PLANET ANDROID
The TARDIS materialized on a platform in some sort of subway. The Doctor stepped out. "Xanoton Prime! The entire planet is the biggest theme park in the universe! Well besides Appulapachia." Shaun stepped out of the TARDIS. "Looks like we're in a subway." "This is the space ship dock. I wanted the view to be a surprise." They stepped out to the platform outside. It was on a mountain so they got a good view of the carnival area of the park. Colorful tents surrounded a big one in the middle while posts hanging up banners that read "Xanoton Prime Carnival Land". Shaun was amazed of the view. "Come on then." Said the Doctor. They walked a steep path before arriving at the entrance. "Where is everybody?" The Doctor looked around. "This place should be packed especially during summer." They continued walking but no one showed up. It was just an empty place. Shaun scratched his head "Are you sure the park isn't closed?" "If it's closed then why are there buckets of popcorn and hotdogs lying around." Shaun saw food lying on the benches and tables. The Doctor grabbed a scoop of popcorn and ate it. He immediately spat it out. "Stale. Must have been here for weeks." There was a rustling noise from the bushes. "Hello? Who's there?" The bushes rustled some more. "I'm the Doctor and this is Shaun. Is someone there?" A clown rose out of the bushes and nearly made Shaun jump. "Hello there. Welcome to Xanaton Prime!" The clown looked like an ordinary clown from Earth but with glowing eyes. The Doctor scanned the clown with his sonic screwdriver. "It's just a droid. Built for welcoming guests." "Welcome to Xanaton Prime! May I be of assistance?" Shaun was terrified. "I hate clowns." The Doctor smirked. "You are a droid of the Xanaton Theme Park correct?" "Yes." "You must have all the information about the park correct?" "Yes." "Then, what happened to all the guests?" The clown paused. "Well the place is empty, you must know something about it." The clown slowly looked up. "The guests must be terminated." The Doctor's eyes opened wide. "All guests must be terminated!" The clown's hand contained a gun which was pointed at Shaun and the Doctor.
Shaun never imagined being chased by a killer clown because he didn't want to imagine it but now it was happening. Blasts of lasers flew past the Doctor and Shaun. They hid behind a building. "Its shooting at us!" Shaun shouted. "Yeah I see that!" The Doctor was fiddling with his sonic. "Maybe I can shut it down." The clown was coming closer. The Doctor aimed the sonic at the clown and pressed down the button. Nothing. "Doctor what's wrong?!" The Doctor checked his screwdriver. "I cant control it because something else is already controlling it!" The clown fired some more and was about to shoot Shaun when an unknown blast took out the droid's head. The Doctor and Shaun turned to see a man holding a rifle. "You fellas OK?" The Doctor stood up. He looked about 30 years old but still looked young if it wasn't for the wrinkles on his hands. "Look, we might want to get out of here before other droids respond to the noise." Said the man. The Doctor and Shaun immediately followed the mysterious man to the large tent in the middle of Carnival Land." Calvin! Who the hell are these blokes?!" Said a teenager probably 18 years old with a Mohawk and ear piercing. "Calm down Benny. These are people." Benny looked at the Doctor closely. "Maybe their androids in disguise." The Doctor pushed his head aside. "I assure you young man, we are not androids." "Let them through." A woman with short hair, holding a gun walked forward. "If they're people, we need more hands." The Doctor and Shaun were brought inside the tent. The inside was lined with fences and metal to act as a barricade. There were tables, chairs, and racks full of supplies and weapons. "What'd you say your names were?" Asked the woman. "I'm the Doctor." "I'm Shaun." The woman stopped to face them. "Well, Doctor, Shaun. I'm Mary. Welcome to Fort Fairground." The Doctor looked around. There were two other people staring at him. One of them a little girl. "This is Samantha" Mary said pointing to a young woman with long red hair and dark eyes. "Mommy. Who are these people?" Mary bent down and talked to her. "And this is my daughter Lara. Lara, this is the Doctor and Shaun." Lara just stared back at them. "Back there's Jeff who runs the watch. A man at the back of the tent waved at them. Benny stepped forward "You can sleep here for the night but the rule here is you work for shelter. No freeloaders." The Doctor smiled. "Don't worry, I can do more than work. I can get all of you out of here." They all opened their eyes except for Lara who was hiding behind Mary. "That's not possible. All the ships here were destroyed or were taken by others." Said Calvin. "Then how did me and Shaun get here?" "You're one crazy old man!" Benny laughed. "Androids coming!" They heard a shout from Jeff at the back of the tent. "Never mind, they're just carrying something." He zoomed in. "Looks like… a blue box." The Doctor ran to Jeff. "No no no no." Four clowns were dragging the TARDIS across the pathways. The Doctor held his head in frustration. Now they had the TARDIS.
"Ha! Where's your ship now?" Benny had been mocking the Doctor. Mary turned to him. "Look, Doctor it's OK. It happened to all of us." "I don't think so." Jeff was in a corner working on modifying a gun. "The androids destroyed our ships but for some reason they didn't destroy yours." "That's because they can't destroy my ship. So what do you do when you can't destroy it? You take it away!" The Doctor seemed angry. Shaun had been quiet this whole time thinking. Benny turned to the Doctor again "How are we even supposed to fit in that bloody thing! It looks like an emergency pod!" The Doctor stood up. He had enough of this. "Just shut up you little hooligan! Once you see the inside, oh how amazed you'll be!" Mary came in between them. "Stop it! You're upsetting Lara" Lara was scared of the Doctor. It was his face. His accent. The Doctor looked at the poor little girl. "Sorry." Shaun got up and walked around. He looked out of the fence. Carnival Land looks exactly like it sounds he thought. "Shaun was it?" Samantha had followed him to the fence. "Yeah." She looked out "I remember when this was a place where people could enjoy themselves. I sure as hell did. Went back four times as a kid." Shaun laughed. "Must've been a nice place." He looked at her. Her face was sad. "What happened here anyway?" Samantha was surprised. "You don't know?" Shaun nodded. "Well. It was just a normal day here. Then suddenly androids start attacking people. A lucky few made it out alive but then the androids learned. They started destroying ships and closing off docks. I was here with my family. I got lost after a fight with my mom. Met this group afterwards." She turned around and looked at the people. "I'm sorry about that Samantha." "Sam. Just call me Sam." Shaun smiled. "Well Sam, don't worry. The Doctor will get us out of here." Samantha looked at the Doctor. "Are you sure he's not crazy. I mean he wanted to stuff us inside a small box." Shaun thought for a moment but he was sure that the Doctor would work things out. "He's a great man. Saved my world once." Calvin walked towards the Doctor. "So what's your story?" The Doctor looked at Calvin. He was tired and he could see that in his eyes. "A trip. Kind of messed up the year though." Calvin laughed. "What do you mean 'messed up the year'? You didn't hear about this place? All the trouble?" Calvin looked sad now. "Guess the galactic government doesn't care." He looked at Mary and Lara. "She's also my daughter. Mary's my wife. One day it was Lara's birthday. Turned four. We took her here and…" Calvin paused. "We raised her here. Not the best place but we look out for her." The Doctor was still learning about humans. Even if he's over two thousand years old, humans were still a mystery to him. Later that night they ate and went to bed. The beds weren't comfortable as well, just cloth put over stuffed toys they find lying around. The Doctor was up looking at the night sky. Sleeping was never his thing. He looked at Shaun sleeping. "I did it again. Brought another human into danger promising him a theme park." The Doctor was about to go back when something caught his eye. Out in the sky…. Was a space ship bigger than anything he had seen. It was hovering near the planet. He lifted up his sonic screwdriver. It buzzed then started to screech. He moved to a more secluded area. Don't want to wake them up. He twisted the Sonic's handle until the screech turned into a voice. "Terminate all guests. Find all guests. Terminate all guests…" The Doctor widened his eyes. The signal controlling the androids. It was this voice. "Terminate all-" The voice stopped. The Doctor fiddled with the screwdriver. "Doctor…." The transmission stopped. The Doctor stood there in horror. "How could he know. "Buddy you alright?" Jeff walked to the Doctor. "Yeah. I'm fine." Right. Jeff took the watch shift for that night. "You should get some rest. Don't worry, I keep watch." The Doctor pondered the transmission. It sounded like a mix between a robot and a monster. Jeff returned to his post. He heard a loud thump. A rhythm of footsteps. In the distance he saw a faint glow. "Welcome to Xanaton Prime! Prepare for your termination!" It was the androids. They were coming.
The sound of footsteps were getting louder. "How'd they find us?! We had a jammer!" Mary was panicking but they didn't have time to complain. Calvin opened a hatch leading to a tunnel. "Let's go! One by one!" Lara was the first inside. She was crying. Shaun went in next. "Oi! Hurry up will ya! We can't hold them back much longer!" Benny was shooting at the clowns. One of the clowns shot the support lines holding up the wall. It collapsed on the hatch as Samantha got in. "Sam! You alright?!" Mary shouted. The hatch was blocked by the fallen wall. "Running out of room here!" Benny was furiously shooting at the clowns. Calvin looked around. "Head to the Ferris wheel!" They all ran. "Shaun is still down there!" Calvin turned around. "Well so is my daughter! But they're with Samantha and she knows where to go next!" The Doctor looked back as he ran. Again. He did it again. His companion was in danger. Lara wouldn't move. They were halfway through the tunnel. "Lara we need to keep moving." Shaun said. Lara kept crying. Samantha sat down with her. "Lara it's ok. Well find them." Lara looked at Samantha. "Really?" Samantha smiled. "I promise." Samantha's pocket vibrated. "It's the walkie!" She put the device on her ear. "Hello? This is Samantha!" The connection was rusty but she could make out Mary's voice. "Samm… We're… Ferris wheel… androids closing in…" "Mary! Mary!" "Keep my daughter safe…" the connection was lost. Lara began crying. Shaun tried to calm her down. "Dammit!" Samantha hit the wall. "Where do we go now?" Shaun asked. Samantha turned her head to him. "This tunnel leads to another place on Xanaton. Wild West Land. We built different bases in case one fails." "How long have you been here?" "…Seven years." Shaun looked down. "Seven years no help at all?" "Intergalactic comms were downed by the droids." Lara hugged Shaun. "I'm scared." Shaun picked her up. "Don't worry, we'll get through this." They began walking.
The other half of the team were at the Ferris wheel hiding in a cart. Calvin came back with his head down. "No sign of Jeff. Must have been…" Benny hit the cart. "Bloody hell! How'd they find us?!" The Doctor looked at his screwdriver. Back tracer. Of course. Stupid. "We need to keep moving." Mary stepped out of the cart. "Well find her Mary. We'll find our daughter." They started the long journey. Sunrise. Such a beautiful sight. Samantha enjoyed little things like this and after spending the night in a dark claustrophobic tunnel, this was a nice change. Lara was hugging a teddy bear Shaun had found lying around. "Not much further now." Samantha squinted at the horizon. There was something brightly colored. Shaun saw it too. His eyes widened. The TARDIS!
The Doctor looked at the sign of Wild West Land. Generic he thought. They stepped inside the area bordered by wooden fences. This was exactly like stepping into a western movie. There were houses with cracked wood. A saloon. Even a horse stable. His eyes focused on the path they were going through. "What exactly are we looking for?" The Doctor asked. Benny sighed "Something that looks like a base, mate." The Doctor frowned at him. He then focused his eyes on something in the corner. He stepped back a bit. "Doctor? What's wrong?" Mary asked. The Doctor started running. "It's my ship!" The TARDIS was standing in a town square. Shaun, Lara, and Samantha were on the other side. "Doctor don't!" Shaun shouted. The Doctor kept running and hit a force field knocking him on the ground. The force field had a wide range so it separated Shaun, Lara and Samantha from the others like a wall. "Lara! Samantha! You're ok!" Mary was happy to see them. "And me!" Shaun waved at them. The Doctor had gotten up and scanned the area. "The signal is coming from that same ship up there!" He pointed at the huge ship in the sky. "Seems like whatever is in that ship, controls the androids and the force field." Mary's eyes widened. "If that ship is controlling the force field, then… this was a trap." An android was standing behind them. It looked like one of those cowboys from the movies with a Stetson, boots with metal heels, and a big moustache. His glowing eyes were fixed on the Doctor. "Get out of here. Now!" The Doctor gripped his fists as the others ran away. "You seem alone. Where are your friends?" The android processed the question. "We have specific orders to capture you alive." "From who exactly?" "We have specific orders to not reveal information." The Doctor chuckled. He grabbed a nearby Stetson sitting on a table and put it on his head. "Y'know, this is the wild west and as a droid programmed to fit in here…" the Doctor gripped his pocket. "You must know that we settle things through draws." The android was silent for a moment. "Orders received. Your challenge has been accepted." The Doctor smiled. "Very well then. On three…" the Doctor and the android were in a standoff position. "One…" "Two…""Three!"
Before the android could deploy his weapon, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. The android stopped. "What's the matter? Don't have any orders? Well here's some!" The sonic flashed and buzzed. The android put its arm down. "Surprised?" The Doctor felt confident. "It was only a matter of time before I could figure out a way to bypass the virus you put in the androids." He flicked his screwdriver open. "Allowing me to gain control." The Doctor put the sonic near his mouth. "New orders: commence self-destruct!" The android aimed the gun at its head. "I'm coming for you." Pieces of metal flew out of the broken android as it collapsed on the ground. Shaun had managed to find a way around the force field and met up with the others. "Doctor, what happened?" The Doctor put down the Stetson he was wearing. "Things were taken care of." He looked up. "Now! That ship is huge. They didn't destroy the ships! Just used them as materials. It's melded together like it was salvaged in a hurry. Which means they're protecting the main controller." The Doctor held up his sonic and played the message from earlier. "Terminate all guests. Find all guests. Terminate all guests." Benny became suspicious. "How'd you get that?" The Doctor looked down. "Last night I scanned for signals. I got this message." Benny's eyes lit furiously. "They back traced you didn't they?! That's how they found us! That's how Jeff…" Benny trailed off. "I'm sorry about that. I never meant to lead them to us." Lara was hiding behind Mary, looking at the Doctor like he was some sort of monster. "Doctor…" the last of the message played. "Doctor he knows who you are." Shaun said. "Apparently he does." The Doctor looked up. "He's in that ship and I'm putting a stop to his scheme." He walked towards the TARDIS and put his hand on the force field. "I can take us all in the TARDIS but the other androids will be here shortly. I suggest you all hide while I shut down the controller." "You don't mean." Samantha said. The Doctor looked at Samantha "Yes. I'm going up there. He's probably the main control node so if I shut him down, the androids deactivate and the force field disappears." "How will you even get up there?" Mary asked. "I think I might have something for that." Said Samantha. She led them to an attraction called "Buffalo Rodeo". This wasn't any ordinary mechanical bull, this was a hover bull built to maneuver in different directions. The Doctor scanned the bull. "Hover technology. Great! If I can hack into the system and set the hover power to maximum…" the bull started to float. "Doctor I'm coming with you." Shaun said. "No too dangerous. Besides I need someone familiar with hacking computers from this era, probably need to plant a virus." Calvin stepped forward. "I'm a computer engineer, I know how they work." Mary grabbed Calvin. "Calvin!" "Mary, it'll be alright. Just keep our daughter safe." "OK then it's a plan. Me and Calvin go up, shut the controller down. The rest of you stay here by the TARDIS." "I'll protect them." Said Benny. "But remember Doctor, we're not even yet." The Doctor nodded and got on the bull. Calvin kissed Mary then Lara. "Daddy will be back honey." He got on the bull. The Doctor pointed the sonic to the bull and it flew off. "Mommy, where's daddy going?" Mary looked at them flying off. "He's saving us."
In the air, the bull started to swerve a bit. "Doctor! Get this thing under control!" The Doctor scanned the bull. "He's controlling it!" It went back and forth as it flew through the air finally crashing at a breach in the ship. The Doctor raised his sonic. "With me." Meanwhile on the ground, footsteps were being heard. They were all hiding in a saloon near the TARDIS. The androids arrived at the western town. "Hurry Doctor. Hurry." Shaun muttered. The Doctor and Calvin were running through corridors and bridges. "This ship's huge." Calvin exclaimed. They turned around a corner to find two androids with their guns pointed at them. They weren't themed like the cowboy and the clown were. They were just exoskeletons. Calvin immediately shot both of them in the head with his handgun. The Doctor crouched down to look at the droids. "They're being modified. Outfitted with weapons." He brushed off the droid's shoulder to find a symbol. It looked like a panel with a circle in the middle and three arrows pointing to the center. "Doctor let's get moving." They went through corridor after corridor until they arrived at a locked door. "Well. Moment of truth." The Doctor said while he opened the door with his sonic screwdriver. The doors opened to reveal an animatronic bear. "OK… the controller's a bear?" The bear turned its head to the Doctor. "Hello there. Welcome to Xanaton Prime. I've been expecting you Doctor." "That's Bill the Bear. The main mascot of Xanaton." Calvin said. "Ah Bill is it? Tell me, what is it you hope to archive?" Bill stared silently at the Doctor. "Well you're an android as well so what makes you different from the others?" "I have intelligence." "Yes a lot of intelligence. Maybe enough to create a plan to follow." He looked at Calvin. Calvin realized what the Doctor was doing. Stalling. Calvin quietly sneaked to the computer. "So Bill, where'd you get your intelligence?" "The humans created me as entertainment for children. They gave me intelligence to converse." The Doctor started pacing. "You're an android. Given intelligence. You used it to hack into the system, control technology within this park. So tell me, how do you know me." "What do you think you're doing?" The bear faced Calvin. Calvin had begun hacking the computer. The Doctor quickly drew his sonic and aimed at the computer. "Virus upload 20%" Bill was screaming. "Orders: Attack!".
They were getting closer. One of the androids opened the doors of the saloon and was about to find Lara under a table when Benny started shooting at it. He ran outside and yelled. "You want me?! Come get me!" He started running and shooting his gun. Mary looked at Shaun in horror. He's going to get killed. The Doctor closed the door and locked it. The androids couldn't get in. He scrambled towards Bill and put his hands on the sides of the bear's face. "If you're intelligent, then you must have a conscience." He prepared to psychic link with the animatronic bear. "Show me your secrets." The Doctor found himself in Bill's mind. Dark and empty. Or so he thought. A young boy walked out of the shadows. "Uh… I'm looking for a psycho killer bear. Have you seen one?" The Doctor asked. The child stared at him emotionless. "I see… you're…" before the Doctor could continue the child spoke. "You have truly lived up to your potential Doctor. Time Lord of Gallifrey." Lights started flashing behind him. They were memories. Bill had been a normal child but one day there was an accident in the park. Bill got hurt. The company didn't want this to get out so they used him… as a test subject. Project AI. The Doctor looked at the images before him. "You poor child. You must have been scared out of your mind to wake up in that suit." There was more. Bill breaking free and plugging himself in the main computer. Every file about the park. Every data. One particular file about the Doctor. The boy looked down. The lights stopped. "My turn is over Doctor now, show me who you are." "I don't think you want to know." It was too late. The Doctor tried to stop remembering but the more he tried, the more it hurt. Images of the Doctor's life flashed before Bill. There was an image of Gallifrey blowing up. "Now you see. I'm not just a Time Lord! I'm the last one!" Every adventure he had. Every villain he faced. Slitheen, Cybermen, Daleks. All of them were there. The Doctor tried hard to push back the remaining memories because he knew what was next. His companions. He struggled to forget but he couldn't. "So much pain. So much loss." Bill was fascinated by what he had seen. The Doctor was crying. He remembered his previous companions and what happened to them. All except one. That girl. The Impossible girl. Who was she? This time he tried remembering. "Cla-" the Doctor awoke from the psychic link. Bill had broken it. "I don't want to see your pain Doctor." "Doctor it's at 95%!" Calvin said. 95%. 93%. It was going down! "No no no!" Calvin typed faster with his fingers. "Doctor the firewall detected the virus! It's shutting it down!" 80%. "SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED!" The Doctor scanned it. "Bill's doing this." He walked to Bill. "Bill stop it. People are getting hurt!" No reply. "Doctor I can reverse the program! I just have to keep typing the shutdown code!" "Yes Calvin but you need to keep typing until…" the Doctor stopped. He understood why Calvin's eyes looked serious. He had to keep typing until the ship blew up.
Benny managed to keep the androids away, but they caught up to him. Benny screamed as he was shot. Shaun covered his mouth. He heard Benny scream. Tears ran down his eyes. An android kicked the backdoor open. They all got up and backed away. Shaun stood in front. The force field had deactivated. "Get to the TARDIS now!" The girls ran to the TARDIS. The android pulled out its gun. Shaun prepared to die. The gun jammed. Shaun let out a sigh of relief. The android then flicked a blade out of his other arm. Shaun started running. "I'm not leaving you here Calvin!" "Doctor we both know that one of us has to stay." "SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS 1 MINUTE!" "Keep my wife and daughter safe." The Doctor had no choice. He ran to the door and opened it to find androids with blades. The virus must have deactivated their weapons. Blades swung at the Doctor. Calvin fired the gun with one hand and kept typing with the other. "Doctor go now!" Before the Doctor left, Bill said to him. "Doctor, avenge me. Fight them." The Doctor stared at him but didn't reply and ran. The android were getting closer. They seemed slow. Shaun tried to open the TARDIS. Locked. No no no! Of course. The Doctor has the keys. "Shaun why won't it open?!" Mary cried out. "The keys are with the Doctor!" The androids got closer but then suddenly shut down. 100% Complete. Calvin smiled. "SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS 5 SECONDS!" The Doctor got on the bull and flew out. "3…" "2…" "1…" BOOM! The ship exploded while the Doctor tried to dodge the falling debris. When the Doctor landed Mary ran up to him. "Where's Calvin?" The Doctor looked down. "I'm sorry. He was a good man." Mary stood silently with tears running down her eyes. "Mommy where's daddy?" Mary held Lara in her arms. "Daddy's resting now. Daddy's fine." Shaun looked down. "But you know that's not all that Calvin did." He pointed at the sky. Ships were coming down. "Galactic police?" Said Samantha. "Yes. Apparently there was also an atmosphere shield. Disintegrates anything that passes through. The virus Calvin had uploaded shut it down. Now help's here." The Doctor and Shaun went silently in the TARDIS. Shaun waved goodbye to Samantha. She smiled and waved back. Their ordeal was over now. Mary, Lara, and Samantha watched as the TARDIS dematerialized.
"I almost died just because you wouldn't hand me a spare key." Shaun and the Doctor were discussing this for quite some time. "Spare keys are earned Shaun." He pulled a lever. Shaun suddenly felt his phone ring. "How's that possible? We're in space, in the future." "I might have gotten bored and made your phone universal." Shaun picked it up. "Hey Shaun!" It was Ashley. "Hey Ashley." The Doctor smirked as Shaun told him to keep quiet with a hand signal. "So Shaun, I was thinking of going over to your place. This homework they've given us doesn't make sense." Shaun smiled. "Sure, I'll help you out." "Okie then. Be there at 3." Ashley hung up. "So, she your girlfriend?" "Shut up." The Doctor smiled and pulled the breaks. "12:00 PM. Just enough time to prepare for your date." "It's not a date Doctor." Before Shaun stepped out, he turned around. "Is it always this dangerous travelling with you?" The Doctor paused. "Yes. Yes it is." Shaun smiled. "I'll be sure to give you a ring." The Doctor handed Shaun a slip of paper. "This is the number of the TARDIS. Phone when necessary. Should work with every phone from any time." Shaun took the paper. It read Doctor followed by a number. "Thanks." He went out. The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS took off. "Cla…rence? Cla…rice?" He kept murmuring to himself.
Bill was surprised to wake up. "Didn't I blow up?" He looked at his hands. Human! Actual human hands! He looked around. He was in a garden with a fountain in the middle. A bright light suddenly popped up behind him. Bill squinted but then looked in awe. He had never seen such a beautiful sight. He walked towards the bright light and out of view.
Next time: Dream World