video;

[helpline]

[ The Doctor gives the camera a grin and a little nod. ]

Hello network! Just have a quick question here, time to take a roll call! Who's got magical creepy healing powers?

[ this is "being subtle." Sorry Clara. There's a big grin before, ]

Oh! Also, how do you own a shop? Apparently I got promoted. I've worked in a shop before but I don't think I've ever owned one.

Comments

[helpline]

Don't worry, no one's hurt at all. This is just idle curiosity.

[23wishes]

In that case, what could I win? Participation is a lousy prize. You need something flashier.

[helpline]

I'm sure I can jerry-rig a clockwork animal of your choice. Possibly it'll play music!

[23wishes]

That's... awfully random, but okay! Is that your power?

[helpline]

Nah, that's just because I'm a tinkerer. I fiddle with things when bored.

[23wishes]

It seems like there's a lot of people like that here. Do you know Kururu or Tetsuo or Kaneda?

[helpline]

Nope, nope, nope.

[ he actually DOES know Tetsuo....but they got into a shouting match the first time they talked. ]

I'll keep an eye out for all three of them, though—are they your friends as well as healers?

[23wishes]

They're my friends, but they're not healers. Kururu's... something. Tetsuo's a telepath, and I can do a little of that too. Kaneda can summon a motorcycle out of thin air.

... I think Queen Lucy is a healer. Has she talked to you yet?

[helpline]

I know who she is, but haven't really talked to her. Besides, isn't she ambassador? I'm not gonna bother an ambassador for something as simple as this.

[23wishes]

Oh, so us nobodies don't matter?

[helpline]

You nobodies matter more—and probably have freer schedules.

[23wishes]

[Well, she's laughing.]

So, let me get this straight. You're collecting healers for no reason, just because you're curious, but you still want us to have free schedules. Just because. I don't think we're getting the full story, Doctor.

[helpline]

The full story? I'd like a healer for a thing eventually. Don't know when the thing's going to happen, don't know who the healer will be, just that sometime in the foreseeable future, I'm going to need a healer for a thing.

Besides, I'm not collecting healers. You collect rocks and beanie babies, not people. I'm taking a census.

[23wishes]

Are you expecting something to happen...? You have my info now. I'm in Nonah 06, too, if there's ever an emergency.

[And then there's a weird, long pause.]

What kind of doctor are you, then?

[helpline]

I'm a doctor of this, of that, of a little bit of everything, but mostly time.

[23wishes]

A time doctor... ? That's a new one. Good for you, though. I don't like regular doctors much.

[helpline]

I'm not a big fan of them either. They keep telling me to eat better and things like that.

[23wishes]

My mom was stubborn about sodium at your age, too.

[helpline]

What, at two thousand?

[23wishes]

... Two thousand.

[This is gonna take a second to process, sorry.]

You can't be older than 60.

[helpline]

Nope! Time Lord perks, we get to be super old and not look super old.

[23wishes]

Time Lord...? What's that?

[Like a title? Is there a President Time out there??]

[helpline]

It's me. I'm an alien, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.

[23wishes]

[Her eyes LIGHT UP.]

Oh! You're not human either!

[helpline]

Nope! [ and his eyes light up as well ] And you're not human also?