Hello and welcome to my first OC-based FanFiction! Thanks very much to JinxStar, evilsandwhichgirl1123, goblindreamer, the_mischevious_pixie and badwolf907 for giving me your OCs to play with – I have tweaked the age of one of the characters but only because I didn't think 17 would be very suitable for what I'm about to write...everything else is the same though, but if you think I'm writing your character wrong e.g. too exaggerated or something like that, feel free to tell me and I'll make sure it won't happen again.

Everyone else, if you still want to create an OC to go in this then please feel free to put whatever you want in your review, but he/she/it will only play a relatively minor role and is more likely to be killed off. Sorry 'bout that.

Anyway, note over. Enjoy!

T-Minus 5hrs 4mins 3secs

Vanessa Simms looked out of the floor-to-ceiling window at the sleeping city outside, took her pills and drank from the champagne glass in her hand. What was the point of drinking water when you had enough money to get alcohol flowing from the taps instead? As the morning sun began to creep gingerly over the horizon, she took another sip of champagne and smiled to herself. She'd done pretty well for herself in the past three years of her life; scraped GCSEs, all Ds in her A-Levels, and yet she was now one of the most influential women in Britain, with luxury penthouses in Paris, New York, Tokyo and here in London. But God forbid that she'd actually done any work though: it was all down to him, him and his genius.

Oh, she'd been cynical to begin with when she'd first met him: it had seemed to her that he was all talk and no action, although he was scarily persuasive in his words. She'd been proved wrong, of course: the collapse of News Corporation after the alleged hacking scandal his opportune moment to move in on the scene, and soon SkyNet Enterprises were the biggest company in the world, with its fingers stuck in every proverbial pie; from technology to newspapers, shops to make-up ranges, SkyNet ran it all. She'd thought he was amazing even before she found out the truth, and now she felt able to look down at the dirty streets below and dream of the power that she would have over them all.

There was a movement from the bedroom and Vanessa quickly gulped down the rest of her champagne, checking that there were no lipstick marks on the glass before placing it down on the draining board like it had never been used. He encouraged her to splash out freely, but his mood was unpredictable and she could never be sure whether what she was doing was right or not. She wound him up frequently, and Vanessa could see why: she was an ADHD sufferer and this – and her extreme claustrophobia – undermined his want for constant perfection. The penthouses they owned were all in different shades of white, the only colour the expensive abstracts hanging from the walls and the reds, golds, greens, pinks and honey browns of the bottles lined in elaborate wine racks in the kitchen. This was on his orders, so that he could see any dirt or impurity. His obsession made her nervous, but it wasn't so bad to live with: she just took her medication more often than needed, that's all.

The man in question leaned in the doorframe, a white robe similar to the one she was wearing draped round his frame. He raised an eyebrow enquiringly at her and she obediently went to him, letting him kiss the bridge of her nose and run his hands through her dirty blond hair with brown highlights that looked so unnatural on her and yet were there without any dye needed.

"Did you send the order, like I asked you to?" His voice was gravelly from sleep and she smiled, resting her forehead against his. Yes, he had his mood swings and his little habits, and yes, he was completely insane, but she loved him desperately and knew that he loved her, though he never said it out loud. Her competitive edge was what had attracted him to her in the first place, even though everyone had badmouthed her and said she'd come to nothing; all the models, all the beautiful women in the world, and he'd chosen her, Vanessa. Surely he must love her, then?

"Yes. Exactly as you wanted."

He grinned suddenly, a manic energy entering his face. Without warning he spun her to the window she'd just been looking out of, hugging her so hard it hurt. "Look Vanessa; all this will be yours, every little pathetic inch of land will become your empire – just as soon as I find that damn bitch again." His voice hardened and Vanessa turned quickly, kissing him hard on the mouth; he scared her when he remembered the one woman who had defied him and managed to escape his clutches that fateful night three months ago. They'd turned the city upside down for her, but so far: no trace. And he needed he; oh yes, she thought with a pang of jealousy, he needed her for his plans, more than he needed his wife. It pissed her off no end, but what the hell? If needed, Vanessa was sure that he would ask her to step into the breach.

"You'll find her, darling, you know you will. And then the world will see us exactly for what we are."

T-Minus 3hrs 5mins 00secs

"She won't stop staring." The nurse sniped. "Why won't she stop staring?"

The man in the white coat looked at her banefully. "Nurse Jacobs, that is not how we talk about our patients here."

"She's been like that for three hours now! Just...staring...for God's sake get her to stop, she's starting to freak me out!"

The man clicked his tongue then pressed the intercom button on Room 513. "Lorraine? It's Doctor Richards here. Are you ok?"

The young woman inside said nothing. Her auburn hair was greasy and hung in clotted ringlets down either side of her pale, wan face. Her eyes were black and emotionless, seeming to bore through the inch-thick glass. Doctor Richards took a step backwards, despite the straight jacket and the complex door mechanics that required two keys and an iris and voice recognition scanner. He took a deep breath. "Lorraine, is there anything that you'd like?"

Lorraine spoke in a lazy American drawl, the ends of her words clipped and precise. "I'd kill for a fucking cigar, if you don't mind."

Doctor Richards laughed uneasily and turned to the nurse. "Let's try this again, shall we?" The nurse pursed her lips but handed over the object. He held it up to the glass. "Now Lorraine, this hob watch was the only thing we found on you on your admission t the institute; do you know where you got it?"

Lorraine's eyes suddenly widened with fear. "Don't open it! For fuck's sake, don't open it!"

"But Lorraine, it's broken: you told us so yourself. What could possibly happen if we open it?"

"I don't fucking know, ok? It's just...don't open it, alright?"

Doctor Richards sighed impatiently and moved his fingers to the clasp. Lorraine launched herself at the door and bounced off with a crash. He stepped back rapidly as her voice rose to a scream. "DON'T OPEN IT! DIN'T YOU FUCKING DARE, IT'LL BE THE END OF ME, D'YOU HEAR? He will be baptised with fire and metal: Master Of All will rise again and they will not stop, and the whole planet will need a Doctor more than ever." She whimpered and curled up on her side, and unnervingly went straight to sleep, as though the episode had been nothing more than a childish tantrum. Doctor Richards shook his head wearily and turned to the nurse.

"Raise the medication levels again will you, nurse?"

T-Minus 00hrs 15mins 01secs

"I'm doomed," Wept Astra Rose into the phone. "I'm withering, wasting away, and there's nothing you can do for me!"

"Rose," Her brother laughed down the line. "You're only twenty-three!"

Astra sniffed. "Exactly. I'm one year closer to pushing up the daisies, so I'd rather not be reminded of that fact, thanks very much."

Erik stopped laughing, but she could hear it in his voice. "Hey, I just wanted to wish my little sister a happy birthday – don't get angsty on me."

"You're only older than me by six months." She muttered stubbornly.

"So you keep reminding me. By the way, there was a problem with your cake so it won't be arriving for a week at least."

"Oh? And what was the problem?"

"It was...eaten..."

"YOU ATE MY BIRTHDAY CAKE? YOU – "

"Hey, I was hungry! And drunk. Very, very drunk. Ando so were my friends. Drunk and hungry, I mean."

"So I'm guessing that most of it ended up down the loo in the end then." Astra tried to sound angry, but failed. "Oh, go away, I'm trying to work."

"Love you too, little sis!"

"By six months!" She hissed, but she smiled as she put the phone down.

"Miss Rose, you are not permitted to use the work phone for personal calls." Astra jumped and spun round, then glared at the dirty blond woman behind her.

"Audrey, you're such a cow."

"Hey, it's Audrey Melissa Leofwine, Customer Services Manager at SkyNet, thanks very much."

"Oh my God, you got the promotion?"

Audrey nodded, her blue-green eyes excited. "I know right? You know you earn three times as much doing being a CSM than this – well, that's still not all that much, but then at least I can get a slightly bigger flat with no mildew on the walls! Uh by the way, skinny jeans, converses and a ripped MCR top does NOT constitute as smart-casual work wear."

Astra put on her slim-frame glasses to show that she was prepared to fight for her chosen attire. "First, you're wearing shorts and camis – not exactly proper work wear either! And second, why do you have to pick on me?"

"In answer to those points: first, I'm higher than you, so I can. And second, because you're the only person with a blue bob – which is ALSO doesn't set a good image for the company."

"I hate you."

"The feeling's mutual." Audrey checked her watch. "Oh dear, it seems Sydney's having problems with the photocopier again."

"Oh hell...how long ago did she go in?"

"Ten minutes in three...two...one..."

There was a sudden loud crashing from the photocopier room that made everyone jump. "Avortunle! Bai cacat!"

"I'll go get her." Astra said calmly, getting up and walking over. She opened the photocopier door and was met with the sight of the dark-haired woman two years her senior in jeans and hiking boots swearing and cursing in Romanian over the photocopier whilst stabbing at it with her bowie knife. She went over and grabbed the woman's wrist. "Sydney, calm the fuck down."

Sydney Jethro looked at her furiously, then realised who it was and put the bowie knife back in her handbag. "Sorry Astra, you alright?"

"Alright? Sydney, you've caused as thousands in damages already, and you know the boss said he'd let you go if you keep acting like this."

Sydney looked guilty, fingering her red fairy pendant: being slightly superstitious, she reasoned that the pendant would protect her from harm. "Sorry. Just...can't I set it on fire? No-one would really mind, would they?"

"Yes they would, you little pyromaniac." Astra said, nudging her affectionately in the ribs. "Now come on, let's go before you try to stab something else."

They quickly left the room and with Audrey in tow went to get coffee from the machine. After a long wait and a brief fiery exchange in Romanian between Sydney and a woman who had barged in and taken the last sugar sachet, they gathered in a corner to talk.

"Figures are rocketing now we've got the SurfPad out." Audrey said. "They're already saying that it beats the iPad by miles – Harry Simms certainly knows how to make his products!"

"You know what's always made me laugh?" Sydney took a gulp of coffee. "SkyNet is the technology in the Terminator films that wipes out the human race by arming all the nuclear weapons – weird, huh, Astra? Astra, are you listening?"

T-Minus 00hrs 00mins 00secs

Astra wasn't listening. Instead she was focussing on the man with the bow tie. It wasn't that she found him particularly attractive – quiffs and suits were so NOT her thing – but there was something about this man that made her take notice. The ginger woman next to him didn't notice her staring and neither did he: they were talking together animatedly, as if it were a life or death situation and only they could stop it. "Hey, have you guys ever seen them around before?"

Sydney looked over at the pair. "No, must be inspectors or something...shit, we've gotta get rid of that photocopier!"

"Calm down, Sydney, it's definitely not that!" Audrey frowned. "You know, I don't have a clue."

Suddenly the man and the woman turned and walked away. Astra threw away her coffee and started after them. "Come on, I wanna see what they're up to." The other two looked like they were going to object. "Come ON, guys! Call it my birthday present or something, seeing as you probably haven't got me one."

"It's your birthday?" Sydney proved her point. Astra jogged after the strangers and, after a helpless shrug at each other, Sydney and Audrey followed.

This was going to be a very, VERY eventful birthday...