Of the Vortex Born: Chapter Thirty-two

[amberfocus]

Chapter Thirty-two:  Stranger in the Mirror

The girl who had been told her name was Jamie Tyler stood in front of a full-length mirror staring at her body. Her clothes were wet, a thin blue gelatin clinging to her skin, her hair, straight and pale blonde, hung halfway down her back. Her eyes were blue and her cheekbones were high. She was short, barely five feet tall, and thin. She didn’t have much in the way of curves, though the promise of them was there. She did not recognize herself, but then she did not recognize anyone else, either. All strangers together, she supposed. She just wished she didn’t feel like a stranger in her own head.

A small brunette woman with vivid blue eyes, eyes that matched her own, came in with some clothing. “Hello, Jamie. It’s Mairi,” the woman said softly. “I’m your sister.” She was just about willing to accept that her name was Jamie, that it almost fit her. “I’ve brought you some clothes that should fit you better. And you might want to take a shower. There’s real water in the TARDIS and Dad has a special soap he says you should use to get that goo off you.”

“I’m Jamie,” she managed to say. Jamie’s eyes met Mairi’s in the mirror but otherwise she ignored her sister.

“Yes, you’re Jamie,” Mairi agreed. “The bathroom’s just through here,” she said and walked through it, placing the clothes down on a shelf and finding towels for her sister. She pulled them out and put them on the towel bar then started the shower. She found the soap her father had told her about and set it on the tub.

“Come on, Jamie. The sooner you get that stuff off you and get into some fresh clothes, the better you’ll feel.”

“I still won’t remember who I am.”

“No. Not…not for a while. If at all. Do you need any help?” Mairi asked.

“I remember how to take a shower, Mairi,” she said dryly.

“Well, but it’s not sonic. It’s water.”

“I know. I’m not stupid. I’ve lost my memories, not my functional skills. I’ll be fine. Stop hovering.” Jamie didn’t quite have enough emotion to snap, but her tone was definitely testy.

“I can’t help it. I’m worried about you.”

“I know,” said Jamie. “I can feel it. Up here.” She tapped her temple. “Everyone is worried.”

“You almost died, honey. Of course, we’re worried,” Mairi said.

“I wish you’d all stop. Can you leave now?” she asked abruptly.

“Yeah, but we’re here if you need us.” Mairi had barely left the room when Jamie shut the door hard at her back.



“How is she?” Rose asked when Mairi reentered the infirmary.

“I got her to take a shower. She’s…different. Bitter isn’t the right word. Closed off, I guess,” Mairi said. “She reminds me of me at that age.”

“Yeah. I thought so, too,” Rose replied in a mild tone.

Mairi glanced at her mother with narrowed eyes then sighed. “I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with then.”

“You’re still not, love,” her mother said.

“Mum,” protested Mairi.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but it’s true. I blame your father’s last incarnation for that one. Very similar personality.”

“How’s Luke doing?” Mairi asked deliberately changing the subject.

“The burns have healed now but otherwise he’s the same. The Doctor’s trying to come up with some kind of cocktail that’ll wake him, but he probably just needs time. I think your father is afraid that Sarah Jane will kill him if he doesn’t return Luke in the same condition he picked him up in,” Rose explained.

She brushed a stray lock of hair back from the boy’s peaceful face. There was no sign of the trauma that had occurred by his touching Jamie at the start of her regenerative cycle. It was all internal as the Doctor had already used the dermal repair unit to heal his burns.

The Doctor reappeared with Landon in tow. “Hey, Mum,” Landon said. “The TARDIS is safely stored in the cargo deck of the shuttle. Bet you didn’t even feel it move. We’re going to start the return journey to the Moon in just a few minutes. How’s Jamie doing?”

“She’s the same,” Mairi said.

“Can I see her?” he asked.

“She’s in the shower,” Mairi told him.

“Think she’ll be out soon?” he asked. “I need to get back to pilot the ship, but I want to see her first.”

“I don’t think she’ll be much longer,” Rose said.

“How’s the boy?” Landon asked glancing over at the still form next to his mother.

“No change.” Rose looked over at the Doctor. “Did you find something to revive him?”

“I have something that should restore him. Whether or not it will revive him is anybody’s guess. Time will do that if nothing else will,” the Doctor said. “It’s just a very good thing that his brain is not like a normal human’s. Touching a regenerating Time Lady would have fried out a regular brain. And the cellular damage to the rest of his body can be repaired with this.”

The Doctor held up a syringe and moved to Luke’s side. He swiped an alcohol pad over the boy’s arm and then injected him carefully. “What is that?” Rose asked.

“Nanogenes that I altered for his physiology. Give him an hour and you’d never know he was exposed to that kind of power,” he said then added, “at least, I hope so.”

“Can the nanogenes repair Jamie’s brain?” Mairi asked.

“It’s not the brain that’s been damaged, Mairi,” the Doctor said quietly. “Well, it was, but that’s been repaired with the regenerative cycle. It’s the mind we have to worry about. That’s a whole other story. Regeneration sort of reboots the mind. Jamie’s regeneration failed to start properly because of the aneurysm, so it’s possible that her entire identity is gone. Or she hid her mind somewhere where she can’t access it now. The connection has been broken and she needs to build a bridge to get back to where she needs to be. Neither outcome will prove to be simple to cope with.”

Mairi sighed. “The last thing we need right now is both these kids out of commission. I can’t even think straight, I’m so worried about Jamie and there are still the attacks to sort out. Dad, there’s something going on with the minus, I’m sure of it. They’ve got something to do with these attacks.”

“Minus? You mean the Ritauels?” he asked using the proper name of the alien birds.

“Yeah. I think it has to be about them. I just can’t figure out why. We talked, oh, so long ago now, about them secreting a substance that could be used to control the minds of the Ganyites,” she said.

“I know, but…well, the ones that rescued Luke and Jamie before, they insisted they weren’t behind these attacks.”

“We thought they were lying, but maybe they weren’t,” Rose said. “They could have been telling the truth, that they specifically weren’t responsible. That doesn’t mean there isn’t another faction of Ganyites that were doing something the first one knew nothing about. Look at what happened with us and Torchwood. We’re all humans, well, humanoid, but we’re definitely not on the same side.”

“Come to think of it, the ones that attacked us on the Moon’s surface, they looked more like they were made out of almost pure onyx. And Landon showed me the vid of the assault.  The way they shattered, there couldn’t have been much diamond in them. The ones who held Luke and Jamie were made entirely out of black diamond. There’s no mistaking the luster for anything else in the universe,” the Doctor said.

“Do you think it’s possible that one faction of Ganyites is using the brain altering chemical from the birds to control the other one?” Landon asked.

“It’s entirely possible,” Rose said.

“If that’s the case, I really need to get another sample of the substance they excrete. The first batch was lost in the Torchwood debacle,” the Doctor said. “I can start analyzing it as soon as I get some, possibly develop an antidote. I wish we didn’t have to wait for the shuttle to get back to the Moon.”

“We don’t,” Mairi said. “I brought the birds on board the shuttle. I’ve had a feeling about them ever since the first dome cracked today.”

“Oh, good girl!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Go and fetch them and we’ll get to work.”



Jamie emerged from the shower and dried off quickly. Her body felt extremely unfamiliar, unwieldy and entirely not her own. She dressed in the clothes her sister had brought her and desperately searched her mind for even the remotest sense of who and what she was. There was nothing there, nothing she could find anyway. She felt empty, like a vessel waiting for a mind to be poured into it.

Oh, she knew she had a mind. She could still think after all. But she was unsettled and not because everyone she had seen so far had expected her both to be someone and not be anyone at the same time. The conflicting thoughts coming from her telepathic family had been staggering. Their need for her to be okay was a bit overwhelming as it pushed constantly against her mind. She knew they didn’t mean it, but they couldn’t seem to help it. It was easier when they weren’t in the same room with her. Then the din became bearable.

She sighed. She knew she couldn’t keep avoiding them forever. She didn’t know what she was really like, but she was pretty sure that avoiding her loved ones was something that wasn’t “her.” She left the bathroom and laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. Maybe if she slept things would be better when she woke up. Maybe she’d know who she was again. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so utterly alone despite being surrounded by family. Or maybe it would be worse.

Still, asleep she could avoid the yawing feeling of being alone in the universe. She was pleased when she felt the edges of sleep creeping into her exhausted mind. With little more thought at all she eased into dreams.

 

Comments

[maniacalshen.livejournal.com]

The connection has been broken and she needs to build a bridge to get back to where she needs to be.

This combined with a comment in the last chapter makes me go, "Hmmm..."

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Methinks you might have stumbled upon a plot point...

[tracy-lousia.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I noticed that as well, interesting stuff!