A/N: Again, thanks for the reviews, they really do make my day. (Really. They do.) Um... so if you're interested, I have a poll on my page. Now on to chapter four...

Chapter Four: Rather Alarming

They were halfway to the gym when Evan stopped suddenly. The Doctor turned impatiently, but before he could say anything, Evan asked breathlessly, "The Doctor – you're the Doctor, right?"

The Doctor sighed heavily. "Yes, we've established that already. Now-"

"But if you're the Doctor, then it's you the machine meant!"

A chill crept its way down from the Doctor's neck. "What machine?"

"The projector! After it stopped working, it went staticy, but then there was a voice asking for a Doctor – it must have meant you!"

"Yes," the Doctor replied calmly, even though his head was spinning. "Which means there is more to this than an electrical virus – something sentient is controlling the electrical systems."

"And it knows you?"

"Knows me or knows of me," the Doctor replied, scratching his cheek absently. "And I'm not sure which is worse."

The hall was silent as both thought on this, the absence of a generator hum startlingly noticeable.

"I suppose," the Doctor began slowly, but whatever it was he supposed was never said, for his words were interrupted by the unmistakable tinny ring of a cell phone.

The Doctor stared at Evan, who patted his pockets before drawing out a silver mobile. He flipped it open, glanced at the screen, and nodded to the Doctor. "Not mine."

Not his? But then... An agonizing second passed before the Doctor realized what he meant. There was a mad scramble through his pockets and he finally found Martha's old cell phone in the lower left hand pocket. He held it up triumphantly, just as it stopped ringing.

"No, no, no!"

He flipped open the phone and pressed the CALL BACK button. For a moment there was nothing but the monotonous ring... the Doctor wondered if he was too late... and then, oh sweet relief, a familiar voice on the other end.

"Doctor? Doctor!"

-

Silvia was in the kitchen, cleaning up after a late supper. Wilf stomped into the room and set his telescope down with a sigh.

"I told you it was too cloudy," Silvia began. "But of course you never listen. I could have used some help with these dishes for once, but no – you had to huff-and-puff your way to the top of that hill only to realize I was right for once."

Wilf decided it would most likely be best if he neglected to mention that the only reason he had gone up there was to escape helping in the kitchen.

"Now, if you'll put away the telescope, we can figure out what to do with ourselves for the rest of the evening. Not much we can do, really – I do hate late meals..."

"I'll turn on the telly," Wilf announced, and left the room in a hurry. Silvia made a token protest, but Wilf paid her no heed.

The lights began to flicker as he found the remote, and in the other room, Silvia began going on about the unreliability of power companies these days. Again, he ignored this, settling down in his favourite chair before turning on the television set.

Whatever it was making problems with the lights was also affecting the television. Wilf tried changing channels, but all he was getting was grey fuzz and a loud hiss of static mixed with a disembodied voice. He flicked through all the channels, one after another, but nothing seemed to be on.

"Stop a sec." It was Silvia in the doorway, a tea towel and half-dried glass in hand. "Listen. What's that voice saying?"

Now that he listened, Wilf realized the voice he had been hearing wasn't just the audio to a television program. Instead, it was a phrase repeating on a loop.

Doctor... Where is the Doctor... Where is the Doctor...

Again and again, on and on, the same voice repeating. With a shaking finger, Wilf pressed down hard on the power button.

Nothing happened.

With a hiss of electricity, the lights shut off, leaving Wilf and Silvia staring at each other in horror in the dim glow of the television set.

Where is the Doctor... Where is the Doctor...

Wilf licked his lips nervously and took a deep breath. "Silvia... if Donna sees this...!"

-

It was certainly a relief to hear Martha's voice on the other end of the phone line, when the Doctor had half-expected to hear a mechanical voice repeating his name. He allowed himself to relax, just a little, and grinned to let Evan know it was all right.

"'Allo, Martha! How's the world today? Please say no alien attacks. I really can't stand two attacks at once, not today." Not with what seemed to be an electrical virus on the loose, not when – by Rassilon, he'd almost forgotten Jenny!

Martha interrupted his mental self-beration (Was that a word? It probably wasn't even a word). "Doctor, there's something strange going on. All the television stations, radio stations, lights, phone lines... everything electrical is freezing up! Nothing we do can turn it off or make it work again. And it's all the same problem, because everything's acting the same way. Doctor, they're all asking-"

"I know," he interrupted. "They're all asking for me. Or rather, the single virus is asking."

Beside him, Evan perked up as he realized the Doctor was talking about the electrical problems.

"A virus?" Martha repeated. "Is that what it is? But-" A hiss of static drowned out her words, and for a moment the Doctor was afraid he had lost the connection.

"Martha? Martha! Are you there?"

Faint, behind the static, he could hear her calling his name; then suddenly the static was gone again. "...got Jack to boost the signal, but we don't have much time, Doctor. What do you want us to do?"

He spoke quickly, intent on getting the information before the connection broke again. "Do you know where the problems started, Martha? Give me a location."

On the other end he could hear Martha snapping the question to someone else, and then, after a tense few seconds, she was back and reading off a street name. "Somewhere there," she finished. "We don't know exactly where."

On a hunch, the Doctor turned and repeated the address to Evan, who frowned in confusion. "But that's the street just outside."

"Good ol' TARDIS," the Doctor said into the phone. "Brought me right to the scene of the crime."

"But what are you going to do?" Martha asked. "And wha-" A hiss of static again interrupted her words.

"Martha? Martha!"

But the connection had already been severed. The Doctor closed the phone with a grimace and started off down the hall.

Evan hurried behind him. "So – it's a virus then? What are you going to do?"

The Doctor pursed his lips and quickening his pace. "I'm going directly to the heart of the problem. We're taking a look at the projector."