Chemistry (short story)
Chemistry was the first story in the Origin Stories anthology, published by BBC Books. It was written by Sophie Aldred and featured her character, Ace, the Thirteenth Doctor, Midge, Shreela and Derek.
Summary
Sitting outside her headmaster's office, a girl with a high ponytail sits impatiently on a chair, thinking of the excuses she will give for being in trouble once again and practising her attempts at looking sincerely apologetic. She begins to think about how she ended up in this situation, believing that it truly was not her fault this time because her science teacher encouraged her to do it.
The girl remembers how her previous elderly chemistry teacher had left a few months ago and his replacement was his polar opposite: young, full of energy, excitement, and questions that stoked the girl's interest in the only school subject she was truly interested in. Realising that everything in the universe was made up of the same particles made her feel strangely safe, and her teacher noticed her commitment to the periodic table in their first lesson together. From this, the girl decided to start hanging around with the chemistry teacher, practising science outside of teaching time and eventually inventing a brand-new explosive based on nitrogen. However, her teacher taught her all the warnings of responsibility surrounding explosives, leading the girl to promise never to use them for destructive purposes and to never tell anyone about them.. but her promise to never make the recipe at home was an insincere one.
The day she invented the explosive, the girl sprinted back to her flat from school and refashioned an old squirty cream canister into its "wicked"-looking can, then used her stolen ingredients to start making more of the explosive herself, despite feeling briefly guilty at having lied to the only adult aside from her nan that she truly trusted. With the combination complete and the can wrapped in an old T-shirt, she stored it safely in her schoolbag to hide the next day, changed out of her school uniform into her signature black bomber jacket, and left to visit her mates at the youth club.
When she got to the youth club, however, it was empty, so she continued walking up the hill to its peak and looked around at the darkening winter London skyline. As she stood there, she noticed something new standing nearby: a blue phone box with a flashing light. Finding this strange as she knew the area well, she decided to investigate. As she did, the girl decided to fully apologise to her science teacher for lying, realising for the first time in a long time that she was feeling genuinely guilty. Arriving at where the blue box had been, the girl was shocked to find that there was no sign of it.
The next day, the girl prepared to apologise to her teacher by handing over her homemade can of explosives, but upon arriving, she discovered that she was not there - a grizzled old supply teacher was there in her place. Worrying about if or when her can might detonate based on it not having a timer or fuse, she decided to dump it somewhere in the school where any potential explosions could not be traced back to her. Finding an opportunity during a break in her double art lesson, she placed the T-shirt-wrapped can behind some unloved clay figures on a high shelf, hoping to return to it the next week when her chemistry teacher would likely be back. However, the teacher never returned.
Eventually, the explosive went off on its own, blowing up a corner of the art room and most of Form Five's pottery pigs in the process, with the shreds of her T-shirt easily placing the blame on her. Despite a letter home and mentions of police involvement, no major trouble had arisen for her until she was made to face the headmaster.
A cry of "Dorothy", her hated real name, brings the girl back to the present. She enters the headmaster's office and begins to apologise to him. He asks her more about her explosive Nitro-9, but she refuses to put her beloved teacher into any trouble, and the headmaster, Mr Michaels, admits how this says a lot about her character. Far from being angry with her, Mr Michaels instead bargains with her to tell him everything she knows about her science teacher and she will be let off. Still, she refuses and keeps putting the blame on herself.
Looking up at Mr Michaels, she realises something is very wrong; he has gained glowing red eyes and his face is morphing. Feeling scared, unusually for her, she watches in awe and horror as the creature in front of her grows giant clawed paws and some form of tentacles as a small tornado grips the office, moving steadily towards her. Jolting at the sound of the office door banging open, the girl spins to see, wearing her signature grey-blue coat and boots, her chemistry teacher, urging her by her preferred name of Ace to run. With the creature and tornado both growing, Ace sprints, grabs her teacher's hand and makes it to the corridor as the teacher throws something into the room, which goes "pop" before everything goes quiet.
The teacher says that the threat is over, but for Ace, it is all just beginning. She explains that Mr Michaels is fine and teaching as they speak, the tornado was a mini time storm caused by an old acquaintance of hers that she cancelled out with her temporal retrorsus manipulator, and the creature was Charvalian that invaded the school and copied Michaels' body. With Ace thoroughly confused, the teacher explains that she is not ready for her yet, and although she needs to leave her, they will meet again someday, but with a different face, and she will not meet this face again until she is much older. She parts by telling her that "you are an ace human being and you are going to have a life beyond your wildest dreams," then apologises as she puts her hands to either side of Ace's head and wipes her memory of the events.
Ace wakes up again in the corridor, feeling strangely peaceful and wondering what she was doing there, but is quickly met by her friend Derek and they begin to return to class. Derek wonders if she would like to come to the club that night and join a self-defence class with him. Forgetting all about her intention to ask him about the blue box she saw, she agrees, believing that "a girl's got to be prepared for anything these days."
Characters
References
Locations
- The Palladium is a theatre in West London.
- Ace and her nan once rode down Oxford Street at Christmas time.
Individuals
- Ace's nan's "favourite bloke off the telly" was Danny La Rue.
- The Doctor was not the biggest fan of Margaret Thatcher.
- The Doctor describes Guy Fawkes as an "all right bloke".
Popular culture
- Ace and her nan once saw an Aladdin pantomime at the Palladium.
- Ace mentions the Mysterons from Captain Scarlet.
- Ace's nan watched Coronation Street.
Notes
- On 23 November, 2022, the story was posted in its entirety on the official Doctor Who website.[1]
Continuity
- The Doctor knows Ace is destined to meet her in this incarnation again when Ace is a bit older. (PROSE: At Childhood's End, TV: The Power of the Doctor)
- The Doctor calls Guy Fawkes an "all right bloke". The Eleventh Doctor (GAME: The Gunpowder Plot) and Thirteenth Doctor previously met him. (PROSE: Black Powder)
