realityshifted

Entry tags:

doctor who (d1) patricia menzies

[006]

[Menzies arrives lying on the ground somewhere in the middle of the Plane. she's breathing hard, looking rather horrified and a little pale. she quickly sits up, looking down at herself in apparent confusion. then she starts to pat herself down, as though checking for injuries] All right... No gunshot. Fine now, then. Sure.

[taking a deep breath, she pulls herself to her feet, still looking completely frazzled. after a moment's thought, she takes hold of the ID badge that hangs around her neck. pulling it out, she briskly runs the edge of it along the back of one her hands, creating a small cut. she winces but watches with apparent interest as the cut bleeds red] And not dead. [she breathes a sigh of relief] First thing that's gone right all day... [she replaces her ID card before looking around, her expression uncharacteristically uncertain. she still looks pale and out of breath, and she clearly has no idea what to do now] Maybe this is payback for pissing off Ray.

[ooc: Menzies is in the middle of major trouble back home! See my OOC post for details.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah? What do you remember?

[He wants to help, but he needs more information, especially since none of this is in line with what he already knows about the Plane. Maybe it has nothing to do with this place at all, but that's not a conclusion he can pull at the moment.]

One of our officers... [she shakes her head, reaching up to rub her temple. she has a headache and is finding it very hard to concentrate on what happened] There was this purple goo. Alien. It--took him over. We'd been apprehending a criminal, and he had the gun. And all of a sudden...

[she trails off. Riku can fill in the end for himself. and in trying to remember the details, she finds that she's remembering something even odder] But I also... My god, I think I died more once. How is that possible?

It shouldn't be. Maybe your memory is being messed with? [Pause] I don't think that's it, though.

What about before... all of that? Does anything seem out of place?

[she frowns, thinking. but trying to remember only makes it worse, and it's a fight to keep the fear out of her voice] I don't know. I...don't remember in between. I don't remember going to either place. [she licks dry lips, forcing a wry smile] Maybe you're right. Maybe something's gotten to my memory.

Maybe. Or maybe something's gotten to your world. Whatever it is that's happened... I don't think you'll find an answer here. Because here, you seem fine. [Beat. And a veeeery faint smirk] If a little confused. But at least you're alive.

[well, that's a very unsettling thought. but she gives him a smirk back] Thanks for the glowing vote of confidence.

But you're right--there's one easy way to get more information.

[though she's really rather reluctant to try it at the moment; she doesn't want to go right back into the situation she remembers leaving. but her expression is stoic. she knows she can't run forever--and certainly not if Manchester might be in danger]

[He does smile a little.] I think if anyone can figure this out, it's you.

[He nods, considers the options for a moment...] Hey. Take me with you.

[she snorts] So says the kid who sorted out the candy mess. [really, Riku, have you seen her solve anything?]

[but she gives him a look at that] And why exactly would you want to do that?

Heh. You know I can't take all of the credit for that.

[He crosses his arms, tilts his head to one side slightly.] I thought maybe you could use some back-up.

[she eyes him. just how reckless are you, kid?] You do realise the last thing I remember is getting shot.

[More so than he admits, at the very least.] What if you go back to that moment? Don't you think you might need help getting out?

[he has a point--not that she wants to admit it. she thinks this over for a moment, then sighs] Look...don't even think about getting yourself shot. If that happens and the officer's still got the gun? Then we come straight back here. Got it?

Yeah, I've got it. [He's smiling a bit, though - glad she's letting him help. He takes one step closer and holds out his hand.]

[she's still reluctant, especially considering she doesn't know the details of what happened to him during the candy mess except that it was obviously something awful. but she has the people of Manchester to think about as much as herself, so she takes his hand, then closes her eyes and thinks of home]

[without warning, she finds she's on her back again. she can see some sort of glass dome above her, and instinctively, she reaches up to push against it. it doesn't budge. she's very tempted to panic at this point, but she fights that urge and instead forces herself to look at her surroundings. the room she's in is plain and rather dingy, but odd in that it has a lot of wires snaking along the floor. she follows them as they lead to a desk across the room, near one wall. on it is a large bank of machines, and there's a man there--brown hair, glasses, medium build. he's plain in appearance, but his expression is one of concentration as he types something furiously into one of the machines. Menzies doesn't have much time to take in the sight, though. as she sees the man, she feels a sudden, dizzying wave of deja vu. she knows him!]

[and then everything is spinning, and she sees more than feels it as her hands drop back from the glass. she's losing consciousness! just barely, she manages to think herself back to the Plane]

[meanwhile, Riku has appeared in the room just outside of a white pod that's holding Menzies. inside it, wires are gathered together over her before splitting off into a set of electrodes, each one stuck somewhere on her forehead]

[and across the room, the man at the bank of computers sees Riku arrive and is understandably shocked] How did you get in here!? [he reaches quickly for a set of controls, twisting a knob]

[When Riku can't immediately find Menzies, he's immediately put on-edge. A cursory glance around the room tells him very little, but then he glances inside the pod, sees her... And he's beginning to realize just how wrong everything is here.

He can't even begin to think about whether or not to break her out of there before he hears the man's voice from behind the desk. He glares]

None of your business.

[Reacting purely on instinct at this point, he runs at him - no weapon yet, but he will draw his sword the second he feels it necessary.]

[unfortunately for Riku, he has to cross the room before he can reach him. that gives the man enough time to pick up a gun from the desk, training it on Riku and shouting with a quaver in his voice:] Stop or I'll kill you!

[at the same time, there's the sudden sound of heavy footsteps on the flat's thin carpet. a large silver robot rounds a corner coming from the flat's entryway. it's not as fast as a person, but it's making a beeline for Riku]

[on the Plane, Menzies is back to lying on the ground--except this time she's barely conscious, her head swimming as she starts to remember more about what's happened]

[Sorry Menzies, Riku's a little too focused to go back to the Plane yet...

The gun almost makes him roll his eyes, but the robot does get him to slow down and reevaluate things. He stops running, looks the thing over... and decides that if that's what's going down first, then so be it.

He draws his sword, letting it unfold with its usual mechanical clicks and snaps. He takes a defensive stance and, without looking away from the robot, speaks to the man behind the desk:]

What are you doing to her?

[while Riku is sizing up the robot, Frank fires a shot at him] What's it to you?

[the robot is still advancing, a panel opening in its chest to show the barrel of some sort of weapon. simultaneously, one of its hands adjusts, transforming into a short blade]

Edited 2012-02-04 23:46 (UTC)

[Riku doesn't care that he's in someone else's world and should probably not make use of his mist magic. He throws up a barrier of darkness around himself, stopping Frank's shot and protecting him from the robot in front of him, should it decide to do anything funny while he's trying to ask his questions and get some answers.

Besides, a wall of darkness can be quite intimidating too, right?]

Maybe because I happen to care about her. Now, tell me what you're doing.

[Frank's eyes widen at that display, and he lowers the gun a bit in his shock] What--where are you from!? What is that technology? [as he calms from his initial surprise, he's starting to look quite interested]

If you must know, I want information. So as you can see, this is all very above board, and I'll release her when I'm done. [so he says, anyway] Now what do you want, really? Or are you actually that interested in your...relationship...with that human?

[Faint smirk~] That secret stays with me.

[He glances back at the pod, then back to the man.] I want you to let her go now. Get your information another way.

[the man's look of interest quickly switches to annoyance] What sort of idiot are you? That's a mindscape generator! I can't just let her go. Not if you want her in a viable condition, anyway!

[meanwhile, the robot, in its mechanical thinking, is about to ram the wall of darkness]

Fine. Then stop whatever it is you're doing with it and release her safely. I'm not going to wait for you to finish.

[The robot can ram at it all it wants, it's just going to slowly chip away at the metal. Of course, if it persists and annoys Riku enough, he might have to deal with it personally. But for now, he'll let it keep crashing.]

[the man scoffs at him] You really have no idea how a mindscape generator works, do you? I can't release her at all in the middle of a scenario! It has to end before it's even possible. [eyeing Riku] And why would I release her? What are you offering?

[it's definitely still crashing. robots are known more for persistence than common sense]

[Riku's not phased by the attempted stabs at his intelligence. He just shrugs a shoulder.]

Then how do you end a scenario?

[Offering, huh? He almost looks a bit disgusted, but he fights that feeling down and does his best to keep his cool. He thinks about it for a moment... until he has an idea.]

Let her go, and I'll tell you about this.

[Then he turns to the robot. He extends his hand, palm forward, and the dark barrier twists into a burst of black energy and, more importantly, current that not only hits the robot with incredible force, but seems to seep inside of it like steam between cracks.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject