ghost in the machine {lia!}

[Oswin Oswald]

If there was one thing that Oswin had picked up from the Doctor (actually, there were several things she had, but that wasn't really important right now) it was the tendency to show off for whatever new soul stepped onto through the TARDIS doors. And, while soul could actually be taken literally in this case, that didn't mean it was an exception at all. Lia already thought she was brilliant, coming up with a way to boost a frequency from her communicator that allowed her to see ghosts. Or, well. Ghosts from Lia's world, anyway, Oswin wasn't too sure about all ghosts, and quite frankly, she wasn't really in the mood to find out. Yet. But showing off. That was going on at the moment, seeing as Lia was getting her first look at the inside of the TARDIS.

And her first experience with the TARDIS in flight. Oswin raced around the console, throwing switches and hitting buttons. Honestly, she really only had a vague idea of what she was doing, the Doctor had only let her really fly the TARDIS a few times. But then again, it never really seemed like he knew what he was doing either, so she hardly saw how it mattered all that much. She knew well enough to keep it relatively on course and not slamming head-on into time-streams. Not that they really had a course, Oswin didn't know as many planets as the Doctor did, and was therefore winging it when it came to a destination. Any planet would be as good as the next. "Hang on!" She cried gleefully as she threw a final level up with a flourish, grabbing hold of the console.

The TARDIS rumbled and shook, the familiar noise that it made sounding throughout the whole machine. The Doctor was probably going to kill her later for taking the TARDIS out for a spin like this, but come on. This must have been how he felt, taking Oswin on her very first trip. Off to see the universe like she always should have. As the TARDIS spun wildly through the Vortex, she threw back her head, letting out a laugh. This was what Oswin loved, the thrill of freedom and having all of time and space laid out below her, just waiting to be explored. And, just like that, it was over. The TARDIS had landed, whether it be on time other planet or some other time or both. "Come on!" she called to Lia, grabbing her jacket and tugging it on as she headed for the door. "Best see where we've landed."

With all the confidence in the world, Oswin threw the doors open and strode out, closing her eyes briefly as the fresh air of another planet hit her face. A whole other world, maybe one that no other human had ever set foot on and here she was. She loved it.

Before them, a futuristic city spread out, enormous and shining, just below the cliff that they'd landed on. From a distance, it looked empty and oddly silent, but then again, that was expected when your viewpoint was from a long ways away. In the sky above, planets could just be made out, floating harmlessly past this one along with countless stars. Nothing close enough to really be a proper sun, but illumination did come, for the stars were close enough to provide a dusky light over the surface of the planet. Oswin turned, looking over her shoulder to grin at Lia. "Before you ask, no, it's not something you ever get used to." Or at least, she hoped it wasn't.

[lia]

You would think that she would have learned not to doubt Oswin by now. This brilliant human girl that had devised a way to see her after learning of her presence. If she could make herself able to see ghosts through technology -- something that should have been totally impossible, by the way -- was there really anything that she couldn't do? Well...time travel was definitely enough to give Lia pause. Really, though, the supernatural existing, that was one thing. That she could deal with, (though it's not like she had much of a choice in the matter...what with being killed by a pair of vampires, then ending up in Purgatory as a bleeding ghost), but the rest... all this talk of aliens and spaceships that can travel through time...

Call her a hypocrite, but Lia had her doubts.

Didn't mean she wasn't curious, or that she wouldn't humor the hell out of Oswin, even if it turned out she was just a bit off her head or something. The blue police box she was being led to didn't really...look like anything spectacular, aside from the fact that it clearly didn't belong in New York...or at least she was fairly certain it didn't belong here. It wasn't like she'd ever even been out of the country before she died. '...well there's a cheery thought for you.'

She didn't expect much when Oswin opened the doors of the small blue, wooden box...but wow. Oh wow. That was...not what she expected the inside to look like. She had to make a concentrated effort to keep her jaw from dropping as she stepped inside, looking around, eyes wide. "So this is a TARDIS, then," she commented, brows raised. Normally she'd have a slightly wittier remark prepared, but...wow. It wasn't like anything she had ever seen, all strange lights, and a center console with all sorts of buttons and levers and switches on it...but the other girl seemed completely at ease in the...well, what even was this place? Raising her brows at her friend, Lia looked around a moment, before promptly rent-a-ghosting outside, narrowing her eyes at the box, and then back in. "You know," she started, a touch of her normal attitude having returned, now that she was getting over the initial shock, "for something so impressive on the inside, the outside's a bit...small."

With a cheeky grin, she leaned against one of the railings around the room, just watching Oswin as she preened and ran about, pressing and pulling and flipping things seemingly at random. "Be honest now," she started, brows raised as she watched the human girl, "d'you have any idea what you're doing? Or is it all as random as it looks?" ...though come to think of it, she should probably not be sassing the woman controlling the...whatever the hell a TARDIS really was. Of course, it probably hadn't been the wisest decision to taunt the vampire that had killed her, either, but you know, being dead kind of means there's not much left to lose.

She was momentarily tempted to protest Oswin's cheerful cry of 'hang on!' since all things considered, it wasn't like she was going to get hurt or anything...but when the whole room started to shake and make strange sounds, she figured it was preferable to the alternative, which happened to be panicking and rent-a-ghosting the hell out of there. Oswin, though, was over there grinning and laughing, very clearly enjoying herself while Lia could only cling tight to the railing, and watch with a quirked brow. As soon as the violent shaking and pitching had started, it stopped. They were...well, she'd say they were back on solid ground, but there was a very large part of her that wanted to believe they had never left it in the first place. After all, she'd already had her worldview forcibly expanded once, and she was so far rather inclined to say that once was more than enough for her.

But of course, Oswin was so bleeding excited, already pulling on a jacket and heading for the door. The ghost followed along at a decidedly less frantic pace, after making a bitter quip about Oswin getting to change clothes, of course, pausing a few paces behind the self-proclaimed genius. "Where we've landed?" well that didn't sound very good to her, despite the other woman's clear enthusiasm at the thought. Back home, not knowing where you were going to end up could take you straight to Hell. Or so she'd heard. "You mean you don't know?" Didn't seem the best way to go about travelling to her, but then again, what did she know? She'd never so much as left the country before death. Had she already mentioned that?

Shaking her head with a sigh and bemused smile, she followed in Oswin's footsteps as she threw open the door and stepped outside. She supposed it wasn't quite the same sensation for the two of them. Oswin was more...grounded. Connected. She could feel everything going on...like really feel it, unlike Lia who got more of...an echo of sensation. The first thing she noticed is that they definitely weren't where they had been when she'd stepped into the box for the first time, which was a mix of impressive and a bit disconcerting...and then she finally looked past Oswin, and really saw where they were. That was...there were... "...Jesus," For once in her life -- well, death now, really -- Lia was at a loss for words. "Is that...?" she trailed off, before trying again, "is it really..." Finally she gave up, and just breathed, "wow."

Taking a few steps forward so she was standing alongside Oswin rather than behind her, Lia tilted her head back, staring in wide-eyed awe at the scene above her. It was like something right out of a sci-fi movie...except there was no way that any sort of CGI could recreate this and do it any justice. There were planets hovering in the sky, like when you saw those pictures of the Earth from outer space? Yeah, it was kind of like that. Except there were...seven of them, it looked like. She almost couldn't tear her eyes away from the sky long enough to look back to Oswin. "It's...beautiful. Wow."