poly_chromatic | (video)

[ The video feed clicks on, showing a room, a little dusty and not too large, rows of shelves filled with hats of all sorts along all walls. There's a desk in the middle, and it has Amy Pond pacing diagonally through it. ] Okay, yeah, but we gotta. Promote it somehow, right? Can't have a detective agency without clients, right?

Posters! [ There's a crash from somewhere off screen, before something is flung across the room. ] That's how they did it in the old days, massive posters. With slogans. We need a slogan, something cool.

[ The video doesn't pick up on Amy rolling her eyes, but it's obvious in her tone anyways. ] Posters, Doctor? Really? That's so— no. no. This is the 21st century, yeah? Or like it, at least. We should make a post on the network. [ Pausing just a moment. ] But we need a slogan, yeah. And a name.

What's wrong with posters? [ He sounds wounded, wandering into view, with his fingers curled around his braces, straightening himself up. ] I've always loved a good poster. Of -- what do people have posters of, anyways?

Posters are for teenage girls with crushes on movie stars or little girls who like ponies. Or boys who like cars or naked girls, I s'ppose. We're not gonna do a poster. [ All the frowning ]

[ Abandoning that in favour of tripping forward, crossing his arms over his chest and looking unimpressed. ] But I really wanted a poster. [ A sigh. ] Let's get on with this then.

Yeah, all right. [ Grinning now ] So. Hey City. You've heard, yeah? Detective agency, we need cases. We're— Pond and Smith? Smith and Pond? Detectives, anyhow.

And we are going to solve all your mysteries, big or small, weird and wonderful, strange and spooky. Just leave it to us, honestly, it's what we do.

[ — and the feed clicks off ]

[ Red is the eleventh Doctor, green is Amy and Pond and Smith is now open for business. Give them cases! Lost a fez? Searching for your pet pig? Want to know what your neighbour's cat gets up to at night? Or why there's a crack in your wall? Call them! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, thanks. [ Someone's exciteable. But that's okay. Amy's excited, too, if for different reasons. ]

Nah. I'll have to talk to the Doctor again. Decide which one to use. Choices.

Choices are nice. I like having a choice. And there's always a choice, so says my dad. He's right, I think There's always a choice. What kinds of mysteries are you solving? It must be fun, going about and looking for clues, gathering information and putting it all together to find an answer to the mystery. It seems very logical a profession.

[Her tone turns thoughtful.] I suppose most people have professions.

Yeah, they're pretty sweet. An' we're solving all kinds of mysteries. Except for boring ones, but those aren't very mysterious.

Pretty sweet? [She can't say she's ever thought to refer to the power of having a choice as pretty sweet. Could you taste choice? Yep, she's confused. But she moves on because people have said a lot of confusing things since she's arrived and she doesn't expect that to end anytime soon.]

Do you have an example of one that isn't boring? I'd like to hear about it? Or is that against the rules, sharing information about an ongoing mystery that isn't boring? I don't want to break the rules!

We've only just got our first case. But back home there was a crack in my wall and a prisoner who'd escaped from an alien prison into my house, that kinda stuff's definitely not boring.

A crack in your wall and an escaped prisoner? That does sound exciting. Most definitely not boring, in any case. Did you find the escaped prisoner? Was the crack in the wall repaired? How did you go about solving the mystery?

We did! It was all very smart, though I was unconscious for a bit there 'cause the prisoner hijacked my brain. Very impolite, that.

Yes, very impolite! He... or she, must have been scared of going back to prison. I would hate to be in prison for any duration of time. But what of the crack in the wall? It went away with the prisoner?

No, no, that's a whole different story. The crack was— a hole in time and space.

A hole in time and space. [She repeats the words carefully and absorbs the impact of them before moving on to more questions.]

My goodness you've lived an exciting life. Did anyone slip through the hole? Did you repair it? [She repeats her unanswered question from a few moments ago. She's very interested because it sounds so exciting, far beyond anything she's ever experienced.]

Well, the prisoner first, yeah, he slipped through. And we did repair it. The Doctor did. Yeah.

[It seems that this is an uncomfortable topic for Amy Pond, so Jenny tries to lighten the conversation a bit to help the girl out. Better to talk about things that don't make people so sad. What better to make people happier than The Doctor?]

You must be very good friends with my dad. But then that's what he does, it seems. Makes good friends and repaires things. He makes things better.

[ Wait. WHAT. ] Your — dad?

The Doctor! Your friend who's code name is Smith for your detective agency! Smith and Pond. Pond and Smith. I still don't know which I like better.

The Doctor's your dad.

...yes. [If it weren't for the fact that she had been thought dead, she would think it had been top secret that she had even existed. Rose Tyler hadn't known. Her dad from previous regeneration hadn't known. Now Amy Pond hadn't known. It was like she hadn't existed at all after she had died. But at least she had been dead and she could understand that people didn't like to speak of the dead all that often. And at least this dad had recognized her.]

Is River your mum? 'cause I should know if I have a grandchild, really.

I don't know anyone named River, although it does go quite nicely with Pond, don't you think? No, I don't have a mom. I was made from his DNA. I'm Gallifreyan like him, two hearts and everything! Wonderful, isn't it?

Yeah, okay. Gotcha.

[She doesn't think that was a response to anything she said and she doesn't know how to respond to it herself. Gotcha? Amy Pond didn't have her. It didn't make sense. And it didn't sound like Amy Pond liked her or wanted to continue talking with her. So she decides to back off for now. Maybe they can be friends later, she hopes.]

Alright, well it was nice to meet you, Amy Pond. Good luck with your detective agency! I hope you get all the mysteries to solve in this City.

Must be pretty cool, having the Doctor as your dad.

Yeah, I bet we will. See ya.

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