They were inside TARDIS medical bay. Lord was lying flat on the bed, his eyes closed and a glowing silver disc the size of a coin resting on the centre of his forehead. It was projecting a thin beam of light upwards, creating a holographic bubble which showed a three-dimensional image of his brain surrounded by concentric Gallifreyan circles, like a gyroscope.
"So how does this work?" Martha watched with fascination as the Doctor rotated the brain in mid-air. Futuristic medical technology was one of her favourite aspects of time travel, and she rarely got to see it in action.
"Closed surgery disc," explained the Doctor, lightly tapping the side of the outermost circle and opening a full interface of symbols, holographic buttons and read-outs which appeared to show Lord's heart rate and brain activity. "Micro-robots enter the brain through a single point and interact on a cellular level, all controlled from up here. Forgot I even had one."
"That's amazing." Martha peered at the silver disc. "But how are you going to get the parasite out?"
"I need to find it first," murmured the Doctor. He moved his hands as if pulling apart a string and the image zoomed in, the outer layer of the brain melting away to show them the soft pattern of lines and pathways inside. "Depending on where it is, we might need to switch to open surgery."
"Oh, joy," muttered Lord, cracking open an eye.
The Doctor glanced at him over his spectacles. "Go back to sleep, or you'll dislodge the disc. This is a very delicate operation." He squinted into the hologram as it rotated slowly, revealing more of Lord's cortex. "Incredible - a Fission Cloned mind. If I had more time, I'd love to go deeper and figure out how they split your personality so cleanly."
"Remember, that's still my brain you're prodding around in," said the Master from the other side of the room, where he was assembling a metal sphere on a desk scattered with wires and jars of squishy-looking substances. "I want it back in good condition. No scratches."
The Doctor rolled his eyes and returned to the holographic interface. Martha watched him work through the frontal lobe agonisingly slowly, occasionally stopping to spin the gyroscope one way or the other, frowning in concentration as he pushed the micro-robots deeper into Lord's brain.
Suddenly he sucked in air through his teeth. "There!"
"You found it?" asked Martha.
"Yes… wait. Hang on." The Doctor glanced at a flashing icon beside him. "All the readings are dipping. Heart and brain activity. He's passing out!"
Martha leaned closer to look, but as she did so she felt a sharp stab of pain behind her eyes, like a migraine out of nowhere. Dark spots appeared in her vision and she sank to the floor with a gasp, clutching her head. A grunt and a clatter from behind her told her that the Master had collapsed, too.
The Doctor looked up in alarm, his fingers still hovering over the holographic brain.
"Martha! What's wrong?"
"My head!" Martha gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't…"
"Stop!" yelled the Master. "It's defending itself! Take the bots out!"
The Doctor immediately moved his hand over the gyroscope, closing his fist as if pulling an invisible rope. The hologram flickered and died, and the silver disc on Lord's forehead stopped glowing.
The Doctor crouched down to hold Martha. "Martha, talk to me. Are you OK?"
She nodded. The pain was receding gradually. "It's… going away."
Martha opened her eyes to see the Doctor moving across to check on the Master, who was crouching below his worktable with his arms wrapped over his head.
"Master?"
"It's smart," said the Master, giving his own hair a vicious tug as if it had personally offended him and straightening up as the Doctor approached. "The Agni knows you're trying to remove it. It's sucking power from the telepathic network - from us."
"What about him?" Martha pulled herself up and glanced at Lord, who was lying still as a corpse. "He's not moving."
The Doctor returned to the bed, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned Lord.
"He's alive, but barely. As soon as I got near the Agni, his brain and body just shut down. He's in some kind of coma."
"Great," said the Master harshly, kicking away one of his tools and sinking into a chair with an air of somebody who had given up. "So we can't take it out."
"There must be a way," said Martha, glancing between the Master and the Doctor, who was scratching his sideburns and looking troubled. She tried to marshal her thoughts into a rational order. The headache was still pounding in her ears like a drum. "Okay, so he's in a coma now. What does that mean for the parasite?"
"His conscious mind is deep asleep," said the Doctor slowly. "Which makes the Agni more powerful. It doesn't need to hide any more. If we touch it, it will blitz the network again. It might kill you this time."
"Can't we just wake him up again?" asked Martha, massaging her temples. "Do the surgery while he's fully conscious?"
The Doctor moved from his sideburns to his hair, rubbing his scalp vigorously as if the static electricity might help him think faster. "That still wouldn't be enough. But… if we could push his brain into overdrive… stimulate the neural pathways - that might distract it. Block out the Agni's signal to the network while we operate."
There was silence in the medical bay apart from the ticking of various instruments and the gentle thrum of the TARDIS's engines.
"I have an idea," said the Master at last, speaking quietly. "But you're not going to like it."
The Shadow Architect looked up from her desk as three people marched into the main foyer. The Doctor, coat billowing behind him and eyebrows set in a serious line. On his left was the human Martha Jones, and on his right was the Master, warily glancing around the room as if expecting the Judoon soldiers to make a grab for him.
The Architect stood up. "Doctor. To what do I owe this second unexpected visit?"
"We need the Torque," said the Doctor, getting straight to the point as he reached her desk. "Do you still have it?"
The Architect raised an eyebrow. "You are asking me to give you a torture device banned by intergalactic law?"
The Master gave a small snort and muttered something that sounded like, "Intergalactic law my foot."
"I see you have also brought your pet criminal into the building," noted the Architect with distaste.
"Listen," said the Doctor, fixing the Architect with a dark stare. "We have a problem. And it's your problem too. It's everyone's."
Without pausing for breath, the Doctor explained what was happening - the Agni network, the risk posed to the entire universe if they did not extract the parasite from Lord's brain safely, and the Master's idea of using the Torque to shut the Agni out of its network while they performed the surgery.
"It's the most powerful psychic weapon in the universe," finished the Doctor. "If that won't block the link, nothing will. You need to help us."
The Architect sank back into her chair and said nothing for a few moments. Then she looked at the Master.
"The Fission Clone has agreed to this?"
The Master shrugged. "He's in a coma at the moment, but I don't think he'll complain. The other option is dying."
The Architect sighed. "Doctor, this is… unprecedented. I will need to consult with the rest of the Proclamation."
"You can't," said the Doctor firmly. "There's no time. Besides, your reputation is threadbare as it is."
"No thanks to you." The Architect glared at him. "If you had not protected the Master-"
"We'd still be in this mess," finished the Doctor. "I'm just trying to put things right without killing anyone, Madame Architect. I believe it can be done. And trust me, I'm not happy about using a torture necklace to do it. But this is our only option if we want to stop the Agni."
The Architect shook her head, looking agitated. "I'm sorry. It is out of the question. The Torque has been moved to a higher status of clearance. I would be jeopardising every stricture of the Shadow Proclamation by taking it."
"Oh, come on!" said Martha, frustrated by this ridiculous level of self-destructive bureaucracy. "Listen, Shadow Lady. My family are on Earth. They've got links in their brains and they're going to die if you don't help us. Lots of people are going to die." She met the Architect's red eyes. "Haven't you got family? Friends?"
The Architect didn't answer. Finally the Master stepped forward and placed his hands on the desk.
"How about a deal?"
The Architect raised an eyebrow at him. "Elaborate."
"You give us the Torque," the Master said simply, "and you get me. The real me, I mean. Once I've been stuck back together. Punishment, prison sentence of eternity, whatever you want."
"No," said the Doctor automatically, but the Master shot him a look that said, don't interfere.
"Very well," said the Architect slowly. "But I have conditions."
The Master stood back, satisfied. "Name them."
"You will not leave the Proclamation." She glanced up at the Doctor. "Both operations will be performed in our facilities at the Shadow Hospital - removal of the parasite and returning the Fission Clones to one body. After which the Master will remain here, and you will leave our cluster with no attempt to rescue him, Doctor."
"Ah, well, reversing the Fission Cloning process requires special TARDIS technology-" began the Doctor, but the Architect cut him off in a bored tone, standing up.
"Jaycode already guessed your plan. Killing both the clones to trigger their simultaneous regeneration process - quite ingenious, but not especially complex. You may use our electro-magnetic euthanasia pods if you wish. Please excuse me."
The Architect turned and walked away from them, vanishing through a narrow doorway and leaving them in the empty white foyer.
As one, the Doctor and Martha turned to stare at the Master with expressions of incredulity. He grinned at them.
"Those sound fun."
Illustration for chapter 30 over on DeviantArt: atlantihero-kyoxei/art/The-Bargain-876964017