We were in the hub, playing a game of basketball. Well, we were playing with a basket and a ball. Music was blaring, and everyone was shouting at each other and laughing. We were playing teams, three to a team. I was with Gwen and Owen, and the other team was made up of Jack, and Tosh. Myfanwy was above, trying to snatch the ball and fly away with it. She was the unofficial third member of Jack and Tosh's team.
"OK! Come on, Gwen!" Owen yelled down from the rail.
Jack picked up Gwen and pushed her out of the way, Tosh and Jack working together to block her.
"Gwen, this is for you, baby!" he yelled, chucking the basketball. Myfanwy narrowly missed catching it on the way past. Jack caught the ball.
"Just get it off him!" Owen yelled. "Take if out of his hands! Oi!" he continued yelling.
Gwen batted the ball out Jack's hands, and threw it back to me to keep Jack from reposssessing it. I threw it up to Owen as Tosh dived at me.
"Oh, come to Daddy!" he said, catching it. He dropped it in the basket. "YES! First round's on you, boss," Owen said, pointing at Jack.
Jack shrugged. "Girls, get your handbags!" Owen said.
"Of course, that was an illegal move," Jack said.
"Totally illegal!" Tosh chimed in.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, yeah. Losers. Bye," Owen said, joggin out the door.
Jack tossed Ianto the ball on the way out. I paused. "Are you going to come Ianto?" I asked. He shook his head.
"Nah, I've got some stuff to do here," he said.
I smiled. "Alright, see you later," I said, walking out after the others.
We were in a pub, and Jack was telling us about one of his 'friendly encounters'.
"And she said, "D'you know how difficult it is to find a man in this city? He had a nice flat, all his own hair, so frankly, a couple of tusks, I can live with!'" Jack said.
We all laughed, and then a pager beeped.
"Ianto's mate," Owen said.
"UFO sighting over Cardigan Bay. Seven calls to the emergency services," Toshiko said.
"Oh... Can we at least finish our drinks, please?" Owen said.
"Sure. Take ten seconds," Jack said. Owen got up to go as Gwen attempted finish off her pint. I laughed, getting up to run after the others.
"So, who's driving if we do have to go and contain an alien 'threat'?" I asked, making air qoutes around the threat.
"Ooh, can I?" Tosh asked.
"Nope," Owen said.
"But I never drive," Tosh protested.
Owen sighed. "Please don't start playing the no fair card, because it isn't fair," Owen said.
"All I'm saying is, once in a while, I'd like to drive!" Tosh said.
"And all I'm saying is no!" Owen said.
"Why not?" I asked, coming up on Owen other side. He looked from me to Tosh, both of us glaring at him while Jack chuckled behind us.
Owen raised his hands defensively. "Look, I've shared cars with women before. I know what'll happen. There'll be an emergency, we're all raring to go, I jump in, what do I find? Seat's in the wrong position, the rear view mirror's out of line and the steering wheel's in my crotch. Time it takes to sort it all out, aliens'll have taken Newport," Owen said.
Jack laughed out loud this time.
"Well I wouldn't mind driving every once in a while either," I said.
"What about a rota? Different people drive on different days," Gwen said as we walked into the office.
"We're a secret organisation, hunting alien technology from an underground base," Jack said, pressing the button to open the door. "And you want a rota for who drives?" he asked.
"Just trying to help," Gwen said.
Jack led way through door. He punched the door code in, and we walked into the hub. He immediately started giving out orders.
"Tosh, call up the radar within a 50-mile radius of the Bay for the last six hours. Gwen, check with that man - Neil, I think his name was, voice like Sean Connery - at Jodrell Bank. See if they picked up any chatter around the time of the sightings. Owen, access the airspace provision over Cardigan Bay, also any RAF flightplans, see if it's just a case of mistaken identity, and Lily, start preparations for the Speech, in case it's real, and Plan B in case it's real and hostile."
I nodded, going over to weapons storage and pulling out the neccesary equipment for Plan B, and grabbing the Translator Device for the Speech(Jack's explanation to alien life forms that we are a sentient species with rights, and they are violating our airspace, and they scared the locals to death, and yada yada yada, could they please leave in peace?).
"Is that Neil? It's Gwen Cooper from Torchwood. I know, we're always after something, aren't we?" I heard Gwen saying.
"Ianto! Would you work some coffee magic?" Jack asked. I looked up at Ianto, in time to see Jack making prayer hands and being cute. Ianto headed up stairs to where the coffee lived.
I hauled the stuff out of the storage closet, and the lights flickered.
"What's happening?" Gwen asked.
"Internal power drain," Tosh said.
"What's causing it?" I asked, putting the equipment down and joining the others at Tosh's desk.
"Something big to drain that amount of power. Tosh, run a system diagnostic," Jack said.
"Actually... We've been having generator problems all evening. I was down there checking earlier. Couple of bits of cabling have come loose. I thought I'd fixed it," Ianto said. We all turned to look at him. "Let me have another look."
"Fine. Go check," Jack said.
"Do you Want any help?" I asked.
"It's fine," Ianto said.
I watched him walk away, and after a few minutes, the power came back on.
"Got it," Tosh said, showing us the picture of the spacecraft on her screen.
"That's a UFO?" Gwen asked.
"Only just!" Owen said.
I elbowed him. "It's fascinating, don't knock it."
"Arkan leisure crawler, first generation. Collectors' item, don't see many of those around these days. Tosh, send a polite message saying great to see them, but could they please get the hell out of our atmosphere they're spooking the locals," Jack said.
"Done!" Tosh said.
"Shouldn't we be apprehending it? Investigating it?" Gwen said. I snorted, and she looked at me, so I inspected my nails.
"Oh, please. You interrogate an Arkan, you'll be in there for a month. And that's just the first question. They are so boring. Besides, they're mostly made of liquid, the cells would be a mess," Jack said. He turned to me. "You can put the equipment away Lily, we won't be needing it," he said. I sighed, and started hauling the stuff back to storage.
As I closed the door, the lights flickered again.
"There it goes again!" Owen said.
"Ianto, we've got another dose of darkness. You found anything?" Jack asked into his wrist device.
Ianto didn't answer.
"Ianto? I need to hear those beautiful Welsh vowels!" Jack said.
"Power's draining to the storeroom at the bottom of the building. Looking for human heat signals. We've got..."
"Two signals?" Owen asked.
"So assuming one's Ianto..." I started.
"Who's the other?" Gwen finished.
There was a pause.
"I'm thinking we're under attack," Jack said, turning and heading for the aromory. "Security's been breached. We assume battle protocols," he said.
"That's impossible! Nobody can get in without triggering seven separate alarms," Tosh said.
"Yeah, well, looks like our system needs to be upgraded," Jack said.
"I'll head down and look for Ianto," I said.
"I'll come with you," Owen said. "Is that alright?" I asked Jack.
"Keep your comms open at all times. Any doubts, shoot first. Priority is to find Ianto," Jack said.
I nodded, heading out with Owen close behind.
We headed into a dark section of the base, and we got out our torches. I let Owen take the lead. "What's down here?" I asked.
"Normally? Nothing," Owen said.
"Progress report?" Jack asked.
"Signs of activity at the eastern end of the main corridor," Owen said into the comm.
"Whatever it is, it's interfering with the comms," Jack said over the crackle of the comms.
"We're going in to have a look," I said.
"Jack? Tosh?' Owen asked into his comm. He looked at me. "No comms," he said.
"We're on our own, then," he said.
At the end of the corridor was a door. Owen peeked through the window while I covered the hall.
"What the hell is going on?" Owen asked.
"What's the matter?" I asked him.
"I can't see well enough. But there's something in there. Some kind of operating table. Get the bolts," he said.
I unbolted the door, Owen unlocked another latch.
"OK?" I asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "OK, one, two..." we kicked door in unison.
Inside the room, the lights were flickering madly. In the center of the room, was what looked like a metal operating table.
"No! No, no, no, no!" Owen yelled over the noise.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's wrong. It's beyond wrong! It shouldn't be here! Turn the thing off! TURN IT OFF!" he screamed. I punched a big red button, and the thing powered down.
The comms crackled.
"These things brought down Torchwood One. But they were all destroyed. Why is there one in our bloody basement?" Owen was still yelling.
"Just tell me what it does," I said.
"It's the remnants of a conversion unit," he said.
My eyes widened in realization. "The technology for upgrading a human to a cyberman," I said. Owen nodded grimly.
"If I don't hear something within 30 seconds, I'm coming down there!" we heard Jack over the comm.
"Jack, it's Lily. The comms dropped out. We're back online now," I said.
"Any sign of Ianto?" Jack asked.
"No. But we have found parts of a Cyber conversion unit. Fully powered up and working," Owen said.
"This is no time to be kidding around, Owen," Jack said.
"I'm deadly serious! I dunno why it's here, or how it got here. But that's what's draining our power," Owen said.
There was a pause.
"Jack? You there?" I asked.
"I want you two back up here immediately!" Jack said.
"We still haven't found-" I heard a thump and Owen dropped to the ground, unconcious. Standing behind him, was a cyberman. But it didn't look like the others I'd seen. Skin was showing, and I could see it's face. I gasped, recognizing Lisa, Ianto's girfriend. She worked at Torchwood 1 with us.
I pointed the gun at Lisa, though my hands were shaking. "Jack, code zero incursion. Repeat! Code zero incursion. We're under attack."
Lisa moved closer, clunking and whirring.
"Lisa," I said, backing away. "I don't want to hurt you. But come any closer, I'll shoot," I said.
She still came closer. "This is your last warning Lisa. Stay away!" I yelled. She came closer still. I shot at her, but the bullet bounced off the armor on her chest. Under normal conditions, I would have hit her. I was a very good shot. But the lights in the room were flashing crazily, making it hard to see, and she was moving. She came closer, and I shot again with the same result. She swatted the gun away and lifted me up by the throat.
I choked, and Lisa pushed me towards the cyber conversion unit. "Let me go!" I yelled.
"Do not struggle. You will be like me," Lisa said.
I struggled harder. Lisa put me on the table, which tilted back, restraints snapping shut.
Lisa hit the button hit 'on' button.
"Throw down any weapons, put your hands up and turn and face me!" I heard Jack yell. I was looking up, at the ceiling, which had opened, reavealing knives and saws which were starting to descend.
"Jack!" I yelled.
"You're a woman!" Jack said, sounding baffled.
"NOT NOW JACK!" I screamed.
I heard Jack shoot, but I still didn't look away from the blades descending on me.
"She doesn't know what she's doing!" I heard Ianto say after a bang.
There was another bang. "You are fighting the wrong guy!" I heard Jack say.
The blades started whirring as they came down.
"Get me out of here, someone, please!" I yelled.
I mananged to turn my head to the side, and saw Ianto at the controls.
"Ianto, switch it off!" I yelled.
"I'm trying! She's changed all the circuits! Shut off the power everywhere!" he said.
"Toshiko, cut all power in the base!" Jack yelled into the comm.
"I do that, the base goes into lockdown! We'll be trapped.
"Just do it!" Jack said.
"Switch it off!" I heard Gwen yell at Tosh on the other end of the comm.
The lights switched off, and I heard the blades stop.
"Lily?" Jack asked.
"I'm fine. Get me out of here please," I said.
"It's all right," Jack said.
"Where is she? Where did she go? What happened?" I asked.
"Stand guard by the door," Jack told Ianto.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Ianto said.
"Ianto, it's fine," I said reasuringly.
"Let's just get out of here," Jack said. He used his wrist gadget to unlock the cyber conversion unit.
I stood, retrieving my gun and torch from they were lying on the floor. "Where's Owen?" Jack asked. I shone the torch over to where I'd last seen him. He was still unconcious.
"Here he is," I said, walking over. Jack picked him up, carrying him slung over his shoulder. It was good for Owen that Jack was here, or I would have just dragged him. If I decided to bring him at all... no, this was work, I would have brought him.
We walked into the corridor.
"Clear?" Jack asked.
"Clear," Ianto said. We walked down the hall a few feet, and turned a corner, jumping as we saw Lisa.
"What are we gonna do?" I asked Jack slowly.
"I don't know," Jack said.
Lisa turned and walked away, whirring and clunking.
"She's gone," Ianto said, sounding lost.
Jack pointed his gun at Ianto's head. " Get us back to the Hub," he said.
"Jack, don't shoot him, it wasn't his fault," I said.
Jack looked at me. "He brought that thing here, he must have." He looked back at Ianto. "Move," he said.
We walked a while, before Owen groaned. Jack stopped, putting him down none to gently against the wall as he was still keeping his gun trained on Ianto. Owen sat up, rubbing the back of his head.
"What happened?" he asked, standing.
I looked at Jack.
"We're not sure yet. But right now, we've got to getback to the hub before Tosh and Gwen decide to come looking for us," Jack said.
I nodded, and we started walking again.
We walked into the hub, and Jack immediately started barking out orders. "Tosh, get everything from the weapons room. Fast as you can," he said.
"It's locked down, there's no manual override," Tosh said.
"Just open the store!" Jack yelled at her.
"On your knees! Hands above your head!" Jack yelled at Ianto, still pointing the gun at him.
"Jack, for God's sake! What are you doing?" Tosh asked.
"Tosh! I gave you an order! Gwen, help her!" he barked at them. He turned to Ianto, and Gwen and Tosh remained where they were. "Did you know that thing was down there?" he asked.
"I put her there," Ianto said.
"You hid a Cyberman within Torchwood? And you didn't tell us? What else are you keeping from us?" he asked.
"Like you care. I clear up your shit. No questions asked and that's the way you like it. When did you last ask me anything about my life?" Ianto asked Jack.
Jack paused, before lowering the gun.
"Her name's Lisa. She's my girlfriend," Ianto said.
"Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you," Gwen said.
"Torchwood exists to destroy alien threats. Why would I tell you about her?" Ianto said.
"A little loyalty, perhaps?" Owen asked.
"My loyalty's to her! She worked for Torchwood. She was caught up in battle. I owe it to Lisa... We owe it to her... to find a cure," Ianto said.
"Ianto, you have to believe me. There is no cure. There never will be. Those who are converted stay that way. Your girlfriend will not be the exception," Jack said.
"You can't know that for sure," Ianto said.
"Look, you need to know what's happening here. Because this is where these things start. Small decisions that become mass slaughter. These creatures regain a foothold by exploiting human weakness. Then they take a base. Rebuild their forces. And before you know it, the Cyber race is spreading out across the universe, erasing worlds, assimilating populations. All because of the tiny beginnings here. We need to stop her...together!" Jack said.
"You're not listening to me! The conversion was never completed!" Ianto yelled.
"She already tried to kill Lily! You think she's gonna stop there? There is no turning back for her now!" Jack yelled. I stepped forward.
"Jack," I said.
"I'm...not giving up on her. I love her. Can you understand that, Jack? Haven't you ever loved anyone?" Ianto asked.
"You need to figure out whose side you're on here. Because if you don't know... you're not going to make it out of this alive," Jack said.
Ianto looked down, and nodded.
It was just a little while later, and we had been trying unsuccessfully to open the weapon's storage.
"There's no way this weapons store's gonna open," Owen said, turning away.
"It's going to take six hours for the power to come back online," Tosh said.
"Let me talk to her. I can still save her. Save all of us. She's not a monster," Ianto said.
I looked over as I heard a whirring sound, and saw Lisa turn the corner into the hub. Ianto started towards her.
"Ianto!" Gwen said.
"Lisa... It's me," Ianto said, ignoring Gwen.
"You can't just let him go-" Gwen said to Jack.
"Ssh!" Jack interrupted her before she could finish.
"The army will be rebuilt from here. This building is suitable," Lisa said.
"Who are you?" Jack asked.
"Human point two," Lisa said.
"No! Lisa-" Ianto started.
"So how come you look like human point one?" Jack said, cutting him off. I looked from Jack to Ianto tensely, hand going to my gun. I could get her...
"I do not understand," Lisa said.
"Look at yourself. Go ahead," Jack said. Lisa turned her head to look at her reflection in the glass of the window looking into Jack's office.
"Remember, Lisa. Remember who you are," Ianto said.
"The upgrade is incomplete," Lisa said.
"You're still human," Ianto said.
"I am... disgusting. I have... I am... wrong," Lisa said.
"We can help you," Ianto said, moving even closer. I slipped my gun out, holding it out of Jack's sight.
"I must start again. Upgrade properly," Lisa said.
"For God's sake! Have you heard yourself? Lisa, please. I brought you here to heal you. So we could be together," Ianto said, voice breaking.
"Together. Yes. Transplant my brain into your body. The two of us...together. Fused. We'll be one complete person. Isn't that what love is?" Lisa asked.
"No," Ianto said, crying.
"Then we are not compatible," Lisa said. She grabbed Ianto by throat, and lifted him, throwing him into the water at the base of the tower. He lay still. I pulled the gun up and aimed, as did Jack. Lisa pointed an arm at him and zapped his gun, and he dropped it. I ducked as she turned towards me.
"Code Nine manoeuvres. Go!" Jack yelled.
Lisa turned, and clunked towards Gwen, who froze like a rabbit in the headlights.
"Gwen! Gwen! Get out of there!" Jack yelled.
"Lisa! What you waiting for?" Owen yelled. Lisa turned towards him.
"Gwen!" I yelled. She looked at me, then turned and ran. I followed her example, running in a different direction.
"Run. We all ran," Lisa said. I looked, to see that she was going after Gwen and Owen, who were running close to each other. They were yelling at each other, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Shut up, both of you! OK, now, this is a fight to the death. We do whatever is necessary to destroy her. Forget what Ianto said. That thing is not human. Clear?" Jack yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear. I reached them, as did Tosh.
Jack handed Tosh a piece of alien technology.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Something Suzie scavenged last year. She claimed that it could open any lock in 45 seconds. I want you out the exit gates up the emergency stairs to reception," Jack instructed her.
"She'll never open that door without power! It weighs a ton!" Owen said.
"Anyway, I'm not leaving you here!" Tosh said.
"Just do as I say! All of you! Once in reception... panel next to the desk, pull it out. Take circuit 357 from the main system and patch it to these," he said, pointing to a picture. "There should be enough power in there for what we need. Once the main circuit goes live, get out. Meet us by the water tower. Go!" he said. She went.
"You three... find anything that even resembles a weapon," Jack said.
"Autopsy room. There should be some lethal equipment there," Owen said.
"What are you gonna do?" Gwen asked Jack.
"Buy you some more time. Go!" he yelled.
We ran, scattering. Gwen and Owen were covering the autopsy room. I would look elsewhere. I looked around the hub, for anything that might help. I heard a screech from above, and looked up to see Myfanwy circling overhead. That gave me an idea. I ran under her, trying to get her attention. I heard the others behind me.
"Hey! Lisa! It is Lisa, isn't it? You've been hiding in my basement. That's OK. Draining my power, I can live with that... But now you're starting to hurt my friends. This is gonna stop!" Jack said. I whistled as loudly as I could, but unfortunately, I was not the best whistler in the world. Myfanwy didn't notice me.
"This building belongs to me now. You will all be deleted," Lisa said.
"I'm sorry for what they did to you. But this ends here," Jack said. I heard a buzzing, but ignored it. I clapped, trying to get Myfanwy to notice me. she didn't, and I stopped, and took off my shoe. I threw it, hitting her. She sqwuaked, and turned to me. I clapped.
"Fannie!" I yelled, the nickname that seemed to bug her. She flew over, landing in front of me, hissing a bit. I held my hand out, encouraged when she didn't bite it off. I looked in her eyes.
"I need a favor," I asked, edging closer. She looked at me oddly, probably not understanding what I was saying. I walked closer, and touched her neck, forming a link with her.
Her mind was so... different. Different, and alien, though she was from earth. She didn't speak. Not in the sense we know. All she had was instincts. All of the feelings that we take for granted, love, and hope, and even anger, in a way, were nonexistent. All there was was the need to survive. No reason why, just that. I opened my eyes, looking into hers as she reacted to my mind- something as alien, foreign and incomprehensible to her as hers was to me. I had meant to create and sever the link quickly, but this was...
{Human,} A voice came. I realized with a start that it was Myfanwy.
{You don't know how to speak. Especially not english,} I sent.
{But you do,} she sent back. And it was true. I didn't know what was happening. But all of a sudden, I was thinking things I'd never thought of before. I knew things that... well, that I mostly couldn't use. Hunting... Mating... Flying... all things I couldn't do. But Myfanwy, she was getting things she could use. Like how human speech worked. How to cook a meal. Use a toilet, or a computer, or drive a car.
I really don't know how long we were there. But eventually, she found what I wanted her to do. The reason I'd formed the link in the first place.
{I understand,} she said.
I jerked my hand away, and backed up, as she took to the air. I turned, looking around. I blinked, seeing Jack, Ianto, Owen and Gwen gathered around a dead Lisa. So much for my plan. I started over to them, when Ianto jumped back, and Lisa got up.
"Ianto, move! Get out! Get out I said! Move! Move!" Gwen yelled, pushing him up the stairs. The rest of the team ran up the stairs, and Lisa followed them. Since I figured I looked ridiculous with only one shoe on, I took it off, and threw it at Lisa. It hit her in the back of the head, and she turned to me.
"Oi! You! Get over here freakshow!" I yelled, hoping ot buy the others a bit of time. I had more space to run than they did. She turned, and started clunking towards me, and I held my arms out to the side, hoping Myfanwy would follow through.
She did. With a shriek, she dived down, knocking Lisa over. The others were already on the block lift, and I ran over, joining them.
"Let me go! Let me help her!" Ianto yelled. The lift started to rise, and I grabbed ahold of his arm, helping the others to keep him on the lift.
"Hold him still!" Jack yelled.
"NO! Call it off her! You can do that! Have some fucking mercy!" Ianto yelled.
"Ianto, I'm sorry," I said.
Below us, we could hear Lisa screaming.
"NO!" Ianto yelled.
I choked back a sob as we emerged onto the street, in front of the fountain. Jack got off, and I let go of Ianto, Owen and Gwen following suit.
Tosh ran towards us. "It worked! What happened to-" she stopped when she saw Ianto.
"No," Jack said.
Ianto turned to glare at Jack, and then punched him, sending him sprawling.
"You could have saved her!" he yelled.
He turned to me. "And you! You told it to, I know you did! I saw you! You knew her! Why?" he yelled.
I struggled for words. "Ianto, I- I'm sorry," I said. I swallowed. "But that wasn't Lisa. Lisa died a long time ago," I said firmly.
"Listen, when I was at reception, I managed to trip the lockdown timer. The power should be coming back on any second. We can get back in," Tosh said.
Ianto started running, and we ran after him.
"Ianto! Stop!" Jack yelled after him as we got closer to the reception.
"She can't have survived that attack!" Gwen yelled.
"I used my initiative! I'm sorry!" Tosh said.
"When I want you to think for yourself, I'll tell you," Jack said.
Ianto made it to the door and barged in.
"Maybe if you'd told me your plan, I wouldn't have done it!" Tosh said.
We ran in to see Ianto at the door. He turned, and pointed a gun at us.
Gwen, Owen and I were in front, and we froze with our arms outstretched.
"Ianto, don't be stupid," I said slowly.
"I've nothing left to lose," Ianto said.
"There's always something left to lose," Jack said.
Ianto pointed the gun at Jack.
"I'm going back in to save her. Anybody tries to stop me, I'll shoot them," Ianto said.
"Ianto, put the gun-"
Ianto swung gun to Gwen, and Jack moved, grabbing his arm, and pinning it against the door, knocking the gun out of his hand. He got his own gun out and pointed it at Ianto's head.
"You make a threat like that, you better be prepared to follow it through. See, you disobey me now... I really will shoot you," Jack said.
"Get off me!" Ianto said.
"You wanna go back in there? You go in to finish the job. If she's still alive, you execute her," Jack said.
Ianto turned to look at Jack. "No way," he said.
"You brought this down on us. You hid her. You hid yourself from us. Now it's time for you to stand as part of the team," Jack said.
"Jack..." I said slowly, inching forward.
"The girl you loved has gone. Your loyalty is to us now," Jack said.
"You can't order me to do that," Ianto said.
"You execute her or I'll execute you both!" Jack said.
"I won't do it. You can't make me. You like to think you're a hero. But you're the biggest monster of all," Ianto said.
Jack breathed out shakily. They stared at each other.
"I'm giving you ten minutes. Then we're coming in," Jack said, motioning to the rest of us.
"Pick it up," Jack said, nodding to the gun.
Ianto bent over, and picked up the gun. He stood, and looked at the rest of us before turning to go into the base.
"How can you ask him-" Tosh started.
"I don't need your opinion!" Jack yelled.
Tosh looked shocked, and Gwen had her hand curled over her mouth. Jack looked at me, and I met his eyes grimly. Owen was standing, silent. The ten minutes passed, too quickly for me. Jack turned, and we all followed him after a seconds hesitation. We walked through the mess in the hub, and down into the vaults, our footsteps echoing emptily around us.
We turned a corner, and heard voices ahead.
"What are you doing? Ianto, it's me! You wouldn't shoot me. I did this for you!" we heard someone say. It didn't sound like Lisa. We turned again, and saw Ianto standing next to a girl, his gun pointed at her face. He was crying.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he said. He lowered the gun, and turned away.
"We can be upgraded together," the girl said. Jack raised his gun and shot her. The rest of us followed suit.
The girl fell back slowly on the conversion unit, staring at Ianto, who stared at her.
We all lowered our guns. Ianto looked at us. Gwen looked away, but the rest of us met his gaze, Jack defiantly.
Ianto turned and went to Lisa. He dropped to his knees somewhere between the corpse of the old Lisa, the one I'd known, and the girl I had never seen before. He rocked, sobbing.
I was sitting in the hub, watching Ianto Methodically picking up the trash, and Owen walked up to me.
"I've got a question," he said.
I looked up at him, and leaned back. "Shoot," I said.
"You worked at Torchwood 1. Why didn't you recognize the conversion unit?" he asked.
"I'd never seen one before," I said. I looked up at him. "I was in America when the cybermen attacked."
He looked at me thoughtfully, and then nodded, walking away.