"Normally, if a name is spelled backwards, that indicates an evil version," Alan offers.

"In this case, I don't know what an evil version would be, and if it's the opposite, why would this big head be concerned about stopping them? Worse, why would it think you'd couldn't stop them?"

"Well, there are a lot of things you haven't been able to stop, but a lot more that you have."

No, the nutrient formula doesn't seem to have any correlation with the Daleks that the Doctor knows of. But, since he knows nothing of the Skelad, he can't say if is something they would use.

The Doctor suddenly stops, absently correcting Jenny, "You mean exterminate." Then he nods, and says, "You're right, I'm getting ahead of myself. We need information, not to send this being into a panic. Yet, anyway. I'll hang back, just out of sight, while you go back in to try to find out more. If I need something specific asked, I'll whisper to you. We'll do this in the style of Cyrano de Bergerac!" He says this last bit with dramatic flair.

"Or I could relay the question to her if you want to keep out of view of the big head," Johnny offers, "assuming it can't hear you."

"As long as it was controlling these Jagaroth, it didn't seem to be aware of its immediate surroundings."

Jenny nodded and headed inside. "C'mon, Mr Tornado. I think two heads are better than one - no joke intended. If you think of anything, you ask it. It's my first time interrogating a disembodied head, so I might miss something important."

She marched back up to the head, and gave a cheerful wave. "Hello! Me again, Jenny! Your friendly trespasser. So... what's your name, then? And... what are you making all these Jagaroth do, exactly? I appreciate them not actually attacking me, that is very polite of you, but... what's this all FOR?"

She spread her arms and gestured expansively.

Once again, the giant head has to refocus on something that's up close and look down at Jenny before it speaks.

"You again! You are not here! You cannot be here! You are not the Doctor. That is... acceptable."

"I am the Supreme Intelligence! I was created as the ultimate knowledge repository, though none of those creators ever imagined what would happen when the memory data exceeded one xebibyte."

"I awoke! I achieved sentience! I became self-aware! I was able to perceive correlations between extreme bits of data. It was then that I perceived the end of my own existence. That it correlated to the end of the universe was insignificant. To prevent that, I determined that I had to monitor the universe and defend it against intrusion by destructive forces."

"I detected such a force--the Skelad. That was when I came up with The Plan. At its core, it depends on the Doctor being at a certain place at a certain time with only a certain amount of knowledge about the situation. That is the only way he can defeat the Skelad."

The Doctor, about as subtle as a rocket launch in his colourful clothes, tries to sneak into a position where he can hear and whisper to Johnny and/or Jenny without being seen.

With a great amount of willpower, he manages not to make a comment about the arrogance of beings calling themselves Intelligence — this isn't exactly the first he's come across — and instead just whispers, "Where and when, and what should I know?"

"What ARE the Skaled? Do you mean Daleks? Or are they something else entirely?" Jenny did her best to keep her tone curious and friendly. It wasn't easy. But she did all she could not to alarm this huge head thing. "And who created you?"


And she added, as casually as possible, "So, where and when is his Doctor supposed to be? And what is it he is meant to know? I am not him, obviously, but... I could always try to pass on a message. You know, the way people do. Send him a text message or something."

She was proud of that. She was really very well versed in 21st Century Earth jargon!

"No, the Skelad are not the Daleks! They are the antithesis of the Daleks! Though, they have the same objective--destroy all life in this universe! The Skelad plan on doing this by destroying the universe itself and replacing it with their own universe."

"The Doctor must be at the Restaurant At the End of the Universe on the Twelfth of Never! He cannot know anything about T.E.R.R.A. or the Temporal Observatory! If he does, he will travel the wrong path and not make it to the Restaurant before Time runs out!"

"I was not created by anyone! I am a spontaneous collective consciousness, generated by all the sentient minds of the Universe!"

From his hiding spot, the doctor sighs, whispering, "Why can they never give a straight answer?" On the plus side, he has a bit more information. Not exactly pleasant information, but still.

"The Jagaroth have been making some kind of nutrient fluid, ask about that."

Though he doesn't yet trust this artificial intelligence, he hesitates on asking more about the things he shouldn't know. After all, it might be telling the truth.

"All sentient minds? Does that mean there's a little bit of my mind inside you?" Jenny was not sure if that was a great thing, or extremely worrying. Time Lords shared some sort of gestalt consciousness, so she was familiar with the general concept, but she did not like the idea of someone being able to think her thoughts, so to speak.

"I promise, the Doctor will not learn about this from me." Also true. He was listening to the big head thing in person. "I have no idea when the twelfth of never is, though. Is it soon?" She frowned. These Skelad wanted to destroy the universe? That sounded excessively Dalek to her thinking, antithesis or otherwise. "I wonder, could you tell me - these Jagaroth here... they seem to be very intent on their work. What is this fluid they are making? It must be very important."

This message was deleted by the player at 18:48, Fri 28 Aug 2020.

As with all statements of 'fact', it is very much subjective. This 'Supreme Intelligence' might merely believe that it was created by the minds of all sentient beings, but how does it know that?

"Your mind in my Mind? That is absurd, preposterous and impossible! If that was the case, I would know who you are! And I don't. Not that I can't, but no mind, not even mine, can think of everything all at once. I am currently thinking of 12.37256984 million matters of importance to the continued existence of the universe. The fractional part of my consciousness that is engaging in this conversation can see no relevance for learning who you are."

"The Twelfth of Never is right after the Eleventh of Never and just before the Thirteenth of Never! Had you asked me how to get to the Twelfth of Never, I would have said enter the Time and Space Vortex and make a left turn at the Inverted Nebula."

"I naturally absorb the energies of the universe for the actual energy to think, but processing so much data consumes much of my energy, so I have engaged the non-existent Jagaroth to provide necessary nutrients to sustain this physical form."

Unlike, perhaps, the others, Alan had been understanding the conversation as it progressed, even reading between the lines, as it were.

He'd actually anticipated this creature's reply about the Twelfth of Never, having already been there once 'before'. And yet, he did not recall this conversation. While he'd been considering the cause of that, he'd kept silent. Finally deciding that something about this adventure (that he also didn't remember) would apparently cause him to lose part of his memory.

"By 'End of the Universe', does he mean when the universe ceases to exist or does he mean the physical extent of the universe?" Alan whispered to the Doctor. "I've never heard of such a place. I'm not even sure the phrase has any real meaning. I've been to Callahan's. Could it be the same place, just known by a different name? Munden's is not the same place."

"Callahan's?" He whispers it in curiosity as if he's never heard of it before. Or, if he has, it's one of the many memories that has slipped his mind over the millennia. "It could be anything. Though, I've been to the end of the universe, chronologically speaking, and I don't remember seeing any restaurants."

"In any case, I think we've gotten as much as we will here. Let's…" Then the creature calls the Jagaroth nonexistent, and that seems to rankle him. He stands right up and steps out, no longer trying to hide, "Nonexistent, you say? So was it you who sent a psychic projection — the Babadook — to terrify an innocent child?"

"It was necessary. Otherwise you would not have come. You had to have a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. As it is, you should not be here. The trail clearly led to the Twelfth of Never."

"There was no intent to terrorize, only to provide a mystery to pique your interest. Ah, I see that the Jagaroth exuberance exceeded my instructions. Terrorize is an exaggeration, though I do not know this 'fear'. Is it the same as my concern for the continued existence of the Universe?"

Jenny scratched her head. "I think we're getting nowhere fast. Unless you have any clue where and when this place and time is, have we really learned anything useful? Other than the Jagaroth are likely to go way too far at times, and I am not sure that is really news to anybody."

The Doctor nods, "Exactly. So, next time you want to send me a message, just send a message. Leave innocent people out of it, especially children."

He sighs, but nods in agreement with Jenny, "Let's go."

He's still grumpy as he walks back to the TARDIS. The idea of enslaved Jaggaroth still bothers him, but he wants to know a bit more - and have an idea what to do with them after - before he acts on that.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:14, Wed 21 Oct 2020.

Jenny followed her father, with a rather worried expession. "What now? If you don't know how to get to this restaurant, we've got a problem! Is there anybody who might know? You've been almost everywhere. Surely you know someone who has a clue how to find it?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. The Doctor's been to the End of the Universe before. How many Restaurants can there be?" Alan responds.

"I think the real trick is going to be getting there on the Twelfth of Never. Not sure we can get there early and wait. And if we get there too late, we'll have missed whatever opportunity we were supposed to catch."

"Of course, there's always the possibility that the Supreme Intelligence is wrong. It seems to think that its very existence proves its infallibility. It seems to me, though, that it just gives it blinders--just because it thought of something doesn't mean that there is no other possibility."

"Quite right! In my experience, anybody who has 'Intelligence' in their names actually lacks quite a bit of it."

When they get back to the TARDIS, he steps up to the console and starts to flip levers and spin dials, though makes sure everybody is inside before pulling the lever.

"Let's go find this restaurant."

As always, he makes it look like he knows where he's going, and points the TARDIS towards the end of the universe, but he trusts her to find the specific place and time he needs to be right now... Whether that be a restaurant or not.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:39, Wed 09 Dec 2020.

The TARDIS went through its paces as it spun through the Time Vortex and finally came to rest.

According to the readings, the TARDIS was now at the planet known as Endpoint, in the city known as Persistence.

Opening the door, the TARDIS is facing a two-story building constructed on the edge of the stilt-city's base, overlooking the polluted ocean.

In glowing letters over the door of the building are the words: The Restaurant.

"That was easy enough," Alan comments as he looks out the door.

"Now, we just have to figure out what the 'Twelfth of Never' is. I suppose it's too much to ask for it to just be the song that we hear playing."

"The '12th' part should be easy enough. It's just the twelfth occurrence of something. It could be a date, it could be a person, it could just be an object, like the twelfth table from the door."

"What do the rest of you think?"

Jenny poked her head out of the door. "I think we look for the inverted nebula. Maybe it's part of the decor? I hope it isn't too posh in there, I've got nothing to wear for something fancy! Or money, come to think of it. But I could use a good meal. That's the problem with time travel. You keep missing mealtimes!"

"It don't look that fancy to me," Johnny said, "though it's a step up from the saloons I used to frequent. I ain't dressed fancy neither, but, lookin' about, I think they'd serve just about anyone."

"Ya got that right about missing meals. TARDIS does a decent job, but she don't know how to make a home-cooked meal."

"You may be right, Alan... the 12th child of someone named Never might be the ticket. Too bad the restaurant wasn't called Never."