{"id":7068,"date":"2025-03-23T07:37:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T11:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/?p=7068"},"modified":"2025-03-23T07:39:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T11:39:55","slug":"boss-of-the-grid-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/boss-of-the-grid-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Boss of the Grid: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Time Vortex, scientifically speaking, is a dimensional plane where time and space intersect at an angle determined by non-Euclidean geometry. For those who aren\u2019t scientists studying time and space, it\u2019s a means of going into either the past or the future of any point in space and time. The Time Lords, an ancient race that had long vanished in a war for the sake of creation, had long mastered travel through the Vortex and created mighty machines, all under the banner of Time and Relative Dimension in Space, TARDIS! Sadly, there\u2019s only one TARDIS freely travelling the Vortex, and it looks like a London Police Box from the 1960\u2019s. \u2026Inside, however, was another marvel of the Time Lords, the ability to engineer dimensions! Inside the Police Box was a room the size of a large apartment and as tall as a small ballroom! It was pale blue with the walls decorated with roundels inside hexagonal designs. It had two levels, with the lower level dedicated to maintenance of the central hexagonal console with a cylinder in the center moving up and down. Right now, the owner of this particular TARDIS, a woman with long, wavy brown hair, was conducting maintenance. \u201c<em>Come on baby, you drive me crazy!<\/em>\u201d she sang. \u201c<em>Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!<\/em>\u201d Interesting choice of words as the console\u2019s lower level sparked in her face and filled her vision with smoke. The woman used her hat to wave it away as she coughed her lungs out. Once she recovered, she glared at the console on the upper level. \u201cWhat is the matter with you?!\u201d she snapped at her TARDIS. \u201cI checked the flux comparative adjustor, redid the wiring for the vortex loop, I even turned you off and on again, yet the vector tracker dial is STILL loose! Do I need to have Amy hammer the console?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat\u2019s this about my hammer and the console, Doctor?\u201d asked a voice. The woman, the Time Lord known as the Doctor, turned to see her companions standing in the doorway leading to a hall. One was a tall African American man in a turtleneck and jeans known as Dr. William Davies, the other, the one who spoke, was a 3-foot-tall anthropomorphic pink hedgehog woman in a black dress named Amy Rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, the vector tracker dial\u2019s been loose for the past week,\u201d replied the Doctor. \u201cThat\u2019s why we keep encountering bumps in the time track.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd you think her hammer can fix it?\u201d asked William.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve tried every other bloody thing,\u201d remarked the Doctor as she returned to the upper level and practically stared a hole at a panel with blue controls, one of them being a dial of some sort. \u201cI swear, if I don\u2019t find the fault,\u201d she snarled as she grabbed the dial, \u201cI\u2019ll-!\u201d The dial popped off too easily, causing the Doctor to stumble. When she recovered, she blinked. \u201c\u2026That\u2019s not supposed to happen,\u201d she said. She looked at the backside of the dial and saw that the thing that was supposed to hold it to the control it was supposed to operate was nothing more than a lump of plastic. \u201c\u2026Ah,\u201d she said. She heard William and Amy laughing hard. William was holding the railing to steady himself while Amy simply surrendered to collapsing on the floor in an undignified heap of giggles. \u201cStop laughing! It\u2019s not funny!\u201d protested the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s funny where I\u2019m standing!\u201d laughed William.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh man! Tails went through the exact same scenario with his microwave!\u201d cackled Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Doctor, ladies and gentlemen!\u201d William wheezed out through his laughing. \u201cThe best technical expert in all of time and space! Bamboozled by wear and tear!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, shut up, you!\u201d hissed the Doctor as she opened a drawer under the console panel. She pulled out a new dial and set it into the circular slot, then tested it. \u201cThere we go.\u201d She glared at the Time Rotor, as she usually does when talking to the TARDIS. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t just say that, huh dear? Couldn\u2019t print that out in the fault locator, hm?\u201d The TARDIS beeped as if laughing. \u201cYes, very funny, dear,\u201d grumbled the Doctor. Her annoyance was cut short as a button on a panel of red controls flashed and beeped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong now?\u201d asked Amy when she picked herself up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s not a TARDIS fault,\u201d replied the Doctor. \u201cThat\u2019s the external perimeter alarm, giving us plenty of warning. Amazing, though. We\u2019re in the Vortex.\u201d The Doctor fired up the scanner and blinked in amazement at the object onscreen. It was a ship that looked like a bow with an arrow loaded and pulled back, ready to fire. \u201c\u2026A bowship,\u201d said the Doctor. \u201cBut that\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDoctor?\u201d asked William.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBowships were used by the early Gallifreyans to defeat the Great Vampires in the Dark Times,\u201d explained the Doctor. \u201cThey\u2019re not time-travel capable, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo what\u2019s an ancient Gallifreyan ship doing here?\u201d asked Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026I have a theory,\u201d remarked the Doctor. \u201cHang on a second.\u201d She fiddled with the controls, then a microphone popped up. \u201cUnidentified craft, this is the Doctor,\u201d she said. \u201cI must ask how you got that ship into the Time Vortex as such a craft is NOT capable of going through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDoctor!\u201d hissed a harsh woman\u2019s voice. An austere woman in Victorian clothing appeared on the screen. \u201cAm I to forever be plagued by you?!\u201d hissed the woman. \u201cAfter you lost MY planet?! MY people?! \u2026Still, you\u2019re lucky I need you alive!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026Rassilon\u2019s beard!\u201d breathed the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNot this time, Doctor!\u201d replied the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDoctor, who is that woman?\u201d asked William.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStill travelling with the insects, Doctor?\u201d asked the woman. \u201cNo wonder you were exiled to Earth as their 1970\u2019s began!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026Do you need any assistance, Lady President?\u201d asked the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026Much as I hate to admit it, Usurper, yes,\u201d sighed the woman. \u201cAnd drop the mockery of a title! I was the President Eternal until you stole Gallifrey from me by exiling me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDoctor, what does-?\u201d quizzed Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWilliam, Amy, get out of sight,\u201d directed the Doctor. \u201cShe\u2019s not someone that should be in the same room as you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026Doctor, you\u2019ve never told us to hide, not even from the Daleks,\u201d reminded Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDon\u2019t argue with me, just-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDoctor, we\u2019re staying put and getting answers,\u201d insisted William.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026Bring your bowship alongside,\u201d the Doctor said to the woman. \u201cAnd don\u2019t touch anything when you come aboard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ll see you shortly, Doctor,\u201d replied the woman. She ended the call and the Doctor fiddled with the controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outside in the Time Vortex, the TARDIS and bowship lined their doors up so they were facing one another. Some form of energy bridge then extended from the TARDIS and latched onto the bowship\u2019s airlock. The woman stepped onto the energy bridge with all the arrogance of a high-class lady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Doctor held the door open for the woman. The instant she crossed the TARDIS\u2019 threshold, the woman pressed a button on an alien key fob and the bowship vanished. \u201cIt\u2019s out of the Time Vortex, Doctor,\u201d explained the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhy would you need my help?\u201d asked the Doctor. \u201cYou designed the bowship, according to accepted history. You invented time travel for us. \u2026And you managed to make my abilities clinical with Tecteun\u2019s help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026How do you know about Tecteun?\u201d asked the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet\u2019s just say that the Master unlocked what you hid away, you, Omega, and Tecteun. Was she the Other?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026Then you know your origins, Timeless Child,\u201d hissed the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNot fully, but enough, Rassilon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo that\u2019s her name?\u201d asked Amy. \u201cRassilon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes,\u201d replied the Doctor. \u201cAnd she\u2019s tied to the origins of that Timeless Child Miss Tarae and I mentioned when we first met.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIs that what the Master calls themself these days?\u201d asked Rassilon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDuring Gallifrey\u2019s early history,\u201d continued the Doctor, \u201clong after the original Shobogans overthrew the Pythians, a Shobogan woman named Tecteun discovered a child that had the ability to completely rewrite their body\u2019s cellular structure and genetic code to stave off death. Tecteun experimented and shared the secrets of regeneration with Rassilon and Omega. Thanks to that, Rassilon and Omega could build a power source by collapsing a star and imprisoning the resulting singularity in a crystal called the Eye of Harmony. That energy also gave them the means to create vessels that could travel in time. Through those discoveries, Rassilon, Omega, and Tecteun (with history calling her the Other) founded the society of Time Lords on Gallifrey. Those three and the Timeless Child had infinite regenerations, but the rest of the Time Lords were limited to twelve, giving them a total of thirteen incarnations. They then rewrote the Timeless Child after she\u2026got too big for those ridiculous robes and put her somewhere else on Gallifrey. \u2026However, the Child would go on to enter the Academy of Gallifrey and become a Time Lord himself. After being disgusted with the stagnation of Gallifrey, he and his granddaughter stole a time machine, with such vehicles now called a TARDIS, with a knackered navigation system and broken chameleon circuit, landing in a scrap yard at 76 Totter\u2019s Lane, Shoreditch, London, 1963, and taking the shape of a police box.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2026You don\u2019t mean-?!\u201d gasped William.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou\u2019re\u2026that same Timeless Child from Early Gallifrey?!\u201d finished Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cQuite the\u2026lore dump, I believe humans of the 2020\u2019s would say,\u201d chuckled Rassilon. \u201cI\u2019d like to explain why I kept the Doctor\u2019s origins a secret from even herself, but I\u2019m rather pressed for time. Doctor, the Black Guardian has ensnared me in their trap and I need your help in gathering the six segments of the Key to Time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Time Vortex, scientifically speaking, is a dimensional plane where time and space intersect at an angle determined by non-Euclidean geometry. For those who aren\u2019t scientists studying time and space, it\u2019s a means of going into either the past or the future of any point in space and time. The Time Lords, an ancient race [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[959,996],"tags":[515,35,963,962,997],"class_list":["post-7068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-doctor-who-crossings","category-series-2","tag-amy-rose","tag-doctor-who","tag-fan-companion","tag-fan-doctor","tag-rassilon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7068"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7070,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7068\/revisions\/7070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}