The Bells of Saint John
Blackpool, England
1995
On a bright, sunny day, children are running around a playground, laughing in joy while their parents are conversing together in peace. One man, the Doctor, was sitting alone on a swing in deep contemplation. For many, many years he wondered the cosmos, trying and failing, to find Clara again. He was so drenched in his sad contemplation, he practically failed to hear a little brunette girl of nine years run up to sit on the swing next to him. "Hello." The girl greeted with curiosity, her voice a sweet northern accent.
"Hello." The Doctor responded with a smile.
"Why are you sitting on a swing?" She asked.
"Aren't I allowed to sit on a swing?" He retorted defensively.
"Yes. You're old." She said bluntly.
"Oi!" The girl giggled at his mock insulted expression.
"My Mum says I shouldn't talk to strange men."
He shrugged. "Yeah, your Mum's right."
"Are you strange?" The girl asked.
"In many ways, yes." The Doctor held a small smile at this before returning to his brooding.
"Are you lonely?" She asked suddenly, making him blink.
"Why would I be lonely?"
"You seem sad. Have you lost something?" The girl asked softly.
The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed at this. "No."
"When I lose something, I go to a quiet place, close my eyes and then I remember where I put it." She said gleefully.
"Good plan. I wish I could do that sometimes." The Doctor admitted sheepishly.
"I'm always losing things." She said with a small whine. "I lost my pencil, my best school bag and my mojo."
"Your mojo?" The Doctor asked in puzzlement.
"I got it back, though."
"Well, that's good then." A comfortable silence fell between the two for a moment before the girl perked up with another question.
"Did you lose someone?"
The Doctor gave a small, sad sigh. "Yes. A good friend of mine. I met her three times before now. First time I was in a bit of a hurry, but the latter two times, I lost her and now...I don't think I'll ever find her again." He admitted.
"Have you been looking?"
He nodded. "Of course."
"How long?"
"Oh...many years." He said distantly.
"That's sad." The girl said with pity.
"It is a bit." The Doctor glanced up to see an adult woman, who looked very similar to the girl, standing a small distance from them, chatting silently with another woman. "Is that your Mum?" He asked.
"Yeah." She nodded with a loving smile. "I'd better go and see if she's all right."
He chuckled. "Yeah, clever idea."
"How are you going to find her?"
"Well, the last two times I just bumped into her, so I thought maybe, third time's the charm...kind of." He added hesitantly.
The girl scoffed. "That's rubbish. Third time's the charm never works."
"Oi! Don't diss third time's the charm." He blinked, realising the absurdity of his words. "I mean, sure, it...doesn't work all the time, but it still works...sometimes." He said the last part sheepishly, making the girl giggle again. "Actually, I think your idea is better. I should just find a quiet place and think about it for a while."
"That is a better idea." She agreed with a nod, before standing up to leave. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye." He said with a smile and a wave.
"Oh, and mister…I hope you find her again." She said sincerely.
"I hope so too." He reciprocated.
The girl moved over to her mother, who after finishing her conversation, knelt in front of her. "Who was that?" She asked.
"I was talking to a sad man." The girl beamed.
"Clara Oswald, what have I told you about talking to strange men?" Her mother admonished before sighing, standing up and leading them away. If the Doctor heard the exchange, he either didn't notice it or he dismissed it entirely. So, after a moment of silence, he gets up off the swing and leaves for the TARDIS.
Cumbria
1207
A large stone monastery, surrounded in grey mist and fog, sat silently atop a green hill, its front gates being repeatedly knocked on by a fearful young monk. A view latch on the door opens to show another monk looking at him curiously, including some irritation. "Wake the Abbott! The bells of Saint John are ringing!"
The other monk nodded in understanding before closing the latch, opening the door for the younger monk, and hurrying to the main tower of the monastery. After a while, in which the young monk waited with a small semblance of impatience, the other monk returned with the Abbott, who walked straight towards the man bearing the news. "Are you words true, son?"
"Yes, Father." The young monk nodded.
"Then it is time. We must go to him." The Abbott said before motioning for the man to follow, the two monks entering the main tower before opening the door to the lower library.
""Him"? The Mad Monk?" The young monk asked vehemently.
"Yes, my son, but we shouldn't call him that. He is the furthest thing to be considered a monk." The Abbott admonished lightly. They enter the library to see many candles lit, with the Doctor sitting in a chair in silence, his dark brown cloak hood drawn over his head. Behind him on two stands were two paintings of Clara Oswald. One was her on Gallifrey, the other was her in Victorian London, yet both carried the same message. The Abbott cleared his throat, making the Doctor look up. "I'm sorry to intrude. But it is time. The bells of Saint John are ringing."
The Doctor immediately stood up from his chair and walked over to them, removing his hood to show his face bearing a scraggly beard, if you could call it a beard. "I'm going to need a horse." He said simply.
"You won't be coming back, sir?" The Abbott asked.
The Doctor gave a small smile. "Probably not."
"Then you're allowed to take a horse, as long as you send it back." The Doctor gave a thankful nod to the Abbott before moving to gather his belongings and turning to leave.
The younger monk looked at the paintings with widening eyes, only speaking up when the Doctor had left the room. "Is that her?" He asked.
The Abbott nodded. ""The Impossible Girl". "The Woman Twice Dead". This, my son, is why he was here. He came to this place of peace and solitude, so he could divine her meaning." He said, pointing to the phrase on both paintings that said "Run. Run, you clever boy, and remember me". "If he truly is mad, then this is his madness."
Chiswick
2013
Inside a single-story cream-coloured house, a young brunette, wearing a dye red dress with a grey jacket, is pacing about her bedroom in impatience as she holds a dialling phone to her ear. On her desk sat her dark grey laptop, while above it on the wall were three pictures. The first was of her and two teenagers, the second was of her as a little girl and her parents while the third was of her and a dark-skinned man in his early thirties. "Oh, come on! Just answer!" She groaned irritably to herself in her northern accent.
Outside of a cave, the Doctor patted the horse he arrived on, the motion making it trot back off to the monastery, as he entered the cave to see the TARDIS, still sitting there patiently. He stopped his movements however as he began hearing the TARDIS phone ringing suddenly. "That's not supposed to happen." He muttered to himself before he timidly moved over to the TARDIS and opened the front latch. Then, he pulled out the large brown cable phone and placed it against his ear. "Hello?"
"Ah, hello. I can't find the internet." He heard a girl say with relief. Very obvious relief, almost gratingly so.
"Sorry?" The Doctor asked in confusion.
"It's gone. The internet. Can't find it anywhere. Where is it?" She reiterated.
"The internet?" He asked incredulously.
"Yes, the internet." She almost snarled in frustration. "Why don't I have the internet?"
"It's 1207." He said bluntly.
He could almost picture the girl's irritated expression melting away into squinting puzzlement. "I got half-past 3. Am I phoning a different time zone?" She asked.
"Afraid so." The Doctor said, withholding his habit to make a bad joke.
"Will it show up on the bill?"
"I dread to think." He muttered under his breath. "Listen, where did you get this number?"
"The man in the shop wrote it down. It's a helpline, isn't it? He said, "It's the best helpline out there". "In the universe" he said."
He blinked. "What man? Who was he?"
"I don't know. The man in the shop. Gotta say, for a pretty boy, he looked knackered." The girl added but the Doctor didn't respond to that. "So, why isn't there internet? Shouldn't it just…be there?"
"Look, listen. I'm not actually…" The Doctor then trailed off, gave a sigh of defeat before going almost monotone in the tone of his voice. "You have clicked on the Wi-Fi button, haven't you?"
"Hang on. Umm…Wi-Fi…" The girl muttered to herself, which made the Doctor roll his eyes.
"Click on the Wi-Fi, you'll see a list of names with one you recognise…" He continued in the same tone.
"It's asking me for a password…" The girl muttered in confusion. "Hang on a mo." He could hear the girl rummaging around in search of something for a few moments. ""R-R-Y-C-B-A-R-M-1-2-3." How am I supposed to remember that?" The Doctor rubbed his hand over his eyes to suppress a groan. "Uh, here we go. Run. Run, you clever boy and remember me." The Doctor's eyes quickly widened in shock as he heard her speak these words. "1, 2…"
At the same time the girl says "3", the Doctor yells, "What did you just say?!"
The girl audibly winced. "Don't shout." There was a small pause for a moment before she spoke up again. "Now you made me type it wrong. It's thrown me out again. What do I do? How do I get back in?"
The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, he hung up the phone and raced inside the TARDIS, dashing around the console as he piloted the ship away from Cumbria. "Come on. Come on." He muttered as he landed the TARDIS with a thud, before racing outside and up to the front door of the girl's house, where he began to knock repeatedly, again and again, even using the doorbell when he received no answer. Eventually, he did receive an answer, being a pair of footsteps that were moving quickly towards the front door.
"Yes, I hear you!" The girl said in almost bemused irritation before she opened the door and all the Doctor could do was stand there like an idiot with a massive grin on his face. "Hello?"
"Clara Oswald?" He asked.
She frowned slightly at him. "Hello."
"Clara Oswin Oswald?" He reiterated.
"Just "Clara Oswald". What was that middle one?" Clara asked with a blink of confusion.
"Do you remember me?"
Clara squinted her large brown eyes at him. "No. Should I? Who are you?"
"The Doctor." He said obviously.
She frowned again, now from puzzled incredulity. "Doctor Who?"
"No. just the Doctor." He paused for a moment before his grin relaxed into a dreamy smile. "Sorry, could you just ask me that again?"
"Could I what?"
"Could you just ask me that question again?"
"Doctor Who?"
For a small moment, he thought only one question. Was it the scrunched expression on her face or the way she asked it? Either way, it left him with a small series of giggles. "Okay, just once more." He said, like a kid watching a funny magician.
"Doctor Who?" Clara repeated in the same confused tone.
He unabashedly continued with his childish giggling. "I'm so sorry. It's just I've never realised how much I enjoy hearing that. Thank you." He said earnestly.
"Okay." Clara gave him a smile before she slammed the door in his face, said motion causing his gleeful attitude to melt into pleading agitation.
"No, wait! Clara, please! I need to talk to you!
The Shard
Within one of the highest floors of the Shard, was a sleek, black office, full of computer desks and people in suits working away relentlessly. The front of the room had a small flight of steps leading to the head office while the back end had a large screen, filled with small pictures of various individuals from all over the world. One of the desks had a man, dressed in a regular suit, and an older woman, wearing a tie-less suit, standing behind it and looking at a newly acquired picture of Clara.
"Clara Oswald." The man said. "We've got a positive lock on her, but I think she's borderline. Very clever but no computer skills." The person he was informing was the woman, and his employer, who gave the ghost of an uninterested shrug, before glancing down at the black tablet in her left hand.
"Upload her anyway. Splice her a computer skills package." She ordered as the two of them walked towards the stairs at the front of the room.
"I'll activate a spoonhead." The man offered.
She just squinted her eyes at him. "Alexei, we call them servers, not spoonheads." She admonished.
"Sorry, Miss Kizlet." Alexei apologised before turning around and walking back to his desk.
Miss Kizlet, with a small sly smile, walked up the stairs to meet another employee, who was waiting for her in front of her office doors. She greeted him with a nod which he returned, before they walked inside. "I'm ever so fond of Alexei. But my conscience says we should kill him."
"I'll inform HR." The man says indifferently.
"Actually, he's about to go on holiday. Kill him when he gets back. Let's not be unreasonable. Now, what did you want to speak to me about?" Miss Kizlet asked as she sat down at her desk.
"We're uploading too many people too quickly. We're going to get noticed." The man said with a British accent, his voice laced with paranoia.
"If your conscience is bothering you, think of it like this: We're preserving living minds in permanent form in the data cloud. Rather like immortality." She placed her tablet on the desk and began to scroll through her employees before stopping on one with a picture of the man in front of her, Mahler. "Of course, gained fatally." She added with a mischievous smirk.
"My conscience is fine." Mahler said with his jaw clenched.
"Good. Because our client has his needs." Miss Kizlet then accessed his profile and turned his "Conscience" off completely, which in turn raised his paranoia, making Mahler sweat profusely. As he turned to leave, he paused, and glanced back at Miss Kizlet with worrying realization.
"Did you just hack me?" He asked.
"Because you changed your mind?" She retorted with mocking pity.
Mahler swallowed a small nervous gulp in his throat. "I hope I did." He then turned to leave without another word. Behind his back, Miss Kizlet briefly turned his "Paranoia" off before raising it back to nominal with a small smirk.
"Please, Clara! I just need to speak to you." Clara heard the Doctor call through the front door as she stood in the living room.
She then sighed before moving down the stairs and standing beside the door to click on the video intercom linked to the outside, which the Doctor didn't notice for a few seconds, almost making her giggle. Almost. "Why are you still here? Why are you here at all?" She asked.
"Oi! You phoned me, remember? You were looking for the internet." The Doctor retorted.
"Wait, that was you?" Clara asked with a blink.
"Yes, it was me." The Doctor said, restraining his urge to groan.
"How did you get here so fast?"
"I just happened to be in the neighbourhood, on my mobile phone." On his last words, he pointed behind him to a large blue police box sitting nearby the house.
"When you say, "Mobile phone", why did you point at that blue box?"
"Because it's a surprisingly accurate description." The Doctor retorted sarcastically.
"Okay, we're finished now." Clara said sternly before switching the intercom off and turning around, holding her head in her hands as she takes a couple of breaths, not noticing the Doctor had turned to walk back to the TARDIS in silence. As she opened her eyes, she noticed a dark skinned, teenage girl standing there in the room. She didn't take notice of the sudden appearance at first, even though she should have. "Angie! Good to see you again! Why didn't you phone me ahead?" Clara asked with a warm smile.
"I didn't phone you ahead." Angie said with an emotionless voice.
"Well, how did you get in the flat? You don't have a key." Clara pointed out in puzzlement.
"I don't have a key." Angie repeated.
"Is Artie all right?" Clara asked, now starting to get really worried.
"Is Artie all right?" Angie repeated. As she finished speaking, Clara could hear an electronic clicking from Angie before said person's head turned light blue, and her face disappeared like a hologram to reveal a silver, metallic head that focused a beam of energy onto Clara's now terrified face.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor ran straight out of the bathroom, his face now clean shaven, and he shredded off the monk clothes in disgust. "Note to self, Doctor: Don't be a monk. Never introduce yourself as a monk. Monks are stupid!" Quickly changing into his newly fashioned clothes, topped off with his black leather jacket, he rushed outside to Clara's doorstep and knocked three times. "Clara!"
"Hello?" Clara asked through the intercom, yet the video link was switched off.
"Hello. Don't worry, I'm not dressed like a monk anymore. That was stupid of me. Even got rid of the beard, if you could call it a beard." He said with a grin. "Can I come in now?"
"I...I don't understand."
He blinked. Weird answer. "Could you just open the door?"
"I don't know…where I am." The Doctor frowned at these words for a moment, then he heard Clara's breath getting increasingly hitched in a matter of seconds, and his eyes widened in horror. "I don't know where I am. Where am I?" Clara asked, her voice quickly becoming laced with paranoia. "Please tell me where I am! I don't know where I am!"
The Doctor pulled out his sonic and unlocked the front door to march inside, seeing Clara's unconscious body lying on the floor. "Clara!" He knelt beside her and took her face in his hands as she continued to cry and whimper in confusion. But her face did not move as she spoke. Nor were her eyes open in the wide-eyed horror he expected, not even her voice, or rather the source of it was what he expected. Instead, he looked up to see a silver chrome head, draped in clothes and bearing a hologram of Clara's real and terrified face, her eyes streaming with fresh, hot tears.
"I don't know where I am! I don't know where I am! Please, I don't know where I am!" Clara continued to cry.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic, pointed it at the robot and flicked it on, his face turning into rage as he saw a download meter appear beneath Clara's face, which said, "Uploading 62%". "Oh no, you don't!" He growled, quickly switching the settings and causing a sudden halt to the download before he raced to Clara's desk and grabbed her laptop.
Inside the office, an alarm sounded an ear-piercing wail at Alexei's desk, as he witnesses Clara's download being halted without warning. "I've got a problem." He called worriedly, earning the immediate and puzzled attention of Miss Kizlet and Mahler, as they walk over to his desk. "Someone's trying to reverse an upload." He said, turning off the alarm and relieving their ears of the noise.
"Is that possible?" Miss Kizlet asked.
"If the upload isn't fully integrated, then in theory, yes." As soon as Mahler points this bit of information out, the upload, once again without warning, began to reverse, making their eyes widen in disbelief.
"Oh my god." Alexei muttered under his breath.
"Can you stop this?" Mahler demanded.
After a moment of typing and working, Alexei gulped as his actions proved to be fruitless. "No."
The Doctor continued to type furiously at Clara's laptop, code being inputted at a frantic speed to reverse the upload. "Not this time, Clara! I promise you!" After inputting his last code, and quite literally slamming his finger on the enter key, Clara's upload was reversed and cancelled. The droid then shot a light into Clara's body, which, after it disappears, leaves her gasping for breath, yet her eyes remained closed. The Doctor puts the laptop aside as he moves to Clara, gently cradling her face and stroking her hair. "It's okay. It's okay." He whispered before picking her up, moving to her bed and placing her down with a kiss on her forehead. After drawing her blankets over her sleeping form and standing up from the bed, he spotted out of the corner of his eye, a book on her bedside table called "101 Places to See". With gentle care, he held up the book and opened it to a marked page, which contained a red leaf and a list. At the top of the list was a signature title that said: "Property of Clara Oswald". The list contained her age, starting at a crossed 9 before ending in an uncrossed 27. His eyebrows arched at this for a brief moment before his expression turned into confusion as he switched his attention to the leaf. He carefully picked it up between two fingers and looked at it for a few moments. Curious. He mused to himself before he placed it back inside the book, closed it, and put the book back where he found it. The Doctor then grasped Clara's laptop and moved from the room to exit the house and return to the TARDIS.
Back inside Miss Kizlet's office, now with the shadows of night pouring through the window, she kept pacing in agitation with her fingers interlaced, only relieving them of the tension as Mahler entered the room with the same expression. "Well?" Miss Kizlet asked simply.
"Our hacker sent us a message." He answered, moving to her personal monitor to press a few buttons, which brings up the message. "Under My Protection. -The Doctor."
"Get out." Mahler frowned at her and she restrained from rolling her eyes. "I have to speak to the client." Mahler nodded before darting from the room, as Miss Kizlet pressed a hidden button on the screen, bathing her in blue light. "Sir. The one you told me about, he's here. The Doctor is here."
Back at Clara's flat, now also bathed in the gleam of night, she awoke slowly from her unconscious state. Shaking off both the drowsiness from her eyes and the tiny, fading feeling of pain in her head, she stood up from her bed, exited her bedroom and crossed over her house to the front door and opened it, spotting the Doctor sitting on a chair outside the blue box, typing away on...her laptop? "Hello?" She asked with clear puzzlement.
"Hello!" The Doctor responded with a smile. "Are you all right?"
"I was in bed." Clara said obviously.
"Yeah."
"But I don't remember going. What happened to me?" She asked worriedly.
The Doctor looked at her with concern. "Don't you remember anything?"
"I was scared. Really scared. Didn't know where I was." She admitted.
"Do you know now?"
She unconsciously gave him a smile. "Yes."
"Well, you should go back to sleep. You'll be safe now. I promise." The Doctor then returned to work as Clara looked at him in confusion.
"Are you guarding me?"
"Yes, I am." He said before frowning. "That creepy? I hope it's not creepy."
"More like weird." Clara responded with a giggle, making the Doctor smile again. "Are you seriously going to sit there all night?"
"Yeah, I promise. I won't budge from this seat."
"Well then, I'll have to join you." Clara suddenly closed the door, leaving the Doctor staring dumbly at it.
"Eh?" The Doctor muttered in bewilderment before he shook it off and returned to work.
Miss Kizlet and Mahler are standing back beside Alexei's desk as they see a camera focused on the back of the TARDIS, sitting beside Clara's house. "I take it the girl's inside and alive?" Miss Kizlet asks. They nod, and she smirked. "Alexei, I need you to do something creative about that." She then moved to his profile on her tablet before turning his "I. Q" up to full. Alexei quickly moved to work.
The Doctor looks up from the laptop as he heard Clara's front door opening and closing, seeing said girl stepping outside her house, moving to sit by him, and offering him a cup of tea. "Oh, thank you." He said, taking a grateful sip, before letting a small smile of approval appear on his face, as he placed the cup down on a small foldout table beside them. "Now, I think we should properly introduce ourselves since I've forgotten my manners."
Clara snorted. "More like you being rude."
"Hush you." The Doctor said with a smile before holding out a hand. "I'm the Doctor. Pleased to meet you."
"Clara Oswald. Pleased to meet you, if ever so confused." She shook his hand.
"Yeah, I know the feeling." He admitted.
"Did I miss anything while I was out?"
"Eh, not much. I fixed that rattling noise in the washing machine, indexed the kitchen cupboards, optimised the photosynthesis in the flower bed and assembled the quadracycle."
"Assembled the what?" Clara asked.
"You had a disassembled quadracycle in the garage."
"I don't have a quadra-watcha-ma-call-it."
The Doctor's eyebrows furrow at that for a moment before he produces a bright grin. Did I just invent the quadracycle? Huh.
"Doctor, are you going to explain what happened to me?" Clara asked, regaining his attention.
He put the laptop down on the table and took another good gulp of the warm tea. "There is something in the Wi-Fi."
Clara frowned. "Okay. Isn't there always something in the Wi-Fi? Like a virus?"
"No." He blinked. "I mean, yes, there always is something like that, but what if something got in?"
"I don't follow."
"Clara, the entire world is almost literally swimming in Wi-Fi. Introduce kids to it then remove it from them for a few hours, they lose their minds." Clara giggled at that while the Doctor smirked. "Now, suppose something else got inside. Suppose something alive, literally alive, got inside, and is now harvesting Human minds, extracting them."
"Then they become trapped?" Clara deducted.
"Yes. Imagine that. Human souls trapped like flies in the World Wide Web, stuck forever, crying out for help."
"Isn't that basically Twitter?" Clara quipped, making the Doctor laugh.
"In a way, yes." The Doctor then…just paused and looked back up a Clara with squinting eyes.
"What's that face for, Doctor?" Clara asked in scepticism.
"A computer can hack another computer. But a living, sentient computer, an intelligence…maybe that can hack people. Edit them or rewrite them." He said in a small ramble.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because earlier today, you knew nothing about computers and now you just made two separate jokes about viruses and Twitter." Clara's eyes widened in shock as his words sank in. "Are you finding innovative ideas in your head, Clara? Ideas related to computers that you didn't have earlier?"
"Yeah. Where did all that come from?" Clara asked, starting to tremble in fear.
"You were uploaded for a while, so wherever you were, you brought something else back. Something that I very much doubt you'll be allowed to keep." The Doctor stood up quickly, gazing around with darting eyes before he moved beside the TARDIS to look behind it, seeing a man on the side path looking at them blankly. Far too blankly for anybody's liking. "You, me, box, now." The Doctor said simply despite the scattered words.
Clara just raised her eyebrows at his words. "I'm sorry?" She asked incredulously.
"Look, Clara, just get inside." The Doctor said as he unlocked the door and started to place everything back inside behind the door.
"Both of us?"
"Trust me, it'll make more sense inside."
"I bet it will." Clara said like a disappointed mother.
"Clara, please…" The Doctor started like a stubborn child, but Clara interrupted him.
"What is that box anyway? Why have you got a box?"
"Clara." He warned lightly.
"Is it a snogging booth?" Clara accused in amusement.
"A what?" The Doctor asked incredulously.
"Is that what you do? You bring a booth?" She flirted, her gaze unabashedly darting up and down his form in approval. "Yeah, you're a looker but there's such a thing as too keen." She said with a sly smile.
The Doctor looked up to see the lights in the neighbouring houses turn on far too rapidly for his own liking. "Clara, look around you." The Doctor whispered.
Clara slowly turned around, her eyes widening in surprise as she witnesses this as well. "What's happening? Is the Wi-Fi switching on the lights?"
"No. The people are, but the Wi-Fi is directing them." The Doctor said, his words sending cold shivers down Clara's spine. They watched as the man's head just disappeared in a blue light to reveal yet another silver chrome head.
"What is that thing, Doctor?"
"A walking base station, or server. They're the ones snatching up the people, doing the dirty work on location. You saw one earlier, that's how you got into the Wi-Fi."
"I saw a friend of mine." Clara said in denial, before turning around to notice the lights in the city being turned off. "Doctor."
"They must have taken an image from your self-conscious and thrown it back at you. In other words, active camouflage." He rambled.
"Doctor!" Clara grabbed his arm and pulled him over to view the city. "What's going on? Our lights are on, but everyone else's is off. Why?"
"I don't know, but we must be one hell of a target right now."
Clara looked up in the sky to see an airplane descending towards them. "Doctor, planes have Wi-Fi, right?"
"Some planes do, yeah." The Doctor then paused in quick realization as he looked up to notice the plane as well.
"Box, right?"
"Yep." They both race into the TARDIS, Clara holding onto her cup tightly as she stumbles in shock to see the interior of the TARDIS. "Yes, it's a spaceship! Yes, it's bigger on the inside! No, I don't have the time to witter on about it!" The Doctor yelled as he raced about the console to pilot the TARDIS.
"But…but…but it's- "
"Can I have some hush now, thank you?! Short bounces are difficult to do!"
"Bigger on the inside! Actually bigger!" The TARDIS landed with a thud, making the Doctor and Clara stumble slightly as he raced over to the door, Clara following him. "We're going back out there?!"
"No, we've moved! I told you, it's a spaceship! We flew away!"
"Away from the plane?!"
The Doctor laughed. "No way in hell!" He then threw open the door and they stumble out into the interior of the descending airplane, shrieking as they struggle to maintain balance.
"How did we get here?!" Clara shrieked.
"Seriously, Clara! It's a ship! Have you not been paying attention?!" The Doctor reprimanded as they moved forwards to the cockpit, past all the bodies of the passengers as they do so.
"Are they all dead?! Don't tell me they're all dead, Doctor!"
"No, they're not dead! They were just sent to sleep by the Wi-Fi!" The Doctor pulled out his sonic to unlock the cabin door, then pocketing it before ramming into the door with his shoulder to force it open as they both enter.
"What is going on?! Is this real?!"
"Do you want the long story or the short- "
"Doctor, just tell me what is happening!"
"Fine! I'm an alien from outer space with two hearts and I can't fly a bloody plane! Can you?!"
"No!"
"Fine then!" The Doctor just laughed with newfound glee. "Fantastic!" He then grasped onto the wheel before pulling up as hard as he could, Clara wrapping her arms around his shoulders as they scream from the adrenaline of the plane pulling up to narrowly miss the houses and the ground. "Whooo!" They both laugh their victory as they pull themselves together before starting to pant and wheeze. "I'm probably just going to stick to flying the TARDIS though." The Doctor quipped lightly.
"The what?"
"The TARDIS. That's the name of my ship."
One of the pilots, most likely the Captain, gave a groan as he began to wake from his sleep before jumping in shock at the sight of the Doctor and Clara. "What the hell is going on?"
"Oh, nothing much, just switching off the Wi-Fi. Do you want to go back to driving, mate? I'm a bit winded." The Doctor took several, loud breaths as he strolled out of the now stable cabin.
"You're winded?" Clara admonished in amusement.
"Oi!" The Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the TARDIS.
Miss Kizlet, Mahler, and Alexei look at the computer screen in bewilderment. "I don't understand. What's happened?" Miss Kizlet asked. "That box. Where's it gone?"
"I don't know, ma'am." Alexei said softly.
Miss Kizlet gave a growl of annoyance. "All of you!" Everyone in the office looked at her in fear. "Find that box! Now!"
The Doctor returned to piloting the TARDIS, now much more calmly as Clara slowly drinks back her cup of tea before setting the empty cup down. "Okay, Doctor. When are you going to explain to me what the hell just happened?" Clara asked.
"Oi. Have a bit of patience. I'll explain it at breakfast." The TARDIS landed with a thud as the Doctor picked up a fedora before moving to the door.
"What?! Doctor, I am not waiting till breakfast!" Clara growled in annoyance.
"You seriously haven't been paying attention, have you?" The Doctor retorted.
"Rude." Clara muttered under her breath.
"It's a time machine. You don't have to wait for breakfast." He then opened the door to a sunny day with people outside, already clapping in awe and joy at the sight of the TARDIS materialising in front of them. "Thank you! Thank you! All donations gratefully accepted!" Clara exited the TARDIS, looking both bewildered and amused as the people actually started giving money while the Doctor handed the cash filling fedora to her before moving back inside. "Just popping back into the garage!" He called.
Clara scrunched her face in wonderous bewilderment. "Garage?!" After a few more moments as the fedora filled up with more cash, Clara looked back at the box, the Doctor still not having exited the TARDIS. "So, is this tomorrow then? Tomorrow comes early?"
"No. Tomorrow came at the usual time, we just took the shortcut." The Doctor's voice rolled out as he…well…rolled out on a motorbike, making Clara look at him in awe.
Did he have a motorbike in there the whole time?
This new sight also made the people restart their cheering again as they took pictures and selfies with the TARDIS. "Thank you! Tomorrow, a camel!" He then hopped off quickly to lock the door before putting on a helmet to mount the bike.
"You have a camel?" Clara asked as she hopped onto the bike behind the Doctor, giving him the money as he handed her a helmet.
"No, that was a lie." The Doctor said simply, missing Clara almost wanting to pout at the answer before he started the motorbike into a roar and then sped off into the city.
Mahler walked over to Alexei's desk as pictures of the blue box popped up on his computer. "What's happening?" Mahler asked.
"Blue box, Southbank. Definitely wasn't there five minutes ago." Alexei answered as Miss Kizlet walked over.
"Are we sure this time? Earl's Court was an embarrassment." Mahler grumbled.
"If you've got a flying time machine, why are we on a motorbike?!" Clara asked over the roar of vehicle.
"I don't take the TARDIS when it's being noticed!"
"Because it's made of wood?!" Clara asked mischievously.
"Because it's the most powerful ship in the universe and I don't want-" The Doctor stopped himself as he didn't need to look behind him to see Clara's raised eyebrows in a "Are you kidding me?" expression. "Okay then! It's because it's made of wood!" He groaned.
"Does the Doctor not want to get embarrassed that his brilliant ship is made of wood?!" Clara teased.
"I'll have you know Clara-" The Doctor let go of the handle for a moment, making them both squeal in surprise as the motorbike started to swerve.
"Doctor!"
"Sorry!" He returned to his driving with a sheepish blush, making Clara giggle.
Miss Kizlet watches the computer screen with a growing smile of pleasure as recent photos of the Doctor and Clara on the motorbike pop up. "I do love London. So many cameras." Miss Kizlet said slyly.
Sitting on the outside balcony of an upstairs café, the Doctor pulled out Clara's laptop while she finishes a milkshake. "So, if we can travel anywhere in time and space, why travel to the morning? What's the point in that?" Clara asked.
"Whoever's after us spent the whole night looking. Clara, do you feel tired?" The Doctor asked.
"Not really, no." She shrugged.
"Well, imagine how they feel. They came the long way around." The Doctor reprimanded before working again. "They've got to be close. London, going by the signal distribution. I can hack the lowest level of their operating system, but I can't find their location. The security's too good."
"Are you an alien?" Clara asked randomly.
"Yeah. You fine with that?"
"Yeah, fine. At least, I think I'm fine with it." She gave a small amused snort as he just arched one eyebrow at her. "So, what happens if you do find them?"
"No idea. I can't tell the future; I just work there." He admitted.
"So, you don't have a plan?" Clara asked bluntly.
"I never have a plan, I just…improvise." He admitted, now in embarrassment.
Clara put her drained shake aside before grabbing the laptop from his grasp. "Give me."
"Sorry, what?" He asked incredulously as he took it back.
"You need to know their exact location?" Clara reminded.
"Obviously, yes."
"I can do it." She said as she grabbed it again.
"How?"
"I can give you their physical location in under five minutes. Pop off and get us a coffee." She said with a teasing smirk as the Doctor grabbed the laptop to begin their childish game of tug of war.
"If I can't find them, you definitely can't."
"They uploaded me, remember? I've got computer stuff in my head or were you not paying attention?" Clara teased.
"Oi! I did notice, missy! And I have better computer skills."
"My hacking skills are insane."
"I'm from space with two hearts and…twenty-seven brains." He almost sputtered the lie out. Unfortunately, Clara noticed.
"I can find them in under five minutes plus photographs. Twenty-seven brains? That lie is as big as your ears."
"Oi! Leave my ears alone! I'm fond of my ears!"
"Coffee, go get, now!" Clara reprimanded before pulling the laptop out of his grasp and starting to work.
The Doctor sat there in shock for a moment as he racked his brain for some other attempt to heal his injured ego. "The security is absolute."
"It's never about the security, it's about the people." The Doctor held a sigh of defeat as he stood up from his chair to re-enter the café before turning with a pause, making Clara look at him in confusion. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"Sorry, it's just…your 27 yet you were at home trying to find internet." He pointed out.
"Yeah. And?" Clara shrugged.
"Well, shouldn't you be doing…you know…young things like…dancing?" The Doctor stammered as he failed to find the right words.
"What, with you? Down boy." Clara flirted with a wink.
"Oi! Stop it!" The Doctor said as he hurried back inside to hide his blush, which Clara already noticed, making her giggle. As he proceeded over to the counter, he paused for a moment to marvel the delicious food being presented. "Two cappuccinos over there, please." He said politely.
"One moment, sir." The Italian waiter said. Before he moved to work however, he stood up with a slight blue light in his eyes, holding his right hand up like he's holding something slim, now speaking in a dignified English accent. "You realize, you haven't got the slightest chance to save your new friend."
The Doctor looked at him, feeling both completely puzzled, and a tiny bit of anger in his hearts. "I'm sorry?"
"I said, "You haven't got the slightest chance to save your new friend". And don't annoy the old man. He isn't actually speaking." He then reverted back to his Italian accent, acting like he didn't say anything. "I said, "One moment, sir"."
"I'm speaking." The same English accent is heard behind the Doctor, now a female waiter, holding her right hand up in the same gesture and her eyes glowing with the same dim light. "Just using whatever's to hand."
Miss Kizlet kept pacing her office, her tablet held up in her right hand as she speaks in a self-satisfied manner into its imbedded microphone. "Oh, she's a gorgeous one, isn't she? Do you like her? I can make her like you too."
The female waiter had a brief spark in her eyes before she looked at the Doctor in confusion. "You all right, sir?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said dully, making her shake her head at him before she moved away. Whoever it is, when they speak, the person they talk through doesn't notice or remember it. He quickly ran outside to check on Clara. "You okay?"
"Sure, just setting stuff up. Need a username." Clara said quickly, as if she was on a sugar high.
"You're learning fast." The Doctor said, restraining how proud she him feel purely because of the danger at hand.
"Clara Oswald for the win. Oswin!" Clara punned before returning to work, not noticing the Doctor's look of recognition as he turned back into the café. He stopped as the same female waiter from before returned, now with a slight blue spark that he noted as the symbol of possession.
"Now, I want you to look around. Go on, have a little stroll, and see how impossible your situation is. Go on, look. I do love showing off." She said smugly, before the spark faded off, only to appear in a little girl wearing a pink jacket.
"Just let me show you what control of the Wi-Fi can do for me. Stop!" On this command, everyone inside the café halted in movement, making the Doctor's expression turn ice cold.
"I already saw what you could do last night."
"And clear!" She said, making everyone who had halted leave the café until the blue shock appears, now in the eyes of a female reporter on the TV.
"We can hack anyone in the Wi-Fi, once they've been exposed long enough."
"You have a server nearby, do you?" The Doctor deducted.
The woman scoffed. "There's always someone close. We've released thousands into the world. They home in on the Wi-Fi like starving rats chasing fresh cheese."
Back inside the office, the workers looked up in confusion as their webcams flash without warning.
"Mahler, there's something wrong with the webcams." Alexei called, making Mahler walk over to his desk. "Someone must be hacking them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, someone is definitely hacking the webcams. But what would be the point?"
He contemplated for a moment before his eyes widened, moving to the front of the room. "Everyone!" Everyone looked up at Mahler. "Is anyone on social media of any kind? Twitter, Facebook, Myspace?" Everyone in the room held up their hands. "Put your hands down if you didn't mention where you work." No one did.
"I don't know who you are or why you are doing this, but the people of this planet will not be harmed! They will not be controlled!" The Doctor snarled.
"The people of this world are in no danger whatsoever." The woman retorted in a calm tone. "My client requires a steady diet of healthy, living, Human minds. He loves humanity, he cares for Humanity. In fact he can't get enough of it." She mused.
"This is murder!" The Doctor accused.
"It's life! The farmer tends his flock like a loving parent. The abattoir is not a contradiction, for no one loves cattle more than Burger King."
"This shall end today! There will be no more of this!"
"How would you end it? You don't even know where we are."
Outside on the balcony, Clara finished her cross referencing with the photos and social media to find the same answer: Everyone worked at the Shard. She looked up to the see the Doctor there, yet too satisfied to notice his face devoid of emotion. "I did it! I really did it! I found them!"
"You found them?"
"The Shard, floor 65."
"Floor 65."
"Are you listening to me, Doctor? I've found-" Clara paused her rambling in horror as she turned to look at him, his face disappearing in blue light before it once again takes her mind into the data cloud, and all she could do was scream. The real Doctor heard these screams, sending a cold feeling of dread into his hearts as he rushed outside.
"No!" He whipped out his sonic and used it on the server, his rage intensifying as it said, "Upload Complete". He looked at her laptop to see what she found, before a grand idea popped into his head.
Miss Kizlet and Mahler are standing beside the large screen to see the many faces of people uploaded into the cloud. One of them, is the horrified face of Clara. "Should we pulp her or use her as a hostage?" Mahler asked.
"There's no point, she's fully integrated now. She can't be downloaded again, I'm sure he's found that out." Miss Kizlet said smugly.
"I'm not sure he has. He's coming." Alexei said, making them both walk to his desk to see multiple pictures pop up of the Doctor on his motorbike, stopping at the base of the Shard.
"We could stop him." Mahler offered.
"Why bother? It could be rather funny." Miss Kizlet said.
The Doctor looked up at the Shard with a cold expression, trembling to hold his rage as he turned to his left to notice a bearded man holding fish and chips standing there, with the same dim blue light in his eyes. "Really, Doctor? A motorbike? It hardly seems like you."
"I rode this in the Anti-Grav Olympics, 2074." He said simply.
"The building is in lockdown. I'm afraid you can't get in."
"Did you not hear the word "Anti-Grav"?!" He then slammed his hand down on a large red button before racing over and up the walls and windows of the Shard, the man possessed by Miss Kizlet looking up at him in bewilderment.
"Oh dear lord." As the Doctor neared floor 65, he pulled out his sonic and used it to weaken one of the windows, which crashed under the force of the bike, landing him straight into Miss Kizlet's office. He stood up, quickly brushed the glass off his jacket before sitting down at desk with restrained patience, Miss Kizlet entering a few moments later. "Do come in."
"Download her." The Doctor growled, trying at least to give her a chance.
"Sorry about the draught." She quipped sarcastically.
"Download her back into her body right now."
"I can't."
"Oh yes, you can." The Doctor stood up with a huff, crossing his arms as he walked to her in the centre of the room.
"She's a fully integrated part of the data cloud now; she can't be separated." Miss Kizlet informed.
"Download the entire cloud then."
"You do realise what would happen, Doctor? So many of them don't have bodies to go to, so they would simply die."
"Better that than being trapped in a living hell, so give the order!" He roared in impatience.
"No."
The Doctor looked at her coldly as she declined his one chance. "Then I'll have to motivate you."
She scoffed. "You ridiculous man. Why did you come here? Whatever for?"
The Doctor's cold face somehow became even colder due to his smile. "I didn't."
Miss Kizlet blinked in confusion. "What?"
"I'm still in the café, finishing my coffee." He paused for a moment before swallowing. "It's utterly remarkable."
"What are you talking about?" She asked in growing fear.
"You hack people. Me on the other hand, I hack technology." As he tosses off his helmet, he says, "Here's your motivation." Then his face turned expressionless before vanishing in blue light while Miss Kizlet's turned into horror.
"No! Not me! Please, not me!" She screamed fruitlessly as she is uploaded unwillingly into the cloud.
The Doctor could hear argued muttering within the office behind the doors as he picked up his motorbike and walked back over to Miss Kizlet's desk. He then took her tablet and hacked Mahler's "Obedience" to full. Then, he placed it wordlessly back down and used the motorbike to return to the café. There, he picked up Clara's slumbering body and took her home.
"You have no right to be in this office and I'm demanding that you leave at once!" Mahler yelled as soldiers enter, their guns pointed at the workers.
"This building is under U.N.I.T's control!" The leader said.
Hidden in her office, Miss Kizlet pressed a hidden button on her screen to show the face of her client, the late Walter Simeon, bathing her in the familiar blue light. "U.N.I.T are here. Friends of the Doctor, I presume?"
"Oh, old friends. Very old friends." He nodded.
"Then I appear to have failed you, Great Intelligence." Miss Kizlet said in defeat.
"I have feasted on many minds, I have grown. But now, it is time for you to reduce."
"You've been whispering in my ear for so long. I'm not sure I remember what I was before." Miss Kizlet said, her voice trembling as she did.
"Goodbye, Miss Kizlet." The Great Intelligence said coldly before disappearing. She shook in fear as she pressed a button on her tablet, bringing up a prompt saying "Restore", before she pressed the button. This made all the workers including herself grasp their heads in pain before looking up in confusion.
"I'm sorry. Where am I? What am I doing here?" Alexei asked in fear. "Are you soldiers? What's happening? How did I get here?"
"Excuse me, where are the toilets?" Mahler asked, now in a less dignified British accent.
"The toilets?" Alexei asked incredulously.
"I'm here to fix the toilets, the gents. How long have I been here?"
Four of the soldiers burst into Miss Kizlet's office, pointing their guns at her. "Ma'am, identify yourself!" One of them demanded, as she turns to look at them on the ground in terror.
"Where are my Mummy and Daddy?" She asked with a child's voice. "They said they wouldn't be long. Are they coming back?"
Clara, now dressed in a dark grey, crepe jacket with a grey blouse, navy blue shorts and black tights, opened the front door of her house, noticing with raised eyebrows that the TARDIS was still there. She then walked over and knocked on the door politely. "Come in!" The Doctor called as she then entered, spotting him sitting on the Captain's chair with his legs crossed.
"So, he comes back, does he?"
He blinked at her. "What do you mean? I didn't leave. We got back a few minutes ago."
She frowned. "Then how have I been asleep for a bike ride yet the first time I was asleep for hours?"
"Basically, just then you were uploaded and downloaded properly whereas the first time, you were pulled out mid upload. That put more of a stress on your mind, making you sleep more. Like your clothes, by the way." He said with a warm smile.
She blushed lightly. "Thank you."
"Clara, who were those two kids?"
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"You have a picture of you and two teens. Who were they?"
Clara smiled softly. "Angie and Artie. They're good kids, albeit incredibly stubborn." That made the Doctor laugh. "I was going to travel, before becoming a teacher, but as I came to stay at their house for a week…" She trailed off.
"Their mother died." He finished for her. "You felt sorry for them, so you decided to help them as a friend." Clara nodded. ""101 Places to See" yet you didn't go because you don't run out on the people you care about. So, you keep the book for remembrance."
Clara shook her head. "I keep the book, because I'm still going." She said simply as she walked over to the console.
The Doctor stood up out of the chair and moved towards her with a grin. "Clara, did you know that the wonder of a space-time machine is that you can run away for however long you like and still be home in time for tea. So, what do you say? Anywhere, all of time and space right outside those doors."
Clara looked back at the doors before looking towards the Doctor, and a grin quickly shot up onto her face. "Does this work?" She asked.
"What?" The Doctor looked at her incredulously as she giggled and skipped around him gleefully.
"Is this actually what you do? Do you just crock your finger and then people jump in your snog box and fly away?"
"She is not a snog box!" The Doctor said in defence of the TARDIS.
"I'll be the judge of that!" She retorted, crossing her arms, mocking his own favourite stance.
"Starting when?" He said, unconsciously crossing his arms.
Clara squinted one eye, tapped her fingers on her arm for a few moments before she answered. "Come back tomorrow and ask me again."
The Doctor groaned. "Why?"
"Because tomorrow, I might say yes." She then skipped back around and to the doors of the TARDIS. "Is sometime after 7 all right?" She asked.
"It's a time machine. Any time's all right." The Doctor grumbled, making Clara giggle again.
"See you then."
"Wait, Clara!" Clara then stopped, her hand resting on the door handle. "In your book, there was a leaf. Why?"
Clara smiled, now with a nostalgic twinkle in her eyes. "That wasn't a leaf. That was page one." She said softly before opening the door and leaving the ship.
The Doctor blinked repeatedly in confusion before chuckling to himself. "All right then, Clara Oswald. I think it's time to find out who you are." He then moved back around the console, lowered the dematerialization lever, and started to pilot the TARDIS away to his next destination.
AN: Surprisingly, that was faster than the last two chapters, but it was fun regardless. Anyway, thank you for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)