They walked quickly through the streets of Logopolis, which were utterly
silent except for the continual clicking noises made by the mathemeticians
in their alcoves as they worked steadily and soundlessly on their incessant
calculations, aided by only by technology no more complex than an abacus.
"It's weird," said Betty in a hushed voice. "The last time I saw this
place -- on TV, of course -- it was in the process of crumbling to bits
in the sudden acceleration of entropy. And yet, in this universe, that's
never going to happen..."
"Well," replied her red-headed 'sister,' "in this case, I can't exactly
find it in myself to regret the alteration in Doctor Who continuity.
Considering that that little incident destroyed a big chunk of the
universe!"
"And the fourth Doctor," Betty reminded her.
"Yeah. Not that he's going to happen now, anyway." She smiled ruefully.
"It all takes some getting used to, doesn't it?"
Their conversation was interrupted by the Monitor, announcing that they
had arrived. "There it is," he said proudly, indicating the building and
the massive transmitter ahead of them. "An exact replica of the Pharos
Project antenna on Earth, created entirely through the pure mathematics
of block transfer computation!"
"You mean this entire structure is a mathematical construct?" replied
the Doctor with the same incredulity the Bettys remembered him displaying
in the TV episode. "That's extraordinary!"
"I'm sure it is," Inquirer reminded him gently, "but maybe we should
send the signal first and play tourist later?"
The Doctor patted her on the arm. "Quite right, my dear. Well, Monitor?"
The Monitor led them into the control room, where he and the Doctor
spent several minutes entering the mathematical code into the instruments.
At last, the Doctor pressed a single button with a dramatic flourish and
beamed a blinding grin at them all. "Well! That's that accomplished, then!"
"What!" cried B'ellana. "You mean that's it? You've just stabilized
the universe?"
"Yes, if that signal works as advertised."
"It does seem a bit... anticlimactic..." mused Sigin.
-
"So," said
Gilmuriel. "What now?"
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