The following day, the Professor was with Mr Gold in the pawnshop. He was in the back office, while Mr Gold was in the shop front, looking at some potion books. When he heard the door jingle open. Just a customer, the Professor thought. Until he heard something strange.

"Hello," a voice said. A voice that sounded awfully like a Sontaran. "You will surrender your weapons to the glory of the Sontaran Empire."

The Professor walked out and over to the counter, where he saw a Sontaran standing at the counter. A Sontaran dressed in what looked like a Butler suit? Since when did Sontarans dress as Butlers?

"Watch it, dearie," Mr Gold stated, his eyes glued to the Sontaran. "Need I remind you you're talking to the Dark One?"

The Sontaran looked back at Mr Gold. "Do not attempt to escape, or you will be obliterated," he said. "I have a message for the weakling of the Time Lord known as the Doctor.

The Professor and Mr Gold exchanged a glance. "Do you mean son?" The Professor asked.

"Uh, yes. Madame Vastra requires him immediately," the Sontaran said, unwrapping a small device from his wrist and handing it to the Professor.

A vortex manipulator. The Professor placed it on his left wrist. "This must be Strax. I think," the Professor said to Mr Gold. "I think. Could be someone from his clone batch." He looked down at the device. "So, a message?" He pressed a blinking button on the device, and a hologram of Madame Vastra appeared on the shop counter.

"Professor. If you are viewing this, that means Strax has done his job correctly and given you the Vortex Manipulator," she started to say. "Your father has suffered losses. Losses that have hurt him. Now he prefers isolation to the possibility of pain's return. Jenny, Strax and I are the Doctor's friends. We assist him in his isolation, but we disapprove of it. The world needs him again. The universe needs him again. We believe that you can help him." And the hologram disappeared.

"We only saw him last night," the Professor mused. "How long was he away? What happened?"

"Only one way to find out," Mr Gold said. "Go to him. Take Belle with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite. I have some things to do here. And I would like Belle to see more of the world."

Before starting to walk out of the pawnshop, the Professor nodded, with Strax following him.