Last chapter there was a subtle reference that a few people mentioned, but people probably wouldn't get the complete reference, and seeing as I was quite proud of it I thought I'd explain it. When the Doctor and Clara almost see the Doctor Who 50th anniversary advertised on TV it is more than just a metafictional Easter Egg, it's actually a reference to a 7th Doctor episode from the 25th anniversary episode, Remembrance of the Daleks, when there is an advertisement for the BBC's new sci-fi show, Do- and then it cuts off.
Anyway, back to the story.
A week had passed since the Doctor came to stay. Clara couldn't remember him leaving, but she distinctly remembered the TARDIS engines whirring and a gust of wind blowing at her bedsheets.
Although she told the Doctor that she wanted him to go as soon as he could, but if she was honest with herself he could've never left and she'd have been completely fine with it. As the matter was, she wanted him to stay forever. Her dreams were consumed with the Doctor, the TARDIS and all the fantastical and wondrous places she had seen.
Her dreams felt so real she could hear the screeching of the TARDIS whenever she woke up as though it were there. The sound was so realistic. Clara couldn't wake up, it would all disappear. It wouldn't be there. She forced her eyes to open, but she still heard the sound, it was growing louder. She turned the light on and there was an almighty crash.
"Arghh!" There was a loud shout somewhere to the left of Clara. Clara turned her head in the direction it came from to find the TARDIS materialising in her bedroom. The doors burst open and the Doctor stepped out, leaving Clara's jaw wide open. His purple coat smouldering he ran across the room seemingly without even acknowledging where he was and who was here.
More shouting. He held a silver thing in his hand and was shaking it like a mad man, eventually it flung off his hand onto the floor making a 'bzzzzzt' sound before going silent. "Hah," the Doctor exclaimed, feeling very self satisfied. "Hello Clara!" he said looking over to Clara's bed and waving. A moment later the silver object started whizzing again and made a lunge for the Doctor's face, he was pulling it away with his hands as it lay inches away from his nose.
"Doctor?" Moaned Clara drowsily as the Time Lord once again ran round the room trying to pull this thing away from him. "What's going on?"
"No time to explain, I need to find..." He paced around the room, holding the tiny monstrosity away from his face with one hand and stroking his chin with the other. "Do you have a sink?"
"Er, yeah, just go through into the kitchen, it's right there." Clara said dazed trying to work out if this was a dream or not, it certainly was weird enough to be a dream however, as she had found during her travels, this was equally weird enough to be something the Doctor would do.
Clara heard the sound of a tap running, and the buzzing slowed down. "Aha! I think that got it!" The Doctor's voice said from the kitchen. He let out a help of pain. "No, I think it just made it mad."
"What is that thing?" Clara was slowly waking up, she was more sure that this wasn't a dream.
"It's a Cybermat." Said the Doctor making struggling sounds in the next room.
"And what's a Cybermat when it's at home?"
"It's a little robot mouse made by the cyberme-" He stopped. "Of course!" The Doctor yelled triumphantly. "Where's the cleaning fluid!"
"I'm sorry?"
"Yes, yes, like I said, no time to explain, where is it?"
"Urgh, Clara threw herself out of bed. "It's in the cupboard under the sink."
"Thanks!" The Doctor called out. He fumbled with various bottles until suddenly the Cybermat stopped dead.
Bang!
"Argh!" Shouted the Doctor!
"What!?" Clara shouted worriedly, running into the room.
The Doctor sitting by the sink rubbing his head "I banged my head coming back up."
"Okay." Clara sat down at the kitchen table in her dressing gown eating a bowl of Cheerios. "Explain. Why did you end up in my house with...that." She pointed to the now dissembled metal creature the Doctor was messing with.
"I was in the middle of stopping a Cybermen attack on a space station. I severed their link, left the Cybership floating aimlessly in space. Naturally they weren't too pleased with that and I had to scarper pretty quickly. I didn't have time to plot out the Co-ordinates with this thing shooting at me so I pressed the Fast Return switch."
"Wait, when did you land the TARDIS in my bedroom?" Said Clara nervously.
"Oh, you know, remember last week when I said the TARDIS would come to wherever I was? She got it almost perfect, landed right next to where I was sleeping."
"Right." Said Clara, sensing there was more to come.
"And that's it. Nothing more." Clara wasn't convinced. "So." Said the Doctor, making himself some breakfast too. "How do you fancy a visit to the Lawson Outer Space Technological Institute?"
"The L.O.S.T. institute?" Said Clara. "That doesn't sound too appealing to me."
"Oh come on, it'll be fun. I've already gotten rid of the alien threat there this time so we won't have anything like that to worry about." He poked her in the side making her twitch. "Come on, I know you want to."
"Oh alright." Said Clara needing little persuasion. "You've convinced me."
"So then," Said Clara leaning against the railings as the Doctor hurried about pressing switches on the console. "What goes on in L.O.S.T.?"
"The year is 3384," The Doctor waved his palms in a circular motion. "The Earth Empire has fallen and in it's place the Galactic Federation has united the races of the Galaxy."
"What about Earth?"
"Oh, now that is an interesting one." The Doctor slid round the console to the monitor. A picture of the earth showed up on the screen. The image changed quickly. It began as the earth Clara knew, and bit by bit the green started to turn grey. "Before the human race made it to the stars the planet became over-populated. You don't just move planet because you fancy it, it's a necessity!"
The globe changed once more. "Of course, over the centuries you get all nostalgic and there's several attempts to get back to the good old green earth." Parts of the grey became green again. The Doctor pointed at the map excitedly. "Most of the people stayed away, the prospects of other, better worlds were more appealing. These small colonies on earth continued, but never more than just a few scattered cities. Now, and here's the kicker." He emphatically waved his hands at Clara. "It's now 3020, The Silurians under the earth's surface awaken."
"Silurians?"
"Lizard people from prehistoric times, but that's not the important part, by now humanity has had experience with aliens, the Silurians revitalise the earth and humanity flocks back!" He punched the air. "There is an alliance, the Silurians regain their place in the universe and everyone's happy!"
"Okay, so what's that got to do with this space station?"
"Don't you see!? This isn't just some research satellite, or even a museum. This is a symbol of Human - Silurian relations, a monument to how far the human race has come!" Clara cold see the Doctor's excitement bursting out of him. "Anyway, it began as just an artificial intelligence research centre but it grew and grew and grew until it became a whole community!"
The lights in the TARDIS flashed, and the TARDIS shook violently a few timeand stopped. "That's supposed to happen, right?"
"Of course,"Said the Doctor. "Just the advanced security system." He gave the console a gentle shove. "Come on! TARDIS, friendly." The TARDIS shook more violently "No, no no no no!" He shook his head. "You've seen her before, you know what to do!" He spoke to the security system which quite obviously could not hear him.
A light filled the TARDIS making it harder for Clara to see what was happening, but she assumed from the Doctor's cheering that this was meant to happen. Clara looked down at her hands, but they were transparent and disappearing. Panicked she looked to the Doctor who was becoming transparent, he gave her a 'reassuring' thumbs up. "That doesn't make me feel any better!" Clara shouted, but the Doctor didn't appear to hear her, actually she wasn't sure where the Doctor was, he must've completely vanished. "Doctor? Doctor!" Clara called out. The TARDIS was almost completely filled with light, Clara couldn't see anything but white now. The light made Clara dizzy, she closed her eyes to protect her sight from the blinding light. Feeling weak she staggered and fell backwards.
"Easy there." An echoed voice spoke to Clara. "You're gonna be alright." Clara opened her eyes and could see a blur of a figure above her. "There we are." The voice became less distorted as her vision slowly returned. The Doctor was cradling her head as she lay on the floor.
"What? What was that?" Clara sat upright, still not with enough energy to stand up fully. She was in a metallic grey building. Holographic blue lighting on the wall flashed up words, but Clara could not work out what they were saying, for whatever reason the TARDIS wasn't translating.
"Should've warned you about that, it's not just an ordinary trans-mat." The Doctor spoke soothingly to her, helping the girl up on her feet. "It didn't just take us out of the TARDIS, it moved the TARDIS too."
"We can still get home right?" Asked Clara.
"Oh, of course, the TARDIS is right here." The Doctor said. Clara looked around but she couldn't see it anywhere. "No, not there," he held out a small computer chip in the palm of his hand. "Here she is."
"That's the TARDIS? How do we get in it?"
"The TARDIS isn't anywhere in actuality, this is just the data to access it." The Doctor said. "Oi, I know that look, you think I'm just making this up! Well I'm not this time. Or anytime for that matter!" He added. The Doctor plugged the chip into a small console in the wall.
"USER: THE DOCTOR." An electronic voice resounded from the console's speakers.
"Oh look!" Said the Doctor with glee. "It recognises me!"
"VEHICLE: TYPE 40 TARDIS STORED TO THE DATABASE. DO YOU WANT TO RETRIEVE YOUR VEHICLE?"
The Doctor pressed a button on the screen reading 'NO'. "Everything that docks here is converted into data files. Millions of vehicles are stored in this one computer, the perfect way to save space."
"And that card lets us get it back then. But is it safe?"
"The safest security system that's around at this time, just as long as we don't lose this card." The Doctor placed the chip into his inside pocket. "Shall we go have a look around then?"
Clara and the Doctor walked through the L.O.S.T. metropolis, sterile white buildings covered the walls as far as the eye could see. That's not to say the satellite was colourless, far from it. There were all sorts of exotic and regular plants around the place, from plain grass to golden and red trees from alien worlds. But what fascinated Clara most of all was the shimmering blue lake that was suspended in midair above their heads. The Doctor explained to Clara that the artificial gravity acted from the outside of the cylindrical station, meaning that you could walk round the outside and still not notice that you were walking on a different side. The stream was in the exact centre of the cylinder and so was pulled by gravity in every direction, resulting in it staying completely stationary.
The population of this station was primarily Human and Silurian but that was far from all of the assembled aliens. All sorts of Aliens passed through this bustling hub, the Doctor smiled in wonderment as he pointed out to Clara, the diversity of the races he could see. "Look there, those bee-like person, they're Menoptera. Oh and see that giant Furby guy?"
"Yeah?"
"That's a Meep, blimey it's been a while since I saw one of those. Best stay away from it, they're not the friendliest of creatures. Oh hello there!" The Doctor waved at a huddle of small white creatures waddling by. They waved back up at him. "Adipose, living fat."
"There's an ice warrior!" Said Clara pleased with herself. "It's like playing Where's Wally!" another alien walked out of the sliding doors of a huge tower building. "Hang on, don't tell me, I know this one!" Clara bounced up and down. "It's a... Raxo..." She spoke slowly, the Doctor supported her speaking quietly with her. "...Raxacoricofallapatorian!"
The Doctor held up psychic paper to a Judoon guard by the sliding doors and he and Clara went on through. "Where we going then?"
"VIP access, we're going to where they keep the latest inventions and tests." The Doctor hurriedly pulled Clara round a corner. "Well it's not proper VIP access, but I should be able to clear that up once I tell them about the Cybermen attack I saved these people from." Clara poked her head round the corner to see a patrol of Judoon.
"Bo Fo Ro Jo No Mo Po!" The Judoon systematically looked through every room they passed, banging on the doors searching for the Doctor and his companion.
"Best keep moving then." Said Clara, the Doctor nodded and quickly led her through a series of doors changing direction frequently in case any Judoon happened to be following them, eventually the pair arrived at an observation deck.
The deck contained a fully stocked bar with a small group of patrons in the area. From the far end of the room one could see countless stars and nearby a planet that appeared to be made up completely of water. Among the people gathered there they saw a grey/blonde haired man in a black and gold suit talking to two Silurians in lab coats.
"As you can see from the latest results." The elder Silurian scientist held out a datapad as he began. "The intelligence programme is performing at peak capacity." His co-worker cowered behind him, for he knew that this was not the full truth.
"Alright. Make sure it stays that way, we've been running out of volunteers for the programme." The man in charge said with a gruff East End accent.
"Yes, a-about that..." The younger Scientist spoke up but was silenced by the first Scientist.
"We may have to hurry with the new volunteers, if we don't get any more soon-"
He wasn't allowed to finish, the muscular grey haired man spoke harshly to him. "I don't care, just get it done without any fuss, got it?" The two Silurians saluted and hurried away.
"That there's the great, great, great, etcetera etcetera grandson of Jordis Lawson, the woman who founded the institute originally, Colonel James Lawson." The Doctor said to Clara. "The Colonel's just honorary, he's never even served in the army."
Col. Lawson turned his head to look at the two intruders. "And who the hell are you s'posed to be!"
The Doctor opened his mouth. "It's okay, listen, the Doctor, we spoke over the radio." The Colonel's expression didn't change. "The Cybermen guy!"
Upon hearing this Lawson's face lit up. "Doctor! Hah, didn't think you'd be so..." He trailed off as though the sentence didn't need finishing, leaving the Doctor with a confused expression. "Come, a drink for our saviour." He snapped his fingers twice and a robot came to his service. "A lager for the Doctor." The Doctor shook his head and Lawson saw, but ignored him with a laugh. "And for your lady friend?" Lawson winked at Clara.
Clara turned up her nose. "I'll have a Rosé"
Lawson led the two to a circular table with three chairs around it. "Well enough talk about you. If you've come all this way to talk to me I might as well satisfy you." The man loved the sound of his own voice, their drinks arrived and at first the Doctor was sure he wouldn't drink but the more he heard of the man, the more he wanted to.
The Doctor gave in and slowly sipped his drink, nodding every now and again to show that he was still awake, though his conscience was slipping. "Would you mid if I had a private chat with the Doctor here, man to man?" James Lawson said to Clara.
"If the Doctor's okay with it, I could use the bathroom anyway." Clara sensed something more was going on, but she did not know if her leaving would be for better or worse.
"Nope, no problem at all." The Doctor had to let her go, he knew there was something going on here, but he would be able to get more information out of Lawson if he did as the Colonel said. Plus if he didn't let her go, Lawson would realise the Doctor was suspicious of him.
Getting up out of her seat Clara left to go to the toilet, helpfully escorted by the same robot that had shown them to their seats. "I want to talk to you about our VR project."
The Doctor forced a smile "I couldn't help overhear your conversation earlier. It you're looking to recruit for volunteers I'm afraid I won't be a very good candidate."
"On the contrary, you'd be a perfect subject, since we first had contact with you we've analysed your brain, it's quite remarkable.""As I said, I won't be a good candidate." The Doctor said in a darker tone. Sipping the last of his drink.
"And we're not asking you to volunteer." Lawson's mouth transformed into a sly smile. The Doctor coughed. He tried to move his arms, but they were solid as stone. He couldn't even blink. "We're telling you that you've been recruited."
This was really fun to write, I didn't intend this chapter to be a Mass Effect reference when I began, at first Lawson was just a random name that sounded like it belonged to a scientist or inventor, before I remembered I got it from Mass Effect. However afterwards I decided to continue this Mass Effect feel with the design of the station as it is slightly based upon the Citadel from those games.
As I said last time, this is my longest chapter yet, and I hope to keep to this length for a few chapters.
