"Alive, stable. I'll make it until we can extract." His face was concerned as he looked at his son, questioning, his own health was barely important. Conner's was, the hand on his arm was as much support as reassurance. Conner was an adult, and he trusted him to handle himself, that didn't make him any happier when he was injured. He kept his hand resting gently on Conner's arm, face calm, voice low.
He gave every outside appearance of being calm and level, controlled and contained despite his injuries. Only his son probably in a position to notice just how tightly wound he was, just how exhausted he was and how mentally strained and in pain he was. The other Time Lord had left his heart racing and his head aching, and there was still blood seeping slowly from his nose. After this, he probably wouldn't stay on his feet for much longer, his body just wouldn't take it.
It was strangely almost a relief to feel so deeply and truly exhausted. To know that sleep was in fact a possibility once they returned to the ship. But not right now, right now he needed to speak, to find the words.
"I'm not putting it on you, Conner. He sighed, voice a whisper, looking up at his son, trying to get him to understand what he saw. It wasn't quite the big picture, it wasn't what Moses was seeing. "They have our memories now, they're alive, simply sleeping. If they aren't woken up, if no one tells them they're allowed, then they'll just be lambs here, children waiting to be murdered in their beds. Because the government doesn't want them to have our memories. Imagine someone knowing what you know now, the life you've led. Imagine trying to tell that person their purpose in life is to build a fountain or make food their entire life. To be a slave and a servant. If I can see it, so can they."
It wasn't a desire to manipulate, it wasn't a want to turn Conner's head and influence him, it was the understanding that if his son opened his eyes for a moment, then he would see that he was one of the few in the room with a valid choice in this. "I'm not asking you to raise an army, Conner. That's not what they are. That shouldn't be what they're meant for. All I'm asking you to do is trust yourself." He paused, looking at his son, and then turning to look at the tanks once more. "We can't stay. We knew that from the start."
no subject
He gave every outside appearance of being calm and level, controlled and contained despite his injuries. Only his son probably in a position to notice just how tightly wound he was, just how exhausted he was and how mentally strained and in pain he was. The other Time Lord had left his heart racing and his head aching, and there was still blood seeping slowly from his nose. After this, he probably wouldn't stay on his feet for much longer, his body just wouldn't take it.
It was strangely almost a relief to feel so deeply and truly exhausted. To know that sleep was in fact a possibility once they returned to the ship. But not right now, right now he needed to speak, to find the words.
"I'm not putting it on you, Conner. He sighed, voice a whisper, looking up at his son, trying to get him to understand what he saw. It wasn't quite the big picture, it wasn't what Moses was seeing. "They have our memories now, they're alive, simply sleeping. If they aren't woken up, if no one tells them they're allowed, then they'll just be lambs here, children waiting to be murdered in their beds. Because the government doesn't want them to have our memories. Imagine someone knowing what you know now, the life you've led. Imagine trying to tell that person their purpose in life is to build a fountain or make food their entire life. To be a slave and a servant. If I can see it, so can they."
It wasn't a desire to manipulate, it wasn't a want to turn Conner's head and influence him, it was the understanding that if his son opened his eyes for a moment, then he would see that he was one of the few in the room with a valid choice in this. "I'm not asking you to raise an army, Conner. That's not what they are. That shouldn't be what they're meant for. All I'm asking you to do is trust yourself." He paused, looking at his son, and then turning to look at the tanks once more. "We can't stay. We knew that from the start."