'That's why we should laugh at him.' Smoke Alarm told Traveller, though she had to admit privately that the cosplay was beginning to make her feel all creepy-crawly, reminding her of the Great Architect in the Chief Caretaker. Unalive and mean and uncaring of people. She didn't think she wanted to meet this Davross. 'Can we backtrack now?'

Trav keeps skimming the data on the iPad while she works on setting up the TARDIS medbay facilities.  A lot of the time-space interstices where the seed factory was transmitting are likely to be safe: the Skaro Davrosphere* was a cinder vanishing into a singularity the last she saw it, for example.  Several of the locations that the iPad converts for her are disturbing, though:

55 CANCRI THREE, HUMANIAN EPOCH, FIRST INTERSTELLAR AGE, MOON OF STORMS
EARTH, EOCENE EPOCH, SOLAR MAXIMUM AGE, WEST AUSTRALIA REGION
EARTH, HOLOCENE EPOCH, HUMAN PRE-INDUSTRIAL AGE, EAST ASIA REGION

* Like a Dyson Sphere.  Except for the obvious

"You know, Smoke, you're right. Ahem. I hope I never have to do that again. Hah, I did laugh at him quite a bit. That despicable troll!" That's what Trav always called him - in her smooth New England accent, as the girlish 2nd Traveller, and as the imperious Marshall. "Looks like we get the last laugh. He'd be furious that we used his voice and codes to save someone. Great work, Smoke, thank you!"

Then, she trots down to the infirmary. It's not that big, and is attached to a much larger sciences lab, but it has a collection of medical equipment from across time and space, including a full operating theater (research capsule, pockets). Trav works to assist Stanley in treating Kuvas, especially making sure that he has not been psychically, genetically or even quantumly compromised by Dalek technology. In fact, she assists Stan in placing him in isolation, since she needs to make sure he isn't carrying any Dalek nanotechnology or bioweapons. She's also working to make the poor man as comfortable as possible.

OOC: 01:28, Today: The Traveller rolled 22 using 2d6+14 with rolls of 4,4. Ingenuity 8+Technology 6 - Get TARDIS ready for Kuvas.

'Of course I am! Meany-heads are all just cowardly cutlets in the centre.' Smoke Alarm said wisely. She backtracked to talkiphone box, with a few more wary eyespies at the broken cleaners left along the way. Then, while Traveller and Stan shifted Kuvas the mechinery man, she loitered outside, keeping outlook for more spider-cleaners.

Finding a hideously blank wall in the old building, Smoke Alarm got her paints out and started to wallscrawl. She painted stark lines and vivid colours, in a child-like style but reminiscent of the most ancient cave-art. She drew a spider-cleaner, its eyespy-stalk and stabby tentacles dripping with red paint picked out clearly. She also drew the along-walls eyespy-stalk and zap-guns. These were all obvious hazard signs for future visitors to this nasty place. Then she added Traveller with her zap-guns, Sereth with his sword, and herself with her arrowgun, attacking the cleaners just like they had. She even drew an arrow to the hair-con ducks, showing they were safe hide-ins and unseen in-ways, a picture of Kuvas in the mechinery, and left a little talkiphone box to show they come-out. All this show-and-telled what they had done and show-and-telled visitors how they could break the cleaners. Thus Smoke Alarm left wisdom on the walls for future Kangs who might comeout this way, and she show-and-telled their story. Through her wallscrawl, she might never be made unalive.

Trav and Stanley finish getting Kuvas' support system set up in the infirmary.  When they power everything on and bring him back to awareness, Stanley goes through his vital signs, which look to be acceptable, and starts to run him through a series of basic cognition tests.  Kuvas seems to be finding it easier to speak and respond to his environment than he did when he was hooked up with the mental probes.

"It does not hurt so much as it did," he says.  "It is only... numb.  Thank you.  But...."  He looks troubled, and Stanley even thinks that's a bit of a good sign; Kuvas was not so expressive before.  "What do you mean to do with me now?"

Trav smiles. "I'm not sure. First, we help you recover, or get you to a place that can get you treatment. Also, I'd like to learn more about you and how you fell into that horrible place. That node was setting up some sophisticated operations - I was going to take some of those funds and set them aside for you. It seems the least that you deserve." She pulls up a chair next to the frame where he rests.

"After that, that's up to you. Do you have any family or loved ones? I'd like to see you live as good a life as you can. I went through an experience somewhat like what you went through, and being with my family helped me recover. We can take you anywhere you need to go."

"Stan, what would you recommend for an initial treatment plan?"

As Trav says this, she already has Chibi tracking down the operations of the Mailman, quietly seizing control of the various relationships, databases, communications and accounts that the seed factory was using Kuvas for.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:30, Sat 11 Oct 2014.

Stanley is really glad that the transfer was successful and that Kuvas seems better off than before. "Well, the tests all indicate a successful transfer, so first of all congratulations. Obviously, your condition needs to be closely monitored and you'll have to take some drugs to help your body to better adjust to the new situation. The transfer has been quite a shock for your body and so your chemical balance needs some fine-tuning. Some more permanent alternatives have to be found for some of the fluid filtering machinery and some other small things, but that's nothing to worry about for now."

"So my plan would be to first let you rest for a bit and monitor how your body reacts to the new filtering and feedback systems. Then replace the parts Trav improvised together with more standard and durable alternatives. I don't think I have the exact expertise to do that correctly, so we'll have to find a hospital or somewhere where they know how to do this and get their hands on standard artificial organs."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:56, Sat 11 Oct 2014.

Kuvas gives a long and halting story about being sent into the 185224-995482 system to do a salvage survey on the mining base: from what you gather, he was a reclamation engineer working for a company that had bought exploitation rights to the system and was investigating the base, which apparently was much older.

When Trav looks into the records of the Mailman's activities, she finds that it has been operating for hundreds of years, and actually acquired and dissolved Kuvas' employer, hiring operatives from other systems to destroy the company's records of title.

Kuvas apparently did not have any close living family; when he makes an effort to explain his background, Trav finds that he's probably about eighty years out of date.

Trav is also attempting to date The Mailman. There have been literally thousands of Dalek empires. Most of them were erased from history by The Moment, and then locked out of history by the Time Lock. It was a one-two punch that made both the Time Lords and the Daleks nothing but half remembered phantoms and legends. Normally, the Mailman would have been able to create Dalek embryos from the likes of Kuvas. But with the entire history of that malevolent species erased and the universe repaired by the amazing work of the Moment, Trav couldn't help but marvel at the work of her ancient forebearers.

Still, even Omega's work wasn't fool proof, and this looked like a leak. Trav consider herself morally and ethically bound to keep the universe safe while she was still here.

Stan can actually find her with a long leather bracer, cycling through records. Unlike most of her gear on the TARDIS, it's a sleek design, and it looks new. She seems to be downloading some records into her Ipad. Trav fans can recognize the device as the Marshall's Time Ring.

"Ya know, Stan? The worst thing about the Daleks and Time Travel is that they suck the fun out of everything. We should be riding with Paul Revere or something. Oh man, Paulie, what a crush I had on him. But here I am, cleaning up after those one eyed fuckers. Even dead, they're messing up my life. Heh. But hey, I am really glad they're all gone."

As a pre-scripted routine starts to index the technology they found on that station against what Dalek technology Trav has encounted in the past, through a holo display above the TARDIS display panel, Trav opines, "everyone was so beautiful there. I was actually really scared it would be Relnax all over again." A scutter comes over with some coffee. "Thank you, baby."

"I think the best place to drop Kuvas off may be a hospital on New Earth. It's high uptime, and I think they may have the expertise to deal with Kuvas' unique situation."

"Yeah... I am glad I never met them. Seeing what they have done to Kuvas is enough for me. Technologically and biologically quite the achievement, but it wasn't done to help him, you know? It is not even some sort of cyborg augmentation, they just changed him for their own purposes. In my opinion he was treated like a part of a machine, not like a sentient human being. I'm sure that I'm not telling you something you didn't already know..."

Stanley pauses.

"I heard the anger and fear in your voice when we saw the robots and again when we found Kuvas. The way you react and what they did to Kuvas tells me a lot about what sort of creatures they were. So yeah I am also glad they are gone." Stanley shakes his head, as if to dismiss his current train of thought. He points at Trav's injured arm. "How's your arm? Want me to take a look at it?"



"Okay...I can't really recommend any hospital for a situation like this, so I'll trust your judgement." Stanley says with a smile. "New Earth sounds futuristic enough."

Trav ohs, and takes off her jacket. She hadn't even noticed she had been hurt.

As she rolls up her arms and allows Stan to treat her, she demurs, "The Daleks." There's a pregnant silence. "They cost me *everything*." There's not even any anger in her voice, but moreso just deep sadness and regret. "There's not much more to say." A pause. She sit at the table next to the seats near the control console, the time rotor thrumming in the darkness of the control room, powered down for night cycle.

"You already know parts of it. What else do you want to know?", she whispers.

All she can do is sit there, looking wounded and tired.

Trav is having a hard time deciding whether the "Mailman" seed factory is likely to be a relic of the Time War, or some piece of flotsam that dates from before then in the relative Dalek timeline.  She's very much afraid it could be the former, however.  Even though the technology is not highly sophisticated, it's also true that the capabilities of both the Daleks and her own people fluctuated back and forth as one side or the other gained the upper hand, and became able to undermine the timestream of the opposing party.

It's highly suspicious to her, for example, that this seed factory would have been sent out and co-opted the pre-existing facility in the pre-War heyday of the Daleks.  Back then, she would have expected to find a team of engineers on hand to supervise operations.  This smells like a device fired off in a desperate bid to collect resources and build up the empire when almost every living Dalek was embroiled in the struggle.

Stanley quietly looks at and treats the long scratches on Trav's arms. "Nasty looking scratches, but nothing serious."



Stanley has to think about that. "You don't have to talk about them if you don't want to. I think I know enough, at least I know your side of the story, but there is one thing I was wondering about. You say that they're all gone, but how does that work when there is time travel involved? Couldn't we just travel back to before they were...er...neutralised. Not that I want to meet them, obviously, I was just wondering."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 22:14, Tue 14 Oct 2014.

"Well... I betrayed my people, essentially." Her eyes grow far away. "You know the guy who Smoke and I occasionally talk about? Who Sereth talks about like this almost demi-god? The Doctor? Well, he wasn't a demi-god, but he was amazing." She pauses. "He... he refused to participate in the war. Me? Well, you know that story. The Daleks got me, and did to me what they did to Kuvas, but proactively. They not only did... physical things to me, but they made me watch as they changed civilizations, warped and destroyed histories... undid a lot of my good work. They took special care to never coerce me, but they did everything to break my spirit. You see, the Doctor and I were engaged in a war of ideals with them as much as we were engaged a war a physical conflict."

As she holds the arm that Stanley has bandaged up, she leans back in her chair. "And they did it. They -did it-. I regenerated into The Marshall. I became, essentially, a Gallifreyan Dalek. Oh, I hated the Daleks. Of course I did. But Daleks, when no one else opposes them, always fall to fratricide. I did such *horrible things*, Stan, in the name of discipline and order, on the justification that the universe could not be trusted to govern itself. It took 100 years and three Time Lords, lead by the Doctor, to corner me and drag me back to Gallifrey. I cooled my heels for another 100 years in the Citadel. You see, my people would never stoop to something as barbaric as execution. No, Time Lords were imprisoned me and made me think hard about my crimes. And think I did - but mostly, I loathed myself."

She turns in her chair. "Then the war came. They released me. Romana herself came to my cell. She told me how bad it had become, and they had no idea how to fight against a species that knew and lived for nothing but warfare. I told them that having a girl sing at the Daleks wouldn't work like it did against the Zentraedi. Romana offered me my freedom, in exchange for the chance to kill as many Daleks as I could. I thought that my people had finally saw reason, but I was actually looking for a chance to commit suicide by Dalek."

"Of course, they had already resurrected Rassilon, and I saw them bring back the Master, the most evil Time Lord ever to live. I really didn't protest - things were that bad. I sent out the general recall signal to every single one of us who was wandering. There were quite a few who chose to have nothing to do with the War - Exeter, Parcella, Drax, Corsi, The Rani, and of course, The Doctor. Not to say that they weren't doing their thing."

"So. Early in my career I discovered this thing called the Time Lock. It's this equation - it was devised by Omega - one of our greatest. It was originally a safety measure. You see, we had this source of power called the Eye of Harmony. It used to power Sweet Boy, here. It was an artificially created black hole that was so tremendously powerful that it essentially conferred near absolute control over time and space. It powered our entire civilization, and it reached from the beginning to the end of time. When Rassilon - the founder of our society - and Omega created the Eye, the Time Lock was meant to be a safety back up that would kick in and protect the universe from the Eye if it went amuck and anything went wrong. Well, things didn't. So, it gets put away and forgotten. I come across it, but like a good girl I leave it alone in the vaults. During my Marshall days I entertain ideas about using it to blackmail the high council into a war with the Daleks, but when the Time War comes along, well, no need for that."

"I find the Doctor after a disaster on a place called Raxos. The Dalek Emperor had just seized something called the Cruciform. It would enable the Emperor to break past the Transduction Barrier which protected Gallifrey. In response, Rassilon was planning on destroying the material universe, although we weren't sure how. Things were rapidly reaching endgame. We had two cards left up our sleeves - the Time Lock, and a weapon called The Moment. I had been placed in charge of something called the Vault of Omega  - it was every doomsday weapon the Time Lords had ever devised. Except, however, I had been ordered to use all of them, except for the Moment. The Moment, you see, was a weapon capable of destroying selectively entire civilizations across an entire galaxy up and down the entire timeline from the beginning to the end of time, removing the offending civilizations entirely. It even had a failsafe - it had a conscience. It would only allow itself to be used by someone who it felt was a good person, using it for a good cause. So, that ruled me right out."

"So, I see no options. As Rassilon carries out his unanimous vote to destroy the cosmos, and as the Daleks break through, I pass to the Doctor The Moment, and my Exigents cover for my as I make my way down to the Eye of Harmony, and I engage it to work the final calculations to activate the Time Lock. I and Romana had our last conversation then. She and Boobie kept calling me The Traveller, even though I clearly was not, then. I even had a plan to get some of the Gallifreyan civilians out with some Arks. I have no idea if it even worked. I've seen no sign of them, so, probably not."

"The Doctor tells me that he'd like his hat back, and to indulge him, just this once. To honor a dead man's last wish, I make my way back to Sweet Boy. Still had my key. Once I get inside, the door sequence locks and the time rotor starts. That old bastard explains that he's sending me off to a paralell universe that I had visited earlier in my career, back when I was good - one with magic and wizards and mutants and giant robots - no, not the one with the transforming jet planes - and I'm crying like a girl and banging my fists on the control console and demanding that I die with him. As Sweet Boy goes hurtling into the CVE, I see the Lock activate and something happens - fire and power and time screaming - the Moment, obviously. The last I see of him is him regenerating. Northern england accent, big ears."

Tears stream down her face. "I wind up in R space. I end up regenerating as a baby, and an old magician friend of mine puts me up with a human family. I grow up as Louise. I have adventures, meet a great guy, fight the Coalition, have kids, have an amazing life. Later on, these time demons need me to be a Time Lord, so I get targeted, and a big dog demon tears out old Louise's throat. Another pal of mine had my fob watch nearby - so, I regenerate, and remember everything. I'm the Traveller again. 150 more years, with another crew, versus time demons, but a much different Trav. The one in front of you."

"We eventually defeat the Shedraya - the time demons. I spend a few years with my husband and kids, but I have to eventually leave. They grow old, I regenerate, you know? I suppose this is justice. I loaded up the Doctor like a bullet into a gun and put him to the head of my own people. Sure, my people were nuts and mad and had to be put down to save everyone. Sure, the Doctor knew exactly what he was doing. But my hands, Stan. They're dripping with blood. I love the universe and it's so beautiful but there's a part of me that I hate so much and I am so lonely and it hurts so fucking much and all 5 of me are in so much pain that some days the stars simply aren't enough."

A pause. "And I can't stop yet. I owe too much. There are too many future generations at stake. I need to do everything I can to make time safe. I know I can't do it alone. But I can't not try."

She lowers her face into her hands, and weeps.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Mon 23 Feb 2015.

OOC: This feels like an epiphany in the making.  So I'll give Stanley a chance to make it big.

Stanley can make a Presence + Convince + Empathy roll.  The Story Point reset I mentioned earlier hasn't happened yet, so you can include one, and although Sereth and Smoke Alarm haven't participated in this scene a lot they can give Stanley +2 support bonuses.  (If either of those feel that being present in the scene would be an intrusion, you can add your two cents as a sort of cutaway insert from a previous moment in the story somewhere.)

Do well and you can expect good things.

Sereth had been quiet, but when Traveller reveals her story, such as it were, then he spoke. He stood up to his full height, his eyes bearing down on her, and -this- was who He was. This was not the soldier, feared by all. Not event the diplomat, who's battles on the field of diplomacy were just as legendary. No, this was Sereth, Noble of Draconia, beloved by oh so many, who's wisdom was known amongst his house.


"If I may have a word, Traveller. It is not -what- we do, that makes us who we are, whether hero or villain or in-between. It is how we react to those events. My people, whilst scarcely Daleks, are also not known for their peace-loving ways. Amongst others, I have striven to change this." A deep sigh. "However, it has not always been so. There was a time, before I turned my mind to peace, that I was as fierce a soldier as any. I slew many for the Glory of Draconia."

He shook his head.

"I will not go into my reasons for changing, but suffice to say, I did. I am not as fierce a diplomat as I ever was a soldier. I still have to use my fighting skills on occasion, and whilst so far with you, it has only needed to be with robots - there may come a time when it is not. And I will do what I have to do. As did you. That you regret it - good. But do not let that sorrow swallow you, do not let it detract from the fact that are GOOD. Sorry that it had to happen - yes. But sometimes things, need to be done, and it is not that we do them - it's what we do after we do regrettable things that form who we are."

Stanley does the only thing he feels he can do right now and just listens to Trav's story, even if he doesn't recognise all of the names. The story answers his question about the Daleks, but it isn't the simple answer he was expecting. After Sereth has finished talking, Stanley thinks about his words for a bit, before speaking to Trav.

"I know that we've had an argument about this just before we landed on Farhaven, about what you did and whether or not you are a good person. Hearing what you've been through and what you've done, I don't believe that I am qualified to judge your past actions, at least not in the same way that Sereth and Smoke are. That doesn't help you, I know. I think that what Sereth said about not allowing your negative emotions to consume you is what you need to do, but I also realise that that is easier said than done. But don't forget that we are also here to help you and I am sure that together we can find a way for you to accept your past."

He pauses.

"There's one thing I want to say: I don't know about The Marshall, the past or future Travellers, but there is no doubt in my mind that The Traveller I've been travelling with, the Traveller sitting here, right now, is a good person. You are a good person and like Amanda said you try to be better. Everywhere you go you save people and make their lives better and inspire others to do the same. That is a good person as far as I'm concerned."

OOC:
The roll:
03:57, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 23 using 4d6+11 with rolls of 5,1,5,1. Presence (3) + Convince(2)+Support(4)+Empathic (2)+SP(2d6).

Ticktocks tracked back...






OOC: Helping Traveller: Presence + Convince 9
11:04, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,1. presence(2) + convince(0)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:04, Fri 17 Oct 2014.

Ticktocks tracked back...

Smoke Alarm got into a big sulk while Traveller worked the talkiphone box, thinking she ought to say more but couldn't think what. Did she really have to say something? She'd said she'd done bad things too, but mayhaps Traveller had missed that. She was sad about something, and Smoke wanted to help. But she didn't have the knowhow. How could she help others when she couldn't help herself? 'Well, if you can lock up a War, you can lock up the bad things with it too, right? Put them in a cupboard in a room in a basement, and turn your back and be forgetting about it.' And yet she remembered being taken to the cleaners, and the Echidna Man, and the old Rezzie with the knife. She shook her head and they were gone, back behind closed doors. 'Kangs are brave and bold, we always outlook forward, never track back. Got to keep on running. Wars make us do bad things, so we stop making Wars and play games instead.'
This message was last edited by the player at 02:33, Sun 19 Oct 2014.

Trav replies to Smoke Alarm as the Time Rotor moves up and down. "I can't forget, babe. You see, if someone forgets, then those bad things can get out. I have to remember. Like that bad thing with Mister Kuvas. That's not so bad. It's like cleaning up. Also, sometimes a closet gets really full. You need to deal with the trash - maybe use what's left to make something new. You can't run away forever. Facing what makes you unbold, that's what the Doctor did, but yes, he always ran and he always played games instead of wars, made people friends instead of enemies. Look at what makes you unbold straight in the eye, that makes you brave and bold, yeah? So, how am I doing, Smoke? Am I a little like him?"

"Sereth, thank you for your kind words. It wasn't simply being a military leader - for a considerable period of time, I was the kind of monster I had struggled against. I was mad, so mad, until I finally collapsed from sadness at the very end. The Doctor and my Exigents saved me."

"In my dreams, I still hear the singing of the Gelth, some times."

"Oh sweety. Well, it is a little hard for me to let myself be taken care of. I mean, I was a mom, it was usually the other way around."



Trav just holds Stan's hands at the table, and smiles.

Smoke Alarm pondered Traveller's words, "If someone forgets, then those bad things can get out." She lost-and-found herself remembering the Handle-Bar Men, who forgot what was done to them and wanted to do the same to others, to make them cleaners like them. And the Rezzies, who ate youngsters and forgot they were youngsters too once. Mayhaps they should have recycled. But what did Kangs have to remember? Smoke Alarm couldn't think of anything.

'Mayhaps.' she answered at last, not entirely sure if Traveller was a little like the Doctor. She hadn't knowed him that long. 'But mayhaps it is better to be yourself.'