Fixed in Time (Doctor Who Fanfiction)

This is Me Getting Out

Twenty years passed quickly and nothing was any better; actually things got worse. I graduated at a plebeian level and found work fairly easy. I was quite good at science, but compared to the time lords I was below average. I gained a job as a scientific assistant, which meant I got to pass the actual scientists test tubes or diodes and then watch them sullenly while they did the work. It also meant I got to receive messages from the High Council and pass them on, yippee. I was moved around multiple times to different places and eventually I left and started working in industry instead.

Naturally, the Doctor and Koschei excelled at the Academy and they were well known for their escapades. They ended up in all sorts of trouble, and occasionally they dropped by and told me about it.

My annoyance at the High Council of Time Lords grew as they continued to dictate the workings on all of Gallifrey and the whole of time while keeping safe in their comfy little Citadel. The Laws of Time still forbade them to interfere in the affairs of other planets so instead they watched other species suffer and die without lifting a finger to help, or even caring.

I only knew this because I researched these kinds of things. I was intrigued by aliens and their history, especially human history since earth was partly where I was from. I really wanted to go there someday, but sadly that was improbable. All the ships capable of leaving Gallifrey were off limits to people like me, which was another reason I was resentful of the time lords.

One time, while I was working in one of the industrial lines tasked with manufacturing food, someone from the Council came to check our work and make sure everything was up to scratch. They observed us from way above on floating platforms, not coming among us but acting as if they were gods to us plebeians. It made me boil with anger, especially when they relied on us and the work we did to survive. Without the toiling of lower class people like me, the power of Gallifrey would not have been achievable. And yet the pompous time lords acted as if it was all their doing.

Maybe I could have overlooked that, though, if it hadn't been for the abhorrently rude way I had been treated by the High Council already.

Koschei had told me about how members of the High Council sometimes patrolled the outer edge of the Citadel; outside of the dome but still in the city. So I decided to go confront them about the many issues I had with their time lord hierarchy.

I found two of them together traversing one of the streets. Running up, I asked them for a few minutes of their time. But looking me over, they informed me that anything I had to say would not be relevant to the High Council of Time Lords and then they swept regally off. Needless to say, I was furious. I told everyone I could about it, but naturally no one cared. Not even the Doctor listened; he was too busy.

So when that inspection happened, and the time lords overlooked me once again, I decided if this was what life on Gallifrey was like then I didn't want to live there any longer.

Thus came a month of intense research and planning. Since I was restricted from, well, pretty much everything, it wasn't exactly easy to find a way off of the planet. Nevertheless I managed it and as soon as I was ready I sprang into action.

I packed a bag with everything I needed, dressed in my most casual clothes, and headed for the Citadel. I wouldn't be able to get inside but I didn't have to; I was heading for one of the repair shops underneath the Citadel.

It was an idea that had come to me out of the blue. Old Time and Relative Dimension in Space machines were admitted there for fixing, sometimes even machines with only one tiny thing wrong. More often than not there were perfectly working time machines in there, they were just considered to be out of date. Yeah, time lords were hypocrites, tell me about it.