Sacris Solemniis

[collector]

[Teapot before him, a plate of pastries beside it, Braxiatel sits at the kitchen table with Strindberg's Ett drömspel open in front of him. Braxiatel stirs sugar into his tea, and a faint smile crosses his face as his eyes flicker to something in the seat to his left.]

[He leans forwards and pours a second cup of tea, then lifts it up to hand it over, the smile widening.] I don't know what you mean by 'ulterior motives,' Comman—

[Braxiatel's fingers tighten on the cup before he can let it go. For a moment, it hangs there, hoping for a hand that cannot take it.]

Ah.

[It is a quiet realization.]

[Braxiatel sets the cup down, away from him. He leans back in his chair and picks up a scone to eat.]

Comments

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

I am certain your ship would express similar sentiments, if that is the case.

[collector]

I hope not. It would be entirely opposite to everything I've given my life to.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

You do not want her unwavering loyalty?

[collector]

[with a soft laugh] It wouldn't work very well with our situation.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. But I cannot imagine any ship not loyal to her pilot.

[collector]

She is all I could ask for, of course.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

Good.

Have you any idea how to return to her?

[collector]

The little demonstration at the beginning seems to indicate that we'll be able to go home once we find the person who is responsible for our being here.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

That could be any of us.

[collector]

I think that's the point.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

Kill everyone and see if that sorts it out?

[collector]

That's immoral, but more importantly, impractical. Some here may have abilities beyond ours.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

The immorality does not bother me. [still, he's right about impractical. damn] An energy source, perhaps? Trace it back to the one who began it all?

[collector]

It should. [stirring his tea] No, if it's anything like the other choices, there won't be that sort of trace.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

By what method are we expected to find it, then?

[collector]

Oh, I imagine we ought to search deep in our own ranks, trusting no one, and hunt the traitor down.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

That can be accomplished.

[collector]

Can it really? We don't know the names of all the people here. We don't know how honest they may or not be. We could telepathically search through everyone's head, of course, assuming we catch everyone, assuming we aren't stopped by other telepaths, assuming no one rightfully stops us from committing that sort of invasion of privacy. And what will we do when we find the traitor? Put a hook through the ribs and leave whoever it is to hang until dead? If we're feeling particularly generous, of course. I hear there's something particularly fun about drowning traitors in shallow water.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

There must be a way for us to gather such information. We are wise enough and strong enough to do so, I should think. But perhaps the black hole has some meaning? We find the perpetrator and throw them in; perhaps that is the key.

[collector]

[He stares at her for a moment, genuinely shocked by her suggestion. He falls back into reflexive quips to overcome his surprise.] I'd say that at least you're getting creative, but as I recall, there's a historical precedent on Gallifrey for taking swan dives into singularities.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

That precedent is how you came to understand and harness time travel. Perhaps this would lead to transdimentional travel.

[collector]

As a lucky coincidence? It is murder, you do realize that. Transdimensional travel is nothing but a possible fringe benefit. And we've no idea what may happen with a singularity whose function we don't fully understand.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

[her look says she doesn't care if it's murder] Do we fully understand anything of this place?

[collector]

I understand enough to know that blindly killing people on the off chance that it might be a good idea is, in fact, not a good idea. It's a very bad one, and I can't imagine the Doctor condoning it.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

He never does. [still, you are using logic, Brax. that's not fair] I suppose there must be other methods, though.