Chapter 10

The Flaws in Perfection

The Doctor was marched along the seemingly never ending white corridors by two heavily armoured and blank faced soldiers. It was obvious that the two of them were workers, or Zed-Heads as the general public called them. Zed-Heads was given for the fact that there was zero activity in their brains. Or at least that was what the public was told.

The Doctor was furious. He had been one of the main speakers against the BFLC. In fact, the man who had invented the technology; Fidus Meynell, had been detained for unleashing such an unethical product on the general public. It was only irony that he himself had been turned into a Zed Head against his will and was now working as a butler for the new Chairman of BFLC, whom the Doctor never had the privilege to meet. It was only through a series of loopholes that the BFLC was allowed to set up. As long as people were getting their houses scrubbed and companies had workers who demanded no pay, they didn't complain.

They didn't care about the innocent people who were sacrificed for their laziness.

The Doctor was brought out of his angry musings when another man lead by two soldiers approached from the opposite direction. He was an Ereen, and he looked pleased to be walking along the corridor with the two soldiers. The Doctor caught his eye and the Ereen smiled broadly. The Doctor frowned back.

The volunteers were almost just as bad as the people who ran the place.

The Doctor was lead around and corner and beneath a long metal sign that read 'Holding Bay', and was then repeated in four other languages beneath. As he was lead past each door, the Doctor looked at every single surveillance monitor to the right of the handle and watched, eagle eyed for any sign of Ashley. They said they had brought her here and he hoped that she hadn't already been taken for the checks. If that was the case, he might as well admit defeat.

But luckily, he noticed her in room 76. She was kicking the heavy steel door and shouting, but no sound came into the corridor. The Doctor grinned. She was determined, he had to give her that.

He was pushed into room 49, which was thankfully empty. As soon as the door closed to dashed to the right side of the wall, pulled open the small sliding door and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. The amount of times that thing had saved his life was uncountable. Gritting his teeth, he pointed and pressed, quickly setting up a connection with room 76. The speaker crackled as he searched for the correct link.

'There you are…' he muttered as the crackling turned into a low hum. He dropped the screwdriver back into his pocket and pushed the button with his fingers. 'Ashley, can you hear me?'

In room 76, Ashley stopped kicking the steel door and frowned. A bead of sweat rolled down her nose and she wiped it away impatiently. She could have been sure she had just heard the Doctor's voice…

'Ashley, are you there?'

She snapped her head to the speaker. She dashed to it and moved her face to it so quickly she bashed her head. 'Doctor?'

'Thank God,' The Doctor replied. 'I thought I'd got the wrong room there. Can't be too careful around this lot. If one of the volunteers even sense a breakout they tell on you quicker than Walter the Softie.'

Ashley grinned. 'I loved the Beano.'

'It is the best piece of literature Britain has ever produced. Now listen, we probably don't have much time. You've been in there for about twenty six minutes now, which gives us about four minutes before they come for you.'

Ashley frowned. 'How the hell am I going to get out of here? The door is sealed. And those guard guys are Zed-Heads, or whatever that guy called them. I've already punched one on the nose but he didn't give a crap. I can't fight my way out. Are you outside? Do you have a key?'

'No,' The Doctor replied apologetically. 'I'm in room 49, a little further down from you.'

'You're locked up too?' Ashley cried, her hands shooting to her head. 'Well that's just bloody fantastic!' She paused. 'Wait, how are you talking to me on here then? Does it have links with all the rooms?'

'No, I'm just good with technology. Now, I need you to listen to me carefully. You're going to short circuit the locking system.'

'What? I can't do that! I can't even change a light bulb!'

'You can do this. I'll talk you through it.'

'Seriously, I really, really suck at this kind of thing.'

'If you don't try you'll end up scrubbing someone's bathroom for the rest of your life with a slack jaw and an empty mind.'

Ashley closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. The Doctor was silent on the other end. She could almost hear the seconds ticking away. 'Okay, okay. What do I do?'

'Right,' The Doctor replied immediately. 'I want you to remove the face of the speaker.'

'But I don't have a screwdriver.'

'You don't need one. There haven't been screws for about two hundred years. It's all magnetic now. Just get your nails under it.'

Ashley glanced at her stubby fingernails and cursed herself for being a nail biter. She didn't complain again though – she guessed she wouldn't have the time – and struggled to get her fingers in the narrow gap of the speaker face. After a moment, it just popped off in her hands. She laughed, mostly out of surprise.

'It's off.' She reported. 'Now what?'

'Right, good. Now I need you to look for two wires. A black one and a silvery one.'

Ashley fingered through the mass of wires. I'm going to get an electric shock, she thought miserably. I can't deal with anything hot without burning myself, so who's to say I can mess around with electronics without electrocuting myself?

'There's a black one,' she said, feeling the pressure now. 'But there's only a kind of coppery one. There's no silver.'

The Doctor was quiet for a moment. 'Oh just use the copper one. It'll do.'

'It'll do?' Ashley cried. 'Just what will it do exactly?'

'Trust me.'

Ashley sighed. 'Right. Whatever. But if I get electrocuted…'

'Pull the end of each wire out of the control box.'

Ashley closed her eyes, and then pulled the wires out. She breathed a sigh of relief. 'Now what?'

'Cross the bare ends.'

'Now I'll definitely get an electric shock. Are you sure this is…' She trailed off at the sound of the heavy door clunking and clanging. 'Bollocks… Doctor, they're here.'

'I know,' the Doctor said, now sounding slightly worried, which didn't help her at all. 'Just cross the wires. On three, okay? One…'

Clunk.

'Two…'

Clang.

'Three!'

Ashley crossed the wires just as the heavy door flew open and the bright light flooded in. She let out a cry as her eyes stung – for about the third time – and she dropped the wires.

'Ashley!' the Doctor cried, his voice sounding crackled and tinny on the speaker.

Heavy footsteps trooped towards her. She lashed out, swinging her fists and feet in almost every direction. Her foot collided with something hard and she yelled out in pain and anger at realising she had kicked the wall.

Suddenly, there was a series of clanking and clunking echoing all around. The bright light flicked off and the heavily armoured guards were running out of her cell and back down the corridor. Ashley stood where she was, blinking the spots away, and then limped towards the open door. She had to push the heavy, six-foot tall floodlight out of the way before she could see down the corridor. Her jaw dropped at what she saw. People were pouring out of their cells, not hesitating to attack the five guards in the corridor. To her confusion, some of the people from the cells were fighting between themselves. After a moment she quickly deducted that it must be some of the volunteers taking sides with the guards.

She let out a half scream at someone grabbing her wrist. She looked up to see the Doctor looking at her, eyes wide and expression grim.

'We need to get away from here.' He told her. 'Right now.'

Too clogged up with shock at the scene unfolding around her, Ashley could only nod and allow herself to be led quickly away. Behind her, two gunshots rang out. Someone screamed shrilly. A young voice cried out in terror.

General Gardener choked on the thick smoke from his cigar when the surveillance pictures appeared in front of him. His eyes bulged and his face turned a startling shade of violet. The Zed-Head soldiers around him remained unresponsive, standing at attention with their guns on their shoulders. A firm hand came down hard on Gardener's back and he managed to take in a lungful of much needed air. He coughed and spluttered and gasped, eyes still bulging at the chaos in the holding bay.

'What the hell happened?!' he roared, the burning cigar forgotten in his thick fingers. 'How did those doors open?' He whirled around to the guards surrounding him. 'Get your stinking brainless backsides down there at once!' he barked. 'Round them up! Kill whoever you need to!'

The index finger of the hand that smacked the General's back pointed at the two figures fleeing the battle. 'Not those two.' He said.

'You heard the man.' The General spat, his cheeks high with colour. The emotionless men filed neatly out of the door. Wiping his damp brow, Gardener turned to the man beside him. 'Sir, I have no idea how this could have happened. Those doors are deadlocked. Only three people, including myself, have the means to open them.'

'Ah, but you see General Gardener,' the man beside him replied calmly. 'The cells in the holding bay have had one single design flaw.'

Gardener looked outraged. 'Not a chance. Those cells were build to hold anyone and anything! They have never let us down. Never!'

The finger pointed at the man in the trench coat once again. 'But that man… He's not just anyone, General.'

'Him?' Gardener cried. 'He's just another protestor! He's a nobody! I assure you that those cells are not flawed in any way!'

'Everything has a flaw. Even you yourself have a flaw. Yours is underestimation.' The man beside the General, who just happened to be the Chairman of the BLFC, straightened his tie with one hand and ran his fingers of his other through his short, reddy blonde hair. 'I'm very excited to meet him. More so his lady friend. I've been waiting to catch up with her for a long time.'

Gardener was frowning, knowing better than to attempt to answer back again but bitter that his security system had been so easily brought down. 'Shall I send my men to bring them in?'

'No…' He paused for a long moment, watching the surveillance feed. 'Let them snoop around. I'd like to see how long it takes the Doctor to figure it out. He'll come to me in good time.'

Gardener watched the Chairman turn and leave the room, his forehead deeply lined. His orders were clear – not to get in the way of the two trespassers, but he was so enraged, he knew that if he came across them himself, he wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet between both of their eyes. Looking to the surveillance feed, his stomach knotted and he thought; Screw the orders. No one makes me look stupid.

'Oh… Oh now General I'm disappointed.'

Gardener glanced around, puzzled. 'Excuse me, sir?'

The Chairman closed the door quietly. 'I always thought you were a man of unquestioning loyalty, General Gardener. It's unfortunate that this has to be done.'

General Gardener didn't even have time to defend himself verbally before his heart stopped and he dropped heavily onto the floor. The Chairman straightened his tie and ran his fingers through his hair, looking down at the lifeless body of the General in disappointment.

Even if Gardener had the chance to defend himself verbally it would have been pointless. He had already condemned himself mentally.