(Jared's POV)
Kirito and Asuna's house…
"So, you're taking Penny and Asada to what you promised us." Asuna said, drinking a cup of coffee. "That spaceship and France combo."
"Well, I wanted to see how it will go." I said, sitting down on the couch, drinking a cup of tea. "Someone like Sinon and Penny would be nice."
"Isn't Asada like Blake? And isn't Penny similar to Yui?" Kirito asked, and I nodded my head. "Why are you going with different people?"
"Like I said, it's an experiment. I know Penny, and I want to know Sinon more."
"I can't wait and watch what will happen." Asuna said, happily.
"Me too, I'll always let you and Kirito come, maybe England 1950s."
Spaceship…
Three thousand years later, the Tardis materialises on a spaceship with a long central hub and two rotating sections, one larger than the other.
"It's a spaceship. Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go." Mickey said, happily.
"This place is in a bad state." Sinon said, when there are lots of bits and pieces of equipment scattered around. "And it looks like no one has been here in a while."
"I think it's abandoned." Penny said, looking around.
"It is abandoned." I said, walking around the room. "Can you check if there's someone on board, Spaceman?"
"Nah, nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous. Well, not that dangerous. You know what, I'll just have a quick scan, in case there's anything dangerous." The Doctor said.
"So, what's the date? How far we gone?" Rose asked.
"About three thousand years into your future, give or take." The Doctor said, finding the light switch on a console. Part of the ceiling shows the stars. "Fifty first century. Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey, Sinon, and Penny. Two and a half galaxies."
"Mickey Smith, Penny Polendina, and Asada Shino, meet the universe. See anything you like?"
"It's so realistic!" Mickey said, happily.
"So, this is what Silica was excited about at times." Sinon said, looking over at me. "It is cool, though."
"More than cool!" Penny said, holding my hand. "You bring Ruby here?"
"Across all of time and space?" I asked, with Penny squeezing my hand. "Yeah, I do. The Doctor is our Uber driver of course."
"Dear me, had some cowboys in here. Got a ton of repair work going on. Now that's odd. Look at that. All the warp engines are going. Full capacity. There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe, but we're not moving. So where's all that power going?" The Doctor asked, looking at a control panel.
"So, where's the crew?" Sinon asked, intrigued. "This is a spaceship, right? Where are they?"
"Good question. No life readings on board."
"Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag." Rose said.
"No, I've checked all the smoking pods. Can you smell that?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah, someone's cooking."
"Sunday roast, definitely." Mickey said, as the Doctor uses the console to open a door behind them.
(Open POV)
Fireplace room…
The far wall is panelled, and contains a blazing fire in an ornate fireplace, with an ormolu clock on the mantlepiece.
"Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship. Eighteenth century. French. Nice mantle. Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace. Double sided. There's another room through there." The Doctor said.
Rose looks out of a porthole in the same wall, "There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look."
"Hello." The Doctor said, speaking to a young girl in a nightgown who is kneeling by the fire on the other side of the fireplace.
"So, a girl in a fireplace." Sinon said, as Jared nodded his head. "Is that even possible?"
"Says the girl who is a sniper." Jared said, laughing a lot. "Anyway, I play this open world game, Warframe. Because of you, I've been sniping enemies from afar with a bow and arrow or with a sniper rifle."
"Warframe. What weapons do you wield in that game?"
"A bow and arrow, a heat sword for melee attacks, a regular sword at maximum rank, and dual pistols."
"We've inspired you that much. Kirito and the others."
"How about me?" Penny asked, walking up to Jared and Sinon. "Do I inspire you?"
"Yeah, you do. You have the will to fight, and know what's right." Jared said, excitedly. "I can't believe you danced by yourself at the dance."
"You could have danced with me."
"I was too bored."
"Like I've seen everything between a virtual world and reality." Sinon said, crossing her arms. "The Doctor brought us to a spaceship, you're more interested in chatting. While there's a girl in a fireplace. Who is she?"
"Oh, spoilers."
"Right, lovely. One of my favourites. August is rubbish though. Stay indoors. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Night, night." The Doctor said, looking down at young Reinette.
"Goodnight Monsieur." Young Reinette said, happily.
"You said this was the fifty first century." Mickey said, angrily.
"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe. I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink." The Doctor said.
"What's that?"
"I think he made that term up." Sinon said, looking at the fireplace. "Something tells me he was too embarrassed to say magic door."
"And on the other side of the magic door is France in 1727?" Rose asked.
"Well, Reinette was speaking French." Jared said, taking out a bottle of Coke to drink it. "It was the right time period for that French accent too. What? I watch a lot of films and TV shows in my free time."
"She was speaking English, I heard her." Mickey said, looking over at Jared.
"That's the Tardis. Translates for you." Rose said.
"Even French?"
"Yeah." Rose said, when Sinon walked towards the fireplace mantle.
"Gotcha!" The Doctor said, smiling.
"Doctor!" Rose said, as the Doctor has found the switch that rotates the fireplace, and round he goes with Sinon into another area.
Reinette's bedroom…
Reinette is asleep. It is snowing outside. Reinette wakes with a start.
"It's okay. Don't scream. It's me. It's the fireplace man. With a friend, this is Sinon. Look. We were talking just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace." The Doctor said, lighting a candle with the sonic screwdriver.
"Monsieur, that was weeks ago. That was months." Young Reinette said.
"Months." Sinon said, her eyes widening. "Really? This time travel stuff is complicated."
"Oh. Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in." The Doctor said.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Young Reinette asked.
The Doctor looks at the clock on the mantel. The ticking is fairly loud.
"That's a bit creepy." Sinon said, walking towards the clock. "And scary."
"You're scared of a broken clock?" Young Reinette asked.
"Yeah, I am. I'm a bit scared, Reinette. This clock is the only one in the room, and it's broken."
"And since it is the only one in the room, then what's that?" The Doctor asked, as he and Sinon hear tick tock tick tock. "Because, you see, that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. The size of a man."
"What is it?" Young Reinette asked.
"Now, let's think. If you were a thing that ticked and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you do, break the clock. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two? You might start to wonder if you're really alone. Stay on the bed. Right in the middle. Don't put your hands or feet over the edge." The Doctor said, waving the screwdriver under the bed. Something knocks it out of his hand. "Reinette, Sinon…"
"What is it?" Sinon asked, walking towards Reinette.
"Don't look round." The Doctor said, and a figure in a smiley mask is standing behind Young Reinette and Sinon. "Reinette, you, stay exactly where you are. Hold still, let me look." He holds Reinette's head and looks deep into her eyes. "You've been scanning her brain. What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"
"I don't understand. It wants me? You want me?" Young Reinette asked.
"Not yet. You are incomplete." The droid said.
"Incomplete? What's that mean, incomplete? You can answer her, you can answer me. What do you mean, incomplete?" The Doctor asked, when the android walks round the bed and a blade comes out of its hand.
"Monsieur, be careful." Young Reinette said.
"Just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares." The Doctor said, when the android slashes and Sinon dodges with the Time Lord. "Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?"
The blade gets stuck in the mantlepiece.
"What do monsters have nightmares about?" Young Reinette asked.
The Doctor activates the mechanism with Sinon next to him and the fireplace rotates again, "Me!"
Fireplace room…
"Doctor!" Rose said, happily.
"Where did he go with Sinon?" Penny asked, as Jared grabbed a tube from a nearby rack and fires its contents over the android.
"Oh, a little girl's bedroom." Jared said, when the robot seizes up.
"Excellent. Ice gun." Mickey said, smiling.
"It's a fire extinguisher."
"Where did that thing come from?" Rose asked.
"I think it came from here." Sinon said, crossing her arms. "From the spaceship."
"So why is it dressed like that?" Mickey asked.
"Field trip to France. Some kind of basic camouflage protocol. Nice needlework, shame about the face." The Doctor said, removing the android's face to reveal clockwork. "Oh, you are beautiful! No, really, you are. You're gorgeous! Look at that. Space age clockwork, I love it. I've got chills! Listen, seriously, I mean this from the heart, and, by the way, count those, it would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that won't stop me." The android beams away. "Short range teleport. Can't have got far. Could still be on board."
"What is it?" Rose asked.
"It's another robot!" Penny said, happily.
"Don't go looking for it!" The Doctor said, dragging Penny away.
"Where're you going with Penny?" Rose asked.
"Back in a sec." the Doctor said, using the fireplace again, with Penny next to him.
Rose hefts another fire extinguisher like a big gun while Jared tossed one to Sinon from the rack.
"He said not to look for it." Mickey said.
"Yeah, he did." Rose said, as Mickey gets another fire extinguisher from the rack. "Now you're getting it."
Reinette's bedchamber…
This is not a little girl's room. It is a big, plush, split level room.
"Reinette? Just checking you're okay." The Doctor said, playing a few notes on a harp.
"Ahem." Reinette said, annoyed.
"Oh. Hello. Er, We were just looking for Reinette. This is still her room, isn't it? We've been away, not sure how long." The Doctor said.
"It could only be just a few years." Penny said, smiling. "I hope it is!"
"Go to the carriage, Mother. I will join you there. It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend, and his companion swapping with each visit only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence." Reinette said, looking over at the Doctor, then Penny.
"Reinette! Well...goodness, how you've grown." The Doctor said, shocked.
"And neither of you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you two."
"Right, yes, sorry. Listen, lovely to catch up, but better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with a strange man and his mate, do we?"
"Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I've known you since I was seven years old."
"Yeah, I suppose you have. We came the quick route."
"You seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you and your friend cannot be real."
"Oh, you never want to listen to reason…" The Doctor said.
"I think she does." Penny said, looking between the Doctor and Reinette.
"A moment! So many questions. So little time." Reinette said, kissing the Doctor and pushing him up against the wall.
"Wow." Penny said, as the Doctor joins Reinette in on that kiss. "Was Jared right? You do this a lot more in the future?"
Reinette runs out. The servant enters.
"Poisson? Reinette Poisson? No! No, no, no, no, no way. Reinette Poisson? Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France? Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan, fantastic gardener!" The Doctor said, walking up to Penny to dance with her.
"Who the hell are you?!" The servant exclaimed.
"I'm the Doctor, this is Penny, and I just snogged Madame de Pompadour." The Doctor said, standing next to the fireplace with Penny. "Ha, ha!"
Fireplace room…
"Rose! Mickey! Jared! Sinon! Every time." The Doctor said.
Spaceship…
"Every time, it's rule one. Don't wander off. I tell them, I do. Rule one. There could be anything on this ship.�� The Doctor said, rambling off Rule One to Penny.
"Does Rule One apply to the horse?" Penny asked, looking at the white horse with bridle and saddle.
"Horse?"
Corridor…
"This spaceship is big." Sinon said, and Mickey is trying to be clever whilst searching the spaceship. "But it has mirrors and everything."
"It does." Jared said, as a camera with an eyeball in the middle blinks at Mickey. "They're windows to someone's life."
"Are you looking at me?" Mickey asked, while the camera extends from the bulkhead for a closer look. Rose, Sinon, and Jared approach. "Look at this. That's an eye in there. That's a real eye."
The camera goes back into the bulkhead. Rose opens a small hatch and they hear thump-thump, thump-thump. They gaze down along the wires and pipes.
"What is that? What's that in the middle there? Looks like it's wired in." Mickey said.
"It is wired in." Sinon said, scoffing. "Is that what I think it is?"
"It is, Sinon." Jared said, sadly. "It's a heart, you guys. It's a human heart."
"Oh my god." Rose said, her eyes widening.
Another corridor…
"Rose?" The Doctor asked.
"Jared?" Penny asked, holding the Doctor's hand. "Sinon?"
The Doctor turns to the horse, which is walking behind him, "Will you stop following me? I'm not your mother."
"I can be his mother." Penny said, smiling. "Can I?"
"No, you can't." The Doctor said, opening a pair of white wooden doors and bright light floods in. "So this is where you came from, eh, horsey?"
Versailles gardens…
Reinette is walking and laughing with a dark skinned woman.
"Oh, Catherine, you are too wicked." Reinette said.
"Oh, speaking of wicked, I hear Madame de Chateauroux is ill and close to death." Catherine said.
"Yes. I am devastated."
"Oh, indeed. I myself am frequently inconsolable. The King will therefore be requiring a new mistress. You love the King, of course?"
"He is the King, and I love him with all my heart. And I look forward to meeting him." Reinette said, as the Doctor and Penny are watching from behind a stone urn on a wall.
"King of who?" Penny asked, when a peacock calls and Reinette turns around.
"King of France." The Doctor said, hiding with Penny. "That's who."
"Is something wrong, my dear?" Catherine asked, looking at Reinette.
"Not wrong, no." Reinette said.
"Every woman in Paris knows your ambitions."
"Every woman in Paris shares them."
"You know of course that the King is to attend the Yew Tree ball?"
"As am I."
Corridor…
Rose, Mickey, Jared, and Sinon are watched as they explore.
"Maybe it wasn't a real heart." Mickey said.
"It was definitely a real heart." Jared said, holding Sinon's hand.
"Rose, Jared, is this like normal for you? Is this an average day?" Mickey asked.
"Life with the Doctor, Mickey? No more average days." Rose said, with her, Mickey, Jared, and Sinon stopping by a large window.
"This really isn't different from seeing anything in a virtual world." Sinon said, looking over at Rose and Mickey. "My days aren't average as a sniper."
"It's France again. We can see France." Mickey said.
"I think we're looking through a mirror." Rose said, when Louis enters the room beyond, with two men.
"Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?" Mickey asked.
"He's the King of France!" Penny said, excitedly. "Sa...lu...tations!"
"Oh, here's trouble. What you been up to with Penny?" Rose asked, looking at the Doctor.
"Oh, this and that. I became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat, picked a fight with a clockwork man." The Doctor said, as the horse neighs nearby. "Oh, and we met a horse."
"What's a horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey asked.
"Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective. See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history." The Doctor said, when Reinette enters the room and curtseys to the King. "Hers. Time windows deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the fifty first century stalking a woman from the eighteenth. Why?"
"Who is she?" Rose asked.
"She's Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, also known as Reinette. Well, to her friends. Think of it like how I call Ruby 'Little Red', Weiss 'Snow White' or 'ice queen', Blake 'Kitty Cat', and Yang 'Bumblebee' or 'Goldilocks'. This woman here is one of the most accomplished women who ever lived." Jared said, happily.
"So, has she got plans of being the Queen, then?"
"I don't think so." Sinon said, amazed by what Jared said. "Does the King of France have a wife?"
"Yeah, he does. And Reinette wants to be the King's mistress."
"Oh, I get it. Camilla." Rose said, happily.
"I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time at flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace. Even her own title. Madame de Pompadour." The Doctor said, as the King and his servants leave.
Reinette checks her appearance in the mirror/window.
"The Queen must have loved her." Rose said.
"Oh, she did. They get on very well." The Doctor said.
"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?" Mickey asked.
"France. It's a different planet."
Versailles room…
Reinette turns to see a woman with her back to her in the corner, "How long have you been standing there? Show yourself!"
It's the clockwork android. The Doctor grabs a fire extinguisher from Mickey and rotates the mirror.
"Hello, Reinette. Hasn't time flown?" The Doctor asked.
"Fireplace man!" Reinette said, as the Doctor sprays the android and throws the extinguisher back to Mickey.
"Don't forget Penny and Sinon." Jared said, and the android creaks.
"What's it doing?" Mickey asked.
"It's rebooting itself. Just to melt the ice, Mickey Mouse."
"And then what?"
"And then it kills everyone in the room." Jared said, smiling. "That's what."
"Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Who are you? Identify yourself. Order it to answer me." The Doctor said, looking at the android.
"Why should it listen to me?" Reinette asked.
"I don't know. It did when you were a child. Let's see if you've still got it."
"Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you."
"I am repair droid seven." The droid said.
"So, what happened to the ship?" Jared asked, walking around the room. ���When we were just on there, it sustained a lot of damage."
"Ion storm. Eighty two percent systems failure."
"The ship didn't move for a long time! Why did it take you so long for you to act?" Sinon asked, crossing her arms.
"We did not have the parts."
"Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts." Mickey said, scoffing.
"So, where's the crew?" Penny asked. "You're the droids built to serve the crew. What happened to them?"
"We did not have the parts." The droid said.
"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" The Doctor asked.
"We did not have the parts."
"Fifty people don't just disappear. Where…oh. You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."
"The crew?" Mickey asked.
"We found a camera with an eye in it, and there was a heart wired in to machinery." Rose said.
"It was just doing what it was programmed to. Repairing the ship any way it can, with whatever it could find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu. What did you say the flight deck smelt of?" The Doctor asked.
"Someone cooking."
"Flesh plus heat. Barbeque. But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows. That takes colossal energy. Why come here? You could have gone to your repair yard. Instead you come to eighteenth century France? Why?"
"One more part is required." The droid said.
"Then why haven't you taken it?"
"She is incomplete."
"What, so, that's the plan, then. Just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's done yet."
"So, they chose Madame de Pompadour." Sinon said, crossing her arms. "You know what's going on."
"Of course I do." Jared said, happily.
"Tell us what will happen next. So we won't cause the robots to teleport out of here." Sinon said, walking up to Jared.
"Well, the robot in here will teleport out of here."
"You're lying." Penny said, frowning. "It won't do that."
"Yes it will." Jared said, and the droid teleports away. "See."
"It's back on the ship. Rose, Penny, take Mickey and Arthur. Get after it. Follow it. Don't approach it, just watch what it does." The Doctor said, looking back at Rose.
"Arthur?" Rose asked.
"Good name for a horse."
"I like him!" Penny said, excitedly. "Can we keep him?"
"No, neither of you are keeping the horse." Rose said, angrily.
"I let you keep Mickey. Now go! Go! Go!" The Doctor said, closing the mirror door behind Mickey, Rose, and Penny. "Reinette, you're going to have to trust me. I need to find out what they're looking for. There's only one way I can do that. It won't hurt a bit."
The Doctor instigates a mind meld.
"About Warframe." Sinon said, sitting down on the floor with Jared. "How many people can join your party?"
"You mean a guild." Jared said, taking out some crab fries and cheese dip. "I don't know the limit honestly. But for a squad, it can go up to four people."
Corridor…
"So, that Doctor, Jared, and Kirito, eh?" Mickey asked.
"What?" Penny asked, walking behind Rose and Mickey.
"Well…the Doctor has Madame de Pompadour. Sarah Jane Smith. Cleopatra. Jared has Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. And Kirito has Asuna, Leafa, Sinon, Silica, Lisbeth." Mickey said, looking back at Rose.
"Cleopatra. The Doctor mentioned her once." Rose said, sadly.
"Yeah, but he called her Cleo."
"Mickey!" Rose said, as an android grabs Mickey by the throat.
"Rose!" Penny said, and another android grabs Rose from behind. "What do I do now?"
The androids inject Rose and Mickey with something. More androids teleported into the room to surround Penny, as the ginger has her swords behind her.
Versailles room…
"The Doctor and Rose Tyler." Sinon said, dipping a crab fry into the cheese dip. "They're like Kirito and Asuna."
"Basically." Jared said, happily. "What do you think will happen next? When it comes to you guys."
"I don't know. I really don't, especially after saving everyone from Ordinal Scale."
"Kirito in God Mode. Now that was cool to watch. Wish I was there though."
"You didn't miss much."
"Besides you being an amazing sniper."
"You mean your favorite sniper."
"That goes to Ruby Rose!"
"I know you mean me."
"Oh, shut up!"
"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone." Reinette said.
"What do you mean, alone? You've never been alone in your life. When did you start calling me Doctor?" The Doctor asked.
"Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonelier now. How can you bear it?"
The Doctor breaks the link, "How did you do that?"
"A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction. Oh, Doctor. My lonely Doctor. Dance with me." Reinette said.
"I can't." The Doctor said.
"Reinette is up to something." Sinon said, lifting Jared off the ground. "Come on, dance with me!"
"No, I don't want to." Jared said, picking up the bowl of crab fries and cheese dip. "I really don't."
"Yes you do. I want to make Ruby jealous."
"Oh, I hate you."
"No, you don't. Now come on, let's dance and have some fun."
"Fine, you win. Gunslinger."
"Oh, you're really gonna get it!" Sinon said, dragging Jared out of the room.
(Jared's POV)
Spaceship…
Rose, Mickey, and Penny are strapped to slanted tables, opposite the Tardis. Many androids are present.
"What's going on? Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Rose? Penny? They're going to chop us up, just like the crew. They're going to chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship. And where's the Doctor, Jared, and Sinon? Where's the precious Doctor now? He's been gone for flipping hours with Jared and Sinon, that's where they are!" Mickey said, angrily.
"You are compatible." The droid said.
"Well, you might want to think about that. You really, really, might, because me, Penny, and Mickey, we didn't come here alone. Oh no. And trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with our designated driver and our lucky charm." Rose said, when the android extends his blade, with a little cogged wheel spinning at the end. "Ever heard of the Daleks? Remember them? They had a name for one of our friends. They had myths about him, and a name. They called him the…"
"It was just fine, we lived in peace…" I said, crashing into something with Sinon. "Sorry."
"It's okay." Sinon said, setting something off making an explosion happen near us.
"Looked to a happy ending…" I said, stopping my drunken voice, but I kept singing. "The days were bright, they shined like gold…"
"They called him the...they called him the, the…" Rose said, when the Doctor sways into the room with Sinon and I, as the Time Lord is carrying a goblet and wearing his tie around his head.
"Every step ascending…" I said, giving Sinon a twirl. "Our dreams came true, our path was clear.
The moon watched safely from above…"
"Have you met the French? My god, they know how to party." The Doctor said, walking towards Rose, Mickey, and Penny.
"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm, the Dimension Hopper, and the Lunatic Sniper." Rose said, angrily.
"Oh, you sound just like your mother."
"The Lunatic Sniper?" Sinon asked, looking over at me. "Where did she get that from?"
"Oh, it's a long story." I said, freeing Penny from her shackles. "I don't want to explain it."
"Why not?" Penny asked, with me hugging her.
"Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, brilliant. It's you. You're my favourite, you are. You are the best! Do you know why? Because you're so thick. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad." The Doctor said, walking towards one of the androids.
"So, why were they scanning Reinette's brain?" Sinon asked, crossing her arms.
"They were scanning her milometer. They want to know how old she is."
"Why were they doing that?" Penny asked, as lost as Sinon.
"I'll tell you Penny. Because this ship is thirty seven years old, and they think that when Reinette is thirty seven, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible. So, that's what you're missing, isn't it, hmm? Command circuit. Your computer. Your ship needs a brain. And for some reason, God knows what, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do." The Doctor said, walking towards Penny, and back to the droid.
"The brain is compatible." The droid said.
"Compatible? If you believe that, you probably believe this is a glass of wine." The Doctor said, removing the android's mask and pours the contents of the goblet into its head. The clockwork seizes up. "Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." The Time Lord finds the android off switch on the console. "Right, you two, that's enough lying about. Time we got the rest of the ship turned off."
The Doctor and I freed Rose and Mickey.
"Are those things safe?" Mickey asked.
"Yeah. Safe. Safe and thick, way I like them. Okay. All the time windows are controlled from here. I need to close them all down. Zeus plugs. Where are my Zeus plugs? I had them a minute ago. I was using them as castanets." The Doctor said.
"Why didn't they just open a time window to when she was thirty seven?" Rose asked.
"With the amount of damage to these circuits, they did well to hit the right century. Trial and error after that. The windows aren't closing. Why won't they close?" The Doctor asked, when a bell rings.
"What's that?"
"I don't know. Incoming message?"
"From who?" Mickey asked.
"Report from the field. One of them must still be out there with Reinette. That's why I can't close the windows. There's an override." The Doctor said, and the first android reactivates and expels the anti-oil out through its finger onto the floor. "Well, that was a bit clever." The off switch moves itself to on again. "Right. Many things about this are not good. Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"
"She is complete. It begins." The droid said, and all of the androids teleport out.
"What's happening?" Rose asked.
"One of them must have found the right time window. Now it's time to send in the troops. And this time they're bringing back her head." The Doctor said.
Versailles music room…
"I like this room." Yui said, sitting on my shoulder as Rose and I entered the music room, with me running towards the piano. "Why are you into music?"
"Why are you weird?" I asked, looking down at Yui. "Anyway, hello Madame de Pompadour. Just don't yell, please. We don't want to cause a disturbance."
"He's right, we haven't got a lot of time. We've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years." Rose said, agreeing with me.
"Five years?" Reinette asked.
"They'll be here after your thirty seventh birthday." I said, with Yui feeling bad for Reinette. "Like I don't know when."
"How do you not know?" Yui asked, looking up at me.
"I just don't."
"We er, we can't give you an exact date. It's a bit random. But they're coming. It's going to happen. In a way, for us, it's already happening. We're sorry, it's hard to explain. The Doctor does this better." Rose said, agreeing with me.
"Then be exact, and I will be attentive." Reinette said, as I tossed her an Augma.
"We really can't predict the future." I said, with Reinette looking down at the headgear. "Put that on."
"What's this for?"
"Put it on."
"Okay." Reinette said, turning on the Augma to see Yui sitting on my shoulder. "What is this device?"
"Hi." Yui said, sadly. "Anyway, there isn't time! Time for us to explain."
"There are five years."
"For you. We haven't got five minutes." Rose said.
"Then also be concise."
"Er, there's, say, a vessel, a ship, a sort of sky ship, and it's full of, well, you."
"There's different parts of your life, in different rooms, on that ship. All jumbled up, like chapters of a book." I said, with Yui nodding her head.
"We told you it was complicated. Sorry." Rose said, sadly.
"There is a vessel in your world where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book, so that he may step from one to the other without increase of age while I, weary traveller, must always take the slower path." Reinette said, using what I said to help her process this easier.
"He was right about you." Rose said, happily.
"So, in five years these creatures will return. What can be done?"
"Just keep them talking." Yui said, happily. "That's what the Doctor told us!"
"Anyway, the robots are told to listen to you. They're programmed to now. You can't stop them, but you can delay them." I said, smiling. "Well, fro a while."
"Until?" Reinette asked.
"Until the Doctor can get there." Rose said, frowning.
"He's coming, then?"
"He promises."
"But he cannot make his promises in person?"
"He'll be there when you need him. That's the way it's got to be."
"It's the way it's always been. The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have one without the other
"Tell me about it. The thing is, you weren't supposed to have either. Those creatures are messing with history. None of this was ever supposed to happen to you."
"Supposed to happen? What does that mean? It happened, child, and I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel."
"Jared?" Sinon asked, her voice is heard nearby. "Yui?"
"Rose? Rose?" Mickey asked, his voice is heard nearby.
Versailles corridor…
Reinette, Rose, Yui, and I go out. Mickey, Penny, and Sinon appears from behind a tapestry.
"Rose! Jared! Yui! The time window where she's thirty seven. We found it. Right under our noses." Mickey said, happily.
"It is kinda crazy that it was right in our faces." Sinon said, when Reinette walks under the tapestry that Mickey and Penny are holding back.
"No, you can't go in there, the Doctor will go mad…" Rose said, angrily.
Corridor…
"So, this is his world." Reinette said, and there are screams in the distance. "What was that?"
"It's the time window!" Penny said, excitedly. "Another part of your life, Reinette!"
"Yeah, and the Doctor fixed an audio link." Mickey said, nodding his head.
"Those screams. Is that my future?" Reinette asked.
"Yeah. I'm sorry." Rose said, sadly.
"Then I must take the slower path."
"So, we can't help her." Sinon said, with me turning off my Augma. "Help Reinette."
"No, we can't change her death." I said, frowning. "It's a fixed point in time."
"We're just gonna leave things the way they are. Why would we do that?"
"Because we have to." I said, when Mickey walked away from us. "I wish we could save her though."
"Me too." Penny said, agreeing with me. "What do you want us to try?"
"Nothing, we can't try anything." I said, as Reinette goes back through the tapestry.
"We can help her, right? I know we can."
(Open POV)
Versailles bedchamber…
The guests at a masked ball are running along corridors and screaming in terror. Reinette and Louis are in the royal bedroom is an ornate clock with a smashed glass face. The blonde stands in front of the fireplace.
"We are under attack! There are creatures I don't even think they're human. We can't stop them." Louis said.
"The clock is broken. He's coming." Reinette said, with her Augma on. "Isn't he, Yui?"
"He is!" Yui said, happily sitting on Reinette's shoulder. "Jared told me he is. He will come for you. The Doctor will!"
"Listen to me. There is a man coming to Versailles. He has watched over me my whole life and he will not desert me tonight." Reinette said, looking back at Louis.
"What are you talking about? What man?" Louis asked.
"The only man, save you, I have ever loved. No, don't look like that, there's no time. You have your duties. I am your mistress. Go to your queen." Reinette said, calling out into the fireplace. "Are you there? Can you hear me? I need you now. You promised. The clock on the mantel is broken. It is time. Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!"
"We must go. No one is coming to help us."
Three androids enter.
"You are complete. You will come." The droid said.
Spaceship…
"Where's Yui?" Sinon asked, looking back at Jared.
"She's with Reinette." Jared said, smiling. "But those clockwork droids knew the Doctor was coming."
"They blocked us off from her!" Penny said, angrily. "Not fair!"
Versailles corridor…
"Where are we going?" Reinette asked.
"I don't know." Yui said, sadly. "But I don't like this."
"The teleport has limited range. We must have proximity to the time portal." The droid said.
"Your words mean nothing. You are nothing." Reinette said, and the other two droids escort King Louis.
Spaceship…
The ballroom is visible on a large screen in the bulkhead.
"They just teleported in there." Sinon said, leaning against the wall. "Like, why? Out of all the things they could have done!"
"Because they can." Jared said, angrily. "And I just left Yui in there!"
"Well, we can just use the TARDIS!" Penny said, smiling. "To save Yui and Reinette!"
"We can't use the Tardis. We're part of events now." The Doctor said.
"Well, can't we just smash through?" Mickey asked.
"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck."
"So, we don't have a truck." Sinon said, looking over at the Doctor.
"I know we don't have a truck!"
"Well, we've got to try something." Rose said.
"No. Smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back." The Doctor said.
"Could everyone just calm down? Please." Reinette said, on screen.
Ballroom…
"Such a commotion. Such distressing noise. Kindly remember that this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French. I have made a decision. And my decision is no, I shall not be going with you today. I have seen your world, and I have no desire to set foot there again." Reinette said.
"We do not require your feet." The droid said.
Two female dressed androids push Reinette to her knees.
"You think I fear you, but I do not fear you even now. You are merely the nightmare of my childhood. The monster from under my bed. And if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours." Reinette said.
Somewhere a horse neighs, then the sound of galloping hooves. The mirror over the mantlepiece is smashed as the Doctor and Jared jump the horse through it. The two dismount.
"Jared, you're okay!" Yui said, flying towards Jared. "Where's Sinon and Penny?"
"Oh, they're with Rose and Mickey." Jared said, as Yui flew towards his leather jacket pocket to sit in it. "They're safe, they're fine."
"That's good. What about you? Are you safe?"
"With you, yeah. I am."
The Doctor takes the mask off the main android. It points its blade at his throat, "Forget it. It's over."
"Uh, Spaceman, we broke the mirror. Shit, we've got seven years bad luck with that robot." Jared said, laughing a lot.
"Well, maybe you should try three thousand." The Doctor said, and there is a brick wall where once there was a portal to the spaceship.
Spaceship…
"Jared's stuck there in the past with the Doctor and Yui." Penny said, looking over at Sinon. "What can we do? To get them back!"
"We can't do anything!" Sinon said, while a tear runs down Rose's cheek. "They're trapped there. Jared has to know what to do next. He has to, He's our fan."
Ballroom…
"The link with the ship is broken. No way back. You don't have the parts. How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up." The Doctor said, as the androids all wind down. One of them falls backwards and breaks apart. "You all right?"
"What's happened to them?" Reinette asked.
"They stopped working." Jared said, with Yui smiling. "Those robots have no purpose now, if they're stuck in the past."
Spaceship…
"We can't fly the Tardis without the Doctor. And Penny and Sinon can't get back home without Jared. How're they going to get back?" Mickey asked.
"Damn it!" Sinon said, angrily. "He has to do something reckless. Like what Kirito does on a daily basis. God, those three are idiots!"
Versailles…
Later, the Doctor is looking up at the night sky with Jared and Yui.
"No Grimm, no Daleks, and I am a fan of older architecture." Jared said, looking over at Yui. "But I will miss Little Red."
"You're so complicated." Yui said, excitedly. "Why can't you accept the fact that you're stuck here?"
"Because we're not stuck here. I just like it here on Earth."
"You're in the past."
"So are you, Yui. Why aren't you with Kirito and Asuna?"
"Mommy and daddy? They're fine. They might be in ALFheim online. I don't know."
"In saving me, you and Jared trapped yourselves. Did the both of you know that would happen?" Reinette asked, looking between the Doctor and Jared.
"Yup, we did." Jared said, drinking a cup of coffee. "I always wanted to do that though, jump through a time window."
"Yet, still, you two came." Reinette said.
"Yeah, we did, didn't we? Catch us doing that again." The Doctor said.
"There were many doors between my world and yours. Can you not use one of the others?"
"When the mirror broke, the shock would have severed all the links with the ship. There'll be a few more broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here, I'm afraid, wherever there was a time window. We'll, weI'll pay for any damage. Er, that's a thought, we're going to need money. I was always a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?"
"You said that mommy and daddy will come with you, the Doctor, and Rose to 1950s England." Yui said, still sitting in Jared's leather jacket pocket. "How will you do that now?"
"Oh, well, there is always a girl in a fireplace that can help us." Jared said, joining the Doctor and Reinette to drink on a toast.
"It's a pity. I think I would've enjoyed the slow path." Reinette said.
"Well, we're not going anywhere." The Doctor said.
"Oh, aren't you? Take my hand."
Versailles bedchamber…
"It's not a copy, it's the original. I had it moved here and was exact in every detail." Reinette said.
"The fireplace. The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?" The Doctor asked.
"She did that a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away." Jared said, laughing a lot.
"Jared's right, I did this many years ago, in the hope that a door once opened, may someday open again. One never quite knows when one needs one's Doctor. Or when one with silver eyes needs a man with foresight. It appears undamaged. Do you think it will still work?" Reinette asked.
"You broke the bond with the ship when you moved it, which means it was offline when the mirror broke. That's what saved it. But the link is basically physical, and it's still physically here. Which might just mean, if we're lucky. If we're very, very, very, very, very, very lucky." The Doctor said, tapping the fireplace surround with Jared standing next to him. "Ah ha!"
"What?"
"Loose connection." The Doctor said, using his sonic screwdriver. "Need to get a man in." He gives it a thump and there is a clunk. "Wish us luck!"
"No." Reinette said, when the fireplace turns, taking the Doctor and Jared away.
(Jared's POV)
Fireplace room…
The Doctor calls back through the fireplace, "Madame de Pompadour! Still want to see those stars?"
"You're taking her with us." Yui said, looking at me. "Will she be with us for a long time?"
"Yeah, she will." I said, smiling. "I know she will. Time can be rewritten, Yui."
"Really?"
"Really."
Spaceship…
The Doctor hugs Rose, as I hugged Penny.
"You made us wait five and a half hours." Sinon said, slapping me on the face, hard. "You idiot!"
"Sorry." I said, rubbing my face. "What do you want to go to now?"
"Anywhere but here. You made us wait."
"I said I'm sorry."
"We forgive you." Penny said, letting go of me. "I do!"
"What happened?" Sinon asked.
"I'll tell you later. Just go into the TARDIS. The Doctor and me will be right back." I said, running off with the Doctor.
Fireplace room…
"Reinette? You there, Reinette?" The Doctor asked.
Palace of Versailles…
"Reinette? Oh, hello." The Doctor said.
"Why is the King here?" Yui asked, sitting on my shoulder.
"Long story. But I couldn't change things." I said, letting out some tears. "I couldn't save her."
"It's okay. You tried your best."
King Louis takes a sealed letter from a drawer, "She spoke of the both of you many times. Often wished you'd visit again. You know how women are."
Louis gives the letter to the Doctor.
"There she goes." Louis said, when a hearse goes down the driveway in the pouring rain. "Leaving Versailles for the last time. Only forty three when she died. Too young. Too young. Illness took her in the end. She always did work too hard. What does she say?"
"I think it's best that you keep that thought to yourself." I said, when the Doctor puts the unopened letter inside his jacket. "It's between her and the Doctor."
"Of course. Quite right."
Tardis…
"Why her? Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?" Rose asked.
"We'll probably never know. There was massive damage in the computer memory banks. It probably got confused. The Tardis can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing any more trouble." The Doctor said.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm always all right."
"Come on, Rose. It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." Mickey said, leaving the room with Rose.
Kirito and Asuna's house…
"So, Reinette died." Asuna said, drinking her cup of tea. "I'm sorry. But are you okay?"
"I am." I said, happily. "I've got my friends. I want to protect each and every one of you as I can."
"We know." Weiss said, looking up at me. "Be careful with Ren and Nora. Got it?"
"I promise I will."
(Open POV)
The fireplace is on the TARDIS scanner. The fire goes out. On the spaceship, the Tardis dematerialises to reveal a portrait on the wall labelled Madame de Pompadour 1721-1764, then we move outside to discover that the drifting vessel is the SS Madame de Pompadour.