Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 55 - Time Heist, Part 3

"Eight," the Doctor muttered as he led the way through the small tunnel. "But there were only six of us. Why?"

"What are you jabbering on about, old man?" the Ranger called up in a low whisper.

"Numbers, you whippersnapper," the Doctor retorted, coming to a divided track and taking the left. "Numbers that don't add up."

"What about 'em?"

"There were six of us, correct?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So why were there eight atomic shredders?" He stopped and looked at the younger man, brows furrowed. "And why were there only five worms?" he whispered harshly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"There were six of us in that room, Jamie. Only five worms. Why?"

"Well, didn't you say that Psi didn't need a worm, since he could manually delete the information?" Clara offered, pressing against the wall as she squeezed through a tight spot. 

"Yes, but he was holding one when I saw him. We all were. Except for Lyssa." They both turned to look at her.

She waved sheepishly. "Hello."

"You didn't get your memory wiped?" Psi interrupted. "But then how's that work? I thought that was supposed to help keep us alive." He winced. "Not that it did Saibra any good."

Lyssa looked down. "No, I got my memory wiped same as you, I think. I just didn't use the worm. First thing I remember is the Doctor holding my temples. Told me my memories might be mixed up for a bit, and told me not to look ahead. Oh yeah!" She peered up ahead at the Doctor. "I have a paper I'm supposed to give you when all of this is over. Don't know what it says, though, so don't ask me."

"Wait. You didn't use the worm, but you still got your memories wiped?" Psi frowned. " But you're not like me. How did you get rid of them?"

"Of course!" The Doctor suddenly smacked himself in the forehead. "I'm so slow. I'm slowing down. I'm spending too much time with pudding brains, I'm missing the obvious."

"What's so obvious?" Psi snapped.

"Oh," the Ranger suddenly realized, eyes wide. "That - that makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Clara asked in exasperation. "Mind explaining it for the rest of us feeble-minded mortals?"

"Sorry, Clar," the Ranger apologized, fiddling with the brim of his hat. "The memory worm wouldn't have worked on Lyssa because it would only have wiped the events of the last hour from her memory. If she knew what was going to happen, she would have realized what was going on as soon as she recognized a familiar event. That would have given her a lot of guilt, and made her a lot more noticeable to the Teller."

"Okay, so, pretending I know what you're talking about, which I don't, if the memory worm didn't work on her, and she can't just wipe her own memories, how did she lose them then?" Psi interrupted impatiently. "And can you explain quickly? I really feel like we should keep moving."

"I wiped her memories," the Doctor said quietly. They all turned to look at him, Lyssa with wide eyes. "I wiped all her memories of the event, then told her not to look ahead. That's the only way she would have been able to avoid knowing what lay ahead."

"I'm sorry, but are you telling me that you know the future?" Psi closed his eyes. "That might have been nice to know beforehand."

"What would have been the point?" the Doctor asked dismissively, turning back around and starting to walk again. "She only knows the future sometimes, and apparently I wiped all of her knowledge of this event, so it would have been useless information."