Should I not be present at this celebration of your latest victory?
Doctor
It's been a long time since I last... days like these were rare back then, you know.
Doctor
Or I should say, I've grown so unaccustomed to it now.
Kal'tsit
No matter, you will get used to it again, in time. Babel will be a new beginning.
Kal'tsit
Go. We should enjoy this celebration.
Theresa watches Kal'tsit pat the Doctor before gently pushing that very back into the waiting crowd.
Too many are forcing their way through the throng, hands stretched out, fighting each other to be the first to shake the Doctor's hand, or pat the Doctor's shoulder.
Some taller and gutsier ones even try to put their hands right on the Doctor's head for a good kneading.
Doctor
...?
Scout
Uh, sorry about that unruly subordinate of mine, Doctor. I wanted to stop him...
Scout
But my arm's injured... so I couldn't make it in time.
Doctor
It's fine... how's your arm?
Scout
Recovery's going pretty well.
Doctor
It's a pity you won't get to enjoy many drinks here tonight.
Ace
That's alright, Doctor. I'll have a few more pints on this guy's behalf.
Ace
We might have gotten ourselves stuck in that encirclement, had you not sprung that surprise attack at the end.
Ace
C'mon, let's slam a few glasses to honor the Doctor!
Doctor
I'm afraid my alcohol tolerance may disappoint you, Ace.
Closure
Excuuuuse—me,—make—way please... I have to see the protagonist of the day!
Closure
So many people in here! This is the first time I feel that the command center is too small... do you want me to widen it later? There's still so many people outside hurrying in here with snacks and drinks.
Logos
Doctor, everyone's cheering for the victory you've brought us, but you seem a little... uneasy.
Doctor
I thought I was masking it pretty well. *ahem* I'm just a little nervous in crowds.
Scout
Hey, careful. That's enough pushing. Amiya, you good?
Amiya
I'm okay!
Amiya
Doctor! Come with me, Theresa and I made you a cake!
Amiya
Look, the oven was so hot I got a blister on my finger.
Doctor
Thank you... Oh! Are you okay? Does anyone have some burn cream...?
A gentle cough sounds in the room, and the crowd splits into two.
Theresa sees a woman dressed in white passing by, smiling as she extends a hand to the Doctor with a still healing needle wound.
I need you to contact the closest rescue team! The wrecked transport has a Rim Billiton logo on it, this is your squad...
Doctor
I hear someone still alive in there!
Comms
*bzzt* We got your call, but it'll take some time for us to rush over from the nearest mining plate.
Comms
Based on the information you gave us, there's been banditry at your location there before, so we'll also notify armed security to send a dispatch at once.
???
...Ugh...
Doctor
...Armed security...? But with the way Rim Billiton treats Infected orphans...
Not many people call me that. They prefer my team codename—'Oracle'.
Theresa
...Oracle...
Theresa
So you're the one Kal'tsit believes in.
Oracle
I've let her down terribly. But we had no choice, I'm entangled in an inescapable plot.
Oracle
I've been watching you from here as you went around nurturing your hopes, as you suffered betrayal—
Oracle
As if I was looking at my past self.
Theresa
...I'm sorry.
Theresa
You are only residue of the Doctor's burned away emotions. There's no way for me to preserve your emotions and memories in our current circumstances...
Oracle
You've reached your destination, so just do what you have to do.
Oracle
Thank you for trusting me.
Theresa
It may be a little late for this... but I'm glad to meet you.
Oracle
I'm glad to meet you too, Theresa.
Oracle walks into the distance of the endless wheat fields, disappearing within the stalks.
A draft of wind tears through the plain with a roar, and the final scene disperses until only the end of a thread is left.
Theresa holds the strand. It quickly loses its luster, and turns into powdery dust.
