Muse's song called 'Supermassive Black Hole' bleared through the TARDIS console speakers as Amy and Rory played a game of darts on a board that they had set up in one of the roundels by the front doors, the two of them laughing as they took turns, keeping score on a black board that they had hanging up beside the dart board, all four of the ships occupants completely ignoring the mess that the rest of the console was in with bits of clothing having been tossed around, some littering the floor. The Doctor and Azezela stood back up at the controls, the doctors arm wrapped around her waist as she leant on his shoulder, looking at the monitors screen as they continued to run the same scan over Amy, but still nothing changed, the results still keptkept flashing between positive and negative.
Rory stood before the board, preparing to release the dart in his fingers as he took aim, concentrating as he threw the dart and it hit the board with a small, dull thud. He broke into a grin, looking very pleased with himself.
"Forty sixForty-six," Amy remarked as she wrote the latest score down on the chalkboard, glancing back over her shoulder to him, "Rubbishy, rubbishy, rubbish," she smirked.
"Hello?" he frowned at her, pointing at the dart board, "It's a double top".
She shook her head at him, moving into position to take her turn, "Wrong side of the wire, mister".
"You're on the oche, Red," he reminded her, moving to stand by the black board.
Amy laughed slightly, aiming her dart up at the board, "No, I'm not. Stop trying to put me off".
The Doctor glanced back over the happy, smiling couple, both of them completely unaware of just how worried boboth th oOf them truly were for Amy. The scanner results hadn't changed in the slightest over the past several months, so they had come to the conclusionconcluded, that Amy was pregnant, but that the Amy they had been travelling with all this time wasn't the real Amy.
Azezela still couldn't get a good read on her as she was technically still human but just off, there was a signal connecting her to something else, but she couldn't track it. They had figured she would be giving birth soon, so they need to find her and her babe as soon as possible. She sighed deeply.
The Doctor sighed heavily and reached across the controls, flicking a switch that turned the music and screen off, "Who wants fish 'n chips?" he asked, looking over to the them after shooting a look at Azezela who nodded slightly, hoping to find a way to get them out of the way for a little while so that they could investigate a promising lead that they had discovered.
Rory turned around for the blackboard and raised his hand.
The Doctor smiled amused at him. "I'll drop you off." He said moving around the console. "Take your time," the Doctor added quickly, pointing over to them, "Don't rush," he turned back to the controls, preparing to enter the coordinates.
"I know a lovely little place, in Scotland." Azezela said speaking up easily. "The fish is delicious, the chips just perfect, not too greasy."
Rory and Amy frowned, exchanging a slightly confused look before he looked back over to them, "Er, and you two?" he asked, realising that they hadn't mentioned a thing about them joining in.
"Things to do." He said trying to sound casual as he skidded across the glass floor as he came around the other side of the controls, "Yes, things involving..." he looked away from them, trying to think of a believable excuse, "...other things".
Azezela sighed knowing they were just catching their attention more, failing to get them to do as they wanted them to.
"Well, we'll stay and come with you," Amy said, making her way up the steps towards them, still frowning slightly at them as Rory followed, "We'll do other things".
"Nope," the Doctor shook his head quickly, pulling a lever, exchanging a look with Azezela who shook her head and sat down.
Amy eyed them carefully, pointing the end of one of the darts she was still holding at them, "Whatever you're up to, I'd personally like to be a part of it," she told them firmly. They looked at each other again, almost seeming worried, "What?" she questioned, her frown deepening as she tried to laugh it off.
Tthe sound of a klaxon horn bleared loudly throughout the room and the TARDIS began jolting violently. Azezela was thrown from the chair to the side, Amy screamed trying to grab hold of the console while Rory clung onto one of the railings, all of them desperately trying to keep their balance as they were jolted around. The Doctor managed to get back over to the console controls, struggling to run around them as he worked to try and steady the time machine.
"It's a solar tsumnamitsunami!" the Doctor called, grabbing the monitor and swinging it around to look at the results, "It's coming directly from your sun!" He winced as the TARDIS gave a sharp shake. He grabbed a lever, pulling it down, "There's a tidal wave of radiation, a massive one! Big, big, big."
Azezela pushes herself up to standing with the chair before rushing forwards to help the doctor ignoring the throbbing in her head as she sent a spell to heal herself.
"Oh Doctor." Rory groaned from across the other side of the room, half hanging off the railing as he gripped his stomach, "My tummy's going funny!"
"Well, the gyrator disconnected!" the Doctor announced, moving around to Azezela's side, "Target-tracking is out!" he grabbed a lever and tried pulling it with a grunt, but nothing happened. His eyes widened in alarm, "Assume the position!" he shouted.
Amy screamed and took off running over to one of the jump seats, hunching over with her head between her legs, her hands covering the back of her head. Rory spun around on the spot for a moment, looking completely clueless as to what to do, before he simply dropped onto the floor, covering his head, too. Azezela gripped the console and steadied herself crouching slightly. The Doctor kneeled on the ground as he grabbed hold of the console above him, when they suddenly landed with a hard thump that made them all jump slightly, before everything stilled. Slowly, Amy and Rory looked up, panting slightly as the Doctor helped Azezela to straighten up and hugged her tightly, before looking over her worriedly. But she smiled and he pressed a kiss to just next to her mouth.
The Doctor then broke into a broad smile, "Textbook landing," he said brightly.
"Like you would know." Azezela scoffed simply sitting back down putting her wand in a harness on her arm.
"I did read the textbooks." The Doctor said looking at her with a sigh.
Before He grinned at her and took her hand, leading the way around the console and down the stairs, heading over to the door. He pushed them open and they stepped out to find that they seemed to have landed on an island out in the middle of the ocean that had a large stone ruin that towered over them, looking as if it might have once have been a monastery.
Azezela blinked slightly, eyeing the weathervane that was sitting on the top of the main spire of the building, spinning around in the wind. This wasn't the past...
"Behold!" he exclaimed, holding a hand up towards the spire as Amy and Rory stepped out of the doors from behind them, "A cockerel! Love a cockerel," he said fondly, moving closer towards one of the stone walls, "And underneath, a monastery," he turned back around to face them, taking a moment to calculate the era in his head, "Thirteenth century". He went over and gripped Azezela's hand in his with a bright smile.
"Oh, we've gone all mediaeval," Amy commented, looking up at the building curiously.
"I'm not sure about that," Rory shook his head, looking around.
"Really?" she raised her eyebrows at him, not noticing them wondering away from them, hand-in-hand, "Mediaeval expert, are you?"
"No, it's just that...I can hear Dusty Springfield".
They all stopped and listened carefully, hearing over the noise of the wind 'You Don't Have to Say You Love Me,' playing softly from within the monastery. Amy and Rory looked at each other before following after the DoctorTime Lords, who had only moved a short distance away and were examining an exposed pipe that was in a hole in the ground.
Tthe Doctor crouched down on the edge of the hole, "These fissures are new. Solar tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles," she frowned, casting her eyes around, "This would have been caused by a magnetic quake that began right before the wave hit".
"Well, the monastery's standing," Amy pointed out, glancing over to them.
The Doctor frowned and reached into his pocket, pulling out a snow globe, giving it a shake, watching for a moment as all the little flecks of white snow floated around inside, "Yeah, for now," he agreed grimly, tucking it back inside his pocket.
"Doctor, look," Rory said, nodding down at the pipe where the words 'Danger-Corrosive,' was written across the side of the pipe in black print
"Yeah. It's a supply pipe." The Doctor retrieved his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and flashed it over the pipe, before checking the results, as he and Rory crouched near the hole, "Ceramic inner lining," he determined, climbing back onto his feet as he frowned again, "Something corrosive," he looked back across to Azezela, tucking the sonic away, "They're pumping something nasty off this island to the mainland".
"My Mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield," Rory remarked fondly, looking back up at the building with a slight smile crossing his face.
"Who isn't?" the Doctor said, glancing back over to them, "Right, let's go," he clapped his hands , leading the way over to a set of wooden stairs that went up into the monastery, "Satisfy our rabid curiosity," he grinned.
...
They made their way up the stairs, Amy and Rory following close behind them, the music still drifting through the air around them as they reached the top of the stairs and made their way through a large, wooden gate and through to a courtyard-like area, looking curiously around at all the ancient building surrounding them, most of it seeming to be still in quite good condition and liveable.
"So where are these Dusty Springfield loving monks, then?" Amy asked as she trailed behind the Doctor and Azezela, looking around.
The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver back out of his jacket and flashed it around as they walked, scanning, "I think we're here," he meet the Azezela's eyes, "This is it".
"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Rory questioned, frowning deeply at his back, "We've never been here before".
"Have we not?" Azezela said with a small nod towards the Doctor as she headed up another seat of wooden stairs to a stone archway.
"We came here for accident," Amy reminded them, starting to frown, as well.
"'Accident?'" the Doctor repeated, coming to a stop at the top of the stairs and spinning back around to look at them, seeming to realise who exactly he was talking to, "Yes, I know," he nodded quickly, turning back to Amy and Rory, who were both eyeing them strangely, "Accident".
Rory didn't seem to notice anything odd as he caught sight of another pipe running out from some of the stonework beside the stairs railing, reaching out to touch it, when he suddenly pulled it away, "Ah!" he cried, pained, shaking his hand rapidly, "Ow!"
Azezela hurried down the stairs to him grabbing his hand to look at as he winced, before quickly healing it for him. "Acid burn."
"Acid, that's what they are pumping ere pumping Acid off this island". the Doctor said simply, "That's old stuff," the Doctor added, gesturing over to the pipe, "Fresh acid, you wouldn't have a finger".
"ThanksThanks, Azezela." Rory said looking at his healed hand, and ignoring the Doctor going on about Acid.
A siren suddenly began going off, "Intruder alert," a computerised voice sounded, making them all look up, "Intruder alert..."
The Doctor, who had continued walking while they had been distracted, came dashing back to them, "There are people coming," he told them, before pausing, "Well, almost".
Amy looked up to him, frowning slightly at the way he worded it, "Almost coming?"
"Almost people." Azezela said looking over with a frown towards where she knew there were people coming, she headed up the stairs at a quick pace and grabbed the Doctors hand, beginning to walk into the monastery.
Amy followed after them while Rory remained behind, "I think we should really be going..." he began, just a little bit reluctant to be going any further after almost getting his finger burnt off by acid.
"Come on!" Amy shouted back to him.
"I'm telling you," he reluctantly started walking up the steps, "When something runs towards you, it is never for a nice reason".
Amy rolled her eyes and jogged back to him, grabbing his armarm, and dragging him along after her.
...
The Doctor, Azezela , Amy, and Rory made their way further into the monastery, jogging up and into a large room to see several people hooked up into human shaped harness all around the room in small window alcoves, each one wearing a matching orange jumpsuit and seeming to be sleeping.
"What are all these harnesses for?" Amy asked, looking around the room, jogging after them as they didn't pause or slow in the slightest, making their way over to an older, dark haired woman at the furthest end of the room.
"Uh, the almost people?" Rory suggested, shrugging, completely clueless himself.
"What are they, prisoners?" she looked back to the Doctor, who had turned away from the woman, their eyes flying all around the room, seeming to be taking it all in, "Or are they meditating, or what?"
"Well, at the moment they fall into the 'or what' category," the Doctor replied, exchanging a quick look with Azezela as she was looking closely at the one empty harness on the other side of the room from the doctor.
"Halt and remain calm," the computer ordered over the still blearing alarms, making them all pause and look up again.
"Well, we've halted," he glanced back to the others, "How are we all doing on the calm front?"
Three people ran into the room, an older and slightly younger man, followed closely by a dark haired, young woman, both men carrying two lance-like weapons that they had aimed at them. The Doctor just eyed the weapon carefully as Azezela looked it over, didn't seem half bad, bit too miltantmilitant for her now days but still.
"Don't...move!" the older man shouted as the men approached them.
"Stay back, Jen," the younger man called back to the woman, not taking his eyes off the four of them, "We don't know who they are".
"So, let's ask them," the woman, Jen, said reasonably, turning to the strangers, "Who the hell are you?"
"Hiya, I'm Azezela Malfoy." Azezela said looking completely distracted to what was going on. But suddenly one of the spears was in her face. "Doctor, what year is it?" she sighed
"22nd Century." The Doctor said simply frowning at the spear.
"Oh, then what's with the spear?" Azezela said as if it wasn't of any importance to anything.
"Oh i'mI'm sorry, just an impulse." One of the men said moving away, making Azezela frown deeply at him.
"Right then, I'm the Doctor," the Doctor added cheerfully, "And this is Amy and Rory..." he gestured to the humans as he spoke, breaking into a grin, "And it's all very nice, isn't it?"
Amy frowned as she slowly looked around the room, taking note of the fact that both of the men standing before her, currently pointing weapons at them, looked identical to two of the men also hooked up into the harnesses around the room, "Hold up," she cut in, looking back to the men, growing quite confused now, "You're all...what are you all?" she asked, shaking her head, "Like, identical twins?"
The three men and woman frowned at them slightly, seeming confused, just as another young man and the older, dark haired women entered the room through a door off to the side of the room, both wearing thick, dark brown suits made from some sort of protective material.
"This is an Alpha Grade industrial facility," the older woman said calmly, eyeing the four strangers as she neared them, seeming to have an air of authority about her, "Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble".
"Actually, you're in big trouble," the Doctor replied, and pulled the psychic paper out of his breast pocket, holding it up for her to see.
She frowned, reading it, "'Meteorological Department?'" she said suspiciously, grabbing the paper off him, "Since when?"
"Since you lot got hit by a solar wave," the Doctor informed her, rubbing his hands together as he spoke.
"Which we survived".
"Just, by the looks of it," the Doctor cast his eyes around the room, before looking back to her, very serious, "And there's a bigger one on the way".
"Which we'll also survive. Dicken, scan for bugs".
The young man that had entered the room with her stepped forward, holding a scanner device in his hand, "Backs against the wall," the first young man ordered from behind them, still pointing the lance at their backs, "Now".
The Doctor and Azezela held up their hands, the Doctor smiling pleasantly at them as they slowly backed back towards the stone wall behind them, Azezela just watching them all curiously as they were herding them backwards., Amy and Rory carefully following suit with their own hands held up.
"This isn't a monastery, it's a factory. A twenty second century army owned army," Azezela said simply threw the lances a quick, wary glance, "Judging by the weapons".
Amy blinked, looking back to the men and women still eyeing them carefully as they reached the wall, pressing their backs against the cold, uneven surface of the stone, "You'reYour army?" she asked, sceptical.
"No, love," the main woman rolled her eyes, "We're contractors, and you're trespassing".
Dicken's moved closer to them with the scanner, holding it out towards them for a moment, before checking the results, "It's okay, boss," he announced.
"All right, weatherman, your ID checked out," the woman remarked as the Doctor moved back over to her, "If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it?" she handed the psychic paper back to the Doctor, "Hand out sun block?"
The Doctor fake chuckled, growing serious almost at once as he fixed the woman with a look, "We need to see your critical systems".
She gave them both a long look, "Which one?"
The Doctor grew just as serious, meeting her eyes, "You know which one".
...
The woman in charge, Cleaves, as they soon learnt, lead them down into another room that had a large vat sitting on a slightly raised platform at the back of the room, while in front of it there was a large, open tub that could have easily have fitted a fully grown person within it. The Doctor and Azezela exchanged a look as they stepped further into the room, Azezela nodding resolutlelyresolutely with a small frown and a look at Amy, taking it all in carefully as they made their way around to the opposite side of the vat, peering over the rounded edge to see it filled with a milky white, bubbling liquid, hardly even noticing as the others entered the room after them, their eyes fixed onto the substance.
"And there you are," the Doctor murmured.
"Meet the government's worst kept secret," Cleaves said, looking over the bubbling liquid, not seeming to notice just how interested the Doctor seemed to be by it, "The Flesh. It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level".
"Right," Amy nodded, her breath rising into mist in the cold air, "Brilliant. Lost..."
"Okay," she frowned slightly, glancing over to her, "Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything," she explained, "Replicate a living organism down to the hairs on its chinny chin, chin. Even clothes. And everything's identical. Eye's, voice..."
"Mind and Soul?" Azezela asked as she moved away from the doctor trying to look at the machinery.
"Don't be fooled," she looked back over to them, "It acts like lifelife, but it still needs to be controlled by us, from those harnesses you saw".
"Wait, whoa, hold on!" Rory cut in, his eyes widening slightly as he shook his head, "So..So.you're Flesh now?"
She looked back to him, calm, "I'm lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer here," she nodded across to where the younger, dark haired woman was standing, "Don't be scared. This thing, just like operating a forklift truck," she gestured to herself.
The Doctor was leaning his arms against the edge, "you said it could grow," he reminded her softly, nodding back towards the vat, "Only living things learn to grow". looking at her confused.
"Moss grows," Cleaves said simply catching the Doctors attention with her lack of care, as Amy and Rory both seemed rather weirded out by everything that was happening, "It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous we were losing a worker every week. So now we mine the acid using these doppelgangers. Or 'Gangers'. If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid..."
"But you don't give moss sentience." Azezela rolled her eyes at them. "Moss is moss, but you are pumping your emotions into this." Her words made them all share looks as they wondered if she was right, most of them seeming to recognise her.
"Then who the hell cares?" the first young man, Ganger Buzzer, looked across to Jen, "Right, Jen?"
Jen looked up, almost seeming startled for a moment, "Nerve endings automatically cut off, like airbags being discharged," she told them as the Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, eyeing the bubbling surface, "We wake up and get a new Ganger".
"It's weird," the older male Ganger, Jimmy, agreed, "But you get used to it".
"Jennifer," Ganger Cleaves turned to the young woman, "I want you in your Ganger. Get back to the harness".
Jen sighed slightly, looking almost reluctant, before she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver suddenly looking rather serious and began scanning over the surface of it all, while Azezela leant over the edge watching curiously.
"Hang on," Ganger Buzz called, frowning as he noticed what the Doctor was doing, "What's he up to?" he demanded, "What are you up to, pal?"
The Doctor's hand began shaking, his knuckling turning white as he held onto the sonic screwdriver, his expression growing tenser as he tried to pull his arm away. "Stop it!" The doctor said seeming a little scared as Azezela pulled his arm away immediatlyimmediately at his word. "Ah!" he gasped, taking a deep breath, glancing at her gratefully, "Strange. It was like...for a moment there it was scanning me," The Doctor looked at the Bubbling flesh getting more and more excited.
He tucked the sonic away and moved back over to the vat, holding his hand out over the surface of the bubbling Flesh.
"Doctor..." Ganger Cleaves began, watching him.
"Ah!" he suddenly cried out in pain, his hand once again seeming to be taken hold by the force of the Flesh, his hand shaking as the Flesh began bubbling even more as he tried to pull his hand away.
"Get back, Doctor. Leave it alone!"
"OhOh, for God's sake you idiot!" Azezela said simply before grabbing hold of his arm and pulling it away from the flesh with a lot of force as she snapped that connection.
"I understand!" he breathed, his eyes widening, suddenly spinning around to grab Azezela's shoulders leaning down by her ear, "Open your mind." He muttered.
Azezela nodded as he kissed her cheek and pulled away and did so beginning to read the surface thoughts about what he had found out about the Flesh, making her frown and tilt her head slightly. "Curious." she muttered, as she closed her barriers again but paid more attention to what was happening in that aspect as she moved away to lean against the wall next to the door. The man from earlier, 'Buzzer' was still keeping one eye on her at all times, making her frown.
"Doctor..." Amy started, looking confused and slightly concerned, "are you alright?"
"Incredible," He looked back over to Amy and the others, "You have no idea," he gasped, "No idea. I mean..." he looked back to the vat, gesturing up to his head as he spoke, "I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it and it to me".
"Don't fiddle with the money, Doctor," Ganger Cleaves told him, rolling her eyes.
"How can you be so blinkered?" he glared at her, Azezela frowned from where she stood then, "It's alive. So alive. You're piling your lives, your personalities directly into it, you are making it live…" He shot a look at Azezela as the others did the same remembering her words..."
Lightening crashed outside, the sound of the thunder rumbling so loudly throughout the room that it actually made the stone shake slightly, making them all look up as they were knocked a little with the vibrations, Azezela moving away from the walls as to not hit her head. The Doctor reached into his pocket and retrieved the snow globe, eyeing it carefully, "It's the solar storm. The first waves comescome in pairs. Pre-shock and fore-shockfore shock. It's close."
he
"It's close," the Doctor agreed, tuckeding the snow globe back inside his pocket as the shaking and lightening finally calmed, taking the Time Lady's hand as they walkedwalking back around the vat.
"Buzzer..." Ganger Cleaves turned to the young man, "We got anything from the mainland yet?"
"No, the comms. are still too jammed with radiation," Ganger Buzzer reported.
"Okay," she nodded, glancing around to the rest of her crew, "Then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says 'stop," she focused on them, Time Lords, "Now, why don't you stand back and let us impress you?" she gestured over to the tub.
They all looked at the bath and watched as the milky white liquid of the Flesh began to pour into it from a pipe, steadily filling the tub as they gathered around to take a closer look. After a moment, lines began to form in the liquid as a blurry outline of a face started to form, and then a mouth appeared and two eyes suddenly grew, snapping open to stare back up at them. Slowly, the Flesh started to condense into itself and a human body took shape, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and taking on the appearance of Jennifer, right down to her hair being tied back in a ponytail, except her face was only half-formed, her skin still having the Flesh's milky white colouring and almost moist glean to it. She grabbed hold of the edge of the tub and pulled herself upright with a gasp, her face now fully-formedfully formed, not looking the slightest bit different from the original Jennifer.
The Doctor staredDoctor stared at her, eyes widening , slightly amazed and even a little impressed by the technology. .
"Well, I can see why you keep it in a church," the Doctor remarked, rubbing his hands together as he glanced back to the Ganger Jennifer, "Miracle of life".
Azezela laughed at that then. "well not so much."
"No need to get poncey," Ganger Buzzer scoffed at them, "It's just gunge".
"Guys, we need to get to work," Ganger Cleaves cut in firmly.
"Okay, everybody," Ganger Jimmy nodded, helping Ganger Jen to climb out of the tub, "Let's crack on".
Lightning and thunder rumbled outside once more, making Amy and Rory flitch and eye the ceiling worriedly
"Did iI mention the solar storm?" The doctor said turning when thunder shook the whole monastrymonastery and the room was lit up with lightning. "You need to get out." he demanded.
"Where do you want us to go?" Ganger Jimmy questioned, looking back to him,"We'rehim, "We're on a tiny island".
"Well, iI can get you all off it," the Doctor replied calmly.
"Don't be ridiculous," Ganger Cleaves rolled her eyes, walking past them, "We're got a job to do".
"It's coming closer." Azezela sighed deeply looking up as she moved over to Amy and Rory.
Suddenly, an alarm began blearing; making the Ganger's pause and look up.
"That's the alarm," Ganger Jen commented warily, glancing back over towards the DoctorTime Lords.
The Doctor quickly looked back over to them, "How do you get power?"
"We're solar," Ganger Cleaves informed them, still seeming to be completely unconcerned, "We use a solar router. The weathervane".
"Big problem."
Ganger Jimmy frowned slightly and turned back to Ganger Cleaves, "Boss, maybe if the storm's back we should get underground," he suggested, starting to look a little concerned, "The factory's seen better days. The acid pipes might not withstand another hit".
"We have two hundred tons of acid to pump out," Ganger Cleaves reminded him, shaking her head, "We fall behind, we stay another rotation," she looked back to the rest of her crew, raising her eyebrows, "Anyone want that?"
"Please, you are making a massive mistake here." The Doctor said grabbing Cleaves arm pulling her away from the machine. "You're right at the crossroads of it. Don't turn the wrong way. If you don't, if you don't prepare for this storm, you are all in terrible danger. Understand?" The doctor told her in a completely scolding manor, which made Azezela shoot amused looks to Amy and Rory.
She glared at her, "My factory, my rules," she said simply, yanking her arm out of her grip and walking away.
The Doctor watched her go, shaking his head as he turned to Ganger Jen, "We need to check the progress of the storm," he told her, talking fast, "Mentoring station?" he clicked his fingers at her, but Ganger Jen hesitated, looking uncomfortable, "Monitoring station!" he insisted, snapping his fingers at her again.
Ganger Jen sighed, "Three lefts," she answered, "A right and a left. Third door on your left".
"Thank you," the Doctor nodded to her, giving her a quick thumbs-up before he grabbed Azezela's hannd as he rushed out of the room, Amy and Rory following close behind them.
...
It didn't take them very long before they managed to find the monitoring room, dashing into the rounded room just as the entire building began shaking, the storm mere minutes away from hitting. In the middle of the room, a large metal column went up into the roof, attached to several monitors and controls that were sparking as they arrived.
"Wwaves disturbing the Earth's magnetic field!" he shouted over the alarms, hurrying around the controls, ducking just as the panel nearest to him sparked, "There's going to be the mother and father of all power surges!" he got to the screen he wanted and began working on it "" See this weathervane?" the Doctor gestured up towards the ceiling for Amy and Rory's benefit, moving to the brunet's side as she began working at the controls, her hands flying across the keypad, "The cock-a-doodle-do? It's a solar router feeding the whole factory with solar power. When that wave hits..." he glanced back over to Amy and Rory, "Ka-boom!" he moved away from the system, "I've got to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose," he ran across to an archway with a staircase that leadled up to the roof, spinning back around to grin at them, "I never thought I would say that again".
Azezela shook her head with a chuckle as she waved him off. "Amy you have to focus on breathing." Before pressing a few more buttons on the system and rushing off after the Doctor knowing what he was about to do was stupid.
Amy blinked, confused, before she frowned, glancing blankly at Rory, "Yeah," she nodded, eyeing the direction she had gone in her strangely, "I mean, thanks. I'll try to keep that in mind".
By the time Azezela got to the roof the doctor was on the other side already, at the small tower and there was nothing she could do to stop a solar storm, but she could... She shot three consecutive silent spells at him, knowing they would help him and wouldn't cause issues with the machinery. She watched as he entered the building and went out of sight tilltill, he was climbing up the ladder that lead up out the top of the torrent and along the side of the router's tower. She watched tensely as he climbed up to a small power box, when she couldn't see him clearly anymore because of the storm.
"Damnit, iI hope they work." Azezela muttered to herself simply.
She watched as the Doctor was thrown to the roof from the tower and rushed out a little and used a spell to get him inside the church, so he wasn't staying out in the solar storm and so he didn't hit the ground, but he was still unconscious when she got him in..
...
The Doctor awoke with a jolt, his eyes snapping open to find himself lying on his back on the floor of the hall, his mind taking a moment before he remembered that he had fallen off the tower with the storm had finally hit. He sat up sharply, ignoring the wave of dizziness that came over him as he looked around wondering how on earth he had gotten inside. Till he heard footsteps pacing a little way away.
He climbed back onto his feet and looked over and saw Azezela sitting herself down on the stairs.
"Zela."
Her head shot up. "Doctor." She was suddenly up again and kissing him, before breaking away with a smile. "The weather tower is completely destroyed but everyone in the monastery has been out for nearly an hour after that storm hit. But the Gangers are... I don't know, but iI could sense them around."
The Doctor hugged Azezela before taking her hand. "Best get going then."
They both rushed down from the roof they ran back through the hallway and down a set of steps, finding themselves back in the main courtyard where they found Cleaves standing at the foot of the stairs, staring up at the sky, looking slightly dazed.
"Cleaves, you're not in your harness!" the Doctor called to her as they jogged down the steps towards her.
Cleaves looked over to them as they neared, "I'm sorry," she said to them, her voice sounding softer thenthan they had heard it since they had first meet her, "You were right".
"You've lost all power to the factory." The Doctor said simply, looking back to where they had come from as Azezela stepped up next to him
She looked between them, guilt crossing her face, "Doctor, I abandoned my team".
The Doctor lightly clapped her arms, "Then let's go get them," he said simply, grabbing her hand and the Azezela's, leading the way back inside the monastery, making their way down another hallway. After a while of walking in silence, he glanced at Cleaves, "How long would you say we were unconscious for, Cleaves?" he asked her.
"You were out for 50 minutes." Azezela said as they walked along.
"How would you know?" Cleaves said looking at her curiously.
"I wasn't unconciousunconscious."
The Doctor nodded, looking very serious as he glanced back to Cleaves startled expression, "I've seen whole worlds turned inside out in an hour," he said solemnly, "A lot can change in an hour".
They continued walking as Cleaves sighed heavily, cringing slightly before following after them. Soon enough, they found themselves running up a set of stairs and back into the harness room to find Amy and Rory already there, the red head checking on Buzzer, Dicken, and Jimmy, while Rory comforted a rather distressed looking Jenifer.
"Doctor, Hatter," Amy called as they hurried into the room and over to them, "Look, these are all real people, so where are their Gangers?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"Don't worry," Cleaves told her as the Doctor looked around, as if he might actually find the Gangers hiding in one of the darkened corners of the room. Azezela moved to try and help Rory with Jen, eyeing the girl worriedly as she clung to Rory's arms, "When the link shuts down the Gangers return to pure Flesh," she explained, focusing on her team, "Now, the storm's left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time".
"Can iI help?" Azezela asked simply.
They all froze as Dusty Springfield began playing in the distance.
"That's my record," Jimmy realised, frowning, "Who's playing my record?"
"Yyour Gangers," the Hatter said calmlyAzezela, lookeding around, "They've gone walk about".
"No, it's impossible," Cleaves insisted, shaking her head, "They're not active. Cars don't fly themselves, cranes don't lift themselves, and Ganger's don't..." she trailed off as the music grew slightly louder, the truth finally hitting her:
The Gangers had gotten loose.
...
They followed the sound of the music that led them to a large hall-like room that had been set up like a dinning/rec-room, slowly parting a set of thick, plastic curtains that hung over the archway as they crept into the otherwise empty room as the sound of the song filled the air from where a record player was set up.
"No way..." Buzzer breathed, staring around the room for any sign of the Gangers hiding, but it was clear that they had missed them.
"I don't..." Cleaves shook her head, slowly stepping further into the room, her eyes wide, "I don't believe this".
"They could've escaped through the service door at the back," Jimmy commented, pointing across the room to a second doorway.
"This is just like the Isle of Sheppey," Buzzer said, casting his eyes around the room.
The Doctor made his way up to the end of the long table in the middle of the room, taking a seat as they eyed the house of cards that one of the Gangers had carefully built before them, "It would seem the storm has animateanimated your Gangers," he remarked thoughtfully.
"They've ransacked everything," Cleaves frowned, looking around at the clothing that had been tossed all around the room, most of it ending up on the ground.
"Not ransacked." Azezela said sitting on one of the seats at the table, "Searched."
"Through our stuff!"
"Their stuff."
Jimmy looked back over to them, looking slightly startled by the idea, "Searching for what?" he asked.
"Confirmation," the Doctor answered at once, prepared for the question, "They need to know their memories are real".
"Oh, so they've got flaming memories now?" Buzzer huffed, throwing the house of cards a dark look.
"They feel compelled to connect to their lives."
"Their stolen lives," Cleaves cut in, glaring slightly.
"No, bequeathed," the Doctor said quickly, looking across the room to her, "You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, everything". he looked up at them. "You gave them your lives. Human lives are amazing are you surprised they walked off with the?"
"I told you there is a lot of difference between moss and the flesh as you are pumping yourself into it." Azezela said looking at Cleaves with a small smile. "There is always a risk of creating a new species if you do that."
"I'll say it again," Buzzer shook his head, "Isle of Sheppey," the others looked at him in confusion, "Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator right there in his harness," the other'sothers grew alarmed, some even looking slightly horrified, "I've seen the photos. The bloke's ear was hanging..."
"Even if this has actually happened..." Jimmy interrupted sharply, looking slightly unsettled, "They can't remain stable without us plumbed in tointo them, can they, boss?" he looked over to Cleaves.
Cleaves considered it for a moment, "I guess we'll find out," she said quietly.
"Hey it happened." Buzzer said loudly. He gestured to Azezela then. "The Deathless Lady Malfoy,The Deathless Lady Malfoy is real so why can't that be." before he suddenly paled as he had her attention then. As all of them that knew Zela looked at him curiously
"Oh thatsthat's why you kept staring." Azezela said in realisation. She dug for something in her pockets before passing him a book. "Here."
"The Deathless Lady." Buzzer read out.
"Look at the first page."
"Thank you." Buzzer said with a grin.
Jennifer suddenly gasped, leaning against the edge of a large box, her face very pale, drawing everyone's attention to her. Which caught Azezela's attention and she focused on Jen specifically for a little while and she realised that wasn't the real Jen that it was a Ganger and tilted her head curiously. You couldn't tell if you just looked, what was this flesh made from?
Rory turned to her, "Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned as he moved towards her, "Do you need some water?"
"I feel funny," Jen told him weakly, looking ill, "I need the washroom..." she hurried out of the room, pushing the plastic curtain apart and disappearing out of sight.
Rory hesitated, glancing back to Amy, who nodded for him to go. Neither her nor Azezela being good with... letslet's say people in general. So, he was the best option for her to get comfort from. and i
"I'll come with you," he called after Jennifer, running after her, disappearing out of sight.
Dicken sneezed loudly into his hand, making Amy jump and flitch slightly. His head snapped back up, glancing at the red head apologetically, "Sorry," he muttered, sniffing.
"...okay," Amy waved him off.
The Doctor exchanged a look with the Hatter before he leaned forward, eyeing the house of cards closely.
"That's me," Buzzer said, noticing his interest in the cards, "It's good to have a hobby. So what?" he frowned, glancing at the house of cards, "My Ganger did that all on its own?"
"Who taught you to do this?" he asked, nodding to the cards.
"My Granddad".
"well, Your Ganger shares the same memories as you do," Azezela reminded him, "If your Grandfather taught you how to do this as a child, then so did your Ganger," she gestured towards the house of cards.
Buzzer shook his head, "No," he snapped, slamming his hands down onto the house of cards, knocking them over.
The Doctor frowned at him, "They're scared, disorientated, struggling to come to terms with an entire life in their heads," he tried to make them understand.
"Doctor." Azezela said shaking her head slightly just looking at him. "These are the same, they won't understand."
The Doctor sighed, looking at her a little sadly. "I know."
...
Jennifer and Rory still hadn't returned from the bathroom, while, in the meantime, the Doctor had decided to have a poke around in the small kitchen that they had set up along the side of the room, finding a couple of pre-made meals. He grabbed one of them and put it on a plate as the others gathered around the table, Azezela sitting beside Amy with a frown on her face as she listened to the others talk.
"We need to protect ourselves," Jimmy was saying to the others, a glint in his eyes..eyes.
Azezela sighed deeply. "Are you a violent Man Jimmy?"
He blinked over at her, surprised, "No".
"Okay." She nodded, "So why would theythe other one be?"
He stared at her, startled by the questioned, and for a second he actually looked unsure of just how to respond.
Cleaves glanced back over her shoulder to the Doctor, hearing the hum of the microwave starting up as he began heating up the meal, "Don't tell me you can eat at a time like this, Doctor," she remarked, eyeing him as she stepped over towards him.
He looked serious as he turned back to Cleaves, "You told us we were out cold for a few minutes, Cleaves, when in fact it was an hour," he said, frowning at her.
Cleaves shook her head, confused, "Sorry, I just assumed..."
"Well, it's not your fault. Like I said, they're disoriented".
"Amy," Azezela glanced across to the girl, beginning to get worried about Rory "Tell me, when you got to the alcoves, who had already managed to get themselves out of their harness?"
"Um..." Amy paused, thinking back, just as the microwave dinged and the Doctor grabbed a dishcloth as he popped the door open, grabbing the plate out of the machine with his hand protected against the heat by the cloth, "Jimmy and Dicken were helping Buzzer out," she informed them.
"Jennifer?" The Doctor asked
"She was standing on her own when we got to her".
"Interesting, very interesting".
The Doctor turned and handed the plate to Cleaves, who took it with her bare hand, not flitching in the slightest bit at the hot surface of the plate. He eyed her carefully for a moment, "It's hot," he told her.
Cleaves hissed painfully and dropped the plate, which shattered as it hit the stone floor, "Ah!" she opened and closed her hand, looking down at it to see not a single mark or burn.
the Doctor took her hand, examining it, "That'll be due to the transmitter still being a bit rubbery," he commented thoughtfully, giving the woman a comforting smile, "The nerve endings are extremely complex, I imagine they must take longer to fuse properly".
Ganger Cleaves snatched her hand away from the Doctor's, "What are you talking about?" she demanded.
"It's okay..." the Doctor tried to assure her, holding up his hands.
Slowly, she looked back up to them, almost fearful, "Why didn't I feel that?"
"You will," the Doctor gave her a kind look, "You'll stabilise".
"No, stop it. You're playing stupid games. Stop it!" she shouted, making them both jump slightly as she backed away from them and turned away, staring down at her hand.
The Doctor glanced at Azezela who nodded, knowing that while the Gangers were still trying to stabilise and in such aan emotional state, there was no telling just what they might do out of fear and confusion. He stepped closer to Ganger Cleaves, slowly approaching her, "You don't have to hide," he said softly, "Please, trust me. I'm the Doctor".
Ganger Cleaves whirled back around with a loud hiss, her face half-formed and having taken on the milky white of the Flesh. The Doctor stepped back from her, taking the Azezela's hand as Buzzer grabbed a knife off the table and went to run over to Ganger Cleaves, but Jimmy grabbed him, holding him back as he struggled.
"Where's the real Cleaves, you thing?" Buzzer shouted at the Ganger, glaring, "What have you done with her?"
Azezela smiled slightly and touched the Ggangers flesh, somehow that helped her to stabilize and look more human than she did. "You'll get used to it at some point, you have so much still to learn..." her smile widened, delighted as Ganger Cleaves very slowly and almost fearfully, tightened her grip on her hand.
"Doctor, Hatter," Amy cut in, looking backwards and forwards between the doctor, azezelaAzezela and Ganger Cleaves, "What's happened to her?"
"She couldn't stablisisestabilise." The doctor said looking at the interaction between the two of them carefully, "She's shifting between half-formed and full-formed, for not at least, But Azezela helped her to stabalisestabilise a little quicker".
Ganger Cleaves let go of Azezela's hand suddenly glaring furiously at the Doctor, "We are living!" she cried, and lunged at him with a hiss, forcing him to stumble backwards as she took off running across the room for the door with a scream, disappearing out the door as the others stared after her.
"Let her go." Azezela said simply shaking her head, "Who we need to look for is Rory. Now iI have actually interacted with the flesh, iI have a much better feel of it, That Jen was not the original."
Amy gasped looking scared. "Rory."
"Oh, Rory," he nodded as it finally hit him what they were getting at, "Rory!" he shook his head and pointed at Amy, "Always with the Rory!"
And with that, he grabbed the Azezela's hand and took off running out of the room; Amy and Jimmy following close behind them.