Doctor Who and The Goddess of Evolution

Chapter 3: Yaddlefish

The Doctor gazed up at the the water behind the large panes of glass.  Fish, snails, coral of all shapes, colors and sizes adorned the water like the perfect world is was supposed to represent.  The water was a brilliant mix of blue, purple and green.  As a mermaid with green hair and fins swam by with a wave, The Doctor waved back.  "Hello!" he shouted cheerfully.

"Was that a mermaid?" Rory asked in astonishment.

Yes," The Doctor replied, looking around to see some people looking up at the life in the aquarium.  Some were children, others were adults.  No pets.

Shame.

"Right, let's not bring too much attention to ourselves, yeah?" he said as he looked around for anything to tell them where they were.  "The air still smells different here.  Thinner, but it's more tolerable now.  I wonder...did we pass through some sort of barrier before?"

Applause was heard off somewhere and the Doctor smiled with delight in his eyes.  Splashing was heard as well.  He immediately raced towards the stairs he noticed in the wall and the Ponds ran after him.

"Wait, Doctor!  Ugh!" Amy yelled as they chased after the madman up the stairs.

When they got to the stop of the stairs, they were all greeted by a beautiful display.  Constellations were in the backdrop of the windows, the water was a sparkling light blue and animals of all kinds were jumping from the water.  Fireworks were going off and a crowd, filling up almost all the seats of the circular room were cheering and laughing as they watched everything in awe.

"Oh my God!  Such pretty lights!" Amy laughed as bright lights flashed everywhere. 

Of course the humans would be only really looking at the lights and the animals, the Doctor noticed.  The room itself was spectacular and huge (roughly the size of two football fields put together side by side) but why would it also be an observatory?  He found that rather strange, considering there was, in fact, a giant telescope in the far corner of the stands, facing directly at windows.  The main event seemed to be the fireworks and the animals jumping out of the water.

"Are those real animals?  Or are they, like, holograms?" Rory asked curiously.

Usually, the Doctor would have an answer for this.  However, since he was in uncharted territory, the only thing he was certain of was that they had air and gravity.

And that people all had consoles in front of their seats on stands.

"Good question, come with me," the Eleventh Doctor said with a questionable look.

He walked through the stands, hoping to find open seats.  Vendors were handing out all sorts of food and beverage items to the crowd.  This was also interesting.  Was consumption even a thing on the astral plane?

"Must be, people do need energy, living or dead," he thought to himself with a chuckle. 

Eventually they found some empty seats, although they weren't in the same row.  "Right," Rory said before taking a seat and looking at a console.

The Doctor and Amy did the same for different seats and started looking at the consoles.  A screen popped up for his and a gorgeous mermaid appeared on the screen.

"Oh, you're the one I waved at, hello!" the Doctor chimed with a smile.

"Welcome to Mr. Gabriel's Nexus.  I am Veronica," the mermaid said in an American accent.  "And this is the aquarium and observatory sector.  What aquatic wildlife specimen would you like to observe today?"

The Doctor thought for a moment.  "Too many things I would like to see, honestly.  But you called this place a nexus, is there more than just the aquarium and observatory?"

"Yes," Veronica replied as a giant whale shark jumped out of the water farther down the seats and landed with a giant splash, causing a lot of guests to get splashed with water.  "Mr. Gabriel's Nexus also has a museum, a zoo, gardens, art galleries, pubs, recreational activity centers, sports hubs, arcades, pools, amusement parks, hotels, culture exhibits, churches, and many other things."

"So this place literally has everything?"

"Yes.  What aquatic wildlife specimen would you like to observe today?  Might I make a recommendation based on your memory?"

"Yes!" The Doctor exclaimed happily.  "Surprise me!"

A light shined on the Doctor's happy face and Veronica's face went blank.  "Name, the Doctor.  Species, Time Lord.  Planet of origin, Gallifrey.  Alternate reality designation number, AR 655; physical realm.  Uploading yaddlefish specimen."

The Doctor's jaw dropped.  He hadn't seen a yaddlefish in hundreds of years.  They were native to his planet.  And they were all extinct.  So when a rather large, long river fish, made up of blue, purple and orange scales with a large throat bubble popped out of the water, he was astonished.

And when it started to sing, all the applause, laughter and cheering died down to listen to the melodic voice of an angel.  The harmonies that emanated from the now glowing throat of the animal were so superb, so emotionally moving, the Doctor could hardly believe it was the fish at all.

In fact, he was positive it wasn't really the fish singing.  He just knew it.  He'd heard plenty of yaddlefish in his time, none of them had ever been this good.

"Veronica," he said quietly as the hush was still over the crowd.  "Yaddlefish didn't sing like that.  They moreso sang folk songs about eating, swimming and...breeding.  Although after they relocated, their songs became more about the defeat of the Slothe people.  Quite lazy, those people were."

"Gallifrey does not actually exist in this reality, Doctor," a different American voice said over the console as it flashed with static.  The same one from before when he and his companions were in the TARDIS.  "In fact, I'm wondering if you're even real."

The Doctor got closer to the screen, his eyes squinted as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started scanning the machine.  "I'm very much real, but I'm wondering if you are."

"I...don't remember," the voice said before Veronica appeared back on the screen.

"Hang on, who was that?" he asked.

"I do not know, Doctor," Veronica said, looking a bit confused.  "Please fill out this questionnaire if you have any complaints or anything to report about our technical systems."

A questionnaire did, in fact, pop up on the console and the Doctor went over it, still listening to the singing just like everyone else was.  "Why?  Was it a glitch?"

"We have technical problems from time to time.  We rely on guests to report anything out of the ordinary so that they can be fixed in a timely matter.  Thank you for choosing to spend your day in Mr. Gabriel's Nexus."

The screen went black as the fish finished its song.  People were brought to tears and were clapping and cheering.  The fish bowed its big head before diving down under the water. 

"That was beautiful!" Rory shouted.

Others were singing their praises to the performance, but the Doctor was trying to wrap his mind around other things.  And that's when he noticed it.  The chill that ran down his spine.  His face, for a few moments, appeared as pure panic before he regained his composure and cleared his throat.

A smile suddenly formed on his face when he felt the presence change into something...slightly more friendly.

"Been a while since I've felt proper scared, who are you?" the Doctor asked with a grin, turning on his heel to face the being behind him.  A tall, young looking man with long, black hair and purple eyes was staring at the Doctor, looking not the least bit amused.  His purple robes were rather damaging, however.  "Love the outfit.  Very regal coloring.  Does it come in blue?"

Suddenly the man disappeared and the Doctor was left with yet another chill.  And it was exciting.