The Doctor shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not. But I was married to an archaeologist for a long time, I picked up a thing or two along the way."
He approaches the door again. "Writing on any machine or near any door rarely has no meaning at all."
He's trying to not be insulting. But in his head he's begging Vader to thing about every door that had writing near it and if that writing was important or not (at least for the first time it's seen).
Vader crosses his arms, in part as an expression of his displeasure and in part because it just feels better on his arms. Durasteel gets heavy after a while. The Doctor would probably be exasperated knowing how many such mysterious doors he's just strolled through. A thought he finds slightly amusing.
He offers a slightly manic grin. "Same thing I ever do when I see a door."
He approaches it and looks around. Of course, it's not an actual door, so he stays close to the edge. He waves his hands along the stone work to see if he could sense a specific place. He doesn't so he raises his hands and finally knocks.
Vader isn't expecting anything the Doctor does to have any effect... but he's very definitely wrong. Whether it's because of the Time Lord thing with time or the fact that forcy things like this invariably have some sort of low level sentience, it responds. There's a brilliant blueish-white flash of energy. In its wake the once muffled voices become more distinct and he's aware that he's hearing-hearing them, not just sensing them.
He still can't quite make it out, there are too many voices speaking over each other... some sound familiar but not all. Vader looks from the Doctor to the thing and back, his head tilted slightly in curiosity and surprise.
More often than not Forcy things don't like him much nowadays. Light Side stuff especially, but meh... what can you do? It's not actively trying to repel him, even with all the Jedi influence here. There's still plenty of 'unwelcome' vibes from the temple ruins itself, but not the whatever-it-is. It's not exactly welcoming or unwelcoming... it just is.
"It is." Close enough anyway. "It doesn't sound like a go away either."
Vader can still feel it almost beckoning him/them through the Force. Not an invitation or a temptation exactly, but in a 'mysterious power' and 'hidden secrets' way. He looks around... a tiny backwater part of the galaxy and a temple razed to the ground just to expose this.
"Whatever the Emperor wants with this thing is probably on the other side."
Had he mentioned the Emperor was behind whatever was going on here? He can't remember with all the distraction from the whatever-it-is. Whatever.
Vader keeps looking at the door rather than the Doctor. He's said a lot of things, not all of them strictly true. Especially early on when he was more interested in manipulation than something more equitable.
"I said you couldn't use or feel it as I do. The Force interacts with whomever it chooses to."
He finally looks at the Doctor. They don't have unlimited time for this... eventually the Emperor will find out nobody is here and his secret isn't a secret anymore. But, he also doesn't wish to compound the damage that their last encounter did by dismissing or rushing the Doctor either.
"This also has Timeyness stuff going on. That's why I asked you here. I can't understand Time as you do."
There might not be trust, but the Doctor is the only one he can rely on for this. Power, secret knowledge... it was tempting to keep it to himself. But the Doctor was right about him not wanting to see his universe destroyed, that isn't the kind of power he wants. But it is the kind of power Sidious wouldn't mind.
"Who's the devil?"
Sorry, there isn't really an equivalent Vader knows of. He shrugs, it isn't really that important.
"Rebury it?" He motions to the excavation around them. "He'll just dig it back up."
The Doctor pulls out his sonic and scans the doorway again. He's listening to Vader, but isn't reassured. The Doctor thinks about how to explain the Devil as he scans. "The Devil is the master of all evil in the universe."
It's the simplest explanation. He hums as he looks at the readouts. "I don't like this. I want that to be clear. But... You may be right. Going through might be the only way. Since it seems to be a time portal, might be best if I go first."
He takes a breath and slowly puts his foot forward, past the threshold and then pulls it back. "That felt... weird."
Very descriptive of him, but he doesn't know how else to explain it.
He isn't being flip, honest... he just has no good frame of reference. It's not that the concept of demons and other such evil entities don't exist in his universe, and some of them are worshiped... but there's no over-arching single being like "The Devil" as the Doctor knows it. But, that is similar to how the skeleton face guy talked about himself.
"Duly noted." Vader watches with keen interest as the Doctor prepares himself to go through. He's gone though things like this but each one is different and he's never seen someone else do it. Will it even work? It's timey stuff so it should, right?
He can feel things shift as the Doctor's foot starts to cross the threshold. The way the Force of 'here' pulls away to reveal 'there', it does almost feel like a door opening... and then he pulls away.
"Bad weird, good weird?" It's a legit description as far as Vader is concerned. As much as the Doctor hates such vague answers when Vader uses them, sometimes that's just where you need to start. "or just weird weird?"
It might not make much sense to the Doctor, but it's important to know what sort of 'weird' they're dealing with. He'd rather good weird or weird-weird. He can work on describing it in more detail once he can figure out what kind of weird it is.
'Skeletor' doesn't ring a bell for the Doctor, but that's what you get with different universes. He has to think about how to answer Vader's Question. "Weird weird. But I don't know if that's just because I don't know precisely how time works in your universe, or if there's another reason for it..."
There are some strange other universes out there. Like the one with the talking ponies. The Emperor skipped that one.
"Good. At least it's not bad weird." He can work with this. "Something was happening. And it wasn't rejecting you, that would have been Bad Weird."
He looks over the whatever it is again as he thinks and tries to work things out.
"These portal thingies are always weird. What you felt... was it simply physical or did you feel it on a deeper level?"
Vader moves up to the entrance and sticks his own hand through. It's the same as when the Doctor did it, a sort of reality peeling away from him. Except this time he can feel it peel away from himself personally. He wiggles his fingers and tries to get a sense of anything on the other side before pulling his hand back.
Because when in doubt, check with the TARDIS. Which he is going to do. But sorry, Vader, he still doesn't trust you completely again yet, so the door closes behind him. He runs his scans and comes back.
"She doesn't know either. That's the problem with other universes."
He approaches the gate again. "If it affected you too, then the reaction isn't because I'm a Time Lord or from another universe...."
He sticks his hand through again. "Another dimension. Or another time." He looks back at the TARDIS. "As much as I'd prefer her, I'm not letting you go alone."
Vader stays put as the Doctor runs off to do whatever. It's just a return to the status quo when he shuts the door... protecting the TARDIS whether intentionally or not. Vader's just going to focus on the portal-thingy instead of the closed door. After all that's what's important right now.
"She must find it frustrating to be in the dark." He keeps his attention on the thing in front of them.
"No. But it might be why it accepts you. Those without Forciness aren't usually able to interact with these things."
It isn't until the Doctor says he isn't letting him go alone that he looks at him again.
"Of course."
No surprise. The surprise comes with stepping through into the 'World Between Worlds'. An endless expanse of blackness, yet they can see perfectly well. There are faint stars, even constellations helpfully outlined... but it's not enough light to explain how well they can see. Neither is the pathway that stretches out and branches, sometimes flat and sometimes curving off without regard to up and down. Leading off to other times and places... the past, the future, the now.
"Woah..."
Vader looks down, the only way to know the path is even there is because it's outlined with grayish white lines and where their feet touch the path the same light ripples like water.
"This is officially the second weirdest place I've ever been."
He looks where they came from... the stone is gone, replaced by a flat 'drawing' of it on the side of the path. That's when he properly notices the other ones spaced out along the pathway.
Excuse him as he grins like an idiot. Because well it's enjoyable to him. This is why he travels.
"Weird would be the wrong word now. It's... well, it's kind of like the Time Vortex. Only, you can walk through it. Pick different places."
The Doctor is pretty sure this is how the TARDIS views the Time Vortex. Except she knows what she's doing and where she's going. Where as he... not so much.
While he can't begrudge the Doctor his enjoyment, he isn't anywhere near enjoying this as much as the Doctor is. This place makes him equal parts awed and uneasy.
Vader holds his hand out and points to each direction in turn.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a gundark by the toe. If it hollers let it it go. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."
Hope you weren't expecting something more impressive. His hand stops.
"That way."
He has no idea where they're going but that's not a first. The Force will show them what they need to find. Yeah, he's going with that.
The voices they heard before are actually coming from some of the other doorways. Still muffled and still a mix of vaguely familiar and not familiar to Vader at all.
The Doctor is not impressed with how Vader chose. "I could've done that much..."
His way of tasting time wasn't much better. Beyond that, he follows the Dark Lord. He does notice it's moving away from the voices. The Doctor isn't sure if that's by design on Vader's part, but he's not going to argue with it. He's glad to be moving away from them...
He stops walking suddenly and turns to face the other direction. "I wonder, is 'it', whatever 'it' is, clever?"
"I mean, would it somehow know how to motivate and encourage you to go in a certain direction? Can it somehow control the Force? Basically, can this be a trap?"
Because the Doctor always thinks of things in context of traps. It's how he's lived so long, especially in this body.
Leave it to the Doctor to use three questions when one will do.
"Anything can be a trap."
He shrugs. Really, the Doctor should know this by now. It's not exactly reassuring though, is it?
"But, if it wants us to go this way, then there must be a reason."
Again maybe not exactly reassuring... there's no way to know if it's a good or bad reason. Sometimes it manages to be both. He hadn't really thought about it.
"If it is a trap though, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it."
At Vader's question, the Doctor licks his finger and then holds it up. Not testing for a draft, but to catch some of the Time Taste. Then he sticks his finger in his mouth to see what he can taste. After a minute, he holds his finger up again and turns in a circle.
"If I were as good as the TARDIS." (Which he's really not.) "I'd say this way."
He points in a direction 45 degrees from the one Vader was planning to go.
"It still feels weird. But the other ways feel wrong somehow."
Okay seriously, he's not convinced that the Doctor's method is any more dignified than his was. Not that he's going to question it... there wasn't any point in bringing the Doctor here and not trusting his instincts.
"Let's stick with weird."
Vader follows the Doctor's lead... reluctantly accepting that he's not in control of this situation. Although frankly, 'control' is always a loose concept when the Doctor is involved.
Still, there's nothing particularly special about this way that Vader can see. The doors in this direction don't seem all that different from any of the others... but as they get near the closest one, the sounds of voices return. The door itself remains an empty black space but he can definitely hear something coming from the other side. It takes him a moment to realize what he's hearing... it's the last time he and the Doctor met. It's their voices, their argument.
The Doctor follows Vader and when they're close to the door, he finally hears the voices. He huffs. "It's not the first time I've encountered myself...."
Though, it would be the first time this him encountered this him. Especially so close together. "You're not planning to go through, are you? I mean, meeting ourselves, especially at that point... Not a good idea."
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ninetydegrees
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on 2019-07-19 09:04 pm (UTC)He approaches the door again. "Writing on any machine or near any door rarely has no meaning at all."
He's trying to not be insulting. But in his head he's begging Vader to thing about every door that had writing near it and if that writing was important or not (at least for the first time it's seen).
Sorry for taking so long!
on 2019-08-12 12:53 am (UTC)Vader crosses his arms, in part as an expression of his displeasure and in part because it just feels better on his arms. Durasteel gets heavy after a while. The Doctor would probably be exasperated knowing how many such mysterious doors he's just strolled through. A thought he finds slightly amusing.
"What do you wish to do?"
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on 2019-08-13 07:38 am (UTC)He approaches it and looks around. Of course, it's not an actual door, so he stays close to the edge. He waves his hands along the stone work to see if he could sense a specific place. He doesn't so he raises his hands and finally knocks.
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on 2019-08-13 07:37 pm (UTC)He still can't quite make it out, there are too many voices speaking over each other... some sound familiar but not all. Vader looks from the Doctor to the thing and back, his head tilted slightly in curiosity and surprise.
"Well that's... different."
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on 2019-08-14 02:48 pm (UTC)He frowns a moment trying to listen. "Doesn't exactly sound like an invitation to enter, though. Is that what you were hearing before?"
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on 2019-08-15 02:33 am (UTC)More often than not Forcy things don't like him much nowadays. Light Side stuff especially, but meh... what can you do? It's not actively trying to repel him, even with all the Jedi influence here. There's still plenty of 'unwelcome' vibes from the temple ruins itself, but not the whatever-it-is. It's not exactly welcoming or unwelcoming... it just is.
"It is." Close enough anyway. "It doesn't sound like a go away either."
Vader can still feel it almost beckoning him/them through the Force. Not an invitation or a temptation exactly, but in a 'mysterious power' and 'hidden secrets' way. He looks around... a tiny backwater part of the galaxy and a temple razed to the ground just to expose this.
"Whatever the Emperor wants with this thing is probably on the other side."
Had he mentioned the Emperor was behind whatever was going on here? He can't remember with all the distraction from the whatever-it-is. Whatever.
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on 2019-08-15 06:58 am (UTC)Yeah, the Doctor didn't forget that discussion. It's all coming to head now, isn't it?
"Perhaps not a go away, but sometimes, it's better to leave well enough alone. Last time the TARDIS couldn't translate something, I met the Devil."
Like the original. Original, like him. Ugh. Not a memory he wants to relive.
"And you think because the Emperor wants it, we should just walk through? Wouldn't it be better to rebury it?"
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on 2019-08-15 03:18 pm (UTC)"I said you couldn't use or feel it as I do. The Force interacts with whomever it chooses to."
He finally looks at the Doctor. They don't have unlimited time for this... eventually the Emperor will find out nobody is here and his secret isn't a secret anymore. But, he also doesn't wish to compound the damage that their last encounter did by dismissing or rushing the Doctor either.
"This also has Timeyness stuff going on. That's why I asked you here. I can't understand Time as you do."
There might not be trust, but the Doctor is the only one he can rely on for this. Power, secret knowledge... it was tempting to keep it to himself. But the Doctor was right about him not wanting to see his universe destroyed, that isn't the kind of power he wants. But it is the kind of power Sidious wouldn't mind.
"Who's the devil?"
Sorry, there isn't really an equivalent Vader knows of. He shrugs, it isn't really that important.
"Rebury it?" He motions to the excavation around them. "He'll just dig it back up."
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on 2019-08-16 04:55 am (UTC)It's the simplest explanation. He hums as he looks at the readouts. "I don't like this. I want that to be clear. But... You may be right. Going through might be the only way. Since it seems to be a time portal, might be best if I go first."
He takes a breath and slowly puts his foot forward, past the threshold and then pulls it back. "That felt... weird."
Very descriptive of him, but he doesn't know how else to explain it.
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on 2019-08-16 08:28 pm (UTC)He isn't being flip, honest... he just has no good frame of reference. It's not that the concept of demons and other such evil entities don't exist in his universe, and some of them are worshiped... but there's no over-arching single being like "The Devil" as the Doctor knows it. But, that is similar to how the skeleton face guy talked about himself.
"Duly noted." Vader watches with keen interest as the Doctor prepares himself to go through. He's gone though things like this but each one is different and he's never seen someone else do it. Will it even work? It's timey stuff so it should, right?
He can feel things shift as the Doctor's foot starts to cross the threshold. The way the Force of 'here' pulls away to reveal 'there', it does almost feel like a door opening... and then he pulls away.
"Bad weird, good weird?" It's a legit description as far as Vader is concerned. As much as the Doctor hates such vague answers when Vader uses them, sometimes that's just where you need to start. "or just weird weird?"
It might not make much sense to the Doctor, but it's important to know what sort of 'weird' they're dealing with. He'd rather good weird or weird-weird. He can work on describing it in more detail once he can figure out what kind of weird it is.
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on 2019-08-18 12:55 pm (UTC)Either way, he likes it even less.
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on 2019-08-19 03:46 am (UTC)"Good. At least it's not bad weird." He can work with this. "Something was happening. And it wasn't rejecting you, that would have been Bad Weird."
He looks over the whatever it is again as he thinks and tries to work things out.
"These portal thingies are always weird. What you felt... was it simply physical or did you feel it on a deeper level?"
Vader moves up to the entrance and sticks his own hand through. It's the same as when the Doctor did it, a sort of reality peeling away from him. Except this time he can feel it peel away from himself personally. He wiggles his fingers and tries to get a sense of anything on the other side before pulling his hand back.
"I can go through alone if you wish."
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on 2019-08-20 07:20 am (UTC)Because when in doubt, check with the TARDIS. Which he is going to do. But sorry, Vader, he still doesn't trust you completely again yet, so the door closes behind him. He runs his scans and comes back.
"She doesn't know either. That's the problem with other universes."
He approaches the gate again. "If it affected you too, then the reaction isn't because I'm a Time Lord or from another universe...."
He sticks his hand through again. "Another dimension. Or another time." He looks back at the TARDIS. "As much as I'd prefer her, I'm not letting you go alone."
He nods to himself. "Decision made. Shall we?"
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on 2019-08-21 12:22 am (UTC)"She must find it frustrating to be in the dark." He keeps his attention on the thing in front of them.
"No. But it might be why it accepts you. Those without Forciness aren't usually able to interact with these things."
It isn't until the Doctor says he isn't letting him go alone that he looks at him again.
"Of course."
No surprise. The surprise comes with stepping through into the 'World Between Worlds'. An endless expanse of blackness, yet they can see perfectly well. There are faint stars, even constellations helpfully outlined... but it's not enough light to explain how well they can see. Neither is the pathway that stretches out and branches, sometimes flat and sometimes curving off without regard to up and down. Leading off to other times and places... the past, the future, the now.
"Woah..."
Vader looks down, the only way to know the path is even there is because it's outlined with grayish white lines and where their feet touch the path the same light ripples like water.
"This is officially the second weirdest place I've ever been."
He looks where they came from... the stone is gone, replaced by a flat 'drawing' of it on the side of the path. That's when he properly notices the other ones spaced out along the pathway.
"Tell me this is weird to you too."
He doesn't want to feel weird alone.
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on 2019-08-23 06:25 am (UTC)"Weird would be the wrong word now. It's... well, it's kind of like the Time Vortex. Only, you can walk through it. Pick different places."
The Doctor is pretty sure this is how the TARDIS views the Time Vortex. Except she knows what she's doing and where she's going. Where as he... not so much.
"So what do you want to do now, Vader?"
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on 2019-08-26 08:16 pm (UTC)Vader holds his hand out and points to each direction in turn.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a gundark by the toe. If it hollers let it it go. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."
Hope you weren't expecting something more impressive. His hand stops.
"That way."
He has no idea where they're going but that's not a first. The Force will show them what they need to find. Yeah, he's going with that.
The voices they heard before are actually coming from some of the other doorways. Still muffled and still a mix of vaguely familiar and not familiar to Vader at all.
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on 2019-08-27 11:06 am (UTC)His way of tasting time wasn't much better. Beyond that, he follows the Dark Lord. He does notice it's moving away from the voices. The Doctor isn't sure if that's by design on Vader's part, but he's not going to argue with it. He's glad to be moving away from them...
He stops walking suddenly and turns to face the other direction. "I wonder, is 'it', whatever 'it' is, clever?"
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on 2019-08-28 03:20 pm (UTC)Vader doesn't notice the Doctor stop right away and keeps going a couple steps before looking back.
"What do you mean by 'clever'?"
Nothing is ever straightforward when the Force is involved... if that's to be clever or annoying he couldn't tell you.
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on 2019-08-28 09:51 pm (UTC)Because the Doctor always thinks of things in context of traps. It's how he's lived so long, especially in this body.
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on 2019-08-31 11:26 pm (UTC)Leave it to the Doctor to use three questions when one will do.
"Anything can be a trap."
He shrugs. Really, the Doctor should know this by now. It's not exactly reassuring though, is it?
"But, if it wants us to go this way, then there must be a reason."
Again maybe not exactly reassuring... there's no way to know if it's a good or bad reason. Sometimes it manages to be both. He hadn't really thought about it.
"If it is a trap though, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it."
Pretty sure.
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on 2019-09-01 12:03 am (UTC)Because it probably is. He'll be sure to stop that. Because it's terrible and not at all helpful.
"We need to work on your people skills. Coming here to get stuck in a parallel of your parallel universe isn't exactly a good time to me."
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on 2019-09-01 05:38 am (UTC)"What's wrong with my people skills?"
He thinks he has pretty decent people skills all things considered. Things being the tendency to murder and stuff... anyway...
"I have no more desire to be here than you do."
Seriously, the place kind of gives him the willies.
"You're the Time Lord, what direction would you go?"
He did say this place is like his own votex-thingy. Maybe the Doctor's instincts would be better than his own?
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on 2019-09-01 11:23 pm (UTC)"If I were as good as the TARDIS." (Which he's really not.) "I'd say this way."
He points in a direction 45 degrees from the one Vader was planning to go.
"It still feels weird. But the other ways feel wrong somehow."
Famous last words.
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on 2019-09-13 04:27 am (UTC)Okay seriously, he's not convinced that the Doctor's method is any more dignified than his was. Not that he's going to question it... there wasn't any point in bringing the Doctor here and not trusting his instincts.
"Let's stick with weird."
Vader follows the Doctor's lead... reluctantly accepting that he's not in control of this situation. Although frankly, 'control' is always a loose concept when the Doctor is involved.
Still, there's nothing particularly special about this way that Vader can see. The doors in this direction don't seem all that different from any of the others... but as they get near the closest one, the sounds of voices return. The door itself remains an empty black space but he can definitely hear something coming from the other side. It takes him a moment to realize what he's hearing... it's the last time he and the Doctor met. It's their voices, their argument.
"I think we found your weird."
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on 2019-09-13 06:03 am (UTC)Though, it would be the first time this him encountered this him. Especially so close together. "You're not planning to go through, are you? I mean, meeting ourselves, especially at that point... Not a good idea."
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