The Children and the Cubes
"Is she breathing?"
"Shit!"
"Has she got a pulse?"
"Help her!"
Nosiy chaos erupted around the Doctor and Yaz as everyone sprang into agitated action. Without turning around, they could sense the growing panic and confusion, knowing that Najia and Hakim would be hanging on to each other, with the others trying to reassure, or sprinting over to offer their help.
"Doctor"
She could hear Yaz's voice quavering somewhere near her ear.
"Doctor"
It was more forceful now, and she felt a small hand grip her shoulder.
"You've got to – why aren't you – she can't – DO something!"
The half-sentences were loud in her ear and she could feel Yaz shaking against her, panic setting in. The timelord was frozen, one hand vaguely pushing Sonya's hair back out of her face, muttering under her breath.
"Why aren't you doing something?" Yaz half-yelled.
"I… I…"
Visions of doing the same for a cold, unresponsive Yaz back in the Torchwood morgue flooded her vision. She felt that same creeping dread filling her veins like ice water. She felt helpless.
"Doc, it's ok, I've got this."
A gentle but insistent male voice echoed through her fracturing mind, and the blonde turned to see the warm smile of John, as he knelt down beside her.
"It's ok, let me help."
Nodding vaguely, she felt strong arms lift her and Yaz from the floor, pulling them back and giving John room to assess his patient.
"He's an excellent doctor," a low drawl added, reassuringly. "He'll help her."
"Thank you, Sherlock," Hakim's reply came with a slight wobble, "thank you."
The Doctor and Yaz allowed themselves to be shuffled backwards into the warmth of the sofa next to the Khans. Sherlock and Gwen perched on either arm, as though on guard duty, while Jack paced restlessly, muttering to himself and shooting glances at the others.
After what seemed like several hours, but was in reality only a few minutes, John stood up, beckoning the others over.
"She's ok," he smiled, and a collective sigh of relief reverberated around the console room.
"What's wrong?" Hakim asked, his arm tightening around a surprisingly quiet Najia.
"That," John scratched his head, perplexed, "I don't know. She's breathing, her pulse is regular, and a quick neuro exam didn't show any problems, but I think she's in some sort of shock."
"But that's bad, isn't it?" Yaz said, her voice still quiet and unsure.
"Yeah…" John replied, before smoothly changing tact as he saw the instant flash of concern on every face, "sorry, I didn't mean 'bad' bad. I just mean I don't know what's caused it. Sonya is physically stable and there's nothing to suggest there's any neurological issues either, but something just isn't quite right. It's like she's in there, but she doesn't want to respond, or maybe she can't."
"You mean like a stroke?"
John shot Sherlock a 'you're-really-not-helping' look.
"No, as I said, she seems completely fine – there's no signs of any impairment. She's just not… with us right now."
"So, what you're saying is that from a human, Earth kinda perspective – she should be ok, right?" Jack cleared his throat, talking to John, but his eyes fixed on the Doctor.
"Yeah, I suppose so – what are you getting at?"
"He means it's your fault, Doctor."
Najia's voice cut in, steely in her anguish. The others fell into a tense silence.
"Mum, I don't think –"
"Yasmin Khan, you listen to me," Najia stepped forward, shrugging off her husband's arm. "This… woman… you've brought into our lives - she's dangerous and I don't want her near you or Sonya."
"Come on, Mum!"
It was Yaz's turn to step forward, putting herself firmly between her mother and her lover, "Wasn't it only earlier today you were telling us that we'd better send you wedding invites and now – what? We need the Doctor now more than ever, and you're choosing now to throw that back in her face?"
"Yaz…"
The brunette shrugged off the Doctor's quiet plea and kept going.
"No, I am not having this. She is a good person, she wants to help, and she will help, so will you just shut up and let her?"
"You do not speak to your mother like that," Hakim cut in, his voice low and quiet as he took his wife's arm.
"This woman, this Doctor, she leaves death and destruction in her path," Najia ploughed on, looking past Yaz at the timelord's bowed head. "Isn't that right, Doctor?"
"I'm sorry…" the Doctor's face was as pale as Yaz had ever seen it.
"You've endangered one of my daughters already, but she is old enough to make that choice," Najia shot a look at Yaz, then fixed her eyes back on the Doctor's. "But, Sonya? She's a child, Doctor – a child – and you should –"
But whatever it was that the Doctor should or shouldn't have done, was cut short by an exclamation and flurry of dark blue military cloak.
"Aha!" Jack swirled into view, gesticulating wildly with his hands, "but that's it! Jeez, it took us long enough – we should have – anyway…"
He turned to face the group, ignoring the looks of shock, and continued more coherently.
"She is a child – a child! That's exactly the problem! It's all linked, and we're just moments away from breaking this bad boy wide open! Hey, Johnny!"
John looked at him, his brow fighting between characteristic looks of annoyance and intrigue.
"Remember what we found at the hospital? All those sick kids – weird diagnoses – a massive rise in psych cases?"
"And their faces," John half-whispered, "the look on their faces – I'll never forget that."
"Like they weren't really there?" Jack recalled, with a small shudder, "Creepiest thing I've seen in a while – and I've seen a lot!"
"Hang on," Hakim weighed in, anger subsiding into understanding, "Sherlock, those kids we saw in the Fields?"
"I assume you're referring to the apathetic teenagers we saw doing homework?" the detective drawled.
"Exactly – I mean, I love our kids, but that's just not normal for them – Son's always dropping hints about what they get up to at the Fields."
"Yeah, you really don't want to know," Yaz half-smirked, before her gaze swept back to her sister's slumped body.
"…Hang on a tick, though," she frowned, turning to look at Gwen, "what about all those odd messages we found on their Snapchat logs?"
"You're right," Gwen nodded enthusiastically. "All that stuff about 'can I borrow your books' and those really boring selfies? Where were the 'hashtag-bants' and fully-made up 'new phone new me' shots?"
The group stared at her in mild surprise.
"What?" the Welsh officer grinned, "I'm down with the kids!"
"Yes, well, regardless of your perceived level around children, I think there's another issue we've not touched on."
The group swivelled to focus their attention on the sardonic detective.
"I've got plenty of issues he can me touch on," Jack muttered surreptitiously to no one in particular, and John visibly reddened.
With a slight pinkish tinge to his pale cheeks, Sherlock continued, "Yes, the local youth are acting oddly, but there's also a distinct lack of their presence around the city."
"Yes, I thought that too," Hakim agreed, "in fact, I don't remember seeing many of them at all."
"The street children seem relatively unaffected though…" Sherlock added quietly, his mind already churning the problem over.
"That's it!" the Doctor exclaimed loudly, startling the group as she broke her silence with gusto. "That's IT!"
"What's it?" Najia voiced the hanging question, putting her animosity aside for the moment.
"It's brilliant!"
As the room seemed to frown in consternation, the Doctor caught a warning glance from Yaz, and switched quickly into explanation mode.
"All of it – you lot – brilliant! Right, so we've got kids disappearing, kids acting weird, and this worrying spike in paeds cases," she glanced around the room to catch the nods of approval. "Then we've got these weird phone messages and stuff, and…" she paused for effect, "Yaz's mum and I found that loads of their phone signals have nosedived over the last month or so – like completely disappeared."
"And that is brilliant, how exactly?" Jack quipped.
"Oh yeah – that," Yaz could tell that the Doctor was trying hard to reign in her usual excitement, the disquiet of a few moments earlier swiftly evaporating. "Well basically you were right – it's all to do with the kids and the cubes." She pulled the tiny metallic lump of gaudinium out of her pocket and placed it on the console where it began to glow and chirp at the astonished room.
"You said it sort of feeds off emotions?" Gwen chipped in, recalling their debrief that morning.
"Exactly! And teenagers are full of 'em – heartbreak, angst, first love, frustrated independence. It's like an emotional cocktail for the gaudinium and it is sucking them all in like a sponge. Only I think something's gone a bit wrong – it's gone too far, and it's somehow reduced these kids to echoes of themselves. They're still there, but they're not really them anymore, y'know? And the street kids – amazing spot by the way –"
Sherlock dipped his head in amused acknowledgement.
"- they're the odd ones out – no phones!"
"So, you're saying it's using their phones to track down the kids?" Yaz scrunched her eyes up as the pieces started to slot together in her head. "Yeah, ok, that why Gwen and I found loads of their conversations just sorta tailing off."
"And that's why the phone signals have been blinking out all over Sheffield?" Najia added enthusiastically.
"Yes, yes, and yes!" the Doctor slapped the console in triumph. "All those social media messages – ping, ping, ping! – it's like a calling card to the gaudinium."
"Ok, so let's say all of this is making some entirely weird kind of sense," John stepped forward, glancing from the Doctor to Sonya, "but how do we get these kids back?"
The room slipped into uncomfortable silence again, all eyes focussed on the Doctor.
"We need to have a word with its masters," the timelord said simply.
It didn't take long for the Doctor to swing into action, and soon she was a blur of switch-flicking and odd mechanical tools she flung haphazardly about the console. The others had gathered a little way back, while John had once again bent to Sonya, keeping a watchful eye on her pulse and reactions.
As she finally stood back to admire her handiwork, the Doctor felt Yaz's presence by her side.
"You really think you can do this?" the younger woman spoke quietly, brushing her hand against the back of the timelord's.
"I think we don't have many other options," the Doctor whispered back, before slipping her hand into Yaz's and giving it a quick squeeze. "But I'm sure we can work something out with them."
"How sure?"
"Oh, at least fifty two percent."
The Doctor shot her companion a quick grin, which Yaz returned, though it didn't do much to quell the lurking worry inside.
"Right, everyone," the Doctor turned around to address the group, sliding a ridiculous pair of sunglasses onto her nose, "it might be best if you cover your eyes up for this bit."
And without further warning, she pulled back on a lever, instantly flooding the chamber in an iridescent green light.
Shading her eyes, Yaz squinted into the brilliant glowing centre of the tiny cube, making out faint forms flickering into existence around it.
"Doctor…" a slow synth-like voice echoed around the TARDIS
"Yup, it's been a while – new face, whaddaya think?"
"You requested our presence?"
"Alright, small talk's never really been your thing anyway. Yeah, I did – we want to know why you're here and when you're planning to leave?"
"Why would we leave? This planet is full of energy – all these emotions just going to waste…"
"They're not your emotions to take though, and I'm asking you nicely to leave now."
"But Doctor…" the voice slid around the room like droplets of mercury, "you invited us…"
The timelord felt a sudden chill wash down her spine, feeling the stares of the others burning into her back.
"What?" her voice was so small in that cavernous space.
"We felt your call… Susan… Rose… Yaz… an outpouring of grief… anger… love… you projected them across the galaxy…"
"I… you're wrong."
The strange echo of laughter seemed to engulf the room.
"We followed you, Doctor, and when you landed on Earth…"
"No…" the timelord mumbled to herself, "no… it's not… it can't…"
Eerie laughter sounded around; answer enough. The Doctor sank to her knees, weary beyond anything she could remember feeling before. She couldn't look at the others, couldn't think, couldn't do anything. She felt helpless.
"An exchange could be made…"
The voice came again, slipping through the haze.
"An exchange?" She looked up slightly, daring to hope.
"This planet is bursting with energy, Doctor… but you… you are much more…"
She understood. Like a streaking bolt of lightning that illuminates the stormy hillside, she suddenly saw with complete clarity and knew what she must do. There was no choice.
Slowly, the Doctor rose to her feet, feeling the weariness fall from as she stood tall once again. It was strange, this rush of relief she felt – the absolute peace that comes with knowing that she was, for once, enough.
Swallowing back any misgivings, she stepped forward, reaching into the epicentre of light, feeling for the glowing cube.
"And you'll leave?"
"Yes…"
"I have your word?"
"Yes..."
The Doctor took a deep breath and allowed herself one last look behind.
"Yaz, you are brilliant…"
And before a reply could be formed, she turned once again and pressed her hand forwards feeling the heat of metal.
The TARDIS was instantly flooded with a bright, golden light, absorbing with it the silhouette of the last timelord.
*** TO BE CONTINUED ***