Doctor Who_ Camera Obscura - Lloyd Rose [66]
‘No,’ agreed the Doctor drily. He turned his head to look at the jars. Each contained a grey, ridged brain. Chiltern took his chin and turned his head back, brought a lit match towards then away from his left eye and then his right.
‘Abnormal pupil response.’
‘Excuse my asking, but what exactly are you doing?’ Chiltern walked out of sight. ‘Did Scale bring me here because you needed some kind of new specimen?’
Chiltern returned with a hypodermic. ‘I’m just going to draw some blood now. Your coat’s in the way, so I’m going to take it from your neck. Please lie very still.’ The Doctor lay very still. Chiltern slipped the needle in with painless, professional ease. ‘Your blood’s a bit orange, isn’t it? Rather subtle, but definite.’ He held the hypodermic up to the light. The Doctor looked at his blood.
‘Which one are you?’ he said. ‘Nathaniel or Sebastian, the Good Twin or the Evil Twin? Not that I really need to ask.’
Chiltern smiled thinly. ‘You’ve guessed.’
‘It wasn’t that hard. Your twin has a completely different personality. Or should I say, your enantiomorph? Your mirror twin.’
Chiltern’s eyes went so pale they were almost colourless. ‘You know a lot, don’t you?’
‘More than you can possibly imagine. You were the first to try the machine, weren’t you? After that, you changed the settings. You tried it on at least two more people, and it was still a disaster. But it’s a different sort of disaster with you. You and Nathaniel experience the world differently, independently, as if you really were two distinct persons. And he doesn’t seem to have a complete set of memories, or an accurate set either.’ Chiltern didn’t answer. ‘He didn’t know the truth, did he? Did discovering it drive him mad?’
Chiltern stood motionless for a moment, no expression on his face. Then he moved out of sight again. The Doctor was fairly certain by now that the only reason he was tied to an autopsy table was that it was the easiest place to secure him, but he still didn’t find it reassuring. Probably it was the view of the brains that was getting him down. ‘You do realise I’m probably the only person on Earth who can help you?’
Chiltern returned. In his hand was a microscope slide smeared with the Doctor’s blood. ‘Only because you’re not from Earth.’
‘Oops,’ said the Doctor. ‘Rumbled.’
‘What exactly are you?’
‘It depends. Sometimes I’m a wave, sometimes I’m a particle.’
Chiltern stared at him. ‘You’re very strange. Even apart from not being human.’
‘Yes, I’ve heard that. Now that you know my mysterious secret, how about unstrapping me?’
‘Not just yet.’
‘Oh for heaven’s sake,’ said the Doctor irritably, ‘I can help you.’
‘Yes.’ Chiltern put the slide in his pocket. ‘Scale told me you asked him about the mirrors. How did you know to do that?’
‘I was at the carnival. He babbles about them to anyone who will listen.’
‘How indiscreet. Well, he won’t any more. Was it beings such as you who made the machine?’
That hadn’t occurred to the Doctor. He supposed it could be true, but since he actually had no idea, he said, ‘No...’
‘That means there are other civilisations out there capable of having made it.’
‘At least one.’
‘Still, you know how it would work.’
‘At least in theory. I’ve never used one.’
‘I want you to repair it.’
‘I want to repair it,’ said the Doctor impatiently. ‘Every time you use it incorrectly, the process destabilises Time..’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s a bit complicated, but trust me, it’s not good.’
Chiltern looked down at the slide in his hand. He was silent for a moment. ‘So there are other worlds,’ he said softly. ‘Are they better than this one?’
The Doctor shook his head. ‘What you call “the human condition” is universal.’
‘Undeserved suffering.’
‘I’m afraid so.’
Chiltern nodded, as if this didn’t surprise him. He regarded the Doctor with neutral, clinical eyes. ‘I’m going to take a sample of brain tissue now, just a few cells.’
‘Think again,’ snapped the Doctor. ‘At least if you want