Chapter 4: Forest of the Dead
"Hey! Who turned out the lights?"
River used her squareness gun to create another exit. "This way, quickly! Move!"
"Hey! Who turned out the lights?"
Everyone continued moving.
"Okay, we've got a clear spot!" River announced. "In, in, in! Right in the center, in the middle of the light, quickly! Don't let your shadows cross. Doctor . . ."
"I'm doing it," the Doctor said, with Shawn nearby. He started checking the shadows for the Vashta Nerada.
"There's no lights here," River said. "Sunset's coming, we can't stay long. Have you found a live one?"
"Maybe, it's getting harder to tell." The Doctor hit the sonic screwdriver with his hands a couple of times. "What's wrong with you?"
"We're gonna need a chicken leg," River said. "Who's got a chicken leg?"
Other Dave handed one to her.
"Thanks, Dave."
River threw the leg into the shadow and it immediately became bone.
"Oh," Shawn said.
"They won't attack until there's enough of them, but they've got our scent now, they're coming," said the Doctor.
"What about Donna?" Shawn asked the Doctor.
"Don't worry. We'll figure something out."
"Is she aware of what's happening?"
"I don't know."
"Are you lying to me about figuring something out?"
The Doctor looked at Shawn and then continued scanning.
"Doctor . . ."
The Doctor started fiddling with his screwdriver.
River approached. "What's wrong with it?"
"There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it."
"Then use the red settings."
"It doesn't have a red setting."
"Well, use the dampers."
"It doesn't have dampers."
"It will one day," River responded, showing the Doctor her screwdriver.
"So some time in the future, I just give you my screwdriver?"
"Yeah."
"Why would I do that?"
"I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about."
"And I know that because . . ."
"Listen to me. You've lost Donna, you're angry. I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor. Right now . . ."
"I'm not emotional!"
"There are six people in this room still alive, focus on that. You're hard work young!"
"Who are you?"
"Oh, for Heaven's sake!" Mr. Lux interrupted. "Look at the pair of you! We're all gonna die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couple."
The Doctor and River synchronically looked at Mr. Lux, which aroused Shawn's suspicions.
River turned to the Doctor. "Doctor, one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry."
River leaned into the Doctor and whispered something into his ear. "Are we good? Doctor, are we good?"
"Yeah, we're good."
"Good."
River went back to her group.
"Doctor, who do you think she is to you?" Shawn asked.
The Doctor ignored Shawn. "Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with, practically nothing's strong enough . . . Well, some hairdryers, but I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before, so what's new, what's changed?"
"Come on! What's new? What's different?" the Doctor said when no one answered.
"I dunno," Other Dave replied. "Nothing. It's getting dark."
"It's a screwdriver, it works in the dark." The Doctor looked up. "Moon rise. Tell me about the moon. What's there?"
"It's not real," Mr. Lux explained. "It was built as part of the Library. It's just a doctor moon."
"What's that?" the Doctor asked.
"A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet."
The Doctor activated the screwdriver. "Well, still active. It's signaling. Look. Someone somewhere in this Library is alive and communicating with the moon, or, possibly alive and drying their hair. No, the signal's definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through . . ."
Donna appeared as a blue image.
"Donna!" Shawn cried.
Donna then disappeared.
"Can you get her back?" River asked. "What was that?"
"Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm trying to find the wavelength. Ah, I'm being blocked."
"Professor?" Anita said.
"Just a moment," River responded.
"Oh, no . . ." Shawn said, looking at Anita's shadow.
Everyone turned and saw that Anita had two shadows.
"Okay," River said. "Helmets on, everyone. Anita, I'll get yours."
"It didn't do Proper Dave any good," Anita said.
"Just keep it together, okay?" River said.
"Keeping it together, I'm only crying. I'm about to die, it's not an overreaction."
River put Anita's helmet on as the Doctor approached.
"Hang on," the Doctor said. He used his sonic screwdriver to turn the visor black.
"They're inside!" River said.
"No, I just tinted her visor so they'll think they're already there and leave her alone."
"Do you think that'll work?" River asked.
"I don't know."
"Can you still see in there?" Other Dave asked Anita.
"Just about."
The Doctor sighed and looked at Shawn and River. "River, there are seven people in this room."
The Doctor, River, and Shawn looked behind them, leading Other Dave and Mr. Lux to do the same. They all saw Proper Dave.
"Run!" the Doctor cried.
"Hey! Who turned out the lights? Hey! Who turned out the lights? Hey! Who turned out the lights?"
Everyone ran.
"Professor, go ahead, find a safe spot," the Doctor said after running a while.
"It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit, you can't reason with it," River cautioned.
"Five minutes."
"Doctor, if you die, Shawn dies."
Other Dave ran by, but stopped to wait for River.
The Doctor approached Shawn. "I realize I've put you in danger before, but I need to try. I'll be fine. Now go. You won't get too far from me."
"Other Dave, stay with the Doctor," River said. "Pull him out when he's too stupid to live. Two minutes, Doctor."
River grabbed Shawn and ran off.
"I don't understand," Shawn said as they ran. "If you're from his future, why hasn't he mentioned this to you so you'd know what to do?"
"He's not going to risk spoiling this and messing up the timeline. He's never told you about what will happen with the 4400, right?"
"Yeah, it's annoying."
"It's necessary," River pointed out.
"But at least he'll live, right? If you're from his future?"
River didn't answer.
"River, I doubt I'll have anything to do with saving Donna. I'm just a human forced into all this, so can you just tell me if she'll be all right? Will we get her back?"
"Time's in flux. Whatever I know could change at any moment."
"At this moment, what do you know about Donna?"
"I'm sorry, but you don't want to risk Donna's safety in any way, do you?"
"No."
"Then just wait."
Everyone arrived in another room and River began scanning the area.
"You know, it's funny, I keep wishing my Doctor was here," River said.
"The future Doctor?" Shawn asked.
"You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them? It's like they're not quite . . . finished. They're not done yet. My Doctor . . . I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to his TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor . . . in the TARDIS . . . next stop, everywhere."
"Is he really that different?" Shawn asked.
"Well," the Doctor said as he suddenly made his presence known. "Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that."
"It does for the Doctor."
"I am the Doctor."
"Yeah, some day."
"Where's Dave?" Shawn asked.
"He's not coming."
The Doctor walked to Anita.
"How are you doing?"
"If they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?"
"I don't know. Maybe tinting your visor made a difference."
"It's making a difference all right. No one's ever going to see my face again."
"Can I get you anything?" the Doctor asked.
"An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?"
"I'm working on it."
Shawn went to River. "Did he give you the sonic screwdriver recently? From your point of view?"
"Yes, the last time we met."
"At least he did that for you."
River nodded.
"I don't suppose you can tell me how long I'm stuck with him, can do?"
River smiled and shook her head.
"The data fragment!," the Doctor suddenly said. "What did it say?"
"4,022 people saved. No survivors," Mr. Lux answered.
"Doctor?" River asked.
"Nobody says saved. Nutters say saved. You say safe. But you see, it didn't mean safe. It meant . . . it literally meant . . . saved!"
The Doctor ran to an information terminal and started punching in some instructions. "See, there it is, right there! A hundred years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm, the computer tries to teleport everyone out."
"It tried to teleport 4,022 people?" River asked.
"Succeeded, pulled 'em all out. But then what? Nowhere to send them, nowhere safe in the whole Library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. 4,022 people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?"
"It saved them," River answered.
"The Library, a whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved 4,022 people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive."
An alarm went off in the Library.
"What is it?" Mr. Lux asked. "What's wrong?"
"Autodestruct enabled in 20 minutes," a female computer voice said.
The Doctor began typing.
"What caused that?" Shawn asked.
"What's maximum erasure?" River added.
"20 minutes, this planet's gonna crack like an egg," the Doctor answered.
"No! No, it's all right," Mr. Lux explained. "The doctor moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect CAL."
The screen then went black.
'No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"All Library systems are permanently offline," indicated a male computer voice. "Sorry for any inconvenience."
"We need to stop this. We've got to save CAL!" Mr. Lux said.
"What's CAL?" Shawn asked.
"We need to get to the main computer; I'll show you all," Mr. Luz simply answered.
"It's at the core of the planet."
"Well, then. Let's go!" River said, smiling. She activated the floor at the center of the room, enabling a stream of blue lights and a platform to emerge. "Gravity platform!"
"I bet I like you."
"Oh, you do!"
The five survivors stepped onto the platform and it descended. As soon as they landed, they ran to the data core.
"The Data Core!" the Doctor exclaimed. "4,000 living minds, trapped inside it."
"Yeah, well, they won't be living much longer, we're running out of time," River warned.
Everyone began hearing a cry for help.
"What's that?" Anita asked.
"It sounds like a young girl," Shawn answered.
"The computer's in sleep mode," the Doctor said while pressing various keys. "I can't wake it up. I'm trying."
"Doctor, these readings." River noticed at another terminal.
"I know," the Doctor responded. "You'd think it was dreaming."
"It is dreaming," Mr. Lux said, "of a normal life. And a lovely dad, and of every book ever written."
"Computers don't dream," Anita said.
"No, but little girls do," Mr. Lux responded as cries for help continued. He opened a door and proceeded to another room with everyone following. In the room, they saw a node with the face of a little girl crying for help.
"Isn't that the little girl from that computer screen?" Shawn asked.
"Yes, it's her," the Doctor said.
Mr. Lux sighed. "She is the computer. She's the main command node, CAL."
"CAL is a child! Hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know!"
"Because she's family! 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. He gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show."
"You weren't protecting a patent," the Doctor said. "You were protecting her."
"This is only half a life, of course, but it's forever."
"And then the shadows came," the Doctor added.
"Shadows," CAL said at that prompt. "I have to . . . I have to save . . . Have to save . . ."
"And she saved them. She saved everyone in the Library, folded them into her dreams and kept them safe."
"Then why didn't she tell us?" Anita asked.
"Because she's forgotten. She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like . . . being . . . well, me."
"So what do we do?" River asked.
"Easy!" the Doctor cried as he ran to a terminal and the computer warned everyone about the autodestruct. "We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer and she can borrow my memory space!"
Suddenly, the Doctor turned to look at Shawn. River did the same thing.
River turned to the Doctor. "It'll kill you, Doctor. Then, it will kill Shawn."
The Doctor contemplated the risk.
"You can't take that risk with Shawn's life at stake."
"Doctor . . ." Shawn said. The Doctor and River looked at him, but he found that he didn't know what else to say. "I can heal whoever is going through that process," he finally finished, though he meant to say something else.
"Your power won't work on me, but I'm not letting anyone else do this. There's another way," the Doctor said. "River, you and Lux need to go back to the main Library and prime any data cells you can find for maximum download."
"That's no other way!" River said.
"I'm setting up another relay. We can move the data somewhere else." The Doctor looked at River.
"Mr. Lux, with me. Anita, make sure he doesn't do anything before I come back!" River then departed with Mr. Lux.
The Doctor exhaled and looked at Shawn.
"There's no other way, is there?" Shawn asked.
"No. I'm sorry, Shawn. There's no other way. I don't know how else to save Donna and everyone else."
Shawn nodded. "Go ahead."
"Okay," the Doctor responded as he started working.
"What about the Vashta Nerada?" Anita asked.
"These are their forests. I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content."
"So you think they're just gonna let us go?"
"Best offer they're gonna get."
"You're gonna make them an offer?"
"They'd better take it, cos right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. 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 made the helmet's interior visible, revealing Anita's skull.
"But I'm gonna let that pass. Just as long as you let them pass."
"How long have you known?" the Vashta Nerada asked.
"I counted the shadows. You only have one now. She's nearly gone. Be kind."
"These are our forests. We are not kind."
"I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go."
Shadows started to extend from Anita's body.
"Doctor!" Shawn cried.
"These are our forests. They are our meat."
"Don't play games with me! You just killed someone I liked. 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."
Following a beat of silence, the shadows withdrew.
"You have one day," the Vashta Nerada said right before it fell to the ground.
The Doctor looked at Shawn.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah, Doctor, if it will save thousands of lives," Shawn said after a moment of hesitation.
"Anita!" River cried as she suddenly appeared. She crouched down to Anita's skeleton.
"I'm sorry, but she's been dead a while now. What are you doing here?"
"I had to come back when I realized you were lying to me."
The Doctor turned around in response and River punched him unconscious.
River looked at Shawn, who didn't know how to react. "It should be me," she said. "Not him, not Mr. Lux, and definitely not you." River then handcuffed the Doctor and continued his work.
"I'll stay with you and heal you as that thing goes through you," Shawn said.
"You can't. I'll spoil something for you, Shawn, as long as you never tell anyone."
"I won't."
"Your power doesn't work on Time Lords, so it's not going to work on me."
"Donna mentioned to me that he's the only one left."
"I'm not a full Time Lord, but I have enough Time Lord aspects in my DNA that you can't help me."
Shawn sighed and wandered a bit. "I . . . I was prepared to die."
"I know. You're glad, though, that you get to live. You shouldn't deny it. It's all right, Shawn. It's fine. If I do this, one person dies."
"I . . . I've been a pain to the Doctor. I took a lot out on him and I thought . . ."
"He understands; it's nothing to him. And you're not necessarily wrong to do so."
"Do you know what happened when he met me?"
"Yes, and I know you're angry, but you'll forgive each other and – " River suddenly stopped herself.
"Each other?" Shawn asked. "You mean him being mad about this? Or something else?"
"Spoilers, Shawn."
"It couldn't be this because you only found out that he was lying. What am I going to do?"
River didn't respond.
Shawn gave up and continued to watch as River worked. After nearly five minutes, the Doctor stirred.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, come on. What are you doing? That's my job!"
"Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?"
"Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?"
"Spoilers!"
"This is not a joke. Stop this now. This might kill you!"
"It might not with Shawn here. I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download."
"River! Please, no!"
"Funny thing is, this means you've always known about this. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean . . . you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Derillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang, and you cried."
The computer announced that one minute was left.
"You wouldn't tell me why," River continued," but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to face this. You even gave me your screwdriver . . . that should've been a clue."
"Shawn," the Doctor said. "Give me the screwdrivers, please."
"I don't think I should, Doctor. She seems to know more than you about this." Tears began to form in his eyes.
"There's nothing you can do and you don't have a choice. If you die here, it means I've never met you."
"Time can be rewritten."
"Not those times. Don't you dare. It's okay, Doctor. Shawn's here."
"Shawn can't help you, can he? There's something about you." The Doctor looked at Shawn, who was beginning to fall apart.
"It's okay. You'll see me again."
The countdown neared zero.
"River, you know my name. You whispered it in my ear. There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could."
"Hush, now! Spoilers." River smiled at the Doctor.
Shawn approached River and put his hands on her cheeks. "I'm still going to try, River."
River smiled and nodded. As the countdown came closer to zero, River put two cables together, resulting in a blinding white light. The Doctor and Shawn had to look away, but Shawn kept his hands on River's face. He continued to channel his power through her, desperate to save her. Eventually, he fell to the floor, out of breath and lightheaded. The white light eventually faded.
"Screwdriver, now!" the Doctor cried.
Shawn crawled to the screwdrivers and gave them to the Doctor. The Doctor immediately freed himself and ran to River, checking and scanning her.
"Doctor, I tried to help her, but I don't think I did. Is she dead?"
The Doctor closed his eyes and lowered his head.
"I'm sorry, Doctor."
"Did she tell you why your power wouldn't work on you?"
"She did, but she said I can't tell you. I'll leave you alone," Shawn said, remembering the Doctor's words to the Vashta Nerada after it killed someone he liked and stood near him.
Shawn made it back to the reception area and saw many people around him. Because they were wearing black, it was easy to find Donna. She was frantically looking for someone.
"Donna!" Shawn went up to her and hugged her. "You're back. The Doctor's . . . down a few levels."
"I'm looking for someone else. He's a tall man with dark short hair. His name is Lee."
"I can help look for him."
"What's wrong? I saw Mr. Lux. Where's everyone else?"
"They're all dead. River was the last to die. I don't completely understand everything, but I think she used her brain to upload or store some data. It killed her. I couldn't save her."
"How's the Doctor taking it?"
"Badly. He wanted to be the one to do it, but River wouldn't let him. I let her do it. The Doctor probably hates me."
"No, he wouldn't hate you."
The Doctor then appeared and Donna ran to him to hug him.
Shawn kept his distance and looked around, asking tall men with short brown hair their names. He eventually gave up and saw the Doctor and Donna, so he approached him.
"I'm all right, too," Donna told the Doctor.
The Doctor looked at Shawn. "Come on," he said, as he took Donna's right hand.
The three returned to the stairs they were on when they looked outside. The Doctor put River's journal and screwdriver on the railing.
"Your friend," Donna said. "Professor Song . . . She knew you in the future, but not me. What happens to me? When she heard my name, the way she looked at me . . ."
"Donna, this is her diary. Our future. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?"
"Spoilers, right?"
"Right. Let's go back to the TARDIS."
The Doctor, Donna, and Shawn ascended up the stairs. Shawn continued to maintain a distance from the Doctor and didn't follow him when the Doctor suddenly turned around and bolted down to the screwdriver. He did, however, hear the Doctor exclaim that he saved River. The Doctor ran up the stairs past Shawn. Donna eventually joined Shawn.
"Do you know where he's going?" Shawn asked.
"No. Let's wait for him in the TARDIS."
"Donna," Shawn said as they walked. "River told me something about herself. I think it's pretty big."
"A spoiler?"
"Yeah. I think she told me because me knowing wouldn't have any consequence. Maybe I won't be around much longer."
"You never know. You might want to keep traveling with us after your bond goes away."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"I think the Doctor would like it. I sure would."
Shawn smiled at Donna and they made it back to the TARDIS, where they waited for the Doctor. He eventually showed himself. The TARDIS doors opened with the Doctor standing a distance away. Shawn could see, and was slightly relieved by, a small smile on the Doctor's face. The Doctor entered and snapped his fingers, prompting the doors to close.
"You did it," Shawn said.
"Yeah," the Doctor answered in a neutral tone that Shawn couldn't analyze.
"New trick?" Donna asked.
"Oh, yeah. I don't think any of this will ever stop surprising me."
"Onwards then?"
"Onwards!"