I, Kamelion (audio story)
I, Kamelion was the first audiobook to be released in the Interludes series. An independent story, it was released on the bonus downloads of the audio anthology Forty: Volume 1. It was written by Dominic G. Martin and featured the Fifth Doctor, Turlough and Kamelion.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
The planet Tairot is a haven for technology, dedicated to improving the quality of life for its inhabitants one cerebral implant at a time. And yet with no memory to guide him, Kamelion finds himself to now be one of those inhabitants, taken from his self-imposed exile and forced into a human body. A seemingly permanent one.
With a new conspiracy unfolding around him, Kamelion begins his quest to find answers. Why have the Doctor and Turlough become public enemy number one? What is the truth behind the planet's technology? And most of all…how does an android dream of electric beasts?
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor detects a power surge in Kamelion's room and hurries there with Turlough, finding that Kamelion has collapsed as a result of absorbing a huge amount of data on human cultures and behaviours from the TARDIS database. He erases this knowledge upon being disconnected and shares that he has pondering the purpose of his existence, prompting the Doctor and Turlough to take him with them onto 31st century Tairot and fill him in on their recent adventures and Tegan's departure. They hear a scream and find a braindead woman with a K-Loud implant which Kamelion believes has uploaded her mind. To diagnose the problem, he interfaces with the implant and is attacked by a polygon creature.
Kamelion finds himself in the human body of Phoenix Wrangle, a CitraTech developer, without any memory of how he got there. Phoenix's wife, Tara, eventually accepts that the person in her husband's body is not him and listens to Kamelion's story about his creation and his time aboard the TARDIS. He remembers how he came to be in Phoenix's body and how he heard a man's voice in the K-Loud telling him to "help her" and then asks about Phoenix, who Tara says was the creator of the implant. Citra, however, claimed otherwise and won the legal case, after which Phoenix came to work at CitraTech before resigning. Kamelion promises that he will do his best to get Phoenix back with the help of the Doctor.
A news update from Citra announces that the Doctor and Turlough have been arrested for attempting to hack into the implants' central mainframe with Kamelion's help and being behind the recent deaths. Tara's mind is uploaded and Kamelion cries, experiencing sadness for the first time and making him realise how he will feel if the Doctor and Turlough are executed. He rescues his two friends before Citra can add their minds to the digital creature that he is planning to make corporeal, but Citra uploads his own mind to complete the creature and escape justice. When the barrier between reality and K-Loud breaks down and the creature emerges, Kamelion allows it to absorb his mind, which contains an anti-virus devised by Phoenix. The minds are released and the creature shrinks to nothingness.
Kamelion, his body damaged, remains in the digital world with Phoenix and Tara, who refuse to return to their bodies until he tells them the story of his entire life, beginning on Mekalion. The Doctor manages to repair Kamelion's body, but Kamelion does not want to give up his new emotions by returning to it until Phoenix and Tara manage to talk him into it. They return to their bodies together and Kamelion again resets himself as his android body is unable to deal with his experiences as a human, purging all memory of his recent adventure after the Doctor downloads them as evidence to be used against Citra and K-Loud. The Doctor, Turlough and Kamelion return to the TARDIS where Kamelion downloads a book by Tara called My Husband, the Android and rests.
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor was told not to think of Kamelion at his request.
- Kamelion takes on the form of Tara's husband, Phoenix Wrangle.
- K-Loud allows its user to access 1,000 years of news.
- Tara and Phoenix once walked along the Tai Peninsula. Phoenix proposed to her that day.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
_textless.jpg)
- This story is set between Resurrection of the Daleks and Planet of Fire.
- This story offers an explanation to why Kamelion was absent from The Five Doctors to Resurrection of the Daleks.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Tegan has recently parted company from the Doctor and Turlough. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks)
- The TARDIS crew has recently visited the Eye of Orion. (TV: The Five Doctors)
- Tegan hadn't had much trust in Kamelion. (TV: The King's Demons)
- Kamelion refers to his origins on Mekalion. (AUDIO: The Kamelion Empire)
- The Doctor refers to being an occasional scientific advisor. (TV: Spearhead from Space, etc.)
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
| |||||||||||
