Shareen vs the Universe
New Earth
Thanks to I'm nobody suspicious, Megalvatron12 and ChristinaClay for favouriting and following this story
Rose, Jackie, Mickey and Shareen all stood outside the TARDIS with Rose packed and ready to resume her travels with the Doctor, only this time Shareen was accompanying her for a trip. "Have ya got everything?" Jackie asked her daughter
"I've got everything, don't worry." Rose reassured her
"Be careful." Jackie said sincerely, and mother and daughter shared a hug.
Shareen meanwhile was saying goodbye to Mickey. "Watch yourself, 'Reen." Mickey said
"I will, Micks." Shareen replied, "Besides, I'm only having the one trip. I'll be back later. You're not getting rid of me!" And she and Mickey shared a laugh.
"You gotta call Mo about that..." Rose said to Jackie
"Oh, never mind Mo." Jackie waved her off, making the most of the hug.
"Ok, I'm going now." Rose said as they broke apart, "I love you!" And she kissed her mother on the cheek.
"I love you." Jackie reciprocated
"Love you, love you..." Rose said back in quick succession, then went over to Mickey and kissed him goodbye.
"Good luck." Mickey said
"Bye!" Rose said and went into the TARDIS with a bounce in her step.
Shareen meanwhile said goodbye to Jackie. "Take care of yourself, sweetheart." Jackie said
"I will, Jackie." Shareen replied, "I'll see ya both later. Ta-ta!" And she followed Rose into the TARDIS.
The Doctor was ready and waiting for the two women. With extra vigour, he pulled a lever, and they were off.
"So, where're we going?" Rose asked eagerly
"Further than we've ever gone before." the Doctor grinned, his eyes shining with enthusiasm.
"Woah! This is quite the ride." Shareen commented as the TARDIS rocked and rolled, "Did ya have to pass a test to fly this thing?" she asked the Doctor
"Yep, and I failed." the Doctor waved her off, "And here go!"
~8~
When the TARDIS stopped, the Doctor and Rose indicated for Shareen to go out first. The young women stepped out of the box to find herself on a windy stretch of grass. Her mouth dropped open at something in the distance.
The Doctor and Rose stepped out behind her, both amused at Shareen's reaction. "It's the year Five Billion and Twenty-Three." the Doctor explained, "We're in the galaxy M87, and this... is New Earth."
They were overlooking a futuristic city with magnificent skyscrapers towering up into the heavens and hover cars zooming to and fro. Shareen found her voice. "That's just... it's..." She burst out laughing in wonder.
"I know. Not bad. Not bad at all, eh?" Rose said understandingly
"Oh, this is brilliant!" Shareen laughed, "We're actually standing on a different planet! That's a different sky..." She pointed at the clear blue sky above them. "Different grass..." She bounced up and down on the spot.
"I know what ya mean, 'Reen." Rose laughed, then sniffed the air. "What's that smell?"
"Smells like apples." Shareen observed
The Doctor bent down, pulled out some blades of grass and showed it to the women. "Apple grass." he told them
"Apple grass...!" Rose laughed
"Yeah, yeah." the Doctor confirmed
"Do they have strawberry fields too?" Shareen asked jokingly, and all three shared a laugh.
"Oh, I love this!" Rose grinned, linking her arm through the Doctor's, "Can I just say... travelling with you, I love it!"
"Me too." the Doctor grinned, "Come on!" And they dashed off together, Shareen hurrying after them.
~8~
Presently, the trio stopped by the water's edge. The Doctor slipped his long coat off and lay it down on the grass, then he and Rose sprawled down on it. Shareen sat down nearby. "So, the year 5.5/apple/26..." the Doctor began, "The sun expands, the Earth gets roasted."
"That was our first date." Rose smiled
"Hmm, funny place to have a date." Shareen said dryly
"We had chips afterwards." the Doctor reminisced, ignoring Shareen's remark, "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks an' dust, but the Human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up... oh, yeah, they get all nostalgic... big revival movement. They find this place." He sat up for a better view of the city. "Same size as Earth... same air... same orbit... lovely! Call goes out, the Humans move in!"
"What's the city called?" Rose asked
"New New York." the Doctor replied
"Oh, pull the other one, Peacock." Shareen snorted
"It is!" the Doctor insisted, "It's the City of New New York." He paused, thinking. "Strictly speaking, it's the 15th New York since the original. So that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." He then noticed Rose smiling down at him. "What?"
"You're so different." Rose smiled
"New New Doctor." the Doctor smirked
Rose giggled and the Doctor chuckled. Shareen rolled her eyes at them then noticed a small robotic spider scurrying across the grass nearby. She watched it curiously before her attention was caught by Rose standing up. "Can we go an' visit New New York... So good they named it twice?" she asked the Doctor
"Well... I thought we might go there first." the Doctor replied, nodding to a large clinical-looking building on the coast nearby.
"And what is that?" Shareen asked, standing up and brushing some grass off her jeans.
"Some sorta hospital." the Doctor replied, slipping his coat back on, "Green moon on the side, that's the universal symbol for hospitals."
"Like the Red Cross." Shareen nodded
"I got this." the Doctor said, producing his psychic paper, "A message on the psychic paper."
The words, 'Ward 26. Please come.' were scrawled across the paper.
"Someone wants to see me." the Doctor mused
"Hmm, an' I thought we were just sight-seeing." Rose joked, "Come on, then! Let's go an' buy some grapes." She linked her arm through the Doctor's again and they set off towards the hospital, Shareen following them.
~8~
The trio soon reached the hospital and made their way into reception. "Bit rich comin' from you." Rose said in response to something the Doctor had said on the way over.
"I can't help it!" the Doctor defended, "I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps."
"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next 15 minutes." the PA system announced, "Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted."
Rose looked around the reception area. "Very smart." she observed, "Not exactly NHS."
"No shop." the Doctor moaned, "I like the little shop!"
"Considering this is the future, I'd have thought they'd have cured everything." Shareen remarked
"The Human race moves on, but so do the viruses." the Doctor replied, "It's an ongoing war."
Just then, a nurse walked by. Rose and Shareen couldn't help but stare. The nurse appeared to be a humaniod cat in nun's habits. "They're cats." Rose pointed in disbelief
"Cat nuns." Shareen murmured
"Now, don't stare." the Doctor chided them, "Think what you both look like to them. All pink an' yellow and olive an' brown."
Shareen snapped out of her shock. "I am gonna smack you one in a minute." she grunted
The Doctor simply pointed over Rose's shoulder. "That's where I'd put the shop. Right there." He then turned on his heel and walked over to a nearby lift. "Ward 26, thanks." he said to the lift computer.
Shareen followed him but Rose was too busy staring at the spot where the Doctor had pointed at to notice. "Rose, come on." Shareen called
"Hold on! Hold on!" Rose wailed, running up to them, but she was too late as the doors closed before she could reach them
"Can't. Too late, we're goin' up." the Doctor called through the doors
"It's alright, there's another lift." Rose called back
"Ward 26." the Doctor called down, "And watch out for the disinfectant."
"Watch out for what?" Rose called up
"The disinfectant!"
"The what?"
"The dis... oh, you'll find out." the Doctor muttered, giving up.
"What disinfectant?" Shareen asked, not liking the sound of that.
"Hmm, standard hospital procedure." the Doctor waved her off
"Commence stage one disinfection." the lift computer announced
A green light flashed on and both of the lift's occupants were soaked in a jet of water. "Argh! What the bloody hell?!" Shareen spluttered
The Doctor wasn't fazed by the water at all and even started washing his hair in it, as if he was in the shower.
The water stopped, leaving both occupants soaking wet. "I hate you." Shareen grumbled to the Doctor, spitting some water out of her mouth. Suddenly, white powder was puffed onto them, causing Shareen to cough and splutter, but the Doctor didn't even flinch. A blow-dryer then engaged, blowing the powder off and drying them. Shareen could only watch the Doctor in bemusement as he looked as though he was enjoying the experience immensely, spreading his coat out to dry and smiling happily. "You are so vain." Shareen snorted
The lift doors slid open at ward 26 and the Doctor and Shareen stepped out, both looking very well-groomed. The Doctor ran a hand through his hair while Shareen smoothed out her Union Flag top and pulled her leather jacket tighter around herself. They were met by one of the cat-nurses who led them into the ward. "Nice place." the Doctor commented, looking around, "No shop downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one... just a shop. So people can shop."
"The hospital is a place of healing." the nurse replied in a haughty way
"A shop does some people the world of good." the Doctor countered, "Not me. Other people."
The nurse led them through the ward, past a red-skinned man in his bed. "The Sisters of Plenitude take a life-long vow to help and to mend." the nurse said
They heard a groan and the time travellers looked round to see a rather rotund man lying in bed, his skin grey and stone-like. By his bedside was a very prim-looking woman. "Excuse me!" the woman said indignantly, approaching the time travellers, "Members of the public may only gaze on the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."
"That's petrifold regression, right?" the Doctor asked, nodding to the Duke.
"I'm dying, sir." the Duke groaned, "A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this."
"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance." the prim woman said stiffly
"Alright, keep ya hair on." Shareen muttered, annoyed with the woman's attitude.
"Frau Clovis!" the Duke wheezed, and the woman rushed to his side, "I'm so weak!"
"Sister Jatt, a little privacy, please!" Clovis said to the nurse, who led the time travellers away.
"He'll be up and about in no time." Jatt said off-handily
"I doubt it." the Doctor replied, "Petrifold regression? He's turning to stone! There won't be a cure for... ooh... a thousand years? He might be up an' about, but only as a statue!"
"Have faith in the Sisterhood." Jatt retorted, "But is there no one here you recognise? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."
"No. I think I've found him." the Doctor replied, looking at something in the corner of the ward.
Shareen followed his gaze to see a huge, ageing head in a jar who appeared to be asleep. "Who's that?" she asked the Doctor quietly
"The Face of Boe." the Doctor replied
Jatt led them over to Boe and the nurse who was keeping vigil. "Novice Hame, if I can this girl and gentleman in your care?" she said to the nurse
Shareen suddenly realised something. "Hey, Rose isn't here." she frowned
"Oh, I think our friend got lost." the Doctor said to Jatt, "Uh... Rose Tyler. Could ya ask at reception?"
"Certainly, sir." Jatt said, and walked away.
Novice Hame and the time travellers looked at the Face of Boe. "I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep." Hame said, "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you a friend or...?"
"We met just the once on Platform One." the Doctor replied, "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."
"Of what?" Shareen asked
"Old age." Hame replied, "The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions. Although, that's impossible."
"Oh, I dunno... I like impossible." the Doctor shrugged and knelt down beside Boe's tank. "I'm here." he said gently, "I look a bit different, but it's me... it's the Doctor."
~8~
Presently, Shareen was sitting by Boe's tank looking out of the window when the Doctor came over with two cups of water. He gave one to Shareen, the other to Hame. "That's very kind." the nurse said, "But there's no need."
"You're the one working." the Doctor replied, going to look out of the window.
"There's not much to do." Hame said, "Just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes. In my mind... such ancient songs."
"Am I the only visitor?" the Doctor asked
"The rest of Boekind became extinct, long ago." Hame answered sadly, "He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret. That he will speak those words only to one like himself."
"What does that mean?" the Doctor asked
"It's just a story." Hame said
"Tell me the rest." the Doctor encouraged
"It's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely physician." Hame explained
The Doctor stared thoughtfully, knowing full well who the story was referring to.
Shareen meanwhile checked her watch. "Doctor, Rose still isn't here." she frowned, "And she's been gone too long to have gotten lost."
The Doctor saw her point. "Hmm, tell ya what, there's a phone over there. We'll give her a bell." he said, and went over to a phone mounted to the wall. He then dialled the number of Rose's mobile and heard the phone ringing. "Well, it's ringing. That's something." he said to Shareen, then he heard the phone being answered. "Rose, where are you?" he asked
"Umm, wotcha." Rose said
"Where've you been?" the Doctor asked, "How long does it take to get to ward 26?"
"I'm on my way, guv'nor." Rose answered in a stereotypical cockney voice, "I shall proceed up the apples and pears."
"You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe." the Doctor said, "Remember him?"
"Course I do." Rose answered tensely, "That big old... boat race."
The Doctor's attention was suddenly caught by something happening at the Duke of Manhattan's bed. "I'd better go. See ya in a minute." he said, then hung up the phone and headed over to the Duke's bed.
The Duke was now looking full of life, his skin was back to normal and he was drinking champagne with Frau Clovis. "Didn't think I was going to make it." he laughed, then he saw the Doctor and Shareen. "It's that man and girl again. They're my good luck charms. Come in! Don't be shy!"
"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute any form of legal contract." Clovis informed the time travellers as they came closer
"Winch me up." the Duke instructed, and Clovis pressed a button on a remote control, which tilted the Duke's bed forwards. "Ah! Look at me!" he cheered, "No sign of infection!"
"Champagne, sir, ma'am?" a waiter asked the time travellers
"Oh, well, since ya offerin'." Shareen shrugged, taking a glass.
"No thanks." the Doctor waved the waiter off, "You had petrifold regression, right?" he asked the Duke
"'Had' being the operative word!" the Duke laughed, "Past tense! Completely cured."
"But that's impossible." the Doctor frowned, just as another cat-nurse came up.
"Primitive species would acuse us of magic." the nurse said, "But it's merely the tender application of science."
"How on Earth did ya cure him?" the Doctor stared
"How on New Earth, you might say." the nurse waved him off
The Doctor noticed a drip beside the Duke's bed. "What's in that solution?" he asked
"A simple remedy."
"Then tell me what it is." the Doctor challenged
"I'm sorry, patient confidentiality." the nurse said stiffly, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Matron Casp."
"I'm the Doctor." the Time Lord replied
"I think you'll find we're the doctors here." Casp sneered
Just then, Sister Jatt came up. "Matron Casp, you're needed in intensive care."
"If you would excuse me." Casp said to the time travellers and walked away with Jatt, talking lowly.
"Tetchy." Shareen commented as she sipped her champagne. Just then, Rose arrived. "At last!" Shareen said, "Where've ya been, Rose? I was gettin' worried."
Rose gave Shareen an odd look, apparently not recognising her life-long friend.
The Doctor meanwhile had been examining the various drips. "There you are!" he said to Rose, pulling his glasses off, "Come an' look at this patient." He showed her the red-skinned man. "Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it... they've invented a cell-washing cascade... it's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. "And this one." He led Rose to a man who was completely white. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills ya in 10 minutes, and he's fine!" He waved cheerily to the patient, then spoke quietly to Rose and Shareen, "We need to find a terminal. I've gotta see how they do this." And they walked off, Shareen noticing that Rose was swaggering for some reason. "Cos' if they've got the best medicine in the world... then why's it a secret?" the Doctor asked rhetorically
"I can't Adam and Eve it." Rose said in the stereotypical cockney voice she'd used on the phone.
"Rose, what's with the Del Boy impression?" Shareen asked
"Oh, I don't know." Rose shrugged, slipping into a plummy accent, "Just larking about. New Earth... new me."
"Well, I can talk." the Doctor shrugged, "New New Doctor."
"Mmm, aren't you just?" Rose purred, then she very suddenly the Doctor towards her and planted a smacking kiss on his lips.
"Ugh! Get a room!" Shareen rolled her eyes at them
When Rose and the Doctor pulled away, the Doctor looked extremely shocked and Rose was slightly breathless. "T-terminal's this way." she said, and strutted off down the corridor.
The Doctor watched her go, looking extremely dazed and tousled. "Yep... still got it." he said in a falsetto voice, then he smoothed his hair down and followed Rose.
Shareen just shook her head and brought up the rear.
~8~
The Doctor, Rose and Shareen were soon looking at the details of the hospital on an information screen. "Nope, nothing odd." the Doctor said as he checked the data, "Post-op, nano-dentistry... no sign of a shop. They should have a shop."
"Oh, will ya shut up about ya stupid bloody shop?!" Shareen grumbled
"No, it's missing something else." Rose interrupted, walking around them, "When I was downstairs, those nurse-cat-nuns were talking about intensive care. Where is it?"
"Ya right, well done." the Doctor conceded
"But why would they wanna hide an entire department?" Shareen wandered
"It's gotta be there somewhere." Rose said, "Search the sub-frame." she told the Doctor, who had taken out his sonic screwdriver.
"What if the sub-frame's locked?" the Doctor asked
"Try the installation protocol." Rose replied
"Huh, listen to you... quite the Scotty aren't you?" Shareen remarked, wandering where Rose had picked up technobabble like that.
"Yeah, course. Sorry, hold on." the Doctor said, using his sonic screwdriver on the screen.
The entire wall slid downwards to reveal a secret corridor behind it. Rose smiled and swaggered off down the newly discovered corridor. "Doctor, this is gonna sound crazy, but there's something iffy with Rose." Shareen said quietly to the Doctor, "She's been acting all weird ever since she caught up with us."
"Hmm, I was just thinking that." the Doctor agreed, "Anyway, let's go. Intensive care. Certainly looks intensive." And they followed Rose down the corridor.
They soon found themselves in a huge, cavernous chamber, looking upon rows of luminous green doors. "Looks more like a morgue than intensive care." Shareen commented to no one in particular. They walked along one of the rows and the Doctor opened one of the doors with his sonic screwdriver. Inside was a man covered in boils and hooked up to a feed. "My god." Shareen breathed in horror
"That's disgusting." Rose burst out, covering her mouth, "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm sorry." the Doctor said softly to the man, "I'm so sorry." He shut the door and opened the door next to it. Inside was a woman in the same condition as the man.
"What... what disease has she got?" Shareen asked numbly, appalled at the sight.
"All of them." the Doctor replied quietly and disgustedly, "Every single disease in the galaxy, they've been infected with everything."
"What about us?" Rose asked, "Are we safe?"
"The air's sterile." the Doctor replied, "Just don't touch them." He shut the door and leaned over the railings, looking upon the rows of doors.
"How many patients?" Rose asked as she and Shareen joined him
"They're not patients." the Doctor replied darkly
"B-but they're sick." Shareen blustered, trying to come to terms with what she was seeing
"They were born sick." the Doctor said with quiet anger, "They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have the cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research facility. A Human farm."
"Why don't they just die?" Rose wandered
"Plague carriers." the Doctor replied, looking at one of the doors on their row, "The last to go."
"It's for the greater cause." a voice said, and they all looked round to see Novice Hame standing at the end of the row.
"Novice Hame. When you took your vows, did ya agree to this?!" the Doctor glared
"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."
"What, by killing?!" a furious Doctor snapped
"But they're not real people." Hame protested, "They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."
"What's the turnover, hmm?" the Doctor sneered, advancing dangerously on her, "Thousand a day? Thousand the next? How many thousand? For how many years? HOW MANY?!" he roared
"Mankind needed us." Hame said meekly, "They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone meat and bio-cattle... but the results were too slow. So the Sisterhood grew it's own flesh. That's all they are, flesh."
"This is sick!" a revolted Shareen burst out, thrusting a finger at one of the doors, "They're people!"
"But think of all those Humans out there." Hame tried to reason, "Healthy and happy, because of us."
"If they live because of this, then life is worthless." the Doctor growled
"But who are you to decide that?" Hame challenged
"Well, when it comes to that, who are you to decide that the ends justify the means?!" Shareen challenged back, fixing Hame with a death glare.
"Just to confirm..." Rose spoke up, "None of the Humans in the city actually know about this?"
"We thought it best not." Hame replied
"Hold on, I can understand the bodies." the Doctor said, having had enough of Rose's strange behaviour, "I can understand ya vows. But one thing I can't understand, what've ya done to Rose?"
"I don't know what you mean." Hame protested
"And I'm being very, very calm." the Doctor said in a deathly quiet tone, "You wanna beware of that... very, very calm. An' the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a very delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed."
"We haven't done anything." Hame said sincerely
"I'm perfectly fine." Rose tried to wave the matter off
"These people are dying, and Rose would care." the Doctor told Hame
Rose rolled her eyes at being rumbled. "Oh, alright, goody two shoes." she huffed, grabbing the Doctor and spinning him round to face her, "Smarty pants." she continued, pulling the Doctor's tie out flirtishly, "Ladykiller."
"What's happened to you?" the Doctor frowned
"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out."
"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded
"The last Human." Rose whispered in the Time Lord's ear
"Cassandra?!" the Doctor stared in unpleasant surprise
"Who?" Shareen frowned
"Wake up and smell the perfume." Cassandra sneered, taking out a tube of perfume from Rose's blouse and spraying the Doctor in the face with it, knocking him out. Then she sprayed Shareen too, knocking her out as well.
~8~
When Shareen came to, she found herself lying on the floor near the intensive care cells. Rose, or rather Cassandra, was standing in front of one of the cells with a pale-skinned man with red tattoos, evidently an accomplice. "Let me out!" the Doctor's voice demanded from inside the cell, "Let me out!"
"Aren't you lucky there was a spare?" Cassandra taunted, "Standing room only."
"You've stolen Rose's body." the Doctor growled
"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor." Cassandra said callously, "And now, that's exactly what I've got; one thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every 10 minutes, and you've got about..." She checked Rose's watch. "3 minutes left. Enjoy!"
"Just let Rose go, Cassandra." the Doctor demanded
"I will!" Cassandra smirked, "As soon as I've found someone younger and... less common, then I'll junk her with the waste. Maybe that kooky friend of hers will do for a while."
"Don't even think about it!" Shareen growled. Although she had no idea who this Cassandra was, she did not relish the idea of her taking over her body.
Cassandra ignored her. "Now hushabye!" she told the Doctor, "It's showtime."
Just then, Matron Casp and Sister Jatt approached her. "Anything we can do to help?" Jatt asked coolly
"Straight to the point, Whiskers... I want money." Cassandra replied
"The Sisterhood is a charity." Casp replied dryly, "We don't give money, we only accept."
"The Humans across the water pay you a fortune and that's exactly what I need." Cassandra said, standing her ground, "A one-off payment. That's all I want... oh, and perhaps a yacht. In return for which, I shall tell the city nothing about your institutional murder. Is that a deal?"
"I'm afraid not." Casp replied coolly
"I'd really advise you to think about this." Cassandra retorted
"Oh, there's no need. I have to decline."
"I'll tell them!" Cassandra threatened, "And you've no way of stopping me. You're not exactly nuns with guns... you're not even armed."
"Who needs guns when we have claws?" Casp retorted, brandishing her claws threateningly
"I really don't think that's a good idea." Shareen began, realising that Cassandra clearly meant business.
"Oh well, nice try." Cassandra said simply and turned to her accomplice. "Chip? Plan B."
Chip pulled a lever and every cell door on that row sprung open. The Doctor stepped out of his cell, but so did the infected patients
"What've you done?!" the Doctor demanded to Cassandra
"She's let 'em out!" Shareen hollered
"Gave them a shot of adrenaline, just to wake 'em up." Cassandra smirked, "See ya!" And she and Chip ran off.
The Doctor saw Casp and Jatt on the other side of the escaping patients. "Don't touch them!" he warned, "Whatever ya do, don't touch!" And he dashed off after Cassandra and Chip, Shareen hot on his heels.
The infected patients walked zombie-like towards the nurses. "I think we should withdraw." Jatt murmured
"We understood what you did to us." a male patient said hoarsely, "As part of the machine, we know the machine."
"Fascinating." Casp said as she and Jatt backed away, "It's actually constructing an argument.
"And we... will end it." the male patient said, and plunged his arm into the electrics, frying himself but causing every single cell door in intensive care to explode open. Cassandra screamed as she, the Doctor, Shareen and Chip ran for their lives along the row. The infected patients started to leave their cells.
"They're free." Jatt breathed in horror, "By the Goddess Centauri... the flesh is free!"
The patients staggered slowly towards her, chanting, 'Stop the pain'.
Jatt was backed against the wall and one of the patients touched her, causing her to immediately break out in boils and scream in pain as she was infected with every disease that ever existed.
The Doctor, Shareen, Cassandra and Chip paused by the railings to watch the scene unfolding before them. "Oh, my God!" Cassandra cried, realising that her plan was backfiring spectacularly.
"What the hell have ya done?!" the Doctor growled
"It wasn't me!" Cassandra protested
"You let them out!" Shareen snapped
"One touch and ya get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra!" the Doctor said as the patients began to advance on them, "We've gotta go down!"
"But there's thousands of 'em!" Cassandra wailed
"Bloody move it!" Shareen yelled, "Go down! Now!" And so they all ran down the stairs.
As the quartet ran for their lives down the innumerable flights of stairs, they heard the PA announce, "This building is under quarantine. Repeat: this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat: no one may leave the premises"
"Keep going!" the Doctor urged, "Go down!"
They reached the bottom floor of intensive care and burst through a door leading into the cellar. Cassandra frantically tried to operate the lifts.
"No, the lifts have closed down." the Doctor told her, "That's the quarantine, nothing's moving."
"THIS WAY!" Cassandra shilled as she led the way down the corridor. She, the Doctor and Shareen hurried past an intersection, just before a group of infected patients burst out of the adjoining corridor, cutting Chip off.
"Someone will touch him!" the Doctor realised, doubling back to try and help him.
"Leave him!" Cassandra insisted, "He's just a clone-thing, he's only got a half-life... come on!"
"Mistress!" Chip wailed fearfully
The Doctor looked between the fleeing Cassandra and the trapped Chip. "I'm sorry, I can't let her escape." he told Chip and ran after Cassandra.
"Oi, try an' hide." Shareen called to Chip, "Save yourself!"
Chip took her advice and dived down the waste chute. Satisfied that he was safe for now, Shareen ran after the Doctor and Cassandra.
~8~
The Doctor, Shareen and Cassandra hurried into a room in the hospital cellar. The Doctor slammed the door shut and locked it with his sonic screwdriver while Cassandra hurried over to another door. She opened it to find more infected patients, all clamouring to get in, so she hastily slammed it shut again. "We're trapped!" she wailed, "What're we going to do?"
"Well, for starters, you're gonna leave that body!" the Doctor said angrily, "That psychograft is banned on every civilised planet." He pointed to some equipment in a corner of the room. "You're compressing Rose to death!"
"But I've got nowhere to go." Cassandra protested, "My original skin's dead."
"Huh, ya should've thought of that before ya nicked Rose's body!" Shareen snarled
"You can float as atoms in the air for all I care." the Doctor added bluntly, "Now, get out!" He pointed his sonic screwdriver threateningly at Cassandra. "Give her back to me!"
"You asked for it." Cassandra growled, and a cloud of light leapt out of Rose's body.
Rose staggered forward and Shareen caught her friend. "You alright?" she asked
"Yeah." a disorientated Rose mumbled, "Blimey, my head." Then she realised something, "Where'd she go?"
She got her answer when the Doctor said in a very effeminate voice, "Oh, my. This is... different."
Rose and Shareen paled as they realised exactly where Cassandra was; she was now in the Doctor's body
"Cassandra?" Rose breathed
"Goodness me, I'm a man." Cassandra said, "Yum, so many parts! And hardly used..." She made the Doctor do a funny dance. "Ah, ah! Two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!"
"Get out of him!" Rose demanded angrily
Cassandra ignored her. "Ooh, he's slim." she commented, "And a little bit foxy." She raised the Doctor's eyebrows at Rose. "You've thought so too. I've been inside your head. You've been looking." she teased, "You like it!"
In different circumstances, Shareen would've found all this funny, but right now, she had other matters on her mind. "Hello, can we remember exactly why we're here?" she said urgently, and as if to prove her point, the infected patients suddenly burst through the doors.
"What do we do?" Cassandra panicked, "What would he do? The Doctor... what the hell would he do?!"
Rose spun round and noticed a ladder. "Ladder... we've gotta get up." she said
"Outta the way!" Cassandra said, barging past the two women and scrambling up the ladder. Shareen and Rose quickly followed.
"If you get outta the Doctor, he can think of something." Rose said as they hurried up the ladder
"Yap yap yap... God, it was tedious inside your head." Cassandra rolled the Doctor's eyes, "Hormone city!"
"We're gonna die if..." Rose began, then suddenly felt someone grab her foot. She looked down to see Matron Casp holding her. "Get off!" the blonde cried
"All our good work, all that healing!" Casp hissed, "The good name of the Sisterhood... you have destroyed everything!"
"Go and play with a ball of string." Cassandra snorted dismissively
"Oi, get off her, Cattie Jacques!" Shareen demanded to Casp, but the stupid matron wouldn't listen.
"Everywhere... disease!" Casp continued to rant, "This is the Human world. Sickness!"
Suddenly, a diseased hand grabbed Casp's ankle. She wailed in pain as the diseases took hold and she broke out in boils. She let go of Rose's ankle and fell to her death. After watching her fall, the infected patients resumed their climb up the ladder.
"MOVE!" Rose yelled to Cassandra, who whimpered and hastily resumed the climb, Shareen and Rose right behind her.
They reached the top of the ladder to find the lift doors closed. "Now what do we do?" Cassandra asked
"Use the sonic screwdriver." Rose urged
Cassandra took the Doctor's sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and held it between his thumb and forefinger. "What, this thing?" she asked
"Yes, now hurry up!" Shareen urged
"But I don't know how!" Casandra protested, "The Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts."
"Oh, cos-bloody-mic!" Shareen groaned, "Can't you use it?" she asked Rose
"Yeah, but I'm down here." Rose replied, "Look, Cassandra, go back into me... the Doctor can open it. Do it!"
"Hold on tight." Cassandra said and leapt from the Doctor to Rose. "Oh, oh, chavtastic again." she grumbled, "Open it!" she she called up to the Doctor
"Not till you get out of her!" the Doctor growled, pointing his sonic screwdriver at her.
"We need the Doctor!" Cassandra insisted
"I ORDER YOU TO LEAVE HER!" the Doctor roared in fury
So Cassandra jumped from Rose and into Shareen. ""No matter how difficult the situation, there is no need to shout." she remarked
"Cassandra, get out of Shareen!" Rose demanded angrily
"But I can't go into you, he simply refuses." Cassandra argued, "He's so rude."
"Oh, just do something!" Rose hollered, seeing how dangerously close the patients were getting
"Oh, I am so going to regret." Cassandra groaned, and lept into a female patient's body. "Oh, sweet lord... I look disgusting." she grimaced
The Doctor meanwhile soniced the doors open and helped Rose and Shareen up. "Nice to have ya back." he said to Rose
"Oh, no you don't." Cassandra grunted, and leapt back into Shareen, causing her to double over on the floor.
"That was your last warning, Cassandra!" the Doctor said angrily as he sealed the doors
"Inside her head..." Cassandra said quietly, "They're so alone... they keep reaching out, just to hold us... all their lives and they've never been touched."
The Doctor and Rose each held out a hand which Cassandra took. They pulled her to Shareen's feet and the trio walked off, while the patients banged on the doors.
~8~
The Doctor, Rose and Cassandra stepped out onto ward 26. Frau Clovis charged at them, brandishing a stool and roaring like a wild animal.
"We're safe, we're safe, we're safe!" the Doctor shouted, "We're clean! We're clean! Look, look..." He held up his hands, Rose and Cassandra doing the same
"Show me your skin." Clovis demanded
The Doctor complied. "Look! Clean, look... If we'd been touched, we'd be dead.
Clovis accepted that and lowered her stool.
"So, how's it goin' up here?" the Doctor asked, "What's the status?"
"There's nothing but silence from the other wards." Clovis replied, "I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine." She held up a communicator device. "If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad."
"You can't do that." the Doctor argued, "If they forced entry, they'd break quarantine."
"I am not dying in here!" Clovis said angrily
"We can't let a single particle of disease get out." the Doctor said firmly, "There's ten million people in the city, they'll all be at risk! Now, turn that off!"
"Not if it gets me out!" Clovis spat
"You're not goin' anywhere." Rose retorted, and snatched Clovis' communicator from her, then crushed it with the sole of her shoe.
"Right then." the Doctor said, taking charge, "Rose, Cassandra, Novice Hame, everyone, get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. MOVE IT!"
So everyone rushed about the ward, gathering all the drips, while the Doctor removed the winch from the Duke of Manhattan's bed. He Doctor then tied a rope around his body and Rose and Cassandra attached the solutions to it, so they hung off him.
"How's that?" the Doctor asked, "Will that do?"
"I don't know!" Cassandra replied, "Will it do for what?"
"Something clever." Rose told her, "Just wait an' see."
The Doctor went over to the lifts and soniced one of the doors open. "The lifts aren't working!" Cassandra pointed out
"Not moving." the Doctor replied, peering down the lift shaft, "Different thing." Then he backed up, ready for a running jump.
"But you're not going to..." Cassandra began
"Doctor!" Rose hollered as the Doctor clamped his sonic screwdriver between his teeth and jumped into the middle of the lift shaft, grabbing onto a cable.
"What do you two think you're doing?!" Cassandra demanded
"I'm going down." the Doctor replied, using his sonic screwdriver to attach the winch to the cable, "Rose, you go back to the ward. Cassandra, with me."
"Not in a million years!" Cassandra shook Shareen's head
"I need another pair of hands." the Doctor told her
"Well, why can't Blondie do it?" Cassandra protested, pointing at Rose.
"Because I need Rose to keep an eye on Clovis." the Doctor answered, "What d'ya think, Cassandra? If you're so desperate to stay alive... Why don't ya live a little?"
Just then, more infected patients emerged from intensive care. "Seal the door!" Frau Clovis ordered, and Rose was forced to sprint through the doors before they closed, leaving Cassandra trapped with the patients.
Seeing that she had no other choice, Cassandra jumped into the lift shaft and grabbed onto the Doctor's back. "You're completely mad!" she moaned, "I can see why Blondie likes you!"
"Going down!" the Doctor said, and pressed a button on his winch, sending them both whizzing down the cable.
They settled down on top of the lift car, which was stopped at reception. "Well, that's one way to lose weight." Cassandra said as she dusted Shareen off.
"Ok, when I say so, take hold of that lever." the Doctor instructed
"There's still a quarantine down there." Cassandra pointed out, "We can't..."
"Hold that lever!" the Doctor ordered, and Cassandra obeyed, "I'm cookin' up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself." He ripped the tops off the drips and poured them into the lift's disinfectant tank. "Now, that lever's gonna resist." he told Cassandra when he'd finished, "But keep it in position." He opened a trapdoor on the top of the lift car. "Hold onto it with everything you've got." he advised
"What about you?" Cassandra asked, not understanding what the Time Lord was up to.
"I've got an appointment." the Doctor replied, "The Doctor is in." He dropped down into the lift and soniced the doors open, revealing infected patients all huddled together in reception, who all started to come towards him when they saw him. "I'm in here, come one!" he called to them
"Don't tell them!" Cassandra called down
"Pull that lever!" the Doctor ordered her, and Cassandra complied "Come an' get me, come on!" the Doctor urged the patients as they staggered towards him, "I'm in here, come on!"
The patients reached towards him just as the computer said, "Commence stage one disinfection."
"Hurry up, come on!" the Doctor yelled, beckoning the patients towards him as the water jets started, "Come on! Come on!"
The patients stumbled into the shower and were soaked in the Doctor's solution.
"All they wanna do is pass it on." the Doctor said enthusiastically, "Pass it on!"
"Pass what on?" a confused Cassandra asked, "Pass on what?"
"Pass it on!" the Doctor urged the patients, who touched each other, passing on the disinfectant. Their boils began to disappear as the cures to their diseases took hold. The Doctor grinned manically as the results.
Cassandra jumped down, still confused. "What did they pass on?" she asked, "Did you kill them? All of them?"
"No. That's your way of doing things." the Doctor told her, then he walked into the patients' midst. "I'm the Doctor an' I cured them." he said proudly.
The now-cured patients looked around at their surroundings with child-like wonder. A woman came up to the Doctor and hugged him.
"That's right." the Doctor said gently, "There we go, sweetheart. Ay, look at him.." He ushered the woman off to sit with someone. "Go on, that's it! It's new sub-species, Cassandra." He took a man by the shoulders and looked at him. "A brand-new form of life!" the Doctor beamed, "New Humans! Look at 'em, look! Grown by cats... kept in the dark, fed by tubes... but completely, completely alive! You can't deny them, because you helped create them." he told Cassandra, who rolled Shareen's eyes. "The Human race just keeps on goin'." the Doctor said ecstatically, "Keeps on changing. Life will out! Ha!"
~8~
That evening, the New New York Police Department arrived to take the Sisters into custody and give the New Humans homes. The Doctor had reunited with Rose and they and Cassandra stepped out onto ward 26 to see Novice Hame being taken away by a police officer. She gave the Doctor an apologetic look, clearly ashamed of being part of the Sisterhood's amoral actions.
The Doctor suddenly remembered something "The Face of Boe!" he cried, and they dashed over to Boe, who was now wide awake and looking very much alive and well. "You were supposed to be dying." the Doctor remarked
"There are better things to do today." Boe replied telepathically, "Dying can wait."
"Oh, I hate telepathy." Cassandra grumbled, "Just what I need, a headful of..." She was cut off by Rose clamping her hand over Shareen's mouth.
"I have grown tired of the universe, Doctor." Boe continued, "But you have taught me to look at it anew."
The Doctor knelt down in front of him. "There are legends, ya know, sayin' that you're millions of years old."
Boe laughed slightly "Well, that would be impossible." he chuckled
"Wouldn't it just?" the Doctor replied jovially, "I got the impression there was something you wanted to tell me."
"The great secret."
"So the legend says."
"It can wait."
"Oh, does it have to?" the Doctor moaned
"We shall meet again, Doctor." Boe told him, "For the third time... for the last time... and the truth shall be told. "Until that day..." he finished and teleported himself away in a blue flash.
"That is enigmatic." the Doctor remarked, very impressed, "That... that is... that is textbook enigmatic." He stood up then he and Rose turned to Cassandra, who had been examining Shareen's nails, completely disinterested in the proceedings,
"And now for you." Rose said sharply
"But... everything's happy." Cassandra protested, "Everything's fine... You've got your girlfriend back, can't you two just leave me?"
"You've lived long enough." the Doctor said bluntly, "Leave that body an' end it, Cassandra."
Cassandra started to cry. "I don't want to die." she blubbed
"No one does." Rose said
"Help me!" Cassandra wailed
"I can't." the Doctor told her
"Mistress!" Chip's voice called, and they all looked round to see him enter the ward.
"Oh, you're alive!" Cassandra breathed
"I kept myself safe." Chip said, "For you, mistress."
Cassandra suddenly got a glint in Shareen's eye. "A body... and not just that, a volunteer..."
"Don't you dare!" the Doctor said warningly, "He's got a life of 'is own."
"But I worship the mistress." Chip said, "I welcome her."
"You can't, Cassandra." the Doctor began, "You..."
Cassandra ignored her and leapt into Chip's body. Shareen fell forward with a gasp, Rose rushing forward to catch her. "Are you alright, 'Reen?" Rose asked her friend
"Yeah." Shareen replied numbly, "Ooh, my head. I'm gonna need a ton of paracetamol!"
"Welcome back." the Doctor said
The trio's attention was then caught by Cassandra speaking in Chip's voice, "Oh, sweet Lord, I'm a walking doodle." she complained
"You can't stay in there." the Doctor told her, "I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the city. They can build ya a skin tank an' you can stand trial for what you've done."
"Well, that would be rather dramatic." Cassandra remarked, "Possibly my finest hour. And certainly my finest hat." she joked, then became serious, "But I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip, he's only a half-life, and he's been through so much. His heart's racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last..."
Chip's legs suddenly gave way and the Doctor and Rose quickly rushed forward to support him. "You alright?" the Doctor asked
"I'm fine." Cassandra replied, then paused as she realised something, "I'm dying. But that's fine."
"I can take you to the city." the Doctor offered
"No, you won't." Cassandra replied, "Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for me and Chip anymore. You're right, Doctor. It's time to die." She swallowed hard. "That's good."
The Doctor and Rose helped her to Chip's feet. "Come on." the Doctor said, "There's one last thing we can do." And they led her away, a somewhat dazed Shareen following.
~8~
The TARDIS landed at a lavish party on the original Earth. The Doctor stepped out, followed by Rose and Shareen, who were supporting the rapidly failing Cassandra, who had covered herself with a black robe. The life and soul of the party was a stately blonde woman. This was Cassandra before she'd become obsessed with plastic surgery and turned herself into a talking flap of skin.
"Thank you." Chip-Cassandra said to the Doctor
"Just go." the Doctor told her, "And don't look back."
"Good luck." Rose added
Chip-Cassandra walked into the midst of the party, smiling as she watched her younger self socialising.
"And then if you'd actually seen them, they were shocked!" Lady Cassandra said to her audience, "But don't quote me on that. Oh, naughty!" She walked away from her group and Chip-Cassandra approached her.
"Excuse me." Chip-Cassandra began, "The Lady Cassandra?"
"Sorry, I don't need anything right now." Lady Cassandra replied snootily, "I'm fine, thank you."
"No, I just wanted to say... you look beautiful." Chip-Cassandra told her younger self
"Well, that's very kind, you strange little thing." Lady Cassandra smiled, "Thank you very much."
"I mean it." Chip-Cassandra said, stepping forward and looking straight into her younger self's eyes, "You look... so beautiful." she finished sincerly
"Thank you." Lady Cassandra whispered, genuinely touched by the compliment.
Chip-Cassandra's eyes suddenly closed, and she keeled over.
"Oh, my Lord!" an alarmed Lady Cassandra gasped, "Are you alright? What is it? What's wrong? Someone get some help!" She gathered her future self into her arms. "Call a medic or something, quickly!" she urged her friends
"Who is he?" a partygoer asked
"I don't know." Lady Cassandra replied frantically, "He just came up to me. I don't even know his name. He just collapsed. I think he's dying. Someone do something!"
The Doctor, Rose and Shareen watched solemnly as Lady Cassandra gently rocked her dying future self in her arms.
"There you are." she soothed, "There you are. I've got you. It'll be alright. There, there, you poor little thing..."
The three time travellers walked slowly back to the TARDIS, the Doctor pausing for one last look before following Rose and Shareen into the TARDIS.
~8~
The TARDIS materialised on the Powell Estate and Shareen stepped out. "How long have I been gone?" she asked the Doctor as he and Rose followed her out.
"About 8 hours." the Doctor replied, "This is the evening of the day we left."
"You sure?" Shareen probed, "I mean, you haven't accidentally brought me back 8 months later, have ya?"
"Nope, positive it's 8 hours." the Doctor replied, then went back inside the TARDIS
"Right, well, I'm off home, then." Shareen said, "Rose, you take care of yourself, and I'll see ya next time you pop home yeah?"
"Sure ya don't wanna stay on for a couple more trips, 'Reen?" Rose offered
"Are you kidding?" Shareen snorted, "Being chased round a hospital by people with the Black Death and then being possessed by some snooty cow is not my idea of a good time!"
"Well, there's plenty of other places we could take ya." Rose shrugged
"Another time, maybe." Shareen said, "This is where I belong, at home. Besides, I know you want Peacock all to yourself." she added with a smirk.
"Why d'ya call him that?" Rose asked
"Cos' he's as vain as a peacock." Shareen replied, "Anyway, I'm goin' home. See ya, Rose."
"Take care, 'Reen." Rose reciprocated, and both friends hugged goodbye before going their separate ways, with Rose heading off back to the TARDIS, while Shareen went off towards Eichen House.
Author's notes: And so Shareen has had her first taste of travelling in the TARDIS. Apologises for not posting anything last week, but I decided to have a week's break. This chapter marks Shareen's first trip in the TARDIS, useful practice for when she becomes a full-time companion later in this story. I decided to have this episode be her first trip as it will mean that she'll be familar with New Earth when she returns to the planet in Gridlock and she definitly won't be too happy about it! So, hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll see ya next time!