Torchwood/Dr Who - fic - Living Metal, Part 2, Jack, Owen, Suzie, Tosh, PG-13/12
karaokegal asked for more, and some of you really liked the toys, so here is Part 2 of Living Metal. Thanks for the lovely comments on Part 1 :)
Title - Living Metal, Part 2
Author - laurab1
Characters - Jack, Owen, Suzie, Tosh
Rating - PG-13/12
Length - 1344 words
Spoilers - TW: general for S1, DW: 1.9 to 1.11, The Empty Child to Boom Town, 3.11 Utopia
Summary - Jack has some interesting presents for his team. Then he teaches them how to protect their minds.
Disclaimer: alas, none of these people are mine
Feedback is loved and appreciated :) Enjoy!
Living Metal, Part 1
Living Metal, Part 2
by Laura
Sitting at her bank of computers, Tosh places the coffee on her desk, and begins examining the metal cylinder. She finds a switch on its base. And being inquisitive, she flicks the switch.
Only to discover her mind is invaded.
Well, at least it was gentle.
Telepathic? Tosh asks, holding the object and closing her eyes.
There’s a sense of agreement from whatever’s in her mind, along with something else... Well, a couple of something elses.
“Alive?” she wonders, out loud. Like they’d been taught, she’s then visualising a door, to block off what she doesn’t want the ... presence to see.
“I bloody hope not,” Owen says. “What the hell are these?”
“Most definitely,” Suzie replies, from her own desk. “There’s more, as well.”
Tosh opens her eyes and looks over, catching a glimpse of an alien weapon out of the corner of her eye. “What kind of more? I can feel something, but I don’t know quite what it is.”
“There’s a pattern on the top, Tosh. A couple of years ago, before you started, I saw this really old document Jack had on his desk. That design, the concentric triangles, was on it. I also spotted shape-shifters in the text, before he snatched the papers away.”
“Shape-shifters?” Tosh asks, twisting the cylinder so she can see the top. There it is, the set of triangles. “Suzie, Jack knows exactly what these are, doesn’t he?” she realises.
“Of course he bloody does. I guessed, too. Watch,” Suzie says, with a grin that’s a little unpleasant, and then closes her eyes.
Tosh has seen the same kind of grin whenever Jack gives her an alien weapon to research and repair. And if the weapon then does a lot of damage to the paper Weevils in the firing range, the grin gets even bigger. She watches, and the cylinder changes. Firstly, it’s just the general shape of a gun. Then it transforms into what Jack had claimed was a Zodranan sonic stunner.
Tosh had left her to it, when she’d repaired that one, the grin had been so manic. “Suzie,” she sighs, concerned, and warning.
“I know it’s not real,” Suzie says. “Don’t panic. But if Jack won’t let me use the real one...”
Much to Tosh’s annoyance, she waves the gun about a bit, before changing it back to the cylinder. Breathing a sigh of relief, Tosh confirms, “So, telepathy, sentience and the ability to shape-shift?”
“Yes. Some combination, isn’t it?” Suzie replies.
“It is,” Tosh agrees.
“It’s a bloody frightening combination, if you ask me, ladies,” Owen says. He pushes his chair back, gets up from it. “I’m gonna ask Jack what these are. Bloody thing’s in my head, and I don’t want it there.” The cylinder in his hand, he goes to Jack’s office.
“Would they interpret formulae?” Tosh wonders, as Jack’s door closes. “I’d love to see some maths in physical form.”
“You can try, Tosh,” Suzie says, playing with the cylinder again. This time, a butterfly appears, flies into the air, changes to a flower and drops back in Suzie’s hands. Tosh shakes her head, not quite laughing. You’re a strange woman, Suzie Costello.
“What?” Suzie asks, noticing. “Come on, we don’t get much pretty stuff in this job, Tosh. Let me have some fun, please.”
“Okay,” she concedes. “Let’s see what I can make, then.” Going with the formulae, taking the cylinder in her hands, Tosh closes her eyes, and in her mind, she writes the Fibonacci numbers formula:
She’s sure she can feel the telepathic presence joining with her mind; working, calculating. The metal begins changing shape, and Tosh opens her eyes to discover the Golden Spiral:
“Look!” she exclaims, laughing, showing Suzie. “It worked, the formula was interpreted!” She places the curve of metal on her desk, traces its shape with a finger.
Owen then comes out of Jack’s office. “Andromedan shape-shifting toys, apparently,” he announces, sitting at his desk. “Jack says there are telepathic, nanogene-type organisims living in the metal, making it semi-sentient. Oh, and they’re polite. I asked them to get out of my head, and they did.”
“We out worked most of that, Owen,” Tosh says. “You would have been able to as well, if you’d actually listened, in London.”
“About that,” he says, looking a little guilty. “Jack’s going to teach us about protecting our minds, pushing hostile telepathic presences out of them.”
“And you’re going to pay attention?” Suzie asks.
“Yeah.”
“Can’t wait to see this, Owen Harper,” Suzie tells him.
***
It’s a week later, after a run-in with some appropriately unpleasant telepathic aliens that Jack takes them all to the board room.
“I think you’ve worked out most of it, but I just wanna confirm that these cylinders are Andromedan shape-shifting toys,” he explains, as they sit around the table. “There are telepathic, nanogene-type organisims living in the metal, making it semi-sentient. And if you ask them to go, they’ll go; they’re polite, for some reason.
But like I said to Owen, it doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes, you need to push a telepathic presence out of your mind, or shield yourself against one. Like we just learned, sometimes the telepathic aliens are hostile, and you need to know how to protect and use your minds, all three of you. I’m gonna teach you the stuff they didn’t tell you in London. Okay?”
They all nod in agreement.
Preparing to tell them what the Time Agency and the Doctor had taught him, Jack explains, “I’m really sorry, but I can’t tell you where I picked up all these tricks and techniques. I know they work, though, so you’re gonna have to trust me. Now, you learnt about mental doors?”
“Yes, Jack,” Tosh tells him.
“You just got asked to picture standard wooden house doors, I guess?”
“Yeah, we did,” Owen says. “I was paying attention to at that point. Sounded rather Monsters Inc.”
“That’s fine for just shielding something quickly, there and then. Really, though, you need defences already set up, but with a way to let them down. So, what I want you to picture is a metal helmet that’s always on your head, with a door in it. This door can open and lock like a ordinary door, and change size.”
“Jack, I’m sorry, but that all sounds like even more bollocks than they threw at us in London,” Owen says, Suzie agreeing with him.
Tosh is suspiciously silent.
Rolling his eyes, Jack replies, “Would you just try, please, Owen? You did agree to listen to me, remember?”
They all shut their eyes, and concentrate.
***
When he’s sure they’ve all at least got the shielding idea, Jack explains how to push an invasive presence out of their minds.
“The door I asked you to picture, I want you add a deadlock seal to it. Only you can unlock that kind of seal. There’s a hell of a lot of mental energy produced by creating it, the force of which will encourage the hostile telepathic presence to leave your mind.”
Again, Suzie and Owen don’t seem to believe him.
“It all makes perfect sense to me,” Tosh says, closing her eyes.
“We’ll do this until it makes perfect sense to all three of you,“Jack says, a little exasperated at his people. “But not today, though.”
Tosh opens her eyes again, at Jack’s words. “I was getting there!” she protests.
“Sorry, Tosh.” He looks only a little guilty. Then an alarm goes off in the Hub. “C’mon, people.” Jack rises from his seat. “Let’s need to get back to work and see what the Rift’s given us this time.“
He strengthens his own mental shields, just in case. Quickly scanning his team’s minds, he finds they’ve tried to do the same, Tosh’s effort better than those of the other two. Oh, well. His team are far from perfect, but they are very smart kids. Eventually, they will all get the concepts, and be able to put them into practice.
He can only hope that it’s sooner rather than later.
-end-
crosspost:
dwfiction
galactic_conman
torch_wood
torchwoodgenfic
torchwood_fic
toshiko_sato
Teaspoon
Title - Living Metal, Part 2
Author - laurab1
Characters - Jack, Owen, Suzie, Tosh
Rating - PG-13/12
Length - 1344 words
Spoilers - TW: general for S1, DW: 1.9 to 1.11, The Empty Child to Boom Town, 3.11 Utopia
Summary - Jack has some interesting presents for his team. Then he teaches them how to protect their minds.
Disclaimer: alas, none of these people are mine
Feedback is loved and appreciated :) Enjoy!
Living Metal, Part 1
Living Metal, Part 2
by Laura
Sitting at her bank of computers, Tosh places the coffee on her desk, and begins examining the metal cylinder. She finds a switch on its base. And being inquisitive, she flicks the switch.
Only to discover her mind is invaded.
Well, at least it was gentle.
Telepathic? Tosh asks, holding the object and closing her eyes.
There’s a sense of agreement from whatever’s in her mind, along with something else... Well, a couple of something elses.
“Alive?” she wonders, out loud. Like they’d been taught, she’s then visualising a door, to block off what she doesn’t want the ... presence to see.
“I bloody hope not,” Owen says. “What the hell are these?”
“Most definitely,” Suzie replies, from her own desk. “There’s more, as well.”
Tosh opens her eyes and looks over, catching a glimpse of an alien weapon out of the corner of her eye. “What kind of more? I can feel something, but I don’t know quite what it is.”
“There’s a pattern on the top, Tosh. A couple of years ago, before you started, I saw this really old document Jack had on his desk. That design, the concentric triangles, was on it. I also spotted shape-shifters in the text, before he snatched the papers away.”
“Shape-shifters?” Tosh asks, twisting the cylinder so she can see the top. There it is, the set of triangles. “Suzie, Jack knows exactly what these are, doesn’t he?” she realises.
“Of course he bloody does. I guessed, too. Watch,” Suzie says, with a grin that’s a little unpleasant, and then closes her eyes.
Tosh has seen the same kind of grin whenever Jack gives her an alien weapon to research and repair. And if the weapon then does a lot of damage to the paper Weevils in the firing range, the grin gets even bigger. She watches, and the cylinder changes. Firstly, it’s just the general shape of a gun. Then it transforms into what Jack had claimed was a Zodranan sonic stunner.
Tosh had left her to it, when she’d repaired that one, the grin had been so manic. “Suzie,” she sighs, concerned, and warning.
“I know it’s not real,” Suzie says. “Don’t panic. But if Jack won’t let me use the real one...”
Much to Tosh’s annoyance, she waves the gun about a bit, before changing it back to the cylinder. Breathing a sigh of relief, Tosh confirms, “So, telepathy, sentience and the ability to shape-shift?”
“Yes. Some combination, isn’t it?” Suzie replies.
“It is,” Tosh agrees.
“It’s a bloody frightening combination, if you ask me, ladies,” Owen says. He pushes his chair back, gets up from it. “I’m gonna ask Jack what these are. Bloody thing’s in my head, and I don’t want it there.” The cylinder in his hand, he goes to Jack’s office.
“Would they interpret formulae?” Tosh wonders, as Jack’s door closes. “I’d love to see some maths in physical form.”
“You can try, Tosh,” Suzie says, playing with the cylinder again. This time, a butterfly appears, flies into the air, changes to a flower and drops back in Suzie’s hands. Tosh shakes her head, not quite laughing. You’re a strange woman, Suzie Costello.
“What?” Suzie asks, noticing. “Come on, we don’t get much pretty stuff in this job, Tosh. Let me have some fun, please.”
“Okay,” she concedes. “Let’s see what I can make, then.” Going with the formulae, taking the cylinder in her hands, Tosh closes her eyes, and in her mind, she writes the Fibonacci numbers formula:
She’s sure she can feel the telepathic presence joining with her mind; working, calculating. The metal begins changing shape, and Tosh opens her eyes to discover the Golden Spiral:
“Look!” she exclaims, laughing, showing Suzie. “It worked, the formula was interpreted!” She places the curve of metal on her desk, traces its shape with a finger.
Owen then comes out of Jack’s office. “Andromedan shape-shifting toys, apparently,” he announces, sitting at his desk. “Jack says there are telepathic, nanogene-type organisims living in the metal, making it semi-sentient. Oh, and they’re polite. I asked them to get out of my head, and they did.”
“We out worked most of that, Owen,” Tosh says. “You would have been able to as well, if you’d actually listened, in London.”
“About that,” he says, looking a little guilty. “Jack’s going to teach us about protecting our minds, pushing hostile telepathic presences out of them.”
“And you’re going to pay attention?” Suzie asks.
“Yeah.”
“Can’t wait to see this, Owen Harper,” Suzie tells him.
***
It’s a week later, after a run-in with some appropriately unpleasant telepathic aliens that Jack takes them all to the board room.
“I think you’ve worked out most of it, but I just wanna confirm that these cylinders are Andromedan shape-shifting toys,” he explains, as they sit around the table. “There are telepathic, nanogene-type organisims living in the metal, making it semi-sentient. And if you ask them to go, they’ll go; they’re polite, for some reason.
But like I said to Owen, it doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes, you need to push a telepathic presence out of your mind, or shield yourself against one. Like we just learned, sometimes the telepathic aliens are hostile, and you need to know how to protect and use your minds, all three of you. I’m gonna teach you the stuff they didn’t tell you in London. Okay?”
They all nod in agreement.
Preparing to tell them what the Time Agency and the Doctor had taught him, Jack explains, “I’m really sorry, but I can’t tell you where I picked up all these tricks and techniques. I know they work, though, so you’re gonna have to trust me. Now, you learnt about mental doors?”
“Yes, Jack,” Tosh tells him.
“You just got asked to picture standard wooden house doors, I guess?”
“Yeah, we did,” Owen says. “I was paying attention to at that point. Sounded rather Monsters Inc.”
“That’s fine for just shielding something quickly, there and then. Really, though, you need defences already set up, but with a way to let them down. So, what I want you to picture is a metal helmet that’s always on your head, with a door in it. This door can open and lock like a ordinary door, and change size.”
“Jack, I’m sorry, but that all sounds like even more bollocks than they threw at us in London,” Owen says, Suzie agreeing with him.
Tosh is suspiciously silent.
Rolling his eyes, Jack replies, “Would you just try, please, Owen? You did agree to listen to me, remember?”
They all shut their eyes, and concentrate.
***
When he’s sure they’ve all at least got the shielding idea, Jack explains how to push an invasive presence out of their minds.
“The door I asked you to picture, I want you add a deadlock seal to it. Only you can unlock that kind of seal. There’s a hell of a lot of mental energy produced by creating it, the force of which will encourage the hostile telepathic presence to leave your mind.”
Again, Suzie and Owen don’t seem to believe him.
“It all makes perfect sense to me,” Tosh says, closing her eyes.
“We’ll do this until it makes perfect sense to all three of you,“Jack says, a little exasperated at his people. “But not today, though.”
Tosh opens her eyes again, at Jack’s words. “I was getting there!” she protests.
“Sorry, Tosh.” He looks only a little guilty. Then an alarm goes off in the Hub. “C’mon, people.” Jack rises from his seat. “Let’s need to get back to work and see what the Rift’s given us this time.“
He strengthens his own mental shields, just in case. Quickly scanning his team’s minds, he finds they’ve tried to do the same, Tosh’s effort better than those of the other two. Oh, well. His team are far from perfect, but they are very smart kids. Eventually, they will all get the concepts, and be able to put them into practice.
He can only hope that it’s sooner rather than later.
-end-
crosspost:
dwfiction
galactic_conman
torch_wood
torchwoodgenfic
torchwood_fic
toshiko_sato
Teaspoon