The Staircase

There was darkness.

There was light.

There was noise.

There was silence.

There was Betty saying "Oh, shit, we're in Game 2!"

Both Time Lords stared at her, obviously waiting for an explanation.

"It's Addventure Game 2," she said. "It's sort of, um... Well, a fictional reality space..." She trailed off, realizing that she wasn't making a whole lot of sense, but the Doctor was nodding at her as if he understood perfectly.

"And just what," sneered the Master, "are we supposed to do here?"

"Scott said we were to play a game," said the Doctor evenly. "You obviously know this place, Betty. What are the rules? What must we do to win?"

"Uh, that's just it. You don't win. It's unending, by definition. And there aren't any rules, really. Just that every episode -- every thing you do -- ends in a choice. And that choice determines what happens next."

"So it's not a game?" said the Master, with obvious impatience.

"Not in the conventional sense, no. This may just be Scott's sense of humor. He may have just decided to trap us here, the way he originally did the other Betty."

"This is ridiculous," said the Master. "I'm going to get back in the TARDIS and..." But even as he turned around to face it, the TARDIS vanished.

"Well," said the Doctor far too cheerfully. "Looks like we're stuck here! So, what now?"

"Well," said Betty regarding the staircase in front of them, "We have a choice of up or down. Upwards, the stairway branches, and you can get, oh, up on top of the building, or into the ballroom... Down leads to the Foyer. There's lots of places you can go from there. Lots of really strange places, both ways."

"Right," said the Doctor decisively. "Let's go..." He pointed up. Then down. Then up.

1. And up they went.
2. Then down. So down they went.

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