Weeping Angels - Safe to touch

‘Is this strictly necessary?’ asked Rory as the Doctor ran the sonic screwdriver over him like a customs official with a metal detector. Instead of giving an answer, the Doctor darted across the control room and repeated the process with the other Rory, the Rory from the future.

It was a weird feeling to be in the same room as your future self. That person over there, with the surprisingly large nose and gormless face, would be him at some point.

Staring back at his past self, who as far as Rory was concerned, was his current self. Which was confusing if you thought about it, so Rory decided to stop thinking about it.

‘Completely necessary,’ said the Doctor, closing his sonic screwdriver with a flourish. ‘It’s now safe for you both to be in the same room together.’

‘Eh?’

The Doctor went into explanation mode. ‘Blinovitch Limitation Effect. Two identical versions of the same person, at different points in their timeline, should not co-exist within the same space and time. All sorts of nasty potential for paradoxes. And if they should happen to make physical contact - bang!’

‘Like with the two Marks?’ said Amy.

‘Like, as you say, with the two Marks,’ said the Doctor.

‘But I’ve now neutralised the effect. Ask me how.’

‘How?’ said the future Rory.

‘You couldn’t possibly begin to understand. But thanks for asking.’

Rory tried to get his head around it. ‘So it’s now safe for me to touch my future self?’

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘Although I would strongly advise you not to.’

‘Why?’ said Rory.

‘Yeah, why not?’ said the future Rory.

‘Because it would look odd. Best keep your hands to, um, yourself.’

***

Touched by an Angel, Chapter 15