Morgyn Leri (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
morgynleri) wrote2009-05-02 01:02 am
morgynleri) wrote2009-05-02 01:02 am
Entry tags:
What Hides Behind Locked Doors; Doctor Who; PG13
Title: What Hides Behind Locked Doors
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG13
Warning: The Master forgets that the whole cloning thing came without clothes.
Characters: The Master, Lucy Saxon, originals
What Hides Behind Locked Doors
The music pounded through the room, the beat heavy almost to overwhelming even for the lone figure dancing in the space not taken up by a machine that humans wouldn't easily recognize. Wouldn't recognize at all, not for centuries beyond the year blazoned across the calendar on the wall of the room. His voice competed with that of the lead singer, the raw roughness of disuse ignored as he used the music and movement to settle himself back into his head, into the body that was new and old at the same time.
Outside, a guard shifted uneasily on his feet, hoping someone would arrive soon who knew what to do with the blast of sound that had startled him out of boredom almost half an hour ago. Barely keeping his relief off his face as a woman came striding down the corridor, heels clicking sharply on the concrete, and a look of someone who knew what she was doing. He opened his mouth to speak, and she cut him off with a sharp gesture before a sound could emerge.
"I am already aware of the situation. Open the door."
"Ma'am?" He stared at her, his uncertainty returning with the unexpected order, one that ran counter to everything he'd been told when he was given this assignment.
Cold blue eyes met his gaze, her expression unyielding and frighteningly lacking in any other emotion. She didn't repeat the order, merely watched him, waiting as he fumbled the key from his belt and into the lock. She waved him aside as soon as the lock clicked over, turning the handle herself, allowing the music to spill out into the corridor.
The guard watched, indulging in the curiosity that was still overlain with fear and confusion, puzzled by the naked man that had stopped in the middle of dancing. Blond hair, brown eyes that were as frightening in the intensity of their gaze as the woman's were in their icy chill. Something about him that suggested power, even though he was nude and looked to be covered in some sort of goo.
Another person stepped past the guard, pushing a cart that held a stack of towels on the top, and boxes underneath that looked like the sort the guard's uniform and shoes had arrived in when he took employment with this company. Clothing, then, he supposed, but something made him doubt it was a uniform.
Once the cart was inside, the woman dismissed the man who'd pushed it, and shut the door behind him, leaving the guard as mystified as before.
~ ~~ ~
"Good evening, sir." Theresa turned from the closed door, ignoring the nudity of her employer with the aplomb of someone well-paid to tolerate any eccentricity.
"Good evening, Ms. Allard," the Master returned politely as he picked up one of the towels to start scrubbing the gel off his skin. "Couldn't you have found some less sticky growth medium?"
"I'm afraid that wasn't an option, sir." She watched him with nearly the same expression that she'd turned on the guard outside the door, changed only by the hint of subordination that she allowed to show. "Would you like the report of activities while you were indisposed now, or would you prefer to wait?"
"Is UNIT aware of this facility, or the Doctor?" He dropped the towel when it spread the gel more than scraped it off, picking up another.
"Not at this time. However, I have arranged for transportation to a more secure position from which to base continuing operations, now that you are awake. It would be prudent to remove any evidence of the purpose of the facility before there is a chance a leak may be developed or cultivated."
The Master made a face as he tossed the second towel next to the first, spreading his fingers to inspect them for more of the green goo, nodding to himself at the apparent lack of any left. "Why would UNIT have any desire to cultivate a leak unless there already was one? You certainly didn't allow your company any outward affiliation with me before."
"Mrs. Saxon has been in UNIT custody since shortly after your death, sir. Despite her lack of knowledge of the location of this facility, and her personal loyalty to you, I will make no assumption that she will maintain the secrecy of our association. Nor can I effect her release if the association is to remain unknown to UNIT, and our facilities unmonitored."
Scrunching up his face again a moment in annoyance, the Master picked up another towel. "Lucy won't tell them. Did you bring a suit along with all these towels?"
"Yes, sir." Theresa moved around to the far side of the cart, crouching a moment to remove the boxes from the bottom shelf, setting them next to the remaining towels. "It's not a particularly expensive one, as the gel tends to stain clothing, and takes a shower to properly remove."
The Master rolled his eyes, reaching for the box after he dropped the last towel on the pile, pulling on the clothing with a grimace at the feel of the cotton against his skin. It was better than the drying gel, but only barely.
"All the information you need to catch up on lost time is at the facility renovated for headquarters, sir," she continued before he could ask another question, or issue an order. "We can continue discussion en route, if you would like, but I would prefer to vacate the premises as soon as possible, and activate the automatic security features."
"Automatic security features?" The Master raised an eyebrow, giving her an inquiring look before he headed for the door, trusting that she would provide directions to the car along with an answer to his question.
"Yes, sir." Theresa moved ahead of him to open the door, letting him move down the corridor a moment while she paused to give the guard orders to maintain his watch on the room for the remainder of his shift. Only when they were clear of the building, the car pulling smoothly out of the car park, did she elaborate. "The automated security will prevent entry without the activation codes, and appropriate biometrics, or a determined explosives expert. I am currently the only one in possession of the codes who also has the correct finger- and retinal-prints. They also, unfortunately for the staff still inside, prevent anyone leaving without the same, and there are no accessible explosives stored within the facility."
"And if someone does break in, how do you prevent them obtaining the equipment."
"There are shaped explosives planted in strategic locations around the room where the proprietary equipment is stored to ensure the maximum damaged to equipment should someone attempt to break in. They are shielded against outside electronic interference and their placement is such that they are physically inaccessible from inside or outside the facility."
The Master nodded in approval, smiling cheerfully at the thought of UNIT attempting to break in and finding nothing but death and shambles.
~ ~~ ~
She knew he was still alive, somewhere out there. Nothing so simple as a bullet could kill him, just fool those simple little people who wanted to bring him down. He would show them how wrong they were, and rescue her. All she had to do was wait, and keep her secrets, like that Martha girl had. Without all the traveling around and telling stupid stories of a silly old man.
A giggle escaped her, sly and secretive, and she pressed her fingers to her lips to keep anything else from escaping. Pulling them away a moment later, she studied her nails with a small frown, wondering for a moment when they'd become so ragged. Letting out a soft sigh, she let her head fall back, looking up at the barred window over her head that let in the daylight. Barred and out of reach, to keep her from even seeing the outside.
It wouldn't keep him out, once he had everything ready. Not it, not the wall, not the guards outside the metal door to her cell. They'd all fall down, and he'd help her over the mess. Dress her all in that beautiful blood red, and make her a queen again while the world burned. And this time there wouldn't be any paradox machine for that nasty little abomination to destroy, or faith in the Doctor to save the human race. Nothing but fire and blood.
She laughed again, the sound echoing madly around the bare room, her eyes lit with delight at the image she could see in her mind. All she had to do was wait for him, and she could see that again, rubble beneath her feet and fire blazing all around.
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG13
Warning: The Master forgets that the whole cloning thing came without clothes.
Characters: The Master, Lucy Saxon, originals
The music pounded through the room, the beat heavy almost to overwhelming even for the lone figure dancing in the space not taken up by a machine that humans wouldn't easily recognize. Wouldn't recognize at all, not for centuries beyond the year blazoned across the calendar on the wall of the room. His voice competed with that of the lead singer, the raw roughness of disuse ignored as he used the music and movement to settle himself back into his head, into the body that was new and old at the same time.
Outside, a guard shifted uneasily on his feet, hoping someone would arrive soon who knew what to do with the blast of sound that had startled him out of boredom almost half an hour ago. Barely keeping his relief off his face as a woman came striding down the corridor, heels clicking sharply on the concrete, and a look of someone who knew what she was doing. He opened his mouth to speak, and she cut him off with a sharp gesture before a sound could emerge.
"I am already aware of the situation. Open the door."
"Ma'am?" He stared at her, his uncertainty returning with the unexpected order, one that ran counter to everything he'd been told when he was given this assignment.
Cold blue eyes met his gaze, her expression unyielding and frighteningly lacking in any other emotion. She didn't repeat the order, merely watched him, waiting as he fumbled the key from his belt and into the lock. She waved him aside as soon as the lock clicked over, turning the handle herself, allowing the music to spill out into the corridor.
The guard watched, indulging in the curiosity that was still overlain with fear and confusion, puzzled by the naked man that had stopped in the middle of dancing. Blond hair, brown eyes that were as frightening in the intensity of their gaze as the woman's were in their icy chill. Something about him that suggested power, even though he was nude and looked to be covered in some sort of goo.
Another person stepped past the guard, pushing a cart that held a stack of towels on the top, and boxes underneath that looked like the sort the guard's uniform and shoes had arrived in when he took employment with this company. Clothing, then, he supposed, but something made him doubt it was a uniform.
Once the cart was inside, the woman dismissed the man who'd pushed it, and shut the door behind him, leaving the guard as mystified as before.
"Good evening, sir." Theresa turned from the closed door, ignoring the nudity of her employer with the aplomb of someone well-paid to tolerate any eccentricity.
"Good evening, Ms. Allard," the Master returned politely as he picked up one of the towels to start scrubbing the gel off his skin. "Couldn't you have found some less sticky growth medium?"
"I'm afraid that wasn't an option, sir." She watched him with nearly the same expression that she'd turned on the guard outside the door, changed only by the hint of subordination that she allowed to show. "Would you like the report of activities while you were indisposed now, or would you prefer to wait?"
"Is UNIT aware of this facility, or the Doctor?" He dropped the towel when it spread the gel more than scraped it off, picking up another.
"Not at this time. However, I have arranged for transportation to a more secure position from which to base continuing operations, now that you are awake. It would be prudent to remove any evidence of the purpose of the facility before there is a chance a leak may be developed or cultivated."
The Master made a face as he tossed the second towel next to the first, spreading his fingers to inspect them for more of the green goo, nodding to himself at the apparent lack of any left. "Why would UNIT have any desire to cultivate a leak unless there already was one? You certainly didn't allow your company any outward affiliation with me before."
"Mrs. Saxon has been in UNIT custody since shortly after your death, sir. Despite her lack of knowledge of the location of this facility, and her personal loyalty to you, I will make no assumption that she will maintain the secrecy of our association. Nor can I effect her release if the association is to remain unknown to UNIT, and our facilities unmonitored."
Scrunching up his face again a moment in annoyance, the Master picked up another towel. "Lucy won't tell them. Did you bring a suit along with all these towels?"
"Yes, sir." Theresa moved around to the far side of the cart, crouching a moment to remove the boxes from the bottom shelf, setting them next to the remaining towels. "It's not a particularly expensive one, as the gel tends to stain clothing, and takes a shower to properly remove."
The Master rolled his eyes, reaching for the box after he dropped the last towel on the pile, pulling on the clothing with a grimace at the feel of the cotton against his skin. It was better than the drying gel, but only barely.
"All the information you need to catch up on lost time is at the facility renovated for headquarters, sir," she continued before he could ask another question, or issue an order. "We can continue discussion en route, if you would like, but I would prefer to vacate the premises as soon as possible, and activate the automatic security features."
"Automatic security features?" The Master raised an eyebrow, giving her an inquiring look before he headed for the door, trusting that she would provide directions to the car along with an answer to his question.
"Yes, sir." Theresa moved ahead of him to open the door, letting him move down the corridor a moment while she paused to give the guard orders to maintain his watch on the room for the remainder of his shift. Only when they were clear of the building, the car pulling smoothly out of the car park, did she elaborate. "The automated security will prevent entry without the activation codes, and appropriate biometrics, or a determined explosives expert. I am currently the only one in possession of the codes who also has the correct finger- and retinal-prints. They also, unfortunately for the staff still inside, prevent anyone leaving without the same, and there are no accessible explosives stored within the facility."
"And if someone does break in, how do you prevent them obtaining the equipment."
"There are shaped explosives planted in strategic locations around the room where the proprietary equipment is stored to ensure the maximum damaged to equipment should someone attempt to break in. They are shielded against outside electronic interference and their placement is such that they are physically inaccessible from inside or outside the facility."
The Master nodded in approval, smiling cheerfully at the thought of UNIT attempting to break in and finding nothing but death and shambles.
She knew he was still alive, somewhere out there. Nothing so simple as a bullet could kill him, just fool those simple little people who wanted to bring him down. He would show them how wrong they were, and rescue her. All she had to do was wait, and keep her secrets, like that Martha girl had. Without all the traveling around and telling stupid stories of a silly old man.
A giggle escaped her, sly and secretive, and she pressed her fingers to her lips to keep anything else from escaping. Pulling them away a moment later, she studied her nails with a small frown, wondering for a moment when they'd become so ragged. Letting out a soft sigh, she let her head fall back, looking up at the barred window over her head that let in the daylight. Barred and out of reach, to keep her from even seeing the outside.
It wouldn't keep him out, once he had everything ready. Not it, not the wall, not the guards outside the metal door to her cell. They'd all fall down, and he'd help her over the mess. Dress her all in that beautiful blood red, and make her a queen again while the world burned. And this time there wouldn't be any paradox machine for that nasty little abomination to destroy, or faith in the Doctor to save the human race. Nothing but fire and blood.
She laughed again, the sound echoing madly around the bare room, her eyes lit with delight at the image she could see in her mind. All she had to do was wait for him, and she could see that again, rubble beneath her feet and fire blazing all around.