Fourteen
'Body Mods Gone Wrong'
- aka The Long Game (Part One)
"So," The Doctor said as he led Ella and Rose out of the Tardis and into the new environment, ready to give Rose the lowdown of the area.
Honestly Ella never thought he'd go for Rose's idea to impress the boy, but here he was, surprising her once again. He did a quick sweep of the place they'd landed in with his eyes, looking out over the fairly plain futuristic area that he'd parked in before he was rattling off a heap of information.
She guessed he would've gotten some of it from the two large posters adorning the walls, but they were in a different language, or what looked to be tourist maps on the side of one of the empty buildings but she doubted he would tell her the truth if she asked. How he managed to find out so much just by a simple gaze Ella had no idea. She found herself watching him as he spoke softly, as to not raise too much suspicion from Adam who was still waiting out in the Tardis nervously.
"It's 200 000, it's a spaceship, no wait a minute, space station and er...go try that gate over there," He pointed in front of them and then took a couple of steps back to lean against the side of his Tardis. "Off you go," He prompted.
Rose grinned. "200 000?" She clarified, pausing at the door.
"200 000."
"Right, Adam," Rose called, sticking her head back into the Tardis and prompting the man to move. "Out you come."
Ella shuffled back towards the Doctor to give the two some room, watching with an amused smile as Adam practically launched himself out of the ship, eyes wide like dinner plates as he took in his new surroundings. She still thought the guy was a bit of a drag, didn't really see what Rose saw in him, apart from his alright looks she supposed, but it was quite amusing seeing the wonder in his eyes as he took everything in. It was strange to think that Ella felt the exact same way only a short time ago. Now walking past those doors and into a different area in time and space felt almost normal. Still very exciting - she doubted that would ever fade - but normal nonetheless.
The wonder was clear on Adam's face as he looked around almost frantically. "Oh my god."
"Don't worry you'll get used to it," Rose told him, sharing an amused grin with Ella.
"Where are we?"
A smirk sat on Rose's face as she made an effort to look like she was scoping out the area and looking for any distinguishable landmarks. "Good question," She hummed, clapping her hands together. "Let's see. So, erm, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year 200 000. And if you listen," She said pointing at the floor and continuing on despite Adam's nodding. "...engines. We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here, they could turn the heating down," She pulled at her jumper a bit distractedly and then pointed towards the gate the Doctor had told them to go to. "Tell you what, lets try that gate. Come one."
She led the way to the gate, Adam stumbling behind her and Ella made sure to keep her distance, to not interrupt the moment of Rose expressing her intelligence.
They stepped through into the next room where a large glass window adorned the majority of the space. Outside of the window, lightyears away from where they were standing but so, so close at the same time, sat Earth. And unlike the last time she had seen it like that, it wasn't void of all life and waiting to die, it was so alive. Lights danced around on the darkened side of the Earth that was facing them, satellites whizzing around in the solar system so fast that it took Ella a while to actually recognise what it was. It was beautiful, breathtakingly so. No matter how much she's gotten used to disappearing from one place and reappearing somewhere else there's no way Ella would ever get used to this.
Rose must've thought the same thing because she handed over the rest of the explanation to the Doctor, too busy staring out at the expanse of Earth. "And this is...I'll let the Doctor describe it."
"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire," The Doctor introduced as he came to a stop next to Ella and Adam, looking out over Earth. "And there it is. Planet Earth, at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population 96 billion...the hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle."
Adam dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"That's your boyfriend," The Doctor told Rose teasingly, not even bothering to look back, already knowing what had happened.
A disappointed look painted her face and she shook her head. "Not anymore."
It took a few minutes to rouse Adam awake and when he did it took both Rose and a very reluctant Ella to hoist the man from the ground. Rose had taken to brushing the dust from his clothes and checking worriedly if he was alright as he blinked away in a daze and then the Doctor had taken over, slapping a hand over his back and leading him away through the maze of the ship like he knew exactly where to go.
"Come on Adam, open your mind. You're gonna like this. Fantastic period of history, the human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners, the works-"
"Out the way," Crowed a man loudly, interrupting the Doctors speech as he pushed past Ella, breaking a gap between her and her friends, people rushed to flood between them, pushing and shoving to get through in record time.
Up ahead, the type of shop fronts that would open at markets or theme parks were thriving with life, smelling strongly of cheap oil and fat, charging way over the price they actually deserve. The air was filled with a thick smog of pollution which didn't seem to worry any of the locals as they rushed around frantically, pushing in front of each other without even the slightest hint of good manners. People grabbed and snatched and took things from the vendors without even a second glance or a thank you.
Rose moved towards one of the food trucks and peered into the greasy window filled with fast food. "Fine cuisine?" She challenged with a raised eyebrow.
The Doctor frowned and pushed back the sleeve of his jacket to regard his watch. "My watch must be wrong," He tapped at the face of it and then looked back up at the crowd. "No it's fine, it's weird."
"That's what comes with showing off. Your history's not as good as you thought it was," Rose said with a smirk.
"My history's perfect," He defended.
"Well…" Ella grinned, sharing a look with Rose. "Obviously not."
Adam scanned the area, took in all of the people crowded around. "They're all human. What about the millions of planets, the millions of species...where are they?"
"Good question," The Doctor said, regarding the man beside him. "Actually, that is a good question," He strove forward and grabbed Adam by the shoulder with an almost mocking grin. "Adam, me old mate, you must be starving."
Adam screwed his face up at the suggestion, looking a bit green. "Nah, I'm just a bit timesick."
The Doctor led him forward toward one of the shop fronts regardless. "No you just need grub. Oi, mate," He called, drawing the attention of one of the workers. "How much is a kronkburger?"
"Two credits twenty, sweetheart. Now join the queue," The pink faced and sweaty man behind the counter said dismissively.
"Money, we need money."
The Doctor moved away, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket as he went and moving over to a futuristic looking atm that he called a cashpoint. With a flick of his sonic screwdriver the machine spat out a money chip which the Doctor promptly handed over to Adam.
"There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets."
He turned to Ella then, who had been standing between the machine and Rose and jerked his head, motioning for her to follow him and stop being a third wheel. She moved after him to leave the two on their little date, when Adam called out for the Doctor again.
"Well, how does it work?" He asked, eyeing the little metal bar that the Doctor had slapped in his palm not two seconds before.
Getting annoyed at the constant questioning, the Doctor spun around and rolled his eyes. "Oh go and find out, stop nagging me. The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guidebook you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me? Stop asking questions, go and do it."
With a nod of his head Adam turned and disappeared among the crowd. It was Rose who hung back a bit almost like she was waiting for the Doctor and Ella to follow after them but this was her choice to bring Adam along with them, she had to deal with him on her own.
"Off you go then," The Doctor prompted at Rose's hesitance, sending her off with a cheeky grin. "Your first date."
"Ohh," Ella cooed, reminiscent of a mother who was dropping her child off for her first day of school. "Have fun!"
"You're both gonna get a smack in a minute!" Rose promised with mirth before she too was turning and following in the direction that Adam headed off in.
For a second Ella watched her go, the blonde standing out among a whole bunch of people who looked like they'd just come out of performing a heavy metal set with their multi coloured mohawks and outrageous amount of eyeliner. But she was completely unaware as she bounded off after Adam and flourished that classic kind Rose smile of hers when she caught up to him. Ella was too far away to catch the conversation but she just knew Rose would be triple checking to see if he was alright, because that's just the type of person she was.
When she looked back over, the Doctor was staring out at the crowd, that same cheery smile on his face though his eyes were looking off into the distance as though in a world of his own.
"Look at you," Ella said with a grin, watching the Doctor and waiting for his reaction. "Playing matchmaker for Rose, getting your history wrong, you're really on the ball today."
The smile dropped from the Doctor's face when he turned back around to face her and for a second she thought that he just really didn't enjoy her sarcastic dig, but it seemed that he didn't even hear her when he pulled back his sleeve to look at his watch again.
"This is wrong," He stated, glancing back up with a frown again.
Ella matched his frown. "Doctor, you messed up your history, it's not the end of the world."
"I don't mess up," He said seriously.
"Might I remind you of the time you dropped Rose and I off a year late? Because that seems like a mess up if I've ever seen one. Maybe you're mixing up your history, thinking about something else," She shot back, that same teasing smile slinking back over her lips as she crossed her arms over her middle.
He shook his head. "That's not the same. I got the coordinates wrong but look -" He thrust his wrist out at her face, tapping at the glass of his watchface and directing her to look at the time zone that was flashing. "I got it right here," He proclaimed. "The Fourth Human Empire is a time of greatness. People are supposed to be thriving and educated and civil. It's the benchmark for alien and human interaction with the reinstated peace declaration for all species...not this."
Across the hall by one of the oily food trucks, a fight had broken out in the haphazard line they'd constructed. A man decked out with a tatty long studded coat and brass knuckles was straddling a tattooed lady on the dirty ground, sinking his fist into her face again and again and again. A chorus of people chanting 'fight' enthusiastically surrounded them, arms up in the air like they were watching a boxing competition.
Stomach filled with dread, Ella tried to make a step forward, mouth opening to tell the man to back off, but the Doctor had reached out at the last second and held her back. A few men in riot gear cut through the crowd, wielding batons and ordering everyone to move. Handcuffs were slapped over the man's wrist and the woman was hauled off with blood dripping down her chin and covering her white cutoff singlet. She couldn't even walk properly.
Ella watched them go and the crowd gathered to watch the fight dispersed, going about their day like nothing had happened. She turned to the Doctor, noting the serious expression on his face.
"This whole place is wrong," He stated again.
"And it couldn't just be this space station being bad? Not every place is gonna be the perfect thing that you described," Ella said, pulling at the bottom of her shirt in an attempt to get some air circulating around her body. Rose was right, it's like the place had never heard of the concept of air conditioning before.
The Doctor shook his head quickly like the suggestion was stupid. "No. Space stations were all modeled after each other to make sure there was no prejudice in the system. If this one looks bad then chances are all of them are going to."
"So this is bad then?" Ella asked.
"Yep."
"And you didn't think that it would be a good idea to tell Rose about this, why?" Ella asked, motioning over at the couple who had situated themselves on the one empty table by the food trucks.
Rose looked completely oblivious to what was going on, settling down next to Adam with a basket full of food in her hand.
The Doctor shrugged. "Gotta give them a chance for their little date," He said, trying his hand at the same cheery smile that he had plastered on his face earlier though relented with a sigh when Ella prompted him with a simple raised eyebrow. "Don't need the distraction."
"But I'm here too."
He spared her a glance and then shrugged again as though it was no big deal. "Gotta have someone to investigate with, run ideas by," He said simply.
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips at the sort of compliment the Doctor just gave her, not really knowing how to respond to that. Instead she changed the subject. "So, what should we start with? Break into the security cameras to find all the criminals that have fucked up the history...go undercover to stop the bad guys?"
"No," He shot down with a shake of his head. The Doctor scanned the area once again and must've found something interesting enough to go and look at as he cocked his head and gestured out with his arm. "Come on."
They made their way through the crowd, Ella following after the Doctor not really knowing what they were doing and wondering how walking around the dirty and hot food trucks aimlessly was aiding in the investigation that the Doctor promised. Then the Doctor came to a stop in front of two women who were on their way to pass them.
"Erhm, excuse me," The Doctor said, interrupting whatever conversation the women were having and stopping them in their stride.
One smiled at them, eyes wide open and inquisitive, regarding them warmly while the other looked slightly annoyed that they were interrupted, impatiently crossing her arms over her chest and raising her eyebrows. Neither of them said a word to brush them off so the Doctor continued.
"This is gonna sound daft, but can you tell us where we are?"
The woman donning braids and an all black business suit that she would have to be uncomfortable wearing in this heat sent them an incredulous look, pointing at a sign over their shoulder with her thumb. "Floor 139, could they write it any bigger?" She added sarcastically.
Written in big block letters in yellow paint, the number 139 adorned the wall closest to them, taking up most of the space. Ella didn't know how they could've missed it before, it was pretty obvious. The Doctor seemingly didn't pick up on the social embarrassment and continued firing questions at them, while Ella just stood back and let him.
"Floor 139 of what?"
"Must've been a hell of a party," The lady said, clearly irritated.
The other woman cut in, smiling softly at them and speaking kindly. "You're on Satellite Five."
"And what's Satellite Five?"
"Come on," The first lady scoffed with a scowl. "How could you get on board without knowing where you are?"
The Doctor raised his eyebrows and stuck his hands in his leather jacket. "Look at me, I'm stupid," He shot Ella a slightly betrayed look when she began to nod in acceptance but she just flashed him with a smile.
The second lady's eyes widened like she just figured out something important and she began pointing between the two. "Hold on a minute...are you two a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?"
Ella stepped forward. "You got us," She said easily before looking over at the Doctor pointedly. "I told you it'd never work...they'd see right through us, we're not that good of actors," She rolled her eyes in an over exaggerated manner and clapped her hands together. "We're part of management just doing a routine test, making sure everything's all in order."
The impatient lady regarded Ella cooly. "You don't look like management," She said suspiciously, eyeing Ella's choice of black bootcut jeans and a white blouse, her hair was out and a bit oily, she'd been too tired to wash it after the fiasco with the Dalek, and it hung in stringy tangles in front of her face.
Ella definitely didn't look like the picture of professionalism at that very moment but she wasn't going to let them know that.
She turned to the Doctor. "Uhh where's our...credentials?" She asked, hoping that he would understand what she was hinting at.
Quick to pull the psychic paper out of his pocket, the Doctor flashed the leather bound book at the two women watching as their eyes widened in shock.
The quieter woman with the floral top spoke up, her words a bit muted with nerves. "We were warned about this in basic training," She muttered to her friend, wringing her hands out in front of her. "All workers have to be versed in company promotion."
The other lady nodded and smoothed down her jacket with an air of self-importance. "Right. Fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor 500 I'll do anything."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Why, what happens on Floor 500?"
"The walls are made of gold," She replied almost wistfully, any impatience she had disappearing. "And you should know, you're high up in management," She nodded down to the paper in the Doctors hands, it must have told her that they practically ran the place by the way she was looking at them. She really did want to get to Floor 500.
She flicked her hand for them to follow as she began to walk, navigating easily through the crowd. "So, this is what we do," She led them over to various TV screens lit up with heaps of different reports, all in different languages. "Latest news. Sandstorms on the New Venus Archipelago, 200 dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Spacelane 77 closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."
"I get it," The Doctor said, eyes flickering over the different stations. "You broadcast the news."
"We are the news," The lady said a bit bitingly, as though it was obvious. "We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. 600 channels, all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going through us-"
An alarm began to blare, cutting the woman off from her speech about news broadcasting. Everyone jumped from their seats, suddenly in a hurry to clear out of the food court as quickly as possible, even the shop fronts were closing in record time. Food scraps and wrappers littered the tables and floor, squashed under people's feet as they scurried past one another to leave. As the crowd broke, Ella could see Rose and Adam still seated at one of the tables, looking around confusedly.
"Oi, Mutt and Jeff!" The Doctor called, gaining their attention. "Over 'ere," He said, motioning to where they were.
Ella turned to the Doctor and cocked an eyebrow. "Mutt and Jeff?" She questioned.
"A comic," He explained shortly. "I have the original copies in the Tardis library," The Doctor grinned like that was an achievement.
A huff left Ella's lips and she put a hand on her hip. "Oh yes, the library you keep telling me about but never end up showing me?"
He rolled his eyes. "You can find it yourself. You don't need me to be tour guide."
"The entire place is massive! It takes me long enough to find my bedroom sometimes!" She exclaimed, gesturing around incredulously.
And it was true. The Tardis was seemingly never ending in Ella's eyes and getting to her bedroom most times was challenging enough. It seemed that every time she came back to the Tardis from an adventure her simple room had shifted to an entirely different part of the ship. The Doctor had told her the Tardis liked to play pranks on people she likes but sometimes after a long day Ella didn't want to have to be walking down heaps of corridors and opening every door to get to her room. Honestly it was a surprise that she hadn't stumbled past the library on her own merits at this point.
The leader of the two ladies clapped her hands together and looked out over the three of them with a rather forced smile, drawing Ella out of her thoughts and into reality.
"Right," She said. "Lunchtime's over. Do you want to see how it's done?"
The Doctor nodded, "That's why we're here."
They were led to a simple white room with a reclined dental chair sitting in the middle of a circle of plush cushions, a large white light hanging overhead, suspended in black steel. Some type of hand print machines sat on a metal desk in front of each of the seats, and when the workers began to pile in after the two ladies, they went and took seats on the floor with high postures and relaxed faces.
The boss looked over at the two new additions next to Ella and the Doctor. "Will your friends be staying too?"
"Oh yes," Ella said. "They're in training," She told the lady, lowering her voice as though not to draw too much attention to what she was saying. "Thought we'd bring 'em along on this inspection, nice and easy...let 'em see how the news is made - give us a little refresher while we're at it."
An uneasy smile flitted across the workers face and she nodded before turning and telling the straggling employees to take a seat.
The Doctor turned to Ella then. "You're talking too much, it's gonna be obvious that we're having them on if you keep up like that," He said lowly, moving in close to her ear so the workers wouldn't be able to hear him.
Ella shrugged and flashed him a half smile. She thought she was doing a pretty good job, and it's not like the Doctor could talk about being subtlety when pretending to be someone he wasn't - he's had too many foot in mouth moments since she met him that she couldn't count them on one hand. Plus, she thought she was creating a good dynamic between herself and the Doctor. He was the bad cop with his stoic attitude and straight to the point questions whereas she was the good cop who was friendly and approachable. It had to be convincing them that they worked together.
"Now," The lady called once all of the employees were seated around on the cushions. She stood behind the big chair, looking out over them. "Everybody behave. We have a management inspection," She looked over at the Doctor pointedly. "How d'you want it, by the book?"
"Oh right from scratch, thanks," The Doctor said, looking over pointedly at Ella after he was done as if to say 'see, that's how you do it'. She rolled her eyes at him and tried to keep in the scoff of annoyance that threatened to leave her lips.
"Ok. So! Ladies, gentlemen, multisex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni," She turned to look at them once again. "That's Cathica with a C, in case you wanna write to Floor 500 praising me. And please do."
Ella grinned, shot her a thumbs up.
"Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest and beyond bias. That's company policy."
The other quieter lady spoke up from her position on the ground. She looked straight past Cathica with a C and over to the Doctor and Ella with a small smile. "A-actually, erm, it's the law," She informed with a sweet smile.
That seemed to annoy Cathica. "Yes, thank you Suki," She said, a scowl threatening to replace her customer service grin. The lady with the patterned blouse - Suki - shrunk under the look and Cathica took a moment to compose herself before she was climbing onto the chair in the center. "Ok, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go."
She leant back against the chair, hands spread to curl over the edges of the armrests. "And...engage safety…"
An electronic hum broke out from around the hand devices on the floor, and all of the employees around Cathica raised their hands, hovering them over the hand shaped buttons. Lights lit up on the stark white walls around them, tinging the room with a slight yellow colour.
Settling further into the chair and waiting until all of the lights had flickered on around them, Cathica lifted a hand and clicked. The action would've been harmless enough, if a little door in her forehead hadn't of opened to reveal part of her brain. Little metal triangular spikes arched up from under her skull and settled on the skin of her forehead leaving her brain completely vulnerable and open.
From beside her Rose blanched, covered her mouth with her hands as she stared on in horror. "Oh my god that's her…"
"...Brain. I can see her brain," Ella finished in a whisper, disbelief ringing in her ears.
The Doctor shushed them sharply, staring straight ahead at the lady with half her brain out with a frown, very much not surprised by the use of that technology. Beside Rose, and standing a little ways back from the trio, Adam swayed on his face at the sight. He looked like he was going to pass out again. The employees on the ground didn't react at all, just placed their hands down on the buttons and looked straight ahead.
Cathica spoke up again like it was no big deal that she had just clicked her fingers and opened a hole in her head. "And three...two...and spike," She said.
A brilliant blue light shot down from the beam above her head and seeped into her brain like a steady stream. Cathica closed her eyes as the electricity ran through her from the connection in her brain and the Doctor leaned closer towards Ella and Rose to begin his explanation quietly to not disrupt the process that Ella couldn't bring herself to look away from. It was like a car crash, she couldn't stop watching it.
"Compressed information streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."
"If it all goes through her, she must be a genius," Rose thought aloud as she rocked forward a little over the edge to get a better look.
"Nah," He said with a shake of his head and began moving away from them, hands in his pockets as he traced the barrier separating them from the workers and the news stream. "She wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head would blow up. The brain's the processor. Soon as it closes, she forgets."
Ella followed him around the circle, Rose towing behind her. "So what about all these people?" Ella asked, gesturing at them as she went.
"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her. And they transmit. 600 channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power."
"And it's wrong?" Ella guessed.
The Doctor nodded, leaned back against the bannister next to a shell-shocked Adam. "Oh yeah."
Rose made her way back over, eyebrows raised and a small smile curled on the corner of her lips at the prospect of danger. "Trouble?"
"Oh yeah," He repeated, matching Rose's smile.
Down at the hand consoles, Suki, flinched, hands struggling to gain control of the machine. With a gasp she reared her hands back and everyone else was pulled out of their work too. The bright yellow lights that filled the room while transmitting faded instantly as well as the blue light that was streaming into Cathica's head. And just like that, the hole in her forehead snapped shut, the skin smooth and scarfree like it had never happened.
Suki clutched at her hand like she had just been shocked and all attention was on her as Cathica sat up from her slouched position and glared at the lady for the disruption.
"Come off it Suki," She said in annoyance. "I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?"
"Sorry," Suki breathed nervously, brushing her chestnut bangs away from her face and smoothing a hand over her forehead as a blush of embarrassment crept up her face from her neck. "It must've been a glitch."
Cathica groaned and flung herself off the chair, straightening the end of her jacket as she stood and forcing a faux pleasant look on her face when she turned to look at them. It looked like she was about to turn to Suki for another scolding when the bottom panel of one of the walls separated to make way for a massive screen. A bell chimed through the air and a mechanical voice exclaimed 'Promotion' as it flashed up on the screen at the same time.
The woman jumped excitedly at the reveal, clasped her hands together nervously and brought them up to her mouth as if praying. "Come on, this is it, come on. Oh my god," She said curling her hands into fists and locking her eyes on the screen. "Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name," She chanted.
As if like a countdown timer running out, the shrill beeping that accompanied the screen disappeared to make way for the same electronic voice from before. "Promotion for...Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to floor 500."
The reaction was instantaneous. The hands that Cathica was holding up hopefully dropped, as did her entire posture as it became defeated, while Suki rose from her position on the ground, disbelief etched on her face.
"I don't believe it," She breathed, eyes glued to the screen. "Floor 500!"
Jealousy raged fully on Cathica's face. Ella thought that she was going to rush forward and punch Suki at one point with how clenched the woman's fists were. "How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you!"
"I don't know I just uh, I applied on the off chance," A grin spread over Suki's face. "And they've said yes!"
Cathica crossed her arms, pouted petulantly. "That's so not fair I've been applying to Floor 500 for three years!"
"What's Floor 500?" Rose asked, leaning across Adam to regard Ella and the Doctor.
A gloom set over the Doctor's face as he leant back against the bannisters. "The walls are made of gold," He said simply.
It was only a few minutes later that the lot of them gathered around the lift waiting to send Suki off. The Doctor, Ella, Rose and Adam stood off to the side a bit to watch the woman bid goodbye to all her co-workers. Suki had been clinging to Cathica the entire time, an arm around her shoulder, hip bumping hers as though they were great friends. It looked like Cathica would rather be anywhere else but here, moody and petulant and not at all willing to set her disappointment aside to congratulate her co-worker. The only time Cathica managed to untangle herself from Suki was when the bubbly brunette had noticed their appearance in the corner of the room and enthusiastically called them over.
"My lucky charms!" She proclaimed with a giggle, launching herself at the Doctor and pulling him into a hug. She flushed in embarrassment when she let go, holding the surprised Doctor at arms length. "Sorry," Suki apologised a bit sheepishly.
"That's alright. I'll hug anyone," The Doctor reassured, grinning.
Suki turned and forced Ella into a quick hug too. Ella patted her on the back awkwardly, "Congratulations," She said when the woman pulled away.
"Awww thank you," Suki said, beaming at the two of them, looking truly happy.
Rose had slipped away at that point, off to babysit her boyfriend who'd darted out of the way when Suki had first directed her attention at them. Suki rushed over to Cathica again, singing praises in her direction.
"Oh Cathica, I'm gonna miss you," She said, patting her on the arm fondly. The other woman stayed silent, a frown still on her face. And then as though just realising how long she had been standing at the lifts talking, Suki gasped and picked up her suitcase. "Oh, I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry."
The lift opened the second she began walking towards it, and she settled herself into the narrow space, a sharp light glowing out around her. She waved a couple more times, rattled off a few names of people she forgot to say goodbye to and with a final screech of 'Bye', the doors had closed and she disappeared and she was off.
While the Doctor, Rose and Ella waved at the closing doors, Cathica rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath of relief once she was gone.
"Good riddance," She said simply, like she was brushing off someone awful.
The Doctor looked over. "You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs."
"We won't. Once you go to Floor 500 you never come back."
Well that didn't sound right. Surely they had places they'd stay on the station after a day at work and not confined to a single floor. Where was the logic in that? The Doctor was right, something was off about this place. She turned to say that to him, but he was already following Cathica down the hall. Ella and Rose began to follow after him, lagging behind a little. It was only then that Ella noticed Adam was gone.
"Where's your boy toy?" She asked Rose as the two tried to catch up.
"Gone to 'get some air'," Rose replied, making air marks with her fingers when quoting him. She looked disappointed by it.
"Date not going to plan?"
"Not really, no," She said with a sigh.
Ella rested a hand on her shoulder and the two walked a little quicker to catch up with the Doctor.
"Have you ever been up there?" Asked the Doctor.
"Can't," Cathica replied. "You need a key for the lift and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to 500 except for the chosen few," She grumbled bitterly, weaving her way in between the crowd as she went.
They continued to follow Cathica, the Doctor continuing to ask questions that she couldn't answer and it was clear that she was becoming irritated when they followed her back to the news room with no hesitation.
"Look, we only get a twenty minute break can't you give it a rest?" She said.
But it was clear that the Doctor didn't know how to do that as he kept on asking questions. "But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?" He pressed, taking a seat in the dentist chair and peering over at Cathica.
Cathica paused, thinking. "I went to Floor 16 when I first arrived - that's Medical - that's when I got my head done and then I...I came straight here. Satellite Five. You work, eat and sleep on the same floor, and that's it, that's all," She opened one of her folders, knelt down to take some notes. Then she stood back up, sounding pretty confident when she spoke next. "You're not management, are you?"
"At last, she's clever!" The Doctor said.
She pinned them with a blank look. "Yeah well whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything."
"Don't you even ask?"
"Why would I?" Cathica asked impatiently.
"You're a journalist," He exclaimed, throwing his arm out. Cathica slowed to a stop at his next question. "Why's all the crew human?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" She shot back defensively.
The Doctor shrugged. "There's no aliens on board. Why?"
"I dunno, no real reason. They're not banned or anything."
"Then where are they?" He prodded.
Cathica floundered, looking a little flustered. "I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had to, with all the threats."
"What threats?" Ella asked.
"I dunno," Cathica said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "All of them. Usual stuff. And the price of spacewarp doubled, so that kept the visitors away...oh and the government on Chavic Fice collapsed so that lot stopped coming, you see? Just - lots of little reasons that's all."
"Adding up to one great big fact and you didn't even notice," The Doctor called out.
Cathica set the folder down and stared at the Doctor intently. "Doctor, I think if there was any sort of conspiracy Satellite Five would've seen it. We see everything."
He raised his eyebrows. "I can see better," He said simply. "This society's the wrong shape, even the technology."
"It's cutting edge," She defended.
"-It's backwards. There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago."
Rose looked over at the Doctor, still trying to piece together all that she missed when she was off with Adam. "So what do you think's going on?"
"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude, it's the way people think. The Great and Bountiful Human Empire's stunted, something's holding it back," He explained.
"And how would you know?" Cathica asked.
The Doctor simply looked over at her. "Trust me," He said. "Humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"
Cathica frowned. "Ninety one years ago."
"So," Ella started as she caught up with the Doctor after they'd convinced Cathica to lead them to see the ship's mechanics on Floor 139. "This 'human race not progressing the way they should be' thing, do you think it has anything to do with the famous Floor 500?"
"It's a good guess," The Doctor said, looking over at her with a grin.
Cathica reluctantly came to a stop in front of a set of metal doors and didn't even have to tell the Doctor what it was before he was pulling out his sonic screwdriver and running it over the area with concentration marring his face. Rose and Ella moved in close to see what he was doing while Cathica stood a little ways back, watching the crowds nervously.
"We're so gonna get in trouble," She said anxiously. She moved in closer once the Doctor flicked his sonic screwdriver over one of the door handles expertly. "You're not allowed to touch the mainframe, we'll get told off."
"Rose, tell her to button it," The Doctor shot back impatiently, not even bothering to look up from his work.
"You can't just vandalise the place, someone's gonna notice."
The Doctor broke through into the mainframe, swinging the door open without a sound and stepping in to get a better look at the wiring and controls that were stuffed inside. He started pulling at wires, not caring if they snapped or hissed around him. That seemed to be the final straw for Cathica, who turned away from them completely.
"This is nothing to do with me, I'm going back to work."
"Go on then, see ya," The Doctor said happily, clearly egging her on.
He wanted to get a response out of her, it seemed.
Ella looked over her shoulder to see that the lady had stopped walking away and was looking at them, conflicted. "I can't just leave you, can I?" She stated, throwing her hands out in frustration.
"If you want to be useful," Rose said, impatience wearing on her face as she too turned her attention away from the coiled wiring that the Doctor had thrust in their direction to look at the woman. "Get them to turn the heating down, it's boiling. What's wrong with this place?" She asked next, standing from her crouch. "Can't they do something about it?"
"Yeah, surely there's someone here who could fix it?" Ella piped in.
Cathica scrunched her face up, shook her head. "Oh I dunno. We keep asking. Something to do with the turbines."
The Doctor scoffed as he worked, mocking the woman, "Something to do with the turbines," That earned him a smack on the shoulder from Ella. His bickering in this situation really wasn't helping. He shot Ella a surprised look but Cathica had spun around to shoot back at him before he could berate her.
"Well I don't know!" She spat, frustrated.
Ella watched as the Doctor rolled his eyes at Cathica. "Exactly!" He retorted. "I give up on you, Cathica. Now Rose and Ella, look at them. They're asking the right kind of questions."
Rose looked over at Ella with a grin, bringing her hand out for a high five. "Oh, thank you," She said smugly.
"Why is it so hot?"
Cathica threw out her hands with a groan. "One minute you worry about the Empire, the next minute it's the central heating."
"Oh, never underestimate plumbing," The Doctor told her, returning back to working on the wiring. "Plumbing's very important."
Something snapped inside the cupboard the Doctor was working on and he turned back to the three women with a sheepish look, holding up a stack of wires that he'd managed to break off. Cathica rolled her eyes.
Behind the cords and wires, the Doctor reached back and pulled out a computer screen, letting out a sound of glee as he showed it to Rose and Ella. He tapped at it a couple times but the screen still remained black, only springing to life when he zapped it with his magic sonic screwdriver. A cylindrical structure took up the left side of the screen, thin round discs circled both ends and the middle, moving live on the screen. A map was on the right hand side, detailed and colourful. Cathica moved forward to inspect it.
"Here we go," The Doctor said. "Satellite Five. Pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout."
Cathica took grip of the screen as the Doctor moved back. She looked at it with wide eyes full of disbelief. "This is ridiculous. You've got access to the computer's core. You could look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange...and you're looking at pipes."
He crossed his arms and nodded. "But there's something wrong."
She reluctantly turned back to the screen. "...I suppose."
"Why, what is it?" Rose asked.
"The ventilation system," Cathica explained, eyes glued to the screen. "Cooling ducts. Ice filters. All working flat out...channeling massive amounts of heat down."
The Doctor nodded, seemingly pleased by the answer. "All the way from the top."
Ella looked up at the ceiling. "Floor 500," She stated with certainty.
"Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat."
"Well I don't know about you but I feel like I'm missing out on a party," Rose said with sass, glancing between Ella and the Doctor. "It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?"
"You can't, you need a key," Cathica said dismissively.
"Keys are just codes. And I've got the keys right here," He moved closer towards the screen. "Here we go," He tapped at a couple of buttons and numbers sprung onto the screen, flashing at them. "Override 215.9."
Cathica threw her hands up in the air. "How come it's giving you the code?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Someone up there likes me," He said simply.