Saturday, March 31, 2007

The Enemy Within IX

(RUN OPENING CREDITS)

1. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The demented shape of the Plasmaton creature is behind the DOCTOR. DANIEL stands before him. PASCOE, TRACEY, THEO and EMILY stand in the background, listless and zombified.

DOCTOR
Ready when you are.

DANIEL
Of course. But you are wrong in one vital respect. I wasn’t lying about who I was.

The Doctor’s face falls. Then the two deformed hands clamp over his ears. There is an ethereal howling. The Doctor’s eyes bug as he struggles to breathe. The howling gets louder and louder. We zoom in on the Doctor’s agonized face and superimpose...


2. MONTAGE

Each line punctuated with a scorching white flash. The voices echo and reverb surreally, with lots of howlaround patterns and feedback distorting the images. Scenes from THE WAR GAMES, TERROR OF THE AUTONS, COLONY IN SPACE, THE SEA DEVILS, THE TIME MONSTER FRONTIER IN SPACE, THE DEADLY ASSASSIN, THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN, LOGOPOLIS, CASTROVALVA, TIME-FLIGHT, THE FIVE DOCTORS, PLANET OF FIRE.

BEEVERS MASTER
Well Doctor?

FOURTH DOCTOR
Of course. The Master.

FIRST DOCTOR
Do I know you, young man?

WAR CHIEF MASTER
You may have changed your appearance, but I know who you are.

SECOND DOCTOR
Oh? Do you?

THIRD DOCTOR
He used to be a friend of mine once. A very good friend. In fact, you might almost say we were at school together.

MASTER
Believe it or not, we were at the Academy together.

SECOND DOCTOR
I had every right to leave.

WAR CHIEF MASTER
Stealing a TARDIS? Oh I'm not criticizing you, we are two of a kind.

SECOND DOCTOR
We most certainly are not!

MASTER
Envy is the beginning of all true greatness.

THIRD DOCTOR
How many times have I told you? Violence will never get you anywhere.

JO GRANT
You ought to be a bit more reasonable with the Master.

DELGADO MASTER
Doctor, why don’t you come in with me? We’re both Time Lords, we're both renegades. We could be masters of the galaxy!

JO GRANT
I mean, he keeps offering you a share in the galaxy, or whatever’s going on, and you keep refusing him and playing dirty tricks on him!

MASTER
You and I belong to the future.

SECOND DOCTOR
No objective can justify such slaughter!

WAR CHIEF MASTER
I'm not the cold-hearted villain you suppose me to be. My motives are purely peaceful.

MASTER
Patience is a PARTICULAR virtue of mine.

DELGADO MASTER
Look at all those planetary systems, Doctor. We could rule them all!

THE THIRD DOCTOR
What for? What is the point?

WAR CHIEF MASTER
It seems my trust in you was a little misplaced.

SECOND DOCTOR
Did you really think I’d take part in your disgusting scheme?

WAR CHIEF MASTER
Why not? You must have been a little tempted by the thought of becoming the ruler of an entire galaxy!

DELGADO MASTER
You’re my intellectual equal. Almost.

FOURTH DOCTOR
He’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. He’s almost up to my standard...

SECOND DOCTOR
I'm afraid that there's no alternative.

DELGADO MASTER
Displaying your usual sickening lovability, I suppose?

MASTER
Devious to the last.

WAR CHIEF MASTER
Don't do it Doctor, you CAN’T! You KNOW what will happen!

DELGADO MASTER
Doctor, is that you?

THIRD DOCTOR
My, my, my, you’ve changed. Another regeneration?

PRATT MASTER
I have suffered enough from your stupid interference in my designs, Doctor.

FOURTH DOCTOR
Who is the Master? My sworn enemy – a fiend who glories in chaos and destruction..

FIFTH DOCTOR
All right, Master. It’s me you want.

PRATT MASTER
Who else but you? So despicably good. So insufferably compassionate! I want you to die in shame and disgrace...

TIME LORD
He’ll certainly try to kill you, Doctor.

PRATT MASTER
The Doctor will die.

FOURTH DOCTOR
I thought you were going to destroy me.

DELGADO MASTER
But not without considerable regret.

THIRD DOCTOR
But I still don't see why... What can you possibly gain?

DELGADO MASTER
The pleasure of seeing the human race exterminated, Doctor. The human race of which you are so fond. Believe me, that'll be a reward in itself.

THIRD DOCTOR
You’re risking the total destruction of the entire cosmos!

DELGADO MASTER
Of course I am. All or nothing – literally! What a glorious alternative!

FOURTH DOCTOR
You’re mad... YOU’RE UTTERLY MAD!

DELGADO MASTER
Who isn’t? The only difference is that I’m a little more honest than the rest.

FOURTH DOCTOR
The Master is consumed by hatred. It’s his one weakness.

PRATT MASTER
Weakness, Doctor? That’s where you’re wrong. Hatred is strength!

DELGADO MASTER
My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure.

THIRD DOCTOR
Don’t worry, he’s not going to kill me.

DELGADO MASTER
That is your last mistake.

PRATT MASTER
Congratulations, Doctor – you’re just in time for the end!

MASTER
The universe is purged of the Doctor and his impossible dreams of goodness!

DELGADO MASTER
Just think of the future - dominion over all time and all space! Absolute power forever! And no Doctor to ruin things for me!

DELGADO MASTER
You realize, of course, that you’re a doomed man, Doctor?

THIRD DOCTOR
Oh, I’m a dead man. I knew that as soon as I came through that door, so you’d better watch out! You see, I’ve nothing to lose, have I?

NYSSA
Gone forever.

ADRIC
And the Master?

MASTER
Journey’s end, Doctor.

The Master screams as the flames consume him.

THIRD DOCTOR
Would you condemn anybody to an eternity of torment - even the Master?

FOURTH DOCTOR
He’s the quintessence of evil.

DELGADO MASTER
You always were an optimist, weren’t you?

A blinding white explosion of noise.


3. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

We zoom out from the Doctor, still transfixed. But there is no sign of the Plasmaton. The humans’ eyes have returned to normal. The howl fades and the humans collapse in unison, followed by the Doctor, clutching his head. He groans. Silence. The rain has stopped. The Doctor croaks, every syllable is agony.

DOCTOR
Is it over?

A familiar chuckle, by the voice now identifiable.

THE MASTER
Oh, no, my dear Doctor, it’s not over.

The Doctor stares up at him. Dressed in his usual attire, the MASTER stands over him.

THE MASTER
It’s just begun.

(FINISH OPENING CREDITS)
(THE ENEMY WITHIN)
(EPISODE THREE: WAR OF NERVES)

1. EXT. OUTSIDE THE MANOR (NIGHT)

The rain has dried up. Mist wafts eerily across the scene.


2. MONTAGE

We fade from shot to shot, showing the inhabitants of the manor as they lie sprawled, half aware and half unconscious at various places in the house – the Doctor, Theo, Maurice, Daniel, THE COLONEL, PERI, Emily, Tracey and Pascoe. We hear the Master chuckling, merging with the Second Ghost laughing, and the old voice rasping.

VOICES
Obey... I have gained wisdom, wisdom born of pain, the weak shall fall or follow...


3. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor lies sprawled on the floor, eyes narrowed, on the knife edge of consciousness. We see this from high above him. Slowly, we start to rotate as if the room is spinning gently, and very slowly zoom in, corkscrewing down towards his dazed face. We hear voices echoing, as if remembering a dream. A calm, female voice is whispering, the Doctor’s disembodied voice sounds half-asleep and distant.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
Hmm?

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
Try again?

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
The Eclipse of Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
You’re not making any sense.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time. Time, the Eclipse of Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
I don’t know what you mean.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
Be more precise.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Full circle. Things must be allowed to turn full circle.

DOCTOR (VO)
What do you want?

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
So you keep saying.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Full circle of time... time...

The Doctor’s eyes close and his head lolls, finally losing consciousness.


4. INT. BEDROOM (NIGHT)

The room is lit by a sinister electric green glow that comes from a single light bulb. It hangs from the ceiling on a chain and is covered by cobwebs. Shadows are thick in the corner. The Doctor calmly and cautiously moves around the room, shading his eyes from the intense green glare. Shadows are thick in the corner. Peri stands by the door, as if trying to stay as far away from the green light as she can. Breathing can be heard.

DOCTOR
Hello? Hello?

Unafraid, he shrugs.

DOCTOR
Is there anybody out there?

The old voice replies – a series of rasping gulps. Every syllable is labored and gutteral, at times unintelligible. A patch of shadow detaches itself.

THE VOICE
Things... fall... apart
The centre... cannot... hold...

The Doctor frowns at the wraith. He continues to circle the light, and so does the spectral figure, as if chasing each other very slowly.

DOCTOR
Who are you?

THE VOICE
My... self.

DOCTOR
What's your name?

THE VOICE
Ras... sil... on.

DOCTOR
“Rassilon”? Don't be ridiculous!

A death rattle. Or a giggle.

DOCTOR
Very amusing. All right, whoever you are, what do you want? Well? Why are you here?

THE VOICE
Because... I can...

DOCTOR
THAT is the best answer you've got?

THE VOICE
Why... should I... need more?

DOCTOR
Oh, well, it must be important. If you want to hang around here instead of going across the Great Divide.

THE VOICE
You... fear it. You cannot cross.

DOCTOR
Neither can you, obviously. I take it you are dead?

THE VOICE
Not quite.

DOCTOR
But you're not alive.

THE VOICE
Not quite.

DOCTOR
Why else aren't you in Heaven?

THE VOICE
Only... the good... go to heaven.

The Doctor’s voice is apprehensive.

DOCTOR
And you’re not good, I take it?

THE VOICE
I... smell... the flesh... the blood...

DOCTOR
Did the smell bring you here?

THE VOICE
No.

DOCTOR
No? Then what did?

THE VOICE
You... did.

The Doctor finally starts to appear afraid. Behind him, watching this with amusement, is the Master, arms folded. He is gone the next time we cut back there.

DOCTOR
Me?

THE VOICE
You... Doctor.

The Doctor changes direction, moving back anti-clockwise. The ghostly form changes direction as well.

DOCTOR
Yes. Me Doctor. You are...?

THE VOICE
Playing.

DOCTOR
"Playing"?

THE VOICE
Playing with toys... and they break... just like you...

DOCTOR
I'm not broken, I think you'll find.

THE VOICE
Not yet... not yet...


5. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

Peri is lying where she fell. Her eyes snap open. She looks around. No sign of Maurice. She finds the torch nearby. It’s broken.

PERI
Useless.

She drops it on the floor and gets to her feet stiffly.

PERI
Maurice? Maurice, are you there?

She creeps down the corridor.

PERI
Promise I won’t kick you again... unless you’re possessed... or really annoying...

She moves down the passage and out of sight. Gradually introduce the green light. Pull back to show that Maurice is cowering in the corner, shaking almost involuntarily. The vial lies on the ground before him, seemingly the cause of the green glow.

MASTER (VO)
Maurice Fforde-Jones...

Maurice glances up fearfully and recoils. It is the Master.

MAURICE
I can’t take much more of this... I can’t take ANY more of this... why won’t anyone stay and help me? Why?

MASTER
You’re hiding.

MAURICE
You found me! Why not them?

MASTER
Maybe you’re hiding too well for them to find you. But not hiding well enough for me. I will always find you. No matter where you go, no matter how still you keep, no matter how silent you remain... I will be right beside you.

MAURICE
Go away!

MASTER
And leave you alone forever? Is that what you want?

Maurice snatches up the vial.

MAURICE
I’ll use this!

MASTER
I’m terrified. But if you use that cyanide on me, you won’t be able to...

MAURICE
SHUT UP!

Maurice gets to his feet.

MAURICE
SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!

MASTER
You can’t make me.

MAURICE
I’ll get a priest! Or a vicar! Or some relevant cleric! You’ll be banished, excommunicated, exorcised, the whole kitten kaboodle!

MASTER
You don’t have the courage!

MAURICE
I so have the courage.

MASTER
Then why are the other members of your family still alive?

Maurice loses some of his fire.

MASTER
You could kill them all. The family fortune, all those wonderful and shiny pieces of crystallized carbon, just waited for you. If the others were gone, you would have sole access. All that money. What would you use it for? Power? Freedom? Dominion over this country... or any others?

Maurice drops the vial. It bounces on the carpet.

MAURICE
I can’t kill them.

MASTER
To coin a phrase, you should unlock your potential.

MAURICE
Who are you?

MASTER
I am the Master.

MAURICE
Master? Of what?

MASTER
Everything.

MAURICE
You’re not the master of me!

MASTER
Aren’t I? You can only escape me by freeing yourself. But you’re not up to that. You are only useful for the nourishment you provide.

He moves towards Maurice.

MAURICE
Keep away from me!

MASTER
I am my own Master. And my hunger needs to be sated.

MAURICE
NO! Get away!

The green light gets thicker and thicker. Maurice slumps against the wall. The Master looms over him. Tears are streaming down Maurice’s face.

MAURICE
Please! PLEASE! NOOOOOOO0000000!

We cut to the other end of the corridor. Peri looks up, as if hearing Maurice’s scream. She looks back down the corridor. It is empty. She turns and heads off.

PERI
Doctor? Doctor, are you in here?


6. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor’s eyelids flutter open as he hears Peri’s voice. He stiffly sits up and looks around. The lights are now on. There is no sign of anyone else. The Doctor rises and moves over to the French windows. They are closed and no longer cracked. The Doctor frowns – there are still shards of broken glass on the carpet.

PERI (VO)
Doctor?

DOCTOR
Coming.

The Doctor turns and pauses by the bar. All the bottles are wrecked – broken, warped, and the various other knickknacks there are bent or twisted. He picks up a shot glass. It is in pieces.

DOCTOR
Not by some kind of impact or violence... As if the temperature changed suddenly. Suddenly and intensely. Now, I wonder what could have done that? Something that creates energy for itself by dropping the temperature itself? A few degrees would be enough energy to throw a table across the room. Yet, the tables are where they were. So what are you doing with all that energy? Wasting it, probably. It’s what you normally do.

He crosses to the exit. The Doctor casts a last glance across the room. We follow his gaze – the intact French windows, a couple of cupboards, the snooker table, the Master standing like a waxwork in the shadows, the gun rack... The Doctor whips his gaze back to where the Master was. He isn’t there now, nor is there any trace he was.

DOCTOR
Nothing and nobody. Sums you up rather well, doesn’t it?

He exits.


7. INT. HALLWAY (NIGHT)

The staircase is now intact. There is no message scratched on the wall. Nor is there any blood on the floor. The Doctor reacts cautiously to each of these, stepping gingerly over where the blood would be, avoiding the patch of wall.

DOCTOR
Who are you in armor, visiting our rivers? Speak from where you are, stop there, say why you come. This is the region of the Shades, and Sleep, and drowsy night. It breaks eternal law for the Stygian craft to carry living bodies!

Peri stands at the top of the stairs. She hurries down to him.

PERI
Doctor! I knew you’d be OK.

She embraces him.

DOCTOR
More than I did. Are you all right? That’s the question.

PERI
Oh, the usual. Got attacked by that black shape, then an urban legend chased me round the manor before Maurice got possessed by the ghost and tried to pour cyanide down my throat.

DOCTOR
Yes, I... I heard about that.

PERI
How?

DOCTOR
Hard to explain. Where’s Maurice now?

PERI
No idea.

DOCTOR
Peri, I told you to look after them!

PERI
I tried! They just all... disappeared. I can’t find anyone. Not even that thing from the swamp or the green light or even the black shape. Like none of it ever happened.

DOCTOR
Yes. I think things have come to a head.

PERI
What do you mean?

DOCTOR
The... ghost. It was on its last legs. Now it’s fully recharged itself. Assuming it has some sort of plan, it’s probably underway now.

PERI
So what do we do?

DOCTOR
Back to the TARDIS. I need time to think.

He heads over to the front door and tries it. Locked. He takes out his sonic screwdriver and mucks about with the lock.

PERI
But what about the others?

DOCTOR
Have you seen them?

PERI
No...

DOCTOR
Well, neither have I. So we’ll just have to assume they are out of our reach until further notice. But the TARDIS scanners should be...

He shakes the screwdriver and tries again.

DOCTOR
Odd.

PERI
Don’t tell me your new gadget is playing up?

DOCTOR
Fine. I won’t.

He shakes the door angrily.

DOCTOR
I can’t budge it.

PERI
Should we look for the key?

DOCTOR
Let’s just try a different exit.

The Doctor heads towards the Saloon. Peri follows.

PERI
Even the writing’s disappeared.

DOCTOR
Probably was never there.

PERI
Guess so.

Peri runs her hand over the wall, thoughtfully. The Doctor keeps walking.

PERI
What did it mean anyway?

The Doctor stops and looks back, pretending not to understand.

DOCTOR
What did what mean?

PERI
That writing? The equation on the wall?

DOCTOR
Oh that. Nothing much.

PERI
So what did it mean?

DOCTOR
Peri, we should be going now.

PERI
Why? What are you hiding?

DOCTOR
I’m not hiding anything. Those symbols were, quite simply, a student ID code. You have those in St. Michelle, Pasadena?

Peri rolls her eyes.

PERI
Yeah, we do. Why would a ghost of all people carve – or pretend to carve – a student number in the wall? What good would that do?

DOCTOR
It all depends on who the student number belongs to, doesn’t it?

PERI
So? Who does it belong to?

DOCTOR
Just someone I went to school with. Doesn’t matter.

They enter the Saloon.


8. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor sticks his head around the door, checking the coast is clear. He enters and heads over to the French windows. Peri follows.

PERI
It must matter!

DOCTOR
Must it? I suppose it matters that our sinister spectre took the form of a strange green light? Snatching out thoughts from your subconscious to scare you?

Peri is defensive as she pouts.

PERI
I coped.

DOCTOR
I know, you did magnificently. It’s just... well, what upsets me might not upset you.

PERI
Yeah, I mean a student number is WAY creepier than a green light that drives you out of your mind.

DOCTOR
It wasn’t just the student number. It was a message.

PERI
A message? What kind of message?

He points to the wall, as if reading invisible words.

DOCTOR
“Sentenced to death. Trial a fake. We are all being used.”

PERI
OK. What’s the problem with that?

DOCTOR
I first saw those words scratched into the wall of a cellar. In a chateau. A long time ago. It was the usual situation. The TARDIS landed in No Man’s Land, 1917, the British troops got the wrong idea, thought I might be a German spy, I was given an instant court martial by a particularly mean-looking general. And he sentenced me to death.

PERI
You defended yourself, didn’t you?

DOCTOR
I did. I just assumed it was rough military justice unable to grasp the staggering importance of my incredible legal defense... but then I saw that scratched in the execution cell. You see, Peri, it WASN’T 1917. It wasn’t Earth. That general wasn’t human. It was all a great illusion, an experiment. Whole platoons of soldiers were being abducted, kidnapped, and then let loose, told they were still in World War I. And not just World War I. Lots of wars. All those people slaughtered. I put a stop to it. But so many people were dead before I even arrived – and that included people who had found out the truth. The poor wretch who scratched that message found out what was going on. But they were executed before they had a chance to fix it. It was only pure chance I found it. And, I admit, since that day it prays on my mind. I was lucky not to share that fate. One day I won’t be so lucky. And there won’t be a happy ending. For anyone.

A beat. Peri touches his arm comfortingly.

PERI
It’s OK to be scared about stuff like that.

The Doctor blows out his cheeks.

DOCTOR
Such judgement in one so young.

PERI
But what does the algebra have to do with this?

DOCTOR
That student number... it was part of that fiasco. Let’s say no more. We have a long walk back to the TARDIS in a dark wood – and even if that plasmaton has dispersed, I don’t relish going through that landscape in the dark...

He crosses to the windows.

DOCTOR
Even the broken glass is gone. Oh well.

He hauls on the handles, but the doors do not open. He tries again. He pushes them. Peri tries the doors gently. They don’t budge.

PERI
Locked?

DOCTOR
Perhaps...

He takes out the sonic screwdriver, rotates it and smashes the end against the glass. Nothing. He tries again.

DOCTOR
This glass is very strong. Especially considering it was shattered easily enough earlier tonight. All right, Peri. Now we bring out the big guns.

The Doctor returns to the snooker table.

PERI
The big guns?

DOCTOR
To whit, you.

He holds up a snooker cue and hands it to her.

DOCTOR
With the power invested in me as Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords, I hereby authorize you to smash those French windows.

He indicates the doors and stands back.

PERI
Me?

DOCTOR
You’ve got the blunt object.

PERI
I’m not used to breaking and entering like this.

DOCTOR
You can do it. Just imagine it’s me when I’m irritating.

Peri shifts awkwardly.

PERI
You’re not THAT bad.

The Doctor sighs with exasperation.

DOCTOR
All right, imagine it was that first-year engineering student you dated for an afternoon.

Peri looks at him, shocked.

PERI
Chuck?!

DOCTOR
Yes, I think it was Chuck.

PERI
Who told you about Chuck?!?

DOCTOR
Is he the one you said “only spoke jargonese” and was unable to explain anything without over-complication of how the mechanics worked?

Peri is slightly taken aback at the description, and forgets her shock.

PERI
Yeah... Kinda like you in respects.

DOCTOR
Hardly. Do you travel in time and space with Chuck? I think not.

Peri remembers what she was upset about.

PERI
How do you know about Chuck?!

DOCTOR
I do listen to you occasionally, Peri. Especially when you criticize my methods when I’m busy trying to bond crystal transversers to the lateral balance cones!

Peri grumbles to yourself.

PERI
Can’t even talk about you behind your back, nowadays...

DOCTOR
Can we get on with escaping the haunted house, please, Peri?

PERI
OK...

Taking a deep breath, she swings it like a club against the glass violently. Nothing. She does it again and again before dropping it. She’s out of breath.

PERI
What’s plan B?

DOCTOR
That WAS plan B. The same force that’s stolen the Fforde-Jones family has somehow sealed off this house...

The Doctor heads for the door to the hallway. Peri follows.

PERI
But how?

DOCTOR
That’s the burning question!

We pull back, gently building the green light. Daniel’s body is now sprawled on the couch that was empty seconds before. And Tracey is slumped beside it. Daniel’s eyes are closed. He looks peaceful. She sadly strokes his cold cheek.

TRACEY
This isn’t real. I’m not living this. Just... just seeing it. You know what feeling, Daniel? Maybe, if I wait here long enough, you’ll wake up. If I wait here long enough.

Daniel understandably does not reply.

TRACEY
Why didn’t the others care? The Doctor cared. His friend did too. But they were just friends of yours... unless you were lying. But they cared more than Daniel, more than Emily. More than your own father. I don’t think Theo will cry for you when he finds out. Didn’t they care about you when you were alive? Didn’t they? Do you think they care about me? Heh. No, I don’t think so either. Just between you and me, I like my family better. We could have gone to mother’s this weekend. But you wanted to come here instead.

She starts to tear up.

TRACEY
I should have shouted at you. Made you do what I say. But I thought... I thought the others might help you. And now you’re gone. And none of them even wanted to help you. I don’t know if we could have helped you... I’m sorry. I should have kept a closer eye on you. I’m sorry. I want to...

She takes hold of his hand.

TRACEY
I won’t leave you. Everything's gonna be just fine. Or it won’t. I don’t care anymore.

MASTER (VO)
You sound lost.

We now see the Master stands over the snooker table, looking down at the triangle of balls as if it is fascinating. Tracey doesn’t take her eyes off Daniel. She is not surprised as his sudden arrival.

TRACEY
I am lost.

MASTER
Aren’t we all?

Tracey laughs, a sharp broken noise.

TRACEY
I don’t feel up to philosophy tonight.

MASTER
I’m not surprised. Tell me, Tracey, do you honestly think this misery of yours is helping Daniel? That he wants it? That he actually cared about you at all?

TRACEY
I don’t want you here.

MASTER
Then I will leave. I just thought I should point out that Daniel killed himself.

TRACEY
To save us.

MASTER
But he didn’t.

TRACEY
He tried.

MASTER
Did he? You think he failed to save you? I think he abandoned you to your fate. He cut his losses and ran the only way he could. He took what you might term “the easy way out”, and left all his troubles behind... for you to endure.

Tracey rests her head against Daniel’s. She doesn’t look at the Master.

TRACEY
I loved him. That’s all that matters.

MASTER
Do you want him back?

TRACEY
Yes.

The Master shakes his head.

MASTER
I can’t bring him back.

TRACEY
I didn’t think you could.

MASTER
But you could go to him.

TRACEY
How?

MASTER
How do you think? Join him... in oblivion.

She almost smiles, still note taking her gaze from her husband.

TRACEY
Tempting.

The Master walks over to her, arms folded.

MASTER
No more pain. No more loss. No more suffering this nasty world without your beloved. Between you and me, there’s another war on the horizon that you would be well advised to miss. You could end it all.

Tracey finally looks at the Master with dead eyes.

TRACEY
If it’s such a wonderful escape... why did YOU come back from the dead?

The Master laughs.

MASTER
Perhaps I don’t like the crowds that appear in the afterlife of late.

TRACEY
Then leave me. Be alone.

We realize the Master has vanished.

MASTER (VO)
If that is what you wish, then that is what you will have.

Tracey rests her head against Daniel and lets her eyes fall closed.

to be continued...

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