Somewhere in the distance, well after midnight, the sound of Creedence Clearwater Revival is struggling to make itself heard over the enthusiasm over hundreds of thousand of people.  In a area sprawling with an agglomeration of tents and hucksters' stalls, there's a roaring, groaning sound as a tall blue box shudders into existence in full view of hundreds.

Who take it completely in their stride.

Next to the box, in front of one of the tents, a woman in a long patterned skirt, wearing a bandanna over her shoulder-length hair, is sitting behind a card table set up with a semicircle of candles.

Trav rolls up, wearing a Tie dye shirt with a big peace symbol and a cowboy hat, a pair of ray bans, and bell bottom jeans with flip flops.

"I'm of a mind to spank you, young lady. Gimme a hug."

She occasionally looks around. She knows on the other side of the festival, her second incarnation is getting stoned high as a kite with Roy Fokker and Jimi Hendrix.  While there weren't any major shenanigans that she remembers, it was best to be careful. If she ran into herself, she could just always write herself off to a weed induced hallucination.

Eyespying Traveller get all dressed up in funny clothes before landing the talkiphone box, Smoke Alarm was excited and as curious as a cat to eyespy where they were going next, and why. Something about a stock of wood? When the talkiphone box finally landed, she burst out the doors, outlooking all around, then was stop-signed by what she eyespied.

Mud. Wet. Tents and hovels under a cold starry sky. Crowds of people footing about with empty-room eyes. Some didn't seem to have much – or any – clothes to wear. They had to be chilly. There was a roar of hundreds-and-thousands of people being talky and shouty over some barely heared muzak: There's a bathroom on the right. Well, that was helpful, she sposed. 'Is this a refugee camp?' she wondered, outlooking dismally around Woodstock.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:15, Mon 26 Oct 2015.

Stanley leaves the Tardis and looks around. He can't help but think that Fortuna could have chosen a better meeting spot. Or at least a quieter and less chaotic one.

Fortuna folds her arms and tilts her head at the Traveller.  "Promises, promises," she says, clucking her tongue.  But then she relents and rises, coming around the table to hug the Time Lord.  She nods at Stanley.  "Dr. Newton.  It's been quite some time, hasn't it?  Let's see, was it Karn or Arsuran or the Mourning Citadel?"

She backs away, smooths her skirt and tucks it beneath her as she sits again.  "Now.  What was it that you wished to ask of me?"

"I want to know some of my future, but not all of it. Just enough to head in the right direction, not so much to get in the way, you know the drill. And if I wasn't working right now, young lady, I would take you over my shoulder and drag you into the fun room. The TARDIS angels, and your precious partner over there. I feel responsible towards him, them, and you. I need to be put in the right direction. So, lets get with the metaphor and simile. I suspect that you and your partner there are two aspects of one being, even moreso than a Time Lord and their TARDIS are, and that the "Master of Time" (she makes quotation fingers) might want to use you, the two of you who might be one, as an entire host of TARDIS angels. I need to know what story to be part of, and trust the narrative. Dig me? I also need to know where and when and if I need to be instructing you, if you are to be initiated at the Untempered Schism, and if you do indeed take up the legacy of the Time Lords. I understand that I may get only some or no answers." She smirks.

As she pulls up a fold out chair, she pulls from her bag a bottle of wine, come Entenmenn's goodies, and some daisy cups for Fortuna and her companions. "It's so good to see you again. It looks like Zu Rheng did well by you." Trav is even prouder of her, because of the way she handled herself when they first met, and Trav had no prior knowledge of her. She makes sure there are also seats for Stan, Smoke and Sereth (if he choose to accompany them).
This message was last edited by the player at 05:40, Tue 27 Oct 2015.

Leaving behind the bleak muddy wasteland that was Woodstock, Smoke Alarm entranced the tent, prepared to loiter through Traveller's meeting-square. But it was all talky and yawny and Traveller was all right-wrong about things; even she could show-and-tell that. But we're the TARDIS angels, Trav! TARDIS angels fly!' Anyhow, there were too many interesting things to eyespy for her to just sit down and loiter, so she footed about, outlooking around, wiggling her fingers to make the candle-flames dance.

Then she saw cards with funny pictures, and rememorised Warlock and his Tarrot, and felt unbold. Warlock and the Fists were still being caretakers over her home-sweet-home-away-from-home-sweet-home. Were they being goody two-shoes yet, or just pants-on-fire liars? She knewhow Trav wanted to give this Phillipe a chance, but a Kang was not so forgiving. 'I'm outgoing to foot about outdoors.' she said in a surly tone before exiting again.

There had to be something fun going on in Woodstock...

"You might be right, Smoke. And be careful of the funny smokes and tabs of paper and foods, they'll make you see funny colors here. People are having lots of dancing and sex and drugs here. And if you see a girl with glasses who wears a tie and has a big butt and has guns like me, stay away from her - she's me but tick tocks back, I can't know future me. She's all wibbly wobbly from the magic smoke right now, just leave here and Mister Jimi alone. In fact, Stan, why don't you go with Smoke. My 2nd self is here but I remember being so high it shouldn't be an issue. Yell if there's a problem. Janis Joplin is coming on in an hour, you might want to catch her. She knows about time travellers, she's cool."

She plops herself down in front of Fortuna. "All right, magic woman. Hit me."

"Mourning Citadel? That doesn't ring a bell." Stanley frowns as he tries to remember that meeting. He can't remember visiting a building or a place called 'Mourning Citadel'. "Oh, I get it...time travel...Don't tell me anything about that meeting, I think it is best if I don't know."



"Got it! I'll try to keep Smoke away from all the dangers here, including a high version of you. I'll try..." Despite this being a famous historical event, Stanley isn't really looking forward to going back outside. It is true that letting Smoke Alarm roam the festival unsupervised is probably a bad idea, with all the drugs and drug users, but he has a hard time keeping up with her under normal circumstances. Now there are all those people and distractions. He quickly gets up and follows her outside.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:34, Tue 27 Oct 2015.

Smoke Alarm stared, despairing at all the safety hazards in this place. 'Everything has sprinkles? ...Okay, I'll be wary. No ball games, no fly posts, no.... all that stuff.' Waiting for Stanley to tag along, she exited the tent. And another Traveller, how did that go? Smoke already had one; another would be too much, mayhaps. Now, another Smoke Alarm, that would be icehot!

Footing along thru the crowds, Smoke asked Stan 'D'you knowhow this Woodstack place goes?' She heared the muzak, Well don't go around tonight. Well it's bound to take your life. There's a bathroom on the right. 'Are the bathrooms unsound and unsafe? Mayhaps we should just outgo hear the muzak?'


OOC: That is of course Creedence's "Bad Moon Rising", with a commonly misheard line. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUQiUFZ5RDw
This message was last edited by the player at 10:48, Wed 28 Oct 2015.

Trav tosses Smoke and Stan a packet of sanitary wipes from her bag. "Be careful - this is 1969. There's some nasty stuff in those porta johns. You should have the broad spectrum in the kit I gave you, Stan, but I've gotten sick at a few music festivals."

She turns back Fortuna. "After this, wanna come with to see Star Wars XIX? Waiting on line is just as much fun as seeing the movie! And George Lucas' grand daughter is a much better film maker than he is."

"I have heard a bit about it, it will become pretty famous. Lots of good performances, lots of people..." Stanley looks around, trying to make sure no-one can hear him. You can't be too careful. "I don't think anything really bad happened, but I am not completely sure. You could say the bathrooms are dangerous, I think there were some problems there...maybe. Listening to the music should be safe, so let's do that."

Footing closer to, Smoke Alarm was able to better earspy the muzak. 'Oh.' she said disappointedly, pulling a face. 'It's all oldster muzak. Goldie-oldies. No skip-hop or wubstep?'

"I am afraid they only play real music here." Stanley jokes.

Smoke Alarm blew a cheeky raspberry at Stanley, show-and-telling what she thought of that. 'Kang muzak is real muzak. Icehot muzak!' she insisted, then launched into a stirring rendition of the Blue Kang anthem:

'We run thru carrydoors!
We jump down the stairs!
We foot up the walls,
and fly thru the airs!

Oh, sisters, scream and laugh and shout!
So Rezzies can ear us come-out!

They pull in the mat!
They grab up the cat!
They take in the pots!
They do all the locks!
They knowhow what is coming next:

BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!'

Bopping her head in the air, blue hair flopping, Smoke Alarm belted out her lyrics at the top of her lungs and whooped out the chorus. Whatever was lacking, she certainly had rhythm.

'With cats at our feets,
Our arrowguns fly true!
We hunt rats for our meats,
And shoplift snacks to chew!

Oh, sisters, 'ware sirens and boots!
The Caretakers are on the loose!

They chase us down carrydoors!
Catch us if they can!
But they fall on the floors
And get empty hands!

Those slowpokes know they failed our test!
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!'

Now Smoke Alarm was jumping up and down on her heels, like in an African tribal dance, blue hair up flying in the air in a halo. She couldn't help but attract attention.

'We run thru carrydoors!
We jump down the stairs!
We foot up the walls,
and fly thru the airs!

Oh, sisters, keep outlook an' eyespy!
The Red Kangs are coming, that's why!

They call us cowardly cutlets?
We call 'em scaredy cats!
They can't find out unseen ways!
Our brainquarters' secret stays!

Coz we're betterer than all the rest.
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!

We scrawl on the walls.
What we show-and-tell.
We sing out our calls!
And our chants we yell!

Yeah, you know what is coming next:
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!'
This message was last edited by the player at 03:21, Fri 30 Oct 2015.

'Smoke Alarm I am, ring it loud.
Smoke and song; can't hold a cloud.
I'm blue of colour and fancy free!
I'm brave and bold as a Kang should be!
And I don't need no teacher's test.
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!

With an arrowgun, I'm a crack shot!
At wall-scrawling I'm so icehot!
Run and jump, catch me if you can!
Can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!
Wanna knowhow I am fast-est?
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BESTEST!
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!

No ball-games, no fly-posts, no lie:
I'm not going to Great Pools in the Sky!
Fists and Rezzies and Caretakers,
Qplotls and Daleks and Cleaners,
They knowhow, they can all attest:
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!

Blue of colour, my sisters and me!
We're brave and bold as Kangs could be!
Us and Trav, Sereth and Stan, we rocks
all in Sweet Boy talkiphone box.
All us build high for happiness!
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!
BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!'

Chanting the chorus, Smoke Alarm leaped up high, skipped off a hippie, executed a neat backflip in the air, and landed neatly back in the mud. 'BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS, BLUE KANGS ARE BEST!' she sang to the skie.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:33, Sat 31 Oct 2015.

"Pfft.  You'll never convince a dedicated shipper of that.  If you ask me, having Vex, Trask and Cialan Ren turn out poly was a complete cop-out."

In Smoke Alarm's immediate vicinity, there's a sudden hubbub of mixed surprise, complaint that she's bellowing over the music from the distant stage, laughter and an appreciative chorus of "Far out!"  A couple of dozen people in the area around her hold up lighters and ignite them.

As that mini-clamor dies down, Smoke Alarm clearly hears the lilt of a familiar voice.

"Kangs?  Blue Kangs?  And what would a Kang be doing at Woodstock?  Have you even stopped to consider the implications of bringing wubstep into this century?"

Fortuna seems to take a very long time to organize her thoughts.

"It's always extremely complicated to try to pass on knowledge like this: there are futures and futures tangled up with each other.  Your future.  Mine.  Things you've yet to do and people I have yet to be.  I think I've at least got the picture, that the Time Lords conceived of me, figuratively and literally, to be the bridge to what comes after them.  Here and there I have found out enough to understand that.  The problem, of course, is that you can only ever set a child on their path; you can't walk it for them, and there was never any guarantee that it would turn out in any way that they would have wanted."

She holds the TAROT in her palm.  "But let's see what our friend makes of this particular crossroads."

Fortuna briskly turns three cards off the top of the deck, laying them left to right in front of Trav in sequence.  Trav reads the Ten of Wands, the inverted Two of Coins, the Six of Swords.

"Well, that is you in a nutshell, I think.  Trying to carry the burdens of the universe on your back, trying to hold them in balance, and not having an easy time of it."  She looks at the last of the cards.  "But there's a suggestion here that the way forward is in working to spread that burden around.  There are a lot of players on the board now.  More than Gallifrey ever permitted to exist.  Some of those have real ambitions of their own -- and the question is how those ambitions can be held in check.  By showing each one how they can work toward a common way forward -- or by imposing that path>"  A dark look comes over Fortuna's features.  "Warlock thought that way.  Bless old Zheng Ru for his patience in trying to teach another path.  But I can't truthfully say that I've set that possibility aside."

Fortuna starts to deal out more cards -- but a breeze comes through just then, making the candles flicker, and Trav feels a ripple in time as several cards scatter to the right of those already laid.  Fortuna gives a start, and then looks down.  Two pairs of cards have spilled askew on the table.  The Queen of Wands lays athwart the King of Cups, while further the King of Wands crosses atop the Page of Swords.

"That... that seems to be no coincidence," she says, indicating the first pair.  "These showed themselves the very first time I-as-me scanned for I-as-Phillipe,  In hindsight it wasn't hard to map them onto my first companions.  A woman, strong and fire-hearted, bold and independent?  A man, generous, kind, a healer?  I don't think I have to paint you a picture.

"Over here... another man, stern and just and just a little bit arrogant.  And yet he's being held up by this person, just discovering her own power, and not really seeing it yet."  She looks up at Trav.  "Normally this part of the spread is all conjoined.  I think a little bit of Time blew through here, though."

She pauses as if waiting for stillness, before she turns two more cards.  She lays down the World, horizontally.  "Change, renewal, the end and the fulfillment of things... but which way it will turn, will fall on...."  She places the final card, the Tower.  "Great strife, I am sorry to see."

Fortuna looks up at Trav at last.  "You surely know know more of the challenges that might be ahead than I do.  I'm afraid that trying to choose a future any more precisely than that, might end up creating some very unfortunate fates for you, for me, for an unfathomable number of people and places."

Bouncing with energy borne of excitement, fame, and sugary snacks, Smoke Alarm waved to her appreciative audience and did a how-you-do curtsey. Though no-one was viddying her on a talkiphone, this was icehot; these youngsters thought she was groovy and far out. Mayhaps she'd lost-and-find Kang-likes here.

'Nah-uh, that wasn't wubstep, I don't even have a wubbleboard. It's skiphop—' she telled the voice behind her, turning around. She was sure she rememorised it, but from where and when – and who? 'Doctor?' Mayhaps it was the funny-smelling smoke or the sprinkles in the air, but she thought she'd heared the Doctor, and thought she eyespied his hat in the crowd. 'Doctor!'

And then Smoke Alarm took off into the crowd, chasing after the Doctor. But the Doctor was the Gingerbread Man himself, and no-one could ever catch him.

Trav takes her phone and snaps a picture of the spread. "No, this is exactly what I need. This is the transmission of information without the direct breaking of causality or the laws of time, by metaphor and simile. Always, you're wonderful. I'll be staring at this and thinking about it." She knows that something terrible must happen to Fortuna, to burn her away that she becomes Evers. It breaks her heart. She needs to spend time with him - she spent a lifetime as Louise, and only knew her time lord legacy, as Loise Simons, for a grand total of 4 minutes, before having her throat ripped out by a monster and regenerating.

"Instead, I think I'll work with the possible futures in a reasonable negotiation, like I always have. Does that sound like a plan? I'd be an idiot to deny that time doesn't have plans for me, but I have my own plans for my time. I'm sure we can reach a compromise. After all, all I am are my choices."

Trav leans back and considers when talks about spreading around the burden. "Yeah, imposing. I find myself sometimes being like the old me more than I like. I find that I was like the old me before I had red hair. That's a bad Time Lord trait, girlie. Watch when you feel like doing it." She remembers all those years ago, after she killed 12 Daleks, the 5th Doctor and Teegan, staring in shock, her eyes behind her glasses staring back at them, and how she had felt no shame. Even going back as far as her first incarnation, the urge to impose her Time Lord will upon a problem - that was a character trait she shared with The Doctor and the Master. The better impulse - to collaborate, to compromise - was a hard won skill developed over centuries that was all hers. They often conflicted. She's have to watch that.

"So, are you seeing anyone these days? As the closest thing you have to a concerned parent, I want to know. Also, are you still in working with Zu?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:18, Mon 02 Nov 2015.

Smoke Alarm zigzags away, taking Stanley by surprise, although he's able to track her somewhat by the wake she leaves through the crowd.

For her part, Smoke Alarm is starting to lose sight of the putative Gingerbread Man when abruptly the crowd parts in front of her and she smacks squarely into the funny little man and caroms off him.

He looks barely changed from the last time Smoke Alarm saw him, although he's missing his usual cream-colored coat and jumper.

"Goodness," he exclaims, "so it is a Kang.  In fact, it's a Smoke Alarm!"

In the middle of the crowd, he begins to execute the formal Kang how-you-do.

"A lady never tells.  Perhaps you should ask again, the next time I'm not one."


Fortuna gives a sad smile.  "In a strictly linear-relative fashion, that's no longer possible, Traveller."

'A Blue Kang... Blue Kangs are best...' Smoke Alarm corrected, absently and automatically. Mostly she outlooked, wide-eyed and unbelieving, shocked to eyespy this sweet-dream of long-long ago. It really-truly was the Doctor! But Trav had said he was unalive, and show-and-telled her all this faces. But she'd said there was another Traveller here also, so why not another Doctor of tick-tocks before? Was Mel here too?

As he began to how-you-do, Smoke Alarm scurried to catch up and complete the ritual together, though she felt so very unbold in her movements. At the end, she curtseyed, then fished frantically through her bag. Where is it? It had to be right at the bottom, after so long. If she'd lost it now... Aha! She whipped the item out in triumph, before presenting it reverentially to the Doctor. 'Your spoon. You dropped it in Potassium Street.'
This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Tue 03 Nov 2015.

The Doctor beams.  "Marvelous!"  He accepts the spoon, produces another (which he brandishes meaningfully) from his trouser pocket, and while the onlookers' attention is focused on the second spoon, reaches behind Smoke Alarm's ear to produce a third.

He then proceeds to accompany "Lookin' Out My Back Door" which is currently blaring over the distant sound system.

"So what ever brings you to Earth?  It's a very long time from Paradise Towers."

Her shyness chased away, Smoke Alarm grinned from ear to spoon-producing ear as the Doctor did his magicky tricks, then played along to the musak with his spoons. Smoke Alarm clapped in joy; it was just like the old tick-tocks back in Paradise Towers! And it all seemed to fit the musak too, which was funny and not yawny at all. He really was a clever old mouse!

Doo doo doo, lookin' out my back door.

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?
Doo doo doo.
Wond'rous apparition provided by magician.

Doo doo doo, lookin' out my back door.

But then the Doctor's question threw her for a loop-the-loop. What should she say? If she show-and-telled this yesterday Doctor about the today Traveller, would it muck up all the tick-tocks? 'My feets. And it's not that long. I've been longerer.' she answered boldly, mainly to cover up for feeling a definite lack of boldness. But mayhaps getting talky about travelling through ticktocks wouldn't help explain how got here. 'I cameout with Traveller in a talkiphone box.' she admitted.

Trav stands, smilingly sadly, knowing what that means. Zu was probably dead to her, although Trav may still have a lifetime of adventure with him. "Well, those two are probably getting into trouble, and I would like to take in Woodstock while not blitheringly high on weed. By now, Jimi and Roy are dragging me back to another instance of Sweet Boy." She sighs. "You look magnificent. You turned out great. So far, I think you get an A for the mid term. I'm looking forward to more great days to come. Come on, you, give this old woman a hug." She opens up her arms to her niece.

"And as for your partner there, I will set him free, and carry out the best destiny I can for him, I promise."

After any final good byes or words, Trav steps out of Fortuna's tent, and uses her phone to track down Stan and Smoke Alarm.

OOC: If you think I'm going to pass up a chance to meet the Capaldi Doctor, you are crazy. Hint: Trav will not be blubbery or a downer.
Edit: Whoops: That's the 7th Doctor. Trav will instead observe from a distance, so as to not mess with time.

This message was last edited by the player at 06:01, Tue 03 Nov 2015.

Stanley tries his best to follow Smoke, hoping that she didn't just change the history of music with her performance.

"The Traveller...."  The Doctor looks thoughtful, and concerned.  He clearly recognizes the name.  Gently, he adds, "And are you happy, in her talkiphone box?  I'm very sorry for misplacing you, Smoke Alarm.  A Kang -- a Blue Kang -- isn't the sort of thing one should just leave lying about the universe."

Stanley picks his way through the crowd to find Smoke Alarm talking with a man barely taller than she is.  He stands out among the mostly young, mostly dressed in an extremely casual manner, denizens of Woodstock in that he seems to be in early middle age, he's in shirtsleeves and checked trousers, wearing a panama hat with a bandanna tied around it.  He seems oddly familiar, even though Dr. Newton has never laid eyes on the man in his life.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:02, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

Trav is keeping her Iphone in her bag after getting a general fix on Smoke and Stan. As she weaves her way through the crowds, she has to duck behind a booth - the tall, lanky forms of Roy Fokker and Jimi Hendrix are indeed wrestling a giggling, somewhat chubby 5'5" black haired girl wearing a vest and a tie into another suspicious Police box. Now-Trav drops her sonic into her hand, and sonics into Fokker's phone - Remind Rick of who he's flying for. Claudia loves you, don't waste time. She remembers Lisa Hayes angrily accusing her of leaving the message in Roy's phone after he died, and it was clear that it was soniced in, but back then Trav quite rightly defended herself saying she was far too stoned to even walk, much less work her sonic. One piece of history and causality, fulfilled. It simultaneously made her hearts sing and break seeing both Jimi Hendrix and Roy Fokker again - both of them dead men, and legends.

She trots back into the crowd, to find Smoke and Stan. several yards away, she sees him, in the pork pie hat, playing his spoons, smiling at Smoke Alarm.

When he has that face, I'm the Marshall and murdering people. Another dead man, another legend. If her hearts were breaking when she saw Roy and Jimi, they're now shattering when she sees him. He was always kind to her, even in her cruelest days.

She takes her hat off, and holds it, holding back sobs, smiling. She won't interrupt Smoke's time with him. She'll let things take their natural course. She wants to tell him so badly that she's so sorry, that she so regrets what she will be forced to do to him, but she knows she can not say that. All she can do is hold her hat and smile at him, fondly and sadly, from a distance.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 07:28, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

'No, a Kang isn't...' Frowny-faced, Smoke Alarm wondered at what the Doctor was asking about, and why. Why was he worried like a wart? What did he mean, misplaced? The confusion chased away the fizzy feeling of happiness inside her. 'But I'm not your lost-and-found. I gave you a fizzade then we all said bye-bye in Paradise Towers then you and Mel went outgoing in your talkiphone box, whoosh through the ticktocks.' she rememorised, then briefly filled in the intervening ticktocks. It all came outpouring to the Doctor, who knewhow all the ways. 'I was in home-sweet-home at Paradise Towers, until the so-shall workers came and catched me and others. They took me to the cleaners, then put me in school and re-habilly-tashun.' Smoke Alarm rubbed her arm, shuffled her feet, thoroughly unhappied by this phase of her life. She brightened though, going on with 'But then I took a fire-escape and got lost-and-found and then I was a bat-catcher on the Exeter with Mister Mop and then we fought metal Cybermen with another Doctor and I fire-escaped by jumping thru a blue bubble through a millionty ticktocks and landed in Arsuran before the Fists invaded, but I fire-escaped again on a sky-fly with Sereth, and was lost-and-found by Traveller and her talkiphone box and we fought the Fists and... and eventually we cameout here to Woodstack.' Okay, she'd skipped a whole lot of other adventures and details, but they could have the whole show-and-tell later.

She had to think about the Doctor's first question though. Was she happy? She sposed she was, but she knewhow she had a sadness in her too. She didn't know all she'd lost upgrowing in Paradise Towers, but she did know she'd lost it. Mayhaps she was lost-and-finding all she'd missed while running with Traveller in the talkiphone box. 'I'm all happyness to be in the talkiphone box, and Traveller is icehot fun and a cleverclogs and she teaches me lots like where babies comeout... But she's a busybee, and she mayhaps she doesn't always stopsign to play or eyespy when I'm lost. But she's shapeship and sound, really.' Smoke Alarm ended emphatically. Why did he ask? 'You wanna come how-you-do Traveller?'


OOC: Expanded with more details after babysitting was done.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:05, Wed 04 Nov 2015.

From the way she talks to the stranger, Stanley gathers that Smoke knows him...somehow. The man does seem familiar and that makes Stanley a little bit suspicious. He isn't sure that Smoke Alarm should be telling him so much about the Traveller.

"Hey Smoke, who is this?" Stanley asks.

With a fresh burst of excitement, Smoke Alarm spun around to Stanley, eager to introduce her old hero, and surprised he didn't knowhow him already. Hadn't Traveller told him? 'This is the Doctor!' she declared, pointing to the question-mark jumper. Then outlooking at the Doctor, she pointed to Stan 'And this is a doctor, Doctor Stan! You're both doctors! How you do!' She gestured them together, half-expecting them to perform the how-you-do.

'The Doctor helped us put Paradise Towers to rights. He's Traveller's bestie friend.'
This message was last edited by the player at 11:35, Thu 05 Nov 2015.

The Doctor listens to Smoke Alarm's burble with great attention, now holding his hat in his hands.  "I see...." he says thoughtfully.  "Perhaps I'm simply remembering something that hasn't properly happened yet.  It's a terrible habit to get into."

Smoke Alarm's befuddlement turned to knowhow, exclaiming 'But I do that all the time! It's just imaginating. You can rememorise anything that way.'

Trav slowly approaches the group. She smiles, but her eyes are so sad. She nods in agreement to Smoke's statement, a finger to her lips, as if to indicate, spoilers. "Hi, Boobie. It's so good to see you. Come give me a hug." She opens up her arms wide for him.

If the gingerbread man acquiesces, she holds him tight. She never really knew this version of the Doctor, except as an opponent. Oh, he humiliated her on 3 different occasions. She steps back. "I can't say too much, Boobie, except that it works out. This is what the red head becomes." She smiles goofily. "And look at this!" She steps up close to the Gingerbread man, and out folds from her wallet comes her polaroids of family photos from Rifts Earth. She smiles. "I got to a good place, away from the Daleks, because of you. When the time comes, make sure to remind me that The Marshall is just a made up name. Met a great guy, and I had a great life."

She whispers to him,"Now, if you can do me a little favor. I'll have to eventually bring Smoke Alarm home. If you can just give me the coordinates to Paradise Towers, so that when she's ready to leave me, I can bring her back home, to her the other Blue Kangs. She came to me via an Osmic projector. I have no idea where Paradise Towers is! I love her so much, she's one of the best companions I've ever had. Blue Kangs are Best."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Thu 05 Nov 2015.

The Doctor gives Stanley a cordial greeting, though he does not do so in Kang-fashion.

When Trav steps forward, he gives her a guarded once-over, at least until the snapshots come out.  "There's clearly a tale not to be told here," he says.  Glancing at Stanley and Smoke Alarm, he adds, "But I see that you're among friends again.  Not like when we met on Chreszos Minor.  I should say that's all to the good."


"What?  But it's so simple."

He steps back from her, and she realizes with a start that he's lifted her sonic screwdriver without her noticing.  After he makes a few slight adjustments, he points the device at Smoke Alarm and activates it!

Smoke Alarm, for her part, feels momentarily tingly, but it's not unpleasant so much as mildly intoxicating.  The Doctor shows Trav the readings.  "You see?  A full retrocardiospatiotemporal trace history.  This portion of the coordinates, with the jagged peaks and valleys, that's where you'd find the primary formative signature of anyone, and, well, for a Kang that of course would be Paradise Towers.  Home really is where the heart is."

He looks at the readings for a moment longer, then shakes the instrument, and frowns.  "Hmmm.  You may want to make a note of it.  Those readings won't be the same forever...."

Smoke Alarm footed back as Traveller footed in to greet-and-meet the Doctor, wondering if mayhaps the ticktocks were shapeship and sound with all this after all. She could eyespy the two old bestest friends had a lot more to catch up on, especially with Traveller show-and-telling her pictures. It make Smoke as fuzzy and warm as a blanket inside.

On the side, Smoke smiled at Stanley, show-and-telling how happy she was to have her two heroes meeting like this. She had a buzzing lightness in her, like she could jump as high as a street-lamp. The Doctor was back! The Doctor, the young oldsters, the boy Kang of red and blue, as clever as a rat and cunning as a cat, who knew all the unseen ways and could talk to vending mechines and that funny pipe thingey no-one ever identified, who could talk Blue Kangs and Red Kangs and Rezzies and Caretakers into working together. They could do anything now. They could put everything to rights.

Then she startled as the Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at her. Feeling funny and tingly, she outlooked tummy-wards in wonderment. 'Home-sweet-home is in my heart?' she exclaimed. 'I don't think it would fit.'

"More than friends - family. Oh, and Chreszo Minor. Goodness, I was furious at how ridiculous at how you made me wind up in clown make up. Man, nothing worse you can do to a leather clad villainess with a crop than make her look like she came from a Vegas revue. Penn and Teller still send me e-mails ever Easter from the Rio about that act. Oh, it's so -good- to see you again, Boobie!"She confirms the readings and sends them to her Ipad and back to Sweet Boy and Chibi. She hugs him again, tight.

"We'll see each other again, some way, some how. You have a lot more adventures ahead of you, lots of great days. Some rough ones, too, but your faith in me helped me make it, so remember, I have faith in you. Also - there's always time to travel, even when you're feeling down." She gives him a wink, and a smooch on the forehead, just like the old days. "Make sure to tell Corsi that I favor my left hook." She smiles saucily at that one. "Gotta run, Gingerbread man. Give Ace a hug and a snug for me, K?"

Trav slips her arm into those of her two companions. At Smoke Alarm's comment on in regards to home-sweet-home, she opines, as they head back to Sweet Boy, "Oh, Smoke, it's bigger on the inside. Your big old heart is the biggest place of all!" Trav feels amazingly happy, even though the Doctor is now gone - but never gone, always there.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 07:19, Fri 06 Nov 2015.

Fountain of Paradise Square, Paradise Towers
Lots of ticktocks later...

'What is it, a portaloo?' Door Knob wondered, creeping closer.

'Nah-uh! It's a Rezzie's wardrobe – outlook, its all woody.' No Smoking declared confidently.

'How'd it get out here then?'

'Verge collection.'

Meanwhile, Smoke Alarm traced the letters with a finger, sounding out the words she knew. 'Pol-ice telly-phone... It's a talkiphone box!' she exclaimed in surprise and awe, more for what she felt than what she read. The box vibrated, hummed, like a refrigerator, but somehow she knew this was something more, like something alive. She realised the sign was on a little door within the door, and she prised it open. Sure enough, there was a telephone inside. Smoke Alarm pulled it out. 'All oldster-looking. But it's icehot somehow. I like it.'

'Po-lice, office-rs – it's a Caretaker thing, I don't like it.'

Curious as a cat, Smoke Alarm fed in a Kroagnon coin, put the handpiece to her ear, and turned the rotary dial. 'How-you-do?' She heard voices, she whispered back...

Suddenly No Smoking slapped the handpiece from Smoke's hands. The handpiece fell to the end of its cord, dangling and clattered against the door. 'No ball-games, no fly-posts, no ringing!' she hissed. She thrust a finger at the words on the sign, below "Advice & assistance obtainable immediately." 'Outlook! "Officers and cars respond to all calls."'

'It also says "Pull to Open". We should show-and-tell it to her!'

'It's Caretaker mechinery, it's trouble. We smash it!'

'No—!' Smoke Alarm tried to protest, but she could never shout back against No Smoking, especially not at the look she got. But she couldn't say why she thought vandalising the telephone box would be a bad idea. Fortunately, Door Knob came to her aid, taunting No Smoking 'You're just a cowardly cutlet!'

'Am not!'

'Are too! 'Sides, if we smash it, the Caretakers will comeout outlooking for us for sure. Take us to the cleaners. Take you to the cleaners.'

'Gotta catch me if they can. But they'll catch slowpoke Smoke Alarm first!' Smoke Alarm stayed quiet. 'We smash it.' No Smoking cast about through the rubbish strewn about, finding an old chair leg.

She was about to stove it through the telephone when Door Knob spoke up, a mischievous smile directed at Smoke Alarm 'Could be splosive, mayhaps.'

No Smoking hesitated, her face sour at being outwitted. Then in sudden defiance, she thrust the chair leg into the dial. But it deflected off, caught in the back of the cavity and jerked out of the girl's hands. 'Ow, splinters!' She was about to attack it again when Door Knob intervened.

'It's tough, it'll take too long. Caretakers and Red Kangs are out and lurking. Eyespies tell there's visitors.'

'No ball-games, no fly-posts, no visitors... Fine, we'll wallscrawl it. Can we wallscrawl it, Miss Door Knobby-knees?' Door Knob shrugged, waved No Smoking toward the door. Smoke Alarm mouthed a thank you to her friend, Door Knob smiled back.

The Blue Kangs got out their spraypaints and marker pens, and began industriously graffitiing the police public call box. Blue Kang territory markers, taunts against the Caretakers. The awe went away; it seemed just a box now, covered in paint, just more rubbish in Fountain of Happiness Square. But Smoke Alarm hung back, feeling strangely saddened. Then No Smoking pushed her up to the box. 'Go on, wallscrawl it! Oh, Smoke Alarm likes the Caretaker box! Slowpoke Alarm likes the Caretakers! Smopoke loves Caretakers!'

'Do not!' She tried to get involved, making her own wallscrawl calling for help, to make up for her earlier lack of boldness, but No Smoking kept shouldering her out of the way, painting right over hers. Finally she was bumped out altogether, back to watching No Smoking and Door Knob at work, vandalising the poor old telephone box.

Smoke Alarm felt hot inside, angry and frustrated, at No Smoking and her own failings and losses. She just wanted to mess up this stupid box, for getting her in trouble with the big girl, to take out her frustrations on it, to prove herself to the gang, to be known. She didn't even think about it, when she ran at the wall, jumped and skipped it off, hurling herself right over No Smoking's fat head, and landing on top of the roof. 'Hey!' She ignored No Smoking, and perched on the shallow pyramidal roof. Knife in hand, she started scratching at the blue paint and wood. At first, the blade couldn't even dent the paint, let alone the wood. Then it melted right in, unnoticed by the angry girl, like the box wanted to bear these words. Furiously, she scratched the letters, small and crude: SMOKE ALARM WAS HEAR.

*

Suddenly Smoke Alarm pulled her arms out of Traveller's and slipped away, footing back to the Doctor. 'Doctor! I wallscrawled your talkiphone box! It's scratched on the roof, so they didn't wipe it off. I'm sorry! I didn't know! I'm sorry!'
This message was last edited by the player at 11:29, Sat 07 Nov 2015.

Trav lets Smoke go. She leans her head onto Stanley's shoulder, and smiles warmly, holding him close, as she watches Smoke run back.

The Doctor stops, startled, when Smoke Alarm runs and calls after him.

When he whirls around, at first it's a little surprising and startling to Smoke.  But he gives her a kindly smile.  "Come with me.  I want to show you something."  He turns again and starts striding off, not really even checking to see that she's following.

About five minutes later, and they've arrived at another blue talkiphone box, far away from the Traveller's.  It's an imposing shape in the half-lit festival ground.  The Doctor looks up toward the roof of the box, and though Smoke Alarm can't see that he actually does anything, the lamp atop it flickers on.  The Doctor makes a stirrup with his hands, and says, "Up you go!"  Truthfully Smoke Alarm would not say that he was all that much help, and he stumbles a bit after he boosts her up, but it's the thought that counts, perhaps.

Now that she's up atop the box, Smoke Alarm has no problem picking out her carving atop the rough and battered surface.  But as she focuses on it, a funny thing happens.  More carvings and writing and symbols start appearing, all over the roof of the box, and peering over the side she sees that the outer walls are similarly covered.  There are stick figures and elaborate knotwork designs, script and ideograms and pictographs in dozens and dozens of languages, that somehow make themselves known to Smoke in the funny head-twisty way that sometimes happens when she's with the Traveller.

The messages are of all kinds too: expressions of gratitude, angry denunciations of the Doctor, initials entwined in lovey-dovey hearts, songs and curses and spells, poems and one long and rambling story that Smoke gives up trying to read after a dozen sentences.

Once she has taken them all in, they start to fade away once more, until the only one remaining that she can see is her own scrawl from way back when.

Although Smoke Alarm could get up onto the roof on her own, as she'd already demonstrated by leaving wallscrawl there in the first place, she allowed the Doctor to helping-hand her up. After all, it wasn't being able that mattered, but helping others to be able and letting them help you. After wobbling about alarmingly in the Doctor's hand, she grabbed the ledge, then hauled herself up, silently apologising to the talkiphone box for scuffing mud from her shoes up the panels.

At last, she was perched on the sloping roof of the talkiphone box. She wondered what the Doctor wanted her to do up here, mayhaps to wipe away the wallscrawl somehow. She eyespied her old wallscrawl, tracing its letters and feeling cold and guilty. 'I didn't knowhow you were alive. I'm sorry.' she whispered in apology.

Then she eyespied all the other wallscrawls, all over the talkiphone box. Filled with awe and wonder, she tried to read some, blinking as the words show-and-telled themselves to her. These wallscrawls all show-and-telled stories, rememories. The talkiphone box really was like a tower, carrying the signs and scrawls of all who lived inside or came by. Then they faded, leaving only her own: SMOKE ALARM WAS HEAR. At last, Smoke Alarm stuck her head out over the ledge, outlooking down at the Doctor. 'She rememorises it all, all these stories and wall-scrawls? It's all a-okay, no to-do?'
This message was last edited by the player at 02:55, Sun 08 Nov 2015.

"She's very, very old," says the Doctor gravely.  "Older than the oldest Rezzie, maybe older than all the Rezzies and Kangs and Caretakers put together.  And when one is very old, one can find that you leave so many places and people behind you that you are grateful for anything you keep of them.  To rememorize them.  When she was a very young TARDIS, she left from the place where she would have stayed free of scrawls and scars, to go out and collect all those things."  He smiles.  "To be brave and bold...."

'Blue of colour, and brave and bold as a Kang could be.' Smoke Alarm finished with a smile. She touched her old scrawl, wondering how many ticktocks it had eyespied, and how many ticktocks more. 'I was here with you. Now I'm running with your brother the Sweet Boy talkiphone box. TARDIS angels fly!' she told the talkiphone box. Done up top, she hopped over the roof and landed on the soft ground.

'Build high for happiness, Doctor.' she said with the fist-building gesture, 'And please say how-you-do to Mel for me.'
This message was last edited by the player at 03:31, Tue 10 Nov 2015.

"Build high for happiness.  And keep the Traveller out of trouble!"

'I'll try!' Smoke Alarm promised, waving bye-bye to the Doctor, before running off to trackback to the Traveller. Mayhaps, if she could find her way thru Woodstack and didn't get lost.