The Story So Far Cataclysm Urban Decay So Long Legend Reality Bomb Once Upon A Memory Three Night Engagement '70s Cutaway The Millennium People I The Millennium People II Cutting The Threads The Convocation Nova Mondas Denouement I: Sacrifice Denouement II: Paradox Denouement III: Gift

The Millennium People - Part II by Andie J. P. Frankham In the inner sanctum of the Unknown Questions sat the Faceless One. Of all the god-like gestalt of the Forum the Faceless One was the most unknown quality. It was rumoured that even the Matriarch and her son (the one who liked to be called Forum Boss Type Person - no doubt for ego reasons) knew not which part of the gestalt the Faceless One was. All that was known was that he had no face (surprisingly) but big hands. Anyway, he sat in the inner sanctum, thinking. Thinking over politics, in fact. When the sanctuary of the inner sanctum was disturbed. The Faceless One looked up at the disturber. “Oh. It’s you.” It was one of the many nameless People. The Faceless One knew him, even though he had no name as yet. “I need to speak to you.” Faceless spread his arms. “Talk away.” “What shall the topic be?” “You came to me. You chose.” The People stood there, mulling it over. “Erm.” The two of them remained in their respective positions for a matter of hours, while the Faceless One awaited the topic from the People. Just as the Faceless One was about to return to his thoughtful thinking, the People opened his mouth to speak. “I need to ask you for some advice.” “Very well,” said the Faceless One, trying his best to not be annoyed at the second disturbance. “Ask a-” The Faceless One fell backwards, his body suddenly all tense. The People stamped his foot at the Faceless One. “This is unacceptable. I want your advice.” There was no response. “Hello! I am talking to you. I said I want your-” The Faceless One sat back up as quickly as he had fallen backwards. “Oh shut up. We have a big problem. Go and get the Boss.” The People just stood there, his face still in the peak of his tantrum. “Now!” snapped the Faceless One. With the trumpeting of a thousand elephants (?!) the TARDIS materialised on Forum. The door opened and a rather irate Brad stepped out. “Shit!” he complained, and looked down at his feet. He was standing in elephant poop. “Doc!” The Doctor stood in the doorway, wrapped in his big fur coat, hoping that Brad would move some time soon so that he could get through the small doorway. “Yes, Bradley. You called?” Brad nodded to the nearby animals. “Why are there elephants here? This isn’t Earth is it?” “No, Brad. Not this time. As to why, no idea. Having never been to Forum before I couldn’t tell you why they have thousands of elephants. Ah, maybe the elephants are the intelligent life on Forum?” Brad rolled his eyes. “Oh, you have got to be shitting me.” The Doctor looked down at Brad’s feet. “No. Not I, Brad.” Getting a bit restless in the doorway of the TARDIS, the Doctor forced Brad out of the way, making sure to side step the mess on the ground. “Come on, then, not every day you get sent on a mission by a god.” The Boss was sitting in his inflatable chair, talking to himself seemingly. Seemingly because there were two voices. One with an accent not easily placed, although there seemed to be a little bit of Welsh in there, and the other slightly more dignified, almost charming. Almost. Yes, the Boss and the Master (or Koschei as he liked to call himself now) were deep in conversation once again. “This is quite an odd feeling, Frankie. I can call you Frankie, can’t I?” “Call me what you like. As long as it is nice.” The two of them laughed. Together. At the same time. It was quite odd, too, the Boss had to admit. When the planar shift first happened the Boss had been quite annoyed by it, being joined to some lesser being. But now... He had kind of got used to it. Indeed it kind of felt like having an old relative over for tea. “I never considered it like that before,” said Koschei. “Well, it all comes down to perspective. The universe is not the friendliest place in existence. People make mistakes. Even your own people.” The Boss paused, trying to ignore the odd sensation he was feeling. “Can you feel that?” Koschei took advantage of the Boss’ god-like senses. “Yes, I can. What is it?” “That is one of the Forum trying to get in touch with me. Our joining must be effecting the gestalt.” As if to prove that, the door was flung open and a People entered. The Boss regarded the People with the tired look of someone who really has better things to do. “Yes?” The People looked down at the floor. “Um. The Faceless One needs to speak to you.” “Does he indeed? Well, that is why I have Moderators on Forum. Go and seek out one of them. I am busy.” The People looked around the room. “Busy? Erm, how?” “Never mind that. Go on, seek them out.” “That is...” “Unacceptable? Well, that’s too bad. Go on.” The Boss shooed the People away. Once the People had gone, he turned back to Koschei. As it were. “Where were we?” Koschei asked politely. The Master gagged and wiped his mouth. He regarded his hand carefully. Blood from his mouth. He sniffed it and snarled. The ghastly smell of Trakenite blood was unmistakable. Another reason to see the ultimate destruction of the Doctor. He doubled over and yelled out in pain. Never in all his lives had he felt such a pain. Even merging his Time Lord body with a Trakenite body was less painful. The Master looked up and pulled back in horror. Standing before him was a figure, almost like a mannequin. It stood there, dressed in a black dinner suit, all ghostly white with sharp teeth. The figure clapped its hands and pointed at the Master. “Tick,” said the Dommervoy. “Tock,” said Brad. The Doctor looked back at him. “Excuse me?” Brad looked confused. “I don’t know. Just came out of nowhere.” The Doctor didn’t look too convinced, so Brad changed the subject. “So, you want to tell me what this mission is yet?” “No, not yet, Brad.” The Doctor gave Brad a hearty slap on the back. “Almost there.” The Scholar stormed into the sanctum and looked at the Faceless One. The People came up behind him, followed shortly by the other Moderators. The Faceless One remained sitting, keeping his composure. “We have a problem.” The Bloke pushed his way through the two female Moderators, mumbling his apologies, and stood next to the Scholar. “What’s new?” He looked at the People. “You can sod off now.” “But, that is un...” The Bloke shook his head. The Goddess smiled softly and guided the People out of the sanctum. When they were gone the Bloke turned back to the Faceless One. “So, what’s new, your JPness?” The Faceless One pointed with his big hands. “They are.” The Moderators turned as one to the door of the sanctum. Two figures were standing there. One was a rather large human in a fur coat, and the other was a smaller man with dark hair. The big man smiled. “You must be the Forum?” The Scholar stepped forward. “That would be correct.” “Hang on, Doc, I thought this world is the Forum?” The Doctor looked down at Brad. “It is.” “Yes, it is, and so are we,” the Scholar added. “Welcome.” He gave Brad an odd look, then tuned back to the Doctor. “What are you doing here?” “I do not know. I was told by the White Guardian to come here.” The Moderators all nodded. “I see,” said the Goddess, from behind the Doctor. “In that case we have been expecting you. Would you care to come with us?” The Doctor stated that he would be quite pleased to do so. Both he and Brad made a move but the Goddess held up her hand. “Only the Doctor. Brad will stay with the Justice of the Peace.” “Who?” Brad asked. The Moderators parted and pointed to the Faceless One. Brad walked through them and smiled at the Faceless One. “Hi. Hey, you know what they say about big hands.” The Faceless One nodded. “Yes, I do. And not without reason.” The Doctor smiled and addressed the Moderators. “Right then, Brad seems like he will be quite happy here. What’s all this about?” The Scholar led the way out of the sanctum. “Come, and we will show you, Doctor.” The Boss slipped off his chair and fell unconscious. The Dommervoy approached the Master, in its eerie glidey way. The feet hovering over the ground. The Master snarled. “What are you?” “Tick,” said the Dommervoy, a sickening smile on its face. “Tock!” The Master stepped back, bearing his sharp canines for all to see. “Stay away from me! I created this reality. I am the Master! The Dommervoy did not halt its advance. “Tick, tock!” There was something deeply primeval about the white mannequin creature that caused the Master to feel the most basic sense of fear. There was nothing else he could do but turn and run. The hunter had become the hunted. The Doctor felt dizzy. Which was a good reaction all things considered, after all not everyone could claim to have four gods sending images into one’s head. He could see a short man and a teenage girl, and they were in a TARDIS console room. It looked a little like his, but a bit too advanced. It was that girl, Ace, the one from his future memories. Which meant that the man was... “This is you, Doctor. And your companion, Ace. They are hunting the Master.” Oh, so it was him. Whatever had happened to his TARDIS? And who was the Master? “You would know him as Koschei. An old friend of yours, Doctor.” Koschei. Why oh why would Koschei take a handle like 'the Master'? The Doctor had a feeling it was connected to that twisted future version of Koschei that he had witnessed in his future memories. Oh, wait, another image. What’s this then? A bearded man, sharp teeth, yellow eyes. Attacking some soldiers. And there on the ground... a man with white hair? Who was that? “That is also you, Doctor. In your third incarnation. One that lasted less than a day.” Blimey. That was not long. Even for him. “No, and there lies the problem. And why the White Guardian sent you to us. We are the Gods of this reality, Doctor. We are the Time Lords of this reality. Called into existence by the planar shift created by the Master. As time drifts backwards so the Time Lords as you know them are wiped out of existence.” And this was because of the Master? I mean, Koschei. “No, Doctor. The Koschei you know still exists in this universe. He has not been totally perverted by the dark path. Almost, but we are preventing that even as we communicate here. No, the Master is so far removed from Koschei. He has been through all his regenerations, stolen other lives, too.” In his own subconscious mind the Doctor nodded his subconscious head. Answers at last. So, what happened? It was not only the Doctor who was learning a few facts about his own life. Brad, too, was involved in a bizarre version of This Was You Life. Brad just stared at the Faceless One for a few moments, his body feeling very limp and useless. “Dead?” This particular bit of information was a little hard to digest. But then it would be, wouldn’t it? Being told that you are supposed to be dead. “That’s bullshit! Look, I am here now. So I am obviously not dead.” The Faceless One remained sitting but motioned Brad over with his big hands. Brad refused to move. “Brad, you were supposed to have died when you car crashed. You were never meant to meet the Doctor, either.” “So these past eight months have been one long lie?” “Yes, if you want to put it that way.” “Crap!” Brad yelled. “I’m sorry, but no. These past eight months have been tough, but they have been real.” The Faceless One shook his head. “Actually, no, they haven’t.” He motioned for Brad again. “Come here, and I will show you.” Brad took a deep breath. Well, in a way this made sense of the things he and the Doctor had been experiencing for the last few months. Okay, I’ll bite, he decided, and walked over to the Faceless One. The Master bumped into the tool shed and hit the ground with a rough slam! He looked up. That figure was coming closer. The closer it got, the more the Master was feeling the pain inside. He struggled to his feet and ran past the shed. There, in front of him, was a building. He ran straight into it and came to a stop. Lying on the floor before him was body he knew. Or not. The pain began to grow and the Master gripped his stomach. “Argh!” The door flew open behind him and the Dommervoy glided into the room. The Master turned to face the creature. “Leave! I am the Master of this reality, and I command you to leave!” “I hate to be contrary, but you’re not.” The Master span around. The previously unconscious man was awake. Now he came to think of it, the Master didn’t know the body so much as the essence within it. “Who are you?” Everything seemed to come to a stop within the room. The Dommervoy stood at the doorway, silently clapping its hands. “Tick tock,” it whispered, and glanced over the Master’s shoulder. “You did indeed create this reality, but you are not the master of it. No one is. It is like a child let loose in a toyshop. A child with no discipline at all. Destroying everything in its path.” The man smiled. “Incidentally, I do believe Koschei wants a word.” The Master snarled. “Koschei! That name means nothing to me now!” “You are my future?” came another voice from the man. The man shook his head. “No, he is what you would have become, had he not altered the reality of the universe that created the planar shift.” A screeching came from behind the Master, but before he could turn to see what it was, the Dommervoy was on him. The Master’s body warped under the pressure of the Dommervoy, as it fed on the temporal paradox that was he... “Oh dear.” The images stopped and the Doctor blinked. He was back in the garden with the Moderators. They all looked quite disturbed by something. “What is it?” The Scholar stepped towards the Doctor, while the Goddess went off in the opposite direction. “How do I put this? The Master is dead.” “Ah. And that is a problem?” The Scholar nodded. “Very. We were going to direct you to him, so that you could restore reality and continue on the path you were supposed to continue on.” He looked back at the two other Moderators. They nodded. “But, now we cannot do that, Doctor.” “You mean this false universe will continue on? Destroying every last bit of the real universe? Thereby making this the real universe.” “Yes, Doctor. That is it exactly.” The Goddess returned and took over from the Scholar. “There is another way.” “Oh dear.” Brad opened his eyes. The Faceless One still had one of his big hands around Brad’s head, but the tone of his voice did not encourage Brad one bit. “What is it?” Brad asked in a whisper. The Faceless One removed his hand, and turned away. “Your future is very dark indeed, Brad. You are beyond help.” Brad shook his head. “Excuse me? I am supposed to be dead, and now my future is very dark?” He stood up. “I don’t get it.” For the first time in forever, the Faceless One stood up and walked away. “You will, Brad. You will.” He faded away into the shadows. Once again Brad was left all alone. The Boss looked down at the intistitial vortex left over from the Master’s remains. The Dommervoy had gone, but the Boss knew it would be. There was no way it could exist for long on Forum. No more than matter could exist with anti-matter. “Time to set you free, Koschei. Go and live your life to its fullest. And don’t let it become what you saw just now.” “I won’t...” The Boss knelt down and placed his hand into the vortex. The vortex bubbled around his hand, and the essence that was Koschei melted into the vortex. “Farewell.” The Boss waited for the vortex to fade from existance. "Make your future what you will," he whispered to the now departed Koschei. Sometime later the Moderators escorted the Doctor to the TARDIS. They found Brad waiting there. The Doctor did not fail to notice Brad’s dark look. The young man was obviously very distracted by something nasty. Looks like he could do with some good news, then, the Doctor thought with a smile. “Bradley, you will be glad to know that I have discovered why we exist. And I know how to solve it.” He brandished the black rod he was holding. “The Millennium People have given me this tracker. It will track down the paradoxes, until we find the key one that will restore everything.” Brad nodded. “Nice. Mind if I just go inside now?” The Doctor frowned. “Um. Sure.” He opened the door and Brad entered the TARDIS. The Doctor watched the open door for a while then turned to the Moderators. “Gonna wish me luck?” The Bloke stepped forward. “Why bother, Doctor? Luck is not what you need. But we will be watching, and will do what we can to guide you.” The Doctor nodded. “Sounds good to me.” He looked around. “Well, um... goodbye, then.” The Moderators waited until the TARDIS was gone and then looked at each other. “What do you mean the Faceless One has gone missing?” they asked out loud.