Got To Be Some Changes Made

[The First Doctor]

In which we pick up the adventures of the Meddler, Adagio Beckett, and (possibly) Alec in the wake of the cataclysmic finale of It's better than playing the blues.

---

"So about changing?" Adagio asked.

The Meddler spun on his heels, a slightly manic expression on his face. "Of course, of course," he said, offering his arm. "Come with me."

Together, the two stepped from the control room into an intersection of three hallways, seemingly fashioned of grey flagstones. He looked first left, then right, then straight ahead, his free hand shading his eyes. "Let me think. It's... oh... hang on."

Releasing Adagio's arm, he extracted a small golden coin and flipped it. Catching it in one hand and slapping it down on the back of the other hand, he examined the results. "Heads. Left, then. Shall we?"

[Adagio Beckett]

Adagio was thrilled when the Meddler took her arm and started leading her off. She could not wait to change so that she could feel a little more like she could be of use.

Watching him flip his coin Adagio thought to say something about the impossibility of finding a room simply because a coin was flipped when she remembered who exactly she was with. This was no regular man, this was a Time Lord. For all she knew the coin could lead them to Atlantis.

"So do you have any idea what we're going to try to do? I mean, I can't promise I'll be a huge amount of help, but that doesn't mean I wont try my best to be."

Following the Meddler and wondering if anything was even guaranteed, Adagio bit her lip before sighing. Putting her hand up against the flagstone, she let her fingers brush over it as the two walked. She suddenly remembered that she might need to pay attention to where she was going. She had no idea how many rooms there were, and it could be easy to get lost.

[The Second Doctor]

The Dark Lord studied the look on the Doctor's face, as he arrogantly told them they were to help him. It was one of an easy triumph, as if he had done this kind of thing before, expecting others to bend over backwards to help him and his own personal problems.
"Yes, after you tell me one thing you've ever done for me." he demanded.

He heard of course static across the comlink, but no words from the Doctor.
"That's right. Sorry kids," he said to Jenny and the Doctor, "But I'd rather spend my time around those who can be a little more...civil." Alec said, cutting the gravitational link like a knife through butter.

He channeled his vocal communicator towards the Meddler's Tardis, speaking as clear as possible.
"'Ello, Meddler, Adagio," he said in turn, "I'm afraid I'll have to force my company on you two for a bit longer. I'm working on getting to you, but until then, I'm on my way." he said, grinning.

He threw his hat on and replaced it with a black fedora, his usual.

[The First Doctor]

"So do you have any idea what we're going to try to do? I mean, I can't promise I'll be a huge amount of help, but that doesn't mean I wont try my best to be."

He shrugged. "Not really, no. Oh, I've got a few ideas, but the important thing - the thing we need to do first - is get you some traveling clothes." A quick smile. "Then, we need to..."

There was a gentle chime, and the TARDIS routed Alec's transmission to the hall they were in. "'Ello, Meddler, Adagio. I'm afraid I'll have to force my company on you two for a bit longer. I'm working on getting to you, but until then, I'm on my way."

"Not at all," the Meddler answered. Then, with obvious distaste, he added "I've got my coordinates set for Yith, 780 million years ago."

He looked back at Adagio. "The first thing we need to do, is get details. Find out what actually changed and, if possible, when. To do that, we need access to information that's protected from causal disruptions. Information that describes both the old and the new universe."

"That means, unless you've got a better idea Alec, talking to the Cuckoos."

[Adagio Beckett]

Traveling clothes sounded perfect. Adagio hoped that he would have something appropriate. Some trainers would be a huge improvement too, she'd hate to run around in heels. A chime went through the hallway suddenly and Adagio heard Alec. Smiling she replied after the Meddler.

"The more the merrier! Thanks for joining us."

When the Meddler explained what exactly they needed to do Adagio listened intently. These Cuckoos brought to mind the picture of clocks to Adagio and she had to bite her lip to keep her from saying something stupid about it. She would not fall into that trap just like she refused to comment on how much bigger the Tardis was on the inside than the outside.

[The Second Doctor]

Alec bounced around that controls, spinning knobs and pulling levers. He was, shall we say, less-than-pleased that the Earth was gone. He had a few friends there. Just because most of his initial unsettlement had been because if his Tardis, it didn't mean he was completely ready to jump in and take a stab at trying to bring it back.

The Meddler's voice came blaring through his speakers, and a quick glance at the console showed the words Shut it off! from the Tardis matrix. He quickly turned the sound down and replayed the Meddler's message.

"Not at all," said the Meddler,"I've got my coordinates set for Yith, 780 million years ago."

Alec cringed away.
"Yith? That's the fifth on my least favorite places list." he said.
He set the coordinates so that his Tardis would land directly next to the Meddler's.
"But I'm coming." he said, smiling.

Alec heard Adagio's voice.

"The more the merrier! Thanks for joining us."

"I suppose so," he said sarcastically, "I couldn't think of ten better things to do. I must say I got up to-" he cut himself off, "Nevermind."

He listened intently as the Meddler explained what they were to do.

"That means, unless you've got a better idea Alec, talking to the Cuckoos."

"Me? Better idea?" he asked, "Its almost like you've never met me."
The comment was full of unseriousness.
"But all things considered, I don't see why we don't just nuke 'em and get it over with. I'm sure our Tardises together have enough firepower.

[The First Doctor]

"Me? Better idea?" he asked, "Its almost like you've never met me."
The comment was full of unseriousness.
"But all things considered, I don't see why we don't just nuke 'em and get it over with. I'm sure our Tardises together have enough firepower.

"Nuke who?" the Meddler rejoined. "Besides, I don't have a War TARDIS. I've got a Type 67. Maintenance and temporostellar construction. She's powerful, but she's not designed for combat."

He turned his attention back to his companion. "Anyway, the wardrobe... It's fairly spartan, unfortunately. My TARDIS was designed for a crew of six, and it wasn't designed for exploration or pleasure cruises or diplomatic missions, so it's pretty utilitarian. You should be able to find something that will work, though. Ah! Here we are. You'll see what I mean."

He pushed open a door, made of the same grey hexagonal flagstones as the rest of the hall. Inside was a vast room, several stories tall with catwalks and platforms, all of which supported racks and shelves filled with clothing and machines of indeterminate function.

[Adagio Beckett]

Listening to the two men talk, Adagio walked down the hallway memorizing the look of things though everything looked just about the same. When the Meddler directed her into the wardrobe she could not help but to groan a bit in displeasure.

Unlike most women, Adagio hated shopping for clothes. The fact that there was a large number of clothes she had to shift through to find something her side made her want to weep.

"All I need is a t-shirt, some shorts, and some trainers and I'll be set to go."

Going to the closest wrack, she went down the line of shirts checking sizes before getting one the right size in a nice red color. Then, making her way to another she sifted through some shorts. The first pair she pulled out were way to short for her tastes. Throwing them back, she found another and smiled when they were the right size.

"Uh, are there shoes in here?"

Showing him her shirt and shorts, Adagio looked around for shoes. There were none in sight, so she guessed that they were either under a stack of clothes or upstairs.

[The First Doctor]

The Meddler shifted uneasily as Adagio began to search the wardrobe. He loved his TARDIS, he really did, and he'd adjusted long ago to the spartan lifestyle her design required. But he was always faintly uncomfortable when guests entered, feeling that they deserved something more impressive. To hide his discomfort, he began to talk.

"Yith," he began. "If I'm remembering correctly - and assuming that whatever edited away the Earth didn't alter it as well - is a rogue planet. A world that is no longer gravitationally bound to a star. All of its heat and light come from radiation in the core, and from interactions between the planetary magnetosphere and the galactic wind."

Adagio examined a rack with casual efficiency, holding up one shirt after another. I should really organize this room, one of these days, he thought.

"The species we're going to visit - the Cuckoos -" his face twisted with contempt, "Are time travelers as well. Psychic time travelers. They maintain records of everywhere they visit, and even of timelines they've visited that no longer exist. They should be able to tell us what the changepoint was." He paused. "Assuming they'll talk to us."

"Uh, are there shoes in here?"

"Shoes?" the Meddler repeated, "Yes, second level, back wall."

[Adagio Beckett]

As Adagio listened to the Meddler explain what exactly was going to happen for the moment she headed upstairs to look for shoes. It was amazing how many stacks of shoes there were and Adagio simply hoped that she could find something in her size quickly. Deciding to change first though, Adagio looked around to make sure she was out of sight before she started changing.

"Wont we have to compare two different time lines though? One where the Earth continues and one where it doesn't? What I mean to say is what if an event from the past triggered the future of the Earth's destruction? We'd have to compare everything against each other."

Slipping on her shirt, Adagio sighed at the dip the front made before letting it go. Padding around barefoot, she looked through a few racks of shoes before picking up a pair of converse sneakers. Ecstatic that they were the right size, she found a pair of socks and sat on the floor to put her shoes on.

"Okay, I'm ready to get to work!"

Practically running down the stairs, Adagio held her dress in her hands and walked up to the Meddler.

"Thank you by the way."

She had no idea if she meant to say thank you just for the clothes or if she meant for him helping the Earth as well, but she really was thankful.

[The First Doctor]

Adagio disappeared out behind several racks of clothing on the second level. "Wont we have to compare two different time lines though? One where the Earth continues and one where it doesn't? What I mean to say is what if an event from the past triggered the future of the Earth's destruction? We'd have to compare everything against each other," she called.

"Excellent thinking," the Meddler answered back. "Although something as dramatic as the destruction of a planet doesn't require the examination of every single possible historical event, so we won't have quite as much to examine as you're afraid."

He leaned against the wall, ticking points off on his fingers. "The first big one will be to check the status of the seed planetesimal, to see if the planet even formed. Then, if it was formed, we'll need to see if it was ejected from the solar system, or if it was destroyed by the impact with Theia. That gets us through the Late Heavy Bombardment Period, which means the end the ability to destroy the Earth with relatively simple macroscale engineering."

"After that?" He shrugged. "Assuming the Cuckoos will even let us use their records, it should be a various matter of checking which Terrestrial sentient species is the last one they have records of, and then seeing how and when they died out. Once we have a time and cause, 'all' we have to do is stop that cause."

A smile. "Of course, that's easier said than done. But I've pulled off some pretty major temporal shifts in my time."

"Okay, I'm ready to get to work!" she announced, walking down the stairs with her dress in her arms.

He gestured towards an ordinary-appearing laundry chute hatch in the wall. "You can toss that in there. The TARDIS will clean it and return it here. Probably make a copy for the archives as well, if I know her."

"Thank you by the way."

"You're welcome, although maybe a bit premature." He tried to smile reassuringly. "I'll get you fixed up with a suite later, unless you want to get a nap now. But we should probably check back in the control room first, see how much longer until arrival."

[The Second Doctor]

Alec began listening to the Meddler and Adagio chatter on, turning up the volume. It wasn't all that interesting, but it was always amusing to see how humans got along with Timelords. Sure, it was more effective when experienced, but not completely neccesary.

"Nuke who?" the Meddler rejoined. "Besides, I don't have a War TARDIS. I've got a Type 67. Maintenance and temporostellar construction. She's powerful, but she's not designed for combat."

The Dark Lord remembered the Meddler's words.
"Oh. I was assuming that by the ramifications of Shadow Proclamation 79065 paragraph 1-67 section 45-C, that because of the Yith progresses, they have caused our problem." he explained.

[Adagio Beckett]

Putting the dress in the chute like she was instructed, Adagio clapped her hands together and walked back to the Meddler.

"I'm fine. I'm way to awake to go to sleep anyways"

Following as they made their way back to the control room, Adagio heard Alec speak and almost jumped. She forgot that they were still on an open frequency. She had no idea what was being talked about exactly, but she figured it had to do with the Tardis somehow.

"How are things on your end Alec?"

Adagio felt kind of weird and useless, and she knew that Alec probably would not want to talk to her, but she would give it a try anyways.

[The Second Doctor]

Expecting the Meddler to respond, Alec was pleasantly surprised when he heard Adagio's voice.

"How are things on your end Alec?"

"Oh...good, I can say. Nothing's broken from the little mishap. Well, I don't count the zylonographic hydrogenator, because of it's
uselessness." he answered.

[The First Doctor]

"I'm fine. I'm way to awake to go to sleep anyways" was Adagio's response to his offer of a room.

He nodded. "I understand. Just let me know when you change your mind."

Alec chose that moment to rejoin the conversation. "Oh. I was assuming that by the ramifications of Shadow Proclamation 79065 paragraph 1-67 section 45-C, that because of the Yith progresses, they have caused our problem." he explained.

"The Shadow what now?" was the Meddler's confused response. "It's only been about forty years - relative - since the end of the War for me, and I spent most of that Arched. What's this Shadow Proclamation thing?"

He strolled along the hallway towards the control room. "Besides. Unless things have seriously changed, I don't see the Cuck - excuse me, the Great Race - attacking Earth. They settle it in the Mesozoic, and then again about fifty million years after humans abandon the planet. What benefit would they derive?"

He threw open the door into the control room, and laughed. "Looks like she's rearranging a little - probably telling me we don't have guests enough."

The wing-backed chair and ottoman now sat in front of the mirror the Meddler had - centuries ago - wired into the bulkhead of the TARDIS. Next to it sat a recliner, and an end table stood between them. The free-standing exterior door had shifted slightly as well, allowing greater access to the museum-like hall beyond.

Still laughing, he patted the console. "Oh, come on," he said. "We had Sisi in here just a few years ago, and Pat before her. Aren't I a good enough conversationalist?" He eyed the meters.

"Looks like ETA's about forty minutes relative, Alec. What about you?"