All Across The Universe

6 - The Temporal Disjunction Protocol

"Matron, what am I doing here? You said we'd only need to begin live testing in a few weeks." Emerald spoke up. She didn't know why she was saying what she was saying. But she felt like she'd said this before. The Matron smiled sweetly at her and put her tablet down on a desk.

"Matron..." The Doctor mumbled, pursing his lips and his brow creased lowly in thought. Where had he heard that name before? It was clear that Emerald's subconscious had gone back, or forward, in time. Because she wasn't in this present moment. And she was conversing with another living being.

The Matron walked up to Emerald and stroked her cheek. "Yes that was the original plan, but it seems the enemy forces have broken through more of our defense than we expected. We need to perform live testing on this protocol. The sooner we yield positive results, the sooner we have a means of escape."

"A means of escape? But, it's too soon. You don't even know if the experiment will work." Emerald breathed out, straining against her binds. "It works in theory. And that's all we need." The Matron walked to a switchboard and began pressing buttons and flipping switches.

All around her, machines roared to life. A large spotlight was cast on her and she looked at the Matron, betrayal in her eyes. "There are too many risks. You know our minds are too complex to narrow down one singular outcome. I said I'd participate in this once absolute proof and safety could be guaranteed." Emerald tugged on the straps that bound her wrists and she grunted, straining her muscles.

The Doctor had begun writing everything down that his companion was saying. She was speaking a lot more intelligently than what she usually would say. But from what he had gathered, Emerald had volunteered to be a part of a study, of what study, he didn't know, but it seemed that she had been forced into the study before it was actually ready to have test subjects.

"You would willingly sacrifice one of your own people for the sake of science?" Emerald asked, disbelief clouding her features. Deep down, she knew she used to trust this woman. Now she couldn't say the same anymore.

The Matron sighed and took her glasses off, lifting them to rest on top of her head. "Astral, you must understand. I am simply doing what I've been ordered to do, the Temporal Disjunction Protocol was put in place to save all of us." Emerald's eyes widened and she looked up to see a metal pillar had come down from the ceiling and a small portion of it opened up. A small beam of light was growing on the inside and it was pointed at her.

She grew more restless, as if now was the time to fight for her life. "The Temporal Disjunction Protocol was put in place as a last resort!" She groaned, gritting her teeth. Her forehead felt hot. She whimpered and tried to turn her head away when hands held her head in place. The beam of light was pointing directly at her forehead.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he took a step back away from Emerald. "The Temporal..." He trailed off and ran a hand down his face. "There's no way. Not a chance." He breathed out in disbelief as he stared at the woman in front of him.

Slowly, piece by piece, the puzzle was all coming together. Everything that didn't make sense in his mind, made sense now. He wanted to smack himself repeatedly for not realising it sooner. The answer was literally staring him in the face this entire time!

"No. No please!" Emerald let out a scream as the light enveloped her whole body. She gasped loudly and stood up, running blindly toward the centre console. "Hey, hey, hey easy there! Woah girl." The Doctor caught her before she could trip and hit her head. She was panting, heaving, sweat running down the side of her head. "Doctor?" She asked softly, was she in another place again? Or was she back in the TARDIS?

The Doctor looked at her sympathetically, his lips drawn in a tight line and he had a look on his face that she couldn't quite place what it was meant for. "Emerald..." He said her given name. It sounded weird. That wasn't her name.