Octopuss' Garden

Rowan and Nereid had an odd relationship.

Mind you, to any non-Gallifreyan, the idea of a "relationship" between a clearly sentient being and what appeared to be a mechanical mode of conveyance would, by its very nature, be odd. The fact is, however, as I've stated numerous times in the past, Gallifreyan TTC were, in point of fact, living entities. While most of the older models did posess minds and personalities, they required a psychic link in order to be understood even slightly. Very rarely was the communication between a Time Lord and his or her Capsule actually understood on an intellectual level. It was more akin to a Terran communicating with a pet, or a somewhat tempermental automobile. The extent of verbal communication was more often then not limited to such endearing statements as "LAND, you idiot!"

Rowan, however, was quite an accomplished psy-reader of TARDISes. As such, she was able to discern the thoughts, desires, concerns and, oddly, sexual fetishes of most TARDISes. This made Nereid somewhat bored. So, the mischievous TTC made a game out of things by learning how to lie, dissemble and, basically, trick her Time Lady.

The previous must be understood to appreciate how Rowan, newly regenerated into an unusual Mer form, was able to deal with existence on no fluidic worlds and within her capsule, as well.

Nereid surrounded Rowan with an impecptibly thin field of null-gravity, allowing her to "swim" through the air, as though in the ocean at all times. She also equipped Rowan with a portable chameleon circuit, worn almost imperceptably on a necklace, which allowed her to appear bi-pedal while swimming, giving her the appearance of walking. It should be noted the sheer impossiblility of both of the previously descibed functions were not lost on Nereid, who would, at times, all the impossibility to show through, causing Rowan to, at random times, appear fully in her mer form, while still swimming through the air, or, conversely, cause the null-gravity field to fail, either making Rowan trip, or encompass other things around her, making them float for no reason whatsoever.

It is at this point, in a typical tale, I would preface things with Meanwhile..., however, due to the time-travelling nature of the alliance, such a preface would be wildly inaccurate, as, in essence, it could be said of anything that has, is, or will be occurring, and most languages in the Whole Kind of General Mish-Mash lack the subtlties of Gallifreyan, and, hence, have no trans-temporal verb tenses. So, I fear, you, as a reader, must simply deal with that and understand that, while this following segment occurs many years previously, it also occurs at the same time as the last few entries.

I will now give you a moment to duct tape your heads back together.

...

Nereid materialized on the coast of Long Island sound in 1965. This was caused by the final transmission of a distress call from the floor of the Sound. When Rowan exited her TTC, she was, as she expected to be, appearing as a bi-pedal Time Lady, seeming to walk (though actually "swimming") and seeming somewhat nonchalant in her movements. As she approached the sound, of course, Nereid, in her typical manifestation of her somewhat interesting sense of humor, began to randomly fluctuate Rowan's null-gravity field.

This caused a ten minute, uninterrupted series of falls, trips, flips, crashes and various other displays of clumsiness, which also included (due to the fluctuations of the null-gravity) the incorporation of beach umbrellas, folding chairs, picnic baskets and a few Terran children, all being flung hither and yon, some merely falling in place, others being tossed severl hundred meters.

This was all observed by a young Terran man named Cornelius Chase, who found the entire display so amusing, it impacted his psyche for the rest of his life, though also so traumatic that he would never remember it accurately, and, thus, had no ability to recall its influence on his future life, includign the fact that he was nearly crushed by (and became named after) a flying, 1957 Chevy.

Once Rowan made it to the water, she was more in her element.

Swimming quickly to the bottom, she found a small, robotic life-form, severely damaged, but not beyond repair. She took the small droid with her as she, in her desire to avoice further spectacle, triggered her transmat remotely and teleorted back into Nereid, whom she attempted to scold, though the mischeivous capsule was laughing too much to pay mind.

The trio then set course back to present day Bruce.

Failing to notice a second TARDIS trailing them.