Alice Guppy
- You may wish to consult
Alice (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
Alice Guppy was a Torchwood Cardiff operative in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, beginning in 1898. She was in a relationship with fellow Torchwood agent Emily Holroyd, and was part of the team that recruited Jack Harkness.
Biography
Born in Scotland, (PROSE: Torchwood: The Encyclopedia [+]Loading...["Torchwood: The Encyclopedia (reference book)"]) Alice Guppy was an orphan with a criminal background. (PROSE: The Baby Farmers [+]Loading...["The Baby Farmers (short story)"]) According to one account, Alice was found by the Scottish branch of the Torchwood Institute, Torchwood Two. However, as they didn't know what to do with her, they shipped her down to Cardiff. (PROSE: Risk Assessment [+]Loading...["Risk Assessment (novel)"])
Another account stated that Alice had no prior affiliation with Torchwood before moving to Cardiff. On 13 September 1898, while serving time in prison, Alice signed her official contract of employment for Torchwood as an investigations agent. She had a meeting with the prison governess, expecting a reprimand for wounding Miss Hailsham in a laundry room the day prior. Instead, she was informed that if she signed the contract, she would be allowed to go free. Alice wrote in her diary that the position appealed to her as it was "uncommonly well paid". She considered the requirement to move to Cardiff a downside, but remarked that Cardiff would be preferable to prison. She wrote that the decision was not difficult and that she signed the contract immediately after reading.
The next day, Alice was collected by Emily Holroyd. The governess warned Emily about Alice's conduct and cast aspersions on her mental fitness, to which Emily did not respond. Taking her to a place to eat, Emily explained the role to Alice, telling her that Cardiff was "beset by strange Creatures" and that Torchwood's mission was to protect the Empire from them. Emily stated that she required a partner after having lost her previous one to a "mutative infection". Alice inquired as to why she was chosen for the role, to which she was told that her skills as a thief and her attitude towards violence would be put to better use in espionage.
While travelling to Cardiff, Alice stayed at a lodging-house in Bath.
On 15 September, Alice arrived at the headquarters of Torchwood Cardiff. In her diary, she described it as "undergound, sprawling and untidy" but "filled with curious and sometimes wondrous equipment". She asked Emily about her husband, to which she responded that her situation was "complex". Not wishing to displease her, Alice did not pry further.
In her diary, Alice would write that she found Emily's company "most enjoyable". She also wrote of her delight in her new lodgings. However, she notes that her diary would become less comprehensive from this point onward, with Emily pointing out that any record of her experiences working for Torchwood could compromise the security of the Institute. Alice concludes with her anticipation, yet nervousness, for going on patrol the next night. (PROSE: Diary of Alice Guppy [+]Loading...["Diary of Alice Guppy (short story)"])
By 1899, Alice and Emily were in a relationship. (TV: Fragments [+]Loading...["Fragments (TV story)"], PROSE: The Baby Farmers [+]Loading...["The Baby Farmers (short story)"]) That same year, the pair were investigating Jack Harkness, believing he may know the whereabouts of the Doctor after several of his drinking den conversations were overheard. (TV: Fragments [+]Loading...["Fragments (TV story)"], PROSE: Captain Jack Transcripts [+]Loading...["Captain Jack Transcripts (short story)"]) Alice's involvement in the investigation lasted up to six months, during which Torchwood had discovered he couldn't die, having been killed fourteen recorded times.
After capturing Jack, Alice and Emily tested the lengths of his immortality, during which Alice shot him in the head. She also interrogated Jack on his knowledge the Doctor, quoting various transcripts of his conversations to him. Confident he did not know where the Doctor was, Alice and Emily agreed to let Jack go under the condition he serve as an uncontracted agent for Torchwood.
Alice found Jack attractive but avowed that she found Emily more so. She came into conflict with Jack when he witnessed her cold-bloodedly executing a Blowfish alien Jack had captured on his first assignment. She was sadistic on several occasions, delighting in assaulting and torturing Jack on first meeting him. When Jack attempted to resign, Alice reminded him that he would need currency and that Torchwood would treat him as a threat. (TV: Fragments [+]Loading...["Fragments (TV story)"])
Around 1899, Torchwood received a telegram from a journalist, William Mayhew, addressed to Emily. Alice attempted to stop Jack from going in her place, however, Charles Gaskell convinced her to let him go. After Jack went missing, Alice and the rest of Torchwood began investigating the HMS Hades, the subject of the telegram. They infiltrated and destroyed the former warship after it was found to be a lab for experimenting on aliens. Alice later thought about how Jack meeting Mayhew in Emily's place ultimately saved her life. (PROSE: The Baby Farmers [+]Loading...["The Baby Farmers (short story)"])
By noticing energy signals in 1901, she discovered a version of Jack from the future buried twenty feet underground. He had been buried by Gray and John Hart in 27 AD. Alice and Charles interrogated Jack, believing him to be the Jack from their relative time. Jack avoided answering her questions and instead asked to be placed in the morgue and frozen. While Alice struggled to believe him, Jack was nonetheless placed cryogenic suspension until the 21st century so that he could avoid crossing his own timeline, (TV: Exit Wounds [+]Loading...["Exit Wounds (TV story)"]) per Emily's strict instructions. (PROSE: Stock Take [+]Loading...["Stock Take (short story)"])
Alice, alongside Emily and Jack, investigated Ravenhall Manor in 1902 after receiving reports of visions. They attempted to destroy the house, only for it to reappear. The entity responsible appeared to have been defeated after Jack used an engine to contain it. Jack would recall this mission in the 2000s following the entity's return. (COMIC: Hell House [+]Loading...["Hell House (comic story)"])
Alice was still at Torchwood in 1906. On 17 March, she wrote an incident report on an "unexplained conflagration" in Penylan. She visited the site of the explosion, and wrote that non-contemporaneous material and signs of temporal flux were found. She questioned Jack regarding the matter, thinking that his futuristic knowledge may bring some insight to the incident. Jack pleaded ignorance, which Alice found hard to believe, writing in the report that he "lies with such ease". She ended the report noting that no civilians were harmed and that their investigation continued. (PROSE: The House That Jack Built [+]Loading...["The House That Jack Built (novel)"])
Legacy
Following her death, Alice's body was kept in the morgue within the Torchwood Hub. She was listed as one of the morgue's "permanent residents", kept in bay 12. (PROSE: Stock Take [+]Loading...["Stock Take (short story)"], The Torchwood Archives [+]Loading...["The Torchwood Archives (novel)"])
Agnes Havisham mentioned Alice to Gwen Cooper, describing her as "very bright, serious at the tomb" but that she "couldn't hold a teacup without crooking her little finger". (PROSE: Risk Assessment [+]Loading...["Risk Assessment (novel)"])
Alice reminded Ianto Jones of a "strict teacher" when reading her past incident reports. (PROSE: The House That Jack Built [+]Loading...["The House That Jack Built (novel)"])
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