When the lift doors opened on Floor 139, Rose, the Doctor and Aries stepped into it, though Cathica stopped outside.
Aries still wanted to look into what could be causing whatever was happening on Floor 500 to be producing so much heat and siphoning it down to the floors below, but she also didn't want to let the Doctor and Rose go up there without her, seeing that both were quite happy to figure out what was going on by going straight to Floor 500.
"Come on, come with us!" Rose tried to get Cathica to join them, but the woman refused.
"No way!"
"Bye!" the Doctor waved at her, not really caring whether or not the woman came with them.
"Well, don't mention my name. When you get into trouble, just don't involve me!" Cathica told them before stalking off, causing Aries to just raise an eyebrow at her retreating form, wondering why she still seemed so eager to keep her job when they all knew that something was most definitely going on.
"That's her gone," the Time Lord stated as he glanced at his companions, "Looks like it's just you two and me." He inserted a card into the controls and the doors of the lift closed.
"Yeah, great" Rose replied with a huff, not really liking the fact that Aries had to have joined them on this trip. The blonde had been trying to forget the red head was even there, but now that the three of them were all in a lift together, it was becoming difficult.
The Doctor just rolled his eyes before glancing at Aries, who only frowned at him. "What is it?" he asked.
"I don't like this," she said, her frown deepening, "It's just," she sighed before slipping her jacket back on, deciding that if it was going to be cold upstairs, she would like to be prepared for something. She looked back to the Doctor when she was done, "I just don't like walking into something I have no idea about. All we know is that for some reason, someone or something is producing enough heat to cause the temperature to raise on four hundred and ninety-nine floors, all the while managing to also control anything and everything that comes and goes from this satellite and possibly the Earth below."
Aries ran a hand through her hair with another sigh as she looked to the doors. The feeling she had been getting about the satellite was only growing stronger the closer they got to Floor 500 and the red head wasn't too sure what it meant.
Before either the Doctor or Rose could respond, the lift slowed as it reached Floor 500 and the doors opened. The trio stepped out and looked around, only to find themselves in an area that was completely frozen. Frost covered the floor and walls and Aries couldn't help but shiver at the thought of when she had been hugged by Suki, having gotten the same feeling she was getting now.
But what did that mean? the red head asked herself, wondering why she would have gotten the chilling, frozen feeling from a hug from someone she didn't even know. Though that thought was overtaken by another, one that wasn't hers.
Aries?
"The walls are not made of gold," the Doctor spoke up before glancing at Aries and Rose, "You two should go back down." He was quite happy to figure out what was going on, without putting his Nesdra or companion at risk, and Aries had brought up a good point. They really didn't have any idea what was going on and the last thing he wanted to do was put her in any unnecessary danger.
Rose snorted, glancing at the red head, "She can if she's too chicken, but I'm not," she told the Time Lord before striding off.
The Doctor watched her go before turning to Aries, only to find the red head staring in the direction Rose had gone in, her expression confused.
"Aries?" he asked, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder and causing her to look at him, "You should go back. I'll get Rose and meet you downstairs."
The red head didn't say anything, only nodded her head and the Doctor followed after his companion. The moment he was gone however, Aries closed her eyes, trying to figure out who was talking to her mentally and how, only to find nothing. Not even a trace of someone having entered her mind, even briefly.
"Strange," she muttered as her eyes opened and she looked around the room. Glancing behind her to the lift, Aries thought about taking it back down, but that would leave the Doctor and Rose up here on their own and she couldn't do that. Even if the blonde didn't seem to like her, there was no way Aries could just let them walk into danger alone.
Letting out a huff of frosted air, the red head followed after the Doctor and Rose, silently wondering if this was a regular occurrence for them.
Any time she had run into the pair, it always seemed to lead to trouble. There was a small voice in Aries' mind that told her she had dealt with enough trouble to last her the rest of her life, however long that may be. But the red head couldn't deny that however much she was happy with her life the way it was now, however much she tried to move on from her past, a part of her seemed to wait for the Doctor to show up again. It was almost like she was waiting for him, though she had no idea why.
Aries walked down the corridor lost in her musings before she found herself in front of a door labelled 'Spike Room'. She didn't know what it was, but before she realised what she was doing, the red head had entered the room.
A gasp left her when she saw what was inside the room and went to back out, only to stop when a strained, but somewhat familiar voice reached her.
"Aries?"
The red head swallowed as she stepped further into the room, avoiding the frost-covered workers that surrounded the spike chair where a man was laying, looking directly at her.
"You...how do you know me?" she asked, her eyes darting to the workers before resting back on the man.
By the time the Doctor had caught up to Rose, they had made it to the control room.
There was a man who had their back to them, watching the screens while more frost-covered workers sat before monitors as they worked.
"I started without you," the Editor said as he turned to the Doctor and Rose, a little surprised that the red head wasn't with them, but shrugged it off. There was only one other place she could be, and that worked just fine with him. "This is fascinating," he continued, "Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habit, bank statements, but you two and your little red headed friend...you don't exist!"
The Doctor and Rose just stared at him, causing the man to laugh.
"Not a trace! No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?" he asked the pair.
Neither answered, though Rose spotted Suki sitting before one of the screens as the now frost-covered woman continued to type away.
"Suki! Suki!" the blonde exclaimed as she rushed towards the woman and knelt next to her, but Suki didn't respond. "Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?" Rose continued before turning to the Editor, "What've you done to her?"
"I think she's dead," the Doctor stated, trying to keep his voice level as his mind went immediately to Aries, hoping she was fine. He wanted to kick himself for splitting up with her and not taking her straight back to the TARDIS.
"She's working..."
"They've all got chips in their head," the Doctor cut her off, "And the chips keep going," he glared at the Editor, "Like puppets."
"Ohhh! You're full of information!" the man said with a grin, "But it's only fair we get information back, because apparently, you're no-one," he finished with a laugh and the Doctor nodded. "It's so rare not to know something," the Editor continued before turning serious, "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter, 'cause we're off. Nice to meet you," the Doctor replied before turning to Rose, "Come on."
The moment he went to leave, two of the workers restrained him. Rose also tried to follow, only for Suki's corpse to grab her arm.
"Tell me who you are!" the Editor persisted, his voice rising.
The Doctor tried to get the workers to release him as he glared at the Editor. "Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly gonna say, am I?" he said, rather glad that Aries wasn't with them. If the Editor had even laid a hand on her, there was no telling what he would have done.
The Editor smiled none to nicely as he spoke, "Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise."
"And who's that?" the Doctor asked.
"It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live." There was a low growl that sounded angry and the Editor was quick to correct himself, "Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are allowed to live by the kind permission of my client."
He snapped his fingers and pointed upwards towards the creature in the ceiling. The Doctor and Rose follow where he was pointing, only to see a huge, slobbering lump of alien with a mouth full of sharp, snapping teeth.
"Wh-what is that?" Rose asked nervously.
"You mean, that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" the Doctor questioned, looking at the alien.
"That 'thing', as you put it, is in charge of the human race," the Editor corrected, causing the Doctor to look back to him in alarm. "For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news. Edited by my superior, your master, and humanities guiding light, the might Jagrafess of Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe," the Jagrafess roared, "I call him Max."
The Doctor smiled sarcastically and nodded, wondering how he was going to get out of this mess and back to Aries.
In Floor 500's spike room, the man shook his head at Aries.
"I, I have heard of you," he told the red head, causing her to frown.
"But that's not possible," she stated, "This is almost two-"
"No," the man hissed, shooting a glance to the workers that surrounded the seat he was laying on.
Aries followed his gaze, wondering why he had cut her off, only to remember her own words she had said earlier and looked back to the man and nodded. If this place truly was being controlled, it was probably better not to mention that she was not from this time period.
"You need to leave, Aries," the man told her, "All of you."
"What is even going on here?" the red head asked, motioning towards the workers, "And who are you? I know I heard you earlier."
"You need to leave," the man repeated, shaking his head when Aries opened her mouth, "No. Listen to me. If you stay, I can't stop th-him."
"I can't leave you here," Aries stated firmly.
An expression flickered over the mans face and the red head would have guessed it to be surprise, but it was gone as quick as it appeared before she could figure out exactly what it was.
"You have to," the man stated as he looked up to the ceiling, "Get them out of here before it begins."
Aries frowned, wanting to know what he was talking about, but the man turned his head away. She sighed before turning back to the door and started to walk away, only to pause when the man spoke up again.
"And Aries."
She looked to him in confusion, though he didn't see as he still had his head turned away.
"You can trust him."
"Who?" the red head questioned, only to turn back to the door when it opened. She made a sound of surprise when four frost-covered workers entered, her mind immediately going back to what happened with Jamie and the gasmask people.
"No!" the man shouted as he went to get up, only to be stopped by two of the workers that had been sitting around the spike chair, "Leave her alone!" he demanded as the four workers that had entered went to grab Aries.
Aries managed to get passed the first three, knocking the first two down with a stunner and the third by grabbing their arm when the worker went to grab her and twisted it behind their back before kicking them away.
The man begun struggling in earnest when he saw Aries collapse after the fourth had knocked her out with a blow to the back of the head.
"Let me go!"
His struggles only caused the two that were holding him back to be joined by two of the newcomers that had quickly shook off the stunner the red head had hit them with, and the four of them managed to hold him down on the chair.
"If you even think of harming her, I'll rip yo-"
He never got to finish his threat as one of the frosted workers snapped their fingers and blue light streamed into his forehead, causing him to scream in agony as information was ripped from his mind.
Cathica, who had returned to the lift that the tree time travellers had used, along with Suki earlier, stepped inside. She had gone back to the computer that the Doctor had hacked into and found the code it had given him to get to Floor 500.
But when she tried the code, it didn't work.
'Access denied,' a computerized voice stated and Cathica scowled.
The Doctor and Rose found themselves restrained with manacles in Floor 500's control room.
"If we create a climate of fear...then its easy to keep the borders closed," the Editor explained to the pair, "It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy...invent an enemy...change a vote..."
"So, all the people on Earth are like, slaves," Rose cut in, causing the man to look at her.
"Well, now. There's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?" he asked.
"Yes," the Time Lord stated simply.
"Oh," the Editor seemed to pout, "I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?"
The Doctor just repeated his answer, "Yes."
The Editor laughed at his response. "You're no fun," he told the Time Lord.
The Doctor's eyes narrowed on the man. "Let me out of these manacles, you'll find out how much fun I am," he threatened.
"Oh, he's tough, isn't he," the Editor remarked with a grin, "But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit," he added as he moved over to one of the screens when something caught his eye.
"You can't hide something on this scale. Someone must've noticed," Rose told the man.
"From time to time, someone, yes," he replied as his eyes narrowed on the image of Aries in the spike room, talking with the male on the chair before a grin appeared on his face and he straightened. Looking back to Rose and the Doctor as he tapped a few workers shoulder's as he approached the manacled pair, "But the computer system allows me to see inside their brain...I can see the smallest doubt, and crush it. And they just carry on, living their life. Strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual."
The Doctor frowned as he watched four of the workers leave the room, wondering where they were going. He couldn't help but worry about Aries, more so after telling her that he was only going to get Rose and meet her back on Floor 139.
"When of course, they're not," the Editor continued, "They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing."
"What about you?" Rose asked, "You're not a Jagra...uh...a..."
"Jagrafess," the Doctor supplied distractedly, starting to worry more about his Nesdra. Something was telling him that it wouldn't have taken her long at all to figure something was wrong, and having seen how she was in Downing Street, the Doctor also knew that there was a high chance she would come back to figure out what it was.
"Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human."
The Editor shrugged, "Yeah, well simply being human doesn't pay well," he replied.
"But you couldn't have done this all on your own," Rose continued.
"No!" the Editor agreed, "I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to, um...install himself."
"No wonder, a creature that size," the Doctor observed, shaking his head before nodding to the beast above them. "What's his life span?" he asked, silently hoping that Aries was safe and back in his ship.
"Three thousand years," the Editor told them and the Doctor raised an eyebrow.
"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs – Jagrafess stays cool, stays alive. Satellite Five's one great big life support system."
"But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown," the Editor stated with a small laugh before clicking his fingers.
The manacles emitted an electric shock through the Doctor and Rose, causing the blonde to cry out while the Doctor grimaced in pain.
"Who are you?" the Editor demanded.
The Time Lord looked to his companion before turning back to the Editor, "Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler, we're nothing, we're just wandering."
"Tell me who you are!" the Editor demanded again, "And your little red headed companion."
"I just said!" the Doctor shouted, "And I don't know who you're talking about," he added, feeling his hearts pick up at the thought of this ape getting his hands on Aries.
"She arrived with you both," the man stated, almost casually before turning serious, "So tell me, who is she? Who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly..." he trailed off.
The Doctor looked at the Editor questionably, though the man only smiled.
"Maybe this might help jog your memory."
The Editor snapped his fingers and a projection appeared of Floor 500's spike room and the Doctor felt his hearts stop at the sight of Aries unconscious, being supported by two frost-covered workers while a brunette man writhed and screamed as information was being torn from his mind.
"Ah, so you do know her," the Editor said smugly, seeing the Doctor's face pale.
"You let her go!" the Time Lord almost snarled as he tore his eyes away from the projection to glare at the Editor, the Oncoming Storm surfacing at the sight of his unconscious Nesdra. He really wanted to get out of the manacles now and show the human why so many species feared him.
"Oh, I don't think so," the man said with an uncaring shrug, "Although, I do wonder how those two," he nodded to the projection, "Know each other. I have tried for days to get that man to talk to me, give me information, but to no avail. But your little friend there," the projection focused on the unconscious red head, "She managed to get him to speak without even trying."
Surprise and confusion flickered across the Doctor's face at that as he looked back to the projection as it changed, showing Aries' and the man's conversation that had happened moments ago. His confusion only grew as he heard the man say Aries name, wondering how the brunette knew his Nesdra when the Time Lord could clearly see that Aries had no idea who the brunette was.
"What the hell!" Rose spoke up as the frost-covered workers entered the spike room, only for two to be thrown backwards by a red beam of light from Aries, while the next was kicked away by the red head.
The Doctor struggled to get free from the manacles when he watched the fourth worker hit his Nesdra, knocking her out cold while the brunette on the spike chair did the same, trying to get to Aries before being held down by the workers.
"Tell me," the Editor spoke up, clicking his fingers and causing the projection to change back to showing Aries unconscious while the brunette screamed, "Can you all do that?" he asked as he approached the manacled pair, "Or is it only her?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," the Doctor spat, straining against his restraints.
"Oh, so it's only her then," the Editor smirked as he went to touch Rose's face, though Rose was quick to jerk away from his touch, "To bad. My Master's would have been very interested in more than just one subject to study."
Before the Doctor could say anything, there was a males voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
You will not have her!
The Doctor and Rose looked around in confusion before the Time Lord's eyes landed on the projection, noticing that the man was no longer screaming or moving. In fact, the blue energy that had once been streaming into the brunettes head had begun to surround the man before turning a deep yellow.
"Doctor, what's happening?" Rose asked as her eyes darted around as a low growl seemed to echo off the walls, though is didn't come from the Jagrafess above them.
"It can't be," the Time Lord murmured, his eyes wide as he stared at the brunette just as the yellow energy that had surrounded the man shot straight up into the device that had previously tried to rip information from him.
The Editor spun around to the projection, his expression alarmed. "Impossible," he breathed before crying out, clutching his head as it was suddenly filled with everything the man knew. "Stop him!" he screamed at the workers, only to find them slumped over in their chairs, unmoving.
"What is he doing?!" Rose turned to the Doctor, utterly terrified by the brunette as the icicles around them started to melt.
The Doctor didn't respond as he stared at the projection, his mind trying to comprehend what he was seeing. It shouldn't have been possible and a part of him didn't want to believe it. But the evidence was right in front of him. But how? he asked himself.
The Editor managed to make his way over to one of the computers and pushed the worker out of the chair as he tried to stop the brunette from destroying everything.
Before the man could even try, all the screens exploded and he was thrown back in the force of the explosion. The entire Satellite shuttered and alarms sounded and people on the floors below were running and screaming in the chaos that had been created.
You should never have touched her, the males voice sounded again as Rose and the Doctor's manacles came undone.
"Doctor!" Rose shouted as she grabbed the Time Lord's hand, breaking him from his shock and the Jagrafess above them roared as the temperature rose.
"He's venting the heat up here," the Doctor said as he looked around, not even questioning how the man knew what to do, "The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano," he finished with a laugh.
"So are we!" Rose exclaimed, causing the Doctor to sober.
"Come on!" he shouted and begun to run out of the room.
Rose followed him, jumping when there was a small explosion near her. "What are you doing?" she asked, seeing the Time Lord enter another room. She went to follow when she didn't get a response, only to back up as the Doctor and the brunette stumbled out of the spike room, a now conscious Aries between them.
When the group managed to get back to Floor 139, everyone was already starting to recover from the commotion.
"Oh, I'm not doing that again," Aries muttered as she sat on a seat in the canteen area, the Doctor checking the back of her head.
"I should have made sure you got back to the TARDIS before going up there," the Doctor murmured as he found that there wasn't a scratch on her and let out a relieved breath.
"Doctor, you had no idea what was going on up there," Aries stated, looking to the Time Lord with a frown.
"Yes, and look at where that got you," he shot back, angry with himself for not making sure Aries had been safe before following after Rose. She was his Nesdra and he was supposed to make sure she was safe and well, not chasing after his stubborn companion.
His comment however, only caused Aries' eyebrows to crease and Rose to roll her eyes as she looked away, her gaze landing on the brunette who was standing beside the TARDIS, his hand resting on the side of the blue box.
"How are you feeling?" Cathica asked from across the table, eyeing the red head in concern.
"Bit of a headache, but I'll be fine," Aries replied with a small smile.
"We're just gonna go," the Doctor said as he helped Aries stand, not wanting her out of his sight until they were safe back on the TARDIS, "I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage," he told Cathica.
"You'll have to stay and explain it. No-one's going to believe me," the woman replied, still somewhat unbelieving of what she had been told herself.
"Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now," the Time Lord stated with a grin, "The Human Race should accelerate. All back to normal."
Cathica turned her gaze to the man she had been told who had stopped the Editor, although the Doctor had been very vague on what the brunette had actually done. "What about your friend?" she asked.
The Doctor and Aries followed her gaze to the brunette who seemed to be talking with the TARDIS. "I'm not sure," the Time Lord said with a frown before heading over to the man with Aries, his arm wrapping around the red heads shoulders as Rose trailed behind them.
"-kortha. You'll see me again. Just make sure to keep them safe," they heard the brunette say before he turned towards the three time travellers, "I guess this is goodbye."
"Who are you?' the Doctor asked, getting straight to the point and causing the man to smirk.
"Ah, now that is a question I have been hearing a lot lately," the brunette replied before shaking his head, "But you," he glanced between the Doctor and Aries, purposely ignoring Rose as an unknown expression passed over his eyes. "You two can call me Ly," he said, his smirk softening into a smile.
"Ly?" Aries tested the name, finding it a bit odd and the man nodded, taking no offence, "Thank you for, well, you know," she muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head gingerly.
"There is no need. If anyone is to be thankful, it should be me," Ly replied, though he held up a hand when Aries went to say something, "No, I am quite serious and am never one to generally thank anyone. I have heard quite a bit about the two of you," he looked to the Doctor, whom was watching him with a frown, "And I must say that it has really been an eye-opener to meet you both in person."
Rose scoffed, not seeing what was so great about meeting Aries. All she managed to do was get herself knocked out, she thought, It wasn't like she had done anything important.
Ly raised an eyebrow as he turned his black eyes to the blonde. "It will be thoughts like that that will end up getting you into trouble, Rose Tyler," he said, "If I were you, I would be more concerned about the fact that you ditched your boyfriend to travel the stars and carelessly flirted with someone whom could have made this whole mess even worse after setting a Dalek loose, even if you didn't know better. You're only human after all," he said the word human as if it left a bad taste upon his tongue, "But if the Editor had managed to figure out who you three really were, there was no telling what would have become of you, or the TARDIS."
The Doctor's frown deepened, but he held his tongue, something that surprised Rose. She would have thought that the Time Lord would have come to her defence, but just like Aries, the brunette seemed to be able to turn the Doctor against her. She shot the brunette a glare before disappearing inside the TARDIS.
"Aries," the Doctor said after Rose had left, "Do you think you can give me a moment?" he asked, glancing to Ly.
"Yeah, sure," the red head replied, realising that the Doctor wanted to speak with the brunette alone. She had questions of her own for the man, but there was something about the way she had seen the Doctor looking to the brunette that told her it was better to let her own curiosity go.
The Doctor and Ly watched Aries disappear through the TARDIS door and the moment it closed behind her, the Doctor looked to the brunette.
"How?" he asked.
"How, what?" Ly replied, his smirk returning. "How I managed to stop the Editor, or how am I here?"
The Doctor scowled and the brunette just shook his head.
"Some answers, Doctor, have to be found by living through the questions. Trust me when I say that I have had a fair amount of questions these last few years and it was only until a certain someone slapped me upside the head did I finally see that the answers I had been seeking had been right in front of me the whole time. I was just too narrow-sighted to see them and full of hate to believe them."
"But-" the Doctor begun, only for the man to cut him off.
"I can say no more, Doctor. I came to find the truth behind those answers and I think I can finally see that maybe not all Time Lords are to be hated," the brunette looked away as his eyebrows creased slightly, missing the Doctor's expression turn startled. "I found that maybe, I could actually grow to trust them," Ly looked back to the Doctor, "And that maybe, I already do trust one."
The brunette went to walk away, but the Doctor stopped him by grabbing his arm, though he immediately let go when the man stiffened.
"Sorry," Ly said apologetically, clearing his throat as he looked back to the Time Lord, "Old habits haven't quite been broken yet."
The Doctor nodded in understanding. "Ly, what you did upstairs..." he trailed off, unsure if he should ask. If he was right and the brunette was who he thought him to be, did the Doctor, as a Time Lord, really have the right to ask.
Ly nodded his head, a knowing smirk appearing on his face. "I trust that you can keep that little titbit to yourself, Time Lord. I don't think the universe is quite ready to realise the truth in what you saw. Let them believe what they want," his gaze went to the humans around them, his nose wrinkling slightly, "And maybe one day, they will be ready to know what really happened. But until then...I trust that you will take care of her, Doctor."
Without saying another word, Ly turned and headed off again. The Doctor watched him go as he disappeared into the crowd before sighing.
"I'm sorry, Ly," he muttered before turning to his ship and stepping inside.
Ly paused when he heard the sound of the Doctor's TARDIS and looked back in the direction he had come. "I'm sorry, Doctor," he murmured before someone grabbed his arm.
"Can we go now? 'Cause I really can't stand this place," a younger woman questioned, "Let alone the stench, but the food is abysmal. How this is considered 'fine cuisine' I don't know," she continued to complain, holding up a cronk burger that had only had a small bite taken out of it.
Ly frowned before nodding, "Yes, I've seen enough, Vera. Let us go."
"Finally," the younger woman exclaimed as she revealed a vortex manipulator, dropping the burger without a second thought.
Placing his hand upon it, Ly glanced one last time in the direction of where the TARDIS had been before the pair disappeared in a flash of light.