Guardian Angel
"So," said the Doctor as he was escorted through the base, "can't help but noticing there's a little diversity among you lot. What is it, both universe's Cybermen come together as one big happy family?"
CORRECT," replied one of their escorts.
This was one was one the Doctor recognised as being from 'his' universe, bigger than the parallel variants with more angular body parts and with a deeper voice. He noted the vestigial chin moving behind its mouthpiece.
"Oh, isn't that lovely," he remarked. "Of course, I say 'happy family', that's not really a thing for you, is it? One big family, that's more accurate. Or marching family. Or emotionally devoid family. What do you think?"
YOU WILL BE SILENT," it ordered.
"See, you're never creative with your orders. No 'hold your tongue, Doctor or I shall remove it' or anything like that," he complained. "Are you not even gonna say how 'excellent' my capture is or does only your Cyber Leader get to say that?"
SILENCE OR YOU WILL BE MADE TO BE SILENT," it repeated.
"Okay, getting there. Baby steps," he shrugged.
Despite his apparent nonchalance, the Doctor was seething internally. How could he have been this stupid? He should have anticipated they might have developed a way to protect one of their most obvious weaknesses. Cybermen were always striving to improve and make themselves better. The vulnerability of the emotional inhibitor would have been one of the first things to go.
He looked back at Kathy. Whereas the Cybermen were allowing the Doctor to move unrestricted, she was being pulled along by two of them who had a tight hold of both her arms. A third brought up the rear, weapon trained on her back. They clearly weren't taking any chances on her escaping again.
He tried to catch her eye but she had her head lowered to the ground and didn't make any attempt to look up. The Doctor felt a guilty pang. She had fought to escape this place and he'd practically transported her back to the Cybermen himself. But he wouldn't allow himself to give up. There was still one chance and in the meantime, he would keep his eyes open for any chance they might be able to exploit to escape.
His hopes were raised somewhat when two familiar faces greeted him at Cyber Control.
"Doctor!" Martha ran up and hugged him.
"It is good to see you safe, Doctor. Relatively speaking," Sec added.
"Good to see you both too. You both okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. But they took everyone else. They've already started converting people," said Martha.
"No!" Kathy cried. "Is my mum okay? And my dad?"
"Um…" Martha was utterly perplexed at this.
"Oh, this is Kathy. She's a Cyberman with a heart," he explained quickly.
"Kathy? You mean like…?" Martha's eyes widened and she looked toward her. "Are you… Kathy Peddler? Sarah's daughter?"
She nodded quickly. "Please, tell me mum and dad are okay."
"I… I don't know, we didn't see if they…" Martha clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god, they… I can't believe they…"
"Yeah…" She lowered her head again.
Martha made moves towards her, but was blocked by the guards. Sec didn't move or say anything but looked on in apparent fascination at her. The Doctor stole himself, then turned to the large structure in the centre of the room.
"So, you're the one in charge of this whole thing eh? A Cyber Planner. Haven't seen one of you for a while and it looks like you've gotten yourself a few improvements over the older models," he remarked.
"The result of beneficial collaboration between two branches of the Cyber-race, Doctor," it replied. "One of many."
"I can see that," he murmured. "And I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Kathy is another one. You called her 'prototype' so what, another upgrade?"
"Indeed," answered the Planner.
"Fine, be all… wait!" He suddenly looked at Martha. "You said they took everyone else. Even the Silurians?"
Martha was startled by the suddenness. "Um, yeah. All on the same ship."
"But why?" He turned back to the Planner. "Why would you take them? They're not human, they're not compatible."
"Not yet," said the Planner.
"'Not yet?' Oh. Oh no. Yes! No. No, no, no," the Doctor muttered. "Don't tell me you're…?"
"They took them to a different area. They referred to it as advanced upgrading," put in Sec.
"You are," said the Doctor, despair ebbing into his voice. "That's what she is, isn't she? Part of a new conversion process. A new type of Cyberman, able to convert any species, any race."
"Correct, Doctor. Several prototypes are already active on this base. They are being kept under observation for the moment but they will be the vanguard of the new Cyber-race. The ultimate upgrade," it boasted.
"Under observation? Well no wonder. Seems like you've still got some flaws to work out. The emotional cleansing, it didn't work well on her, did it? There's still a little bit of Kathy Peddler in there," he noted.
"An easily rectified problem, Doctor," said the Planner. "Once the cause of the issue is identified, we will ensure it does not happen again. When the process is perfected, the Cyber-race will be stronger than ever before."
The Doctor didn't have a response to that because they were right. The ability to convert any race, not just humans, would make the Cybermen nearly unstoppable. He could only hope that Clare might be able to do something on her end.
One way or another, they had to be stopped.
The dim lighting in every corridor did nothing to make the situation any less unnerving. Clareaesia travelled at speed and with purpose, but with urgency in every step. Her worry shouldn't be a surprise in the slightest. Clare had always been the motherly type at heart, at least she supposed. Humans were something she'd cared about, so much that her sisters knew to use it against her... but Kathy had brought out something even stronger in her. Something that made the angel ready to tear apart anything that dared threaten that poor girl or anyone else who mattered that much.
Because of this, Clare was determined that the next Cyberman to get in her way was going to have very intimate relations with the nearest wall.
Still, for all the anxiousness and anger, making mistakes would not be an option here. There were hundreds of Cybermen, possibly thousands even, and the Angel was going in blind. Silence, speed and caution became the three most important things.
Speed may have temporarily been negated when instinct brought her to a stop just in time to catch a jumping Cybermat right out of the air. It struggled incessantly in her hand like a scared animal. She watched for a moment only to crush it into a little mound of metal. Putting it out of its misery.
/Chamber 8 is now closed for sterilisation," came a voice from speakers somewhere in the distance. It barely took a minute before the same voice declared the chamber open again. Clare followed the sound on high alert eventually coming to a heavy set of doors. She quietly slipped through.
Having lived 500 years, Clare felt she had seen some horrible things, but she wasn't prepared for the smell.
At first it was too strong to even tell what it was, but gradually the mix of odours separated into many jarring, dirty smells.
Damp metal. Rust. Chemicals.
Blood.
Though it lingered enough to make anyone feel sick, the room Clare came into was astonishingly clean. The walls and floor were spotless, and above several large cylinders in the centre were parts of robotic arms and various sharp implements. It was like some sort of twisted surgical theatre, which given who they were dealing with…
Approaching heavy footsteps sent her scurrying through another door to the side. Luck would have it that none of the few Cybermen inside seemed to notice her. This room was smaller than the last, not that Clare was a particular fan of being within "cosy" distance of the metallic soldiers. For a moment the Angel lit up on spotting the huddled group of Silurians only a few metres away, but the relief was short lived. The Cybermen stood guarding them, even holding some back. Their faces, eyes full of terror, all of them were staring at an operating table to her right, and strapped onto it was another Silurian.
With cuts and scrapes from the arm and leg restraints, the man on the table lay still other than faintly trembling. His fearful eyes darted about from one Cyberman to the next and occasionally scanned the room as if for some hope of rescue. For just a moment they caught Claraesia and the look alone told her everything. 'Please', he said, without a word. 'Please help me'.
A short silence was soon broken by his cries of fright as dozens of tiny silver things began climbing across the Silurian. Metal insects. He couldn't even lift his head enough to see what was going on. Fright, then pain, then deafening agony. Every other Silurian cried out with him in despair or anger, some still trying to beg them to stop, Setak being the loudest among them. The insects burrowed their way into every part of his body with alarming speed, bringing up fast growing pools of blood that soaked into his clothes and dripped all the way to the floor. Scaly green skin split like cracks in every direction and gave way to flesh, organs, bone. But all too quickly among the red a network of metallic parts was forming, building around and over the organic. Soon the screaming quietened, the man's body became rigid and every patch of what resembled a living thing was disappearing.
And then he stirred suddenly, pulling hard on the straps as the cries rose again to shouts of panic. He tossed and thrashed, choked, struggling to call for help and trying so hard to escape. It made Clare jump in her hiding place and press her back to the wall, flickering between her living form and stone.
Only right when the process was done, when the Silurian was gone and a new Cyberman lay in his place, did he completely stop screaming.
/First non-human advanced upgrade, complete," one Cyberman stated coldly, approaching the one on the table. It looked down at the body, paused, then back at the others. /Subject is deceased. Dispose of the failure and begin again."
The other Cybermen sprung into action and while two went to move the body, more had to keep the remaining Silurians from wrenching free while they sobbed and screamed with ragged voices. For some time Clare remained stuck to the wall, wide-eyed and shaking. Her silence may have been the only thing not giving away her presence to a room full of robotic monsters. None of this was right, and once the horror subsided and she saw them make a grab for Setak, the Angel snarled. Within seconds the Cyberman nearest to the group found itself being hurled back. It sailed past Clare and bowled two more over.
/Humanoid intruder detected," another said, with what little urgency it could express. /DELETE."
The fallen ones rose like the dead in unison and all Cybermen began heading for Clare. She wore the expression of a lioness, waiting until one was just inches away, then as Setak blinked she saw the angel go from standing defensively in front of them straight to the opposite wall, the Cyberman's head being crushed face-first into the flat steel. For a moment the rest of them all turned in apparent confusion, then all hell broke loose when Clare began darting between the metal soldiers and taking them out one by one. Blasters were fired, some bounced off walls and hit equipment while the Silurians shrank back into a corner trying to keep out of the way. By the time only one Cyberman was standing Clare had managed to get ahold of a blaster and for a moment it froze. They had a brief stand off, then she gunned it down and turned the blaster on what tools and machinery lay around her.
"Hey, th… they're dead," Setak called softly and got the Angel's attention. She stopped, looked around, then nodded at the others and ushered them back through the door. What mattered most right now was getting them and the humans to safety, but it would have to be done quickly now before too many of those silver monsters came to stop her.
Once back in the human conversion chamber Clare burst in, guns literally blazing. She rushed at the Cybermen guarding what remaining villagers there were who let out startled shrieks and shaky cheers of joy at their rescuer. The guards went down quickly and her lasting anger kept the Angel going as she turned on the machines again, shattering blades, ripping through wires and burning everything in sight until the blaster no longer worked so she used her hands. All the while her newly rescued Silurian friends began leading the humans away and running together as fast as they could.
That was when an alarm began to blare. Some of the escaping villagers jumped or screamed and ran faster, some barely holding it together enough not to drop down in a panic. For all of that fear though, when one more metallic soldier came striding in to investigate the chaos, the entire crowd rushed it at once and sent it crashing to the ground where it struggled just long enough for Clare to approach and give it a swift decapitation.
The crowd, though still scared, let out a triumphant cheer.
Sec jumped at the sound of the alarm. He glanced at the Doctor, who had a knowing smirk on his face.
The Planner addressed a Cyberman at a monitor. "What is happening?"
/The alert began in the conversion chamber, Planner," responded the Cyberman. /Reports from stationed units indicate another intruder is disrupting the process."
"Another one of your companions, Doctor?"
"Maybe," he said with false innocence. "Could just be a really big coincidence."
"Unlikely," it dismissed. "You would not be captured without a contingency plan in place. It is only logical for an adversary who has survived so many conflicts."
"Well, that and an unbelievable amount of luck and charm," he said with a wink. "Also, having a good pair of running shoes. Maybe you should consider getting some for your lot, so you're not always marching around in those size ten metal boots. Might help you catch those prisoners quicker."
"Footwear is irrelevant," the Planner replied bluntly. "This escape attempt will do more to hinder than help. Once the humans are recaptured, the hope that was raised will be diminished further and they will swiftly accept the futility of their resistance."
"You're gonna have your hands full. It's not easy to deal with a big group of frightened people," pointed out the Doctor.
"They will be dealt with, regardless. Their efforts are pointless, driven by hope without foundation and fear without limit. Their emotions make them behave foolishly and without logic."
"The Daleks thought much the same," Sec interjected. "It was our creator who removed our emotions with those same ideas in mind. But I will tell you what I told the Doctor: he was wrong."
"Incorrect. Restoring your own emotions, you have subjected yourself to the same affliction your creator sought to remove," argued the Planner. "You argue their benefits because they prevent you from knowing how much more efficient you would be without them."
"You know, for all you like to talk about logic, you're not doing a great job of upholding it," countered Martha. "You say because we have emotions, they stop us from seeing how much better off we'll be without them. Right?"
"Correct," answered the Planner.
"But then how can you argue emotions make you weak when you don't even have them?" she challenged. "How can you claim that, when you can't even fully experience them anymore?"
"It is not needed. The deficiencies they afflict are concretely obvious," replied the Planner.
"But so are their benefits!" she snapped. "Remember, I was there when you invaded Earth and what's happening right now is the same thing that happened then. It's the same thing I've seen with patients at the hospital and what makes me want to be a doctor: people fighting because they have hope. Because there's a chance they can win."
"You are incorrect. Fighting in the face inevitability is one of humankind's greatest flaws"
"Oh, but she isn't," took up the Doctor. "Maybe humans did see that fighting you would be pointless. They did see you were stronger than them. And you know what? They fought you anyway and they beat you. They've beaten you, the Daleks and countless other invaders. And not just invaders but diseases, poverty, ignorance! Emotions have driven humans and countless other beings to try to beat all of those things. They might not always succeed, but that never stops them from trying. To be there for friends and family in times of need, standing by their side no matter what. One of your own even did that, didn't they Kathy?"
Kathy, who had remained mostly silent since her capture, suddenly whipped her head up at the mention of her name.
"She fought, even when it seemed pointless," said the Doctor proudly. "Even after what you did to her, she held on to what little she had and she escaped. Then, despite her fear, she came back to do the exact same thing again. To stop you from doing it to the people she cared about. She's stronger than you ever thought she could be and that didn't come from replacing her body with plastic and steel."
Without any kind of facial expression, it was difficult to tell if the Doctor's words had an impact. But Sec could have sworn she stood up a little straighter after the Doctor's defence of her.
"Yet emotion can be crippling," replied the Planner. "Fear can prevent action being taken. Hatred causes death. Despair can bring about self-destruction. You would still stand by their strengths with this in mind, Doctor?"
"Oh yes, I do. Sometimes, yes that does happen. They make mistakes. But they learn from them, together and they improve because that's how they've always lived and no one would ever choose to sacrifice that. You hear me?" He spoke his last statement loudly for all to hear: "No one would ever want to be a Cyberman!"
Sec felt a measure of pride well up inside him and Martha looked a little more hopeful. The Planner seemed to consider what he had said before replying.
"Your defence of emotions is to be expected. As you say, Doctor, many have stood their ground on this. You have presented your examples. Now, I will now display a concrete example of our point. Activate the communications system," it ordered a Cyberman.
"This address is intended for the leader of this insurgency. I am aware that you are an associate of the Doctor. He and a number of his companions are in our custody. If you continue this resistance, we will cause them pain. Persist further beyond that and they will be deleted."
Claraesia stopped in her tracks. So did most of the crowd, listening to that disembodied voice as if the very sound froze them in place. Those monsters had the Doctor and the others. Everyone she cared about in the hands of the Cybermen. Suddenly Clare felt a sting of anxiety knowing there were two groups in danger, and with the way things were right now, she could only save one.
She looked about the room, all other eyes staring back. Enough to make her really close to becoming a literal immobile statue right now, but the situation's urgency took priority. What could she do, leave these people to be converted? To die? They didn't deserve this. No one did!
Clare's fears began to get much worse when over the speaker Martha could be heard yelling furiously.
"Oi, get your hands off me! Hey! I said LET ME GO! LET ME-"
There was an electrical buzzing and she screamed.
Clare heard the others all shout for Martha and for a moment nothing could scare the Angel more, until relief and worry both hit as her human friend spoke again.
"I'm fine, I'm... I'm alright..." It sounded like she was in agony. Barely a second later the two men's cries followed with that same buzzing. Kathy started swearing somewhere in the background. Clare got the message, they were all about to be killed if she refused to surrender. Her heart raced, head nearly spinning. This shouldn't have been her decision to make.
"Clare, was it?" asked a voice softly, bringing the Angel out of her thoughts. Sarah watched her with concern while supporting a very shaken younger man. There were old tear tracks etched into the woman's face. "What do we do?"
Time refused to slow down enough that she could decide. Too much at stake, no matter what she chose. There were heavy footsteps approaching again now, a sign that their time was up. Clare turned to the others and signed at Sarah, doing her best to try and mouth the words as she did, hoping they would be understood.
'I will come back. I'm so sorry.'
Motioning for the others to stand back, head hanging in defeat, the Angel didn't move or resist when Cybermen burst into the room and dragged her away.
Her eyes scanned the room as she was brought into Cyber Control. She ignored the Cybermen attending their various functions and consoles, focusing solely on the people she knew. The sight made relief flood through her.
Though it was worrying to see them captured, the Doctor and Kathy were alive. Thankfully, Martha and Sec looked fine too. His eye found hers. The smile that began to grow on her face faded when her shame at failing returned. But the smile he had for seeing her was almost enough to dispel it. Almost.
"You alright, Clare?" asked the Doctor. She nodded and hung her head in shame. "Hey, hey, don't be like that. You tried."
She tried, yes, and she'd failed. Now, they would all pay the price for it.
"It seems your tactical options have failed, Doctor," remarked the same voice she had heard. A Cyber Planner, she realised. "You continue to insist that emotions are not a disadvantage?"
"Yes," he said through gritted teeth.
"You are mistaken. I have control not only over you, but over all of your companions as well. If a Cyberman had been appointed the task you had given this creature, they would have persisted. They would not have surrendered this easily. But now you are all here, as my prisoners and the humans and homo reptilia she failed to rescue are being returned to the conversion chamber," it surmised coldly. "She failed for fear of your deaths. Cybermen possess no such weakness."
"Oh yeah?" challenged Martha. "Isn't that why you did this to yourselves? Because you were afraid to die?"
It was silent for a moment. "In the beginning, perhaps. But the progenitors of the first Cybermen recognised the importance of eliminating those weaknesses. Now, you and the entire universe will bear witness to our strength. We will survive."
"For what?" Though her voice was still altered to sound more like a Cyberman, they all heard the bitter challenge in Kathy's tone. "What are you surviving for? What's the point?"
One or two Cybermen looked up from their tasks to observe her. Like they were curious why one of their own would ask such a thing. Once again, the Cyber Planner's response wasn't immediate.
"Your question is meaningless," dismissed the Cyber Planner. "Survival is the drive of every species. The Cybermen will unite the universe with this drive."
"Yeah, 'cause everyone's gonna be lining up for a chance to look like this, aren't they? To let you carve them up, slice them apart and take away everything from them that's really important." She barked a laugh. "Of course, why didn't I see it sooner?! It's so obviously the best choice!"
"You will be silent," ordered the Planner but Kathy wasn't perturbed.
"Step right up, everyone! Come right up into the chop shop. Sure it hurts like nothing you've ever felt before but that's okay! You won't feel a thing afterward, literally! Doesn't that sound like a fun time?! Doesn't matter because after, you won't even remember what 'fun' means!"
"You are another example of our point. Your emotions are disrupting your logic and intelligence from accepting the strength of-"
"You're damn right I am!" she screamed. "The Doctor is right! No one wants to be this way! I didn't choose to be like this! You forced it on me! You made me into this!" Her guards were visibly struggling to hold her in place. "Just give me one chance and I'll kill you all! You hear me?! You tore me apart and I'll do the same to every last one of you!"
Silence filled the control room. By this point, every Cyberman had stopped to stare at her. It was curious behaviour for them. Was it possible, thought Clare, that hearing such an outburst from one that sounded and looked like them that it reminded them of the people they used to be? Did they remember the screaming and the pain before the conversion process cut it out of them?
Predictably, however, the Planner was unmoved by her declaration.
"Your conversion process was disrupted. The conditioning was not complete. We will rectify this mistake soon. But first, we will ensure there are no more emotional ties for this unit." It addressed one of the others. "Have all escaped humanoids been returned to conversion?"
/Affirmative. The damage has been repaired and they are ready to resume upgrading," reported the Cyberman.
"Excellent. Display conversion on the monitor channel."
/I obey."
A holographic screen before the Planner flickered into existence. The villagers had been returned to the centre of the open room, stood before the open conversion chambers. Their guards had their weapons trained but no one was trying anything to escape. They looked utterly dispirited and crushed. The Cyber Slaves stood at attention nearby.
"What are you doing?" asked the Doctor in a quiet, but dangerous voice.
The Planner ignored him. "Our records from Cybermat observations indicate that two of the humans present are this prototype unit's parents. They will be upgraded first. Order Cyber Slave 4 into chamber 5. Enhance image to display."
One of the Slaves marched stiffly towards the doors. The camera zoomed in to show what Clare dreaded it to be.
"NO!" Kathy's struggles increased, but her guards held her firmly. "DAD, NO! PLEASE, DON'T!"
"You monsters!" spat Martha. She started toward the Planner but a Cyberman grabbed her arm. "Let go, let go of me! That's her father, you can't do this!"
"Stop it, stop this now!" demanded the Doctor. "Turn that off! She doesn't need to watch!"
"There is no need for this!" shouted Sec. "It's pointless and cruel! Stop this at once!"
Though she had no words to shout, Clare expressed her anger in her actions. She allowed her face to contort into a snarl. She too began to struggle against her guards. She felt the grip slacken a little, like the Cyberman hadn't expected such a show of strength. But it wasn't quick enough and he took a firmer hold, along with a second who took her other arm.
The Planner ignored their platitudes and Kathy's father continued his mindless march as the doors closed behind him. The blades came down, setting about their cruel work. Flashes of light showed his silhouette, motionless while the machine carved at his body. There was no sound from him, no screams of pain and Clare honestly didn't know if that was worse or not.
The same couldn't be said for Kathy. The heart that Clare possessed, the one that her sisters despised her for, broke to hear her. She begged and cried for her father, struggled and wrenched against her captors, but to no avail.
Within seconds, the process was over. The doors opened and the Cyberman that was once her father marched out to join the ranks of the others.
"Upgrade complete," announced the Planner. "Now, the mother."
A Cyberman, the one who was formerly her father, marched forward and plucked Sarah from the crowd. With a firm grip on her arm, it dragged her to the chamber. She tried to pull free but the Cyberman only yanked her along with more force.
"No… no, no, no, please…" Kathy had screamed herself to exhaustion during her father's conversion. Now it was her mother's turn, she had descended into desperate sobs. Somehow, her voice rose in pitch again the closer her mother was brought to the chamber doors. "Mum, no! Not my mum, please don't! MUM! MUM, NO! PLEASE!"
Clare's anger burned inside her. She turned her face to the Cyberman to her right and flashed her fangs, lunging at his face. It recoiled away and a third yanked her hair from behind.
All they could do was watch as the doors closed on Sarah. Her expression was one of utter terror. The blades descended from above, whirling and spinning to life.
The audio came through clearly. The slicing metal. The splatters of flesh. The wrenching sound of her screams. Her silhouette flashed against the bursts of light that accompanied the process. Metal arms clamped onto her body. They held her in place as she twisted and writhed. Her screaming grew less and less as more and more was replaced.
The blades stopped. They rose up and the doors opened. Sarah Peddler was gone. In her place, a new Cyberman stepped out. It marched off to the side and out of sight.
"Upgrade complete. Your mother is now like us, as is your father. Soon, you will be too." The Planner addressed her guards. "Send her to have her conditioning completed and take the Doctor's companions to conversion. They will be next."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
What's this? A new chapter AT LAST?! Oh my god never trust me to be the one to finish off a chapter this is what happens.
Honestly it's time for me to apologise profusely to you guys because we weren't meant to be having another hiatus so soon, let alone one this long! I'm so sorry, but Alpha was busy finishing off his Masters at uni (congrats to him for completing it!) and this year I ended up kind of hitting the ground running in regards to becoming self-employed. I've also had some things to deal with around physical and mental health, which took a huge toll on writing. It's not been easy in the slightest and won't be for a while, so please forgive us if the next few chapters are a little irregular upload-wise because both of us have a lot going on. However we WILL keep going with this as there's no way in hell it's ending any time soon, too much to write! And as a further apology and thank you for waiting so long, pretty soon (probably at the end of this arc) I may upload a BONUS chapter featuring what is essentially "deleted content" from an earlier chapter!
Seriously though thank you to everyone who's read so far and especially those who still are reading. The views counter and all of your kind words in the reviews remind us that people actually like this story and it keeps us going.
Enjoy for now!
-MH