A/N: Meant to get this out sooner, but well...I recently bought the complete Series of That 70s Show and it's kind of consuming my life right now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor who.
Chapter 20: Satellite 5
"Every 4 years everybody decided to forget what they've learned, democracy in action!" - the Doctor
The Next day the Doctor set the TARDIS on random and they were off. Amy wasn't sure if the Doctor noticed the fact that Adam had come out of Rose's room in the morning, but she didn't bring it up.
Better he didn't know about these things. He was very testy about that sort of stuff going on in the TARDIS. Amy and Rory had tried to hide deep within the TARDIS before starting anything but he always seemed to find them...
Amy ran out with The Doctor and Rose while Adam picked himself up off the floor.
The Doctor leaned over to Rose, conspiringly, "So, it's 200 000, it's a spaceship...no wait a minute, space station, and uh...go and try the gate over there. Off you go!" He leaned back against the TARDIS while Rose looked at him with a huge grin.
"200 000?"
"200 000."
"'Kay." Rose said, only half believing it. She ran over to the TARDIS door, opening it with a giggle, "Adam? Out you come."
Adam finally stumbled out of the TARDIS with his mouth open, "Oh My God." He looked around awestruck.
They were in a large room. Red coloured lights came from the floor and normal yellow lights from the ceiling. The walls were all metal with a sort of booth type thing in front of them. In fact there was a few of them all around.
Amy looked at the wall and saw what looked like televisions. They were broadcasting a news report, talking about a bunch of things that Amy couldn't understand for the life of her.
"Don't worry," Rose assured Adam, as he half tripped over himself trying to get a view of everything, "You'll get used to it."
"Where are we?" He asked
"Good question. Let's see..." Rose looked around, pretending to deduce, "So, Um...judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year 200 000. If you listen...engines."
Amy tried to hide her smile at Rose's explanation and Adams baffled look. The Doctor was watching her with a small smile as she walked around and Amy couldn't help the smile that crossed her own face.
"We're on some sort of Space station. Yeah. Definitely a Space station. It's a bit warn in here, they could turn the heating down..."
Amy agreed with Rose, wishing she had left the scarf that ran around her neck back in the TARDIS.
"Tell you what!" Rose pointed to the gate, "Let's try that gate. Come on!"
Rose opened the Gate and Adam followed her. Amy and the Doctor followed behind.
Amy linked her arm with the Doctors, "They grow up so fast don't they?" He gave her a tight smile, then unlinked his arm and walked ahead.
Amy sighed deeply, trying to ignore the feeling of homesickness in her stomach, and followed after them. Obviously the Doctor had noticed that Rose and Adam spent the night.
He was probably going to be Mr. Grumpy Face for the rest of the trip.
Through the gate they found themselves in an observation deck, looking down at the planet earth. It reminded Amy of her first trip with this Doctor to the year 5 billion. Except everything was a lot less advanced here.
"Here we go! And this is..." Rose gazed down at the Earth, a bit dazed herself. It wasn't really something you got used to seeing. Adam was using the railing to physically hold himself up as he walked over to Rose, "I'll let the Doctor describe it."
"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is. Planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons - population 96 billion. The hub of a galactic domain, stretching across a million planets, a million species - with mankind right in the middle"
And with that Adam was out cold. Amy couldn't help herself and she started to laughed, very loudly, gripping the railing to keep herself upright.
"He's your boyfriend." The Doctor spoke dryly.
She huffed, "Not Anymore. Oh, shut up Amy."
"It's...impossible." Adam shook his head, "Completely impossible." He turned to Amy, "Be honest with me...Am I dead? Did that Dalek kill me?"
Amy looked at with, completely serious, "Yes...Yes it did."
Rose shot her an annoyed look, which Amy just gave a large closed mouth smiled to.
Adam looked at her, alarmed, "W-What?"
"She's kidding," The Doctor chuckled, wrapping his arms around Rose and Adam's shoulders, "But come on, Adam! Open your mind! You're gonna like this fantastic period of history. The Human Race at its most intelligent - Culture, Art, Politics. This era has got fine food, good manners-"
The Doctor was cut off as a man rudely ran past yelling, "Out of the way."
And with that the entire room exploded. The booths that went down the middle of the room whipped to life and people ran past them to line up, yelling and waving money and passing food back and forth.
"One at a time! Oi! You, mate! Stop pushing. Get back. I said, back"
Amy shook her head, lightly bemused at the chaotic mess that surrounded them. "Good manners?" She asked, teasingly.
"Fine cuisine?" Rose chuckled, looking at what appeared to be the 200 000 year version of fast food.
The Doctor looked confused, "My watch must be wrong," He muttered, checking the watch on his wrist, tapping it once, "No, it's fine...weird."
Amy frowned. The Doctor was never wrong about these things. Part of his Time Lord-y powers.
"That's what comes of showing off," Rose smirked, "Your history's not as good as you thought it was."
"My history's perfect!" He argued, looking worried.
"Well, obviously not," Rose teased.
Adam, after getting over his shock, finally spoke up, "They're all human. What about the millions of planets? The Millions of species? Where are they?" Amy noticed he had a point.
"Good Question. Actually," The Doctor gave Adam an appraising look, "That is a good question." He wrapped an arm around Adams shoulder with a grin, ignoring his discomfort, "Adam, me' old mate, you must be starving."
"No, I'm just a bit time sick."
Amy snorted. Time sick. What? Was he just making things up now? The Doctor gave her a long look and she bit her lip. Okay, no more making fun of the kid.
"Nah," The Doctor turned back to Adam, "You just need a bit of grub," He walked over to one of the stalls, "Oi, mate - how much is a Cronk burger?"
"Two credits twenty, sweetheart!" The man answered, annoyed, "Now, join the queue."
"Money!" The Doctor realized, "We need money. Let's use a cashpoint" He walked over to a cash machine, not unlike an ATM and pointed the sonic screwdriver at it.
With a clunk something that looked like a strip of metal fell out. The Doctor grabbed it and turned to Adam, handing it to him.
"There you go - pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets."
He started to walk away, "How does it work?" Adam examined the strip.
The Doctor turned back, exasperated, "Go and find out! Stop nagging me! The thing is Adam, Time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers!"
"I think that's just you." Amy joked. Rose laughed outright, but the Doctor just shrugged.
"Stop asking questions, go on, do it! Amy, with me. Rose - Off you go then! Your first date."
Amy winked at Rose, "Enjoy yourself." And then she ran off with the Doctor.
"You two are gonna get a smack you are!"
Rose and Adam walked off to one of the food carts, getting in line. The second they were out of view the Doctor's grin faded into a scowl.
Amy sighed looking around, "So, something's up here?"
"Oh, yeah." He nodded then stopped two girls walking by who had be chatting animatedly. "Erm...this is gonna sound daft, but can you tell me where we are?"
A pretty black woman, her hair braided back in corn-rows with different coloured beads embedded in them, pointed to the wall, "Floor 139...could they write it any bigger."
Amy looked over to see a large 139 on the wall, towering over the entire room. "Floor 139 of what now?" She asked the girls.
"Must've been a hell of a party," The same girl chuckled.
"Oh, you're on Satellite Five." The second girl, pale skin with brown hair that fell gently to her shoulders, supplied helpfully.
Amy looked at the Doctor for an answer, but he looked just as confused as her, "What's Satellite Five," He asked them.
"Come on," The first woman scoffed, "How could you get on board without knowing where you are?"
The Doctor grinned, "Look at us, we're stupid!"
Amy smacked his arm angrily, but he just waved her off, waiting for an answer.
The second girl got a curious look on her face, "Hang on, wait a minute - are you a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing."
"You've got us. Well done. You're to clever for me." Amy was the only one who caught his sarcasm as he pulled out the Physic paper, waving it in their faces.
"We were warned about this in basic training," The second girl spoke to the first, "All workers have to be versed in company promotion."
"Right." The first girl stood up straighter, preparing herself, "Fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor 500 I'll do anything."
"What's Floor 500?" Amy asked her, "What's up there?"
"The walls are made of gold." She stated as if it were obvious.
"Bit extravagant." Amy muttered, then shrugged, "Go on.."
The girl looked from her to the Doctor, "You two should know. Management and all...But this is what we do."
She walked away and the Doctor and Amy followed. Amy couldn't help from notice that her question hadn't actually been answered.
"Latest news!" The black woman announced as they walked over to one of the many television screen lining the walls, "Sandstorms on new Venus archipelago. Two Hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day...space lane 77 closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe had just announced he's pregnant."
Amy's eyebrows rose. He was pregnant? She shook her head. Right. Aliens.
"We get it. You broadcast the news." The Doctor looked unimpressed.
"We are the news." She corrected him. The second girl smiled nervously and Amy smiled back at her, "We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. 600 channels all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole Human Empire without it going through us."
The Doctor frowned a bit and Amy wished she knew what he was thinking. It all seemed very normal. It was a news broadcasting station. Not a nuclear testing site, or a military base. What could be wrong here?
After the promotional lecture, the women, Cathica and Suki, lead them further into Floor 139. Amy was a bit nervous about leaving Rose and Adam alone, but the Doctor assured her they'd be fine.
"They're on their date," He bit, but Amy sighed
"Either way, we don't want them getting arrested or something," Amy put in and with some grumbling they picked up the pair, who had been laughing over something. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Adam pocket Rose's phone. She thought about calling him on it, but they were quickly ushered away by Cathica and Suki.
The room they were led to was round and white. There was a sort of device hanging from the ceiling and it was giving off a light so bright that Amy tried not to look at it.
Below it there was Octagon shaped platform with a chair in the middle. Around it, six people knelt on pillow like chairs. There was some type of console in front of them, ready to be used.
The four of them walked to the side behind what appeared to be a safety rail. Suki sat at the last empty spot on the floor and Cathica addressed the room, "Now. Everybody behave. We have a management inspection." She turned to the Doctor, "How do you want it? Why the book?"
"Oh, right from scratch, thanks." She nodded and turned away.
Amy moved closer to him, "Do you know what this is?"
"I have an idea," He looked uncomfortable. "But it's all wrong."
"Okay!" Cathica, seemingly the supervisor, announced, "So - ladies, gentlemen, multisex, undecided or robot - my name is Cathica Santini Kadaini. That's Cathica with a 'C', in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me, and please... do..." She nodded at the Doctor who just jerk his head back in acknowledgment, "Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy."
She turned to smile widely at the Doctor, who only nodded back. Suki interrupted, "Actually...um...it's the law." Also smiling at the Doctor.
Cathica looked over at her, irritated, "Yes, thank you Suki. Okay, keep it calm...don't show off for the guests...here we go." She walked onto the platform and sat down on the chair in the centre.
"And...engage safety."
All of the staff held their hands over the pads in front of them. Each wall in the room lit up as they do did. An octagon of light. Cathica clicked her finger.
And her head opened.
"Oh god.." Amy whispered, scrounging her nose at the sight of a door in her head which went straight to her brain. The Doctor looked as disgusted as her, and Rose was staring in shock. Adam was actually trying to get a better look, his curiosity getting the better of him.
All of the staff placed their hands down on the pads, closing their eyes.
"And three...two...and spike." The device above them went brighter then before and a beam of light shot down into the hole in Cathica's head.
Amy jumped back, startled.
"Compressed information," The Doctor explained for them, but he looked just as disturbed, "Streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."
"Can her brain handle that?" Amy asked, concerned about the girl who now looked comatose.
"She must be a genius." Rose shook her head in slight amazement.
The Doctor shook his head, "Nah. She wouldn't remember any. There's too much, her head would blow up."
"It's not going to, right?" The Doctor gave Amy a confused look, so she elaborated, "Blow up?"
"Course not." He started to move around the room, circling. Slowly Amy followed him with Rose and Adam taking up the rear. "The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets."
"So, what about all these people round the edge?" Rose asked
"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit 600 channels. Every single fact in the empire beams out of this place."
Rose had knelt beside one of the people around the edge. Amy gulped, "So, is it what you thought it was."
"Yes."
"And that's...bad?"
"Very."
Rose turned to Adam, "You alright?" She asked him.
"I can see her brain." He stated the obvious, looking a little sick. Not a biology kid then.
"Do you want to get out?" Rose asked worried. Out of the corner of her eye Amy saw the Doctor roll his eyes.
The kid shook his head, "No...no. This technology, it's...it's amazing."
"This technology's wrong."
They all turned their heads to look at the Doctor. He was looking between the orb device and Cathica with a small frown.
"Trouble?" Rose asked.
The Doctor looked over to catch her eye, "Oh yeah." And they shared a smile. Amy felt a shot of excitement go through her, but at the same time kind of wished this had been an easy trip. She was still exhausted from their adventure in Utah.
All around the room the lights flashed off.
Amy frowned, "Is it supposed to do that?" But before the Doctor could answer Suki gasped and pulled her hands from the pad in front of her as if shocked. The whole system seemed to shut down as all the others pulled their hands back and the blue beam stopped streaming. The door to Cathica's brain closed with a snap.
"Come off it, Suki!" Cathica snapped at the girl, who was rubbing her hands, "I wasn't even halfway, what was that for?"
"Sorry, must've been a glitch..." The poor girl looked down at her pad helplessly.
Cathica stood up and turned to the Doctor, "I'm very sorry, sir. It seems that our systems are experiencing some difficulties."
The Doctor plastered a fake grin on his face, "That's alright, I think I've got all I need."
And right on cue a loudspeaker echoed over the room. "Promotion!"
Cathica's face lit up with excitement and she clasped her hands together in excitement, "This is it. Come on. God, make it me. Come on, say my name."
Amy looked at her strangely. She'd never known anyone to want a promotion this badly. What on Earth was so special about Floor 500 to make people act this crazy.
"Say my name, say my name.." She whispered to herself like a mantra, her eyes opened.
"Promotion for...Suki Macrae Cantrell."
Suki's mouth dropped open as Cathica looked like she'd been gutted.
"Please proceed to Floor 500."
Suki slowly stood to her feet, looking like she'd won the lottery. "I don't believe it...Floor 500.."
"How the hell did you manage that?" Cathica asked her bitterly, "I'm above you!"
Suki couldn't stop smiling, "I don't know, I just applied on the off chance..and they've said yes." She clapped her hands together and started jumping up and down.
Cathica crossed her arms in frustration, "That's so not fair, I've been applying to Floor 500 for three years!"
"What's Floor 500?" Rose whispered to them.
Amy frowned staring at the far to excited women, "The Walls are made of gold"
A/N: Sorry for the short. This entire chapter is short, but after this most of the episodes are gonna be split into 4 and 5 chapters instead of 3.
I don't really have anything to talk about today. A lot of people have said that they loved my 'Meanwhile in the TARDIS' and would like more. If any plot bunnies attack I'll be sure to write it down.
Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews. They really make me fee so much better about my writing and really hype me up to write this. At the moment I'm having way to much fun writing Tooth and Claw.
Please R&R!
Until Next Time,
-Ash