Chapter 3: The 007 Stereotype
England
The eyes blinked. "Password?" said whatever was behind the wall, in a crisp, clear voice.
After an exchange of unintelligible mutterings a section of the wall swung inward, allowing Arthur to enter. On the other side was a room dimly lit by candles, with several figures scattered about. Some were lying down, others were playing cards and still others were tinkering with small devices. Arthur proceeded directly to the back of the room, to where one of the creatures was sitting and reading a book.
"How is it?" Arthur asked.
"Very good, although I would like another soon. Maybe another by Jane Austin or C.S. Lewis," the form replied, waving a battered copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Arthur pulled a green hardcover out of his coat pocket and held it out. "Have you read any Tolkien yet? He's one of my better authors, and I think you might find his ideas amusing. Bit of a Shakespeare fanboy, though."
"A bit. I've read Fellowship of the Ring, but I haven't read this one yet." The figure took the book and examined the mountains depicted on the cover. "The Hobbit? What's this one about?"
"It's the book Tolkien wrote before Fellowship; they call it 'the Red Book' in Lord of the Rings."
"Intriguing. I'll start it after I'm done with this one." Here, the figure waved Harry Potter again, and Arthur caught a clear glimpse of the gnarled hand holding it. "And of course I'll have this one returned to you."
"Please take care of it. The other nations are starting to wonder how my books are getting beat up so fast."
"I'll try, but you know how the young ones are. Anyways, why have you come today? You usually at least wait until you're properly dressed to visit."
Here Arthur frowned. "I came because I could use some information from the fay that is rather urgent. I recently found a device which my friend Jack called a cybermat?"
There was a visible reaction. Every creature in the room, even those who had not been paying attention, drew back in fear and revulsion at the word.
"What sort of information do you want? You obviously know what they are by now, and you've had encounters with their kind before. I don't know what else we can provide you," said the fay Arthur had been talking to.
"I would like to know the extent of their invasion, what model they are, and the best way to fight them in this instance. Your scrying ability exceeds my own, and I don't have time to set anything up properly for my style anyways. I'm leaving for a meeting in America soon, and for once I'd like to resolve this quietly, without interference."
The fay didn't respond verbally, but took a small device from the folds of its black robe. It whispered at the clear surface, which slowly clouded over and resolved itself into an image. "It would appear that there are several small outbreaks, here in London, mainland Europe and central Asia, and a relatively large one in North America. No more than two hundred on earth, total. They're not the most upgraded, at least as far as I've seen. I'd suggest explosives or an extremely powerful laser for the larger infestation, and maybe gold or paint thinner to disable the smaller infestations so you can destroy them. I'd suggest an ambush, so that you can take out the smaller hideouts one by one." It put the device back in its pocket, and looked up at Arthur, pale blue eyes reflecting the candlelight. "Good luck. You'll have to hurry if you want to prevent another full-scale invasion."
"I can take care of the North American invasion after my meeting. Then I'll come back here to take care of the rest. Thank you for your advice, and I'll try to visit soon." With that, Arthur turned and walked back out through the hidden door, back to his home, where he properly prepared for his morning. To whittle the hours away before his flight, he curled up on the couch with a pitifully battered copy of the Twelfth Night, but was unable to completely loose himself in the almost-memorized words, and fidgeted with his shirt sleeves and hair.
Jack
"We already have gold leaf on us. Two cans each, standard equipment for a potential Cyberman invasion," said Ianto, sizing up the Doctor. "And why are you wearing a fez in a sewer?"
"It's cool. Just like my bow tie. Anyways, I didn't know I was investigating a Cyberman invasion until just now, so you can't blame me for not being prepared. I usually play these things by ear."
"That's how he goes through so many companions," Jack explained to Ianto.
"You think I'm bad? You might want to look at your own track record. There's a reason I limit you to Earth." Jack and Ianto glared at him. "Could you give me one of those cans?"
Jack tossed him a can, perhaps a little rougher than he normally would. He did not like this version of the Doctor as much as his two previous regenerations. They snuck through the sewer until they heard the telltale sounds of a Cyberman encampment. Jack carefully wired a small chip into some nearby equipment, and he and Ianto quietly left while the Doctor stayed behind in hopes of getting more information.
Doctor
After Jack and Ianto left, he was able to sneak further into the Cyberman encampment. He hid behind a conversion unit, and began to count. There seemed to be about fifteen Cybermen in this unit, but from what he overheard there were several other groups throughout the Western half of Eurasia and one in America. Quietly, he pulled a piece of bubble gum out of his pocket and began to chew.
Once it was nice and sticky, he took a small, electronic chip from his other pocket and squashed it into the gum. He waited until a cyberman passed by and threw the sticky wad at its ankle, where it would hopefully go unnoticed for some time. Unfortunately, he misjudged his aim and the gum ended up on the floor in front of the Cyberman's foot, but fortunately it stepped in it and the part with the chip ended up lodged in a crack.
The Doctor made his stealthy way back to the TARDIS, where he pulled up the information from the chip, which was now picking up the vibrations from the metal shell of the Cyberman. Although a lot of the noise was clanking as the Cyberman moved, he was also able to hear the discussions the Cybermen had amongst themselves. He sat back and waited for some information about their plans. Jack would call soon enough to create a more formal attack strategy.
A/N
The Doctor has forgotten something important, can you guess what it is? Also, we'll be seeing a lot more of England and not much of the Doctor and Jack for the next few chapters, mostly because their timeline is now about a week ahead of England's, and there's a large amount of plot he needs to get through within that week. I'll try to get through those quickly though!
What do you think about the fays? I'll explain more about them later, but there's a bit more to them than they seem. There's a reason England thinks they'll find Tolkien funny. Any guesses?
I mentioned that this fanfic would have a long time between updates. Sorry about that. I've been working hard on college applications, and there's been a lot of stress about grades and planning a road trip this summer with my friends. If anyone tells you that your senior year of high school is easy, don't believe them. I've also been having some really bad writer's block for the past few months, so this story is a bit of an attempt to fix that.
Additionally, I wrote this entire chapter within about the last two hours. I haven't done any of the extensive editing I normally do, except for a spelling and grammar check. If you find any errors, please tell me.
Thank you for reading!
