Once everything of mine that was in my old apartment was moved into storage on the TARDIS, we set a course for the same alleyway my journey started in, the same one I left with Doctor and Rose. Once there I took out my phone, one I have not used since I went making a call to cancel my tenancy agreement, of course like all tenant agreements there's a deposit that must be put down and like most landlords this one tried to find a way to keep said deposit which I did not care about it, so I cancel the agreement without arguing about the deposit so I can get to what's essential.
That being the events of which I met Alice, those cyborg guys who were chasing her, they went after her for a reason, and it's time to find out why. Asking Alice yielded no result, so it was time to face them head-on. Not only that, but it's also about how they were able to not attract attention to themselves, because no matter how you look at them, they stick out like a sore thumb.
"So, it's time to head back, isn't it?" I turn to see Alice looking at me with the same sad look as if she knows something I don't. Before I can say anything she speaks again " I know it's strange, but my mother said a few words to me before her death I never understood it till I met you, her final words to me were ` the answer lies in the past` I always thought it was her trying to reminisce about the days we spent together. Still, even then, it made no sense, as there was no question for which there could be an answer.
Hearing her words, I start to think that these cyborgs might have some connection to her mother. If so, it would give some reasoning for them to be after her, but still, Alice is one hundred per cent human; the only anomaly is the regeneration energy that seems to cling to her.
"Well, there's only one way to find out, but let me warn you, there's no warning your mother about her fate. It could cause drastic changes to the timeline that may end in a worse outcome," she nods but thinks for a moment, " what if she already knows her fate, with the way she said I would find answers in the past it was as if she knew something I didn't" hearing her word causes me to think for a moment before I shake my head there's no way her mother was a Time Lady that would be impossible, even in human form its impossible for Time lords to have children with Humans, due to the residual effect of the chameleon arch, it would take years to dissipate.
Not only that, if that were the case, there would be signs in Alice if that was the case, but the regeneration energy had to come from somewhere, well, there's only one way to find out. It's no wonder the Doctor loves doing this; the excitement from finding something out that should not be possible is so exhilarating.
With my mind set on what the next plan of action is, I start setting the destination into the navigation before, removing the brake and beginning the process of dematerialisation, heading straight to the intended destination.
After a few minutes of piloting, we arrive at the correct date and place, or rather, the address that Alice can remember, as I set it to the time before her mother passed, now that I think about it who tell a six year old a cryptic message on their death bed and expects them to understand it till it too late. Hell, Alice even misinterpreted it and wished on a star for her mother, leading to the creation of the grove that had her mother's soul trapped. This whole thing screams with a red warning that it's not going to be fun.
That's not the only issue. The ship that appeared after the grove disappeared took me a while to identify, but it's actually a human vessel from the future, specifically from the year 24000. The issue is that the ship appeared old so that it could be from later than that, but that's the year the vessel was widely in use, and I don't remember any cyborgs like the ones that were chasing Alice when I met her existing during that time. That begs the question, where did they come from?
With my mind sorted, it's time to exit the TARDIS to see what awaits us, and that precisely what we do once outside, what greeted us, both to my surprise and Alice's surprise, was a woman who resembled Alice in every way, the only difference was she was slightly older than Alice.
Seeing us, the woman has a smile on her face as she looks at Alice, and I can instantly yell, not only did she recognise who Alice was, but she had been expecting us, as if she knew we were coming. I am not the first to speak. The woman is "Well, it's good to see you grow up into a beautiful woman, angel, and before you ask, I knew you would come here, but not with who. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anistasia Darkadia, and before you ask, it's my maiden name" After looking at her for a while, I can feel ruminate energy from the time vortex from her, meaning one thing: she is not from this time.
As if reading my mind, she speaks, "Yes, this is not my time. As for why I am here, it's because I refused to serve another's purpose, but I am sure you figure that out already, Mr. Time lord" I was not surprised she could guess I am a time lord, not thanks to the things both the master as well s the Doctor will do in the future, its no doubt that Unit will exist for a long time humanity tends to attract attention making groups like Torchwood and Unit a necessity if they plan to survive.
Before I can say anything, she speaks again," It's best if we head into your TARDIS to continue this discussion; if anything we say is heard, it could change history" I nod before opening the TARDIS door, letting her and Alice go in first, before I close the door behind me.
Once inside and the door was closed, she spoke again, "Now, if you're here, they must have come for you, the Cyborgs, before you ask that's what they are called, their creator was a genius but his naming sense was terrible, it was either that or something even more ridiculous, anyway that's not the point the reason they need you is a device that my ancestors made as a deterrent against a Race that Mr., Time lord here is very familiar with" hearing her only once Race comes to mind Daleks,
Now it's my turn to speak, " the Daleks, but that's impossible, even we Time Lords had nothing that could deter them from their sole purpose" she giggles at my word " that's because Time lords have no understanding of how a Dalek thinks, humanity went through a phase where it wanted to remove that which was different, and you should know thanks to your ability to change your face it makes difference irrelevant to you" I can understand her point most Time Lord just don't care about other races to a point we became nothing more than watchers, as for humans being similar to Daleks it's not exactly wrong hell even the Dalek emperor used humans to create more daleks.
"What does this device do, if it can affect Daleks?" She shakes her head, "That's the issue, it's not just Daleks, it affects anything that's not human, as for what the device does, it causes the cells of anything affected to decay at a rapid rate, for Daleks that's no different than death the moment they start to decay they lose the ability to think or even function, it usually teaks thousands of years for them to get to that point it's at that point they are put in the Daleks version of a sewer" realization dawns on me the one she fled from ted her to activate the device, since no is stupid enough to allow just anyone to use such a device.
"It's set that only the current generation can activate it right, the moment Alice was conceived, the device would no longer recognise her as its master" She nods at my words, it's at that moment I realise why the cyborgs said harvest instead of capture "The device takes the life force of the activator, doesn't it" there was a somber look on Anistasia's face, that's why she ran it means her death, who in their right mind makes such a device its literally a death sentence for all of its creators descendants.
I sigh as I realise that it's perfectly human. By this, I mean that the things a human will do out of fear could be seen as insane to anyone else but are ideally reasonable to any other human. At least, they are not like the Tivolian race, which embraced invaders.
Alice spent the next 20 minutes asking the questions she had, while I thought about our next course of action and listened to the answers Anistasia gave to Alice. Still, none of the answers told me exactly how Alice has Regeneration energy clinging to her; it can't be from her mother, as Alice had already asked that question, which led to the reply that she and her entire family are human and have always been.
I can only wait and see where this rabbit hole takes me. I hope it's not going to end badly, but there's always that nagging feeling I have had since we arrived here, telling me that it's going to be more than I expected.