AN - Sorry about not uploading a chapter last Saturday. My computer was having some technical difficulties and I had to send it away to get worked on. Well, here's the the next installment. So sit back and enjoy as we get ever closer to the end.
Jenny couldn't believe it… the little girl was the computer or at least the computer program. But she had seemed so real; so life like. She vaguely heard River tell her dad something about the readings on the computer. What brought her out of her thoughts was The Doctor's reply. "I know. You'd think it was… dreaming."
"It is dreaming." said Strackman causing every head to snap over to him. "Of a normal life and a lovely dad." he continued as he pulled off one of his gloves. "And of every book ever written."
"Computers don't dream." said Anita as the little girls voice called out again for help.
"No, but little girls do." stated Strackman as he opened a control panel and flipped a switch with his ungloved hand. There was whirling and a sort of energy pulsed through the room as a panel at the back of the room slid open. Strackman ran in the direction of the energy with everyone else right on his heels. Behind the panel lay a whole other room filled with cables and computer circuits, but what caught everyone's eye right way was what sat in the middle of the room. A lone node, just like the ones upstairs, sat there with the majority of the cables plugged into it. The real surprise was when the node's head turned to face them and they saw the face of a child; the face of a little girl. The node's eyes opened and she called out for help. "Please help me. Please help me." Her voice was so desperate that tears began to threaten Jenny and even River's throats.
"Oh my god." gasped River.
"It's the little girl, the girl we saw in the computer." said Anita in shock.
"It's the girl I've been seeing… in the room… I've been hearing her this whole time." said Jenny and then added to herself, "And I can't help her."
"She's not in the computer." said Strackman. "In a way, she is the computer, the main command node." He looked up to the ball of orange and blue energy, which was now positioned directly overhead. "This is CAL."
"CAL is a child?" said The Doctor in disbelief. "A child hooked up to a mainframe! Why didn't you tell me this?! I needed to know this!" he yelled into Strackman's face.
"Because she's family!" Strackman yelled back. "CAL… Charlotte Abigail Lux, my grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything and he gave her them all." as Strackman spoke a few tears escaped down his cheek, and everyone could feel his intense sorrow. Jenny had to swallow a few times to easy her throat of a tear full lump. "He asked only that she be left in peace, a secret… not a freak show." he finished his voice shaking.
"So you weren't protecting a patent. You were protecting her." said The Doctor his face and eyes softer as he stared from Charlotte back to Strackman. He knew what it was like to try to protect family and now that he had Jenny in his life that desire had never been stronger. He stared at Strackman with respect instead of annoyance.
"This is only half a life, of course, but it's forever." said Strackman as he drew closer to his aunt… closer to Charlotte.
"And then the shadows came." said The Doctor.
"Shadows, I have to… I have to save. Have to save." said Charlotte in desperation as Strackman gently rubbed her cheek as if wiping away imaginary tears.
"And she saved them." said The Doctor his voice just above a whisper. "She saved everyone in The Library, folded them into her dreams and kept them safe."
"Then why didn't she tell us?" asked Anita.
"Because she forgot." said Jenny her voice mimicking her fathers. Strackman nodded his head in confirmation.
"She's got over 4,000 living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being, well, me." said The Doctor now feeling a connection to this little girl.
"So what do we do?" asked River, ready to take action; to correct the wrong that happened.
"Easy." The Doctor said running from the room as the autodestruct announced that they had 10 minutes left. "We beam all the people out of the data core." he continued as everyone re-enter the room where Strackman pulled the switch. "The computer will reset and stop the countdown." He immediately began tapping away at a computer, but ran a hand through his hair as he noticed something important. "Difficult… Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer." He suddenly dashed over to a panel of controls and began pulled out cables. "Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space." He was roughly pulled away from the console and came face to face with River.
"Difficult… it'll kill you, stone dead." said River, fear and urgency fresh in her voice.
"It Will What?!" shouted Jenny.
"Yes, easy to criticize." The Doctor replied to River.
"It'll burn up both your hearts. Don't think you'll regenerate!" yelled River.
"Dad, stop!" Jenny yelled as she joined River in trying to stop The Doctor's hands.
"I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing." he said as he tried to disconnect River and Jenny.
"Doctor!" River shouted at the same time as Jenny screamed, "Dad!"
"I'm right!" The Doctor yelled back getting frustrated that he was hindered to work fast enough. "This'll work! Shut up! Now, listen, you, Luxy-boy, and Jenny, go back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download,and before you say anything else, professor, can I just mention in passing, as you are here, shut up." The Doctor ripped himself from the women and ran back to then computer as River let out a frustrated growl. "Oh! I hate you sometimes!" she said.
"I know!" The Doctor yelled back.
"Mr. Lux, Jenny, with me. Anita, if he dies, I'll kill him!" said River as she tried to herd Jenny out of the room.
"No! I won't leave him!" Jenny screamed as she tried to push past River.
"Jenny." came The Doctor's voice but if was so mild that Jenny stopped struggling immediately. "You have to go. It's not safe down here and you promised to listen to me."
"But… dad…" came Jenny's shaky reply.
"I won't die. I promise you with both of my hearts, I will see you again later." The Doctor stared into his daughter eye and the look was so sincere and urgent that Jenny had no choice but to agree. "You better or I'll help River kill you." The Doctor gave a satisfied nod of his head. Just as they were about to run from the room, The Doctor grabbed hold of Jenny and gave her a hug and a kiss on her head. "Now, go." he said as he ran back to the computer. Without another word Strackman, River, and Jenny left leaving Anita and The Doctor alone. "What about the Vashta Nerada?" asked Anita.
"These are their forests!" said The Doctor running back and forth between the computer and control panels. "I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world and take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their heart's content."
"So you think they're just going to let us go?" asked Anita.
"Best offer they're going to get." said The Doctor.
"You're going to make them an offer?" Anita asked somewhat shocked that he'd give an offer to the enemy.
"They'd better take it, because right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. 'Cause, you know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying, and she never gave in and you ate her." The Doctor didn't even pause what he was doing. He lifted his sonic screwdriver, eyes still trained on the computer, and retracted the blind on Anita's helmet. Revealing the skeleton that now inhabited the suit. "But I'm going to let that pass." he continued finally looking over to Anita's suit. "Just as long as you let them pass."
"How long have you known?" asked the suit.
"I counted the shadows. You only have one now." said The Doctor coming and standing mere inches from the suit. A static beeping brought his attention to the suits neural relay and saw that it was flashing on its last bar. "She's nearly gone. Be kind." he said.
"These are our forests. We are not kind." said the suit.
"I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go." he said solemnly as he walked back to the computer.
"These are our forests. They are our meat." replied the suit. The suit extended an arm and multiple shadows began to spread from the body… straight toward The Doctor.
"Don't play games with me." he said sharply whirling around back to the suit. "You just killed someone I like. That is not a safe place to stand! I'm The Doctor and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up." The shadows paused as the Vashta Nerada did just that; they looked up The Doctor and then quickly recalled the shadows. "You have one day." the suit said before it crumpled to the ground; the Vashta Nerada leaving the body. Without another word The Doctor returned to the task at hand.
While all that with The Doctor and the Vashta Nerada was going on, Jenny, Strackman, and River were barreling down a corridor till River stopped. "I'm going back." she announced.
"What?!" yelled Jenny as River was already hallway back the way they came.
"Stay with Mr. Lux, Jenny. I'll make sure that your dad keeps his promise to you." River yelled back.
"River!" Jenny screamed.
"We have to go." frantically urged Strackman as he noticed a few shadows closing in.
"I have to go back too." said Jenny as she followed after River.
"Are you crazy?! There's nothing you can do." yelled Strackman as he watched Jenny run away dodging the shadows.
"He's my dad! I'll never just abandon him when he needs help." she yelled as she rounded a corner and out of sight of Mr. Lux. River skidded back into the room The Doctor was just in time to see Anita's suit crumple to the ground. River ran up to the suit and fell to her knee, tears clearly evident in her voice; she had really like Anita just as The Doctor had. "Anita." she choked out.
"I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now. I told you to go!" yelled The Doctor casting a glance over to River.
"Lux and Jenny can manage without me… but you can't." she said rising up and running to The Doctor punching him in the face before he could say a word. The Doctor fell to the ground unconscious and that was when Jenny entered the room. She first saw what was left of Anita and a lump formed in her throat, but then she saw River standing over her dad's unmoving body. "What are you doing?!" she shouted the lump now replaced with growing anger.
"Jenny, we told you to run." said River whirling around to look at Jenny in disbelief.
"I did run… in this direction. Now, what did you do to my dad?" said Jenny kneeling next to him and putting a hand on the side of his face.
"Making sure he keeps his promise to you." said River as she quickly began to finish The Doctor's work.
"What do you mean 'keeping his promise'? River, could you, for once, try to make sense…" Jenny trailed off as she saw what River was doing. "River, you're not doing what I think you're doing are you?" she asked nervously.
"Jenny, you need to leave." River simply stated.
"No, you can't!" yelled Jenny, her growing anger disappearing as fast as it had started. She jumped up and tried to make River stop. "You heard what my dad said… you don't stand a chance… you'll die."
"Jenny, leave." River said her voice shaking.
"What are you not getting? I said you'll die at least my dad has a chance. Heck, I probable have more of a chance then you…" said Jenny trailing off again. "Let me do it." she quickly added.
"Not in a million years!" River shouted.
"I have the same genetic structure as he does, so maybe…" said Jenny trying to wrestle away the cables from River's hands.
"So maybe nothing, you are not coming near this thing. Besides, if I'm right, this is really, really early for you and don't have the knowledge to connect everything correctly." said River as she tried to bat away Jenny's hands.
"Really, it can't be that complicated. Now, listen…" was all Jenny got out before River punched her in the face too.
"You're just like your father… stubborn as hell." said River as Jenny's body crumbled to the floor unconscious.
