Worlds Apart

Chapter 10

Doctor's POV

Emma came back at eight o'clock the next morning, holding a small paper bag. Crystal squealed, "Emma!" and tackled her in a bear hug. "Emma, I missed you!"

"Yeah, I see that," Emma shoved Crystal off of her and sat down. Crystal asked, "What's in the bag?"

"My breakfast," Emma told her.

"Why'd you get breakfast when it's only eight in the morning?" I asked.

"Reasons," Emma shrugged and dumped the contents on the table. Inside was a bottle of orange juice and a package of Pop Tarts. She told Crystal, "Crystal... do you remember what we used to do with Pop Tarts?"

"Yeah!" Crystal put her head down on the table, leaving her back exposed. Emma told me, "Don't question, don't worry, it's really fun and Crystal really likes it."

She raised the Pop Tart just above Crystal's back and started hitting it somewhat hard.

"Um, I'm not worrying, but I can't promise I'm not questioning," I said.

"It feels so good..." Crystal moaned.

"You guys make the Doctor look normal," Jenna commented, sitting down next to Crystal.

"That's an achievement," Emma grinned.

"Quite," I said. "Why do you do that? Other than Crystal really liking being thwacked on the back with Pop Tarts." 

"Emma for some reason likes to break up her Pop Tarts," Crystal explained. "We were at a place that had no table, and she used my back to break it into pieces."

"You can sit up now," Emma told her. She sat up. Jenna said, "I found a way to find someone in this huge hotel without having to search every floor." 

"Oh really?" Emma cocked an eyebrow. Jenna nodded and brought out a paper airplane.

"Yeah, I don't see how that's gonna work," Emma turned back to her wreck of a breakfast.

"You didn't let me explain," Jenna let go of the airplane and it hovered in midair. "It can find people anywhere. It has an artificial memory and a mental map of the building, including where everyone is. I've made use of Mortivia's annoying cameras by hacking onto the network system and connecting it to the airplane's microchip, hidden in the paper. It has a small motor that keeps it floating in midair, like now, and two little engines that propel it through the air."

"So, to sum it up," Emma said slowly, "You've basically added a GPS system to a paper airplane, with a microchip so thin it's probably invisible viewed from the side, and miniaturized a car's engine."

Jenna nodded. "Yep."

"That is amazing," Emma took the paper airplane from the air and held it up to her face. She was fascinated, and that kinda ticked me off. Normally I was the one memorized by clever machinery. Instead, I said, "And you made this? By yourself?"

Jenna shook her head. "Naw, a friend of mine is an engineer. He works at the Gravity Works place in the city- you know, the place that controls the weather and gravity- and he got bored, so I suggested an idea like this! Of course, you can write on it, so carry around paper."

"Awesome," Crystal moved closer to the paper airplane.

"You Time Lords really like technology and stuff like that?" Jenna commented.

"Most. Crystal's into robotics, and I well-"

"I'm a doctor, but yeah, I like that stuff" I interrupted.

Emma glared at me. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I love anatomy and biology and that kind of stuff,  but I'm always impressed by, well, stuff like this."

"You're also into genetic engineering right?" Crystal nudged her sister in the ribs.

"If you're talking about the fire immune piranha, that was pure boredom," Emma snapped.

"I would like to see this piranha," I said.

"You can't. It fell into the void," Emma said. I shrugged.

"Also, I heard something, er, slip out of Mortivia's mouth," Jenna said.

"Don't care," Emma said, brushing the crumbs off and settling back.

"No, no, it isn't about you or the Doctor, it's about the hotel," Jenna said.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? This must be interesting."

"Okay, well the conversation went somewhat like this: Mortivia was talking to one of her coworkers, something about a tunnel, and she said, 'The entrance, isn't it, like, by the hotel?' and her coworker nodded. Mortivia said, 'Can you show me?' and he said-"

"I get it," Emma interrupted. "There's a tunnel, and the entrance is by the hotel. Why are you telling me this?"

"She had mentioned you and something about going into the tunnel," Jenna explained. 

"The airplanes," Crystal said suddenly.

"What about them?" Emma asked.

"We could split up to find it. Then, once we did, we'd send the airplane telling the location to someone," Crystal explained.

Emma took this in silence. Then, she said slowly, "That would work."

"I don't want her to find the entrance before us," Crystal said.

"I know," Emma told her. Then she stood up. "When do we start?"

"Aren't you tired?" Jenna asked.

"No. How many do you have of those airplanes?" Emma asked excitedly.

"Ehhh, about twenty," Jenna said.

"Great."

"I'll get them," Jenna mumbled, and left. Emma turned to me. "I think I should check in the front, you and Crystal check in the back."

"And what about me?" Clara stumbled into the room, rubbing her eyes. "What are we doing?"

"Looking for a trapdoor into a tunnel," Emma explained. "You can check in the basement."

"Okay, let me wake up and get dressed," Clara yawned and headed back upstairs. Jenna came back, holding about ten airplanes. "I hope this is enough."

I nodded and grabbed one carefully. I scooped up a pen and stuffed it into my pocket.

Emma's POV

Clara came back twenty minutes later, looking much more wide awake than before. I handed her an airplane, and after explaining to her about the airplanes, we split up. I used the back doors and knelt down, knocking on flat rocks on the ground, trying to see if they were hollow. None were. Fortunately, no one else was out at eight-thirty in the morning, so I wasn't painted as a nutcase. That's all I needed. People thinking I'm a flirt and a basket case. I tapped rocks, looked for suspicious things like handles and the like.

I found what looked like a hinge, perfectly disguised in the column that I found it in, but there was no doubt once I knocked on it. I scribbled excitedly onto my airplane, I found it! It's in the fourth collum, from the right. Emma. I told it to go to the Doctor, and it zoomed off. I nestled back onto the column, feeling proud of myself. 

A few minutes later, the airplane came back. The Doctor had scrawled, I sent the other airplane to Clara so she knew. We'll be there shortly. Doctor. But what really made me smile was the PS: For the life of me, you are going to learn how to spell column.

I grinned. A minute later, the Doctor and Crystal came rushing from the front. I stood up and showed them the door. The Doctor soniced it open. I prepared to go in, but he said, "Wait. That's a steep jump, and we need to wait for Clara."

I sighed and stepped back. Clara came running towards us. "Well, I see I'm not the only one who got the momento." She showed me the airplane I sent her. The Doctor had crossed out collum and scribbled, column!!!! I grinned at that. Clara inspected the entrance to the tunnels. "That's a steep fall."

"I'm sure it is," a deep, gruff voice said behind us. I heard the Doctor shout out a warning before a pair of rough hands shoved me, sending me into Clara and into the hole.