The Angel's Paradox

The Truth

They open their eyes and stand on a cliff. 

"Where are we?" Graham asks. 

"Gallifrey." is the only word the doctor says.

"More specifically, the beginning of Gallifrey and the Timelords," the man's voice says, but he is nowhere to be seen. 

"You've shown me this before, have you forgotten in your madness?" asks the Doctor. You can clearly hear the anger and pain in her voice. 

"Of course I remember that perfectly well, but I must apologize to you. I'm afraid it was only half the truth. Because you were in the room of memories, your memories have been transferred there. Not just the ones you know, but the ones that were locked away. So, I welcome you to the truth about the Doctor, Gallifrey, and the Timelords two," he replies. 

"How do we get out of here?" asks Ryan. 

"We don't, he's put us in a trance state. That means our bodies are still in the school building and this is just a dream he's controlling," the Doctor says, fixing their gaze on the structure standing about 500 meters away from them. There is a flash of lightning and thunder, suddenly two children are standing in front of the structure. 

"That's not right!", the Doctor says quietly to herself and then louder, "What are you doing? I was alone!", she tries to speak to the man. 

"That's you?" asks Yaz. 

"Yes, but I was alone!" says the Doctor. 

"Let's go to the point where you fell off the cliff," the man says. Behind them they hear a child's laughter, they turn around. Two girls are playing catch together. They run straight towards the cliff. Just before they reach the cliff, they stop. Both have half-length brown hair. One wears it open and the other has it tied up in a bun. The one with the hair tied up looks a little older. 

"Which one are you?" asks Jack. 

"The one with the open hair. I've never liked it when it's tied up. I've just always loved freedom," says the Doctor. She tries to sound cheerful, but she is so not successful. 

The girl with the loose hair says to the other girl: "I bet you'll never catch me!", she immediately runs off. The other girl immediately runs after her. The first girl runs in a circle and trips over a stone. The girl behind her still tries to grab her, but it is already too late. The first girl falls down the cliff. The girl above just looks down at her until a woman runs towards them. When the girl above notices her she runs away. 

"Elisa," says the Doctor so quietly that it is almost impossible to hear. The man speaks up again, 

"That's the first time you've regenerated, at least in this universe. But the interesting part is yet to come. Do you remember what happened after that?" They are suddenly in a room that looks like a laboratory. There is a couch in the middle, one of the girls is lying on it. 

"Elisa examined you. You were completely unharmed, only your appearance had changed. That's how the examinations began, but not only that. She experimented on your sister too," the man says. 

"Sister," the Doctor says to herself. Then the memories come back: "One day she just disappeared. I asked Elisa, but she said she didn't know anything. She must have run away because she thought she had killed me. At first, I believed her, until I realized that she should know that we don't just die like that."