Title: Manipulation of the Mind
Author: Trustno1
Disclaimer: As usual, they do not belong to me.
Chapter XIIThe fight had not worked to the Voice's advantage, but to Rose's, giving her a renewed vigour. Being forced to fight had woken her up the fight within her, and with it the feeling of unease, and the pain. She watched the Doctor struggling with her, watched as if she was in a dream, as she repeatedly hit him as he tried to help her. She heard the pain in his voice and tried to tell him she was sorry. But the words wouldn't come out – only a blinding flash of pain as she stopped listening to the Voice and questioned why she was doing this again.
"Doctor…" His head snapped up at her barely audible whisper. "It hurts, it's hurting me," she sobbed as the Voice screamed at her to stop talking. The Doctor laid a wonderfully cool hand against her forehead, then kissed her cheek softly. Then, with a distressed look on his face, reluctantly walked out of the room. His hearts broke as he heard Rose's cries as he made his way to the control room.
I told you, Rose, the Voice said coldly, with a hint of smugness. You were hoping he'd stay with you, find out what's 'wrong' with you. But he left, just as I told you he would. You should have listened to me, Rose, then you wouldn't be in this much pain. Rose gave an anguished cry as a fresh burst of razor sharp pain radiated through her head. But at the same time, the feeling that something was wrong began to grow a little, still untouched by the claws of the Voice. It was telling her this shouldn't be happening, she shouldn't have her life dictated by some malicious Voice. She should think for herself, not roll over and accept these notions as the gospel truth, not be led around in life.
However, it was increasingly difficult to hear this feeling, let alone act on it, when she was in absolute agony, hoping that the pain would become so intense she would either pass out, or just die. The Voice would let her do neither of these things, at least not for the time being, so Rose had to content herself with sobbing wearily and pulling futilely at the restraints.
The Doctor landed the TARDIS in a small clearing in sector Darwin-Alpha. Thankfully, he had managed to materialise close to the headquarters of Darwin's Sector, home to the Director of this half of the planet, and hopefully, the answer to what was wrong with Rose.
He raced out of the TARDIS, not bothering to lock the door, and ran towards the sprawl of red bricked buildings in the distance, ignoring the curious glances of a couple of scientists inspecting a bright blue flower that grew out of a piece of black rock. A group of neat metal signposts told him the Director's office was in block A, in the East wing. He hardly paused at the main entrance – the sonic screwdriver was even working miraculously fast for him – and made his way down deserted corridor after deserted corridor. Just as he was beginning to wonder where on earth all the scientists were, an old man stepped out of a side-room and into the Doctor's path. The Doctor ground to a halt, breathing quickly and fumbling for his psychic paper. The old man glanced over him, his kind but authoritative eyes alighting briefly on his left eye where the Doctor could feel a nice bruise forming, before resting on the paper that he now held half-heartedly in his hand.
"Excuse me, but why do you have a piece of paper that says 'Help Rose' on it, Sir?" The Doctor quickly stuffed the paper back in his jacket. "And who exactly are you?" the man asked, not unkindly, but curiously. He shifted slightly and the Doctor was able to see the left side of his coat – it read Dr. Stephen Duquesne Area Director. He gave a small sigh of relief.
"I'm…" he hesitated. He wasn't sure if giving his name would cause a few problems on a planet of Doctors. Plus, he didn't want to give away too much information at this time. "I'm a friend of Dr. Greg Fox, in Einstein-Tango. I don't know whether you know him or not."
"Oh, yes, I know Greg. He's just finished a spot of research with my younger brother on the range of teleporters. I didn't realise he was giving a tour of Darwin Sector as well as his own," the Director said, raising his eyebrows slightly, inviting an explanation.
"Yes, about that. Rose and I – a friend of mine – were heading back to our ship after visiting Greg, when she was stung by something, a plant," the Doctor said trying to act natural, and far less worried than he was. When the Director paled slightly, however, panic rose in his chest, clutching his heart in an icy grip, and he struggled to remain calm.
"A large plant, almost a cross between a spider plant and a banana plant from Earth, with liana and dark green needles that are about six centimetres long? No visible fruit on it, and in a shady area of the rainforest?" The Director's voice remained composed, though there was no mistaking the note of urgency.
"Yes, just like that. I didn't think it was harmful to larger species; it targets smaller prey that it can digest more easily."
Dr. Duquesne was impressed at this man's knowledge of a species that had actually only been discovered by humans one year ago, on Chalem, one of the moons of Fornax, and had not yet been documented in any of the more widely published papers. He wanted to ask if he was a scientist himself, but priority took over; if this man's friend had indeed been stung by the Serpens – to use the nickname scientists had given it, due to the manner by which it attracts its prey – then that definitely took precedent. He opened the door he had just exited from, and held a hand out for the Doctor to enter.
"Please. I'd better tell you about that particular plant." The Doctor nodded mutely and walked into the bright office.
"I assume from your previous question that you know how the Serpens attracts its prey," Dr. Duquesne said, seating himself behind a large mahogany desk.
"Yes, it lures prey by disguising part of itself, as many organisms do, as something that would appear to have little or no threat. In this case: a large vine on the rainforest floor. If something moves across it, the vine tightens, like a reflex, long enough to sting whatever it's holding with a needle of venom. If the organism is small enough, the paralytic venom will have an affect on it, the vine will retract, and the plant will digest the organism. It doesn't work on larger prey because a: it won't paralyse it sufficiently, and b: it will be too large to digest." The Doctor finished this speech, spoken as if reciting from a textbook, and stopped pacing up and down the Director's office long enough to look him in the eye. He didn't particularly like what he saw. "I take it small prey isn't what it goes for nowadays," the Doctor said, before resuming pacing.
"No. Unfortunately, we had a case of cross contamination. Not completely uncommon in the lab, even here on Newtonia, but this was out in the field, and therefore went undetected for almost five days."
"What did? What the hell did that plant get contaminated with to make Rose act like… that?" the Doctor demanded angrily. Duquesne looked regretfully at the man pacing up and down his office floor like a caged lion, before pulling out an A4 notepad and a silver handheld computer. The few pages in the notebook were crumpled, the edges charred brown.
"Sit down, Mr…?"
"Tyler," the Doctor replied unconsciously, hardly even hearing his response.
"Please, sit down, Mr. Tyler, and I'll tell you what happened."
End Chapter XII