‘Steam… what?’ Jenny asked.
‘Steampunk,’ the Doctor said. ‘You see, in the future, people will write stories about this time period.
Only with key differences.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Things like machines
that run on steam instead of electricity. Airships everywhere. Basically, a
level of technology far beyond what you know today.’
‘Precisely, Doctor,’ Sir Reginald said. ‘Only we believed the stories we read to be historical
documents. That’s why we travelled here. To see the wonders of the steampunk
age for ourselves.’
‘You can only imagine
our disappointment when we arrived,’ one of the women said.
‘Indeed, Veronica,’ Sir Reginald said. ‘Finding out that the stories we loved were nothing
more than fiction was a terrible blow. That’s why we resolved to do something
about it.’
‘Do what, exactly?’ the Doctor asked.
‘We decided to
integrate ourselves into Victorian society and change history so that Britain
would look more like the one from steampunk stories.’
‘And how do you
propose to do that?’ Vastra asked.
‘We’ve all gotten jobs
in the engineering sector,’ Sir Reginald explained. ‘Over time, we plan to introduce steampunk technology into your
factories. Before long,
virtually everything will run on steam, people will
travel from place to place in airships and mechanical men will perform all
menial labor.’
‘You expect us to
accept these changes?’ Jenny asked.
‘Absolutely!’ Sir Reginald exclaimed. ‘This is all being
done in the name of progress. Science fiction writers of the last few millennia
have dreamt up a far better world than the one you all inhabit. Well, now we’re
here to turn that dream into a reality. I think you’ll agree the world of
steampunk is preferable to what you have now. After all, we have technology
that can make you live well past the age of one hundred.’
‘I’ve heard enough!’ Vastra shouted as she drew her sword. ‘I can’t allow you to
tamper with history!’
The Doctor grabbed
her arm. ‘Stop it, Vastra!’ he said emphatically. ‘Let’s settle this with words and not with swords!’
‘Your sword has an
interesting design,’ the man named Maurice said, pointing to the sonic ball attached to it.
‘Yes,’ the woman named Veronica agreed. She turned to Jenny. ‘As does your gauntlet.’
‘And your lorgnette,’ another man said, indicating Strax. ‘If I were a betting
man, I’d say they were a steampunk design!’
‘So it seems you know
more about steampunk than you’re letting on,’ Sir Reginald said
smugly. ‘Care to enlighten us?’
‘The Doctor gave these
to us earlier tonight,’ Strax explained.
‘You’ll have to ask him.’
‘Well,’ the Doctor said sheepishly, ‘I thought they would
benefit from having some new technology on their side. Nothing too
earth-shattering, just a step up from where they were before.’
‘So you also believe
there’s nothing wrong with introducing anachronistic technology into primitive
settings then, Doctor,’ Sir Reginald said. ‘Perhaps we’re more alike than you realize.’
‘No, we’re not!’ the Doctor said emphatically. ‘And
I’ll show you
why.’ He tore the vortex manipulator off Sir Reginald’s wrist and put it
on
his own. ‘Back in a minute,’ he said as he input the TARDIS’
coordinates. He pressed a button on the
vortex manipulator and was instantly transported back to the TARDIS.
Once
inside, he did some calculations on the console and looked at the
monitor. ‘Just as I thought,’ he muttered. He then materialized the
TARDIS inside the room at 22
Charing Cross Road. Upon emerging, the Doctor found some of the
steampunk
enthusiasts gazing at the TARDIS in awe.
‘So that’s a real
working TARDIS!’ one of them said. ‘I’ve always wanted to see what it looks like inside
one.’
‘Well, now’s your
chance,’ the Doctor said and he ushered them all inside. Vastra, Jenny and Strax
followed closely behind.
‘If you think you’re
going to convince us to abandon our mission, you’re mistaken, Doctor,’
Sir Reginald said. ‘Our minds are made up. The world needs steampunk
technology. Everyone will benefit from it and we’ll all be better off in
the
long run.’
‘Are you sure about
that?’ the Doctor asked pointedly.
‘Quite sure. There’s
no doubt in my mind.’
‘Well, perhaps you
should have a look at this,’ the Doctor said and pointed at the monitor.
The steampunk enthusiasts all looked at the image on the
screen. Several of them gasped. The monitor showed what appeared to be
the
ruins of a city. The wreckage of numerous airships dotted the landscape,
brass
pipes were covered with layers of rust and the bodies of clockwork men
were
strewn about. Nothing moved. No people were visible.
‘What are we looking
at, Doctor?’ Sir Reginald asked.
‘This is London in the
year 5000,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Or it will be if your plans succeed.’
‘But… what happened?’ Sir Reginald asked, his face ashen. ‘Where is everyone?’
‘Your experiment will
work for a time but ultimately, human progress will stagnate. Since everyone
will have everything provided for them, they’ll see no need to change anything.
And since they’ll be able to live extremely long lives, they’ll eventually stop
having children. But even steampunk medicine can’t make people live forever so
the human race dies out after several generations. Also, those stories you love
so much never get written since the technology is commonplace rather than
imaginary.’
‘How can you know all
this?’
‘Because I’m a Time
Lord. I can see every possible timeline there is. Believe me, if you go
through
with this, you’ll be dooming humanity to extinction. None of you will
ever have been born. I can’t allow such a gigantic paradox to take
place.’
Sir Reginald looked
at his friends and then turned back to the Doctor. ‘If what you say is true, then I suppose we have no choice but to return
to our own time,’ he said sadly.
‘Yes,’ the Doctor replied. ‘None of you belong here anyway so you’ll be doing the
Web of Time a favor.’
‘I’m sure there’ll be
Time Agents looking for us,’ Maurice said. ‘We’ll have to go into
hiding.’
‘At least we’ll have
our steampunk stories to keep us occupied,’ Veronica said.
‘That’s the spirit!’ the Doctor exclaimed. ‘After all, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying good
science fiction so long as it remains fiction.’ He handed the vortex manipulator back to Sir Reginald who nodded in
agreement.
‘We’ll do our best to
keep that in mind, Doctor,’ he said. ‘Farewell.’ All seven of them pressed buttons on their manipulators and vanished in
a flash of white light.
‘I hope that’s the
last we see of them,’ Vastra said dismissively. ‘I don’t think I’ve
ever encountered such irrational fanaticism.’
‘I told you I should
have destroyed them for the glory of the Sontaran Empire!’ Strax grumbled.
‘I stand corrected,’ Vastra remarked.
‘Well,’ the Doctor said, clapping his hands together, ‘I’m sure you’ve all got other cases to solve so I’ll leave you to it.’
‘Doctor,’ Jenny said, ‘You said something about how you thought all the Time Lords were dead
until recently. What were you referring to?’ The Doctor thought
hard for a moment.
‘They might not be,’ he said softly. ‘And let’s just
leave it at that.’ The three of them
looked at each other but did not inquire further. They left the TARDIS
and the
Doctor took off once more. Just as he was about to leave the console
room, he
recalled something one of the steampunk enthusiasts had said. He did
some more
calculations on the console, looked at the monitor again and smiled.
‘Oh, the stories we could write about you,’ he repeated. There,
on the monitor, was the cover of an anthology from the 51st century.
It included a drawing
of three familiar figures. The title was Grimlight: The Adventures of a
Lizard Woman, her Human Wife and a Potato-Headed Alien in Victorian London.
written by
written by