Hey! Sorry for the terrible wait between updates. Procrastination Dalek strikes again!
I know this isn't my best chapter, and is probably a little rushed, but I needed to get this out there so i can get back into the flow of updates and such.
On a more fun note, my real-life friend Evelyne Raclane and I were talking, and decided to each do a crossover with each other's fanfics! Lilya Ragjedy from Evelyne's fic will be making an appearance after we're done with this section of plot, and Chris and this version of the Eleventh Doctor will fall through universes and into her fic at some point!
Again, this probably isn't my best chapter, but is hopefully the first in a line of CONSISTANT UPDATES. Which I am obviously still trying to get the knack of.
Enjoy
The Doctor cracked his fingers before leaning over the console. "Pop quiz." He said, turning to look at Chris for a moment. "What do you know about the Incident?"
The teen took a deep breath. "It started with John Lumic, owner of Cybus Industries –which had, at that point, pretty much monopolized the world-, Lumic was dying, and was obsessed with immortality. He thought that by taking out your brain and putting it in a robotic shell, you couldn't die. He ran illegal experiments, turning homeless people into cyborgs, even before he pitched the idea, which was shot down for obvious moral reasons. BUT, at that point, he had enough metal men at his command to do whatever he wanted anyway, and so thought he would go ahead and 'help' the human race without permission. Troops of them flood the streets, kill or capture everybody, and then everybody's ear-pods get hijacked and their minds controlled, and they all go to get 'upgraded' without any say in it whatsoever. Then all the Cybermen in England simultaneously explode for no apparent reason, and when the world finally gets over the shock they start debating moral issues, cyborg rights, they were human once too, la di da, then the ones that didn't blow up all vanish without a trace." Chris stopped. "I'm almost talking as much as you do." He remarked. "It's exhausting."
"That's why you leave it to the professionals." The Doctor smiled. "But you seem to know what you're getting into, not that I ever do. So GERONIMO!" he pounced on the controls, and the TARDIS went spinning into the vortex.
When they had landed, Chris climbed to his feet and asked, "Is there any way to make it less bumpy?"
"What's wrong with bumpy? It makes you feel like you're actually going somewhere." Said the Doctor defensively.
"You mean there is and you don't bother with it?"
"Come on! Stampeding Cybermen wait for no man!"
"Do you even know how to fly this thing?"
"Of course I know how to fly her! In fact, I know so well that I threw the manual into a supernova because it was wrong!" the Doctor stepped out of the door.
"You do realize that the door is supposed to open the other way, don't you?" Chris chased after him.
"See? Wrong!"
Chris stood outside the TARDIS and stared up. "Would you look at that? They've still got all those old zeppelins even all this time ago." He paused. "Wait…that's not right."
"Don't worry about it. I'll give up keeping my tenses straight years ago." Said the Doctor. "It's all rather Wibbly anyway, you'll talk yourself into a paradox if you try to keep up with it."
"Right." He looked around. "I don't see Cybermen."
"That's because they aren't here yet. I brought us in a little early so we could get our bearings before the mayhem starts." Said the Doctor.
"Oh come on! We have to wait for the interesting stuff?"
"You would be surprised how much interesting stuff there is before the interesting stuff. Surprisingly important, life-saving stuff."
"Such as?" Chris asked, and the Doctor took a deep breath. "You know what?" said the teen, "never mind."
"Why?" the Doctor sounded a little disappointed.
"Because I think I can feel the professional rambler warming up."
"Its what I do!" the Doctor then clapped his hands together and folded them. "Interesting life-saving stuff doesn't happen standing still, lets go check out the local scenery, hm?" he set forth determinedly in the direction he was already facing.
"Well, Allons-y then." Said Chris as he followed behind the Doctor.
Chris nearly walked right into the Doctor, who had frozen in place. "What did you just say?" he asked, looking a little bit surprised.
"Allons-y. It means 'lets go' or something in French."
The Doctor stared unnervingly at him.
"What?" asked Chris, feeling like he had done something wrong.
"It's just… Nothing." He smiled brightly, "Allons-y indeed! And Geronimo and all the rest! Come along." They continued walking.
"Where are we going?" Chris asked after a while.
"Cybus Industries, of course. See if we learn anything important." The Doctor stopped in front of an imposing building. The company's headquarters.
"That it?"
"Yep."
"We going in?"
"Yep." The Doctor gave the main door a push. Nothing happened. "Must be locked." He said, pulling out his sonic and pointing it at the offending door.
Chris rolled his eyes and tugged on the handle, opening it smoothly.
"That's the ticket! Never leave home without the trusty sonic." He re-pocketed it, and strode through importantly and stealthily. A combination which was nearly impossible to pull off, but the Doctor managed quite well.
The inside was shiny. Again. Chris wondered if Lumic had any kids, and if their descendants would eventually build New New York. And everything about the architecture and design seemed to scream of Cybus's importance and power.
They strode up to a receptionist whose blank stare and ear-pods made her seem half-robot already. "How can I help you?" she asked in monotone.
"We heard that there's been some kind of important project going on here recently." Said the Doctor.
The woman's eyes were starting to get a bit creepy.
The Doctor flashed the psychic paper. "I think you'll find everything in order."
The woman nodded, and then pressed her finger to one of the ear-pods. "Yes…yes two people wanting to know about some project…no they didn't…yes. Yes they do…yes they are…of course." She handed the Doctor a key card, and looked rather suspiciously down at Chris. "The minor won't be able to go."
"Oh he's older than he looks." Explained the Doctor. "I mean yeah he's a bit young, but he's very bright, already through collage! He's working with me."
She continued looking at Chris. "Right." She slid another key card across the table.
"Thank you." He said, in what he tried to make an intelligent and professional voice as he took the card.
"Where would we go to…?" said the Doctor.
The woman nodded towards an elevator.
"Thank you." He replied in what actually was an intelligent and professional voice. And strode off towards the elevator. He pressed the button, but it didn't light. "Ah!" he chirped, seeing the small slot just below the button and fed his card in. the button lit, and the doors instantly glided soundlessly open. They stepped inside and waited. It didn't feel like they were moving at all, but when the doors re-opened, they were looking out at an entirely different floor.
Giant screens with equations and blueprints surrounded a man in a wheelchair, who took no notice as they stepped into the room.
The Doctor examined the screens and everything else in the room in a way that would impress Sherlock Holmes, while Chris tagged behind and played the part of Watson.
John Lumic turned around, catching them a bit by surprise. "Ah." He said in a peculiar and distinctive tight voice. "I see you have arrived." He said.
"Yes, we're here to…"
"May I see your credentials?" he asked.
"Yes of course." The Doctor once again pulled out the psychic paper and showed it to him.
Lumic looked at it, then looked back up to the Doctor. "Do you take me for an idiot, Doctor Smith?" he asked.
"No! Not at all!"
"Then why did you think your psychic paper would work on me?" he wheeled a bit closer, looking surprisingly intimidating all things considered.
"Psychic… Oh dear! How did that…?"
Lumic pressed a button on his chair that seemed to be a comm. Line. "Security! We have an intruder alert! And make sure you catch them alive!"
Fun Fact: Evelyne has started calling me "Little Miss Moffat". Can you guess why? :)