"Doctor, we have the means to instil cooperation." "There's the technology to alter how brains think." "Would you like to try the helmet on for size?" "Not just now, thanks." "But I insist, Doctor." "Our warrior king must have completed his advancement cycle." "You must replace him." "So we may coax the truth from your devious brain." "I am sufficiently advanced already..." "Silence!" "Or you will be obliterated." "Now, the Raak didn't attack you, did he?" "Yes, it did." "Can you use the helmet to extract the truth of what happened?" "I've never tried." "It could be fatal, used as a means of interrogation." "The Doctor won't mind donating his sanity to the advancement of science, will you, Doctor?" "You there!" "Don't shoot!" "We need him alive to sign contracts!" "Slime!" "Demon!" "Sorcerer!" "Don't be afraid!" "I've taken the brain purge and survived." "Stop him!" "Stop him!" "Die!" "Can we rest a moment?" "Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Open a vein." "Let out the evil those devils have put into him." "Oh, it's Peri." "Peri!" "So far up above myself, on the table, down below..." "Sorcerers." "Evil demons." "Soul stealers." "They have my equerry Dorf in a dungeon somewhere." "We must release him or die in the attempt." "Were you captured by the slugs who rule this ball of mud and water?" "Yes." "We must find some weapons, some of those that turn one's enemies to slime." "We must kill all who stand between us and victory." "We'll grind every last slug beneath our feet, yes?" "Yes." "Look, I just want to get out of here." "We must raise an army and attack and destroy the Mentors, yes?" "Yes, sure, anything you say." "Come on." "Your mind will soon clear." "We'll pile the heads of our enemies before us, like melons in a heap." "I would enjoy that." "What?" "I like him." "We will campaign together." "But first, we must march." "What is his name?" "The Doctor." "I am Yrcanos, King of the Krontep, Lord of the Vingten." "Conqueror of the Tonkonp Empire, but you no doubt know this." "Oh, well, we caught some of it about round seven." "Your name and title?" "Perpugilliam, of the Brown." "The Brown, eh?" "And, uh, where is this place?" "Well, Earth." "Oh, you'd like it there." "Lots of madmen playing at warriors and actors playing over-the-top in politics." "Politics?" "Yakety-yak." "Talk." "Ah!" "You mean war councils." "Yes, I suppose so." "I don't know, or want to know." "I would like to meet the mighty warriors of Earth." "You'd get on pretty well, Yrcanos." "You are promised to such a one?" "Him?" "Certainly not." "Ah!" "That is good." "Well, I must help the Doctor." "Come on, Doc, wake up." "I don't remember that." "I can't recall anything after the power flooded through my brain." "That is your defence now, is it?" "Amnesia, forgetfulness." "This is a tactic, Sagacity, because the Doctor knows what the Matrix will show." "Is that your defence, Doctor?" "What?" "Amnesia." "No, uh..." "Your mind has cleared from being taken out of time?" "As far as I can tell." "Then, obviously, there must be some other reason." "He lies, Sagacity." "I do not!" "Then you're in for a surprise, aren't you, my dear Doctor?" "An exceedingly nasty one if your memory is as fallible as you pretend." "We must have the transformer operable." "How can we rule without its influence?" "Everything will be fixed well before your servants begin to understand their situation." "Never mind them!" "What of my predicament?" "The pain in my head increases!" "I've told you it will." "Your brain will continue to grow until..." "What?" "Your skull is not designed to allow for increase in brain power and size." "That's the trouble with mutations and hybrids like you." "Your cranium is too thick, it lacks elasticity, hence the pain." "Yes!" "Unless I can operate soon, you will suffer fatal brain compression in a few days." "You were brought to Thoros Beta to rectify that, to give me new life." "My lord, the Doctor has the answers I need." "Did the Raak attack them, or did they slaughter the creature first?" "If the Raak did attack, he must have reverted on my cerebral transfer experiment, and the surgery I hoped to apply to you, Lord Kiv, will not be successful." "Words!" "Excuses!" "This is a conspiracy to stop my life being prolonged." "The intruders will be caught." "They will answer Crozier's questions or be killed." "Or I will, thanks to your bungling, Sil." "Not mine, Magnificence!" "His!" "All I want is to share in the light of your intelligence, and profit from its shining wisdom." "Please!" "The Mentors of Thoros Beta need your genius for cosmic mega-profit." "Those Alphans, whose stars have decreed that they serve you, simply adore you..." "Enough, Sil!" "What, do you intend to talk me to death?" "I will pray to the Great Morgo for your immediate recovery, Magnificence." "You will do better than that." "If the Doctor has the answers, you will find him, or you both will share my death with me." "I can only stand this pain for one more day." "One day!" "That is all you both have." "Now, do something!" "At once, Magnificence." "Bear me away!" "Bear me away!" "Come on, faster!" "Bear me away!" "Faster, faster!" "Subject accepted." "Proceed with implantation." "Well, have they been caught yet?" "No, Mentor." "Stay, stay." "Need a new recipient." "Reject." "What's going on?" "They bring all new slaves here, but what is more important, my lady, they have weapons." "Weapons!" "Shh!" "Liquefiers that we must obtain quietly." "We?" "That includes me?" "On my planet of Krontep, a warrior queen fights alongside her king." "We're not on your planet." "It doesn't matter." "The rule still applies." "Which corridors and tunnels have not yet been searched?" "Only those that lead to the Sea of Turmoil." "Then search them, profitless fool!" "Look out behind you!" "Traitorous Doctor!" "Doctor, come here!" "No, thanks." "Doctor!" "Charge her down!" "Doctor, the pleasure of your company is, of course, infinite." "But why have you chosen to ward us rather than help your friends?" "The odds were against us." "And why should I risk my life for a savage and a stupid girl?" "So you betrayed your friends." "How wonderfully wise, Doctor." "I think so." "You are planning some trickery, of course." "This is a ploy, yes?" "And why should I follow a mad warlord of Thordon?" "What's in it for me, huh?" "You value your life?" "I'm no hero." "I could have sworn you belonged to that stupid breed." "Not any more." "Now I'm just like you, Sil." "How nice for you, Doctor." "Inform Crozier and the Lord Kiv that I have captured the Doctor." "The turncoat Doctor it seems." "No!" "That is not me!" "Oh, yes, it is." "You were overcome by terror, Doctor." "You had interfered yet again, and this time your one aim was to escape unscathed." "You!" "You only!" "Your friends didn't matter." "Never." "You realise the Matrix of Time cannot lie." "Can't it?" "I suggest you confess to your crimes and throw yourself on the mercy of this court." "Doctor?" "What?" "Mercy?" "No." "No, there's something wrong." "Of course!" "Sil was right!" "It was a ploy to fool the Mentors." "Yes!" "Clever old me." "Let the Matrix show what it will, a clever ploy." "You'll see." "He is lying." "I do not trust him." "Believe me, I'm telling the truth." "I wouldn't lie, it's not in my nature." "He cannot know the reasons of our concern." "The Raak attacked us first." "I believe him." "I must redesign the behaviour modifier before I transfer the brain of Lord Kiv." "Do you have time?" "Not really!" "If Lord Kiv dies, his bodyguards have instructions to destroy us." "You must operate to save his life and ours." "There's no more time for research." "I will find a donor, and you must operate!" "What with?" "The warlord destroyed most of the transference circuitry." "If it's repaired, I might attempt a temporary transplant." "Kiv has allowed us only one more day!" "I know." "We pay you enough." "We have given you a whole race of people to play with!" "Excuse me, I understand a little of your transference unit principle, and I have some knowledge of technological malfunction." "Is there a micro-circuitry diagram?" "Guards, stop him!" "It's a trick!" "Let him look." "We've nothing to lose." "Be certain that you are right, Crozier." "Is there a module unit replacement or are these ganglion separators adaptable?" "It's multifunctional." "Ah, good." "Hmm." "Have you tested the endrodiotone?" "Not yet." "Try it." "Should respond to the lexifier now." "Well done." "I find this anxiety to assist us, Doctor, highly suspicious." "Look, Sil, with both of us working on the BTU, we might just be able to operate on Kiv tomorrow." "Or on someone else first." "After all, we will need a body donor." "Yes, Doctor?" "I see you've found the heart of our energy supply." "Well, it's very impressive." "Although I would have thought it warranted a guard." "As a rule, intruders never get this far, although I shall put your suggestion to the Great Kiv." "Well, you do that." "And while you're about it, pass this on as well." "Down, dog!" "Your Majesty!" "Your Majesty!" "Dorf?" "My equerry Dorf?" "Not you!" "What have they done?" "What?" "Help me." "Yes." "Still!" "Still!" "Hold!" "We will kill the sorcerers." "I swear by the great jewelled sword of Krontep, you will be revenged." "Come." "This way, Dorf!" "Did they reject you at the induction centre?" "Or did you escape?" "Well, you could say..." "I should inform the guards, have you sent to Thoros Alpha." "There's an alternative?" "You were to serve the Mentors and their favourite creatures." "Now, I control the women servants, and for that I need help." "Loyal help." "I'd serve you?" "Why?" "I prefer some individuality in my household." "However, should you be discovered as an escaped reject," "I'll deny this meeting took place." "What is your name?" "Peri." "Do you wish to serve me, Peri?" "Well, what have I got to lose, huh?" "You must call me Matrona." "Matrona." "Come, let us prepare you." "We've lost them." "Kill me!" "Kill me!" "Kill you?" "You are Dorf of Kanval." "Whatever's happened to your body, your spirit must remain the same." "Now, die if you must, but do it in battle." "Keep that hatred burning within you for when you find the man who has done this to you." "There is one who has betrayed me." "No!" "Yes!" "I have a special death reserved for him." "He's a traitor known as the Doctor." "You will enter when summoned, but not before." "The rest of you come with me." "Matrona, bring Lord Kiv's ambiotic fluid immediately." "Come." "You have the medication." "I can't go in there." "Do you wish me to denounce you?" "Then obey the call." "There's nothing to fear." "I shall go first." "You, girl, here." "I don't like this drink." "Bring me another." "Say, "Yes, my lord."" "Yes, my lord." "That is better." "The pain eases." "Stay near me." "You I trust." "The Lord Kiv does me great honour." "Tomorrow I must trust my life to the man of science, Crozier." "I'm sure the operation will be successful, my lord." "Ah, equal odds to live or die." "I have no choice." "Matrona Kani, see that the Lord Kiv is served only the most wrigglesome of youthful sand snakes." "I don't need you to tell me that, Sil." "What is in this drink?" "I was just given it." "Something different, you said, Doctor." "What has happened?" "How does this servitor know of your title?" "An enemy, my lord." "The girl who ran away earlier." "She may have been trying to poison us all." "Doctor..." "Of course!" "The repulsive one!" "Arrest her!" "She must be interrogated thoroughly." "Take her to the Rock of Sorrows." "Doctor, help me!" "That's the ploy." "I remember now." "The ploy was to remove us both from the heart of the Mentors' control section." "I gambled, that after I'd helped them fix the cerebral transference unit, they might trust me to question Peri alone." "To what end?" "Well, escape, I should imagine." "Did the interrogation take place?" "It did, Sagacity." "I should like to see that sequence." "What do you want?" "The Mentor Sil fears a conspiracy against the Lord Kiv." "You are a spy for the Alphans!" "What?" "No, stop this!" "All right, we're alone now." "We can talk." "Oh, Doctor, I thought that brain transference pulse had made you crazy." "I'm your friend." "You know that." "I was beginning to wonder." "I'm here to help you." "How do we get out of this?" "By telling me who the Alphans are that are leading the unrest and where they can be annihilated." "What?" "Tell me!" "I don't know anything!" "Answer me." "The tide is on the turn." "Unless you want to add your own despair to the Sea of Sorrows," "I suggest that you tell me everything." "Just like in the old days." "There's nothing more enjoyable than watching people suffer." "Confess." "Confess?" "Confess to what?" "Your guilt, your bungling, your Alphan friends." "Everything!" "You must help the Mentors, Peri." "You must help me!" "Doctor, what's wrong with you?" "I see my own interests." "I place myself first." "But what about me?" "You are expendable!" "You have no value!" "Tomorrow, they intend to take the brain of the Lord Kiv and transplant it into my body." "He will possess my body!" "To prevent that, I must please the Mentors, Peri." "If that means sacrificing you in my place, then that is the way it must be." "Enough!" "Do not damage her!" "We have more effective ways of interrogation." "It was never like that!" "How can you be certain?" "You have no clear memory of the incident." "And as we all know, the Matrix never lies." "I wonder." "May we continue?" "I do grow tired of these constant interruptions." "But it was never like that." "Enough, Doctor." "The Matrix does not lie." "It cannot lie." "You are aware of that fact, so why persist in these silly statements?" "Let us proceed." "The Doctor." "Do we attack?" "Of course." "That dreg helping the Mentors' warriors is my enemy." "What's happened to you, Doctor?" "Why do you hate me so?" "I must do what I think is best." "I used to think that you were different, that you cared for justice, truth and good." "I can't bear to look at what you are now." "Now, Doctor, it is your turn to die."