The Rebel Flesh
Muse's 'Supermassive Black Hole' was playing over the speakers of the TARDIS as Amy and Rory played a game of darts by the doors. Evy, garbed in her tan outfit with black boots and a white shirt, and the Doctor stood by the console, at the monitor, looking over the pregnancy scan of Amy's, still flashing positive/negative.
"46," Amy remarked as Rory tossed a dart that came just under the wires, "Rubbishy rubbishy rubbish."
"Hello, it's a double top," Rory countered.
"Wrong side of the wire, mister."
"You're…red."
Amy laughed, "No, I'm not. Stop trying to put me off," she moved to take her turn, when the Doctor and Evy exchanged a glance and nodded.
The Doctor flicked off the music, "Who wants fish 'n' chips?"
Rory raised his hand.
Evy smiled at him, "There's this lovely shop I used to go to, we'll drop you off."
"Take your time. Don't rush."
"Uh, and you two?" Rory eyed them.
"We…" Evy began when the Doctor cut her off.
"Have things to do, things involving...other things."
Evy could only put her head in her hand and shake her head, way to not make the humans curious by being vague.
"Well, we'll stay with you," Amy headed towards the stairs to the console, "We'll do the other things."
"Nope," the Doctor shook his head as Evy switched off the monitor.
"Whatever you two are up to, I, personally, would like to be a part of it," Amy scoffed, seeing them both look reluctant, "What?"
Before either of them could answer, the klaxon blared and the TARDIS began to thrash. Rory grabbed onto the railing as Amy clung to the console, trying to keep balance. The Doctor and Evy ran to the controls, trying to fly them out of whatever it was that was making the TARDIS react so violently.
"It's a Solar Tsunami," Evy read off the monitor, "From the sun. We're in the middle of a tidal wave of radiation."
"Oh, Evy," Rory moaned, gripping his stomach, "My tummy's going funny."
"Well, the gyros are dissipated," the Doctor muttered, "Target-tracking is out…" with a grunt the Doctor threw a lever up, but nothing happened. He looked at Evy, concerned, before shouting, "Assume the position!"
Amy fell down onto the jump seat, hands over her head, hunched over, while Rory knelt on the floor. The Doctor made his way over to Evy's side, as she knelt on the ground, pressed against the console for support, and put his arms around her, protecting her as they jostled about and landed with a crash. Amy and Rory looked up, panting, as the Doctor stood, helping Evy up.
"Textbook landing," he grinned.
Evy smacked him upside the back of the head with a huff.
~8~
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, tugging Evy behind him by the hand, to see they were on an island, a monastery style stone structure before them, partially in ruins. Evy's eyes, however, immediately went to the weathervane at the top of a spire sticking out of the top of the building.
"Behold!" the Doctor exclaimed as Amy and Rory stepped out behind them, "A cockerel. Love a cockerel. And, underneath, a monastery, 13th century."
"Oh, we've gone all medieval," Amy remarked.
"I'm not sure about that," Rory shook his head.
"Really? Medieval expert, are you?"
"No, it's just that...I can hear Dusty Springfield."
They listened carefully, hearing 'You Don't Have to Say You Love Me' playing softly in the air. The Doctor and Evy started walking towards a stairway that would lead into a courtyard, when they spotted a hole in the ground with an exposed pipe running through it.
"These fissures...they're new," Evy remarked, eyeing it, "Must have been made by the Solar Tsunami. It sends out a wave of gamma particles that caused a magnetic quake to hit just before the waves..."
"Well, the monastery's standing," Amy looked at it.
The Doctor pulled out a small snow globe from his pocket and shook it, "Yeah, for now…" he studied it intently and put it away.
"Doctor, look," Rory pointed to the pipe that had the words 'Danger Corrosive' etched on it.
"Ah, it's a supply pipe!"
Evy scanned it quickly with her sonic, reading the results, "Ceramic inner lining. That's typically used for something corrosive."
"They're pumping something nasty off this island, to the mainland."
"My mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield," Rory commented, smiling as he listened to the song.
"Who isn't?"
"She tried to ask me on a date once," Evy remarked, thinking back on the singer. The Doctor's expression darkened till Evy kissed him lightly on the cheek, "If only I wasn't madly in love with you," she whispered to him.
He beamed, blushing lightly, as Amy and Rory smirked at him, his bouts of jealousy were adorable. He cleared his throat, "Right, let's go. Satisfy our rabid curiosity."
"OUR rabid curiosity?" Evy nudged him.
He sighed, slumping, pouting, "Alright, MY rabid curiosity."
Evy sighed, "I swear, if our child ends up as curious as you…" she eyed him intently and he frowned for a moment, she just grinned and kissed him again, "I'll love it all the more."
He beamed, taking her hand and leading her up the wooden stairs followed by Amy and Rory, who smiled at the sweet action, joining their own hands as they did.
~8~
They looked around the courtyard at some of the building, which was in ruins, a large portion still habitable though...barely.
"So, where are these Dusty Springfield-loving monks, then?" Amy asked.
The Doctor scanned the area, before turning to Evy, "I think we're here. This is it."
Rory frowned at that, "Doctor, what are you talking about? We've never been here before."
The Doctor and Evy exchanged a glance before climbing up another set of steps.
"We came here by accident," Amy added.
"'Accident?'" the Doctor glanced a back at them, "Yes, we know. Accident."
Rory reached out and touched one of the pipes running alongside the stairs and pulled his had away with a hiss of pain, "Ah! Ow!"
"Acid," Evy remarked, "So that's what's pumping off this island."
"That's old stuff though," the Doctor nodded at the pipe, "Fresh acid? You wouldn't have a finger," and then they turned and continued on as Amy examined Rory's hand.
An alarm began to blare, "Intruder alert. Intruder alert."
The Doctor stepped back out with a less than pleased looking Evy, "I told you, the front door approach never works," she muttered.
He just squeezed her hand and turned to Amy and Rory, "There are people coming. Well, almost."
"Almost coming?" Amy asked.
"Almost people," he corrected, before turning to head off again with Evy.
Amy made to follow when Rory called out, "I think we should probably go."
"Come on!" Amy turned to him.
"I'm telling you, when something runs towards you, it's never for a nice reason."
Amy just hopped back down the stairs and took his arm, dragging him along.
~8~
The group burst into a room of the monastery to see human shaped harnesses occupied by people in orange jumpsuits in the windows, "What are all these harnesses for?" Amy asked.
"Uh, the almost people?" Rory guessed.
"What are they, prisoners? Or are they meditating, or what?"
"Well, at the moment, they fall into the 'or what' category," the Doctor remarked.
"Halt and remain calm," the computer blared.
"Well, we've halted. How are we all doing on the 'calm' front?" he glanced at them a moment, his gaze lingering on Evy a moment longer. She gave him a smile and a peck, reassuring him that she and the baby were both fine.
Just then a young man, an older man, and a young woman entered the room, the men holding lances pointed at them, "Don't...move!" the older man shouted.
"Stay back, Jen," the young man called, "We don't know who they are."
"So let's ask them," the young woman, Jen, remarked, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Evy," she introduced, "This is the Doctor and that's Amy and Rory."
Amy frowned, looking between the men before her and the two identical men standing in the harnesses, "Hold up. You're all…what are you all, like, identical twins?"
Another young man and an older woman in brown leather/metal-like suits entered from behind them, "This is an Alpha-grade industrial facility," the older woman stated, "Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble."
"Actually, you're in big trouble," the Doctor turned, pulling out the psychic paper.
"Meteorological department, since when?"
"Since the solar wave hit," Evy added.
"Which we survived."
"Just, by the look of it," the Doctor glanced around, "And there's a bigger one on the way."
"Which we'll also survive. Dicken, scan for bugs."
The second young man, the one beside her, stepped forward, holding a scanner, "Backs against the wall," he ordered, "Now."
The Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Evy held up their hands and backed up to the wall, "This isn't a monastery," Evy remarked to Amy and Rory, "It's a factory. 22nd century, army-owned factory."
"You're army?" Amy eyed them skeptically.
"No, love, we're contractors and you're trespassers," the older woman rolled her eyes.
"It's okay, boss," Dicken called as he finished scanning.
"Alright, weatherman, your I.D. checks out," the woman gave the Doctor the paper back, her thoughts must have slipped because the paper now said 'Foreman Miranda Cleaves.' The Doctor smiled and put the paper in his pocket as Cleaves continued, "If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it, hand out sun block?"
The Doctor gave a fake laugh, "We need to see your critical systems."
"Which one?"
"You know which one," Evy stepped up beside him.
~8~
Cleaves led them into a room they dubbed 'the Flesh Room.' Near the back was a large vat on a raised platform with an open tub in front of it. The Doctor and Evy exchanged a glance before walking around to the opposite side of the vat, looking in at the white liquid bubbling inside, "And there you are," he murmured.
"Meet the government's worst kept secret, the Flesh," Cleaves remarked, "It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level."
"Right," Amy nodded, "Brilliant. Lost."
"Ok. Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything, replicate a living organism, down to the hairs on its chinny-chin-chin. Even clothes. And everything's identical, eyes, voice."
"Mind, soul," Evy breathed.
"Don't be fooled, Miss Daniels," Cleaves recalled her name from the I.D..
"Just Evy, thanks."
"It acts like life, but it still needs to be controlled by us from those harnesses you saw."
"Wait, whoa, hold it," Rory shook his head, "So...you're Flesh now?"
"I'm lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer, here. Don't be scared. This thing? Just like operating a forklift truck."
"You just said it was learning to grow," Evy countered, "Only living things can grow."
"Moss grows. It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous, we were losing a worker every week. So now, we mine the acid, using these doppelgangers, or 'Gangers.' If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid..."
"Then who the hell cares?" the young man, Ganger Buzzer, asked Jen, "Right, Jen?"
"Well, the nerve endings automatically cut off, like airbags being discharged, except we wake up and get a new ganger," Jen shrugged.
"It's weird," the older man, Ganger Jimmy, agreed, "But you get used to it."
"Jennifer, I want you in your Ganger," Ganger Cleaves ordered, "Get back to the harness."
Jen sighed but walked out.
The Doctor looked at Evy, 'Let me do this yeah?'
She frowned and gave him a look, 'Doctor, it's just Flesh…' she smirked a bit, 'What can possibly go wrong?'
'I think I've answered that question too many times to count,' he remarked before taking her hand, 'Please. We don't know exactly what'll happen if it comes in contact with actual DNA. I don't want to risk something affecting the baby or you.'
She pursed her lips, wanting to argue, but sighed. Ever since his dream he'd been very protective over the child growing within her and her as well. She knew it shook him up terribly to dream of them both dying, he tried not to let it show, but she could see it, in everything he did, just how worried he was. She nodded, 'Fine, go on and be the hero.'
He smiled, giving her a small peck of thanks before pulling out his sonic and scanning the Flesh.
"Hang on," Ganger Buzz glared at him, "What's he up to? What are you up to, pal?"
The Doctor struggled, trying to move his arm away, frowning in effort.
"Oi!" Evy shouted at the Flesh, "Stop it."
Whatever pull was on the Doctor let go at that and he nearly fell back, "Ah!" he took a breath and looked at her, conveying the experience to her, "Strange. It was like, for a moment there, it was scanning me," he put the sonic back in his pocket and reached out to touch his hand to the top of the liquid.
"Doctor…" Ganger Cleaves began.
"Ah," he grimaced in pain as his hand shook, struggling to pull it away once more.
"Get back, Doctor. Leave it alone!"
Evy reached out and took his arm, helping to pull him away, just knowing that the pull was stronger this time with a physical contact, "Ah!" he groaned, "Ah! Ah! Gah!" he pulled away with a gasp, "I understand," he turned to Evy and took her head in his hands, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against her own as she did the same, relaying everything to her.
"Doctor…" Amy began slowly, knowing what they were doing, "Are you alright?"
Evy's eyes snapped open with a gasp, "That's incredible."
He nodded and looked at Amy, "You have no idea. No idea. I mean, I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it and it, to me."
"Don't fiddle with the money, Doctor," Ganger Cleaves rolled her eyes.
Evy shook her head at the woman, "How can you be so blind? This," she gestured at the vat, "Is alive, so alive. And you keep putting your lives, your personalities, right into it."
Lightning crashed behind them as the Doctor took out the snow globe once more, the ground shaking, "It's the solar storm. The first waves come in pairs, pre-shock and full shock, it's close."
"Buzz, have we got anything from the mainland yet?" Ganger Cleaves turned to him.
"No, the comms. are still too jammed with radiation," Ganger Buzz replied.
"Ok, then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says stop. Now, why don't you stand back and let us impress you," she took a few steps back and they watched as the tub filled with Flesh.
As they watched, a face began to form, the mouth and then the eyes. The Flesh began to squeeze together into a human form, taking the shape of Jennifer, even her clothes, looking just like her, except her face wasn't fully-formed. She sat up with a gasp, now fully-formed.
"Well, I can see why you keep it in a church," the Doctor remarked, his arm winding around Evy's stomach, "The miracle of life."
"No need to get poncey," Ganger Buzzer scoffed, "It's just gunge."
"Guys, we need to get to work," Ganger Cleaves reminded them.
"Ok, everybody," Ganger Jimmy helped Ganger Jen out, "Let's crack on."
"Did we mention the solar storm?" the Doctor looked at them.
"What you need to do is get out of here, now," Evy agreed.
"Well, where do you want us to go?" Ganger Jimmy turned to them, "We're on a tiny island."
"Well, we can get you all off it," the Doctor told them.
"Don't be ridiculous," Ganger Cleaves scoffed, "We've got a job to do."
Evy's grip on the Doctor's hand tightened as she looked out the window, able to see the storm approaching now, "It's coming."
An alarm started blaring, actually causing the Gangers to pause, "That's the alarm," Ganger Jen looked up.
"How do you get power?" the Doctor turned to her.
"We're solar and we use a solar router," Ganger Cleaves called, "The weathervane."
"Big problem."
"Boss, maybe if the storm comes back, we should get underground," Ganger Jimmy suggested, "The factory's seen better days. The acid pipes might not withstand another hit."
"We have 200 tons of acid to pump out," Ganger Cleaves shook her head, "We fall behind, we stay another rotation. Anyone want that?"
"Please," Evy reached out and took the woman's arm, "You're about to make the worst mistake of your life right now. You have to prepare for this storm or you'll all be in terrible danger..."
"My factory, my rules," she yanked her arm away and headed off.
The Doctor shook his head at her and turned to Ganger Jen, "I need to check the progress of the storm," he snapped his fingers at her, "Monitoring station," she hesitated and he snapped his fingers once more, "Monitoring station!"
"Three lefts, a right, and a left," Ganger Jen replied, "Third door on your left."
"Thank you," he took Evy's hand and pulled her out with Amy and Rory.
~8~
They ran into the monitoring station as the building began to shake from the storm just about to hit it. In the center of the room was a circular bank of instruments.
The Doctor turned to them, "The wave's disturbing the Earth's magnetic field. There is going to be the mother and father of all power surges. You see this weathervane, the cock-a-doodle-doo?"
"It's a solar router," Evy explained, "It's what's feeding the whole factory with solar power."
"When that wave hits...kaboom," he turned to Evy, kissing her forehead quickly and then pressing his fingers to his lips, kissing it and pressing it gently onto her stomach, "Stay here and keep a look out on the instruments. I've got to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose!" he ran for the door, before stopping and chuckling, "I never thought I'd have to say that again."
Evy smiled at him lightly as he ran out, "Amy, you and Rory head back to the Harness Room yeah?" Evy turned to her, moving to sit before the instruments, "Keep an eye on them?" Amy nodded and turned to go when she called out once more, "Just remember to breathe, ok?"
Amy gave her a curious look, "Ok…I'll try?"
~8~
The Doctor ran across the roof of the monestary, towards the tower where the solar router was stationed. He glanced back at a small camera in the corner of a building and winked up, knowing Evy was watching him through it, before turning and climbing up a ladder on the side of the tower. He made it halfway up, to the small power box set in its side, and reached out for it, wrenching it open.
A moment later, lightning struck the tower, knocking him off it and onto the battlement.
~8~
The Doctor came to with a gasp, sitting up and looking at the top of the weathervane, which was gone, before jumping to his feet and scrambling back into the monastery. He raced down the stairs and down a corridor to the monitoring station, his hearts nearly stopping when he spotted Evy on the ground, on her side, unconscious. The dream flashed across his eyes and he ran to her side, skidding to his knees as he reached out to her, sonicing her quickly to see if she and the baby were alright, breathing a sigh of relief to see nothing was wrong, they were both just fine.
He reached out and stroked her hair, gently waking her, "Theta?" she asked, blinking blearily as she woke. When she realized she was on the ground she sat up quickly, her hand on her stomach.
He reached out and took her hand, "It's alright. Luna, it's fine, you're both fine," she looked at him, "I checked, you're fine," she let out a breath of relief, so similar to his own, and he pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly a moment before pulling back to bestow a small kiss on her lips and helping her up.
They headed out of the monitoring station and down another set of stairs to the main courtyard, only to see Cleaves standing there, bewildered.
"Cleaves, you're not in your harness!" he called.
"I'm sorry, Doctor, Miss Daniels," she looked at them.
"Just Evy," Evy waved her off.
"You were right."
"The factory's lost power," Evy told her, having recalled that much of the power being overloaded before she was knocked out by a jolt that went through the entire factory.
"I abandoned my team."
"Then let's go get them," the Doctor told her, the two of them leading Cleaves back inside.
~8~
They walked quietly through the tunnels of the monastery when Evy glanced at Cleaves curiously, "How long do you think we were knocked unconscious, Cleaves?"
"Not long," she shrugged, "A minute, two minutes?"
"I'd hazard we've been out a teensy bit longer," the Doctor remarked.
"Well, how long?"
"An hour," he told her solemnly, "We've seen whole worlds turned inside-out in an hour. A lot can go wrong in an hour."
Cleaves sighed and they continued on.
~8~
"Doctor, Evy," Amy called as they entered the Harness Room to see Dicken, Jimmy, and Buzz standing by her, a rather distraught Jen held in Rory's arms as he tried to comfort her, "Look, these are all real people. So where are their Gangers?"
"Don't worry, when the link shuts down, the Gangers return to pure Flesh," Cleaves told them, "Now, the storm's left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time."
And then they heard it…Dusty Springfield playing in the distance.
"That's my record," Jimmy frowned, "Who's playing my record?"
"Your Gangers I would think," Evy told them calmly.
"They've gone for a walkabout," the Doctor smiled.
"No, it's impossible," Cleaves shook her head, "They're not active. Cars don't fly themselves, cranes don't lift themselves, and Gangers don't…"
They all turned to look at the direction the music was coming from.
~8~
A record was playing in the dining hall as they entered through a few thick plastic strips hanging in the doorway.
"No way," Buzz breathed.
"I don't…I don't believe this," Cleaves had to agree.
"They could've escaped through the service door in the back," Jimmy looked around.
"This is just like the Isle of Sheppey," Buzz remarked.
The Doctor sat at the table, gently pulling Evy onto his lap so as not to disturb the house of cards set up before them, "It would seem the storm has animated your Gangers," he commented.
"They've ransacked everything," Cleaves frowned.
"No, they've searched everything," Evy corrected.
"Through our stuff?"
"Their stuff too now."
"Searching for what?" Jimmy asked.
"Confirmation that their memories are real."
"Oh, so they've got flaming memories now?" Buzz glared.
"They feel compelled to connect to their lives, yeah," the Doctor defended, glaring back at the man glaring at his Link.
"Their stolen lives," Cleaves countered.
"Their bequeathed lives," Evy continued to correct, "You gave them this. All of you. You poured everything into the Flesh each and every time, your personalities, you emotions and traits and memories and secrets. You essentially gave them your lives."
"Human lives are amazing," the Doctor agreed, "Are you surprised they walked off with them?"
"I'll say it again," Buzz shook his head, "Isle of Sheppey. Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator, right there in his harness. I've seen the photos. This bloke's ear was…"
"Even if this has actually happened, they can't remain stable without us plumbed into them, can they, boss?" Jimmy looked at her.
"I guess we'll find out," Cleaves sighed.
Jennifer gasped and put a hand to her mouth.
"Are you okay?" Rory looked at her, "Do you need some water?"
"I feel funny. I need the washroom…" she turned and ran out of the room.
"I'll come with you," Rory told her, glancing back at Evy who nodded in acknowledgement.
Dicken sneezed, "Sorry."
The Doctor leaned forward, wrapping his arms more around Evy in the process of looking at the cards intently.
"That's me," Buzz remarked, seeing it, "It's good to have a hobby. So, what, my Ganger did that, all on its own?"
"Who taught you to do this?" he asked.
"Me granddad."
"Well, your Ganger's granddad taught him to do it too."
"You both have the same childhood memories, just as clear and just as real," Evy nodded.
"No," Buzz knocked the cards down.
The Doctor frowned at him, "They're scared, disorientated, struggling to come to terms with an entire life in their heads."
~8~
The Doctor stood at a microwave, the others gathered around the table, Amy and Evy sitting down at it, "We need to protect ourselves," Jimmy decided.
"You're not a violent man are you Jimmy?" Evy looked at him, studying him, as the Doctor put a bit of food on a plate into the microwave.
"No."
"So why do you think the other Jimmy would be either?"
Cleaves glanced over at the Doctor and frowned, "Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor."
"Well my Link is pregnant," he shrugged, "Must keep up her strength."
Evy rolled her eyes at him, "Oh, now he wants to feed me, but when I asked if we could stop by Melissa Majoria for a bit of honey to put on my toast he's all…"
"You told us that we were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves," the Doctor cut in, blushing, "When, in fact, it was an hour."
"Sorry, I just assumed…" Cleaves shook her head.
"Well, it's not your fault. Like I said, they're disorientated. Amy, when you got to the alcoves, who was in harness?" the timer on the microwave went off and the Doctor pulled out the plate using a towel as a pot holder.
"Um, Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out," Amy stated.
"And Jennifer?" Evy asked her.
"She was standing on her own when we got to her."
The Doctor turned and handed the plate to Cleaves who held it in her hand, not even flinching, "It's hot," he told her.
Cleaves hissed and dropped the plate which shattered on the floor, "Ah!"
"The transmatter must still be a bit rubbery," Evy stood as the Doctor examined Cleaves's hand.
He nodded, "The nerve endings are not quite fused properly."
Ganger Cleaves pulled her hand away, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"It's alright," Evy moved to reassure the woman.
"Why didn't I feel that?"
"You will. When you stabilize..."
"No, stop it. You're playing stupid games. Stop it!" she turned her back on them.
The Doctor slowly approached Ganger Cleaves, motioning for Evy to stay back. The Gangers were scared, no telling how they would lash out or who at. He turned back to Ganger Cleaves speaking softly, "You don't have to hide. Please, trust me. I'm the Doctor."
Ganger Cleaves turned on him with a hiss, her face half-formed.
Buzzer grabbed a knife from the table and headed towards her but Jimmy held him back, "Where's the real Cleaves, you thing?" Buzzer demanded, "What have you done with her?"
"That's it, good," the Doctor ignored Buzzer, trying to calm Ganger Cleaves, "You remember. This is early Flesh, the early stages of the technology. So much..." he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "To learn."
"Doctor, what's happened to her?" Amy asked as she moved to stand by Evy.
"She's having a hard time stabilizing," Evy explained, "She'll be shifting from half-formed to full-formed on and off."
"We are living!" Ganger Cleaves shouted before lunging at the Doctor with a growl and running out of the room.
"Let her go," the Doctor called.
Evy's eyes widened as she turned to the Doctor, "Doctor, what about Rory?"
"'Rory?'"
Amy gasped, realizing something as well, "Rory!"
"Oh, Rory. Rory! Always with the Rory!"
~8~
The Doctor, Evy, Amy, and Jimmy ran through one of the doors to the monastery, from one building to another, only to find their way blocked by acid on the ground, "The explosion must've ruptured the acid feeds," Jimmy realized, "We're going to need the acid suits."
"No, no, no, we haven't got time," the Doctor tugged Evy back, "Back, back, back," they turned and ran back into the monastery.
~8~
Somehow they managed to reach the washroom where Jen had run off to with Rory, only to see it empty, a hole in the stall door, "Rory!" Amy shouted, looking around for him.
"Of course," the Doctor realized, "Jennifer's a Ganger, too."
"Doctor, you said they wouldn't be violent…"
"No, he said they would be scared, angry," Evy corrected gently.
"And early technology, is what you said," Jimmy looked at the Doctor, "You seem to know something about the Flesh."
"Do you?" Amy eyed them, "Doctor? Evy?"
"You're no weathermen. Why are you really here?"
"I have to talk to them," the Doctor decided, looking at Evy, "I can fix this."
"Maintenance Man of the Universe again eh?" she asked him lightly, "Well, let's go."
They ran from the room, Amy following.
"Wait!" Jimmy called after them, "What's going on? Where's the real Jennifer?"
They ran through the tunnels, reaching the top of a set of stairs and down another tunnel when steam burst from a pipe before them, forcing them back. They looked down to see acid on the ground as well, "It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks!" the Doctor stepped back.
"We have to find Rory," Amy insisted.
"Yes," he nodded, turning to them, "I'm going back to the TARDIS. Wait for me in the dining hall…"
"Oh no," Evy shook her head, "I'm coming with you."
"No, Evy, no," he put his hands on her shoulders, "Please, there's acid everywhere, I…I need you to stay somewhere safe, for now, please?"
She sighed, "Fine…" he began to smile, "But I want in on the next adventure yeah?"
He nodded and kissed her forehead, looking over at Amy and Jimmy, "I want us to keep together, ok? No more wandering off."
"And what about Rory?" Amy asked.
"It would be safer trying to find Rory and Jen using the TARDIS," Evy had to admit.
Amy nodded, agreeing.
Jimmy looked around and spotted a box on the wall, rushing over to it, "Here we go…" he yanked it open and pulled out a large container, "Distress flares!" he shut the box and turned around, jumping as the Doctor was now right behind him.
"Exit?" he asked.
"Keep going straight, can't miss it. But you're never going to get your vehicle in here."
"I'm a great parker…" he began when Evy snorted. He just rolled his eyes at her, kissing her quickly before heading off.
Amy glanced over at the acid dripping from a pipe onto the ground, "Ew."
"We really need those acid suits," Jimmy remarked, "I've sent Buzzer and Dicken to get them."
"Fine and dandy. I'm just going to find my husband. Evy?"
"Right there with you," Evy linked her arms with Amy.
"So...cheers!"
"But...I wouldn't..." Jimmy began.
"I would," Evy countered.
Amy smiled at her, "What can you do, eh?" and they headed down the tunnel.
"At least wait for an acid suit!" Jimmy ran after them.
~8~
The Doctor ran into the Flesh Room, quickly making his way over to the vat of Flesh. He pulled out the sonic and scanned it once more, making the liquid bubble before running out of the room.
In the vat, a mouth appeared on the surface, "Trust me…" it whispered.
~8~
The Doctor stopped short, looking down at the TARDIS, half-sunk into the acid drenched earth, "Oh...what are you doing down there?" he frowned, the chip Evy had created only worked for the control room, so he couldn't hear her reply. He let out a breath, "Really!"
He started to search his pocket for his sonic when he stopped, realizing quite quickly that he was standing in a puddle of acid, which was now eating away at his boots. He quickly pulled his feet from them and jumped back onto the clean earth, narrowly avoiding the acid at the bottom of the shoes before heading up the stairs and back into the monastery.
~8~
Rory was walking through the monastery courtyard with Ganger Jen, "Are you sure you're feeling better? No more super-elastic punches?"
"I'm...different now, stronger," Ganger Jen smiled at him.
"The Doctor won't hurt you and neither will Evy. They want to help, Jennifer, ok?"
"You used my name. You used my name! Thank you!" she kissed him on the cheek, "Amy's a lucky girl."
"Yeah," he grinned smugly, "She is," he sighed and headed on, "Let's go."
Neither of them noticed Cleaves waiting for them to pass before darting out of an alcove.
~8~
Amy walked through the tunnels, taking the lead of Evy, who was using her sonic as a torch for them all, when she stopped by a large wooden door at the end of it, "Rory?" she called, "Rory?" she slowly pushed the door open and peeked in as Evy turned to look back down the tunnel.
A moment later Amy jumped back with a gasp, slamming the door shut.
"Amy?" Evy turned to her, concerned, "What's wrong?"
"Amy!" Rory's voice shouted.
They whirled around and spotted Rory at the end of the tunnel, "You're okay!" Amy breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards him, "What happened?" she stopped suddenly, seeing Ganger Jen standing behind him.
"She needs protecting," Rory told them.
Just then Dicken and Buzzer found them, "Jen?" Dicken looked at her.
"No, it's a Ganger," Amy shook her head, "Rory, listen…"
"No, you listen," Rory cut in, "Nobody touches her!"
Evy smiled, "Well said Rory," she nodded at him proudly before stepping past him and taking Ganger Jen's hand, squeezing it in reassurance as she turned to Rory, "Look at you, stepping up as the tall dark hero. That was, quite possibly, more impressive than the Doctor."
Rory blinked a moment and smiled at that.
'Thanks love,' the Doctor remarked, mock offended, in her mind.
She just laughed softly to herself and turned to lead the way back to the dining hall.
~8~
The Doctor entered the Acid Room, looking around at the acid suits lying on the ground, before spotting the half-formed Gangers standing beside them, "Hello," he grinned, "How are we all getting on?"
"Why don't you tell us?" Ganger Cleaves glared.
"Well, we have two choices. The first is to tear each other apart, not my favorite, the second is to knuckle down and work together. Try to work out how best we can help you."
~8~
The Doctor walked out of the Acid Room a short while later, leading the Gangers down the tunnels, all of them now fully-formed, "Now, I know it's hard for you to hold your fully human form, that's why you keep shifting between the Flesh stages, but do try. It'll make the others less scared of you."
As they walked on Ganger Cleaves, the last in the line, stopped and twisted her neck 180 degrees, hearing something behind them. She just missed the real Cleaves ducking down before turning and continuing on.
~8~
Ganger Jen sat on one side of the table in the dining hall with Rory and Evy beside her, across from Buzzer, Jimmy, Dicken, and Amy, "Where's Jen?" Buzzer glared, "What have you done with her?"
"I haven't seen her," Ganger Jen stated, "I swear. But, look, I'm her. I'm just like her. I'm real."
"You're a copy," Jimmy shook his head, "You're just pretending to be like her."
Evy rolled her eyes, "It's not pretending. She has the same memories, the same mannerisms, everything about her is the same, copied to a T. This is Jennifer Lucas, another Jennifer Lucas."
"She's right!" Ganger Jen nodded quickly.
"Rory," Amy whispered to him, "Um, we don't really know anything about them yet…"
"Well…" he began, "I know that she's afraid and she needs our help."
"Rory…"
"Jimmy, Buzzer, come on, you guys," Ganger Jen continued, "We've worked together for two years."
"I work with Jennifer Lucas, not you," Buzzer nearly spat.
"I'm going to smack you if you don't stop Buzzer," Evy warned him.
"Ok, let's not do anything at all," Amy cut in.
"Until the Doctor gets here," the Doctor called at the same time as Amy as he stepped into the room, "Hello!" he walked right over to Evy dropping a kiss onto her head for defending Ganger Jen.
The crew's eyes widened as they spotted Gangers Jimmy, Cleaves, Buzzer, and Dicken enter the room as well.
"This is…" Jimmy began.
"You're telling me," his Ganger nodded.
Ganger Cleaves rolled his eyes, "Alright, Doctor, you've brought us together, now what?"
"Before we do anything," the Doctor turned to them, "I have one very important question, has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow? Size 10?" they looked down to see him standing there in his socks.
"Be warned, he has very wide feet," Evy added. The Doctor pouted at that and she gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Which I happen to love. They suit you," she tweaked his bow-tie, "Like this."
He beamed.
~8~
The Doctor was sitting at the edge of the table, beside Evy, now wearing brown work boots while Amy stood behind them. To one side were the original crew and the Gangers on the other, though Rory was standing beside Ganger Jen as well. They both knew why he'd taken to protecting and helping her, he'd lived nearly 2,000 years as a plastic centurion, knowing he wasn't the real Rory but with all his memories and thoughts. He, out of all of them, could relate.
"The Flesh was never just moss," Evy said pointedly to Ganger Cleaves, "These Gangers are not copies. The storm animated them and now, they're becoming real people."
"With souls?" Jimmy asked.
"Rubbish," Dicken scoffed, before sneezing.
"Bless you," his Ganger called as Ganger Cleaves shot him a look, "What?"
"We were all jelly once," the Doctor remarked, his arm around Evy's waist, stroking the side of her stomach, "Little jelly eggs, sitting in goop."
"Yeah, thanks," Amy grimaced, not needing him to start on about the creation of their baby to accompany the evidence that there was a baby, "Too much information."
"We are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up. We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand? Good. Now, the TARDIS is trapped in an acid pool…"
"Knew it," Evy mumbled.
"Once we can reach her, we can get you all off this island, humans and Gangers, eh, how does that sound?"
"Can we get home for Adam's birthday?" Jimmy asked.
"What about me?" his Ganger looked at him, "He's my son, too."
"You? You really think that?"
"I feel it."
"Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?"
"Yeah. I drank about eight pints of tea and they told me I had a wee boy and I just burst out laughing," he laughed as well, "No idea why. I miss home. As much as you."
"Look, we're not going to lie to you," Evy cut in, "It this is quite the mess…"
"But, as you might say up north," the Doctor added, "'Oh, well, I'll just go to t' foot of the stairs.' Ha ha ha. Eh, by by, gum…" they looked at him, "Or not."
"No," Evy agreed.
"Good. Right. The first step is we get everyone together, then get everyone safe, then get everyone out of here."
"But we're still missing Jennifer and Cleaves," Amy reminded them.
"I'll go and look for them," Jimmy offered, heading for the door.
"I'll give you a hand, if you like," his Ganger joined him, "Cover more ground."
"Yeah. Ok. Thanks."
As everyone looked at the Jimmys getting along, they didn't see Cleaves enter behind them, "This circus has gone on long enough!" she shouted. They looked over to see some sort of device, crackling with electricity, in her hand.
"Oh, great," her Ganger remarked, "You see, that is just so typically me."
"Doctor, tell it to shut up."
"Please, no," the Doctor turned to Cleaves, "No! No!"
"Circuit probe," Evy recognized the device.
Cleaves nodded, "Fires about, oh, 40,000 volts. It would kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on Gangers, just the same."
"It's interesting you refer to them as 'it,' but you call a glorified cattle prod a 'she,'" the Doctor frowned.
"When the real people are safely off this island, then I'll happily talk philosophy over a pint with you, Doctor."
"What are you going to do to them?" Amy eyed her worriedly.
"Sorry, they're monsters, mistakes. They have to be destroyed."
"Give me the probe, Cleaves," the Doctor took a step towards her.
"We always have to take charge, don't we Miranda?" her Ganger asked her, "Even when we don't really know what the hell is going on."
Ganger Buzzer suddenly charged at Cleaves and she fired at him three times. He fell to the ground, unmoving. The Doctor and Evy ran over to him, Evy scanning him quickly with her sonic.
"Stop!" the Doctor shouted, "Oh! Ah! He's dead!"
"We call it 'decommissioned,'" Cleaves smirked, moving the probe towards Ganger Jen who gasped and ducked behind Rory.
"You stopped his heart," Evy looked at the scans, "He had a heart!"
"Aorta!" the Doctor nodded, "Valves, a real, human heart! And you stopped it."
"Jen?" Rory tried to look at her as she backed away from him.
"What happened to Buzz will happen to us all, if we trust you!" Ganger Jen cried.
The Doctor stood, taking a step in between Cleaves and Evy, "Wait, wait. Just wait."
"No!" Rory shouted as Cleaves moved to fire at Ganger Jen. He knocked her to the ground, taking the probe away from her, the Gangers taking the advantage and running out of the room.
"You idiot!" Cleaves glared at him.
"Wait!" Evy turned to the Gangers but they were gone.
"Look at what you've done, Cleaves," the Doctor shook his head at her as Rory stood.
"If it's war, then it's war," Cleaves remarked, "You don't get it, Doctor. How can you? It's us and them now," she turned to her crew, "Us...and them."
"Us and them," Dicken nodded.
Jimmy sighed, "Us and them."
"Us and them," Buzzer agreed readily.
"You do realize she just KILLED you, don't you?" Evy asked Buzzer.
The Doctor could only sigh, unhappy with this turn of events.
~8~
Jennifer limped into the Flesh Room, falling against the wall, her hand gripping her injured leg when a dark shadow in the back caught her attention. A figure was there, leaning on the pillar, his hand inhumanly pale, "Trust me…" it rasped.
She gasped and ran out of the room, terrified.
~8~
Amy and Rory were kneeling on the floor beside Ganger Buzzer, trying to cover him up as they conversed, while the crew stood behind them discussing options, "Don't be like that," Rory whispered to Amy, "She's real."
"You killed him!" Jimmy hissed at Cleaves.
Evy shook her head and looked at the Doctor, 'It won't take them long to retaliate,' she told him, 'And we're sitting ducks here. We need to find some place to hide.'
He nodded and turned to Cleaves, "The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery? Cleaves! The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?"
"The chapel," she replied, turning to him.
"Thank you!"
"Only one way in, stone walls, 2 feet thick."
"You've crossed one hell of a line, Cleaves," he muttered, taking Evy's hand, "You've killed one of them. They're coming back. In a big way," and pulled her out of the room, the others following.
~8~
"What about the flares?" Jimmy asked as they ran down the tunnels towards the chapel.
"We'll worry about the flares after we get somewhere safe," Evy remarked as they ran to the chapel room, the humans rushing through first, leaving the time travelers outside.
"Rory Pond," the Doctor called as Rory hesitated, hearing Jennifer scream.
"Rory?" Amy turned to him, "Come on."
"Jen's out there, isn't she?" Evy realized.
He nodded, "She's out there and she's on her own," he turned and headed back down the tunnel.
"Well, if she's got any sense, then she's hiding," the Doctor remarked, "Rory!"
"I can't leave her out there!"
"Rory!"
Rory shook his head and looked at the Time Lords, "I know you understand that."
Evy nodded, "Go find her."
"Don't listen to her!" Amy shook her head, "Get in here. Get in here!"
The Gangers arrived at the end of the hallway, dressed in acid suits. Rory glanced back at them and dashed off through a side corridor.
"There they are!" Cleaves shouted, spotting the Gangers as well.
"Amy," the Doctor turned, grabbing Amy by the arm and pulling her through the doorway.
"Rory!" Amy struggled as Evy slammed the door shut and locked it with her sonic.
The Doctor pulled her more into the chapel, out of the path of the door as the crew ran around trying to barricade it as well, "Amy, Amy," he struggled to get her attention, "They are not after him, they're after us."
"Why?" a voice whispered from the back of the room, "Why?"
The Doctor stiffened and moved to stand before Evy, looking out into the dark, "Show yourself. Show yourself!"
"Ah!" it groaned.
The Doctor cautiously approached the corner, trying to see what was hidden back there. Evy moved to his side, even as he tried to keep her behind him.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted, seeing him get distracted.
"Pass me the barrel," Cleaves called.
"We need something heavy," Dicken remarked, "Anything you can find."
Jimmy laughed, "This is insane. We're fighting ourselves."
"Yes, it's insane and it's about to get even more insanerer," the Doctor agreed, glancing at Evy, "Is that a word?" and then back to the shadows, "Show yourself! Right now!"
"Doctor!" Amy tried again, "We are trapped in here and Rory is out there, with them. Hello! We can't get to the TARDIS and we can't even leave the island."
"Correct, Pond," the Doctor's voice said, though he clearly wasn't the one talking, the sound was coming from the shadows, "It's frightening, unexpected, frankly, a total, utter, splattering mess on the carpet, but I'm certain, 100 percent certain, that we can work this out."
Evy frowned, figuring something out, and stepped forward, one hand on her stomach, the other held out before her, "Go on," she called reassuringly, "I know you want to say it."
A pale hand reached out and took hers, stepping into the light, to reveal a Ganger Doctor with his face half-formed. He smiled at them, tweaking his bow-tie, "Trust me. I'm the Doctor."
To be continued…
A/N: And here is where the 1-chapter per episode for 2-parter episodes has a downside. We'll have four single chapters (including this one) and then nothing but 2-chapter episodes to follow. I suppose, though, it'll be good practice for Series 7 which will only be 2-chapter episodes :)
Today is the LAST DAY to vote on gender and submit Time Lord names for voting. The results for the gender will not be announced (if the Doctor and Evy have to wait, so does everyone else lol). It'll be a surprise. Tomorrow two new polls will be in its place, for Time Lord names, one for a boy and one for a girl. I'll also include a list of the names at the end of The Almost People so that those who don't have profiles on FF can drop a review to vote :)
Next chapter...what will happen with the Link with TWO Doctors there? Will Evy be able to keep two Doctors and their egos in check? Amy gets a lesson in the fury of a Time Lord.
