A/N: Hello there! Apologise, I have been extremely busy with work and life and pets. It has been non-stop, honestly! Here is the next chapter for you. I was meant to post it a week ago but I just had so much going on that I didn't have the time. I hope it was worth the way for you all!
Kari found herself an empty room somewhere in the grand Tyler house. She had never expected to see him there, to see someone from her life before the Doctor. Then she remembered, he wasn't from her life, this wasn't her world. That man, the man who claimed to be Martin Conner, was not the father she had been raised by. He was a completely different man altogether, a stranger, apparently he wasn't even her father.
She was still trying to wrap her head around it all when the Doctor finally managed to find her. "Kari, are you okay?" He asked immediately, rushing over and wrapping his arms around her. Her arms quickly tightened around him and she tried so hard to hold it all in, to keep herself calm and just keep it together. Kari thought she was doing really well, until she realised what was running through the Doctor's head. He was terrified that something bad had happened, and the silence from her was making him worry even more.
"I'm fine." Kari lied. "Just… a little overwhelmed. I did not expect to find someone in this universe who knew me, or a version of me at least." She was more than just a little overwhelmed, she was confused, scared, frustrated and also very nervous.
The Doctor gently unwrapped his arms from around her and gazed into her eyes. "Do you recognise him? Do you know him?" He was certain that all of this had something to do with the man that they had just met, and he hoped that she would tell him the truth and talk about it. The Doctor didn't want her keeping it all to herself, because he knew it was something that was upsetting her.
She nodded at him slightly. "Yeah, kind of. He's… umm… in my world he… Martin Conner was my dad's name. Patrick was my uncle, his brother. But he isn't my dad, Martin Conner in this universe is not my dad, Patrick is. So, it doesn't really matter then, does it?" Kari had so many questions, was there really a person walking around in this world that looked like her? Did they have the same mother? Was her mother alive? What was this Keri person like? Was she anything like she was? Would the Doctor see this other person and then…
"Kari calm down, it's okay." The Doctor said, knowing that she was panicking. "It's okay. You know that this is a different world, you know that they are not the people you once knew." He reminded her calmly. "It is okay."
But she couldn't help it, and that last thing she had been thinking about was still at the front of her mind. "There's someone like me, there's Keri. What if you… if you and… and she…" Kari was now having a full blown panic attack. Her chest felt tight, her head was spinning and she was finding it difficult to breathe. She felt the presence of the TARDIS in her head trying to sooth her, but it wasn't helping at all. "What if…"
Suddenly the Doctor's hands were cupping her cheeks as he caught her gaze with his. "Kari, stop that. Don't ever, ever think like that. I don't care if she looks exactly like you, she is not you. She doesn't have your hearts or soul. She hasn't been the one to save me so many times. Don't you ever, for even a second, think that I would pick her, or anyone else, over you."
"You can't be sure. What if you meet her and then…" Her eyes widened as she remembered what would happen in the future, and everything just became that little more terrifying. Kari felt like she had the whole universe crashing down on her. There was too much that she knew, too much that she didn't know, and so much that she just couldn't explain. Her chest tightened even more and now she was finding it even more challenging to take a breath. Spots were starting to appear in her vision as the lack of oxygen getting to her lungs finally started taking its toll on her. There was a voice in the back of her head, reassuring her, telling her to calm down. It was a voice that she heard so much when they were in the impossible blue box, but Kari couldn't focus on it.
Straight away the Doctor's eyes widened. "No. No, no, no. Kari, come on, listen to me, stop that. I love you, Kari. Just you and only you. Okay? I love you." He could see the tears in her eyes now and he knew that she was finding it all too much. Instead of waiting for her to reply, he pressed his lips against hers, hoping that she would listen to him, that she would believe him. The Doctor hated seeing her in that state and he would do whatever he could to make her feel better, to make her see and understand that she was everything to him and that nothing would ever change that.
A few moments past and the Doctor suddenly found himself being yanked away from Kari. "What the hell do you think you are doing!" A man shouted in anger, surprising and confusing the Doctor. "Get off her." The next thing he knew, he had been thrown partially across the room and away from Kari.
When he looked he saw that she was standing there in shock while Martin Conner wrapped his arms protectively around her. There was a fire burning in his eyes as he looked at the Doctor. All the Doctor could really do was look on in confusion. "What? Why did you…"
"You keep your hands off my niece." Martin said to the Doctor, before turning to Kari. "Keri, love, are you alright? Did he hurt you?" There was genuine worry and concern in his voice as he checked that she was okay.
It took a few seconds for Karo to pull herself together and register what had just happened. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why… why did you do that?" She asked, looking between the man and the Doctor. She could also see the worry on the Doctor's face as well.
"You're my niece. I'm going to look out for you and protect you." Martin replied. "Are you sure you're okay, Keri?"
Kari let out a sigh. "Yes, I am okay, but you really didn't need to do that." She told him, before gently pulling herself away from him and going over to the Doctor. "The Doctor is my fiance." she announced, flashing him the ring that she was wearing.
Now there was a shocked look on Martin's face. "Kerianne Conner, you are in big trouble. Does your dad know about this? You've never mentioned any of this before." It was clear that he didn't know how to react to the news. "Keri, what is going on?"
"Kari! My name is Kari, not Keri." She shouted in frustration. "I am not Kerianne Conner, my name is Kari, Karianne Conner. I am not your niece." The moment she had said that she regretted it. She knew that she had just opened up a whole new can of worms that she shouldn't have. "I'm sorry, but you've mistaken me for someone else." She told him a little more calmly.
Without saying a word, the man pulled out his mobile phone. That was the first time that Kari noticed it, he wasn't wearing the earpods like everyone else was. Both she and the Doctor watched him as he placed the phone against his ear, patiently waiting. "Hello, Keri. It's uncle Martin. I just wanted to check how you were feeling, love." He said, his eyes wide as he looked at Kari while he spoke. "Okay, well I hope you feel better soon. Tell your dad I'll give him a call later, alright? Yeah, you get some rest. Bye love."
Kari could tell by the look on his face that he was struggling to understand what was going on. "I'm sorry. I am a completely different person. I'm not your niece."
"But who are you? You look very much like her, well apart from the hair, and the eyes. You sound like her too." It was clear that there was still some confusion for him, and he was doing his best to handle the situation. "You acted like you knew me, like you were her. Even your names are very similar."
The Doctor and Kari both shared a look. Did she tell him the truth? Was it going to make things better or worse by doing that? "You'd never believe me if I told you. Look, I never should have made out that I was her in the first place, I just panicked. I didn't know what to do when you mistook me for someone else, and you seemed so happy to see me… her, too."
"Where are you from?" He asked, clearly having not been deterred by her previous comment. While he knew now that she wasn't his niece, there was still something about her, something that made him want to trust her and believe her. Martin couldn't really explain it, but it was just a feeling that he was getting.
This time I was the Doctor who answered. "Far, far away. We came here by mistake, it was an accident. We shouldn't even be here." He told Martin, holding onto Kari's hand and giving it a squeeze.
Martin frowned at the pair. "What does that mean?"
Kari knew that he needed more, it was just like him really, not settling for the bare minimum, having to know everything in detail. "What that means is we aren't from this universe. That's why I look like your niece, why you thought I looked like her. I come from another world, a parallel universe. Each world has its differences, some small, some big. In this world, your world, there is a person called Kerianne who is your niece. In my world there is Karianne." She didn't dare go into the detail that where she was from, she was his daughter and not niece. There was no need for any of that.
"Stevie was right." Both Kari and the Doctor heard him mutter. "If he was right about this, then what else has he been right about?"
Kari couldn't help but frown, why did the name Stevie sound familiar. She didn't know anyone with that name, did she? Instead she closed her eyes and tried to picture someone called Stevie, to remember where she heard that name before. Then she saw it, she saw Pete Tyler talking to a man called Stevie at his party. "Torchwood." She whispered, before opening her eyes. "You work for Torchwood in this world." Kari didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she knew that things were just getting more and more complicated now.
"How do you know about Torchwood?" Martin asked her in shock.
"It doesn't matter right now." Kari told him, before turning to face the Doctor. "You have to listen to me, I know what is going on here and you have to listen." She couldn't do it any longer, she had to tell the Doctor exactly what was going on. "The Cybermen are coming, Doctor. This planet is about to have a very big encounter with the Cybermen."
Now it was the Doctor's turn to look at her in shock. "What? Kari, what do you mean?"
Instead of answering him, she dragged him over to a computer that she had just noticed was in the room, with Martin swiftly following. "John Lumic, he is behind all of this, he has been planning this for a long time now. He is dying, and he is trying to find a way to live longer, without the decaying body." She told him, having been typing away the whole time she had been speaking. "Cybus Industries, Cybus, as in Cyber."
Suddenly the screen came to life and a video was playing, one with a man talking, discussing his plans, talking about living longer. "The most precious thing on this Earth is the human brain." The man said as the images changed, with both the Doctor and Martin watching. "This is the ultimate upgrade. Our greatest step into cyberspace."
Now the Doctor understood what Kari was talking about. "Cybers." He muttered in slight disbelief.
Kari knew what was going to happen next, and she quickly grabbed the Doctor's hand, tugging him away from the computer and out of the room. Martin called after them, before trying to catch them up. They finally made it back to where the party was in full swing and the pair both spotted Rose. It was clear from the look on her face that she had seen what was coming and they all headed over to the window.
There were bright lights outside and something heading towards them. The Doctor cupped his hands on the window, trying to get a better look at what was out there. Then he saw them and realised just how much trouble they were in. "It's happening again." He muttered, glad that Kari had told him what she could.
Rose just looked at him in confusion, completely oblivious to the extra person that was with them. "What do you mean?"
"We've seen them before." Both Kari and the Doctor said at the same time.
"What are they?" Rose did not like the way that they were speaking, she knew from their tone that it was something serious.
"Cybermen." The Doctor announced, just as a metal fist smashed through one of the other windows. This was then followed by a Cyberman stepping through. People began to scream and panic as each window was smashed and a metal man stepped through and into the house. It wasn't long until they were stuck in the middle of the room, surrounded. The Doctor had a tight grip on Kari's hand now and she could feel the fear and worry just radiating off him.
"Mr Lumic." The President said, looking at the shiny metal men that were all around them.
While it was a personal call, Kari knew everything that was being said. However, she was surprised that when she closed her eyes she could see the old man in an electric wheelchair, talking. "Mr President. I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point." Kari decided to open her mind up and share the conversation with the Doctor, he needed to hear all of this, he needed to know what was going on.
There was an angry look on the President's face."I forbade this."
"These are my children, sir. Would you deny my family?" John Lumic replied, safely tucked away somewhere.
Rose hadn't been able to hear both sides of the conversation and had no idea what was going on. "What are they, robots?" She asked, sensing that things were bad.
Kari gave the Doctor's hand a squeeze as he replied to her. "Worse than that."
Before he could say anything else, the President was speaking again. "Who were these people?"
Kari closed her eyes at hearing the response from Mr Lumic. "Doesn't matter."
"They're people?" Rose asked, clearly shocked by it all.
The Doctor was reeling inside, he was sad, angry, worried, and not just about the Cybermen they were facing. "They were, until they had all their humanity taken away. That's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel. All emotions removed."
The last part struck Rose as odd. "Why no emotions?"
"Because it hurts." Kari replied, glancing at the Doctor. He looked at her as well, a sad smile on his face. They both fully understood how much emotions hurt.
"I demand to know, Lumic. These people, who were they?" The President was getting angrier by the second and he wanted answers.
"They were homeless and wretched and useless. Until I saved them, and elevated them, and gave them life eternal. And now I leave you in their capable hands. Goodnight, sir. Goodnight, Mister President." The call ended and the connection that Kari had cut as well. It was weird, being able to do that, but she wasn't going to complain, it had actually helped her slightly.
It was then that the mental men started to speak. "We have been upgraded." One of them announced, the one standing in front of the President.
The Doctor knew he should probably just keep quiet and observe, but he just couldn't help it, he couldn't stop himself from asking. "Into what?" His curiosity got the better of him.
"The next level of mankind. We are Human point two. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us." The Cyberman responded calmly.
""I'm sorry." The President said, stepping closer to the metal men with a sad look on his face. "I'm so sorry for what's been done to you, but listen to me. This experiment ends tonight."
It seemed that the Cyberman did not agree with what was being said. "Upgrading is compulsory." It replied, its voice sending a shiver down Kari's spine. They didn't sound human, but they didn't completely sound like a robot. When they spoke they all sounded the same, even though each and every one of them used to have their own, unique voice.
"And if I refuse?" The President asked, while the Doctor warned him to stop. The Doctor and Kari both knew what would happen if he refused, they knew the consequences all too well. "What if I refuse?"
Kari couldn't take it anymore, she had to do something to stop this, to help. "If you refuse then you are not compatible and all rejected stock is deleted. So if you want to get out of this alive I suggest you shut up and just do as you are told."
The President looked at her with a shocked expression. It had been a very long time since someone had spoken to him like that, and he did not enjoy it. "Do you know who I am? How dare you speak to me like that."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't care if you're the bloody Queen. You are going to get yourself and everyone else in this room killed if you carry on." Kari knew that he was the one to start it, the first to be deleted and to set off the chain reaction. Panic would ensue and more people would just be killed by the Cybermen because of him. "So why don't you just keep your mouth shut."
All the man did was give Kari a rather disgusted look, before ignoring everything that she had just said. "What happens if I refuse?" He asked once again, causing Kari to let out a sigh. Why did nobody ever listen to her?
"Then you are not compatible." The Cyberman replied immediately.
He just couldn't leave it, couldn't just do what Kari said, he carried on asking his questions, the questions that were going to get himself and others killed. "What happens then?"
Kari couldn't look and she turned her head away. "You will be deleted." The Cyberman responded, a metal hand touching the President's neck. The next moment, there was a surge of electricity running through him, killing him.
That was when the chaos and panic started. Kari grabbed a hold of the Doctor and Rose and dragged them with her as she tried to push her way through all the other bodies that were trying to escape. Unfortunately not everyone was able to get away and she heard the screams of those who had also been deleted by the Cybermen. They could still hear the screams as they jumped out of one of the windows that had been smashed.
Rose was trying to pull back, and the Doctor knew why. "There's nothing we can do." He told her, knowing that Kari was feeling guilty about what had just happened. He knew why she had been warning him, she knew what was going to happen.
"My mum's in there!" The youngster protested, but to avail.
The Doctor knew that they didn't have time for objections and arguments, they needed to get out of there and fast. "She is not your mother! Come on!" He said, grabbing her arm and pulling her along as they ran.
Suddenly they were facing a row of matching Cybermen and quickly changed direction, heading towards the other side of the house. That was when they saw someone else jumping out of the window and Rose's face lit up. "Pete! Pete!" She called to the man who was not her father, beckoning him to come with them. It seemed that he wasn't alone and Martin had been following the group all along. Kari had seen him but didn't really know what to say to him. She knew she couldn't get attached to the man, he wasn't who she wanted him to be.
All they were doing was running around the outside of the house, until the Doctor finally spoke up. "Pete, is there a way out?" He asked, making sure he was holding onto Kari's hand tightly. He knew that she was finding things to be a little difficult right now, he knew that her emotions were starting to tangle together and confuse her.
"The side gates." Pete answered quickly, rushing towards them. "Who are you? How do you know so much?" He added as they all followed him. "Martin, how do you know these people?"
"You wouldn't believe it in a million years." The Doctor said, before having to stop his run and change directions. There were more Cybermen in front of them now, marching towards them like a well trained arm.
They started running back the other way again, trying to find some kind of escape. That was when they noticed some figures running towards them, two human looking figures, not mechanical men. "Who's that?" Rose asked, as the four of them stood there looking a little confused.
"Get behind me!" A familiar voice shouted. The group wasted no time and quickly got behind the two men who were holding very large guns. The Doctor tightly wrapped his arms around Kari as she covered her ears. The firing of guns had started and the noise was causing her head to hurt.
But the bullets weren't doing anything to them, they were just bouncing off. Then the Cybermen stopped. They just simply stopped. They weren't heading towards them anymore, they were just standing there in front of them. It was like they were waiting.
Now that there was a break in the gunfire and chaos, Rose finally looked at the people who had come to their rescue. "Oh my God, look at you." She said, hugging Mickey. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
"Yeah. No offence, sweetheart, but who the hell are you?" The man said, looking a little disgusted that she was touching him. He wasn't exactly being friendly.
That was when another familiar voice joined in. "Rose!" Mickey called to her as he ran towards them all. "That's not me. That's like the other one."
The Doctor couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Oh, as if things weren't bad enough, there's two Mickey's." He said, earning a slight glare from Kari.
"It's Ricky." She said, at the same time as the man who Rose had been hugging did.
Kari knew that she needed to step it up a little now, she wanted to get out of there, she wanted to get back to her universe. They were completely surrounded now, Cybermen all around them. "There's more of them, we can't stop them like this. Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them." But the man who had approached them with Ricky just completely ignored her and started firing at the Cybermen once more.
"No! Stop shooting, now." The Doctor told him, forcing him to lower the gun he was holding. "We surrender!" He said to the Cybermen, putting his hands up and telling everyone else to do the same. "There's no need to damage us. We're good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed." Inside he was panicking so much. He was worried about Kari, about how she was feeling through all of this. He knew that there was something else she wasn't telling him, he could see it in her eyes that she was keeping something from him, but he hadn't asked her what. He didn't want to keep pushing her and pressuring her to tell him everything.
It didn't take long for him to receive a reply. "You are rogue elements."
Now the Doctor was confused. "But we surrender." He told them, hoping that they would listen to him. He needed more time, more time to think of something, to work out a plan to stop them and get Kari back to the TARDIS safely.
"You are incompatible." The Cyberman added.
The frown didn't fade from the Doctor's face. "But this is a surrender." Kari could feel the Doctor start to panic, he was struggling, he didn't know what to do. He was going through so many different scenarios in his head, about what was going to happen, what could happen, what would happen to her.
"You will be deleted."
With his hands still in the air, the Doctor tried one more time. "But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!"
Kari knew what was coming next. "You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum deletion." There was a look of horror on the Doctor's face as he watched the Cybermen hold a metal hand to its chest before pointing it out towards them all. "Delete. Delete. Delete!"
Everything was overwhelming her. She could hear all the Doctor's thoughts and worries, she could feel his fear. What was even more disturbing for her was that she could hear others, people calling out, shouting, begging, crying. They didn't want to change, they didn't want to be converted. Kari could hear it all, she could hear the final thoughts of those who were being converted. It was all getting too much, there were too many voices, too many feelings, she couldn't untangle them all. There was a pressure building up inside of her, and she was desperate to let it go, even though she had no idea what it was or where it had come from.
Then she heard another voice in her head, a soft, calming voice. "Let it go, my Angel. I'll help you." It was the TARDIS. "I'll protect you."
That was all that Kari needed to hear, and she finally started to understand what that build up was, the time vortex. She knew what she needed to do, and for once she had someone there with her to help her, to make sure that she didn't over do it and end up draining herself too much, or worse, killing herself. Instead she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, before letting it out.
A/N: So, I really do hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. I have got the rest of this story written and have been working on the next. I think I'm currently writing chapter 169, so there are a few more ready to go. I just need to remember to actual post them!
I just want to think all of you who are still leaving reviews, I really do appreciate it. I know that some of you have been reading this since the very beginning, back in 2012. I've come a long way since then, and so has my writing. I keep saying that I am going to go back and review the old chapters and make corrections to them, but I just never have the time. Sorry.
Anyway, I'm going off track here. Thank you for all the reviews, I enjoy reading them and getting the notification for them as well. So keep them coming. Unitl the next time...
Pippa.
