It's been a while, has it? This story has not been forgotten or abandoned though, it's just been a crazy bisy few months. Life's like that, as we all know.
When it came to this story, it felt a little like I had lost Sarah Jane's voice, which made finishing this chapter very difficult for quite some time. But I recently listened to the SJA audio plays from the bbc and that actually got me back into the flow. So, here is the new chapter, even if it is half a year late.
I'm not making any promises as to when the next one will be finished, but I'm trying for it not to be as long again.
That's it for now, so please enjoy!


An invasion of cubes is somewhat hard to handle if your alien supercomputer is...not a computer any longer.


'Sarah Jane?'

'Yes, what is it, Rani?'

'Do you have any idea what these are?'

Finally, Sarah looked up from the article she had been writing to turn to Rani. Since everyone had come back home to Bannerman Road a week ago, things had been almost like they used to be. People were dropping in at all times, they saved the world and then made it home in time for tea.

But having someone over before 9am on a Saturday morning was still unusual, even for them.

Especially when she saw what Rani had brought over.

'It's a cube, Rani.'

Rani rolled her eyes. 'Obviously.' She paused. 'You haven't seen the news yet today?'

Sarah shook her head. 'No. I had an early start and I did some writing. Why? What's going on?'

'Well.' Rani shrugged and dropped the cube in Sarah's hand. 'These appeared overnight. All over the world. Millions of them. It's all over the news. Didn't Mr Smith tell you?'

'I asked him to let me work this morning,' Sarah admitted sheepishly before raising the black cube to give it a scrutinising look. 'It looks innocent enough. But let's see what Mr Smith has on them. Mr Smith! I need you!'

With his typical fanfare, the Xylok opened. 'Good morning Sarah Jane, Rani. What can I do for you today?'

With a few quick steps, Sarah made her way down the steps so she stood right in front of him and held up the cube.

'Do you have anything on these yet? Any alien presence in Earth Orbit in the last 24 hours?'

'I have already run an analysis when I first got word of the cubes this morning. Neither my scanners nor any of the passing merchant ships have any logs of ships that stayed in earth orbit more than a few minutes. At the precise time the cubes appeared, there were no ships anywhere nearby.'

'Do you have anything on the origin of these cubes?'

'Not yet. But I will run thorough tests on it. If you please, Sarah Jane.' A clear plate opened up for Sarah to drop the cube on. 'Thank you, Sarah Jane. I will let you know when I have any results.'

'Well.' Sarah sighed and turned back to Rani. 'There's nothing we can do other than wait now.'

'But - Sarah Jane, we have to do something! What if they're dangerous?'

'I suppose it couldn't hurt to give Kate a ring,' Sarah conceded. 'But let's use the phone downstairs.'

Kate, though, didn't know much yet either. Although she did admit to being on her way to see Amy and Rory and wrung a promise from Sarah to keep her updated if she found anything out.

But Sarah wasn't even listening properly anymore at that point. Because if Kate went to see Amy and Rory, that meant that sooner or later, the Doctor - their Doctor, the baby faced one - would be involved. Which in turn meant that the Bristol Doctor would know about it.

'You want to call the Doctor?' Rani asked, surprised.

Sarah hummed. 'If he can't tell us, he won't. But maybe we'll find out if they're dangerous or not.'

'Can I come? When you call him?'

'Of course. Come on, we'll use Mr Smith for that, he can put us right through to the TARDIS.'

'Where is everyone else?' They were about halfway up the stairs when Rani asked and Sarah only gave her a quick glance over the shoulder without stopping.

'Luke and Sky went to pick up Maria and go to the farmer's market and I believe Clyde promised his mother that he'd spend the morning with her. I'm sure they'll all be over later this afternoo-' She stopped dead in her tracks right in the doorway to the attic and Rani almost ran into her.

'Who are you?' Sarah Jane's voice was sharp like a knife and Rani tried to glance over her shoulder at whatever was going on in the attic.

At the sound of Sarah's voice, the person in question turned around.

It was a man, short, with dark hair, greying a little at the temples. He was somewhat stout but dressed impeccably in a brown three piece tweed suit with a green waistcoat and a bright red tie. Clasped between both his hands was a beige bowler head and his feet were sporting a pair of shiny brown oxfords. He beamed at them as he saw them, his round face looking even more jolly than a few seconds ago.

'Sarah Jane! Rani! I am so very glad to see the two of you!' he exclaimed, his relief audible.

The two women shared a glance as they stepped into the attic and towards him.

'You know us?'Sarah asked him carefully.

He nodded vigorously. 'Of course I know you, Sarah Jane! You know me too - I'm Mr Smith.' He gallantly bowed but both Sarah Jane and Rani were too busy processing to comment.

'You're Mr Smithˋ' Sarah wanted to know, very slowly. 'As in my Computer Mr Smith?'

'Yes! That's me, Sarah Jane, I knew you'd recognise me!'

'I wouldn't go quite that far but - how did this happen? How did you turn from a crystalline Xylok into a human?!ˋ

'Well, I don't quite know myself - oh, I don't know if I like being human, the capacity for knowledge is so limited!' He frowned.

'Mr Smith, please. What happened?'

The man shrugged. 'I was analysing that -' he pointed at the cube, which was innocuously sitting on the plate that they had placed it on earlier, '- and I was finally getting somewhere, and then, poof, something happened and now I'm human. Well. Humanoid. But I've got a body! Legs and arms and all that!'

'Yes, wonderful. Mr Smith, could we dial back again, to what you just said?' Sarah interrupted him. While Rani seemed quite amused by this version of their Xylok friend - whose computer form was all black, the usually bright, flashing lights all turned off - Sarah was a bit more sceptical. She certainly didn't know what to make of him yet.

'Of course, Sarah Jane. Where to exactly?'

'You said you were analysing the cube? What exactly did you find?

'Oh.' He deflated visibly at that question and gave Sarah a sheepish look. 'I don't know, exactly,' he eventually admitted. 'You see, I'm human now, with a human brain and capacity for thoughts and a human understanding. I didn't convert my findings yet, so it's all data human me can't read.'

'Well, then we have to turn you back to your Xylok form,' Sarah decided, which made Mr Smith stare at her in horror.

'But Sarah Jane! I only just got my body! I don't want to be turned back!'

'But -'

'He's got a point, Sarah Jane.' Rani shrugged at Sarah's raised eyebrows. 'I mean, he's always stuck up here in your attic - when's he going to have another chance of seeing the world outside like a human?'

'Are you saying we should let him stay like this?'

'Maybe just for a bit? Not indefinitely, but we don't know how to get him back into the computer anyway, so why not use the meantime to show him around a bit?'

'Oh, and how do you propose we introduce him? Mr Smith, former Xylok and Sarah Jane's alien computer turned human?'

'How about, Mr Smith, Sarah Jane's cousin who spontaneously came for a visit?'

Rani looked almost a little too smug at that and Sarah sighed. She didn't like the idea of letting Mr Smith stroll around London, but Rani did have a point. They had no idea how to turn him back, so for now he was stuck like this anyway. And where could he possibly do more harm? Sightseeing London like any normal tourist or stuck in an attic full of dangerous, alien artefacts?

'You listen to Rani. You do exactly as she says, she and the kids.' Sarah's voice was unusually sharp as she turned to Rani. 'You wait for Luke and Maria, and then you go pick up Clyde and take Mr Smith to go see London. Don't lose him.'

'Are you sure? I mean, aren't you going to come?' Mr Smith's eyes were wide and Rani had to admit, she was asking herself the same thing.

But Sarah Jane just gave a half shrug. 'I'm sure you don't want me cramping your style. Besides, I still need to figure out what those are.' She nodded at the cubes. 'We do, eventually need to turn you back, so I'll work on that while you show Mr Smith around.'

Rani had to admit, it made sense. Still… 'What about Sky?'

'Maria and Luke shouldn't be much longer, so she can stay here with me, don't worry. I don't think having a toddler tag along on a sightseeing tour is much fun.'

'You don't think she'll be in your way?'

'Rani, Sky and I are alone every day during term as well.' Finally, Sarah's face had softened. 'So really, there is no need to worry.'

'She's right, you know,' Mr Smith piped up unexpectedly. 'Young Miss Sky is in her pen over there while Sarah Jane is working. They go down for lunch and then go outside in the afternoon. Early evening, they come back upstairs for daily checks and then Sarah Jane comes back sometimes after dinner, when Miss Sky is asleep. So you really don't have to worry about anything.'

'Alright,' Rani said, although still somewhat hesitantly. It was, after all, still a surprising situation even by their standards. 'We'll call if we need anything. Mr Smith, are you coming?'

He nodded enthusiastically and followed her with a little skip in his step. Sarah looked after them with a thoughtful look on her face before she sighed.

Without the help of Mr Smith, finding out what the cubes were would be nearly impossible, and figuring out a way to turn him back? She had no idea where to even start.

It was a bit of a surprise, the realisation just how reliant she had become on his help when it came to fighting vengeful aliens and protecting earth. Except, of course she had, just as she had started to heavily rely on the children - fighting aliens alone had been a challenge too, something she was no longer used to.

Head tilted, she listened to Mr Smith and Rani chatting downstairs, his voice exuberant and excited about at the prospect of actually seeing London and Earth through his own eyes, and Rani quieter but still excited to play tour guide.

They'd be alright, she knew that. Of course they'd be, they were clever, the lot of them, and it wasn't like Mr Smith could get them in too much trouble. She heard more voices downstairs as Luke and Maria came back and then Clyde must have joined them as well because she heard him quite loudly exclaim "That's Mr Smith? How does an alien crystal computer with a mind turn into a human? Isn't that against, like, all kinds of physics and biology?!" Upon which Luke and Mr Smith each started a lecture on matter transformation that no one but them would have been able to understand.

'Mr Smith is really a person now, is he?' Maria asked as she came into the attic, Sky on her hip. The moment she saw her mother, Sky reached out for her and Sarah barely managed to scoop her from Maria's arms before the two of them went toppling down the steps.

'Someone is happy to be home,' she chuckled and bobbed Sky's nose. It made her giggle and then proceed to wrap her arms tightly around her mother's neck. Sarah smiled. 'But I told you to not try and jump from someone's arms.' She felt Sky nod, her chin digging into her shoulder, and then turned to Maria.

'It seems these cubes,' she nodded at the one that was still sitting on Mr Smith's examination plate, 'had a rather unexpected effect on him.'

'It's weird,' Maria mused, 'but also, I kind of always imagined him just like that? If I were a person, I mean.'

'He does quite fit the image we all have of him, doesn't he?' Sarah agreed. Maria nodded, then tilted her head.

'Are you really letting us show him around?'

'Well, I don't see what harm it could do, and that way, I'll have time to figure out what those cubes are and what they did to him. Without him trying to interfere,' because she had a feeling he wouldn't actually let her work if he hung around the attic. Instead, he'd probably be trying to lecture her about this or that and know things no human could know and she'd end up working all night when he was finally asleep just so she could finally get something done. So no, having him out of the house and under the (hopefully) watchful eyes of four young adults seemed like a much preferable option.

'You're probably right about that.' Maria grinned. 'It'd be just like when you first got Luke, when he wouldn't stop asking questions about everything!'

'The most mundane things too! You know, the first question he asked me; I'd just made some sandwiches and tea, and he asked me which was food and which was drink. Back then, it was a bit horrifying because I didn't know who he was yet, but looking back now, knowing how brilliant he is?'

'It's pretty funny after all,' Maria finished for her. Sarah nodded and Maria grinned. She poked Sky in the side, making her squirm and giggle. 'But you'll ask lots of questions too when you're grown up. Everything from "do I have to wear a dress?" over "which alien would use that technology?" to "when we have saved the world today, can we get ice cream?" and your mum will have to answer every one of them.'

'Oh, you really think that, do you? I might just hand some of those questions off to the four of you.' Sarah gave Maria a teasing smile but before Maria could retort anything, the door opened and Luke poked his head in.

'Hiya mum, hi Sky, we're about to be off then, are you coming Maria? Mr Smith is getting impatient.' He sounded amused at that, and Maria sighed dramatically.

'Alright, alright, I'm coming already!' She made her way towards the landing but then turned and waved at them. 'Bye, see you later!'

Sky waved wildly, nearly giving her mother a black eye, but as she caught her daughter's hand, a thought occurred to Sarah. She rushed to the door.

'Maria?' She called, making Maria stop and look up at her from halfway down the stairs. There was no sign of Luke, he'd probably bounded back downstairs right after calling Maria.

'Yes?'

'Make sure Mr Smith stays away from those cubes, will you? And the four of you too, if you can.'

'Will do,' Maria confirmed and then she was off. Sarah waited a few minutes until she heard the front door shut and the chatter of the kids (they'd always be kids to her, she supposed) and Mr Smith faded as they walked away from the house.

They had barely made it back into the attic, when Sky pressed her palms to her mother's cheeks. 'Mama, eat,' she demanded.

Gently, Sarah removed her daughter's hands from her face. They were sticky, Luke and Maria probably hadn't been to get her washed up before dropping her off. Mr Smith was a new, hopefully temporary excitement and therefore much more interesting than the little sister.

'Food sounds nice,' Sarah agreed. 'Let's go down, have some lunch and tea and then we'll get to work all refreshed. Does that sound good?'

Sky nodded vigorously and started to babble about her morning - not that Sarah could make much sense of it yet; while the number of words that sounded vaguely familiar was increasing steadily, it was still infant babbling for the most part right now.

They made a detour to the bathroom to get Sky washed up and changed before going down to the kitchen.

Since Sky was still very much obsessed with bananas, especially mashed with fingers, and also demanded to feed herself (not that much of the mash actually made it to her mouth before dropping off the spoon), Sarah prepped a quick sandwich for herself and poured them both some cold tea, Sky's some fruity berry kind Gita had insisted she'd try and her own a light green tea that was then topped with several ice cubes. Up in the attic, the air conditioning she had installed to keep all the artefacts in pristine condition was working its magic to keep the room temperated nicely. But today was an extraordinarily hot day for English summers and the rest of the house wasn't quite as cool despite the fans Luke had strategically placed the evening before. So iced tea it was. She'd have a proper cuppa later, to take upstairs.

Lunch ended up taking them over an hour because, of course, Sky ended up with mashed banana all over herself before Sarah fed her the rest of it and some of her own sandwich. Then she needed to be cleaned up again and be changed out of the now sticky clothing and since she nearly fell asleep while they were doing that, Sarah then decided to put her down for an early nap. She had, after all, had a long and exciting morning.

Eventually, Sarah made it back upstairs though, and buried herself in research trying to find a way to return Mr Smith into his original form. It seemed, though, as if research without the help of her alien computer was impossible these days.

By the time Sky woke up and called for her mama, Sarah was still empty-handed and had very little idea what to do next. To be fair, though, there was only so much information on aliens out there if you didn't have access to data banks elsewhere in the universe. Because as wonderful as earth was, they were a bit behind on these matters still.

'I don't know what to do, Sky,' she admitted to her daughter as she sank onto the sofa and looked at the dead shell of Mr Smith. 'This is one of those times where I wish the Doctor was here because I have no idea what else to try or where I could look for help. He'd probably have an insane idea or two and then things would -' she broke off, her eyes widening as a smile stretched across her lips and she suddenly beamed at Sky. 'Things would somehow work out because they always do when he's around! Oh, you're brilliant darling, absolutely brilliant!'

She jumped up and whirled her daughter around, making her squeal in delight and giggle, then she rushed over to the phone and typed in the number, prefix: Bristol.

It tooted once, twice, three times, then a fourth ring started and was promptly strangled by a gruff, scottish voice. 'Who's calling this number?'

Sarah grinned. 'Hello to you too, Doctor. It's me -'

'Sarah Jane, I should have known.'

'Not a lot of people out there that have your number and call over the holidays?'

'No, and don't you dare give it to UNIT and Kate or anyone else. Well. Maybe Osgood. Osgood and Osgood, they're brilliant. Keeping the peace with the Zygons all on their own.' Sarah wasn't quite sure what Osgood, Kate's assistant if she wasn't mistaken, had done but despite her intrigue and curiosity to find out more, she had more pressing matters at hand.

'I promise I won't give it to anyone. Listen, Doctor, I'm calling because I'm in a pinch of sorts.'

'I'm listening.'

'Well, this morning, these cubes appeared all over the world -'

'Invasion of the cubes.' The Doctor's voice sounded strangled and worried and Sarah's eyebrows shot up. 'What happened? They're not supposed to go off yet.'

Not being able to make sense of that, Sarah just shrugged. 'That's the thing, I don't know. Rani brought one for Mr Smith to analyse but he never finished. Before he could, he was turned into a human!'

'Excuse me? Say that again, I don't think I got that right. You gave your Xylok computer a cube to analyse and it turned him into a human?'

'Well, I don't know if he's human, but he certainly looks like you and me - human.'

'Timelord. You lot look timelord.'

'Yes, yes, I know, but please, I'm out of ideas, have you got anything to help turn him back?'

'I'll have to look into it. But I'll come up with something, we can't have you defend Earth without your Xylok computer.' There was a smile in his voice, Sarah knew that even without seeing him, and she couldn't help but smile as well. Even Sky seemed to catch on, because she began to reach for the phone and said 'Mama, Mama, Mama!'

'Is that Sky?' The Doctor sounded intrigued, so Sarah confirmed and put him on speaker.

'Hi! Mama, do-da!' She said something else, but it was in the baby speech incomprehensible for Sarah. The Doctor, though, seemed to understand her perfectly.

'Like my egg man friend?' He said, 'Mr Smith looks like Nardole?' He cackled, which made Sky bubble with laughter too. Their conversation went on and from his comments, Sarah deduced that he was attentively listening to Sky recounting her morning at the farmer's market. How could she have forgotten? Amongst all the languages he spoke, baby was one.

'It was lovely to chat with you too, Sky. Yes, I will make sure of - of course. Now pass the phone back to your mum, we need to talk about some boring - alright, alright, not boring then - adult stuff. Yes, it involves your egg man. And the cubes, yes. Alright then, hug her for me? And you hug your daughter too, Sarah!'

Sarah chuckled and obeyed, smiling when Sky too wrapped her arms as far around her as she could and buried into her. She only turned back once to look at the phone and say, 'bye, do-da.'

'Your daughter is quite the conversationalist already, Sarah,' the Doctor commented once Sarah had picked the phone back up again. She hummed in agreement.

'I just wish I could understand everything too.'

'Oh, she'll learn soon enough.'

'Like most children, I suppose, yes. Do you know anything about those cubes, Doctor? Since Mr Smith was analysing one, they are probably a vital factor in what turned him human.'

'The cubes…Sarah Jane Smith, you will not tell anyone, not even your son, about this. You cannot tell Kate either, should she ask you.' His voice was sharp, he was dead serious and Sarah nodded just once before realising that he couldn't see her.

'I won't tell anyone, I promise.'

'Good. Now. The cubes are an alien invasion. For now, they are harmless, and they will be for another 364 days. Then they'll activate. The Shakri will attempt to invade earth -'

'But you've already stopped them,' Sarah now realised. 'Which one of you?'

'The last one. Baby Face. Along with…with the Ponds.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be. Now, I would like to know how that cube your Mr Smith was analysing turned him human…'

'What exactly are those cubes designed to do, a year from now?'

'They'll activate harmlessly at first, blaring music, lights, things that make humans curious again. Then, they'll activate again, send out shockwaves and put people into cardiac arrest if they're too close.'

Sarah gasped. 'That's horrible!'

'No one's going to actually die, don't worry. But try to stay away from them. Now for Mr Smith…they analysed humanity, but they were a slow invasion staying hidden at first.'

'If they were supposed to be hidden, Mr Smith scanning them and breaking several of its cover layers might have triggered a defensive mechanism.'

'A defensive mechanism that could only have been activated by something very much not human, at least not at Earth's current standard.'

'So if it could have only been triggered by something alien to Earth,' Sarah concluded their little ping-pong match of thoughts, 'then what if…what if the defensive mechanism itself used some sort of biological coding generator to turn the offender into a dominant species on the planet that matches their…their…'

'Intelligence, measured on their offensive ability.'

'Mhm.' Sarah paused. It made sense, of course, but she would have never figured it out without the Doctor. But it was nice to know that, after all these years, she could now properly keep up with him when it came to finding insane, but perfectly logical, solutions. 'That's all well and good, but how do we get Mr Smith back now?'

'The cube he was analysing, you still have it?'

'Of course. I haven't touched it.'

'Good. Get your Mr Smith right next to it and then use setting 483b9K on your sonic lipstick-'

'Reversal of a magnetic field?' Sarah interrupted, frowning. 'What good would that do?'

'What are you talking about?' The Doctor barked in response. 'It's a reversal of the biological meta-transformative process that would have happened -'

'Found it. Different sonic version, different setting. 487b8J for me. So I sonic the cube with Mr Smith standing next to it and it should reverse what happened?'

'Yes, what are you waiting for?' Clearly, the Doctor was getting impatient with her - or maybe he just wanted to know if his - their - theory was correct. Or maybe he was just a bit bummed that he hadn't given her the proper setting right off the bat, she wouldn't put it past him.

But instead of replying, Sarah found herself biting her lip trying to figure out what to tell him.

'Sarah? What are you waiting for?'

'Well,' she said, deciding that she didn't need to justify herself to him. 'Mr Smith isn't here at the moment.'

'Well then get him!'

'I'm afraid I'll have to wait until he comes back because I have no idea where precisely he is at the present time.'

'You lost a humanoid Xylok?!'

'I didn't say that, no.'

'Well, then where is he?'

'He made a very convincing argument that in crystalline form, it is indeed rather difficult to do any sightseeing at all. The children have taken him into the city to show him around and I spend the day finding a way to turn him back.' She shrugged, even though he couldn't see it.

The Doctor gave a disbelieving laugh. 'You send him off to sightsee around London? Only you, Sarah, only you.'

'Yes, well, I do have a reputation to uphold.'

'Well, when he comes back, try it. And let me know if it worked!'

'I will, promise. Now, I've got some time on my hands, how are you? Nardole giving you any trouble?'

'Annoying egg…' the Doctor grumbled and then proceeded to tell her about both Nardole's and Missy's latest dramatics. It kept both Sarah and Sky entertained for the next half hour or so, but then Sky started to complain that she was hungry again and because they had used the phone on her desk, not the wireless one, Sarah Jane promised the Doctor to let him know how things went with Mr Smith and eventually hung up.

They had a late tea/early supper, after which Sky was in desperate need of a bath. By the time she was ready for bed, Luke had texted that they were now on their way back but might be a while due to 'a few hurdles' in convincing Mr Smith to actually come back with them. She wasn't quite certain what that was supposed to mean, but Sarah assumed that she would probably be told in detail when everyone was back.

Despite having napped in the afternoon, Sky went down easily and with some unexpected free time of her own, Sarah decided to curl up on the sofa and read until everyone was back.

Except, she must have been more tired than she too had thought. She had drifted off at some point because she was startled awake by the shuffling and whispering of the children and Mr Smith returning. Hastily, she tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes before making her way into the hall, where everyone was still gathered.

'My mum wanted me to be home hours ago!' Rani half hissed, half whispered. 'I need to go over now.'

'But we need to figure out how to get him upstairs!' Clyde, this time, not exactly whispering and rather rudely nodding at the short, stocky man currently being propped up against the bannister. Luke was standing next to him, most likely to ensure he wouldn't just topple over, while Maria, arms crossed, was glaring at him. There was the distinct smell of alcohol, pungent even from where Sarah Jane stood in the doorway to the living room, and suddenly it made a lot more sense why the four of them had struggled to get Mr Smith home again.

He was drunk.

Sarah wasn't exactly sure if Xyloks had any tolerance for alcohol, but she highly doubted it. They were, after all, a crystalline life form and even in human form, it would have been his first time drinking. Still, despite her annoyance, there was something amusing and rather ironic about the whole situation. They'd all be laughing about it in a few days, she was sure of that.

'Rani, you go home already,' she said softly and rested a reassuring hand on Rani's arm. 'You too, Clyde. Let me handle this.'

Both of them looked grateful. 'Thanks, Sarah Jane,' Clyde said, and Rani added, 'are you sure?'

'Yes, I am sure - you two go home and make sure your mothers don't worry about you.'

'Alright.' Despite her insistence just minutes ago that she had to go, Rani now seemed hesitant. Clyde, however, not so much. He gently grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front door.

'If Sarah Jane says she's got this, she does. Come on now, night everyone! Bye, Mr Smith! I hope you're a computer again next time I see you, not nearly as much trouble that way…'

'Oh yes, I like him much better that way too!' Rani agreed and the other two also nodded. 'Well, bye then, night Luke, Maria, Sarah Jane. We'll be over in the morning?'

'But not too early!' Luke insisted. 'Who knows how long it's going to take us to get him upstairs.'

It did, actually, take them almost half an hour. At first, Mr Smith seemed too unsteady on his feet to actually get up the stairs, but then he recognised Sarah Jane and tried to hug her - which nearly made both of them topple down the stairs. He wouldn't let go of her either until she, together with Luke and Maria, had him stumbling into the attic.

'And now?' Maria wanted to know, hiding a yawn.

'Now, Mr Smith is going to stand right next to the cube in front of his hardwear.' Sarah's own voice was cool with him now, annoyed as she was. She couldn't wait until he was back to being himself.

It took them another ten minutes to get him situated correctly next to the plate with the cube on it, but eventually, he was in the right place and Sarah wasted no time whipping out her sonic and pointing it.

For a moment, it seemed that nothing happened, then there was a steady crackling of electricity around Mr SMith, growing louder with every second. Then, there was a bright flash that made everyone press their eyes shut and turn away for a few seconds.

When they turned back, human Mr Smith was computer in the wall, however, was tiredly flashing its multiple lights.

'Mr Smith?' Sarah asked tentatively and stepped closer, 'are you in there?'

'Yes, Sarah Jane.' It was soothing to hear his mechanical voice again, even if it did sound a bit tired.

'Is he…is he hungover?' Maria giggled. 'Can a computer even be hungover?'

'Well, not a normal computer, that's for sure.'

'But mum, Mr Smith isn't a normal computer. He's a Xylok, which means that even though he isn't a humanoid life form or even biologically similar to us, he is alive and therefore can experience the aftereffects of alcohol consumption.'

'So we really have a drunk computer?' Maria couldn't hold her giggles back any longer and even Sarah Jane herself had to fight to bite back a laugh.

'Well, in that case, why don't we leave him to recover and in the meantime, you can tell me all about how he actually came to be in this state. Let me just take care of that real quick.' She nodded at the cube. 'I'll be right down.'

'Alright, mum. We'll make some tea in the meantime.'

'Much better to tell stories with tea,' Maria agreed and then followed Luke out of the attic. Sarah looked after them fondly. They had grown up to be two quite wonderful people, those two.

After a moment, she shook herself out of it and wandered over to pick up the cube. It appeared so harmless, it was hard to believe that it would be deadly just a year from now. She quickly deposited into an electricity isolating box that held a few other items already and turned to Mr Smith.

'You take your time to recover, Mr Smith. I'll see you tomorrow.'

He made a groaning sound. 'Good night, Sarah Jane.'

Once again, she smiled fondly before shaking her head. As she made her way to join Luke and Maria, she found herself feeling a very different kind of excitement.

The type you get when you're looking forward to a good story. And this one? It was bound to be a good one.