The Littlest Timelord: The New Doctor

Chapter 10 (Robot of Sherwood)

The three of them left the cell with Robin holding the block they were chained to.

"Now what?" Robin asked.

"First, a blacksmith's forge," the Doctor said.

"So as to remove our chains?"

"No. So I can knock up an ornamental plant stand. Of course it's so we can get rid of our chains. I don't want to be manacled to you all night and I know Elise sure as hell doesn't."

You read my mind.

The Doctor looked at her. Course I did.

Elise's eyes went wide. This was the first time this Doctor had communicated with her telepathically.

Robin laughed.

"Oh, no. Please, don't do that," the Doctor told him.

"Ornamental plant stand."

"It's not even that funny."

"You're an amusing fellow, Doctor."

"Oh, don't. Can you just stop! You'll give yourself a hernia."

Robin continued laughing.

I'm about two seconds away from murdering him.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. I wouldn't blame you honestly.

They managed to get free of their chains and they came across a metal doorway.

He looked over at Elise, who nodded.

They walked through it and stepped into a room with a glowing sphere attached to a console.

"At last. Something real. No more fairy tales," the Doctor said.

"What is this place?" Robin asked.

"A spaceship. More twenty ninth century than twelfth."

The Doctor danced around the databanks, making Elise smile. It reminded her of the regeneration that raised her.

"Data banks, data banks, data banks. Where was this ship headed?"

The computer screen responded to the Doctor's voice.

"The Promised Land again. Like the Half-Faced Man, but more sophisticated. It disguised itself as a twelfth century castle. It merges into the culture, tries to keep a low profile, so no one notices. That explains the robot knights."

The sphere in the middle of the room was smoking.

"But the engines. The engines are damaged. They're leaking radiation into the local atmosphere, creating a temporary climate of staggering benevolence."

"I beg pardon?" Robin asked.

"I told you. It's too sunny. It's too green. And there is even an evil sheriff to oppress the locals. This explains everything, even you."

"It does?"

"Well, what does every oppressed peasant workforce need? The illusion of hope. Some silly story to get them through the day, lull them into docility, and keep them working. Ship's data banks. Full of every myth and legend you could hope for, including Robin Hood."

Various pictures of Robin Hood popped up on the screen.

Elise recognized some of them from books she'd read.

"Isn't it time you came clean with me? You're not real and you know it," the Doctor told him, "Look at you. Perfect eyes, perfect teeth. Nobody has a jawline like that. You're as much a part of what is happening here as the Sheriff and his metal knights. You're a robot."