I just want you to try to have a good listen, then tell me you like him or not, and if you think he's telling the truth about wanting to help. I'd be right here watching over you."

She looked at Arian, most seriously. "I'm certain our surprise visitor would like to stay right side in. I'm short on time, but you, sir, have pricked my curiosity. I say if you're both game, give it a try."

[Archetype2]

The redhead turned her attention toward Sarah Jane as the older women spoke about the rubix cube, best-invention-ever-made, at least for now it was. She loved the thing and that was easy to figure out. "Hello again Sarah Jane, how did your...conversation go?" she asked, saying the word conversation much slower to ensure she had the right word or to cut herself off if she figured she did not have the correct one.

Sarah Jane had suggested a mind to mind thing? What did that mean. "people are unable to integrate minds....the central pathways in the brains would most likely not be able to integrate correctly, possibly causing neural damage which may be non-reversible or meld the two minds together forever? Wouldn't it?" she asked confused. She'd been reading about the human brain and lots of science-y things over her short stint with Sarah Jane and having access to the Internet. This Web which spanned the entire world was a miraculous thing to say the least and she had every intention of taking advantage of it. "If my theory is correct...is it?" she asked turning to Sarah Jane, not sure how Telepathy or anything like it worked at all and thinking it was not possible.

[Sarah Jane]

"I don't know Tess." She answered simply, tucking a lock of hair the colour of sullen embers back over the girl's shoulder, the impossibly straight strands sliding silky through her fingers. "But I do know I didn't intend to scare you. I'll be more careful with you next time." Sarah Jane chucked the girl under the chin gently, giving her a warm smile so she would know all was well. For her own part, she felt like a bit of a cad for her wild idea. Of course, Sarah Jane must do it herself.

With this, she turned her attention to Arian. His white shirt was so clean. She found that oddly reassuring. His eyes were very clear. She held out a hand to him, and found herself smiling at his face. It was not a bad face.

"We might as well do this properly. It's been very interesting to meet you so far, Arian. Now, show me something to believe in." She said, both hope and challenge in her eyes. Then, she did absolutely nothing. In her mind anyway. Nothing. In her life she had studied with many gurus of one kind or another. This she had learned in her years; how to think of nothing.

[Archetype2]

She blinked at Sarah Jane as the women spoke and moved her hair slightly. "I'm not scared though, It's an intriguing possibility...very sci-fi in nature." she explained quite curious as to just what the outcome could be. "Could have interesting effects, a sort of...experiment to see if it could be doen without causing any neural damage, judging by the innicial agreement toward the process I'd theorize that...its possible and may be fun." she said, being a little tiny bit scientific in her wording.

She liked this prospect, quite allot actually though she wasn't sure why it appealed to her in such a way.

[Sarah Jane]

Her hand dropped and her eyes fluttered open, pupils rolling back down from having been half rolled up into her head with empty concentration. The girl was still talking. She let out a sigh, somewhat vexed at being interrupted. They'd have to work on that little bit of protocol. Sarah gave a toss of her head and scratched the end of her nose with a fingertip to bring herself fully back to now.

"Excuse me, Arian." She said with a bit of chagrin.Turning to see to Lutessa's excited face, she unable to help grinning back at her, captured by the girl's enthusiasm.

"Lutessa, first, if you're standing there listing all the things that could go wrong in your mind, that is the definition of fear. Or at least worry. Even if that didn't make me feel protective of you, which it does, it still wouldn't be the best mind set for this sort of thing."

"Second, do you know what the 'Fy' of 'Sy-Fy' stands for? It stands for 'Fiction'. We talked about that when you started reading "Harry Potter" remember? Tess," She caught the girl's hand in her own, "Dearheart, this isn't fiction, this is reality like the Raatheen. You could get hurt, and I'm not certain you understand that entirely yet."

"This is real life, not a story being written by some perfectly Omnipotent author interested in illistrating how 'good' triumphs over 'evil', and creating a story palatable enough to keep her fan base. In real life, sometimes good looses, and sometimes fighting for what is right is ugly and messy and people get hurt. I'm not going to let there be a chance of you getting hurt today. Not today, okay? I want you to sleep on the ideas of both fear and reality, and we'll take tomorrow as it comes."

"Third," She put two fingers gently on the girl's lips for a moment as Lutessa drew breath to speak, no doubt. Suddenly Sarah Jane understood why her silver haired Doctor had done the same to her so often. Questions questions. Endless questions. There was quite a bit of Sarah Jane's DNA in Lutessa, and it showed."Shhhhhhh. Your job is to have my back right now. Just go tell Mr.Smith if anything goes wrong. Or just follow you instincts. You have good instincts, Tess." She gave the girl's hand a last squeeze and let go.

Now she is turning to Arian again, a little shrug through her shoulders that says quite eloquently if silently, 'teenagers, educate them yourself, or ship them out of state'.

"Thanks for waiting Arian." She took a deep, slow breath and extended her hand to him, mind halfway to nothing already. Her eyes are open this time, deep hazel like a stormy sea.

[Arian Cadence]

(OOC: Sorry for the long break, I lost the website and I was uber busy with a bunch of stuff. I'll try to keep up better in the future(I know I keep saying that ;.; ))

Arian smiled at Lutessa, examining the cube. With all his mental prowess, he realized that not once, not ONCE had he ever picked one of those things up. It rather astonished him, internally, but the feeling quickly passed. However, nagging at the back of his mind now, and probably for a while, would be just how you DO finish those things. He chuckled. "Maybe you'll have to teach me sometime."

Arian nodded patiently as Sarah Jane addressed him. He wasn't sure just yet who he was going to "mind meld" with, but as they spoke, he couldn't help but blush a little. "G-geez, guys...You make me out to be some sort of superpowered guy. I can barely get a reading of emotion from someone else, and doing it in reverse is unheard of...well, to me, anyway. Even calling it a 'mind meld' is probably stretching it...more like, a mild connection, so I can't really lie..." He shrugged. "I think."

Still he reached out his hand. He let her take it at her leisure, though he himself was rather nervous about it. Whenever she took his hand, the process began. Not that it was all that shocking. Mostly a feeling of understanding washed between them. Surprisingly to Arian, even a few memories passed between them. Mostly faces of family and friends, a bit of a general backstory, the important thing to note was that Sarah Jane would know that he had been telling the truth. On the other hand, there was one thing in particular that Arian had unintentionally picked up from Sarah Jane's mind. One person who, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, baffled, confused, and entranced him. When they let their hands go, he blinked a few times in rapid succession. "Er...Ok, first and only question....who was THAT?"

[Sarah Jane]

"--- Even calling it a 'mind meld' is probably stretching it...more like, a mild connection, so I can't really lie..." Arian disclaimed rather humbly. "I think."

"Arian, most humans waiting in line at the grocer's shop have a general idea as to whether or not they might enjoy tea with this brief neighbor without ever exchanging a word, much less a handshake. I think between the two of us, we can at least get a step further than that, don't you?"

She took his hand. She felt nothing.

Not in the way she had hoped anyway. Instead what she felt was the finely articulated hand of a craftsman. His skin was warm and dry, folding around hers long fingered and careful. His hand reminded her of the Doctor's back when he'd been so long and lanky, all teeth and curls. Except Arian was as hesitant as someone would if they knew they had to touch something that was too hot or too cold, without even the foreknowledge of which which extreme it might be. Not afraid, but she saw him brace himself just. It happened so quickly she almost didn't see it.

The most remarkable part was his face. His expressions were so naked. So softly reflective of what he gathered from her. Concern, curiosity, awe, and not least but last, wide-eyed amazement. Entrancement. Sarah Jane knew that moment that she would be able to read a lie on him as clearly as she could have read Pinocchio's noseworthiness.

""Er...Ok, first and only question....who was THAT?" He asked her. She found a big smile coming to her face. She rather liked him so far. Sarah Jane decided to pitch hard. She'd rallied more than one group of rebels this way in a hurry, and these were desperate times. She played, absolutely honestly, on his desires.

"That was my friend. He taught me how to be what I am. Unofficial Ambassador, and Protector of Earth and it's people. He took me all around the Universe and showed me how to do it right. The right way isn't usually the easy way, but it's the only way I do it.

Arian, you can't save good by doing evil. Now I won't say that I haven't broken a few noggins, blown up a few things, and even killed, yes I have. But I've learned to use every other tool in my toolbox first, starting with knowledge, communication, and human-sized empathy. If that doesn't work, usually next there is quite a bit of running, but I'll tell you about that later.

What I'm trying to say is I think you found us for a reason, and I'm glad that you did. Earth may be in over it's snowy white caps again. I could really use someone with your ingenuity and curiosity. I could use someone with your gifts.

I believe you are telling the truth about wanting to be helpful. There is something fishy about those Cyber Enhanced Soldiers they are creating over there in the United States of America, and my friend Lutessa and I are going there to . . . .do what ever needs doing. If you're willing to take a chance, if you are willing to face potential dangers beyond the general human experience, risk pain, risk death, I'd like to invite you to come with us. We're leaving the day after tomorrow.

The only catch is, you have to follow my lead, for example, no firearms. That's just the first thing.

Don't talk about money, don't bother talking about expectations. Just give me a yes or no. If you're willing to do it my way, I'll take you with me and change your world."

Sarah shot Lutessa a nervous, hopeful glance, the slightest shrug in her shoulders as if to apologize for her own long windedness, then looked back to Arian.

[The First Doctor]

The man-squid-thing's eyes fell on the Sentinel and it suddenly writhed, muscle-analogues writhing under rugose grey-green hide. The researchers stepped back in alarm, then clutched at their heads as a wave of sheer telepathic force rippled out, stressing the psychic screens built into the room.

\\timelord!\\ The telepathic "voice" was utterly unhuman. \\timelord! xothic-subnode-spawn am i! elder-ruler-master races-species-units you-i-we are alike-together! succor-aid-freedom-release claim-ask-demand i from you-timelord!\\

Clutching their heads, gritting their teeth, the researchers initiated emergency protocols. One waved what appeared to be a stylized leaf skeleton forged of bright copper in the man-squid-things face, and the telepathic wave lessened in intensity.

\\aid-freedom-succor-release!\\ the telepathic "voice" shrieked. \\you-i-we are alike-together! succor-aid-freedom-release claim-ask-demand i from you-timelord!\\

The other researcher grabbed a long, harpoon-like pole and jammed it into the spongy forehead of the creature. Thick, grey-green sludge oozed around the wound, which began to bubble and smoke as a humming sound filled the room.

\\succor-aid-freedom-release!!!\\ The "voice" faded away.

Jacoby sighed with relief. "It does that once in a while. The containment protocols are holding so far, though." He wiped sweat from his forehead. "Anyway, the operating theater is this way."

The pair walked a length of featureless, white-painted concrete hallway and passed through a series of doors - as much like airlocks as hospital doors. The room on the far side, at first glance at least, could have passed for an operating room at a fairly high-tech hospital. There was the gleaming chrome and white table, with lamps on armatures. To one side of the table stood a multi-limbed surgical robot, the cutting-edge type used for precision microsurgery. Cabinets filled with gauze and sterile instruments and the other necessities of surgery lined two walls.

The other two walls, though, resembled a machine shop. Soldering irons and plasma torches sat next to hydraulic wrenches and electric screwdrivers. Spools of fiber optic cable of various thicknesses sat next to cases of silicon chips, and a diagnostic computer that would have looked more at home in a body shop lurked in the corner.

"This is it," said Jacoby. "Well, this is one of them, anyway. We've got a total of three."

---

The man known as Christopher Mesler sat at the hotel bar, glumly staring into his drink. He'd browbeaten the new bartender into mixing it - two parts black coffee, two parts almond extract, one part Jagermeister, and a dash of Tabasco - and now it sat untouched.

He was feeling his years, and his isolation, and he didn't care for it. Not one bit.

"Are you feeling all right, sir?" the bartender asked.

"No," Mesler replied. "Not really. Homesick, I guess."

The bartender nodded. "Yeah, I hear you. Cheer up, though. You'll be home before you know it."

Mesler sighed. "No," he said, flatly. "No. I won't."