Title: Mute
Summery: Volia, 2675. The city of Lilon has been infiltrated by evil and has been placed under eerie silence. Kala, a prisoner, meets a girl named Rose who claims to have the answers to all her prayers.
Rating: T, but not for language or smutty scenes, this is for violence that may be described.
Pairing: Doc10/Rose
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As per usual, the entire Sector 4 was in total silence. Kala dragged her cloth along the floor, allowing the water from it to trail along the cold stone. Just to keep from going insane, she tapped her bucket against the wall to a tuneless beat. Maybe the noise would stop her from becoming paranoid. Her gown was too big for her, and they knew it. Did they find it amusing to see her constantly pulling the left sleeve over her shoulder? A lot of things about them irritated her greatly. But she would never lose her cool – not for one second.

Kala came to a fork in the narrow tunnel, where two guards with guns armed both entrance ways. Their ugly faces twisted into sneers when they saw her, their scaly snake-like skin glistening in the dim light from the florescent, floating globes. Ten years ago, this city had never seen such technology. And now, since the alien reptiles had landed, there was no way that they could survive without it.

Lilon used to be such a beautiful city, filled with friendly humonoid faces. It was a little old fashioned compared with the wonders of the universe, but everyone had got along perfectly fine. Then, newly elected Mayor, Tun Iksop, had decided that the world needed to advance. Or even better, whilst the rest of Volia caught up, his city would become the most powerful. His words were like dancing lights, shining and doing no bad in the eyes of the city-dwellers.
Iksop had done a deal with a far-off planet called Dune. Over there, it was all desert and warmth, no real cities except for underground . The inhabitants were reptillious, with green scaly skin and slimy smiles. Their eyes were narrow, but their faces still looked like those of Volia. They weren't too different, and they spoke with good words. They seemed nice.

Kala stared at the guards before her, waiting for permission. Yes, ten years ago, Lilon had been free. But the Dune People had so much technology, so much force. They saw an oppertunity and seized it. They owned them, and there was no way of telling the rest of Volia. From where they were standing, everything was fine and Lilon was still being arrogent. They had no idea what was really going on.

"To the right, child." One guard hissed, pointed an elbow in the direction.

Kala nodded, bowed, and shuffled past them. She dared not look into their eye slits.

To the right was the cleaning room. This was where 55% of the prisoners worked daily, cleaning clothes, machinary and any other object that was thrown onto their hamper. Kala worked here part time, but sometimes she was allowed in the kitchens. When she had woken in her cell this morning and saw the bucket and rag that had been left for her, she instantly knew that it was cleaning day today.

She entered the chamber and shook her head sadly and the rest of the workers. They slaved day in and day out, and for what? A scrap of meat and a beating. They did not deserve this. This city had been peaceful, if not naive.

oOoOo

The days cleaning had been tough, but what was even worse was what came at the evening. This was when new prisoners had been found (usually refugees who tried to escape their fate). Every night, all of the prisoners were called to the torture chamber to watch and sometimes even participate in the de-voicing of the newly appointed slave.

The leader of the Dune People ordered his men to remove the voice box of every man and woman who entered their domain, so that they coudln't complain about the work or communicate with anyone on the outside. It also broke them down until some went mad and died. Children were usually spared, being sent to Sector 1 where they were looked after until the age of 16. Then their voice box would be taken and they would be allocated to another Sector. They would work their finger to the bone until death. It was the cycle.

Kala wasn't scared for her little brother, though. He was a good boy and he was only 11 years old so he had a while to go until his initiation. And even then, she would have hoped that the Dune People be stopped and arrested by then.

"Prisoner 625,054." The Dune Leader announced to his latest victim as the rest of the Sector watched. "You have been chosen for Sector 4. We will feed you, put a roof over your head. Do not be afraid, we won't hurt you..."

A bigger reptillion appeared from a shadow somewhere with what looked like a nut cracker and a knife.

"...all we would ask of you, is to give us your voice."

"What?" The poor victim exclaimed. "You said you wouldn't hurt me!"

"We won't." The Leader smirked. "Once you become a prisoner, we won't hurt you. But until then- "

"No!" The victim screeched.

The larger reptile moved towards the victim as he was held in place by two guards. He used the nut-cracker to keep his throat still. Kala had seen this a thousand times before but nothing ever prepared her for it. He raised his knife, but instead of stabbing the victim, a laser beam shot from it's tip and made a pocket into the neck. Then, the guard rummaged around inside his neck, looking for the voice box. Kala turned away. Those monsters, taking advantage of the fact that Violans' are not easy to kill. Even with a gun shot wound to the head, that victim would be alive and breathing for two days without medical help.

The only consolation of this terrible deed was that they did then send every new-comer to the medical suite; but that still didn't make up for it.

oOoOo

Once again, Kala found herself listening to nothing. No one could speak, so there was never any noise. It was enough to drive her insane. Just as Kala was thinking that death would be better than this life, her cell door swung open and someone was forced in there by a guard.

"Doubling up." Came a grunted explanation, and the door was locked again. Kala, startled, jumped from her bed and picked up her new cell mate. It was a pretty girl, obviously from a different planet because she had peachier skin and smaller eyes. Her hair was... yellow? No, white. No, maybe a mixture of both, but definitely nothing that Kala had ever seen before. She looked bemused, so Kala showed her to the bed and sat her down.

"Err... thanks." The girl spoke! Her voice was still there, so she must be important to the Dune People. She must have relevent information for them. "I have no idea what just happened."

Kala stayed quiet, of course, but soothed the girl with a gently rub on the back. The girl seemed appreciative.

"Thanks again." She half laughed. "Sorry, you're probably sick of my voice already. I am. It's the only thing i've heard for ages, 'cept those lizard blokes barking orders all the time."

Kala shook her head.

"You don't mind?"

Another shake. And then a nudge.

"What?"

Kala sighed and rolled her eyes, kneeling onto the floor and finding a small white stone. She tried it against the wall to see if it would chalk words – it would. She wrote out a sentence: Please talk, silence drives me mental and I need a friend.

The girl looked sorrowful. "I'm sorry, but don't worry. I didn't come here alone, and my friend will get us out of here, I promise."

What is your name and how were you captured?

"My name is Rose. Rose Tyler. Me and my friend... that's The Doctor, by the way, the friend I was talking about. We were just travelling and we found your planet. We were just walking one minute and the next, we were surrounded by the big boys out there."

Kala nodded and listened to Rose's stories all night, such amazing tales about the outside world that she had almost nearly forgotten. It was interesting, seeing it from someone elses eyes. And this Rose character had experienced other worlds too. It made Kala thirst for freedom.

oOoOo

The next morning was the same as always. Kala woke, and found a bucket and cloth in the corner. Rose had slept in the same bed, top and tail to save space. When Kala stood, a guard was at the peep hole of her cell door.

"You can come." He hissed. "Leave the girl behind."

Kala didn't question him, but left the sleeping beauty where she laid and continued with her usual days work.

Towards the end of the day, all of the prisoners except for Rose gathered at the torture chamber for the latest of the victims to be ripped of their personality and style. There were a couple this time round, two girls and a man. And then when Kala thought it was over, the Leader stepped forward.

"One more. Bring me the boy."

Kala tried to contain herself when she saw her little brother being pulled into the arena. She held her breath and bit her tongue several times, but it was no use. She ran just as she heard the laser knife kicking in. Why? He wasn't even 16 yet, what was the reason for this brutality? She ran, pushing past two guards and dodging as many bullets as she could. More and more people tried to stop her from stepping out of line, but she reached her cell before they could. She hammered at the door, tears silently rolling down her eyes.

A guard reached the door too, punching her in the face before unlocking the door and throwing her in the cell. At least she wasn't being forced into more inhumain punishment.

Rose jumped out of her skin when she heard Kala being pushed in.

"What the hell...?" She was surprised. "Kala? What's happening?"

Of course, she wasn't expecting an answer, so when Kala opened her mouth and screamed very loud, Rose began to really freak out.