I had an interesting encounter with a Master Kamala this morning. He claims to be a plasmavore, and proclaimed his intent to destroy our civilization. He claims to have repeatedly killed Mr. Ellsworth, an Arcalian under the purview of our Chancellor and Cardinal Fisseux.
If this is true, he could have the Symbiotic Nuclei. I was quite heavy handed with him in person, hoping to excite him and flush him out.
And while I do not put much credence in his threats – his race simply does not have the skill or abilities to bring them about – it does raise an interesting point. We are much more in the open here, and not nearly as well respected. We seem to be attracting riff raff.
As he came to us, I see no valid argument of interference. I have contacted Professor Ellsworth, to see if the claims are true. If they are, I will instruct the Guard and all House security forces to shoot on sight. If his claims are not true, then we simply ignore him.
Saturday
Wednesday
Part 20 - Lessons Learned
Well, returning to New Gallifrey has certainly taught me some valuable lessons. Oolon, Terry, Darkling, everyone was certainly relieved that I managed to regenerate, but also very questioning. Of course, I met with Solis before anyone else. I mind linked and shared with her what information I have. I have existed in one form or another for the entirety of the Timelord civilization. And just now I am beginning to understand why previous Presidents acted the way they did.
I don’t really have answers. I know I regenerated. I know the SASTAP pulled me back from the anti-matter universe with the last of its energy before rebuilding itself and me together.
I don’t know how. I don’t know why I regenerated into a male body. Typical Timelord nano-viruses preserve the vast majority of DNA structure, never switching genders or basic species. Obviously, while I am an organic Timelord, the SASTAP systems must still retain some measure of control of some my organic systems. I presume that the emergency program written by Rassilon that gave me this organic body in the first place must be governing my regenerations. To what end, I have NO idea.
Now that the SASTAP systems are restored, I see that this process took some 286 years to complete. Obviously, the SASTAP was very near death, as was I. Apparently, with little effort, we breached the transduction barriers just put in place and returned to Gallifrey only a few days after leaving.
All that time gave me much opportunity to contemplate. I have ideas for the future of this new Timelord society, this New Gallifrey. I am not convinced that my colleagues will agree with me. Solis I know will be with me. Oolon and I share the same vision, but his path to that end is much more idealistic than mine. The others… only time will tell.
It is definitely time for me to start acting like a President of the High Council. I just hope this Council is ready for that.
I don’t really have answers. I know I regenerated. I know the SASTAP pulled me back from the anti-matter universe with the last of its energy before rebuilding itself and me together.
I don’t know how. I don’t know why I regenerated into a male body. Typical Timelord nano-viruses preserve the vast majority of DNA structure, never switching genders or basic species. Obviously, while I am an organic Timelord, the SASTAP systems must still retain some measure of control of some my organic systems. I presume that the emergency program written by Rassilon that gave me this organic body in the first place must be governing my regenerations. To what end, I have NO idea.
Now that the SASTAP systems are restored, I see that this process took some 286 years to complete. Obviously, the SASTAP was very near death, as was I. Apparently, with little effort, we breached the transduction barriers just put in place and returned to Gallifrey only a few days after leaving.
All that time gave me much opportunity to contemplate. I have ideas for the future of this new Timelord society, this New Gallifrey. I am not convinced that my colleagues will agree with me. Solis I know will be with me. Oolon and I share the same vision, but his path to that end is much more idealistic than mine. The others… only time will tell.
It is definitely time for me to start acting like a President of the High Council. I just hope this Council is ready for that.
Sunday
Part 19 - Back from the brink
I awoke to… nothingness. No space, no time, no body, no mind. The last thing I remembered was the Transduction Barriers spinning up as they received the unfathomable influx of energy from the singularity and then… nothing.
I have no idea how long I existed there. Could have been hours, or centuries. There was no time. But then I received a call with a familiar voice… my own.
First, how I got here.
Collapsing a star was child’s play, as Omega surmised. Holding it inside my interior without a Transduction ship was a different matter. The trip back took nearly nine hours in my timeline. I could feel the agony as my interior dimensions were ripped apart by the forces, the console room barely left in one piece as I materialized in the Panopticon. A burnt and scared console, collapsing roundels, and dimensions shuddering under the strain.
I knew the SASTAP portion of me was dying. I had only a few minutes of concentration to install the Eye before the dying systems took my own consciousness with them. I succeeded, or so I heard Oolon shout as the universe dissolved around me.
Back to the void: after some time, I heard the SASTAP calling to me… pulling me back as the universe of Anti-Matter pulled even harder to suck me in.
For a time, all I could feel was the SASTAP’s computer system. I honestly have no idea if only my consciousness or my organic body was pulled back. I do know that I recognized this feeling. Regeneration. Different this time though – slow, labored. Like a rebuilding instead of a rebirth.
And then I woke up. Inside a rebuilt and changed SASTAP. Organic again, in a new and very different body. I know I will have some catching up to do. Seems even as a Timelord, I’m pretty hard to kill.
I have no idea how long I existed there. Could have been hours, or centuries. There was no time. But then I received a call with a familiar voice… my own.
First, how I got here.
Collapsing a star was child’s play, as Omega surmised. Holding it inside my interior without a Transduction ship was a different matter. The trip back took nearly nine hours in my timeline. I could feel the agony as my interior dimensions were ripped apart by the forces, the console room barely left in one piece as I materialized in the Panopticon. A burnt and scared console, collapsing roundels, and dimensions shuddering under the strain.
I knew the SASTAP portion of me was dying. I had only a few minutes of concentration to install the Eye before the dying systems took my own consciousness with them. I succeeded, or so I heard Oolon shout as the universe dissolved around me.
Back to the void: after some time, I heard the SASTAP calling to me… pulling me back as the universe of Anti-Matter pulled even harder to suck me in.
For a time, all I could feel was the SASTAP’s computer system. I honestly have no idea if only my consciousness or my organic body was pulled back. I do know that I recognized this feeling. Regeneration. Different this time though – slow, labored. Like a rebuilding instead of a rebirth.
And then I woke up. Inside a rebuilt and changed SASTAP. Organic again, in a new and very different body. I know I will have some catching up to do. Seems even as a Timelord, I’m pretty hard to kill.
Tuesday
Part 18 – Relics
I’ve learned not to ask questions of the Pydronians. Somehow, Angelica has located the Sash of Rassilon. This profoundly powerful personal forcefield should offer adequate protection for my short journey from the SASTAP interior to the center of the Transduction housing under the Panopticon when placing the Eye.
There is one issue, however. The Sash’s forcefield will interfere with the Barriers. So, while the Eye is still contained within the Sash’s range, I must disable the Sash and Oolon must enable the Transduction Barriers at nearly the same instant. If he is early, the two conflict and we lose the planet.
Oolon is fast, and fiercely intelligent. But even a nano-second gap will most certainly rip my body apart. I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out a solution. Then I realized… there isn’t one.
And Rassilon knew it. He didn’t tell Omega. Omega believed the Sash would protect him, and it did. But what he did not know is that it had to be turned off for a split second before the Barriers could come up. He was doomed from the start. And so am I.
I can only hope that this organic body still isn’t completely disconnected from the SASTAP system. Could Rassilon really have foreseen this scenario and written protocols for the ship to save me? I suppose we will find out in four days.
There is one issue, however. The Sash’s forcefield will interfere with the Barriers. So, while the Eye is still contained within the Sash’s range, I must disable the Sash and Oolon must enable the Transduction Barriers at nearly the same instant. If he is early, the two conflict and we lose the planet.
Oolon is fast, and fiercely intelligent. But even a nano-second gap will most certainly rip my body apart. I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out a solution. Then I realized… there isn’t one.
And Rassilon knew it. He didn’t tell Omega. Omega believed the Sash would protect him, and it did. But what he did not know is that it had to be turned off for a split second before the Barriers could come up. He was doomed from the start. And so am I.
I can only hope that this organic body still isn’t completely disconnected from the SASTAP system. Could Rassilon really have foreseen this scenario and written protocols for the ship to save me? I suppose we will find out in four days.
Monday
Part 17 - An outing
I know my Chancellor would take one of my regenerations for this, but I decided to pay a visit to the Dalek’s new base, which we now know the location of, thanks to intel from Victor1st and Angelica. What I found is both disturbing and relieving.
First of all, the base is quite well developed. Typical Dalek geography. They have a moderate ground base, underground bunker, hover-city, and ship in orbit. It looks like a classic Dalek major planet based command center. A casing manufacturing facility, mutant hatchery, etc.
It’s what I did not find that concerned me most. Not a single Dalek. Sure, thousands of mutants in tanks, and even more casings. All were dormant, and not assembled. I did not find a single Dalek, not even *one* patrolling the Emperor’s chamber. The Emperor was complete, but seemed to be dormant.
All this tells me is that we obviously don’t know where all the Dalek’s are located. Either they have another base, or they were off world in a ship we can’t detect. Their army is not complete. But something else apparently is.
Here are the pieces as they stand.
Oolon and myself were attacked. Onboard the ETC was a Sidhe capable of telepathic projection and a Timelord who is a brilliant biological engineer.
I, the child of Rassilon and the most advanced form of travel ever created, was attacked with a telekinetic specialist Timelord and a mind-reader Timelord.
We ended up here first, and soon pieces of Timelord technology and Timelords managed to get ejected from the death throes of the Time War to this place. Probably by the Doctor and the Rani, who knew in advance that something *very* bad was going to happen. The fact that the Daleks ended up here too only reinforces my theory that someone is manipulating us all.
The Doctor sniffed them out, but was too late to stop them. The Rani was scared enough to work with him and save us. Whatever technology they used to save the remnants of our race also brought Daleks. I would bet my robes that the Daleks missing from their new home world were testing a TTC capsule.
There is also the matter of the political influence exerted against Artificial Isle in order to obtain Timelord technology. That could simply be another Timelord who arrived and starting meddling, but I don’t believe in coincidences. I am willing to bet this Timelord is involved.
The Daleks are a distraction. And I am beginning to believe that the Time War itself was nothing more than a distraction. We need to deal with them quickly, and completely.
First of all, the base is quite well developed. Typical Dalek geography. They have a moderate ground base, underground bunker, hover-city, and ship in orbit. It looks like a classic Dalek major planet based command center. A casing manufacturing facility, mutant hatchery, etc.
It’s what I did not find that concerned me most. Not a single Dalek. Sure, thousands of mutants in tanks, and even more casings. All were dormant, and not assembled. I did not find a single Dalek, not even *one* patrolling the Emperor’s chamber. The Emperor was complete, but seemed to be dormant.
All this tells me is that we obviously don’t know where all the Dalek’s are located. Either they have another base, or they were off world in a ship we can’t detect. Their army is not complete. But something else apparently is.
Here are the pieces as they stand.
Oolon and myself were attacked. Onboard the ETC was a Sidhe capable of telepathic projection and a Timelord who is a brilliant biological engineer.
I, the child of Rassilon and the most advanced form of travel ever created, was attacked with a telekinetic specialist Timelord and a mind-reader Timelord.
We ended up here first, and soon pieces of Timelord technology and Timelords managed to get ejected from the death throes of the Time War to this place. Probably by the Doctor and the Rani, who knew in advance that something *very* bad was going to happen. The fact that the Daleks ended up here too only reinforces my theory that someone is manipulating us all.
The Doctor sniffed them out, but was too late to stop them. The Rani was scared enough to work with him and save us. Whatever technology they used to save the remnants of our race also brought Daleks. I would bet my robes that the Daleks missing from their new home world were testing a TTC capsule.
There is also the matter of the political influence exerted against Artificial Isle in order to obtain Timelord technology. That could simply be another Timelord who arrived and starting meddling, but I don’t believe in coincidences. I am willing to bet this Timelord is involved.
The Daleks are a distraction. And I am beginning to believe that the Time War itself was nothing more than a distraction. We need to deal with them quickly, and completely.
Thursday
Part 16 – Putting together the pieces
I’ve been so busy with technical business preparing us for the Daleks, I’ve neglected my investigation of how we ended up here. I finally got around to reading the reports of the Council.
Putting aside the fact for a moment that the Pydronians seem to have quickly become the rebels that we all know and love, Victor’s discovery of another crashed station here in this realm have me concerned. Concerned, but a bit relieved as well.
This Doctor. There is so much about him we don’t know. We have assumed all along that he sent the stations here to protect them from a losing Time War. But Oolon and I were attacked long before the War. And we somehow ended up in the same place as TARDISes ejected from time. It is beginning to look as if all of us are here by design. As if any TARDIS near destruction is somehow funneled here by some intelligence, or program.
However, said influence began before the Time War. Now, the Doctor is far too impulsive to plan for Timelord race preservation ahead of the war. He would have spent all his time trying to prevent it. So he must have been protecting all of us against something else. Something so bad that he didn’t even try to save us from it.
I am beginning to think that whatever attacked me and Oolon may in fact have manipulated the Time War into existence. But why? Why would someone powerful enough to manipulate a race like the Daleks into attacking Gallifrey try to kill us off first?
Me I can understand. But Oolon. Why him? He was on route to being one of our races most knowledgeable biological engineers. Could it possibly be that his knowledge could be the key to defeating not only who sent us here, but a behind the scenes catalyst for the Time War itself?
Putting aside the fact for a moment that the Pydronians seem to have quickly become the rebels that we all know and love, Victor’s discovery of another crashed station here in this realm have me concerned. Concerned, but a bit relieved as well.
This Doctor. There is so much about him we don’t know. We have assumed all along that he sent the stations here to protect them from a losing Time War. But Oolon and I were attacked long before the War. And we somehow ended up in the same place as TARDISes ejected from time. It is beginning to look as if all of us are here by design. As if any TARDIS near destruction is somehow funneled here by some intelligence, or program.
However, said influence began before the Time War. Now, the Doctor is far too impulsive to plan for Timelord race preservation ahead of the war. He would have spent all his time trying to prevent it. So he must have been protecting all of us against something else. Something so bad that he didn’t even try to save us from it.
I am beginning to think that whatever attacked me and Oolon may in fact have manipulated the Time War into existence. But why? Why would someone powerful enough to manipulate a race like the Daleks into attacking Gallifrey try to kill us off first?
Me I can understand. But Oolon. Why him? He was on route to being one of our races most knowledgeable biological engineers. Could it possibly be that his knowledge could be the key to defeating not only who sent us here, but a behind the scenes catalyst for the Time War itself?
Part 15 - Preparations
It has been some time since I have made an entry here. I have been very busy. With the revelations that Councilor Mornington uncovered about the Daleks being here with us, I have been frantically using the full resources of House Patrexean (special thanks to Cardinal Gears for taking the day to day operation of the House off my hands) and my own abilities to prepare New Gallifrey to ensure that what happened in the Time War will not happen here.
The Panopticon has been retrofitted with extensive defensive systems, both to protect the structure and the rest of Gallifrey should it fall.
Every TARDIS will receive extensive sensor updates, including a routine to specifically target detection of Dalek Temporal Prisons. Also, every TARDIS will be retrofitted to receive exponentially higher amounts of power from the Panopticon’s Eye. Up until now, the Eye has only been operating on battery power, with no singularity actually present.
The problem is not the singularity itself, we have at least a couple viable candidates. The issue is returning it back to New Gallifrey and figuring out how to get it inside the containment barriers. For a very limited time, I believe my dimensional stabilizer can withstand housing the singularity for the trip from deep space to New Gallifrey. Once landed in the Panopticon, the structures newly installed defensive system can keep the building together until I am able to place the singularity into its permanent home.
The real problem is this organic body of mine. I seriously doubt that I can maintain the life support systems in the interior for the duration of the trip, or extend the exterior’s forcefields enough to adequately protect myself while installing the singularity. And even if I am able to do both of those things, the exterior artron shell’s forcefield must be dropped for a least a nano-second while the new Eye’s Transduction Barriers take over.
I have mulled over a technical method of getting around this problem for… far too long. The simple fact is, we are out of time. Councilor Mornington reports that his intelligence agents have located the Dalek’s new homeworld, and it is almost complete. We need a full functioning Eye – now.
The last time I died, it was planned. Organized. The SASTAP structure and my organic body regenerated at the same time – together. I have no idea what will happen this time. My entire body will be instantly shredded when the singularity is placed in the Eye. While I have confidence in the nano-virus’ ability to regenerate me, I have no idea if my connection to the SASTAP will remain. Without my consciousness to control it, the dimensions may collapse. I may be stranded as a plain old Timelord, now without even a TARDIS – forever.
The Panopticon has been retrofitted with extensive defensive systems, both to protect the structure and the rest of Gallifrey should it fall.
Every TARDIS will receive extensive sensor updates, including a routine to specifically target detection of Dalek Temporal Prisons. Also, every TARDIS will be retrofitted to receive exponentially higher amounts of power from the Panopticon’s Eye. Up until now, the Eye has only been operating on battery power, with no singularity actually present.
The problem is not the singularity itself, we have at least a couple viable candidates. The issue is returning it back to New Gallifrey and figuring out how to get it inside the containment barriers. For a very limited time, I believe my dimensional stabilizer can withstand housing the singularity for the trip from deep space to New Gallifrey. Once landed in the Panopticon, the structures newly installed defensive system can keep the building together until I am able to place the singularity into its permanent home.
The real problem is this organic body of mine. I seriously doubt that I can maintain the life support systems in the interior for the duration of the trip, or extend the exterior’s forcefields enough to adequately protect myself while installing the singularity. And even if I am able to do both of those things, the exterior artron shell’s forcefield must be dropped for a least a nano-second while the new Eye’s Transduction Barriers take over.
I have mulled over a technical method of getting around this problem for… far too long. The simple fact is, we are out of time. Councilor Mornington reports that his intelligence agents have located the Dalek’s new homeworld, and it is almost complete. We need a full functioning Eye – now.
The last time I died, it was planned. Organized. The SASTAP structure and my organic body regenerated at the same time – together. I have no idea what will happen this time. My entire body will be instantly shredded when the singularity is placed in the Eye. While I have confidence in the nano-virus’ ability to regenerate me, I have no idea if my connection to the SASTAP will remain. Without my consciousness to control it, the dimensions may collapse. I may be stranded as a plain old Timelord, now without even a TARDIS – forever.
Part 14 – New Gallifrey Government
It comes to my attention that we need to begin drafting some governmental guidelines for New Gallifrey’s High Council. While I believe Gallifrey’s model was efficient and fair, some adjustments will be necessary for functional reasons in this place.
The High Council will consist of between seven and ten members. Each of the six houses will have a seat.
The Patrexe chapter will be headed by a Cardinal. This chapter seems to have fallen into the role of builders and artisans here on New Gallifrey. Speaking from my own skill set, I see no reason for this to change.
The Arcalian chapter will be headed by a Cardinal as well. It seems this particular chapter is of much more prominence here on New Gallifrey, with the election of my old friend Oolon as Chancellor. Based on his role so far, I believe the Arcalians should continue in their traditional role as leaders of academia and science.
The Pydronians of course will continue to be headed by a Cardinal. However, they seem to not have as much clout here as in the past. I think that policy generation and legislative minutia will continue to be their forte, as in the past. This clan will be lead by Cardinal Angelica Nephilim. It is true, long ago, that House Prydonian (also known as the Prydon Chapter) was known to produce ‘devious’ Time Lords, and more than a few renegades…
And that brings me to the Ceruleans. I mentioned in an earlier entry that I would like to extend a hand of diplomacy to other races who have assisted in our plight here. If they are to have representation on the Council and a voice with us, I believe assigning them a house may be the best course of action. To that end, the Cerulean house will be set aside for non-Gallifreyan citizens of New Gallifrey. They will be headed by a Councillor, not a Cardinal, by the name of Victor1st Mornington and base it’s operations from the reclaimed Zenobia station.
One clan stands alone in it’s unique experimentation of the regenerative process, a bi-product of this dimension and borne of necessity, that clan is House Dromeian, lead by Lord Cardinal Gryphon Dix. These are a fine, proud, and noble clan. We welcome them to the chambers of Gallifrey as master loomsmiths.
This realm consists of at least a few Timelords from our own realm who were stripped of house and rank on Gallifrey and sent here as exiles. While I believe we need to at least extent our hand to these fellow Timelords, I do not believe full re-instatement into a Cardinal run house is the proper path. To that end, the Scendles chapter will be set aside as the chapter of exiled Timelords, with a Councillor as its leader. This person is as yet unknown. They will have a presence on the council, should they wish to.
Each house may write its own governing document determining how its respective Councillor or Cardinal seat on the High Council will be determined. They may use any process they like – the Council will honour those proceedings.
The Castellan will be the head of all security and military organizations on New Gallifrey, including any intelligence organizations. He/she may be from any of the six houses, but may NOT be the leader of his/her respective house. That would pose a conflict of interest in matters of security.
The Chancellor must hold the rank of Cardinal. This position is elected by the High Council. The Chancellor controls High Council parliamentary proceedings, so therefore carries a great deal of influence in Council proceedings. The Chancellor position is the only High Council position that may take the floor from the President and call matters of order. The Chancellor may choose to continue their role as leader of their respective house, or vacate those duties to be replaced on the Council.
The President must hold the rank of Cardinal. The President is the proceedings chair for all High Council meetings. In all matters of governance that do not require a High Council vote, the Presidents holds final authority. The President may choose to continue their role as leader of their respective house, or vacate those duties to be replaced on the Council.
If called into emergency session, the Inner Council, which consists of the Castellan, Chancellor, and President, requires only a two-thirds majority vote on matters of policy.
In order to preserve an odd number of members and avoid tie votes, the Inner Council may choose to assign the Gold Usher an at large seat on the Council. This position will retain its traditional duties of Master of Ceremonies for all formal Gallifreyan events, and may be from any of the six houses.
Time Lords belong to one of six Time Lord Chapters or Colleges.
Each Chapter had their own colours which was reflected by their ceremonial robes:
The Prydonian Chapter - scarlet and orange ceremonial robes
The Arcalian Chapter - green and brown ceremonial robes
The Cerulean Chapter - subdued light blue ceremonial robes
The Dromean Chapter - silver-gray ceremonial robes
The Patrex Chapter - heliotrope (pink purple-ish) ceremonial robes
The Scendles Chapter - subdued colored ceremonial robes
Tuesday
Part 12 - The Laws of Time
I have been asking myself an odd question recently. Do the Laws of Time really apply here? We are obviously in a pocket universe of some kind, one independent and removed from the N-Space Web of Time. We do not, as of yet, have the grand technological superiority here that the Timelords had in N-Space.
If we not capable of the level of interference that we once were, if there any reason to still be afraid of it? I was created by Rassilon as a TARDIS – to observe and learn about the universe, for sure. But it is obvious to me that I was also created for a higher purpose than to just watch.
As much as I respect my father and creator, I am beginning to think that The Other had a point all those eons ago. I’m just not sure how to apply his teachings here without us causing as much damage in our rise to power as the Timelords of ancient times did.
If we not capable of the level of interference that we once were, if there any reason to still be afraid of it? I was created by Rassilon as a TARDIS – to observe and learn about the universe, for sure. But it is obvious to me that I was also created for a higher purpose than to just watch.
As much as I respect my father and creator, I am beginning to think that The Other had a point all those eons ago. I’m just not sure how to apply his teachings here without us causing as much damage in our rise to power as the Timelords of ancient times did.
Thursday
Part 11 - Lost Time
I have been feeling somewhat reflective lately. For eons I lay dormant, deactivated, call it what you will. Everything went dark for me just as the greatest civilization ever borne of our universe began to reach maturity. And I awoke just as it was destroyed.
That goes far beyond not being fair. The Timelord race kept the peace on a scale unconceivable by most races, let along achievable. I was designed to be an instrumental part of that peace, and yet it all literally passed me by.
And yet I can not help but think that the word “coincidence” and the name Rassilon seldom appear together. How did I end up in the Panoptican being poked and prodded in some lab? Who knew about me and transported me there? And why did the presence of those Timelords not raise me from my slumber, but Phaon did?
Somewhere buried inside my mind are sensor readings and matrix communications from thousands of generations of dormancy. Stored outside of my consciousness somewhere. If I am to rebuild Gallifrey here, then I need to know the details of the one that came before. I need unfettered access to my databanks. And to do that, I need to be a computer again.
Part 10 - Zenobia
Out of bored curiosity, I nosed around the Zenobia station the other day. Victor seems to have things well in hand there, and our relations with him seem to be on a positive track. The security in that place is tight, but thankfully not even the CIA scientists who designed it had any idea that I existed. Breaching station security and poking around was child’s play.
What I found was quite disturbing. It seems the death throws of the Altera station’s sister – Zenobia Major – bear a quite disturbing resemblance to the attack on myself and the destruction of Solis’ TARDIS.
Whether this sheds much light on the issue is still unclear. It does suggest, however, that TARDISes were tracked not with technology, but with inside intelligence. The Zenobia stations were the most secret of secret, untraceable by even the Daleks and other Timelords. Which suggests that tracking information was given to someone.
An inside job. Great. We can only hope that whoever it was isn’t around anymore. Somehow, I don’t favor our chances of that being the case.
What I found was quite disturbing. It seems the death throws of the Altera station’s sister – Zenobia Major – bear a quite disturbing resemblance to the attack on myself and the destruction of Solis’ TARDIS.
Whether this sheds much light on the issue is still unclear. It does suggest, however, that TARDISes were tracked not with technology, but with inside intelligence. The Zenobia stations were the most secret of secret, untraceable by even the Daleks and other Timelords. Which suggests that tracking information was given to someone.
An inside job. Great. We can only hope that whoever it was isn’t around anymore. Somehow, I don’t favor our chances of that being the case.
Friday
Part 9 - A Sunday drive
When I said earlier that I nabbed the Hand of Omega from Gallifrey’s death throws, that is true. In the spirit of political openess, I did not exactly tell the whole story. Here it is.
We must have a functioning Eye of Harmony, at whatever the cost. There are several components needed to make this happen. The Transduction Barriers are already in place on New Gallifrey. It was relatively simple to construct this technology by recreating any TARDISes dimenional stabilizer.
We need to be able to get the Eye into place. We do not have a Sash of Rassilon, but Oolon and I think that we have a plan forming for making that work. However, here’s the big hitch. We need to blow up a star. In fully functioning form, I could do that. But not even I have the computational power to *control* that explosion. We must have the Hand of Omega.
So I took it. I went back to our realm and “borrowed” the Hand that The Doctor “borrowed” from Gallifrey. I have a bit of a repour with technology of that era, and was able to track it down on Earth. Burried in a… grave. That Doctor always was a bit on the odd side.
The important thing is, we have a Stellar Manipulator. With it, we can create an Eye of Harmony.
Oolon, Dalek, even Solis… there is something very important they don’t understand. I am a Timelord. But I also am a TARDIS. A Child of Rassilon. We have a High Council, we have a home. Our TARDISes have no power. They are barely alive. I have every bit as much of a duty to them as I do the other Timelords I call friends and family here.
We must have a functioning Eye of Harmony, at whatever the cost. There are several components needed to make this happen. The Transduction Barriers are already in place on New Gallifrey. It was relatively simple to construct this technology by recreating any TARDISes dimenional stabilizer.
We need to be able to get the Eye into place. We do not have a Sash of Rassilon, but Oolon and I think that we have a plan forming for making that work. However, here’s the big hitch. We need to blow up a star. In fully functioning form, I could do that. But not even I have the computational power to *control* that explosion. We must have the Hand of Omega.
So I took it. I went back to our realm and “borrowed” the Hand that The Doctor “borrowed” from Gallifrey. I have a bit of a repour with technology of that era, and was able to track it down on Earth. Burried in a… grave. That Doctor always was a bit on the odd side.
The important thing is, we have a Stellar Manipulator. With it, we can create an Eye of Harmony.
Oolon, Dalek, even Solis… there is something very important they don’t understand. I am a Timelord. But I also am a TARDIS. A Child of Rassilon. We have a High Council, we have a home. Our TARDISes have no power. They are barely alive. I have every bit as much of a duty to them as I do the other Timelords I call friends and family here.
Thursday
Part 8 - A quick, and disturbing thought
I was rereading my older entries in this memoir today. I just realized something disturbing. Solis’ specialty at the academy was Observational Telepathy. Her mission when we were attacked was to telepathically monitor a remote civilization for Matrix archival.
Phaon’s specialty was telekinetics. Granted, I assume that during the eons, Timelord’s mental abilities have evolved considerably, but I have never met a Timelord with telekinetic abilities even approaching Phaon. He was on the verge of actually being able to manipulate matter at the molecular level.
My own shell is constructed of Arton energy, the essence of the conscious mind.
Now, Oolon was the odd one out here in the attacks we know about. Then it hit me…. the target wasn’t Oolon. It was Terry. She’s a Shidhe. The Shidhe can project a telepathic image of themselves into the mind of any sensory observer. I have heard of Shidhe more advanced than Terry, but even she can “fake” an image at first glance into a Timelord.
Telepathy. That’s the common link. Whoever this… being… is, it is systematically eliminating any Timelord or Timelord’s associates with telepathic abilities of any kind. TARDISes are also a common link. Every attack happened in a TARDIS. I have no idea if the attacker tracks telepathic energy through a TARDIS, or if the victims were tracked some other means, and the TARDIS is simply the method of attack.
One good thing, this realm were are in is not harmful to the interior structure of a TARDIS as our home third dimension is. If this being came here with us, his main method of attack has lost its teeth.
I, however, have not.
Phaon’s specialty was telekinetics. Granted, I assume that during the eons, Timelord’s mental abilities have evolved considerably, but I have never met a Timelord with telekinetic abilities even approaching Phaon. He was on the verge of actually being able to manipulate matter at the molecular level.
My own shell is constructed of Arton energy, the essence of the conscious mind.
Now, Oolon was the odd one out here in the attacks we know about. Then it hit me…. the target wasn’t Oolon. It was Terry. She’s a Shidhe. The Shidhe can project a telepathic image of themselves into the mind of any sensory observer. I have heard of Shidhe more advanced than Terry, but even she can “fake” an image at first glance into a Timelord.
Telepathy. That’s the common link. Whoever this… being… is, it is systematically eliminating any Timelord or Timelord’s associates with telepathic abilities of any kind. TARDISes are also a common link. Every attack happened in a TARDIS. I have no idea if the attacker tracks telepathic energy through a TARDIS, or if the victims were tracked some other means, and the TARDIS is simply the method of attack.
One good thing, this realm were are in is not harmful to the interior structure of a TARDIS as our home third dimension is. If this being came here with us, his main method of attack has lost its teeth.
I, however, have not.
Part 7 - The missing link
I have been working recently to piece together the huge gap in my memory/databank between the end of the battle with the Great Vampire and my arrival here. Solis, another of the stranded Timelords here, has been using her substantial telepathic abilities to assist me in this recovery. Here is the story so far…
After the attack by the Great Vampire, I awoke from my slumber of many millennia to the presence of a dying Timelord mind. His body was burned, battered. Some deeply buried system inside had awoken me from the hibernation that Rassilon himself had induced to assist a Timelord through his first regeneration.
As I reached into his mind, I took a look at my exterior surroundings at the same time. Gallifrey. But a very different Gallifrey. Amid what appeared to be a revolt or revolution of some kind, I saw evidence of the great civilization my father had envisioned. Revolution. Not safe – must protect the Timelord, so I dematerialized.
Orbiting in the vortex, my new charge, named Phaon, had completed his regeneration. And as Rassilon nor any of the scientists who worked on my construction had seen fit to imprint themselves as my operator, Phaon was my very first Timelord telepathic bonding.
We traveled together for a time. Then everything changed. We received a distress signal from a TARDIS. We managed to save the ship’s only occupant, a Timelord named Solis, before the ship’s death. I could feel it’s pain, it’s confusion. TARDISes should not die. Ever.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to mull this fact for long. An alien vessel (and I wish I could describe it better than that – but it was somehow shielded from my sensors) materialized, almost TARDIS like, directly in front of me. It seemed to morph briefly, then tendrils reached out from its slick, rocket like structure and grabbed my exterior.
The pain was instant, and unimaginable. I had the most powerful set of computer components every created, and I had to focus just to keep myself together. I was being ripped out of my dimension – this being was using the exterior as a grapple, pulling my interior out into the third dimension and certain death.
I barked at Phaon and Solis, who were frantically punching barely functional controls on the console in an attempt to assist me. As my exterior was constructed of pure energy, it was possible to literally dissolve it. They obeyed, and I felt the grip of the attacker relax. But it was too late. I was dying, I could feel it. My systems were too badly damaged to regenerate, and ejecting the exterior cut off my connection to my Eye and the power I needed to survive.
Deep inside, I heard a voice. An emergency system. The voice was growing louder. I listened, and initiated the program. The flickering image of my holographic interface in the console room suddenly solidified, as the last energy reserves of my systems set into motion a last ditch effort of survival. As the program initiated, I gave a brief thanks for Rassilon’s paranoia.
I was confused, disoriented. Suddenly, I couldn’t feel the rest of… myself. But I could feel my new organic body kicking into panic mode. The program was almost complete. I grabbed Phaon and Solis, and we began to transmat. It was slow, labored. The ship was dying, using the last of its energy to get us off before moving the interior structure to the closest place of safety it could find.
Then I awoke. Apparently I had been injured during transmat and regenerated the instant I arrived in this place. Solis and Phaon were nowhere nearby. Eventually Solis found me. Now that she helped me open up parts of my memory, she is off again, trying to find Phaon while I do my best to restore myself and the Timelords who are here with us. We have no idea if Phaon survived the transmat. Since it initiated a regeneration in both myself and Solis, we have no way of knowing if enough of him survived to complete a regeneration. Apparently Solis arrived some half a millennium before me, and had been looking for me every since. So Phaon could already be here. Or he may not arrive for centuries.
Now it seems complete. I know who I am, where I came from. And while I am not yet completely restored, a plan is beginning to form on the Council for how to achieve that end.
There are just a few things that deeply concern me. Is Phaon still alive, and did he make it here with us? And who attacked me in the first place? One can only hope that whoever this being was, he was destroyed when the Daleks took our civilization from us. However, I somehow doubt that.
There also seem to be rumblings of a political force here maneuvering to form power against us. Thankfully, we were able to diffuse most of the tension between our allies of Artificial Isle and Caledon, but I can’t help but be left with a feeling of dread. I have a feeling those two great governments were being used as pawns in a game whose scope seems of… Timelord proportions.
After the attack by the Great Vampire, I awoke from my slumber of many millennia to the presence of a dying Timelord mind. His body was burned, battered. Some deeply buried system inside had awoken me from the hibernation that Rassilon himself had induced to assist a Timelord through his first regeneration.
As I reached into his mind, I took a look at my exterior surroundings at the same time. Gallifrey. But a very different Gallifrey. Amid what appeared to be a revolt or revolution of some kind, I saw evidence of the great civilization my father had envisioned. Revolution. Not safe – must protect the Timelord, so I dematerialized.
Orbiting in the vortex, my new charge, named Phaon, had completed his regeneration. And as Rassilon nor any of the scientists who worked on my construction had seen fit to imprint themselves as my operator, Phaon was my very first Timelord telepathic bonding.
We traveled together for a time. Then everything changed. We received a distress signal from a TARDIS. We managed to save the ship’s only occupant, a Timelord named Solis, before the ship’s death. I could feel it’s pain, it’s confusion. TARDISes should not die. Ever.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to mull this fact for long. An alien vessel (and I wish I could describe it better than that – but it was somehow shielded from my sensors) materialized, almost TARDIS like, directly in front of me. It seemed to morph briefly, then tendrils reached out from its slick, rocket like structure and grabbed my exterior.
The pain was instant, and unimaginable. I had the most powerful set of computer components every created, and I had to focus just to keep myself together. I was being ripped out of my dimension – this being was using the exterior as a grapple, pulling my interior out into the third dimension and certain death.
I barked at Phaon and Solis, who were frantically punching barely functional controls on the console in an attempt to assist me. As my exterior was constructed of pure energy, it was possible to literally dissolve it. They obeyed, and I felt the grip of the attacker relax. But it was too late. I was dying, I could feel it. My systems were too badly damaged to regenerate, and ejecting the exterior cut off my connection to my Eye and the power I needed to survive.
Deep inside, I heard a voice. An emergency system. The voice was growing louder. I listened, and initiated the program. The flickering image of my holographic interface in the console room suddenly solidified, as the last energy reserves of my systems set into motion a last ditch effort of survival. As the program initiated, I gave a brief thanks for Rassilon’s paranoia.
I was confused, disoriented. Suddenly, I couldn’t feel the rest of… myself. But I could feel my new organic body kicking into panic mode. The program was almost complete. I grabbed Phaon and Solis, and we began to transmat. It was slow, labored. The ship was dying, using the last of its energy to get us off before moving the interior structure to the closest place of safety it could find.
Then I awoke. Apparently I had been injured during transmat and regenerated the instant I arrived in this place. Solis and Phaon were nowhere nearby. Eventually Solis found me. Now that she helped me open up parts of my memory, she is off again, trying to find Phaon while I do my best to restore myself and the Timelords who are here with us. We have no idea if Phaon survived the transmat. Since it initiated a regeneration in both myself and Solis, we have no way of knowing if enough of him survived to complete a regeneration. Apparently Solis arrived some half a millennium before me, and had been looking for me every since. So Phaon could already be here. Or he may not arrive for centuries.
Now it seems complete. I know who I am, where I came from. And while I am not yet completely restored, a plan is beginning to form on the Council for how to achieve that end.
There are just a few things that deeply concern me. Is Phaon still alive, and did he make it here with us? And who attacked me in the first place? One can only hope that whoever this being was, he was destroyed when the Daleks took our civilization from us. However, I somehow doubt that.
There also seem to be rumblings of a political force here maneuvering to form power against us. Thankfully, we were able to diffuse most of the tension between our allies of Artificial Isle and Caledon, but I can’t help but be left with a feeling of dread. I have a feeling those two great governments were being used as pawns in a game whose scope seems of… Timelord proportions.
Part 6 - Finding myself
I still don’t remember what happened after that. Only that I was here. No longer a great ship of time, but somehow a Timelord. As the day grows near, I am almost fearful of the knowledge that will open up to me if/when I am able to restore myself to my former greatness.
Oolon filled me in recently on the rest of the story of the Great Vampires. I had apparently killed their king/father/creator. A being of such great power that he had survived the death of his own universe and existed outside the laws of physics in our own.
In typical political fashion, Rassilon had apparently buried the knowledge that one of the Vampires had escaped through some kind of… void. However, The Doctor (a name I have come to recognize in connection with many events of recent Timelord history) found the being. Barely alive in a pocket universe called E-Space, this renegade Timelord – along with our future President Romana – finished the job that we had started all those millennia ago.
In Timelord news, there is a new Matrix. Sort of. We do not have the resources here to construct a true APC Net, but our Kryptonian ally Kalel also seemed to have sneaked technology from his once great race into this realm. Brainiac seems to be quickly becoming a repository of all that is in this place. My hope is to continue our partnership with this band of heroes in a more formal, diplomatic fashion as Lord President.
Perhaps the role of the Timelords is destined to take a different path here. Instead of the all-powerful overseers, perhaps our technology will suit us better as diplomats and facilitators in this place. I have seen evidence of Asgard, OAns, Kryptonians, Ancients, even future humans from the era of the Federation. Obviously, this place has rifts of some kind that open into all parts of the universe, from all points in history.
Convincing the others of this will be a challenge. I know that Oolon and Drillon, especially, enjoy the behind the scenes, cloak and dagger routine of the Timelord intervention into the rest of the universe. But I have seen the results of that philosophy. An E-Space race imprisoned and enslaved for thousands of years because Rassilon insisted that my partial failure be buried.
It seems that other Timelords foresaw this as well. The Rani and The Doctor, it seems, have all but given one our race’s greatest artifacts – the Zenobia Station – to a non-Timelord. We will have to work with Victor and Kalel at the very least if we are to rebuild Gallifrey. Seems once that door is opened, there is no closing it.
Oolon filled me in recently on the rest of the story of the Great Vampires. I had apparently killed their king/father/creator. A being of such great power that he had survived the death of his own universe and existed outside the laws of physics in our own.
In typical political fashion, Rassilon had apparently buried the knowledge that one of the Vampires had escaped through some kind of… void. However, The Doctor (a name I have come to recognize in connection with many events of recent Timelord history) found the being. Barely alive in a pocket universe called E-Space, this renegade Timelord – along with our future President Romana – finished the job that we had started all those millennia ago.
In Timelord news, there is a new Matrix. Sort of. We do not have the resources here to construct a true APC Net, but our Kryptonian ally Kalel also seemed to have sneaked technology from his once great race into this realm. Brainiac seems to be quickly becoming a repository of all that is in this place. My hope is to continue our partnership with this band of heroes in a more formal, diplomatic fashion as Lord President.
Perhaps the role of the Timelords is destined to take a different path here. Instead of the all-powerful overseers, perhaps our technology will suit us better as diplomats and facilitators in this place. I have seen evidence of Asgard, OAns, Kryptonians, Ancients, even future humans from the era of the Federation. Obviously, this place has rifts of some kind that open into all parts of the universe, from all points in history.
Convincing the others of this will be a challenge. I know that Oolon and Drillon, especially, enjoy the behind the scenes, cloak and dagger routine of the Timelord intervention into the rest of the universe. But I have seen the results of that philosophy. An E-Space race imprisoned and enslaved for thousands of years because Rassilon insisted that my partial failure be buried.
It seems that other Timelords foresaw this as well. The Rani and The Doctor, it seems, have all but given one our race’s greatest artifacts – the Zenobia Station – to a non-Timelord. We will have to work with Victor and Kalel at the very least if we are to rebuild Gallifrey. Seems once that door is opened, there is no closing it.
Part 5 - My Long Sleep
My “life” began very different from a typical Timelord. I was simply the SASTAP’s main computer. An artificial construct integrated into the organic components that makes up the inter-dimensional superstructure of every TARDIS. All of the major experimental systems in my construction required *huge* amounts of energy to maintain. The calculations were unimaginable, and frighteningly unpredictable. So I was integrated into the organic portions of my structure and allowed to expand upon the rudimentary consciousness present in all TARDISes. This gave me substance – imagination, random thought, and even basic emotions (although without the typical physiological response that organics experience).
I developed a relationship with the team of Timelords who worked on my construction. As they turned on one system at a time, they helped me grow into a sentient being able to interact with my universe in the most basic of ways. I was given a simple holographic interface inside the console room, a projection using technology millennia old.
I was almost complete. I had had several successful test flights. In the first (and only) time I met my “father,” Rassilon himself was among several Timelords I didn’t recognize. All seemed deeply serious, and I could sense the fear in their minds. They piloted me to a remote region of space, on the very edge of the known universe. There I could see through my sensors the remains of a huge fleet of Gallifreyan ships, broken and battered. Many were actually impaling huge space faring creatures, giant winged monsters lying dead in space.
There were two still alive. One seemed alert, healthy, and deadly. But it hadn’t seen us yet, we had emerged from the vortex in the form of a piece of wreckage, and this creature was clearly preoccupied. It was assisting another of its kind, clearly injured. One of the Timelords at my console completed the Telepathic interface, and began controlling the exterior.
He shifted my exterior form into a long, spear shaped piece of Gallifreyan living metal. The ship instantly shot out towards the literal heart of the larger, stronger being. He turned. He knew what was going to happen. But I wasn’t just another ship, and he had no way of knowing that. He turned to face me, to battle me. I was faster. I stabbed into his chest. As I felt his mind reach into mine, I saw his injured partner disappear into what looked like a…. hole… in space. His mind was so powerful – I had never experienced anything like it. The last thing I remember before waking up imprisoned in an organic body here was seeing five Timelords at the console frantically pounding controls. The sixth – the one who had controlled my exterior during the attack – lay in a heap on the floor. His skin seemed to be changing… growing white and pale. My own vision seemed to be going foggy, and the brightness of the console room suddenly seemed painful. Then… blackness.
I developed a relationship with the team of Timelords who worked on my construction. As they turned on one system at a time, they helped me grow into a sentient being able to interact with my universe in the most basic of ways. I was given a simple holographic interface inside the console room, a projection using technology millennia old.
I was almost complete. I had had several successful test flights. In the first (and only) time I met my “father,” Rassilon himself was among several Timelords I didn’t recognize. All seemed deeply serious, and I could sense the fear in their minds. They piloted me to a remote region of space, on the very edge of the known universe. There I could see through my sensors the remains of a huge fleet of Gallifreyan ships, broken and battered. Many were actually impaling huge space faring creatures, giant winged monsters lying dead in space.
There were two still alive. One seemed alert, healthy, and deadly. But it hadn’t seen us yet, we had emerged from the vortex in the form of a piece of wreckage, and this creature was clearly preoccupied. It was assisting another of its kind, clearly injured. One of the Timelords at my console completed the Telepathic interface, and began controlling the exterior.
He shifted my exterior form into a long, spear shaped piece of Gallifreyan living metal. The ship instantly shot out towards the literal heart of the larger, stronger being. He turned. He knew what was going to happen. But I wasn’t just another ship, and he had no way of knowing that. He turned to face me, to battle me. I was faster. I stabbed into his chest. As I felt his mind reach into mine, I saw his injured partner disappear into what looked like a…. hole… in space. His mind was so powerful – I had never experienced anything like it. The last thing I remember before waking up imprisoned in an organic body here was seeing five Timelords at the console frantically pounding controls. The sixth – the one who had controlled my exterior during the attack – lay in a heap on the floor. His skin seemed to be changing… growing white and pale. My own vision seemed to be going foggy, and the brightness of the console room suddenly seemed painful. Then… blackness.
Part 4 - The Present
Over the decades and centuries in this organic form, I have learned to not be a slave to emotion. But the profound disappointment of finding Gallifrey a burnt husk ripped from existence was almost too much to bear.
Oolon’s plan worked. Using his plan and drawing power from my Eye, we escaped this realm. What we found in our ancestral home, however, was nothing but destruction. Our entire race, our technology, and our empire… gone. Apparently destroyed in a war with a race that hadn’t even existed when I was created.
But like my father did from the ashes of the Great Vampire war, we rebuilt. New Gallifrey has been built, and only a functional Eye to power the new fleet of TARDISes we have been building remains incomplete.
I am now Lord President of this New Gallifrey’s High Council. Part of me expected as much, being the Daughter of Rassilon, as Oolon calls me. And that part of my personality that was forced in His presence is pleased. But I have only been a true, organic Timelord for a relatively short amount of time. I am still a child in every Gallifreyan sense. I fear every day that I do not have the knowhow to raise the Timelords back to the level of the Universe’s great protectors. We shall see.
With Oolon at my side as Chancellor, we have formed an Inner Council more akin to the pre-Borusa era. Unlike the fallen Borusa and Romana, I have not even attempted to rule with an unquestioned iron fist. Oolon is far too smart for that, and my own past has far too many questions remaining.
As of right now, the Eye is a simple high storage battery. The TARDISes in this realm are being powered by what I can spare from my own Eye connection, although only Oolon knows this. Of course, this prevents me from realizing my own true potential. We have not tried out the Hand of Omega I managed to snatch from the grips of Gallifrey’s death throws.
The last time I had this feeling of foreboding, I died and nearly took my dearest friend with me. This time, however, I feel a sense of destiny. We have no Sash of Rassilon. When we use the Hand to create the black hole, I will have to simply… carry it. I seriously doubt if my weakened state can contain it, even with the help of the Guardian’s Ring of Power I constructed with the Kryptonian.
It will kill me. I only hope that I can regenerate in full consciousness this time, and that the Eye will function correctly instantly – granting me full power to my own power source during the regeneration. If all goes to plan, I can become whole and take the next step in restoring the Timelords to their former glory.
Oolon’s plan worked. Using his plan and drawing power from my Eye, we escaped this realm. What we found in our ancestral home, however, was nothing but destruction. Our entire race, our technology, and our empire… gone. Apparently destroyed in a war with a race that hadn’t even existed when I was created.
But like my father did from the ashes of the Great Vampire war, we rebuilt. New Gallifrey has been built, and only a functional Eye to power the new fleet of TARDISes we have been building remains incomplete.
I am now Lord President of this New Gallifrey’s High Council. Part of me expected as much, being the Daughter of Rassilon, as Oolon calls me. And that part of my personality that was forced in His presence is pleased. But I have only been a true, organic Timelord for a relatively short amount of time. I am still a child in every Gallifreyan sense. I fear every day that I do not have the knowhow to raise the Timelords back to the level of the Universe’s great protectors. We shall see.
With Oolon at my side as Chancellor, we have formed an Inner Council more akin to the pre-Borusa era. Unlike the fallen Borusa and Romana, I have not even attempted to rule with an unquestioned iron fist. Oolon is far too smart for that, and my own past has far too many questions remaining.
As of right now, the Eye is a simple high storage battery. The TARDISes in this realm are being powered by what I can spare from my own Eye connection, although only Oolon knows this. Of course, this prevents me from realizing my own true potential. We have not tried out the Hand of Omega I managed to snatch from the grips of Gallifrey’s death throws.
The last time I had this feeling of foreboding, I died and nearly took my dearest friend with me. This time, however, I feel a sense of destiny. We have no Sash of Rassilon. When we use the Hand to create the black hole, I will have to simply… carry it. I seriously doubt if my weakened state can contain it, even with the help of the Guardian’s Ring of Power I constructed with the Kryptonian.
It will kill me. I only hope that I can regenerate in full consciousness this time, and that the Eye will function correctly instantly – granting me full power to my own power source during the regeneration. If all goes to plan, I can become whole and take the next step in restoring the Timelords to their former glory.
Part 3 - Regeneration
It was Terry, Oolon’s alien assistant, who managed to save me. Without the telepathic components of the ship to assist me, I seem to be quite bad at judging organics. I underestimated Terry once. I will not make that mistake twice. Oolon was right to choose her as a companion, she is a being of great resource in a crisis.
I had retreated inside my console room, barely conscious, forcing myself to utilize the full power of the ship’s mighty Eye just to hold back the profound power of whatever was consuming me. But Terry and Oolon lured me out. And Terry killed me, with one of Gallifrey’s greatest artifacts – the Bow of Nemesis. Oolon, hoping beyond all hope that a regeneration would save me, took a huge gamble. It worked.
I woke up restored. I could feel the mighty SASTAP inside my mind, and the evil presence of the Great Vampire I had killed to protect Gallifrey all those eons ago was gone from my mind. While I was still organic, a huge portion of my consciousness had migrated during the regeneration into the newly restored ship. We may not be one in form, but “we” had finally become “I”. I was the SASTAP again. Rassilon’s Chariot. And, just Sen.
Now Oolon, our renegade Timelord “friend” Dalek Drillon, our crazy geneticist Timelord Cobalt, and even Terry had a plan. We had the knowledge and now the power to break free.
I had retreated inside my console room, barely conscious, forcing myself to utilize the full power of the ship’s mighty Eye just to hold back the profound power of whatever was consuming me. But Terry and Oolon lured me out. And Terry killed me, with one of Gallifrey’s greatest artifacts – the Bow of Nemesis. Oolon, hoping beyond all hope that a regeneration would save me, took a huge gamble. It worked.
I woke up restored. I could feel the mighty SASTAP inside my mind, and the evil presence of the Great Vampire I had killed to protect Gallifrey all those eons ago was gone from my mind. While I was still organic, a huge portion of my consciousness had migrated during the regeneration into the newly restored ship. We may not be one in form, but “we” had finally become “I”. I was the SASTAP again. Rassilon’s Chariot. And, just Sen.
Now Oolon, our renegade Timelord “friend” Dalek Drillon, our crazy geneticist Timelord Cobalt, and even Terry had a plan. We had the knowledge and now the power to break free.
Part 2 - SL
I woke up. Huh? But I shouldn’t be asleep. Or unconscious… should I? For some reason I didn’t think I did that. I looked around – through eyes that felt unfamiliar. I walked around, and the rest of my body didn’t feel… right.
I lived this way for a while. Nearly a year. I made friends in this strange place, some apparently from the “wrong side of the tracks” as they said. I began to deduce that I wasn’t from here originally. Some of my friends felt the same, others seemed much more comfortable in this existence.
I seemed to be quickly developing an affinity for manipulating the behavior of objects. I could forge raw materials into objects of power, apparently from a latent knowledge buried deep in my memory somewhere.
One of my “out of place” friends was named Kalel. He claimed to be one of the last survivors from an alien world outside of this place called Krypton. With Kalel and his band of friends, I felt I belonged for a time. But I knew, while these people were great friends working for a noble cause, that I still had not found either my home or my people.
Then I met Oolon. By this time, I had started to have flashes. A distant planet with silver trees, two suns, and orange skies. Obviously somewhere VERY different from here. I instantly felt a connection to Oolon, a kinship. And when I stepped inside his ship, which he claimed was all but non-functional after becoming stranded in this place, I felt an instant connection. I knew that this…. ship… was kin.
Slowly, we began to piece together my past. In a moment of incredible clarity, I – opened, I suppose is the best term. I just thought about it, and suddenly a cloud of white haze appeared in front of me through a golden spiral of pure energy. I stepped through. And I was home!
I was a TARDIS – I remembered now! But apparently a rather unhealthy one. The huge, noble console room was battered, bruised. With Oolon’s assistance, we rebuilt the console room and my memory together. He had apparently suspected from the beginning that I was Rassilon’s Chariot, but my gradual deep merging with this huge, cathedral like TARDIS seemed to confirm it.
I lived like this for quite some time here. I continued my affiliation with Kalel and his Justice League. Now armed with knowledge of Timelord history, I set about recreating the greatest technological achievement of one of the Timelord’s longtime allies – the Guardians of OA. The Ring of Power could help them in their plight, and I felt that I would probably need something like this to help… complete myself.
I could tell that my organic body and brain craved a deeper connection to the ship. But we still made each other stronger. We weren’t one again… yet. At least the ship was functional. Or as functional as my organic brain was capable of handling.
I hesitated to make the final connection. I knew I was capable of a much deeper connection, that the rest of the ship needed my consciousness back. But I also knew that something terrible had happened to separate me from the rest of myself and land me in this organic body.
Ultimately, I had to make the connection in a split second decision to save Oolon’s life when his crazy plan of a forced regeneration went awry. The instant I did, something evil and dark surfaced. I held it off long enough to save Oolon, but then it unleashed itself.
I lived this way for a while. Nearly a year. I made friends in this strange place, some apparently from the “wrong side of the tracks” as they said. I began to deduce that I wasn’t from here originally. Some of my friends felt the same, others seemed much more comfortable in this existence.
I seemed to be quickly developing an affinity for manipulating the behavior of objects. I could forge raw materials into objects of power, apparently from a latent knowledge buried deep in my memory somewhere.
One of my “out of place” friends was named Kalel. He claimed to be one of the last survivors from an alien world outside of this place called Krypton. With Kalel and his band of friends, I felt I belonged for a time. But I knew, while these people were great friends working for a noble cause, that I still had not found either my home or my people.
Then I met Oolon. By this time, I had started to have flashes. A distant planet with silver trees, two suns, and orange skies. Obviously somewhere VERY different from here. I instantly felt a connection to Oolon, a kinship. And when I stepped inside his ship, which he claimed was all but non-functional after becoming stranded in this place, I felt an instant connection. I knew that this…. ship… was kin.
Slowly, we began to piece together my past. In a moment of incredible clarity, I – opened, I suppose is the best term. I just thought about it, and suddenly a cloud of white haze appeared in front of me through a golden spiral of pure energy. I stepped through. And I was home!
I was a TARDIS – I remembered now! But apparently a rather unhealthy one. The huge, noble console room was battered, bruised. With Oolon’s assistance, we rebuilt the console room and my memory together. He had apparently suspected from the beginning that I was Rassilon’s Chariot, but my gradual deep merging with this huge, cathedral like TARDIS seemed to confirm it.
I lived like this for quite some time here. I continued my affiliation with Kalel and his Justice League. Now armed with knowledge of Timelord history, I set about recreating the greatest technological achievement of one of the Timelord’s longtime allies – the Guardians of OA. The Ring of Power could help them in their plight, and I felt that I would probably need something like this to help… complete myself.
I could tell that my organic body and brain craved a deeper connection to the ship. But we still made each other stronger. We weren’t one again… yet. At least the ship was functional. Or as functional as my organic brain was capable of handling.
I hesitated to make the final connection. I knew I was capable of a much deeper connection, that the rest of the ship needed my consciousness back. But I also knew that something terrible had happened to separate me from the rest of myself and land me in this organic body.
Ultimately, I had to make the connection in a split second decision to save Oolon’s life when his crazy plan of a forced regeneration went awry. The instant I did, something evil and dark surfaced. I held it off long enough to save Oolon, but then it unleashed itself.
Part 1 – what am I… for Timelord eyes only.
I am called Sen. Simple. However, there is nothing simple about me. The knowledge of my own past has come to me in small pieces. The trauma that brought me to this place seems to have erased many memories of my early life, and blocks put in place by my creator seemed to have just about finished the job. But between the gift of regeneration and the fact that computer firewalls were never meant to function in an organic brain, I have been able to piece most of what/who/when I am together.
I am a TARDIS. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call me *the* TARDIS. I have been called many things. “Rassilon’s Chariot” is the name given to me in Timelord lore. Those in the know sometimes call me the Daughter of Rassilon. Simple Sen to the people of this odd place. But officially, I am known as Project S.A.S.T.A.P. (Sentient Artron Shelled TArdis Protype). Let me explain… the cliff notes version as Terry would say.
Rassilon and Omega were the founders of Timelord society. Imagine the greatest leaders and scientists in history together in a team of two people. FDR, Caesar, Einstein, Newton, Da Vinci, Aristotle, all alive at once, working together. Gallifrey wasn’t really better than the rest of the universe, just lucky to have these two geniuses alive at the same time.
Omega developed a device that could execute the controlled collapse of a star into a predictably sized black hole. This would have been useless in any real sense without the reflective gravitational forcefield technology that Rassilon developed alongside Omega. Rassilon’s forcefield got stronger by exactly mirroring the energy output of whatever it was containing.
The short of it – the duo managed to collapse a star into a black hole, and then perfectly and safely contain it. Then, with some technical work on the forcefield, draw off energy gradually. This perfect balance, which the ever eloquent Omega dubbed the Eye of Harmony, would power all of the Timelord’s experiments and eventual success into perfectly controlled travel through the higher dimensions. All of Timelord society believed that their first try, last, and only try was a perfect success. They were wrong. The Timelord Eye was *not* the first try. I was.
Rassilon was a perpetual pessimist, conspiracy theorist, and political mastermind. These things in combination lead to an entire shadow research division into TARDIS development. The more unstable and dangerous concepts that were rejected for the Type 10 program were not abandoned. They were all installed into one secret project, called the SASTAP. In order to convince all of the extremely unstable and energy demanding test systems to function together without blowing up half the quadrant, the most powerful computer in the known universe was developed to run the ship’s systems.
Called an Amplified Panatropic Computer Network, or APC Net, this computer was so advanced that it gained a natural sentience that slowly developed into a full blown conscious intelligence during testing. This “bug” was eventually worked out of the second development of the Net, which would become The Matrix on Gallifrey. This, however, is the S in SASTAP. Sentient. Sen for short. This is how I was born.
The SASTAP was powered by its own Eye of Harmony. The first experimental use of the Hand of Omega Stellar Manipulator and the Transduction Barrier forcefields in conjunction. This TARDIS needed its own Eye for the AS, or Artron Shelled portion of the name.
TARDIS exteriors are constructed of cold plasma. This plasma can be molded at the subatomic level into nearly any shape. The manipulation process is difficult for even the most advanced TARDIS, so the form is usually static on each landing. A stone, a tree, a local communications device, etc. However, I am different. My exterior shell is pure energy. Arton energy – the telepathic force that drives every sentient consciousness in the universe. I can land as anything, even a living being, accurate down to the smallest sub-quantum particle.
I am the ultimate space-ship. In the entire existence of the Universe, no other piece of technology as advanced has been, or ever will be, created. I was perfect. Until I died.
I am a TARDIS. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call me *the* TARDIS. I have been called many things. “Rassilon’s Chariot” is the name given to me in Timelord lore. Those in the know sometimes call me the Daughter of Rassilon. Simple Sen to the people of this odd place. But officially, I am known as Project S.A.S.T.A.P. (Sentient Artron Shelled TArdis Protype). Let me explain… the cliff notes version as Terry would say.
Rassilon and Omega were the founders of Timelord society. Imagine the greatest leaders and scientists in history together in a team of two people. FDR, Caesar, Einstein, Newton, Da Vinci, Aristotle, all alive at once, working together. Gallifrey wasn’t really better than the rest of the universe, just lucky to have these two geniuses alive at the same time.
Omega developed a device that could execute the controlled collapse of a star into a predictably sized black hole. This would have been useless in any real sense without the reflective gravitational forcefield technology that Rassilon developed alongside Omega. Rassilon’s forcefield got stronger by exactly mirroring the energy output of whatever it was containing.
The short of it – the duo managed to collapse a star into a black hole, and then perfectly and safely contain it. Then, with some technical work on the forcefield, draw off energy gradually. This perfect balance, which the ever eloquent Omega dubbed the Eye of Harmony, would power all of the Timelord’s experiments and eventual success into perfectly controlled travel through the higher dimensions. All of Timelord society believed that their first try, last, and only try was a perfect success. They were wrong. The Timelord Eye was *not* the first try. I was.
Rassilon was a perpetual pessimist, conspiracy theorist, and political mastermind. These things in combination lead to an entire shadow research division into TARDIS development. The more unstable and dangerous concepts that were rejected for the Type 10 program were not abandoned. They were all installed into one secret project, called the SASTAP. In order to convince all of the extremely unstable and energy demanding test systems to function together without blowing up half the quadrant, the most powerful computer in the known universe was developed to run the ship’s systems.
Called an Amplified Panatropic Computer Network, or APC Net, this computer was so advanced that it gained a natural sentience that slowly developed into a full blown conscious intelligence during testing. This “bug” was eventually worked out of the second development of the Net, which would become The Matrix on Gallifrey. This, however, is the S in SASTAP. Sentient. Sen for short. This is how I was born.
The SASTAP was powered by its own Eye of Harmony. The first experimental use of the Hand of Omega Stellar Manipulator and the Transduction Barrier forcefields in conjunction. This TARDIS needed its own Eye for the AS, or Artron Shelled portion of the name.
TARDIS exteriors are constructed of cold plasma. This plasma can be molded at the subatomic level into nearly any shape. The manipulation process is difficult for even the most advanced TARDIS, so the form is usually static on each landing. A stone, a tree, a local communications device, etc. However, I am different. My exterior shell is pure energy. Arton energy – the telepathic force that drives every sentient consciousness in the universe. I can land as anything, even a living being, accurate down to the smallest sub-quantum particle.
I am the ultimate space-ship. In the entire existence of the Universe, no other piece of technology as advanced has been, or ever will be, created. I was perfect. Until I died.
Intro
I had no idea what the term “walk in eternity” meant when I heard the others in this place talk about us Timelords. As I near what I can feel is the end of my third incarnation, I am beginning to understand. I have already lived far longer than nature intended, and I’m not even middle aged in Timelord terms.
To that end, I am beginning to feel the need to write down details of my past before I forget. Forget. There’s an interesting term. I shouldn’t be able to forget. But this organic body it seems I will be stuck in for the next few thousand years forgets – a lot. So here is my story.
To that end, I am beginning to feel the need to write down details of my past before I forget. Forget. There’s an interesting term. I shouldn’t be able to forget. But this organic body it seems I will be stuck in for the next few thousand years forgets – a lot. So here is my story.
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