realityshifted | (no subject)

Do you need help at all, madame?

No...I do not believe that will be needed. I'll just have to change my strategy, is all.

Dare I ask what happened?

Hmm? Ah, it's no matter. The cheetahs have decided to attack me, instead of the Master when he returns to his reality. Easily remedied.

So long as you remain well and healthy, I suppose.

Oh, don't worry about me. I've survived far worse than a pack of mangy felines.

I worry almost by nature.

Then you are much like the man I travel with.

The doctor, correct?

The very same. Well...for all intents and purposes.

Yes, I think you and I spoke of this the last time we conversed. Really though, he doesn't seem the type to worry.

He's always been quite the good liar, my Doctor.

I can't decide if that's a skill to envy or pity.

Why must it be one or the other? Honestly, it could be both or neither, for it doesn't change who he is.

Very true.

I take it you were displaced from your reality as well?

Unfortunately. I'm trapped within the Master's wretched reality, stranded from my Doctor and surrounded by disgusting felines who ought better to have never evolved at all.

You may be better off than I, I'm stranded 13 years in the past, in Manchester and surrounded by things I've never seen before.

The past is relative. I cannot know what you mean by thirteen years before, as I know all time.

Ah, forgive me. 1973.

Such a quaint year. I take it you aren't familiar with the time period, then?

I was seven the last time it came around and...[Pauses as a realization hits him]...I was beginning life on my own, if the calendar here is correct.

[watches him quietly, head tilted to the side] You are younger than you look, aren't you, boy?

I will see my twenty-first anniversary in four days time.

[smiles faintly] Yes. Just a child. Though, if 1973 is your past, how are its technologies beyond your understanding?

Perhaps to one as old as yourself, I am a child, aren't I?

I was raised frugally.

Most creatures are, yes.

[quirks a brow] Is that so? All of your race?

Ah well. If I take care, there are still a good two hundred and fifty years ahead of me.

Most of us shun a majority of technology, yes, but I was raised completely without it.

Fascinating. It is rare to find a species with such longevity on Earth. And you are native?

Is that so? Are you offended by me, then?

We are, to the best of my knowledge.

Not at all, madame. You fascinate me, actually.

For all my years of travel, there is still so much I should learn.

[smiles warmly] I hear that often enough, truth be told. I never grow weary of it, though.

The day one stops learning is the day they die.

I think everyone appreciates some praise. [Matches her smile]

I don't intend on dying anytime soon, then.

You are quite the accomplished species, yourself.

I don't think death is high on many people's ambition lists.

I thank you, madame. [bows his head] Many believe that we were touched by the gods, long ago in the age of myth, and that's what allowed us our long lives and psychic abilities. Others just cite a different evolutionary path, but where's the fun in that?

No, perhaps not. Though there are some species that make quite the show of it.

I don't see any reason why it can't be both. Gods are simply a moniker lower life forms give to higher ones, and oftentimes, these gods can influence the evolutionary path of a lesser species. Perhaps your kind were simply an attempt to make better humans.

There are some people as well, I suppose, but in the whole of the universe, there have to be a few screws loose, I suppose.

Perhaps. Then again, I know firsthand that the divinity in my world is very real. Yet for every aspect that makes us superior to humans, there is one which nearly cripples us as a species..

What an interesting way of phrasing that.

I have met gods and demons and seen both overthrown by the strength of one man. The reality of your gods can perhaps be called into question, but I doubt their powers are. You, however...you interest me. What harms you so?

It is my duty to guard a Goddess with my life, so perhaps I am somewhat biased on that matter.

Low fertility and poor immunity against several illnesses keeps our numbers low, unfortunately.

Hmmm? What goddess might that be, then?

Is there no way to counteract that?

The Goddess Athena.

A bit of luck and some good genes as far as reproduction goes. Also, some care for one's health goes a long way to stave off the worst of illnesses.

Ah yes. I've met her -- or, at least, some incarnation claiming to be her. Quite the zealot.

Have you ever thought to tinker about with your DNA to remove the inhibitive components so you can breed properly?

I think I spoke with the Doctor regarding this - the Athena I live for is not the same Athena you know.

We simply do not know how.

That would make some sense, I suppose. It is a vast universe, after all, and you are beings I've never encountered before.

And your goddess won't help?

If ever we return to our own worlds, I'll see if I can find the texts my master left to me about us.

She is a goddess of mine, not my people. However, I believe she saved us from extinction once long ago.

I should like that, thank you.

Can you explain that?

I think it's time they see daylight again.

How she saved us? I'm not exactly sure, as it was long before my time, but the story goes that our number had fallen to less than one hundred. The goddess sheltered us in her Sanctuary, safe from outside threats for several decades until our numbers increased again.

I believe there is more detail in one of the books, if you're still curious.

I am, yes. If you could bring the tome, I'd appreciate it. This is all quite fascinating to me.

As soon as I am able to access my world, I should be glad to. I rather enjoy teaching, so I suppose we make quite the pair.

[laughs] I can teach you more things than there are stars in the sky, but I am always happy to learn more.

And I should be happy to learn as well.