Doctor Who — Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?
Despite the Doctor trying to maintain at least a somewhat optimistic demeanor, the others were right — the situation was looking very grim indeed, with all of them having no better plan but to hide…
Final Fantasy did try to toss out some ideas, though, asking if it was possible that the Daleks/Cybermen were being controlled by a "boss monster" that they could take out.
"Mmm… they might!" the Doctor answered.
"The Daleks usually don't care much for individual thought, working together as one well-oiled killing machine. They do sometimes act under command from a central authority figure — usually Davros, or just some high-ranking Dalek — but not always. And in the absence of such a leader, they seem to do fairly well at organizing themselves. Besides, it's not like the rest of them would just leave us alone after taking out their leader…" the Doctor mused, thinking through all the different possibilities.
"And as for the Cybermen, they're even more hive-minded than the Daleks. Really, their brains are all connected to the Cyber hive-mind. But, they do sometimes have a 'Cyber-leader'… And, there were a few instances where they made leaders out of only partially-converted bodies. Not sure why. Maybe people make for better leaders when their brains aren't completely sterilized, and they still have at least a little bit of creativity left in them? I know that was the Daleks' rationale for taking orders from a seven-year-old human girl that one time…" he contemplated.
"Anyway, what worries me the most is -- this isn't a situation where the Daleks and Cybermen just happened to cross paths. They're working together, and that never happens. Last time those two met, they bickered like primary-schoolers, and then one group completely annihilated the other. I just can't imagine them ever willingly teaming up like this." he explained.
"Well, at least not with them acting as equals to each other. It's possible that one is working under command of the other, for some reason. Probably as a result of one getting tricked into believing that they're the ones in control, when really they're just being used and manipulated by the other party. Or, it's possible that both of them are working for some other third entity, although I sure hope that isn't the case-"
The Doctor was then interrupted from his musings as his phone buzzed again. He at first assumed it would be another update from Animorphs, but then he realized it was a text message. He froze when he saw what it said…
Where are you??? -SH
…
"Wait. Did we… oh, tell me we didn't…" He frantically scanned the room, hoping they didn't make the mistake he thought they did. But unfortunately, his fears were only confirmed.
"We… we lost Sherlock?!"
Alt-FE stayed silent, remembering what happened to Sherlock in his own timeline. He had vanished from their group about the same time the Doctor died, and they later found out that he'd been captured by Cybermen and converted into one of them… FE had just barely traveled far enough in time to prevent the Doctor's death, but, by that point, it was already too late for Sherlock. He didn't know how he would tell the Doctor that, though…
The Doctor got another text:
I lost sight of everyone else when the smoke bomb went off. I was almost captured by Cybermen, but I got away. Now I don't know how long I can stay hidden. Help!!
"Oh no… we left him behind… he's texting me now — he says he got separated from us during the attack, and managed to avoid being captured, and now he's hiding somewhere, and-"
"Wait," alt-FE spoke up.
"Are you… Is… Is Sherlock texting you?" he asked, confused and surprised that Sherlock was still alive (well, alive and still himself). Sherlock was captured
before the timelines diverged — why were things playing out differently?
"Yes, he is." the Doctor stated, speaking more calmly now as he attempted to quell his anxiety.
"And I don't plan on leaving him out there to be picked off by Daleks. We have to do something." the Doctor insisted, starting to replace those fears with determination.
"Wait, you can't go back out there! You're still injured!" alt-FE objected.
"And besides, we have no idea where he even is!" Alt-FE didn't exactly want to abandon Sherlock, either, but, the fate of the entire Fandomverse and Earth was at stake… and if he was only able to save one, then...
"Well…!" the Doctor spoke up like he was about to dive into a counter-argument, but he hesitated when he remembered that he was talking to his future self. Did his future self have any memories of this interaction? Sometimes, in-canon, Doctor would lose his memories after such interactions in order to prevent a paradox when he returned to that same point in the future. Sometimes he didn't forget, and the future Doctor either didn't attempt to change the past, or attempted it but still caused everything to work out the way it was 'supposed' to. Sometimes he did actually change is own past, and somehow managed to avoid causing the universe to implode. So, with all this in mind, was
this future Doctor trying to make things happen as they were meant to, or no? And what even
was he 'supposed' to do? Theoretically whatever action he took would be the one that matched his future-self's timeline, therefore making it impossible for him to make the 'wrong' choice, but…
Wait a minute, what am I doing? I don't have time to contemplate free will vs predetermination. I have to save Sherlock! "Alright, listen," he told alt-FE.
"I don't care what sort of paradox his may or may not cause — I'm not going to leave Sherlock out there to die. I'm going to save him. And if fate insists otherwise, then… well, at least I can say that I tried."
Alt-FE didn't like where this was going. The entire point of going back in time was to keep the Doctor alive, but that wouldn't work out very well if he was just going to jump right back into danger…
"Listen, Doctor," alt-FE spoke up, trying to think up an argument that the Doctor would understand.
"You're not supposed to die and regenerate just yet. And I think it's in the best interests of, uh… preserving our own… personal timeline, that you don't die early." he said, hesitating slightly as he wasn't quite sure he was using all the right jargon.
"That's why I saved you from being hit before. I know that when I was you, I had me, but if I didn't have me then, then I might've died there, and become a different sort of me than I am now." …Alt-FE didn't understand anything he'd just said, but it sounded like something the Doctor would say, so, he hoped it at least made sense to him.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes, thinking of what to say next… and then, another text came in.
You can probably use your screwdriver to pinpoint my location.
"Ah, yes, that works…" the Doctor mused.
"Hold this for a moment," he said as he handed his phone off to his 'future self', then reached into his pocket with his only usable hand and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He pointed it at the phone for a few seconds, then, held the tip up to his face to get a good look at it.
"There, that should do it." he stated. Then, addressing the rest of the group, he continued,
"If I can't go back out there, maybe someone else can. You should be able to use my screwdriver like a compass. The light on the end will get brighter when you're facing in the right direction." he told them, slowly waving the screwdriver back-and-forth horizontally in front of him, demonstrating how the tip became brighter and dimmer based on its position.
"I'll stay here if I must, but, I want someone to at least take my screwdriver and find Sherlock…" he told them.
"...Oh, and, can someone text Sherlock back and tell him we got the message? I would've, but it's not easy to do with only one hand."
