A/N: I thought I could edit this last night, but I ended up being to tired, so I'm a chapter behind schedule. You should get three or four chapters from me today, and the same again tomorrow but after that it will likely drop down to one or two a day because my Easter break comes to an end and other things take up priority.
Chapter Eleven: Playing the Long Game
Instead of the rest that the Doctor promised me we went straight from dropping Margaret of too Kyoto, Japan in 1336, he had wanted to pick up some plant that was extinct in modern Japan and make some calming tea. He figured that I could do with some tea that was relaxing without the addition of honey – he wanted to broaden my tastes of teas. Since Japanese history and culture fascinated me, I got dressed in the beautiful kimono that the TARDIS provided me and joined him in his search for the plant (which he was planning on planting in the TARDIS garden like he had done with several other plant species he liked/used a lot). Jack and Rose had joined us, but stayed in the main market area instead of wondering to the flower gardens with us.
It had been a very peaceful, uneventful trip until we returned to the market area to see Jack being slapped by a women and guards stepping forward with their weapon drawn. Before the guards could attack Jack, or Jack said something stupid to make his situation worse, I stepped through the crowd and grabbed Jack sharply by the ear.
"Ow, what have I done?" Jack whined, his hands rising in an 'I surrender' gesture as he turned from the very handsome guards who were glaring threateningly at him to his sister who was glaring at him in announce.
"I know you can tell when a woman does not want you to make advances on them, I suggest you start using that knowledge before I forbid you from leaving my side." I told him sharply before turning to the offended lady and her guards. I offered them both a bow. "I apologies, I should have never left my brother's side. Since the death of his wife, me and my husband," I motioned to the Doctor who had stepped up beside me and was giving Jack a disapproving look which he pulled of quite well despite holding onto the tray of flowers and seeds, "have taken responsibility for him but he acts out and flirts with any woman that even mildly resembles his wife. I hope he was not too offensive."
"No, it's fine. I just reacted in shock to his advances and, as I am promised to the prince, my guards responded to what they see as a threat against my person." The lady answered and I nearly rolled my eyes. Only Jack would flirt with the women who was about to marry the future emperor. "I will let him leave into your custody unharmed."
"I am most grateful." I offered her a bow before turning to Jack and using his ear to push him next to Rose.
Rose led the way back to the TARDIS, giggling. She had left Jack for a couple of minutes to go and look at a beautiful dress that she was thinking of getting for Annamae, only to turn back and find him at the business end of the guard's weapons.
"Husband?" the Doctor asked as we entered the TARDIS, making Jack drop his chastised look and take on an amused one.
"Well, you don't look enough like me to say brother, and although Jack can easily be mistaken as a guard you cannot. The only other reason a woman dressed as I am would be wondering around the streets would be if I had my husband by my side." I told him amused.
"That was very quick thinking, I thought Jack was going to get us arrested – again." Rose said with a laugh setting everyone else off as the Doctor sent us into the Time Vortex. Jack had gotten himself arrested four times so far, and dragged one (if not all) of us with him on no less than two of those occasions.
I stopped laughing suddenly and doubled over with a gasp of pain. The Doctor turned to me in concern, but it was too late, we were all caught in a bright light and the world went dark around them.
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When I came too, I reacted instantly to the perceived threat of the man standing above me despite the dizziness I could feel. Flicking my legs out, I knocked the man to the floor as I jumped up into a defensive stance and took in the room that I found myself in. It wasn't the TARDIS, and none of my companions were present. The room was large, there was a central stage area with podiums set up facing a robot - it reminded me of that quiz show, the Weakest Link. Civilians were loitering around the room, some of them with ear pieces indicating that they were employees, but there were also several guards. One of which approached me and the man I had knocked to the ground.
"Ma'am." The guard greeted sharply, holding his gun ready but not aimed.
"Sir." I responded, trying to clear my head and focus on what was happening around me.
"Do you know where you are ma'am?" the soldier questioned as the civilian got up and scurried of to the podiums.
"No… I can't seem to focus." I told him being truthful since I could sense concern coming from the man.
"That will be the trans-mat beam, Ma'am. It will clear up shortly. You're on the game station, you've been chosen to take part in the Weakest Link." The guard explained. Looking back over to the podiums I noticed that 'Anna' was written on the only one that didn't have someone behind it.
"Right, thank you for explaining." I nodded my gratitude before making my way over to the podium on slightly unsteady feet. I didn't know what was going on, but somehow, I had been transported out of the TARDIS, separated from my companions and was now expected to take part in a game show. I wouldn't fight back yet; I would play along and try and gain what information I could about where I was.
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"What is it? What's happening?" the Doctor came too, jumping to his feet and spinning round in the small space he was in before he fell out of the cupboard and into an open room.
"Oh, my God! I don't believe it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming." A woman exclaimed, going over to the Doctor and helping him to his feet.
"What happened? I was…" The Doctor got to his feet, leaning slightly on the women for support as he tried to get his head to work straight.
"Careful now. Oh! Oh, mind yourself! Oh, that's the transmat. It scrambles your head. I was sick for days. All right? So, what's your name then, sweetheart?" The women stepped back, allowing the Doctor to stand on his own although he was still a bit unsteady.
"The Doctor, I think. I was, er. I don't know, what happened? How..." the Doctor looked around, something niggling at his mind. The layout of the room was hauntingly familiar.
"You got chosen." The women said happily.
"Chosen for what?" The Doctor asked, still not getting it.
"You're a housemate. You're in the house. Isn't that brilliant?!" the women said excitedly jumping up and down. The Doctor looked at her, not quite sure how to respond.
"That's not fair. We've got eviction in five minutes! I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning, and then he comes swanning in." A man said, turning on the sofa obviously angry with the Doctor's presence in the room.
"If they keep changing the rules, I'm going to protest, I am. You watch me, I'm going to paint the walls." The other women said angrily, her act of rebellion seeming a bit silly to the Doctor and made her threat seam rather shallow.
"Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?" A voice asked, echoing through the room. The Doctor looked around and a door opened, indicating where he was meant to go. Entering the room, the Doctor found it was deserted of everything except a comfy chair which he flopped down on. "You are live on channel forty-four thousand. Please do not swear."
"You have got to be kidding." The Doctor said slowly, suspending his disbelief for the moment as he tried taking in everything that had happened since they fled the Japanese Market.
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"Let's play The Weakest Link." The an-droid said turning to the first player on its left. "Start the clock. Antrone, the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard'?"
"Bread" the man answered hesitantly.
"Correct. Goderik. The Wife of a Marquess is known as what?"
"Duchess?" the man questioned in a faltering voice, clearly not knowing the answer but unwilling to pass the question.
"Incorrect. The correct answer is Marchioness. Colleen, in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones?"
"Default." The woman answered with a confused tilt to her head.
"Correct. Terry, cognac is a fine brandy made from the juice of which fruit?"
"Grape." Terry answered in clear relief, having looked unsure at all the other questions being asked. He was obviously grateful to get a question on a subject he knew well.
"Correct. Marshal, according to the popular 1930's song, which birds will be flying over the white cliffs of Dover?"
Marshal mouthed the words of the song to himself for a moment before answering. "Bluebirds."
"Correct. Ferdinand, Cantaloupe, Galia and Honeydew are types of which fruit?"
"Sorry, can you repeat the question." the man asked confused by the list of names he had just been given.
"Cantaloupe, Galia and Honeydew are types of which fruit?"
"Melon"
"Correct. Olivia, what 'x' is the fear of foreigners or strangers?"
"Xenophobia."
"Correct. Anna."
"Bank." I interrupted quickly, doubting that we would have another string of correct answers as long as that had been.
"Who became president of America following the resignation of President Nixon?"
"General Ford." I answered confidently.
"Correct. Elsy, what name is commonly given to the hard protective cover of a crab?"
"Skin?"
"Incorrect. The answer is Shell. Antrone, what name is…" the an-droid stopped talking as the music sounded, indicating the end of the round. "I was unable to finish the question, you manage to bank a total of 1,500 which will be carried over to the next round. Now it's time to choose the weakest link."
With no other choice I put down Elsy's name. Both she and Goderik had gotten an answer wrong, but Elsy had come across as the most confused contestant in the room. As the contestants showed their names, it seemed that most people had chosen Elsy as well, but a couple had chosen Goderik as the weakest link. In order to waste time, the An-droid asked some questions about the contestants before asking why they had selected Elsy/Goderik.
"Anna, what is it you do?" the an-droid asked, turning to me after speaking with Olivia.
"I'm a consultant." I answered.
"A consultant on what?" The an-droid asked for elaboration.
"History." I answered since it was probably the safest answer that I could give in whatever time period I'm in.
"And why did you choose Elsy?"
"She got a question wrong, and the answer she gave didn't have much logic behind it." I answered.
"Very well, Elsy you are the Weakest Link, Goodbye." Suddenly I flinched violently as a gun appeared in the an-droids mouth and shot Elsy, turning her to dust.
I had to forcibly swallow vomit, losers of this game were murdered and my sister, the Doctor and Jack were out there somewhere in one of the games. I prayed for their safety because I couldn't leave this game. If you get killed for being voted the weakest link, then I had no doubt that you get killed for trying to flee. I needed to play to win, and then go and find my family.
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Having given up on trying to get information from the humans in the room the Doctor turned to checking his surroundings with his sonic screwdriver and trying to find an exit so he could find his companions and get out.
"I can't open it." the Doctor observed the door with a frown. That was odd, his screwdriver could open nearly anything that wasn't wood.
"It's got a deadlock seal, ever since Big Brother five hundred and four when they all walked out. You must remember that." The women said, having stayed near the Doctor since he fell out of the cupboard. She was one of those overly friendly, helpful types.
"What about this?" the Doctor asked pointing to an alcove with a picture in it. There wasn't a single window in the place and only the one deadlocked door.
"Oh, that's exo-glass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."
"Don't tempt me." The Doctor responded darkly, scanning the wall to verify the women's comments.
"I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you must've been watching. Do people like me? Lynda. Lynda with a Y, not Linda with an 'I'. She got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera. Am I popular?"
"I don't remember." The Doctor replied, not really paying attention to Lynda.
"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing? Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?"
The Doctor looked to the upset women and realised he had made a social error – again. Annamae and Rose had been trying to make him more aware of human emotions and social etiquette in this body, but he still made foolish mistakes. In an attempted to not further upset the women who was providing useful information about where he was, the Doctor tried placating her.
"No, you're, you're nice. You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet."
"Oh, is that right? Is that what I am? Oh, no one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?" Lynda asked happily, leaning against the wall with a smile.
"Yeah. Dead sweet."
"Thank you."
"It's a wall. Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?" the Doctor asked, pointing to the wall next to the one he had been scanning in an attempt to move away from the subject.
"Don't be daft. No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden? Don't tell me you've got a garden." She seemed horrified by the thought.
"No, I've just got the TARDIS." The Doctor answered off-handly before stopping as his memories sorted themselves out. "I remember."
"That's the amnesia! So, what happened? Where did they get you?"
"We'd just left Raxacoriofallapatorius. Then we went to Kyoto. That's right, Japan in 1336, if it wasn't for Annamae we would have been arrested. She was laughing, and then she suddenly let out a pained noise. I thought it was her injuries from before, but then a white light appeared." The Doctor explained with a frown. If Annamae was hurt then there's a chance she wouldn't be thinking as clearly as before which would be very dangerous for her. He trusted Jack to get out of any trouble he found himself in, but Rose might have trouble.
"Yeah, that's the transmat beam. That's how they pick the housemates." Lynda said, trying to hide her disappointment as she realised the Doctor was already very much off the market.
"Oh, Lynda with a Y. Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveller. No stupid little transmat gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means this isn't just a game. There's something else going on." The Doctor was speaking to the eyes on the walls instead of Lynda, letting whoever was watching know that he was figuring it out. "Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out. I'm going to find my friends, and then I'm going to find you."
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"Doctor, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to." Lynda said hesitantly from the sofa where she was waiting with the other two housemates.
"I'm busy getting out, thanks." The Doctor answered, still scanning with his screwdriver.
"But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished." Lynda said, practically begging the Doctor to join them.
"Well, maybe I'll be voted out, then." The Doctor said, flopping down on the sofa.
"How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible." The man, who the Doctor had since learned was Strood, said clearly frustrated with the Doctor.
"Don't try anything clever or we all get it in the neck." Lynda agreed, obviously pleased that the Doctor had joined them when he realised that his actions affected them as well.
"Big Brother House this is, Davina Droid. Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction. And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is (too long pause) Crosbie!"
The Doctor leaned back on the sofa, bored as specially as the two not chosen looked devastated and Crosbie was close to tears.
"I'm sorry! Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry!" Lynda said pulling the other women into a hug.
"Oh, it should've been me. Oh, that's not fair, Crosbie love." Strood said, hugging her when Lynda released her.
"Crosbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you."
"I won't forget you." Lynda promised as they got up and headed to the door. The Doctor frowned, confused, they were acting like she was going to die.
"I'm sorry I stole your soap." Crosbie said through her tears.
"I don't mind, honestly."
"Thanks for the food. You're a smashing cook. Bless you."
"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House." The door to a small white corridor opened behind the group, showing another door at the other end with a card scanner on the side.
"Bye, then. Bye, Lynda." Crossbie said, straightening her shoulders and holding back her tears.
"Bye." Lynda said sadly as she and Strood made an arch for Cosbie to walk through. "I don't believe it. Crosbie." Lynda said putting her hand over her mouth to stop the tears.
"It's only a game show. She'll make a fortune on the outside. Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. She'll be laughing." The Doctor said trying to be comforting despite his ignorance of the situation.
"What do you mean, on the outside?" Lynda asked confused.
"Here we go." Strood said as they both ran back to the sofa as Crosbie appeared on the screen.
"What are they waiting for? Why don't they just let her go?" The Doctor asked confused.
"Stop it, it's not funny."
"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one." As the countdown finished, a beam came from the ceiling and hit Crosbie who vanished in a puff of smoke a few moments later.
"What was that?" the Doctor demanded, sitting forward and paying attention now.
"Disintegrator beam."
"She's been evicted. From life." Lynda looked at that Doctor with tears in her eyes.
"Are you insane? You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?" The Doctor demanded, getting up off the sofa and pacing.
"You're talking like we've got a choice!" Lynda exclaimed frustrated.
"But I thought you had to apply."
"Don't be so stupid. That's how they played it centuries back." Strood snorted.
"You get chosen whether you like it or not. Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The transmat beam picks you out at random. And it's non-stop. There are sixty Big Brother houses running all at once."
"How many? Sixty?" The Doctor asked horrified. His friends were in one of those games.
"They've had to cut back. It's not what it was." Strood said sadly.
"It's a charnel house! What about the winners? What do they get?"
"They get to live." Lynda answered.
"Is that it?"
"Well, isn't that enough?" Lynda responded.
"Annamae is out there. She got caught in the transmat. She's a contestant. Time I got out. That other contestant, er, Linda with an 'I'. She was forcibly evicted for what?" The Doctor asked.
"Damage to property." Lynda answered confused by the change in questions.
"What, like this?" The Doctor asked pointing his sonic screwdriver at a camera and exploding it.
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"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!"
Godrick was the one atomised this time. As the fourth person to be killed I had gotten better at hiding my reaction, especially since I was starting to recover from whatever transmat system they used to get me there in the first place. But I could still feel them. Not just the deaths of those in this game, but the others throughout the entire place they were. Hundreds of people dying all the time. It was starting to hurt because I couldn't focus on them and try and play this game.
"Going to the break! Two minutes on the clock. Just a reminder we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten. Thanks, everyone." The Floor manager announced loudly.
"Goderick was clever. He banked all our money. Why'd you vote for him?" I asked Ferdinand with a frown. He had been steadily voting off the other contestants, but not once had he voted my name despite the fact that I hadn't gotten all my questions right. I had taken to banking whatever we had earned before my go because the other option was generally to lose it because most of the questions centred on the current civilisation and there was only so much information that I could have learnt during my studies pertaining to it.
"Because I want to keep you in. You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you, so that you get disintegrated and I get a stack load of credits courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation." Ferdinand answered, his greed showing in his eyes. He didn't seem to even care that people were dying.
"Bad Wolf Corporation?" I asked with a sinking feeling in my stomach. That wasn't a coincidence. This must be where all the warnings wanted them to be.
"They're in charge. They run the Game Station." Ferdinand answered, rolling his eyes.
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"The Doctor, you've broken the House Rules. Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you!"
"That's more like it. Come on, then. Open up!" the Doctor said happily only a minute after he destroyed the camera. He was ready to go and find his friends.
"You're mad! It's like you want to die." Lynda said, not understanding the Doctor's actions at all.
"I reckon he's a plant. He was only brought in to stir things up." Strood said, stood by the sofa.
"The Doctor, please leave the Big Brother house." The moment the door opened the Doctor ran into the corridor.
"Come on then, disintegrate me! Come on, what're you waiting for?" the Doctor demanded, looking up at the disintegrator beam. "Disintegrate me. What are you waiting for?"
"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one."
Instead of disintegrating him as it had done with Crosbie, the machine powered down, leaving the Doctor standing, unharmed and beaming away.
"Ah, ha! I knew it! You see, someone brought me into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano." The Doctor turned to the door that didn't lead into the big brother house, and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "They want me alive. Maybe security isn't as tight this end. Are you following this? I'm getting out!"
Just as the Doctor opened the door on his end, Lynda opened the door on her side.
"Come with me." The Doctor said, holding out his hand.
"We're not allowed!" Strood said, shaking his head and stepping back.
"Stay in there, you've got a fifty-fifty chance of disintegration. Stay with me, I promise I'll get you out alive. Come on!"
"No, I can't. I can't." Lynda shook her head.
"Lynda, you're sweet. From what I've seen of your world, do you think anyone votes for sweet?" Lynda took the Doctor's hand and they left the big brother house behind them. The Doctor stopped and looked around himself in shock and recognition.
"Hold on. I've been here before. This is Satellite Five. No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth." The Doctor said, looking around at the grey corridor. It wasn't as wide in order to accommodate all the rooms, but it was still recognisable. The Doctor opened another door and led Lynda through.
"No one's called it Satellite Five in ages. It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about a hundred years." Lynda said with a smile.
"A hundred years exactly. It's the year two zero zero one zero zero. I was here before, Floor one three nine. The Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then. Had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy. Gave them a hand, home in time for tea."
"A hundred years ago? What, you were here a hundred years ago?" Lynda asked shocked.
"Yep!" The Doctor answered, finding a terminal and opening it.
"You're looking good on it." Lynda commented.
"I moisturise. Funny sorts of readings. All kinds of energy. The place is humming. It's weird. This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?" The Doctor asked confused. This wasn't adding up.
"I don't know. I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside." Lynda looked around herself in amassment.
"I had three friends travelling with me. They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?" The Doctor questioned Lynda when the terminal proved useless in its ambiguity.
"I don't know. They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games."
"Like what?" the Doctor demanded, his stomach sinking.
"Well, there's ten floors of Big Brother. There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's nonstop. There's Call My Bluff, with real guns. Countdown, where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off. Ground Force, which is a nasty one. You get turned into compost. Er, Wipeout, speaks for itself. Oh, and Stars In Their Eyes. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded."
"And you watch this stuff?" the Doctor asked horrified.
"Everyone does. How come you don't?"
"Never paid for my licence." The Doctor responded with the quickest lie he could.
"Oh, my God! You get executed for that."
"Let them try." The Doctor said darkly, holding up his screwdriver.
"You keep saying things that don't make sense. Who are you though, Doctor, really?"
"It doesn't matter." The Doctor shook his head.
"Well, it does to me. I've just put my life in your hands."
"I'm just a traveller, wandering past. Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life." The Doctor said, and he could hear the snort Annamae would have given. He had never had a quiet life, and even if he obtained one for a short while he would become bored, she would tell him. A quiet life just wasn't in his nature.
"So, if we get out of here, what're you going to do? Just wander off again?"
"Fast as I can." The Doctor agreed.
"So, I could come with you?" Lynda asked hopefully.
"Maybe you could." The Doctor agreed after a long moment.
"I wouldn't get in the way." Lynda promised with a smile.
"I wouldn't mind if you did. But first of all, we've got to concentrate on the getting out. And to do that, you've got to know your enemy. Who's controlling it? Who's in charge of the satellite now?"
"Hold on." Lynda looked around until she spotted the light breaker which she turned on. The Doctor stared in shock at where the floor numbers used to be. In their place was the name of the owners of Satellite five.
"Your lords and masters." Lynda said with a smile, not noticing the Doctor's look of horror as he stared at the words.
"Bad Wolf Corporation."
It took a moment for the Doctor to get over his shock and go looking for another terminal which would provide more fruitful then the last. It took a while before he found an observation deck and he was temporarily side-tracked from his mission when he saw what was out of the window.
"Blimey! I've never seen it for real before. Not from orbit. Planet Earth." Lynda said in awe as she stared down at the planet of her birth.
"What's happened to it?" the Doctor's tone wasn't one of wonder. It was one of shock, anger and horror. Something had gone wrong with history, and he needed to find what and fix it.
"Well, it's always been like that, ever since I was born. See that there? That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside."
"So, the population just sits there? Half the world's too fat, and half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?" The Doctor demanded, trying and failing to contain his anger. This was supposed to be a great and bountiful empire by now.
"Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."
"The Human Race. Brainless sheep being fed on a diet of… Mind you, have they still got that programme where three people have to live with a bear?" the Doctor distracted himself when the thought came to him.
"Oh, Bear With Me. I love that one!" Lynda said happily.
"And me. The celebrity edition where the bear…"
"Got in the bath!" Lynda finished with the Doctor.
"But it's all gone wrong. I mean, history's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. I don't understand. Last time I was here I put it right." The Doctor said, turning serious once more.
"No, but that's when it first went wrong. A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight."
"But that was me. I did that." The Doctor said, confusion in his voice.
"There was nothing left in their place. No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it. One hundred years of hell."
"Oh my. I made this world." The Doctor breathed, guilt slamming into him as he stared down at the smog filled world he had created.
"Hey, handsome. Good to see you. Any sign of Rose or Anna?" Jack's cheerful voice pulled the Doctor from his thoughts.
"Can't you track her down?" the Doctor asked since Jack had been able to find him.
"They must still be inside the games. All the rooms are shielded." Jack explained.
"If I can just get inside this computer. They've got to be here somewhere." The Doctor said, beginning to pull wires from the console he had before him as Jack handed over his Vortex Manipulator.
"Well, you'd better hurry up. These games don't have a happy ending." Jack warned seriously.
"Do you think I don't know that?" the Doctor snapped back.
"Hey, there." Jack turned to Lynda and smiled as he offered his hand.
"Hello." Lynda responded shyly.
"Captain Jack Harkness." Jack smiled warmly.
"Lynda Moss."
"Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss." Jack responded, still not releasing the women's hand and making her flush.
"Do you mind flirting outside?" The Doctor asked, making Jack let Lynda go.
"I was just saying hello!" he protested.
"For you, that's flirting." The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"I'm not complaining." Lynda said with a smile.
"It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense." The Doctor kicked the console as Jack took off the front plate. "This place should be a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else."
"Like what?" Jack questioned as he tried figuring out the system. He was used to the 52nd century technology which was more complicated, so it didn't take him long to find the basic wires he needed to patch his Vortex Manipulator in without by passing the system like the Doctor had been trying to do.
"I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Annamae is stuck inside it." The Doctor responded, frustrated with his worry. He knew Annamae could look after herself, but that didn't mean she couldn't get hurt. It didn't help that he had promised to look after her sister as well.
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Ferdinand had gotten what he wanted. Everyone else was dead, leaving only the two of them playing for the final cash price. I didn't need the credits, but I needed to win to get out. As the final contestant, the guards would let themselves relax and once the an-droid was deactivated I could act. The plan was risky, and relied more on luck and me winning than anything else, but at least it was a plan.
"Ferdinand, in literature, the author of Lucky was Jackie who?"
"Stewart." Ferdinand answered hesitantly.
"No, the correct answer is Collins. Anna, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"
"Boe. The Face of Boe." I answered swiftly, getting an incredulous look from Ferdinand. He hadn't expected me to know the answers to these questions and I knew he would regret voting to keep me in.
"That is the correct answer." The An-droid responded. "Ferdinand, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?"
"Hoshbin Frane."
"That is the correct answer. Anna, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"
"Hats." I answered, grateful that the Doctor had once spent nearly three hours talking about the planet of the hats and all things associated with it.
"Ferdinand, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?"
"Would that be a goffle?" Ferdinand answered, slowly, hesitantly. He knew if he got this wrong then he had lost, forfeiting his life.
"No, the correct answer is a paab." The lights flashed, signalling the end of the game. "Therefore, Ferdinand you are the weakest link, goodbye."
I turned my head away as he was disintegrated, not wanting to look. As the floor manager came over to congratulate me, the an-droid was turned off by a mechanic who had been on standby. The moment it went down, I moved.
I grabbed the women's ID badge that she had hanging around her neck and made a dash for the doors. The guards moved to intercept me, but a few swift punches to the pressure points had them removed of weapons and lying on the floor.
Praying that this worked I scanned the card on the door, making it open. Immediately I scanned the cared again and hit a button on the side of the wall. I wasn't sure what it did but I hoped it locked it.
"Stand back, let me blast it open." Jack's voice drew me to one of the doors further down where the Doctor was stood trying to sonic open the door.
"You can't. It's made of Hydra combination." The Doctor said as I ran over.
"Here." I scanned the card opening the door. The Doctor shot me a brief smile before we ran into the room.
"This game is illegal. I'm telling you to stop!" Rose was shouting on the podium, looking around herself for an escape.
"Rose! Stop this game!" The Doctor shouted as we all ran into the room. The Doctor paused to order the humans around, but I didn't, I kept running towards my sister.
"Rose, you leave this life with nothing." The an-droid was saying.
"Stop this game!" Jack shouted banishing his gun that he had obtained somewhere.
"I order you to stop this game!" The Doctor's voice joined in but it had no effect on the droid.
"You are the weakest link." The an-droid continued as Rose began to run towards us.
"Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!" Rose shouted in warning.
I had just enough time to leap forward, pushing Rose to the ground and out of the path of the beam but not enough time to get out of the way myself. The beam hit me full in the chest, and I felt a searing pain for just a moment before darkness swallowed me.
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Rose stared in shock at the pile of dust that had been her sister. The Doctor knelt down, gentle picking up some of the dust and running it through his fingers. His face showed his pain clearly, as he ignored the world around him. He had promised Annamae he would protect her, look after her, and now she was dead.
"What the hell did you do to her?" Jack demanded of the people, standing protectively over the Doctor as he channelled his grief into anger. "Back off!"
"I need security and I need it here right now! It's this lot." The Floor Manager was shouting into her com. It didn't take them long, having been called down to the floor to respond to Annamae's actions.
"Don't you touch him! Leave him alone!" Jack shouted as a guard grabbed the Doctor's arm, another grabbing Rose's and pulling the shocked girl to her feet.
"Sir, put down the gun or I'll have to shoot." The guard ordered Jack, who – at a look from the Doctor – handed the gun over but that didn't stop him from shouting.
"You killed her! Your stupid freaking game show killed her."
"Sir, I'm arresting you under Private Legislation Sixteen of the Game Station Syndicate." The Guard's voice faded into the back ground as the Doctor blanked everything.
"You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?" The guard who had done the questioning – and been summarily ignored by the Doctor – said leaning over them. Lynda was staring down at her lap in worry, while Rose looked like she didn't know what to do with herself.
When a second guard unlocked the cage that they had been placed in to let his colleague out, the Doctor made the first signs of life and movement since Annamae had been hit. "Let's do it." he told Jack who sprang into action, knocking the two guards out and reclaiming his gun. The Doctor grabbed his screwdriver, while Rose and Lynda removed the guard's weapons.
"Floor 500." The Doctor said coldly when they entered the lift. He removed the ammo from the gun, which Jack put in his pockets – just in case, and stood waiting impatiently for the lift to arrive. He wanted answers to what was going on and he was planning on getting them.
"Okay, move away from the desk! Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear. Stand to the side and stay there." Jack ordered the panicking staff the moment they excited the list. The staff quickly moved to do as they were ordered.
"Who's in charge of this place?" the Doctor demanded of the women who was at the front of the open space as he marched forward.
"Nineteen, eighteen." The women continued muttering to herself, not acknowledging the Doctor's presences.
"This Satellite's more than a Game Station." The Doctor continued but was ignored again.
"Seventy-nine, eighty."
"Who killed Annamae Tyler?"
"All staff are reminded that solar flares…"
"I want an answer!" the Doctor cut across the women, but she continued like he hadn't said a thing.
"Occur in delta point one."
"She can't reply. Don't shoot!" One of the staff stepped forward, but immediately coward when the Doctor turned to him, still carrying the gun.
"Oh, don't be so thick. Like I was ever going to shoot." The Doctor rolled his eyes, throwing the man his weapon. "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits." The Doctor ordered.
"Yes, sir." Jack saluted, lowering the two guns he had gotten from the guards and moving to the control panel of the lift.
"You. What were you saying?" the Doctor turned back to the man.
"But I've got your gun." He responded hesitantly.
"Okay, so shoot me." the Doctor shrugged carelessly. "Why can't she answer?"
"She's er. Can I put this down?" the man said hesitantly.
"If you want. Just hurry up." The Doctor grew frustrated again.
"Thanks. Sorry. The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognise your existence."
"What's her name?" the Doctor asked, sadness welling inside him. Annamae would have been horrified to know that this woman – this controller – had been installed as part of the computer.
"I don't know. She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known." The man continued to explain.
"Door's sealed. We should be safe for about ten minutes." Jack reported.
"Keep an eye on them." The Doctor nodded, showing he had heard Jack.
"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station. I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorised transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years."
"Show me." The Doctor ordered, making the man hurry to one of the computers.
"You're not allowed in there. Archive Six is out of bounds." One of the women shouted when they saw Jack about to enter through a door.
"Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?" Jack questioned, raising his guns to emphasis the point before he opened the door and hurried up to the TARDIS with a smile.
"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen." The Controller continued to report.
"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified." The women spoke up as the Doctor leaned over the man's shoulder, taking in everything he was being shown.
"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day." The Doctor responded without looking up.
"That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs." The women snapped back defensively.
"And with that sentence you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off!" the Doctor ordered angrily, moments before the lights dimmed and the screens whited out for a moment.
"That's just the solar flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal." The man explained.
"Doctor?" the women asked, staring at the controller who had spoken the Doctor's name softly.
"Whatever it is, you can wait." The Doctor responded back, not looking up.
"I think she wants you." The women said, making the Doctor's head snap up and to the controller who continued.
"Doctor? Doctor? Where's the Doctor?"
"I'm here." the Doctor answered, stepping forward so he was stood before the controller.
"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you." She breathed in astonishment.
"What do you want?" the Doctor questioned.
"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now the sun, the sun is so bright."
"Who are your masters?" the Doctor questioned.
"They wired my head. The names forbidden. They control my thoughts. My masters. My masters, I had to be careful. They monitor transmissions but they don't watch the programmes. I could hide you inside the games. Knew that you would find me."
"My friend died inside your games."
"Doesn't matter."
"Don't you dare tell me that." The Doctor snapped, angry at the dismissal of Annamae's life. Rose had chocked back a sob as she listened to everything. Lynda had wrapped her arms around Rose in a half hug, as they stayed back and watched everything.
"They've been hiding. My masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth so, so, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years."
"Who are they?"
"They wait and plan and grow in numbers. They're strong now. So strong, my masters."
"Who are they?"
"But they speak of you, my masters, they fear the Doctor."
"Tell me, who are they?" The Doctor demanded angrily as the power came back on.
"Twenty-one, twenty-two." The Controller started up her counting again.
"When's the next solar flare?" the Doctor turned to the only helpful member of staff.
"In two years' time."
"Fat lot of good that is." The Doctor said frustrated.
"Found the TARDIS." Jack said, running back into the room with his news.
"We're not leaving now."
"No, but the TARDIS worked it out. You'll want to watch this. Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?" Jack questioned, gentle guiding Lynda to a point before the lifts.
"I just want to go home." Lynda responded, but she allowed Jack to move her.
"It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can? Everybody watching? Okay. Three, two, one." Jack hit a button at a desk and caused a beam to come down and vanish Lynda in a puff of smoke.
"But you killed her!" The Doctor and Rose shouted.
"Oh, do you think?" Jack questioned as he hit another button and Lynda reappeared on the other side of the room.
"What the hell was that?" She demanded confused as Rose rushed to hug her.
"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system. People don't get killed in the games. They get transported across space. Doctor, Annamae is still alive!" Jack shouted. The Doctor laughed in relief and they hugged.
"She's out there somewhere." The Doctor said once he had gotten control of himself, turning to the computers and typing furiously.
"Doctor. Coordinates five point six point one…" the Controllers said.
"Don't, the solar flare's gone. They'll hear you." The Doctor shouted in worry, even as he input the co-ordinates.
"Point four three four. No, my masters, no! I defy you! Stigma seven seven…" the Controller screamed as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"They took her." The Doctor stared at the hanging wires sadly, knowing that there was no way that the Controller's masters would let her live after her betrayal.
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When the darkness faded, I snapped my eyes open and climbed quickly to my feet. The same dizziness and disorientation from being caught in the transmat beam was clinging to the fringes of my mind, but fear and worry took dominance the moment my eyes were open. I had jumped between Rose and the beam, and never before had I been so glade for my impulsive actions; I found myself facing a nightmare.
No… my eyes widened as I saw the rest of the room. I was surrounded by nightmares.
"Dalek." I breathed the creature's name, and the one who had been advancing stopped.
"You have identified us." A loud, deep Dalek voice sounded and I looked to what appeared to be a large glass cage. On display was one of the mutant creatures that was encaged inside the Dalek's shell. I had only seen one, and it had been mad. This one appeared to be completely sane but that wasn't saying much since it had only said one sentence. "Identify? You will identify?" The Dalek demanded.
When I didn't say anything straight off, the Dalek waiting closest to me, turned and electrocuted me using its plunger because I wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. I wasn't expecting the sudden turn of violence without provocation. "You will answer the Emperor." The Dalek demanded, holding the plunger against me for a minute before pulling back.
Gasping in pain, I fell to one knee, my arm wrapping protectively around my stomach.
"I'm the Doctor's companion." I answered, hedging my bets. Hopefully, the Doctor would figure out I'm not dead, back trace the signal and find a way of getting me back that doesn't endanger himself.
"The Doctor is here." The Dalek's started shouting. "He will be exterminated."
The Dalek's only fell silent when one of the Daleks monitoring something spoke. "We have been betrayed."
"Bring the betrayer to me." the emperor demanded.
A moment later a woman appeared before the large Dalek. The moment my eyes landed on her a name appeared – Gaberilla – but it wasn't definite like all those who died during the game station.
"Oh, my masters, you can kill me, for I have brought your destruction." Gaberilla said, climbing to her feet and smiling at the Emperor. I was moving forward, even as she was talking, refusing to allow someone else to die when I could do something. The Dalek's wanted me alive, and so they were going to bow to some rules.
"EXTEMRINATE" a Dalek shouted as I lunged forward, wrapping my arms around Gaberilla and knocking her to the floor. The blast missed the both of us, and impacted the wall. Spinning around, I backed Gaberilla against the wall, keeping my body between her and the Daleks.
"You will not harm her. I will not let you harm her." I told them, forcing confidence and strength into my voice even if I didn't feel it. "You've kept me alive so that you can get information on the Doctor, you won't kill me because you need me. So I'm telling you, you will not harm her." I spat at the Emperor, the controller of these Daleks.
"Betrayal will not be allowed. The human-companion will be moved." The Emperor ordered in response.
Before another Dalek could electrocute me again, a warning rang out.
"Alert! Alert! We are detected."
"It is the Doctor." The Dalek approaching me said, pointing its gun at me. "Open communications." It ordered. "I will address the Doctor."
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"Look, use that. It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions." The man said to Jack and the Doctor who were working on trying to uncover the transmats signal using the information the controller had given them.
"Nice, thanks." Jack whistled as he saw the information that appeared on screen. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."
"I'm Davitch Pavale." The man introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale."
"There's a time and a place." The Doctor interrupted, mildly annoyed with Jack's flirtatious manner considering the situation they were in. His companion was in an unknown situation and the more time they wasted, the higher the chance that she would be killed.
"Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?" the women who had annoyed the Doctor earlier asked, trying to wrap her head around everything that had happened so far.
"Going way back. Installing the Jagrafess two hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations." The Doctor answered darkly.
"Click on this. The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system." Jack said as a piece of empty space came up on screen.
"There's nothing there." the women pointed out the obvious.
"It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does. Underneath the transmission there's another signal." The Doctor answered, typing away at the computer.
"Doing what?" Rose inquired, returning to herself now that she knew her sister was alive. Now that there was hope.
"Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner… There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible. If I cancel the signal…" the Doctor finished as a large flying saucer appeared on the viewing screen. At a click of a button from the Doctor, the image panned out showing hundreds more ships.
"That's impossible. I know those ships. They were destroyed." Jack said, horror colouring his tone.
"Obviously, they survived." The Doctor answered darkly.
"Who did? Who are they?" Rose asked confused.
"Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them." The Doctor said, his mind spinning with possibilities.
"Half a million what?" Pavale asked, worry colouring his tone as he looked between Jack and the Doctor, the only two who recognised the ships.
"Daleks." the Doctor answered darkly as the viewing screen suddenly changed to show a Dalek.
"I will talk to the Doctor." the Dalek announced.
"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" the Doctor greeted sarcastically, sitting back on his chair and putting on a relaxed air.
"The Dalek stratagem nears completion. The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."
"Oh, really? Why's that, then?" The Doctor asked, suspiciously.
"We have your associate." The Dalek answered as the view-screen panned out to show Annamae stood protectively in front of the controller. The Doctor nearly smiled when he saw that Annamae was unharmed and protecting people. "You will obey or she will be exterminated."
"No." The Doctor answered, making everyone stare at him in disbelief except for Annamae who smiled at him. Trusting him absolutely to get her out from the Dalek's empire.
"Explain yourself." The Dalek demanded.
"I said no." the Doctor repeated.
"What is the meaning of this negative?" The Dalek asked confused.
"It means no." The Doctor explained.
"But she will be destroyed." The Dalek threated. Normally the Doctor cared greatly for the safety of his companions and threatening them in the past had worked.
"No!" the Doctor repeated, standing as he locked eyes with Annamae. "Because this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to rescue her. I'm going to save Annamae Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet. And then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!" The Doctor shouted.
"But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan," the Dalek pointed out as Annamae smiled, shifting slightly so she was holding the controller's arm and shielding the women completely from the Daleks.
"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death. Annamae?
"Yes, Doctor?" Annamae answered calmly, not letting her fear show.
"I'm coming to get you." The Doctor promised before cutting the transmission.
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"The Doctor is initiating hostile action." The Dalek who had been talking with the Doctor announced.
"The stratagem must advance. Begin the invasion of Earth!" Dalek two added.
"The Doctor will be exterminated!" Dalek three added.
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" the rest of the Dalek stratagem took up the cry as they prepared for battle. I watched them all through cautious eyes, prepared to move when they remembered that they had been planning on killing Gabrella.
When the Dalek's stopped shouting their intention to kill the Doctor the Dalek closest to me and Gabrella started demanding answers.
"You know the Doctor. You understand him. You will predict his actions."
"I'm not telling you anything." I answered back.
"Predict! Predict! Predict!" the Dalek demanded, electrocuting me again. Having expected the Dalek to resort to violence, I gritted my teeth, and stayed on my feet as my body was laced with pain again.
"TARDIS detected in flight." Another Dalek announced, making the one torturing me back off slightly. Gabrella gripped my arm tightly in fear.
"Launch missiles. Exterminate." The Dalek who had been torturing me ordered. I kept silent, hoping that the Doctor had found a way of activating the TARDIS' defences before he had decided to fly it into the heart of a Dalek fleet.
I smiled slightly when the TARDIS began materialising around me, Gabrella and the Dalek. The moment I could see the inside of the TARDIS and feel the grating beneath my feet, I grabbed Gabrella and threw the both of us to the side, anticipating Jack's use of his gun.
"Exterminate!" the Dalek fired, but I had already moved so it missed. Jack returned fire and blew the Dalek up.
"You okay, Gabrella?" I asked, pulling the women to her feet.
"Gabrella? Is that my name?" the women asked confused.
"Yes. Yes, that it your name." I confirmed, hiding the sadness at the lack of knowledge about who she is.
"It's nice. I like it." she smiled in relief.
"Annamae!" Rose's shout brought me away from Gabrella as she lunched herself at me. I returned her hug as the Doctor approached Gabrella. "I thought you were dead."
"Gabrella?" the Doctor addressed the Controller, pleased that he had a name to address her by. Names were important, they gave identity and something to hold onto. "Thank you, for your help."
"My master's needed to be stopped." Gabrella responded seriously.
"Don't I get a hug?" Jack questioned, as Rose finally let me go.
"Of course." I responded, pulling Jack into a hug with a smile ignoring the pain that flared in my stomach from doing so.
"Annamae." The Doctor said, happily when Jack released me. He span me around in his arms, relieved that I was alive. "I told you I would come and get you."
"I didn't doubt you." I responded when my feet touched the ground again.
"You didn't?" the Doctor questioned, releasing me from his hug, but keeping his hands on my arms.
"Never."
"Good, because I did." The Doctor smiled. "You okay?"
"Fine. You?" I questioned, concerned because I knew how he was about the Daleks.
"Not bad, been better." The Doctor answered, choosing not to lie.
"Gabrella." I turned to the women who was stood awkwardly to the side. "Do you want to go and get some rest? We'll deal with the Daleks?"
"Do you not need my help?" she questioned, turning her head to see where I was stood but not quiet managing it.
"We'll be okay on our own. You can't see properly and I don't want you getting hurt. You've done more than enough." I told her.
"Rose, could you show her one of the rooms? I need to examine the Dalek." The Doctor asked, recognising the logic in getting the Controller to rest. She had spent most of her life plugged into a machine, seeing only numbers. Getting some rest, away from all that may help her regain her sight.
"Of course." Rose nodded, gentle taking Gabrella's arm and leading her into the TARDIS.
The Doctor knelt by the Dalek and started examining it with his screwdriver. I moved over to the console, leaning against it for support while I rested for a moment.
"Jack, your gun, will it work on more Dalek's then that one?" I asked, nodding to the smoking shell.
"No, it was a one hit wonder." Jack shook his head.
"Any way of recharging it? I doubt we'll make it out without a fight." I asked him curiously.
"Maybe." Jack knelt by the gun and began taking it apart. It took him a few minutes before he grabbed something. "Ah, an enigeon pack. I can recharge it. Not sure how long it will last, but it's better than nothing." Jack said excitedly, moving around the console and plugging the pack in next to where the extrapolator had been hooked up.
"This is wrong." The Doctor finally stopped his examination of the Dalek.
"Doctor? What is it, what's wrong?" I asked.
"The Dalek's, they've…" the Doctor was cut off as Rose walked back into the room.
"You said the Dalek's were extinct. How come they're still alive?" Rose asked, not realising that she had just interrupted the Doctor.
"One minute they're the greatest threat in the Universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space." Jack explained what he knew and I raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Apparently, Dalek's had attacked the human race in Jack's time. That wasn't encouraging.
"They went off to fight a bigger war. The Time War." The Doctor explained for Jack, the only one of the team who didn't know that the Doctor had fought in the Time War.
"I thought that was just a legend." Jack breathed in shock.
"I was there. The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed, but they took the Daleks with them. I almost thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing." The Doctor scrolled at the door.
"There's thousands of them now. We could hardly stop one. What're we going to do?" Rose asked, concerned.
"No good stood round here chin wagging. Human race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have got the answers. Let's go and meet the neighbours." The Doctor said, putting on a false cheer as he bounced to the doors. I followed after him with Jack by my side, while Rose called after us in a panic.
"You can't go out there!"
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Dalek's shouted the moment that the Doctor stepped outside of the TARDIS but their rays were stopped by a force field.
"Is that it? Useless! Nul points. It's all right, come on out. That force field can hold back anything." The Doctor said comfortingly to Rose as he leaned back against the TARDIS.
"Almost anything." Jack corrected.
"Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that. Thanks." The Doctor muttered sarcastically.
"Sorry." Jack said sheepishly. As the Doctor started moving forward - not wanting to leave him alone to face the Dalek's - I looped my hand around his arm and stayed at his side, offering support.
"Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Home world? The Oncoming Storm. You might've removed all your emotions but I reckon right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left, and that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face me? So tell me. How did you survive the Time War?" the Doctor questioned, looking around at the ship full of his oldest enemies.
"They survived through me." the Emperor announced as a light turned on, allowing the Doctor to see him.
"Rose, Annamae, Captain, this is the Emperor of the Daleks." The Doctor introduced, staring up at the leader of the Daleks.
"We've met." I said softly.
"You destroyed us, Doctor. The Dalek race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."
"I get it." The Doctor interrupted annoyed with the monologue.
"Do not interrupt." A Dalek declared.
"Do not interrupt." Another added.
"Do not interrupt." A final Dalek ordered.
"I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do, its talk. I've got five billion languages, and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So, if anybody's going to shut up, it's you!" the Doctor shouted at the three who had ordered him not to interrupt, making them shuffle back in fear as the Doctor turned back to the emperor. "Okey dokie. So, where were we?"
"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed. They all came to us. The bodies were filtered, pulped, sifted. The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."
I swallowed thickly when I realised what the Dalek's had done. What the Doctor had been trying to say earlier in the TARDIS. The Dalek's had turned the dead into their army.
"So, you created an army of Daleks out of the dead." The Doctor said, disgustedly.
"That makes them half human." Rose said, looking around her in horror.
"Those words are blasphemy." The Emperor declared.
"Do not blaspheme."
"Do not blaspheme."
"Do not blaspheme."
"Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek."
"Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?" the Doctor questioned, looking around with a bemused smile, while I realised what had gone wrong. The Dalek we had faced before had gone mad from the emotions it was forced to feel, these Dalek's had gone mad from the humanity that made them. They may have appeared more sane and organised at first glance, but they weren't. That was why they had so quickly resorted to torturing me when I'd been to slow in answering them – they didn't have control.
"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!"
"Worship him. Worship him. Worship him." The Dalek's chanted.
"They're insane. Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to drive anyone mad. But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity. You hate your own existence. And that makes them more deadly than ever. We're going." The Doctor turned and started walking back to the TARDIS.
"You may not leave my presence." The Emperor shouted.
"Stay where you are." Another Dalek ordered.
"Exterminate!" the Dalek's shouted again, firing upon the force field as we entered the TARDIS.
The Doctor leaned against the door of the TARDIS for a moment. I kept my hand on his arm until he had pulled himself together and began to pilot the TARDIS back to the game station.