A Tourist's Nightmare

There was the issue of Robin looking like she was going to break her own arm getting out of the cuffs, but even in Timelords sometimes instinct is too strong; Theta stumbled then broke into a run down the corridor, taking a few turns here and there before he finally calmed down enough to realize what he was doing and stop.

Breathing hard, more out of fear-based adrenaline than exhaustion, Theta leaned up against the wall and ran a stressed hand through his hair. They were originally supposed to have 3 whole days to fix everything, but now, because of his stupid mistake of giving her blood, the process had sped up; he couldn't see what was going through her head right now, but outwardly, she was acting just like the Vampires from the planet they'd visited; bloodthirsty, savage, with no discernible shreds of the person they used to be left.

Making his way down to the med bay again, Theta hoped he could come up with something that would fix all of this, and fast.

Chris halted in her movements. She took a deep breath and noticed a distinct lack of... blood in the air. Her mind began to clear, seeing no reason to put herself at harm if the food source had escaped. It was if she'd blacked out, but not quite. She knew what she had done, if only in small, confused pieces. Turning around, she spotted the bloodstained carton on the floor and was suddenly aware of the trails of it left on her chin. She wiped them off slowly, still dazed from what had just occurred.

Theta was gone. There was a small pile of what was probably neatly folded blankets before he'd dropped them sitting near the hallway. He'd ran from her. She'd gotten so crazed that he drove him away. 

Chris slowly sat back down, wrist bruised and sore from her tugging, but still dangling helplessly above her head. She was so very thankful she wasn't strong enough to break out of them, but she was worried about how long they'd last if she kept something like that up. 

"L-Lady, seal off this room... Don't let him back in here unless he really needs to, okay?" She murmured, old tears coming back to the surface and leaving tracks down her cheeks. So much for three days. She'd be lucky if he didn't decide to kill her within the hour. Chris could barely hold back her sobs.

I'm so sorry....

Theta came back to the room about 20 minutes later, pacing around outside the doors (had he closed those?), working up the courage to encounter either a bloodthirsty Vampire Robin or a Robin that was upset that she'd left her there hanging.

This time, he'd learned from his mistake. Giving a normal type of blood, albeit infused with vitamins, was a big no-no. Now he had various pills and packets of stuff that either were so overwhelming with taste or negating to the sense that the bloodlust (might, might??) go away. Along with that was something Theta wasn't proud of; a recharged wrist device, with energy disks set to stun.

He told himself that it was just so Robin wouldn't hurt herself if she got out, but he knew deeper inside that it was because he was scared, not just of himself getting hurt, no, that was a smaller worry mostly driven by instinct. What he was really worried about is what she would do if she got a hold of blood, real blood; there would hardly anything of her left, and not only could she kill many people in that state, but he wasn't beyond believing that someone, just trying to defend themselves, maybe, would attack or even kill her.

God, all those people that had been infected, that they'd just run from on the planet they were just on... He had to find a cure. Not just for Robin's sake, but for that whole population, he'd find a cure. He couldn't imagine living like that, a person trapped in a beast's body, helpless to whatever instinct drove them to do.

Eventually, Theta worked up the courage to go in, hoping that Robin wouldn't blame him for getting nervous. But as he pushed against the door buttons, they stuck fast. Setting his stuff down and returning to the door with bewilderment, he attempted to press the open button a few more times and even attempted to pry them open manually, but it was no use; they were stuck fast. Letting out a frustrated yell, Theta kicked the door.

"What the heck, Lady, I have to go in there to help her!" there was no response from said machine/being "Dammit??"

Chris was startled by the loud bang coming from one of the doors, snapping her out of her thoughts. She sniffled loudly, rubbing her wrist across her eyes in a pathetic attempt to dry her tears. Was that Theta? Of course it was Theta, who the heck else was in here? She smiled sadly, glad the TARDIS had listened to her and agreed she was too dangerous for him to be around right now. Still, that in itself had some pretty negative connotations that she would rather avoid at this particular moment - she was having enough of a pity party as it was.

"D-Don't come in here, Theta," she sniffled again, turning herself towards the door. She didn't know if that was a better idea or a worse one, but she figured he probably wouldn't get in here anyway, if Lady was really intent on keeping him out. "I don't think I can keep it together with you in the room." Chris didn't like saying that. It wasn't him specifically, it was the blood - that phrasing just made it feel so personal. But she was far too against confronting her transformation to correct herself.

Theta froze when Robin started talking, straining through the door to hear her. He sighed, banging his head forwards frustratedly onto the door in front of him and letting it rest there.

"Yeah, I suppose I shouldn't be around you if it makes things worse, huh" he couldn't even crack a full wry grin at that as he slid down till he was sitting, back against the door, glaring morosely at the packets of stuff he had thought might help her eat normal food "It's just, you have to eat, you have to drink, don't tell me you're just going to sleep there and slowly waste away, you can't do that to yourself!"

"It's better than turning into a complete beast, isn't it?"

Chris sighed, eyeing the blankets across the room and wishing she would be able to lay down right now. She felt like absolute crap. Not just from the guilt and the bloodlust - she was pretty sure she was visibly shaking now. She wasn't sure if that carton had helped or not - to her, it just made the hunger more apparent. But considering how difficult it seemed for the natives to get a good meal, she probably had a while to go before she actually died of starvation.

"I... I d-don't want to live this way. It's t-terrifying. I..." Chris took a shaky breath, feeling the tears welling up again. "P-Please find a cure..."

Theta ran a hand down his face, glancing over at the door before returning his frustrated gaze to the science he'd cooked up, which, now that he thought about it, would probably work just as well as the blood/juice thing.

Really, the only option that was clear was to travel through time and see who the heck invented the cure for this plague.

The only problem? In order to find the inventor of the cure, he needed to use to console. In the console room. Where Robin was and she didn't want him to go and Lady was keeping him out.

Oh boy.

Chris let out a watery sigh, assuming his silence was a sign that he'd left. She wiped some tears from her eyes, looking up at the ceiling of the console. What did that mean - did he just give up on her? Was she just doomed to live like this? Or to die, rather? She didn't want to give up hope so quickly - maybe he was still looking. But it seemed like the handle he tried to have on the situation was completely gone.

So here she was, bloodthirsty, starving, and crying. She couldn't stop the tears, now, not when she had nothing to hang on to. She wanted so badly to hug someone, to say some kind of last goodbye to her sister, to just be able to talk to her best friend face to face. Chris was pretty much convinced this was the end for her.

Now she could only wonder how she could.... end it... without getting out of these cuffs. It'd be too dangerous for her to get out. Not to mention this wasn't something she wanted Theta involved in - he probably wouldn't let her do it. For some stupid reason. 

"Lady... I don't kn-know what to do...." Chris whimpered, hugging her knees to her chest. "C-Can't you f-flood the room with s-some toxic g-gas and l-let...." She couldn't finish her sentence, tucking her head down and finally letting go, sobbing at full force. This was literally hell.