Series 1: Episode 7: The Long Game P1:

"How do I look?" Rose asked, applying the last layer of lipstick as she turned around. Valarie smiled at her friend and gasped in mock shock.

"You look amazing!" She smiled genuinely. Rose rolled her eyes and looked away. "No really, you look great. You'll blow Adam away." She reassured before taking the blushing Rose's hands. "But are you sure it's Adam's attention you want?" She asked, placing a question that Rose had been wrestling with herself.

"Don't even bring that up again. I've been asking myself that so much, the question doesn't even register anymore." Rose sighed, brushing her already perfect hair again. Valarie smiled supportively, understanding the struggle and tried not to say any more about it apart from her last words of advice.

"Just know that if you really like Adam, you should feel comfortable around him without the make-up." She spoke, placing the words of doubt in her mind before moving on. "Anyway, how do I look?" She asked, pulling down her flower shirt over her jeans as she grabbed a jacket to wrap around her waist in case of cold.

"Great, but it would be better if you let the hair down a bit." She hinted, turning around again.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen anytime soon." Valarie replied, making sure her hair was tied back subconsciously as she mentioned it. Every hair was in place like it always was and the practiced smoothness of the ponytail made her smile with fondness.

"Fine, but mark my words. You will find a boyfriend if you're more free with yourself." She told her, making Valarie scoff. "Let the hair down, let the shirt ride up if it does." The words made Valarie jokingly, pull up her shirt before placing it back down in its perfect position. "Don't always be so self-conscious. You're not perfect and neither am I." She nodded at this, considering the words. "Take your own advice, if you are going to fall in love, let him fall in love with your imperfections as well as your perfections, as many as there are." Rose smiled, charming her. Valarie smiled at her, wondering how she got so knowledgeable about love in a few seconds.

"Fine Miss Girlfriend of the year." Valarie sassed, making Rose laugh.

"Fingers crossed." She winked, walking out with a flick of her hair, leaving the words to fester in Valarie's mind, digging a hole and not getting out. It kept popping up at random moments, like the wound on Valarie's back. It hadn't gone away, or healed properly at all. Valarie had tried to treat it herself but it didn't seem to be healing. It did worry her but she dismissed it with a wavering confidence that it was nothing too major.

"Forget it." She tried to dismiss, talking to herself as she walked out, following Rose as she waited by the door for Adam. "No point in relationships."

"So, it's 200,000, it's a spaceship, no wait a minute. Space STATION." The Doctor emphasised, whispering to Rose who was looking around. "And er, go try that gate over there. Off you go!" He ended, giving the slight details she needed to impress Adam. The Doctor opened the door and entered back in, placing his hands over Valarie's eyes who was eager to see a new planet once she had understood the explanation of time travel. She had slightly dressed up for it, not wanting to upstage Rose in any way and keeping her hair tied up and out of the way yet her fringe fell into her eyes every now and then. She couldn't find any pins and was too excited to concentrate.

"200,000?" Rose asked from outside as the Doctor confirmed it repeating.

"200,000." He brought Valarie outside and removed his hands from her back, explaining everything to her as she went to the window through the gate, looking at the view with a shaky breath. It was a lot to take in but it was amazing, she smiled as she did. "Ok, so Rose is over there trying to impress pretty boy and she wants to pretend she knows what is happening here so she asked me to tell you not to say anything until she finishes flirting." The Doctor relayed, obviously not happy.

"What about the gate?" Valarie asked, a twinkle in her eyes as the Doctor recognised it as mischief stirring and shrugged his shoulders, not sorry about her interference. They tuned back into their conversation and Valarie clicked her fingers, staying by the window as the Doctor walked back to the TARDIS. She followed a few moments later, closing the gate not so quietly.

"Adam? Out you come." Rose laughed, opening the doors. Adam walked out tentatively, like Valarie had and looked around in awe just like she had.

"Oh my God!" He let out, looking around at mainly the shift in space rather than the belief of time travel.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Rose reassured, winking at Valarie who rolled her eyes at the obvious effort she was putting in for the boy.

"Where are we?" He breathed, looking around.

"Good question." Rose commended. "Let's see." She clapped her hands together. "So erm, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year 200,000." She spoke, making herself sound extremely clever and making Valarie cough loudly, pretending to clear her throat as she fanned her eyes, feigning the phlegm. They could hear the thrumming of the engine and Adam nodded, entranced with every word she was saying. "And if you listen, engines! We're on some sort of space station?" She deduced and the Doctor looked on with a smirk at her lies and Valarie coughed again, using the same trick. "Yep, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here, they could turn the heating down." She hinted, looking around yet Valarie could hear the truth in those words and began to acknowledge what she was saying. She was right, it was quite hot.

"What about the gate?" Valarie asked, cutting in as she ran to it, beating Rose. She smirked at Adam desperately trying to catch up and Rose trying to keep control. They walked through and Valarie sighed happily at the view again.

"And this is…" Rose trailed off, not having any more information. "I'll let the Doctor describe it." She stopped as Valarie cleared her throat pointedly, sparing a quick glance in Rose's direction to see her death glare as she rolled her eyes.

"The 4th Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is." He explained, taking over. "Planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population 96 billion, the hub of a galactic domain, stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle." He finished with a nod as all four stared at the beautiful view, until Adam promptly passed out. Valarie sniggered, watching him fall and concentrated on the view, letting the Doctor take this one. "He's your boyfriend." He stated with a smile.

"Not anymore." Rose finished, flicking her hair as Valarie laughed.

"Told you." She spoke in a sing-song voice, walking closer to the window to inspect it. "What type of glass is this? Does it have some sort of sun filter? Otherwise what would it do if the sun reflected the light of the 5 moons?" Valarie asked, launching straight into 'bettering herself' mode. She was genuinely interested, poking the glass experimentally.

"Yeah, it does. The sun filter is in two layers. One covering the entirety of the station and another covering the windows in case the first one fails." The Doctor explained, walking forwards as well.

"Clever." Valarie commended, placing her chin in her hand, resting it. "So, do humans live here? 96 billion, there must be some overcrowding issues. Do they all migrate here or something?" Valarie asked, justifying her question.

"Yeah, right after the discovery of the new elements, they use them to build new space ships and lessen the population on Earth but they still count the people on the stations as part of Earth. Life on here's not too bad actually. They still have T.V. and news channels though." He told her and Valarie mock groaned, finished with her questions.

"I've always hated the news channel." She complained, rolling her eyes. The Doctor just laughed at this and turned to Rose who was standing there with crossed arms.

"Excuse me? Person unconscious on the floor?" She asked and both the Doctor and Valarie replied at the same time.

"He'll be fine." They dismissed, waving their arms. Rose's death glare only intensified but they turned back to the window, still talking when Adam came about himself, interrupting their conversation. Rose ran to tend to him while Valarie and the Doctor held in their sighs, letting them out in deep breaths to brace themselves for the storm of Adam.

"Come on Adam. Open your mind. You'll like this." The Doctor massaged his shoulder, pumping him up for the real treat of the proper people on the station. "Fantastic period of history – the human race at its most intelligent." He smiled, looking around as Valarie went ahead, being trusted by the Doctor to not get into too much trouble and crash their date a few times. "Culture! Food! Politics! This era has got fine food, good manners the works." He was saying before a man shouted at them.

"Out of the way!"

"Fine cuisine?" Rose asked, turning back as Valarie got in line, holding her hand out for some cash from the Doctor. He sighed before digging in his pockets, pulling out a small stick, just enough for a kronkburger and pajatos. Valarie had no idea what they were but she was excited to try it. She had had more than enough experience with rowdy crowds all wanting their dinner, or lunch or whatever meal it was in this place.

"My watch must be wrong." The Doctor frowned, looking down. "No, its fine. That's weird." He checked, turning it around and looking up. Valarie got closer and closer to the front of the line, not being able to hear what they were saying and only realised what the Doctor had done when Rose and Adam joined her in her spot in the line.

"Thanks Doctor!" She shouted back at the smiling girl. The Doctor rolled his eyes and she got to the man at the front who looked down at her from his stall.

"And what do you want sweetheart?" He asked with a fake smile.

"A kronkburger and pajato. Any drink will be fine." She spoke in the same accent as he got to work, bringing out her order as she paid. She moved back to the Doctor as Rose and Adam went to pay.

"Hey, they weren't there before! They just cut the line! They can't do that!" A man started to shout, getting the already rowdy crowd rowdier. Valarie sighed as Rose looked a bit overwhelmed, Adam even more so. Rose had experience with this stuff but this was another planet, she was very conscious of that stuff. Valarie was less so. She walked back and put her hands up in the air.

"Oi! Oi! Shut it mate, they're there because of me. I gave them my spot, calm down. You'll get your food, making a fuss ain't going to solve anything now is it? So shut your trap and let them pay." She reasoned with them, shouting above everyone else before she managed to get their attention, mocking their accent but still emanating her confidence and authority. Rose smiled and paid with their weird stick, much longer than hers and apparently newer as well. Adam watched in awe as everyone grumbled between themselves but still shut up. Rose took the food and came back, handing Valarie a stick of her own.

"Unlimited credit. Enjoy your zaffic." Rose smiled as she handed it over, gesturing to the drink. Valarie nodded, pocketing it and taking a small sip of it, smiling as she found it was nice despite the weird beef flavour. She ate the food quickly, loving the chocolate taste of the kronkburger and the pajatos were nice, their soft texture a bit of a shock looking at their appearance, but a bit dry. The only thing left was her zaffic which she sipped gently, having pocketed the rest of the pajatos and second kronkburger for later, not being able to finish it.

"Oi Mutt and Jeff! Over here!" The Doctor called, breaking up Rose's date as she walked over immediately, Adam still looking at Rose's phone. She'd sat a few tables away, simply watching them. For now. But it seemed she didn't have time to plan any more mischief as their date was already over. "Valarie!" The Doctor called as well, turning to her table as she sighed, slurping up the rest of the zaffic, finishing it and dumping it in a bin on her way to him. She looked back to Adam and saw him put the phone in his pocket. She faltered in her way at that and bumped into a rather tall man, cursing her height as she looked up at him, apologising before moving away.

"Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection. How d'you want it, by the book?" Cathica asked, turning to them as she smiled brightly. They had just been moved into a bright white room where everyone sat down together, their legs crossed and hands hovering above panels circling a white chair. Valarie had gone along with the entire management façade easily, figuring it was just to get the full experience if nothing else. Adam was a bit hesitant at breaking the law without a keyboard but went along with it anyway.

"Right from scratch thanks." The Doctor smiled, wanting to know everything, as did Valarie.

"Ok, so! Ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khandeni. That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me. And please do." She smiled at the Doctor as Valarie turned to him, wondering what was so special about Floor 500. "Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest and beyond bias. That's company policy." She turned back to the Doctor who smiled again as Valarie put her mouth to her hand, trying not to laugh.

"Actually erm, it's the law." Suki interrupted politely, smiling at the Doctor as well.

"Yes thank you Suki." Cathica spoke curtly, cutting her off. "Ok, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go." She warned before getting into the seat in the middle. "And, engage safety." She spoke, every person sitting in front of the panels, putting their hands closer to the panels as the walls glowed with golden light, pulsing. All 4 of them looked around, confused as Cathica clicked her fingers, a flap in her skin opening to reveal her brain on her forehead. It was gruesome yet interesting, the sight made Valarie's mouth hang open with no control over it as she watched. "And 3…2… and spike." She spoke calmly as the people put their hands on the panels, seemingly lost in a trance. A white light flowed out of the contraption above, straight into the flap revealing her brain.

"Doctor?" Valarie asked, the one word saying everything.

"Compressed information. Streaming into her." He explained with slight disgust in his voice. "Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain IS the computer." He finished as Valarie swallowed, feeling slightly sick.

"If it all goes through her, she must be a genius." Rose noted, leaning towards the Doctor to see better as Valarie stayed where she was, already having a good view. She stood next to Adam who was also leaning forwards.

"Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head would blow up." He told them, walking around the circle, leaving the ramp as Valarie stayed still, watching. "The brain's the processor. Soon as it closes, she forgets."

"So, what about all these people round the edge?" Rose asked, pointing to them.

"They've all go tiny little chips in their head connecting them to her. And they transmit. 600 channels. Every single fact in the Empire, beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power." He explained, leaning on the inside of the bar, watching as the white stream stopped.

"You alright?" Rose asked, walking to Adam.

"I can see her brain." He stated.

"D'you want to get out?" She asked, concern taking over again.

"No, no it's just. This technology, it's amazing." He breathed, in awe of it as Valarie had an unsettled feeling of something wrong.

"This technology's wrong." The Doctor stated, making Valarie smile that she wasn't the only one thinking it. It faded quick enough that she barely registered it was there as a frown replaced it.

"Glad I'm not the only one to see it." She murmured, again invisible. Only the Doctor noticed as he did the same, the smile being corrected quickly as he knew it was wrong to smile at something that was wrong.

"Trouble?" Rose asked, attracting all eyes to her naturally.

"Oh yeah!" The Doctor smiled, both of them ready to jump in as Valarie laughed to herself, trying to be quiet.

"Suki?" Valarie asked as the woman twitched, seemingly hurt by something. She went to her side, about to place her hands on her arms supportively when the Doctor interfered.

"Stop! Touch her now and you'll become part of the circle but you haven't got a chip. The information will kill you." The Doctor spoke, whispering in her ear as he was so close, his hands on her arms to stop her from touching Suki's. Valarie turned to see his face right there, calculating eyes watching the room. She did as he instructed, getting up slowly and looking around as he was.

"Doctor? You can let go now." Valarie whispered quieter, seeing Rose's slight jealousy. He looked confused for a moment before looking at their current position and nodded, pressing his lips together.

"Ah, yes. Sorry." He replied, moving away politely with a smile which Valarie returned, a spur of the moment thought entering her mind as she hugged the Doctor, getting close to see what Rose would do. It was brief and platonic, the Doctor knew that but Valarie could still see Rose getting a bit jealous as she lingered.

"Thanks." She smiled and the Doctor shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

"No problem." He dismissed and they moved on, Valarie watching Rose subtly as she tried to regain control of her emotions, unaware that she was revealing them all in the process. Luckily, only she saw. Adam was too busy watching the light and the Doctor had moved on. But a few seconds later, Suki let go of the controls as it if had burnt her. Everyone else subsequently followed, removing their hands but without any recognisable pain.

"That wasn't supposed to have happened was it?" Valarie asked, having seen the Doctor's face from the other side of the room.

"No." The Doctor replied as an unsettling feeling fell upon her.

"Come off it Suki, I wasn't even halfway! What was that for?" Cathica asked, getting back up from the chair after her trance like state had been broken.

"Sorry, it must've been a glitch." Suki apologised, her meek demeanour coming back as she held her hands close to her, brushing hair out of her face. Cathica sighed at her explanation, obviously not satisfied.

"Hey, don't blame her, it's not her fault." Valarie stood up for her, moving over to the woman and soothingly rubbed her arms, smiling supportively.

"Well thanks to her, we're going to have to work extra hours to regain the information." Cathica told her with slight disdain in her features as she thought of the idea of everything not running as smoothly as she thought in front of the 'inspectors' or whatever she thought they were.

"So you're more worried about extra hours than your work colleague? Maybe you need to rethink your priorities." Valarie shot back, making the Doctor smile with her fierce, fiery and protective nature. Cathica didn't have a chance to say anything else as the computer on the side, that no one had noticed, interrupted.

"Promotion." It notified.

"Come on, this is it come on!" Cathica chanted, all attention from the previous argument gone as she stared at the screen hopefully. "Oh God make it me. Come on, say my name. Say my name, say my name." She chanted some more, becoming quite aggressive as the 4 of them all stared at her with some degree of wariness. Rose was full on confused, furrowing her brows. The Doctor was visibly scared of this new persona and Adam watched with interest at how much jobs meant in the future. Valarie just rolled her eyes, having encountered many of her kind before. The army was quite competitive, just like any job with ranks but she also knew that even they didn't get quite as excited as Cathica. As she carried on, the Doctor's expression turned to horrified and furrowed eyebrows expressed his emotion as well.

"Promotion for… Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to floor 500." The voice spoke as Suki's mouth opened in shock, Valarie still sitting next to her.

"I don't believe it. Floor 500." Suki breathed, getting up as Valarie sat down properly and smiled up at her friend.

"How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you!" Cathica spoke, her frustration obvious as Suki walked towards the screen, not believing it.

"I don't know. I just applied on the off chance. And they've said yes!" She smiled, turning around.

"Oh it's so not fair, I've been applying to floor 500 for 3 years!" Cathica moaned and for some reason, Valarie didn't doubt she hadn't.

"What's floor 500?" Valarie asked, sensing it was important. She looked to the Doctor who was watching Cathica warily.

"The walls are made of gold." He repeated, not fully understanding it himself.

"Ok." Valarie swallowed, feeling a bit unsettled that even the Doctor didn't know what was happening on floor 500 especially when she got such a weird feeling about it. Suki got her bags, saying her last goodbyes to them all as they went to wave her off. All of them went back to the area where everyone had ate, the lift waiting as Suki stood excitedly.

"Cathica, I'm going to miss you." Suki smiled and Valarie had a feeling Cathica wouldn't miss her back. "Floor 500! Thank you!" She gushed to the Doctor who smiled at her happiness. She was so innocent and kind, she deserved this promotion but Valarie did understand Cathica's anger to some degree.

"I didn't do anything." The Doctor protested lightly.

"You're my lucky charm!" Suki protested back, sharing the good cheer.

"Alright, I'll hug anyone." The Doctor laughed, moving into a warm embrace with the happy worker. Valarie looked with a fond smile at her friends and his words seemed to soothe Rose's jealousy as she watched the two. They all chatted for a few more minutes as Valarie watched Rose go to talk to Adam. She couldn't hear what they were saying, they were too far away but she knew enough from facial expressions that they were ending whatever it was they had.

Valarie smiled but it soon faded when she saw Rose take out her TARDIS key to give to him. She had a weird feeling about him. She knew he wasn't a bad kid but the possibilities of time travel and to a 'genius'. They just didn't fit and with how he'd pocketed Rose's phone earlier, (No, she hadn't forgotten) Valarie had a feeling about him. She didn't want him to take advantage of Rose's kindness and use it for his own scientific ends.

"What was that about?" Valarie asked as Rose came back to them.

"It's just getting a bit much for him so he went to sit on the observation deck." Rose explained, not thinking anything of it. "I gave him the TARDIS key just in case." She confirmed and every uneasy feeling she'd had about this entire adventure came back at once.

"Oh my God, I've got to go! I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry!" Suki shouted as she ran off. It pulled Valarie back to the conversation as she waved goodbye as she got into the lift. "And say goodbye to Steve for me!" She shouted from inside. "Bye!" She shouted again, almost too rushed before the doors closed. They waved but Valarie swallowed slightly, her feeling only getting worse as she looked around. She felt sick.

"Valarie? Are you alright?" The Doctor asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. To her surprise, she turned around to him with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know. I just… I just feel like there's something wrong." She spoke in a hurry, trying to express herself without seeming too weird. She sighed in a distressed manner as the Doctor worried.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked, trying to ground her as she hyperventilated.

"You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs." Rose's words cut through the fog as she tuned back into their conversation.

"Listen. Something's wrong. Just, listen." Valarie asked, taking a breath and pointing to Rose and Cathica.

"We won't. Once you go to Floor 500, you never come back." Cathica told them and she snapped her fingers, pointing at her repeatedly as the worry increased. Words couldn't express what she wanted to say and the Doctor immediately understood as his expression turned dark. They watched as the numbers on the lift ran by in a blur, going to 500 and Cathica turned away with a sigh, not bothered by the obvious signs of something extremely wrong. The numbers started to decrease again and Cathica turned around with a frown. "It's not supposed to do that." She murmured and Valarie turned to the Doctor who had a small blue stick in his hand, hidden away from everyone except her. The Doctor smiled and winked at her as she smiled, walking back to him.

"Sonic screwdriver. Handy little thing." He whispered quietly and Valarie breathed a laugh at the simplicity of it. He put a finger to his lips and shushed her gently as she walked back, calmed down. She didn't know if it was the fact that she would be getting to see this mysterious floor 500 or the fact that she had just seen a 'sonic' screwdriver, whatever benefits that added.

"That's really weird." Cathica murmured as she walked closer, investigating like a proper journalist would and should.

"Is it?" The Doctor asked with a smirk as another bubble of laughter escaped Valarie's lips. The lift doors opened and Suki stood there with her bags. A sigh of relief filled the air from Valarie.

"Um, I don't know what happened. What did I do?" She asked, looking around in confusion.

"Nothing, it's just…" The Doctor began before finding he had no excuse for this. Valarie put a hand on his arm, telling him she had this and began her own excuse, carrying on from the Doctor.

"A management issue. One of us needs to escort you. It's actually the reason we were here, just scouting you out." Valarie smiled, walking forwards and taking control of the situation. "I'll be happy to take you, I need to get some information as well." She smiled, pretending to be the normal management worker as she walked forwards, stopped by the Doctor's warning words.

"Valarie, maybe I should go." He hinted, moving closer and Valarie turned around with a sweet smile.

"It's fine Doctor. I've got this." She hinted back, holding a hand up in front of him. He gave her a warning look which she returned with a smirk. He rolled his eyes and stepped back, letting her go.

Suki, oblivious to all the tension in the room gushed happily. "Oh thank you, I don't want to be late and it will be nice to have a management worker with me." She considered, waving again at the people as Valarie called out her goodbyes, Rose and the Doctor returning theirs more hesitantly.

"Come back soon, we haven't finished with our inspection!" Rose shouted, her warning in her look.

"You heard her!" The Doctor agreed, making Valarie laugh at their unity now that Adam was gone. Cathica rolled her eyes again, walking off as the doors closed and they both waited with growing nerves.

"While we're there could you put in a good word for me? It's a new workplace and I don't want to have no friends or be unhappy." Suki asked, playing with her bag.

"Sure, I'll see if I have the time. I might do it later, just in private but I'm sure you'll have no trouble making friends." Valarie assured, knowing she couldn't promise anything, especially with how sketchy Floor 500 seemed. The doors opened and they both took a breath, Valarie trying to hide hers as she was supposedly accustomed to this floor. She saw the frozen tundra ahead and shivered in anticipation. It was chilling to see the dark and cold so vast and obvious in a workplace. There was technology scattered around everywhere, wires scaling the walls like vines wrapping around it. It was so out of place yet so common and the thought made Valarie take a breath, fear snaking around her imagination as her thoughts turned darker. She shook it off, trying to be normal as Suki looked at her in confusion. "Well, it's a bit darker than usual. I wonder what happened. Do you have a torch?" She asked as Suki nodded, reaching down to her bag and pulling one out.

"Is it meant to be this cold?" She asked, rubbing her bare arms as she handed Valarie the torch. She accepted the cold metal gratefully and clicked it on, slightly disappointed to see it didn't do much but sought comfort in the warming metal as the energy made it work. Valarie took off the jacket from around her waist and put it on, being careful enough so that she didn't drop the torch.

"Um, yes. The cold helps the technology to not over heat with all of the important and large data they deal with up here." Valarie made up, cursing herself for being so good with lying to her. She couldn't believe that she could say such lies to someone and they would accept them normally, but Suki was an innocent one who seemed like she would believe you if you told her the moon was made of cheese.

"Oh. I guess I'll be doing that soon. Better get used it huh?" She asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere and Valarie breathed an awkward laugh. She moved in front, being careful as she slowly stepped, making sure Suki followed behind her and was safe. The door closed behind them and Valarie knew it wouldn't reopen just by seeing it as Suki ran to try and open it again, fear taking over.

"Yeah well, hopefully my petition will help." Valarie smiled, trying to put her interference into words in the similar situation. She smiled supportively as Suki gave up, picking up her bag and turning back around.

"What petition?" She asked as they ventured further into the cold.

"Suki, would you believe me if I told you I wasn't from Satellite 5?" She asked, turning around. The light was pointed at the floor and she clicked it off so no-one would see it as they revealed secrets.

"So where would you be from then?" She asked, confused, thinking it was a joke.

"From Earth. But not this Earth. Earth 198 billion years ago, or something like that." Valarie shrugged, not being able to be bothered to do the maths as she told the bewildered woman.

"How is that possible? Only the Time Agency are allowed to have access to time travel. And Time Agents don't interfere unless it changes the history horribly… Oh my God, has something happened there?" Suki asked, spinning her own theories. "Did they call for Time Agents?" She asked, seemingly slipping out of her innocent façade as she asked Valarie who was taken aback.

"They? I need to hear the name." Valarie asked, pretending she was a Time Agent. Why not? Telling who she actually was wouldn't work so why not?

"Eva Saint Julienne, last surviving member of the Freedom 15. I'm hidden behind a genetic graft but it is me." She confirmed and Valarie swallowed slightly, trying to hide her shock and pretend she knew all along. "The code-word is self-declared anarchist. Or just anarchist." She elaborated and Valarie regained her wits, standing up straighter and offering a salute to the fellow soldier which Eva returned proudly.

"Valarie Waters of the 16th Birmingham Squadron of old. Separated from Squadron in battle, presumed to be the last surviving member. Good to meet another." Valarie introduced herself, the reality of losing her entire life crashing down upon her as she shook her hand, both of them gaining a deep understanding and new bond with each other beyond the decoys. They nodded in mutual respect for each other's losses and moved forwards, a new silence created only this wasn't the awkward one of terrified façade's. This one was the stern anger of the soldiers avenging their squadrons.

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