From Priestess, the Doctor learned their past.
They had once lived in a civilization nothing like Terra.
A civilization vast beyond imagining.
They had escaped the shackles of planets and wandered among stars. Gravity was a toy to them.
Planets were marbles they could flick at will.
Their consciousness could traverse any light-year—and any time—to witness civilizations rise and fall.
Seeing the Doctor's stunned face, Priestess smiled.
"I still remember how you used to secretly upload your mind into civilizations on the fringes of spiral arms. You'd guide them forward, help them fight evil, lead them to better futures."
The Doctor swallowed hard, pointing shakily at himself.
"I… used to do that a lot?"
Priestess nodded.
"Okay. Okay." He rubbed his forehead, trying to process.
Then he remembered something.
"If our civilization was that advanced… how did it end up like this?"
In Ember's account, that civilization was long gone, replaced by this newer age. What happened?
Priestess' smile faded.
"…The Observers," she said quietly.
"Observers…" The Doctor repeated, tasting the word.
"Doctor, even now you probably don't understand why I did what I did here."
He nodded.
She had said much about the old civilization and about him, but nothing about her present actions. It was time.
Priestess closed her eyes, spreading her hands as if feeling the wind.
"Doctor, imagine an imperfect forest. Every tree grows different, shaped by different experiences."
"Sometimes prosperous trees cast malicious shade that starves their neighbors. That's not so frightening—they're only trees."
"But in this forest lives a lumberjack."
"He swings his axe tirelessly. One tree after another falls. No tree can stop him. Even the thickest roots and branches are split apart—just like…"
"Our once-mighty tree."
The Doctor fell silent.
Trees were civilizations.
The forest was the universe.
And in it existed a lumberjack that harvested civilizations.
Even the great civilization Priestess described couldn't resist.
"…It will come for this civilization too, won't it?" he asked.
"Even if it's small, it's still a tree to be felled."
He grabbed his head. His thoughts were roaring.
First he learns his former civilization was absurdly powerful…
Then he learns there's something even more absurd—the lumberjack.
His civilization couldn't even slow it down.
So Terra was doomed too?
He wanted to shout, Ember, let's run! To Kevin's world, Xing's world—anywhere far away.
But after the storm in his head, he exhaled slowly and looked at her.
"One last question."
She nodded.
"Why are you doing this here?"
"For… the continuation of civilization."
Priestess raised her hand. A piece of Originium floated above her palm.
"This was the plan you and I once decided together."
"We named it—the Originium Plan."
"Let Originium spread to every corner of the world. Assimilate all matter and non-matter. Devour existence on the informational level and preserve it inside Originium."
"Then, within those records, evolve and create another universe—so civilization can escape the fate of termination."
"…So you want Originium to swallow living beings," the Doctor said.
"…You're still the same, Doctor—still loving life." Priestess smiled, then turned solemn.
"We don't know when the lumberjack will arrive. And because of a small oversight, the plan diverged. This planet birthed a civilization—and they blocked Originium's expansion."
"So you tried to start wars, throw the world into chaos, then kill them all."
"They won't die," she replied softly. "They will exist in another form. Originium will record everything they are."
"Doctor, we can't oppose the lumberjack. The Originium Plan is the only way for civilization to endure."
She extended her hand again.
"Come back to me, Doctor. Let us return to how we were."
The Doctor stared at that hand, at her expectant eyes.
Then he stepped back, shaking his head.
"No… this isn't right."
"Living, breathing lives shouldn't be reduced to data. That would steal their futures—their hopes."
The expectation in Priestess' eyes faded. Her hand lowered.
She chuckled, half self-mocking.
"You refused me again. Yes… you love life too much."
Her face returned to a gentle smile.
"But Doctor… do the people you speak of truly still have futures?"
"I've watched them for years. This civilization is divided, ideal-less, underdeveloped—survivors by chance."
"I can't see it, Doctor. I can't see any future or hope in them."
Silence swallowed the space.
"…If you don't believe in this civilization," the Doctor said quietly, "then please believe in me."
Priestess' pupils widened.
He closed his eyes, pressing a hand to his chest.
"If this civilization shows you nothing, then believe in me—believe in the future me."
"I will save this world."
His eyes opened, blazing gold.
"I will save this civilization."
"…Heh. You've changed, Doctor."
"But I do believe you."
"Do you remember what I said earlier?"
"How could I forget? You said whenever we clashed, we'd refute each other by other means."
"Yes." She smiled. "You remembered."
"Then now—refute me in your way."
With her words, Rhodes Island came alive.
PRTS flared red like a system gone mad.
Alarms screamed.
The Doctor looked up at her.
"Just saying—if I win, don't welch."
Then he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted with all his strength:
"Hey! If you don't get over here, I'm getting locked in a basement!"
His voice shattered the mechanical din and carried outside.
On a boulder, Ember stood and stretched.
"What's he doing? Why not use the group chat?"
Xing swung her bat, dead serious.
"Thinks he's cool."
They laughed together.
Weapons on shoulders, they faced the advancing Rhodes operators, grinning.
"Just so you know—when we get serious, we're really strong!" ×2
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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