The power station was lit brightly against the darker city. Outside cyberman were escorting crowds of people into the building to be converted. The earpods were still controlling the crowd, so no one fought as they were being led to their deaths. It was eerie to see as the Doctor stood watching, wanting more than anything to rush down there and save the people. To do so would be a fool's errand because as soon as he joined the crowd, he too would be converted. The had to find another way to save the people. Turning he looked at the small group standing near him waiting for his direction.
"The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be converted," The Doctor informed the group.
"Into what?" Rose questioned as she looked at the crowd.
"We've got to get in there and shut it down," Mickey stated as the group chose to ignore Rose's question.
"How do you think we should accomplish that?" Jack asked Mickey snidely. The Doctor looked at his lover. Jack was watching the crowd below. So far he had counted over fifty cybermen and he was positive that there were hundreds more within the building.
"Oh, I'll think of something," The Doctor answered.
"You're just making this up as you go along," Jack teased the Time Lord as he finally turned to look at him.
"Yep. But I do it brilliantly," The Doctor responded with a grin. Jack smiled back at him as he nodded. Once more he turned to watch the crowd as Mrs. Moore pulled her laptop out of her bag. She pulled up a schematic of the old Factory, explaining the different entrances into the building. The Cybermen were using the main entrance but there was a secondary entryway through the cooling tunnels beneath the plant.
"I'll go through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in," Pete volunteered.
"Then you'll get yourself killed," Jack told him as he finally came over to join the group.
"Not necessarily," Mrs. Moore answered. Reaching into her bag again, she pulled out two ear pods. The Doctor immediately took a step back not wanting to be anywhere near them. "Don't worry, these are dead. There is no signal. But if you put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd."
"You'd have to show no emotion. None at all. Any sign of emotion would give you away," The Doctor warned Pete as he reached for them.
"How many of those you got?" Jack questioned.
"Just two sets," Mrs. Moore responded.
"Then I'm coming with you," Jack told Pete as he took the second set. He couldn't look at the Doctor as he saw fear fill the Time Lord's eyes. He had just got Jack back and he didn't want to lose him again.
"There's no stopping you, is there?" The Doctor asked Jack. Jack shook his head no as he reached out to the Doctor taking his hand. The Doctor squeezed his hand tightly knowing that he was being selfish for not wanting Jack to go with Pete. He couldn't help it though. Something about this universe made Jack vulnerable and he didn't want to lose his lover permanently. "Tell you what then. We can take the ear pods at the same time. Give people their minds back so they don't walk into that place like sheep. Jake? Lumic's transmitting the control signal. It must be from over there."
The Doctor pulled out his sonic, waving it in the direction of the power station. The sonic's beep changed as he tried to hone in on the transmitter. He finally found it parked on top of the building inside the Zeppelin that was parked there. It was easy to see once he knew where it was as there was a series of red dots in a circular pattern blinking on the stern.
"There it is. On the Zeppelin, you see? Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off. Reckon you could take it out?" The Doctor asked Jake.
"Consider it done," Jake agreed.
"I'll go with him," Mickey spoke up.
"Take Rose with you," The Doctor told him. Mickey made a face at him but didn't argue the Doctor's orders. "So that leaves you and me, Mrs. Moore. Would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?"
"How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?" Mrs. Moore questioned. The Doctor hugged Jack before the groups split off heading in their separate directions. They were attacking from three sides, above, between and below all in a hope to get to the control center to stop the conversion machines. The Doctor wasn't sure how many of them would make it and he hated to think that he just sent any of them to their death but it was a possibility when dealing with the Cybermen. Reaching the cooling tunnels they entered. The tunnels were dark and cold making it impossible to see anything. Once more Mrs. Moore proved that she was ready for every occasion as she reached into her bag pulling out a torch headband. The Doctor put it on to light his path
Cybermen stood lining both sides of the tunnel for as far as they could see. The Doctor walked over to the nearest one tapping on its face. He received no reaction confirming his suspicion that they were already converted but just put on ice temporarily while they waited to be needed. He warned Mrs. Moore about trip systems as together they started on their way. The tunnels were too quiet so they made small talk as they walked. He found out that Mrs. Moore used to work at the Cybus Industries but one day she found something that she wasn't supposed to.
"All I did was read it. Then suddenly I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techie, so I, I just sat down and taught myself everything," Mrs. Moore explained. She left everything she ever knew behind. Her family, her friends, even her own name in order to protect the ones that she loved. She had once been Angela Price, a respected member of her community and had taken Mrs. Moore from a book when it became clear that it was safer not to use real names.
"Don't tell a soul," Mrs. Moore warned him.
"Not a word," the Doctor agreed. Out of the corner of his eyes, he thought he saw movement. He paused turning to look at the Cyberman. There was no further movement or any indication that what he saw was nothing more than a trick of the light. His suspicions were proven a moment later as a cyberman stepped out of line. Grabbing Mrs. Moores hand they took off running down the tunnel trying to stay ahead of the now waking Cybermen. As they reached the end of the tunnel they came across a ladder leading up to a trap door. The Doctor got the door open, letting Mrs. Moore enter it first. Following her up, he closed the door quickly sealing it with his screwdriver. The relief of being away from the Cyberman lasted only a moment as they turned to face one standing right behind them.
"You are not upgraded," the Cyberman informed them.
"Yeah? Well, upgrade this," Mrs. Moore responded. She threw a small rod wrapped with copper wire at the Cyberman. It stuck to the metal admitting an electric shock that caused the Cyberman to jerk and spasm. The Cyberman collapsed to the ground. The Doctor was impressed with the Electromagnetic bomb but only for a short time. It quickly faded as he went over to the Cyberman removing the logo from its chest to reveal the interior. Mrs. Moor was appalled to see that rather than having metal components inside the Doctor had a complete human central nervous system. The Doctor explained that it was artificially grown then thread throughout the suit so that it responded like a living thing. The brain inside it was human, though.
"So how do they keep from going insane?" Mrs. Moore wondered.
"Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything," The Doctor answered. He was going to explain more when the cyberman woke up. To his horror, he found that they broke the inhibitor with the bomb. The woman spoke to them telling them her name and about her husband. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and did the only kind thing that he did for her and shut down the suit effectively ending her suffering. As much as he hated it, she had given him an idea though. They could cancel the inhibitors in every cyberman causing them all to die. It was cruel but it would save millions of others from suffering the fate of being converted. They were so distracted by the cyberman on the ground that neither one of them heard the one approaching from behind. It put it's hand on Mrs. Moore's shoulder as she began to rise sending electric currents through her body.
"No! No, you didn't have to kill her!" the Doctor screamed as Mrs. Moore collapsed.
"Sensors detect a binary vascular system. You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis," The Cyberman informed him as he pointed his gun at the Doctor. Having no other choice, the Doctor began to walk.