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Chapter Two The revelation came down on him like an anvil. If only he could deny it. But deep within he knew - and the words spoken by the Figure simply confirmed the doubts that had been building since his first encounter with Count Orlock on Styria. ‘I suppose you know that on Styria Orlock attempted to convert me? To turn me into a vampire. He failed.’ He bellowed out a self-mocking laugh. ’I attributed it to me being a Time Lord. What arrogance! Orlock, on the other hand, was convinced that something had transpired since my infection. I brushed it aside, focusing on the problem at hand. I’m good at that you know.’ The Figure simply raised an eyebrow and let the Doctor continue. ‘In Paris, at the turn of the twentieth century, Alf herself began to show her doubts about my identity. She was not convinced that I was the Doctor. Again I swept it aside; thinking it was merely her adapting to a different incarnation from the one she had instincts about. But those doubts dug deep into me, reaching my own self-doubt. More recently a creature from the dawn of time, something Nick called the Hitchhiker, had an opportunity to look inside me. It showed me that there was a glitch in my genetic make-up. I thought it was due the alteration of the universe, so once again I brushed it aside and carried on.’ He did not remember moving, but the Doctor found himself resting on the far wall, his face buried in his hands. He looked up, the fear of uncertainty showing clearly in his eyes. ‘Tell me this is not true.’ The silence was answer enough. For a moment he remained where he was, hands resting against the wall, his back to the Figure. And then... A spark of hope ignited in the Doctor. ‘Ah, but,’ he said turning around and raising a finger, ‘I saw the clone die on Nova Mondas. You showed me, remember?’ The Figure shook his head. ‘Not so. I showed you the Doctor die on Nova Mondas. Think about it. Who was the final spy waiting to be activated by the Cybermen?’ The Doctor had to seriously think about it, because the information did not come to him readily. It was there, but just out of reach. He snapped his fingers. ‘Me!’ he said in triumph. ‘Yes, I remember. Theramin showed me that I had an implant in my brain. That was when I went and stole...’ He paused and smiled briefly. ‘I mean, when I borrowed the cloning tanks from the Qux.’ ‘And the Doctor made a clone.’ The Figure began walking towards him. The Doctor shook his head. ‘No no. I made the clone. I made it so that I could...’ He paused, not quite sure why he had made the clone. It had all seemed so clear at the time, but now the memory was fading. ‘So that I could...’ He tapped the side of his head. ‘The memory is in here somewhere... it has to be!’ ‘It’s not there is it?’ The Figure stopped a couple of inches before the Doctor-clone. ‘Think on this, then. If you sent a clone to Nova Mondas to help defeat the Cybermen do you think that the Cyber Controller would know?’ The Doctor wasn’t so sure. ‘He would know. And why? Because there is no chip in the clone’s head, only the Doctor’s.’ ‘Well, I could have removed the chip,’ the Doctor mumbled, grasping at straws. ‘No you couldn’t, and that’s the point. If the chip was removed the Doctor would have died, and that’s why he chose to create you. To carry on his legacy. If the Doctor had to die then he wanted to make sure it was for a good cause, and ridding the Federation of its greatest threat was that cause.’ The Figure reached out a hand and placed it on the big man’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, but the Doctor is dead.’ The Doctor-clone shrugged the Figure’s hand away. He stormed over to the door and pulled. With a creak of protest the door gave in and swung open. The clone glanced back. His face was alive with emotion, and none of it good. ‘I’m getting out of this madhouse, but I want to know just one thing. How do you know all this?’ The Figure folded his arms. This time his smile was welcoming and warm. ‘Because I transferred myself into an unused part of the Doctor’s brain on our second trip to Ossobos, and when he transferred his memories and identity to you, I went with them.’ He spread his arms out and bowed. ’I am the personification of your oldest companion,’ he looked back up with a wink, ’the TARDIS.’
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