A/N: Don't kill me, okay? I know this chapter is long overdue, and I have an exscuse. Hurricane Sandy basically smahed my town, and I haven't even had power over the past week and a half. Tons of my friends houses are condemned, there are trees all over…basically, it's not good.
~DW~
I follow the Doctor out of the TARDIS, closing the door behind me, leaving Adam inside. I note the sign that says "Floor 139". Then I look ot the Doctor.
"Year 200,000, space station, go try that gate over there," he says simply, smirking. I smirk too, opening the TARDIS door behind me.
"Adam!" I call. "Come on out!" He steps out of the TARDIS with a dazed look on his face. His mouth is hanging open and he's clearly shocked.
"How…?"
"You get used to it," I tell him.
"Where…?"
"It's the year 200,000, judging by the architecture," I say, coming off as much more intelligent than I actually am. The architecture doen't mean crap to me. "If you listen, you can hear engines, which means we're on some sort of space station. What do you say we try that gate over there?" I stride over to it and throw it open, the Doctor and Adam following.
The room we enter is an observation deck. Through the glass is Earth.
"I think I'll let the Doctor describe this," I trail off, a bit awestruck myself.
The Doctor goes off into his usual rambling explanation, and Adam clings to the railing for support. He sighs, sounding much like a little girl, and I just watch him go down. I glance at the Doctor and we burst into peals of laughter.
"Quite the manly boyfriend you've got there," the Doctor comments.
"He's not my boyfriend anymore," I say.
~DW~
"Open your mind, Adam! I have to say, Rose was much more accepting of all this. She just sort of went with it," the Doctor says, walking us along with an arm around each of our shoulders. "This period of history is fantastic, the human race is at its most intelligent, from culture, to politics, to manners…"
"Out of the way!" a man snaps rudely.
"So much for manners," I mutter. "Then again, I'm not one to talk." Then all of a sudden, the floor springs to life. People set up food stools, and everyone is talking. The stall owners take orders and everything is busy. I take a closer look at one of the fast food booths.
"Thought you said earlier this place has, and I quote, 'fine cuisine'," I say pointedly.
"My watch must be wrong…no, actually, its not!" the Doctor claims, looking down at his watch.
I smirk. "That's what you get for being a showoff. Someone needs to go back to history class."
"My history is perfect, thanks very much!"
"Clearly not."
"Where are all the aliens?" Adam pipes up, and I turn, slightly surprised he spoke. I almost forgot he was there.
"Good question. You must be starving, Adam, mate!" the Doctor exclaims.
"Not really…think I might have a case of time sickness…"
The Doctor walks over and sonics a cash point, and something that looks like a metal strip falls out.
"Pocket money for you," he says joyfully. "Don't waste it all!" He walks away.
"How does it work?" he asks, bemused.
"Just throw yourself into it. Make a fool of yourself, there's no getting around it," I tell him.
"Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double, and end up kissing complete strangers, that's my motto!" the Doctor calls. I laugh. Adam looks at him like he's insane. Then again, in his point of view, we probably are.
"Have a nice first date," the Doctor nudges me.
"Shut it," I say. "I don't do dates."
A few minutes later finds me sitting at a crowded table, squeezed next to Adam.
"What are you drinking?" he asks, motioning to my paper cup.
"I think it's like a slush puppy…"
"Flavor?"
I take a swig. "Beef."
"Ew? You can drink that?"
"What can I say, life on the run basically teaches your taste buds to handle whatever you need to survive," I shrug.
"Life on the run?" I give him a look.
"Yeah, life on the run. That's kind of what happens for most of us when we get out of the School. They kept coming after us, we kept running."
"Why did you run in the first place?"
"You mean you didn't?" I ask, disbelief coloring my voice.
"No, of course not! They were trying ot help me, I was grateful."
"Adam, they ruined my life. They made me a freak. No one ever looks at me the same once they find out. One of my best friends is blind because of them. So yes, I ran. And I hate them more than anyone else."
"Is that why you haven't told the Doctor?"
"Hmm?"
"You haven't told him about the wings?"
"Oh, no. He'd send me straight back home, he has that option, and I can't. Not after everything I've seen, everything he's shown me…"
"He seems like one of the only blokes in the universe that'd be okay with it. All the rest are mutants like us," Adam points out.
"So, who've you got at home?" It's a lousy attempt at changing the subject, but he goes with it.
"Mum and Dad." Oh. He's one of the lucky ones.
"Do you want to phone them up?" He looks at me weird. I reach into my pocket and toss him my mobile.
"The Doctor replaced the battery with a super-space one or something. I never have to worry about a signal again," I explain.
"Wow…okay…" He dials a number and holds the phone to his ear.
"It's on!" he gasps. "Hi, Mum, it's me…I've gone travelling for a bit, I met these people…I'm fine, I'll call you later. I love you, bye."
Then an alarm goes off.
"Everywhere we go! Never a peaceful trip!" I shout to the Doctor over the crowd when he comes running up.
"You know you love it!" I smile.
~DW~
The Doctor leads us to a clean-looking room with several other people, led by Cathica and Suki. I assume it's where they work. A chair is raised up on a platform that's octagon shaped, which Cathica sits in. The rest of the staff sits cross-legged at the edge of the platform. They place their hands on the pads in front of them. I lean against the rail on one side of the Doctor, and Adam is on the other.
"This is a management inspection," Cathica says, "so everyone behave! By the book?" She turns to the Doctor.
"From scratch would be brilliant, if you would." I nudge him with my elbow.
"They think you're management?" I whisper. He nods, smirking. I stifle a laugh.
"Right, my name is Cathica…" and that's all I need to trail off. "And remember, the process of news gathering must be open, honest, and non-biased."
"Actually, it's the law," points out Suki. Can you spell kiss up? I roll my eyes. I've never really liked people like that.
"Thanks for that, Suki," Cathica says, clearly annoyed. She clears her throat and holds up her hand, snapping her fingers. And her head opens up. My eyebrows shoot higher than they've ever been. The Doctor looks somewhat disgusted, and Adam looks a bit green.
The staff places their hands on pads in front of them, and a beam of light comes down and connects with Cathica's head.
"The information is streaming right through her," the Doctor explains. "She's getting reports from all around the universe."
"So, what, is she like, super smart then?" I ask.
The Doctor shakes his head. "No, she'll forget it all once her head closes." He starts walking in circles around the platform, and I follow him. I kneel next to one of the other people transmitting.
"What's up with these guys?"
"They've got chips in their brain, that way they can connect to her. These people transit over six hundred channels. They're beaming out all kinds of information," the Doctor says. "That's what I call power."
I walk up to Adam. "Are you okay? You're really quiet."
"I can see her brain," he states dumbly.
"Well, do you want to leave?"
"No!" he says quickly. "That technology is amazing!"
"It's all wrong," the Doctor says. I smile mischievously.
"Trouble?"
"Oh yeah," he says, smiling right back.
Suddenly, Suki gasps and pulls her hands back from the pad abruptly. The others soon follow. The door to Cathica's head closes and Suki rubs her hands.
"What was that for, Suki? I wasn't halfway done!"
"Sorry, there was probably a glitch," she mutters quietly.
Suddenly, a loudspeaker comes over the room.
"Promotion."
"Please say my name, you've got to say my name, God, let it be me…" Cathica prays. I look at her, mildly concerned. Someone is a bit obsessed with their job.
"Promotion for…Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to Floor 500." We all turn to look at her as her jaw drops to the floor. Cathica looks extremely annoyed.
"How did you manage that?" she explodes.
"I don't know! Floor 500! Ah!"
~DW~
The Doctor stands off to the side, saying goodbye to Suki with Cathica. I walk over to Adam, who's leaning against the wall. He looks out of it…well, he has since we've gotten here.
"It's not that bad, is it?"
He looks up at me. "I need a cool down, pronto." I smile.
"How about you go sit on the observation deck for a while? I could join you, if you like," I suggest.
"No, you stick with the Doctor. It's obviously where you want to be. It'd take someone better than me to come between you two," he says. I turn red. Am I that obvious?
Adam turns to walk off, but I call him back. I dig around in my pocket before pulling out my TARDIS key.
"If it gets to be too much, just head back to the TARDIS."
"Because it's less weird in there," he says sarcastically. He walks off toward the observation deck, and I head back over to the Doctor.
I wave at Suki as the lift doors are closing.
"Good riddance," Cathica mutters.
"Why are you talking like you'll never see her again? She's only headed upstairs," the Doctor points out.
"Once you go to Floor 500, you never come back."
"Have you ever been up there?" I ask.
"You need a key," Cathica says, shaking her head. "You only get a key when you get promoted."
"You've never been to any other floor? Ever?"
"Well, Floor 16 when I first got here, to get my head done," she says. Then she looks at us more closely. "You aren't management, are you?"
"Nope," the Doctor says smugly.
She rolls her eyes. "Please, just don't involve me in any of this."
"You're not even a bit curious as to what we're up to?" I tease, elbowing her gently.
"Why should I be?"
"Uh, you're a freaking journalist. That's what they do."
"Why is everyone human?" the Doctor cuts in suddenly.
"I don't know, it's not like they're banned or anything."
"Then where are they?"
"Well, immigration's tightened up. The price of space warp doubled…just lots of little reasons," she says, exasperated.
"This entire society is wrong," the Doctor says. "Even the technology."
"It's cutting edge!" Cathica defends.
"You have a freaking door in your head," I point out.
"Something is holding back the human race. They've been set back about ninety years," the Doctor says.
"Well, when did Satellite Five start broadcasting?" I ask.
"Ninety-one years ago…"
~DW~
"We are in BIG trouble," Cathica says anxiously. The Doctor scans a door with his sonic.
"No! Don't touch the mainframe!" Cathica cries.
"Rose, tell her to button it."
"Button it."
"Someone's gonna see you!" The Doctor just continues with his work.
"This has nothing to do with me, I'm going back to work." She begins to walk away.
"I can't just leave you, can I?"
"Be useful," I mutter. "Tell them to turn the heat down a few billion degrees. I'm gonna melt soon enough."
"There's something wrong with the turbine."
"Really? There's something wrong with the turbine?" the Doctor asks, in a 'are-you-freaking-kidding-me' kind of tone. "I give up on you Cathica. Rose, on the other hand…"
The smile that crosses my face is ridiculously big. I almost feel smart for a second.
"…she's asking the right questions! Why is it so hot?"
"You just went form the Empire to the central heating!"
"Well, plumbing is important!" the Doctor says. He accidentally snaps some wires.
Finally, the layout of Satellite Five comes up on the screen.
"See? Plumbing!"
"You've got access to everything and you're looking at the plumbing."
"Something's wrong with it, though. Just look! The cooling ducts, ice filters, they're channeling heat down, right from the top," the Doctor explains. Then I realize.
"Right from Floor 500."
We race over to lift once the Doctor has retrieved the codes from the system. That's one of the advantages of his sonic screwdriver: we don't need a key.
"Coming?" I ask Cathica. She shakes her head.
"No way! And don't you dare mention my name! Go and get yourselves into trouble, be my guest, but don't drag me into it!"
"Well, just us now," the Doctor says, grabbing my hand as the doors close.
When we get up there, and the doors open, I roll my eyes. Floors made out of gold? Shows what people can come up with, they've got great imaginations. The walls were actually quite dull and gray…as well as frozen. It was freezing.
"You should go back downstairs," the Doctor says, taking it in.
"I think not," I say defiantly, striding into the room. "I'm tougher than I look, believe it or not."
We find our way to a big room, and there's a man standing in the center.
"Satellite Five contains every piece of information ever…care to explain why you two don't exist?" he says.
The Doctor and I look at him for a moment. His gaze is a bit unnerving…one of the creepier people I've met. I glance around the room, checking out our surroundings. People sit along a row of computers, with pads like the ones they'd used earlier to connect to Cathica. I notice Suki sitting at one of them, and walk over quietly, checking her pulse. Nothing.
"She's dead," I tell the Doctor solemnly. "How is she still working?"
"The chips keep going, even if she doesn't," the Doctor explains. "It doesn't matter. We're leaving, now."
I move to get up, but Suki grabs my arm and restrains me. Two others grab the Doctor by the arms. I look over to him, siliently asking what I should do.
"Tell me who you are!" the man demands.
"Do we look stupid?" I ask. "We aren't telling you, that's the only reason you're keeping us alive right now." It's times like these I wish I had the Flock to back me up.
"Maybe my boss can convince you otherwise," the man smiles, pointing at the ceiling.
We all look up, at the roaring creature. It's basically a blob of alien, with a huge mouth. It's long, sharp teeth snap at us.
"Welp…" I mutter. Can't fight that thing.
"That thing is in charge of Satellite Five?" the Doctor asks.
"That 'thing' controls the human race. The mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hardojassic Maxarodenfoe."
~DW~
Not that much later, the Doctor and I are in handcuffs. I've reached into my back pocket, taking out a bobby pin. It's been a while, but I can pick locks.
"How long is that thing's life span?" I ask the man, trying to distract him.
"About three thousand years," he smirks. My eyebrows shoot up. That's a long time.
"That thing is generating all that heat, isn't it?" the Doctor says. "You pump it out of the creature and downstairs. The entire Satellite is supporting it."
"That's why you're dangerous," the man says calmy. "You're just stock full of information, and we all know knowledge is power." He laughs, clicking his fingers. I fall to my knees when I feel an electric current running through me, wincing. "Who are you?"
"Leave her," the Doctor says. "She hasn't done anything. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler. That's all."
"Who do you work for?" the man demands. Then he stops, and smiles. "Time Lord. You're the last of the Time Lords." I try to work faster on the handcuffs, making a mental note to practice more often in the future.
"Your human from so long ago," he smirks. He comes closer to me, whispering in my face. "But you're not even human, are you, Maximum?" My handcuffs click quietly.
"Then there's this one," he continues, snapping his fingers. An image of Adam comes up, sitting in a chair identical to the one Cathica was in earlier. The same information streams into his head.
"What's he done?" the Doctor demands.
"What the hell?" I mutter to myself. He's supposed to be a genius. The School clearly didn't give him any common sense.
"Through him, I know everything he knows," the man smirks. That's how he knew who I am.
He continues. "And you just know everything, don't you Doctor? You've just seen it all, thanks to that TARDIS of yours." The Doctor glares at him.
"I'll die before you even lay your hands on it."
The TARDIS key I'd given Adam earlier floats out of his pocket.
"Just great," I mutter sarcastically. I flex my hands, preparing to make a move, throw a punch, something.
Suddenly, and alarm goes off. The man looks utterly confused, bringing up a new image. Cathica sits in the chair we saw in the other room. I smile.
"She's using what she knows!" the Doctor exclaims. "Everything I told her about Satellite Five, the pipes – everything! She's reversing it! The heat is venting up here, the Jagrafess can't survive!" Just like that, all around us, icicles being to melt. The screens explode into sparks. The creature above our heads roars. I stand, walking up to the man, dropping my handcuffs to the floor before punching him right in the face. He falls to the ground, knocked out. I smile, looking over to the Doctor. His eyes are wide and he smiles too.
"I knew I took you with me for a reason!"
~DW~
The Doctor brings Adam and I back to the TARDIS, leaving Cathica behind rather unwillingly to clean up the mess we've left behind. He takes the TARDIS key back from Adam, tossing it to me. I pull the chain over my head and it hangs around my neck.
"My mobile, too," I say calmly. Adam reaches into his pocket and tosses it at me. I catch it and put it in my pocket. The Doctor lands the TARDIS and shoves Adam out the door before following. I come after.
The Doctor blows up his phone, destroying the messages he's left himself.
"See ya, then," he says with false happiness, turning back to the TARDIS.
"You're just leaving me here? My head opens! What am I supposed to do about that?"
"What, like this?" The Doctor snaps his fingers and Adam's head opens up. Adam snaps his fingers to close it, but the Doctor comes right back and does it again. I smirk.
"Enough," I tell the Doctor seriously, before turning back to Adam, who's closed his head again. I snap my fingers. The Doctor smirks.
"You could've destroyed…" the Doctor begins, but I cut him off.
"Can I talk to Adam alone for a second?" The Doctor looks at me before nodding reluctantly.
"Come back inside when you're done." I nod, turning back to Adam as the door closes behind me.
"For someone who's supposed to be a genius, you're a real idiot," I tell him.
"Come on, Rose," he says. "Give me one more chance?"
"I don't think so. I ran out of second chances years ago. And anyway, your head isn't a big deal. If your family is truly alright with you being a super genius from the School, they'll get over the whole gap in your forehead," I tell him. "Goodbye, Adam." I turn and walk back into the TARDIS.
