The Best of Times
Forest of the Dead
The skeleton continued to advance on everyone, still repeating "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
Thinking quickly, River fired her sonic blaster at the wall, leaving a square-shaped opening large enough for everyone to escape through "This way! Quickly! Move!" she urged, and everyone did so.
Donna found herself sitting on a hospital bed in pyjamas when a black man in a suit entered the room "Who are you?" Donna asked as she stood
"I'm Dr Moon." the man replied "I've been treating you since you came here two years ago."
"Oh God." Donna blinked in recognition "Dr Moon, I'm so sorry. What's wrong wiv me? I didn't know ya for a moment."
"And then you remembered." Dr Moon said calmly "Shall we go for a walk?"
Next thing Donna knew, she and Dr Moon were walking outside the hospital "No more dreams, then?" Dr Moon asked "The Doctor, the Gazelle woman and the blue box, time and space?"
"How did we get here?" Donna asked, looking at her surroundings, wandering how they'd changed at the blink of an eye.
"We came down the stairs, out the front door. We passed Mrs Ali on the way out."
"Yeah." Donna nodded "Yeah, we did I forgot that."
"And then you remembered. Shall we go down to the river?"
Next moment, Donna found herself by a river bank with Dr Moon "You said 'river'." Donna frowned "An' suddenly we're feedin' ducks."
"Dr Moon!" a voice called, and Donna turned to see a handsome man dressed in fishing gear walk up "Morning!" he greeted them
"Donna Noble, Lee McAvoy." Dr Moon introduced
"Hello, Lee." Donna greeted
"Hello, D-D." Lee stammered
"Ooh, ya've got a bit of a stammer there." Donna smiled "Bless."
"D-D."
"Oh, skip to a vowel." Donna advised "They're easy."
All of a sudden, Donna found herself walking back to the hospital with Dr Moon "How did we leave it, 'im an' me?" she asked
"I was under the impression he was inviting fishing tomorrow." Dr Moon replied
Donna stepped into Lee's room, dressed for a date. "So, fishing?" she asked Lee, was was dressed for fishing.
Donna and Lee sat on the river bank, sheltering from the rain under an umbrella "D-D." Lee tried to speak
"Gorgeous, an' can't speak a word." Donna smiled "What am I gonna do wiv you?"
Lee carried Donna, who was wearing a wedding dress, across the threshold of a house "Welcome home, M-Mrs McAvoy." Lee said, and kissed his new bride.
Dr Moon sat in the living room of the McAvoy home, looking at a family photo album as Lee and Donna's two children ran around the room "Stop it." Donna gently chided her kids "Stop it now, we've got a visitor."
"You've done so much in seven years, Donna." Dr Moon smiled
"Sometimes it feels more like 70." Donna remarked "Mind you, sometimes it feels like no time at all." she furrowed a brow in confusion.
Dr Moon stood up and picked up his briefcase "Can I just say what a pleasure it is to see you fully integrated."
Then, Dr Moon suddenly flicked and disappeared, replaced by a pretty brunette woman, who was messing about with some sort of silver and blue penlight thing "... definitely coming from that moon." she said "I'm trying to block it, but it's breaking through." she then noticed the ginger "Donna!" she exclaimed, only to flicker and disappear. Dr Moon reappeared in her place.
"Oops, sorry." he belched "Mrs Angelo's rhubarb surprise. Will I ever learn?"
Donna sat down in shock "Gazelle!" she gasped "I just saw Gazelle!"
"Yes you did, Donna." Dr Moon said calmly "And then you forgot."
Donna blinked a few times, snapping back to reality "Dr Moon, oh, hello! Shall I make ya a cup of tea?"
In The Library, River used her blaster to cut a hole in a wall, revealing a reading room on the other side. "Ok, we've got a clear spot." River said "In! In! In!" and everyone piled into the room "Right in the centre, middle of the light, quickly!" River ordered "Doctor, Gazelle!"
"We're on it." the Doctor replied, he and Gazelle crouching down in a corner and using their sonic screwdrivers to check the shadows for Vashta Nerada.
"There's no lights here, sunset's coming." River noted, looking at the skylight. It was early evening, and the moon was coming out "We can't stay long. Have either of you found a live one?"
"Maybe, we can't tell for sure." Gazelle said, tapping her sonic against her hand, the Doctor doing the same to his.
"What's wrong wiv you?" he grumbled to the sonic.
"We're gonna need a chicken leg." River determined "Who's got a chicken leg?" Dave handed her one "Thanks, Dave." she tossed the leg into the shadow the Time Lords were trying to scan. The leg was stripped to the bare bone, confirming the presence of Vashta Nerada "Ok, we've got a hot one. Watch ya feet."
"They won't attack until there's enough of 'em." the Doctor elaborated "But they've got our scent now. They're comin'."
"Who are they?" Dave asked River "You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust them?"
"He's the Doctor." River replied simply "And she's Gazelle."
"And who are 'The Doctor & Gazelle'?" Mr Lux demanded
"The only story you'll ever tell." River replied "If you survive him."
"You say they're your friends." Anita said "But they don't even know who you are."
"Listen, all you need to know is this: I'd trust those two to the end of the universe, and actually, we've been."
"They act like they don't trust you."
"Yeah, there's a tiny problem, they haven't met me yet." River sighed, then walked over to where the two Time Lords were struggling with their sonics "What's wrong with them?" she asked
"There's a signal comin' from somewhere interferin' wiv 'em." the Doctor replied
"Then use the red settings." River advised
"They don't have red settings." Gazelle replied
"Well, use the dampers."
"They don't have dampers." the Doctor said
"Mine does, and Gazelle's will one day." River shrugged, pulling out her sonic and showing them some things attached to the sides of the emitter head, evidently dampers, then she flicked a switch and the blue emitter changed colour to red.
The Doctor took it from her and examined it closely "So, sometime in the future, we just give you a screwdriver?" he questioned
"Yeah."
"Why would we do that?" the Doctor narrowed his eyes suspiciously
"I didn't pluck it from either of your cold dead hands if that's what you're worried about." River rolled her eyes
"And we know that because...?" the Doctor said coldy
"Listen to me." River said in exasperation "You've both lost your friend. Gazelle's upset and you're angry, I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor. Right now..."
"Less emo.." the Doctor scowled "I'm not emotional!"
"There are six people in this room still alive." River persisted "Focus on that. Dear God, you're hard work when you're young. I don't know how you put up with him." she said to Gazelle
"He has a point." Gazelle said "No offence, but you're not exactly reassuring us with this vague attitude of yours. If you're a future companion, just come out and say it."
But before River could answer, Mr Lux cut in "Oh, for heaven's sake." he grumbled "Look at the three of you. We're gonna die here and you're squabbling like a bunch of siblings."
River took a breath "Doctor, Gazelle, one day I'm gonna be someone you both trust completely, but I can't wait for either of you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry, I'm really, very sorry." she leaned forward and whispered something in the Doctor's ear, causing his eyes to widen in surprise, then she whispered something in Gazelle's ear, causing the Time Lady to stiffen in shock. "Are we good?" River asked the stunned Time Lords
"Yeah." the Doctor murmured, while Gazelle nodded numbly "Yeah, we're good."
"Good." River said and took her sonic back.
The Doctor shook himself out of his shock and got down to business "Know what's interesting about our screwdrivers? Very hard to interfere with, practically nothing strong enough... well, maybe some 'airdryers, but I'm workin' on that. So there is a very strong comin' from somewhere, an' it wasn't there before, so what's new? What's changed?" the Humans all just looked at him blankly "Come on! What's new? What's different?"
"I dunno, nothing." Dave shook his head "It's getting dark?" he offered
"They're screwdrivers, they work in the dark." the Doctor retorted flatly, then looked up at the skylight "Moonrise." he turned to Mr Lux "Tell us about the moon. What's there?"
"It's not real, it's part of the moon." Mr Lux replied "It's a doctor moon."
"And what's a doctor moon?" Gazelle asked him
"A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet."
The Doctor examined his sonic "Well, it's still active. It's signallin', look. Someone in this library is alive an' communicatin' wiv the moon, or alive an' possibly dryin' their hair."
"No, the signal's definitely coming from that moon." Gazelle said, checking her sonic's holographic display "I'm trying to block it, but it's breaking through." suddenly, a hazy image of Donna appeared in front of her "Donna!" she exclaimed, before Donna suddenly disappeared
"That was her, that was your friend." River said to the Time Lords "Can either of you get her back? What was that?"
Both the Doctor and Gazelle began fiddling with their sonics "Hold on, hold on, hold on, I'm tryin' to the find the wavelength." the Doctor said "Ah, I'm being blocked!" he groaned
"Me too." Gazelle added
River took out her sonic and tried too, using it's red setting, but that was no good either. "Professor..." Anita called, sounding worried
"Just a moment." River waved her off
"It's important." Anita said "I've got two shadows."
Everyone looked, and sure enough, Anita had two shadows "Ok, helmets on, everybody." River ordered "Anita, I'll get yours."
"Didn't do Proper Dave any good." Anita muttered
"Just keep it together, ok?" River said, picking up Anita's helmet
"Keeping it together, I'm only crying." Anita said, as River put the helmet on her "I'm about to die, it's not an overreaction."
"Hang on." the Doctor said, walking over and flashing his sonic over the helmet, blackening the visor.
"My God, they've gotten inside!" River gasped
"No, no, I tinted the visor." the Doctor told her "Maybe they'll fink they're already in there, leave 'er alone."
"D'you think they could be fooled like that?" River asked
"Maybe. I don't know." the Doctor replied "It's a swarm, it's not like we chat."
"Can you still see in there?" Dave asked Anita
"Just about." she replied
"Everyone stay back." Gazelle cautioned "Doctor, River, could we have a word in private?" the three of them squatted down in a corner, out of earshot of the others.
"What is it?" River asked
"As you said earlier, there's six people still alive in this room, right?" Gazelle replied
"Yeah, so?"
"There's seven people here now." Gazelle said urgently
They all spun round to see a figure in a spacesuit standing in the opening, which of course, River hadn't sealed up. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" it was Proper Dave's Vashta Nerada-controlled skeleton
"RUN!" the Doctor yelled, taking Gazelle's hand and they all took off running. The skeleton gave chase, much faster this time.
Donna returned to her living room with a cup of tea in hand "Here ya are, Dr Moon." she said, only to see that Dr Moon had gone. Instead, her daughter Ella was there.
"Mommy, I made you!" Ella said, showing Donna a clay figure
"Ooh, that's nice, Ella, where's the face?" Donna asked
"I don't know."
"Did ya see Dr Moon?" Donna asked "Did he leave?"
Just then, Lee entered the room "Daddy!" both children cried, running up to hug their father
"Hey!" Lee laughed "Hello you two! Come here. Big hugs. Daddy hugs!"
"Look what I made." Ella said, showing him the clay figure
"Oh, it's mummy." Lee noted
"It 'asn't got a face. " Donna said to him "Did ya see Dr Moon?"
"No. Why, was he here?"
"Yeah, just a second ago. You must've passed 'im." Donna said and went to the window. It was dark outside, whereas it'd been daylight just a few seconds ago. She could also see a figure in black disappear behind some trees.
"You alright?" Lee asked, concerned
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just..."
"Just?"
"Nothing." Donna shook herself out of it and hugged her husband "It's been a long day, that's all. I'm just tired."
Next thing Donna knew, she and Lee were in their bedroom getting ready for bed. "You ok?" Lee asked, seeing how confused Donna looked
"I said I was tired, an'..." Donna racked her memory "We put the kids to bed an' watched television." She was just about to climb into bed when the letterbox sounded "Was that a letter?"
"It's midnight." Lee pointed out
"Go an' see what it is."
Lee went downstairs to check while Donna peered out of the window. She saw a figure in a black cloak and veil walking along the pavement outside.
"'The world is wrong'." Lee read as he came back into the room carrying a letter
"What?"
"For you." Lee confirmed "Weird, though. 'Dear Donna, the world is wrong. Meet me at your usual playpark at 2:00 tomorrow." he handed her the note and they both watched out of the window as the mysterious figure walked away.
"Nutter." Donna muttered
Next afternoon, Donna and her two children arrived at the playpark, where she could see the mysterious figure sitting on a bench waiting. "All right, you two. Off ya go." Donna told her kids "No fighting." the kids scampered away to play, while Donna walked over to the person in black "I got ya note last night." she said "'The world is wrong.' what's that mean?"
"No, you didn't." the person said, Donna noticing they had a woman's voice.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"You didn't get my note last night. You got it a few seconds ago." the woman told Donna "Having decided to come, you suddenly found yourself arriving. That is how time progresses here, in the manner of a dream. You've suspected that before, haven't you, Donna Noble?"
"How d'ya know me?" Donna questioned
"We met before. In The Library." the woman replied "You and Gazelle were kind to me. I hope now to return that kindness."
"Your voice." Donna frowned "I recognise it."
"Yes, you do. I am what is left of Miss Evangelista."
Donna suddenly had flashbacks of a young dark-haired woman being picked on by other people in a library, and herself and a brunette woman comforting the young woman.
In The Library, the group ran through hallways with the skeleton in close pursuit when they reached a walkway connecting two buildings. The Doctor stopped in the middle "Gazelle, Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot." he ordered
"It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit." River told him "You can't reason with it!"
"Five minutes." the Doctor waved her off
"Then I'm staying too." Gazelle decided
"No, you need to look after them." the Doctor said
"And who's gonna look after you?" Gazelle countered
"Other Dave, stay with them." River ordered "Pull 'em out when the Doctor's too stupid to live. Two minutes." she told the Time Lords and hurried off with Anita and Mr Lux.
The skeleton came lumbering into view "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
"You 'ear that?" the Doctor said "Those words? That is the very last fought of the man who wore that suit before you climbed inside an' stripped 'is flesh. That's a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, goin' round an' round forever. Now, if ya don't 'ave the decency to let 'im go, how 'bout this? Use 'im, talk to us. It's easy, neural relay. Just point an' fink. Use 'im, talk to us."
"Hey, who turned out the lights?" the skeleton continued it's advance.
"The Vashta Nerada live on all worlds in this system but you hunt in forests." the Doctor persevered "But why a library?"
"We should go, Doctor, Gazelle." Dave called
"In a minute." the Doctor waved him off and turned back to the skeleton "You came to The Library to hunt. Why? Just tell us, why?"
The skeleton halted it's advance "We... did... not." the Vashta Nerada spoke
"Oh, hello." the Doctor smirked
"We did not."
"Take it easy. You'll get the hang of it."
"We did not come here."
"Of course you did." the Doctor frowned "'Course ya came here."
"We come from here."
"That's not possible." Gazelle frowned
"We hatched here." the Vashta Nerada confirmed
"But you hatched from trees." the Doctor said "From spores in trees."
"These are our forests."
"But this isn't a forest." Gazelle said "This is a library."
"These are our forests."
"There aren't any trees in this library." Gazelle said "Only books."
The Doctor had a sudden realisation "But books are made from paper." he breathed "An' paper comes from trees."
"My god." Gazelle's eyes widened in horror at this revelation
"We should go, Doctor, Gazelle." Dave called
"You came in the books." the Doctor said to the Vashta Nerada "Microspores in a million million books."
"We should go, Doctor, Gazelle."
"Oh, look at that." the Doctor said, looking out of the window at the vast expanse of library beyond "The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped, printed an' bound. A million books, hatchin' shadows."
"We should go, Doctor, Gazelle."
Gazelle turned to look at Dave and noticed his neural relay blinking and a skull in his helmet "Oh Dave, I'm sorry." she breathed as she realised that the Vashta Nerada had gotten him when they weren't looking "Doctor, we've lost Dave."
"Dave, I'm so sorry." the Doctor sighed
Both skeletons began to advance on the Time Lords, repeating their last words over and over.
The Doctor and Gazelle huddled together on a trapdoor in the floor. "Thing about me, I'm stupid." the Doctor said coolly "I talk too much. Always babblin' on. This gob doesn't stop for anyfink."
"You got that right." Gazelle remarked cheekily "But d'ya know why he's still alive? Cos' we always make sure to stay near an exit. See ya!" and with that, she flashed her sonic on the trap door, opening it. Both Time Lords fell through the opening and grabbed onto the girder supporting the walkway and they began to shimmy along it.
In the playground, Donna and Miss Evangelista were talking "I suggested we meet here because a playground's the easiest place to see it. See the lie." Miss Evangelista explained
"What lie?" Donna questioned
"The children. Look at the children."
Donna didn't want to and changed the subject "Why d'ya wear that veil? If I 'ad a face like yours, I wouldn't 'ide it."
"You remember my face, then." Miss Evangelista remarked "The memories are all still there. The Library, the Doctor, Gazelle, me. You've just been programmed not to remember."
"Sorry, but you're... dead?" Donna frowned, having a flashback to seeing a skeleton.
"In a way, we're all dead here, Donna. We are the dead of The Library."
"Well, what about the children?" Donna demanded "The children aren't dead. My children aren't dead!"
"Your children were never alive."
"Don't you dare say that!" Donna growled "Don't you dare say that about my children!"
"Look at your children." Miss Evangelista said simply "Look at all of them. Really look. They're not real. Do you see it now? They're all the same." Donna looked and sure enough, every child was identical, the same boy and girl over and over again, right down to the clothes. "All the children of this world, the same boy and the same girl, over and over again."
"Stop it!" Donna lashed out "Why are ya doin' this?! Why d'ya wear that veil?" she pulled the veil off to reveal that the once attractive face of Miss Evangelista was distorted and warped, like a Picasso painting. Donna promptly screamed in terror at the sight.
In The Library, River was using her sonic to check the shadows for Vashta Nerada "You know, it's funny. I keep wishing the Doctor and Gazelle were here." she remarked
"They are here, aren't they?" Anita said "They're coming back, right?"
"You know when you see a photograph of people you know, but it's from years before you knew them? It's like they're not quite... finished, they're not done yet. Well, yes, the Doctor and Gazelle are here. They came when I called, like they always do. But not my Doctor, and definately not my Gazelle. Now them, I've seen whole armies turn and run away from the Doctor. Then he'd swagger off with his arm around Gazelle, back to the TARDIS and open the door with a snap of their fingers. The Doctor and Gazelle in the TARDIS. Next stop: everywhere."
"Spoilers." the Doctor's voice said, and everyone turned to see him and Gazelle enter the room "Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers." the Doctor said "Doesn't work like that."
"And I can't snap my fingers." Gazelle added
"It does for the Doctor." River replied "And Gazelle can."
"We are the Doctor and Gazelle." the Doctor said, offended at the implication that their current incarnations weren't the 'proper' ones.
"Yeah, someday." River snorted
Gazelle ignored the bickering and went over to Anita "How're you doing?" she asked
River suddenly noticed someone was missing "Where's Dave?"
"Not coming, sorry." the Doctor sighed
"Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?" Anita wandered
"We dunno." the Doctor said, checking Anita's double shadows "Maybe tinting the visor's makin' a difference."
"It's makin' a difference alright. No one's ever gonna see my face again." Anita said glumly
"We'll see if we can find a way to get rid of them." Gazelle said, though she had no idea how.
"Doctor, Gazelle, when we first met, neither of you trusted River Song. And then she whispered a word in your ears and you both did. My life so far... I could do with a word like that. What did she say? Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me."
"Safe?" the Doctor muttered thoughtfully "Safe, ya don't say 'saved'. Nobody says 'saved', ya say 'safe'. The data fragment, what did it say?" he asked Mr Lux
"'4022 people saved, no survivors.'"
"Onto something?" Gazelle asked the Doctor, seeing that look in his eyes, the one he got when he had a brainwave.
"Nobody says saved." the Doctor told her "Nutters say 'saved'. Ya say safe. It didn't mean safe, it literally meant saved!"
"Oh!" Gazelle blinked in realisation "Of course!"
Miss Evangelista had replaced her veil and Donna had calmed down from her shock "What 'appened to ya face?" she asked
"Transcription errors." Miss Evangelista replied with a shrug "Destroyed my face, did wonders for my intellect. I'm a very poor copy of myself."
"Where are we?" Donna questioned "Why are the children all the same?"
"The same pattern over and over. It saves an awful lot of space."
"Space?"
"Cyberspace."
In The Library, the Doctor was at a computer terminal explaining what he'd realised "See? There it is, right there. 100 years ago, massive power surge, all the teleports goin' at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatchin' cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm, the computer tries to teleport everyone out."
"It tried to teleport 4022 people?" River questioned
"Succeeded, pulled 'em all out." the Doctor replied "But then what? Nowhere to send 'em, nowhere safe in The Library wiv Vastha Nerada growin' in every shadow. 4022 people all beamed up an' nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waitin' to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?"
"It saved them." River blinked in realisation
"Exactly." Gazelle confirmed "The core of The Library is the biggest hard drive ever created, containing backup copies of every book ever written, so it saved 4022 people the only way it knew how. By saving them to the hard drive."
Miss Evangelista was explaining the same thing to Donna "Your physical self is stored in The Library as an energy signature. It can be actualised again whenever you or The Library requires."
"The Library?" Donna questioned, then remembered something "If my face ends up on one of those statues..."
"You remember the statues?"
"Wait, no." Donna shook her head as she strained to remember "Just... 'ang on. So, this isn't the real me? This isn't my body? But I've been dieting!"
"What you see around you, this entire world... is nothing more than a virtual reality." Miss Evangelista explained
"So why d'ya look like that?"
"I had no choice. You teleported, you're a perfect reproduction. I was just a data ghost caught in the Wi-Fi and automatically uploaded.
"An' that made you clever?"
"We're only strings of numbers here." Miss Evangelista said calmly "I think a decimal point may have shifted, but my face has been the bigger advantage. I have the two qualities you require to see the absolute truth. I am brilliant and unloved.
"If this is all a dream, who's dream is it?" Donna asked
"It's hard to see everything in the data core." Miss Evangelista replied "Even for me. But there is a word, just one word... CAL."
Donna's attention was suddenly caught by her daughter calling out "Mummy, my knee!"
Donna quickly ran over to where Ella had fallen "Oh, look at that knee. Oh, look at that silly knee." she hugged her daughter
"She's not real." Miss Evangelista reminded "They're fictions. I'm sorry, but now that you understand that, you won't be able to keep a hold. They are sustained only by your belief."
"You don't know!" Donna glared "You don't 'ave children."
"Neither do you." Miss Evangelista countered coolly as Donna walked away with her children "Donna, for your own sake's, let them go."
In The Library, an alarm suddenly sounded "What is it?" Mr Lux questioned "What's wrong?"
"Auto-destruct enabled in 20 minutes." the computer announced
Donna and her children walked away from the park "Mummy, what did the lady mean?" Ella asked "Are we not real?"
"Where are we going?" Donna's son, Joshua, asked
"Home." Donna replied, and in the blink of an eye, they found themselves in their living room. An alarm was sounding somewhere and everything was bathed in a red light.
"That was quick, wasn't it, mummy?" Joshua said
"Mummy, what's wrong with the sky?" Ella asked
Donna looked out of the window in horror at the red void outside.
"What's maximum erasure?" River asked, looking at the monitor
"20 minutes, this planet's gonna crack like an egg." the Doctor replied grimly
"No, no, it's alright." Mr Lux said "The doctor moon will stop it. It's designed to protect CAL."
No sooner had he said that, then the terminal shut down "No, no, no, no!" the Doctor groaned, frantically sonicing it to get it back online.
"All Library systems are permanently offline." the computer announced "Sorry for the inconvenience."
"We need to stop this." Mr Lux said "We've gotta save CAL."
"Mr Lux, I think it's time we had the truth." Gazelle told him "What is CAL?"
Mr Lux swallowed, deciding that it was time he came clean "We need to get to the main computer, I'll show you."
"It's at the core of the planet." the Doctor said
"Well then, let's go!" River said and flashed her sonic at an emblem in the middle of the floor, which opened to reveal a blue beam of light. "Gravity platform." she explained to the Time Lords
"I bet our future selves like you." Gazelle remarked, impressed
"Oh, you do." River smirked, and they all stepped onto a platform that was in the middle of the light beam, which then began to descend.
Donna and her children were huddled together on the settee "Mummy, you're hurting my hand." Joshua moaned
"You just stay where I can see ya." Donna said, disturbed by Miss Evangelista's revelation "You don't get outta my sight."
"Is it bedtime?" Ella asked
Next moment, the children were tucked up in their beds with Donna sitting beside them with a book, having apparently read them a bedtime story "Ok, that was lovely, wasn't it?" Donna said "That was a lovely bedtime. We 'ad warm milk, an' we watched cartoons, an' then mummy read you a lovely bedtime story."
"Mummy, Joshua and me, we're not real, are we?" Ella asked sadly
"Of course, you're real." Donna insisted "You're as real as anyfink. Why d'ya say that?"
"But mummy, sometimes when you're not here, it's like we're not here." Joshua said
"Even when you close your eyes, we just... stop." Ella added
"Well, mummy promises never to close 'er eyes again." Donna smiled, only to blink and find that her children had gone "Oh my God, no! Please!" she wailed, frantically searching the empty beds for any sign of her kids "No, please! No, no, no!" she fell down to her knees sobbing.
In The Library, the group had reached the computer core "Auto-destruct in 15 minutes." the computer announced
"The data core." the Doctor said "Over 4,000 minds trapped inside it."
"They won't be living much longer." River warned "We're running out of time."
The Doctor found a terminal and started imputing commands when they all heard a voice calling out "Help me. Please, help me. Please! Please, help me."
"What's that?" Anita wandered
"Sounded like a child." Gazelle frowned
"The computer's in sleep mode." the Doctor said, urgently typing in key commands "I can't wake it up. I'm tryin'."
River went over to another terminal "Doctor, Gazelle, these readings." she called
"I know." the Doctor said "You'd fink it was dreamin'."
"It is dreaming." Mr Lux said "Of a normal life, and a lovely dad, and every book ever written."
"Computers don't dream." Anita pointed out as the child's voice called out again
"No." Mr Lux swallowed "But little girls do." he pulled a lever inside a cabinet and led everyone into another room. Inside was a node. It turned around to reveal the face of the little girl they'd seen on the monitor.
"Oh my God!" River breathed
"It's the little girl." Anita said "The girl we saw in the computer."
"She's not in the computer." Mr Lux told them "In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is CAL."
"CAL is a child!" the Doctor stared "A child hooked up to a mainframe." he rounded on Lux "Why didn't you tell us this?! We needed to know!"
"Because she's family." Mr Lux snapped back "CAL... Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of Human history to pass the time, any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than everything. And her gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show."
"So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her." Gazelle nodded in understanding
"This is only a half-life, of course." Mr Lux said, going over to the node and stroking Charlotte's face "But it's forever."
"And then the shadows came." Gazelle swallowed
"The shadows. I have to save them." the node said
"An' she saved them." the Doctor sighed "She saved everyone in The Library. Folded them in 'er dreams an' kept 'em safe."
"Then why didn't she tell us?" Anita wandered
"Because she's forgotten." the Doctor said "She's got over 4,000 livin' minds chattin' away inside 'er head. It must be like being, well, like us." he gestured between himself and Gazelle
"So, what do we do?" River questioned as the computer warned that there was 10 minutes left
"Easy. We beam all the people out the date core." the Doctor replied "The computer'll reset an' stop the countdown."
"Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer." River countered
"Easy. I'll plug myself into the computer and let her borrow my memory space." Gazelle said, going over to a bank of wires and sonicing them
"Difficult!" River stared "I'll kill you stone dead!"
"A Human yes, the Doctor and me, maybe not." Gazelle replied
"It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate!" River told her
"I'll hook myself in too." the Doctor said, messing about with a terminal "Wiv both of us, there's a chance."
"Doctor!" River stared, horrified that both Time Lords were willing to die just like that.
"There's no other way." Gazelle said "We either risk it or 4023 Humans die for sure."
"She's right." the Doctor agreed "Now listen, you an' Luxy-boy, back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download. An' before ya say anyfink else, Professor, can I just mention, as ya here, shut up."
"Oh, I hate you both sometimes." River scowled and turned to leave
"We know." the Doctor waved her off, busy working at the terminal aiming to put in safeguards to give him and Gazelle a chance to survive this.
"Mr Lux, with me." River ordered "Anita, if they die... I'll kill 'em!" she and Lux left.
"What about the Vashta Nerada?" Anita asked
"These are their forests." the Doctor replied "We're gonna seal Charlotte inside 'er little world, an' take everyone else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts content."
"You think they're just gonna let us go?"
"They'd better, cos' that's the only offer they're gonna get." Gazelle replied, having lost patience with the killer swarm
"You two're gonna make them an offer?"
"An' they'd better take it." the Doctor said bitterly "Cos' right now we're findin' it very hard to make any offer at all." he turned to look at her "And ya know what? We really liked Anita. She was brave even when she was cryin', an' she never gave in. And you ate her." he flashed his sonic at Anita's visor, revealing a skeleton underneath
"How long have you know?" the Vashta Nerada asked
"We counted the shadows." Gazelle replied "You've only got one now. " she looked at the neural relay, which was blinking "Anita hasn't got long left now. Be kind."
"These are OUR forests. We are not kind."
"We're givin' you back your forests." the Doctor said angrily "But you are givin' us them. You are letting them go."
"These are our forests, they are our meat." the Vashta Nerada said, shadows reaching out from the skeleton towards the Time Lords
"Don't play games wiv me!" the Doctor thundered, his patience exhausted "You just killed someone we liked, that is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor an' you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up."
The shadows paused, then withdrew. "You have one day." the Vashta Nerada said and Anita's skeleton promptly slumped to the floor.
Just then, River came in "Anita!" she cried
"I'm sorry, she's been dead a while." the Doctor told her "I told you to go."
"Lux can manage without me." River replied, walking over to him "You two can't." and she promptly punched the Doctor in the jaw, knocking him out cold. Gazelle hurried over to him, only for River to inject her with a syringe, and she passed out too.
The Time Lords regained consciousness to find themselves handcuffed to a pillar, while River was sitting in a chair messing about with some wiring "Oh, no, no, no, that's our job!" the Doctor cried, realising what River was doing.
"What, I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?" River retorted
"Why are we handcuffed? Why d'ya even 'ave handcuffs?"
"Spoilers." River smirked
"This isn't funny, River." Gazelle said urgently "This is gonna kill you. The Doctor and I have a chance, you don't."
"Neither of you would've had a chance and neither do I." River countered "I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way'll improve our chances of a clean download."
"River, please don't do this!" Gazelle pleaded, but it was no use.
"Funny thing is, this means you've both always known I was going to die." River said, tears forming in her eyes "All the time we've been together, you both knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you two, the real you, the future you, I mean, you both turned up on my doorstep. You had a new haircut and a suit." she said to the Doctor "And you wore a beautiful gown." she said to Gazelle "We went to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The towers sang, and both of you cried."
"Auto-destruct in one minute." the computer interrupted
"Neither of you would tell me why, but I suppose you both knew it was time, my time. Time to come to The Library." River continued "You even gave me that sonic screwdriver as a present. That should've been a clue." she gestured to where her sonic was lying on the floor, along with her blaster, diary and the Time Lords' sonics. The Doctor tried to reach for his, but it was out of his reach. "There's nothing either of you can do." River told him
"Let us do this!" the Doctor pleaded
"If you both die here, it means I'll have never met you."
"Time can be rewritten."
"Not those times, not one line. Don't you dare!" River said angrily, then more gently "It's ok, it's ok, it's ok. It's not over for you two. You'll see me again, both of you. You've got all that to come. The three of us, time and space. You watch us run." a tear fell down her check
"River..." Gazelle began, as the computer announced that there was 10 seconds left "You know our names. You whispered mine in my ear and the Doctor's in his. The only way we'd tell you our names would be if..."
"Hush now." River interrupted "Spoilers."
"3, 2, 1." the computer finished the countdown and River plugged two cables together. The Time Lords were forced to look away as an intense white flash filled the room.
Donna was sitting on the stairs in her home when Lee entered the house "Donna, what's happening?" he asked
"I don't know, but it's not real." Donna replied "Nothing here is real. The whole world, none of it is real."
Suddenly, the house disappeared and Donna and Lee found themselves in a white void "Am I real?" Lee asked
"Of course, you're real. I know you're real." Donna said as they were pulled away from each other by an invisible force "Oh God, I hope you're real. I'll find you! I promise you, I'll find you!"
In The Library's main reception room, Mr Lux was working on a terminal when he suddenly found himself surrounded by people "What happened?" a man asked "How did we get here?"
"Look at you, you're back!" Mr Lux laughed in delight "You're all back! They did it! You're all back. Look at you!" he ran over to the balcony to see that The Library was bustling with life again "Look at that. Oh, look at that. They did it, 4022 people saved!"
The Time Lords didn't share Mr Lux's joy. They were both still handcuffed in the computer core. The Doctor was staring blankly at the smoking chair where River had been sitting in, using his free hand to comfort Gazelle, who was sniffling into his shoulder.
A little later, The Library's shop was full of people being teleported away to waiting ships. The Time Lords and Mr Lux had agreed to abandon the planet and leave the Vashta Nerada to it. Donna made her way through the crowd until she found the Doctor and Gazelle both leaning in a doorway "Any luck?" Gazelle asked the Human. Donna had found them in the core and released them. They'd all filled each other in on what had happened to one another.
"Wasn't even anyone called Lee in The Library that day." Donna sighed "Suppose 'e could've 'ad a different name out 'ere, but let's be real, he wasn't real, was 'e?"
"Maybe not." the Doctor shrugged
"I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, an' hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?"
"Nothing." Gazelle reassured her friend
"What about you two?" Donna asked "You both alright?"
"We're always alright." the Doctor replied blankly
"Is 'alright' special Time Lord code for 'really not alright at all'" Donna questioned
"Why?"
"Cos' I'm alright too." Donna said. The trio all shared a look of understanding then walked out onto the balcony and took in the view for a while to clear their heads.
Presently, Mr Lux came up to them "The doors are about to be sealed." he reported "You sure you three can find your own way out."
"Quite sure." the Doctor replied
"Fine, have it ya own way." Mr Lux conceded and turned to leave
"Mr Lux." the Doctor called after him
"Please." he turned back to them "No sentiment. I've done something none of you approve of, you've done something I approve of. That doesn't mean we're required to like each other."
"That's a relief." the Doctor remarked and offered a hand
"Isn't it?" Mr Lux said, shaking the Doctor's hand. He nodded his farewells to the women and walked away.
The trio turned back to the view and Gazelle put River's diary down on the railing. "Your friend, Professor Song." Donna began gently "She knew both of you in the future, but she didn't know me. What 'appens to me? Because when she 'eard my name, the way she looked at me..."
"Donna, this is her diary." the Doctor told her "It contains 'er future. Our future. We could look you up. What d'ya fink? Shall we peek at the end?"
"Spoilers, right?" Donna said
"Quite right." Gazelle replied
The Doctor took out River's sonic and placed it on top of the diary "C'mon." he said to the women "Next chapter's this way." they began to walk up the stairs.
Gazelle suddenly turned and ran back downstairs and picked up River's sonic "Why would we give her this of all things as a goodbye present?" she muttered thoughtfully
The Doctor realised what she was thinking and joined her "Future us would've 'ad years to fink about it, all those years to fink of a way to save her. What we did was give 'er a screwdriver."
"Wait a minute." Gazelle said, turning the sonic over in her hand and noticing a panel on the handle. She pulled it off to reveal a neural relay "Look at that!"
"Oh, we are very good!" the Doctor laughed in delight
"What've you done?" Donna asked
"We saved her." Gazelle replied, showing her the relay
"What're we waitin' for? Allons-y!" the Doctor grinned, taking Gazelle's hand and they raced off.
The Time Lords sped through The Library as fast as their feet would let them. "Stay wiv us, you can do it! Stay wiv us, c'mon!" the Doctor muttered to the sonic as the relay reached it's last two bars.
The Time Lords reached the reading room with the gravity platform "Gonna have to take a shortcut." Gazelle said, flashing her sonic at the computer terminal
"Gravity platform disabled." the computer announced. The Doctor and Gazelle took each other's hands and leapt down the beam of light.
They landed on their feet and raced over to the computer terminal, then the Doctor rammed River's sonic into the terminal, uploading River's data ghost into the hard drive.
River Song found herself standing outside a hospital. Charlotte Lux and Dr Moon walked over to her "It's ok, you're safe." Charlotte told River "You'll always be safe here. The Doctor and Gazelle fixed the computer core. This is a good place now. But I was worried you might be lonely so I brought you some friends. Aren't I a clever girl?"
"Aren't we all?" Miss Evangelista's voice called out, and River turned to see the young woman walking towards her, her face restored to normal, accompanied by Anita and the two Daves.
"Oh, for heaven's sake." River laughed "They just can't do it, can they? That woman, that impossible man. They can't just give in!" she hugged her friends
In The Library, the Doctor and Gazelle returned to the TARDIS feeling much happier. They paused outside the box, remembering River's remark about opening the doors with a snap of the fingers. The Doctor snapped his fingers and the doors opened. They both smiled at that and walked inside, hand-in-hand to the console where Donna was waiting for them. The Doctor snapped his fingers again and the doors closed.
Author's notes: And that wraps up this two-parter. Still haven't decided what River's relation to the Time Lords will be, so for now you can make your own assumptions. Something I noticed about this episode, the dialogue seems to imply that River's sonic screwdriver is actually the Doctor's. Maybe that was the original intention, but then the merchandise department got pound signs in their eyes and it was decided to constantly change the sonic every time the Doctor regenerated. I've tweaked the offending dialogue to tie-in with what we now actually know about River's sonic, in that it was specially made for her by the 12th Doctor. In other notes, look out for the little deleted scene I included. Just a warning, I'm skipping Midnight as I feel that episode only really works with the Doctor being on his own. In it's place, I'm thinking of doing an original chapter. Apologies to fans of Midnight. It's an outstanding episode, but I don't know how to make it work with an OC there. Anyway, see you all next time!