Constellation 04

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

[A big tree can be seen on the Plane, it's roots seeming to dig into the 'floor' itself. Arthur is currently sitting under it, his bike a few feet away. He had a run in with the tree a few minutes ago when a sudden car horn startled him, and it's pretty clear who won.

He looks more than a little bruised, and is currently trying to wipe at a particularly nasty-looking cut, mumbling under his breath about reckless drivers]

Comments

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

[He hesitates a moment before asking] Do you feel better, then?

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

[A pause.] I should be asking you that, I think. Ah, but...yes.

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

[grins] I'm glad, then.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

[the Master appears, cranky, his nose still healing, and yet he naturally ends up standing by the Doctor when Arthur is introduced]

Oh, great, first one of you - well - and now the other one's spreading it around that I can't keep secrets. Is it a goal for you bastards to completely ruin my life, or do you just do it on accident?

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

[The Doctor immediately slumps and sighs.] I told him that wasn't what happened.

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

[He looks a bit startled at the Master's sudden appearance] I never said it was a secret, technically.....

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

Yes, but there's something to be said for non-disclosure and holding your tongue.

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

I was hardly trying to reveal anything.

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

He was very vague about it?

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

Are you defending his honour now, Arthur?

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

N- well, yes, in a way I suppose. But he really didn't outright tell.

It was my fault for being insistent.

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

[Rubs the back of his neck.] I didn't really...consider the implications, was all.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

So you were chasing after that train to say 'goodbye' to your William, Arthur? And failed, obviously. You were going to declare your love.

[looks at the Doctor]

That could have gone terribly wrong.

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

[Tenses, then ducks his head, voice just above a mumble]

I managed to keep up, for a few seconds. I always thought that if I had managed to hold out longer, he might have looked out the window.

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

[The Doctor looks to the Master before looking up into the tree.]

Maybe. Or maybe not. You can't know, so you really can't be so hard on yourself over it.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

This is why mobile phones are a good thing.

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

[looks up at the Doctor] No hope from the beginning, then?

[Though he quickly turns towards the Master] Mobile phones?

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

[He shakes his head and says,] Not anything like that. There's always hope. But hope isn't the same as blaming yourself.

[But he'll let the Master tell him about mobiles.]

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

In a Newtonian universe, everything is predictable. There is no hope; there is only determinism and the Law and physics. In Newton's universe, there is no choice.

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

What are mobile phones, exactly?

[He is 'subtly' trying to change the topic, even as he reaches for his pocket watch]

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

[Mildly.] Well, it's a good thing we don't live in a Newtonian universe, then, isn't it?

[But almost automatically, he answers Arthur's distraction question.] Mobile phones are, basically, as they sound. Telephones which are small, compact and can be taken with you anywhere, without need for a base or wires. They're, ah- [Reaches into his pocket and pulls out the mobile he carries.] -like this. See? [Flips it open.] Technically patented in 1908 but no one really pays attention to that and for most purposes they aren't thought of until the 1980's.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

Yes, and a shame we live in a Rassilonian one.

[scienceandgod.livejournal.com]

[Arthur looks curiously at the mobile, reaching forward. He pause] Ah, may I?

[salvagestime.livejournal.com]

[The Doctor nods and offers the mobile to Arthur.] Of course.

[He glances up at the Master.] Well, you could say we don't, really. It's a bit nicer to just think it's the universe we live in, rather than say it's someone else's.

[savagestime.livejournal.com]

It could be our universe.