My head was pounding, but I remained still. I was lying on a cold metal surface of some kind. I could hear foot steps in the background, but I still didn't open my eyes. I had no idea where I was or how I got here. It was obvious I had been unconscious for awhile. I heard light buzzing noises and clicking. The foot steps picked up pace, but they sounded like they were running in a circle.
I forced my eyes open, and the pounding in my head slowly started to ease off. I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked up. There was a man standing there in a black pinstriped suit and tie with tan Converse shoes. His hair was dark and spiked up in the front. His eyes turned to mine and he watched me carefully as if I were a scared animal about to run, which is exactly how I felt. I remained still and his gaze never left mine.
After a moment he spoke. "Are you alright?" he asked as he flipped a switch on what could only be called some sort of control console in the center of this large room. "Where am I?" I asked in a voice barely above a whisper. He narrowed his eyebrows for a second and his eyes glazed over.
"What is it? Where am I? Did you kidnap me?" I demanded in a raised voice.
He slowly started to walk towards me, and I stood suddenly. "It's okay," he said. "You're experiencing a form of amnesia. It'll pass soon enough; it's a common symptom of brain trauma." He took a step back to give me my space.
"Trauma?" I asked. "I don't remember anything." I looked at my feet, thinking hard, but all I remembered was blackness.
The strange man was silent for a moment, regarding me. "Really? It should have passed by now. It's been nearly three hours." He mumbled to himself, turning his back to me and looking at a screen on his control console.
"Three hours?" I asked. "You mean I've been stuck in this ... whatever this thing is ... with you? Why? Tell me what's happening or I'll scream for help - and I know how to scream, mister!" I was panicking then.
He quickly turned around and walked right up to me as if he were going to scold me like a child. His eyes were an intense dark brown color. I'd never seen this shade of brown, and his eyes gave me a prickling sensation in the back of my skull; it felt like he could literally see through me. I gasped and he blinked. "What?" he said, distracted by the shift in my demeanor.
"Nothing ... I've just never seen eyes that look like yours." I replied.
He stepped back. "What do you mean? I look human like everyone else, and my eyes are a normal shade of brown like everybody else." Tilting his head to one side, he dug his hand into an inside pocket of his pinstriped suit, pulled out a pair of black framed glasses, and put them on.
I quickly started getting irritated by his dodging my questions, so I asked again in a tense tone, "Who-are-you, and where am I?"
He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against a wall. "I'm sorry ... you should have remembered by now. You were the only one left I could save ..." he said staring off with a hurt expression.
"Last one you could - what?!" I asked, suddenly opening my eyes in horror.
The strange man walked up to me and calmly took my right hand. "Your name is Tessa ... you're from Earth," he said in a low voice.
"Tessa ... sounds familiar ... okay well I know from earth, I don't look like E.T." I said with a nervous laugh.
"Hmm," he grunted. "You're right, but still ... you're not on earth anymore, Tessa." His tone was serious.
I raised one eyebrow. "Are you some kind of sicko? Oh I am so out of here!" I shouted, my hands began to shake slightly. I spotted a small double door and quickly ran towards it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he cautioned.
I ignored him, grabbing the small handle and pushing the door open. Outisde of the room, there was nothing but darkness and tiny, glowing stars in the distance. Some were bigger than others, I noticed. They glimmered and danced beautifully. I gasped, quickly grabbing the doorway with both hands.
"Oh my god ..." I breathed. My brain swirled, searching for a reasonable explanation what I had just seen. I slowly backed up and closed the doors.
"I tried to tell you," the man said, walking back to his control console that hummed and beeped; there was also a light green glow coming from the inside of the console.
"What ...what is that?" I stammered, trying again to get more information from this man.
"This," he began dramatically, glancing around and causing lights to shimmer off his glasses, "is called the Tardis! It can take you anywhere through time and space." He flipped a switch and walked to the other side to push a small button. As he did so, the beeping and humming got louder almost as though the machine was accelerating. He walked over to where I sat; I still hadn't moved far from the door.
"What happened to me? And who are you?" I demanded again, looking him directly in the eye.
He crossed his arms and pressed his mouth in a hard line before he spoke. "You were kidnapped. Not by me, of course, but by a race of creatures known as the Cybermen. They've began experimenting on random humans in this century. I still haven't figured out why. They're known for 'upgrading' humans, meaning they turn you into what they are. To you they, would seem like emotionless robots, but they do have an emotion: they hate humanity." He shifted, as though uncomfortable.
I took a moment to let all this sink in. "Experiments? ... Robots?" Each question was met with a nod from this stranger. "Okay, you rescued me from evil robots that hate humanity, and I don't even know you. Why me? Why can't I still remember anything?" I placed my hands on either side of my head. This was too much to bear. I still couldn't believe this was happening.
The strange man locked eyes with me.
"I'm the Doctor, and I'm here to help."