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Phobos (audio story): Difference between revisions
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On the Martian moon of Phobos, thrill-seekers Chrissie and Scott are navigating a series of ice caves. Chrissie gets pulled through a river and deeper into the cave systems; and we find that this is an extreme sport on this world. Trying to get Scott’s help to get back to the surface, Chrissie hears him screaming over the radio as he is attacked by…something. | On the Martian moon of Phobos, thrill-seekers Chrissie and Scott are navigating a series of ice caves. Chrissie gets pulled through a river and deeper into the cave systems; and we find that this is an extreme sport on this world. Trying to get Scott’s help to get back to the surface, Chrissie hears him screaming over the radio as he is attacked by…something. | ||
The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller arrive on the surface, and the Doctor determines their location: It is the year 2589, and they are on Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. Lucie is immediately caught in a net, but its owners—who were trying to trap an | The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller arrive on the surface, and the Doctor determines their location: It is the year 2589, and they are on Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. Lucie is immediately caught in a net, but its owners—who were trying to trap an animal—realise their mistake, and help the Doctor cut her down. The two young men, Drew and Hayd, admit that they were concerned about rumours of monsters in the area, and were attracted by the sound of the TARDIS landing. Only one man in the area—Lunar Park, as it’s called—has actually seen the monsters, but few people believe his stories. They then admit that they came here for a strange feature of the mountain on which they stand: it has a vertical shaft in the top, colloquially known as the Wormhole, in which no one has ever located the bottom. It’s used for bungie jumping—in fact, the entire moon is a haven for extreme sports of all types, attracting adrenaline junkies, or “Drennies”—and they intend to try it out. | ||
Elsewhere, an odd couple disembarks at Lunar Park. Amy is a human; her husband, Farl, is a Githian, a larger and stronger humanoid race. Though it won’t be mentioned for some time, they’ve come here to hide; their relationship is not accepted by the Githians, who want to maintain the purity of their species, and so hunters have been dispatched to bring them back. They are met by a woman named Eris, who is the unofficial engineer of Lunar Park, as the colony is essentially left to itself with no oversight. They then meet an old man named Kai Tobias, who will turn out to be Eris’s partner of sorts. He tells them about the monsters that are alleged to come from the wormhole. | Elsewhere, an odd couple disembarks at Lunar Park. Amy is a human; her husband, Farl, is a Githian, a larger and stronger humanoid race. Though it won’t be mentioned for some time, they’ve come here to hide; their relationship is not accepted by the Githians, who want to maintain the purity of their species, and so hunters have been dispatched to bring them back. They are met by a woman named Eris, who is the unofficial engineer of Lunar Park, as the colony is essentially left to itself with no oversight. They then meet an old man named Kai Tobias, who will turn out to be Eris’s partner of sorts. He tells them about the monsters that are alleged to come from the wormhole. | ||
The Doctor and his group reach the wormhole, and he confirms that it isn’t natural. No one knows how deep it goes; the Drennies award great respect to those who go the deepest when bungie jumping. The rope that Hayd and Drew have brought will stretch to over 3,000 | The Doctor and his group reach the wormhole, and he confirms that it isn’t natural. No one knows how deep it goes; the Drennies award great respect to those who go the deepest when bungie jumping. The rope that Hayd and Drew have brought will stretch to over 3,000 metres before snapping back; Hayd takes the first jump. While they wait for him to return, Lucie borrows a telescope from the Doctor, and spots a couple lying on the ground near a pool in the distance. The Doctor decides to check it out on the way back to the camp. | ||
Amy and Farl discuss leaving due to the monster stories, but opt to stay. Eris rebukes Kai for spreading the | Amy and Farl discuss leaving due to the monster stories, but opt to stay. Eris rebukes Kai for spreading the rumours about the monsters, or Phobians, as he calls them. She sends him to check on Rosa, another visitor who was recently injured and has been unconscious; when he leaves, she apologises for him, and assures them that the stories are not true. | ||
Hayd and Drew identify the couple as Chrissie and Scott, and discover that Scott is dead, and Chrissie is in shock. With the Doctor and Lucie, they bring the duo in, and send Chrissie to the park’s med-cabin for treatment; she’s exhausted, but unharmed. Kai is convinced that the Phobians killed Scott, and the Doctor can’t counter the idea for now. | Hayd and Drew identify the couple as Chrissie and Scott, and discover that Scott is dead, and Chrissie is in shock. With the Doctor and Lucie, they bring the duo in, and send Chrissie to the park’s med-cabin for treatment; she’s exhausted, but unharmed. Kai is convinced that the Phobians killed Scott, and the Doctor can’t counter the idea for now. | ||
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Strange sounds come from the wormhole. The Doctor awakens Kai. Kai explains that all his lies and attacks were genuinely intended to protect everyone from something far worse than the Phobians. The wormhole houses a “god” which came from another reality, one consumed by fear. As that universe collapsed, the creature somehow found access to our universe, and was trapped in the wormhole. It then manipulated the environment to create all the extreme attractions; thus it would attract people, who would provide it with fear, on which it feeds. However, Kai has learned there is a catch: The creature can’t use pure fear, but rather, must have some euphoria with it to make it palatable; hence all the thrill-seeking behavior. In fact, pure fear harms it. Kai further suggests that the Doctor is feeding the creature; he thrives on saving people, which is a form of thrill-seeking much stronger than that of the Drennies. | Strange sounds come from the wormhole. The Doctor awakens Kai. Kai explains that all his lies and attacks were genuinely intended to protect everyone from something far worse than the Phobians. The wormhole houses a “god” which came from another reality, one consumed by fear. As that universe collapsed, the creature somehow found access to our universe, and was trapped in the wormhole. It then manipulated the environment to create all the extreme attractions; thus it would attract people, who would provide it with fear, on which it feeds. However, Kai has learned there is a catch: The creature can’t use pure fear, but rather, must have some euphoria with it to make it palatable; hence all the thrill-seeking behavior. In fact, pure fear harms it. Kai further suggests that the Doctor is feeding the creature; he thrives on saving people, which is a form of thrill-seeking much stronger than that of the Drennies. | ||
The creature takes over Eris, and speaks through her, confirming what Kai says. It thanks the Doctor for freeing it. The creature is | The creature takes over Eris, and speaks through her, confirming what Kai says. It thanks the Doctor for freeing it. The creature is maximising its efforts by speaking through Eris, whom Kai loves, thus increasing Kai’s fear; it will do the same to Farl through Amy, and Drew through Hayd (Drew denies being in love with Hayd, but is forced to admit it’s true). In so doing, it will take the living of this universe and craft a new body for itself, allowing itself freedom. Thus far, though, all it can do is talk; and the Doctor engages it. He uses the bungie equipment to leap into the wormhole with Eris, thus feeding the creature his true fears—not his euphoric thrill-seeking, but what he really fears. He shows it fear in the past, and in the future…and worst of all, in himself, fear of what he may become. It is too much for the creature, and it dies, screaming. | ||
Eris does not survive the experience. Back at the park, the Doctor and Lucie watch as things are patched up between Farl and Amy, with Amy telling Farl about her pregnancy. Hayd and Drew also recover. The group then sets a funeral pyre for Eris, with Lucie lighting the pyre. The Doctor lets Kai go, knowing the truth about why he did what he did; and now, in Eris’s memory, he will try to make Phobos a better place. The Doctor and Lucie return to the TARDIS, and Lucie inquires about what the Doctor showed the creature; but she decides she doesn’t want to know. In a world of monsters, the Doctor may be more frightening still. | Eris does not survive the experience. Back at the park, the Doctor and Lucie watch as things are patched up between Farl and Amy, with Amy telling Farl about her pregnancy. Hayd and Drew also recover. The group then sets a funeral pyre for Eris, with Lucie lighting the pyre. The Doctor lets Kai go, knowing the truth about why he did what he did; and now, in Eris’s memory, he will try to make Phobos a better place. The Doctor and Lucie return to the TARDIS, and Lucie inquires about what the Doctor showed the creature; but she decides she doesn’t want to know. In a world of monsters, the Doctor may be more frightening still. | ||
