supernova (11th doctor)

The Hungry Earth (part 2) / Tests (part 3)

I arrived back at Area 51 from a closet I had escaped from, and normally would have just pressed the button again to get back to the Doctor and help get Amy back. But for some reason, there was a lot of commotion going on outside, and I wasn't going to leave without finding out what it was.

I stepped out of the closet slowly, and walked out of the long, bleak, garage-looking corridor to see people running around frantically, forklifts being moved around, and certain illegal substances being suspended in the air. I looked around for someone I recognized, and the only person I saw was Sally, my dad's girlfriend.

"Sally, what's going on?" I asked, tapping her on her shoulder.

She turned around and gave me an apologetic look, clipboard in hand. You knew something was up when a clipboard was being held. "Oh Scarlette, you're supposed to be on your lunch break right now, we gave you extra time..."

"Why? What's happening?" I asked again, not liking the sound of this.

"We're moving your artifact." Sally stated coolly and carefully, giving me a look that was probably intended to calm me down, but wasn't helping.

"Which artifact? The orb?" I worried.

"Yes. We're moving it to France." She nodded, her lips forming into a thin line of pity.

Everyone knew that the France division was where artifacts went to die. They were basically just kept in storage over there, and routinely checked up on. Except the Area 51 version of storage was more like iron walls, glass cases with volt protection, and routine check-ups to making sure nothing exploded.

My eyes went wide. "What? No! You can't do that I-I just got it! I only performed one test on it!" I tried reasoning with her. Although she wasn't as high in positions as Zodiac was, she was in charge of the artifact removal and transportation unit.

"I'm sorry, honey. I know it meant a lot to you, but it did something to you that was unexplainable and nothing else—and no one wants any part in something non-profitable, and even more so, something... nonsensical." She winced, as if it hurt her to call my artifact nonsensical.

"No, you don't understand—" I tried quickly to think of a use for the orb, but I really didn't want anyone touching it. 

My Area 51 self wanted it for scientific purposes, because only one test was ran, and the directors were either too afraid or too lazy to see what else it could do. My personal self wanted it for validation purposes; to know the thing I found on my own wasn't useless. But my Time Lord self wanted it the most, because it was the thing that activated my locket, and brought me to the Doctor. 

It had to mean something, and I wasn't going to let it go.

"I'm sorry, you know I can't argue with the directors once they make a decision. No one can." She explained, and I knew she was right. The directors had control over everything, and the main reason no one could reason with them—was because they were completely anonymous. No one knew who they were.

"What if we take it to court?" I tried.

"We can't take something to court for at least a month. Another director was revealed two weeks ago," Sally reminded me. Area 51 had its own court, but a director was revealed and demoted to a position lower than Zodiac's at every trial. Because of this, only two could be held a month with the exception of emergencies. No one was going to think my orb was an emergency, and I couldn't explain why it was. 

"I'm sorry, really," Sally apologized again.

"It's fine," I said, sighing and walking away. 

It was absolutely not fine.