The Master's Game (Doctor Who)

A bar on the moon

Even without the strange incident before it would have been impossible to sleep. No matter how hard Roka tried, either her racing mind prevented her from nodding away or she woke up after only some minutes. Something around three hours went by that way, before she had enough and got up again. Maybe she could find some ease of mind in the library. The Doctor had shown her some meditation techniques once that, if done properly, could refresh one's mind almost as good as a full night's rest. Although she had never managed to do them properly so far.

Just a few doors further down the... no, that wasn't right. One of those doors were too many, but it didn't move away from her like the others did.

There also was no key hole so Roka pressed her ear against it and her eyes widened in surprise. Some faint music and chatter reached through the wood. How peculiar, she thought and carefully peeked inside.

What she found there made her even more gaping. Stepping out of the corridor and into the room, she got engulfed in dim and warm colorful lights in various shades of orange and purple. Desks stood all around her and the corners were filled with comfy leathern benches. And all around were people! Chatting, laughing, staring into the air. Most of them didn't look very human and there was an almost unnoticeable flickering to a few of them. Holograms. Looking around some more she also found the source of the music. It came out of an old jukebox, but the songs, although spreading a comfy atmosphere, weren't from earth.

Most of the room was occupied by a bar though. At least this looked familiar, with all the bottles in the back, the spigots in the front, glasses all around and in front of the counter long barstools. The barkeeper wore the classic suit of a white shirt and a black vest, casually leaning at the counter, lighting up a cigar. He spotted her and called, "Oi, a human! Haven't seen your kind in here for quite some time."

Roka approached the bar, confused realizing that the voice sounded very familiar. And not only the voice... Her eyes widened when she reached the counter, looking up into a quite charming smile.

"What can I bring you tonight?" the Master asked, nodding towards one of the stools.

"Aaalright... what is this?" Her hand made a circular motion towards the rest of the room.

"If you ask that way..." He leaned back and took a glance around. "Looks like a bar to me." And turning back to her, he asked again, "So? Want a drink? If not, there's the door." His head nodded towards it.

Was he a hologram too, Roka wondered and climbed up one of the barstools. There was no flickering, but that didn't mean a lot. She reached a hand out to touch him, but he blew some smoke into her face, making her back off. At least that was very real.

"No manners, the young folks!" he protested, his finger drawing a line onto the counter. "That, girl, is a magic barrier. And absolutely nothing is ever allowed to cross it. Nothing but spirits filled into glasses."

He definitely was real and suddenly a grin sprang on Roka's face. This was daft and she had no idea why he did it, but for now she decided to just play along.

"Mhmm... I'm not too familiar with... bars. But I heard a good barkeeper can look right into the soul of their customer and mix the perfect drink for them," she said with a challenging smile.

"Did you? That rumor must talk of me." The Master put an elbow onto the counter and his chin into his hand, staring at her for a few seconds. Then he got up again and pulled some bottles from the shelves, pouring a few drops of one, and another few slugs of some others into a small glass, before dropping some ice cubes in and then sliding it over to her with an encouraging nod.