Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales
Ianto Jones could just imagine Jack's comments about stripping armor from mostly naked intruders. Or at least what he would have said before the video. Ianto thought about the hub CCTV footage, and showing it to Jack for the jokes. It was counterintuitive, like Jack's flirting suggestion. But it was normal. They needed normal.
"Anwen said she found clothes in the infirmary storage room," John said after rolling the last of the intruders off a stretcher in the secured cell.
Ianto went with the first thought that came to mind. "Geneva convention?"
John nodded. "'Photographing them nude might violate international law.'" He chuckled.
Ianto suspected it did. But terrorists armed with alien technology attacking a Torchwood office would be lucky if The Hague acknowledged they had rights nevertheless Great Britain. "Any idea who they are?"
"No. One sounded Eastern European." John shook his head. "They had advanced technology similar to Moss-Proberts' men. Equally disposable." Pause. "If he told me the truth, they used Anwen as bait. They were targeting a group of women that worship the Rift." His expression said he thought the men were crazy. "Picture a militant women's shelter. Their enforcers have Rift abilities."
"The weapons." Ianto wondered if they expected to fight aliens. "Could it be some type of distraction?"
"It could. The attack on Jack, and the HR nonsense, could be an effort to change Cardiff leadership."
Ianto didn't like that idea. If a Torchwood black ops group was somehow involved with the genetic experimentation, the human-trafficking, or both, then taking out the office guarding Cardiff made sense. Except it was possible the fake HR reports would have the opposite affect. If anyone believed it, an HR investigator would arrive to investigate. Long-term domestic violence should be pretty obvious to a trained investigator.
"Lock-down was intentional." Anwen carried a big bag into the room adjacent to the secured cell. "Ordering the computer to end it didn't work. So I asked why it happened." She motioned toward the transparent wall without looking at it. "They triggered it."
"They might not have known what they were doing." John used his wrist-strap to scan the pile of armor they'd removed. "Hub security mistook for Cybermen."
Ianto closed his eyes. That was either something he did years ago or what Jack did in response. "How did they know?" He said quietly.
John said, "After the Institute's destruction, it could have been assumed."
Ianto shook his head. "No." Lisa was the only reason the hub had Cybermen defenses. And that was his fault. Someone outside the hub knew what he did. And the only way they would know is if they were connected to the Institute. If you knew, Ianto thought, why didn't you try to stop me?
Empty Warehouse; Manchester, England
Jack Harkness blinked at the new location. Then looked around. Moving his head made him nauseous. The roaring in his ears suggested he passed out. The last thing he remembered was sending Steven a scan update. He had no idea how he got out of the clinic.
"Welcome back." Steven walked over and sat on the floor next to him while a vaguely familiar woman stood back.
"How did I get here?" Jack didn't like the way he sounded. Somewhere between exhausted and stoned.
"Do you know what a teleporter is?" Steven asked. "A person. Not technology."
Jack had heard rumors, but he'd never met one. "Torchwood?" Although he doubted it. If London had a teleporter, their tactics would be very different.
"The Sisters in Birmingham." She moved to stand behind Steven. "I'm Clarissa."
Jack smiled. "Nice to meet you."
"You should sit down." Steven looked up at her. "The energy has side-effects."
"He's handling it." She argued slightly, but sat next to him anyway.
"Good stamina," Jack said, trying for a joke. From Steven's expression, it was a bad idea.
"Your injuries are similar to mine. The energy is interfering with healing."
Jack didn't like the sound of that. It could be a coincidence, similar technology or a connection. Resistance to Nanogenes was unusual. He couldn't remember anything preventing him from regenerating. "Call Gwen."
Steven held up Jack's mobile. Steven had gained access somehow and was going through the contact list. He pressed connect and switched it to speaker phone as it rang.
"Jack?" Gwen sounded worried.
"Yeah."
"It took a while to free him," Steven explained tentatively.
"What happened at the hub?" Jack asked before Gwen could respond to Steven.
"The garage door was breached. It's in lock-down." Gwen sounded worried. "One of the maintenance bots repaired the damage. I don't know if it's automated."
Jack had no idea. "Nothing from Ianto?"
"Or Anwen." Gwen hesitated. "Depending on the type of lock-down, it could be hours."
"Are you in my office?" Jack knew he needed to focus. But the roaring in his ears was back.
"Yeah."
"Check for system notifications. It might tell you what type of lock-down."
"I did. It claims there was a hostile alien. But CCTV from the garage shows four men, or what I assume were men based on clothes and movement."
A memory nagged at the back of Jack's mind. The energy still affected his thoughts. "When you try to remote access the system, what type of error message is generated?"
"Containment."
Lisa, Jack thought suddenly. If it was a Cyberman lock-down, it would require a lot of effort to resolve it. "I need to get back to Cardiff." He pushed himself up, lost his balance and fell a few inches back to the cement floor.
Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales
John Hart sat on the floor in the doorway between the hallway and the Global mainframe room. He used his wrist-strap and a dedicated tablet computer. It appeared Jack personalized security, including a lock-down specific to Cybermen. John couldn't determine if there were notes explaining why.
"What's wrong with Uncle Ianto?" Anwen approached in the hall.
John suspected it had something to do with the Cyberman attack on the Institute. Ianto survived it and returned home to Cardiff. There had to be a reason Jack not only installed specific defenses but Ianto reacted badly to them. John had no idea how to ask.
"The intruders faked a type of alien Ianto's afraid of."
Anwen sat on the floor in the hallway across from him. "How did they know?"
John suspected Steven was right about an Institute connection. "I don't know." The more important question was what was worth the effort.
"They're really dumb." Anwen sounded stressed. "They tried to kill Uncle Jack. Which isn't possible. They broke in here to use me for bait. To attack women more dangerous than I am. And what, kill Uncle Ianto? That isn't possible either." She had good points.
"It might be a distraction."
"A bad one. Threatening Ianto guarantees Jack will never let it go."
A thought occurred to John. What if the fake HR report, videos, and badly planned hub attack were part of the future's changes? It caused a lot of personal problems. But could fix others.
Anwen waited a few minutes. "If I have control of Global, and Global can override the hub, why can't I take control and let us out?"
It would require overriding Jack's hub authority with the mainframe. It wasn't John's first choice. Unless he could find another, he'd have to do it.
"Uh, John." Anwen stood suddenly, looking nervous. "Someone with a lot of Rift energy and no chronons just entered the hub."
"The person would have had to walk through a wall." John's wrist-strap than issued a security warning. He quickly reviewed it. "She did." He stood.
"I can protect you."
"Open your wrist-strap. Say 'Identity Anwen Williams.'"
She did and the computer clicked.
"'Command Authorization Anwen Williams.'"
She repeated it and the computer acknowledged her.
"'Command override. End lock-down.'"
Anwen said it, and their wrist-straps received a notification.
John checked his mobile. Relieved, he quickly found Steven's number and pressed connect. It rang.
"Hey."
"Can you call your friend Eilene? One of hers just entered the hub. An intruder claimed they were after them. It could still be some type of trap." John did not want to be on the receiving end of an angry Sisters response team.
Quiet voices filled the background.
"Clarissa will call it in." Steven paused, listening to Jack. "Is tad-cu okay?"