Chapter 6
A bit more background for you! You can go ahead and skip past this if you want to, I just didn't feel the end of the chapter was the right place for this.
You might ask "Wait, Time Lords are telepathic right? Why did Wren have to read the Doctor's mind to be able to communicate him in the first place?"
The answer is because simply she did not know. Obviously given her situation she couldn't just ask, and she did what she felt she had to with her limited knowledge of her powers. Had she been given the same training as Davon she would have known what to do.
Now, moving on. "But the Doctor can read minds too, he did it to Madame de Pompadour. Doesn't that mean he could have severed the connection between them or stopped her from seeing things he didn't want her to?"
Simply, no. The Alazarin mind reading technique differs greatly from the Gallifreyan one. Time Lords read minds through a sort of mind melding, retaining no part of the other party's mind. Alazarin have more of a mind absorbing technique. In fact, in the Acamarin language Alazarin means "Mind stealer" (Acamarin means "life stealer." Quaint, no? XD). Wren literally copied the Doctor's mind into her own, and in order to do so she had to render him incapable of all motion. Had her brain not been big enough to house his, it most likely would have killed her or driven her mad. Basically she is both extremely foolish and extremely lucky. Now this leads to the third question:
"If she absorbed his entire mind doesn't that mean that something similar to what happened to Donna should have happened to her?"
Well, Alazarin and humans are very different. Her personality is already changing a bit, is it not? Spoilers my friends, spoilers.
Hope that clears a few things up! (These are actual questions one of my friends asked, so I figured other people might have them as well).
Now read! XD
Davon was standing half way down the hall, transfixed. However it wasn’t by the door and the evil radiating from behind as it probably should have been. He was too distracted by what had just transpired between the Doctor and Wren. Wren looked as if she were on the verge of tears, and the Doctor, who was now walking brusquely down the hall, seemed somewhat shaken as well. What could have happened to cause this?
“What happened, what’s wrong?” Davon asked.
“Never you mind,” the Doctor said, pushing past the boy. The young Alazarin watched the Doctor continue down the hall and could tell from his very body language that he was distressed. Davon turned back to Wren, who had not moved and was staring blankly at the wall before her. Concerned, Davon approached her.
“What happened?” he repeated. Wren shook her head sadly.
Nothing, she replied. It’s stupid, it’s completely stupid. She looked up at Davon and was about to say more when they were interrupted.
“Davon!” the Doctor called. The Alazarin boy gave Wren a meaningful look and then went to the Time Lord.
“Hold this,” the Doctor said to Davon when the boy had reached his side. He handed him what seemed to be a flashlight and then proceeded to run his hands all over the door and examine it carefully.
“I’ve unlocked the door, but it won’t open. There must be something else, but I can’t quite see…” The Doctor paused and took out the screwdriver, aiming it at something he had spotted. “There we are,” he said as the door clicked. The Doctor then grasped the door handle and opened it. Again his eyes were met with rows upon rows of children suspended in faintly glowing tanks. The Doctor felt a small burst of rage from within. Only monsters did this to children.
“Alasheru lai ilian, onha en’ veaen er mërsan…” Davon breathed. Considering the fact that even the Doctor had no idea what he was saying, it couldn’t have been anything good.
“Right,” the Doctor said. “Let’s get to work then. Davon, I need you and Wren… where’s Wren?” The Doctor tried to look Davon in the eye, but the boy just dodged his gaze and frowned.
Turning, the Doctor saw her still glued to the same spot and staring at the same wall. The Time Lord was shot with a pang of guilt, which he realized that Wren could probably feel. He bit his lower lip.
“Wren!” he said sharply and she looked up, her lavender eyes wide. The Doctor arched an eyebrow and motioned for her to come down the hall. Wren complied and began shuffling towards them, the whole time avoiding the Doctor’s eyes. When she finally reached them, her gaze remained fixed to the ground. The Doctor swallowed.
“You two… you two try to talk to them. Don’t let their pain overwhelm you, tell them help is coming. I’ll be working on disconnecting the tanks from the generator without alerting the Headmistress. I don’t fancy meeting her again… Once they’re all out the power will most likely fail, which should give you time to go for the exit. Then I’ll just make for the TARDIS and we’ll call it a day.” The Doctor smiled, and Davon did as well. Wren merely looked up and blinked and then noiselessly walked over to a tank. The Doctor’s smile faltered and his brow furrowed.
“Yes, yes, don’t mind me. I’ve only saved your life three times,” he said under his breath.
“Huh?” Davon asked, a quizzical look displayed on his face.
“What? Oh- nothing.” The Doctor walked past Davon, the familiar fascinated look of distraction coming over his features. He meandered over to the generator, reaching for a pair of glasses in his pocket and putting them on.
“Now my dear,” he said going in to examine the machine better. “What makes you tick?”
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“Wren, that’s no reason to not talk to him. He’s what, 900 or so years older than you? That’d be the ultimate act of pedophilia.”
Wren and Davon were before one of the numerous imprisoned children. Wren had her eyes closed, and her palms pressed against the glass of the tank. The soft green glow emanating from the container illuminated her face with an eerie green cast. She took several deep and even breaths before answering Davon, not opening her eyes.
Rose Tyler is no more than 10 years my senior, it’s no different, she said in an irritated tone. Davon sighed exasperatedly.
“But it is different! Rose Tyler is considered an adult by her race. Human lives are so fleeting… Compared to the lifespan of an Alazarin, not to mention a Gallifreyan, the time they spend in existence is like a second. They mature so much quicker, because their time is so limited. So yes, she’s ten or so years older than you, but she’s comparable to an Alazarin 200 years your—”
All right, all right enough. I’m trying to concentrate.
Davon just shook his head.
“You of all people should know this; you only have all his memories in your skull—”
Didn’t I tell you to be quiet? She interrupted again, still not opening her eyes. A vein throbbed in Wren’s forehead and her muscles tensed. Trying to reach the captive children was an arduous task to say the least, for it was almost as if each one were shielded by layers upon layers of thick fog. Every time she got close they seemed to fly away from her, and Wren found herself getting more and more frustrated. But then, suddenly:
Davon! I—oh… oh my. This is not good.
Davon did not like the look on Wren had on her face one bit. Apprehensively he placed his hand on the glass as well, and within moments he understood. A look of horror came over his face and he took off in the direction of the generator.
“Doctor!” he shouted. “We have to get out of here, it’s a tr—”
It seemed the Doctor was already aware of this fact, because the blade pointed between his eyes was pretty good as far as hints go. Not only that, but his Sonic Screwdriver had been knocked from his hands. The cross-eyed look on his face might have been comical if the situation was not so dire, and the rather large gulp he took most likely would have added to the effect. But this was about the farthest things could get from funny.
“Davon, take Wren and run. Now. Go,” he said low, hurried tone. Davon hesitated, but he would not have had time to act anyway.
“Don’t even bother,” said the voice of the Headmistress. “None of you are getting out of here.”
That was when both the Doctor and Davon noticed the commotion coming from where Wren was. She was screaming and writhing in a desperate attempt to break free from the guards that were pinning her down. Seeing this, the Doctor became infuriated and took a sharp intake of breath through his nose before speaking furiously through clenched teeth.
“Let her go, now. You’ve made her life miserable for long enough.”
A razor thin smile spread across the Headmistress’s lips.
“Her? We don’t want her anymore Time Lord. We’re far more interested in you. We’re just making sure the children won’t… disrupt things.” The guards grabbed Davon by the arms, and all the while smiling, nastily the Headmistress gestured for the Doctor to go forward. “After you,” she said evilly. He gave the Headmistress a searing look and complied. The guards brought Davon and Wren behind them.
Davon legs were shaking so badly, he tripped over his own feet and hit the ground hard.
“Get a move on, brat!” one of the guards said roughly and Davon scrambled to his feet nervously. However, no one, not even Wren noticed the boy pocket a silver cylindrical object from the ground on his way up.
