Alex stood back, her back pressed to the wall as the rest said goodbye to Suki by the lift. She tried to reason that it had to happen, who knows what would change if she saved the girl? Alex looked between Suki and Adam, trying to quickly decide what to do for both situations. Before she even thought of a plan she found herself walking over to Suki as her and the Doctor hugged.
"Can't forget about you!" She cried happily, pulling Alex into a warm happy hug. Alex hugged her back but leaned down slightly to whisper in her ear. Suki pulled away slowly, frowning at her. Alex's face was expressionless and Suki gave her a hesitant smile, which became less forced as she got one in return. Suki gave a minute shake of her head, but continued to smile as if she hadn't been told anything at all.
Alex waited beside the Doctor, barely paying attention to the man, until Rose returned, leaving Adam alone a bit away. She didn't look at either of her friends as she walked over to him, determined to do something first. He looked up as she reached him and smiled hesitantly.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked, actually sounding concerned. Alex leaned down close so only he could hear her, whispering to him. He looked at her, trying to remain calm, as she pulled away. She was expressionless once again, simply staring at him. She waited until he nodded quickly, nodding once to him in return before turning and walking away.
She re-joined the Doctor, grinning at him as if she hadn't just done what she had. She fell into step beside him as he grinned in return.
"Hi!" She said happily.
"Hello!" He returned.
"Find anything out?" She asked, glancing at Cathica, who they were following at the moment and then Rose, who was walking on the Doctor's other side.
"Well, people who go to floor 500 apparently don't come back" He told her, lowering his voice slightly. Alex frowned a little.
"People who don't come back down, oh that's never good" She mumbled under her breath. The four of them found themselves in the clean white room from before and Cathica seemed a bit fed up when they continued to follow her.
"Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance, can't you give it a rest?" She huffed.
"But you've never been to another floor?" The Doctor clarified. "Not even one floor down?" He sat down on the chair in the middle of the room, both girls leaning on the back of it.
"I went to floor 16 when I first arrived, that's medical, that's where I got my head done. And then I- I came straight here. Satellite Five you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all" She explained, eyeing the group suspiciously. "You're not management, are you?"
"At last!" Alex exclaimed, although there was no hint of irritation in her voice, she was even grinning.
"She's clever" The Doctor added, nodding.
"Yeah well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything" Cathica insisted.
"Don't you even ask?" The Doctor questioned.
"Why should I?"
"You are a journalist" Alex pointed out with a tilt of her head.
"Why's all the crew human?" The Doctor asked, making her frown.
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"There's no aliens on board? Why?" He pressed.
"I don't know" She shrugged. "There's no real reason, they're not banned or anything" The Doctor looked around the room as if he was searching for anything right in that moment.
"Then where are they?" He asked again, coupled with a questioning eyebrow raised by Alex. Cathica blinked, stumped for a moment.
"I suppose immigration's tightened up" She tried. "I mean it's had to, what with all the threats"
"What threats?"
"I don't know" She shrugged, looking lost now. "All of them, the usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Traffic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming. You see, just lots of little reasons, that's all" Although she began to sound more and more unsure.
"I see" Alex nodded.
"All adding up to one big fact" The Doctor summarised. "And you didn't even notice"
"Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would've seen it" Cathica scoffed.
"Unless they were behind the conspiracy" Alex pointed out, making the other woman frown.
"I see better" The Doctor shot back before she could question the girl. "This society's the wrong shape, even the technology"
"It's cutting edge!" Cathica protested.
"Maybe 90 years ago" Alex jumped in. "When was the last time you saw any changes in the technology, hmm?" Cathica frowned, thinking.
"There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago" The Doctor continued.
"So what do you think is going on?" Rose asked, looking between her friends with the answers.
"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude. The way people think. The great and bountiful human empire's stunted" The Doctor explained. "Something's holding it back"
"And how would you know?" Cathica asked, crossing her arms almost defensively.
"Trust us" The Doctor told her, making Alex look down at him. Us? "Humanity's been set back about 90 years, when did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"
"91 years ago…"
"We're so gonna get in trouble" Cathica complained. Again. Alex was currently leaning against the wall beside the panel the Doctor was messing with, Rose standing beside her. She'd looked over his shoulder the first few minutes but quickly realised she didn't understand a thing he was doing. Stupid human brain, stupid 21st century knowledge, stupid me…
"You're not allowed to touch the mainframe, you're gonna told off"
"Alex, tell her to button it" The Doctor said idly, still working. Alex rolled her eyes and tipped her head to look at the woman.
"Shut up" She said simply. Cathica blinked in surprise. The Doctor tugged the door open to get to the wiring.
"This is nothing to do with me, I'm going back to work" Cathica declared, turning to leave.
"Go on then!" The Doctor called as she left.
"Bye!" Alex added, still staring at the ceiling. Cathica stopped, turning back to them.
"Well I can't just leave you can I?" She huffed.
"If you wanna be useful, get 'em to turn the heating down, it's boiling" Rose told her. "What's wrong with this place? Can't they do anything about it?"
"I don't know, we keep asking, something to do with the turbine" Cathica told them with a shrug.
"'Something to do with the turbine'" Alex and the Doctor mocked in synch.
"Well I don't know!"
"Exactly" The Doctor snapped. "I give up on you Cathica! Now, Rose, look at Rose. Rose is asking the right kinds of questions"
"Oh, thank you" Rose grinned proudly.
"Why is it so hot?" The Doctor finished, staring at the woman almost as if he actually expected an answer.
"One minute you're worried about the empire and the next it's the central heating!" Cathica pointed out, annoyed.
"Well, never underestimate plumbing, plumbing's very important" Alex mumbled along with the Doctor. She slid down to the floor, looking up as the Doctor accidentally snapped a bunch of wires. She smiled, shaking her head as she lowered her head, closing her eyes with a sigh.
"You alright?" The Doctor asked, leaning closer to her slightly. Alex nodded but didn't open her eyes.
"Don't like it when it's hot" She mumbled. "'S rubbish" The Doctor smiled fondly at her, patting her head until she batted him away.
"Shouldn't be too much longer, then we can go to someplace where it snows" He promised her, proud of himself when he saw her smile at the thought.
"Here we go" The Doctor announced a time later, making Alex look up. His eyes were fixed on the screen but he glanced down a moment when he saw her move. "Satellite Five, pipes and plumbing. Take a look at the layout" Alex stood, looking over his shoulder even as he moved to let Cathica in front of him to see.
"This is ridiculous" She told him. "You've got access to the computer's core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange… and you're looking at pipes?" She turned back to him, looking equal parts annoyed and bemused.
"Stocks are boring" Alex waved off. "This doesn't look right though" She pointed out, frowning at the screen. Cathica turned back to the screen.
"I suppose…" She admitted, looking it over.
"Why, what is it?" Rose asked, not understanding anything on the screen. Alex looked down, not wanting to admit she had no idea.
"The ventilation system, cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out" Cathica explained, frowning. "Channelling massive amounts of heat down" She looked up at the ceiling like she might be able to see whatever it was.
"All the way from the top" The Doctor added.
"Floor 500" Rose said lastly. Alex moved away from the group, standing on the other side of the lift and looking out at the mostly empty cafeteria as she crossed her arms over her chest. Honestly. She was going to have to get used to understanding technology better.
The Doctor rushed over to grab her hand as he and Rose stepped into the lift and Alex couldn't help but smile at his obvious enthusiasm to go and investigate.
"Come on, come with us" Rose encouraged, gesturing for Cathica to join them.
"No way!" She shook her head.
"Bye!" The Doctor waved, smiling. Alex looked up at him and couldn't help but laugh slightly, he was just too cute. He grinned down at her, happy that she was happy.
"Well don't mention my name!" Cathica told them, still looking apprehensive. "When you get in trouble, just don't involve me" She turned to stalk off, leaving the trio alone.
"Well that's her gone. Adam's given up, looks like it's just the three of us" The Doctor told them happily.
"Yeah" Rose agreed. Alex simply nodded.
"Good" The Doctor grinned.
"Yep" Rose added.
"Awesome" Alex nodded again.
The Doctor activated the controls, grabbing the girls' hands in each of his as the doors closed.
The Doctor looked out first as the lift doors opened but Alex could already notice one thing.
"The walls are not made of gold" She pointed out, stepping out beside him.
"You two should go back downstairs" The Doctor told them.
"Tough" Rose said simply, walking out into floor 500. Alex snorted in almost amusement as she followed her. The Doctor stared after the girls for a moment before following.
They soon found themselves in what looked like the main room of floor 500, a row of people working at computers with screens covering the wall in front of them. One man stood behind them, looking at some of the monitors.
"I started without you" He commented, turning to the three. "This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains each and every piece of information in the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements… but you three! You don't exist!" None of them moved or said a word, simply staring at him. He laughed. "Not a trace! No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"
"Lightly" Alex quipped despite the fact that she was now almost shivering. Rose rushed forward suddenly, catching Alex's attention as she stopped beside Suki. Her mouth fell open in shock and she felt tears sting her eyes. She hadn't saved her, she hadn't done anything. Suki was dead.
"She's working…" Rose pointed out when the Doctor told her as such.
"They've all got chips in their head. And the chips keep going, like puppets" The Doctor explained, his hand finding Alex's as she started shaking in the cold.
"Ooh, you're full of information!" The man laughed happily. "But it's only fair we get some back because, apparently, you're no one" The Doctor simply nodded.
"It's rare not to know something" The man continued. "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter, 'cause we're off. Nice to meet you" He looked over at Rose then. "Come on" He called. Alex cried out as the two of them were grabbed harshly by some of the frozen people, their hands being pulled apart. Rose tried to move over to them but the body that was once Suki grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
"Tell me who you are!" The man insisted.
"Well since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly gonna say, am I?" The Doctor returned.
"Well perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise" The man smiled.
"And who's that?"
"It might interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's actually not human at all. It is merely a place where humans happen to live" There was an angry roar from somewhere and the man decided to correct himself. "Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client" He snapped his fingers and pointed upwards at the ceiling, making the three look up. Alex's mouth fell open at the sheer size of the moving blob of alien. Its huge mouth opened with a roar that showed long pointy teeth.
"What is that?" Rose asked nervously.
"You mean, that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" The Doctor asked, still staring up at it.
"I think he means it's in charge of the human race" Alex corrected.
"For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news. Edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodnefoe"
The Jagrafess roared down at them all.
"I call him Max" The man grinned.
The three of them were restrained in cuffs in front of them, wired into the computers themselves. Alex was looking around, whispering under her breath as she tried to work out exactly where it was connected and how they might get out. The man running the whole thing, the Editor, as he called himself, was rambling on to the Doctor but Alex wasn't paying attention until Rose spoke up.
"So all the people on earth are like, slaves" She clarified.
"Well now, that's an interesting point" The Editor seemed happy to answer. "Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?"
"Yes" Alex and the Doctor said in unison, the former finally focussing on the man in front of them.
"Oh, I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get, yes?"
"Yes"
The Editor laughed at the pair.
"You're no fun" he complained.
"Let me out of these manacles, you'll find out how much fun I am" The Doctor threatened.
"Oh, he's tough, isn't he?" The Editor mocked. "But come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit"
"You can't hide something on this scale" Rose pointed out. "Somebody must've noticed"
"From time to time, someone, yes. But the computer system allows me to see inside their brain. I can see the smallest doubt, and crush it. And then they just carry on, living their life. Strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the earth like they're so individual"
Alex spotted Cathica standing in the back of the room, still hidden by the shadows and she knew the Doctor had too. But the Editor just kept on talking, not noticing a thing.
"When of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing"
"What about you?" Rose asked him. "You're not a Jagra… uh… a…"
"Jagrafess" The Doctor supplied for her.
"Jagrafess" She nodded. "You're not a Jagrafess, you're human"
"Yeah well, simply being human doesn't pay very well"
"But you couldn't have done all this on your own"
"No!" The Editor grinned, looking absolutely delighted to share with someone. "I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Plus, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to uh… install himself"
"No wonder, a creature that size" The Doctor agreed. "What's his life span?"
"Three thousand years"
"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat" The Doctor continued. "That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five's one great big life support system"
"But that's why you're so dangerous" The Editor clarified. "Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown" He gave a small laugh and clicked his fingers and electric shocks were being sent through the three. Alex gasped in pain but bit back any more sound.
"Who are you?"
"Leave them alone" The Doctor snapped. "I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler and she's Alex Collins. We're nothing, we're just wandering"
"Tell me who you are!"
"I just said!"
"Yeah but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly-" He stopped suddenly. Alex frowned at him before he smiled.
"Time Lord" He said suddenly. Alex's eyes widened.
"What?" The Doctor asked, not understanding how he could possibly know.
"Oh yes! The last of the Time Lords in his travelling machine. Oh, with his little human girl from so long ago…" He reached out to touch Rose's face gently and Alex tugged at her cuffs even as Rose pulled away quickly. "And you, the little anomaly" He turned to Alex then on the Doctor's other side. "So far from human, and yet no knowledge of what you really are"
"You don't know what you're talking about" The Doctor accused. "Someone's been telling you lies"
"Young master Adam Mitchell?" The Editor snapped his fingers, bringing up a hologram of Adam sitting in one of the big white chairs, yelling in pain with a hole in his head. Alex growled lowly. She told him, she did. And he ignored her.
"Oh my god his head!" Rose cried.
"What's he done?" The Doctor stared in disbelief. "What the hell's he gone and done? They're reading his mind, he's telling them everything!"
"And through him, I know everything about you" The Editor continued. "Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T-A-R-D-I-S, Tardis"
"You'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first" The Doctor swore.
"Die all you like" The Editor shrugged. "I've got the key" Alex's eyes widened as the Tardis key floated up out of Adam's pocket, dangling in front of his face. She silently cursed herself, thinking she should have taken the key instead of what she had done.
"You and your boyfriends!" The Doctor snapped, looking over at Rose.
"Today we are the headlines" The Editor spoke. "We can re-write history, prevent mankind from ever developing"
"And no one's gonna stop you. Because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if they're told it's made of gold"
An alarm went off suddenly and Alex looked around, trying to find the source before she realised Cathica was gone.
"What's happening?" The Editor demanded, looking around also. "Someone's disengaged the safety" He realised. He clicked his fingers, frowning at the image that popped up of Cathica sitting in one of those white rooms. "Who's that?"
"It's Cathica!" Rose realised, beaming.
"Cathica with a 'C'" Alex added, grinning as well.
"And she's thinking. She's using what she knows!" The Doctor grinned.
"Terminate her access" The Editor ordered the people at the computers. Some of the icicles began to melt and Alex looked up with her grin still in place.
"Everything I told her about Satellite Five, the pipes, the filters. She's reversing it!" The Doctor exclaimed happily. "It's getting hot"
"I said, terminate" The Editor growled, putting his hand over Suki's. "Burn her mind"
"Oh no you don't" Hologram Cathica stated. "You should have promoted me years back" All the screens suddenly exploded with a shower of sparks and Alex made an undignified squeaking noise as she tried to duck away from it slightly, even being the furthest from them. The bodies fell to the floor and the entire Satellite shuddered as Rose's manacles clicked undone. Alex found only her left hand had gotten out and began frantically tugging to get out.
"She's venting the heat up here" The Doctor told them. "The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano" The Jagrafess is roaring violently by now, the Doctor laughing. Rose got out of her manacles and pulled the sonic screwdriver from the Doctor's coat, looking at it with a frown.
"What do I do?" She asked nervously.
"Flick the switch!" The Doctor told her quickly. Rose gets the sonic screwdriver working and manages to free the Doctor. He quickly opened the last cuff holding Alex in place and pulled her out after him.
"Oi mate" He called to the Editor. "Wanna bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang! See you in the headlines!" With that, he took the girls' hands in each of his again and made a run for it. They entered the white room where Cathica was, after dodging falling ice and snow from all over floor 500. The Doctor clicked his fingers, the hole in her head closing and her eyes flicking open to see both him and Alex hovering above her. The Doctor grinned at her.
"You did it" Alex praised quietly.
Alex leaned on the bar beside Rose, her jaw clenched as she tried to ignore the blonde's hand on her arm. It was obvious to anyone that she was trying to help, to provide some form of comfort or help calm her down, but all it did was make her somehow afraid that she'd lash out at her. She thought over what she had done earlier, the things she tried to fix that weren't changed in the slightest. She tried her hardest to save Suki…
'I know you're suspicious of Satellite Five, and you have good reason to be. But please, don't go in. No one comes back down. Stay here'
She hadn't listened, and she'd died. Or maybe Alex hadn't been convincing enough. Whatever the case, she was gone, and she could never come back. Another life on her head. But Adam, that was all his doing. Alex had given him very clear instructions. Very clear if Alex could say so herself.
'Do not go through with what you're thinking, it will not end well for anyone. If you don't go back to the Tardis right now you will not like what's on the other side of the doors next time you step outside'
She could swear she was perfectly clear.
Alex sent a sideways glance at Rose, trying to keep her expression neutral but she could tell from the way she looked back at her and removed her hand quickly from her arm that she hadn't succeeded. It was when the Doctor stood that she finally made her way over to the Tardis by his side.
"Now, don't…" Rose tried, seeing how clearly angry both of them were. One of them angry was bad enough, the other one could reign them in, but both? There would be hell to pay.
The two of them ignored Rose as they approached Adam, who suddenly looked nothing short of terrified at the sight of them both.
"I'm all right now, much better. I've got the key" He held it up, trying to reason with them. "Well it's… I know" He laughed nervously. "It all worked out for the best, didn't it?" He glanced from the Doctor to Alex and suddenly fell silent, his eyes wide in fear as he remembered exactly what she had told him. The Doctor took the key from him, grabbing his arm as he unlocked the Tardis door.
"You know, it's not actually my fault, because you-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as the Doctor opened the door and Alex shoved him inside.
Adam stepped out of the Tardis with the Doctor pushing him along, his eyes wide as he took in where he was.
"It's my house! I'm home! Oh my god, I'm home!" He turned back to the three and faltered at the glares he was receiving from two of them. The Doctor stood right in front of him, arms crossed, while Alex was behind him with Rose's hand on her shoulder. It was obvious she didn't like it but she almost looked like she would've attacked him already had it not been there.
"Blimey, I thought you were going to chuck me out of an airlock" He admitted.
"Still debating it" Alex snapped.
"Is there something else you want to tell me?" The Doctor asked impatiently.
"No, um… what do you mean?"
The Doctor walked over and picked up the answering machine.
"The archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message could have changed the world" The Doctor placed the machine back down, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and blowing up the whole phone. "That's it then, see ya" He walked back towards the Tardis.
"How do you mean, 'see ya'?" Adam asked cautiously.
"It's a figure of speech, you're never gonna see us again" Alex corrected. "Goodbye"
"But… what about me? You can't just go, I've got my head. I've got a chip type two, my head opens"
"What, like this?" The Doctor asked innocently, clicking his fingers. Adam's head opened and he glared at him.
"Don't" He snapped, clicking his fingers to fix it.
"Don't do what? This?" Alex asked with the same innocence, clicking her fingers. He clicked his fingers again to close it.
"Stop it!" He complained.
"All right now, you two, stop it, that's enough" Rose scolded them. They both glanced over at her and backed down fairly quickly.
"Thank you" Adam told her sincerely. Rose clicked her fingers suddenly, making Alex grin and his head opened up once more.
"Oi!" He complained.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist" Rose laughed.
"The whole of history could've changed because of you" The Doctor told him coldly.
"I just wanted to help" Adam tried.
"You were helping yourself" The Doctor corrected.
"And I'm sorry. I've said I'm sorry, and I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this"
"Yes I can, 'cos if you show that head to anyone they'll dissect you in seconds. You have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average. Unseen. Good luck"
He opened the Tardis door.
"But I wanna come with you!"
"I only take the best, I've got Alex and Rose" With that, the Doctor walked inside with Alex behind him. She quickly hopped her way up the ladder to sit on the grating around the side wall. She sat against the wall with her legs pulled up to her chest, her arms hung limply over her knees. The Doctor glanced at her a few times before Rose walked in, telling them she was going to her room with a glance at Alex herself. There was a long silence before he sighed.
"It wasn't your fault you know" He told her evenly. Alex didn't respond. There was another stretch of silence before the Doctor moved again, getting halfway up the ladder before stopping. "Do you mind…?" Alex shook her head and he climbed the rest of the way up, settling beside her and pulling her to his side with an arm over her shoulders. "There wasn't really anything you could've done"
"No there wasn't" She agreed, but she didn't sound like she really believed it, unless that wasn't the problem. "I'm just a stupid little human. Not even that, I don't know what I am. I'm a nothing" She mumbled scrubbing at her face with her hands. The Doctor frowned at her, taking her hands away before she could hurt herself in her frustration
"That's not true" He told her gently.
"Then what am I?" She asked, looking up at him. She looked so lost, and for the first time he understood why everyone froze the way they did when he talked about his old friends or his home he'd lost. He hesitated, unsure if he should tell her who she really was, who was in the watch, the person he knew so well.
"You're Alex" He told her confidently. "You're fantastic, you're clever, you're funny, and you're you. You are brilliant, and nothing will change that, no matter what you do or don't do" He assured her. She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder as her eyes fell shut. She yawned silently before moving even closer to the man beside her.
"I just wish I could believe that" She whispered sadly.
"I guess I'll just have to keep telling you then, won't I?" He teased, grinning as a smile crossed her face. It didn't feel like long until her breathing levelled out and she became heavier on him. He let her stay as she was for now, eyeing the ladder distrustfully. How was he supposed to get her down and into bed without waking her now?