[Nexus LOL] Technomagic was Never meant to work like this

[chocolatechipbadass]

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood Nexus. A really beautiful day.

Six-winged birds singing, flowers blooming everywhere one looks. From far off in the distance on the other side of the Nexus people wandering the Plaza will hear a sudden loud noise and feel a very minor shake but there's no invading force. No colossal calamity to be bested. Now for the poor sod who used to own the internet cafe that's just been blown to smithereens in a cascade of firework trails raining down it's a very bad day. Tina's still swearing about Aimbots and cheaters while waving around a game controller that isn't plugged into anything while the fire burns. She's not going to stop when the potions shop next door catches flame either.

But alllll the way back in the plaza? There's no sign of trouble. Maybe the faintest glimpse of fireworks. The smell of gunpowder mingling with a bitter herb and a touch of...ozone? Honestly with all the pollen in the air it's difficult to tell. Precisely Because it's the Nexus the fallout from this ill conceived haze may not be easily noticed at first.

A flicker of a little symbol over someone's head while they're reading a book. People cutting off mid conversation to glance at their conversation partners. Or rather, over their heads. So many little 😮 popping up over heads as confusion starts to spread only to rapidly dissipate into a myriad of other little pictures when people seem to realize that whatever the flavor of the day weirdness is, it's not seemingly dangerous. Is there a rhyme or a reason to them? What could it mean? Are you affected?


[Please refer to THIS POST in the OOC comm for an explanation of what's going on. The TL;DR to this Nexus LOL is that a character's innermost thoughts will be visible to anyone who is observing them whether they're speaking or not, but they will exclusively be communicated via Emojis. The OOC post has some guidelines for using these emojis in tags and some rules so please check there before posting in. Threadhopping and mingling are required for this post as there is no real Question Asker so Have fun!]

Comments

[readvondaniken]

"Uh..." Palmer would say that the creature in the image doesn't look dangerous, but he knows from experience that something doesn't have to look dangerous to be. "I'm guessing there's worse out there. A lot worse. At least the Fallen were willing to draw a ceasefire, eventually."

The way the Doctor's talking about them, he can guess they're creatures to be feared.

"If I can ask, what is this species? The way you talk about them...they sound extremely dangerous."

[not_the_question]

He offers a sad sort of smirk. "They're called the Daleks. And they are. Mutants in a tank. They've had all emotion removed except for hate. And they destroy anything that's not like them. My people, the Time Lords, fought them because they had learned how to time travel. Their plan was to destroy my entire universe, then break down the barriers between other universes until they destroyed the whole of creation."

His expression morphs to anger the more he talks. But he stops there, because well, this is why he had originally come back: to drink himself into oblivion and forget about what he did during the Time War.

[readvondaniken]

Palmer nods, accepting the information. So his suspicions that the mysterious gargage can creatures were dangerous is correct, and going by the Doctor's description they make the Fallen look reasonable by comparison. No emotions except for hate.

"Well, I hope they stay out of this place. One dangerous alien species is enough." He changes the topic to something a bit lighter, since he recognizes the conversation's gotten very dark. "I run a mechanic's shop here. Gear Today, Gone Tomorrow. We've just reopened. I was looking for tools when you found me."

[not_the_question]

"Mechanic's shop." The Doctor looks around. "Are there... things to fix here?"

Timey whimy. Technically the last time he was here was in his future, so there were a few cars and motorcycles about. But the last time he was here in linear fashion, well... The Nexus was far more home-spun back then.

"I mean, the place does seem bigger, but..."

He shrugs. Sometimes he hates time travel.

[readvondaniken]

"Yep. I sometimes repair vehicles or objects for people. There's enough work here to keep me taken care of. I take jobs on pretty much anything, though I might have trouble with alien technology without pointers."

Palmer can't really fix things he's not familiar with in his world, though he will give an honest effort. He'll try and repair anything he's paid to.

"I haven't been here too long. Well, longer than McReady, but he's pretty new. So I'm still learning things, and the Nexus surprises me. Safer than going back home, though."

There's a reason he hasn't left, even though the Nexus isn't as safe to him as it used to be. 🐕🐕🐕

[not_the_question]

The Doctor nods in approval. "Every place needs a mechanic at minimum, preferably an engineer."

Being a Doctor of 'everything' is well and good, but he's just one man and can only be in one place at a time, no matter how hard he tries to do it differently.

"Well, there's 'safe' and there's safe. I don't begrudge anyone for being as safe as they can be."

Not everyone has a TARDIS, after all.

[readvondaniken]

"I will say I almost regretted staying in the winter. However, the Fallen were less bad than the Thing which attacked me. After all, the worst they could do is kill me." Palmer laughs, with a hint of darkness behind it.

"If you end up evacuating the Nexus, I'll probably end up going, even if there's no other way home to my world. I'm a bit of a coward. I even feel guilty for killing the Fallen, and they were trying to murder me."

Palmer has a distaste for violence that's flaring up again. He dislikes the Fallen, but he dislikes himself almost as much.

He'd killed them on purpose, out of anger, and he had done it coldly and methodically. He never wants to be in that place again.

🚫🔫

[not_the_question]

The Doctor smiles. "I call myself a coward too. And for the same reasons."

The he nods. "My evacuation plan has enough room for everyone and if the barriers are weak as I suspect, I should be able to get everyone home. It just might take awhile."

He shrugs. It's really neither here nor there. But sometime he might show the TARDIS to Plamer. He has some maintenance he needs done and Palmer would probably be hungry for the experience.

[readvondaniken]

"I don't want to feel that way again. The only reason I fought them was because they made it clear they wouldn't stop, even when I tried to talk. Maybe I did something wrong, since they made that deal with Loki later. Loki seemed to think they refused to talk to me 'cause I was human, and someone else said they might've thought I wasn't worth talking to."

Palmer remembers being offended by that, but the Fallen do seem to hate humans by default.

"Some of us don't have worlds to go home to," he says quietly. "Kinner is dead in his, for example. As for me, the Thing is probably waiting for me back at Outpost 31, and I don't want to return just to become a monster."

[not_the_question]

"You tried. It's more than a lot of others probably did. Don't let it get you too worked up."

It's not worth it. Focus on what can be done, not what can't.

"Some things can't be helped or changed."

That's all he says. All he can say. He knows because he's a Time Lord, but it's always been hard explaining that to humans.

[readvondaniken]

"You're right. And at least there's a chance for peace now, even if they hate humans so much."

Palmer nods. He had tried, and he's not ashamed that he did, even if it didn't work out.

"I've got friends back home," he says. "They're still in danger. They're alone with the creature that attacked me."

A load of 😨 faces appeared. Palmer's afraid for his crewmates, and guilty for hiding in the Nexus while they could be being eaten.

[not_the_question]

The Doctor rests a hand on Palmer's shoulder, if the man lets him. "Time passes differently here. Years here is but a few moments there."

At least that seems to be the way it's worked for him. "It's why you can't necessarily avoid going home."

At least according to a Time-Travelling alien.

[readvondaniken]

Palmer nods. "My friends are still alive back there. I'm going to save them and myself...even if it means changing history."

The mechanic smiles, appreciating the hand on his shoulder.

"One of these days, Doctor, I'm going to go back to my world and fight the Thing. I have to. And I'm going to help kill it."

[not_the_question]

The Doctor raises an eyebrow at the 'changing history' part. "Don't change history. That's really not a good idea."

And it will make them enemies. He doesn't want to be enemies. But Timelines must be preserved. It's the only aspect of Time Lords that the Doctor actually respected. And even the times he didn't, he wishes he had. The results were horrible.

The rest of it, though, he agrees with.

[readvondaniken]

"I know." Palmer nods. "Messing with history is dangerous. Have you read A Sound of Thunder?"

Palmer's been thinking about that story lately. He wants to save his team, but if he would change the way things are meant to be he might cause more harm than good.

"I don't know what's supposed to happen in my world. Maybe it hasn't been decided yet. But if I was supposed to die back there, if that alien was meant to kill me..." He shivers. "I didn't want to die. Especially like that. Not just dying, becoming a monster myself and attacking my friends."

[not_the_question]

"A Sound of Thunder." Statement, not a question. "Didn't have to. I was there."

Because, well, why not be a little impressive? "Knowing the future is a heavy burden. Which is why we usually prevent you lot from knowing it."

[readvondaniken]

"It's better not to know the future," the mechanic says. "There's about half a dozen science fiction stories out there about why that ain't exactly a good thing."

"You were in the Bradbury story?" Palmer's jaw drops when he imagines the implications of what was said. "You've seen a Tyrannosaurus rex? I mean, there's dinosaurs here, but...a Tyrannosaurus rex!"

[not_the_question]

He rolls his eyes. "Many. Even dragged one with me to 19th Century London once. That was an accident. My time ship got stuck in her throat."

He's not going to go into details about the story. Nope, not worth it.

[readvondaniken]

"A time ship?" Palmer's eyes widen. The mechanic's amazed - this is even more exciting than the idea of living dinosaurs for him. "If you ever need an extra hand with repairs, Doctor, I'm happy to help if I can. Seeing one would be enough payment for me."

Several 😲 emojis appear as Palmer's excited. He can only imagine what a time ship looks like and how it works.

[not_the_question]

"Yeah. How do you think 'time-travellers' travel? Honestly, you just proved why I call you lot 'pudding brains'."

Slow, slow, slow. But that doesn't mean he won't take the proffered help.

"I'll think about it. Time travel is a safely guarded secret."

Well, sort of.

[readvondaniken]

Palmer isn't insulted. Honestly, he's been called worse than "puding brain".

"Well, I guessed there would be a time machine of some sort. I've read about those in science fiction stories, but I've never heard of a real one before. But a lot of these things are new to me outside of pulp magazines and movies."

Palmer calms down a little. He still thinks a time machine sounds very exciting.

"That's fair. I guess it must be pretty complicated, too. Don't want anything being messed up. But let me know if you ever do want my help. You'll find me here at my shop."

[not_the_question]

The Doctor shrugs. "That's because you all think your imaginations are so good. But they're pitiful. All that time wasted wondering what you'll do when the planet dies, or you get invaded, or whatever. You never dare to dream about what happens if you actually make it. What if you survive."

Which is about the most annoying thing about humans ever.

"I'll keep in mind where to find you. Good mechanics are hard to find."

[readvondaniken]

"Well," Palmer says, "I imagine what's real is bigger than anything we could ever imagine ourselves. That makes sense. Maybe we'll get better at seeing the good in the universe, but there's a lot to be frightened of, too."

Palmer's seen the best and the worst of what the worlds beyond his universe can bring. It gave him new friends, like Kinner and Cricket, and frightening new enemies, like the Fallen.

"I'm one of the best mechanics in the Nexus, at least out of the humans. I was just an assistant mechanic back home, but I've learned using my time here. I might need a little help with machines that are from outside my unierse, though." Palmer rummages in his vest pocket, offering his business card. It has his address and PINpoint number.

[not_the_question]

The Doctor takes the card and reads it. He frowns. "What's this here?"

He's pointing to the PINpoint number. He doesn't have one of those so has no idea what it is.

[readvondaniken]

Palmer notices and decides to try and explain.

"Oh. That's my PINpoint number. I'm guessing they're new? They've been here for longer than I have. Pretty useful. Kind of like a phone and a teleporter rolled up into one. Most people here have one, just because they're convenient."