Living the dream

Chapter 2

"That's disgusting." Gwen Cooper peered over Owen Harper's shoulder at the autopsy he was performing, grimacing and shuddering.

"Cooper, you've been doing this job, how long, and you still squeamish about a bit of brain?" Owen gave Gwen a dismissive look.

"I could be in this job for ten years 'Harper' and I still think I'd find the idea of little tentacle things implanting in someone's brain disgusting."

"Somehow I doubt you'll last that long."

"At least I don't actively aim to get myself killed." Gwen knew the statement was cruel as she said it, but Owen made her so angry. Any remorse she might have felt vanished with his next statement.

"No you spend your time actively aiming to shag anything except your boyfriend. By the way, have you managed to weasel your way into Jack's pants yet? Get some employee benefits?"

Gwen flinched as if she had been struck. "You know Owen, sometimes you really are a bastard."

"I aim to please. Now get out of my autopsy bay. Unlike some people, I've got real work to do." Owen didn't even look up as he reached for a dictaphone and began to recite. "Male aged seventeen, name Ian Maxwell, height 183cm, weight 93kg. Shows contusions and bruising consistent with a fall from a height of between approximately 75 and 100 metres. Cause of death, severe head trauma caused by the fall. Brain matter shows evidence of a potentially extraterrestrial material woven through the cerebrum and limbic system in a net formation."

From across the room Gwen watched Owen pause to cast a quick glance over his shoulder to see if she was still there, before resuming his dissection of the silver web from the boy's brain.

.........

Jack, Toshiko, Owen and Gwen sat around the conference table of the Torchwood Hub looking at the silver web sitting in a dissecting tray. Ianto Jones circled the table distributing coffees.

"So do we know what we're dealing with here? Owen?" Jack directed his gaze at the doctor.

"I haven't seen anything like it before, but it seems to be running in parallel with all of the brain's thinking, sensing and emotional functions, but not through any of the movement or basic motor functions."

"So is it some sort of mind control?" Gwen asked, observing the web with interest.

"Or mind reading?" Jack said. They all looked at Toshiko. Toshiko blushed slightly but returned their gazes evenly.

"Is it transmitting or receiving Tosh?" Jack asked.

"I've run some tests and it can do both. But there's something else. It's transmitting and receiving at that frequency I told you about." Toshiko went on to explain to the rest of the group about the low frequency electromagnetic wave she had detected across Cardiff. "And what's more, there's a peak in the wave at just the time when this boy died."

"So a net across a brain and a net across a city." Jack mused, impressed with Toshiko's uncanny ability to link disparate events. "Have you found out what happens when you transmit the same frequency to this net Tosh?"

Tosh nodded. "That is when it gets interesting." Toshiko pulled out a small black cylindrical object with a few buttons and small digital display. She pressed a button and aimed the end at the web. Pulses of gold and red ran through the silver threads and they began to slowly twitch.

"That can't feel good inside your brain." Gwen said.

"Actually, there are very few sensory nerves inside your brain. You might not even know it was happening." Owen said.

"Do you mean that this boy had this thing inside his head and he didn't even know it was there?" Gwen asked screwing up her face at the thought.

"It's possible. There are no signs of surgery to implant it. It looks like it somehow grew inside his head. Could have been there for years." Owen replied.

"I had this girlfriend once, who one night when she was drunk swallowed a light stick. For years she didn't know it was there, until one day we discovered that if she moved in a particular way she could make her belly glow. Interesting times. Interesting times." Lost in thought Jack unconsciously rubbed his stomach.

Ianto was used to Jack's stories. Interjecting before the group had a chance to react he asked, "Does that mean anyone could have one of these net things inside their heads and not know about it? Could there be others, all reacting to this signal?"

The others swung around to look at Ianto standing quietly at the back of the room, clearly having forgotten he was there. Jack's cool blue eyes gave Ianto a contemplative look. "You haven't named it then?"

A smirk flashed across Ianto's generally impassive face. "I've been thinking 'Mind Mesh' or 'Thought Trapper', but it's a work in progress." Ianto replied.

"I like Mind Mesh." Jack's brilliant white teeth flashed in a grin at Ianto and then Jack turned to Tosh. "Is there some way we can find out if anyone else has one of these things inside them without scanning everyone in Cardiff for alien tech?"

"Well maybe if I just loop this signal though the mesh, reverse it and link it up to the hub's computer. Just a moment." Toshiko twisted a few wires connecting the mesh, the cylindrical wave transmitter and her PDA. An image flashed up on the plasma screen at the end of the conference room showing a map of the city. A blue dot flashed up at the Roald Dahl Plass where the hub was. "That's this one. If I just strengthen the signal." Toshiko tapped on the screen of her PDA. "Oh..."

Blue dots had begun to appear all over Cardiff.

They all stared at the blue dots flashing up on the screen. Gwen was the first to break the silence. "There's hundreds of them." She ran her hands through her hair. "Could we have them inside us?"

Owen picked up the alien tech scanner from the table and ran it over each Torchwood member. "All clear."

Jack drew the team's attention back to him. "Ok then. We need to find out more. Can we pin down some of these Mind Mesh people Tosh?"

"The signal isn't strong enough. We can only locate people to within a few blocks."

"Ok, Tosh can you try to see if you can amplify the signal and get some exact locations or even some hotspots. And while your at it, see if there's rift activity four years, eight months and what three days ago now. Gwen I want you to find out more about this boy, did he jump or did this thing push him? Does he have any interesting contacts? Is there any alien technology in his house? That sort of thing. Owen, Ianto you're coming with me. We're going to the hospital. There are some spots near there and the thing about hospitals is that people can't move and they don't mind being examined. Actually sounds a lot like this place I used to visit on Bonoba IV. Had the most interesting decor..."

The team had already left the conference room and were going about their respective jobs. Owen stood impatiently near the door of the hub. "Jack come on."

"Sorry Owen, got distracted there for a moment." Jack walked out of the conference room, donned his coat and strode out through the rolling hub door, the skirt of his great coat flowing behind him.

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