The Demonized (Part One) [Sci-Fi]

I got bored and needed a release...

Scene fades in to Cardiff Bay. It looks so tranquil. It’s a beautiful sunny day and there’s not a cloud in the sky. But something has to go wrong. A black Land Rover drives up onto the bay and stops by the water tower, the marker of the old Torchwood base. Two people step out. One of them is a thin, slender young woman. Gwen Cooper. The other is an older looking man in a long blue army coat. This is Captain Jack Harkness. He has his vortex manipulator open and is scanning around.

Gwen: You better not be pissing about with this, Jack. You woke me up at stupid o’clock in the morning hours after Anwen woke me up. I’m not in the best of moods…

Jack: Trust me, Gwen, something’s happening. I just can’t quite put my finger on what!

Gwen: Why couldn’t you get Rex to do this?

Jack: Rex is on his way back to the States. He’s no used. Besides, we’re the old team. This is our turf. We can handle this…

Just as he finishes that sentence, an explosion occurs. Jack and Gwen are knocked off their feet and are flung to the floor. They recover and look up to see a massive hole in the middle of Cardiff Bay.

Jack: …Or maybe not…

Gwen: Jack, what is that?

Jack: I don’t know!

Gwen: Did you know it would happen?

Jack: Well, this thing went crazy all of a sudden and the readings came up as being here! I thought it might’ve been the Doctor but now I’m not so sure…

Gwen: You better not have woken me up for that bloody Doctor!

Another explosion occurs. Another hole opens up next to the first one. Jack and Gwen look terrified.

Jack: MOVE THE CAR! AND GET THE CONTAINMENT EQUIPMENT!

Gwen does so. She gets in the car, reverses and moves closer to the Millennium Centre. She then runs to the boot of the car and pulls out a briefcase. During this, Jack is scanning the holes with his vortex manipulator. Gwen brings the case over and opens it. She looks at it confused.

Gwen: Jack…the laser’s gone!

Jack turns around and looks worried.

Jack: GONE?! HOW CAN IT BE GONE?!

Gwen: I DON’T KNOW, JACK! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!

They look at each other worriedly and look back at the holes. They’re starting to grow in size.

Gwen: Jack, they’re going to merge! It might swallow Cardiff!

They look even more worried now. As they do, a familiar sound can be heard. It fades in ever so slowly but it can be heard nonetheless. Jack notices and looks ecstatic.

Jack: HAHA! HAHA! YES!

Gwen: What’s that noise?!

They look to their right and see something blue fade into their vision. It fades in slowly but it does so nonetheless. The Tardis stands proudly next to the water tower.

Gwen: Is that…?

The Tardis sound stops. Suddenly, two figures come bounding out of it and look at the holes. The Doctor looks at them and chuckles.

Doctor: Oh-ho! The Tardis was definitely right to bring us here!

He looks at Jack and Gwen. Jack looks annoyed while Gwen looks confused.

Doctor: Jack! Hello! Long-time no see…

Jack: You’ve done it again haven’t you!

Doctor: Yep. Sue me…

Jack: I preferred the skinny one.

The Doctor chuckles and pats him on the shoulder.

Doctor: Yes you did you naughty boy!

The Doctor winks at him and gets out his sonic screwdriver. He walks around the holes and scans them. Amy looks at Jack and Gwen and holds out her hand.

Amy: Amy Pond. Nice to meet you.

Gwen: I’m Gwen Cooper. Torchwood. And this is Captain Jack Harkness. Is that really the Doctor? He looked a lot different the last time I saw him…

Jack: Yeah that’s regeneration for you. NOT GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH IS IT, DOCTOR!

The Doctor ignores the comment.

Amy: So what are we dealing with, Doctor? Anything I should let Rory know about before he panics too much?

Doctor: No. No. This is all going to be fine. There’s no problem here at all.

Jack: You’re lying aren’t you.

Doctor: Course I am. They’re BIG BLUE SWIRLING HOLES OF DEATH!

He runs around them again trying to work out how to contain them.

Gwen: So what do we do?!

Doctor: I dunno. I’m making this up as I go along…

Amy: Should I phone Rory NOW?

Doctor: Oh if you want to.

Amy walks away and pulls out her phone.

Gwen: Who’s Rory?

Doctor: Her husband. Rory the Roman. Long story. He would’ve been with us today but he had to work. Couldn’t get out of it. Worries a bit too much.

Jack: She’s with you, Doctor, I think it’s justified.

Gwen: Ok, so what do we do? Huh? There must be something we can do?

Doctor: I’m not sure that there is! I haven’t seen anything like this before so I don’t know what to do. AND I HATE NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO.

The Doctor paces up and down as he does when he’s annoyed.

Jack: We had a rudimentary containment device but we lost part of it. Would you be able to adapt it with the sonic?

Doctor: Maybe! Show me!

They all huddle around the case. Amy joins them again.

Doctor: What did Rory say?

Amy: He says hi.

The Doctor looks up at her.

Doctor: You didn’t tell him?!

Amy: Course not!

They all look at the equipment. The Doctor looks at Jack.

Doctor: And WHERE did you obtain this?

Jack looks sheepish.

Jack: What? So I went travelling. To Catraxis Minor. It was on sale.

The Doctor looks disapprovingly at Jack. Nonetheless, he picks it up and scans it with the sonic.

Amy: What’s so bad about Catraxis Minor?

Jack: It might be a black market colony…I got bored! And there was this one guy there…

Amy looks surprised, and kind of disheartened.

Jack: I say guy…he was a Draconian and I couldn’t really tell…

Doctor: Right…come on…

The Doctor sets up the equipment at a safe distance from the holes and points it one.

Gwen: Are you sure this is going to work?

Doctor: Not at all Miss Cooper. Not sure at all. But, anyway…GERONIMO!

Just before the Doctor Sonics it, something can be heard from one of the holes. It sounds like a car revving. They all look up at it.

Amy: Did anybody else hear that?

Jack: It sounded like…

Gwen: Some kind of car…

The noise of it gets louder and louder and louder.

Doctor: EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE WAY!

They all dive out of the way as a black car speeds out of one of the holes. The Doctor and Amy dive towards the Tardis while Jack and Gwen dive in the other direction. The car speeds a little bit before skidding around and, eventually stopping. The Doctor and Jack immediately get up and walk towards the car. Jack pulls out his gun while the Doctor extends his screwdriver. They both walk towards the car slowly.

Doctor: A gun? Really?

Jack: I was going to say the same to you about the tweed. And a bow-tie? Really?

Doctor: Oi! Leave it alone. Bow ties are cool.

Jack: Next you’ll be wearing a fez or something stupid like that.

Doctor: Be careful what you wish for…

As they approach the car, the doors open. Two men step out from it. One of them is a tall individual with medium long black hair. The other is a shorter individual with short spiky hair and an amulet around his neck. Both of them could be deemed “hot”. The Doctor and Jack stand still, pointing their weapon of choice at them. The shorter individual looks around.

Dean: Oh…you have got to be kidding me…

Jack: Stay where you are and don’t move…

They both look at The Doctor and Jack. Dean laughs at Jack.

Dean: Oh wow. What do we have here? A Matter Of Life and Death and The Dead Poets Society?

Doctor: What’s he on about?

Jack: They’re films.

Doctor: Oh…

Sam: Can you tell us where we are? I don’t think I know this place?

Jack: You’re in Cardiff. Wales. United Kingdom. Earth. Solar System. Now put your hands where I can see them and don’t move…

Dean: Ah. You want us to stay still. And not to move…

Sam and Dean look at each other. Dean smiles while Sam shakes his head.

Sam: No, Dean…

Jack: That’s what I said. Now DO IT!

Doctor: I’d listen to him if I were you. He’s got a gun. He could kill you while I could…ummm…stop your car working…I’ve lost the edge now…

The Doctor puts the screwdriver away and just stands there looking at them.

Dean: Ok. I am going to put my hands up and do as I’m told.

Sam: Dean, don’t…

As Sam finishes, Dean pulls out a gun and points it towards Jack. Jack steadies his gun and is ready to shoot. The Doctor and Sam look worried.

Dean: Well, looks like we have ourselves a stand-off…

Asperger's Syndrome [Part 2/3]

Two versions of the same story. Two realities. In which one am I being honest?

My name is Joshua Frampton. I'm 19 years old. I'm originally from Dorset but I currently live in Hampshire. I'm 20 in July. I have an obsession with Doctor Who, Queen and Wales. And I have something wonderful that you'd never have known unless I told you.

I may have mentioned it before, I may not have. But I have something called Asperger's Syndrome. Which is a form of Autism. I was diagnosed with it when I was 7 after being initially diagnosed with ADHD. My mum told me about it as early as she could, even though I didn't really understand until many years afterwards. But, as far as I was concerned back then, I was different. And, at the time, I thought that was wrong.

Well, you know what it's like when you're a kid. You get picked on and you think of the only reason you can. In my case, it's because I was different. And if you're told something often enough it starts to become the truth in your mind. So I believed it for many years. Naturally.

When I joined secondary school, I did try and keep quiet about what I had. Because of the mentality I'd brought with me from primary school. I mean, how could you explain Asperger's to a bunch of 11 year olds? So I let them think I was a bit weird for running around all the time thinking I was Doctor Who. And I let them think I was a bit weird for talking to the gym doors every lunchtime. (Well, I was the Doctor and that was my Tardis console! I had to talk to my Tardis! Perfect sense!) I got a bit bullied for it, yeah, but that all passed very quickly. A few people from my old school came to my defence and everything was resolved!

When we were in Year 9, the book we read for that part of our course was 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time'. Which, if you don't know, is about a boy with Autism. Much more severe than me but the signs were there. And people started to notice. Until, eventually, I was confronted about it by a colleague. He said that I fitted many of the traditional symptoms of Autism and he forced me to admit that I was indeed Autistic. Surprisingly, he was totally fine with it. I wasn't expecting that reaction. Very few people knew the truth and he was the first person outside my closest friend group that knew.

After that, people started to accept me for who I was. Except for one or two but there's always a few. Anyway, everything carried on as normal. The world didn't end, there wasn't insurrection and I wasn't mobbed for being different. People made my life a lot easier but nothing bad happened. As I'm sure you can imagine I was very glad!

As the years went on, I was the go to guy for all things Autism in my year group. People wanted to know something, I was your guy. And that was good because people accepted me for who I am. Something which, for the most part, has continued.

With this constant openness of my Aspergers, people have worked out one way or another that this is my weak point. Want to get me angry? Call Autism a disease or tell me it can be cured. I have lashed out at people for saying that before and I don't like being violent. but still, some people persist.

Sometimes I'll see things on Facebook that claim that people with Autism are "a punishment from God" or that Autism is curable.

I've never sworn on my blog before, but I have to now.

BULLSHIT.

Can you cure Down's Syndrome? Can you cure homosexuality? Or race? Or Spina-bifida? No. You can't cure these and you can't cure Autism. Because there's nothing to cure! Autism is where the brain's wired differently. That's all. It doesn't mean we're robots or sub-human like some people make us out to be! And we're not a punishment from God either.

I don't believe in God personally but, even if I did, why would he use Autism as a punishment for something? I don't get that. But my Aspergers is who I am. It's my whole personality and it dictates everything I think, most things I see and how I view things. And, thanks to the endless help of my mum, I've managed to cope with it in such a way that people don't even realise I have it unless I tell them!

People are always surprised because of how articulate I can be. I'm also rather good at empathy thanks to endless lessons by mother and I've learnt that I can care for friends and family. Well, I could anyway. I just managed to channel it better. A lot of people claim that people with Autism have no capacity for caring. But we can. And I know we can! I've seen it happen!

So am I ashamed of having Asperger's Syndrome? Hell no! If it's wrong to have what I've got then I don't want to be right. Why change everything you are just to fit in with what the world expects of you? Why should I be the same as everyone else? Why should I view everything in the same way and why should I think what I have is wrong? Beats me. But tell me, people actually think that. I've even heard people talk about 'eradicating' people with ASDs off the planet.

Remind you of something?

Just saying.

But why should I be ashamed of having Asperger's? It's who I am. And I like who I am for the most part! (At least I do now...)

Asperger's Syndrome [Part 1/3]

Two versions of the same story. Two realities. In which one am I being honest?

My name is Joshua Frampton. I'm 19 years old. I'm originally from Dorset but I currently live in Hampshire. I'm 20 in July. I have an obsession with Doctor Who, Queen and Wales. And I have something obviously wrong with me.

I may have mentioned it before, I may not have. But I have something called Asperger's Syndrome. Which is a form of Autism. I was diagnosed with it when I was 7 after being initially diagnosed with ADHD. My mum told me about it as early as she could, even though I didn't really understand until many years afterwards. But, as far as I was concerned back then, I was different. And that was wrong. I went through school trying my best to make friends and, although I didn't have too many problems, I still stuck out like a sore thumb. And I was bullied. I never quite understood why I was, so I just thought it was because I was different.

Then I went to secondary school and I knew the same thing would happen. Only this time, I understood why I was different. I tried to make friends but everyone thought I was weird. They couldn't understand why I ran around at lunchtimes and spoke to the gym doors. They didn't understand why I thought differently to them and they didn't understand why I couldn't get some things they were saying. Or why I didn't like being touched. So I was bullied again. And again. Until I couldn't take it any more. I just tried to be as quiet as I could. If I didn't draw attention to myself then no-one would know I was there. I'd just be the weirdo in the corner.

One day, we started reading 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time' as a class in English. If you don't know what it's about, it's about a boy with what I've got, only more pronounced. Soon after we started reading it, people started to put two and two together. Until, eventually, one of my peers asked me if I had Autism. I could've said no but I don't like lying. So I admitted to it.

It soon went round our year that I had this thing and my reputation went from "the Doctor Who freak" to "the Autistic Doctor Who freak". Not much better but it was a start.

My colleagues started to become more accepting and understanding of me and made my life a lot easier now that they had a reason for why I was like I was. Except for one or two people but there's also a small amount isn't there.

As I went through the latter half of secondary school. I started to be more open about my Aspergers and I gained notoriety as being the one who knew most about it among the students. If anyone wanted to know something about Autism, they'd come to me. And I'd be happy to outwardly. But inwardly, I was still very scared.

I put on a brave face every day. Because I know I have what I have. I like to think, with the help of my mum, that I've managed to overcome it. But, the truth is, I haven't. I've just learnt how to lie well. I have this bravado of being normal. When people find out I have what I have they say "oh wow, I couldn't tell". I normally tell them "I've had a lifetime to deal with it". The truth is, I just get better at lying every day.

Sometimes, I look on Facebook and I see that some woman has said that people with Autism are a punishment from God because we're allowing same-sex marriage or that Autism is a disease that can be cured with certain methods.

Everytime I see this, I act offended and I pretend to get angry with it but all I really want is to believe this. I want to believe that what I have can be cured. Because I don't like what I have. I don't like the fact I have this disease and that I'm something different. I want to be like everyone else! I want to be able to have a joke with people where I can understand what they're saying. I want to be able to have a conversation without feeling awkward and I want to be able to walk down the street without being bombarded with all the loud noises that drive me insane. I just this gone.

I make this whole act up just so people don't get concerned about me. I've held this act now for 7 years and I'm getting tired of it. I pretend to care about my family and friends because that's what they expect me to do. So I feign it. All the time. I pretend to be who I am. Everything I say or do is a lie.

"I've had a bad day!" Oh have you? Too bad.

I just don't know how to empathize or to care for someone else. I've tried to care but I just can't. I'm like a robot. Maybe if I was cured I could actually feel some kind of human emotion? Then I wouldn't need to be targeted by those people who think my very existence is a sin! I've spent my life trying to fit in with everyone else but I know I never can because of this stupid thing I've got!

If what I've got is a disease then, where the hell did I get it from? Did I get it from my mum? My dad? Someone else? Maybe I scraped my arm on something and caught my Aspergers?! If all these things I read on Facebook are true then maybe I am just an abomination? Maybe I am a punishment from God? By why did God punish me? What did I do wrong to deserve this shitty existence?

Either way I just want it gone! It's been hard trying to cope with it, it's been harder keeping up the act that I am coping. I just want whatever cure they can give me and just get it over with because I don't want to be like this anymore. I don't want Asperger's Syndrome.

I just want it gone...