The TARDIS materialised back into the base, The Doctor and McKenzie stepped out.
"That was amazing!" Reece said.
"Are you alright?" the Colonel asked McKenzie, "We can have the medics look you over?"
"Oh no, I'm fine, really." she took out the USB drive, "There are some files on here I think you lot need to see." she placed the drive into the main computer and brought up the files.
"Oh my..."
The files showed information about the spiders, what they were, how they worked and who created them. She played the video file.
"Test seventeen." said Carter, "I've tried so much and thus far... nothing. However I found something. While working with the scoop in the lab I actually found something. Space dust that means something... I don't know what it is... a bit of an old A.I. processor or something? But what I do know is it contains a substantial amount of energy, capable of actually powering the replication droids. I'm starting the insertion process now."
She watched as her equipment moved and started work. The little metal spider twitched and a light glowed within it. It looked around at its surroundings.
"Hello?" she asked, "Can you hear me...?"
"Yes," it replied, "How may I serve..." it spoke like it didn't understand why or how it was speaking.
"This is incredible!" Carter exclaimed.
"What is incredible...?" the creature asked.
"The part within you, the one that makes you work. Can you make me another?" Carter asked, handing the spider different pieces of metal.
"What... am I?" it asked.
"You are a replication droid. I designed and created you."
"Why... am I?" it asked.
"I created you to repair broken equipment and you are going to make me rich!"
The Doctor clenched his fist and McKenzie heard his knuckle crack, she held his hand and stroked his arm. He looked down at her trying to comfort him and he realised that she could probably feel his anger. He sighed and squeezed her hand, hoping that she knew he was grateful for her trying to calm him down.
"What is rich?" the spider asked.
"Be quiet and do as you're told." Carter snapped.
The spider did as it was told and made another processor part.
"Hand it to me." said Carter.
The spider looked up at Cater and then back down at the piece. It handed it to Carter then started to make more pieces.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
The spider was silent.
"Stop that right now!"
The spider stopped and looked at its creation, it had made another spider.
"You are Creator..." it said.
"Yes I am and I expect you to obey me."
"I do... But now I am Creator..."
The second spider came to life and jumped from the desk to the floor and scuttled into one of the vents.
"My creation obeys me."
"I knew she was up to something..." the Colonel spoke into the microphone, "Jethro, could you come in here please?" he turned back to McKenzie and The Doctor, "I suspected her of something ever since they neglected to report the deaths as soon as they happened. So the higher ups sent someone to check her out. I sent him to Base Alpha and he's been feeding me information about Carter, but this..?"
Jethro entered the room, "Sir." he saluted.
"Agent..." he said, "Take a look at this."
Jethro looked over the files, "I had no idea... I'll have to take this as evidence." he took the USB.
"But–" McKenzie stepped towards him.
"I'm sorry Miss Murphy but I have to. And you two should be happy I'm not arresting you!"
"What?"
"You're a couple of freelance time agents if ever I saw... and you were trespassing on a government funded operation. However, if it weren't for you we wouldn't have gotten off of that base, Carter may have turned on me and we never would have found any of this out."
McKenzie looked over to The Doctor.
"Uh– Sure. Time agents, that's us! Sorry for trespassing." he said.
"You better be on your way." said Jethro.
"Uh, sure... as long as you don't need our help...?" asked McKenzie.
"No, we should be fine– hold on a minute... What's that?" another file opened up after the last one finished playing, containing information on Lucy Turner. It was a video file, he pressed play and everyone watched in silence.
"I don't understand... this is madness. I created you I can destroy you!" Carter yelled at the trapped spider.
The spider glowed green and a small tapping noise could be heard getting louder and louder.
A large number of spiders came in through the vent. They climbed on top of each other and shifted, small pieces of them changed shape incredibly quickly till they eventually looked like a young woman.
It was Lucy Turner.
Everyone gasped.
"I am Lucy Turner. I am your research assistant." she said.
Carter backed away, "How are you inside my head... What are you doing to me?!" she shouted.
"I need to keep safe... Parts of me have become corrupted, by something... else."
Lucy removed the cover that was trapping the spider, she held it in her hands and it merged with her.
"This is the only way." she said.
Captain Carter fainted and Lucy left the lab.
"Oh my god..." said Reece, "She's... she's a thing." he looked scared.
"Obviously different to the ones you and I saw in the base." The Doctor said to McKenzie, "She probably believes who she is completely by now–"
They heard a gunshot from outside, everyone flinched and gasped.
"Why does it always have to be guns..." The Doctor grabbed McKenzie's hand, "Come on!" he pulled her out to the loading bay where Carter was holding a gun with her arm wrapped around Lucy's neck.
"Carter, what are you doing?" shouted the Colonel.
"They're wrong... they're bad..." Carter was in a state.
"You created them!" shouted The Doctor.
"And I can destroy them!"
"Please, I don't know what you're talking about, Captain just let me go please!" Lucy shouted through tears.
"Shut up, just shut up! You worked your way into my head you lied!"
"Carter, just put the gun down..." The Doctor slowly stepped towards her and she pointed the gun at him.
"Doctor!" McKenzie shouted.
"It's alright–"
"Remember what happened last time someone pointed a gun at you?"
"Point taken..." he stepped back with his hands up, "Just think about what you're doing... There's a chance she completely believes who she is... she made you believe who she was and finished the job by making herself believe it too!"
"No! I've just got to make her tell! It's not my fault! I've done nothing wrong!"
"Carter, you've killed two people!" shouted Jethro.
"They made me do it, they kept telling me how this static is going to destroy the universe... I had to! If anyone knew that was my fault!"
"Please, please I don't know anything, I don't know what you're talking about, please don't shoot me!" cried Lucy.
Carter looked up and she was teleported out, she dropped Lucy and the gun. Reece ran over and held her, she cried into his shoulder.
"It's ok... it's ok, I've got you." he stroked her hair.
The Doctor watched for a moment and McKenzie took his hand, he turned almost surprised to see her. She squeezed his hand and he smiled at her.
"Sweet aren't they?" she smiled.
Reece held Lucy close and touched his forehead to hers.
The Doctor walked over to them, "Do you mind if I talk to Lucy?"
Reece let go of her and helped her up, she sniffled and looked up at The Doctor.
He took out his sonic-screwdriver, "I'm just going to check you over, Lucy, is that ok?"
She nodded.
He pointed the screwdriver at her, it buzzed and he checked it, "She's human, well... technically. Cybernetic humanoid... but her memories are real enough– Well... She believes they are real–"
"Doctor…" McKenzie hissed.
Everyone stared at him.
"I'm talking too much... Uh– Look after her." he smiled at Reece and backed over to McKenzie. The Colonel walked up behind them.
"That was the teleport from Base Alpha." said the Colonel.
"There are still spiders up there, they could have called her up?" said McKenzie.
"We have to go up and get her back, she's only making her case worse." said Jethro.
"We'll go and find her," said McKenzie, "We can get up there the quickest."
"With all due respect, you two should probably just go, we have everything under control here, we can retrieve our own people."
"Hmm... alright then." said The Doctor, "We'll just be on our way..." they headed to the TARDIS.
The Doctor went straight to the console.
"We're going up there aren't we?" McKenzie asked.
"Oh yeah." he smiled.
