Well. Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys like it to some small degree.
The Brigadier nodded and ordered us all outside, following close behind. He initiated a brief conversation with the guard, explaining where we were all going. Then he caught up to the four of us, guiding us down UNIT corridors until we reached the garage. Alistair directed us to a UNIT vehicle, smething that looked like a cross between a van and a jeep.
"Doctor, you, Diana, and Mr. Ransome go in the back," the Brigadier ordered sternly. "Miss Shaw, you sit up front with me."
Ransome held open the backseat door for the Doctor and I and climbed in after us. We had barely managed to sit down before the Brigadier started the ignition and drove rapidly out of the garage. I found the brigadier's driving to be ever-so-slightly crazy for my liking and ended up gripping the Doctor's hand firmly during the entire drive. On the occaision when the vehicle would turn too sharply my shoulder would ram into the doctor's and I would all but fall in his lap despite the seat belt strapped across my chest.
"Now when we reach UNIT field HQ," Alistair instructed gruffly, "I want Mr. Ransome to stay behind with my men. The rest of you are to follow me, but be very cautious! I don't want anyone getting hurt, is that understood?"
We all mumbled a low "yes" and remained quiet for the remainder of the ride.
Once we reached HQ, we all jumped out of the car and followed the Brigadier. One of his men, Munro, was standing next to a small trunk and an older looking man. "This man, sir," Munro explained. "He's found one of the meteorites."
"Where is it?" the Brigadier asked.
"At his house, sir. I was about to take a party and collect it."
"Right. We'll go in my car. You know the way, Munro?"
"Yes, sir."
The Brigadier looked back at Ransome. "Oh, Mister Ransome, you don't mind staying here, right?"
The Doctor smiled at the UNIT officer, looking a little worried. "Brigadier, I think we'd best leave now, if you don't mind."
"Good."
Liz, the Doctor, the Brigadier, and I ran back to the UNIT vehicle and jumped in again. Feeling a little confused and quite useless, I lightly tugged on the Doctor's coat sleeve. He looked down at me and smiled. "Yes, my dear?"
"Where are we going? I got a little lost for a moment."
"Mr. Seeley's house. He's the fellow who found the meteorites and hid them."
"Gotcha."
I looked away and leaned against the car door, but sat up again when the Doctor said my name. "Diana? I have a favor to ask."
"Yes?"
"When we get to Mr. Seeley's house, I want you to stay here in the truck."
"But-"
"No, don't argue. I know you want to come with me and help, but I'm not having you get stuck in the middle of all this. I don't even know how dangerous these meteorites are, so-"
"But I do," I responded with a smile.
"Yes, I know you do." He gently patted my cheek and rubbed the pad of his thumb across my skin. "But nevertheless, you'll be safe in the truck. Since I have no idea what's going to happen, I'm going to keep you safe and sound."
I found it difficult to process a coherent sentence with the Doctor's hand caressing my face, but eventually managed to stutter, "W-Whatever makes you happy, Doctor."
He smiled in relief and removed his hand. "Thank you."
Upon reaching Seeley's home, the Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier practically flew out of the vehicle. The Brigadier had his gun drawn and ran over to a small group of his men who had their guns drawn as well. The Doctor and Liz stood by in silence, trying to look inside the windows of the old house. Then, after the Brigadier shouted out another order, the Doctor, Liz, and Alistair himself ran into the house.
I kept my word to the Doctor and stayed inside the UNIT vehicle, but remained continuously worried for the safety of my friends. Although I knew that they all survived the Autons' attack, I was still worried that something would go wrong. Without even realizing it, I had started wringing my hands together and nervously rubbing the back of my neck.
Less than a minute after the three had entered the building, I spotted a single Auton rush out of the house with Mr. Seeley's chest of meteorites. The Brigadier, Liz, and the Doctor were seconds behind him with the Brigadier firing shots at the alien. "Get a platoon out here fast!" Alistair ordered to his men standing by the truck.
I watched as the Auton managed to escape UNIT soldiers, feeling relieved that none of my friends had been injured. The Doctor looked in the direction of the long-gone Auton as he walked slowly towards me. He opened the vehicle door and held his arms out to me.
"It's safe now, I think," he said lowly.
I gently gripped each of his arms and slowly lowered myself out of the truck. It wasn't until I was standing next to the Time Lord that I realized just how tall he was in his third incarnation. I had to tilt my head back a fair amount just to look at his face. He looked down at me with a somewhat grim expression.
"I'm sorry it got away, Doctor," I mumbled. "I wanted to help, but... Well, I didn't really know how. And I promised you I'd stay in the truck."
"Yes, thank you for listening to me, by the way. It's a nice change."
"Now what's that supposed to mean?" I asked with my hands planted on my hips.
For an instant, a melancholy look passed over the Doctor's face like a shadow passing over the sun. But the look was gone just as quickly as it had arrived and he was soon wearing a debonair grin. "Oh, nothing," he replied, slinging an arm around my shoulders and walking with me back in the direction of the house.
Liz was tending to an injured Mrs. Seeley when the Doctor and I arrived right outside the Seeley home. The Doctor had found one of the special meteorites the Autons had been after and was examining it. Alistair was standing tall and firm beside me, his hands clasped behind his back as per usual.
"How is she?" he asked Liz concerning the older woman.
"All right as far as I can tell. I think we ought to get her to hospital, though."
"Right. I'll lay on an ambulance."
As soon as the Brigadier left to call for an ambulance, the Doctor spoke up. "You know, this really is most interesting. We must examine it in the laboratory."
"What do you make of it?" Liz questioned the Time Lord.
"Well, I was right about the shape, wasn't I? The signal must have been muffled by the metal of that trunk. It's most interesting."
"Suppose it explodes like the other one?"
"There's no reason why it should as long as we treat it gently. Unless, of course-..."
Liz looked extremely worried when the Doctor paused. "Unless what?" she asked hesitantly.
"It has a built-in destruct impulse. In that case, we'll just have to risk it." He looked over at me with raised eyebrows. "Am I right?"
"You know, I really shouldn't say, Doctor," I replied casually, trying to cover up the fact that my memory of the fine details concerning his life was not completely up to par.
"Doctor, suppose that thing comes back for it?"
The Brigadier returned a few moments after Liz's worriesome question, Munro at his side. I shuffled awkwardly to the Doctor's side and wrapped my arm around his, leaning slightly against him as I looked expectantly at the two UNIT officers.
"The creature got away into the woods, sir," Munro informed us.
"Munro, I want a cordon round that plastics factory."
"Very good, sir."
The Brigadier looked from the retreating figure of Munro to Liz, and then to the Doctor and I. "That creature, robot, or whatever it was, obviously came from there. Mr. Ransome described something very like it."
"Yes," the Doctor agreed, "and until we know a bit more about these things, I think we should move very cautiously."
The ride back to UNIT field HQ was slightly awkward; everyone was strangely quiet and I couldn't help but ponder my lack of memory over certain parts of the episode. It worried me that I couldn't recall most of the finer details which could help me help the Doctor. I didn't want to be a useless companion that the Doctor had to save all the time; I wanted to be his most useful and reliable companion, someone he didn't have to continuously worry about saving from fires and psychopathic aliens.
"But he couldn't just have walked out, sir. I've had a guard on the front of the tent all the time."
"Never mind about the front," the Brigadier countered, somewhat annoyed, "what about the back? That's how he got away."
"He must have cut his way out.," Munro commented upon seeing the back of the tent Ransome had occupied slit open.
The Doctor shook his head. "No, he didn't cut his way out, but somebody cut their way in. This canvas has been ripped from the outside."
"So they took him from under our very noses."
"If Mr. Ransome is anywhere," the Doctor suggested, "he'll be at that plastics factory. So I suggest that we go there immediately."
The Brigadier quickly gave out orders to his men and directed Liz, the Doctor, and I back to the UNIT truck. As we walked out to the truck, the Doctor moved his hand so that it collided with mine. His fingers intertwined with my fingers and squeezed my hand lightly. I looked up at him with a smile and he returned the gesture.
"Promise me you won't get yourself into trouble, my dear?" he asked in a light tone.
"I'll try," I said. "I really will."
The Doctor opened the vehicle door for me and helped me in, closing the door after climbing in. He sat down immediately next to me and rested his hand on his leg so that it touched both his knee and mine. I shyly looked up at him from the corner of my eye and smiled a little. He smirked and gently patted my knee.
I felt my cheeks heat up and quickly looked straight ahead. The Brigadier was looking at me through the rearview mirror and he seemed to be somewhat amused.
Liz, the Doctor, and I walked behind the Brigadier as we were escorted through the empty factory by a strangely silent woman. The woman took us to the office of the man who was in charge of the factory and while we waited, the Brigadier turned and happened to see a strange man staring at him through the shaped glass of another office door across the hallway. I jumped and grabbed at the Doctor's arm.
"It's just a man," the Time Lord told me dryly.
"Yeah, I think I know that," I retorted sharply. "He startled me."
The Doctor simply chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. He pulled me against him and playfully stuck his hand in my hair, messing it up. I grumbled lowly, crossed my arms over my chest, and tried not to smile.
The Doctor rested his cheek against my ear and whispered, "I did feel your hand on my cheek earlier, my dear. I wasn't entirely unconscious, you know."
I looked at him in shock and embarrassment. I was about to stutter some lame excuse when the woman returned with a man whom I assumed to be the owner of the factory. The two looked at us with blank, serious faces and then ushered us inside the office.
The woman left and the man introduced himself as Mr. John Hibbert, then offered us seats. The Brigadier, Liz, and the Doctor refused Hibbert's offer, but I politely accepted and sat down in front of his desk and quietly crossed my legs. Alistair proceeded to tell Hibbert why he was at the factory and relay Ransome's story about the Autons he'd had the misfortune to meet.
"What an extraordinary story!" Hibbert said once the Brigadier had finished his story. "What made him say such a thing?"
"We have to check on it, Mr. Hibbert, however extraordinary it may be."
"I'd like to hear him tell this story in front of me."
Liz quickly said, "He was coming with us but, unfortunately, he disappeared."
"Ah, he was a brilliant young man in many ways."
"Then why did you dismiss him?"
Hibbert waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, he had some wild scheme for making electronic dolls. The design was quite impractical. He was very unpleasant when I turned him down."
"So you feel he told this story just to cause you trouble?" the Brigadier asked.
"I'm afraid so. It must have been praying on his mind."
The Doctor looked down at his hands, then back at Hibbert. "What exactly are you making here?"
Hibbert seemed frozen for a moment. I remembered that he was hiding the secret of the Autons and tried to consider different ways I could help Alistair and the Doctor stop the aliens quicker than they normally would have done on their own.
"Er, plastic dolls of course, but our new line is display mannequins for shops." Hibbert tried to smile a little. "We send them all over the country."
"And can these mannequins actually move?" the Doctor questioned.
"Well, they're flexible, of course. That's why we've captured the market. But I can assure you, they can't move on their own."
The Brigadier looked thoughtfully at the factory owner. "So Ransome may have been simply making trouble?"
"I can't think of another explanation."
The Doctor took a deep breath and rested his hands on the tops of his thighs. I could tell that he was suspicious of Hibbert and was ready to explore the factory and find Hibbert's secrets. "Yes, well," he said, "I think we've seen all we can possibly see here. I'm sorry if we've been a nuisance."
"Not at all," Hibbert insisted. "I'll see you out."
Back at the UNIT laboratory, the four of us were having a discussion about Hibbert. "It was the man who led the raid on the hospital. I recognized him from his photograph," Alistair told us.
"And what will you do now?" Liz asked.
I looked over at the Doctor who had the Auton globe hooked up to what I had been told was an EEG machine. He didn't seem terribly invested in the conversation, but I figured he was probably listening all the same.
The Brigadier gave the Doctor and a quick glance. "I've put a call through to General Scobie. If I can get his authority, I'll surround the place and raid it."
"Here, come over here, you three," the Doctor encouraged with a wave of his hand. "Look at this."
"Have you got something?" Liz asked as she came over with the Brigadier.
"Yes."
"What does that thing do?" Alistair asked with a gesture to the globe.
"It measures mental activity. It's fascinating, isn't it?"
Liz put a hand on her hip. "You mean there's some form of intelligence inside that globe?"
"Yes," the Time Lord replied with a nod. "You know, it's as I suspected. This globe is only a container. I wonder whether we can communicate with it?"
The Brigadier's intercom stared buzzing and he quickly grabbed it and brought it to his mouth. "Yes?"
"Your call to General Scobie, sir," the man on the other end of the intercom said.
"Good."
I mostly ignored the Brigadier's conversation via intercom and payed attention to the Doctor instead. He was still fiddling with the Auton technology when I stood immediately next to him and stared curiously at the stange object. Suddenly he moved his hand to the side and hit one of the smaller objects on the table.
"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry," he apologized in a seemingly non-apolgetic tone. "Could you get that for me, Diana?"
"Sure."
I quickly grabbed it and moved to hand it to the Doctor. His fingers brushed slowly against my wrist as he took it from my hand. Thinking he hadn't meant to do it, I looked up at him with a smile only to find that he was staring right into my eyes. He was smirking a little and I knew that he suspected my crush on him. Shyly, I started to ask him if something was wrong but was interrupted by the Brigadier resting a hand on my shoulder.
"What are you actually trying to do, Doctor?" he asked the Time Lord.
"Well, it appears that in there we have what one might loosely call a brain. Fifty megacycles, Liz," the Doctor instructed his new assistant. "If we can establish the frequency on which it operates-." He was stopped mid-sentence when the globe sparked and a loud bang emitted from it. I instinctively grabbed at the Doctor's arm and pulled him back in case he were to get hurt. "Oh, dear."
Liz approached us and said, "We overloaded the circuit, I think."
"Doctor, you were saying that this is some kind of brain," Alistair commented.
"Yes, or part of a brain. An intelligence." The Doctor nodded as he ran a hand across his face. "Yes, that's probably nearer the mark."
"Sending signals somewhere. Where to?"
"Well, the rest of itself, surely."
The Doctor looked over at me and I nodded as I chewed nervously on my lower lip. I knew what the Autons were, what they were capable of, and I wanted to tell the Doctor but wasn't sure if doing so would ruin the way events were supposed to run.
"The other globes that came down?" Liz asked.
"Mm hm."
"So, they're all part of one entity. Let's say a collective intelligence."
The Brigadier looked suspiciously at the globe. "Can it see us?"
"My dear fellow," the Doctor said amusedly, "it's not sentient."
"No, our measurements prove there's no physical substance inside it," Liz added.
"But, if it is has no physical form-"
"No, once here it can presumably create a suitable shell for itself." The Doctor shook his head as he glanced over the globe again. He knew there was something very wrong with the globe. "Otherwise there'd be no point in coming."
Liz's face lit up when she realized the answer. "The plastics factory."
"Yes."
The Brigadier's intercom buzzed again and he quickly moved to answer it. "Yes?"
"General Scobie calling, sir."
"Put him on. As soon as I get his authority, we'll move in."
The intercom crackled a little and then a voice came through, saying, "Stewart? About that Auto Plastic factory. Yes, but it's off limits, I'm afraid. They've got some important work on hand. It mustn't be interfered with."
"Sir, if you'll just-. Oh. He's hung up."
I crossed and uncrossed my arms until I decided to interfere. "Brigadier, we have to go in anyways. There's some very dangerous stuff in that factory and if we don't go in and destroy it, then the world will end up getting destroyed instead. Do you understand?"
He smiled. "Perfectly, Diana. I was just going to suggest that I go over the General's head and move in on the factory."
I blushed and awkwardly looked down at the ground. "Oh... Sorry."
He chuckled and looked at the Doctor. "I'll get on to the Home Secretary and if I don't get him to revoke that order, I'll go to UNIT headquarters in Geneva. That should work."
"That's going to take time," the Doctor replied.
"Time we don't have," I added.
The Brigadier sighed and shook his ehad slightly. "The old fool. Just because he feels flattered they made a facsimile of him."
"Facsimile?" the Doctor repeated slowly. "Of General Scobie?"
"A plastic replica, yes. Apparently, they make these things for Madame Tussauds. It's one of their sidelines."
"Oh my goodness. The waxworks."
I was relieved that the Doctor had figured at least part of the plot the Autons had crafted. He didn't explain what he was going to do once he reached Madame Tussauds, but I knew. So I told the Doctor that I would stay behind at UNIT HQ while he went off and saved the world. But once he left with Liz in tow, I asked the Brigadier to give me transportation to the plastics factory.
"I'm not a UNIT employee, so it's not against anyone's orders for me to go there, right?"
He nodded as he considered my question. "That's true, but why would you want to go there?"
"I know what's going on in there, Alistair, and even if I can't stop it, I can at least try and help the Doctor from inside. Somehow, I need to help him."
"Do you even know how you're going to do it?"
I shook my head. "No. But I know who and what is in that factory and I know what they're planning. I have to do something! I can't just sit here and be the damsel in distress, even if I am really good at it."
"Of course the Doctor and I both want you to help us," the Brigadier said with a smile, "but neither of us want to put you in danger."
"I can handle myself," I insisted. "I'm smart, I can figure out a way to stop those creatures if something happens to the Doctor."
But Alistair put his foot down and shot down my request. "Diana, I will not allow it. I'm sorry. I know you want to help and I appreciate it more than you know, but while you are here you are my responsibility. And the Doctor would quite possibly ruin me should I let anything bad happen to you."
"You won't let me go because you're afraid of the Doctor?"
"And because you don't have a plan."
"Well, he never has one either!" I protested childishly.
"No. Now stay here, go in that police box and rest, wait for this whole thing to wash over. Do you understand?"
"Fine," I grumbled.
I watched the Brigadier leave the room in resignation. With a sigh of frustration, I kicked the lab desk. A small burst of pain shot up my leg and made me grunt a little. "Stupid desk," I muttered. "Stupid Autons, stupid me for not having a plan- Oh. Oh, wait a second. I do have a plan!"
I'd managed to sneak out of the laboratory without alerting anyone to my presence. Once I had gotten past some of the guards patrolling the halls, I managed to find the entrance to the car garage where the Doctor had parked Bessie earlier. Knowing she would be missing, I searched each car to see if, by some miracle, someone had left the keys in their car. With an incredible stroke of luck, I came across a Range Rover that had its windows rolled down and the keys in the ignition.
I mumbled a half-hearted apology to the person whose car I was stealing and opened the door from the inside. Immediately after I had started the engine, a man came running out of nowhere. He was yelling and waving his arms in a frenzy. I panicked, reversing out of the parking spot and driving as quickly as I dared out of the garage.
"Oh, God," I gasped once I was driving down the streets. "I've stolen a car. I've stolen a car from some guy who works for the British government! Aaaaaand I have no idea where the heck I'm even going or how to drive properly in a British car on British streets. I've probably broken about twenty driving rules already."
My idea to steal a car and drive myself to the plastics factory on my own had seemed brilliant at first, but I had quickly realized that it was probably the stupidest idea I'd ever come up with. So I pulled over to the side of the road, stepped out of the car, and flagged down a pedestrian.
"Excuse me. Sorry, I'm new here and I'm trying to get to a plastics factory. I can't remember the name or where it is. Could you possibly help me?"
The man looked me up and down. "Sorry. Don't know where it is." Then he walked off with a disgusted look on his face.
I waved at a few other pedestrians walking past, but they all ignored me. I had almost given up hope when a young woman who appeared to be in her late teens approached me. She smiled sweetly at me and waved.
"Hello, Diana," she said in a voice I had heard countless times before. "Trying to find the plastics factory, I see."
"Susan," I breathed in surprise. "How...?"
"It's in your future and in my past. But you know we cannot discuss it."
"Yes, I know."
She smiled and gave me a hug. "Good," she said as she pulled away. "Now, this paper has directions to the factory. Be careful once you get there and try not to get yourself in too much trouble, even if you have already stolen a car."
I couldn't help but laugh at her remark. "Oh Susan, thank you so much."
"It's nothing. Now I've got to go. Grandfather's waiting for me."
"Is he alright?" I asked. "Is he doing okay?"
Susan grinned and nodded. "He's fine. Hobbling around in an old body, of course, but perfectly fine. Barbra and Ian are resting in the TARDIS."
"Thank you, Susan."
"Oh, that reminds me! This is for you, she added as she handed me what looked like a wallet. "Some woman with wild, curly hair saw me and asked me to give this to you when I next saw you. Don't know who she is, but she said she knew you."
River, I thought with a smile. "Yeah, I know her. Thanks."
"You're welcome. Good luck."
She was gone in an instant, vanishing into the walking crowd on the sidewalk. I watched the young Time Lady walk away in confusion and awe. I wondered when I met her and how she came to trust me so completely, and I was all but frozen in shock that I had actually met the Doctor's granddaughter.
I climbed back into the Range Rover and started the car again. I opened the wallet and found that that the only thing inside it was a slip of blank paper and empty plastic folders for what I assumed would be pictures. As I ran my fingertips across the blank paper, the surface shimmered slightly and a few words suddenly appeared.
"Psychic paper!" I realized with a gasp. "She gave me psychic paper. Oh River, you are brilliant. And look, directions. Perfect. Susan, River, you are the most amazing girls ever.
"Excuse me, miss, but only those with clearance are allowed in the factory at this hour."
I handed the man my psychic paper with a polite smile. "I believe I do have the clearance necessary, sir," I said.
The guard's eyes grew a little wide and he nodded. He gave me back the psychic paper and pushed the button inside his booth that opened the gates. "Of course, ma'am. Pardon me. Please go right ahead."
"Thank you very much," I answered before driving through the gates.
I breathed a sigh of relief once I was out of sight of the guard. My heart was beating heavily in my chest and I was so flustered that I could barely drive. Once I parked near the entrance I had gone through earlier in the day, I looked at the psychic paper and saw what the guard had seen:
Dr. Diana Scott
President of International Plastics Resources, Seceratary of Factory Affairs
DOB: 1945 Height: 5'6"
"Huh. I'm a doctor and president and a seceratary. And I was born... fifty-one years before I was actually born... Never thought this would work." I smiled and quickly slipped the wallet into my back pocket. "Now I'll go ahead and do some spying for the Doctor."
"So," I whispered absently to myself, "if the office is that way, then that room with all those Autons should be... this way. I think."
I quietly walked down the hallway on my left, hoping that my destination would be somewhere in that direction. The walls were blank and brightly lit, which disturbed me a little because of the uneasy silence that accompanied it. At the end of the hallway was another hallway with a door at the intersection. The door was labeled "Control Room" and something in my gut told me that it was the door I was looking for.
My pace quickened as I approached the door. With an outstretched arm, I reached for the door handle when I was but a few inches away. Suddenly the door flew open away from me and the man the brigadier had talked with earlier stood in front of me: Hibbert. He looked me up and down in confusion until his face lit up in recognition.
"You were here earlier with that Brigadier fellow from UNIT. And two others, weren't you?"
"Uh... Yes. Yes, I was," I replied nervously. "I'm here on my own this time, though. I don't work with any of them officially. We're just friends. Would you like to see my identification?"
"Yes, I would."
"Here you go." I reached in my back pocket and handed the man my new wallet. "Satisfied?"
He looked it over and seemed to believe it. "Yes, I am. But I must take you to see my... colleague first. He'll most likely want to speak with you."
"That's fine. Rules must be followed," I said casually.
"Please follow me," he instructed.
Hibbert walked back to the office I had first met him in earlier and knocked on the door. A voice on the other side of the door asked who we were and Hibbert responded, then opened the door. I stepped through the doorway and saw another man sitting at the desk; it was a man I recognized from the original episode.
"Who is this?" the man asked as Hibbert closed the door behind me.
"She was here earlier with those people from UNIT, Mr. Channing," Hibbert explained. "She said she's here on her own this time."
Channing stood up from his seat and approached me. "Can you explain to me, miss, why you are here? Because I don't believe I was informed of your arrival and I do not permit spies in this factory."
"My name is Doctor Diana Scott." I handed him my psychic paper with a smile. "My identification, sir. And I'm here to... inspect, if you will. Make sure everything's in order, you're doing what you're supposed to, look over your... archives. You know, that sort of thing. You understand, of course."
Channing's face hardened for an instant before he offered me a polite smile and returned my psychic paper. "Yes, of course, Dr. Scott. If you'll come with me, I'll show you where you need to go. Hibbert, you stay here and inform me of any changes immediately."
"Yes. I will," Hibbert answered.
"You have a very impressive factory, Mr. Channing," I remarked.
"And you have a very impressive resume, Dr. Scott. A doctor at twenty-five?"
I nervously cleared my throat and laughed a little to relieve the tension. "Please, call me Miss Scott. And the title is only honorary. I went to college at a very young age and just sort of worked my behind off."
Channing gave me a strange look. "I can imagine so. Your job is quite incredible, especially for your age."
"Thanks," I mumbled.
"I think we should look at the control room now. I think you'll find it very interesting."
"Oh? Well, you know best."
"This, as you can see, is the control room. We store some of our mannequins in here to a keep a visual reminder of our progress fresh in our minds."
I continued to glance warily at the Autons, worrying that they would attack me when I turned my back. I quickly considered what I should do if one of them tried to kill me. If one of those creatures does try to kill me, I can just hold my breath and pretend to be dead, then wait for the Doctor to arrive, I told myself. Meanwhile, I'll try and figure out a way to disable that machine the Autons are using.
"This machinery looks very advanced," I told Mr. Channing. "It's quite impressive."
He smirked. "Yes, it's our most important piece of equipment."
"Really? Why's that?"
"Because it controls the other Autons and with that power, I can control the world!"
I looked back over my shoulder and saw a small group of Autons staggering towards me. Their arms were outstretched and their hands had opened to reveal a gun. Terror gripped my heart and I froze completely.
"Kill her!" Channing ordered with a grimace.
I gasped and staggered backwards in an attempt to get away from the horrible aliens. But I only tripped over a metal bench and landed on my back.
"No! Please, no! Call them off!"
Channing shook his head. "I can't have a silly little girl ruining all my plans. Besides, my dear Miss Scott, your lifeless body will be perfect bait for that Doctor."
An Auton aimed its hand straight at my head. I shrieked and tried to stand, but found that my legs were limp and useless. The shot hit my right arm and immediately after horrible bursts of pain spread throughout my body. I screamed and cried until my world faded into inky darkness and I felt no pain.