New Earth
Powell Estate, London
3rd January 2007
When Jackie had practically forced the Doctor and Clara to stay a few days during Christmas to let Clara recover from her literal "Mental Episode", it surprisingly turned into an entire week. One whole week of friendly chatter with Rose, Mickey, and yes, they inwardly groaned at Jackie's consistent, nonsensical rambling, especially with Bev's latest cook recipes or how she tried to get back with Howard again, to no avail. When the week ended, the Doctor, Clara and Rose in unison decided to restart their travelling again. Jackie, of course, tried fruitlessly to make them stay longer but they couldn't be swayed. Now, at a bright yet remarkably cold midday, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey stood outside the silent TARDIS. The Doctor and Clara had already gone within to prepare for departure, while Rose was packed to the brim with clothes, despite the enormous wardrobe inside the ship. Rose had taken a new outfit to try, a diesel blue and purple top, with black Topshop trousers and a magenta jacket. Jackie, as usual, was fussing over Rose's every detail, to Rose's astonishment and Mickey's enjoyment.
"Are you sure you've got everything?" Jackie asked again.
"I've got everything, don't worry."
Jackie finally nodded in contempt. "Be careful."
They embraced in a hug with a parting kiss on the cheek. "You'll have to call Mo about that-"
"Oh, never mind Mo." Jackie interrupted.
"Okay, I'm going now. I love you." Rose said as they parted.
"Love you." Jackie returned.
Rose then hugged Mickey, the two parting with a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful out there." He said.
"See you later." Then, Rose rushed inside the TARDIS, closing the doors behind her just as the Doctor put the TARDIS into flight, dematerialising away from the Powell Estate and into the Vortex. She placed her bag on the Captain's chair, before glancing around, seeing only the Doctor at the console. "Where's Clara?" She asked.
"In the wardrobe. Said something about trying out "A fresh look"." The Doctor said as he worked.
She shrugged at that. "So, where are we going?" Rose asked as she gripped the console.
"Further than we've ever gone before." He said simply, the two sharing a grin. He then flicked a large lever on the console, sending them tumbling through fast into the Vortex, rocking the ship as if it was in a sea storm. The Doctor whooped before he flicked the same lever again, the ship now landing at their desired destination with a thump. They stumbled slightly against the TARDIS, laughing as they did. He then grabbed his overcoat while Rose went to the door. "Hold on." He called. "Wait for Clara."
As if on cue, they hear the click clack of heels as Clara re-entered the console room. As she does, Rose cocks an eyebrow while the Doctor's jaw drops. Clara had donned a velvet lapel blazer, matching trousers with a boyfriend shirt, a floppy bow, and a pair of heels. Even her hair was brushed, framing her face on both sides. She smirked, looking at the Doctor who stared at her. "Like what you see?" She flirted.
He grinned wolfishly while Rose plugged her fingers in her ears. "Mmmmmmmm." He…purred. That made Clara giggle, walking up to him and grasping his tie.
"You see, I figured that if you can pull that look off, maybe I can too."
"Well, I'm sure that-that there are a few looks of mine that y-you wouldn't-" Clara cut off his sheepish stammering by smashing her lips on his, allowing him to pull her in tight. Rose just glanced away with a look of disgust. When they parted with slightly flushed faces, Clara turned to Rose, holding her arms out.
"So, what'd you think?" Rose just squinted her eyes, and Clara rolled hers. "Come on, look at me." She twirled around briefly before Rose cut her off.
"Yeah, ok." Rose shrugged.
Clara blinked a bit before shaking her head. "No, no, no, no. I meant like…" She brushed her hair back with a beaming smile. "Look at me."
"I am looking." Rose shrugged with a huff.
Clara's face deflated at that. "Seriously?"
"Yes. You look like you're about to go to a bank." Rose shrugged as if it were obvious.
"No, I don't!" Clara huffed, making Rose snort as she walked to the door.
"If it makes you feel any better, Clara, you look incredible." The Doctor complimented, hugging her from behind.
"Thank you." She said honestly.
"Hold on." Rose double checked on Clara. "Are you taller?"
Clara's jaw dropped. "Did you not hear the heels from a few seconds ago?" She asked, kicking up a foot to show her footwear.
"Why're you wearing them? Do you need to reach a high shelf?" Rose quipped with her tongue in her teeth.
"Ugh, come on! We could be late." Clara said, pulling the Doctor past Rose and out the doors.
Rose blinked. "For a shelf?" She muttered before shrugging and following them out. As they did, any bickering they were partaking in evaporated in an instant to be replaced with awe, while the Doctor gazed on with a blinding grin. The TARDIS had materialised on a pure green countryside, a small distance from a nearby blue ocean. Beyond was a grand spiralling silver city with hordes of racing, flying cars zooming over their heads, circling the city, and moving throughout its infrastructures. Although, it didn't help their vision with the flowing wind billowing their hair around them, while the Doctor's overcoat kept flapping about.
"It's the year five billion and twenty-three. We're in the galaxy "M87" and this…this is "New Earth"."
"That's just…that's just…" Rose couldn't find words for a moment before she burst into laughter.
"It's beautiful." Clara awed before she too giggled.
The Doctor nodded. "Not bad. Not bad at all."
"That's amazing." Rose awed with a grin. "Oh, I'll never get used to this, never. Different ground beneath my feet." She bounced up and down on the spot like an excited kid. "Different sky." She breathed out before blinking. "Wait, what's that smell?"
The Doctor sniffed before kneeling, snatching a stalk of grass, and sniffed it. "Apple grass." He concluded with a grin.
"Seriously?" Clara muttered. The Doctor gave it to her, and she sniffed. Then she burst into laughter. "You weren't kidding." He winked at her as she let the stalk fly away in the wind.
"Oh, I love this." Rose said earnestly. "Can I just say? Traveling with you two, I love it."
"Hold on." Clara tutted with a smirk. "Didn't you just make fun of my outfit?"
"Oh fine!" Rose huffed. "You look great."
"Thank you. And to add to your statement…so do we." Clara winked. Then the Doctor took their hands in his.
"Come on!" He beamed, leading them off down the countryside. They were unknowingly being watched by a small spider drone. It's beady red eye focused on them as they raced across the landscape, before the Doctor took off his overcoat and placed it down on the grass. The Doctor and Clara snuggled into each other on it while Rose lay beside them, the three staring up at the sky and the city.
"Human!" A breathless voice spoke within the drone's computer. "The blonde! She's pureblood human." The eye zoomed into focus on the back of Rose's head. "Her face. Who is she? Move closer. Closer." The voice implored, and the drone silently crept around them, keeping a few paces away to remain unnoticed.
"So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted." The Doctor said.
"That was my first trip with you." Rose said with a grin.
"We still didn't pay up, did we?" Clara asked with wide eyes.
"Oh, it's all right. It wasn't even that dare." Clara sighed in relief at that.
"So, anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust but the Human race lives on, spread out across the stars." The Doctor continued his rambling. "Soon as the Earth burns up, oh, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, and they find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit, lovely. Call goes out, the Humans move in."
"What's the city called?" Rose asked.
""New New York"."
"Oh, come on." Rose groaned.
"It is!" The Doctor whined. "It's the city of "New New York"." Then he thought for a moment. "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original. So that makes it "New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York"." Clara giggled, making him blink. "What?"
"You're so different and yet…you're not." Clara said cryptically with a smirk.
"New New Doctor. But if this is my tenth face, that would make me "New New New New New New New New Doctor"." Clara couldn't handle it and she burst out laughing at that. "What?" He whined.
"Sometimes you're foxy…other times, you're cute." Clara mocked in her giggling.
"You're going to pay for that, missy." The Doctor flirted before rolling on top of her giggling form and kissing her deeply. Rose looked away, waggling her tongue out like she tasted a horrible meal.
"Bloody hell." She muttered. "Get a room."
Unknown to them, the drone still watched them closely. "Impossible!" An English voice rang through the drone's mind. "I recognize that blonde child. And the brunette. Their faces. Show me their faces!" She demanded.
"Closer. Closer." The rasping man ordered. "Face. Face. Face!"
"Can we go visit New New York, so good, they named it twice?" Rose interrupted, making the pair jump slightly as they got up with flushed faces, Clara helping the Doctor place his overcoat back on.
"Well *Clears Throat* I thought we might go there first." He nodded to a large, silver infrastructure separate from the city. Tall with a slight round face at the front with a large green crescent moon in a circle on the side.
"Why? What is it?" Rose asked.
"Some sort of hospital. That's the green moon on the side, the universal symbol for hospitals."
"What about the red cross?" Clara asked.
The Doctor sniggered. "It's the universal symbol for kindergartens."
"You're kidding?" Clara growled.
"Don't blame me!" The Doctor squealed as she readied to slap him. "Blame whoever came up with that."
"Why're we going there then?" Clara asked as she took a breath to calm herself.
"I got this." He pulled out his psychic paper, which brought up a message saying, "Ward 26. Please come". "Someone wants to see me."
"Hmm. And I thought we were just sightseeing." Rose muttered. "Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes."
"Are we buying?" Clara asked as they walked off.
The drone quickly got a shot of their faces and heard the English voice gasp. "Clara Oswald and Rose Tyler, I knew it! The brunette and her dirty blonde assassin."
"They're coming here, mistress!"
"But this is beyond coincidence. This is destiny." The voice smiled. "At last, I can be revenged on that leprechaun and her little b-"
"Bit rich, coming from you?" Rose retorted as they entered the ground floor of the partly empty hospital.
"I can't help it." The Doctor shrugged. "I don't like hospitals; they give me the creeps."
"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes." An automated female voice rang through the room. "Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted."
"Very smart." Rose drawled as they moved past the long front reception desk and into a large room, the centre holding waiting chairs and three sets of elevators in the nearby wall. "Not exactly NHS."
"No shop. I like the little shop." The Doctor whined, making Clara blink.
"Why're you complaining about the lack of shops?"
"What's wrong with a little shop?" The Doctor asked rhetorically.
"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything." Rose wondered as she stared around the expansive room.
"The Human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war." The Doctor paused as Clara and Rose were gawping at the white clothed nuns walking around, who had loosened their mask cloths. But they were cats. Humanoid cats in nun clothes and one simply nodded in greeting to Clara and Rose.
Clara, to his surprise, melted a bit. "Aww. I like cats." She cooed.
"Clara." He droned with a slight whine. "You can't tell them that. They'd find it offensive."
Rose stared at them in shock. "They're cats. They're actual, walking cats."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Rose don't stare. Think what you look like to them all…" He looked Rose up and down with a frown of confusion, "pink and yellow." He shrugged at Clara, who cocked an eyebrow at him. Before Rose could retort, he pointed to an empty spot at a wall. "That's where I'd put the shop, right there." Rose blinked, looking to where the cat nuns had walked to as the Doctor led Clara to an elevator. "Ward Twenty-six, thanks." He called as he and Clara stepped in, Rose rushing to join them as the doors slid shut.
"Oh, hold on!" Rose called but it was too late.
"Oh, too late, sorry. We're going up." Clara said apologetically.
"It's all right! There's another lift!"
"Ward Twenty-six. And watch out for the disinfectant!" The Doctor called.
"The what?" Clara asked with a frown.
"Watch out for what?!"
"The disinfectant!" The Doctor said in irritation.
"The what?!"
"The di-oh, never mind. She'll find out."
"Find out what?" Clara asked but he simply gulped.
In the other lift, Rose stepped in cautiously, the doors sliding shut. "Um…Ward Twenty-six…thanks." She said awkwardly but felt relieved as the lift moved.
"Commence stage one disinfection." The automated voice called.
A shower of water ran onto the Doctor, Clara, and Rose, the first laughing as it did while the latter two shrieking with a gasp. "That's it!" The Doctor beamed while Clara glared daggers into him. "Oh, relax! It's only water!" He quickly scrubbed his hair before the water shut off and a puff of white steam blew through, drying off all excess water and returning their clothes to normal. Then a heat fan blew through the lift to warm them up again. The Doctor opened up his overcoat, letting the air billow around him with a lazy smile. Clara and Rose both calmed down and used the fan to resort their looks out.
"Okay…do I still look all right?" She asked as she brushed her hair again, improvising with her fingers.
"You look gorgeous." The Doctor complimented before he blinked. "Are you doing that just to impress me?" He asked with a smirk.
The doors opened on cue, allowing a furiously blushing Clara to step out. "No!" She squeaked, and he laughed, racing after her.
Rose exited her elevator yet blinked as she found herself in a mess of a room with pipes and lead strewn all over the floor.
"The Human child is clean." The rasping male voice said. She turned to look into the long hallway, seeing a man wearing a white hospital outfit with a blue bowler hat. However, his skin was dreadfully pale with a sunken, reddish glaze around his tired eyes and lots of markings all over his skin, that looked like the tentacles of an octopus.
"Um…I'm looking for Ward Twenty-six?" Rose asked timidly.
"This way, Rose Tyler." That made her squint her eyes as he turned to walk down the hallway, so improvising, she picked up a lead pipe off the ground in her right hand like a weapon and moved cautiously after the hunched man.
The Doctor and Clara walked with linked arms as a cat nun escorted them through the working areas of the hospital. "Nice place." He commented before frowning. "No shop downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one, just a shop. So, people can…" Clara stared at him with dull eyes. "Shop." He cleared his throat sheepishly.
"The hospital is a place of healing." The cat lady said.
"A shop does some people a world of good. Not me…other people."
She shook her head. "The Sisters of Plenitude take a lifelong vow to help and to mend." They walked past a hospital bed, holding a large rock man dressed in regal golden robes and an over dressed in black business woman standing by his side. The man groaned in pain, making them look over, Clara especially with wide eyes while the woman frowned.
"Excuse me!" She huffed. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."
"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor asked, nodding to the man.
"I'm dying, sir, ma'am." The Duke gasped out. "A lifetime of charity and abstinence and it ends like this." He commented dryly despite his condition.
"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance." The woman huffed again.
"Frau Clovis." The Duke tried to reach for her hand, but as he moved, it was only caused a loud, scraping noise, making even the nun scrunch her face. Frau quickly moved back to the bed and took his hand. "I'm so…weak."
"Sister Jatt!" Frau hissed. "A little privacy, please!"
Sister Jatt motioned for the Doctor and Clara to follow her again, while Clara gazed sadly at the Duke. "What's wrong with him?" She asked.
"He's turning to stone." The Doctor said grimly.
"Don't worry. He'll be up and about in no time." The Doctor stared in confusion at Sister Jatt.
"With Petrifold Regression? I doubt it, there won't be a cure for about…oh…a thousand years? He might be up and about but only as a statue."
"Have faith in the Sisterhood." Sister Jatt simply said before glancing around the room. "But is there no one here you recognize? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."
The Doctor glanced around before his gaze stopped in a corner of the room, a soft smile growing on his face. "No. I think I've found him." Clara and Sister Jatt turned to where he was gazing, seeing a cat nun standing beside the sleeping Face of Boe.
They walked over to gaze at the Face of Boe, the nun turning to look at them. Unlike the nun's they've already met, this one seemed younger, more youthful. "Novice Hame, if I can leave these two in your care?" She asked and Novice Hame nodded.
"Oh, I think our friend got lost." Clara quickly said. "Rose Tyler, could you please ask at reception?"
"Certainly ma'am." Sister Jatt nodded before walking away. They both turned to look at the Face of Boe, who was still sleeping away, but his breathing was rather ragged, accompanied by an occasional groan.
"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep." Novice Hame said softly. "It's all he tends to do these days. Are you two friends or…"
They shook their heads. "We met just the once on Platform One." The Doctor explained. "What's wrong with him?"
Novice Hame blinked sadly. "I'm so sorry, I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."
They gazed at him sadly. "Of what?" Clara asked.
"Old age. One thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old, some people say millions, although that's impossible." Novice Hame smiled lightly at that.
"Oh, I don't know." The Doctor gazed at Clara with a fond smile. "I like impossible." Clara gazed back at him in adoration for a second before they knelt before the Face of Boe, the Doctor placing a hand on the glass. "We're here. I look a bit different but it's me. It's the Doctor and Clara." The Face of Boe just murmured, shifting around slightly in his sleep.
Rose followed the man with caution as he moved into a small room at the end of the hallway. After waiting a few moments, she moved through herself, hearing the soft sounds of a piano playing off…a film reel projector. In the middle of the room on a stand was a film reel projector, playing footage reels of a glamorous party, people clinking their champagne glasses together, dressed in slick black and white suits or in beautiful gowns and dresses. The person filming then moved through the room and the camera turned upon a beautiful blonde woman in a silver dress, holding a glass in her hand as she conversed with two men. "Well, you never know what your life's going to be like, ever." She then passed a glass to one of them with an indifferent look. "I'm bored with this drink. Anyway…" Another man walked into frame and she smiled. "Oh, hello darling." He leaned in and whispered something into her ear, and she blushed. "Oh! Now, don't! Stop it!"
Rose squinted her eyes in realization. "Wait a minute, that's-" She turned around to see Cassandra staring at her with the same satisfied smile.
"Peekaboo!" Cassandra said.
"Don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra." Rose warned, holding up the lead pipe threateningly.
"Why?" She blinked. "What do you think I'm going to do, flap you to death?"
Rose blinked awkwardly at that. "Yeah, but…what about Gollum?"
Cassandra looked at the hunched man. "Oh, that's just Chip. He's my pet."
"I worship the mistress!" Chip interjected.
"Moisturize me. Moisturize me." Cassandra implored, making Chip pick up a spray bottle filled with red liquid. "He's not even a proper life-form. He's a force-grown clone. I modelled him on my favourite pattern. But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs."
"I hope that means food." Rose quipped with a shudder of disgust. "How come you're still alive?"
"After you murdered me?" Cassandra asked accusingly.
"That was your own fault." Rose retorted.
"The brain of my mistress survived." Chip explained before gazing at Cassandra in adoration. "And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin."
"What about the skin? I saw it, you *Chuckles* you got ripped apart."
"That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is the back." Cassandra explained.
Rose laughed. "Right! So, you're talking out of your a-"
"Ask not!" Cassandra huffed.
"The mistress was lucky to survive. Chip secreted milady into the hospital."
"So, they don't know that you're here?" Rose deducted.
"Chip steals medicine. Helps milady." He smiles sweetly, placing a hand on the back of Cassandra. "Soothes her. Strokes her."
Rose shuddered again. "Okay, you can stop right there, Chip."
"But I'm so alone, hidden down here, the last Human in existence."
Rose groaned. "Don't start that again. They've called this planet "New Earth"."
"A vegetable patch." Cassandra scoffed.
"And there's millions of Humans out there, millions of them."
"Mutant stock."
"They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. And you stayed still. You got yourself all pickled and preserved and what good did it do you?"
"Oh, I remember that night." Cassandra said, ignoring her, and focusing on the film reel. "Drinks with the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that, it all became…such arduous work." She spat the last words.
"Well, you've got a knack for survival, I'll give you that."
"But I've not been idle, Rose. Tucked away, underneath this hospital, I've been listening. The Sisters are hiding something."
"What'd you mean?" Rose asked, now interested.
"Oh, these cats have secrets. Hush let me whisper. Come closer." Cassandra implored.
Rose scoffed. "You must be joking if you think I'm coming anywhere near you." Rose backed away to the door but suddenly found herself unable to move. She looked to either side, seeing two long black panels shooting golden light out that was latching onto her hands, keeping them stone still.
"Chip activate the psychograft." Cassandra demanded.
"I can't move. Cassandra, let me go!" Rose shrieked as Chip rushed to a lever and pulled it. It caused a circle of blue light to surround Rose's body. "What're you doing?!"
"The lady's moving on. It's goodbye, trampoline, and hello, blondie." Then, Cassandra's skin disappeared in a haze of deep pink, which then shot over to Rose's head and entered her mind. Rose then sighed, and the light disappeared along with the restraints, letting her collapse onto the stone floor.
Chip cautiously walked over to her, blinking before Rose groaned. "Mistress?" He asked.
"Moisturize me." Rose grumbled. Chip nodded and moved to grab the bottle but stopped as he saw her gazing at her hands with wide eyes. "How bizarre. Arms. Fingers." She twiddled them about a bit before her blonde hair fell in front of her face and she stared at it in disbelief. "Hair." She gasped before rushing up off the ground. "Let me see! Let me see!" She rushed over to a nearby mirror before her face fell into shock. "Oh my god! I'm a chav!"
"Hope, harmony and health. Hope, harmony and health." The automated voice repeated as the Doctor walked back over to Clara and Novice Hame with a few cups of water.
"Thank you." Clara said softly, and he smiled at her.
"It's very kind." Novice Hame said, taking a grateful sip from the water. "But there really is no need."
"You're the one working." He shrugged, moving to the window to gaze out at the city.
"There's not much to do, just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing sometimes, in my mind." She softened her features even more at that. "Such ancient songs."
"Are we the only visitors?" Clara asked.
"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left." The Doctor gazed down sadly for a moment before walking to stand beside Clara. "Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him." Novice Hame said with a smile. "One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret and that he will speak those words only to one like himself."
"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked, him and Clara gazing at her with intrigue.
"It's just a story." Novice Hame shook her head.
"Tell us the rest."
She sighed. "It's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely god." The Doctor gazed at the Face of Boe sadly, so Clara wrapped an arm around him and leant her head into his chest. He relaxed at her gesture, wrapping another arm around her, and kissing her head.
"Look at me. From class to brass." Rose gasped as she looked at her figure. But then…she stopped. "Although…" She unzipped her jacket sultrily, moving her hands to admire the curves of her frame. "Ooh, curves." She purred. "Oh ho, baby." She smiled as she began to hop slightly up and down on the spot. "It's like living inside a bouncy castle."
"The mistress is beautiful." Chip complimented.
"Absolutement." She said in a French accent. Then, she turned her gaze to the empty skin frame and saw the brain capsule at the bottom was now dead of all activity. "Aww." She and Chip moved to gaze at it closely.
"Oh, the brain meat expired." Chip said sadly. "My old mistress is gone."
"But safe and sound in here." She tapped the side of Rose's head softly before brushing her hand over her collarbone in contempt.
"But what of the Rose child's mind?"
She shrugged. "Oh, tucked away. I can just about access the surface memory. She's…" She blinked as an image of the Doctor and Clara came up in her head. "Gosh. She's with the Doctor. They both still are." Then her eyes widened as she realized that he was the same man. "That man. He's the Doctor. The same Doctor with a new face. That hypocrite!" Then, she shrugged at the remarkable work he did. "I must get the name of his surgeon." She moved back to the mirror, brushing her hair again. "I could do with a little work. Although…" She ran her hands over her backside with a smile. "Nice rear bumper. Not sure if the curves could beat my old self but…" Then, an image of Clara came up in her head and her eyes widened again. "Or Clara's." She bit her lip with a blush. "Blimey, she looks good in that. Scratch that, she looks marvellous."
"Are you suggesting…" Chip let it hang and she blushed.
"Let a girl dream, Chip!" Rose squeaked before clearing her throat. At that, Rose's cell phone rang in her pocket, making her blink incredulously. "Oh. It seems to be ringing. Is it meant to ring?" She asked Chip, holding it up to gaze at it.
"A primitive communications device." Chip informed, and she nodded. She pressed the answer button and held it up to her ear.
"Rose, where are you?" Clara's voice came through and Rose shuddered in delight.
"Even her voice." She drawled before shaking her head to fight away the blush. "How does she speak?" She whispered to Chip.
"Old Earth Cockney."
"Um…wotcha?"
Clara stood in a corner, holding her phone to her ear. "Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward Twenty-six? First you insult my clothing then you can't even get the right floor."
"I'm on my way, guvnor. I shall continue up the apples and pears." Clara blinked at that.
"You all right, Rose? You're speaking really…odd." She said timidly.
"Completely fine. Totally fine." Rose sounded a bit breathless at that and she blinked again. Before she could continue, the Doctor motioned her over to the Duke's bed.
"I'd better go. I'll see you in a bit." She walked over to join the Doctor, where they saw a completely fine Duke lying in the bed, holding a champagne glass in the one hand while he laughed with Frau. Even Frau had a delighted smile on her face and a champagne glass in her hand.
"I didn't think I was going to make it, dear." He said and even his voice sounded relaxed and cheerful. Then, his eyes laid on the Doctor and Clara and he beamed. "It's those two again. They're my good luck charm. Come in!" He invited. "Don't be shy!"
"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a formal legal contract." Frau quickly said in her huffy voice before she beamed again.
"Winch me up." He said, and she grabbed a remote, pressed a few keys into it and the back half of the bed raised so he could be eye level with them. "Ha! Look at me! No sign of infection!" He said with glee.
"Champagne, sir? Ma'am?" A waiter said, bringing over two glasses of champagne.
"No thanks." The Doctor said, and Clara echoed it as they stared at the Duke in disbelief. "Um…you had Petrifold Regression, right?"
The Duke nodded. ""Had" being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured." He laughed in delight as another nun walked up to stand by them.
"But that's impossible. I mean, good on you, but that's impossible." He said.
"Primitive species would accuse us of magic but it's merely the tender application of science." The nun explained.
"How on Earth did you cure him?"
"How on "New Earth", you might say." She quipped but the Doctor ignored it.
"What's in that solution?"
"A simple remedy." She shrugged.
"Then tell me what it is."
"I'm sorry, patient confidentiality." She said simply before her eyes squinted. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."
"I'm the Doctor and this is Clara." Clara nodded but Matron's eyes squinted even more.
"I think you'll find that WE'RE the doctors here."
"Matron Casp." Sister Jatt had walked up to them as they talked with an urgent look on her face. "You're needed in intensive care."
Matron nodded. "If you would excuse me." They walked away, being watched closely by the TARDIS duo.
"It's happened again." Sister Jatt whispered. "One of the patients is conscious."
"Oh, we can't have that."
"This Doctor man is dangerous." Chip reasoned as Rose finished taking off her jacket and unbuttoned the top three buttons on her shirt to expose her cleavage.
"Dangerous and clever. I might need a mind like his. And maybe Clara's will help as well." She smiled sweetly. "The sisterhood is up to something. Remember that old Earth saying? "Never trust a nun, never trust a nurse and never trust a cat". Perfume?" Chip handed her a small bottle and she inserted it into the front of her bra, hanging just below the bottom of her cleavage. They then went ahead to walk out of the room and towards the elevator shafts.
Matron Casp and Sister Jatt walked through a maintenance door into a basement laboratory with a walkway, overlooking a dark chasm lit by a sickly green light. They turned to the right, moved down the walkway, passing by a number of capsules lit by the same green light.
"It was having a perfectly normal blood wash and all of a sudden, it started crying." Sister Jatt explained before they stopped before one capsule. "It's this one." She said, and she latched open the door. Within was a human male dressed in charcoal rags and covered from head to toe in every form of disease and illness imaginable.
"Please." He rasped. "Help me."
They ignored his pleading, instead staring into his terror filled eyes. "Look at its eyes. So alive." Sister Jatt commented and Matron Casp nodded.
"Positively sparkling."
"Please, where am I?" He asked, and they ignored him again.
"And speech. How can it even have a vocabulary?" She asked.
Sister Jatt shrugged. "Sister Corvin's written a thesis on the migration of sentience. She calls it "The Echo of Life". It's well worth a read."
"Help me." He pleaded again.
She shuddered in disgust. "I've seen enough, thank you." Sister Jatt nodded and closed the door as they made their way back to the entrance. "If this happens again, we'll have to review our brainstem policy."
"And what should we do with the patient?"
"Standard procedure: Incinerate." Sister Jatt moved to a nearby console and inputted a code into the computer before pulling a lever. Within the previously visited capsule, it flared with electrical blue light and the man screamed in agony as Sister Jatt left, the man's screams of pain going unanswered by anyone.
Rose walked out of the elevator and into Ward Twenty-six, looking around the room for a sign of the Doctor or Clara. She first saw the Doctor inspecting a large group of medical solutions while Clara gazed around the room. Then, her gaze fell on Rose. She squinted her eyes before shrugging at Rose's latest look before moving over to her.
"There you are. Come over here." Clara motioned Rose to join her and the Doctor, so she did. "Have a look at this patient."
The three gazed at a man suspended in mid-air, his skin coloured in a deep crimson. "Marconi's disease." The Doctor explained. "Should take years to recover. Him: Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell-washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is far too advanced."
"And this man." Clara said, moving them over to a pale man, lying in a hospital bed with red and yellow wires running under his gown.
"Pallidome Pancrosis." The Doctor explained. "Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine." The Doctor gazed around the room for a moment with narrowed eyes. "I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this." He muttered, and the pair moved to follow him.
"Think about it, Rose." Clara said. "If they've got the best medicine in the world…then why is it such a secret?"
"I can't Adam and Eve it." Rose said nonchalantly.
"What's with the voice?" Clara asked, her and the Doctor furrowing their eyebrows.
Rose shrugged, grabbing her top to expose more cleavage. "Oh, I don't know, just larking about New Earth. New me."
Clara shrugged, blatantly ignoring Rose's gesture. "Well, we can talk. New Doctor and Clara."
"Mmm…aren't you just." Rose purred. Then without warning, she grabbed Clara's head and smashed her lips against hers. Clara's body shot up in shock as Rose passionately kissed her, running her hands through her hair before parting, her breathing ragged with panting and Clara's hair ruffled from her affection. "T-t-terminal's this way." She stammered with a blush before walking away.
Clara watched her go with wide eyes before her jaw dropped. "What the fuck was that?" She glanced at the Doctor for help, who was gazing on with wide eyes and…a blush. "Oh, don't you dare think that." She growled, moving after Rose.
"Love you." The Doctor squeaked. Clara threw a thumbs up behind her and the Doctor relaxed slightly before moving to follow. They approached the terminal, standing there in awkward silence for a while as the Doctor searched the computer, every once in a while, using the sonic to scan past any security system he met. "Nope, nothing odd." He reported with a slight huff after a few moments. "Surgery…post-op…nanodentistry…no sign of a shop. Aww, they really should have a shop."
"What is it with you and shops?" Clara asked.
"I like shops." He whined.
"No, it's missing something else." Rose interjected. "When I was downstairs, those nurse cat nuns were talking about intensive care, but where is it?"
The Doctor exchanged a look with Clara. "You're right. Well done."
Rose didn't pick up on their silent agreement. "Why would they hide a whole department?" She contemplated for a few moments, searching the screen for information. "It's got to be there somewhere. Search the subframe."
"What if the subframe's locked?" The Doctor asked, shooting Clara another look.
"Try the installation protocol."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course. Sorry." He stuck the tip of his tongue in between his teeth as he used the sonic to bypass through the terminal. "Hold on a moment." He muttered before the terminal beeped a few times in succession. Then, a panel in the wall surrounding the terminal gave way, sliding down and disappearing into a slot within the floor, revealing a dark grey and humid pathway within. Rose smirked and moved in first, the Doctor and Clara grabbed each other's hand in comfort and moved after her, none of them noticing Novice Hame closely watching them. "Intensive care. It certainly looks intensive." The Doctor commented. They moved silently through walkways and stairwells before arriving at the full view of the patient capsules. The Doctor pulled out the sonic and unlocked one, unclasping the latch to open it. Their eyes laid upon the patient within, the Doctor's eyes gleaming with sullen anger, Rose's with disgust and Clara's with sorrow.
"That's disgusting." Rose commented. "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said to the patient, who's eyes were a bottomless pit of emotionless torment. "I'm so sorry." The Doctor closed the door before unlatching the one next to it, seeing a diseased female patient within.
"What disease is that?" Rose asked.
"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy, they've been infected with everything."
"What about us? Are we safe?"
"The air's sterile. Just don't touch them." He closed the door before glancing at Clara as Rose moved up to the walkway to stare at all the capsules. "I'm sorry I made you see this." He said solemnly.
Clara nodded, but her eyes were blinking back at her tears. "It wasn't your fault. Just don't open another, please." She whimpered. The Doctor nodded and pulled her into a soft hug, his presence allowing Clara to calm down.
"Why would they do this?" She asked, her voice starting to be laced with a dull bitterness.
"Because they think it's the right thing." The Doctor said simply as they parted. Clara stared at the capsules, her eyes slowly becoming bright with a bitter anger which the Doctor mirrored in his own eyes as they walked to stand by Rose.
"How many patients are there?" Rose asked.
"They're not patients."
"But they're sick."
"They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. They're lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A Human farm!" He spat, moving away from the railing.
"Why don't they just die?" Rose asked. That made them clench their jaws at her, any doubts they had about her behaviour were now solidified.
"Plague carriers. The last to go." The Doctor said simply.
"It's for the greater cause." Novice Hame interjected as she stepped out of the shadows from behind a stairwell.
"Novice Hame." Clara said bitterly. "When you took your vows, did you agree to this?"
"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."
"By killing?!" Clara spat.
"They're not real people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."
"So, what's the turnover? How many do you replace each day?" Clara growled, advancing on Novice Hame, glaring a burning fire in her eyes. "A thousand? Another thousand the next? How many thousands, for how many years?" Novice Hame blinked but didn't get a chance to speak. "How many?! Answer me!" Clara roared and Novice Hame flinched.
"Mankind needed us." Novice Hame said with a touch of fear. "They came to this planet with so many illnesses, we couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow. So, the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are: Flesh."
"And have you taken into consideration that these people are alive?" The Doctor interjected, his tone echoing Clara's.
"But think of those Humans out there, healthy, and happy, because of us."
"If they live because of this, then life is worthless." The Doctor spat.
Novice Hame blinked. "And who are you to decide that?"
"I'm the Doctor and this is Clara. If you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then you're sorely mistaken, because there isn't one. It stops with us."
Rose moved beside them; her posture ever so slightly awkward at their heated gazes. "Just to confirm…none of the Humans in the city actually know about this?" She asked.
Novice Hame blinked at bit in the difference in question. "We thought it best not-"
"Hold on a moment." Clara interrupted. "If I let myself think about this for a moment then I can understand the bodies and your vows, but I can't understand this: What have you done to Rose?"
Rose looked at them, holding back her shock while Novice Hame blinked in confusion. "I don't know what you mean." She said simply.
"I am trying to be very calm, right now." Clara warned. "And the only reason I'm trying to be calm is because, and I take this from my own experience, the brain is very delicate. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, reverse it." She ordered.
"We haven't done anything." Novice Hame said nervously.
"I'm perfectly fine." Rose tried to reason but they didn't listen.
"Clara is right." The Doctor interjected. "These people are alive, living in torment and Rose would care."
Rose let her shoulders slouch, dropping whatever act she put up. "Oh, all right, Mr. Smarty-pants and Mrs. Clever clogs."
"What's happened to you?" The Doctor asked as they turned to look at Rose, who moved up close to them.
"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out." She tapped the Doctor's forehead as she said "Mind" before smirking at Clara. "Of course, it turns out, two minds are better than one."
"Who are you?"
She smiled. "The last Human."
They blinked. "Cassandra?"
As they blinked, they shot each other a confused look, letting Rose take the opportunity to remove her perfume bottle from within her bra. "Wake up and smell the perfume." She sprayed a shot into both of their faces, causing their eyes to roll back into their head before they collapsed to the ground with a thud. Novice Hame looked on with wide eyes.
"You've hurt them." She gasped as she checked the Doctor's pulse. "I don't understand. I'll have to fetch Matron."
Rose nodded. "You do that, because I want to see her. Now, run along! Sound the alarm!" Novice Hame rushed away and towards the stairwells as Rose pulled a nearby wire, causing an alarm to blare through the room. She then gazed up and down the nearby capsules, spotting only one that was empty. With a slight heave, she hauled the Doctor inside before moving Clara in and into his arms before she closed the door.
Novice Hame rushed back through the terminal entrance, spotting Matron Casp and Sister Jatt already walking through. "Matron! It's that man and the girls!"
Matron held out a hand to calm her. "We heard the alarm; we shall deal with it. Now get back to work. Tend to your patients." Novice Hame nodded and rushed from the room while the two nuns moved through the door.
The Doctor groaned as he shook away the forced grogginess of sleep, glancing around briefly inside the small capsule. He found he couldn't move, spotting an unconscious Clara in his arms as the reason but because of that, he couldn't reach the door. "Clara?" He whispered, moving his hands to check her pulse. He then realized it was fruitless, so he withdrew them away.
"Doctor." She whimpered in her sleep and he sighed in relief.
Footsteps clacked outside the door and he looked up, seeing Rose through the glass, yet his vision of her was obscured by the heavy amount of green on the glass. "Let us out! Let us out!" He demanded.
"Aren't you two lucky that there was a spare?" Rose asked rhetorically as Clara groaned, fighting off her forced sleep. "Standing room only."
"You've stolen Rose's body. Let me guess, psychograft?" The Doctor asked.
Rose blinked a bit in surprise but shook it off. "Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill both you and your missus, Doctor. And now that's exactly what I've got: One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about…" She quickly checked her watch. "Three minutes left. Enjoy."
"Cassandra…let Rose go." Clara said in warning.
"I will." She shrugged. "As soon as I find someone younger and…less common. Then, I'll junk her with the waste. Now, hush-a-bye. It's showtime."
"Anything we can do to help?" The voice of Matron Casp came through the glass.
"Straight to the point, whiskers. I want money."
The Doctor and Clara rolled their eyes. "Again?" He grumbled.
Matron Casp scoffed. "The Sisterhood is a charity. We don't give money, we only accept."
"The Humans across the water pay you a fortune and that's exactly what I need. A one-off payment. That's all I want. Oh, and perhaps a yacht." Both the cat duo and the TARDIS duo blinked at each other in puzzlement at that. "In return for which, I will tell the city nothing of your institutional murder. Is that a deal?" She asked, and the cat duo just stared darkly at her.
"I'm afraid not."
"I'd really advise you to think about this." Rose warned.
"Oh, there's no need. I have to decline."
"I'll tell them, and you've no way of stopping me." They cocked their eyebrows at her. "You're not exactly nuns with guns. You're not even armed."
"Who needs arms when we have claws?" She snarled, bringing up her hand and unsheathing her claws right through her gloves.
The Doctor and Clara exchanged a puzzled look. "Did she really not think that through?" Clara asked. The Doctor shrugged.
"Well, nice try." Rose said with a nervous smile. "Chip. Plan B!" Chip moved out from the shadows and pulled a nearby lever on the console. This opened a large batch of green capsules, one of which held the TARDIS duo. They walked out, seeing the nuns looking on with wide eyes as the patients moved sluggishly out of their capsules.
"What've you done?!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See ya!" Rose and Chip ran around the corner, the Doctor and Clara in pursuit.
"Don't touch them!" The Doctor called to the nuns. "Whatever you do, don't touch!"
The horde advanced on the nuns, repeatedly saying, "Please, help us. Save us." The nuns backed away, looking on with fear in their eyes. "I think we should withdraw." Sister Jatt urged to Matron Casp, who hastily nodded.
One man from the horde stepped forward towards the console, all the while staring straight at them. "We understood what you did to us. As part of the machine, we know the machine." He said in a raspy voice.
"Fascinating." Matron Casp said as they continued backing away. "It's actually constructing an argument."
"And we will end this." He shot his fist into the monitor, breaking the glass and causing electricity to arc within his body, which shortly thereafter collapsed dead onto the ground. His effect however was tenfold. The latch locks on every single capsule in sight burst apart in sparks, the capsule doors swinging open and letting every patient free from their cell.
"They're free." Sister Jatt said in terror. "By the goddess Centauri, the flesh is free!"
"Stop the pain." A female patient said as she strode forward, straight towards Sister Jatt. Sister Jatt hissed, trying to threaten her with her claws but the patient ignored it, moving until Sister Jatt was backed against the wall and she pressed her hand against her face. Sister Jatt screamed in agony, boils of every disease blaring across her face and throughout her own body. Her nerves and bones shot up in torment as she collapsed to the ground, shaking and shivering as she passed away.
The Doctor, Clara, Rose, and Chip came to the midpoint in the stairwell, looking on at what Rose had wrought. "Oh my god." Rose breathed in shock and fear.
"What the hell have you done?" Clara growled.
"It wasn't me!" She tried to defend.
"One touch, you get every single disease in the world and you die. And we want that body safe, Cassandra!" The Doctor said quickly. More of the horde came pilling through the stairwell above them. "We've got to go down!"
"But there's thousands of them-"
"Run!" Clara roared, making a shrieking Rose and Chip rush down the stairs, the Doctor and Clara following swiftly behind as the horde neared closer.
"Down! Down! Go down!" The Doctor demanded as they rushed down.
A few flights below them, Matron Casp rushed up to a phone booth and quickly inputted a code in. "Quarantine the building!" She ordered before rushing away.
"This building is under quarantine. Repeat: This building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat: No one may leave the premises."
The group pushed through a door at the bottom of the stairwell, finding themselves in the basement where Cassandra took over Rose's body. Rose and Chip rushed to the elevators, but the Doctor stopped them. "No! The lifts have close down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving."
"This way!" Rose shrieked, rushing past and leading them to her old hideout. Moving through the corridors, they turned a corner to see the door. Rose, the Doctor and Clara moved up to the door but looked back as they heard Chip's terror filled whimpering as he was cut off by the horde.
"Don't let them touch you!" The Doctor called to Chip.
"Leave him!" Rose yelled.
"He's going to die!" Clara protested.
"He's just a clone thing! He's only got a half-life, now come on!" She demanded, pushing open the door.
"Mistress, please!" Chip called.
"I'm sorry, but we can't let her escape!" The Doctor called before he and Clara rushed after Rose.
"My mistress!" Chip called fruitlessly as they slammed the door behind them. Most of the horde moved away from the door and towards Chip, reaching out their hands to grasp but he moved away. Chip looked around quickly, his only way out being a waste chute. With some fearful trepidation, he rushed over and jumped in, screaming in terror as he did.
Frau moved through a door towards the open terminal route with her huffy attitude back. "Excuse me! Can we get some service?!" She called but no one answered. Well…except for the horde, which came from around the corner in mass. She screamed in fright, pressing the alarm before rushing out of the room.
The Doctor and Clara worked to bolt the door they just went through, while Rose went to the only other way out. She opened the door, quickly being greeted by the horde. With a scream, she slammed the door and bolted it shut, however they all knew it wouldn't last. "We're trapped!" Rose exclaimed. "What are we going to do?"
The Doctor turned to her with a stern look. "Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body. That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet. You're compressing Rose to death!"
"Well, I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead!" She retorted with a huff.
"Not my problem." The Doctor growled. "You can float as atoms in the air, now get out!" Rose smirked yet it faded as the Doctor raised his sonic at her. "Let her go." He warned.
"You asked for it." Rose smirked.
"Don't you dare." Clara growled but Rose didn't listen. "Don't you-" Rose cut her off by sighing deeply, sending Cassandra's consciousness into the Doctor's body. The Doctor stumbled to keep his balance while Rose fell into Clara's hold.
"Blimey, my head." Rose grumbled, blinking to keep her vision as her head swam with a loud ringing noise in her ears. "What did I miss?" She asked Clara.
"You…Cassandra kissed me." Clara said with squinting eyes.
Rose blinked at that before scrunching her face in disgust. "Ew. I think I'm going to need a breath mint."
"Shut up!" Clara huffed, the two sharing a chuckle before Rose blinked in puzzlement.
"Wait a moment, where'd she go?"
"Guess." Clara said simply, and they turned to look at the Doctor, who's posture was now much more effeminate, almost hilariously so.
"Ooh, my." The Doctor said, looking around the room with a look of uncertain amusement. "This is…different."
"Cassandra?" Rose asked but the Doctor ignored her.
"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum!" He said with a grin. "So many parts and…hardly used?" He smirked, glancing at Clara. "Ooh, you are a bad girl. Haven't done it with his new face yet, have you?" He drawled.
"Cassandra." Clara warned.
The Doctor ignored her as well, blinking with a look of shock and pleasure. "Ah! Two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!" He exclaimed, pumping his chest out in rhythm with his heart beats.
"Get out of him!" Clara growled.
"Ooh, he's slim." The Doctor purred, running his hand down his body in delight. "And a little bit foxy." He winked at Clara, who blushed against her will.
"Stop it." She warned, but her voice was higher pitched.
"Is that why you wore that delicious outfit, Clara?" He asked with a knowing smile. "What thoughts have ran through your head about him?"
Clara cleared her throat. "Nothing." She squeaked.
"Mmm, you like his new face, don't you?" He asked, moving closer. "I wonder, how much more entertaining would it be if he was a g-" At that, one of the doors burst open, the horde moving through, all of them staring at the trio. "What do we do? What would he do?" He repeatedly demanded to Clara. "The Doctor, what the hell would he do?"
Clara looked around, past Cassandra's old skin cart to a ladder at the far end of the room. "That. We've got to get up." She said, making them turn to the ladder.
"Out of the way, shorty and blondie!" The Doctor said, moving past Clara and Rose to hastily climb up the ladder. Rose moved to follow, looking back to see Clara pulling out a pair of normal running shoes, hastily slipping them on and stuffing the heels into her pockets.
"How do those fit in there?!" Rose asked as Clara mounted on the ladder and climbed up after her.
"Bigger on the inside!"
"You're serious?!"
"Yes! I am not climbing a ladder in heels! This isn't Jurassic World!"
"Jurassic what?!"
Clara groaned. "Spoilers!"
Chip climbed out of the waste shute, finding himself back in intensive care. The horde quickly closed in around him, and he was forced to climb into an empty green capsule. They continued to grope and grasp at the glass to no avail while he whimpered and shivered in fear inside.
"If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something!" Rose called as they continued to climb the ladder up the abandoned elevator shaft.
"Yap, yap, yap." The Doctor mocked as he climbed. "God, it was tedious inside your head, hormone city."
"Cassandra, just do it!" Clara growled. "We're going to die if-" She was cut off as a hand grabbed her ankle, making her grasp onto the ladder to not be pulled off. "Get off!" She demanded, looking down to see Matron Casp being the culprit.
"Get off of her!" Rose yelled as she and the Doctor looked down.
"All of our work! All that healing!" Matron Casp accused, making the Doctor roll his eyes. "The good name of the Sisterhood! You have destroyed everything!"
"Go and play with a ball of string!" The Doctor mocked.
"Everywhere, disease! This is the Human world, sickness-" She gasped, letting go of Clara's ankle as another hand grasped hers, this one being a patient of the horde. She felt her body burn with agony and the fire of torment as the diseases racked her entire body, causing her to lose grip on the ladder and fall screaming to her doom.
"Ow." Clara muttered. "I know how that feels."
"Clara, stop mucking about!" Rose freaked. "Cassandra, move!" The Doctor did as she said, moving up the ladder in haste, whimpering in fear as he did. They managed to gain some distance from the horde, coming to a panting stop at a closed elevator door.
"Now what do we do?" The Doctor asked as he tapped the door fruitlessly.
"Use the sonic screwdriver!" Clara called.
The Doctor pulled it out with a look of disgust. "You mean this thing?"
"Yes, I mean that thing!"
"Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts." The Doctor said, making Rose groan.
"Pass it to Clara, then!"
"I don't know every setting on the sonic! He hasn't taught me!" Clara said, making the Doctor and Rose groan.
"Cassandra, go back into me! The Doctor can open it!" Rose ordered but the Doctor looked sceptical. "Do it!"
"Hold on tight." The Doctor breathed in and out deeply, sending Cassandra's consciousness into Rose's body.
"Ah. Oh, chavtastic again." Rose grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "Open it!"
"Not till you get out of her." The Doctor warned, holding out his sonic threateningly.
"Doctor, if we stand here arguing, we're going to die!" Clara growled. "Just do something!"
The Doctor flickered his gaze about, before it landed on the front runner of the horde, a female patient that was getting close to Clara. "Sorry, Cassandra." He muttered before activating the sonic.
"What are you-" Rose cut herself off as she gasped, the consciousness of Cassandra moving out, past Clara and into the female patient.
She blinked, looking about in confusion, before looking at herself. "Oh, sweet lord! I look disgusting!" She huffed.
The Doctor quickly opened the door with the sonic, moving through and pulling Rose in. "Nice to have you back." He said before they both reached their hands out to grab Clara. "What happened to your heels?" He asked.
"You try and climb a ladder in heels." She said simply as they pulled her through.
"Oh, no you don't." The female growled before she sighed. Her consciousness evaporated out of her body and flew straight into Clara, who stumbled to the floor with a groan. The Doctor clenched his jaw and shut the door with the sonic.
"That was your last warning, Cassandra! Now give her back!" He demanded. However, they didn't move as they saw Clara's face become drenched in pitying sorrow.
"Inside her head…they're so alone." She said sadly. "They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives, and they've never been touched." She sighed before her mouth dropped in shock, placing a hand on her chest to find Clara having no heartbeat. "How? She can't be. She should be dead." She muttered, checking her pulse as the Doctor knelt before her. "How is she alive? She can't be alive. And her mind…it's so silent. She's closed off, more than you were. How-"
The Doctor cut off her rambling by placing a hand on hers. "She already had someone inside her head." He said simply, and Clara's face radiated with pity. "I'm sorry, Cassandra, but you need to leave her."
Rose knelt beside them. "Go back into me." She said.
Clara blinked in surprise. "Why?"
"He needs her, Cassandra, you've seen it. Go back into me, and they'll sort this all out." Clara shook her head with uncertainty, but Rose took her hand gently. "It's okay. It'll be all right."
Clara sighed before nodding. "How long will it take?" She asked the Doctor.
"We go through that door and we're back in Ward Twenty-six. I can create a cure for the patients there, but I need her help. Please, you need to leave her."
"Brace yourself." Clara said softly before she sighed, sending her consciousness into Rose, who stumbled back slightly with a groan. Clara blinked, looking around before she saw the Doctor's sad expression.
"Are you all right?" He asked.
Clara nodded. "Yeah. I've been through worse." She quipped lightly but the Doctor took her face, shaking his head.
"Don't wish for that, Clara, okay?" She leaned her head into his hands, giving a soft smile as she did. "Welcome back." He said, placing a quick kiss on her lips before heaving her up to her feet. They jumped slightly as the horde pounded and rattled on the door, before they moved through the other door and back into Ward Twenty-six. They still saw the Face of Boe sleeping, a frightened Novice Hame by his side and the main entrance barred and bolted shut. Suddenly, Frau came charging at them with a growl, holding up a chair as an improvised weapon.
"We're safe!" The Doctor quickly said, stepping in front of Clara and Rose. "We're safe. Look, we're safe."
"Show me your skin!" She ordered.
Rose held up her hands while the Doctor and Clara rolled back their sleeves. "Look! We're clean! We're clean. If we'd been touched, we'd be dead." Frau clenched her jaw but nodded regardless, placing the chair down "So, what's going up here? What's the status?"
"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left." Frau reported. "But I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad." She said, pulling out a communication device as proof.
"You can't do that." The Doctor shook his head. "If they force entry, they'd break the quarantine."
"I am not dying in here!" Frau growled.
"We can't let a single particle of disease get out! There is ten million people in that city, they'd all be at risk! Now, turn that off!"
"Not if it gets me out!" Frau denied.
The Doctor shot Clara an exasperated look. "All right, fine. So, we'll have to stop you lot as well."
"Suits us." Clara grumbled before she turned to the Doctor. "Now, plan?"
The Doctor nodded. "Cassandra, Novice Hame." He quickly moved into the centre of the room, gaining everyone's attention. "Everyone, including you, your grace, beg your pardon." He quickly said.
"No problem." The Duke said quickly.
"Get me the intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!" Everyone raced into action, while Clara grabbed a rope and tied it around the Doctor as he improvised with a device, turning it into a hand sized elevator for the deactivated lifts. Everyone else rushed over and used the hooks on the solutions to pin them to the rope around the Doctor. "How's that?" He asked Clara. "Will that do?"
"It'll do fine enough." Clara shrugged as they moved to the elevator, Rose watching them closely.
"Hold on!" She called. "The lifts aren't working!"
"Not moving, different thing." The Doctor said obviously as he opened the door and took a position for a run up. "Here we go." He placed the sonic in between his teeth as he ran and jumped into the shaft, taking a quick grasp onto the steel cable, and clasping his improvised device onto it.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Rose demanded as Clara took position.
"We're going down." He muffled before taking the sonic out and locking the device. "Come on." He called.
"Not in a million years-you're going too?!" She freaked as Clara jumped in, wrapping her arms and legs around the Doctor's back. "You two are completely mad! No wonder why you like each other so much!" She remarked.
"Cassandra, get back inside that room." The Doctor ordered. "You keep that body safe and we'll fix this mess, all right?"
Rose sighed before nodding. "All right just hurry up!" She yelled before racing back into Ward Twenty-six.
"Seal the doors!" They heard Frau order before they gazed at each other.
"Ready?" He asked with a blinding grin.
"Oh yeah." She said, grinning back at him.
"Going down." He said before pressing a button on the device, sending them plummeting down the shaft, whooping childishly as the wind rushed past, blurring their ears like a rollercoaster ride. Their speed caused small sparks to arc from the device, making Clara squeak with shock, the Doctor laughing manically before they came to a stop, collapsing on their asses on the roof of the elevator.
"Well, that's one way to lose weight." She quipped.
"You don't need to lose weight." The Doctor said with a smirk. "You look gorgeous regardless."
"Shut up!" She blushed before he opened a vat on the elevator roof.
"All right, Clara, when I say so, take hold of that lever." He pointed to the large lever beside the vat.
Clara joined the dots with a grin. "The disinfectant shower?" She asked.
He beamed. "I know. Brilliant, right?" He quickly took one of the solutions off the rope and tossed it in his hands. "But first, I've got to cook up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself." He used his teeth to tear it open before spraying the contents into the water. He did it for every single one, each solution tipped in caused the water to boil and steam. "Now, that lever's going to resist but keep it in position." He tore off the rope and opened the latch in the elevator roof. "Hold on to it with everything you've got."
"Be careful down there, okay?" Clara said, and he beamed at her again.
"Don't worry, I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in." He jumped down the latch and Clara grasped onto the lever, feeling it tug and resist with shuddering jolts. The Doctor opened the lift door with the sonic, at once gaining the attention of the horde outside, who slowly moved towards him. "I'm in here! Come on!" He called, moving into the back of the lift. "Come and get me! Come on!"
"Commence stage one disinfection." The water sprayed through into the room, immediately drenching him to the bone.
"Hurry up! I'm in here! Come on!" A small group entered the lift with their hands reached out and then…they stopped. They gazed at themselves in awe as the water caused every disease to turn into steam, leaving their skin fair and unharmed. The effects of the water seeped into their bodies, rejuvenating, and replenishing their aching muscles and weary bones, cleansing them of every disease that they bore. One cured patient was grasped by one that was still uncured, and their awe lifted tenfold. The diseased patient found his own illnesses were being cured and so, they spread it out, every touch curing every infected person within reach. This made the Doctor beam proudly. "All they want to do is pass it on, Clara! Pass it on!" He called, jumping up and down on the spot.
"Pass on what?!" Clara called.
"Pass it on!" The Doctor called before he poked his head up through the latch and motioned her down. She quickly moved over, and he helped her down the latch, so she could see for herself. Every single patient was being hugged by those that were cured, continuing the cycle of being cured and cure others as they all intermeshed throughout the room. "You see, Clara?" He beamed, Clara starting to laugh in joy as she watched, all the patients now cured, staring around the room in wide eyed wonder. "I'm the Doctor and I cured them. We both did." He said with glee, walking out of the elevator with her and he was immediately embraced by one of the female patients. "Hey, hey. It's all right. There we go, sweetheart." He cooed. "You're okay." He parted from her and lead her away to a group of patients, all of which embraced her in a hug. "It's a new subspecies, Clara, a brand-new form of life. New Humans! Look at them!" He exclaimed. "Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes but completely, completely alive!" He suddenly embraced a shrieking Clara in a hug, sweeping her off her feet and twirling them around, both of them giggling like mad. "The Human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing! Life will out, Clara! Ha!"
The Doctor and Clara re-joined with a calm, but ever so slightly trepidatious Rose in Ward Twenty-six, seeing the patients being treated to by the NNYPD, the same officers placing the nurses in handcuffs and leading them out of the room. One of the nurses was Novice Hame, who shot the Doctor and Clara a hurt look. They briefly exchanged guilty glances before sighing, leaning into each other for a few moments.
"All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest. I repeat: Immediate arrest. Al new life forms will be catalogued and taken into care. All visitors to the hospital will be required to make a statement to the NNYPD."
"Hold on." The Doctor muttered, his eyes going wide. "The Face of Boe!" He quickly took Clara with him to the other side of the room, Rose following swiftly behind as they approached the Face of Boe. Unlike before, he was awake, glancing around the room with world weary eyes, which quickly fell onto the TARDIS trio.
"Hello Doctor and Clara." A deep, commanding voice spoke inside their minds. "It's good to meet you at last."
"Telepathic?" Clara asked, her eyes gleaming with awe. The Face of Boe gave a quick smile in answer.
"Weren't you supposed to be dying?" The Doctor quipped.
"*Scoffs* There are better things to do today. Dying can wait."
"Oh, I hate telepathy." Rose groaned, and they rolled their eyes. "Just what I need. A head full of big face."
"Shh!" They hushed, turning back to the Face of Boe.
"I had grown tired of the universe, but you two have taught me to look at it anew."
"There are legends, you know, saying that your millions of years old." The Doctor said.
"*Chuckles* Well now, that would be impossible. Then again, you have taken quite a liking to the impossible, haven't you?"
"Oh, shush." Clara blushed lightly and the Face of Boe laughed.
"I did get the impression that there was something you wanted to tell me."
He nodded. "A great secret."
"It's what the legend says."
He smirked. "It can wait."
"Aww. Does it have to?" The Doctor whined.
"We shall meet again, Doctor and Clara, for the third time, for the last time and the truth shall be told. Until that day, farewell." Then, in a flash of blue light, he disappeared from the Ward.
"That is enigmatic." The Doctor commented. "That-that is-that is textbook enigmatic." He gave Clara shrug before they stood, turning their attention to Rose. "And now for you."
Rose blinked, shrinking somewhat in fear. "But…everything's happy. Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?" She protested.
"You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra." The Doctor said.
Rose sniffed, sobbing into her hand. "I don't want to die." She cried.
"No one does." The Doctor said sadly.
"Help me, please!"
"I can't."
"Mistress!" They turned to see a perfectly fine Chip rushing into the room.
"Oh, you're alive!" Rose gasped.
"I kept myself safe, for you, mistress."
Rose gained a glint in her eyes. "A body. And not just that, a volunteer." Chip nodded hastily, and she smiled.
"Don't you dare. He's got a life of his own." The Doctor protested.
"But I worship the mistress." Rose gave a soft wink at them before glancing back at Chip. "I welcome her."
"Cassandra, don't-" Clara tried to protest but Rose had already sighed out deeply, sending her consciousness into Chip's body, who just breathed it in and didn't even stumble in loss of balance. He just stood perfectly still. Rose on the other hand, had a pounding head, causing her to fall into the Doctor and Clara's arms.
"Woah!" The Doctor said as they caught her. "You all right?" He asked.
"Yeah, I think-" Rose tripped again, pushing back again into Clara.
"Woah! Steady there!" Clara quipped as they balanced Rose, letting her stand until her head calmed down. "You okay now?"
"Yeah." Rose nodded. Then, she smiled at them. "Hello. Sorry for being late." She quipped.
"Well, don't do it again." Clara quipped, the three sharing a chuckle before Chip interrupted.
"Oh, sweet lord, I'm a walking doodle." He quipped, referring to the markings on his skin.
"You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair." The Doctor said, earning a small sigh from Chip. "I can take you to the city, they can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done."
Chip gave a "Hmph" face at that. "Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour and certainly my finest hat." He grinned, patting his hat affectionately. "But I'm afraid we don't have time. You see, poor little Chip is only a half-life and he's been through so much." He blinked a bit. "His heart is racing so." He blinked again, giving a brief puzzled look. "He's failing. You know, I don't think he's going to last very-" He gasped, falling forward and the three caught him.
"You all right?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm…" Chip blinked a few times, looking wide eyed with sadness as he did. "I'm dying. I'm actually dying." He placed a hand over his chest, feeling his heart thundering painfully. "Rather loud." He gazed at Clara. "How do you do it? Being able to bare…not hearing it?"
Clara gave him a sad look. "Find something else to focus on. Something in front of you." She said. Chip glanced between her and the Doctor with a knowing smile.
"Cassandra, please, let me take you to the city." The Doctor said softly.
"No, you won't." Chip said in the same tone. "Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me anymore." He relaxed his body, his eyes now gleaming with exhaustion. "You're right, Doctor. It's time to die. And for this…that's good."
"Then there's one last thing I can do." The Doctor said, and they helped him up to his feet, leading him out of the room.
The TARDIS materialised within a small storage closet, on the same night in the recording that Cassandra had watched earlier. The four of them stepped out, Clara back in her heels again, Rose having rebuttoned her shirt and Chip wearing a large, black hooded robe, his face being the only visible part of his body. They moved through a large black curtain to see Cassandra, the real Human Cassandra intermingling and laughing with the present guests.
"Oh, no, don't! Stop it!" Cassandra said with a giggle. "That's simply not true. It was tiny. Egypt was so dismal, and the mosquitoes, I can't tell you, they were absolutely terrifying."
Chip turned back to the trio with a soft smile. "Thank you."
"Just go." Clara said gently. "Just go and don't look back."
"Good luck." Rose said kindly and Chip nodded in thanks before turning back around. Slowly with caution, he moved through the room in a straight line towards Cassandra, who didn't yet notice his presence.
"And if you actually see them, you're shocked!" Cassandra continued her rambling. "But don't quote me on that. Oh, naughty me. À bientôt." She said with a wave, parting from the group to stand alone. Chip took this opportunity and moved up to her.
"Excuse me? Milady Cassandra?" Chip asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't need anything right now. I'm fine, thank you." She said with a smile.
"No!" Chip quickly interrupted, drawing her attention to him. "I just wanted to say, you look beautiful."
Cassandra blinked before she smiled again. "Well, that's very kind, you strange little thing. Thank you very much."
"I mean it." Chip said earnestly, which took her off guard. "You look…so beautiful."
Cassandra had to hold back the urge to melt, instead letting her appreciation shine through her eyes. "Thank you." Then, without warning, Chip exhaled sharply and collapsed in front of her. She quickly caught him with a look of concerned worry. "Oh, my lord. Are you all right? What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, everyone in the room turning to look with blinking eyes. "Someone get some help. Call a medic or something. Quickly!"
"Who is he?" A woman asked as a few people gathered around, trying to help.
"I don't know. He just came up to me. I don't even know his name. He just collapsed. I think he's dying! Someone do something!" She cried, holding Chip tight as people raced about the room. "I've got you, sweetheart. I've got you." She cooed. The TARDIS trio looked on in sadness before the Doctor and Rose slowly moved out of the room. "It's all right. There you are, I've got you. It'll be all right. There, there, you poor little thing."
"Clara?" The Doctor called, moving back to take her hand. Clara gazed at him sadly and he brought her into a hug. "It's all right, she got her chance." He said softly, kissing her forehead.
"I know. It's just…" She leant her head into his chest with a sigh.
"Come on. Let's go." He then led her out of the room and back into the TARDIS, which dematerialised, leaving the suddenly sad party in silence.
AN: I always thought that the sad ending was a great ending for that episode. It's just so…sweet? Yeah, let's say sweet. It was a very sweet ending. Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)