Doctor Who by Oli Smith

Author:Oli Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405926270
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2015-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

The Architect

The office was large and sprawling and the walls seemed to be covered in a patchwork of red shapes that made it hard to tell just how large the room was. In the centre of the room, the Chief Architect was playing a piano. His fingers danced over the keys and the notes rang out in the silence – each one changing the shade of a shape on the wall. Then the Architect saw the Doctor and Blondie standing in front of him and raised his hands from the keyboard. Slowly, the colours faded. The deep reds washed away to white and even the piano seemed to melt into an orange skeleton before folding itself into the floor.

‘Doctor,’ he said quietly, a soft smile on his face. ‘I’ve heard all about you.’

The Doctor swayed on his heels. ‘I hope it was good things,’ he replied, offering his hand for the Architect to shake.

‘Of course,’ said the Architect. He was young, with white hair that matched his shirt and grey trousers that matched his shoes. But even though he was small, his power could be felt in every aspect of his office, bubbling away beneath the surface.

‘I’m sorry if this is rude,’ the Doctor frowned for a moment, ‘but aren’t you a little young to be the Chief Architect?’

The Architect raised his eyebrows. ‘Our age isn’t revealed in our faces, Doctor, we have so many other ways of showing our wisdom.’ He leaned forward. ‘But I don’t think I’m the only person in this room who is older than he looks, am I?’

The Doctor grinned. ‘You’re good. Very good.’

The Architect shrugged. ‘I know.’

Blondie stepped forward. When she spoke her words were filled with a respect that the Doctor hadn’t seen from her before. ‘Can you help us, sir?’

The Architect looked away. He moved his fingers ever-so-slightly and suddenly the walls of the room fell away to reveal the landscape beyond. In the far distance, the familiar darkness was approaching, a black smudge in the green sky. ‘I don’t know,’ he said sadly. ‘Even I don’t have the power to hold back the destruction of our world.’

Blondie reached out her hand to grab the Doctor’s. ‘The Doctor has a plan.’

The Doctor shifted on his feet for a moment. ‘Sort of.’

Blondie stared at him.

‘What?’ said the Doctor, defensively, ‘I never said I could stop the system wipe – the best I can do is to buy us some time.’

‘But you said –’ Blondie looked shocked.

‘What do you need, Doctor?’ the Architect interrupted.

The Doctor leaned forward. ‘I need you to make me something. I’m only a new player. I don’t have the levels or the experience for, well, anything really. But you, you know the system inside out; you can find shortcuts and program new codes. Give me the power to change the objects in this world and I promise I will do everything I can to save it.’

The Architect nodded. ‘You are a brave man, Doctor. We have spent so long living in peace that some of us have forgotten how to fight.

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