bigapplesauce | [open x3] I'm not big enough to house this crowd

Current Location: Three different places
Current Music: January 12th, 2013

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[open x3] I'm not big enough to house this crowd

James is having a pretty regular day. They're planetside, on a lovely little world called Hedenex. He's taking an exploratory stroll, dressed in one of his three-pieces suits, walking through the complex cityscape they're visiting, enjoying the unfamiliar sky.

He's spent most of the day running around with Andrew, seeing sights, meeting people, testing the cuisine, and letting the dogs stretch their legs a bit too. But Andrew and the dogs only have so much energy, so James has left them to get some rest. James doesn't really need to worry about those things, so he's been getting some exploring done on his own. It's a very welcoming area.

He's just about to head back to ship, when he stumbles. This in itself is unusual, given how surefooted he normally is. But it only gets weirder from there. His systems go haywire, his vision and most of his senses cut out completely. There's a moment of panic, but he doesn't have long to dwell on it before he wakes up in an entirely different place. That is, places.

--

James, or rather the Ambrose part of him, comes to on a streetcorner on the Upper East Side, near Harlem. He's breathing, which is most unconventional. When did he start breathing? Up until a moment (or however long it's been) ago, he was completely robotic.

It's not the first time he's been put in a flesh body, however, so he manages to adjust fairly quickly, getting slowly to his feet. He doesn't much care for the cold, though. Perhaps this is just another Time Scoop, but it's usually less unpleasant.

But no... Because there's something missing. Great chunks of his mind are gone, and he feels strangely empty. Oh, not his memories. Those are still there. Not as organised and reliable now he's got a biological body, but there. His two imported personalities. The Doctor and the Master. They're gone. Yet somehow he can still sense them. As if they're here, but not part of him anymore. He's not sure what this means.

It doesn't occur to him how strange he must look, standing here in the cold, looking confused and lost.

--

Across town, the Doctor wakes up. He's in a café in the East Village, down on 10th street - though he himself doesn't know much more than that it's a café, and that he's currently slumped against the wall in a booth.

He goes through much the same thought process as Ambrose. They have the same memories of course, more or less the same mental capacities; the only difference is how they react to it. And the Doctor is worried. Deeply worried. If he's split free, that means the Master is probably also wandering around somewhere. He can feel that much. A presence in his mind, but far too distant and vague for him to pinpoint it.

First of all, where is he? His surroundings aren't much help. Back in his old body, he could've smelled it. He's not sure how reliable this new nose is, but he hasn't the memories to recall which place smells like what anymore in any case. It definitely doesn't look much like Hedenex, though.

He prods the shoulder of a random patron. "Pardon me, but could you tell me where I am?"

--

Meanwhile, approximately right between the two others, in the back of a dark McDonalds on 42nd street, right off Times Square, the Master version of James wakes up.

He, unlike the two others, is not quite so worried, once he's realised what's happened. In fact, he's rather delighted. His personality is often kept quite buried, at least compared to the other two. He's not so keen on finding them, though he feels that they're here somewhere, now he's finally got a body of his own.

He grins to himself, and pushes out the backdoor of the restaurant, out onto 41st street. It's not particularly crowded, but there are a few walking around. "You, human, where am I?" he asks one of them.

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Even if Andrew isn't tall enough to be a particularly good look-out. He is big enough to be a nice cuddler, though.

"I arrived like that," he answers. It's slightly easier to remember things from the different parts of him when they weren't actually interacting with each other. "The Master in Times Square, where I found Daine. The Doctor in the East Village. And the last part - well, I dubbed myself Ambrose. Met a boy called Luke who joined me in finding the Doctor, then the Doctor and Ambrose went and found you and the Master."

He's used to being tall, okay, it doesn't occur to him that he's not as good a lookout as normal. The cuddling Andrew really has pulled the better duty here.

"How did you find us?" asks the lookout. "You said you could tell each other apart -- were you linked?"

James nods a bit. "Not very strongly, but I could sense the direction of my other selves, feel them in my mind. Ambrose particularly could, not sure why. Not telepathically, just... I don't know, a feeling."

"I've got nothing for him," muses Andrew, jerking his head at Andrew, who's been quiet for the past minute or two. Andrew snorts softly, shifting to get a foot out from an awkward position underneath him.

"I'm glad you found us when you did," he says. "You know, I didn't really -- I'd've gone with you. I still might have if you hadn't...."

Hadn't put a knife to his throat. Andrew falls silent, for once having enough tact not to say it.

James nods a bit. "I'm glad. It's good to know you trust me that much," he answers with a smile at both of them.

"You know... I didn't really know I could merge until I tried to," he points out looking from one to the other. "What if the two of you tried the same?"

Andrew hesitates, lifting his head from James's shoulder to look at the other Andrew. Andrew returns his gaze with the same veiled look of trepidation. Neither replies for a few moments.

"You said the Master didn't want to go back to being one person," starts one.

The other finishes for him. "...What was it like? I mean, he's still in there, isn't he? You remember being him?"

They're both Andrew, but wouldn't going back together mean that they'd sort of...stop existing? Or that one of them would? It's irrational (more obviously so from an outside perspective), but they're afraid of being subsumed by one another.

James can guess what's worrying Andrew. The fears are not entirely unknown to him.

"I remember being all of us. But it's different now I'm not a program, I can't really... I dont know," he shakes his head a bit. It's new to him and he doesn't know how to process is properly yet, and definitely not how to express it.

"But you're both the same. You were the same until a little while ago, you have nothing to fear from one another. And I'm fairly sure you don't want to stay less than a meter and a half forever."

"I could adjust," argues Andrew, though he does see the humor (and the problem) in remaining this height for the rest of his life.

"How come you got to stay full size when I'm stuck turning into a couple of hobbits, anyway?" asks Andrew, stalling before the probably inevitable moment when they're going to have to face up to it and try to put themself back together.

"How come I suddenly have a biological body?" he asks with a shrug, no answer to either question. "I'm not sure if there's any obvious logic to any of it."

Which is upsetting in itself. James likes logic, he likes the structure and the dependability of it. He's an ex-android, of course he does.

Andrew furrows his brow at James. "That's right," he thinks aloud. "I would have expected you'd be an android when you got all back together."

Andrew sighs and uncurls from James's side, letting his feet down. "You're stalling," he points out. He reaches a hand out, which the other takes, tugging him to his feet. Touch alone doesn't do it, as both of them sort of feared and hoped it would -- but a moment later, as they awkwardly huddle against each other with twin looks of concentration, it happens. Their forms seem to lose coherence for a moment, almost as if they were liquifying and flowing together. In the blink of an eye, though, Andrew resolidifies in one piece, looking a bit dazed.

James watches quietly, and a relieved grin appears on his face once the Andrews becomes one full-sized Andrew. He prefers it when it's just one of each, simple and nice and familiar. And he doesn't have to worry about making one Andrew jealous.

"Come here," he says happily, reaching out his hands to Andrew. This is the first time they've seen each other properly's since Hedenex.

Andrew sways for a moment as he readjusts to his own height. It takes him a moment to catch up with the outside world, but then he takes James's hands and sits back down beside him. "Weird," he comments. "I was both of them. Me. It's all still there."

James leans forward and kisses him gently, smiling. "I know. Me too. Do you feel alright?" he asks, running his thumbs over Andrew's hands, watching him closely. Apart from needing to readjust, he doesn't look much worse for wear, unlike James. But then James has had to get used to a flesh body, and run around and used telepathy and other mental powers and all around exhausted himself.

"I'm fine," replies Andrew -- and by the surprise in his voice, James might deduce that he's actually telling the truth about that. He grins and leans forward to put his forehead against James's, more for the comfort of the physical contact than because he actually wants a link. "What about you? Just tired, or...?"

"Yeah... I mean, I think so," he answers, leaning back against Andrew and enjoying the feeling of being non-robotic again. He could feel touch and pleasure in his other body too, of course, but this is different.

"I don't really have much experience judging the different feelings in this body. My head hurts, and it feels like a struggle to move, and... I don't know, I ache. But I also think I'll be fine with some rest," he answers, in detail since Andrew will know better to recognise the feelings.

"Tired," Andrew decides. He settles into a position more conducive to general cuddling, holding one of James's hands in his. "You can use my bed -- I don't think we need to worry about telling people you've arrived." By which he means he's undecided if they even should do that at all. The rebels have been pretty good to him, but that's not to say he's ready to throw his lot in with them just yet.

James nods a bit, agreeing. He isn't overly fond of letting himself be known to authority figures. Then again, he's humanish now, so hopefully he won't be unfairly judged because of his lack of biology anymore.

"We could find a nice little apartment and stay in the city for a while," he suggests, resting against Andrew. Unfortunately these hard, intensely orange plastic seats aren't ideal for cuddling. "Try to figure out what's going on, maybe. As long as we have each other, it doesn't matter terribly where we are. Plus, it didn't sound like we had much choice."

"Supposedly we'll be stopped if we try to leave the island," Andrew agrees. "Bit curious now about what they would have actually done if we'd kept going."

He lets out a little sigh, thinking about where they'll go now. "I need more equipment before I can start working out how to get back," he notes. He's sort of assuming he can work it out, though it feels a bit less urgent now that he has James with him. "And we'll need money from somewhere."

"I can still talk to machines," James answers, remembering he hasn't mentioned this. "Made one give me a MetroCard quite easily, I'm sure I could do the same with an ATM."

It's not stealing if they take it from banks, right? Right? It can be like Robin Hooding, only they give to themselves.

"That could work." Clearly these two are the best ever at financial planning. Also, ethics. "Assuming we get loose of the rebels without any fuss -- they've got my name, but not really anything else."

He's starting to perk up, thinking of the subterfuge required.

Well technically they wouldn't really be stealing from anybody, because no one would lose anything. The only potential problem would be inflation, but it's not like they'd need that much. Also James is excellent at financial planning when it comes to budgeting and such, but neither of them are particularly keen on getting jobs just for the money.

"Well, you could change your name if completely necessary. But I would assume they wouldn't mind you living somewhere else," he answers.

"Pretty sure they want us to join their cause," Andrew points out. "We might want to, I don't know. They've got apartments and things."

But he'd rather fight injustice on his own terms, on his own time. Also, go back to exploring space with their dogs. That was pretty nice.

"As long as we don't work against them, I doubt they'll force us. I would think they have better things to do," he answers. Like, you know, fighting for their cause rather than fighting for people to fight for them.

Apart from that it might be more difficult to gain information, James thinks it would be easier to work by themselves.

"They wouldn't be very good rebels if they insisted on registering us like Romac," chuckles Andrew in agreement. He lets out a little sigh of contentment now that they've more or less settled it. "So we'll move out once we find a place and you get us some cash."

James nods in agreement. It'll have to wait until he feels less exhausted, of course.

"Next stop is ours," he points out, though he doesn't make a move to get up quite yet, even though they're about to pull into the station. He's pretty comfortable here, at least with the cuddling.

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