| abstract
| - A young Kalossian wept at her bedside. Pelvin had tried to console her, asking Volvuna what had happened. But her heart could not manage to utter the words, she couldn’t believe it herself. “What happened up there? How did you survive?” Pelvin asked. Volvuna turned her head to face Pelvin. A TV was in the corner of the room displaying the explosion that would change the universe. Yelin walked into the room. These three were aliens, resembling purple otters and between 2.5 metres to 3 metres tall. “Volvuna could not have survived. How is she here?” Yelin yelled. “Because he died,” Volvuna muttered. “Who?” Pelvin shouted, getting inpatient. “The best man in the universe. He taught me how to switch to Think Mind,” Volvuna sobbed into a pillow “the Doctor is dead.” *** News on this scale would usually go from one side of the universe to the other side in a matter of seconds. But Pelvin had a plan. They would not tell anyone. The chaos from such an announcement would cause revolts throughout the universe. “So we have a Kalossian who everyone thinks is dead? How about we try to hide her. No one can know the Doctor was on board that Dalek ship when it exploded,” Pelvin planned out. “How do we know the Doctor didn’t escape?” Yelin hoped. “Because the device has to be held by a hand and the moment it goes off then everything within a mile is sent into oblivion,” Pelvin looked at several pictures on the wall. There were the faces of four individuals on the wall. A Silurian, a Zygon, a Goloc and a Time Lord. Under these pictures were scribbles that resembled writing. “Why have we got these four pictures up?” Yelin asked. “Three of them like solving mysteries. They are not very good at it. Putting Volvuna with them will be perfect, the place is obscure and the group do not attract any attention and it will keep her mind occupied,” Pelvin explained “and the Time Lord is the groups next mission. Their biggest yet but this Time Lord is not very well known. So his rescue will not attract any attention, if they do rescue him that is.” Volvuna grabbed a toy and was throwing it about. It smashed against the wall as Volvuna crossed her arms and sat on the ground. “These toys are rubbish,” Volvuna exclaimed. “Look here Volvuna,” Pelvin ordered as he dropped a tablet into her drink. “Why?” Volvuna asked, not noticing the tablet. “Because you need a new start. Have a drink and relax,” Pelvin had switched to Deceptive Mind by this point. “Why is my brain so stupid?” Volvuna asked. “It’s not. Your Think Mind will come through but it may take a bit of time,” Pelvin tried to reassure Volvuna. Volvuna gulped down the drink. Within moments she felt dizzy as she collapsed to the ground. Her sight went and her brain could not figure out what was going on. *** A place that smelt like garbage that had been boiled and then thrown all around the house was the smell that Volvuna woke to. Several gleaming faces looked back at Volvuna. There were the faces of three individuals standing over her. They seemed to resemble a circus act who were about to perform tricks for her. “What are you?” Volvuna squinted as her vision was still blurred. Bemused faces faced her. They picked up a sheet and showed it to Volvuna. “As part of a recruitment programme we have been given a highly qualified agent. Which in this case is you,” the Silurian pointed to the text. “Highly qualified? I just want some candy,” Volvuna beamed. “Seriously? We are stuck with giant purple otter eating machine?” the Zygon asked. “We should probably have presented ourselves first. I am Rakthro, the Silurian is Lastrich and the Zygon is Spielg,” Rakthro then sat on a chair. The room seemed to be old. It’s television set resembled a box and the chairs were creamed colour and covered in varying colours stains. The rest of the room seemed to be from a car boot sale. “So any candy in this stupid looking place?” Volvuna complained. “Stupid? Depressing is the first word to come to mind,” Lastrich sighed, it was a dump. “How about the candy?” Volvuna repeated her question. “An addiction is never a good thing. I once got addicted to collecting cello tape, I just couldn’t stick with it,” Spielg chuckled. Volvuna tried to work out the joke. But her mind was occupied with thinking off candy. The place smelt like a damp toilet so it was not very encouraging. Rakthro went into a side cupboard and pulled out several chocolate bars and threw them to each one of them. “Shouldn’t we be trying to get the Engineer back to safety?” Lastrich asked. The others quickly went to a kitchen table that was covered in rings from where the cups had not been put onto coasters. “Let’s go over the mission brief,” Rakthro encouraged them. But before the Goloc could go over the mission brief there was a knock at the door. For several moments nobody moved. It was completely silent as the knock came at the door again. Nothing happened as Lastrich looked to the others. “Were we expecting visitors?” Lastrich whispered. “I wasn’t,” Volvuna muttered. “You only just got here,” Rakthro pointed out “it would be very strange for you to already have visitors.” “We can hear you whispering in there,” a deep, male voice called from the other side of the door. “Kick the door down,” a female voice ordered. “Don’t try to run. This place has been put into a Helix Dome so you will not be able to escape, if you leave this building you will be vaporised,” the male voice shouted. The door was being repeatedly kicked. Light streamed into the room as the door smashed on the ground. “I’m DC Kitcher and this is my guard Petrov,” Kitcher, the female, stood near the group. “Why are you here?” Lastrich asked, weary of their intentions. “Do they have toys? Candy? Are we playing cops and robbers?” Volvuna excitedly asked. “Shut up,” Kitcher ordered “you are a group who want to save the Engineer from the Prison of Blood. We cannot allow that to happen. My client has requested me to inform you that if you do try to save the Engineer then we will kill you.” “Have a seat. Then we will talk in a civilized manner,” Lastrich showed them to a seat. “On those things?” Petrov shouted in disgust. Kitcher brought out a small spray from her pocket as she sprayed the chair several times. Within a few sprays it was spotless as she sat down on it. “Now Petrov. Sit down,” Kitcher ordered. “But the seats are disgusting. Could I use that spray cleaning thing that you have?” Petrov put out his hand to receive the spray. “No. Now sit down before I get angry,” Kitcher rose her voice slightly. “Give me the spray,” Petrov shouted, nostrils flaring and spit coming out of his mouth. “Sit down Petrov. Or you will never be standing again. Your such a pathetic idiot,” Kitcher said. Petrov went for his gun as he pointed it at Kitcher. He was not a smart man and was very stubborn which did not play out well when he was with another highly stubborn individual, Kitcher. “You going to shoot me?” Kitcher yawned. “Not in here please,” Rakthro urged thinking about the blood that would cover the floors. “I think someone needs some marriage counselling,” Spielg joined in “but don’t shoot me. Just forget I even spoke.” “Give me the spray and your brains will not be splattered on the floor,” Petrov shouted. “This is getting tiring,” Kitcher pulled out a pistol and shot Petrov. The bullet hit his brain as he collapsed to the ground. Blood crept out of Petrov’s head. “Now you know what I am capable off I am guessing that you will agree to our terms,” Kitcher put out a hand. “I’m not going to handshake a killer but I agree to your terms,” Lastrich conceded. Kitcher got up from the chair and looked to Petrov’s body. She picked up his head and sprayed the floor below it a few times. “No blood. I do not want to mess up your horrible, mucky floors with blood,” Kitcher left the body as she went out of the room. As Kitcher left the house the group wondered about the room. Rakthro dragged the body to a nearby bedroom as he put Petrov’s body in a wardrobe. “We can worry about that later,” Rakthro said “what do we do now?” “Save the Engineer. Our objectives do not change because someone tells us,” Lastrich was determined. “But the scary killer lady told us not to,” Volvuna went into a ball, she was shaken “I have only ever seen one other person die.” “Only one?” Spielg asked “who was it?” “The Doctor. Only briefly before the ship blew up,” Volvuna felt her body jerking as tears rolled down her purple fur “it was all my fault. I should have been the one to kill the bad robots.” “You do not mean the legendary Time Lord who has saved so many?” Rakthro asked, shocked to even think off it. “He taught me how to go into Think Mind and I repaid him by leading his to his death. Then boom and he was dead,” Volvuna looked to the others faces. “This cannot be true,” Lastrich considered what this would mean “if it is him then no one can know. Imagine a universe without the Doctor.” “We don’t have to,” Spielg pointed out “if he is dead then this universe is the one without the Doctor. Unless we see one of his adventures from the future.” The group sat in a silenced circle for a few moments. None of them were able to comprehend such big news. “How many know of this catastrophe?” Lastrich asked. “A few. Pelvin and Yelin. But they do not want anyone else to know,” Volvuna picked up a tissue from the side to wipe her eyes. “Listen Volvuna. This is very important,” Lastrich looked straight into Volvuna’s eyes “you are in Think Mind. So with that in mind you have to promise to never tell anyone that the Doctor is dead. Not even any relatives you may have.” “I have no relatives. They were killed in the war,” Volvuna felt her intelligence increasing and her attention span was more than a few minutes so a clear increase from her previous childlike nature. Lastrich got up and went to the mission briefing. She threw it onto the table and pulled the pages out of it and handed it around the group. “It is so weird to be hurt this much and feel so sad at a death for someone I had never known. We may never have even been on the same planet and I still feel horrid,” Rakthro leaned back as he read through several pages off the mission briefing. “Let’s go to the car. We can read the mission briefing on the way to Falpinos,” Lastrich encouraged them. They went to the car in a mood that can only be described as sad as anyone would have been at that moment. Spielg did not even feel like telling a joke. *** Over the planet Falpinos the group looked to the dark, desolate planet. It was created for one purpose only, to be a prison. It had several prisons dotted throughout the planet each with a differing name, it helped the marketing of the prisons to the Time Lords. Hovering over the planet, Rakthro was configuring the car as the strong gravity on the planet often caused crashes even among the most gifted off drivers. “Let’s try to forget about the Doctor’s death and complete our mission,” Lastrich encouraged them. “Good call,” Spielg looked toward the planet “that planet is as dark as a Lastrich mood when we fail a mission.” “We’ve only failed three out of four. Just think of the positives. We managed to retrieve the honey from the swarm of bees and that kept the honey store open,” Lastrich was nervous as the car rocked from side to side. “Two weeks later the honey store closed down,” Spielg continued the narrative “you really shouldn’t be highlighting that event.” “You two. Shut up and let me concentrate,” an agitated Rakthro shouted “Lastrich wouldn’t have to highlight that event if we had succeeded at something. Now this is our first big mission. Let’s succeed.” “Yeah. Sorry, my attention went with the mention of honey,” Volvuna admitted “any chance that you could repeat what you just said?” Rakthro pointed the car towards Falpinos as it launched from the space that it had been hovering in. The car had bright light coming from either end which was caused by it going through the atmosphere. Falpinos was a dark and dingy planet. Often cold and covered almost exclusively in darkness, even the leaves were dark a far cry from the luscious greenness that they enjoy on Earth. “Almost there,” Rakthro landed the car within a few moments. It landed perfectly on the dark ground. The ground was made up of mud and the occasional insect. It was quite. Mist covered the ground with it fading the higher they were. The car was becoming submerged in the mist as the group went out, clamouring for air as they ran away from the car. “It sure is silent. I hate it,” Spielg shivered as the breeze hit his back. The Zygon felt his form changing but he attempted to resist it. The mist seemed to be trying to do something but Spielg had not a clue what it could be. “Where is the Prison of Blood?” Lastrich asked. “Couldn’t it have a better name? Preferably one that is unrelated to death, pain or torture,” Volvuna asked “how about the Cave of Candy or the Treasure of Toys?” “Strange. You do realise it is a prison?” Rakthro asked “Prison of Presents?” “Rakthro, you have the map. Could you locate where we are and then locate where the Prison of Blood is?” Lastrich asked, getting agitated by the diversion in conversation. “This way. It shouldn’t take us too long to get here. I ensured that we landed within a mile to ensure that we could get to the Prison of Presents easily,” Rakthro chuckled. “Prison of Blood. There is no need for silliness when we are trying to save a distinguished Time Lord. When we get back then I will participate in the jokes,” Lastrich promised. “As long as you do. We rarely hear any from you,” Spielg pointed out “but no jokes until we get home. I promise as long as this mission is successful.” “Really? Spielg not telling jokes?” Lastrich asked, amazed by this promise. “Yep. Saving the Engineer will be difficult and it seems like Kitcher has thrown a spanner in the works,” Spielg looked to the prison. “Really? An engineer joke already?” Lastrich shook her head. “Depends on how you interpret it. That joke needs some work on it. Needs to be fixed up a bit,” Spielg could have continued with the jokes but the sound of signing interrupted him. It came from the large prison as heads pointed towards their direction “can we go now? Those faces are in need of serious work. Perhaps they could ask the Engineer to give them some improvements?” “This is serious Spielg,” Rakthro muttered. “Scary sounds. I hate it, it is hurting my ears,” Volvuna complained “well this is the Prison of Presents as long as they have better presents than this terrible gift on the inside.” “Prison of Blood,” Lastrich shook her head “Rakthro you have gotten her all confused now.” “A file came on her. Apparently Volvuna was still in Child Mind,” Rakthro remembered. “But she mentioned the Doctor bringing her into Think Mind,” Lastrich remembered “when did the Doctor die?” “Earlier today. A huge explosion happened and then he was gone,” Volvuna remembered the moment that the Time Lord had sacrificed his life. “So she will still have some elements of Child Mind running in her system for a while. Being stuck in one Mind for so long will affect Volvuna’s ability to mould into another mind. You should have learnt that from a young age,” Lastrich felt sorry for the Kalossian. A loud whistling sound pierced above the singing. The group looked up. They saw something falling quickly towards them. It hit the ground before the group could react. “What is it?” Rakthro asked. A small crate had been created with a small black disc in the middle. “How can we play this without a CD player?” Spielg asked. “Not needed. This is the future,” Lastrich reminded the Zygon. Rakthro picked up the small disk. A screen appeared in the middle as it showed a picture of the group. The picture seemed to be taken only a few moments before and from somewhere who was not too far away. It showed the moment before the black disk hit the ground. The group looked to the spot where the photo was taken, no one was there. “Do you think that we should have taken the warning slightly more seriously?” Spielg asked the others “Kitcher killed the guard. That woman is really a bad little lady.” The prisoners were singing. Several hitting the bars of their cells. “Creepy,” Volvuna shivered. “One of the windows does not have anyone there,” Lastrich pointed out. “Do you think the Engineer is in there?” Rakthro asked. “Well according to his file he is quite reserved, very serious so he will not partake in this stupid game that is made to make us scared,” Lastrich looked to a Prisoner who had blood flowing from his mouth “no wonder it is called the Prison of Blood.” “Prison of Presents,” Volvuna shouted in delight “let’s make this adventure cheerful. Does anyone know any games or have any candy or toys?”
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