Blue Stone Shining Wolf: Yeah, I had to revisit things for Jack. It's just going to get messier from here. More than one paradox will arise from this. It's going to be messy, but satisfying.

Hannah: That's why this will be fun and satisfying, because Nine reacts to things differently.

Hediru: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This earthquake is a fixed point, and a purely natural disaster.

Sorry it's shorter than usual, but I had to cut it off here.

"An earthquake?" questioned Mickey, eyes like saucers.

"Not just any earthquake. This region is infamous for earthquakes, because of the San Andreas Fault. Millions of years in your future, Los Angeles and San Francisco will be adjacent to each other because of the earthquakes. That's what really happens, instead of that urban legend about California falling into the ocean." The Doctor clenched his left fist. "Now we have to figure out why the TARDIS sent us here, and fast."

"How do we do that?" asked Jack.

"I'm not entirely certain yet."

"If we have to, can't we just rent a truck, and tow the TARDIS to safety?" mused Rose.

"We could. Of course we could. But by the time we managed to get the TARDIS out of danger, there wouldn't be time to head back here and find out why we're here."

"And we'd risk a paradox," she finished.

"Precisely. No, we're supposed to be here. Just hold on a minute, I'm thinking." He paced back and forth in front of the unyielding TARDIS.

"Maybe we're here to save someone before the earthquake happens," said Mickey.

"In a city full of millions, how do you suppose we would find the one person we're supposed to save? No, Mickey. You can't tell anyone this is going to happen. I told you, no mucking about in things you can't change. This earthquake is a natural disaster, a fixed point in time. Just everyone hush for a minute while I work this out."

"What about the news reports, Doctor?" asked Jack. "They all seemed to be revolving around real estate. Court decisions, money tied up, and everything coming together in a neat little bow just before an earthquake. I don't know about you guys, but this has all the makings of a self-cleaning con."

The Doctor looked at Jack and grinned. "Funny benefit of having a con man travel with us. It takes one to know one."

"What if I'm the con man, though?" asked Jack, face falling.

"What do you mean?" asked Rose.

"He means he might be the puppet master, pulling all the strings, looking to profit off of land and property sales. All the while, knowing a disaster is going to take place that will destroy it. No, Jack. I won't let you believe that. Besides, you told us during the Blitz that you weren't doing it for money, but to figure out what happened with your memories. We'll just have to do some investigating, following the money trails, searching property records. With the recent case so public, it should be easy to sort this out."

Rose stared at a flashy green billboard. "Maybe we should start there."

They turned and saw the advertisement that they had overlooked when they first landed. "Perhaps it's right underneath our noses," smirked Rose. "We were so busy laughing at Jack I almost forgot the first advertisement on that news feed, Doctor. Harrison Real Estate Group. If we're checking out real estate, might as well start there!"

"Right you are, Rose Tyler!" grinned the Doctor, as he enthusiastically kissed her on the cheek. "Always noticing things I don't when they're right in front of us."

"So we have two days," said Mickey. "What do we do first?"

Jack ran fingers through his dark hair. "Without the TARDIS, without access to her computer system, we need to find another way to look up public records, and research this company."

"This kind of research should be done in private," replied the Doctor. "Don't want to use public access points."

Mickey rolled his eyes, "So, what are you trying to say? We take one of these little red chips and pop into an Apple Store?"

Rose laughed. "That is so 21st century."

"Nothing for it though, Rose. Rickey's right. For once, we have to look at practical matters. Without the TARDIS, we need to get a couple of hotel rooms, and get to work on finding out what's going on so we can leave here before the earthquake hits."

As if the Earth heard the Doctor's words, the ground rumbled gently underneath them.

"I thought you said it's in two days!" cried Mickey.

"Mickey the Idiot, don't you know anything about earthquakes and fault lines? They're used to that here. Doubt people back at the eatery so much as stopped eating. That's nothing."

"Oh, leave him alone, Doctor," chided Rose mildly.

"Didn't feel like nothing. Are you sure we're not gonna drop off into the ocean?"

"Told you, Mickey. Urban legend. Eventually the Human race comes up with technology that even prevents the continents from shifting. Well, we can't just stand here at the TARDIS discussing urban legends and what you lot call Wegener's theory. We need to find transportation. Can't just depend on our legs in a city this size. Might be able to use the psychic paper to rent our own transport."

"With the right amount of credits, we can probably get a luxury aircar, Doctor. I'm sure we could fly it, and it would be a lot faster," offered Jack.

"Sometimes I wish Star Trek wasn't just a TV show," grumbled Rose. "They had transporters."

"Oi, you want something scrambling your molecules and trusting them just to put you back together as you were? Good thing they haven't invented transmats yet. I never want to experience that again."

"Neither do I," replied Rose softly.

"Then let's stop our chin-wagging and shift!"

Mickey Smith was busy trying to pick his jaw off the ground. The four travelers had purchased a computer system and checked into a hotel. Setting up station in Rose and the Doctor's shared room, Jack and the Doctor swiftly set up their equipment and started to research.

To Mickey's astonishment, the computer in question was about half the size of a shoe box. No keyboard, no mouse, and inexplicably, no monitor. Instead, the room lit up upon booting the computer, and they were surrounded by a holographic interface.

"Oh my God," gaped Mickey. "The blokes at the garage would never believe this in a million years."

Once a connection was established, the Doctor started to research at his usual speed. Not even Jack could hope to keep up with his frenetic pace.

"All of these property sales can be traced back to the Harrison Real Estate Group. They use one, two, sometimes even three shadow companies, but they all follow back to this singular entity."

"But who are they? If it's like Jack said, a self-cleaner, then they must know what's going to happen," pointed out Rose.

Once again, researching at a dizzying pace, the Doctor expanded his hands outward and a man's image appeared before them.

Jack swore under his breath and glared at the smiling man in the picture.

The Doctor turned around to look at Jack. "Recognize him?"

"Damned right I do. That's Jeremy Harrison. He used to be a Time Agent." Jack's face was grim as he looked at the handsome middle-aged man with the dusting of grey at his temples.