Part 50 – Theta Project

Before becoming a Guardian, Sen had long been working on solidifying the physics of Capsule technology in SL-Space. There were huge successes, but still gaps. Many capsules sent from N-Space were extremely difficult to refit, their existing mechanical components being all but impossible to make work here.

While we still hadn't figured out a way to grow new Titans here in SL-Space, two young new additions to our growing capital city named Zaros and Kea were finally successful in creating a uniform mechanical tech protocol that seemed effective for every old TTC that was brought to SL-Space by The Abbot. We called it the Type Theta. We blew through the first few Marks in testing and field trials, by the time I write this every TTC in SL-Space is now fitted with Type Theta, Mk VI mechanical components. In order for any of this to make sense, we need some TTC back story. I'll dig into Sen's ancient memories here, and do you up a nice lecture on Gallifreyan Time Travel Capsules.

A Time Travel Capsule is actually a careful melding of technology and a living being. Titans are extra-dimensional beings of supreme age and wisdom, who have been linked to Gallifrey in some unknown way since the dawn of the metaverse. Supremely powerful and wild, these beings are so much more advanced than us that even basic communication is beyond most Timelords.

The ancient Gallifreyans harnessed these Titans by “saddling” then with mechanical technology we know as a machine of Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. At this point, the saddled Titan was refereed to as the “Heart” of this constructed TARDIS.

The first full production run of TARDISes were referred to as Type 10's. After some refinements, the Type 11 was produced. Note that these are simply enhancements to the mechanical portions of the Capsule that are melded with the living Heart.

As Type 11's entered into service, Type 10's were returned for refit – their mechanical portions replaced and upgraded. These crafts were then referred to as Type 10, Mark I. This made them equal in specifications to the new Type 11's. This process continued. Type 12's were issued, meaning Type 11 Mk. 1's amd Type 10 Mk. II's still performed along side them.

At some point, the technology simply became too outdated, and the mechanical portions were scraped completely and replaced all new. This is when the Type designation increased to the next decade. The introduction of the Type 20 meant that all TTC's between Type 10 and Type 19 were decommissioned. The Heart stripped of all its mechanical components and completely refitted. Often, given the age of the Titan at that point, it was “retired” and return to the wild for breeding stock.

When I fled Gallifrey with Sen, the Type 65's had just been issued. Timelords who have come to SL-Space during or after the Time War speak of Type 90 War TARDISes, and extremely advanced Agency crafts in the Type 80 series. All of this is now ancient history. The mechanical portions of the Capsule are rendered as little more than pretty life-support chambers upon arriving to SL-Space, no longer able to connect and function with the Titan now injured and severed from its saddle.

Part 49 – Gothess

As far as villains go, Tethseram is pretty small fry. His ambitions are somewhat unclear, as his end came about...ok, I get ahead of myself. Tethersam's first official act in SL space went unknown to the Council for quite some time. After piecing together the puzzle, here's what we know happened.

Shortly after the destruction of the Panopticon, Madman was pulled to a space station located in what can only be described as a reality “bubble”. An area of nothing between two universes – in this case SL-Space and Madspace – the pocket universe contained in the Eye of Harmony of Madman's Capsule.

Madman was held there for over a century, all the time being brainwashed by Tethseram. The influence was subtle – Tethseram wasn't going for complete control. Just influence. Upon returning Madman to SL-Space and wiping his conscious memory of the incident, Tethseram began exerting his control over which voices in Madspace found their way to Madman's mind through his Capsule's telepathic circuits.

Madman slowly began to distrust authority in any form as his mind struggled with what had happened. When Tethseram's ego got the better of him and he began taunting New Gallifrey, Madman saw an opportunity, not realizing he was hunting his own oppressor.

He sent in Gothess as an agent undercover into Madspace, unaware that the Agency already had someone inside. Gothess largely succeeded in her mission. Unknown to anyone else at the time, another young Timelord named Dracony had grown suspicious of Gothess and followed her into Madspace. Eventually, both were discovered and captured.

Upon learning of their disappearance and being completely unaware of Gothess' mission, the Council ordered the Agency to activate the Recall on both Timelord's Capsules. However, instead of returning them to New Gallifrey, both Capsules were used as advanced sensor probes to map and record as much of Madspace for the Matrix as possible.

Between the Capsules' scans and Agent ***REDACTED*** undercover report, the Agency had enough intel to mount a rescue. The incursion was a partial success, with only Gothess being discovered and returned. She had been brainwashed by Tethseram and was going to be returned to SL-Space as a double agent.

After being interrogated by the Agency and her memories and mind restored by the Sisterhood, a chilling truth was revealed. Tethseram was in fact a future incarnation of the Madman himself.

Part 48 – Mad Space

The following is a redacted report by a Celestial Intervention Agent upon returning from an undercover mission to Madman's pocket universe, code named Madspace -

Official Report – Agent ***REDACTED***

re: Undercover incursion into Bifrost pocket universe

Physics -

The pocket universe is quite small, containing only one hypo-spiral galaxy with approximately 5000 star systems. Exactly 510 of these contain inhabited planets. Obviously, these numbers are not by random chance.

What appears to be the requisite singularity at the center of the spiral is, in fact, a “bridge” to SL-Space. For now, this bridge is only one way, as the gravitational forces to approach it are far too intense for any of the technology possessed by races inside the universe to navigate.

As physics in this universe appears identical to that of SL-Space, it is reasonable to assume that it is an alternate to SL-Space, and was engineered artificially and split off from us.

Local government structure and culture -

The ruler-apparent of this universe is, of course, the Great One. A Great Vampire brought from N-Space, he oversees around 500 of the 510 inhabited worlds. More later on the other 10. The worlds ruled by this creature all follow a very simple pattern that we have seen before.

Upon arrival to the pocket universe, I found myself on a small planet orbiting a blue-supergiant called Ansular. The people of Ansular are humanoid (their N or SL-Space planet of origin is unknown). Because of the unstable star Ansular orbits, seasons are brutal, extreme, and often fatal.

To add to the instability, once a year the planet passes within three light minutes of a brown dwarf star that used to be Ansular Major's twin. This dead star still gives off considerable heat and gravitational forces. As the dwarf star passes by the planet each year, the gravitational and heat stresses turn most of the equatorial region into a boiling mass of volcanic eruptions, hurricane force winds, and Earthquakes.

Most of the slave inhabitants of Ansular live close the poles, where the effects of this unique phenomena are more… manageable. At the exact equator and apex of the dwarf star's passage by the planet, is located the Capital Citadel. It is a relatively simplistic ship based on – you guessed it – a Timelord Bowship design, but appears to have been originally constructed in house. The ship hovers some 200 feet above ground level, with simplistic walkways connecting it to the ground. For about 11 months of the planet's 14 month year, the ground is passable for shipping and commerce, albeit extremely harsh and unforgiving conditions.

Inside the Capital, I ingratiated myself with the ruling Vampire (named Dantus) and ***REDACTED***. At first, I acted as his voice to the People, traveling from one village to another to force payment of “gratitude.” Of course, the entire planet is being strip mined by a culture of suppressed slave labor held in the Middle Ages culturally and technologically. All resources – including an annual culling of ten percent of the population for vampire food – are being ripped from the planet.

Once I became a trusted… friend... of Dantus, I began inquiring as to how the planet's resources are shipped offworld. During the annual passage of the dwarf star, various shipping vessels arrive to dock with the Capital ship and move cargo. Of course, they are using the cover of planetary upheaval (an event shrouded in religious ritual to the locals) to hide their arrival and departure from the local populace.

Commerce -

After spending three years as Dantus' ***REDACTED***, I was finally able to secure passage on one of the cargo vessels to oversee the arrival of slave-food offerings to the Great One. We headed to a small system called Turatta. Once we landed on Turatta, the image was of a very different culture. This planet was a thriving technological hub, with what appeared to be a very militaristic feel. Advanced cargo shipping tech, what appeared to be an extremely busy port, but without any culture. All business.

What was most disturbing was who was controlling security and the workforce. While the planet appeared to be typically run by two Vampires, the rest of the workers and security were Racnos. Huge shipping crates full of mined resources were being moved, along with thousands of humanoid slaves. Approximately one out of every ten slaves were sent to a separate building… I discovered later they were meant to head to the Great Vampire as food. The other nine stayed on the planet to become Racnos food.

Having abandoned Dantus' mission, I set out on Turatta to find a group of people I had heard whisperings about from slaves. They called themselves the Chronarchs, and believed them to be the salvation of their suffering. To the backwards and suppressed slaves, they were little more than legend, but I felt confident there was a basis in fact.

History -

Of course, all discussion, writings, and rituals surrounding history are forbidden on all 500 vampire controlled worlds. Upon arriving on Turatta, I was able – after a couple months of delicate searching and talks – to find a vampire named Beo. Beo claimed to be a Chronarch. I spent a great deal of time with Beo from there on out. First, his history of the universe proved to be extremely interesting.

He spoke of the universe being created by a great warrior from nothing. A being from another existence who brought the burden of a great War with him. After analyzing the language evolution of several ancient texts, I came to the conclusion that this being was none other than our own Dalek Drillon.

Beo said that Drillon came here to build a great army. He brought many of his enemies here, but used his great intellect to turn them into beings who would be forced to work for him, or instantly die. Here I presumed that Beo was referring to some sort of genetically imbedded “kill switch.”

The people of Pretium (the name given by the Chronarchs to the entire pocket universe) lived in a virtual paradise at this point in history. They had advanced technology and culture, and the democratic rulers traveled between planets to form a great Congress that served at the pleasure of Lord Drillon.

Nine of the remaining ten planets were set aside as research facilities, with each planet containing one particular race that Drillon was investigating as utilizing for a “final solution” to what could only be the N-Space Time War. Obviously, Racnos and Vampires were two of the races. ***REDACTED***. The other six – if they had yet to be implemented – remain a mystery to me.

Beo then spoke of the arrival of another “like our Creator and great Ruler.” He must have been referring to another Timelord. This being possessed great mental ability, and evidently took control of the Great Vampire being held on one of the research planets. He brought the Vampires and Racnos army down upon the final planet – the Great Capital of Pretium. Drillon was killed, the Great Vampire installed as supreme ruler, and the mystery Timelord was never seen again.

Drillon's research team, the surviving members of the Congress, and Drillon's closest advisers went underground. They continued their research, and set about forming a rebel army to – one day – take on the Great Vampire.

The Chronarchs -

The Chronarchs are basically biological Timelords created by Drillon. Their biological makeup relies much more heavily on Vampire genetic material than Rassilon's Timelord retro-virus, giving them a biology ***REDACTED***. They are capable of nearly infinite regeneration, considerable telepathic abilities, and very advanced healing and strength.

However, their bodies are deficient in several key enzymes, which they are forced to manufacture. Their retro-virus is also contagious, meaning blood-to-blood contact with a Chronarch would result in being “turned” into one of them. After thousands of years of exposure to the “thirst”, as it's called, the Chronarchs are also rather…. harsh.

They appear to have constructed very basic SIDRATS. As of yet, these are not capable of breaching the barriers to SL-Space in any sort of reliable or predictable way. But several attempts have left high-energy ruptures in the Vortex where our two universe's are close.

The goal of the Chronarchs is quite clear. They believe that the Timelord who killed Drillon and basically destroyed Pretium is indicative of the entire race. They mean to take the ***REDACTED*** – after killing the Great Vampire that now inhabits the city – sweep into SL-Space, kill all of us, and take our Eye of Harmony. Then they will breach into N-Space, and finish the job Drillon started.

Supposition -

Now, here's the bit that is perhaps the most… disturbing. Vampires are telepathic, more so than Timelords. At least with each other – they tend to hear each others thoughts at the surface much more randomly than Timelords. Timelords and the Chronarchs have a level of control that typical Vampires do not, but thoughts still tend to “leak.”

Throughout my time in Pretium, I could hear a profound voice. It seems to permeate nearly every consciousness to a certain extent. I am confident that my own abilities have shielded me from its gaze, but its reach is impressive.

At first, I thought it was the Great Vampire itself. But then I realized it could not be. No simple vampire could control the flow of thought coming from a Timelord, nor even a Chronarch (I am a Timelord of moderate ability, and I had little difficulty shielding myself). Clearly, this being is responsible for the “voices” that the Madman hears, controlling which voices his own telepathic centers pick up on from the pocket universe. If this being were a Vampire, the Madman would clearly hear the Chronarchs. Given his recent actions, it would seam he does not.

Which means the controlling voice has to be a Chronarch. And a powerful one. I would assume their leader, whom I have yet to meet. If that is indeed the case – and I realize there is a lot of supposition in my previous statements – then the leader of the Chronarch is also the leader of the Vampires. The same man who killed Drillon, setup the Madman, and brought this universe to its knees is also the one leading the rebellion to save it.

Playing both sides is a dangerous game, and one to which I do not see an end game. Perhaps you have learned something that could shed light on this from the SL-Space side.

At the time I received your recall signal, this is the information I have.

Part 47 – The Madman

I know that some Timelords feel that their Loom names are too pompous, to elitist. I have no Timelord name, as I hadn't been granted a TTC yet. I was still in my first regeneration when I fled Gallifrey in Sen, just having finished all my academic work at the Academic and awaiting graduation. Most people don't realize that all Gallifreyan's get a “normal” name upon birth.  For the Patrexe Chapter, the super-long Timelord name added on the end is actually the name of their Titan, the organic being under the mechanics of a TARDIS. It is granted to a Junior Timelord upon Academy graduation when they receive their TTC. Sen was never given a proper name for me to take, as he was never officially commissioned.

Back on topic… often Timelords will take a title to better illustrate their personality. The Madman chose well. Before I go into the events surrounding how he pretty much drove all of US mad, I should give you some background on him.

Madman is one of only a couple Timelords to not enter SL-Space per The Abbot's good graces. He basically broke in. He was shot in, really.

Madman's origins are somewhat fuzzy. It's presumed that he fought in the Time War and somehow escaped the Last Day, but not without loosing his memory of everything before. His first awareness was of being in a dying TTC with virtually no power, and Gallifrey was gone. In the shake up surrounding the last days of the War, the barriers between universes started to break down. Madman took advantage of this to create a somewhat unique power source.

His power source was actually the inspiration for Sen to create what would eventually become our own Eye of Harmony. Madman has a compressed pocket universe inside his TTC. Super-compressed in both time and space - it's virtually a restrained Big Bang. The energy flowing from it is intense, even by Timelord standards. But it's not the energy that is the issue. It's the fact that this universe is active. With life… entire civilizations actually. Billions of sentient lives. And they're all tied into the telepathic circuits of Madman's TTC – right into his head. He calls them the Narwhals. A Timelord going slowly more and more insane from the constant din of a universe's worth of minds.

This is a problem for him, but not really anyone else. Until someone decided to take control of those civilizations and invade the pocket universe. That someone was called Tethseram.

Part 46 - ***REDACTED***

Part 45 – Guardians

We arrived back in New Gallifrey with a special gift from Sen and The Abbot. The Eye of Harmony.

When Solis created the pocket universe to contain The Abbot, she rocketed it back in time – all the way back. This huge outpouring of energy created a massive explosion, the actual Big Bang of SL-Space. In order to prevent Solis' pocket universe from destroying this newly emerging universe, Sen and The Abbot contained it. This contained universe on the verge of collapse would form our new Eye of Harmony.

Evidently, this had been Sen's plan all along. Working with the visions from the Sisters, Sen was able to deduce that The Abbot was actually a good guy. Another experimental TARDIS able to cross the divide between N-Space and SL-Space easily. In order to separate Deimos from The Abbot, Sen needed to shed his organic body and help The Abbot's Heart. The Titan under the tech that was primed to consume Deimos' body.

With the last of his organic interaction with our dimension, Sen saved Solis and Deimos with regeneration. He also gave me his current incarnation, along with all his memories. With my mental abilities, it didn't drive me completely mad. But close. Regeneration is hard enough as it is, but this one was a whopper. I'm not Sen. But I'm not entirely Phaon anymore either. A new incarnation of Phaon, but one handed to me by Sen with all his memories. Organic memories, that is. I didn't get all the cool TTC computer stuff, unfortunately.

It appears that Sen and The Abbot have ascended. Now SL-Space's Yin and Yang.. The Abbot as the Guardian of Continuums, looking out for the majesty that is the Prime Timeline. Sen as the Guardian of Moments, making sure that the lives of the inhabitants of SL-Space are not be sacrificed on a whim to protect the Timeline.

Part 44 - Origins

There were still too many unanswered questions. How was The Abbot created? Was he just destroyed? Did Solis die, or take The Abbot somewhere else? These questions plagued my first months as President.

Then the visions started. First it was in the newly formed Panopticon. Then in the Citadel's Eye Chamber. Then in the SASTAP console room. Solis. But not. 

You see, the SASTAP is unique, in that it's Heart is tied to an extremely advanced Artificial Intelligence. This allows the forbidden – for the bonded Pilot to actually telepathically commune and even meld with the TARDIS Titan beneath the console. Rassilon's vision for a Super Soldier. Or perhaps a Master Race. Eventually, of course, this AI was placed in an organic body as part of an emergency procedure. This basically meant that anyone Sen loved and felt attachment too became the equivalent of a bonded pilot.

I was Sen's bonded pilot, but Solis had also become very close. Perhaps even a second pilot, something which the SASTAP's unique abilities likely allowed. What I saw was a Watcher. A temporal displacement of Solis' future incarnation routed through the SASTAP's telepathic circuits. They're not unheard of, but only occur in times of extreme distress for both pilot and Capsule. Solis was alive.

We suspected that Solis had formed a pocket universe and rocketed into the past with The Abbot. The distant past… all the way back. To the very origins of SL-Space. So we followed. A tricky journey, one that required Sen, myself, Oolon, David, and the Sisters to act as Pilots. 

We arrived, to discover we were correct. The Abbot and Solis locked in struggle at the beginning of time, her body twisted and depleted after multiple regenerations. Oolon made a move to attack The Abbot, but his weapon misfired, phasing him out of space-time.

At this point, Sen stepped in. He just… exploded. Ignited in a full fury of energy channeled from some unknown source. The Abbot was ripped apart in front of our eyes, as were all of us. Hovering encased in energy, Sen….. bequeathed, I suppose is the best word… his organic life cycle. Solis and Deimos, already on their last incarnations, regenerated. As did I. Dazed and in pain, we saw The Abbot transform, along with Sen. Black and White… opposite sides of the same coin. As if that is how it was always meant to be.