*DISCONTINUED* Between Dimensions (A Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Chapter 8: Perception Filter

“I have never been so close to a giant ball of nuclear fusion before,” Susan breathed, resting her elbows on a thin metal rail. In front of her was a bright, hot star, illuminating her face with a scorching, orangey-yellow light.

“It’s called the Eye of Harmony,” the Doctor explained. “Time Lords can suspend time around a star that is about to become a black hole, using the potential energy to power a TARDIS.”

“So your ‘alien’ race is called the Time Lords?” Susan asked, making air quotes around the word “alien.”

“No, the people of my race are called Gallifreyans. Time Lords are just the name of the people on Gallifrey who have a nonlinear perception of time.”

“Ah.” Susan nodded in understanding. “Well, onto the next place.” She pushed herself away from the rail and walked out of the room and back into the corridor, the Doctor following behind her.

“So where’s Amy?” Susan asked as they walked.

“Amy is still sleeping,” the Doctor said, “and I think you should have been too.”

“Sorry, it’s the insomnia. I don’t sleep a lot.”

They passed dozens of different rooms, only stopping to take a quick glance around. There was a kitchen stocked with copper pots and pans, a room full of paintings, a large room filled with clothes that had a spiraling staircase in the center, a tennis court, a room filled with diamonds, a laundromat, a white room that smelled like roses, and countless more.

“Wait. Stop here.” The Doctor held up his finger.

Susan froze. “What is it?”

“In the corner of your eye, you’ll see a door made of LEGO building blocks.”

Susan slowly turned. In the wall, a hazy outline of a multicolored door appeared. She blinked a couple of times. “So does the TARDIS put a filter on your perception of some things?”

The Doctor grinned. “Right! It’s a perception filter!”

Susan made her way to the LEGO door and opened it. Inside was a landscape made entirely of LEGOs. There were dark green hills dotted with pink and yellow flowers, and to the right was a LEGO forest shrouded in shadow in which LEGO train tracks emerged. Up above, clouds made of white bricks were suspended by thin wires and a bright, yellow square radiated light.

“How much free time did you have?” Susan marveled. “And why was there a perception filter on the door?”

“I’m not entirely sure why; perhaps the TARDIS didn’t want any humans seeing it.” The Doctor grinned. “And that shall always remain a mystery.”

“Cool!” Susan closed the door and continued on. They rounded a corner and she suddenly froze.

“Is something wrong?” the Doctor asked. Susan licked her finger and stuck it into the air.

“I sense a disturbance in the force.” Something had clouded her mind, blocking her from something. Something behind her. The shimmering outline of a metal door appeared, gradually, and then the outline sharpened as she concentrated her focus on it.

“A perception filter!” she gasped. Susan walked over to the door and lightly put her hand on the metal handle. She opened the door a crack and saw nothing but white walls, white ceiling, and a white floor. She poked her head into the room and fell forward, her legs unable to support her when she saw it.

“This was completely unexpected,” she managed to say as she scrambled back onto her feet, legs still unsteady.

A boy was suspended in midair by some kind of unseen force; he was rather thin, his hair a short, dark brown, his skin pale and white. He appeared to be sleeping. And not a scrap of clothing covered his body.

“Did you know this was here?” Susan questioned, eyes wide with genuine shock.

“What? No! Not at all!” The Doctor looked equally taken aback.       

“So what should we do?” she pressed, gazing at him intently while willing herself to keep from jumping up and down in excitement. She didn’t remember seeing this boy when she watched Doctor Who in her universe.

“I’ll be quite honest with you; I have absolutely no idea what to do.” The Doctor looked uncomfortable, as he wasn’t used to not knowing what to do. Then his eyes lit up. “Actually, Susan, do you still have that blanket?”

She suddenly understood what he meant. “It’s in the second pocket.” She turned her backpack towards him.

The Doctor yanked Susan’s red wool blanket out of her back and handed it to her. She tentatively approached the strange boy and wrapped him in the blanket. Suddenly, she felt the weight of the boy as he dropped into her arms, no longer supported by what could have been an antigravity mechanism that kept him aloft.

“Do you need help?” the Doctor offered as Susan staggered backwards a few steps.

Susan shook her head. “He’s light enough for me. Just scan him and check his vitals and all that.”

“Well, he’s human,” the Doctor said over the sound of his whirring sonic screwdriver. “Heart rate lower than usual, body temperature lower than usual, breathing is normal.”

“Where’s your nearest bathroom? We should probably get him warm.”

“First take a right, go up the stairs, and it’s the room at the end of the hall. I’ll be right behind you.” Susan obeyed, walking quickly and then breaking into a speedy shuffle, trying not to trip and fall.  

She found herself in a large bathroom with black and white tiles and an enormous claw-footed bathtub with no faucet to be seen. She set the boy gently on the plush blue rug at the foot of the tub and fiddled with the single water valve. The tub instantly filled up with freezing cold water. When she turned the valve the other way to dilute the cold water with hot water, the water in the tub instantly started to boil.

“Ow,” Susan muttered, jerking her left index finger out of the boiling water and cradling it in her other hand. She took a quick glance at the boy. He was completely still; his facial expression appeared peaceful. She turned the valve slightly clockwise and tentatively tested it with her right pinkie. It was too cold again.

It took a couple more tries to get the water at the correct temperature. Susan gingerly pulled her blanket off of the boy and tossed it towards the corner of the room, averting her eyes from what the blanket had been covering. She then picked up the boy and carefully set him into the water.

“Hey, TARDIS, if there was a thermometer in that medicine cabinet over there, that would be appreciated,” Susan called out, walking over to the mirror that hung over a small porcelain sink. Upon opening it, she found that it was empty except for a cardboard box filled with many different types of thermometers: mercury, digital, or futuristic-looking. She picked a mercury thermometer because it looked cooler and easier to figure out than the others.

The boy’s temperature gradually rose. Susan turned the temperature knob slightly to make the water a bit warmer. Then, she dashed down the corridor and down the stairs to check on the Doctor. He wasn’t in the white room. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen. Exasperated, Susan ran back into the bathroom and pulled up a wooden chair to sit beside the strange boy in the bathtub.

She checked his pulse. It seemed normal. She checked his temperature. The thermometer read 97.3. She leaned over and felt his forehead while feeling her own forehead. They both felt roughly the same temperature.

“Doctor, where are you?” Susan whispered, feet anxiously tapping the floor.

She examined the boy’s face. His jaw was slightly angular, but not too pronounced. He looked around fourteen or fifteen years old, roughly Susan’s age. His ears were smallish and roundish. His lips were pale but slowly gaining color.

The boy’s eyelids fluttered open and Susan found herself staring into his piercing, ice blue eyes.

“Hello,” he whispered. His voice was quiet and hesitant, as if he had never spoken before.

 “Hi.”

A/N: So apparently, I should write "A/N" instead of "Author's Note" because everyone else is, so I'll start doing that from now on, if I remember to. Midterms are still not over yet, but procrastination happened! So, we have a new character, finally! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. :)