adieu to the fuckers that think that it's funny;

[wingborne]

1.

The Doctor always began his stories with a wish.

Time was a wibbly-wobbly ball, twisting and turning, perpetually changing and staying the same. It was so twisted and convoluted and simple, nobody could do it justice. In a single story, he couldn’t begin to line it up, when there was the nanoseconds and the picosecond, the divine time and the Newtonian time, and three seconds could be three years or his double heartbeat could last eternally. Sometimes, when he told his stories, they were in the right order, but not in chronological order, and that has made all the difference. So, sometimes, when he told a story with his knees bent and a red-headed girl sleeping softly away, he began with a wish that somebody, somewhere, could piece together his story, and understand him. That was his wish, and that was his lie.

2.

It began with the Boonbuck.

No, it began with the text, and then came the Boonbuck.

Well, no, the Boonbuck came first in Earth time, and last in Alternia time, but that was the same thing, anyway.

No, wait. He was terrible at telling stories. Let him begin again.

Upon jostling along the rings of Saturn, his lovely TARDIS suddenly shot out a strange-looking object-thing into his face. Considering that he had treated her quite lovely recently, he was admittedly rather surprised. The thing was shiny, resplendent, multicolored, and not very tasty.

After his third try, he finally admitted that the object-thing may not be edible.

When his Pesterchum beeped, he was also admittedly surprised, mostly because he didn’t know what a Pesterchum exactly was, or when it had installed itself onto his… thing. He had very official names for all the mechanisms on his TARDIS, and sometimes those official names were Things. This Thing in particular wouldn’t stop blinking at him, and since blinking things made him vaguely uncomfortable (see: Auturion Galaxy), he opened up the tiny window with his screwdriver firmly placed in one hand.

GG: hello!!!! are you there yet?

That was rather strange. But when he sniffed the Thing, it told him that he was talking to a fairly young child. Well. That was different. Unexpected. Perhaps, even exciting.

“Hello,” he breathed, “What do we have here?”

GG: ohhhhh this is the first time we meet
GG: i almost forgot!!!!!
GG: hehehe nice to meet you doctor

That was even stranger. Tentatively, he leaned closer to his Thing, until own his ghastly reflection glowed upon the radioactive green text.

“Can you hear me?”

GG: ummm kinda!
GG: its kinda hard to explain :P
GG: but you catch on really quickly so dont worry

“Worrying? Worrying isn’t something I do, it’s something other people do, something worried people do. I’m not worried,” the Doctor said, rubbing his hands worriedly. “Now, who are you?”

GG: whoops sorry
GG: my name is jade! :)
GG: its nice to meet you!!!!!
GG: and nice to say goodbye to you too

“Leaving already?”

GG: ummmmmm
GG: no its not like that
GG: time is just being weird >_>;
GG: but i dont know
GG: i have to leave soon though but so do you
GG: but youll meet me again :)
GG: its just the last time ill see you
GG: not because im dying or anything!!!!
GG: ummm because i already died but
GG: thats not why its the last time

“Interesting. I like that, I like interesting.” So this girl knew him. A Queen knowing him was one thing, a girl was different. Small children knew things that adults could no longer decipher. This girl knew things, and more troublesome, she knew things about him.

GG: youre thinking all those suspicious things aren’t you!!!!!
GG: im not suspicious :(
GG: but im going to miss you doctor
GG: were not going to need passwords anymore
GG: but the last one is equinox

“I suppose we haven’t met before, but to you, we’ve met before.” That wasn’t surprising, but he thought she might be disappointed. There was no sadness, no ceremony to it. Like a firefly dying in the glimpse of the morning, he saw her words on the screen and the reflection on his face. For a second, they met, and she was only a child. This was the beginning of his story, and the end of hers.

“Won’t you at least tell me your name? I’ll give you a proper good-bye.”

“No,” said a voice, “You have to go soon, too, Doctor.”

The voice was close, so tantalizingly close that he could have caught it with his hands. But it wasn’t in the TARDIS, and he spun around twice to check until he tripped on his own feet and yanked a lever. But that lever was the right lever, because all the screens suddenly flickered with a blitz, and the Pesterchum was suddenly replaced with the sight before him in space, but it wasn’t space at all.

It was a girl with resplendent green eyes, and teeth that stuck out over the edge of her lips. It was a girl who was bigger than galaxies, and a girl who was smaller than quarks. She was everywhere at once in the world, and nowhere; her hands moved with the slow rotation of planets and their moons, her eyes sparkled with the dust of stars exploding into deaths that would last centuries, her dress was darker than any black hole, her long hood whipping behind her.

He looked into her eyes, and he saw two things: Jade Harley, and the Witch of Space.

At the time, he didn’t understand any of it, except that she was an ordinary girl. She had a TARDIS-blue string on her hand, which she slipped off, and it faded into the stars. She smiled at him with a grin that melted suns.

“Thank you, Doctor,” she said. “And I’m sorry.”

She was gone before he knew it. But he had a feeling, a strange feeling, that what happened shouldn’t have happened. He barely had the time to follow that string of thought before the TARDIS suddenly jolted. He barely caught hold of the lever again, but the screen had been replaced. Everything was normal, except for the fact that he might be hurtling into Earth and crashing into a fiery blaze of death.

Now that, he thought, would really ruin the swimming pool.

3.

Amy, Amy, Amy. Lovely Amy. Beautiful Amy. Gorgeous Amy.

Apparently had gotten a bit sunburnt and insisted on stopping by the store to get some suntan lotion. It was as if she had never been to a planet with five suns before. Being sunburnt happened, unfortunately, and he had no hand in it. But he did have a hand for being briefly left alone, for just a smidge, a tad, a bit, a pinch.

Enough for the Pesterchum to blink again.

GG: password??

“Well.” He swung from the electrical wiring to his feet again. “Equinox, I believe.”

GG: oh nooooooo
GG: next time will be the last time wont it :(

“I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to tell you that. But I believe so, yes.” But he leaned forward on his elbows, staring intensely into the screen. “But now that you’re here, you’ll tell me more about yourself, won’t you?”

GG: hehehehe thats definitely you
GG: but i cant tell you that easily :P
GG: spoilers!!!!!!

“Spoilers,” he repeated. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You wouldn’t have happened to—”

GG: you can type to me too
GG: if you want!!!!!
GG: you did it after a while
GG: i think you were worried about something so you started

“I don’t have any sort of typing thing.”

GG: i dont know!!!! but you always said good things about your time machine
GG: im sure its there
GG: if you look :)

With a sense of all the lives he lived on his bones, he pressed a blue button. The keyboard rolled out smoothly, in English letters. Which was fairly surprising to him, but the TARDIS was apparently always more prepared than him.

GG: now youre going to call her sexy
This isn’t going to be a thing, is it?
Never mind, I suppose that’s a pinch of spoilers, as well.
GG: hehehehehe
GG: are you happy about amy?
What about Amy?
She appears to be enjoying herself quite well.
GG: that wasnt what i was asking!!!!!
GG: doctooooooor :(
Jade Harley.
GG: doctooooooooor!!!!
That’s your name, isn’t it? Jade Harley. And the Witch of Space.
GG: spoilers!!!!!!
GG: except not really :P
GG: yes
GG: thats my name mister all knowing doctor guy
What is that title? Which planet is your home?
GG: im stuck on it
GG: kinda
GG: its earth too
GG: but its a title!!!!!
GG: you have one too
A mysterious title. What exactly does that entail?
GG: hmmmm
GG: its hard to say!!!!!
Spoilers?
GG: no its just hard to say…
GG: but its okay
GG: were not talking about that right now!!!
GG: stop changing the subject :/
GG: what do you think about amy
I think she’s an intelligent young woman, whose company I find rather enjoyable.
Amelia Pond was a bright child.
Amelia sounds better, don’t you agree?
GG: hmmmmm
GG: i think you like the sound of amelia better
Quite.
What more did you want me to say?
GG: you call her the girl who waited
Yes.
She’s the girl who waited.
GG: for you
For me.
GG: are you sorry about it
Of course I’m sorry.
I’m so, so sorry.
But she’s here with me now, and that won’t change soon.
How do you know all this?
GG: you told me!!!!!
GG: i think its hard sometimes
GG: to go different time as someone else
GG: because you see them the way they used to be
GG: and they dont know the person you know
GG: but sometimes i think
GG: i can ask you things like that
GG: because youll answer more honestly than usual :)
GG: thank you doctor

He heard a footstep outside the door, and swung around to see Amy’s shadow looming against the pane. By the time she stepped in, plastic bag swinging against her leg, gardenGnostic had already signed out. Of course, not without leaving a message.

GG: thief of time
GG: im so sorry

4.

GG: password??

“What do you know?” The Doctor had no time for fun and games, though he didn’t have enough time to provide Amy with fun and games. He planted his palms onto the smooth cover of the TARDIS, and watched the screen intensely. “You’ve seen the future. How do I stop this?”

GG: ohhhhhh
GG: i see
GG: no password this time…
GG: theres a crack on the wall isnt there??? :(

“You’re here, with all this nonsense about knowing things and spoilers. Well, here we are. Spoilers. Tell me what you know.”

GG: i cant…
GG: not until you know the password
GG: by then you already know

“What is the crack in the wall?” he asked quietly. “What shattered the universe?”

GG: im so sorry

He didn’t want to hear the sorrys and the apologies. But he knew it was a far-fetched idea, to try and strain out any information from Jade Harley. Soliciting information out of her felt wrong, for one thing. As if she shouldn’t have the information in the first place, and by asking her, he was—it wasn’t defying the rules, per se, but it was—it was wrong. Talking to her, like this, was wrong, but he didn’t have time to feel that feeling. He slumped onto the sofa, rubbing his face with both hands vigorously. Ordinarily, he would have enjoyed discussing the aspects of time and space with Jade Harley.

But ordinarily, Rory would be sitting there with that loping grin on his face and that ridiculous shirt. Ordinarily, Amy would remember him, putting her hand over his hand, laughing with the whites of her teeth showing and her eyes so bright against the sky. This was all very ordinary, and this was so inordinary. He would pamper Amy as much as she wanted, but perhaps—he was only doing that—to the darkness inside him—

GG: dont

“Has anyone ever told you,” he said, slowly sitting up until the cricks of his back aligned perfectly, “that—”

GG: yes!!!!
GG: youve heard it too
GG: but i cant help it
GG: i cant tell you any spoilers
GG: but i can say
GG: that the answer you seek is within you

His beating hearts beat faster at that. Perhaps it had to do with his heart, or his liver. He always suspected his liver. He couldn’t exactly see how his liver destroyed the world and sent cracks riveting through time and space, or how his liver could have taken Rory.

Rory. Rory, Rory, Rory. Lovely Rory. Beautiful Rory. Gorgeous Rory.

Missing Rory.

GG: not literally!!!!
GG: but
GG: in the fabric of your being???
GG: like sometimes
GG: you go off on a mission that you think will end everything
GG: but you accidentally end up creating it instead
GG: it’s a time paradox that should never have existed
GG: do you understand? :/

“A stable time loop, essentially. More or less. More less than more.” He leaned forward, drawing away his frigid breath from his lips into is warm hands. His palms felt rough against his face, grating against his chin.

It wasn’t an answer. Nor was it the answer that he had hoped to find. A young girl, from far away, was telling him facts that he already knew in place of facts that he should know, but that didn’t matter at all in the face of Amy. No, not poor Amy, with her face so bright. She was going to get married. Little Amelia Pond was going to get married to Rory Williams, and they would have gone off to a decent start.

Except now Rory Williams was erased from time, his entire life folded into a shimmering crack that had taken everything about him. He had to work for the memory of that lopsided grin, sometimes. He had to tilt his head, shake it a bit, like a broken television. Only then would the reception work, and he’d remember those vague outlines of Rory, his nervous chuckle, the way he stood, where he slept.

GG: its okay if it hurts

“What?” He looked up.

GG: i don’t know really what you think about amy
GG: but i think you like her
GG: not in that way!!!!!
GG: but
GG: you would feel sad if she left
GG: you feel sad that rory left
GG: you dont have to be cold about it ._.

“I’m not being cold. But there are better things to be doing.” He rubbed his hands together, the dryness chafing. “I have to get to the bottom of this.”

GG: but you dont have to do it alone

The Doctor breathed. Something inside him strengthened and fortified. Of course he would have to do it alone. There was a crack on a little girl’s wall. He needed to stop that crack, and seal it.

And he would have to do it alone.

“Yes. Yes I do,” he announced, and turned away deliberately from the screen.

GG: i have to go now
GG: but………
GG: when i feel sad sometimes i go look at paintings
GG: not blue girls!!!!!!!!!
GG: but maybe something brighter
GG: goodbye doctor
GG: the password is chondule
GG: im so sorry doctor

5.

JADESPRITE: BOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO
GG: SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!
JADESPRITE: BOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO
GG: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!
JADESPRITE: BOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO

“Jade?” he asked quite cautiously. He had to keep his voice low; Craig was nearby, quite possibly doing human things in a human way. Even in the makeshift rigmarole set up in his bedroom, everything about it quite tilted one way or the other, enough that he was afraid that a particularly loud BOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO could set the whole thing tumbling to the ground, leaving him without any defenses.

GG: password??
JADESPRITE: BOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO
GG: SHUT
GG: UP

“Chondule,” he whispered, shifting his damp hair away from his face. “Jade?”

GG: uggggghhhhhhhhh
GG: she wont stop crying!!!!!
GG: im moving this to a private channel
GG: but uggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Everything all right there?” He felt somewhat amused to see Jade losing control, though certainly, at least one of his hearts extended out to her.

GG: god fucking damnit!!!!!!
GG: what the hell!!!!!!!!!
GG: did i really used to be like that

“I’m not exactly sure who ‘she’ is,” he whispered, even as the ceiling creaked ominously above him. But he bent his head, and tried to figure if it was Craig for his midnight snack, or some other particular alien species.

GG: jadesprite
GG: she used to be me except dead dream me
GG: ugggggghhhhhhh
GG: she keeps crying!!!!!
GG: i cant believe i was ever like that!!!!!!

“I think that’s brilliant, actually. Seeing who used to be.” He breathed into his hands, to keep it warm from the nippy chill that lingered around the house. “It’s what makes you human, isn’t it? You small, insignificant things don’t just stop at being small and insignificant. You grow up. You grow bigger, you grow better. You don’t stay the same.”

GG: i think i didnt stay the same
GG: because jadesprite has bec too
GG: (bec is my dog)

“Oh. Well.” He stretched on the thin bed. “That’s even more brilliant, isn’t it? Exciting stuff, dogs. I should get a dog. No, scratch that, already got the best dog. Take it off the list.”

GG: doooctttooooooorrr :(

“Right, where was I? Humans, always with the humans, and their insignificant power to grow. You can’t look at the past forever. You should celebrate that you’ve changed, because you’ve got that power in you. Humans, always with the changing.” The Doctor absently wiggled a piece of his device with his bony hand, the pale web of skin stretched over the bones. “You get to grow up, have children, have grandchildren. And those children will bring the storm with them, too. Everything changes. It’s good.”

GG: hehehehe
GG: youre almost like a human

“And you’re almost like a Time Lord.” But his breath faltered for a second, as the glimpse of the past returned to him, of a girl bigger than all the cluster of galaxies and smaller than all the quarks, who defied time and space. Almost like a Time Lord, he was so arrogant to tell her.

Well. Enough of that.

“Come along, Harleys. Can’t stay long. I’ve got a human life to live and you’ve got your human lives to live, too.” He leaned forward onto his elbows to the creaky bedside, in the tiny house filled with ridiculously tiny cups to hold tea and delightful tiny spoons that were too shallow to be spoons at all.

GG: ok
JADESPRITE: BOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO
GG: SHUT
GG: UP
GG: UGHHHHHHHHH
GG: im so sorry doctor

6.

“For once, everyone lives.” The old words rolled off his tongue, and he rather enjoyed it. To lean back in his tuxedo that was too tight around the collar, his top hat hanging off a very important lever that probably did nothing, to know that Amy and Rory were spending their first night as a newlywed couple by sleeping in very, very fun bunk beds.

He got Rory back, River was there, and Amy got him back, so that was all good. He stretched out his fingers, and thought he rather enjoyed telling bedtime stories for little girls. They, at least, listened.

GG: ???

“Not you, wasn’t thinking about you. But you can’t read my thoughts, you were probably responding to what I said earlier. Which is fairly self-explanatory.”

GG: ummm ok??
GG: id like that very much :)
GG: if everybody lived
GG: i hope john and dave and rose will be ok too :O

Except he had been into her future and she had been dead, except still alive, but dead. They hadn’t reached zero yet, but if they had, he would have missed her. Those little conversations felt very secure, but there was something suspicious about them. Their little conversations shouldn’t have existed, he felt. There was something wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Wrong about the whole thing, wrong about everything. And he so disliked being wrong.

“I hope so, too,” he lied. It felt like a lie in his mouth. To say that he hoped she would live when he already knew she would die. But sometimes, when planets died in space, their death could last for centuries, and a visitor on some small planet many miles away could still see the planet in all its glory for centuries to come, before it would even begin to look like an explosion.

GG: hehehehe

He flipped his hat into the air, and caught it with both hands. “What was our last password?”

GG: hehe you said it was zeptosecond
GG: which sounds cool!!! :O

“It sounds rather zippy, doesn’t it?” He spun his hat again, and again, and again, each rotation just a split second of his life, which could have been years on hers. “Tell me, Jade Harley. Doesn’t it ever bother you that none of our conversations has ever made sense?”

GG: hmmmm
GG: do you mean going backwards in time??
GG: i think its hard sometimes
GG: but
GG: time isnt a line anyway
GG: its more like a big ball
GG: so it makes sense to me

“No, that’s not quite what I meant. More like—” He hesitated.

GG: oh you said something like that once
GG: you asked me
GG: if i had a crack in my wall
GG: oh!!!!!!
GG: sorry doctor i have to go now
GG: ill see you later!!!
GG: <3

-- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering The Doctor [] --

She finally was getting used to the tiredness, though it was still hard. Sometimes, when she thought about it, she wanted to sleep. Because sleeping was nice, even if Dave, mister cool guy, thought it was funny if she hit herself.

But she rubbed her eyes, and went to work, because she wanted, for once, for everybody to live.

7.

Hello. Hello, hello. Is this thing on?

She jolted barely awake. Her eyes still felt tired, because she was so tired. Ugh! So tired, tired, tired! She didn’t like being so tired. Was this how normal people felt? Is this how time went for boring people? The lucid human dreams weren’t any better, and she had to rub her eyes again to make sure she was awake.

GG: doctor
GG: im sorry im a little busy right now
GG: but we can talk later!!!!

It’s quite all right. I’m busy this time, too. The password is zeptosecond, correct?

GG: yes……

Yes, quite. But I have a question for you. Well, a few. Well, a lot. But!
How are you, Jade Harley?

GG: im tired
GG: im really tired

But you’re alive! Isn’t that marvelous?
It’s good to be alive.
I’m working out a plan to keep being alive for a long while.
No more dead Doctors, you see.

GG: ummmm
GG: ok

She didn’t mean to sound short to the Doctor, but she was having a terrible time keeping awake. He always seemed to appear when she needed him, though, and at the most peculiar times, asking the strangest questions. But, he seemed to have reached something when they had talked earlier. This Doctor probably didn’t understand yet.

What I wanted to ask you, Jade Harley, is very simple.
Does any of this make sense?

GG: ummmm :/

She could barely rub her eyes again, drifting away into sleep. Time was passing so slowly and so normally. But she had to keep awake, even if that meant pinching herself on the cheeks so hard, her nails dug in and it hurt.

No, it doesn’t, does it?
A man who can never find his home again, a girl stuck in hers.
We’re talking in pockets of time and space.
Pockets that shouldn’t even existed.
How did they get there, and how did we get here?

Jade had enough of this. Her head was hurting, she needed to go help her friends, her shoulders hurt and there was a lot of weird talkingstuff and she didn’t like it at all.

GG: i dont know!!!!!
GG: i think you figure it out but i dont know
GG: but right now i have to figure things out and i have to go help everybody
GG: because i dont want anyone to die
GG: youre a time lord and you know these things but i dont
GG: ive got to go
GG: i dont want any dead jades :(((

I can’t say that I know everything.
I know some things, but time isn’t in order.
Or, rather, not in chronological order.

Dave wasn’t in order. And the trolls weren’t in order, either. It made her head hurt, to think about all those things, especially when she didn’t know what was happening. She thought she used to know what was happening. When she dreamed, she could fly over all the golden buildings that shimmered with the dust of hope, and the paved roads of luxurious shimmering colors, and zip beside the walkways and hover over the ground.

But she couldn’t dream, anymore. The Doctor wasn’t right, but she had to breed the frogs, and figure out how to take all the planets with her, and it was a lot of frogging to do. She thought the Doctor was reliable for some things, but he probably wouldn’t know anything about frogs.

Sometimes it made her so mad! It made her really mad, and really sad, too. But since she came into this world, that was her world, she thought that it was really hard to figure out. The trolls had a different Alternia time, and she had a different time, and they were all getting jumbled together in a terrible mess, and there were so many frogs.

Sometimes it was hard to do this alone. But she knew she had her friends, and she knew she had to help her friends. As much as she enjoyed talking to the Doctor, she didn’t have the time to only chat with him now.

Good-bye, Jade Harley.
I’m so sorry.

8.

Her dream self had died.

It was a—feeling. It couldn’t even be described into words, it was just a sickening feeling that felt like morbid death on her tongue, and her glasses were getting dirty and smudged, and she couldn’t go to sleep because she would see those things that she didn’t want to see, and not even her pile of Squiddles could comfort her and that was saying something because it was an entire pile of Squiddles.

Her Dreambot wasn’t there, either, because it had exploded, and she could only place her fingers flat against the keyboard and feel like there was a part of her that was missing, really missing, but it wasn’t like someone had taken her heart. Her heart was still there pumping. But she lost something so intrinsically part of her that she couldn’t even put into words what she had lost.

It was like—the light wasn’t nearly as bright anymore, or that her flowers were just a little bit to the right, or that she couldn’t tell if her pumpkin was missing. Like taking a step was always slightly off, or the entire world had decided to shift to the left and nobody had told her and she was left a little disoriented and a lot sad.

She felt very, very sad.

Jade Harley, are you there?

GG: im a little busy doctor

We’re always a little busy.
But isn’t that the curious thing?
That we always manage to make the time.

GG: doctor :(
GG: i cant sleep so you are not making much sense

Your dream self, then?

GG: you know????

A little bit. A tad, a pinch. Not so much.
I’m sorry to hear that you won’t be able to sleep much, though.

GG: will i be able to sleep in the future??

Spoilers.

GG: :(

I’m quite sorry that you have to go through this, though. The death of your dream self must be very difficult on you.
But Rory handled it quite well.
Well.
Rory handles all his deaths quite well.

GG: rory??

A companion of a companion. Well, my companion, more or less.
But I’ve been through something like that.
Twice, in fact.
Two different times, I’ve had to destroy the dream to wake up.
I’m sorry for your loss, Jade Harley.
But now you’ve woken up.

GG: i guess…..
GG: but its so different
GG: im so left behind and i dont understand
GG: its like everyone was on a different time stream
GG: and i have to catch up now

It’s difficult, isn’t it?
It’s nice to know everything, but sometimes you don’t know everything.
It happens.
But you can cry now, you know.
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
Nobody will bother you.

She felt her eyes well up, but she fought back the heat in her eyes. The Doctor was right, but he was wrong, too. He was so right that he became wrong. She had woken up, but that didn’t mean it was a good thing at all. He said everything with an optimistic tone, and since he could see into her future, he might know. But she was starting to suspect that he didn’t really understand, and not even understand himself.

He was so right that he was wrong.

GG: what was your dream like

That’s a bit difficult to say. I wasn’t exactly in control of it, except I was.
It was
An experience.
Sometimes, dreams can show a person what they really are, inside.
For better or for worse.
And for humans, it can sometimes show change.

That wasn’t right at all. Jade frowned to herself. Her dream self just flew through the air, not any of this true self things. She had so much fun when she dreamed. She could go anywhere she wanted, and she could visit John. Oh no, John!

GG: i have to go now doctor
GG: im sorry!!!!!!

That’s quite all right.
I should get back to my ship, anyway.
She'll be missing me.

GG: ??

Yes, she became human. For a little while, anyway.
But everything about her is like a piece of time.
Every single bit of the TARDIS is imbued with aspects of time.

GG: oh…..

Right, then. What was our last password?

GG: oh!!!!
GG: sorry
GG: it was zman

Quite.
Farewell, Jade Harley.
I’m so sorry.

9.

Hello.
Hello.

She started at the sound, but the Pesterchum seemed to be working all right. Was there an echo? She tentatively peered at the text. It seemed to be the Doctor, and—

And the Doctor.
We’re the Doctors, really.
It’s a long story.
Rather complicated.
He’s just me, in every single way—
Except one of us is a clone. Difficult to tell, isn’t it?
Very difficult.
But good to see you again.
Yes, quite.

GG: ummmm ok
GG: nice to meet you two too doctors!!!!!
GG: it seems complicated :O

Spot on.
There are quire some many clones running around—
How is your dream self?

GG: ummm im fine!
GG: im just trying to move this toilet
GG: kinda
GG: oops

You sound quite busy.
Let’s get to business, then, shall we?
Right, password?

GG: password?? :O
GG: that sounds like a good idea though
GG: if we have passwords to keep it in order

So this is the point, isn’t it.
It seems like it.
Before we forget, then, the next password will be zman.
It has a very deep meaning.
Very deep.
Can’t quite recall it at the moment, though.

GG: this is a lot of doctors for me… :(
GG: its a little confusing!!!!

Sorry about that, it’s just that we’re all fighting to keep alive.
But you can’t just make a clone of yourself to live in a dead end existence.
Where it has no chance to thrive as an individual.
Or surpass its limitations.
That would be strange.
Very strange.
But sometimes people have this reaction to clones, you know.
And it’s not like that.
Not like that at all.

GG: uhhhhhhhh

You’re tapping your tooth right now, aren’t you?
In frustration, I expect.

GG: oh nooooooooo
GG: has anyone ever told you
GG: that

Yes. Plenty of times.
And they’ve told you that, plenty of times, as well.
Jade Harley, you’re going off on an adventure soon, aren’t you?
I shouldn’t take up too much of your time, then.
After all, I have my own business to attend to.
Amy’s likely worried.

GG: you talked about amy last time too
GG: who is she??
GG: are you in another game session?

No, I wouldn’t say that.
Amy is my companion, and she’s the Girl who Waited.
I don’t know what the title would be, though.
Thief of Time sounds a bit devious, more devious than I would have liked it.
I’ve known her since she was a little girl.
Or I knew her when she was a little girl, more like.
Oh, shush you. No need to bring that up in front of her.

GG: hmmmm
GG: i dont really understand but ok

While I’m here, though, I might as well ask. Before it’s too late.
Do you know any item that looks like a candy bar, but isn’t?

GG: grist??
GG: ohhhh maybe a boonbuck…..
GG: i will tell dave to send you one if i see him again
GG: oh!!!! but i should go now
GG: it was really nice to see you again doctor

Farewell, Jade Harley.
I’m so sorry.

10.

Jade had a crack in her wall.

No, that’s not right. She was terrible at telling stories. Let her begin again.

Jade had plenty of cracks in her walls, all throughout her house. She lived in a fairly old building, after all, and there were cracks everywhere. She didn’t mind it, so much, but there was a large crack on her wall where the windows overlooked the water. It was large, ripping through the edge, and it shone lightly if she squinted in the dark.

She had looked from the outside of her house, and there was no crack on the outside. But Bec didn’t seem to like the smell of it, either, and often slunk away from the room. She tried not to keep her flowers and pumpkins near the crack, but the pumpkins nearest to the crack kept disappearing.

There was a crack in her wall.

She had a very busy lifestyle, though, and couldn’t always worry about the crack. The Squiddles had to be properly hugged everyday, and Dave’s poster had to be adjusted to be just right, and she could always play Memory or Monopoly or Hungry Hungry Hippos. And she had to sleep, too. The times that she slept were very peaceful to her, and very nice. She had to write that note, too. Her name wasn’t Farmstink!

Today, though, was a different day. A small shard of something had fallen out of the crack, and she had collected it. It was a very deep blue, and it might have been wood, once, but it felt shimmering and expansive and wise and deep and kind, and it bent like a string, so she tied it around her finger. She thought it looked very nice, but sometimes she would count it and wonder if she was forgetting something.

When the Pesterchum blinked, though, she thought it was going to be Dave again. Or maybe John. Or maybe Rose. She liked talking to her friends. They lived such exciting lives! And they were so nice, too. She liked them all.

If it was going to be one of those mean trolls, though, she wasn’t going to be as happy.

But it blinked to a different name, one that she didn’t recognize.

Is there a crack on your wall, Jade Harley?

GG: ummmm
GG: who are you??
GG: how did you know :O

Because you told me, because I told you.
Is this the first time we’ve met?

Was it one of those trolls, doing weird things? Jade wasn’t particularly happy about that, because she wasn’t easily fooled and she knew the trolls just wanted to fool people. But still, she would be nice to him for now.

GG: yes………

Brilliant.
Though I suppose this is good-bye for us, then.
For me, not for you. You have a bit more Doctor ahead of you.
It’s time to unravel all the mysteries, if I can.
Jade Harley, this is all wrong. All very wrong.
We’ve fed into a self-informed time loop where nothing makes sense.
We’ve fallen into these pockets of time and space.
And you have a crack in your wall.

GG: yes!!!!
GG: it just appeared one day
GG: but i dont know if i should be telling you this :/
GG: i dont really know you…

I’m the Doctor. Pleasure to meet you.
And pleasure to say good-bye to you.

GG: are you a troll too

No, there’s nothing in my nostrils. Unless you mean a different sort of troll.
I’m a Time Lord.
Perhaps a recently-wed one.
But the only one.

GG: you sound like a troll
GG: except you dont seem to be like one of them
GG: i dont know

It’s difficult to tell, isn’t it?
The last time I will ever see you, I saw something peculiar.
You had a string on your hand.
It was the color of my time machine.
My time machine, which lets me type, lets me talk, lets me travel through time and space, sexy, quite sexy, and... powerful. Quite powerful.

GG: um
GG: i got the string from the crack :O
GG: you know a lot of things

I don’t think I knew enough, but now I know.
Your ascension nullified your forgetfulness, didn’t it?
Nobody forgot you, like when Rory was caught. Lovely Rory, absolutely lovely.
But forgotten, once.
You’re like Amy, a girl who waited, but you're not brilliant Amelia Pond.
You’re brilliant Jade Harley, and you took a sliver of my TARDIS.
But you’ll have to return it eventually, won’t you?
And these little pockets of time will never have happened.
We’re living on limited time, Jade Harley.

GG: ummmm i dont really know what you mean
GG: and its really confusing
GG: i should go

Of course you can go. You can go anytime, anywhere, you wanted.
But the time will come when you will take off the string.
And then this will have never happened.
You know, I’ve always wondered why you kept apologizing.
Every time, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t understand, but it seemed reasonable enough.
But I know now.
It’s a sad thing.

She didn’t mind talking to the Doctor, because at least he wasn’t mean like the trolls. But he kept on talking about things she didn’t understand. She should have been more annoyed, but something like interest sparked into her. There was something exciting about the Doctor, in things that she couldn’t even dream.

Though she couldn’t follow his lines of reasoning exactly, she pinched at the dark blue string on her finger, and stared into it, and thought she saw the Doctor for a second. He was tall and gangly, with a bow tie and suspenders, standing in the middle of a machine that warped through time. She thought she saw in him time, and time itself, every nanosecond possible, his arms moving like the hands of a clock, all his words sounding out like the tick tock of the universe, hiding some secret within his twin beating hearts that kept a different time.

For some reason, she felt like apologizing to him. That she couldn’t properly say good-bye. Not that she believed him! She was too smart to believe everything strange men on the Internet told her. But, at the same time, she couldn’t help but believe him. That this was the last time they would ever meet for him. She might see him again, but it was a sad thing, to already know the future and spiral into the past.

But she didn’t apologize, and released the string on her hand.

I’m so sorry, Jade Harley.

-- The Doctor [] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

11.

Jade always began her stories with a wish.

Space was so big and so wide, so expansive, that nobody could ever do it justice. The nebulas and the rings, the moons and the asteroids, there was simply too much space to cover in a single story. She couldn’t explain everything, but they were all so important, jumping from planet to planet as if they were in the same house, or walking three steps taking the same space as traveling to the moon. Sometimes, when she told her stories, she told them with the Milky Way space, but not in their space, and that has made all the difference. So, sometimes, when she told a story with her knees on the soft bed and a black-haired boy sleeping softly away, he began with a wish that somebody, somewhere, could piece together her story, and understand her. That was her wish, and that was her lie.