Biometrics

‘Very well paced, Toymaker. Almost enjoyable.’

The Doctor manipulated the controls which spoke of countless hours misspending his youth in some intergalactic dive or other, wherever Time Lords went to misspend their youth, and, by the looks of things, at something considerably more demanding than Space Invaders... The monsters by the cars had been blown away a long time ago, and his score had already passed the 5000 mark. There was certainly no strain evident, not even a sign of any untoward concentration.

‘Obviously a lot of research in this,’ continued the Doctor, conversationally.

‘Years and years,’ smiled the Toymaker.

‘At the funfair, I suppose?’ There was only a look from the Toymaker in reply. ‘All those bumps on grab-handles, pressure pads on the seats – whole place wired like an octopodal dishwasher. Random blood tests and medicals too, I shouldn’t wonder.’

‘I could hardly bring several million people in here for testing, could I?’ asked the Toymaker, reasonably enough.

***

The Nightmare Fair, Chapter 9