"Guardian of the Array"
34. The New Age
Somewhere in Indiana, in the year 1987
The Doctor had played her part, as she was meant to, she knew that now. She had given Lydia Diaz the tools she needed to do what needed to be done, and it hadn't even been the hard part. That one would come next, as they left the garage and set back out for the town centre.
As they were approaching, they could see things had not calmed down by any means, and though the girl had briefly skidded to a stop, unsure that she could make herself go on, she'd taken one look to the Doctor, seen the reassuring smile on her face, and then she'd turned back to the object cradled in her hands. They'd been waiting to get closer to where the people were before they activated it. The time had come. She pressed the key points into the generator, and at once it whirred to life, giving off a faint glow.
"It's warm," Lydia smiled to herself.
"That's good. Now all you have to do is keep walking," the Doctor told her.
So she did. And as she approached, the light of the shield generator grew, one small beam in the dark. She had no glasses like Artie to tell her where the aliens were, but somehow with the generator in her palms, she could spot them out. When she would turn it to one of them, they would pause, just for a moment, and it would happen. The shield counter on their arm would reappear, change color, and then they would appear human again. They would be stunned at first, and touch their arms, which would deactivate the shield, then activate it again.
The more of them she brought into the new array, the more the unease would stop, as more of them swarmed in, waiting for their turn. The Doctor just watched her go, watched as her fear went away, not only hers but everyone else's. No doubt many of them were just confused, as they had been ever since the lights had gone, but the important part was that they weren't fighting anymore.
At last Lydia had found the one she was looking for, or the ones at least. There was Joshua, with his mother and father and younger sisters, standing with Karen and her son, and Daphne's son. By the looks of them, the boys still had no idea what had happened. She doubted either of them even really knew what the former guardian had been up to all this time. One by one, their new shields were activated. When she was done, Lydia had placed the generator carefully in her pocket before turning to Joshua again. She reached to his arm, deactivating his shield again so he would appear as he really was. She smiled, touching his face. When he smiled back, she kissed him. She took him by the hand so they could go and stand in the open, to let the others see them.
"My name is Lydia Diaz. Most of you know me, I work at the market. I know this wasn't the night you all had in mind, and it must be very confusing. It is for me, too," she assured them. "There are people in this town who were not born in this town, this state, not even this planet. They've come here, not to hurt you, but to be safe. Look around you. You know these people, you've trusted them, taken them into your lives. Now that you know the truth about who they are, it's going to be hard to pretend like it hasn't, and that's not what I'm asking you to do, what they're asking you to do. What we need to do is move on. There was someone here, who tried to make this happen. She started the process, and today I'm continuing it. It's up to all of us to be the people she thought we could be."
She looked to Joshua before turning to the crowd again.
"There are those of you out there who came here, and up until a few days ago, I didn't know you existed at all. But here we are now, and this change, it might look small, but I don't think it is. I think you know that, too. I think you've been waiting for this, but you didn't think it would ever come. We have a chance today. The secret's out. It's up to you, and to everyone else, to try and make it work."
There had been no complaint, from either side. Just looking around, the Doctor could see something like relief, washing over them. Lydia was right, they had wanted this change. Whether they'd admit it or not, they loved their lives here, once they got past the burden of the old array.
They had dispersed after this, moving back to their homes. Time would tell how they would take it, but the Doctor was confident they succeeded in keeping the timeline as it was meant to be.
Gemma had spoken to Karen again before they'd started back for the TARDIS. She would look after Daphne's son from now on, and she would make sure he grew up knowing what his mother had tried to do. He wouldn't be alone. There were plenty of them who were ready to look after him, even some who had sided against Daphne before.
The boy who had fired the shot had disappeared. No one knew what had happened to him, or that was what they said. The rest of them had a pretty good idea just how he'd managed to disappear, and they weren't going to get into it. For now, it was time for the Doctor and Gemma and Artie, and Vastra and Jenny and Strax, to leave Indiana, to return to their own time, their own homes, and leave the town and its people work out this brand new reality of theirs.
TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)