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(Romana goes outside. It’s light but there’s a great wave of
black on the horizon.)
ROMANA-
Hello? Anyone out there?
TIME LORD-
Who’s that?
ROMANA- My
name is Romana. Who are you?
TIME LORD-
Ah, hello. I’m Pandak.
ROMANA-
You’re Gallifreyan aren’t you?
TIME LORD-
Yes, a Time Lord. And so are you.
ROMANA- But
what are you doing here?
TIME LORD-
Oh I’m a scout. The High Council sent me to monitor that.
My final mission.
ROMANA-
Final? What is it?
(He's pointing at the wave on the horizon. A line of
black sky, sucking the surrounding area into it.)
TIME LORD-
That my dear is the relentless onset of death. A wave of raw
entropy slowly eroding all matter. In time it will envelope the
entire cosmos.
ROMANA- But
surely something can stop it.
TIME LORD-
Myths speak of a key that could halt it. Stop the universe for
an instant, restore balance.
ROMANA- The
key to time!
TIME LORD-
What? You’re privy to the records of the High Council?
ROMANA- Just
a guess. What else could such a device be called?
TIME LORD- I
suppose so.
ROMANA- So
this key to time, in the right hands it could stop this entropy
wave?
TIME LORD-
It would turn back the tide. Restore the universe to factory
settings as it were.
ROMANA- And
we got rid of it before it could be used.
TIME LORD-
Speak up dear. Going deaf in my old age.
ROMANA- Old
age? But you don’t look a day over 600.
TIME LORD-
I’m not. I’ve been here 40 days and in that time I’ve seen the
entropy wave creep round half this planet. And in that time I’ve
gone from my first regeneration to my last. I’m afraid this
planet is to be my last resting place.
ROMANA- Oh
but you must get away from here!
TIME LORD-
Entropy erosion is not a pleasant death. In fact it’s very
painful. At least it was the first two times.
ROMANA- Then
what happened?
TIME LORD- I
refused to die like that again. I told it: "You won’t kill me.
I’d rather do it myself." So at the first sign of erosion I
effected my own regeneration.
ROMANA- You
can do that?
TIME LORD-
Oh yes. It’s actually quite fun. You enter a sort of flux where
you can take on a physiognomy at will, just for a short time.
Believe it or not I chose to look like this.
(With a
loud trumpet sound the Entropy wave moves forward)
TIME LORD-
It’s getting stronger. You have to leave. I can already feel its
effects.
(His skin is becoming charred and blackened.)
ROMANA- No,
you must come with us.
TIE LORD- Oh
I’d love to but you see my dear, it’s a bit too late for me.
(With those
final words he decays and dies.)
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