Chapter 114: I am the doctor

Having built and tested my new armor, I am ready for my next task. With a Kontron crystal in hand, I think it’s time I make it – a tardis key. It will be night soon; I best get to it.

Taking my precious Kontron crystal, I combine it with humble iron. A key, silver, looks just like a front door key. The only indicator of its dimensional origins? A small blue crystal at the bottom – small and unassuming.

Leaving my castle to use it. I call out to Cassie while walking by. “Cassie, you will want to see this.”

She gets up and follows. “See what?”

“You will see.”

“Funny.”

We leave the castle, walking a distance into my island. Stopping, I grasp the key in my hand. I don’t know how I know what to do, but I do.

Taking the key, I hold it out and twist it to the right. As if an invisible lock was in the air. As the key clicks to the right with a ghostly sound. I see hair-thin cracks of blue spread from where I turned it. A blue mark burned into the air where the key just was.

Like a wave, translucent blue energy leaves the mark. Rolling over an invisible object, a rectangular shape coming into clarity.

As the energy disappears, It reveals a familiar blue post box.

“Cassie, I would like to show you a Tardis. Or should I say, The Tardis.”

“What does it do?”

“Allows you travel anywhere, anywhen and into any dimension.”

“Ha, that’s insane.” Clearly unbelieving of it.

Returning to the lock, I open the door. The door opens inwards, revealing a massive internal space. My god, my inner fanboy is going wild. “I am in a Tardis!”

Stepping inside, Cassie follows behind. I take great joy in seeing her surprised face. Suddenly, I feel a splitting headache, a migraine down the center of my skull. I cradle my head in my arms, wishing the pain away.

“Aeternum, you okay?!” Cassie says in concern. Rushing to my side.

As quickly as it came, it disappeared. Leaving behind a weird sensation of connection. Mentally following the line, I feel a link to the Tardis. The connection is weak, more like a gentle hand than a guiding fist. I can feel the Tardis, the energy flowing through its walls. A feel bubbling confidence in my chest. Not my own, a foreign emotion, yet it tells me I can fly the Tardis.

I guess this is the Doctors link, how he flys it. Realizing too late, Cassie is still fussing over my silence. I snap back to reality, “I am okay, Just linked to the craft.”

She still has concern on her face, but my response seems to have calmed her.

Walking up to the panel, I run my hand along the smooth side. From what I recall of the mod, flying gets you XP. More XP equals more rooms, faster flight, and a whole host of other things.

“So, Cassie. Want to take it for a ride?”

“Errm, I guess so?” Shrugging her shoulders.

“Sounds good, let’s go.”

Walking around the panel, I see a side with lots of screens. I note down the coordinates for my home in my diary. Even though it's rather redundant, I can just teleport home. I like the extra safety. Now, I select the location and dimension. I don’t know how to travel through time. In the mod, it didn’t have it. We are stuck with that until I figure it out.

“I suppose for the test flight, we should stay in this dimension.”

“Yeah, that’s for the best.” She replies with crossed arms.

I input some random coordinates, making sure to set the Y level really high. I don’t want to materialize inside a mountain or a city. If I appear high in the sky, it allows me to see if I should lower the craft.

Next, I dig deep inside myself, looking for that link. Controls long since forgotten, they were rather complicated. Instead, I use the link to guide my hands. I go through the startup process like id done it a thousand times.

Feeling the Tardis hum into life as I turn a complex series of buttons, levers, and dials. Feeling the ground shift slightly, we are suddenly moving. The G-force disappears quickly.

Cassie seemed a little concerned at the slight turbulence but doesn’t say anything.

Looking out the camera, I see the vortex of time. A beautiful aurora of colors and swirls, I find things like these are far better to see in person. I feel a light hum, a glow of light only I can see. A dial will light up, one that must be pressed, turned, or twisted to continue the flight. I follow my instincts, turning the dials as and when needed.

After a short while, I feel a pulse along with the link – The Tardis leveled up. Great news, I turn the flight speed down to its lowest setting. Reducing the turbulence and freeing some time for exploration. Using the floating lift system, I descend below the control panel. Finding the core buzzing away in front of me.

Wait, I need a sonic screwdriver, don’t I? Heading back up, I grab the screwdriver from the panel. Heading back down, I have a look at the reactor. I poke around, see I can expand max rooms, energy regeneration, energy storage, and so forth.

Heading back up, I do what I’ve been looking forward to for a while. I take Cassie by the arm and guide her to the door.

“You see, we are currently in the time vortex. I have always wanted to see it in person.”

She wiggles in my arm slightly.“I don’t think we should ope…”

Her voice falls on deaf ears as I pull open the door. Seeing the most beautiful sight of my life. Cassie fell back in shock, having been caught barely by my arm.

She gingerly, like a cat, walks closer. Staying a half step behind me as she peers out into the vortex. A gentle hum emanates from the broiling circle of iridescent clouds.

“What is it?” She asks.

“I already said. The time vortex; I think it’s one of the most wonderful sights in the world.” She just nods. “As a bonus, the radiation from traveling through this vortex might change your species to Time Lord.”

She turns to me, stunned, backing away from the vortex.

“Don’t worry. Time Lords are just straight upgrades to humans. And it takes generations for one to become a full Time Lord. You look exactly the same, but your life span increases by 13x, and you have bonus organs.” She seems slightly calmer now. “And the best part? You are nigh unkillable. If you take a lethal wound, you sacrifice one of your 12 regenerations to tank it. Anyway, I only know one recorded case of someone becoming a partial time lord with minimal exposure.”

“How did they become one?”

“Well, a pair had a child. The mother was pregnant while they traveled through time if I recall. Anyway, the child got sufficiently irradiated to get 1 regeneration.”

“Whats a regeneration?” She enquires, confidence returning as she gazes into the vortex.

“Time Lords at birth have 12 regenerations. When they reach the end of their life, through age or injury, they use one. Massive amounts of energy heal the body, revert it to a youthful state, and change them into a new person. This may involve a different gender, race, face, and personality. Although, they keep the same memories.”

“I have never heard of that.”

“Well, I am currently flying inside one of their crafts.”

She takes a moment to look around. “They must have been great builders.”

“They were before they went extinct. Mastering time, dimensions, and space folding. Truly an incredible race.”

“Why did they go extinct?”

“War,” I say simply.

She looks down, “It’s always war.” Said in a quiet voice.

“It is.” Said in my most solemn tone.

For a while, we gaze out those doors. Watching in amusement as the invisible shield flickers into visibility occasionally. It protects us from the vortex, yet something must be pinging off it.

We have already sat down, only I dare to hang my feet out the door. I eventually return the consol to fly the craft. The Tardis is grumpy at my neglect. I turn the speed up and begin flying in earnest.

Eventually, we arrive, a loud ding echoing through the craft. I walk towards the doors; as Cassie stands behind me.

“What's on the other side?” She asks.

“No idea.”

She frowns at my response. “So… what if we are inside a dragon's den?”

“It’s unlikely.”

“Why?”

“First, dragons den are as rare as hen's teeth. Second, I set it to materialize high in the sky. So we can peer down and see if we want to land.”

“Okay, if you get us killed. I will kill you.”

“I am the only person you can say that to and follow up on it,” I say with a laugh. The only problem with clones, you can die multiple times.

I open the door with care. Revealing a dark sky, “why is it night?” It should still be day. Cassie frowns, “You said it could travel through time.”

“Well, yeah, but it shouldn’t have; I didn’t set it to.”

Peering down, I see why it's so dark. It’s a dark mountain biome, an abyssal craft biome. Looking at the black rock landscape sends a shiver down my spine. Cassie peers over my shoulder, quickly looking away. Shadow beasts roam like maggots along with the land, “Creepy.”

“I suppose that answer that,” I say to Cassie.

She just nods.

I calmly close the door, returning to the console. I bookmark the location for the future. Setting another random set of coordinates. Leaving quickly, I pump up the speed. Rushing around to press all the dials in time, I feel another level up. Suddenly the craft shakes violently, causing Cassie and I to tumble onto the floor.

I suddenly feel the craft land, a little earlier than it should of. Quickly realizing what happened, I head down below. “Damnit, I knew it.”

Cassie shouts from above, “What is it?!”

“We ran out of power.”

“Seriously!”

Returning to the console to continue the conversation. “Nothing to worry about. I just forgot about it needing to recharge. Should be good in a few hours, a day at the most.”

She just pouts and turns away. She doesn’t get far, given I haven’t installed any rooms yet.

Walking after her, I sit down next to her. “If it makes you feel better, I can show you something cool.”

She turns away slightly but still says, “Okay.”

She follows me as I walk back to the console. I re-insert my sonic screwdriver into the port. Seeing the tablets to its side light up. A few button presses later, and I’ve loaded the schematic for Big Room.

We walk to the back of the Tardis. Quickly spotting one of the 3 doors. A white door with a blue X in the middle and a small hole. Placing the screwdriver inside, I click the button on the screwdriver. The door rumbles before dematerializing. Revealing a big room. An understatement by a mile, given the gigantic nature of the room. If would hazard a guess, the roof is 60 meters up. Cassie is equally awe-struck as we gaze into the giant room.

“I guess I can forgive you. That is pretty cool.

While I am at it, I create 2 hallways ending in a T junction on the other 2 doors. Placing a libry down on one of the now 4 slots. Walking in, I am surprised to see stocked shelves. Lots of Doctor Who universe literature; I am in love. It also holds the guide to the Tardis.

Aside from that, which is on the new research wing; I, expand the second corridor. Using a second T junction, I create 4 entrances in total. Using 2 immediately for an Olympics-sized swimming pool and a decorative garden. I use one to create an off-shoot containing a bedroom for me and a guest bedroom; the last one is saved for any fits of fancy I have.

With my building spree over, I head back to the control room. Cassie looking around with interest.

“Hey, Cassie. Want to explore where ever the hell we landed?”

“That sounds dangerous.”

“The whole random coordinates thing I’ve been doing is dangerous. This is just slightly more random. What could go wrong?”