genessia | Backdated!!!! Pre-Ice -> 28th / Video & Action

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Backdated!!!! Pre-Ice -> 28th / Video & Action

[A is for Audio-Visual: Aka: VIDEO!]

Nothing is better than combining adventurous locations with great food, right? Yeah! Which is why we're going to open a food stall for every single subgate through the gates themselves. Apply now at Torchwood for great opportunities! [Poses, making a W with both thumbs and pointers. Because she never did get the hang of her father's slogan and thumbs up wink gun, and anyway, that's his, so she should make her own.] Likewise, we're still hiring for non-human foods! Don't forget, living should be fun! Why just survive, when you can THRIVE?

Completely unrelated, [NO IT IS NOT. NOT EVEN A LITTLE!!!!] does anyone have more open source data on the pendants we all have and their reality orientation properties? Funny thing... my lead scientist on that was close to a breakthrough and [Snaps fingers.] Poof. [SAD SMILE.] I'm sure it's a coincidence.

[B is for Banal:]

[She's doing her best around Torchwood, trying to hide how frustrated she is internally. She knows Fluffy knows. She knows Fluffy is trying to be like her, hiding his exhaustive pain, and only giving her the tidbits she can handle piece by piece, but she, more than ever, misses her parents. And how pathetic is that? Okay, she's gotten USED to missing Pete, here. Which is itself, kind of weird to think about, because initially she'd run away without intending to ever see him ever again. EVER. And now... she would? So what was the big deal? But he wasn't here. And she needed his advice and direction and help here. And her Mum! She could ABSOLUTELY live without seeing her Mum ever again, and she'd told the Doctor so multiple times, even if he always sent Rose back to Jackie for both of their sakes, but it just... weighs on Rose. Reminds her of things she wishes she could say, but when she tries to write them into songs or even just messages in a bottle never sent; nothing happens. It wasn't like her phone reached her Mum in 1/2 of the alternate dimensions via dimension cannon either. Only if Torchwood was beyond fully functional, or the holes were wide. But then, Rose had been on a MISSION. And here... now? What mission did she have now? Keep Fluffy company? Give HIM purpose? What about her? Why had she made Torchwood anyway? It wasn't just for Jack. And it certainly wasn't just for the female Doctor she wasn't even fully sure would exist but...]

[She's quiet around the office for a month. Holding it together... but barely.]

[Making cutbacks on plans. Oh sure, Fluffy and Bowtie and Norm were still the Doctor, so it wasn't like 90% had to be scrapped or anything, but without the female Doctor, all the tinkering was just left there. Rose couldn't even touch it. She certainly couldn't reallocate it or rent it out. Maybe she'd come up with something eventually.]

[The Haunted House gets all forest themed and leprechauns and Bride of Chucky style for Spring at least. For some reason, the horror is cathartic.]

[Between Valentine's Day and March 27th Jack's re-arrival, she can be found not exactly meeting her OWN standards and motto. She's not thriving. She's existing. She hasn't faded to a ghost, but she's vaguely sure she's stone's skip from letting her team down. She's not exactly carrying them, and when Jack, Martha, and the future female Doctor go, she even put in emergency hiatus with the games club for a month. She couldn't fake her head would be in it, much less her heart.]

[C is for Chamomile:]

[The 28th sees a bit of a different Rose, hungover, sure, but back to business with a little more intensity. Maybe Jack wasn't going to re-join TW, but how could she DARE let him down?! He NEVER let her down! Not even once! Not even when she ~~spoilers redacted hidden from all Bad Wolf was here~~! So of course she wouldn't let him down now! No way!!]

[But saying and believing were still different than following through with action not words. And Rose is wearing a pair of Sonic Sunglasses, and only drinking chamomile tea to soothe her stomach and make sure she doesn't throw up. Sometimes it's not easy being the young normie in a group of ancient immortals, but still trying to be the ADC.]

Knock it off!

[She accidentally snaps in public a little at the Haunted Eatings while waiting for Vaggie.]

[Ugh. Embarrassing. She hopes no one saw that.]

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[Vaggie could almost feel her hair billow in the sound wave that came out the door as she entered. Her face scrunched in confusion and bewilderment. Did the young, flighty girl that she saw yesterday actually have a serious, managerial side? Perhaps she judged her too quickly...]

[As she entered, Vaggie clutched tightly around a red leather book with an emblazoned red skull. She wanted to make full use of any information she was here to get and was not about to let an experience go to waste. As she surveyed the area, the demon lady was quick to find her -- the sunglasses was a dead giveaway. Or, was she doing that to make herself easier to spot?]

I see you are ready for business. That's good. Though... aren't those shades are a little conspicuous?

Edited 2019-03-31 04:21 (UTC)

Nah! [Grins and takes them off to show, turning them around so Vaggie can see the inside.] In my Dad's Universe, they have a brand of sunglasses that are almost like James Bond spygear, but public. I think in the Doctor's Universe it's... Apple??? Google? I-Wear? No wait. Apple watch and Google glasses, right? [Bites her bottom lip, snorts, and shrugs, putting them back on.] In my Dad's world, it's cyberglasses. [Waggles fingers.]

Either way, the Doctor made his own version of sonic sunglasses, that can access any network or internet system. [Another grin.] You should'a seen 'im back in December though. Norm rigged 'em to play Christmas songs, and Guitarist had no idea why they were acting so weird, and the more he tried to fix them, the more Norm was playing with them in the corner. And Norm being the youngest, Guitarist never suspected a thing.

[Sips her tea and holds up a finger, all serious again.] Right. I should start off with explaining, the Doctor is four different people here. One person, one gradual memory, one history outside of here. Actually it was 5 people until the same time Jack disappeared, but --

[Rubs her temples wearily. She misses Martha too. BLARGH.]

[Where was she?] It's part of his species. Like I said, he's not human. The oldest version of him is the one that left recently. She was working the hardest on the barriers and now--

[Sighs, and rolls her shoulders wearily, back to rubbing a temple.] Well, I've been trying to go over what she left me and her past selves, but the Doctor isn't really good at note-keeping.

So right now, I'm a little more keenly aware of what I don't know. But I'll try to do what I can. But the way he's able to be here isn't just bodies, because I know people who transform or gradually change their bodies aren't here in multiple forms. It's something to do with reality and the pendants, but also specifically time.

[Snorts quietly, and shakes her head. WHAT ABOUT TIME? She had no idea. Uai and Mirajane helped her piece out dimensions and magic and yet... Like Rose said, she knew more of what she didn't know!]

So it's important to know in talking to me, the Four Doctors here, and the one who left. Fluffy is the one who licks things. Well, they all do a little, but Fluffy started it, and the others don't admit to it unless they're stuck on information about substances. Bowtie is pretty chill, a little spastic, but for the Doctor, that's chill. Guitarist is old looking, grumpy, has angry eyebrows, and doesn't work with us often, but he's the Professor I assist at the Uni. Norm is [Ticks off fingers...] Several versions rewound younger than Fluffy. Otherwise it goes Fluffy-Bowtie-Guitarist, and then after Guitarist is the lady Doctor who recently left. Well, a month ago.

Oh, and if physics and time and dimension travel is your jam, that's what Guitarist teaches. He's also a rockstar and does concerts, hence the nickname. He keeps busy without the tinkering, but he did manage to set a pocket void on fire. Which I still haven't figured out how he did! He fried his brains in the efforts, and his wife -- also not here anymore -- had to carry him out.

[Stifles a yawn with a fist.] And I'm serious about that job offer. [Peers over the sunglasses, before pushing them back up.] Half of my team is gone. Mostly the ones who were working on sneaking out past the barriers. All experts in time, dimension, and universal travel and theories in their own right. [Headshake.] That doesn't scare me off from it though. Quite the opposite. It makes me more determined than ever.

((congrats! Rose gets a new icon x3))

[Oh holy hell that was a lot of information. Rose is practically halfway through talking about the doctors that she finally realizes that the conversation had started and she was so NOT ready for it. With a quick slap of the notebook she began writing as fast and furiously as she can. Part-way through she was about to give up with a very frustrated "WHAT AM I LISTENING TO???" when things were starting to gel together.]

[Maybe...]

[In a panic, almost exasperated flurry Vaggie raised both her hands in a desperate attempt to get her to just STOP for a moment. Her eye then returned to the diagram which just shows "1 → 2 → 3 → 4"]

...okay first. You talk too fast and dump way too much info all at once. Can you just... slow down just a little and check in to see if I'm following along? That's pretty basic and I want to make sure I understand and not just get talked at.

[Her gaze returns to the book and she was reminded of what she wanted to say.]

So, let's put that method into practice. You're from the future-past-something, and you travel around with a non-human person that... changes their shape and sex over time. And somehow each of these different... uh... versions of the same... person... all gathered here in the same spot across time and space and they're all interacting with one another freely. And there are four of them.

Am I following all this so far?

Oh, and don't forget. Check to see if I'm following you, please.

Good job!

[Thumbs up!]

[A pause... and Rose laughs.] Yeaaaaaaah. My sister... Mirajane. Not blood sister, but [Flips over her right hand to show off the pink fairy tale guild mark] sister all the same, she is so much better at explaining things.

In -- everywhere but here I had to keep all this stuff top secret. So.

I kind of made the accountant shudder with how I keep everything in my head. Oops.

[Tea sip.] Martha said the same thing as you though. I think Trunks and Jack said I should-- [Handwave.] Don't take notes on that, it's not important.

Anyway.

It IS important to know that about the Doctor, because he's bound specifically to his Universe. He couldn't come to Pete's Universe -- my Dad's. And other immortals like angels, arch-angels, demons, youkai, the devil, can have different versions of them in different universes, following so far?

Every parallel universe is created by choices. But choices of mortals. However, the Doctor's species is only in his universe. I haven't yet seen multiple versions from different universes of the same person be here. [Holds her fingers up all parallel like.] It might be possible. But so far it's just been the Doctor. All from his universe. [One hand, five branches of the fingers she traces as a visual.] And not even Meta -- who is his half-human clone, my boyfriend. Long story.

I can go into that more later ask me about clump theory or the Meta-Doctor to remind me.

But first, let's start with, what's your name, what do you want to eat or drink, and what did you do before here?

Yeah, sorry that I can’t help you out at Torchwood. My priorities are a bit... different now.

... Any good date spots beyond those archways?

[She takes notes, small ones, and despite what Rose says she's not really going to pay much mind of what Rose thinks she "should" or "shouldn't" jot down.]

[Sh stops at the question and gives a small smirk.] Three questions. You've been counting then? [She had wondered if she was going to get away with those first two, but seeing as the game is up there was no reason to be coy.]

[She set her pen down against the table.]

Vaggie. Something light. Sausage, a biscuit, and fruit, maybe, and some hard coffee. As for the food while I'm not picky, I'd prefer it if it was meant for humans.

[Her eye droops a little at the last question.] You can ask about my past, but its not exactly something I enjoy talking about. I will honor the deal though.

[...but reserves the right to have her ask something else if it was something she would not answer.] I was going to be a hotel manager. My girl friend had this big idea go give people a place to go to... improve themselves. Stop their vices. Get happy, that sort of thing. She dreams big but needs someone to help her with the every day things.

And I've balanced budgets before. I know how things go stay in the black. And I know that it was important to her. So I said sure. That's why...

[Her eye closes. No. That's enough for the question.] ...I think I answered that question fully. [She'd ask more, but her worry is now at a friend in a far off place and the fear that she's swamped with trying to figure out things on her own.]

[Hang in there, Charlie...]

Different?

Yes! Actually, I have a list! Though I haven't explored them all personally yet. And the man I sent on a mission had never really dated much. I think that kind of adds to the list's charm.

And it was mostly so I could figure out where to drag the Doctor because letting him pick is pure disaster, every time.

Every time! [Growl!]

When are you taking A-- her? Is it official yet?

Rose is doing her best to seem as grumpy as possible. Which isn't hard. And probably all real too. And she's wearing the cyberglasses, with a few Doctor sonic tweaks, not just for professional reasons, if the way she flinches and half snarls at any cars and loud sounds is a good indication.

At least she seems mollified about the birds. The day Rose Tyler starts snapping at birds, there's a problem.

[Rose's eyes straight up sparkle at that answer, and she's glad she's wearing the sunglasses.] Yeah?

Sounds brilliant!

[A happy hum.] I wanted to do a sort of robot and high tech luxury spa... but -- [Headshake.] Can't yet. Too many people left. One of my friends, L3, was a droid who loved oil baths, I mean, who doesn't, yeah? But she left, and I think my -- the Doctor's ship, it's sentient, misses her too. And without her to really steer it, it's a lot of capital, and little reward.

[Sighs, drinks the tea, and places the order.] Okay! Fire away. Your turn again, Vaggie.

A grumpy Rose still has absolutely nothing on Trunks's father. Granted, his time spent over the course of his life with Vegeta had been limited, but it had been...instructive. Especially that year in his early twenties in the Room of Space and Time. Not to mention, Bulma had a distinctive personality herself, and could be equally as moody and grumpy.

Which meant Trunks, once he senses Rose approaching, has turned to watch her heading towards him and their usual spot. Crossing his arms, more resigned, and his expression neutral and blank. Time to play the waiting game...

[Right. Questions. She looks down on her lust and decides to go through them in sequence.]

What is everything you can tell me about Torchwood? What’s is it’s gosls right now? [Her hand reached for her pen. She’ll be ready this time, dammit.]

[Argh complicated question. Rose rubs her earlobe with a thumb in thought. Deep breath.]

Which Torchwood? This one here? Everglade's? Attleton? My father's Universe, Jack's? What time period?

Tsuuuuuuuuuun....

Nah, that lasts like 2 second until Rose hugs him and whines. "Jack's back!!" A wince. "Ow, I hurt my own ears..." she went to cover them. "I'm supposed to be all strong for him today, but mostly I just want to go back to the Professor's dark office and stay there, and finish off any other bottles he's got. 'Cept apparently he doesn't drink real alcohol. Just ginger beer." Huff puff. Pout. "Morning!" Beam!

The whine just brings a chuckle, with a hint of smile. Another heartbeat, and the hug had him curling his arms around her as well. "I'm glad for you, Rose." Lowering his voice a bit, tilting his head, and studying her. "You know I can still smell the alcohol on your breath too, right?"

Which meant she'd been drinking, somewhere; if not at the Professor's office though, then where?

A sheepish laugh and a full on giggle, as her hand went to her mouth. She had brushed her teeth-- twice of course!! But still. Saiyans and superhumans which meant --

Both hands went to her hair, all frazzled. She couldn't remember if she had told Mirajane, but since Trunks explained ki...

"No good, no good," she growled in frustration. "The Doctor's psychic, and even if he doesn't spy on me, I can't hide anything from him well, and Jack taught me all I know about it..." She paced about, took a deep breath, and flomped to the ground.

"Que sera sera. I still want to crawl back to the professors office and shut out the suuuun. He burned one up for me, just to say goodbye, did I ever tell you that?" She propped herself up on elbows, glancing over at him.

Trunks let out a snort, arms crossed again and leaning slightly, one hip-cocked, as he observed her. Letting her ramble, and flomp, and waiting to be sure she had finished.

"I'm not letting you crawl back to the office, and I can't shut off the sun, but I can probably help in other ways." With a wry smile, amused and sympathetic to a degree. "Pretty sure you're going to be useless for today otherwise."

"Kaaaay!" She grinned, still whining, and laughed softly. "You're a good big brother." And then a quiet snort at herself. "Ugh, I don't want to go to my office. I still haven't touched female Doctor's lab, except to archive some of it..." whine whine whine. "Come on," she bounded along like a happy puppy -- albeit still whiny! -- behind Trunks. "At least tell me Capsule Corp' s doing well. Otherwise, at this rate, we'll have to pool our remaining scientists!" Whiiiiine.

[The pen scribbling stops and she looks, partially disappointed. She was ready, damnit!!]

Let's start broadly and narrow its focus. You said that it started as a way to capture you and your friend, and then it changed its identity, and now its here. Since all I know about you is that you travel in time and have a freaky friend, that's not a whole lot to go off of.

What makes you so special? And what does that have to do with anybody in ghostville and the town of make-believe?

Edited 2019-03-31 15:45 (UTC)

[Siiiiiiiiigh.]

[That's one hell of a question.]

[Rose squints at the journal.]

How many pages you got in that thing?

All right. Hold your hand up to stop me and ask questions as needed. And that... going slow thing, you said. I'll try.

Torchwood was founded by Queen Victoria in the Doctor's Universe because the Doctor and I rescued her from a werewolf. No, really. She knighted us, and exiled us. Because the Doctor and I really enjoy this kind of thing. [Gestures to the walls.] Hence him always trying to convince me to get lickable wallpaper. This is Fluffy, mind. The first Doctor Jack and I traveled with isn't here. Fluffy was his.... regeneration.

[Stirs her fresh cup of tea with a grimace. It's hard to talk about since she's still piecing a lot of it out from Jack.] Jack met the Queen when he was trying to find me and the Doctor, and she pressed him into working for Torchwood.

Here... I'd first made him a promise. [Puts the sunglasses up on her forehead for a bit, so Vaggie can see how genuine she is in that.] That our Torchwood here would be something he and my father, and even the Doctor, would be proud of.

[Sunglasses back down and she holds up a finger.] Torchwood 1 in London is the reason I got trapped in another Universe, and in the Doctor's Universe, they were created to protect England's best interests against aliens, like the Doctor. They often cannibalize technology from aliens, and use it to defend the planet. The Doctor hates that, because, well, he does his best to defend Earth peacefully, but in all honesty, he's not nearly as good at it as he thinks. [A pained grimace, and flicking the sunglasses down a little with a pointed finger.] Don't address that with any of him if you don't want him to hate you. If you do befriend Jack, you can talk with him about it gradually, yeah?

[Sunglasses back up, and she leans back, sipping her tea.]

In the Doctor's Universe, my father d-died... Um. [Handwave.] He was hit by a car. Freak accident, but I tried to change that and almost destroyed the universe with a paradox, until my father figured it out and saved us by sacrificing himself again. That's the kind of man he is, yeah? [Soft sad smile and she shakes her head.] In the one we call HIS Universe, he's alive, and famous.

[Runs her fingers through her hair. It's complicated to explain THAT PART ALONE much less the Torchwood aspects of it.] He started off in both universes selling these vitamin pop drinks, called Vitex. [Gestures to a menu listing all the Vitex flavors.] Used those profits to fund his inventions. He's right brilliant at inventions, yeah? [Tugs an earlobe with a grunt. She'd switched from her golden chav hoops to the diamond studs this morning, purely as a throwback to Pete, trying to think what he and her Mum would tell her, advise, and so on.]

Okay. Every universe is made by mortal's choices, yeah? From what I can tell, not immortals, and that includes the Doctor's species, though again, his is locked to just his universe. [Rubs her forehead in thought.] The existence of one person can change everything. In Pete's Universe, I was never born, because Jackie, my Mum, didn't want kids in that one. And neither did the Doctor exist, because he doesn't exist out of his -- excepting special unique circumstances. Pocket universes, and places in the void, like this. [Nod.] So Queen Victoria died to the werewolf in Pete's universe.

[Holds her fingers up an inch apart.] A small thing, right? HUGE changes. She was responsible for trying to get Britain to push harder on air travel, didja know? And that caused the Americans to create airplanes, and the competition caused the Hindenburgh in a rush against flight travel. Little things. [Fingers an inch apart again.] HUGE consequences. In Dad's Universe, without Queen Victoria, Britain got a President, copying America. No more monarchy. The President of Britain focused on safe and slow air travel, so there's zeppelins everywhere. The Wright brothers in America never got military funding before World War One to try to race against Britain, so airplanes never really took off except for stunt shows. The zeppelins everywhere bein' the preferred mode of travel led to things like... Pop culture is all diff'rent, even when it's nearly the same. 99 Zeppelins is the hit song of the band Stairway to Heaven. Mad, yeah?

[Headshake.] So Pete, Peter Tyler, rich, famous, the President of Britain goes to his wife's birthday party, his company was under another company, cybus industries.

[Handwave.] I'm not gonna explain about cyberman and daleks in this, because that's such a headache. Long story short, the company Dad worked with was Lumic industries under the collective heading of Cybus. I promise this all comes back to Torchwood. Lumic wanted to create super soldiers, undead robots -- the cybermen. The Doctor and I stopped them, Pete was leaking info to try to stop Lumic, even though he still managed to kill the President and Jackie Tyler of that world.

So this is where Torchwood there comes in.

See the werewolf that killed Queen Victoria wasn't free itself. It was a slave raised by a creepy cult, and they would kidnap young boys and pass the infection down child to child. They were hoping to infect the queen, not kill her. So either Queen Victoria killed the werewolf herself, or the cult killed the werewolf in punishment for failing to infect. Torchwood in the Doctor's Universe was founded by the queen to protect against aliens including the Doctor, but Torchwood in my Dad's universe was created to help protect aliens from humans too. Because sometimes they need it. Humans can be messed up, yeah?

So the cyberman in my Dad's universe were created by Lumic. But we stopped them, and then had to come back to the Doctor's Universe, because he can't really BE outside of it. At least not happily and well. He goes mad here. Anyway. Pete took over Torchwood to help deal with the cybermen, because Lumic himself was converted into one and Pete was the only person with any access to all that stuff, and he had yanno, good motivation, with how they killed Jackie.

[Holds up 3 fingers and takes a sip of the tea.] 3 years later, his universe's time -- it flows differently between universes, don't forget, so it was only about half a year for me and the Doctor. Torchwood London in the Doctor's Universe was pulling over things outside of the dimension.

[Headshake.] That's bloody insane. I don't know if they realized it, didn't care, or were duped, but by the time the Doctor and I tried to stop them, we were almost too late. [Her lips tighten darkly, and she drinks more tea with a sigh.] The battle of Canary wharf brought over the remaining cyberman that hadn't been completely shut down from Dad's universe, and a -- [Ugh.] Dalek cult, they were traveling the void and trying to figure out how to revive the dalek species.

[Rubs her temples.] Like I said. You wanna ask about that, it'll cost you and there's a lot I won't say.

Anyway, Pete's clever as the dickens though, so he invented his OWN dimension travel called hoppers, and came over to the Doctor's Universe, following the cybermen with his universe's Torchwood. The Doctor had a plan to save the Earth from the fighting, I mean... daleks... [Gulp.] It'd only take one to endanger the whole planet nearly. [Headshake.] He was going to send both the daleks and cybermen into the void. But there was a catch. Everyone else who'd travel through the void had to be in Pete's Universe to be safe. I refused to go. He also sent my Mum because... [GRINS!] Well, she and Pete are pretty kismet, yeah? [Headshake.] But ah... I kept coming back. And I told them all, they couldn't make me stay, no matter how many times they tried.

He did let me fight with him, stay by his side eventually, but it wasn't enough. I nearly fell in, but at the last second Pete caught me, and I was trapped in his Universe, the plan to get rid of the daleks and cyberman meant sealing up the universes.

So that's how I came to be living in Pete's Universe. [It doesn't explain the bits about Jack, not even CLOSE. It's a LONG story.]

[She fidgets with her tea mug.] Mum and Pete got together pretty much immediately. Like they'd never even been apart, much less grown up in separate universes. Mum even got pregnant with the baby brother I'd been asking for since I was six. Annnnnnnd I didn't care. I had one goal. One mission. [Finger raised.] Get back to the Doctor.

I didn't even know that Jack -- was not doing what he wanted. [Squints. It's hard to explain and she doesn't know yet what he wants to reveal to whom. A slow headshake.]

I thought, for sure, the Doctor would find a way to come get me, but he couldn't. All he could do was burn up a sun to say goodbye, so I wouldn't be left wondering. But it didn't matter, I was determined to find a way back no matter what. And I did. I fought through my own private hell, pretty sure the Devil havin' his last laugh on me for that. [Snort.] But I made it back to him.

[Doodles a finger on the table. CLEARLY THE STORY DOESN'T END THERE, since she mentioned Meta before and Jack and other things... how to explain without REALLY explaining the worst emotional meat of it that made Mirajane nearly despise the Doctor and constantly say Rose and Jack should be together and the Doctor wasn't good enough for either of them? Hahhhhh...]

Thanks to Torchwood though. My father's inventions, his connections, his trust in me, yeah? I didn't even finish my A-Levels in my Universe. I ran off with an idiot, because all I ever really wanted in life was to travel with-- with... someone I loved, yeah? [Eyeroll at herself, and snorts into her tea.] But pretty much everyone agreed my hands on experience made up for it.

[Taps a finger into the table.] Torchwood in all universes has the purpose of using science to advance the progress of mankind. [Waggles fingers and laughs.] Which is a nice and fancy way of saying they do whatever they want. [More laughs and shakes her head.] They explored Krop Tor, an impossible planet falling into a black hole in the Doctor's Universe. That's where I met the devil and shot him into the Black hole. But they're not always... good. Especially in the Doctor's Universe. I didn't know how bad it was until Jack, the previous Jack, told me a lot. And... the worst I know... he hid from me. Because that's me and Jack. Even when we tell each other things we don't tell anyone else we still... [Shrugs and sighs.]

In between universes I could see Jack and his Torchwood. And I was so happy! He was such a hero! He did everything I ever hoped he could. [Headshake.] He wasn't like that when I first met him. But he said... me and the Doctor made him a better man. Ahhhhh that's so embarrassing to say out loud! [Laughs and shakes her head.] But I didn't know he wasn't in charge. That's... how he and the Doctor are. They always act so strong and immortal, like nothing fazes them, so that everyone can lean on and depend on 'em, but inside... [Soft fond grin. And another headshake.]

I found Jack again too, but the daleks were back, and the whole of reality was at risk. So I couldn't exactly hug him and catch up and be like "Hey in all these timelines that collapsed because they were unsustainable you were a hero and I was so proud of you!" yeah? At least until here.

The Doctor sent me back to Pete's Universe. You'd think after all that I did to find him again I'd be pretty mad. And I was. You wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near me the first year I was here. [Points to the emotional flavorings like sauce listings.] If I'd known more about emotion capturing then, I could have funded an infinite supply of pure rage. But I was more frustrated because... Jack. I didn't get to tell him anything. I didn't know I'd never see him again. At least... not that version. So I promised him, we'd make a different kind of Torchwood here. Something good. The kind of thing he always wished it could be.

But it's not just about Jack. [Stern! Because it's important, and her hand goes to one of the diamond studs in thought.]

I was more than a bit guilty about Pete. He trusted me and I used that to run away, even though he did nothing but try to make an entire Universe home for me. And it was all me, o' course. I only wanted my home to be the Doctor's ship, and nothing and no one could stop me.

So here, Torchwood is still Torchwood. Asking what we specialize in... [Wavers hand, and gestures to the foods and gestures her thumb next door to where the Haunted House is.] First year we were here we released a Christmas music album. The reason I latched onto the Haunted House is, because -- well no, two-fold. Firstly, the Everglade barrier sustains itself on fear. Secondly, some people also... eat it. [Gestures back to the emotional flavorings.] Top seller. Though I think both Koishi and another top-secret person said it's more flavoring than really nutritional value. Honestly, I haven't a clue.

The science is all outta my league. I usually feel like a monkey trying to bang my way into making spaceships operate. The Doctor would say that's exactly what I am. [Cheeky grin.] But the blood and flavorings and meat -- all that came up the first Halloween here. I got turned into a gargoyle again, it happened once before in San Francisco, except there I didn't go all the way, the Doctor and Jack stopped it with me before it got that far, but a lot of people were vampires and didn't know how to handle it. The Doctor promised to turn me back no matter what, but he also worked on making flavored plasma for people who were just really new to the blood thing and really squeamish, and really really didn't want to eat humans.

And I said... why don't we do that all the time? Lots of vampires here don't like to hunt either, and having the blood bank doesn't work for all of them because it's donated and filtered and refrigerated and tastes awful.

[Rubs the back of her neck and glances sideways.] It sounds... really daft to say but... the Torchwood motto here is don't just survive, when you can thrive. It basically means, enjoying life, not just feeling trapped and bored and like you're stuck living because you don't have a choice in it.

[Sips her tea, looking into it, grateful for the sunglasses. She REALLY WILL NOT explain that she basically cursed Jack and the Doctor into immortality, and they weren't exactly terribly grateful for that. Understandably.]

So one of the other things we have is a line of blood wines. [Laughs and shakes her head.] 'onestly. Of all the people who stayed with no problem, of course it'd be Nikola. [Eyeroll.]

[And waves a hand, realizing an explanation is in order.] Ah, like I said, the oldest Doctor went back, so did Doc Brown, and Doctor Martha Jones. And L3. [Sighs and snorts.]

Anyway.

So I got Fluffy started on edibles, but mostly what we make is technology to heighten or better quality of life. Like I said, ostensibly, whatever the universe, Torchwood's goal is to use science to further advance humanity. -- Oh! That's the other reason Queen Victoria didn't trust me, Jack, and the Doctor. Because we wouldn't share advanced tech, because well... duh. Talk about Paradox City, yeah? But Torchwood tried to defend Earth, and other civilizations, and explore, everywhere, and like I said, increase quality of life. And in Pete's Universe, there was a lot of integrating hiding aliens who needed refugee and making it so that they could use Earth. In the Doctor's Universe, he just kind of... would do whatever he wanted on that, and...

[Pokes fingers together.] It's not something he and I talk about much, especially not him and Jack because... we don't... see eye to eye on it. Exactly. Not that I disagree with anything he's done. Except one thing, which he's gotten more than an earful on --

Ahh, I'm getting offtrack.

I was trying to help sort out the werewolf and vampire turf wars here. Um. My Torchwood name is Bad Wolf. And I have experience with werewolves, and usually they tend to see me as close to one of them. Although that makes me... not get along with vampires. [Eye roll.] Although still better than the Doctor, but don't ask.

This is a neutral all parties allowed space, and I'm proud to say, we haven't had any problems. I can't say that about the Haunted House, I think it's similar to-- asking vampires to donate fear is like asking them to donate blood. It's not good for them. I think.

Anyway, that's why Everglade.

It's more familiar for Torchwood employees. You'd think Nova would be, but nah. Besides, we're pretty redundant in Nova. Unless we did that luxury spa that services robots too. That'd be boss. [Shrug.]

Besides, I'm the only relatively "normal" one. [Finger quotes.] And that's ignoring the Bad Wolf and my experiences. Just genetically normal. And that's only if the time vortex and Bad Wolf didn't -- Um. Do something. [Because she doesn't really trust that she made Jack immortal, the Doctor more-immortal-than-he-had-to-be but did nothing to herself. That seems unlikely to her. Possible, very very possible, she didn't know what she did to Jack until he told her after all, but unlikely.]

And since my Dad just used Vitex profits to work on his inventions, even weird ones like dimension travel which wouldn't be a normally commercial idea, I mostly do that with my scientists. Although I do try to channel Fluffy to slightly more financially profitable. Because otherwise he'd create the most ridiculous things, you can't even imagine. They'd all be whirligigs that make weird noises, and with accidental properties like whistles that confuse trains, or tops that sing opera in an alien language. But yeah, even fidget spinners can be great sells so... [Shrug.] We do cover a lot of sensory-input compensation. UM, that basically means like not just hearing aids, but apps that translate speech to text, and vice versa, or braille typewriters, that sort of thing. Like I said, stuff that enhances quality of life.

But a lot of dumb shit too, because I really do let him do almost whatever he wants. The female doctor made her screwdriver out of spoons. [Headshake.] But I get the best part of just saying "No, this is silly" or getting to figure out what he thinks is silly and saying, "No, that's marketable." Really makes me miss my Dad though. I don't have his head for advertising. At all.

So luxuries. To make life more fun. But practical too, because [Gestures at the blood lists.] what's the point of living if you can't enjoy it, yeah?

[Vaggie's writing for a good few seconds after Rose started talking. Well "writing" is a bit of a gross generalization. Sure, there was words, but most of them devolved from trying to take full sentences to trying to piece together a coherent chart. She was half-way down the page when she flipped it over and just started making everything visual. Two universes separated by a line. Stuff that showed up in A in A, and B in B. She missed much of the details -- and why wouldn't she? But she paid particular attention to the mention of the devil. Huh. That didn't sound like any of the demon lords she was aware of...]

[As Rose continued her discussion of Genessia, she flipped the page one last time and wrote "Torchwood -- Genessia." Honestly, she expected to write more, but everything was pretty consistent with one central theme. "We want to help."]

[Vaggie stopped writing and looked down on her notes.]

Because every action has a consequence. [She looks down over everything, all but glaring at the part where the Doctor comes to save the day. Where was her-- Nah. It wasn't worth talking about.]

That is quite the story. The time travel. The dimensions. All of it.You've been on quite the adventure.

And now you're here. And you're stuck. Because one thing I am getting out of all of this is that you would much rather be out... somewhere. Going on adventures. Living with your family. Being free. Kind of ironic that your trip would end up in a place like this. Sucks to be you.

[Her shoulders lean back and her head follows. She leans over and looks up at the ceiling at nothing in particular.] But, I guess I'm not one to talk either.

Yes, they do.

Yeah, adventure's kind of my thing.

[But then the part about them being stuck, makes Rose growl.] No.

[And she's livid and can't explain it, but it's the whole reason she WENT drinking so hard the night before and Mirajane knew but --] Absolutely not. [The familiar "first year here" anger is back. She didn't actually get in yoga and meditation this morning, Trunks took her for coffee and breakfast instead to sober her up while she whined a lot.]

[Her nostrils flare, and she shakes her head.]

You weren't listening closely enough. [It's quiet, but eerily so. Especially since all the bubbly charm is completely gone.]

The Doctor sent me back to Pete's Universe. He banished his Meta-Clone, the half-human one, because he knew my Mum and Pete could handle him. [Her arms shake, and she has to set the tea down and lean back staring at the ceiling.]

I can't ever see the Doctor again, except for here. [Growl growl.] All his future regenerations? Only here. He went and got married when he couldn't even --

Tch! [GROWLS.]

[And her voice goes dark and husky.] That's not the worst of it. The worst of it is Jack. Jack was --

My best mate other than the Doctor. I didn't get to say anything to him in time. The last time I saw him proper before the Doctor separated us again, he kissed me goodbye, said I was worth fighting for and went off to die.

[DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP breath. Let go of the anger. Let it goooooooo....]

[She closes her eyes, rubs her forehead lightly, and unabashedly rolls her whole neck, trying to stay calm.]

I -- my first promise to Jack wasn't just about Torchwood. It was about him and me. I couldn't be there for him. [Slightly feral growl, bared teeth and all.] That choice was taken from me, and the--

[Her face flickers again as she glances away, slowly regaining composure.]

I ran away from Pete's Torchwood with no intention of ever going back. It's going to be an absolute disaster when I do. I have to apologize, I have to unburn bridges. Or I'll just run away again with Meta and say sod all that rot. [Waves a hand, and okay, so her Chav-iest chav side is showing right now.]

I don't want to go back. And all the versions of the Doctor would have to... regenerate again. Lose what makes them separate from his whole. That's on them, but for me, I like getting to meet him here again. I was angry, yeah, and I still am, yeah, and I haven't a clue how to tell him why, but... No. When I say, make existence even better, I don't --

Tch....

[Drums fingers.] It's not perfect, it's some fairy tale come true, it's not ideal. It doesn't change anything, us being here. I'll wind up back with Meta having to work out my anger all over again, the Doctors will die and they don't want to, and regenerate, even if they don't want that, and Jack... probably won't see me again unless I break some time rules and start cracking holes in the universe.

And since that could cause the actual collapse of universes and destroy more lives than I can count, I'm kind of not big on that just because I miss my old boyfriend, yeah?

[Snort.]

[Sigh.]

[Pushes her hair back with a hand.]

Tell me how you feel trapped. You've only been here a month though, so as long as you keep wanting what you had before, that feeling's not going to change. [Hand up.] I say that, because that's how I was in Pete's Universe. I refused to even want to find anything good there, because I was worried it'd slow me down and then I would lose the intensity I needed to get back, yeah?

[Vaggie's brow furrowed at every growl and snarl and grumble that came her way. She was trying to just let her get the anger out, but then there was the statement directed at her. Knowing or unknowing, the sentiment was pointed to her and she wasn't sure if it was intended to get her to back down or to garner sympathy.]

[She went with back down, and the bubbling resentment that she had all of these opportunities. She got to be FREE, without knowing what that meant to people... to people...]

Fucking, excuse you. You don't know a fucking thing about me. You may find that this whole thing is a good deal, and that you can have your chance to some great convergence, or whatever, but that's your business. That's your shit. And don't you DARE for a FUCKING SECOND think that just because I have been here for a month means that I don't have things to worry about. How fucking dare you.

[Vaggie's fiery temper ebbed to a cold one, and she returns back to her journal.]

You've been good to me to answer my questions, I'll grant you. And I owe you a few of mine. Otherwise, I'd be out that fucking door. You may have the chance to have fun and the choices to have everything you do get noticed by the universe doesn't mean I have to follow your every whim, sister.

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