The Doctor (#12) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
axefight) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
riverviewlogs2017-06-19 06:05 pm
axefight) wrote in riverviewlogs2017-06-19 06:05 pm
(open) old man yells at tree, and other things
who: the Doctor and YOUUUU
what: find the Doc in various locales, up to the usual nonsense. a thing explodes.
when: 19-24
where: the university; a rooftop; the jungle
warnings: nada, most likely
the university, afternoon.
[ for the most part, since starting his job here, the doctor's managed to pass himself off more or less as a normal college professor, teaching a normal class about time travel (and occasionally exobiology and space farming and thermodynamics and--), spending his evenings grading normal papers. normally. it works out - he's a skilled orator and he honestly enjoys this work (specifically, the part where he gets to listen to himself talk passionately for hours on end in front of a captive audience), and is more or less content to devote a chunk of his work week to doing so. besides, he actually needs a little money right now, appalling as that notion is. so he has taken a certain amount of care not to make waves yet. by, say, blowing anything up.
except for this one afternoon, when he accidentally blows something up.
it starts as a whizz, a bang, and a deafening POP! followed by a cloud of white smoke billowing out of his open office door. from inside, you can hear the hssss of a fire extinguisher, as the doctor, his hair comically swept back, puts out a small fire from an inscrutable piece of machinery laying atop his desk. the thing looks like it was cobbled together out of garbage. which it was.
work in progress!
several students' papers may be beyond repair, unfortunately, though. ]
some rooftop somewhere, night.
[ the following night, if you happen to be hanging out on a rooftop, for whatever reason - brooding or something, i don't know - you may find this old fellow with his handmade machine. this time in working order.
although what 'working order' actually means in this case is anyone's guess. the device looks like the unholy amalgamation of a tape deck, an umbrella, a carburetor, three whisks, and a panasonic orbitel television, among other things. little bits of it spin. it softly boops every minute or so. it's playing what appears to be five games of pong layered atop each other at once on its screen. nobody is winning.
the doctor's pacing around in front of it, his thinking face on. every now and then he stops to stare at his creation, tapping his fingers to his arms. whatever information it is displaying doesn't appear to be what he's looking for. it's been going on for a while. ]
the jungle, whenever.
[ because if a place is clearly dangerous, walled off and under watchful guard, of course he's going to head straight out into it. he's not too far from the inhabited city, at least, this time. but he's clearly unarmed and unarmored, and at the moment - yelling at a tree.
or rather, scolding a thing that's in the tree. some sort of cat-like being, from the looks of it, with something shiny and silvery held tightly in its jaws. the doctor clearly wants this thing back, but alas, isn't really a climbing-trees type. just gonna have to resort to his skill with negotiation. ]
Listen to me - don't eat that! You cannot eat that! You can't even use it - you haven't got thumbs! And even if you had, a little brain like yours--
[ the cat thing chomps down harder on it, glaring. ]
--Look, I've got a fish sandwich! Let's trade! Honestly...
etc.
[ if you've got something else in mind, go for it! or pm me to plot things out. ]
what: find the Doc in various locales, up to the usual nonsense. a thing explodes.
when: 19-24
where: the university; a rooftop; the jungle
warnings: nada, most likely
the university, afternoon.
[ for the most part, since starting his job here, the doctor's managed to pass himself off more or less as a normal college professor, teaching a normal class about time travel (and occasionally exobiology and space farming and thermodynamics and--), spending his evenings grading normal papers. normally. it works out - he's a skilled orator and he honestly enjoys this work (specifically, the part where he gets to listen to himself talk passionately for hours on end in front of a captive audience), and is more or less content to devote a chunk of his work week to doing so. besides, he actually needs a little money right now, appalling as that notion is. so he has taken a certain amount of care not to make waves yet. by, say, blowing anything up.
except for this one afternoon, when he accidentally blows something up.
it starts as a whizz, a bang, and a deafening POP! followed by a cloud of white smoke billowing out of his open office door. from inside, you can hear the hssss of a fire extinguisher, as the doctor, his hair comically swept back, puts out a small fire from an inscrutable piece of machinery laying atop his desk. the thing looks like it was cobbled together out of garbage. which it was.
work in progress!
several students' papers may be beyond repair, unfortunately, though. ]
some rooftop somewhere, night.
[ the following night, if you happen to be hanging out on a rooftop, for whatever reason - brooding or something, i don't know - you may find this old fellow with his handmade machine. this time in working order.
although what 'working order' actually means in this case is anyone's guess. the device looks like the unholy amalgamation of a tape deck, an umbrella, a carburetor, three whisks, and a panasonic orbitel television, among other things. little bits of it spin. it softly boops every minute or so. it's playing what appears to be five games of pong layered atop each other at once on its screen. nobody is winning.
the doctor's pacing around in front of it, his thinking face on. every now and then he stops to stare at his creation, tapping his fingers to his arms. whatever information it is displaying doesn't appear to be what he's looking for. it's been going on for a while. ]
the jungle, whenever.
[ because if a place is clearly dangerous, walled off and under watchful guard, of course he's going to head straight out into it. he's not too far from the inhabited city, at least, this time. but he's clearly unarmed and unarmored, and at the moment - yelling at a tree.
or rather, scolding a thing that's in the tree. some sort of cat-like being, from the looks of it, with something shiny and silvery held tightly in its jaws. the doctor clearly wants this thing back, but alas, isn't really a climbing-trees type. just gonna have to resort to his skill with negotiation. ]
Listen to me - don't eat that! You cannot eat that! You can't even use it - you haven't got thumbs! And even if you had, a little brain like yours--
[ the cat thing chomps down harder on it, glaring. ]
--Look, I've got a fish sandwich! Let's trade! Honestly...
etc.
[ if you've got something else in mind, go for it! or pm me to plot things out. ]
no subject
[ and then a piece in the middle of this clusterfuck starts sparking, and his attention's back on that. ]
No, no, it's, er. It's fine. Not to worry, I have it under control--
[ what appears to be a tiny dial violently ejects itself from the sparking device and soars through the air, landing in the middle of the room. smoking slightly. ]
--Ish.
Actually, come here.
no subject
So he enters carefully, frowning at the machine like it might attack at any moment. ] Can I ask what this is?
[ Once the smoke dissipates, he picks up the dial to examine it as well. ] It's not a time machine, is it?
no subject
I left my time machine in Bristol.
[ he waves adam closer. ]
Right now, it's an error. Or a thrilling modern art exhibition. [ the dial came off a vintage cassette tape deck, which is currently buried within the machine, and also what the doctor's pointing to. ] Help me disassemble this bit.
no subject
Oh, sure. [ That's probably something he can do. He gets close enough to inspect it, but all the random garbage is confusing. ]
Is all this stuff necessary? [ He grabs the nearest tool to start working on the task. He at least seems skilled at working on machinery and is delicate out of fear of breaking something that might explode in his face. ] You could probably find better materials at the garage, we don't have much to do with scrap parts.
no subject
[ meanwhile, he's digging around under his desk, and pulling out a box of more spare parts. for someone who's only been here a few weeks, he's collected a lot of stuff. it's rather minimalist in terms of decoration, but even the bookshelves lining the walls are almost full. ]
But I'll gladly relieve you of any useful scrap, too. The garage is where you work?
no subject
Yeah, Breaking and Centering. I'm a mechanic, so I have some experience in taking things apart... [ As he says that, he manages to disconnect the tape deck. ]
You're right that people will throw out some incredible things just because they're a little broken. You could probably build a whole new car out of the junk we have. Is this something you usually do or have you taken it up here?
no subject
[ he starts taking bits out of his box, mostly wires. eyes a few, measuring them out. to the last question: ]
Oh, I've been at it for about two thousand years.
[ he sounds entirely serious. ]
no subject
[ He watches what the Doctor's doing for a moment before taking it upon himself to examine the inner workings of the garbage contraption.
It's still pretty weird to hear people say things like that but he just has to get used to it apparently. So he's not gaping even if his instincts tell him to. ] Are you―a god or something? [ He wouldn't really expect a god to be into science, but. ]
no subject
[ the interior's going to mostly look like complete nonsense, but the faulty wiring should be clear enough.
meanwhile, the doctor looks up... and rolls his eyes. ] 'Course I'm not, don't be ridiculous. I'm an alien.
no subject
So he shrugs, squinting at the mess of parts. ] We're all technically aliens here, aren't we? Does that mean your species usually lives to be as old as you? [ Is that rude. He was just rude to his professor, wasn't he. Move on. ]
Uh, I think I can fix this.
no subject
It's all relative. Still can't throw a rock without hitting a human, even here.
It's actually impressive, if slightly monotonous.
[ sorry, was that rude? he doesn't seem to notice; he hands a few necessary parts over to adam and nods, as he talks. go for it, kiddo. ] Let's see, then.
[ he'll meanwhile get up and start collecting more things from around his office. ]
no subject
Gotta wonder why they chose so many humans. Or so many species from Earth, even if they're different Earths. [ He looks over the tools before getting to work, a little more nervous now that he's supposed to be fixing something for his professor. Better not look stupid. ]
I actually came here with a question, if you wouldn't mind. About the whole temporal chalice thing.
no subject
[ good ol' humans. awful, but he still loves 'em.
he glances over, from a bookcase, where he's currently removing batteries from a toy car on the shelf. ] Yeah?
no subject
He glances over and his eyes catch on the toy car, pausing for a moment, before focusing back on his task. ]
Well, it didn't just send people back or forwards in time. It brought people from alternate realities too. I mean, obviously I've heard the theory about there being an infinite number of realities, but is there a way to access them? To replicate what the chalice did, but in the opposite direction?
no subject
There are ways to access alternate realities, yes, but not like this.
What the chalice has done is produce alternate timelines. Changing a single moment in history can erase the original timeline entirely [ he mimes erasing a chalkboard ] overwriting it with something new. And potentially cataclysmic.
If you don't know what it is you're doing. Which, obviously, most people don't.
[ he pulls another custom device - that might have once been a television remote - of his pocket, and pops the batteries into it. ]
Once we're able to disable the chalice, their proper time streams should snap back into place.