Jenny took a step towards the aliens under mind control. "You want me to fetch one? It shouldn't be hard to drag one over. They don't look particularly interested in us, at least. Should I go and do some reconnisance? I do like a good sneak and a snoop."

Her adventure tended to result in a lot more immediate action. WHen someone was not threatening her, it just did not seem quite right, somehow.

"Ah can go with you, Miss Jenny," Johnny offered. "Ah ain't all that good at sneaking, but Ah've done some in my day. Don't wanna git in yer way, though."

He seemed particularly useless at the moment. Even if the Jaggeroth had attacked, the Doc wasn't too keen on him shooting them. That was pretty much all he was good at. Well, he guessed he was pretty good at survivin', too, since he was still alive when a lot of his fellow gunfighters was pushin' up daisies on Boot Hill now. Come to think of it, though, he couldn't rightly recall ever seein' any flowers of any kind on Boot Hill. Maybe they didn't like growin' over dead folks.

"All right then!" Jenny headed towards the nearest wall, to drop into shadows and cover. There was not actually a lot of cover to use, though, so she was relying more on the innatention of the Jagaroth. And if there was anybody watching on camera, this was probably going to work out badly. Then again, it might get the attention of someone they could deal with. Double win! They could either gain information, or they could make progress towards the problem!

She reached in her pocket and held a bag out to Johnny as they skulked off. "Jelly Baby, Mister Tornado? I hope you aren't vegetarian. Because of the gelatine, not because of the baby part. I try to explain that now in advance, it caused some problems a time or two."

Johnny takes the offered jelly baby, looks at it for a moment, then pops it into his mouth.

"Thanks. Where ah come from, we call 'em jelly beans," he replies to Jenny, as he does his best to skulk after her.

As Alan heads for the cargo hold, The Doctor scans the Jagaroth he had attempted to converse with. The results are unusual, to say the least. He's actually registering two  distinctive brain waves! One appears to be a normal Jagaroth brain wave, not that anyone has ever claimed a Jagaroth was 'normal'. The other one is clearly different, almost familiar, but far stronger. It is controlling the Jagaroth. A quick scan of another Jagaroth confirms what he was already beginning to suspect: they all have the dual brain wave pattern, and while each Jagaroth brain wave shows some variance, the second one is identical in every respect. It's as if a single mind was controlling all the Jagaroth at the same time. That explained why the Jagaroth couldn't see him or respond to him--the control wasn't 100%, perhaps because it was spread so thin.


Jenny and Johnny began stalking through the ship, avoiding the Jagaroth as much as they could even though it didn't seem to make a difference. But one never knew--things could change in an instant.

It was easy to avoid them, though not always in the shadows, as one might be operating a console that was in the wall, in which case Jenny and Johnny had to walk around them. No problem since the Jagaroth were oblivious.

Whether it was instinct, common sense, luck, the Turn of the Universe or some sort of resonance with the source, the pair made their way to the ship's cargo hold, which wasn't easy, as the Jagaroth apparently didn't believe in elevators, stairs, ladders or even ramps. Slide poles and staggered ledges seemed to be the way they moved from one level to another. Going down wasn't too hard, but coming back up could be a problem.

Upon reaching the cargo hold, they discovered that the door wasn't secured in any way, other than just being closed. Considering the state of the Jagaroth, though, that didn't seem too unreasonable.

There was definitely something inside the cargo hold; Jenny could sense it. She was just concerned in case it could sense her as well.

She carefully and cautiously eased the door open. Fortunately, it wasn't a cargo door, just a normal size door meant for a single Jagaroth to retrieve some small item of cargo. What she at first saw through the crack in the doorway was... baffling. It was a huge blue sphere with wire connecting it to various points in the wall... and ceiling... and floor. Then she caught a reflection off of one the control panels off on the right.

The sphere was ALIVE! She could see a distinctive face. It was like she was seeing a giant bloated head! The 'wires' she could now see were writhing tentacles that sprouted out of the head.


Alan continued to scan the various parts of the ship around him, hoping to find something he might be able to use against whatever the threat was. He, too, got the same reading on the Jagaroth as the Doctor.

While he was well aware that the Doctor could take care of himself, until the threat revealed itself, he felt it was better to remain with the Doctor than cramp Jenny's style.

Jenny let out a quiet whistle of awe. That was really something to see! She whispered to Johnny, even as she slowly made progress into the room, trying to keep to the shadows, out of sight of the huge head. "I have never seen the like! What is this? It doesn't look particularly friendly. But is it in charge? Or is it being forced to do this against its will? We really need to know. And I am sure my dad would love to get a look at this. But we'll try to tell him all about it!"

For sure, she had daddy issues. In her case, the issue was that she desperately wanted to impress him. She had to prove herself, show she was not just the killing machine she had been raised to be. And, of course, that meant she was placing herself - a bona fide companion, no less - into immediate peril from some big alien entity. And dragging a more sensible and level-headed friend along with her.

What could possibly go wrong?

He didn't even bother looking at his guns--he was pretty sure they'd be pretty useless against this monstrosity... unless, of course, it was like a balloon and a bullet could pop it! Somehow, he didn't think that was the case.

"What the heck is that?" he whispered to Jenny as he followed her into the cargo hold. He knew ships had cargo holds, kind of like where the luggage on a stagecoach was stored, but this one was mind-boggling.

The cargo bay was, indeed, immense. It wasn't until Jenny entered the bay that she grasped the full scale of what she was seeing. The giant floating head was around 100 feet in diameter. The tendrils obviously didn't attach to the doors, but they also didn't extend into the corners, so it was possible for Jenny and Johnny to keep to the walls and avoid both the tendrils in the walls as well as the floor.

There was about 25 feet of clearance between the head and the walls and floor, which meant the head was floating in the cargo hold. It was only slightly possible that the tendrils were keeping it off the floor or hanging it from the ceiling, but since the tendrils seemed to be in constant wriggling motion, that was doubtful.

"Well, this is interesting! It's like they've become drones, not thinking, just working towards something. But what? And why is this so familiar?"

Trusting Johnny to look after Jenny for the moment, (and vice versa), the Doctor does what he always does. Tries to get all the information before he confronts the source of the trouble. He follows after some of the Jagaroth, trying to get an idea of what they've been tasked to do.

And, because he feels no need to be stealthy, he puts on all the mannerisms of a tourist, cheerfully poking his head into every room they pass, and looking down every hall.

Oddly, the Doctor discovers that the Jagaroth seems to be going about their normal business of operating the ship. However, he does discover that they run on shifts as he follows one to a crew quarters room where it lays down and instantly goes to sleep just as another occupant of the room gets up and goes about the same duty.

It isn't until he comes to another room that he doesn't recognize that he is a bit perplexed. There are sixteen vats in here of bubbling green something that several Jagaroth add to as they walk in carrying smaller canisters... somewhat like beer kegs.

Other Jagaroth operate consoles along the wall that seem to monitor or control the vats.

Tubes lead up out each vat, form a condensing coil, and then disappear into the floor.


Meanwhile...

Jenny and Johnny continue to circle around the cargo bay behind the floating creature. They go all the way around to the other side without being noticed (as far as they can tell) and without seeing anything different in the creature.

So far, she's been careful to keep out of sight of its peripheral vision, although she doesn't really know what its limit is.

She suddenly thinks that this may be a Boekind, like the Face of Boe!

"Ah could just walk out in front of it like Ah was strolling around the promenade," Johnny offers.

"Would it even see me?"

"Oh, and based on the zombie-like Jagaroth we've seen, Ah'm guessing it's the one doing the controllin'... unless there's something else on this ship that's controllin' both."

"Wait!" Jenny rested a hand on Johnny's arm. "I think we're missing something. Our natural thought is to be wary, as this could mean us harm, and is controlling the Jagaroth for some wicked purpose. But what if it isn't? The Jagaroth are a violent and awful species... maybe this is controlling them to keep them peaceful for good reasons. Not using them as slaves, so much as keeping everyone else safe!"

She took a deep breath, and stepped out into the open, and walked right up to stand in front of the huge head. "Is that it? You aren't trying to hurt anyone, are you? You're trying to stop anyone getting hurt!"

"But..." Johnny starts to say as Jenny walks out in front of the head, "what about the babadook?"

Was he missing something? He couldn't see how the babadook was trying to keep people from getting hurt. He decided to remain out of sight (maybe) to see what happened with Jenny.

The Doctor doesn't actually say anything until he finds the vats. "Now, this is interesting! Don't worry, just looking," he says, though not expecting the Jagaroth to either hear or respond to him. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he scans the fluid in the vats.

When Jenny steps out in front of the giant head, it does not seem to see her at first, but then the eyes look down at her.

"A TIMELORD!" the head intones. "Are you the Doctor?"

Jenny didn't see its mouth move, though, so she's not sure if it actually spoke. She also realizes that its eyes were focused on some 'distant' point, but did register her presence and had to adjust its focus.



The Doctor directs his screwdriver at the vats and gets both an expected reading as well as some strange ones. The expected readings include a wide variety of nutrients... protein, carbs, and the usual array of vitamins and minerals. The strange ones include several radioactive isotopes and exotic metals in equally exotic solutions.

He's pretty sure he's never run across a life form before that made use of that particular combination, but the promethium isotope and the inertium is used by the Prometheans.

Allan had followed along behind the Doctor, not necessarily being stealthy about it, but just not wanting to distract or interfere with whatever the Doctor wanted to do.

He could have used his own 'analyzer' on the vats, but he was content to let the Doctor figure it out.

As it was, he didn't bother learning what the contents were as the entire set-up smacked of only one thing--sustenance for something. The number of vats and tubes indicated either a lot of somethings or else one very large something. The way the tubes seemed to converge in the middle would lead one to believe it was single large creature.

This was not the way Jagaroth did things... at least, no known version of the Jagaroth. Considering the zombified Jagaroth that they'd seen, it was probable that this single entity was controlling the Jagaroth.

That, in turn, meant it has been controlling the Babadook via the Jagaroth. But for what purpose? And could it be controlling other things as well?

The Doctor looks back to Alan, and says, "I think we're dealing with something new! I've never seen anything that survives on this particular combination of nutrients and isotopes. I've seen something similar, the Prometheans, but this whole situation isn't their style. They want to be worshipped, they aren't into mind control. Of course, I could be wrong. It happens, occasionally."

Though continuing to look around as much as possible, he starts to make his way back to the others.

Jenny shook her head slightly. "No. No, I am not the Doctor. But I am flattered that you might think that. My name is Jenny. What is going on here? WHy are you doing this?"

Nobody set up an operation this complex without a pretty pressing reason. She hoped it was a very good, potentially beneficial reason. It was stopping the Jagaroth rampaging about the early universe in their single-mindedly psychotic manner. That had to be a good place to start looking for positives!

The face looks perplexed for a moment at Jenny's question.

"It is good that you are not the Doctor. The Doctor cannot be here. It would disrupt The Plan!" The head seems to focus on her a bit more.

"The Doctor changes his face. You are a Timelord. You could be the Doctor. But you are not. Only the Doctor can stop the Skelad."

The Doctor continues to talk Alan as they make their way to the cargo bay — if only to fill the silence, "The question is, was the Babadook sent by the same person who is controlling the Jagaroth, or was he a projection of their trapped consciences, some twisted call for help?"

OOC: Sorry for the delay, I've had a very bad week for voice! I'm letting the GM choose when I arrive, for the sake of dramatic timing. I'm loving how Jenny is handling things on her own! :-)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:00, Fri 19 June 2020.

Jenny pondered that for a moment "The Skelad.. s k e l... oh NO!"

She turned and ran headlong back the way that they had come in, which in turn caused her to run straight into her father and Mr Quartermain coming the other way. An actual, full on collision with her parent, causing herself to fall to the floor. She still had a good grip on her weapon though.

"We're in trouble. There's a massive head in there, telepathically controlling this place, I think. Aaaannndddd it was worried about you being here, and stopping the Skelad." She clambered to her feet. "I am not exactly experienced, but I can spell!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:16, Fri 19 June 2020.

Johnny just barely managed to flatten himself against the wall as Jenny came barreling through, then stepped out behind her with guns drawn, expecting to have to shoot whatever was pursuing her. When nothing immediately appeared, he slowly backed up, with an occasional glance behind him, until he caught up with Jenny, who'd found the Doctor again.

"Is there danger pursuing you, Jenny?" he asked over his shoulder.

Alan could spell, too, so even without Jenny's prompt he was able to figure it out.

"If it's spelled the way it's pronounced, then that could mean trouble," Alan said. "On the other hand, I'm not sure what it signifies. The obvious would be a good thing, wouldn't it?"

The Doctor ends up on the floor as well, after the collision. But, rather than be annoyed, he's chuckling as he picks himself up, "You really taken the whole 'lots of running' thing to heart, haven't you?"

He grows more serious after what she says, however, and he frowns. "Skelad? I don't… Oh. Oh! I need to speak to this head." He looks to Alan then, as he starts to walk in the direction Jenny came from, and says, "Do you have an idea about what the mirroring of the name might mean? Because I'd love some good news right now."

He seems to be dismissing the idea of it being a coincidence. That's just not how his life goes.

This particular incarnation's usually cheerful demeanour is gone, for the moment at least. It's been replaced by worry and a hint of suppressed anger.

OOC: This was a hard post to write! All those emotions when it comes to the Daleks. Is the nutrient formula that the Doctor found similar at all to anything he's seen the Daleks use?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:21, Tue 23 June 2020.

Jenny rose and dusted herself down "Love the running! Not so keen on the falling down part... and no clue what it means, but I can't help but think it is trouble, one way or another!" And then she followed, walking past poor Mister Tornado again back the way she had just run. If she kept this up, the poor fellow might get dizzy. "Nobody chased me. I'm a great believer in pre-emptive running away!"

She managed to catch up with the Doctor and spoke her mind. "The head thing was pretty anti-you being around right now. It won't be glad to see you. I just hope it doesn't try to etanimretxe us!" She thought carefully. Did she get that right? Yes. That seemed to be right.