Chapter 3
One minute he was struggling for air. His eyes were squeezed shut while he was helplessly battered and ripped apart by the rapids. The next minute, he felt cold hard metal rise up to meet him. He couldn't help but cough and splutter as he found himself laying on his side in a narrow corridor. The recognisable green glow and narrow hexagonal doorways helped him steady his breathing. Are we out of the simulation? He rose, realising he had his coat back on. We must be, he answered himself as he peered up the corridor. Clara was further along, lying on her back and wheezing loudly. Before he could call out to her, a sharp, piercing stab of pain shot through his skull. He clutched the sides of his head, crying out. Through his blurred vision, he saw Clara jerk upright. Various schematics of the TARDIS that he hadn't thought about in years were suddenly popping up in his brain. I'm being scanned! The Doctor tried to lower a hand to reach into his pocket, but could not steady himself. The pain was too great. As he scrambled for the sonic, he gritted his teeth and tried to think of anything and everything to delay the scan.
"Doctor!" Clara sounded like she was miles away. Her words were drowned out by the crescendoing white noise rattling his brain. More images came through, but the Doctor had managed to push some of the more important memories back and conceal them. A voice, as clear as day, broke through the racket in his head.
"So what they say about you is true! You really are a tough nut to crack! I'm actually quite impressed that you two managed to escape the program, then again, you did design most of it. Hope you liked my tweaks to it, by the way." The man cackled. His jovial attitude threw the Doctor for a second.
"Out of my head, now!" The Doctor snarled through his teeth. His fingertips were now on the screwdriver. Just. Need. To pull it out…
"No can do, 'Doctoroo'! You have something I want. I was really hoping you'd have been nice and sedated in the holding cells - would have made this loads easier. Oh well, time to change tactics. Let's ramp up the mind jacking!" The voice boomed excitedly. The white noise now exploded into a screech, and the Doctor fell to his knees. The sonic clattered on the metallic floor as both hands were now glued to his skull. The roof of his mouth began to taste metallic. The important TARDIS information that was safely concealed behind thick walls was now wearing thin, forcing him to mentally lash out at the intruding scan. While fighting, he didn't realise that his right hand was wrenched from his head. Soft skin met his fingertips.
"Telepathic link. Now!" Clara's voice dipped in and out. She had a firm grip on his right arm to make sure he didn't pull away from her temple.
"What..?"
"Sharing! More mental junk to sift through."
His racing hearts skipped a few beats. She would be sharing not only the scan, but the pain that came with it. There was no way he could think straight while battling the scan. He had to trust that she would be OK. She'll cope. She'll buy us time. The Doctor held his breath, and allowed the link to establish. It was instantaneous. The pain lessened. He mostly regained his senses, although, he wished now that he hadn't. Clara screamed. It was as if there were knives being driven into his chest. Her fingers dug into his right arm as he reached for the sonic with his left. In one fluid motion, he brought the sonic up between them and activated it. A blinding white light replaced the images that were being stolen from his mind. It took a minute or so for the stars behind his eyes to fade away. He found himself lying once more on the floor, with Clara semi-conscious beside him. Dizzily, he crawled over to her and shook her gently.
"Clara? Are you ok?"
"Mmmh." she merely grunted in response. Her eyes were still shut tight. The Doctor's upper lip curled as he spoke to the absent voice.
"Right, speak up. Your name and what you want. Now."
The loudspeakers in the TARDIS corridor crackled.
"You managed to fry the scanner..? I really need to get me one of those light up -" the baffled voice was cut off.
"Enough. If you won't tell me who you are, then I will find you and we will get very acquainted in person." he growled, still kneeling beside a groaning Clara. The voice snorted loudly.
"Y'know, I researched you and your ladyfriend. Found everything there is to know about one Clara Oswald. You, on the other hand… Fragments. An enigma! I couldn't even find your real name - even in the most elusive databases in the universe! I looked EVERYWHERE. Couldn't find it. So, unless you give me the courtesy, then you can call me the Programmer. My deal? Simple: hand over your time machine, and I'll let you and the girl off on Earth in 2015. Easy peasy! No upfront payments!" The Programmer explained. The speaker continued to broadcast the sound of rapid typing. Is the TARDIS not parked on the roof of that hospital anymore? The Doctor wondered to himself as he saw Clara groggily open her eyes.
"Why would you want this time machine, of all things? To have been able to translate, hack, and force-initiate my program remotely, I'm guessing we're far enough into the future that time travel is readily available." The Doctor surmised. He stood up, and helped Clara to her feet.
"Why, your TARDIS is high end quality. No mistakes. Destination is guaranteed. Bonus: it's Time Lord technology. I'm sold! And I'm already at your doors, Doctor. I'm a knockin'. Physically, I mean. I can only do so much outside of the TARDIS. Anyway, by hijacking your abandoned program - carelessly left outside of the safety of those big bad Time Lord firewalls - I've found a window into the TARDIS interface. The old girl is not happy, let me tell you! She put up a real good fight while you two were busy. Point is, I'll find out how to let myself into the console room soon. I saw enough of your mind to figure out how the internal systems of the TARDIS work. I'm only telling you this because I want you to know that I've already won. The TARDIS is already mine. Save me the effort and hand it over."
The Doctor swallowed heavily. He could feel Clara's widening eyes on him now. If we reach the console room, I can fight him off and stop him from coming inside…
"Thinking you've already won will be your biggest mistake. I will never give you the TARDIS." The Doctor spat. He gestured for Clara to follow, and she nodded mutely - already knowing where they were headed. They made their way down the corridor hastily.
"Well, if that's how you're gonna be…" he dramatically whined. Drumming fingers came through the speakers. Suddenly, the Programmer's tone quickly shifted. "I can't promise that you will see the end of this day, Doctor. But I will promise you this: I am taking your TARDIS. Whether you're under my boot or not when I finally do is entirely up to you."
"You don't scare us. And you really are deluded if you think you can just take whatever you want." Clara finally said. As she spoke, a slight buzz in the back of his head made the Doctor flinch. Just barely, the familiar feeling of a telepathic link wavered. Whether it was the TARDIS, or something else entirely, he did not know.
"I am far from deluded! I don't think I can take whatever I want. I KNOW I can! I'll show you. Look - ah, hang on, just a sec." the speaker went silent. The pair rounded a corner to find that the TARDIS had not rearranged its corridors as it usually did when they were heading back to the console room.
"Doctor..?"
"She's probably busy keeping this lunatic out of her systems. We need to keep - "
Hello? Is this thing on? Doctor? Can you hear me? Oooh, this is neat. I love telepathical engineering!
The Doctor froze. Clara stopped beside him, giving him a puzzled look.
"C'mon? We need to hurry." Clara beckoned. She got no reply.
You can hear me, can't you? Wait… Yes, yes you can! I can see you now on my monitor. Boy, you look shocked!
You..? What? How?!
Wait, I have another call. Please hold.
The Doctor spun around to face Clara. She was still staring at him, until her eyes began to bug out.
"You hear him too?" The Doctor asked her. She nodded quickly.
"How is he in my head?" Clara gasped.
The speaker burst into life.
"Good news: I'm an augmented human. I've hooked myself into the TARDIS interface, and am currently hacking away at that pesky firewall. I've made some serious progress these past couple of minutes. I can now telepathically communicate with you two! Delightful, isn't it?" The Programmer chimed in. "Just make sure to keep those thoughts 'PG', alright?"
"Let's keep going. We can't be far now." The Doctor whispered, ignoring the irritable laughter that followed. They both started off again, jogging down the narrow hexagonal corridors. The green haze that usually bathed the corridors began to morph into a dark red.
"And now I have full control of the architectural reconfiguration systems. Is reality sinking in yet, Doctor?" the Programmer jeered.
"I'll see you very soon, Programmer. Then we'll see who gets hit by reality."
"Ooh, very violent! But, sadly, I don't think we'll be seeing each other anytime soon. I've found something very interesting indeed! You might especially like it, Clara!" the voice drained out as the corridors began to melt around Clara and the Doctor. As the roof separated, it revealed an overcast sky. The walls crumbled around them, and they found themselves in a cemetery. His heart filled with dread. He knew exactly where they were. How did you manage to project this potential future? The Doctor privately asked the Programmer. There was no reply. Meanwhile, Clara glanced around, surveying her new environment with peaked interest. A group of people, dressed in all black, huddled together around a grave nearby. A familiar teary face pulled away from the crowd and began to walk towards them.
"Is that..? Rigsy? What's happened?" Clara breathed, and went to approach him. However, the Doctor had stepped in front, blocking her view of the heartbreaking scene.
"Clara, I'm going to need you to trust me. You need to close your eyes. Do not open them until I say." he said carefully. She paused to meet his eyes, before complying.
"You'll always have my trust. So, what am I not allowed to look at?"
"Everything. A potential future of ours is currently being broadcasted. It's fine if I see bits of it, but if you see any of it…"
"Fixed point. Got it." she spoke a little too quickly. He wondered whether she had already put the pieces together as to whose funeral it was. No matter. This would only be set in stone if she saw the dates etched onto the grave. Clara held out her hand. He took it and led her away from the group of mourners. The further they went, the less real the simulation looked. The red corridor walls resurfaced from the dry grass, and the grey clouds above evaporated behind the corridor ceiling.
The Doctor heaved a sigh of relief, "We're back. You can open your eyes now."
"Thank God. How has the Programmer managed to get a hold of our potential futures? It's not in the TARDIS database, surely? Only fixed events would be stored?" Clara inquired as she opened her eyes. She watched as he scratched his chin. A grim frown crossed his face as he started down the corridor.
"Can you feel a very faint sensation in the back of your skull? Not like the ice-cream pain, but something more…"
"Nicer? Yeah, I do feel it." she finished, trying to keep up with his long strides. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"When I overloaded the brain scanner, we had an established telepathic link to share the scan. I think the over-amplification of the scan has kept that link alive and has inadvertently transcended to match the medium the scanner was utilising."
"Okay, but you're a touch telepath?"
"I am. But our connection is now based on distance. As long as we're in close proximity to one another, we'll maintain that link. The Programmer, through the TARDIS, must be picking up on our link and drawing memories from it…" he trailed off.
Clever boy. It's a shame your link only shows me things about her. But, I'll take what I can get. Call this a blessing in disguise!
Leave her out of this. The TARDIS belongs to me.
Well, Clara Oswald is the only thing that's on the telly at the moment…
I'm warning you… Meddling with the flux and fix of time relative to a person is dangerous.
He waited for a retort, but nothing came. The Doctor hadn't noticed Clara trying to grab his attention. She only had to look at his face contort in fury before it dawned on her that he was probably conversing with the Programmer.
"What's he saying?" Clara prodded, yanking the Doctor out of his thoughts. They stopped dead in their tracks. The walls around them began to morph into Dalek architecture. He grabbed Clara's hand.
"Close your eyes."
She was already one step ahead of him and had closed them. The floor rumbled as if the depths of hell itself was opening up. Wherever they were, it looked as if the place was going to collapse. The Doctor's own voice rung through the Dalek tunnels. It seethed with pure hatred. Clara pulled away from the Doctor's grip and covered her ears. She quickly hummed a tune loudly.
"Daleks! This will be the last time you EVER take someone from me! I should have done this a long time ago!"
The Doctor blinked rapidly at the sound of his own shrewd voice being broadcasted. Before he could place where exactly they were, the ceiling started to cave in above them. The other Doctor continued to bellow. The Doctor spun around, remembering he had to guide his companion through the imminent chaos. Clara still had her eyes screwed shut and hands covering her ears. Just as the ceiling fell, he darted forwards and tackled her. The force behind his dive threw them across the floor, narrowly avoiding the carnage. The Doctor made sure he took the brunt of the fall, letting her land safely on top of him. Clara's eyes shot open, clearly startled.
"I'm almost certain that the 'death in the sim' rules still apply."
Clara grimaced, "Well, that's definitely going to be a problem here."
"Listen, I don't think I can guide you safely through all this…" the Doctor wheezed. Clara strained her head around to see that rubble had now settled in the area they were idly standing at just moments before.
"He's made it harder for me to avoid seeing all this. How about I just keep my eyes open briefly? I'll close them only if it's absolutely necessary." she offered as she carefully slid off of him. Fidgeting with his hands while he lay on the floor, he reluctantly nodded in agreement.
Clara helped him up and watched with mild concern as the Time Lord dusted himself off, making some effort to conceal his pained expression caused by his earlier injuries. He stared warily at the ceiling above, "We need to try to find a way to leave the memory - like last time."
Clara's hands shot up to cover her ears as the other Doctor came through the speakers once more. The anguish in his voice made the Doctor's insides twist in knots.
"She wasn't even meant to be here… She didn't have to die…"
The Doctor beckoned for Clara to follow him, and they ran through the crumbling dalekanium interior until they hit a t-intersection. To the left, a steel sliding door. To the right, another long tunnel. He pointed to the door, and Clara gave a 'why not?' shrug. The door slid open and they entered. The small, circular room offered only one exit, and contained rows and rows of monitors. All of them were displaying the same footage: Clara, surrounded by group of Daleks. A loud crash thundered outside the corridor from which they came. They quickly ran to the other side of the room to pass through the next door, but found that it did not budge. Another deep rumble. This time, it tore through the ceiling above them, creating cracks. Clara backtracked to the door they had entered to discover that the corridor had been blocked by rubble. She removed her hands from her ears as she spun around to face the Doctor.
"No way out." Clara sighed, continuing to ignore the many monitors now showing a close up of her terrified face. The Doctor, however, couldn't take it any longer.
"Keep your eyes closed. I'm going to look for a way to get this door open."
"Sonic it?"
"It won't work in this type of simulation."
Clara was hesitant to close her eyes, but quickly shut them when the Daleks began to approach her on-screen counterpart.
"You need me to help search too. I don't think the roof can hold out any longer. We'll find it quicker if we search together." she informed the Time Lord as he desperately made his way around the room, trying to find the switch to the next door.
"No." He said firmly. On screen, Clara began to run.
No, no, don't run.
The Doctor had already seen this in his head, among many other potential futures regarding Clara. He was used to it; it hardly bothered him seeing some of the different pathways time could take. However, the programmer chose the pathways that only ended in her death. And of course, today he was bothered. Very bothered, and very tired after the events of Sister Xeka and the hospital. He looked away from the monitor just as the Daleks screeched 'exterminate'. The monitors began to loop the footage, showing Clara once again frozen and surrounded by Daleks.
"It's looping the footage..." The Doctor muttered to himself. Clara opened her eyes and darted to the other side of the room to check behind and on the monitors for any hidden switches.
"Good. Tell me when I need to close my eyes again." Clara said as the monitors in front of her shook violently. A chunk of the roof fell into the middle of the room, exposing the bare, black sky.
"I've got this, Clara, just keep your eyes closed." he reassured her.
"Any moment that ceiling will come crashing down. I'll look until the bad bit comes up on the screen." she explained as she continued her search. She didn't bother turning around to look at him.
"No. What if the monitor stops looping and shows something else? Stop helping, come here, and stay close."
"We'll die if I don't."
"You'll die if you do."
"So you'd rather we both die then?" Clara snapped. The Doctor didn't have time to retort as the ceiling near where he was searching caved in. He darted away, rolling to evade the falling metal and monitors. Glancing around, he saw that the monitors now showed Clara attempting to escape. Meanwhile, Clara was still frantically examining each monitor and panel behind it.
"Eyes!" he yelled with the remaining breath he could muster.
Spinning around, she saw him crawling away from the rubble on the floor. Her eyes then flicked to the remaining monitors on the wall behind him, and realisation dawned. The Doctor didn't see if she had managed to close her eyes on time or not. More bits of metal came crashing down around them. The Doctor rolled to his side to avoid them, and spotted an exposed button just above where the floor and wall met. He scrambled over to it and punched it. A hiss came from the steel door as it slowly slid open. Adrenaline took over. The Doctor got to his feet and ran for Clara, who had no idea that the door opened since her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. With one hand around her waist and the other on her shoulder, he dragged her over to the door. The rest of the ceiling finally gave way, and they dove through the door. It slammed shut behind them as the roof finally merged with the floor. The pair found that they had landed back in the TARDIS corridor.
Clara was the first to her feet, prompting the Doctor to interrogate her, "Did you see anything on the monitor?"
"What? No. No, I didn't." Clara breathed heavily. She peered up and down the new corridor they were in. Its eerie red glow was unsettling, which was very unlike what she was used to when she usually traversed through the TARDIS.
"Are you absolutely sure?" he asked, now struggling to even manage a sitting position as he followed her gaze. Which way to the console room? Perhaps finding a terminal in one of the rooms is a more viable option…
"Yes! Doctor, at this rate, the Programmer's going to have full control over the TARDIS if we don't get a move on." Remembering the Doctor's injuries, she went to help him up as he clearly struggled to find his footing. "Sorry." she quickly added.
"Not full control… But mostly, yes." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I hate to say this, but I think we need to split up." said the Doctor dejectedly. Before she could argue, he cut in, "Besides covering more ground, I have a hunch that the further we are from one another, the weaker the link between us."
"So no more future projections?"
"I should think not. But, who knows what else he'll throw at us." The Doctor grimaced. How long had it been since the Programmer managed to hack into the architectural systems? How much had he accomplished since then?
"Doctor, I can handle myself, but I'm starting to get the feeling that he wants us separated," Clara tried with an exasperated expression, "Why else would he torment us with projections of my possible death if not to drive you away from me?"
"He's just slowing us down - or trying to make me cave in to his demands. All we need to do is find a terminal in one of the rooms." The Doctor ignored her protests as he approached her. He reached up to place his fingertips on either side of her head.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sending you exactly what you need to do if you find a terminal. I just hope it's not too late for it…"
"Doctor, this is a bad idea. You're injured, for God's sake! And the corridors won't move anymore - we could get lost."
"Either its risk you seeing one of your many potential fates as we blindly stumble through these corridors, or split up and have a better chance at finding a terminal." the Doctor explained as he finished the file transfer and lowered his arms. He could see her eyebrows knit in frustration; he assumed she had a dozen more unsaid arguments and comments. "It's our only option. And I'll be fine, my injuries aren't that bad."
"They are bad. But, fine." she finally said with resignation. The Doctor gave her a sad smile, then reluctantly picked a direction and headed off. He suddenly stopped, and spun around to face her with a wiggling finger.
"We'll find each other again - you can count on that. I'll always be able to find you, Clara, no matter where. You're very hard to miss." he noted with an encouraging wink. Clara chuckled, and gave a nod. With that, he continued walking, turning left at an intersection. It was only after the first 5 minutes of being separated that he knew he had made a grave mistake. Entering the maintenance sector of the TARDIS, an overhead display flared up. The Doctor scowled as the Gallifreyan symbols that alarmingly flashed morphed into the words:
Divide and Conquer.
A/N: Hey all! Thanks a bunch for reading! If you'd like to give me feedback, that'd be much appreciated! :)
P.S Hope the 2ish weeks between each chapter upload is alright (although I'll try to extend the length of each chapter). I have Uni and work to contend with while writing this fic. :(