The Master's Game (Doctor Who)

Shoot!

Adjacent to the office room was another, way smaller one, that probably once had been some kind of storage. There also was a door leading to a tiny bathroom.

Roka was allowed to sleep here and she was glad to get at least some privacy. The room was odd, mostly empty, except for some bookshelves and an old, dusty sofa in one corner, that reminded Roka of how tired she was. Although she wasn't sure if it was actually safe to sleep at all. Not that there was much of a choice to make. Humans could only go for so long without.

Instead she took a look at the shelves. They probably had been here before the Master had occupied the building. Or maybe not, since some of them clearly didn't originate from earth. Roka recognized some titles that didn't resemble any human language and without the TARDIS she sadly couldn't read them.

Some were familiar though and she picked one up, lying down with it. Nothing better than a good story to keep one's mind busy. Not that she could concentrate on it all too much. Her thoughts circled around the Doctor and his odd behavior since they had left the Ood planet. He clearly had awaited to find the Master somewhere. But the other Time Lord had been a step ahead. What were his plans with the Doctor? And with earth?

It didn't really matter. Roka just had to stay awake long enough and would be forgotten. Then she could sneak outside, search for the keys and then they could leave this place.

Not for a second longer than necessary did she want to be around the Master. Like that first time she had seen him, he creped her out. It wasn't fear... just... she couldn't even put it into words, but simply thinking of the stories the Doctor had told her about him...

She shook her head and buried her nose in the book again, not wanting to think about this too much.

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A shadow leaned down and a small weight got lifted from her chest, making her eyes fling open. It took Roka some seconds to remember where she was.

"Don't sleep with them," the Master grumbled, but his voice didn't sound angry.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes, blinking perplex at the strange man in front of her. Only slowly did her mind pick up on the whole situation, and a frown etched itself deeper and deeper onto her face at the memory. She sighed and swung her legs from the sofa.

"Sorry. Wasn't planning to do so." She looked up and cursed herself for having fallen asleep.

"Six hours should be enough for your meager brain to recover." He turned the book in his hands, smiling when he read the title. "Not my fault, when you spend that time with anything else." The book found its old spot again and got placed there much more carefully than Roka would have expected. Not like a random object.

At least he seemed to value books, she thought a bit amused. But something about his words bothered her, something her still tired mind couldn't quite grasp.

"I want to test what you're capable of." The Master turned around, grinning down to her. "You won't ask any questions and just do as I say."

Roka yawned once more and nodded. Everything was better than being bored.

"Is there a coffee or two involved? I don't function properly without."

"Only a poisoned one." The mean grin got wider.

She huffed and couldn't prevent a smile. "Fine with me."

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Roka spent the whole day building seemingly random devices. Some of them were easy, others were really tiny and delicate. But with her fine motor skills none of it was much of a problem. The Master didn't tell her what the objects were for and not even what they were supposed to do, so she wasn't able to alter their functionality. At least she was allowed to use the tiny kitchen next door - no knifes were in there - to get as much coffee as she wanted, earning her more than one amused look.