Universal Vampire (Rewrite)

The Long Game

Tyra was in the Tardis, keeping an eye on Adam. The Doctor hadn't wanted him inside on his own, so she had stayed while he and Rose were talking outside. It was Adam's first trip and Tyra doubted that he would handle it very well. According to Rose, Adam had very much fainted as soon as he realised how big the Tardis was. Not the most promising start...

The door opened and Rose called inside "Adam? Out you come." Tyra pushed off the coral and followed Adam out of the door, pulling it shut behind her. She stepped over to the Doctor and leaned against the pillar next to him, waiting for Rose to do whatever it was she had planned.

"Oh, my God," Adam breathed, jaw on the ground.

"Don't worry," Rose soothed "You'll get used to it."

Tyra grimaced "I sincerely doubt that," she mumbled quietly.

The Doctor snorted in amusement "Some people just can't take it, right?"

"Definitely," she laughed lightly.

Adam blinked around with wide eyes "Where are we?"

"Good questioned," Rose nodded, glancing at the Doctor for a moment "Let's see... So – er – judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year two hundred thousand. If you listen..." She waited for Adam to do as she asked before continuing "Engines. We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here... They could turn the heating down. Tell you what – Let's try that. Come on." Rose lead the group through a metal gate and over to a massive viewing window.

Tyra smirked at the Doctor knowingly "However did Rose know all that, hm?"

He rolled his eyes "Well, she wanted to impress that new boyfriend of hers."

"I'm still wondering what happened to Mickey," she sighed, running a hand through her hair "She acts like he doesn't exist."

"Don't think about it too much," the Doctor advised, stepping over to the window when Rose indicated for him to explain "The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is, Planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety-six billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species with mankind right in the middle." That proved too much for Adam as he fell backwards in a dead faint. The Doctor pulled a face, looking over at Rose "He's your boyfriend."

Rose sighed in disappointment, not even turning to check on him "Not anymore."

They waited in the room impatiently until Adam came around after several not so gently nudges courtesy of Tyra. The Doctor led the three into what appeared to be the central hub "Come on, Adam," he rolled his eyes "Open your mind. You're going to like this. Fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era had got some fine food, good manners."

"Out of the way," a man snapped from behind the group, shoving Rose into Tyra.

Tyra quickly steadied the other girl, glancing at the Doctor in amusement "That's what you call good manners?"

Suddenly, there were a lot of people bustling around. It was like someone had flipped a switch. The food vending stations were opened and started serving customers at their counters "Thank you very much indeed. Somebody there? That's great. What do you want, love? Alright, keep moving. I'll be with you lot in a minute. Here you are. One at a time. What now, what was it? Kronkburger with cheese, Kronkburger with Pajatos. Do you want a drink?" He stopped serving the woman for a moment to snap at someone else "Oi, you, mate. Stop pushing. Get back. I said, back."

"Fine cuisine?" Rose snorted.

The Doctor looked from Tyra to Rose and threw his hands in the air "My watch must be wrong." He tapped it gently "No, it's fine. It's weird."