Duck Pond Mystery Solved (short story)
Duck Pond Mystery Solved was a Doctor Who short story framed as an in-universe issue of The Timey Wimey.
Summary
Prisoner Zero Found Innocent
Prisoner Zero is found to be innocent at the "trial of the century" at the Icelandic Alliance.
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The reader is urged to download an app by The Timey Wimey, to "Find out tomorrow's headlines ... today".
Duck Pond Mystery Solved
The Leadworth duck pond turns out to be an "extraordinary time portal" leading to Carnaby Street, 1973. Having been a serene location where residents could enjoy being with ducks as well as the "tranquility of nature", everything has now changed after a group of "adventurous locals" investigated the mysteries surrounding it, such as "strange ripples in the water", "unusual fluctuations in temperature", or "glimpses of people dressed in 1970s attire through the water's surface".
Local residents had been taking "leisurely strolls" around the duck pond, feeding the ducks and "basking in the tranquility it provided"; unbeknownst to them, this was merely a "beautiful facade", underneath which there lay a portal to the past, to a different time and place.
This was discovered when a group of teenagers happened upon the journal of former scientist Dr. Evelyn hartley in the attic of a nearby historical home. It contained "cryptic notes and diagrams" which hinted towards experiments involving a secret chemical compound and the duck pond.
A team decided to investigate this mystery, making use of scientific equipment and historical research to investigate what became known as the "Duck Pond Anomaly".
Following extensive tests on the water and its surrounding area, they concluded that, a formerly-unknown chemical had caused a temportal rift after being introduced to the pond, creating a portal to 1973 Carnaby Street in the pond. Some volunteers equipped special suits to allow them to withstand the time-travel, allowing them to enter the water and travel through the rift, finding themselves in 1973 Carnaby Street.
The team's findings were documented "meticulously", comparing their notes from the time-travel with real historical records of the street in the 1970s; they found that the portal only went one way, and that those who entered the portal could not return to the present.
These events raised both scientific and ethical questions on what consequences there were for interacting with the past, and whether it should be explored further or if the portal should be sealed in order to prevent "potential disruptions to the timeline".
A scientific unit has been sent by the government to monitor the situation, to see if anything can be learnt from the anomaly, or if it's a national security risk.
Both scientists and historians are now working together in order to better understand the implications of the phenomenon, studying the chemical which created the time portal as well as its potential effects on the "space-time continuum". Local authorities are considering safety measures in order to prevent unauthorised access from being gained to the portal.
In conclusion, the pond has transformed from a "quiet retreat" into a "hub of scientific inquiry" as well as a "symbol of the unknown mysteries that still exist in our world". Researchers continue to unravel the anomaly's secrets, and the one thing that's certain is that the "Duck Pond Mystery of Leadworth" will be told for generations to come.
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Characters
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Worldbuilding
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Notes
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Continuity
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