The Master's Game   von TardisGhost
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                      Kapitel 1: A game of life and death
                      -----------------------------------


"This might have been the day I met the most dangerous man in the universe.
My life would never be the same" 
 
For days the Doctor had been acting strange, fidgeting way more than usually,
constantly checking things on the console's monitor and jumping from one place
to the next, only to step out for a few moments and then return without having
done anything.
Roka wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Since he had lost Donna and had left
Rose with his double, the Doctor hadn't been the same for a good while. So this
change of demeanor was surprising, but also gave Roka some hope that he would
soon return to his old self. She couldn't stand seeing him so depressed,
especially not since she couldn't do much against it.
The young woman was rather unsuspicious. Short in size and lanky, the short
blond hair of her pixie cut falling into her eyes. She wore ordinary jeans and a
t-shirt above a plaid shirt. Comfy. Just the way she liked it. No one but
herself could see it anyway.
Right now she sat on the jump seat, a book in hands, and observed the Doctor
silently, as usual. He couldn't see her anyway at the moment and she wasn't in
the mood to remind him of her presence.
It was the fourth time this day - for whatever reason she still counted them -
that the Doctor landed the TARDIS and stepped outside. This time Roka followed
him, more out of boredom than anything else. She had spent the last days in the
library, as she often did, and now needed to stretch her limbs a bit.
Surprised she saw the Doctor pointing his Sonic at the blue box, making it
vanish. Did he expect danger? She looked around the place. There was nothing
special around. They were somewhere between some factory buildings and
definitely near the sea, because she could hear waves nearby. Staying close to
the Doctor she followed him down a road and saw him peaking inside a few narrow
alleys, always shaking his head afterwards and sometimes mumbling something to
himself.
It was so peculiar that Roka didn't pay much attention to their surrounding, and
when she turned around once, she almost let out a shriek of surprise, coming
face to face with an armed soldier all of a sudden.
Even with her glitch, it was a menacing situation. The guy would not notice her
on his own, but bumping into him would definitely give her presence away.
Carefully Roka slipped out of the way and watched the Doctor, who had also
noticed the soldier and was now striding over to him with wide steps and a
confident smile on his face.
The soldier, though, only raised his hand, waving someone over and shortly after
the sound of many pairs of combat boots followed.
"Hey!" The Doctor waved, pulling his psychic paper out of his pocket. "I'm
allowed to be here, see?"
A rough dozen soldiers had gathered meanwhile, but it wasn't them who let the
Doctor's smile fall in an instant. It was the man who followed closely behind, a
bit smaller than the Doctor, with slightly tousled bright blond hair and wearing
mostly black, except a red shirt that was lurking out beneath his hoodie.
The Doctor's face turned white and alternated between worried and surprised
and... relieved?
"You were dead... I burned your body," he said in an almost apologizing tone,
while fixating the man's every movement.
The other one looked up and wore a wide grin on his face. "No, you lit the fire
and walked away. I just rolled over." He stuck out his tongue. "I really tricked
you there, eh?"
"No, you didn't. I checked. You were dead!"
"Well... maybe I finally found a way to come back..." He leaned towards the
Doctor and poked his chest. "As often. As. I. Want." Taking a step back he took
a strand of his hair. "Well... the color got messed up though. I don't like
blond..."
The Doctor looked shocked. "I heard rumors... And suspected it could be you.
What are you planning this time? You don't just appear somewhere without causing
havoc."
"Aaaaw, listen to you..." The man's grin got even wider. "Can't I just visit an
old friend? Maybe I missed you."
"Yeah, that's why you brought a whole army squad with you..."
"Oh, did I?" He turned around and looked surprised. "Whoops. Totally forgot
about those... Ahh.... How about... shoot him? Or no... no no no.... don't...
actually don't." He turned back to the Doctor and his grin faded away. He raised
his hand. "Take him prisoner."
The soldiers obeyed immediately. One of them bend the Doctor's hands onto his
back, leaving him not much room to move.
Roka was frantically trying to analyze the whole situation and find a way to
help. But when it came to dangerous situations she had never been the cleverest
companion the Doctor ever had. She was used to hiding and leaving everything
else to the Doctor. Only that he now certainly wasn't in a position to help
himself.
For now she couldn't do much more than carefully following the group. Being a
glitch in reality was of advantage in some situations, although Roka still tried
to stay inconspicuous for some reason. She could start singing and dancing in
front of them all and they wouldn't notice.
Wait... did that hooded man just look at her? No, he turned around again. Of
course he did. It was impossible to see her.
"Doesn't look like you to directly attack me," the Doctor grumbled angrily.
"You're usually much less efficient."
"Hey,  I just came back from the dead. Aren't you supposed to be happy? That's
really not nice of you. And before you ask... I need you out of the way. For
good this time. No tricks, I promise. Just a clean nice death. Or... two...
depending on how much fun I have."
After a short time they entered one of the factory buildings. It looked old and
partially abandoned. Inside they followed some steps downwards, where the
soldier rudely pushed the Doctor into a room.
"Enjoy your stay, my dear friend. It won't be for too long" the hooded man
cheered and wriggled his fingers in a mocking wave.
From there on the men spread. Two guarded the door, but the blond one put the
keys to it inside his own pockets and strode away. Roka decided to follow that
one, since he seemed to be the head of this group. From here on, though, she
really had to be careful. The glitch seemed to weaken when there was only one
person around, and it had happened a few times that a too loud noise or a too
fast or obvious movement had made a person see her.
Usually that was a good thing. But right now Roka was very eager to stay
invisible.
Some stairs later they entered an office room. It was big and twice as long as
wide. Half of it had been turned into some sort of workshop though. Lots of it
looked very alien to Roka, but since she had gotten skilled with all kinds of
tech stuff during her years in the TARDIS she still recognized a few devices.
And if it weren't for the danger the Doctor was in, she would have loved to take
a peek inside those crates.
The man left through another door, leaving her alone in the room. She took the
opportunity and silently looked around, moving towards the big desk at the upper
end of the room. Maybe there was something that could explain this strange
situation. The desk was littered with papers, but Roka had no idea what all the
numbers and diagrams on them where about. Her eyes stayed a while on some tiny,
but detailed scribbles and sketches, and a bunch of neatly folded origami
figures.
Suddenly she felt a jolt on her neck. A hand had grabbed her collar.
"Now to you..." She got turned around, directly facing the hooded man.
Surprised she glared into his eyes, they were hazel brown and filled with
curiosity and a hint of coldness. Not like the reassuring warmth she always saw
when she looked at the Doctor. Those eyes wore a shade of madness in them. And
it was hard to look away.
"You're with the Doctor, right? Not nice of you to sneak around here... really
not nice. And very unlike him not to mention you." He grabbed her throat. "Not
to beg for your stupid little life." A mad grin split his mouth. "You know what?
Talk and I might let you life... for a few minutes at least."
With that he pushed her away and Roka stumbled a few steps, rubbing her hurting
throat. With a hammering heart she turned around to face the man once more and
swallowed hard. He had an almost palpable aura of danger around him that made
her body freeze and her heart race in a way that was new to her.
"I... I won't talk."
"Yeah, yeah... of course not. Would be boring if they would always talk
immediately, right? How about we start with you handing me over that perception
filter? They might work on my men, but not on me."
"I don't have one," Roka said toneless, not able to hide the bitterness in her
voice. "It's just the way I am."
"How peculiar... Why don't they see you? And you really should answer, cause I'm
very... very creative with humans."
The look in his eyes made very clear that he wouldn't mind hurting her, so Roka
explained in as few words as possible what she knew herself about it. She had
been born dead, but a few moments later, as if time had reset, she had been born
again, perfectly healthy. Although, whatever had made this happen also had
turned her into a ghost. People forgot about her very existence in usually not
more than a few seconds or minutes. Every memory of her wiped from their minds
until they got reminded of her, which usually required some sort of physical
contact.
What else could she do than to explain it? If that guy killed her now, who would
help the Doctor? Not that she felt particularly brave, but no one else was there
to do it.
"He never mentioned me, eh? Bad, bad Doctor. Always forgetting his friends." The
man shook his head in mock disappointment. "He better had, so you would know
that I can just look inside your pitiful little brain and see if you're lying."
"Well... then you should see that I'm not." She threw a mean gaze at him. "Why
do you want to kill him? If he's your friend, then..."
"Because I hate him!" He stepped closer. "And because he walked right into my
arms, which spared me from looking for him and spending months developing a plan
to get him locked away. Lucky me. And now he will die and so will you. Arm in
arm if you wish." He stuck out his tongue.
That man was absolutely crazy. And dangerous. His very presence made Roka
shiver. She had to be careful, very careful. And quick. And smart.
And she had absolutely no clue what to do, her mind racing a million miles per
hour.
"Take me... as a hostage instead. If... you tell him you got me... he won't
interfere with your plans."
The man burst out into laughter. "Not bad. Really... but we both know he would
try anyway. Always saving the day, doesn't he? Try again." He sat down on an
armed office chair, leaning back, intensely staring at Roka.
Quick... she had to be quick.
"I..." She looked around, her gaze falling onto the workshop part of the office.
"I'm really good with tech. You could say, I'm some kind of janitor for the
Doctor... so..."
"I don't need human hands muddling around with that stuff." However, he looked
slightly curious.
"Uhm... I can repair lots of parts in the TARDIS. I'm really good." But she knew
this wouldn't help. Those cold staring eyes were still resting on her, making it
hard to think. What could satisfy a man like him? A man that seemed mad, but
also intelligent. She had nothing to offer... nothing but...
Raising her head she stared directly into his eyes, a shiver running down her
spine. It was hard to put all her remaining confidence into her voice.
"What about a game?" she slowly asked. His eyes widened a tiny little bit, but
he said nothing. "I... do whatever you want. And in return you let the
Doctor..." No, he wouldn't let him go. As much as the thought hurt her, she knew
he had to stay a prisoner for now. But she could buy him time at least.
"...live. You let him live. And if I try even the smallest thing to help him or
whatever... you can kill him."
There was a grin slowly spreading on his face. Mad and wide. "Oh, I see... Yes,
I clearly see what you're planning." He stood up again, stepping closer to her.
Way too close, completely ignoring any personal space. "Alright. This is fun.
The Doctor's life... in the hands of a pathetic human." He leaned down to her
eyelevel, hands stemmed into his side, his voice menacing. "How long do you
think can you sustain? How long can you work on a little plan behind my back
without me noticing? And do you really think whatever you come up with is so
clever that it can beat me?"
Roka stared at him, feeling anxious and not even a tiny little bit as confident
as she tried to sound. "Yes, I do." Her own gaze became malevolent.
"You don't know who I am, right? Of course not. He never talks about me. How
rude..." He came even closer, almost tenderly stroking a finger along her jaw
line and leaning towards her ear, his voice quiet and cold as ice.
"I am a Time Lord, like your precious friend... I am the Master. And you will
obey me."
 



                          Kapitel 2: A familiar face
                          --------------------------


It was only then when she actually recognized his face, and suddenly her racing
heart calmed down, even though she knew about how dangerous that man was.
"Oh," made Roka. "You look different."
With the blond hair and the thin goatee he had grown, it was a surprising
difference to the man she had seen first, be it only for a short time.
The Master took a step back, observing her curiously and after a moment his
eyebrows raised, accompanied by an amused smile. "Ah, I remember. You were there
when I build the paradox machine." He chuckled at the memory. "Suddenly just
standing there and watching me. Like a ghost."
She remembered too. That day when he had ran inside the TARDIS to regenerate
into a handsome young man, rambling some nonsense and then running off. Since
she had no idea how to control the TARDIS she had had no choice but to stay
inconspicuous and hide, only to get bored of it quickly and taking a look.
Another Time Lord wasn't a thing she could have just ignored.
At first he hadn't noticed her of course, but after a while he had started to
chuckle to himself, before turning around and strolling to the seat she had
placed herself in. There he had observed her closely, without saying a word, as
if unsure whether or not she had been real.
"A shame you ran away..." The Master interrupted the memory. "Thought you were
quite interesting, sitting there as if it was nothing." He leaned close again,
putting a hand under her chin to make her look up. "Not the slightest hint of
fear in your eyes... again."
That day she had just smiled up to him, telling him that he would forget about
her anyway, before leaving the room and a very perplex Master behind.
"Where did you hide, little ghost? It was a whole year after all and I've never
seen you again."
Roka shrugged. "Can't remember." He must have activated the machine shortly
after and everything from then on was lost to her.
She slightly winced when he put two fingers to her throat.
"Peculiar..." He made it sound like she was some sort of experiment. "Eyes can
hide fear, but not your pulse. And yours is calm as a pond..." He chuckled to
himself and grinned at Roka. "That's gonna be fun. I think I like you already."
"Please don't," she stated sarcastically and got back another amused grin.
"Shall we tell the good news to the Doctor? I bet he'll be delighted." The
Master grabbed her arm and pushed her forwards. "Move. And remember... don't try
anything funny."
The whole way back he held her arm grabbed, so she couldn't run. And probably
also not to risk forgetting her. It was a short walk and not enough time to make
any useful plans. She would have to wait and observe, being careful and smart to
find a gap somewhere in his net.
The cell was mostly empty. Just an ordinary table and a chair stood in it. As
soon as the door opened the Doctor sprang up, rushing towards the Master with a
grim face.
"Lucky you, Doctor. Look what I just found." With that he pushed Roka into the
room. The Doctor recognized her a few seconds later. It was always the same look
people had when they realized her presence. A look of surprise and remembrance.
"Oh no... no, no... don't tell me you followed me," he uttered in disbelieve and
concern.
Roka looked away. "I thought I wouldn't get noticed."
Suddenly she felt the Master crossing his arms on top of her head, again
ignoring her personal space. He seemed to have fun with that, and Roka felt
uneasy at being so close to another person., let alone this particular one. She
could feel his two hearts beating against her back, calm and slow, and Roka
couldn't avoid thinking about what a weird sensation that was.
"Don't dare to harm her!" The Doctor stood and rushed towards them. "You have
me, don't..."
"Her?" The Masters voice sounded surprised. "I thought you were a little boy.
Why are you running around like that?"
Roka looked up as good as she could and smirked at his surprised expression. "To
let people like you think I'm harmless."
He glared down at her for a moment, then laughed. "Do you hear that, Doctor? Not
an ounce of fear in that voice. And that although I could just poke a hole
through her chest. Right now... right in front of you. Just to upset you."
From the Doctor's stories she knew that the Master wasn't just spilling out
empty words. If she wasn't careful, he would make his threat reality. But she
also remembered the glint in his eyes when she had suggested the deal.
"Would be quite the short game if you did," she remarked. "And boring."
The arms moved from hear head to her shoulder, spinning her around and pressing
her against the next wall. All air got pressed out of her lungs in an instant
and Roka sucked in a surprised breath, before glaring dumbfounded at the Master.
"Yeah, that would be a shame. Wouldn't want to miss playing with you. But I
can hurt you... Very slowly and very... very carefully..." He paused, the mean
grin fading and he raised an eyebrow. "Still not scared? Interesting."
"My pain threshold is higher than usual." Her gaze got mean. Why had she said
that? Her own mind was screaming at her, but for some reason she couldn't resist
to provoke him. "Try me."
The glint in his eyes was back, mixed with amusement this time. He let go of her
and turned around to the Doctor, who looked as if he was about to throw himself
at the Master at every moment. Probably only not doing it to not put Roka into
any more danger than she was in anyway.
"Listen to that. She's begging for it!" A mean laugh followed his words.
"Doctor, I didn't know you were able to pick up interesting pets." And he
proceeded to explain their little game to him with a happy smile as he saw the
Doctors eyes widen in fear.
"No! Don't do that! Roka, don't..."
"Oh, let the girl have some fun. It was her idea after all."
The Master chuckled and sent a mean grin in her direction, that she somehow
couldn't resist to return promptly.
_________________________
Roka sat below one of the big windows, watching the rain outside, sitting in a
way that put her slightly behind some crates and made her hardly visible to the
Master. In the end she just had to wait and he would forget about her, like
people always did. All that was needed was a bit of patience.
Time enough to think about a proper strategy. Well... there actually wasn't much
to plan. First she had to find out where the Master stored the keys to the
Doctor's cell, and the rest would be easy.
Carefully she looked at her enemy, sitting at his desk, looking like he was just
doing some kind of casual office work, probably plotting something. Then she
looked back outside and sighed.
Being in danger was only thrilling for so long.
Now she had gotten bored and looking over the crates she wished she could snatch
some of the parts around her to build something. One of her favorite things to
pass time. All those years in the TARDIS had given her enough time to refine her
skills and help the Doctor with all kinds of repairs. It hadn't been a lie. The
Doctor himself called her his janitor from time to time.
Again she sighed. She shouldn't make herself noticeable again, but...
"Hey..." she said carefully, waiting for the Master to look up. "Care if I use
some of that stuff?" She nodded towards the components.
He tilted his head to the side, observing her for a moment, before answering,
"What for? There's no weapon hidden in that junk."
"I'm... just bored." She shrugged and saw him raising an eyebrow.
For a few moments the Master just stared at her, cold and mildly curious.
"Repairing the TRADIS, eh? I don't believe you. But there, go ahead, impress
me." He chuckled to himself and attended to his work again.
Roka sprang up, eager to take a look at all the stuff around her. There were
some really interesting gadgets and broken parts. Some were completely alien to
her, others seemed at least vaguely familiar. She had seen some of the things on
various planets, others in the TARDIS. Lot of the stuff was broken or taken
apart, but an idea sprang to her mind when she saw a still functioning quantum
stabilizer.
_________________________
"Done!" Widely and satisfied grinning she observed the result. The chip had
gotten really small and the magnetism wouldn't destroy it's functionality like
the first time she had made something like that. A rustling of cloth made her
look up and she saw the Master stepping towards her, a cup of steaming coffee in
his hands. She stared at it with craving eyes.
"You... cut out some plastic." He looked down to her, taking a sip. "And there I
hoped you would be interesting."
"The plastic is just the hull." Roka heaved herself from the floor and, before
the Master could stop her, let the chip drop into his cup.
"Oi! What are you thinking, you're doing there?"
"Don't mourn, wait a few seconds." She held up a hand to silence him. "I
combined a quantum stabilizer with some basic carofrum wires... had to take
apart one of the Fh'smarg devices, but..." The Master stared at her with cold
eyes and she hurried to explain, "It keeps every liquid it comes into contact
with at a stable 60° Celsius. Perfect drinking temperature. And since it powers
itself via heat..."
The Master burst out into a laugh, then grinned sarcastically at her.
"Seriously? You spent hours for something useless like that?" He raised the cup.
"Uhm, stop! Don't drink that!"
Lowering the cup again he stared at her with amusement. "Let me guess... it's
not safe? What a surprise. There, kill yourself." With that he pushed the cup
into her hands and walked away.
"Oh, the chip is," mumbled Roka. "But I don't think you want to risk swallowing
that thing. Unless of course, you want your blood boiling."
Slowly the Master turned around and started to laugh. "My, you're stupid."
"I'm not!" she protested, but the Master just laughed louder.
"Oh, but of course." He stepped back and lowered his head down to her. "You
warned me... and there you had the chance to kill me in the most ridiculous way
ever. With coffee..."
Roka lowered her eyes and bit down on her lip. "Why would I want to do that?"
she mumbled and put a flat magnet at the cup's bottom. "There, now the chip will
stick to the ground." Satisfied smirking she looked back at the Master.
Somehow, now that the initial situation had settled, this aura of threat had
seemingly vanished from him. Not that he appeared less dangerous now, but at
least Roka didn't feel like frozen around him anymore. The she realized she had
been staring at him during this whole thought process and hastily turned away,
not even thinking of returning the coffee. Instead she took a big sip.
"Oi, don't just keep it, cheeky human!"
"At least I can be sure it's not poisoned. You can thank me later."
"For what?"
"For never having to endure cold coffee again." Roka leaned against the wall and
glanced over the rim of the cup, giving him an amused grin.
For a moment he just coldly stared at her and she feared to have gone too far.
It was so hard to tell what he was up to. One second it seemed as if he could
smash everything and everyone in his way on a whim, the next he was so calm and
composed that it was even more threatening. The Master appeared to be floating
between being a childish madman and a battle hardened general. Someone, who had
seen and done the unbelievable, but couldn't control himself all the time.
In some ways he was very similar to the Doctor. But Roka grasped immediately
that this was only on the surface.
The moment faded and the amused glint came back into his eyes.
"Not very impressive... technically. But creative, I admit." The Master turned
around and grabbed a strange gadget from the pile, only to rudely push it into
her free hand. "Here, look at that."
"What is it?"
"Tell me."
A test, thought Roka. She turned the thing around in her hand, carefully
observing the parts. At first glance it looked complicated, but the wiring and
that...
"That's... a very fancy remote detonator. Doesn't make much sense this way
though. If you want it to go off by rusting away... you should change that part
here with another kind of metal. This one takes ages to oxidize."
She hadn't even ended the sentence when he ripped the thing out of her hand and
shoved another device inside it. "How about this?"
"Uhm..." She had no idea what it could be. It looked like a thick metal
bracelet. But as she took a closer look Roka could see fine veins going through
it. Glowing very faintly when held into the light at the right angle. What could
be its purpose? It looked and felt vaguely familiar... She closed her eyes,
trying to let her brain solve it. Somewhere in this net of information should be
an answer.
When she opened them again, she glared right into the Master's face, who had his
fun ignoring her personal space once more. Surprised she leaned back a bit,
blinking perplex and feeling her heart rate speed up unexplainably.
"Err... it... that's..." she stuttered and stepped back. "I think it's a
portable translation device. If so... probably very limited in its capacity, so
you can only choose one or maybe two languages. Although... With your Time Lord
technology you could probably fit in a storage chip that is way bigger than the
device itself."
"Alright... you're not so stupid after all." Tilting his head he observed her
curiously. "Maybe I'll use your brain for one or two... things."
"Ha! Told ya!" She grinned proudly.
He looked amused at Roka. "I guess you already know what I want to do to your
planet. Aren't you a bit too eager to help me with that?"
"As long as you let the Doctor stay alive. Earth has never done any good to me,
humanity neither." She shrugged and sat down next to the window again, taking
another sip from the coffee.
It was true. There wasn't much that bound her to earth. And not a single person
knew about her existence. Only the Doctor had given her a home to stay, and for
that she would be eternally grateful.
The amusement in the Master's eyes got even bigger, and he squatted down in
front of her. "Seems like we're going to have lots of fun together."
Roka rolled her eyes to show him what she held of that statement, but froze when
he reached out a hand to her.
But all he did was stealing his coffee back out of her hands and returning to
his desk afterwards.
 



                               Kapitel 3: Shoot!
                               -----------------


Adjacent to the office room was another, way smaller one, that probably once had
been some kind of storage. There also was a door leading to a tiny bathroom.

Roka was allowed to sleep here and she was glad to get at least some privacy.
The room was odd, mostly empty, except for some bookshelves and an old, dusty
sofa in one corner, that reminded Roka of how tired she was. Although she wasn't
sure if it was actually safe to sleep at all. Not that there was much of a
choice to make. Humans could only go for so long without.

Instead she took a look at the shelves. They probably had been here before the
Master had occupied the building. Or maybe not, since some of them clearly
didn't originate from earth. Roka recognized some titles that didn't resemble
any human language and without the TARDIS she sadly couldn't read them.

Some were familiar though and she picked one up, lying down with it. Nothing
better than a good story to keep one's mind busy. Not that she could concentrate
on it all too much. Her thoughts circled around the Doctor and his odd behavior
since they had left the Ood planet. He clearly had awaited to find the Master
somewhere. But the other Time Lord had been a step ahead. What were his plans
with the Doctor? And with earth?

It didn't really matter. Roka just had to stay awake long enough and would be
forgotten. Then she could sneak outside, search for the keys and then they could
leave this place.

Not for a second longer than necessary did she want to be around the Master.
Like that first time she had seen him, he creped her out. It wasn't fear...
just... she couldn't even put it into words, but simply thinking of the stories
the Doctor had told her about him...

She shook her head and buried her nose in the book again, not wanting to think
about this too much.
________________________________________________________

A shadow leaned down and a small weight got lifted from her chest, making her
eyes fling open. It took Roka some seconds to remember where she was.

"Don't sleep with them," the Master grumbled, but his voice didn't sound angry.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes, blinking perplex at the strange man in front of
her. Only slowly did her mind pick up on the whole situation, and a frown etched
itself deeper and deeper onto her face at the memory. She sighed and swung her
legs from the sofa.

"Sorry. Wasn't planning to do so." She looked up and cursed herself for having
fallen asleep.

"Six hours should be enough for your meager brain to recover." He turned the
book in his hands, smiling when he read the title. "Not my fault, when you spend
that time with anything else." The book found its old spot again and got placed
there much more carefully than Roka would have expected. Not like a random
object.

At least he seemed to value books, she thought a bit amused. But something about
his words bothered her, something her still tired mind couldn't quite grasp.

"I want to test what you're capable of." The Master turned around, grinning down
to her. "You won't ask any questions and just do as I say."

Roka yawned once more and nodded. Everything was better than being bored.

"Is there a coffee or two involved? I don't function properly without."

"Only a poisoned one." The mean grin got wider.

She huffed and couldn't prevent a smile. "Fine with me."
________________________________________________________

Roka spent the whole day building seemingly random devices. Some of them were
easy, others were really tiny and delicate. But with her fine motor skills none
of it was much of a problem. The Master didn't tell her what the objects were
for and not even what they were supposed to do, so she wasn't able to alter
their functionality. At least she was allowed to use the tiny kitchen next door
- no knifes were in there - to get as much coffee as she wanted, earning her
more than one amused look.

When the Master came to inspect her work Roka couldn't tell what he was thinking
while looking at everything very carefully. It was fun to watch his face though,
his forehead an nose wrinkling here and there, his eyebrows wandering up and
down. His mouth moving from one side to the other, sometimes curving into a
smile, sometimes into a grin.

Who are you? That thought wandered through Roka's mind over and over again. To
her he was like some kind of boogey man, a creature born from tales told in the
dark. But also a former friend of the Doctor. Had he always been like that? Or
had something made him the way he was today? And if the later was the case, what
could happen to a person to become an initiant of wars and genocides, and all
the other things.

"That's really something." The Master sat down the last object, turning towards
her. "Fine, I'm impressed. A tiny little bit." He squeezed his fingers together.

Roka couldn't keep herself from having a grim smile on her face.

"Don't think too high of yourself. It's only good for a human."

"Still sounds like a compliment." Her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten anything
since the last day. "Are you going to pay me for all that work? Ugh... I would
kill for some pizza."

A mean grin appeared on the Master's face. Roka didn't like it.

"You're sure about that?"

"Ahh.... some toast would do it too... I guess."

"Get up." He said in such a cold tone that Roka simply did it, watching him
coming closer. Way too close for her taste. "Let's have some fun, eh?" His hand
vanished inside his jacket and when he pulled it out again he held a gun in it
that he shoved into Roka's hands. "Shoot that guard." He nodded towards the man
that guarded the door.

"What?! No!" Roka's eyes widened as she stared at the weapon in her hand.

"I even pay for the pizza, if you do." He trod beside her, and leaned down.
"He's under my control. He'll even like it."

"I won't. You're mad!" Never before had she held a gun. It was heavy and cold.

"Yeah, I know." The grin on his lips was an all too proud one.

"I can't shoot anyway," Roka tried to talk her way out. Her heart was racing by
now and memories flooded her mind. Ones she had tried to banish from herself,
but now they all came back, making her shiver.

"Nah, that's not hard." The Master moved behind her and gripped her hand. "See,
just move it up. Hold on tightly or you'll hit yourself with the recoil." Roka
couldn't move. Every muscle in her body seemed to be paralyzed and her heart
beat so fast it almost made her dizzy. "Now, just pull your finger back,
slowly...." His voice became almost a whisper. "I hold your hand. No need to
aim. Just... pull."

This wasn't happening... he couldn't make her do that. Her eyes closed on their
own, she didn't want to see this. She also didn't want to hear the shot, didn't
want to feel the cold metal in her hand, nor the other hand that gripped her so
tightly, nor... the calm doubled heartbeat at her back. He was so close and...
real. Not a boogey man, not a nightmare. Just a person.

"You're boring," he sneered disappointed and let her go all of a sudden.

Roka's hand fell down, shaking. I'm not following his orders, she thought. Over
and over again. He was just a guy. A Time Lord maybe, but even they had weak
spots. If she could just... Breathe, she thought to herself. Breathe and get
calm. Stop shaking.

"Well, no food then... at least for you."

Roka spun around and held up the gun. He was so close there was no need to aim.
She just pressed the muzzle against his chest. His eyes got wide and the grin
faded away.

"I had really lots of time to read about Time Lord physiology," she said slowly.
"And I know at least three spots to shoot you without triggering your
regeneration. Including this one."

Just a person. Just a living, breathing person. I don't know anything about you,
it raced through her mind. But you make me do this...

"Aaaaw, come on. Me you would kill, but not him? That's not nice." A faint smile
came back to his face. "Do it." And as she didn't react he came even a step
closer, pressing the gun further against him. "You can't, right?" He leaned down
to her, glaring directly into her eyes, only inches away from her face. "It's
easy. Just a little bow of your finger and you and your Doctor are free."

Roka stared back. Hear heart pounded so fast in her chest it hurt. It would
happen... again... But he wasn't any better than that other ones. Let me forget
that you're alive, her mind begged. Be nothing more than a tale once again, for
it is your own fault. Her finger moved backwards. There was the point. Just a
little bit further and...

*click*

A second like an eternity passed, time stopped for a moment and only returned to
normal when Roka gasped for air. Confused her gaze wandered back and forth
between the gun and the Master.

Nothing had happened.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" A very happy smile spread on his lips. "There are
no bullets in it." He took the gun from her now shaking hands and put it back
into his jacket. For a few moments he just coldly observed her, his gaze
wandering up and down as if searching for something specific. Then he chuckled
to himself. "Seems I was right. You are an interesting one..." His look was
almost acknowledging for a second. "Guess I owe you pizza now. Anything specific
in mind? No pineapple though, that's disgusting."



                           Kapitel 4: Traces of ink
                           ------------------------


"I think... I'm dying," Roka moaned.

She lay on the floor all limbs stretched out, not able to move an inch.

"For once it wasn't me," the Master remarked sarcastically from his desk.

"Oof..." She nudged the empty pizza box further away. At least he had kept word.
Though it had felt surreal seeing a villain like him ordinarily ordering food
and she had to try really hard not to laugh. Although she still felt a lot more
like punching him for the thing with the gun.

And now he was so bold to just sit there... and to read a book. Casually. What a
weird guy, she thought. But even someone like him couldn't be destroying worlds
all day. Sometimes even a villain had to be... normal? Roka grinned. He was
probably reading something that would help finishing a weapon.

"Stop staring at me." He didn't even look up. "You're annoying."

"Was just wondering..." she mumbled.

"About what?" Lowering the book revealed puckered eyebrows.

"Let me guess..." Roka pointed a finger into the air. "'10 ways to destroy earth
in a day'. Or... 'How to tame a human'."

He snorted. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Your book."

"Who would write something idiotic like that?" The Master chuckled.

"Don't know..." She grinned and glanced towards him. "Someone like you."

He laughed. "No, if anything at all I'd write about... hmm..." For a moment he
thought about it, forehead wrinkled. "'A guide to find the most tasty food in
the universe'." He laughed at that thought and shook his head.

Roka giggled. That had been a bit unexpected. "I know what I'll write about as
soon as I get out of here.... 'The ultimate guide to become a cliché villain.'
... Yep, I think that'll do. With that reference..." She stuck out her tongue at
the Master.

"Oi, I'm not cliché!" he protested.

"You totally are! So far you are the ultimate prototype of a comic book
villain." She counted her fingers up. "Chaotic, randomly cruel, fascinated by
his own plans, wants to destroy earth for no reason, including the enslavement
of humanity..."

"Don't forget, 'crushing your psyche when he's bored'." A mean grin spread on
his face and he leaned back with folded hands.

"Good luck with that." Roka smiled. She'd been long gone before he would have
the chance to do that.

Leaning onto his desk he stared at her for a moment, smirking slightly. "I'm
more interested in the chapter 'How to deal with annoying hostages'." The Master
stood up, came over and dropped his book on Roka's stomach.

"Oooow.... man! Ooof... don't do that..."

"There, read and shut up. It's too loud today anyway. Can't concentrate on it."

What was he talking about? Some of the devices around gave off a slight humming
here and there, but apart from that the room was only filled with a heavy
silence. She didn't get an answer to her questioning glance, so she picked up
the book and looked at it surprised while sitting up. It was an old copy of Moby
Dick.

"Oh... I read that as a child." She smiled and looked at the pages. "Nice...
looks like a complete version. It's surprisingly hard to get by one."

"The only thing you humans are good at."

"Huh?"

"Literature." The Master waved a hand through the air as if to enclose this word
into a bubble. "Most races don't write at all. Others only write facts. It's
surprisingly rare to find actual stories."

"Mhm... I see..." Roka looked at him. "Then you're even more stupid than I am."
When he raised an eyebrow she continued, "If you destroy this planet... there
won't be anyone left to write these."

He looked surprised for a second, then laughed.

"Hey, that's... I can't even argue against that."

"So, you stop?"

"Of course not! There are more than enough books written to spent a Time Lord's
lifetime reading. Who needs more?"

"I do. And with you super reading speed you'll run out of them faster than you
think."

He grinned. "Just because I can read that fast doesn't mean I always do. It's
good to pull out information, but you miss all the nuances and details. And...
hm..." A finger sat itself onto his chin. "You kinda have to slow yourself down
so the pace of the story synchronizes within the speed of your own time
stream."

"Huh, that's interesting. Never thought about it that way." Roka opened the book
and started to read the first page when the Master crouched down next to her.
She looked up again. "Get lost. I won't annoy you anymore."

"I'm curious." His head tilted. "Your brain is so limited. It just cancels out
everything you don't concentrate on."

"I wish I could cancel you out." She sighed.

"How does it feel? Trapped up there..." He poked her forehead. "Looking through
the eyes of the author like you're there yourself."

"Don't tell me you can't!" She looked at him in surprise, not getting an answer.
But his look was curious, as if she were an interesting animal. "Hm... I don't
know how to describe it. Depends on the words the author is choosing. Sometimes
the book itself can't manage that. But when you lean back and just... let your
mind wander off..." Her voice became quiet and slower. Her eyes closed. "Then
yes, I can feel like I'm huddled together with the whole crew on deck in the
cold storm, while Ahab is holding his frantic speech about the white whale."

"Ahab's an idiot." The Master rolled his eyes.

She looked down at the book. "No... just old and mad and bitter. I like that
character. He's kinda fascinating. And scary."

"How is he fascinating?" The Master sounded surprised. "A stupid whale ate his
leg and he kills his crew and ship and himself just to get revenge... on an
animal... and he didn't even win!"

Roka looked up and smirked. "Different times I guess. We do have some
interesting history, and back then... for them the whale wasn't just an animal.
It was... like a dragon. A mystical beast with a mind of its own. So dangerous,
so deadly... The only thing worthy enough to throw your soul down into the abyss
of the sea. The only enemy worth hunting." She smiled and slid a hand over the
page. "I should go there one day... I bet it's exciting."

A chuckle let her look up again. He poked her chest. "You like the danger." His
grin got mean and wide... and amused. "I start to wonder... who is playing...
with whom?"

"Oh, I'm just waiting for a chance to strike." Roka grinned, but something had
felt off the whole time and now she could finally point at it.

It took too long to be forgotten.

Sure, they were in the same room all the time, and she wasn't really invisible;
especially not to single people. But still... it took too much time. Maybe the
Master had written down some notes to remember her. He was the absolute opposite
of stupid, so he probably already thought of something.

"Have you read Poe?" His curious voice suddenly ripped her out of the thought.

"I met him once..." Roka reminisced. "Only briefly though. Fascinating man. And
fascinating stories. Wonderfully dark and a fine selection of words, if you ask
me." But that probably wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Lovecraft?"

Roka looked up and tilted her head. Why was he asking her that?

"Uhm... yeah. I've read all of his stuff." She wondered... "Did you?"

A grin suddenly sat on the Master's face. "I even saw some of the locations he
described. And I once held the Necronomicon in my hands."

"As if." Roka giggled, but he didn't look as if he was joking. "Wait... that
stuff is real? You're not going to summon Cthulhu! That would..."

He started to laugh at her. "Some of it is real, yeah... and no, I won't." His
face turned sour for a moment. "None of the summoning formulas so far
worked..."

"Of course you tried already." She sighed, then giggled. "See? Cliché. And
idiotic too."

"Careful, human. I'm not letting you insult me." The Master gave her a mean
look. "Should kill you for that remark alone."

"How can you be insulted by the truth," Roka answered snippy. She really
shouldn't provoke him like that... but somehow she just couldn't keep herself
from it. Something about him just gave her this itch.

"No self preservation? Or are you just overly stupid?" The Master cocked his
head, observing her like an experiment.

"I just really can't stand you," she countered and added in a mumble, "and all
stories must end one day."

He poked her chest again. "This is not a story though."

Roka laughed. "Who knows. In some parallel universe we might be exactly that..."
Her hand wrote into the air. "Traces of black ink slowly soaking into the fabric
of a paper sheet."

"Kinda poetic..." He stood up and went to his desk. "You should write that
down."

But halfway back he turned around again, staring down at Roka for a moment as if
contemplating something. Then he returned and sat in front of her with some
distance.

"What about Dante?"



                         Kapitel 5: Voiceless Screams
                         ----------------------------


Something had woken her up. It was still dark and at first Roka had trouble
remembering where she was. But then memories of a long and rather complex
discussion about human literature creped back into her mind. That really had
been weird, but somehow actually fun. Although the Master had some
unsurprisingly twisted views on lots of topics.

There it was again. Roka couldn't identify it at first. It was like a vague
indistinctive feeling of no origin. But as she woke up more it became clearer
and clearer. It was a very faint sound inside her head. Like from everywhere at
once. A low humming of some sort.

When she sat still and concentrated on the sound it got louder. An increasing
and decreasing hum, or rather... a voiceless singing? She shook her head and
snuck out of the room.

No one was there.

For a moment she was tempted to take a look at the Master's files, but the sound
seemed to get a tiny little bit clearer and now it was like she could make out a
direction.

Down... it came from below her. Roka was sure of it. Was it... calling her? It
sounded so strange. Right inside her head and outside of it at once. Maybe she
went crazy. Maybe the Master had poisoned her in her sleep, maybe... she shook
her head. Whatever it was, there was no one around to stop her right now.

So she followed the sound through the halls. Through the darkness. The whole
building seemed to be dark. She also couldn't see any guards. How strange. Maybe
she should try and find the Doctor. Right now they probably could just sneak out
and... No. She didn't have the keys. And those doors were thick and heavy. Even
if she were able to find the place in this eternal darkness, she wouldn't be
able to actually open the door.

After a while she stopped thinking about where she went. Maybe she was long
lost. But a vague feeling told her she was heading in the right direction. Going
down whenever she could.

Left... left again... right. Down again. Would she ever find the way back? How
far into the ground did this building even reach? It felt like she was moving
endlessly, right into the heart of the planet. Into the unknown, the abyss...

The sound got louder. She could hear it clearly now. Something was singing.
Singing without a voice. Just humming a tune insider her head. A sad and lonely
tune.

There was a glow in the distance. It felt like an eternity since she had last
seen the corridors around her. Now she could make out the walls. They were made
of thick metal and almost looked like the hull of a ship. Was she below the
water? They were near the sea. It could be possible. It would also explain the
strange lights that came from before her.

A door... or an opening. The light got brighter, the singing louder. There was a
wall made of glass and behind it water. Dark and murky water filled with plants
and rocks. Who would build a window to face rocks?

Someone was standing there, leaning his hand against the glass, watching the
outside. A dark and foggy being. Like it had no substance. She couldn't make it
out very clear. Her head was spinning from the sound inside. But still she had
to get closer. It was calling... calling for her.

Roka reached the room and stood still. This wasn't a figure, it was the Master.
He hadn't noticed her arriving. He probably couldn't even perceive her right
now. If she just stayed quiet she could wait until he would be leaving and
then... then what?

He turned around and faced her. Could he see her? Or was it just instinct?
Sometimes people got a vague feeling of being watched, but still couldn't notice
her. But no, it wasn't like that.

"How did you get down here?" His voice sounded surprised. "You can't have
followed me. That was hours ago. How..."

"The voiceless singing lead me." Roka's head was spinning. She felt dizzy. It
had gotten so loud it was hard to hear anything else. Her gaze got foggy. "It
was... calling. I... I..." She stepped closer into the room. Towards the wall of
glass, feeling the Master's eyes on her.

"You can hear it?"

"Of course I can. How could I not? It's so...loud. My head hurts. Where does it
come from? What is this? Where... are we?"

"Below the sea. I tracked down a strange signal. The building was abandoned. And
down here..." He looked back to the glass. "I can't hear it."

Roka looked surprised at him.

"Maybe you can only have one thing constantly ticking inside your head." He
turned towards her. "You... don't look good. How does it feel? Does it say
anything?"

"What? No... no it doesn't." She saw him stepping towards her, lying his hands
around her head, but she was so dizzy, she couldn't fight it.

"Let me hear it."  He put his forehead against hers and for a while stood still,
completely silent. Was he reading her mind? Could he actually hear it now?
Whatever he did, it felt weird and the singing slowly got accompanied by a
strange rhythm. Like a faint drumming in the back of her head.

Then he let go of her.

Roka couldn't stand anymore and sank to her knees. It still got louder. Now it
was resonating through her whole body and she could feel her heart pounding like
mad. And now there was also the drumming.

"What did you do? Why did you...?"

"I was just listening. I can't hear it myself."

"It's driving me crazy. It gets louder and louder. What is it? Where does that
rhythm come from?"

"What rhythm?" The Master crouched down before her, grabbing her by the
shoulders. "Did it just appear? A rhythm of four? Does it sound like a drum?"

Confused she looked up to him and nodded. "It just appeared when you..."

He let go of her and laughed. "No... no. That can't be. You can't hear that." He
looked almost as confused as Roka. "It's just an echo. Even if it were real.
You're not psychic, and just a human... you can't... "

"What? What is it?"

"A curse." He stared at her. "Constantly, constantly in my head. It never stops,
always calls."

The Master pulled her up and turned her towards the glass wall. What was she
supposed to see? There was just rock and some plants and... Did the rock in
front of her... move? It definitely did. And that... that wasn't a crack. It
slowly opened and Roka gasped out of surprise.

It was a huge eye.

Now she could make out more details. What she had thought was a rock was
actually skin. Thick gray... no, white skin. And there were veins. Bluish
glowing veins were crossing the whole giant body, illuminating the room.

"Is that a... a whale?" The singing suddenly got louder. Painful, desperate. Now
she understood. The creature was trapped down here. And it was screaming for
help.

Roka felt rage boiling up inside of her. "Let it go." Her voice was cold.

"No."

She spun around and grabbed the Master by his jacket. "I don't care what your
stupid plans are. Let it go!" The singing, the drumming, the pain in her head.
It made her so angry. "I swear, I don't know what I'll do to you, if you
don't."

A big grin spread on his face. He bowed down to her, staring directly into her
eyes. "Careful little human." His face came even closer. "What will you do, eh?
Staring me to death?"

Hear head was spinning. Why was he so close? It made her mad. Her heart was
pounding like it was about to explode. So close... She just wanted to... He
grabbed her hands and loosened them from his jacket. Then he stepped back.

"I can't. Literally. I tried since I found it, but the glass is too strong and
there is no god dam lock."

She was shaking. Everything was spinning. The Master turned back to her and came
closer again.

"Promise to be nice and I will get rid of the signal for you."

"Just so? For what price?"

He grabbed her head, pressing his forehead against hers again. "This one is
free. It would just make you mad. And then you're useless." He grinned meanly.
"Focus on the sound... on both." She did. And after a few seconds they faded
away. Slowly getting quieter until the silence pressed against hear ears. She
felt the hands letting go of her head and she stumbled back a few steps.

Roka stared at the Master for a second. He turned to the glass again. "Just in
case you haven't noticed... it's alien. This kind of whale lays eggs that are
filled with chemicals so deadly... It's fascinating how they can hatch out of
that stuff."

Roka laughed suddenly. "For a moment it almost seemed as if you wanted to free
the poor creature. But you just want to use it."

"Hey, I will set it free afterwards. There is no fun in killing creatures that
can't think. Also, those are extremely rare. Whoever caught it probably was
after a lot of money. I could sell it."

Her head was still hurting. She looked into the big sad eye and stepped to the
glass, lying her hand and forehead against it. "It was crying for help... poor
creature. I can't help you."

"You can." The Master stepped beside her, laughing softly. "I bet the Doctor
would love this. In helping me freeing the whale you will also grant me a
terrifying weapon. What a dilemma. I should tell him."

"I told you, I don't care about earth as much as he does. But this singing. This
cry. It was so... sad and lonely. I can't leave it here." She turned around to
face him. "Fine, I'll help. But we're still enemies. And I will still find a way
to free the Doctor."                

He bowed down to her. "And the moment you think you triumphed... I will fill
these eyes with true fear. That's a promise."




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