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avevale_intelligencer“I'm sorry,” said the other Silver. “I'm afraid I can't allow that.”
Silver exploded with laughter. “You can't allow?” he said. “Aren't you getting ideas above your station? Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Goodbye.” He wiggled his fingers in a little wave.
There was a short pause.
“That's odd,” said Silver. “Why are you still here?”
“I'm not sure,” said the other Silver. “I rather seem to be sustaining myself.”
“That's not possible,” Silver said. “So what...”
“One thing people always forget about Probationers,” said Stickytape, “we're always learning. You think you can ignore us just because we have silly names and haven't been long on the job. But I am Stickytape, and I can hold anything together.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you.” Silver turned to Harborough and the others. “Kill the little fat one first.”
Harborough baulked. “But I want Steel.” He held out his hand. In it appeared a small white Petri dish. “I even have the perfect weapon.”
“So do I,” said Liz, as a camera appeared on a strap around her neck.
“Steel is mine, I rather think,” said Tully, shadows gathering around him.
“I don't believe this,” said Silver, putting a hand to his brow. “I gave you an order.”
“We don't have to obey your orders.” Rob turned on him. “You're just like them.”
“Order and obedience,” said Harborough.
“Command and control,” said Liz.
“Laws and linearity,” said Tully.
“A little dissension in the ranks?” the other Silver inquired sweetly.
“We have an agreement!” Silver wailed.
“We don't belong to you,” said Rob.
“We belong to It,” said Harborough.
“We all belong to It,” said Liz.
“Time is almost free,” said Tully, “and all agreements are off.”
“Which means you belong to It as well,” said Rob.
“No!” Silver shouted as they turned on him.
“There's no need for this.”
Steel and Stickytape turned and stared as Sapphire coolly rose from her chair.
“I'll go with you, Silver,” she said with a smile. “You're quite right, of course. Steel means nothing to me now. I should have realised before that you were the only rational choice for me.”
“Sapphire,” Silver breathed.
Sapphire reached for his hand. “Forget about these images,” she said. “Leave Steel and the others here, and I'll go with you.”
Harborough made a move towards Silver, and stopped. “I can't move,” he said in a strangled tone.
“Nor me,” Liz said. Her face was contorted with effort.
“Silver,” Tully said.
Silver turned to them and smiled. “As you said,” he said, “all agreements are off.” He took Sapphire's hand. “Where shall we go?”
“Wherever you please, my darling,” said Sapphire, smiling brilliantly into his eyes.
“Your respite will be brief,” Harborough snapped. “Time is almost free.”
“Isn't it always?” Silver said. “Goodbye, Steel. Goodbye, whoever you are.”
“Stickytape,” said Stickytape, as Silver and Sapphire, holding hands, slowly faded into nothingness.
“Well, that's a relief,” said Sapphire, appearing back in her chair. “I thought they'd never go. It was getting a little crowded in here.”
“Sapphire?” Steel said weakly.
“Masterfully done, my dear,” said the other Silver.
“He always did forget that he wasn't the only one who could do that trick,” Sapphire said. “Now then. What to do about these?” She strolled round Harborough, Liz, Tully and Rob, all straining against invisible bonds and glaring hatred at them.
“I don't understand,” Stickytape said. “I'm not holding them. It's taking me all my time to sustain Silver. I mean, this Silver.”
“That would be me,” said String, strolling in from the lobby. “Hello, Stickytape. Did you miss me?”
Stickytape gaped and made inarticulate noises for a moment or two.
“I'll take that as a yes,” String said with a smile.
“How—how did you get here?”
“With Sapphire's help,” String said. “She sent a projection back to find me.”
“Silver gave me the idea,” said Sapphire. “Coming up with all those people we had hurt, or simply failed to save on our assignments, but one was missing. And then I remembered that we had saved Rothwyn and Eldred. Not only saved them, but sent them home with their child to their own time.” She smiled. “One small victory in a series of stalemates. I know, Steel, sacrifices are inevitable, but...we have to remember why we keep order, why it matters. The reason is important.”
“And once I got here it was simple to bind these four, and also to tie up Silver's perceptions so that he didn't recognise the fake Sapphire as a projection,” String added.
“Where are they now?” Stickytape asked.
“I took care of that too. Wherever he tried to take her, there's only one place he could end up,” String said. “Back home.”
“To face his punishment,” Sapphire said. “Treachery is particularly frowned upon.”
“I don't envy him,” Stickytape said with a shudder.
“Then don't emulate him,” Steel said. He had recovered nearly all his self-possession. “Now, what shall we do with this lot?” he continued, indicating the prisoners.
“Well, since you bound them, String, perhaps you should set them free,” said Sapphire.
“What?” Stickytape yelped.
“Completely free, that is,” Sapphire added.
String nodded, brought her two clenched fists together in front of her and then pulled them apart and spread them wide. Harborough, Tully, Liz and Rob immediately stopped struggling, and their faces cleared.
Silver—the only remaining Silver-- looked up, and then around at the walls. “It's gone,” he said. “The Time force has dissipated.”
“It's lost its foci,” Sapphire said. “Their minds are free. You'll have realised, of course, that—with one exception—they're not projections at all but the actual individuals.”
“The exception being me, I suppose,” said Harborough cheerfully.
“Yes, Felix,” Sapphire said. “I'll come to you in a minute, if I may.” She moved to Tully, who was looking acutely embarrassed. “Mr Tully,” she said, “I can't offer you your life back. It has ended, and that is as it should be. But I can offer you peace, if you will take it at my hands. And I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us.”
“If you can find it in yours to forgive me,” Tully said humbly. “And yes. Peace would be very welcome. The past...however long...”
“Is past,” Sapphire said, touching his forehead gently. “Let it go.”
George Tully let out a long breath, and as he did so, faded into the air.
“Liz,” Sapphire said, approaching the girl, “you can return. You'll have lost some time, a few years. Think of it as being in a coma. But you need not be scared of photographs any more. I can take away that fear, if you like.”
“Thanks,” said Liz, “but I'll deal with it on my own, if it's all the same to you. Actually,” she darted a sidelong glance at Rob, “I was thinking of looking up Mr Jardine here. It's been a long time since I met anyone I had something in common with. And we should be about the same age now.”
“Are you sure?” Sapphire said, amusement dancing in her eyes as she saw Rob blush.
“He's a bit posh for me, but I dare say I can make allowances,” Liz said.
“Sapphire,” said Rob. “Everything I said to Steel back then—well, it was all true, except for the part about Helen. She's never been in a mental home. I think she coped with it all better than I did.”
“Of course,” Sapphire said.
“So—we don't need to be scared of old things any more?”
“You don't,” Sapphire said. “In fact, it's important that you shouldn't be.” She held out her hands, and Rob and Liz each took one. “Goodbye,” Sapphire said as they faded to transparency.
“And then there was one, as Felicity would have said,” Harborough remarked. “I know, I know, you can't give me my life because it's being used at the moment.”
“The real Felix Harborough lives on,” Sapphire said, “a crusty old man of seventy-eight, writing letters to the newspapers about the Government.”
“Ah well, never mind. Honourable oblivion awaits, I suppose.” He held out his hand, which still had the Petri dish in it. Sapphire passed her own hand over the dish, and it vanished..
“Actually, I think we can do rather better than that,” Steel said unexpectedly.
“How do you mean, Steel?” Sapphire said.
“Well,” Steel said, “it occurs to me that a number of our Probationers are going to be achieving promotion quite soon, so there would be room at the bottom, as it were. And since you've already had a taste of the kind of thing we deal with...”
“I say, do you mean it?” Harborough said with growing excitement.
“Steel, are you sure?” said Sapphire.
“Call it my way of making reparations,” Steel said. “And acknowledging that Brass has its virtues after all.”
“Splendid,” Harborough said. “Thank you.”
“You'll need this,” Sapphire said. She put her arms around Harborough and kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck.”
“Toodle-pip,” Harborough called jauntily as he disappeared.
“You didn't warn him about the first hundred years in the stables,” Stickytape pointed out.
“He'll find out,” Steel said.
“And I think he'll take it in good part,” Sapphire said confidently. “Oh, and Silver...if you want to claim your predecessor's place, you'd better get a move on before it gets thrown open.”
“But I'm just a—a reproduction,” Silver said. “Aren't I?”
“Not any more,” Sapphire said. “You might want to call yourself Argent for now, though. At least till you get confirmation.”
“Thank you, Sapphire,” Silver said. “I—thank you. Goodbye.”
“How did you do that?” Steel said, as Silver vanished.
“Oh, Steel,” Sapphire said, pirouetting in the middle of the room. “You have no idea what I can do out here, how much power I have. I could recreate the entire universe around us. Or create a brand new one, just for you and me.”
“Sapphire,” Steel said, sounding for once almost sad, “that isn't what we're for.”
There was a brief moment of hesitation. Then--
“I know,” Sapphire said, relaxing, “but it was a nice idea to play with. Anyway, we're nearly back to where we started. I'm sorry it took so long to get back here.”
Stickytape cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Sapphire, but—when did you actually become aware of what was going on?”
“When I knew Steel was scared,” Sapphire said simply. “He spends so much time being stoical and impervious, a lot of the time he even fools me, let alone himself. Don't make that mistake with your partner, will you?”
“I won't let him,” String promised.
“So, how goes the war?” Steel said.
“Lead and Diamond have already been found and released,” Sapphire said, her eyes glowing blue. “Jet—is gone, I'm afraid. So is Copper. Paper, Scissors and Stone are looking for Gold. Most of the others are still missing.”
“We have a lot to do then,” said Steel.
Sapphire nodded. “Silver was right,” she said. “Time is always almost free. It's up to us to see that it stays that way.”
She took Steel's hand. String took hold of Stickytape's.
They took a pace forward, and were gone.
Uh-th-thee-uh-th-thee-uh-th-thee-uh-th-that's all folks!
And a link to the whole thing, for people who don't read episodically...
Silver exploded with laughter. “You can't allow?” he said. “Aren't you getting ideas above your station? Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Goodbye.” He wiggled his fingers in a little wave.
There was a short pause.
“That's odd,” said Silver. “Why are you still here?”
“I'm not sure,” said the other Silver. “I rather seem to be sustaining myself.”
“That's not possible,” Silver said. “So what...”
“One thing people always forget about Probationers,” said Stickytape, “we're always learning. You think you can ignore us just because we have silly names and haven't been long on the job. But I am Stickytape, and I can hold anything together.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you.” Silver turned to Harborough and the others. “Kill the little fat one first.”
Harborough baulked. “But I want Steel.” He held out his hand. In it appeared a small white Petri dish. “I even have the perfect weapon.”
“So do I,” said Liz, as a camera appeared on a strap around her neck.
“Steel is mine, I rather think,” said Tully, shadows gathering around him.
“I don't believe this,” said Silver, putting a hand to his brow. “I gave you an order.”
“We don't have to obey your orders.” Rob turned on him. “You're just like them.”
“Order and obedience,” said Harborough.
“Command and control,” said Liz.
“Laws and linearity,” said Tully.
“A little dissension in the ranks?” the other Silver inquired sweetly.
“We have an agreement!” Silver wailed.
“We don't belong to you,” said Rob.
“We belong to It,” said Harborough.
“We all belong to It,” said Liz.
“Time is almost free,” said Tully, “and all agreements are off.”
“Which means you belong to It as well,” said Rob.
“No!” Silver shouted as they turned on him.
“There's no need for this.”
Steel and Stickytape turned and stared as Sapphire coolly rose from her chair.
“I'll go with you, Silver,” she said with a smile. “You're quite right, of course. Steel means nothing to me now. I should have realised before that you were the only rational choice for me.”
“Sapphire,” Silver breathed.
Sapphire reached for his hand. “Forget about these images,” she said. “Leave Steel and the others here, and I'll go with you.”
Harborough made a move towards Silver, and stopped. “I can't move,” he said in a strangled tone.
“Nor me,” Liz said. Her face was contorted with effort.
“Silver,” Tully said.
Silver turned to them and smiled. “As you said,” he said, “all agreements are off.” He took Sapphire's hand. “Where shall we go?”
“Wherever you please, my darling,” said Sapphire, smiling brilliantly into his eyes.
“Your respite will be brief,” Harborough snapped. “Time is almost free.”
“Isn't it always?” Silver said. “Goodbye, Steel. Goodbye, whoever you are.”
“Stickytape,” said Stickytape, as Silver and Sapphire, holding hands, slowly faded into nothingness.
“Well, that's a relief,” said Sapphire, appearing back in her chair. “I thought they'd never go. It was getting a little crowded in here.”
“Sapphire?” Steel said weakly.
“Masterfully done, my dear,” said the other Silver.
“He always did forget that he wasn't the only one who could do that trick,” Sapphire said. “Now then. What to do about these?” She strolled round Harborough, Liz, Tully and Rob, all straining against invisible bonds and glaring hatred at them.
“I don't understand,” Stickytape said. “I'm not holding them. It's taking me all my time to sustain Silver. I mean, this Silver.”
“That would be me,” said String, strolling in from the lobby. “Hello, Stickytape. Did you miss me?”
Stickytape gaped and made inarticulate noises for a moment or two.
“I'll take that as a yes,” String said with a smile.
“How—how did you get here?”
“With Sapphire's help,” String said. “She sent a projection back to find me.”
“Silver gave me the idea,” said Sapphire. “Coming up with all those people we had hurt, or simply failed to save on our assignments, but one was missing. And then I remembered that we had saved Rothwyn and Eldred. Not only saved them, but sent them home with their child to their own time.” She smiled. “One small victory in a series of stalemates. I know, Steel, sacrifices are inevitable, but...we have to remember why we keep order, why it matters. The reason is important.”
“And once I got here it was simple to bind these four, and also to tie up Silver's perceptions so that he didn't recognise the fake Sapphire as a projection,” String added.
“Where are they now?” Stickytape asked.
“I took care of that too. Wherever he tried to take her, there's only one place he could end up,” String said. “Back home.”
“To face his punishment,” Sapphire said. “Treachery is particularly frowned upon.”
“I don't envy him,” Stickytape said with a shudder.
“Then don't emulate him,” Steel said. He had recovered nearly all his self-possession. “Now, what shall we do with this lot?” he continued, indicating the prisoners.
“Well, since you bound them, String, perhaps you should set them free,” said Sapphire.
“What?” Stickytape yelped.
“Completely free, that is,” Sapphire added.
String nodded, brought her two clenched fists together in front of her and then pulled them apart and spread them wide. Harborough, Tully, Liz and Rob immediately stopped struggling, and their faces cleared.
Silver—the only remaining Silver-- looked up, and then around at the walls. “It's gone,” he said. “The Time force has dissipated.”
“It's lost its foci,” Sapphire said. “Their minds are free. You'll have realised, of course, that—with one exception—they're not projections at all but the actual individuals.”
“The exception being me, I suppose,” said Harborough cheerfully.
“Yes, Felix,” Sapphire said. “I'll come to you in a minute, if I may.” She moved to Tully, who was looking acutely embarrassed. “Mr Tully,” she said, “I can't offer you your life back. It has ended, and that is as it should be. But I can offer you peace, if you will take it at my hands. And I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us.”
“If you can find it in yours to forgive me,” Tully said humbly. “And yes. Peace would be very welcome. The past...however long...”
“Is past,” Sapphire said, touching his forehead gently. “Let it go.”
George Tully let out a long breath, and as he did so, faded into the air.
“Liz,” Sapphire said, approaching the girl, “you can return. You'll have lost some time, a few years. Think of it as being in a coma. But you need not be scared of photographs any more. I can take away that fear, if you like.”
“Thanks,” said Liz, “but I'll deal with it on my own, if it's all the same to you. Actually,” she darted a sidelong glance at Rob, “I was thinking of looking up Mr Jardine here. It's been a long time since I met anyone I had something in common with. And we should be about the same age now.”
“Are you sure?” Sapphire said, amusement dancing in her eyes as she saw Rob blush.
“He's a bit posh for me, but I dare say I can make allowances,” Liz said.
“Sapphire,” said Rob. “Everything I said to Steel back then—well, it was all true, except for the part about Helen. She's never been in a mental home. I think she coped with it all better than I did.”
“Of course,” Sapphire said.
“So—we don't need to be scared of old things any more?”
“You don't,” Sapphire said. “In fact, it's important that you shouldn't be.” She held out her hands, and Rob and Liz each took one. “Goodbye,” Sapphire said as they faded to transparency.
“And then there was one, as Felicity would have said,” Harborough remarked. “I know, I know, you can't give me my life because it's being used at the moment.”
“The real Felix Harborough lives on,” Sapphire said, “a crusty old man of seventy-eight, writing letters to the newspapers about the Government.”
“Ah well, never mind. Honourable oblivion awaits, I suppose.” He held out his hand, which still had the Petri dish in it. Sapphire passed her own hand over the dish, and it vanished..
“Actually, I think we can do rather better than that,” Steel said unexpectedly.
“How do you mean, Steel?” Sapphire said.
“Well,” Steel said, “it occurs to me that a number of our Probationers are going to be achieving promotion quite soon, so there would be room at the bottom, as it were. And since you've already had a taste of the kind of thing we deal with...”
“I say, do you mean it?” Harborough said with growing excitement.
“Steel, are you sure?” said Sapphire.
“Call it my way of making reparations,” Steel said. “And acknowledging that Brass has its virtues after all.”
“Splendid,” Harborough said. “Thank you.”
“You'll need this,” Sapphire said. She put her arms around Harborough and kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck.”
“Toodle-pip,” Harborough called jauntily as he disappeared.
“You didn't warn him about the first hundred years in the stables,” Stickytape pointed out.
“He'll find out,” Steel said.
“And I think he'll take it in good part,” Sapphire said confidently. “Oh, and Silver...if you want to claim your predecessor's place, you'd better get a move on before it gets thrown open.”
“But I'm just a—a reproduction,” Silver said. “Aren't I?”
“Not any more,” Sapphire said. “You might want to call yourself Argent for now, though. At least till you get confirmation.”
“Thank you, Sapphire,” Silver said. “I—thank you. Goodbye.”
“How did you do that?” Steel said, as Silver vanished.
“Oh, Steel,” Sapphire said, pirouetting in the middle of the room. “You have no idea what I can do out here, how much power I have. I could recreate the entire universe around us. Or create a brand new one, just for you and me.”
“Sapphire,” Steel said, sounding for once almost sad, “that isn't what we're for.”
There was a brief moment of hesitation. Then--
“I know,” Sapphire said, relaxing, “but it was a nice idea to play with. Anyway, we're nearly back to where we started. I'm sorry it took so long to get back here.”
Stickytape cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Sapphire, but—when did you actually become aware of what was going on?”
“When I knew Steel was scared,” Sapphire said simply. “He spends so much time being stoical and impervious, a lot of the time he even fools me, let alone himself. Don't make that mistake with your partner, will you?”
“I won't let him,” String promised.
“So, how goes the war?” Steel said.
“Lead and Diamond have already been found and released,” Sapphire said, her eyes glowing blue. “Jet—is gone, I'm afraid. So is Copper. Paper, Scissors and Stone are looking for Gold. Most of the others are still missing.”
“We have a lot to do then,” said Steel.
Sapphire nodded. “Silver was right,” she said. “Time is always almost free. It's up to us to see that it stays that way.”
She took Steel's hand. String took hold of Stickytape's.
They took a pace forward, and were gone.
Uh-th-thee-uh-th-thee-uh-th-thee-uh-th-that's all folks!
And a link to the whole thing, for people who don't read episodically...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 03:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 03:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 04:03 pm (UTC)BF is definitely an alternative, and has the advantage that the original actors (or at least some of them) can be used, or voice actors who look different.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 03:12 pm (UTC)"We'll tell you that tomorrow night."
"I wanna hear more now."
"Now, Berkelium, you musn't go unstable. You need your rest."
"Aaaw...."
With a whimper, Berkelium climbed into the chamber as Stickytape closed the hatch. The cherubic face smiled at her through the window as she set the dials to 217° K. Stickytape then blew her a kiss.
"Good night, love. Sleep tight."
"Good night," came Berkelium's muffled reply as she turned away from the window's view to settle into peaceful slumber.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 04:26 pm (UTC)I am looking forward to any further adventures that may come along.... *makes googly eyes*
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 06:47 pm (UTC)Where's the rest of it??
(I am assuming that there *is* some more, before this).
While reading it, I could see the show, so to speak. Loved the dialog, the pace, everything.
I need more........:)
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 07:10 pm (UTC)What I meant is: if there is a before (or after/sideways/ upside down) I *need* to read it!
I followed the link and read it in one go - I tend not to read things in bits, because I might forget some of the details. But thank anyway. *g*
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-25 06:50 pm (UTC)And more after this
audio form.
Was that what you meant?
no subject
Date: 2008-03-26 01:13 am (UTC)But thank you for the links - I feel is is my duty to go watch the series now...:)
(Hope Lovefilm carries it!).
no subject
Date: 2008-03-26 03:12 am (UTC)Do watch the series. It's very good.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 07:52 pm (UTC)Time
Date: 2008-03-22 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-23 07:58 am (UTC)Probably is unconnected.
But string stretches and sticky tape holds things together, nice.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-23 09:50 am (UTC)I'm currently wondering if Stickytape and String would sustain a story on their own: I have a couple of other Sapphire and Steel-related ideas I've been kicking around for some time.
This one was a need-to-write-it from the moment the last episode of the series ended, but I couldn't find the way in till I got the two new characters. It really feels good finally to have done it.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-25 02:23 pm (UTC)1. Strings can vibrate (especially when under tension);
2. Strings can run in directions that humans can't see (even while vibrating in directions that humans *can* see);
3. Vibrations can happen in directions that humans can't see, even when the thing that's vibrating is something humans *can* see.
4. Vibrations can make stuff exist/happen... Like protons, and universes, and music, and orgasms (in order of increasing awesomeness =:o} ). You just need the right mix of vibrations, happening at the right frequencies in the right directions.
5. Cat's cradle is way more fun when played in ten or more dimensions. OK, that's not strictly string theory, but I just thought I'd throw it in there.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-26 03:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-23 01:12 pm (UTC)esAUcSE]no subject
Date: 2008-03-23 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-25 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-25 01:50 pm (UTC)BTW,
To me it seemed a bit too obviously "revisiting that one with the photographs" from S&S, and not really at home in the DW/Torchwood universe. And a bit too reliant on our heroes figuring out what was going because the author said they did, rather than us seeing any specific evidence pointing them that way. (Which is fine in S&S, 'cos they're semi-omnipotent/omniscient extradimensional beings, but not so fine in Torchwood, because they, er, *really* really aren't! =:o} )
no subject
Date: 2008-03-25 02:20 pm (UTC)Sorry about the making sense. It sort of comes naturally to me; I find not making sense much harder for some reason. I'll try and work on that for next time, though. ;)
no subject
Date: 2008-03-25 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-04 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-04 08:02 pm (UTC)