She's Doctor Brilliant!

Ep. 1 Pt. 7: Mercy

Then he saw that the Doctor was walking around the room towards the bomb that was still counting down. Incredibly, it was still at one minute, ten seconds. Nine. Eight...

She placed a black band placed around her head.

"I managed to overpower Tzim Sha, kill the signals on the coils and the tiny trackers in our shoulder... He's out of the way, for now, but there's still the matter of this countdown..."

"Hey, that's the thing that was around that alien's head, isn't it?" Graham said. "So, what, is it some kind of mind control thingy?"

"Yes, Graham, it is exactly a kind of mind control thingy, but the problem is — I can't mind control the thingy!"

"Wait, what?! I thought you said you were a little psychic?" Ryan piped up.

She was a picture of despair. "I'm too psychic!" she wailed. "I'm an idiot! And my idiocy is going to cost us our lives!"

"Doctor, will you tell us what you need?!" Yaz screamed.

"I... I need to give this device a mental signal of truce, a surrender, a pause. But that's not an emotion it understands! In order to stop the countdown, I need to feel a pure and complete sense of... mercy. Mercy, and forgiveness, for all that happened. Forgiveness for Graham."

Fifty seconds.

"But when I captured Tzim Sha," she continued, "I made a psychic link with him, to-to learn how to stop the bomb. But I saw... more." Her breath came dark now, hollow. "I saw the death of Quara Sha, his wife, and sh-she..." The Doctor collapsed to sit in a heap on the ground, arms around her knees. "She blew away like smoke. The heat from the gunshots is enough to evaporate their ice cold forms, and... It's an image I c-can't easily get over."

They stared at each other.

Forty seconds.

"I never meant for them to die, you know," Graham said. "I only... I only called the police cause my bus broke down mysteriously. And I saw people... Who were there but also not quite? It made me horribly uneasy, so I reported it. I didn't know they would open fire."

"That would be their camouflage. they must have just landed, and they usually take a moment to recharge their shields and divert power from their weaponry. They were at their most vulnerable. That's why it took a month for Tzim Sha to collect resources for the bomb. Their weapons need re-calibration to adjust to new atmospheres and –"

"I'll do it."

They all looked at Ryan. He held out a hand.

The Doctor took off the band and handed it to him, saying, "Ryan, this is a very delicate instrument. It detects even the slightest nuance in your instructions. If you harbour any resentment towards Graham, then it won't work."

"Yeah? Well, that's not a problem." He looked at his Nan's face, then at Graham's, and placed the band around his temple.

"Ow!–" It seemed to clench at his mind... Not unlike the coils, but this was more of a mental clench than a physical one. He felt like it was squeezing his brain with some kind of electromagnetic...

Focus.

"Okay. Mercy? No resentment? Well! I've had a lot of resentments. in my time. I've kept it all bottled up inside me. But you know what? Not anymore."

He looked straight at Graham.

"Graham, we started off on the wrong foot. I mean, it was your wrong foot, but that doesn't matter anymore. You made a mistake. You hurt me, and you definitely hurt that Tim Shaw dude... but life isn't about going over mistakes. If I kept thinking about every time I tripped, I'd never be able to walk again. Genuinely!"

He laughed. The others smiled weakly.

Ten seconds.

Breathe.

"So right now, I want to start over. I want to say to you, Graham, that even though what you did wasn't right, my anger over it isn't right either. No one deserves to be judged by their worst. So... I forgive you. Because I believe that you can do better. And you know what?"

The countdown tarried a second too long on the four. It was working.

"You will do better. Because I forgive you,  seeing that you've been trying. And you're actually..."

He took a deep breath. The numbers had paused at two seconds and were blinking.

"You're actually an incredibly caring Grandad, and I appreciate that."

It seemed Graham could stay put no longer. The numbers faded to black and he threw himself upon his grandson in an all-encompassing bear hug. Ryan squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He could hardly stand the emotions he was having. 

Nor could he believe it! Mercy actually worked! Mercy...

"Always mercy," said the Doctor, patting him hard on the shoulder with what could only be pride on her face.

"Good on you, Ryan!" Yaz cheered. 

He cheered back, within.

It was the perfect moment.