Approaching the Future by Visiting the Past

My first memories are from shortly after my arrival in SL-Space. The fact that I can no longer remember before that point, however, no longer bothers me. That may seem like an odd statement, but it will become clear soon.

At least, I hope it will.

As I said earlier, the first life form I encountered in SL-Space was a Terran. Some of what I'm going to recount now is that story.

Bifrost is crashing.

This was the first thought I remember. I'd had no idea how I knew any part of that sentence. I knew, almost instinctively, what Bifrost was. I knew what I was. I knew about Gallifrey. I knew how to pilot a TT Capsule. Memory of the war with the daleks, however, completely escaped me, as did how I arrived where I was and, frankly, WHO I was. None of that mattered, though. All that mattered was the Bifrost was crashing.

And crash, she did.

The damage to her was... impressive. I had no scanner capability, no ability to determine where or when I was. All I knew was that I was on some planet, somewhere, somewhen.

And that someone was knocking on Bifrost's doors.

I pried open the doors to find a young Terran. Japanese, by the look of him. I discovered later, that his mode of dress was accurate to his era, what the Terrans call the Edo period. He wasn't dressed well, looking to be a beggar or some other form of pauper. He carried a stick-type cane and a few meager possessions with him.

And he was blind.

His name was Ichi and he was  clearly perplexed by the smouldering Roman sedan which I just walked out of (not that he could actually tell the details of Bifrost's shell, but it obviously didn't belong in the middle of the road he'd been walking), and, I'll admit, having just been introduced to the Narwhals, I was not really in the most rational state.

In fact, I was... well, mindlessly isn't accurate, but the best I can use, so, mindlessly aggressive.

Interestingly, this blind pauper managed to both subdue and calm my rampage in less time than it's taken me to record this sentence. It was... remarkable.

"So," he said, having pinned me to the ground, the tip of his cane pressed into the back of my neck, "if you are finished being a madman, perhaps you'd like to tell me where you've come from?"

Unfortunately, I was unable to. But we did talk. Through the entire night.

Since I couldn't tell him about myself, he told me about his life.

He'd been blinded when he was very young by an illness. His mother died while he was ill and his father left when he was five. As a blind child and then man in the Edo period, he was relegated to the lowest social caste and into the vocation of masseuse.

But, his life filled his spirit with a fire greater than even a white dwarf. He grew filled with hatred and anger at the world. And that got him involved with Yakuza.

Even blind, he trained to fight. Sumo, Archery, and, most importantly swordsmanship.

While he trained, he became a killer.

Eventually, though, the hatred turned inward. And he left the criminal life. He became a wanderer.

Bifrost was going to take a LONG time to repair herself, so, Ichi invited me to travel with him for a time.

That time became thirty years.

Over those decades, I watched Ichi. He found himself, time and again put in the position of champion for the oppressed and misfortunate. Defeating bands of outlaws, corrupt landlords... anything that was needed to be done.

And while we traveled, he taught me the ways of the sword. Every day for thirty years, I trained hard under Ichi and watched as he spent his life championing the common man, avoiding those trying to collect the bounty on him.

And every day for those thirty years, I saw a man... the greatest man I've known to this day... view himself as a demon on earth because of his past. Nothing he did and nothing I said could assuage his guilt.

Finally, Bifrost was ready and I could leave. Though I was hesitant, Ichi insisted, as he said he had one last lesson for me, but it was not time for it. We'd meet again when the time was right.

So I left in Bifrost.

I realize this has been rambling and seems to simply be a meander down amnesia lane, but there is a point to all of this.

Recently, as I have previously said, I was named Cardinal Pro Temps of Patrex. A tremendous honour, of course.

However, I've never viewed myself as a leader. I still don't. Representative, maybe, but even that is new territory for me.

Two nights ago, I called my first meeting as Cardinal. It will be for later in the week. After I broadcast the notice, it hit me.

I have no bloody idea what I'm doing.

And then, the entirety of the recent events surrounding Tethseram and myself and the Chronarchs came spiraling into my head.

And it made me realize there was only one person I know who could understand what I was dealing with.

So, minutes later, I was piloting Bifrost to Edo Japan to talk with my old friend and teacher.

And I found him on the beach.

Bleeding.

He'd been shot and stabbed, having been betrayed by a local village. He was dying.

Even still, through the fog of blood loss and after over a decade in his relative time, he sensed me approaching.

"Ah, Madman," he half-coughed, blood spraying from his mouth,"I see you've come back for your final lesson.

"I've lived as zato (the lowest caste of his society) and I have been trod upon by nobility my whole life. But I have found evil and honour in everyone from the highest lord to the lowliest of comfort women. The honourable and the weak are sometimes the same. And they need someone to protect them and speak for them, regardless of title.

"And sometimes, Madman, their advocate must be a devil trying to claw his way to redemption."

With that, Ichi held his cane up to me, telling me to take it.

And then, he was gone.

I will keep his cane always, as I try to claw my way to redemption,

Things Take An Unexpected Turn

Having finally completed the refitting of Vanishing Point, I was preparing my proposal to designate the station Chapter House for Patrex when I was unexpectedly hailed by a Captain of the Chancellery Guard named Stewart. I'm presuming this is his last name, though I can't be terribly sure because, frankly I didn't ask.

Captain Stewart requested to meet with me regarding some sealed orders he'd received from Lord President Phaon, So, I over-powered the link to SL-Space to allow Captain Stewart to arrive via Time Ring and met him in the arrivals bay.

It seems, Lord President Phaon has decided that Vanishing Point is to be designated New Gallifreyan soil and to be a military installation, by definition. Frankly, my worst fear, though, at least for now, it's not to be a staging area and the no firearms rule will remain in effect.

I have been named commander of the station, and Captain Stewart, my First officer and liaison to the High Council and Chancellery Guard. Captain Stewart, however, will have no status in House Patrex, not even membership. The affairs of the House will remain purview of the House.

Also, Vanishing Point has officially been designated as Patrex's Chapter House, effective immediately.


The most suprising article within Lord President Phaon's orders, however, is the fact that he has named me Lord Cardinal of House Patrex Pro Temps. My full Cardinal and Councilor status to be put to a simple majority vote of the High Council in the near future.

Gathering of the Exiles Part V

PROJECT M









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Gathering of the Exiles Part IV

Since returning to the general service of New Gallifrey, but before being accepted into Patrex, I tried to earn some form of atonement, even if only from myself, by starting work on re-purposing Vanishing Point.

For the record, Tethseram was clearly a technological genius on a level I never thought I could reach. The fact that Vanishing Point functioned at all, let alone as impressively as it did, was nothing short of miraculous, given the fact that I am fairly certain it was constructed using rejected spare parts from old horse carts.

Still, though, given access to proper Time Lord technology, I have been able to retrofit the systems, even making a few improvements. I suppose rebuilding all those classic spacecraft taught me a thing or two.

The first system to enter full testing was Temporal Control. Since the systems were built into the station, it only made sense to bring them online, even simply to act as a back-up site to the Citadel's.

The initial live test was scheduled and, I must admit, could have gone much more smoothly. The systems occasionally shorted and the accuracy was... close, but not quite all there.

Also, on more than one occasion I had to smash a few panels with a spanner.

The test was meant to be completely routine, with Primary Temporal Control shadowing my readings allowing me to make calibrations on the fly.

However, I picked something unusual up on my scans.

It was clearly a TT Capsule, but I couldn't read any identification signals, so New Gallifrey went into a guarded mode (Such a mode wasn't necessary for Vanishing Point. Given its existence in a non-space/time bubble, one can only get there once their TTC is registered with the station).

Communication, though it took some time, was finally established and the Capsule was identified as Studera, the TTC of Henry Parker.

Henry had been thought lost after the great cataclysm at New Gallifrey that destroyed the old Panopticon.

It turned out, however, that he'd been sent adrift, Studera's navigation systems damaged to the point of merely functioning on an instinctual level.

I point this out so it can be understood how it came to pass that Henry had picked up a passenger prior to being spotted by us. With Henry, was Matthew Jane.

To understand why the previous statement actually makes sense, it would probably be important to know that Matthew and Henry are two of a trio of brothers.

Once we had established contact, we were able to bring their somewhat damaged capsule to New Gallifrey, where it was also found that the somewhat lengthy period of time they had been travelling, essentially, blind, had... somewhat worn down their sense of reason. I can only hope that recovers, at least some.

It was determined, given their states of mind, it would be important to release them into the care of the person most capable of helping in their recovery.

A physician of considerable skill.

And their other brother.

Dracony.

Gathering of the Exiles Part III

I am widely known within New Gallifreyan circles as a mostly cheery fellow. Mad as I may be, I'm aware of this fact.

This is generally due to a complete misunderstanding of my nature.

You see, I hear voices.

I know, I know... a lot of psychotics and delusionals claim to hear voices as a part of their particular mental illness, and those people certainly have my sympathies.

But I ACTUALLY hear voices.

And not simply a few.

While I've never actually taken the time to count, I'm fairly certain they number in the trillions.

Having a cacophony like that in your head will cause anyone to have the occasional bout of silliness.

That silliness will give you a reputation for cheeriness.

But the fact is, I do have times where my mood is not quite so jolly.

After the defeat of Tethseram, when my thinking cleared some, the true horror of what had occurred and my potential part in it came crashing in on me. The despair drove me to run.

I wound up on a desert world, in a place called Araxes.

To call where I was a city would be completely inaccurate in most cultures, but, given the arid nature of this world and the tremendous ruggedness of it, "city" is about as close a name as any for it. The most accurate name for where I spent most of my time there would be "pub".

At this time, I have to admit, I spent my time trying to erase everything I'd recently experienced from my memory.

Actually, I was more likely attempting to erase myself from existence.

But, it was here that I also found the reason to continue.

After stumbling out of the pub (not due to inebriation, but do to being bodily tossed from the establishment by an eight foot tall, overly-muscled Tantarian with six arms), I found my way to the fighting pits, a gladiatorial arena outside of the ersatz city. It was there, I met The Kat.

Katrinchandla, or simply The Kat, is a fairly young Time Lady, loomed here in SL-Space. We met on the way to the fighting pits and, in the interest of keeping my mind off of my recent troubles, we mostly made small talk, avoiding discussing anything of great depth. She was pleasant enough, and all, but mostly, I was interested in passing time and trying to find if there were any other drinking establishments about.

If this all seems unremarkable, it's because it actually was, at the time. I didn't realizes that The Kat was making small talk with me for a similar reason to mine; she was distracted.

It wasn't until one of the fights began that things began to make sense.

One of the fighters that day was a young woman named Brunhilde. Exceptionally skilled as it turns out, but, before that became apparent, something else struck me.

The moment she was introduced, Kat's attention focused on her with laser-like precision. Concern and pride both emanated from Kat in almost tangible waves.

It turns out, Brunhilde (or Dee, as Kat called her) was Kat's travelling companion and close friend.

And, as it also turned out, one of the Valkyrie, the race who inspired the myth.

After the fight (which Dee won rather handily, if I were to use understatement), the three of us talked in more depth.

Their dedication to each other, as well as their views on justice and balance in the multiverse effected me deeply, shaking me out of my (now admittedly self-centered) despair over the recent Chronarch invasion.

Moved by them, I decided to return to New Gallifreyan society and work to regain my reputation.

Gathering of the Exiles Part II

While I was labeled a renegade by my former House, I spent a great deal of time traveling. I couldn't go home, after all. At least not until Bifrost was forcibly pulled back, but that's a different story.

During my travels, I found myself, at one point, in orbit of a planet called Pthaxia. An interesting world, to be perfectly honest. My descriptions could never do it justice.

It was at Pthaxia where I met an unusual Time Lady named Tressi Braxton.

I say unusual and I don't say it lightly.

First, let me say that many Time Lords choose a secondary name because their true, Time Lord names are, frankly impossibly difficult for most species to pronounce. It's a fairly common practice.

Some of these chosen names are more a descriptive title than a name (for example, the one responsible for ending the war with the daleks calls himself The Doctor... a laughably poor choice if you ask me, but, I shouldn't judge, since I've never met the man, so far as I know.)

Assuming someone other than myself accesses these recordings, no, I did not follow this process. The only name I actually KNOW is The Madman. The journey to SL-Space played merry hob with my memory and I'm known for having some verbal conversations with the Narwhals (I'm working on that). The first life form I met here was a Terran who felt that calling me "Madman" was appropriate.

The name stuck.

I digress, however.

Tressi also goes by a different name, but both her reasoning and the origins of the name are unusual.

She also goes by the name Ultraviolet.

You see, Tressi is, as most Time Lords, a scientific genius.

She is also, though I'm not sure she'd ever admit it, a bit of an idealist.

She's used her genius, technology, and natural Time Lord abilities to become a hero on many worlds. In fact, on several worlds, she's venerated as a kind of... superhero. (and, to be fair, she seems to rather enjoy dressing the part)

During my time at Pthaxia, I witnessed her prowess, actually, as I, personally, witnessed her drive off an invasion force from the Xenoi.

Single-handedly.

WITHOUT resorting to a military assault.

It was ALMOST as though she simply... convinced them to call off their invasion.

I had never before met a Time Lord so committed to the cause of peace and... well, HOPE would be the only word I think would fit.

It is because of her example, I have dedicated the rest of my life... all my future incarnations.. to peace.

If I can counter the future I've already seen.

Gathering of the Exiles Part I

As I said, I am, finally, once again a member of a Great House, but I traveled, for a time, as a renegade. During this time, I found myself in some very... interesting places. It became apparent that I was not the only Time Lord who was not part of... polite New Gallifreyan society.Most of them have, in some way or another, assisted me in survival during my time as a renegade.

When I was named Ordinal of Patrex, Lord President Phaon gave me authority to offer House membership to these wayward individuals, and so, the ranks of Patrex grow...

First, there's Dracony.

Dracony is one of my oldest associates, at least that I can remember.. He was a member of the Jade Dreamers with me. While I was their Castellan, he served as the Commander of the House Guard under me. He is, perhaps, one of the few people I can truly consider a friend. And yet, I couldn't help him... I digress.


Dracony, like so many here, started out life in N-Space. On Gallifrey, he followed his passion to medicine, a doctor of some renown, with a dedication to the people of Gallifrey that few could match. At the outset of the war with the daleks, he volunteered to serve as a medic, but the war was far more devastating than any anticipated. He found himself acting more and more a soldier, though it contradicted his devotion to life. Each battle took another piece of his spirit.

At some point during the war, a weapons malfunction tore the barriers of dimensions asunder, hurtling Dracony into SL-Space. Some would say this was by design of the Abbott or some other Guardian, but, after all I've seen... I'm not sure I believe in the design of higher beings... regardless...

Dracony, as I said, served as my Guard Commander in the Jade Dreamers. During that time, he proved himself over and over.

Unfortunately, this seemed to make him a prime target for my future self. He became the most profound victim of Tethseram, being deliberately targeted twice.

The first time was actually Tethseram's first strike. Dracony was killed by a time displaced hoard of barbaric Terrans, forcing him to regenerate. Unfortunately, this was neither the last, nor the worst attack on him by Tethseram.

Sometime thereafter, while on a mission I sent him on (the guilt I feel for this is beyond description), his TT Capsule was targeted and pulled out of SL-Space to Vanishing Point. There, Dracony was repeatedly subjected to torture, brought to the very edge of regeneration before being allowed to heal JUST enough to survive.

When we stopped Tethseram and took Vanishing Point, Dracony was rescued. There are no words to express the relief I felt at that time to find my old friend had survived.

It is for this reason, he was my first invitation to Patrex

Nowhere, Nowhen

I earlier mentioned that I was re-purposing Vanishing Point. That statement is only partially true. In order for that statement to make sense, I need to go into a bit of the station's history.


As I said, Vanishing Point exists in a kind of bubble of non-time/space. In an empirical sense, if one were to think in a linear, uninspired three dimensional manner, Vanishing Point doesn't exist, and yet, I'm standing here (well, sitting actually) recording this and I can say with at least thirty per cent certainty that I exist, so I can say with some amount of equal or lesser surety, so does this station.

Tethseram constructed this, clearly, to aid in his invasion of SL-Space, as a staging area/headquarters for The Chronarchs.

To clarify, The Chronarchs, by all accounts, are the Mad-Space version of the Time Lords. I haven't been able to fully piece together their history, myself, but I think I may have known it at some point.

Much like the Time Lords have the Citadel and the Panopticon to help coordinate our travels and activities, it seems Tethseram constructed Vanishing Point to serve the same purpose for The Chronarchs.

When he was defeated, it happened aboard Vanishing Point.

To the victor, go the spoils, as the old axiom goes.

So we've claimed Vanishing Point for the glory of New Gallifrey.

Huzzah.

Since the station was designed to serve a mirrored function to The Panopticon, it was decided that it should serve as a sort of back-up site to ensure Time Lord societal functionality should anything happen to New Gallifrey.

I've been restoring and retrofitting systems toward that aim.

That function, however, will rarely, if ever, be necessary.

So, when I am finished with my work here, I will propose that the station be used as the Chapter House for House Patrex as well as for diplomatic purposes.

I never want to see this place used in any military capacity again.

Future's Past Participle

I have a LOT to make up for. Probably more than any other Time Lord living is SL-space. What's most disturbing about that fact is what I have to make up for are atrocities I haven't even committed yet.

Okay, I'm getting both ahead of and behind myself.

The recent events surrounding New Gallifrey and the being known as Tethseram are all fairly public knowledge at this point. Everyone knows that Tethseram was defeated, as were his Chronarchs. New Gallifrey: Triumphant. Cue the fanfares and parades. Public celebrations and the gears continue to turn.

Very few people know the truth of things.

I have been barred, legally, from discussing some of it, and will, therefore, not even discuss them here, but there are some things I simply have to get off my chest.

You see, Tethseram was evil. There's no doubt of that fact. He was megalomaniacal, power-mad, and despotic. He was bent on conquest of SL space and beyond.

He was also me.

Which is to say, I'm not, nor have I ever BEEN Tethseram. He had, at some point in his past, however, been me.

He was a future incarnation of mine.

It seems that, at some point in the future, I will (have?) crossed into the compressed universe that I have powering my TTC, Bifrost. (That is a story for another time). While in that alternate universe (which some have dubbed "Mad-Space") he managed to strip down his incarnation of Bifrost, forming her into a suit of armour containing a paradox machine.

He also managed to stabilize a... bubble of non-space/time, in which he constructed a space/time station he called Vanishing Point, as a kind of joke, since it was outside of the view of the "All-seeing Panopticon".

It was here that I first encountered him.

After the cataclysm on New Gallifrey which destroyed the previous Eye of Harmony and Panopticon, Tethseram drew Bifrost to Vanishing Point, where I was held for over a century of my relative time. I was "re-educated", which included psychological manipulation, brainwashing and outright torture.

Then, my memory had been altered and I was released to work as an unknowing agent within New Gallifreyan society.

Tethseram knew that the voices of the Narwhals in my head make it nigh-impossible for me to be read, and, hence, I wouldn't be linked back to him.

What he didn't know was that his conditioning caused me to act erratically, even for me.

This, it turns out, was the clue that allowed his defeat.

It is also, however, what cost me my rank within the House of the Jade Dreamers, and, eventually, my exile and renegade status.

Since Tethseram's defeat, my mind is normal again...


Well....

Free from his influence, anyway.

I have been working to restore Vanishing Point and re-purpose it for New Gallifrey's use.

I am no longer a renegade, having been accepted into the Lord President's own House, Patrex, serving, at least for now, as Interim Ordinal.

And I have a few new missions.

Peace in the Multiverse.

And preventing the future that is Tethseram from occurring.

Oh...


And pie.