[Mostly Open] So we'll press, and press 'til you can't take it anymore!

[groupiedrifter]

CHARACTERS: Precursors and you. And Eventually Newton. Hopefully!
LOCATION: A holding room in Ximilia Station.
DATE: Est. two days post-mission, after the kaiju is defeated and the orb is retrieved.
CONTENT: The precursors are revealed — and are finally removed from Newt's mind.
WARNINGS: Possession and the bodily autonomy issues that come with that. More will be added if necessary!

Closed and opened starters will be added as I go, which will be announced on plurk! But if you don't use plurk or would rather keep an eye out by email/tracking, feel free to use the tracking option and mark to receive notifs any new top level comments posted to this log! The log will involve an open starter to visit the precursors where they're cuffed/contained in the room, so stay tuned.

Also no rush once the open starters are posted!

Feel free to focus on the player plot log first and come back to this later.

CLOSED STARTER | THE DOCTOR
DARKLING'S TOP LEVEL | WHILE NEWT WAS SLEEPING...
OPEN STARTER | THE PRECURSORS, REVEALED
CLOSED FINAL CONCLUSION | THE PRECURSORS, REMOVED
OPEN PROMPTS | NEWTON GEISZLER'S RETURN

Comments

[lateness]

[ And for one split second, the Doctor does start to wonder whether he has made a mistake — whether he'd misjudged the way Newt had blinked a message in code at him, whether this man really is just Newt. It wouldn't be the first time after all, and it would hardly be the last either.

But it doesn't make sense.

It just doesn't make sense. ]

Well, if you really are Newt and you really mean this crew harm, then I'm afraid I just can't allow that.

I'm sorry.

[ The Doctor powers the sonic screwdriver on, the green bulb at its tip lighting up, bright and not entirely friendly, not this time. The high frequency of its buzzing is pointed directly in Newt's face. ]

[groupiedrifter]

[The precursors cry out hoarsely in pain, and Newt cries out in pain with them, bruised and bloodied face twisting up at the terrible frequency that shakes them to their core. If the Doctor holds it there, lets it unfurl the mental barrier that has been so neatly put up around Newton Geiszler's mind, the Timelord will feel something within himself crumbling to dust. First a handful of scattered images.

And then the corroding dam completely fails, and the precursor's presence will be too easily felt across those who are capable of sensing other life in this small station. But more importantly for the Doctor... the memories that had been blocked intentionally from his mind and the mind of others board the Ximilia return in a flood.

'Time Lord, yes. We're very familiar with you... You have a habit of wandering in 'by mistake'. He's just a little suit. Something to wear when we need it. Does it matter?'
'Oh, it matters. It matters very much when you're wearing my friend like a — what did you call it? A little suit?'
The sounds of Newton, crying softly.
'Hmm. Are you offering your mind to us? How much cleaning can we do, wearing a Time Lord, I wonder...? Or should we treat you the way we treated your little fiery companion?'
The anger. The sound of Clara's bones snapping.
'What did you do to her.'
'... I'm sorry, Doc. I'm s-so sorry.'
'I won't leave you, Newt, I never leave anyone behind... I'm the Doctor. You're going to be okay-'

The precursors jerk their heads to the side — Newt's head to the side — as a tear drips down the man's face against their will, and then another as green eyes flood with them.

From a shared pain caused by the sonic?

Or... from someone locked away inside, so relieved to be seen that he can't stop from weeping?

Either way, the memories are given back, and the creatures within Newton are laid bare to see. They glower up at the Doctor, sneering in anger, fingers clutching the armrests in a white-knuckled grip that chips fingernails.]

Well, great.

[lateness]

[ The sound of the sonic fills the room and fills his ears, and it accompanies the growing cries from Newt (or whoever-it-is-that-is-Newt-but-not-Newt), but the Doctor doesn't relinquish his hold on the sonic, nor does he let its power wane until something just —



— shatters, falling apart in his mind. Well. Crumbles more like, bits of that mental wall falling away like dried mud, revealing all of those lost memories hidden behind it. And oh, oh — he remembers this, he remembers this. It'd been in a dream, and he'd seen what they'd done to Newt. What they'd done to Clara.

How could he have ever forgotten it? (But that's just the thing, isn't it? He hadn't forgotten, it was merely covered up and patched over until he'd been kept from it completely.) ]

Oh.

[ The Doctor lets his sonic rest, watching as the creatures with their hooks in his friend, Newt, glare in his direction. He watches Newt's face and sees the tears and knows those can't be the creatures themselves. He watches the way the familiar-yet-unfamiliar eyes fill with tears and it breaks his hearts. ]

Oh, you naughty things; you naughty, naughty things. I remember you now. Yes. I remember everything.

[groupiedrifter]

Oh, fine. Fucking spoilsport.

[They slump back against the chair, unable to wipe away the streaks of wet that drip down the crease of their nose. They can taste the tears, salty and rudimentary and examples of a human being's frailty. They those those wet eyes, take them back, even as Newton desperately tries to look out through them.

Failure, they tell him. You failure.]

It was fun while it lasted, I guess. What do you want, a trophy for being able to wave a stupid little metal stick?

[lateness]

Hah. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it, eh? Don't tell me some part of you doesn't feel free now that you don't have to hide behind someone else's face.

[ Well, in a manner of speaking, anyway. ]

What I want — yes. Right. I wanted answers then, and I want answers now. Tell me, now that we've been reacquainted, who — or what exactly are you? Where do you come from? How did you find Newton? Why him? I suppose it's no question why you're here, why you wanted the orb.

[ The Doctor takes a step closer. ]

Come on, then. Just between us aliens.

[groupiedrifter]

We enjoyed choking your little sweetheart. We enjoyed stabbing you.

You should see the list of people who've gotten hurt with Newton's hands.

[They contentedly flex their trapped hands in and out of fists, smiling. But behind the smile, there's a definite edge of defensiveness, of caution. They're trying to avoid answers, because they're more than concerned what the Doctor will do with those answers.]

What, you never asked Newton about his planet? Messy, Doctor, really messy.

[lateness]

[ The Doctor remains very still in an effort not to lose his temper or do anything else ridiculously stupid while the creatures in Newt's head try and taunt him. The important part is not to hurt the physical body of his friend, not when there are people on this station who have claimed they could help him.

And it mostly works, keeping his composure — mostly, because these creatures seem to know exactly where to get at him, where to poke at those tender bits of his hearts.

He breathes out, eyes trained on Newt's face, studying every minute change in his expression. ]

It's no matter. You've revealed yourselves enough and I'll find you either way. Wherever you are. I've got a very clever spaceship, you see, and it travels across time and space, and wherever it is you're from, I'm going to find you. And I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to my friends.

[groupiedrifter]

[Oh, they would love nothing more than to have the Doctor lose his temper and lash out. They would love to saddle him with the guilt of hitting the face of a friend trapped in his own body. Showing that someone who's so-called 'heroic' can snap and reveal the nastiest parts of their own make-up. They wonder, are Timelords as unstable as humans? It'd be fun to test. They can't help but smile at the possibilities.]

You're going to do what? Stop us? You couldn't even keep us from snapping your nasty little companion's arm.

Do you remember hearing it, in Newton's mind? The crunch?

[They lean forward, as far as their binds will let them.]

She called your name, Doctor! Said you'd stop us! Where were you, while she whimpered and screamed? Or is she worth little more than her short skirt and batting eyelashes? We almost did you a favor if the dream had gone on just a little longer...!

[lateness]

[ The Doctor goes very, very still, jaw clenched as he tries his very best not to be affected by the words coming out from Newt's mouth. (It isn't very easy. He wouldn't even call himself 'heroic' by any means. He isn't always a good man, and he's at least self-aware enough to know that whatever else it might mean for those who know him.)

He swallows. Takes a breath. And his expression becomes a mask of indifference. ]

You can go on all you like — the point is she's all right, no thanks to you, and I've seen you now. And while we could reminisce about those good old days, eh, I think it's about time we sent you on your way and let Newt go back to being himself.

[groupiedrifter]

[They glower at him with eyes still wet with Newton's tears, displeased at the Doctor's tolerance. They suppose it's not as effective — words, that is, compared to twisting his companions into pretzels in front of his eyes.]

Just try to send us away, Doctor.

We'd tear Newton's mind to pieces before you can ever get to him.

Or maybe we'll force him to bite through his own tongue, huh? Tilt his head back and let him drown in his own blood while he's awake and aware? Wouldn't be nearly as difficult as you'd think; the human brain is notoriously dim. You should have seen how often he tried to reach out to you. Oh, especially you.

What a mistake, to place so much faith in you, mm?

[lateness]

Oh, I won't have to try. I'll do it, and I'll have the help to make sure that it works too. You won't hurt Newt now, and you won't hurt him again.

[ Now that he's forced the things that have been puppeteering his friend all of these months out from the shadows — and now that he remembers having seen them in some way before — he can rely on those of their crew with magic and psychic abilities to coax these things out (or push them out as it were, depending on their level of stubbornness). They'll have far more effective methods to guarantee a success, and the Doctor will be by Newt's side every step of the way. He won't leave him.

But still: their words do cut at some part of him despite the steeliness of his expression, and the way he keeps his spine straight, his hands from wavering in the slightest. To see Newt still succumbing to their whims while they maintain their power over him ... to witness Newt being hurt now just to get at him ... ]

Trust me. [ He looks into Newt's eyes, past the sneer and the darkness of the precursors, to find his friend in them as though he's speaking directly to him. Hear me, Newt, he thinks. Don't give up. I will save you. ] I'm the Doctor.

And I will see you lot again.

[ He takes a step back now, catching the eye of Kovacs who (along with Peter) have been standing guard nearby in case things get a little out of hand. ]