The Master's Game (Doctor Who)

The glitch's source

The Master crouched down next to the sofa where the human was sleeping. Or rather being knocked out by the drug he had given her. And still her eyes occasionally flung open, although not showing any signs of consciousness. He lay a finger on her forehead to check and found her mind racing uncontrollably. It was no help. That underdeveloped brain couldn't process his memories. The drug also seemed to have a lesser effect on humans.

She would die. Not now of course, but not even a Time Lord brain could go without sleep forever. The Master got up again and was about to leave the room, letting his gaze wander over the bar one last time. It had been a mistake to come here. Remembering those days had been nice, sure, but also a bit depressing. This room looked nothing alike, and still somehow exactly the same as the place he had owned.

Not alike and still the same. A weird customer did he have this evening, the Master thought with a grin. It felt weird being treated so... normally. For once not like some sort of monster. Although he really had made every effort to be one.

With a frustrated sigh he turned around, slumping down on the other end of the sofa and drawing the girl's head onto his lap.

"I'm usually the guy who takes your life, not safes it," he mumbled irritated to her, placing his fingers at her temples. He could skim through her dreams and remove whatever was blocked from being processed. It wouldn't be possible to delete everything, but it would do. Back in that dark junkyard he had noticed too late what had happened. Just a few seconds longer and she would only be a useless, insane mess now.

Why had he helped her though? It wasn't his problem if she tried out idiotic stuff. He probably wouldn't have, had he known how badly it would drain him. This would be a bit exhausting too, but only minor in comparison.

No wonder her mind refused to process them. Those were really dark images, no cohesive dreams, just those random impressions. Weird human, he thought. Being sick and pale from seeing these things for one moment, and then completely snapping out of it for some blinking treasure. As if she would completely dissociate from herself. What a weird thing to do. He had seen it before, when he had poisoned her, like stepping out of herself to become a mere observer. It even had subconsciously blinded her until she had decided who she wanted to be.

What was that? There weren't only images. That little idiot had lied. She also had felt a lot of things. Felt how it was to be him, albeit compressed and incomplete. And hadn't said a single word about it. She also had never said a single word about how idiotic he had behaved in that stormy night. Not even teased him about it. Not even thinking about abusing such a weak spot... He would certainly have done that.

Her eyes flung open once more and for a second a flash of consciousness crossed her face, but vanished shortly after and her eyes closed again. What weird look that one always gave him. Filled with curiosity and so completely free from judgment and hatred... and fear. And that after all she knew about him; after all he had done to her.

Was that the reason he had decided to help her out once more? And even if, it still was a stupid thing to do, since he would just ditch her somewhere soon. That glitch could be useful, so it wasn't a bad thing to research it. But after that?

The Master yawned loudly and gave off a low, annoyed growl. By all of time and space, he had better things to do! Exhausting himself really wasn't one of them. But at least it seemed as if she was finally sleeping properly. Another yawn escaped him and he cursed the girl for her very existence.

Girl... no... woman. It was always so hard to tell with humans. Compared to him she was almost a child. But according to her actual age definitely an adult. In human terms even halfway through her lifetime, if it weren't for the frozen time stream.