The gathering began with growing concern over the strange temporal disturbances that had recently appeared across the city. The Academy building had already been affected by the mysterious phenomenon tied to the orbiting Cogs. Now the same type of anomaly had begun to appear at the location where the old church once stood.
Scanners detected temporal cracks forming in the air around the site. Reality itself appeared unstable, as if something was pushing through from another version of history. Those present kept their distance while running scans and comparing readings. Energy signatures suggested that matter was leaking through the fractures in space time, slowly assembling itself into something new.
Before long the transformation completed. Where the church had once stood, a tall new structure appeared. The building looked old and imposing, yet no one had seen it before. It cast a long shadow across the street as the group cautiously observed it. Initial scans suggested the structure was still stabilizing within the timeline. Some warned against entering immediately in case furniture or interior structures had not yet fully materialized. Once the readings settled enough to suggest it was safe, the group began investigating.
To understand what had happened, several members accessed the Matrix archives. The results were deeply unsettling. According to the Matrix, the structure had always been there. The building was identified as the Vorlaxion Courthouse and historical records described it as centuries old. The stone, foundation, and structural materials all showed signs of long term wear that matched that history perfectly. In the official timeline, the courthouse had stood on that very site for generations.
Yet those present clearly remembered the church that had existed there only days before. This meant the timeline itself had been altered.
Further investigation uncovered another anomaly within the courthouse records. The Matrix showed that a trial had recently taken place within the building. The problem was that none of the participants appeared anywhere else in the records. The judge, the lawyers, and the accused all existed within the trial transcript yet could not be found anywhere else in the Matrix databases. It was as if the trial itself had been written into history without the people who supposedly took part in it.
While examining the Matrix further, the group discovered something even more significant. Just before the church disappeared, an external command had briefly interfaced with the Cog network. It was not an attack or a takeover. Instead it appeared to be a brief handshake. Someone had accessed the system for only a moment, as if testing the connection.
The command signature was Gallifreyan. More importantly, it was extremely old in style. The coding structure resembled the work of early renegade Time Lords. With that knowledge in mind, the group returned to the newly formed courthouse to search for anything hidden inside.
Inside the building, the interior appeared strangely empty despite the Matrix claiming it had been in use for centuries. The emptiness only deepened the mystery. If the courthouse had always existed in the timeline, why did it appear untouched and unused?
During the search, one of the investigators spotted something unusual hidden within the structure. It was a small spherical device that clearly did not belong to the building itself. Scans quickly confirmed that the object was some form of relay device. More surprising still, the device appeared to be incredibly old. Its construction dated back centuries. In fact, it predated the appearance of the Cogs entirely. Whoever placed the device there had done so long before the current events began. That meant someone had been planning this moment for a very long time.
When the device was scanned more closely, it activated briefly and revealed a short message.
“If you’re reading this, the experiment worked. I do hope you enjoyed the mystery.”
The tone of the message was playful and almost amused, as if the entire situation had been set up as a puzzle. As the relay was examined further, something happened in orbit. Sensors detected a sudden synchronization spike among the Cogs before the signal vanished again.
Then the relay device disappeared entirely. Just before it vanished, another message appeared.
It congratulated the investigators for finding the device and hinted that everything was proceeding exactly as planned. The message was signed by a familiar name.
The Meddling Monk.
The realization spread quickly through the group. The infamous renegade Time Lord had been involved all along. Some members even recalled previous encounters with him throughout history. The conclusion became unavoidable. The Monk had placed the relay device centuries ago and waited patiently for the moment when the Cog network appeared. When the opportunity came, he used the device to briefly access the system before retrieving his technology and vanishing again.
The timeline changes, the courthouse, and the strange trial all appeared to be part of a much larger experiment. With the device gone and the Monk already one step ahead, the group concluded the investigation by assigning tasks. Some would search the Matrix for deeper clues. Others would monitor time capsule landings and renegade activity across the city.
One thing was now certain. Someone had been planning this experiment for centuries. And the game was only just beginning.