Authors notes: Sorry this is taking so long. I've been scratching my head over how to write this chapter, because though I want to describe Safe Harbour, I wanted to avoid it becoming pretentious, or read like I'm pushing some kind of propaganda. I'll just say Safe Harbour is not meant to be written as any kind of perfect utopia, but there is a reason why it is the way it is. Which I'll get to in a later chapter.

Chapter 82

Safe Harbour.

The final few steps of the application process included a general knowledge test, questions on physics, maths and the like. The Doctor likely aced all of it, Raven on the other hand did have some trouble. Maths was never her strong suit, she hardly needed it on Azarath, but she knew how to add up, subtract, multiply and divide. So she wasn't totally useless.

What in the hell even was a 'quadratic equation,' and how could you 'simplify it'?

Finally, they were asked to present any certificates of higher learning they had. Raven had nothing, she wouldn't carry such things around with her. Who the hell would? But the Doctor, good god, did he carry everything with him? He'd handed over a medical degree from Glasgow, one that was marked as a low grade, and dated 1890, apparently, a degree from the University of Oxford 2012, and Cambridge an honorary degree dated 1960.

"Wilkin will vouch for me, he was always very good at keeping track of these sort of things." The Doctor had said. Was Wilkin famous, or just a passing friend? Raven wondered.

From there, they were assigned positions and roles. The Doctor was given the position of a teacher in the school. Raven didn't envy the students who'd have to listen to his boring lectures. Their administrator then moved to leave, but Raven interjected. "Wait, what am I supposed to do?" She was genuinely interested in what use they'd have for a psychic.

"Role?" The woman smiled as if this was a joke. "Miss Roth, you're hardly of age for a job. You're going to school. You'll be one of your uncles students." Raven's brow dropped a little further. She didn't even look at the Doctor. She just said in a deadpan.

"Can I be deported?" The administrator just laughed, she thought it was a joke.

In all honesty, Safe Harbour was no different to most places Raven had visited in her travels, though the first thing to assault her was the intense heat of the planet. Raven really wished she'd changed her attire when she had the chance.

The place was busy with plenty of activity going on for a small colony of a few thousand. Not far away from the space port was a market had been set up where humans and aliens alike traded whatever they had to sell. There were more humans than aliens, but perhaps that was to be expected, it was a human colony after all.

The one thing that did stand out was the militaristic feel of the police force. They were all dressed in heavy, bulky gear like they were ready to fight. They all moved like military police too, very disciplined and very official. They openly carried weapons, but kept them holstered. They didn't seem trigger happy however, in fact they looked relaxed enough that Raven didn't feel threatened. The Doctor however was looking around at them a little warily.

"Guns make me nervous." He whispered to her.

"Then I have a horror story for you." Ravens eyes drifted over to a stall. The Doctor turned and his face and body language slumped a little. It was a weapons stall selling guns. All kinds of weapons were on sale, from energy weapons to projectile pistols and rifles. All were locked behind wire-mesh cages to prevent theft. Though there was an open display case where some weapons were free to pick up, though they were chained to the stall by a heavy chain and a flexible metal rod going straight down the barrel and out the back.

The Doctor shook his head. Raven didn't understand why. Okay, guns killed people, but you needed to protect yourself sometimes. Not everyone could be telekinetic witches or genius Time Lords with a confidence and attitude to talk down the most homicidal of species. If anything, the guns kind of put her at ease. If this place was anything, it wasn't a police state like 1984, no police state would tolerate the common man buying and owning a weapon. Though Raven did question if selling them at a market stall like this was a very wise idea.

She took one in her hand and was surprised by the weight of it. Before she could do anything with it the Doctor took the guns barrel and forced it from her fingers in a movement that forced her to let go of it. He then placed it back, holding the barrel between his fore-finger and thumb like it was the most disgusting thing. Raven just rolled her eyes at his behaviour.

A little ways further on they both stopped at a stall selling fruit where the Doctor negotiated the exchange of goods. This place still worked on a monetary system of some kind, and the Doctor exchanged some bags of gold dust from his pockets for two apple looking fruits. The stall owners eyes practically bulged at how much the Doctor was willing to pay. Raven didn't care if the Doctor over paid, she needed to cool down. When she bit into the fruit her taste buds lit up like they'd been shocked. It was so sweet and a little tangy, more like solid honey with a hint of apple. But best of all they were also refreshing and so cool that Raven felt her core temperature cool down a little. Before she knew it, Raven had a large paper bag full of the fruit jammed into her arms, same with the Doctor. He'd clearly bought more than he'd intended. The Time Lord tried to give the fruit back, but the alien was insistent that the Doctor had paid for them.

Raven couldn't complain, she liked these fruits, though her expressionless face didn't express her delight. Raven had only turned around for two seconds before the Doctors bag of fruit had mysteriously vanished. The top of the paper bag was poking out of his pocket. So his pockets were bigger on the inside!

I knew it!

After a little further wandering and several, gradually warming fruits later Raven was then drawn to a café, one with air conditioning, she could feel it blow over her as she passed the door. She took the Doctors arm and forced the Time Lord inside despite him wanting to look at a stall selling hats. The hats weren't going anywhere, but Raven was rapidly melting, and she needed the Doctor to buy her an iced water.

"How can you wear all that and still be cool?" Raven asked him of his usual, frock coated getup as she gulped down a bottle of ice, cool water.

"I can regulate my body temperature a lot more effectively than humans can." Raven wished she could, she was so warm she couldn't even be bothered to reply to that with her usual sarcasm. "You know, in Mexico the common practice to cool down is to eat something hot and spicy to raise your core temperature, not lower it." Raven gave the Doctor a look. He'd promised her a Frost Fair and instead had given her a Magma Market. It was his fault she was in this heat as far as she was concerned.

"What do you think of Safe Harbour?" He asked.

Raven shrugged, "It's like everywhere else we visit." Raven had no overall opinion on it, other than the rumours about it being a terrible place were clearly wrong.

"Yes, but everywhere has a distinct flavour." The Doctor said, sniffing the air like the place actually had a scent. It did have a kind of 'golden' sent to it, but that might be because of the sunny warmth, than it was down to a specific scent. "Though I agree, this doesn't seem like a bad place. Everyone looks relatively happy and content. The guards look scary and intimidating though."

"Shouldn't they?" Raven asked, but she got no answer.

"But on a scale of Airstrip One to Manor Farm I'd say the place is a lot more like the America's after the War of Independence." The Doctor said, Raven was none the wiser. She only had a loose understanding of American history. "America used to be peppered by British colonies. In the 1760's King George the third of the British Empire imposed unfair taxes on the Americans without consulting with the local governing bodies of the colonies. The Americans were always big on their civil freedoms and didn't take kindly to being pushed around like this. Many of them left Britain for that reason in the first place. So, in an act of rebellion…" The Doctor started talking about the Boston Tea party and how it led to a revolutionary war with the British Empire, when the colony declared independence.

"Sounds a lot like Safe Harbour." Raven reasoned.

"Exactly," the Doctor said, "Britain also used to smear the American colonies when they declared independence. When you can't influence how people behave, they try to influence how they see you."

"So you don't think this place is evil?" Raven asked.

"By the look of it no. Back in the day Britain slandered the Americans for being 'uncivilised.' It was the insult of the era to describe the 'unlike,' or the 'ideologically different.' But in this time of political turmoil in the Earth Alliance the common slur might be about alien hating. Most humans are awful at fact checking, or even thinking sceptically in general, they listen and believe anything they're told as long as everyone else believes it too. But that's humans for you, you can all be so adorably stupid and not realise it." Raven wasn't sure if she should take that as an insult. She decided not to, because she had to face facts, it was true.

"As fascinating as this is," Raven said, fainting disinterest. "We should work on finding the TARDIS, I have no intention of baking myself to death."

The Doctors eyes looked up, around and behind Raven. "I dare say, we'll get to ask Big Dog about it."

"What makes you say that?" Raven asked.

"Because we have a pair of military gentleman standing behind you looking all official." Raven turned, almost bored and saw the two law enforcers standing behind her.

"Doctor…" the man paused, "Weasley?" The Doctor smiled.

"It's the name that was given to me." Raven was annoyed that he wasn't more annoyed.

"Big Dog would like to speak to you, sir."

"Oh, marvellous. We'd be delighted." The Doctor began to raise his hands in surrender, Raven, still bored, followed the Doctors lead.

"Why are you doing that, sir?" The soldier asked, "You're not under arrest."

"Aren't we?" The Doctor looked genuinely surprised.

"It would honestly be the first time." Raven said.

Big Dogs personal quarters weren't exactly the Ritz. It looked like any other building in the colony. It was a prefabricated building, clearly built to be taken down and put up at short notice. Despite that, it still looked warm, dry and functional, and going by the rust on some of the bolts it had been up for quite some time.

As the Doctor and Raven approached the door the soldier who brought them held up his hand to Raven to stop her.

"Sorry, Ma'am. Big Dog said he only wanted to see your uncle." Raven gave the soldier a look, one which said, 'you couldn't stop me if you tried.'

"Let's not make a scene now." The Doctor whispered into her ear. "I'm sure I'll be safe. I'll be back soon."

"I'll be ready to rescue you." Raven said in a tone which suggested she was mentally rolling her eyes.

"Rescue?" The Doctor scoffed with a wave of his hand and he followed the soldier into the shelter.

"Yes, rescue." Raven said once the door closed. But she wasn't just going to wait outside like a good little girl. She followed the Doctors mental signature to one of the back rooms. From there, and with great focus she could pick up on the conversation.

"This is the man?" came Big Dogs gruff voice, "He certainly fits the profile. Male, eccentrically dressed, intelligent eyes."

"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor asked.

"Doctor John Weasley Smith?" So the Doctor had changed his name back. "Or should I just call you, 'the Doctor'?"

"Ah." Raven imagined the Doctor holding his hands up in defeat before dropping them back to his sides. "So you've heard of me then?"

"With LINDA running around the Earth Alliance it's difficult not to know about you." LINDA? Unpleasant memories filled Ravens head. "Then when I found your blue box. Your 'Police Box.' I knew you had to be here somewhere."

"I take it you didn't invite me here for a cup of tea?" The Doctor asked.

"Not exactly, no."

"Good, milk and two sugars, please." The Doctor sounded relaxed like he'd just set himself down in a chair. "So, what can I do for you Mr. Big Dog?"

"You can start by telling me why you're here?" Big Dog had an accusing edge to his voice.

"Would you believe I'm trying to get to the Frost Fair?"

"Not really. You never land anywhere without the intent to overthrow what you think is evil."

"And who told you that?" The Doctor asked, "Oh, let me guess. LINDA? Well, let me put you at ease, most of my adventures involves me stumbling into the situation rather than actively fighting it. In this case, I was heading for the Frost Fair in the 1800s"

"Unlikely," Big Dog spoke, "But it does have the ring of truth."

"It does?" The Doctor asked.

"It does?" Raven echoed to herself.

"You don't sound like you're being facetious, and if you wanted to deceive me you'd have come up with something better." Big Dog said. Raven could hear a subtly crackling noise, followed by Big Dog blowing air. Presumably he'd taken a drag on his cigar.

A door opened and something rattled in. It sounded like a trolly, one with a squeaky wheel.

"Ah, tea?" The Doctor questioned, "a civilisation that knows good tea etiquette can't be all bad."

"So you've heard the Earth Alliances narrative?" Big Dog asked, his tone was hard to read but there was tension in it.

"Well, I've yet to see all of it in the limited time I've been here." The Doctor said, he sounded like he was stirring his tea. "Is this the bit where you try to convince me that it's not so bad and try to get me to leave?"

"No." Big Dog said firmly, "I want to know if you think this is a good place."

"I'm sorry." The Doctor sounded like he didn't know what to think. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, is this a good place? Is there something we can improve? We are a relatively new colony, and I'd value the input of a Time Lord whom has likely seen plenty of civilisations over the years, you must've seen the rise and fall of many systems of government. I want to know if the system I picked is a wise one."

"Umm… I'm not sure…" the Doctor genuinely sounded like he didn't know what to say to that, "which answer won't get me shot?"

"None. Speak freely." Big Dog sounded sincere.

"Oh… Why do you think I should be the judge of that?" The Doctor asked. "I'm no god, and I'm really no authority on this matter."

"That's not how LINDA paints it." Big Dog sounded surprised by the Doctors answer.

"LINDA does tend to glorify me somewhat. The 'Doctor' that LINDA knows is just a fiction, a compilation character of peoples personal, cultural preferences, and in some cases partisan propaganda." The Doctor took a sip from his tea cup.

"The legends state you are capable of seeing many points of view." Big Dog said, he sounded like he made some kind of movement or gesture.

"No, thank you." The Doctor said, "I gave up a long, long time ago."

"Probably for the best. They're bad for your health." Big Dog again took a drag on his cigar.

Whatever he was saying now was being drowned out by a hissing sound coming from around the corner from where Raven was, and near the front of the building. Raven decided to investigate. She kept to the shadows, more so she could remain cool than to hide. As she peered around the corner she saw a skinny man, a human, only with a shocking shade of cyan coloured hair wearing a black hoodie. He was spraying something on the side of the building in green spray paint, a symbol of some kind.

Raven moved around to get a good look at the symbol. It was some kind of circle with an arrangement of straight lines within, six lines. One along the lower semi-circle with five lines coming off it with four pointing upwards and a fifth sticking out at an angle. It was like a crude drawing of a human hand.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked the man. He jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice.

"You can't shut me up you bunch of Daleks! I…" he stopped when he spotted her, "Oh… sorry, I thought you were the Dals."

"Daleks?" Raven had yet another memory of someone she didn't like.

"You're an 'other person', aren't you?" the skinny man said.

"Other person?" Raven questioned. The man looked her up and down as if examining her.

"A none human." Was that judgement based on her skin tone? Not that Raven cared. It was just another echo of a certain someone she didn't like. He then looked back at what he was painting on the wall. "Don't worry, I'm not with 'them'. But I am trying to expose them for who they really are. You'll all be free in no time."

Raven didn't speak but she did have questions. Like, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The man shushed her as he continued to finish spraying the strange logo. Then he stood back to admire his handy work. He took out a device from his pocket, one that flashed as he pointed it at the wall. The device had a screen and a 3D image of the wall and the symbol appeared as a hologram in front of him. He smiled with glee as he began typing away on the device. It must be like one of those mobile phone type devices from the 21st century.

Once he was done, the hologram, within seconds had a shower of images falling around it. Symbols that either looked like 'thumbs up' or angry looking red faces. What was going on?

"OI, You!" came a shout. Two guards had spotted them. Raven wasn't worried, but as she turned back to the skinny man he'd gone. He'd taken off and was making a run for it. One guard sped past Raven while the other approached her and roughly took her by the arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You're in big trouble, little missy!"

"Somehow I'm not surprised." Raven was surprised however when her arm was twisted around her back. It didn't hurt, but it meant she couldn't move. She got the feeling if she didn't cooperate then he'd lift her arm and cause her pain, it was that kind of lock.

The other soldier was back soon, now holding the cyan haired man in the same lock. Raven half expected the cyan man to turn up dead, shot through the back while trying to escape or something. But both guards had their weapons holstered.

"You lot can't leave alone, can you?" The guard said, "Frickin' vandals!"

"I'm here to expose you and free the enslaved aliens here." Cyan man spat. "You frickin' human, why can't you see you're acting like a bunch of Daleks!"

The soldiers lifted their visors. Their craggy skin and yellow eyes indicating that these creatures were anything but human.

"You were saying?" The soldier asked, his serpent like tongue slipping out to taste the air. The Cyan man took a moment to compose himself.

"You're a bunch of traitors to your species!" He spat. "Don't you care about your own species culture, and heritage?"

The man never got a reply as he was being manhandled away.

"This is just victimising!" Cyan man cried. Raven raised an eyebrow, then looked at the symbol he'd painted on the wall of the house. Then Raven herself was being pulled away.

"Hey, I'm not with him!" But they didn't listen as she was dragged away. All she could think about was how embarrassing it'd be if the Doctor had to rescue her now.

The cyan man was cuffed and forced into the back of a buggy like vehicle that sat on the road. Cyan man was again cuffed, this time to the back seat. Then the guard extracted the device the cyan man had used earlier.

"Hey, that's mine!" He shouted. But the guard wasn't listening as he opened up the device and the hologram of the wall reappeared. The guard then typed into a computer on the buggys' dashboard. A box appeared over the hologram saying 'uploading to paired device'. Then the hologram changed. It showed a birds eye view of Cyan man spraying the symbol onto the wall.

The cyan man looked horrified, then he went totally white when the guard pressed a button and text appeared over the hologram stating, 'uploading to the cloud'.

"No!" the Cyan man screamed.

What? Didn't he want people to know he'd sprayed that logo? He wanted someone to know it existed, but didn't want them to know he'd made it? What did the symbol mean? Raven was confused, but not interested enough to ask questions about it. She just wanted to get this sorted and get out of here.

"I'm not with this guy." Raven said again calmly and coolly.

"That's true, she has nothing to do with me." Cyan man said.

"Two humans, both with freaky hair colours caught painting the 'Hand of Mother Terra' and you're not together?" The guards' tone suggested ridicule.

"She's not with… wait… she's a human?" Cyan man looked at Raven, she didn't like the look he was giving her. He again looked her up and down then at her face. "Actually, yes, she is with me. She's my life partner."

Raven couldn't think of what to say to that, except to stare daggers at the Cyan man. Raven was cuffed and placed in the back seat of the buggy along with that skinny, human arsehole.

"Wait, my uncle is seeing Big Dog." Raven tried to tell them, but they didn't seem to buy it. The cyan man turned to Raven, horror in his face as the guards climbed into the front of the buggy.

"Your uncle works for the Butcher?" Cyan man said as if it was the most disgusting thing she could've said. "First you appropriate the Galari skin tone, now your uncle works for the leader of these Daleks? The Galari are not some fashion for you to exploit. They're a species the human race has oppressed and exploited for too long. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Oh god, he even talks like her!

Raven began banging her head on the back of the chair in front of her.

Why does the Universe hate me?

Raven didn't resist as she was dragged into another building, this one much more solidly built. This was clearly their jail.

She could escape, it'd be so easy. But she also rationalised that if she did, then the whole colony would probably be on the lookout for her anyway and it'd just cause more problems. Better to just play along. After all, what was she going to be charged with, vandalism? Unless this place had harsh punishments for such behaviour Raven felt that she was in no danger. By the way they'd manhandled her rather than threatened to shoot her the crime wasn't a serious one, but one they took seriously enough to arrest her.

The charge was indeed, vandalism, as Raven found out upon being brought into the building. A person in a guard uniform, this one a green, cactus like alien asked what the pair were charged with. They weren't even asked for their names, the alien just wrote down the name Dorothy Roth. -More angry redness flushed to Ravens face.- The name of the cyan man was written down as 'Hedgy', and they were further dragged away and shut behind bars in separate cells. Unfortunately, the walls that divided those cells were just a wall of bars, meaning she could hear Hedgys continued moaning.

"Hey, I want my com's device back!" He'd shouted, "and I want that video you uploaded deleting! This is cruel! You can't take my device away, that's taking away my personal rights!" But no one paid any attention to him, but still, he refused to shut up.

Raven sat down in a crossed legged position and decided to spend the time meditating. There was nothing else to do. At least the place was air-conditioned, she could feel the breeze on her face, it was glorious.

While in her own mind Raven was conscious of Hedgy. He sounded and felt like he was greatly agitated as he sat on his bed. His finger twitched and his emotional state felt unstable. But then again, it was hardly stable to start with. He was subtly grinding his teeth, and even ran fingers through his hair a few times. Was the confinement doing this?

After what felt like not long enough the guy stood up and shook the bars of his cell door so they rattled loudly. "I want my device!"

Now it was Ravens turn to grind her teeth a little. He rattled the door again and Raven finally decided she'd had enough. Ravens eyes snapped open, glowing white.

Hedgy froze, his face looked surprised as his body relaxed like all strings had been cut. Then, with her fingers splayed, Raven held her arms out and using her powers she treated him like a puppet and forced him to take a clumsy step back, then another, and another, until he was at the bed. Raven made him climb on top of it, lay down, close his eyes and she left him temporarily paralysed. While leaving him conscious through the whole experience.

So sue her, he dragged her into this mess, she wasn't about to let that go unpunished, nor was she prepared to sit listening to his childish whining.

She did consider slowing his metabolism down so much that he'd appear on the surface to be dead. She imagined what thoughts would go through his head as he'd be wheeled into an autopsy room. The spell, however, would break when poked with a sharp object, like a surgical scalpel. It was so tempting to do, but no.

No. It would be too cruel. But she was still so tempted to do it.

"Brutal!" Said a voice from the next cell along. Raven didn't know there was someone else in the prison. But a figure detached itself from the bed sheets and stood at the bars looking across Ravens cell and over at the frozen person. "Did you do that?"

Raven didn't reply, but her hooded eyes rolled to the new person. She was older than Raven, maybe in her late twenties and wearing a loose fitting, black shirt; a long dark red jacket, and a black scarf in a loop 'n through knot. She also stood with an air of confidence that contrasted with her childlike features. Her pair shaped face still radiated a youthful and yet pretty, action girl kind of vibe to her. She whipped her pony tail as she turned her head.

"Oi, can't you talk, sunshine?" She said in a clear, English accent.

"Not to you." Raven dismissed.

The woman made a cat like noise to mock Ravens behaviour. "No need to get all defensive and stuff. Hey, if you have powers like that why not just escape?"

"Escape would be pointless, my… uncle will come and collect me." Raven closed her eyes and tried to meditate again.

"I take it you're not with the 'social media junkie', then?" The woman asked pointing a thumb at Hedgy. "Little Mister, 'Everyone I Dislike Is an Evil Dalek'?" At least the woman shared Raven's dislike for the guy and it was for similar reasons. "Don't be too hard on him. Social Media Junkies can mean well, but their focus isn't to help people. It's to get that dopamine hit of social interaction. These days, protesting isn't about trying to change the world, it's more like a fashion statement, or a cry for attention." She laughed, "Doesn't sound so bad, until your cause is overran by self-serving narcissists' who'd run everyone else out for 'not protesting the right way or the right people'." God, this woman couldn't shut up. How long had she been locked up? "I can't stand Social Media myself. It's all so artificial and robotic. I tried it a few years ago. It was just so depressing."

Though the ramblings of the woman were ultimately fascinating, -of course Raven was thinking sarcastically,- the demon girl herself did not speak, she had no interest in talking or making friends.

"A right chatter box, aren't you, Sunshine." Okay, that irritating thing Raven was going to nip in the bud.

"'Sunshine' is not my name." Raven said at last. Her eyes opened. "My name is Raven."

"Raven? Like the crow?" The woman sounded like she approved of the name. "Wicked!" The woman exclaimed giving Raven a thumbs up, though it was an attempt at friendliness Raven couldn't help feeling more patronised.

The jail door was suddenly opened and a new guard walked in. Raven didn't recognise this one, but he was quite short, with green-ish, brown leathery skin, scales across his cheeks and forehead and lips that looked chaffed and craggy.

"Oi, you! Lieutenant 'Doofus' Dreyfus" The woman spoke up to the new comer. His eyes were also a sickly green with a long, cat like iris. A long tongue flicked out and tasted the air. "How long are you going to keep me here? I didn't do anything!"

"Quiet, girl!" The leathery creature spat, his voice was low and gravelly, like he was permanently parched.

"Girl?" The woman scoffed, "I wouldn't be surprised. Skallak's have never been big on feminism."

"I am not familiar, nor interested in your primitive religions." The Skallak said back. The woman looked like she was going to protest, but held back.

"Dorothy Roth?" Raven's fingers closed into a fist at the name. "I have received word from Big Dog, you are free to go."

The woman in the next cell burst out laughing. "Your real name's 'Dorothy'?!" Raven ignored the jibe and stood up.

"Hey, don't be bitter. It's a naff name, I know the feeling." The woman said, "My names Dorothy too, Dorothy McShane. Or it used to be. That's why I changed it like you did." She stuck her hand threw the bars in an attempt at greeting. "These days I call myself Ace."

And that's not a dumb name? Raven thought to herself, but didn't respond to the Ace woman. Raven just walked out of the cell and towards the jail door trying to ignore her. "Oi! Right little princess, aren't you, Sunshine?!" Ace shouted after her.

Raven didn't want to be around another nosey, talkative woman again. The last time Raven did that she ended up nearly killing the womans' baby.

Just before she left though, Raven made a subtle hand gesture from under her cloak, one that cancelled the spell on Hedgy. Instantly, he began complaining and screaming for his com device, and unlike Raven the irritating Ace wouldn't be able to make him shut up.

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: Sorry I'm taking so long. I have a notion of where I'm heading, it's just figuring out how to get there naturally.

Why is Ace even there? You'll find out in a future chapter. ;)