Shores of the Gods

Chapter 1

“Why are we here, exactly?” she said as the doors of the cramped lift opened and he took her hand, stepping over the threshold.
They entered a plain white corridor and she watched him sniff the air once or twice, his eyes darting about quickly before choosing a direction to follow.

“You know, I would have thought, and it could very well be just me, that any human would at least be the teensiest bit interested to see the actual capacity of the human mind actually being used…in all actuality.” He said simply, putting his hands in his pockets as they walked side by side down the silent hall.

Rose kept her stride up with his, her brow furrowed in thought without any interruption from him except for the squeak of his shoes on the smooth floor. He glanced sidelong at her as she thought things through and suppressed a grin. One thing he did enjoy about Rose was her ability to work things out for herself rather than ask a load of questions.
“Hold on,” she said, shaking her head at him. “Wouldn’t that mean they’d become pure energy?”

“According to Einstein, yes,” he grinned absently, “Albert Einstein. The wickedest badminton player I have ever seen.” he laughed and looked at Rose, “But yes. Very good. That is why they are kept in these wards, separate from the general population.” He pointed at a plain windowless door as they passed by.
“They’re dangerous?” Rose looked apprehensively over the Doctor’s shoulder at the door.
He shrugged, “To other humans, no. It has always amazed me over the years that no matter how much you humans evolve you still cling so dearly to that instinctive fear of what’s different or unknown.”
Rose frowned at him but didn’t reply. She had learned early on that it was ludicrous to argue any point with him as he was quite obnoxiously right most often even when it came to the best flavors of ice cream the universe had to offer.

“As to why we’re here exactly – I really haven’t the foggiest. The Tardis had some odd readings before landing but –“
He stopped in front of another plain white door with no door knob, no sign of the ability to enter the room beyond at all. Placing his hands on the surface he studied it for a moment.

“…cold.” Rose heard him mumble before reaching into the inside pocket of his suit coat and extracted a thin hand held device. He pressed the controls with his thumb and a blue light erupted from the end of it.
She waited patiently as he drew the device along the seam of the door and smiled to herself as she thought of the several places they’d still be stuck in if it hadn’t been for the Doctor’s most useful sonic screwdriver.

“That should do it.” He said and turned to her with the very familiar look in his eyes. It was that small sparkle that only meant that he had no idea what they were getting themselves into but he could hardly wait to find out. “Well,” he said with a cheery sigh as though they were deciding on a spot for a picnic, “let us go in, shall we?”

He opened the door but took Rose by the arm before she could take a step.
“Please,” he said, “Age and beauty before human, I think.” He grinned as he took her hand and moved into the room first, Rose close behind.

At first glance the Doctor turned to Rose and placed a finger to his lips signaling her to be silent as the first impression of the environment hit her like a brick wall.
The air in the room was freezing.
Rose shivered and kept close to the Doctor who seemed to give off his own type of energy and heat, much more potent than a human. It helped her very little. The cold inside the room seemed to be more than just temperature.
As for the room itself, it wasn’t at all remarkable. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all white and seemed to be made of solid concrete. There were no windows, no other doors and no light source although she was able to see her way around it.
On the farthest end of the room, opposite the doorway was the only remote piece of furniture in the room, a concrete slab in the corner.

“Amazing!” the Doctor whispered excitedly. He stepped closer to the slab and Rose started as her eyes adjusted and she saw a person laying on it. From what she could see, she believed it to be a woman though they could only see the back of her head and narrow shoulders as the woman was lying on her side, facing the wall. She had fair skin and dark hair the color of the night sky. It was long and draped gently over the edge of the slab as she slept.
The Doctor pulled Rose towards the woman. “Do you see it?” he hissed at her. “That’s not a blanket covering her at all. If I’m right, it’s supposed to contain her in some way. And look,” he pointed. “Look at her skin.”

Rose stepped closer and saw the exposed skin wasn’t fair at all. It was bright because she was glowing. Small ripples of gold, silver and crimson passed over her and underneath the blanket-shield in a continuous swirl of energy and light.
“Even in her sleep.” Rose muttered.
The Doctor scratched his chin as he thought for a moment, “Since the brain is always working, regulating the breathing, heart beat, dreams et cetera the same goes for her case only her brain is much more remarkable than most.” He said, his eyes gleefully combing over the woman once again.

“How can she still be here?” Rose said, “She’d be pure energy, wouldn’t she?”
“Quite right,” the Doctor said as he whipped out the sonic screwdriver again and passed it over the woman’s body in a scan.

“It looks like she’s in a state of transition,” he mumbled. “Her body is running at a fantastic speed – everything is in flux.” He raised his eyes and stared at the sleeping woman.
“Incredible that she is sleeping at all, I’d say. Anyone experiencing what she is could be running record laps around the city of London without breaking a sweat.” The Doctor bent lower and Rose followed suit.

“They could at least make her more comfortable.” Rose said, eyeing the slab of concrete with a look of distaste on her face.
“Should we be this close?”
He raised his eyebrows looking unconcerned, “I have no idea.”

It is rude to stare. A female voice spoke gently.
Both the Doctor and Rose exchanged looks and slowly stood, backing away from the pitiful excuse for a bed.
Does it not frighten you, my being inside your heads? The voice sounded amused but not threatening.

The Doctor snorted a laugh, “That’s not fair to you really because you have no idea where my head’s been.”
“And mine’s truly not worth the browse.” Rose said.

I’ve been alone for so long, any mind is welcome.
The woman’s shoulders shivered slightly and Rose realized where the voice was coming from.
Your minds are strange. You are not of this world. She sounded shocked but intrigued.
The Doctor approached the bed again and squatted down next to it, “You were taken from your world, weren’t you?” he said softly.

Rose felt the air grow colder and wrapped her arms about her to keep in the little warmth she had from her thin jacket.
The Doctor turned, looking up at her and stood immediately removing his long brown coat that he always wore over his suit and wrapped it around Rose’s shoulders. “I could hear your shivering from a mile away,” he said with a small smile. “That is one thing, isn’t it? It’s bloody freezing in here and she is why.” He said, pointing at the woman.

“She absorbs the heat?” Rose said, her teeth chattering as she stuffed her hands in the coat pockets.
“Not only the heat,” he said, his eyes still searching about the room, “the energy. There’s no light source in this room. She is the light source. Hah!” he ran a hand through his hair and goggled at Rose, “Doesn’t that just giddie you up? - well, it should at any rate - She’s even absorbing it from us. Look –“

He held up the sonic screwdriver and turned it on. The blue light brightened and dimmed as a small wisp of blue light drifted from the device and to the woman’s body through the air.
“Oh! I’m impressed. I love it when I’m impressed! It’s so…impressive.”

“Doctor –“ Rose took him quickly out of his reverie and nodded at the bed, clutching his coat about her.
The woman had turned onto her back. Her face was young and smooth, flawless and lovely. Her eyes were closed but her voice echoed in their heads again.

I was only a child when they took me. I remember very little of anything of the outside world. But soon, I will be taken to the Shores.
“The Shores? What are they?” the Doctor said.
The Shores is where we are set free.
The Doctor’s smile had faded as he looked at her. Concern had replaced it.

“What do you mean, set free?” Rose said.
“They let us go.”
“That’s kind of a vague solution isn’t it?”
It is the only way.
“The only way for what?” he said irritably. “’Set free,’” he mocked, “’- it is the only way’ – what kind of pile of poo is that?”

Rose approached the bed and put a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
Iris. The voice in her head told her.

The Doctor guffawed, “Oh now I wish I had a more specific name...Daisy, or Violet – they smell good – we could be a bouquet!”
“I’m Rose – “
I know – Rose and her Doctor – Travelers in Time.

Rose looked at the Doctor, “Can we help her?”
He didn’t respond right away but stuck his lip out in a small pout as he did when something was bothering him, “Since when have I become your doctor? Like I’m some sort of cuddly thing here for your amusement!
He thought further on it and broke into a smile, “Well, I am cuddly – that’s a scientific fact. But that wasn’t my point – “

“Can you help her, Doctor?” Rose said sternly.
“There isn’t much I can do for her.” he said. “Her mind is moving at a million miles per second. It’s amazing she doesn’t go mad in this place.”

Thoughts of the Shores sustain me. Iris thought.
Rose turned back to her, “What happens at the Shores when you get there?”
We are set free - allowed to exist as we’re meant to.
“As pure energy.” The Doctor said, frowning.
Yes. They wait until maturity and when we are ready, they let us go. I am told it is a feeling beyond anything this world can offer.
The Doctor frowned further still, “’They’” seem like rather kind people, don’t ‘they’?”

“It’s too simple.”
Rose smiled slyly, “Isn’t it something like the simplest answer is usually the correct one?”
The Doctor rolled his eyes exasperatedly and started pacing, “Rose, you travel through time and space and as anyone who has ever traveled through time and space can tell you, that saying is not exactly accurate. In fact it’s a load of tripe with a bit of droppings sprinkled on top.”

“Why keep her here then, if they only mean to release her?” he said, his voice sounding more accusatory with every word.
“Why not let her live her life and use her brain? Why not allow her to learn as she should and then when it is time, release her then? More directly – why is she here?”

We are dangerous.
“No you’re not,” the Doctor said flatly.
We are.
“No, you’re not.”

We are kept isolated because of what we are capable of. I have seen it.
“But you’ve no wish to harm us, Iris,” he said.
No. It has been so long since I’ve spoken to anyone. In the room next to mine there was a girl, River, she went to the Shores long ago.
We used to converse through the thick walls. Now, I can hear and feel noone.

Rose crouched down silently next to Iris and watched a tear roll down the side of her face into her hair.
“I’m so sorry.” Rose whispered and moved to put her hand over Iris’s but the Doctor leaped forward and snatched her hand away, giving her a warning shake of his head.
“You said they weren’t dangerous.” Rose protested.
“Leave it to you to go and prove me wrong though, right?”

There are others who do harm. I have felt them, Iris continued. Such anger and frustration consumes them into violence.
Iris’s thoughts stopped as though someone had clapped a hand over her mouth.
The Doctor froze, still holding onto Rose’s arm.

Iris’s eyes flew open wide revealing a silvery-blue light coming from behind them. Rose and the Doctor stared, mesmerized by the look of her eyes, looking as though she held entire worlds – galaxies – being created and destroyed just beneath the surface.
“Leave.” she choked. Her body wend ridged and her light from her skin began to churn and glow brighter.

Rose looked from the Doctor to Iris, “Didn’t she say to leave?” she said, tugging slightly on his jacket.
But he was smiling gleefully, the light emanating from Iris reflecting in his brown eyes. “It’s building inside of her.” he said as Iris let out a moan.
“It’s hurting her.” Rose felt the rise of alarm and panic start in her stomach.

“Go now!” Iris said, the pupils of her eyes no longer visible from the light that surrounded her.
As she spoke her body shuddered and a wave of pure energy burst from her, knocking Rose and the Doctor off their feet. He leapt up almost instantly and made a grab for Rose, pulling her off the floor, a small grin on his face.

“Alright,” he said, “I think it would be a good time to leave now, don’t you?” he said but didn’t wait for her answer.
At a last glance, Rose watched Iris’s body lift inches off of the bed, her entire form being swallowed in its own energy.

Iris started to scream – one high endless screech when the Doctor wrenched the door open, pulling Rose through and slammed it shut again, sealing it with the sonic screwdriver.
He put his arms around her and pushed her too the floor as the screaming seemed to fill the hallway and the light was blazing through the small crack between the floor and the bottom of the door.

Rose felt as though she and the Doctor were being lifted into the air and then slammed violently back onto it when the sound stopped, a split second of dead silence and the blast of heat, energy, light, and sound erupted inside the room they had just occupied.
The door rattled but stayed in place and Rose closed her eyes, burying her head in the Doctor’s arms for the brightness of the light coming from the cracks around the door.

And, as suddenly as it has started, silence fell again.