The Night of Sirens

Rubbing his forehead, the Doctor trained his eyes on the console. "But that's not fair! I did what you wanted. Brushed away the dust on the radiated circuit boards, fixed the verberator, and loosened the AV scanners' fluxuator!" He placed his hands on his hips, grinding his teeth together as he waited for a silent reply. The TARDIS groaned and the Doctor imitated it. "No! That's completely ridiculous! I'm not repainting the floor! I like it..." He trailed off, tapping the ground with the heel of his shoe, "... concrete coloured and such." The Doctor sighed, clapping his hands together as he looked at the doors. "Now, let's see where we are." He whispered, approaching the doors slowly, but at a steady pace. He dragged the door open, raising his eyebrows as he stepped out, pulling it shut behind him. The Doctor glanced around the street with silent admiration before stepping away from his beloved blue box. "Oh, you're a beauty." He whispered once again, walking up to the structure built high and proud in the middle of the ancient city. He placed a gentle hand against the stone and grinned childishly up at it. "The Parthenon!" He stretched his arms out, looking around at the people who patiently passed by. "Made in 447 B.C.! Weird names involved, lots of stone. Lots of..." He brushed a hand down his cheek, glanced at his palm, then wiped it down his pants side. "Sweat. Well, that doesn't seem like the slightest bit of fun." The Doctor cocked his head slightly, cracking his neck as he clenched his jaw. "I would know. I helped them build you!" He said gingerly, pointing a judging finger at the Greek building as he spoke.

The Doctor, unfocused, glanced down at the bow tie. He straightened it, squared his chin, and looked back at Toni. He placed a hand against the temple, but seconds later removed it and straightened his vest and coat. "Bow ties are cool." He said offensively, pointing at her as a smile broke across his face. "Toni Lucas. You... You were... Hard to keep tabs on." He exclaimed excitedly, dragging her into a hug as he laughed loudly. "And to answer that question, yes. I have in fact been in a museum. Wasn't nearly as entertaining as I thought it would be."

(Just gonna hop in here... Gotta Test out the new 11 Hiiii Toni)

Letting out a loud groan, Sonya tumbled from a nearby door, one hand clutching her head as she sprawled ungracefully on the floor. "Note to self... Do not think about closets... Ever again." She muttered to herself, glaring at the offensive tablets scattered around her, several of them had been cracked into pieces. Clambering to her feet, Sonya dusted her cargo pants off and straightened her knapsack more securely on her shoulders before finally looking around the room, a sheepish smile growing on her face once she realized she wasn't as alone as she thought she was. "Um... Hard to explain I know.... I'm not sure bullies are known here..." She stammered hastily, trying to think of an explanation as to why she was in a closet moments ago. "I took a wrong turn on my way to the library?" She finally finished weakly, lifting her shoulders slightly as she cast a wide grin at the people in front of her.

The Doctor glanced across the stretch of barren land at the woman. "Right. Yes, of course. Wrong turn into a cupboard." Several people were intently watching as the Doctor approached her, rubbing his hands together as he racked his brain for familiar faces. As it clicked, he snapped. "Sonya! Right? Unless you changed your name. Or forgot it." He drapped a long arm over her shoulders, whispering like it was a secret into her ear, "you know, I have one of those carve-y things in my box. Literally puts anything you want on metal. I've got six saying my name. Because forgetting names does happen." He pulled away, frowning as he squinted to look around. "Often."

Sonya blinked up at him and managed a wry smile before reaching up and poking at his bow tie. "I have to say... I liked your old fashion sense better." She said with a grin, her hands reaching up to the straps for her knapsack out of habit. "And by the way, its not so hard to make a wrong turn into a cupboard." She informed him with a straight face, refusing to grin as she spoke. "I've done it on several instances... And well, the other Sonya ended up in a couple of her own." She added, the corners of her mouth turning downwards for a moment. Shaking her head, Sonya flashed him a bright smile again and took a couple of steps away from him, her head turning from side to side as she ignored the stares she received from the people gathered around. "I wasn't really meaning to come here. I'm not exactly used to time yet, just recently started testing it out." She added, turning around in a complete circle to face the Doctor again, her head tilted to the side as she spoke. "Not sure how you do it, with a box no less."

"Oi, don't diss the box." The Doctor pouted, spinning around to walk back towards the temple. "Big stone thing! Big, giant... Stone thing with Greeks being all... Greek-y." He frowned, rubbing his forehead as he looked back at Toni and Sonya. "No, don't say that. That's just rude." He muttered, turned again and walked back to the TARDIS. He curled his fingers around the handle, pulled out a key, and slid it into the slot. Nothing happened as he pushed against it and he smacked the door. "She's being stubborn! Locking me out because I refused to paint!" He yelled, smacked again and yelped. "Well, shocking is new. You didn't always shock. See I told you putting in upgrade 7P6 would be a mistake!" He rubbed his finger, looking back at both girls with a disappointed smile. "Yes, well." He cleared his throat, looking back at temple he knew Toni didn't want him going near. Which made it all the more interesting.

Sonya strode around the TARDIS, her lips pursed in a very old-Sonya way as she studied it. "She has every right to be mad at him. She takes him anywhere in space and time and yet he still refuses to do one simple thing for her." Shaking her head, she took a couple of steps away, her head cocked to the side while studying her surroundings. "Hey, where did everyone go?" She suddenly asked, her eyebrows drawn together as she finally noticed that the group of people that were there moments ago were all gone. "I thought it suddenly went quiet. Though I doubt you fighting with a big blue box would have scared them off." Taking a few more steps away, she crouched down and eyed the ground for a moment then stood up and turned around to face the two there with a shrug. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Orange? Orange? No, Toni, it would be purple if anything." The Doctor replied, stepping away from the TARDIS as he glanced at Sonya. Following her actions, he bent down and sniffed the ground, dropping down to rest on his stomach. He placed his hands out in front of him, using one to slip into his pocket and pull out the sonic screwdriver. He pressed it against the ground and flicked it on. "Yes, Sonya. Of course you wouldn't. You're just going about eyeing dirt and soil and things like brick for no reason at all. No, something clicked in your head and...." He sat up, his hair dropping into his eyes as he looked at the sonic. "Ah... That's interesting. Ground is stealing life forces now." He flicked the sonic off, stuffing it back into his pocket as he jumped to his feet. "Through...." He mumbled, froze, then smacked a hand over his mouth as a way to keep himself from talking.

Sonya raised an eyebrow at the Doctor and tilted her head, waiting for his idea to finally voice itself as she crouched down again and placed her hand flat on the ground, her eyes closing tightly as she felt the currents under it. Electrical impulses that might pinpoint anything to her. "Um..." She finally managed to say, her eyes popping open and locked onto the ground she stood on. Her entire body froze as she felt a low wave of energy building below her. "Not to call attention to myself or anything, just thought it might be worth mentioning." She said sheepishly, refusing to look away from the ground as she slowly got back onto her feet again. "But I do think I'm standing on a epicenter of sorts. And I think it might just erupt if I move one inch from this spot." A scowl flashed across her face at the annoyance of not being able to move. Keeping still wasn't one of her favorite things to do.

The Doctor nodded, rubbing his fingers slowly together as he gulped. "Right. Epicenters are directly above the point where the fault begins to rupture. In most cases, it is the area of greatest damage. But... But in larger events, the length of the fault rupture is much longer... And damage can be spread across the rupture zone." His gaze had turned to look around the small fraction of the ancient city, his eyes finally landing on the large, historical temple. "Oh, that's... Close." He whispered, looked back at Sonya as he pressed his teeth together. "Sonya, don't move. No moving." He warned, already digging through his pockets in search for a single item.

Sonya cast a scowl in the Doctor's direction as she resisted the urge to shift from foot to foot. "Don't you think I've realized that by now? I may be new to all this, but I'm pretty quick on the uptake of things." She glanced down at her feet and closed her mouth quickly at the sight of a tendril of energy twisting up out of the ground around her feet. Biting down on her lower lip, she looked back over at the Doctor, her eyes plainly begging for him to hurry up with whatever he was doing. Her entire body locked up as she clenched her leg muscles to keep them from so much as twitching. Taking a slow breath, she closed her eyes and tried to think of something else while another finger of energy joined with the first, twisting around her ankles at a leisurely pace.

"Oh, don't get... Snippy." The Doctor called over his shoulder as he paced in front of TARDIS, throwing buckets full of pointless objects from his pockets. "It won't necessarily hurt you until it gets to vital organs." He dragged out his sonic once again, with it a slinky and a deck of cards. He looked back at Sonya and smiled weakly. "Though I really don't think that makes it better." Slowly approaching her, he bent down to examine the energy creeping upward. He couldn't see it, not with naked eyes, but the heat flooding off of it was overwhelming. "You can't physically control an epicenter. You just trick it with adding false weight." He distractedly explained, stuffing another hand into his pocket as he dug for any cloth. "Like on a scale, you can't weigh yourself accurately with clothing on. It seems weightless, but together, it weighs something. If you take something as small as a cloth, force the energetic molecules and reproducing atoms into the fabric and begin to slowly add up the weight with simple things as you take off something like a human..." He trailed off, hardly fazed by his explanation as he turned on his knees to pick up some scattered objects. "The fabric would level it out eventually because it was the first thing to be taken in by the energy. Sort of."

"So... Your going to build a scarecrow of random bits from your pockets?" Sonya finally asked once it seemed he was done with his extensive explanation. "Alright... But wouldn't it go for something with energy of its own? Not a mirror of the energy that the epicenter is putting off. That cloth... Yeah, it absorbed a tad from it around my ankles, but its the same color. Blue." She stated with a frown, eyeing the light blue sparkles shining on the cloth. "Its intelligent, Doctor. I think it can tell the difference. And honestly, it would be interested in things with a different type." Looking down at her hands, she focused for a moment until bringing up the sheen of silver that surrounded her body, it matched the Doctor's to an extent. Basic under color, different overlap. Her's was a green while his had a deep orange tint. "So tell me, how you plan on doing that?" She finally asked, looking over at him, her lips pulled down into a frown as she struggled to understand what he was working out on his own at the moment.

The Doctor lifted his head, frowned and stood. He tucked the sonic into his pocket, leaving every other object scattered across the ground. "Don't," he started, narrowing his eyes at her hands before they trailed to her face, "show off." He finished, turning his back to her as he walked back to the TARDIS. "It doesn't look for new energy, or anything at all. It latches onto an object and crawls up until erupting." He mumbled, ignoring anything else that might grace her lips as he tugged at the TARDIS door once again. This time, it creaked open an inch and the Doctor stuffed his foot into the opening. "Especially when your.. Explanation thing made this even more confusing." He added before disappearing into the TARDIS.

"It was less confusing than yours was." Sonya grumbled to herself, folding her arms over her chest before frowning slightly. "What do you mean I'm a showoff? I was stating a fact." She added, tilting her head slightly as she strained to see inside the door from the small crack after her vanished inside. "And by the way, your the confusing one here. You act like I'm supposed to understand everything you say." Sonya let out a low sigh and looked down at her legs, watching with vague fascination as the energy slowly trailed it's way up to her knees, it's tips hovering around her pockets for a moment before traveling upward again, winding around her legs as they grew. Resisting the urge to reach down and touch one, she let out a sigh and looked back over at the TARDIS with a frown, wondering what exactly it was that he was doing in there while she was being turned into a glowing statue.

The Doctor poked his head back out, frowning as he sighed. "Okay. Well. New TARDIS interior, she likes to change things around on me. And Clara. Though I'm not entirely sure why." He stepped into the doorway, ringing his wrists round as he studied Sonya. "Step off. Slowly. There will be several seconds when the weight is lifted off, leaving the epicenter vulnerable in a state of flux. I can work with it then." He shut the TARDIS door, walking cautiously back to Sonya as he pulled out his sonic. "Epicenters don't always explode, Sonya. Take the chance and step off. Now." He commanded, pointing the sonic directly at the ground.

Sonya gaped at him then shook her head with a deep breath. "I get drug under the surface, I swear, I will find a way back and lock you into a closet." She grumbled, staring down at the energy wrapped around her legs before lifting one of them slowly and quickly stepping off the epicenter, causing the blue energy to tear loose from her legs and wave in the air for a moment. Backing up another step for good measure, she crouched down and studied her legs, scowling at the black marks where it had begun to burn her pant legs. "I like these pants..." Straightening back up, she circled around where she had stood, watching as the blue slowly shrank back into the ground, leaving the surface looking like any other part of the ground. "And what exactly are you going to do now?"

The Doctor turned forcefully, glancing at Sonya, "first off, teach you what an epicenter is exactly. They don't suck people into the ground, Sonya." He said, turning back to the epicenter as he poked it with his sonic. The energy connected, sparking currents as he chuckled. "Knew it." He whispered excitedly, lifting the sonic to his face to mess with the settings. "If I can just find the right setting then this will be easy..." He said to himself, staring hard at the device sitting in his palms.

Sonya rolled her eyes and crouched down opposite of him as she watched what he did with interest. "I could never figure out how to work the Sonic you gave me years ago... I mostly use it as a flashlight since someone neglected to tell me how to work it." She added, raising an eyebrow at him as she nervously adjusted the shoulder straps to her knapsack again, her eyes drifting towards the ground again. A fine blue haze seemed to be seeping from it this time, covering the area she stood in, a perfect two feet in diameter. Looking back up at the Doctor, Sonya tilted her head to the side and bit down on her lower lip. The Sonic he held in his hands was completely different than the one the Doctor she knew had, and hers. The color was the same, but the design was larger, bulkier than the sleek one she had. "And... getting the right setting will do what?"

Ignoring her question, the Doctor continued with his pointless actions. Well, slightly pointless. He hummed off tune, balancing the sonic in one hand as he moved through the settings. It finally clicked and he laughed loudly. "Gotcha!" He exclaimed, pointed the sonic at the epicenter and watched as the blue haze shifted to green to match the light on the sonic's tip. "I'm connecting the energy, if you must know."

Folding her arms, Sonya sat back on her heels again and let out a low breath. Her eyes casting over the green haze with interest as it gathered back towards the center. "How did you do that?" She finally asked, looking up at him with a curious glint in her eyes as they roamed over the Sonic in his hands. For her life she couldn't figure out how to even change her Sonic's settings, much less know how to use it even if she had figured it out. Shifting her bag on her shoulders slightly, she looked back up at the Doctor, shaking her errant thoughts and trying to focus on what he was doing.

The Doctor stood, slowly turning to face her with an unreadable stare. "Do what? I didn't do anything. I helped a process along." He pocketed the sonic as the energy absorbed back into the ground, the green fading in some areas so a vibrant blue was visible. The Doctor tightened his hands into fists and glared at it. "No, no, no! No doing that!" He pointed down at it nonchalantly, raising his eyebrows as he spoke, "you're fused! No bending rules!" As soon as the words left his lips, the colours linked together once again and the Doctor sniffed in approval. He straightened his bow tie, fixed his jacket, and spun back towards the TARDIS. "Fine. Great. Handled. Again." He muttered, slapping his hands together as he stared at the doors in thought.

Casting a glance in the Doctor's direction, Sonya shrugged her shoulders and turned back around to face the stone building. Straightening her shoulder straps, she started walking towards it. Her curiosity nearly overwhelming at this point as she neared it's doors. Completely ignoring anything that was said about the building, she reached up and placed a hand on the wood, her head tilting to the side for a moment before she pushed it open a crack. "Ow!" Yanking her hand back as if the door had bit her, Sonya gazed down at the small drop of blood welling to the surface of her skin. Scowling slightly, she placed the finger to her lips and slipped inside the doorway and headed deeper into the dim room beyond.