Temporary Torchwood Office; London, England

Dealing with European politicians was similar to their US counterparts. All were egotistical, self-important men and women with skewed priorities. They argued like small children and behaved like teenagers. He insulted my policy change. She said a dirty (medically appropriate) word. And whichever side of the pond, the family values proponents were the most likely to be chasing their secretaries or their best friend's spouse or meeting strangers for sex in bathrooms. After weeks in London, he had enough information to blackmail people in several countries easily. At the CIA, it would have been a gold mine.

Rex Matheson stood outside for a few minutes. He had no doubt why Jack let him have the job without an argument. It was boring and stressful. Rex, unfortunately, understood the concept "going postal." He would have an ulcer by the end of the year.

"Bad day?" An unfamiliar woman asked.

"Yeah." He turned to face the gorgeous woman wearing a power suit.

"I'm Davinia Delagarza, Mr. Matheson. I work for Delagarza Construction."

One of the companies arguing for the right to bid on Torchwood London's construction. He'd repeatedly explained they were using robotic labor for security reasons and not to save money. Neither the companies nor the unions listened. They had no idea General Williams would build the entire campus in a day. The Keara at Global provided the layout.

"Ma'am."

"We understand you plan on building employee housing near Torchwood London after it's built."

"Yeah." Rex had already started negotiations with the city to tear down a decrepit neighborhood that was ravished by a fire a couple of years back.

Ms. Delagarza handed him a folder. "We previously assessed the area."

He opened it and flipped through the pages. Details showed mid-priced flats. Pages in the back showed the cost for enclosing the neighborhood and establishing security offices. It was an impressive layout. He paged back looking for plumbing and electrical work. The entire infrastructure needed to be replaced. Projections based on different potential problems were included.

"Torchwood needs to prove it's worth before we would have the funding to develop the neighborhood."

"Are you planning to use robots?"

It would be easier, cheaper and saner, but the economy needed the jobs. "No."

"We can quickly customize the designs."

Rex's mobile rang. "Excuse me a moment." He walked several feet and answered it. "Matheson." He listened to one of the craziest situations he'd ever heard of, and it might not even be Torchwood jurisdiction. "Hold on." He walked back over to Ms. Delagarza. "Ma'am, does your company handle demolitions?"

"Yes," she said hesitantly.

"Keep everyone back. I will be there as soon as possible." The call ended. "A controlled detonation collapsed an old underground tunnel or more than one that wasn't on the city maps. A nearby business was having a janitorial meeting in the basement. Twenty to twenty-five people are trapped. They may or may not be in the tunnel system. The fire department got cameras into the basement and can't find the people." He paused. "The city wants a different company to assess the situation and assist in the rescue effort. Unless it's a Torchwood case."

She removed her mobile from her purse as he talked. "I need the location."

(Outside collapsed tunnel area)

Rex appreciated a smart woman with skills. Ms. Delagarza had a background in construction. She coordinated from the car. By the time they arrived on-site, her assessment team was already discussing the situation with the fire department. She quickly joined the conversation. While they discussed construction and demolition, he contacted Nova Scotia for an additional assessment with drones and robots. Both groups came to the same conclusion.

"It's an old sewer system," Ms. Delagarza explained. "Best guess is the maintenance people fled from a safety hazard."

"Luc," Rex said, "Can you get mini bots into the basement to check for hazards?"

"Yeah. We're already reviewing the damage."

A few minutes later, Eryn came on the line. "Mr. Matheson, you need to evacuate the area. We're sending in bots to repair the foundation damage. But three buildings are at risk of collapse. If one goes, it could destabilize the other buildings, and cause the equivalent of an earthquake."

"You can fix this?" Ms. Delagarza asked quietly.

"Potentially."

"Your robots?"

"Yeah."

She took a moment. "That's amazing."

He nodded in agreement although the amazing part would come later when the Canadian team organized an underground grid search to map the underside of London and check for additional problems. Even if it wasn't a Torchwood situation, they had the technology to review structural problems and make repairs.

"Sir, we found the missing people. We are going to breach an alley for surface access outside the danger zone. We need to send in robots to assist, but we have no way of warning the people. Luc's current designs resemble Terminators."

"I will have to go down. How are we getting people out?"

Luc returned to the phone. "We're working on that. The quickest design is a robotic elevator using a full-size maintenance bot and ladder like sides that would act as reinforcements. Anyone requiring a backboard will need to be placed upright to fit."

"How many injured?"

"Twenty-one people need to go to the hospital," Eryn said sadly. "Two to the morgue."

Rex reassessed his boring office job as he prepared to ride a makeshift elevator into an underground area destabilized by a poorly executed demolition. Crazy stunts were Jack's specialty. While he had a portal device, and Miracle Day resulted in a duplication of Jack's immortality, he preferred saner tactics.

The Delagarza crew found him utility clothes and a hard hat with a light attached to it. One group of firefighters offered boots in his size. A constable offered him a large flashlight. Emergency services collected backboards unsure of how many they needed. Rex hoped since the survivors had to walk most of them were able to stand or sit on the bot.

"Have you done this before?"

"No, ma'am."

"Call me Davy."

"Rex." He smiled. "Torchwood requires improvising."

That was an understatement he thought as he looked over the edge of the hole. The maintenance bot being used as a lift looked a giant Roomba vacuum cleaner. He tested it with his foot. An ear com hung off the bar. He quickly placed it in his ear before stepped onto the lift. He gripped the safety bar as it descended into the ground.

He thought of a book cover he'd seen years ago showing Anubis in a London subway tunnel. With his luck, it was a Torchwood situation. Neverwhere, he thought, remembering the title. If there was something under London, he doubted it was the Mad Hatter and a tea party.

"Follow the lit mini bots, sir," Eryn said through ear com.

Rex stepped off the lift and followed the dim lights forward. He heard voices a few minutes later. Until he saw them, he forgot he was rescuing maintenance workers. They wore utility clothes, boots and a few had hard hats. They'd used duct and electrical tape to bind injuries and piping for splints.

"Follow the lights. The lift is like a carnival ride. Stand in the middle and hold onto the bar. Anyone who cannot stand or sit on the lift will be brought up on a backboard."

He focused on helping those struggling to carry someone and didn't realize not everyone was leaving. One woman with a taped arm was riding up and down the lift like an operator. Others were helping their co-workers on and off the lift.

A man in his fifties, with a taped hand, led him back down the escape route. "The bad injuries are in the danger zone."

"We have stretchers. The robots needed to carry them are scary."

"You came down here to keep from scaring us?"

"It's part of the job description."

The man laughed. "Which department?"

"Torchwood."

"Lizard men are urban legends."

Rex groaned. "The city needed the robots to reach you."

"They should have called sewer and underground workers. No fancy robots needed."

When the sentinels arrived, they did look somewhat like Terminators. Rex suspected he'd have nightmares. But they easily lifted rubble, moved over uneven ground, and lifted the bulky robotic stretchers over obstacles. The fifty-something shift supervisor followed the last of his people down the tunnel.

Rex shined his light around the area and caught movement. It appeared they'd missed two people. Perhaps they were from a different basement.

"Dim the light," a strange, hoarse voice said.

He switched the large flashlight off.

A shorter man with an odd walk approached carrying a woman in a pants suit. He was bald, dressed in tattered work clothes, and looked somewhat scaly in the dim light. "She has a broken arm and leg."

Rex tapped the ear com. "We need another stretcher."

"She brings me food, and I make sure she gets to her car safely at night."

Lizard man, Rex thought. "You live down here?"

"Yeah."

When it arrived, the man carefully set her down. "Her ex will try to bother her at the hospital."

Rex wondered about his job some days. "Do you have food, if she can't bring it?"

The man shook his head.

"I will meet you tonight at the parking garage." Rex described the nearest one he could think of. "Any requests?"

"No ham."

Rex watched the last person loaded into an ambulance. He needed a shower and figured he could get back to his apartment quickly. Then he'd review reports from Nova Scotia and the hospital. As he wasn't mentioning the urban legend, it wasn't Torchwood jurisdiction. He would present all the information to the city investigators. They could figure out how a license construction company messed up that badly.

"Local gossip says you're an office manager," Davy said.

"Officially."

Davy smiled. "Maybe we can have lunch sometime."

Rex could only guess she liked men who weren't afraid of hard work. He looked and smelled like he crawled through a sewer. "Yeah."

When Rex returned for his clothes, one of Delagarza's crew offered him water and soap to clean up with and clean utility clothes. He appreciated it. He would have ruined his suit otherwise.

His mobile rang as he started the car. "Masterson." He listened as Jack explained Brighton. "You did what?!"