Chapter Three: Journey to the Center
Year: 2277
Location: Jefferson Memorial, Capital Wasteland
In the rotunda, the circular control room hung above a pool of irradiated water, built around the statue of Thomas Jefferson. The statue itself was perfectly preserved, encased in a tank full of water at the center. Alarms continued to blare out, even as two people were trapped inside the control room with a pale, gray-haired man in a long coat and soldiers in large, hulking power armor with devilish helmets. One of the hostages, a scientist in a lab coat and high heels, was Janice Kaplinski. The other was her father. He still wore his worn-out Vault jumpsuit, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Jocelyn had to hurry before this could get any worse.
She had only reached the top of the stairway, meeting up with Doctor Madison Li, when the man in the long coat made his demand, his hands crossed behind his back. "The person in charge is to step forward immediately and turn over all materials related to this project." There was a twang in his voice, a sign typical for Southern accents. Despite not being able to see his face as she went to the emergency bulkhead, it was clear he was not here with the best intentions in mind.
"That's quite impossible," her father replied, keeping a stern look and tone. "This is a private project; the Enclave has no authority here. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
The Enclave? The remnants of the US Government she kept hearing about from Three Dog along with the eyebots flying about in the wasteland?
"Am I to assume, sir, that you are in charge?" the man asked.
"Yes, I'm responsible for this project," her father replied.
"Then I repeat, sir, that you are hereby instructed to immediately hand over all materials related to the purifier."
Jocelyn turned to the console to her right and pressed the button on it. The bulkhead did not open. She pressed it again. Still nothing. No matter how many times she pressed it in frantic motion, the bulkhead would not open. Somebody must have overridden the command.
"I'm sorry, but that's…" She heard her father tried to protest but was cut off.
"Furthermore, you are to assist Enclave scientists in assuming control of the administration and operation of this facility at once," the man added.
"Colonel… is it Colonel?" her father guessed. "I'm sorry, but the facility is not operational. It never has been. I'm afraid you're wasting your time here."
"Sir, this is the last time I am going to repeat myself." Despite the professionalism in the colonel's voice, it was clear his patience was wearing thin.
"Colonel, I assure you that this facility will not function," her father explained. "We have never been able to successfully replicate test results."
Jocelyn heard a shot rang out through the glass, followed by a woman's pained cry, and she turned her attention to Janice on the floor, dead, a bloody hole between her eyes. The colonel had a 10mm pistol out, smoke trailing out of it. Jocelyn could only stare out in shock, anger welling up inside her.
"I suggest you comply immediately, sir, in order to prevent any more incidents. Are we clear?" The tone in the colonel's voice remained unchanged.
Her father's nostrils flared. "Yes, Colonel," he seethed. "I'll do whatever you want; there's no need for more violence."
As her father turned his attention to the central console, a wave of fear and panic swept over Jocelyn. Without thinking, she got out her plasma rifle and slammed it on the emergency bulkhead with its stock. But the door was too sturdy to crack open.
A small explosion rumbled in the control room, and the Geiger counter on her Pip-Boy started to tick as the radiation began to leak in. The soldiers collapsed in agony, the overwhelming radiation inside killing them swiftly and silently. The colonel was next, but not before he pulled a syringe out of his coat and stuck it into his forearm.
Standing among the corpses, her father hobbled to the bulkhead. Her hand shaking, she dropped her rifle as she pressed her hand on the glass in response to her father's.
"Run… run!" her father pleaded, looking at his daughter one last time. His body crumbled to the floor next to the colonel.
Her knees gave up, and she fell. She wanted the radiation to kill her in hopes she could be with her father in a better world. She went through hell and back to reunite with her father.
"We have to get out of here," Madison Li called out. "They'll be coming for us next. We've got to evacuate now!"
"Look, it's just… you have to know these things. I'm not going to be around to hold your hand forever," she remembered her father telling her the day before he left the Vault.
Why did it have to end here?
Year: 4356
Location: Engineering Core, Icarus Station
"Ah, hang on. Allow me," OMI insisted as the group approached the door. The sign above it flashed ENGINEERING CORE. The robot opened the panel, which exposed circuit boards and loose wiring. Jocelyn had to pull her head back when sparks crackled and flew out of the thing. "My word, it's worse than I thought! Those Cybermen were quite thorough, weren't they?"
"I am one. Well, technically," Kroton remarked, looking behind them in case any other Cybermen would get the jump on them.
"What about the backup generator?" Jocelyn asked. "Wouldn't they go after that, too?"
"If they wrecked the backup generator, we would all be dead," Dr. Yoko answered, watching OMI stretching their right hand as mini appendages emerged and unfolded out of their fingers. "I must say, this will never get old."
"Indeed!" OMI replied cheerfully, their face-screen flashing a smile before thrusting the little devices into the wires and board and started working. The tiny whirs and whines came off those little machines as the mending of the wires came together. The robot pulled out the burnt-out circuit board, grabbing a fresh and unused one of out of their chassis and inserted it into the slot inside the panel, all with a smirk flashing on their face. "And… done!" They tapped on the interface and the door slid open.
"Alexander was not kidding about you," Jocelyn commented with astonishment. It was not every day when something like this happened. Had she always missed this? That feeling in her chest… did she?
"He hasn't paid me enough," OMI grumbled. She had rarely found a robot to be so emotional like that.
The group stepped inside without incident.
There was little light here, supported only by holographic interfaces flickering and hellish red flashes from a giant, sparking collider set in the center. Jocelyn's headlight revealed something else, much to the shock of Dr. Yoko and OMI. There were bodies laid all over the floor down the staircase in a random pattern. Even from a distance, they could tell a few of them were shot down by Cybermen, but others had some sort of growth that gleamed in the sporadic light. In the space between the consoles, there was a metal-rimmed circle laid out on the floor.
They stepped down, the Wanderer and Kroton taking point and their weapons at the ready. The Wanderer turned around and noticed a sense of dread rising among the doctor and the robot, judging by how shaky its face looked on its screen. Jocelyn was no stranger to these heinous acts, that was for certain. She was sure Kroton was, but him being a renegade Cyberman, his expression remained indecipherable.
"Do you know any of these people, Dr. Yoko?" Kroton inquired.
The engineer said nothing, still stunned by the carnage laid out before them. It only took her stubborn legs pushing her down the stairs to bring her out of her stupor. "…Yes. I… did my best to remember every one of their names."
After they stepped off the stairs and spread out, Yoko went toward one of the bodies and knelt beside it. "Marta Diana. That's who she was, before, well…" She stood up and pointed at another body, draped over a console. "This one was Niko Pingov." Another point of her finger. "And L-Lapo Vidal, and…" Her hand shook as a sharp breath escaped her body. "I can't mourn them if we all die now. We have a station to save." There was now a determined look on her face as she scanned the area. "OMI, could you see if you can turn on the lights?" She turned at Jocelyn and the Cyberman. "Wanderer, Kroton, help me start up the restart sequence."
Jocelyn nodded and set out to one of the consoles the engineer guided her to.
"One question, though," said the engineer. "Do you know a thing or two about nuclear physics?"
"Shall I refer to you the differences between fusion and fission?" Jocelyn replied.
"Formal education?" Dr. Yoko guessed.
"More or less," Jocelyn answered, hesitant and embarrassed. While she got her education thanks to paying attention in class, she also received less… formal education from science textbooks and plenty of experience. The problem was, however…
"Uh…" She looked at the now-overwhelming number of buttons on the console, the screen above flashing red along with numbers counting down by the second.
MELTDOWN IMMINENT IN 4:34:92
4:33:49
4:32:62
"Is this thing user-friendly?" The Lone Wanderer squeaked urgently. "It's not the kind of user interface I'm used to."
"Yes, thankfully," Dr. Yoko said as if she had sighed. She had to step over one of her dead co-workers to another console, much to her chagrin. She turned her attention toward the Wanderer. "Just do as the interface says and it'll be fine. I hope. If it gives out some weird or contradicting command, refer to me."
"And if that doesn't work?"
"Then you and every other organic on this station would suffer a slow and excruciating death as life support shuts down," OMI answered while tapping commands on their console left and right. "I have no intention of pressuring you, but there you go."
"What OMI said," Dr. Yoko remarked before going back to her console. "Being helpful does wonders, doesn't it?" A mirthless laugh escaped her lips. Pressure sure did funny things to people. "Everybody ready?" the engineer called out.
"Keeping watch," Kroton answered, his staff in hand as he scanned their surroundings.
"Ready," OMI also answered.
"I'm ready," Jocelyn nodded.
The Lone Wanderer knew plenty of things about nuclear physics as well as other scientific fields ranging from chemistry to life science to biology. She also knew her way around a RobCo terminal, including those very top-secret, government terminals. If there was a bone to mend together or a nasty cut to stitch, she could do that. And she could get a robot to do her bidding or have them self-destruct at her whim.
The countdown continued.
3:44:73
3:43:12
Jocelyn pressed a button after the engineer gave the signal, which turned green immediately. Dr. Yoko was right: the interface was easy, especially as a list of instructions scrolled across the screen, accompanied by images depicting the fusion power generator that was glowing at the center. She looked up to find tiny little robots flying around the generator, using little arms to mend gashes all over it. The color of the generator's light slowly turned away from red to blue.
3:22:77
3:21:44
3:20:89
She hoped the others were making progress.
"Oh, do I get to join the fun or is that not allowed among your little group of would-be saviors?" It was an unfamiliar voice, feminine, middle-aged, with a pompous accent. It took them nearly an instant to find the source, as Jocelyn and the others turned to see a woman in a black blouse and high heels standing in the metallic circle, now glowing a bluish light around her. Having an angular face and a narrow nose, this woman who appeared out of nowhere had rather pronounced cheekbones and wild, black hair that tied in an updo.
"Who are you?" Jocelyn demanded, now looking at the woman who had piercing, cold-blue eyes. She was ready to draw her weapon out.
"That's the Master. The Doctor's archenemy, to put it simply," Kroton answered, his stance readied as he cautiously approached the woman.
The 'Master' rolled her eyes as she placed her hand on her hip. "Please. I'm Missy. Short for Mistress. I couldn't very well call myself the Master, now do I?" Every word she had spoken had a hint of a sneer to it. She turned her gaze at the renegade Cyberman. "You." She pointed at him. "Haven't I met you somewhere? Well, I used to be a different person back then, so the memory's all… jumbled up. Would you be so kind as to jog my memory? Just a teeny, tiny bit?"
"Yes, that's correct. You look different, but you're still the same maniac all the same," Kroton retorted. "Last time we met, I trapped you somewhere where you couldn't escape."
Jocelyn turned to stare at Kroton in confusion. Missy looking different? Being a different person back then? What were they talking about?
"Yes yes, I remember now." Missy waved off dismissively. "You fought off an immortal samurai and won, taking control of the Glory and acting as its guardian or some sort." She scoffed, still eyeing the Cyberman. "What? Does the prospect of godhood bore you or were you kicked out of the job?"
"Center of the Omniversal Spectrum. A guardian of the multiverse, in other words," Kroton corrected Missy. "Not that it matters to you."
"Nevermind that. How did you hijack this channel?" Dr. Yoko questioned.
"So this is a holographic projection?" Jocelyn tried to ask.
"In a way. If I remember correctly, this station is equipped with quantum entanglement communicators," Kroton remarked. "You should try it some time."
"That sounds fascinating, but that's not what we're here for." Jocelyn looked at Missy before her. "And I take it you were the one who started this whole mess."
"And what makes you say that?" Missy shot back. "Oh, how would I love to hear it!"
"You're you. You do love to cause chaos and destruction wherever you go," OMI responded.
Missy curled her lips. "It's true, I do cause a lot of death and destruction." She let out a faux gasp, her eyes wide as if she mocked all of them. "Oh, were you referring to the Cyberman? Well, it is true I led them here."
The Lone Wanderer grunted in disgust. "Why?"
"Try to keep up. Although…" The Time Mistress hummed childishly, turning her attention toward her. "Clara, Clara, Clara… Where's Clara? Don't tell me the Doctor replaced her with you!"
1:50:59
Missy's words would have given Lone Wanderer some offense, but she recovered. "Does that matter? We have lives to save and you're distracting us."
The mistress clasped her hands together in childlike glee. "Oh goodness me! It would be fascinating to see how many lives would be lost by your spectacular failure!"
Jocelyn tried to ignore her as she, the engineer, and the robot refocused on their respective consoles.
"I wonder how the Doctor is faring, all stuck with who-knows-what on that planet, hm?" Missy pondered.
Just keep ignoring her, just keep ignoring her… Jocelyn told herself.
1:01:82
1:00:02
0:59:44
Jocelyn was starting to get worried as she took a quick look up at the generator. It hadn't transitioned further. She looked down at her screen, which flashed ERROR. Undeterred, she entered another command, one that should be circumvented. This shouldn't be different from hacking RobCo terminals, right?
"How's it looking on your end?" Jocelyn asked.
"Getting there," OMI answered.
0:18:46
"Any second now!" Kroton called out. For a moment, he was about ready to go for the generator and try to disable it somehow.
"Almost… there," the engineer grunted.
The numbers on the screen, on every screen, now showed a single number.
9…
8…
7…
6…
5…
Thinkthinkthinkthink! Jocelyn thought to herself. She looked over the commands and found one: restart the generator. With a shaky hand, she pressed the button and waited.
3…
2…
1…
And everything went dark, like a blanket of darkness had washed over the room. Then, the generator glowed a calm blue and one by one, the consoles flickered to life. Both Jocelyn and Dr. Yoko let out a sigh of relief, now that the generator was restored in the nick of time.
"Oh! Well, how about that!" Missy appeared once again, more than a little disappointed. "So, you've succeeded in saving the day. How marvelous." Her arms were crossed in front of her. "Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things. Everything dies, one way or another. You all know that. I mean, why bother, anyway?"
Jocelyn frowned and let out a sigh. She had enough of this. And she was tired, oh so very tired of this.
With her eyes narrowing, she straightened her posture and stepped toward the quantum projection of Missy, the great height of her power armor towering over her. "I'm not gonna let you hurt any more people."
Missy only rolled her eyes in response. "Yes, well… how are you going to follow that statement if there is something scary and nasty coming your way? Especially without a certain Doctor?"
As if on cue, the projection had vanished, leaving her and the others alone with the unearthly growls and screeches echoing in the core room.
"Okay, I got some good news and some bad news," Dr. Yoko announced, turning away from her console as she and OMI gathered around Kroton.
"Let's start with the good news," Jocelyn replied, unholstering her Tommy gun-like laser RCW and readied herself, the stock pressed against her right shoulder.
"Well, according to our readings, the generator reset had released an EMP of some sort, rendering the Cybermen and their ships inert," said the engineer.
"Can it do that?" Jocelyn wondered.
Before the engineer or OMI could speak out, Kroton asked, "Nevermind that. You can explain later if we get the chance. What about the bad news?"
OMI looked up and jolted back, a look of terror with a pair of shocked, cartoonish eyes and a gaping mouth appearing on their screen. "Oh my! The Ania have gotten here!"
The others joined OMI and looked up as well. Traveling along the walls and the catwalk above were a swarm of Ania of all colors and sizes.
"What OMI said," the engineer remarked, her face being indecipherable and stoic.
Jocelyn fired her laser RCW. A burst of fire had grazed several of them, but more came. Some even leaped and bounced off the walls. Few ran up to the group, only to be swatted aside with a sweep of the rogue Cyberman's staff. Another charged at him, only for its toothy jaw to bite down on the staff, and a struggle ensued.
It wasn't enough for the Wanderer and the Cyberman to hold them all off. Two of the Ania slashed and diced at Jocelyn, leaving behind deep gashes all over her legs and chest piece. Before she could retaliate, pieces of glass slammed against her head. For a moment she saw nothing but whiteness before finding herself on the ground, pinned down on the floor by another one of the Ania, this one some bizarre mix of a lion's body with the head of a beetle, its pincers gnawing at her helmet. Her helmet cracked, then split in two as she wrestled the creature by its neck. She ignored the glass piercing her right as the Ania pushed even further on her until she could barely feel the pincers touching her cheeks.
Then she felt something heavy laying all over her, and she could only move the arm on the glass creature. She could feel the armor all over her being torn apart like scissors cutting through paper. Through gritted teeth, she tossed aside the Ania and found herself face down on the floor.
She could hear the back of her armor unfolding, and someone had yanked Jocelyn out before the armor could turn into a pile of scrap metal or any of those glass creatures could strike the fatal blow against her. She stood up to her feet and looked at Kroton, who was no worse for wear. The robot and the engineer were already making a break for it up to the stairs.
"We have to get out of here!" Kroton exclaimed. Jocelyn was more than inclined to agree. In what little time was spared, she grabbed her packs, bags, and weapons and made her way with the others. As she was the last one to dash through the exit, three Anias, the size of cats, leaped from the middle of the stairway only to meet an untimely end as she closed the door tight on them.
The Wanderer wanted to rest up for a moment, but she had a feeling this place wasn't exactly the safest. "Can it hold?" she asked, her hands on her knees. She paused, realizing what they had sealed the Ania into. "What about the generator? Wouldn't these things wreck it just like the Cybermen had done?"
"It'll hold. The drones are automated to make any further repairs and are programmed to fire if any of them get too close," Dr. Yoko explained after resting her back against the wall. She closed her eyes for a moment and her nostrils flared, letting her shoulders slump for a moment.
"Shall we report this as a success to the administrator, ma'am?" OMI wondered as a pixelated image of Alexander appeared on the screen.
The engineer nodded, straightened her posture, and the others quickly agreed. With that, the four sauntered down the hallway.
Back on the planet…
"Bloody hell," Max Montreal gasped, a mix of awe and terror all over his face, as he caught up to the Doctor. "Any idea how we're gonna approach this?"
The giant creature bellowed its roar once again. In a way, it was majestic, a hum like that of a tuning fork or a whale crying out in the Earth's oceans.
Help… lost my…
The Doctor blinked. "What?" He turned around at Max. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Max responded in confusion.
The Doctor turned back and looked up at the Ania queen. From where the two men stood, it was close, only about a few hundred or so meters away from their position. Nevertheless, it never diminished its overwhelming size, standing on its multiple legs at several stories. Its scales, all crystalline and stalactite, gleamed in the thick, sickly-green mist, contrasting with the barren, rocky land it stood on. Its head could easily be compared to that of a dragon, its horns curved like a ram's.
Did not mean… hurt…
An idea sprung in the Doctor's mind. He had communicated with animals before, even a T-rex that swallowed the TARDIS and spat it out in 19th century London one time.
He stretched out his right arm, his fingers on his left hand pressed against his helmet where his temples would be and closed his eyes. With a slow exhale, he opened his hand, as if making an offer of friendship.
"What are you doing, Doctor? What's going on?" The chief approached the Time Lord but stopped dead short when he shushed him.
"Talking, so shut up!"
In a matter of seconds, the Doctor could sense with his mind's eye a presence, giant and grand, and he could feel something looking back at him.
"Can you hear me? Can you see me?" he called out.
There was a booming bass, a rumble happening all around him. He assumed the Ania queen was resonating with his inquiry, but he also assumed it was moving its massive body around.
Yes. Can hear you. Help us. Scared…
"How can I help you?" the Doctor asked.
It was then he felt another presence residing—or to put it more accurately—trapped within the Ania queen. Two. One was malevolent, chaotic, and pulsing with a vile power that made the Time Lord's stomach churn. The other felt tranquil, orderly, and peaceful but somehow wrong, and he had no idea why. The two forces, despite being each other's opposites in every way, collided with one another. If he could hazard a guess, two vied for control over the queen. For what purpose, he did not know.
Pain. Hurts…
Suddenly, as if these known beings became aware of him, pushed him out and back to reality. Either that or his concentration broke. As he opened his eyes, he found himself off his feet.
Max was off his feet as well but quickly recovered. "Talk about using the Force. Are you alright Doctor?" He offered to help the Time Lord get back upon his face.
Taking Max's hand, the Doctor stood up with a grunt escaping his lips. He looked around, finding the ground had cracked in many places and the field of crystals and strange trees below had all but decimated. "Eh, I've been through worse," he answered. His condition, though none the worse for wear, did worry him. The destruction around him did.
The two men turned and found themselves face to face with the queen of the Ania, its beads for its many eyes gazing right back at them. Taken by surprise, Max cried out a yelp and was ready to aim his rifle…
…only for the Doctor to push it aside with furrowed brows and a frown.
"The hell are you doing?" Max asked incredulously.
"I'm—looking—for a way—to help her!" the Doctor seethed, wiggling the weapon left and right.
The look on the security chief's face said it all, a mix of confusion and anger, which was typical for a human being put in a stressful situation. "We help it!?" he repeated the Doctor's words. "After it tried to kill us and injured about half of my crew, the other half went missing, and caused our shuttle to crash?"
"Yes." The Doctor's voice turned dark. "Because it's the right thing to do! She never wanted to hurt us! Whatever's happening to her, she was cut off from the rest of her species. She is calling for help!"
"Really? You sound so sure."
The Doctor nodded. "I'm always right." He let off a toothy smirk.
"Well, there were a few instances where—ah, what the hell," Max sighed, and the Doctor dropped his grip on the gun as the chief's anger began to recede. "I need to check on my crew, but I couldn't leave you here…" His posture straightened, but his face cringed with anguish.
"I appreciate the offer, Max. I do. Tend to your crew's wounds, call for evac. And look for other survivors, for God's sake! They could be alive for all we know! Everybody gets out of this alive. You hear me?"
Max's lips curled, the fog from his helmet coming from his nostrils flaring, and he saluted. "Of course. Godspeed, Doctor."
"Thank you."
The Doctor and the security chief went their separate ways, the chief disappearing into the mist.
The time traveler inhaled then exhaled, watching the Ania queen lowering her head. He paused, pointing at the giant crystal creature with an incredulous look in his eyes. "So… they're on your back, then?"
The creature silently stared back at him.
"And you want me to climb on your back."
No response, though the Doctor swore he heard a rumble, until…
Hurry…
The Doctor snapped back into action and nodded, noting the queen's urgency loud and clear. "Well, I do hope, and with the utmost sincerity, that we all get out of this alive. That would be bad on my conscience, yes?" he mumbled to no one in particular as he began climbing over the Ania's face and reached the top, which he found surprisingly easier than he thought. He never was one for climbing, anyway.
He stumbled on the first few steps as he nearly let out a yelp. While the Ania's back was massive, to say the least, thus hard to fall off by accident, getting jabbed by crystals left and right was on the bottom of his wish list. If that had been on his list at all.
Ahead of him was a forest of crystal formations. It was thick enough for the mist to only reach up to his ankles. It was also thick enough for him, unfortunately enough to find himself having trouble traversing around and finding a feasible path. Stepping by one large crystal formation, glowing bright pink, he felt a jab at his right arm. He glanced at it, only to find it hadn't pierced through his spacesuit at all.
He trenched on, going in deeper and deeper, the forest ever so becoming thicker with more crystals, meaning the Time Lord had to squeeze through a hole at one point. At the corner of his eyes, as he slipped out, he saw something moving swiftly, only to find nothing around him. A chill ran down his spine and breathing became apparent with fog gathering on his faceplate.
He tapped the side of his head. "Max?" he called out. "Max, can you read me?"
Only static answered back.
The Doctor scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Ah. Of course. Alone with no way of outside help. It's a terrible idea, wouldn't recommend it for anyone, but somebody has to do it. And that somebody is me."
He was ready to continue undeterred. Wherever these presences were, he had no clue. Making another step, the tiny green crystals crunching underneath his feet, he stopped when he was more than certain that he heard something. It was like someone was right next to him, somehow whispering in his ear past his helmet. He looked around for the source as he picked up the pace. Past the dimming bioluminescent crystals, two lights shone in the dark distance. One was a pale blue, and the other a dark red.
Traversing to the lights was easier than squeezing through a hole. All he had to do was go between two cliff sides, the gap more than large enough for him to go through. He sauntered forward until he looked down a whole, where he could see two strange shards embedded at the bottom. One was a clear-sky blue, crystalline object much like the rest of the queen's body while the other was an uncanny mix of flesh and metal.
He climbed down the hole and reached out tentatively as he wiggled his fingers. Grunting, he grabbed the shards and… Nothing. Nothing happened at all.
He was relieved as he pulled the shards out and he heard the Ania queen's bellow once more. This time with much more clarity than the painful gutturals.
Thank you.
He sighed. He scanned his surroundings after climbing out. "All in a day's work. Don't suppose you could make an easy way out of… you?"
It will be done.
Everything around him rumbled as crystals and rock had cleared out, making a pathway, an opening to the outside world. With nothing else but to move forward, the Time Lord made his way into the passageway.
He placed the blue shard into his right hand and tapped the side of his helmet again. "Max? Max, can you hear me?"
"I hear you, Doctor." Max's face appeared on the Doctor's faceplate. The background behind him indicated that he was in another shuttle. "I saw the Ania queen calming down, so I assume your crazy method worked."
The Time Lord stopped in his tracks with a look that was nothing short of serious. "That's obvious," he deadpanned. He continued walking. "How are your crew?"
Max sighed, lowering his head. He made it clear he wouldn't like what Max would say next. "A few of them died. The rest will be taken to the infirmary at the station."
The Doctor's hearts sank. He knew there was nothing anyone could do, but he wished he could have done better. "I'm sorry."
"I know, Doctor. They knew what they signed up for, but…" Max hesitated, his eyes welling up with tears as he wiped them down.
"It didn't make things any easier," the Time Lord finished.
"Yeah," Max replied. "Your friend managed to override the overload. From what I gathered, she had help from a rogue Cyberman."
The Doctor paused and blinked several times. The news hit him like a bag of bricks. "I'm sorry? Did you just say a Cyberman? A rogue Cyberman? How's this possible? Who's this Cyberman?"
"Kroton, I think that's his name. You know him?"
The Time Lord sighed. "A long time ago. I'll explain later. Over and out."
With that, Max nodded before his screen vanished. The Doctor continued trekking to the light outside. Still, he smiled. It was a small but warm smile. "I knew she could do it," he thought out loud. "But Kroton? That isn't a name I've heard in a long time. I wonder why he was here…"
Location: The TARDIS control room
The cloister bell rang out once, then twice, and one of the console's screens turned on of its own accord. At first, it was nothing but a random string of numbers and words, all without rhyme or reason. Eventually, the screen flicked into lines of code that read out:
RIFT DETECTED
SEVERITY: RISING, RISK OF DANGER
SIZE: STILL SMALLER THAN BELGIUM
LOCATION: EARTH?
EXACT COORDINATES… UNKNOWN
The screen turned black.