Generated

Chapter 1

The heartbeat travelled across the space like a beacon, echoing the one inside Jenny's own chest. Ba-da-boom-ba. Ba-da-boom-ba. Ba-da-boom-ba. Only one species in the universe had the physiology to crate such a sound. Jenny should know.

The hall was long and thin, the only sources of light being dim strip lighting along the walkway and a small window by Jenny's feet peering out onto a planet below. It wasn't nearly enough to see the figure at the end of the hall.

Oh god, she'd spent so long trying to find him it felt almost unreal, like a dream. She resisted the urge to run to him, a tension in the air forcing her to stand still.

With caution, Jenny took a step forward. "Dad?"

"Not this time, I'm afraid." A lovely voice drifted back, stopping Jenny in her tracks. Her hope came crashing down into her gut.

"But you're..." You're an echo, that's all. A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge, a code, a shared history, a shared suffering. "A Timelord." Jenny said, the hope twisting in her stomach.

"Oh darling please, timelady." The figure said, wasking closer as she spoke. "And I must say, you're about as quick as a slug, my petal." She stepped into the glow of the planet slowly. Dark pointed boots first, a folded umbrella and a long, bright purple skirt. Her face was sharp and cold, even as she smiled with warm red lips. She waved her hands a little and struck a pose. "Ta-da! God I love a good entrance, don't you?"

Jenny wasn't really listening. She was baffled. "But I thought he said -"

Only it's gone now, all of it. Gone forever.

"That we were all gone? That he destroyed his whole planet and blah, blah, poor lonely me, blah?" She said, her sweet voice turning sickening. "Not quite."

"How did you survive?" A war, that's what he'd said. She'd memorised ever word of it. There was a war and it was bigger, much bigger than she could ever imagine.

The mysterious woman was quiet for a long pause. "I fled. I ran away like an idiot. Left it to the clever clogs to sort out and look what happened! Oh deary me, what happened indeed. Seemed they needed me more than I thought. And my opinion of myself if quite high so that's really quite a statement... " She added, brushing her purple coat and straightening it with her hands.

"Do you travel? Like him?" She asked after a pause. She had so many questions but she'd never even considered this possibility.

"What, in a Tardis? Do I look like a stuffy old time traveller to you?"

Jenny shrugged warily. What was she supposed to say, she didn't know anything about her own people? She'd never even seen a Tardis, so she hoped the woman wasn't waiting for an answer. Unless it wasn't a literal question. In that case what could she -

"The answer is no, by the way darling. I travel more fleetingly."

Silence fell between the two Gallifreyan women, a thick bond reaching out from both Jenny and the stranger. Hesitantly, Jenny asked, "Can you help me find my Dad?"

"Sweet, sweet Jenny. I would love to." She said, the smile in her voice floating across the room. "But let's keep this on the down low, okay blondie? A teensy, weensy little secret between Generated Anomally and her Aunty Missy."