Doctor Who and the Echoes of Time

The Prison of the Autons Part 2

The Doctor sat against the wall with his face buried in his hands as he thought. The Tardis, his oldest companion, was gone. She had to have been taken by the Autons. The hostile action displacement system was off so that was the most likely option.

Ruby Sunday watched her friend in silence as she clutched her Tardis key in the palm of her hand. She knew they'd get the machine back but at the moment she couldn't help but consider that they could be stuck here for the rest of her life. She made a sound that was almost a giggle and almost a sob as she imagined the look on her adoptive mother's face when an older Ruby arrives on her doorstep, having come the long way around.

"Hey" Ruby looked up as in response to the noise she made she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders in a way she was sure was meant to be comforting.

"Sorry" Ruby shook her head as she pushed those thoughts to the side. (Y/n) was the only one here not at all impacted by this theft and it was clear he didn't know how he was supposed to act in this situation. "When does this cruise end?" She asked as she pulled away from the boy.

(Y/n) looked puzzled at that question. "End?"

The Doctor now looked up, curious as to why that confused his new friend. "Where do we get off?"

"What do you mean?" (Y/n) frowned as he noticed Ruby now looked more confused than he probably did. "What?"

"When did you get on this ship?" Ruby asked a second later.

"We boarded..." (y/n) was silent for a long moment. "We boarded... I don't know"

"You don't know when you got on?" Doctor Who asked as he stood up and looked the boy over. "Do you remember before you were on this ship?"

(Y/n) was silent as he pondered that question, one that had never even entered his mind before. "I remember... my mother had tickets for us to go. They were stolen so... so I snuck aboard" He had never remembered his mother until now. The thought should have spawned a hundred more but he couldn't think of any.

"Your mother?" Rub asked with a sad look. She had never known her birth mother, and it was occurring to her now that this boy may be in a similar situation.

"Were you a child when you came aboard the ship?" The Doctor asked carefully.

"Yes" (y/n) nodded slowly. "Yes, I was... eight? Nine?"

Ruby's eyes widened. "That must have been... ten years ago? Eleven?" The boy just shrugged in response.

"And you've never wondered why the cruise hasn't ended?" The Doctor questioned. "Where did you get food?"

"I snuck into the kitchens" (y/n) answered The Doctor's second question first.

"No, I meant where did the ship get the food?" The Doctor was quick to clarify. "There are a lot of people on this ship, you should be long out of food. And that's not even considering expiration dates"

(Y/n) didn't know how to respond to that. He just shrugged while looking like a confused puppy.

"It has to be something to do with the Autons" Ruby spoke after a moment of silence.

"It does?" The Doctor asked curiously. "Maybe they're also victims of whatever has hijacked this ship and its people"

The three were silent. Ruby and The Doctor wondered about this ship and its mysteries while (y/n) just tried to remember what reveal had happened a moment ago.

Whatever had been said had seemed big, (y/n) remembered that much but even that thought was fading. And what had they been running from before? Who even were these people?