Lonely (short story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story
|series = [[Short Trips (series)#In print|Short Trips short stories]]
|name=Lonely
|doctor = Eighth Doctor
|series=[[Short Trips (series)#In print|ST short stories]]
|companions =  
|doctor=Eighth Doctor
|setting = [[areyoulonely|#areyoulonely]], [[cyberspace]]
|companions=
|enemy = [[IamI]]
|year=
|writer = Richard Wright
|writer=[[Richard Wright]]
|anthology = Short Trips: Transmissions
|anthology=''[[Short Trips: Transmissions]]''
|release date = 1 July 2008
|prev=Generation Gap (short story)
|reprint = Short Trips: Re:Collections
|next=Blue Road Dance (short story)
|prev = Generation Gap (short story)
|}}
|next = Blue Road Dance (short story)
|series2      = ''[[Short Trips: Re:Collections]]''
|prev2        = The Spindle of Necessity (short story)
|next2        = Lares Domestici (short story)
}}
'''''Lonely''''' was the sixth short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: Transmissions]]''. It was written by [[Richard Wright]]. It featured the [[Eighth Doctor]].
'''''Lonely''''' was the sixth short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: Transmissions]]''. It was written by [[Richard Wright]]. It featured the [[Eighth Doctor]].
== Summary ==
== Summary ==
In an internet chat room, people gather to discuss their loneliness. A user named [[Iami]] insists that the others keep on typing. As they do so, they discover that their whole bodies slowly vanish into the cyberspace of the chat room.  
In the [[Internet]] [[chat room]] [[areyoulonely|#areyoulonely]], people gather to discuss their [[loneliness]]. A user named [[IamI]] insists that the others keep on typing. As they do so, they discover that their whole bodies slowly vanish into the [[cyberspace]] of the chat room.


A user called "[[Eighth Doctor|johnsmith8]]" logs in and explains that Iami is an artificial intelligence who survived the Doctor destroying her ship when it tried to invade Earth. Iami was the AI instructed to take care of the crew and it needed care to survive. It escaped into the internet to find it.  
A user called "[[Eighth Doctor|Jsmith8]]" logs in and explains that IamI is an artificial intelligence who survived the Doctor destroying her ship when it tried to invade Earth. IamI was the AI instructed to take care of the crew and it needed care to survive. It escaped into the Internet to find it.


The Doctor tricks the Iami into letting him leave the chat room. He quickly shuts down the chat room, allowing the victims to escape while Iami is deleted, along with the chat room.
The Doctor tricks the IamI into giving him admin powers. He quickly takes away IamI's powers, and takes control, returning IamI's victims to their bodies, and deleting IamI itself, before closing the chat room.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
* [[Eighth Doctor]]
* [[Eighth Doctor]] ([[Jsmith8]])
* [[Iami]]  
* [[IamI]]
* [[Faceless43]]
* [[Faceless43]]
* [[Shirley1968]]
* [[Shirley1968]]
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* [[DrLuvin]]
* [[DrLuvin]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* The Doctor says that he can never be lonely because he always surrounds himself with friends.
* DrLuvin promises not to tell the [[police]] if they give him his body back.
 
=== Technology ===
* Shirley1968 found the chat room by searching on [[Google]].
* Shirley1968 found the chat room by searching on [[Google]].
* The Doctor asks if they're on [[Web 2.0]] or [[Web 3.0]], saying it went downhill after that. [[Web 3.6]] liked to call itself Barry, and had an [[inferiority complex]].
=== The TARDIS ===
* The Doctor mentions that [[The TARDIS|his TARDIS]] could hold Iaml, but that there's already more intelligences in there than he's comfortable with.
=== The Doctor ===
* The Doctor corrects IamI, saying he has [[binary vascular system|two hearts]].
* The Doctor appears to be travelling alone.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* Both [[Nicky (Lonely)|Nicky]] and [[Shirley1968]] shout, "I don't know where I am!" when they find themselves unable to see the screen, their own hands, or anything at all but the text itself. This is the same phrase uttered by those uploaded to the Internet in [[TV]]: ''[[The Bells of Saint John (TV story)|The Bells of Saint John]]''.
{{prose stub}}
* The Doctor says he's met [[Leonard Nimoy]]. He later meets [[Spock]] himself in his [[Eleventh Doctor|eleventh incarnation]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Assimilation² (comic story)|Assimilation²]]'')
 
{{ST prose}}
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{{TitleSort}}


[[Category:Eighth Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:Eighth Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:2008 short stories]]
[[Category:Short Trips: Transmissions short stories]]
[[Category:ST short stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 21st century]]
[[Category:Short Trips: Re:Collections short stories]]

Latest revision as of 01:47, 27 March 2024

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Lonely was the sixth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Transmissions. It was written by Richard Wright. It featured the Eighth Doctor.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

In the Internet chat room #areyoulonely, people gather to discuss their loneliness. A user named IamI insists that the others keep on typing. As they do so, they discover that their whole bodies slowly vanish into the cyberspace of the chat room.

A user called "Jsmith8" logs in and explains that IamI is an artificial intelligence who survived the Doctor destroying her ship when it tried to invade Earth. IamI was the AI instructed to take care of the crew and it needed care to survive. It escaped into the Internet to find it.

The Doctor tricks the IamI into giving him admin powers. He quickly takes away IamI's powers, and takes control, returning IamI's victims to their bodies, and deleting IamI itself, before closing the chat room.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • DrLuvin promises not to tell the police if they give him his body back.

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

The TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor mentions that his TARDIS could hold Iaml, but that there's already more intelligences in there than he's comfortable with.

The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor corrects IamI, saying he has two hearts.
  • The Doctor appears to be travelling alone.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]