The Pale Cage

Chapter 2

Outside was too hot. Always too hot. The heat wormed its way into his body, into his mind and he wilted. He looked down in horror has his bare feet on hard ground were melting. There was no blood no veins, no bones, just a puddle of liquid forming beneath him, around him. Over taking him. His newborn lungs gulped in great bellows of air, but his screams died as he melted. Hands pulled him away. He felt his Flesh separate, leave droplets on the ground, on the gloves of the scientists...why couldn't he stabilize? He was Time Lord from Galllifrey. His name was Raeburn. His best Friend Amelia Pond. His other self was the Doctor. He could remember everything, but why couldn't he stabilize?

His melting form was placed back into the cubical. The cold cubical that kept him stable, in his own universe. He wished for the Tardis now. Its energy field could stabilize him permanently. A nice dose of Artron energy would be perfect. Raeburn watched in horror as he saw the scientists scoop up bits of him left on the floor.

“Well least he didn't entirely revert back.” Said Roangy. As Raeburn took to calling her. She and her twin were the grandchildren of the evil boss man who was in control of everything. Their last name was Roane, so three Roanes in the same room. It got very confusing, very quickly. So Raeburn referred to her as Roangy for Roane Girl and her brother was Roanby for Roane Boy....And Doctor Evil Pants was just Dr Roane. But Raeburn enjoyed coming up with new names for him.

“You okay in there?” Roangy asked.

Raeburn gave a weak thumbs up. He felt sick, but at least his form was reshaping. Coming back, Reborn.

The Twelve scientists who were in charge and made all the decisions, would leave the room for an hour every four hours. Raeburn thanked his Brother for the gift of sensing Time. Raeburn also knew that it had been four days since the 'eleventh attempt' to keep him from fully melting. Raeburn watched Roangy carefully. She seemed nervous.

She came right up to the glass of his cubicle. So Raeburn sat up and watched her.

“You know what you need to stabilize, don't you?” She asked him. Raeburn nodded. “What is it? Tell me so we can help you become a person.”

Raeburn fought to get his vocal cords under control. “Ar-tron En-ner-gy.” He said it as loud as he could muster, it was a barely audible whisper.

“Artron Energy?”

“A-” Speaking was so difficult. He closed his eyes and focused on the words he wanted to say. He tried to speak clearly, but his words nearly went unheard. “A surge of Artron energy into the flesh should help me to stabilize permanently.”

Roangy nodded and turned back to her Count Grand fuehrer and relayed the message back. Raeburn watched closely as the man nodded and turned to leave. Without the energy Raeburn would be unable to regenerate, at this point, he could barely even keep the shape of his feet. If he didn't get Artron Engery soon, well...his brain could melt and he'd have to start all over again.

“So, where do we find Artron Energy?” Roangy asked when she returned to him.

Raeburn was sitting up, with great difficulty and leaning his head against the glass. “There is always residual Artron Energy hanging about somewhere. We just need to pinpoint a location my Tardis had recently landed in...”

“Okay, so do you have any ideas on where your Tardis would be?”

Raeburn glared at her. That was the last thing he wanted, this lot getting a hold of his time machine...or worse, the Doctor...or even more bad, Amy and Rory. He had to figure out how to stabilize with out risking those he loved. “Well, how about we start with where we are...”

“This is St. John's Monastery.”

It was then, when Raeburn realized they were still on the Island. The same place where the factory was buried. Pink flushed over Raeburn's skin- solidifying with his fierce anger.