As they walk through the glass doors, the Veexian startles and glances up, the papers in her hand falling to the ground. They're rather humanoid beings, but where Rose's skin is smooth and pinkish, the Veexian's is a flawless metallic grey. Veexians lack any hair that humans have, and the irises of their eyes are almost always purple. This one is wearing clear contacts that some Veexians wear to access data bases and show the wearer information.

While the girl is fixing the papers that scattered with her startled movement, he discretely pulls out his screw driver to make sure that any information about him is erased from the girl's contacts.

He pockets the screw driver and continues forward. "Hello there, I'm the Doctor, and this is my associate, Rose" He says as he strides in, Rose behind him.

The Veexian squints as she searches for information that isn't there on the two of them, her loose papers still in hand. "I'm sorry, um, how can I help you?" She asks distractedly.

Rose steps forward and leans on the counter. "Well," she says casually, "you can start by telling us where everyone's gone."

The Veexian blink a couple of times. "I'm sorry, but don't you know?" She asks.

"Obviously not, so if you could kindly tell us" the Doctor flashes her a grin.

She doesn't look impressed but she continues on. "Everyone's in Elysium." She says plainly, looking at them like they're missing something upstairs.

It all comes together then.

"Everyone?" He asks again, failing to keep the disbelief out of his voice.

The girl—Leeza, her name tag says—looks bored. As he examines her more closely She also looks a bit gaunt. Her cheeks are sunken in, and her uniform hangs loose on her. He files the fact away for later.

"Where's Elysium?" Rose asks.

Leeza squints at her, her opinion of the people who just walked through the door obviously dropping by the second. "Since you people are not from around here, I'll speak slowly." Rose scrunches her nose at that but doesn't say anything. "Everyone is currently in their pods, living Elysium, otherwise known as their own personal virtual world, living their lives in a dream state."

"But what about everyone else? Where are the workers in the city? Don't people have jobs to do?" The questions fall from Rose's lips like a flood of water, and The Doctor smiles. Rose might not have the knowledge that he does, but she's never had a problem asking questions.

"Look, I don't know everything, I just work here to make sure the pods continue running." Leeza says impatiently. When he and Rose just stare at her, she sighs, as if exasperated. "All I know is that a few weeks ago, the price to enter Elysium dropped to almost nothing and everyone flooded the gates." She crosses her arms then uncrosses them, like she's antsy to be anywhere else but there with them. "All of the complexes are at full capacity." She taps her fingers on the counter, clearly ready to be done with this conversation. "Even I'm going straight to Elysium when I get off, which should be any moment now…" she trails off.

While Rose processes, the device Leeza is wearing around her wrist starts beeping, and she looks relieved. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off the clock. I'm headed to my own Elysium." She says without so much as a good-bye before exiting through a door to head somewhere else in the building.

He and Rose look at each other. "Why would someone want to live virtual lives instead of their real ones?" Rose asks him, puzzled.

"Elysium is an adaptive program" he explains. "The longer someone is in it, the more it learns about what they would like to have happen in their lives. It takes their wishes and makes them come true."

Rose still seems a little skeptical so he puts his hand on top of where Rose's sits on the counter and looks her in the eyes before he continues. "Imagine a life where your dog never dies, you never get bullied and you always get all the presents you want for Christmas". He swallows. Then goes deeper. "Imagine a world where your family never dies, and you never have to say good-bye to the people you love." He almost winces as that. He might have said too much. He always says too much, but never about anything that matters. "Would you really be in a hurry to leave all that?" He waits for her response.

She looks at him. No, she looks into him and he almost shudders. "It doesn't matter unless its real though." She says carefully. "You can't just run away from all the bad things. Sometimes you have to face them to get past them."

Somehow she knew it's was not just Veex he is talking about. The corner of her mouth twitches up before resting into her expression of knowing, of empathy.

He closes his eyes. He feels so many things, feels the turmoil inside. He's been adrift, in the ocean of loss inside of him. But it isn't just loss. It is sadness, and anger, and helplessness and terror. There is so much that he feels like he'll never be able to sort it all out or separate one feeling from the other or be able to escape them. But somehow Rose just cut right through the abyss, to the heart of it. He opens his eyes again, feels her gaze anchoring him in place. He feels a little less lost, and a little less alone.

She gives his hand a squeeze, and gives him a lifeline because she knows how heavy the moment is, knows that she needs to give him time. Maybe time can heal all wounds.

"Somethings definitely wrong in Veex, yeah?" She says. It's a statement, and not a question.

He squeezes her hand back before dropping it and heading for the door Leeza just walked through, pointing his screwdriver to unlock it. He looks back at her, his lips tilting upward, and shrugs his shoulders almost helplessly.

"And we're gonna have to fix it. Like we always do."

Authors Note:

hey, I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long! I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, its just that college keeps a girl busy!

Anyways, I'm sorry its so short, I just wanted to post something after so long to let you know I wasn't dead!

Thank you so much for those of you who have commented or favorited this story. Every notification reminded me of this fic, and gave me incentive to keep writing!