Chapter 2 - The Nestene Consciousness.
When Vivian entered Giovanni's, she felt her stomach growl. She'd missed breakfast because she'd slept through the alarm and had nearly been late for rehearsals. She hadn't been able to fall asleep because she couldn't stop thinking about what had occurred the day before, and the man whom all the strangeness seemed to revolve. There hadn't been time for breakfast. She was therefore disappointed that when she found Rose and Mickey, the pizza hadn't arrived.
"Hiya Rose. Mickey." Vivian pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat down next to Rose. She noticed their menus were still on the table and groaned. They hadn't even ordered yet.
Rose scooted over to give her a bit more room.
"Pizza," Mickey said, drawing Vivian's attention to him. She thought he looked a bit feverish. His skin looked damp.
"You okay Mickey? You look a bit off."
"I'm fine Vivian. Fine. I'm fine. Great. Perfect." Mickey replied.
Vivian frowned. She turned to Rose but continued to observe Mickey out of the corner of her eye. "So, what have I missed?"
"I was just telling Mickey that I could try the hospital. Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen."
"I told you what I think. Do you really want to leave smelling like that, you know, that kitchen smell?" Vivian scrunched up her face.
Rose sighed. "I guess I could get my A Levels."
Vivian nodded. She'd been telling that to Rose ever since Jimmy Stone.
"And don't say it." Rose held up her hand. "I know it was stupid. Look where he ended up." She turned to Mickey, "What do you think?"
"So where did you meet this Doctor?" He asked Rose.
Vivian frowned. Hadn't Mickey been listening?
"I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?" Rose complained.
Mickey leant forward. "I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right?"
Was Mickey jealous?Vivian thought.
"Did he have something to do with that?"
"No," Rose told him.
"Come on." Mickey clearly didn't believe her.
Vivian was now sure something was off about him.
"Sort of," Rose replied.
"What was he doing there? Come on. You can trust me, sweetheart, babe, sugar, babe, sugar."
Vivian frowned.
"You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose."
Rose narrowed her brow and leant towards Mickey. "What are you doing that for?"
"You're champagne." A voice said somewhere behind them.
"We didn't order any champagne," Mickey said in annoyance, his eyes not leaving Rose.
"Mademoiselle, your champagne."
Vivian felt something brush against her back, so she turned and looked up. It was the Doctor, and he was shaking a champagne bottle, aimed directly at Mickey. He lifted one finger to his lips, indicating he wanted her to stay quiet.
"It's not ours." Rose waved the Doctor off without turning around. She leant towards Mickey, "What's wrong?"
"I need to find out what you know, so where is he?"
Vivian's eyes widened. Mickey wasn't sick. He was plastic.
"Doesn't anybody what this champagne." The Doctor asked.
"Look, we didn't order it." Mickey finally looked up. "Ah. Gotcha!"
"What do you say, Viv?" The Doctor looked down and gave her a wink. "Shouldn't we have a toast to the happy couple?" With that, the Doctor released the cage, the cork shot out and disappeared into plastic Mickey's forehead.
It seemed to have little effect on him. He began to chew and then spit it out.
All watched in horror as one of Mickey's hands transformed into a large plastic chopper. In seconds, chaos erupted within the restaurant as plastic Mickey began chopping through tables and swinging madly in an attempt to get to the Doctor. Rose and Vivian flew passed them. Both girls watched as the Doctor got plastic Mickey in a headlock and then proceeded to pull its head off.
"Don't think that's going to stop me!" Mickey's head threatened from under the Doctor's arm. The rest of him had fallen back and was now wreaking havoc on the restaurant, nearly taking out a few of the customers.
"Good lord!" Vivian almost choked. "Get out! Get out!" She screamed.
Rose hit the alarm near the door. "Everyone! Get out!"
With that, Rose, Vivian, and the Doctor ran.
"We've got to get out!" Rose screamed as she pushed and pulled on a large gate. They had run through the kitchen and directly into a dead end. The only exit was through a large set of wooden doors donning barbed wire across the top.
There was no other way to run.
Use that letter opener thing!" Vivian begged the Doctor.
"Come on!" Rose yelled as she continued to push and pull at the door.
"Sonic screwdriver." The Doctor corrected Vivian.
"Well just use it!" Vivian began to panic. She tried to help Rose pull on the door.
"Nah, tell you what, let's go in here."
Vivian turned back to see the Doctor stroll casually towards a blue box. A blue Police box that looked extremely out of place in a dark alley.
"You can't hide inside a wooden box!" Rose reasoned.
Vivian agreed. Plastic Mickey would tear it down. She watched the doctor unlock the box and then disappear through the double doors.
Police Box. Blue Police Box.Vivian now recalled the Doctor walking towards a blue box when he'd left them yesterday. Now, here was another, and it was extremely out of place. "I don't think that's just an ordinary box Rose." Vivian slowly approached the box.
Rose ran back to the gate and began to pull at the doors once more. She glanced behind and yelled at Vivian. "Come on! It's gonna get us!"
"Rose, let's just follow the Doctor. We're not getting out that way." Vivian moved towards the doors of the blue box.
Nothing could have prepared Vivian for what she found inside. Sure, she knew very well she wasn't going to be stepping into an ordinary blue police box; however, this was something altogether different. The Doctor was a strange man who went around chasing after plastic dummies that somehow had become animated. She recalled him saying, 'You lot…' as though he didn't consider himself like them. He could feel the Earth turning. Falling through space. Oh, she'd been expecting something strange, something different; this was extraordinary.
After her initial astonishment had worn off, Vivian's attention diverted to where the Doctor was rushing around a centre console. He was pressing buttons, pushing levers up, and pulling levers down.
"It's going to follow us!" Rose came barreling through the doors, shaking Vivian from her observations. "He's going to break down-" Her voice suddenly failed her as she took in her surroundings.
"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." The Doctor told her.
"Spaceship." Vivian murmured to herself.
Vivian felt someone tug on her shirt. It was Rose.
"It's bigger… the inside is larger than the outside." Rose whispered.
The Doctor didn't seem to care about her revelation and shook Mickey's head in the air. "The arm was too simple, but the head… the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal." He then fixed the head to the console.
Once he was satisfied with his work, he turned back to face them. "Right then! Where do you want to start?" His eyes darted between them.
Rose moved forward. "Um… The inside's bigger than the outside."
"Yes."
"It's alien."
"Yep."
"Are you alien?"
"Yes. Is that all right?"
"Yeah."
The Doctor glanced towards Vivian; however, she was no longer standing where she'd been. He looked around and then found her near one of the pillars. He felt the Tardis shiver as Vivian proceeded to run her hand down its curve.
"So beautiful." She told the Tardis.
Both Rose and the Doctor were now staring at her as she explored the ship, her hands running over the surface in places as though trying to verify it was real.
"It's called the Tardis, this thing. T.A.R.D.I.S. Time And Relative Dimension In Space." The Doctor said a bit louder, gaining Vivian's attention.
Rose suddenly burst into tears.
Vivian rushed to her. "It's going to be okay Rose."
The Doctor didn't understand what had just happened. Why was Rose crying?
"No, it isn't," Rose clung to her friend. "Mickey. He's that thing." She then looked to where the Doctor was standing. "Did they kill him? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"
The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. It was evident he hadn't considered that. "I didn't-"
"He's my boyfriend!" She gestured to the centre console where Mickey's plastic head was still attached. "You pulled his head off!"
"Doctor!" Vivian interrupted. "It's melting!"
Rose stood, shocked, wide-eyed.
The Doctor quickly turned to where Mickey's head was indeed melting, the plastic oozing around the wires and cables that were attached to it. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor rushed forward, and once again he began pressing buttons and pushing and pulling levers.
Both Rose and Vivian nearly fell as the Tardis began to rock. Vivian grabbed onto one of the nearby pillars.
"What are you doing?" Rose shouted.
"Following the signal," The Doctor told her. "It's fading."
The Tardis seemed to level out and stop rocking.
"I've got it." He looked pleased with himself; however, this didn't last long.
Once more the Tardis began to move side to side, up and down, reminding Vivian as though she was on an aeroplane that just hit some severe turbulence.
"Almost there, almost there." The Doctor was now gazing into a monitor. "Here we go, here we go." The Tardis seemed even out once more. "There. That's it." He then abruptly rushed out the door.
"What are you doing?" Rose called after him. "It's not safe! That thing is out there."
Vivian slowly followed behind the Doctor.
"Viv! Don't go out there." Rose called after her. "Vivian!"
The Doctor shook his fists into the air in extreme disappointment. "I was so close! I was there!" He turned to Vivian who was still following behind him, only slightly astonished they had moved. "I lost the signal!" he complained.
Rose joined them. "We've moved! Does it fly?"
The Doctor turned and looked out into the Thames. "Disappears there, reappears here." He gave a flippant wave. "You wouldn't understand."
Vivian was annoyed.
"So now that plastic thing is back there, on the loose?" Rose's voice was full of concern.
The Doctor didn't bother to turn around. His shoulders slumped, and his arms hung loosely along his frame. "Melted with the head." He then turned around abruptly and glared at her, "Are you going to witter on all night."
Now that was uncalled for! Vivian stomped forward. "What is wrong with you?" Vivian poked him in the chest. "Who do you think you are being-"
"He's an alien Viv. He's an alien." Rose began to cry in hysterical sobs. "You went and forgot Mickey again! You… you… Alien! I'll have to tell his mum, and YOU" She pointed an accusatory finger at the Doctor, "you don't even care. I'll have to tell his mum he's dead."
"Look," The Doctor sighed, "if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"
"He's not a kid! He wasn't… he was my boyfriend!"
"-It's because I'm trying to save the lives of every stupid ape blundering-"
"Ouch!" The Doctor covered his burning cheek with his hand and glared down at Vivian.
"That's quite enough!" She scolded him. "Saving the world is one thing. Yes. Thanks! But, you don't have to be a jerk about it. You ass!"
"Alien." Rose cried.
"Yes! Yes. He's an alien." Vivian turned back to the man and gave him a good hard poke in the chest, "But, first and foremost, you're a living being, human or otherwise, and that doesn't absolve you of being an ass!" She gave another good poke. "Stop it. Now!" She then looked to Rose. "Rose, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about Mickey, but we can't do anything at the moment." She then gestured to the Doctor, "If what this ape is telling us is true, we can't stand here all night!" She then turned back to the Doctor. "What are we looking for?"
The Doctor was silent as he looked down at the young woman before him. It was as though his brain was having trouble processing what to say, "A… ah… a transmitter."
He then looked about wildly, "How can you hide something so big in a city this small?"
"So what does it look like?" Vivian asked.
"Round. Like a transmitter. Massive. Slap in the middle of London. Like a dish. Radial. A huge metal wheel. Close to where we're standing. It must be completely invisible." The Doctor turned full circle before looking down to see a surprisingly calm Rose. She was watching him, her eyebrow raised. "What?" He asked.
Rose nodded to something behind him. He glanced back but clearly didn't see what was right there in front of him.
Vivian immediately made the connection.
He glanced at Vivian, who nodded towards the river.
"What?" The Doctor turned around once more, still clueless.
"Now who's the stupid ape," Rose told him.
"What?" He turned back around and finally noticed the Eye of London in the distance. "Oh."
Both ladies could help their excitement surfacing when the Doctor smiled brilliantly.
"Fantastic!"
They ran through a small bricked hallway, lots of metal pipes and chains creating a dangerous obstacle course. Vivian was surprised she hadn't broken her neck already. She was sure the only reason she was still standing was that the Doctor was pulling her along at one end and Rose was following along gripping her other hand tightly. Rose's stride was just slightly slower, and Vivian had the feeling of being jostled harshly between two points. She soon came to a halt when she slammed into the Doctor.
"There." He said as he drew his sonic screwdriver out and traced it along the edges of a large steel door. He quietly pushed it open. Immediately a wave of heat billowed out from the other room. The smell was toxic.
The three hurried down a set of grated stairs until they reached a landing looking out onto a multi-level chamber. The room was stifling and looked more like some hellish torture chamber than an underground utility building.
"That," the Doctor nodded towards a vat of red liquid below, "is the Nestene Consciousness." The liquid appeared to roll in a near boil; however, on second glance it was revealed to be a living plastic creature, its face groaned and stretched.
"How are you going to kill it?" Rose whispered.
"I'm not here to kill it."
Even Vivian was slightly surprised.
"I've got to give it a chance."
"But what if it tries to kill us? It killed Mickey!" Rose said a bit louder but quickly regulated her voice.
"Anti-plastic." The Doctor held up a bottle of blue liquid.
"And that will destroy it?" Vivian asked.
The Doctor nodded. "But I've got to give it a chance. Its home planet was destroyed. All of its food stock destroyed in the war."
The Doctor then stepped forward, out of the shadows, and moved to edge of the platform. "I seek an audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."
Below, the vat of liquid groaned and stretched; its face contorted into something more human-like.
"Thank you. May I approach?" The Doctor asked.
Vivian assumed he'd been granted permission because the Doctor turned and headed down a set of stairs towards a platform directly above the vat. She was slightly hesitant to follow. There weren't any railings.
"Oh, God! Mickey!" Rose blurted out, pointing to someone crouched down on the lower level. She turned to the Doctor, "They've kept him alive!"
"There was a chance. They might have needed a copy."
Rose glared and hurried down to her boyfriend.
"You knew and never said?" Vivian whispered.
"I couldn't be sure." He then turned back to the liquid below. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?"
Vivian felt her prior annoyance with the man dissipate as she listened to him defend her world. She couldn't help but remember the way he spoke of the world spinning. He loved Earth. He was protecting them.
Her musings were suddenly cut short by the sound of Rose screaming "Viv! Doctor! Look out!"
It was too late to react; she felt strong plastic hands grab hold of her arms and pull her back. She was horrified to see that the Doctor was in a similar situation.
She grew even more concerned when one of the creatures pulled the phial of anti-plastic out of the Doctor's pocket.
"I wasn't going to use it!" The Doctor tried to reason with them. "I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy."
She glanced at movement above them and was horrified to see that four of the plastic creatures were pushing the Tardis towards the edge of the platform.
"No! Oh, no." There was anguish in the Doctor's voice. He quickly turned back to the Consciousness. "Yes, that's my ship. No, no." He continued the conversation.
Vivian could only guess what was being said.
"That's not true!"
Vivian watched as the Doctor's face contorted in pain. It wasn't pain from the grip of the creatures detaining him; this was grief, a remembrance of a painful memory. "I should know, I was there. I was there, and I fought in the war. I couldn't save your world! It wasn't my fault!"
Vivian was sure she saw a tear.
"I couldn't save any of them!" The Doctor's voice was full of sorrow.
Just then Vivian's attention was drawn to Rose and Mickey who were scrambling towards them. "Run Rose!" She cried out. She looked up once more, and the Tardis was pushed a few more inches towards the edge of the platform.
"I can't just leave…" Rose tried to move forward, but Mickey pulled her back.
"Rose go! Get out! Just get out!" The Doctor yelled.
"Run!" Shouted Vivian as the Consciousness gurgled and burped in anger below.
Rose hesitated for a moment and then took off in the direction of the Tardis. She panicked when she pulled on the door, "I haven't got a key!"
"Let's go. Just leave them! There's nothing you can do!" Mickey pulled on her arm.
Rose looked around in panic. There had to be something she could do. She looked up, down, and around where Vivian and the Doctor were struggling with the plastic dummies.
"I've got to do something!" She cried out.
Mickey was shaking his head violently and began pulling on her once more.
She spotted a long chain tied back with a rope. Her heart was pounding in her chest. An axe. There was an axe leaning against the wall nearby.
"I've got to do something." She whispered. "I've got no A Levels, no job," her voice was growing stronger, "no future." She marched forward, shaking Mickey from her arm.
"But I tell you what I got, Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team." In one swift motion, she picked up the axe and brought it down on the rope. "I've got the bronze!"
Vivian watched in both horror and hope as Rose came swinging down towards the two dummies who were holding her and the Doctor over the vat of liquid plastic below.
The plastic creatures didn't have a chance as Rose knocked them clear. For a very brief moment, Vivian throughout all would be well until she felt something tug on her leg. She suddenly found herself scrambling to hold onto the edge of the grated platform. Below her, latched onto one of her legs, was the plastic dummy that held the anti-plastic in its other hand. She let out a scream as she kicked, trying with all her strength to keep a firm grip on the metal grating.
"Vivian!" It was Rose who first noticed that her friend was in danger. The Doctor, after righting himself had focused on catching Rose upon her return swing. Rose hurried to the edge but wasn't sure what to do. "Hold on!"
The Doctor rushed to pull her up, but Vivian slipped from the edge after another violent kick. For a moment both Rose and the Doctor thought Vivian was done for; however, she was able to grab onto a bit of grating just below. The plastic creature was not so lucky; it went plummeting down into the angry vat, the anti-plastic still grasped in its hand.
"Help me!" Vivian cried.
The Doctor couldn't reach her. He turned to Rose and handed her a gold key, "Take the key. Get to the Tardis!"
Rose grabbed the key and hurried up towards the police box, pulling a hysterical Mickey along with her.
The Doctor turned back to where Vivian was hanging. Then, in one great leap, he swung down onto the lower ledge and readied to pull her up.
Just as he reached her, she let out a bloodcurdling scream and let go. The Consciousness below was screaming, boiling with anger. The vat was erupting, and Vivian was completely unprotected. She fell.
"Vivian!" Rose has screamed from above.
The Doctor nearly missed; however, he managed to grab onto Vivian's wrists.
"Go, Rose, get out of here." The Doctor ordered her as he struggled to pull Vivian up. "Get to the Tardis!"
Rose hesitated for a moment; however, after another blast of liquid plastic, and the screams of Mickey telling her to run. She did so.
Vivian was writhing in pain, but the Doctor managed to pull her up and then lift her from the ground. He ran. Up, up, he climbed, Vivian gripped tightly against him. He didn't slow down, even after the Tardis doors were safely closed behind him.