The rest of the vacation went by without a hitch, but as they say, all good things must come to an end, and this meant it was time to return to my journey. With everything packed, Alice and I moved all our stuff into my TARDIS, well, mostly Alice, since Ada could create anything I needed, except for organic materials. However, even that's a loose limitation, since the reconfiguration system can make clothes, and I do need to worry about food, but all models of TARDIS have a Bio Garden that can be used to grow food.
The only issue is that Ada was grown by me; it falls to me to bring both the soil and seeds needed to set up the garden, but the Bio Garden machinery does the rest. Usually, I would have done this earlier. Still, I forgot about it while dealing with other things, but it's better late than never.
Once everything was packed, I used the TADIS to head to the reception area to check out, which took only a short time. With that done, it's time to do something I was putting off this whole time, finding out why, when I first met Alice, she had residual regeneration energy on her, obviously first a pit stop at some garden shop for some seed and soil can't forget about that otherwise I may drain my bank account from when I was human. Similarly, I should clean out that apartment since I will probably never use it again.
The main reason I kept it when I left with the doctor and even went so far as to let Mickie move in was because I knew I would need it when the master showed up. Now, however, since he knows of my existence, it's rather pointless to keep it anymore.
Looking towards Alice, I speak, "It's time to clean up the old apartment, it's served its purpose. After that, we will need to get some seeds and soil for the Bio Garden" Alice, to her credit, looks like she is trying to understand what I mean by the last part. Sighing, I explain, "A Bio Garden is an automated Garden that every TARDIS has, ensuring that the crew would always have a supply of food; otherwise, on extended missions, they would have to return home to replenish periodically. Earlier models did not have them, but it was deemed too inefficient; therefore, all models after the 10th had one. The size of said Bio Garden got bigger with each model, for obvious reasons".
As for why it's obvious, well, think about it. The time between models could range from 100 years to 1000, depending on how rapidly new developments are made, as genetic modification is used to upgrade the model by modifying the TARDIS seeds. These are only done when there's an advancement in dimensional engineering, because trying to add changes to a pre-grown TARDIS can lead to degradation of the TARDIS. At best, there are a few glitches with it; at worst, the TARDIS can't maintain its dimensions.
Bear in mind that as long as a TARDIS model is within 10 models of the latest one, it's considered in operational use, as for this TARDIS and the Doctor's one, both are deemed obsolete, meaning the model number is more than 10 models lower than the latest, and if memory serves me right, during Tom Baker's incarnation even the council points out that his TARDIS is obsolete.
Anyway, moving on to more important things, I've booked a flight to my old apartment to clear out all my belongings and pick up some seeds, which I will ask Alice to retrieve while I clean the apartment.
Speaking of which, I still have the remains of RB-02, which I could use to make an even better version, or, in simple terms, RB-03.
Once TARDIS lands in my old apartment, I ask Alice to retrieve the seed for almost every type of fruit and vegetable, as well as some soil. After writing down a list she sets off while I communicate with Ada on what I will need her to make for me to construct RB-03, although I am using parts that are salvageable from RB-02 most of the essential componats he had were damaged beyond repair as for his bod I plan on using a more resilient metal for its body so that it can help in dangerous situations.
I will also add a shield generator as well as a means of bringing me back to the TARDIS in case I die, can't have myself regenerating outside of my TARDIS since it leaves me wide open for a finishing blow, so giving RB-03 a means of both keeping me safe and a means to transports me back to the TARDIS is essential it's also one of the main reasons for the shield generator.
Now, for the most critical upgrade, a way for RB-03 to monitor my vitals from a distance, this is because there will be times I leave it on the TARDIS, and having the ability to detect if I am dying is probably the most critical, especially if I don't have a companion at the time of me being fatally wounded.
I am not foolish enough to believe that a single companion will stay with me forever like the Doctor. Everyone dies or leaves in the end; it's the fate of all who travel with the Doctor, and most likely myself as well.
Once Ada informs me that all the parts are ready, I make my way to the room that holds the architectural reconfiguration system. Upon arriving, I can see several components, as well as numerous large metal sheets, all made of a robust alloy commonly found on Gallifrey. As for why I did not use it for RB-02 initially, I had never intended for it to be used in combat, so having such armour was pointless; unfortunately, fate had other ideas. That's why this version and any later will use the best material possible for its body. That's why it's not like paper when any weapon hits it. The downside is that this alloy is superconducting, one of the reasons it was not used as body armour by soldiers in the Time War.
Against Daleks, whose primary weapons are literal lightning guns, would make armour made of this nothing more than a lightning rod the result before even being able to regenerate they would already be dead, so less durable armour was used, however for the case of RB-03 its possible to make this an advantage since it does not have the same limitation of an organic person, I could use this very same weakness as a secondary means to charge RB-03.
Luckily, I had requested a cart to carry all the components to the workshop so I could get to work. Once all the parts are transported, I start work on my new metal companion. I take my time to put each part in its rightful place, including a sun crystal reactor that was among the components. This one was far superior to the one I made with what can only be described as scrap compared to this new one. This is because all the blueprints stored in Ada's database are perfect, meaning they are all in the most recent state, making them the best options for use. This results in the final product, RB-03, being far superior to its predecessors, thanks to the additional components I have included.
With Rb-03 complete, all that's left is to activate him, which only takes a few seconds once online. I run some basic tests to see how well it functions. After doing those checks, everything is running as it should.
Now due to all the extra components added especially the shield generator that would not only cover RB-03 but anyone sitting or lying on top of it, being fairly significant the size of RB-03 has increase a little making him too big to exit the TARDIs under normal circumstances that's why like RB-02 he can miniaturize himself, the downside is that it's a dam power sink to maintain the miniaturization, and due to its new default size its power drain for miniaturization its far greater than RB-02.
The last change in the appearance of RB-03 is that, unlike the other versions, its body is now pitch black, a side effect of the alloy, which is also pitch black. However, aside from that, the drastic change, the rest looks similar, with the dimensional storage being accessible from the top of its body, using the same method as RB-02, where the top half opens up to reveal ample storage; however, the storage is larger than before because the power source is more efficient. RB-02 used batteries, while this version has both batteries and a sun crystal reactor.
With Rb-03 ready, I make my way back toward the TARDIS exit to begin taking my stuff from the apartment. I say that because the entire apartment had been empty when I started living there, so I purchased all the furniture and other things over the few months I was living there. As for what I will do with it all, I can store it for later use. I may need it one day.
By the time I get to the console room I find Alice there waiting for me, on the floor near where she was waiting are a large amount of plastic bags as well as bags of soil " how long have you been back" to my question she crosses her arms, at seeing this i can figure out that she might have been her awhile probably expecting me to give her a hand once she got back. Still, I was not here, as I was working on RB-03.
Before I can say a thing she notices Rb-03 that was behind me causing her to speak " so you rebuilt him, although he looks different" I sigh at the fact RB has got her attention allowing me to avoid a very complicated situation " well not exactly the RB-02 was basically scrap, luckily his software was not damaged so I used what parts I could salvage including his personality matrix and his on board database, but the rest had to be rebuilt. His body is far stronger than before, so there should not be any issue with him being demolished with a single hit" For a moment, I saw something in her eyes, something I had not expected: sadness, not directed at RB but at me.
At first, I thought I might have imagined it, but as she helped me pack everything in my old apartment, she kept giving me glances, all showing sadness. I ignore it for the most part, but there's something in the back of my mind telling me that something's going to go wrong, and I have no idea what it will be, but I have a feeling it's not going to end well for me.