A buzz and a smooth click, and the TV slid back to its slot in the wall, leaving no trace it had ever been there at all.

Just below it, a door slid back, and the lights in their current room dimmed and beyond the door, they brightened.

'Could be less obvious, yeah.' Bill muttered. 'We're not thick.'

Thirteen walked carefully forward, and stuck out her sonic like a wand, right at the gap. It buzzed yellow – rather pretty, really. 'No life signs.' She pouted adorably when Eleven 2.0 checked, but of course they didn't trust her. As far as they knew, she'd set up this whole thing – heck, as far as she knew, she had. No. She wouldn't think about that. The future was changeable, her future was changeable, it had to be. Why else would they be here, watching her lives? Torture?

She pushed into the corridor beyond, ignoring the cries of warning. Nothing happened. She wasn't vaporised or laid unconscious.

'It's fine!' Hesitantly, they all filed through.

The hallway was lined with doors, each with a name – Nine, Ten, Twelve, Rose, Yaz, Ryan, Graham - on the opposite side to the doorway. On the same side as the door were rooms for Amy and Rory, Eleven and River, Eleven and Clara, and Rose and John; their doors were a good deal more spread out than the others.

'Wait.' Rory said. 'Names on doors. Do you remember that hotel we went to? Maybe this is a random test thing. Like, our fears, all over again.'

It did seem possible. But there was no magnetic pull, no psychic filter, not like there had been last time. Thirteen felt sick at the thought of it. She'd been at that hotel. Saw things that didn't surprise her, but rather left her nauseous. She had no desire for a repeat.

'I've seen – lived – my worst fear.' River interrupted the speculative silence. 'I'll check.'

She walked carefully over to her and Eleven's door. 'Oh, it can't be our fears. We wouldn't share one.'

All the same, Amy found herself holding her breath as she clicked it open and peered inside, but River's body language immediately relaxed.

'It's a bedroom. Double bed. I reckon they all are.'

'A bedroom?' Clara said. 'They want us to sleep here? Anyways, I thought Time Lords didn't sleep?'

'We do! Just when you're not looking. We nap. We only need about an hour anyway.'

'Well!' Amy grabbed Rory and began to bundle him towards their room. 'I'm sure you can find a way to occupy your time. Goodnight.'

Rory had the graciousness to look embarrassed, but Amy simply tugged him into the room and shut the door. Amy poked her head out a few seconds later.

'They're soundproofed!' Then she was gone.

Eleven and River's room was the furthest away from any other, and she manhandled him inside before he could protest with barely a backwards glance.

'Separating us into single and not single. It's bloody backwards-'

They all entered their separate rooms, pleased to find inside a cupboard with food and drink and several books, a nice lamp, the bed soft and clean. The lights dimmed a couple of hours later, and most of them drifted calmly off to sleep. Save the Time Lords; they read books on quantum physics or the sociological customs of some far-off and long dead civilisation.

They were all woken by a kind of klaxon-esque screech, eight times, and then silence; they all stumbled out of their rooms in various hazes of sleep. Amy looked dreadful and somehow still beautiful, her hair a tangled mess. She looked only slightly worse than Rory, who followed her out in a dressing gown. Eleven poked his head out next, Clara too, dressed in a grey cardigan and a t-shirt several times too big. She padded into the hallway, feet bare.

'Alright!' She had a surprisingly demanding tone. 'Whoever did that, I will find you, and I will kick your teeth down your throat!' She walked back into the room and slammed the door, leaving Eleven looking bewildered and alone.

Rose – the older version – wandered into the hallway from the TV room, grinning. She held a cup of coffee. 'I'm used to being up with the baby. There's coffee and food in there. Lights came on about six.'

Various nods at her, kind of grunts, and they wandered in, in droves. Eleven and Thirteen took one sip of coffee and spat it out, neither one for bitter tastes. But the pancakes were good. River lounged on one of the sofas drinking a mimosa and eating French toast. Amy sat next to her, and the two engaged in a kind of conversation, Amy doing most of the talking and River nodding at the appropriate times.

Clara wandered in a little later, clearly having showered, hair up in a ponytail. She gulped coffee like it was the elixir of life – and as a teacher, to her it really was. Yaz approached her, sort of nervously. 'Clara, right?'

She dipped her head. 'The one and only. Well, not really. Long story. How long have you been travelling with the Doctor?'

'Oh, only a few months.'

'I managed a few years.' Clara sipped more coffee, and ate a breadstick simply because they were there. 'Is it worth it? Are you having fun?'

Yaz twisted her fingers. 'Well…you're a teacher, right? I was just wondering how you managed to do that as well as travel with the Doctor. It's great, it's honestly amazing, but I want to be a police officer. I want to help people, make their lives better, but not on some grand cosmic scale like the Doctor does. I don't think I could manage that. Just earth stuff.'

Clara tapped her fingers on the mug. 'I'm sure you'll find you're capable of a lot more things than you think. But if you don't want that… well, it's hard. To find that balance. The Doctor, though, me and him… he took me on an adventure once every week. Fifty-two a year. Probably why I survived this long, because I went with him less. Honestly, you should tell your Doctor that – I'm sure he'll understand that you have to keep your life outside if him, and if he doesn't get that, you yell until he does. He needs to understand that we need earth lives or we'll go mad once he's gone. Don't let him be selfish.'

'And you? When he left you, was it easy to go back to your life?'

Clara put the mug down. 'I made a mistake when it came to me leaving, so when he came back, I made him my life to run from it. Don't let that happen. Don't let everything slip away for the Doctor. He doesn't mean to, but it happens. It's early days for you. Keep on your toes and you'll learn plenty to make you a better police lady. Think of it as training. But whatever you do – keep it aside. A hobby, a fairytale. Don't let it, him. become everything'

'What was your mistake?'

Clara never got to answer, as the screen began to click, and she gave Yaz an apologetic smile before walking to her seat next to her Eleven, her Doctor, her world.

The TV hit zero, and began to play.

(To a background of nursery music.)
MOON [OC]: Close your eyes, and tell me what you see.
GIRL: The library.
(A massive, futuristic building which she is floating above.)
MOON [OC]: Open your eyes again. Where are you now?

[Girl's home]

(Dr Moon is making notes as the girl's father watches.)
GIRL: My living room, Doctor Moon.
MOON: When you close your eyes
GIRL: I go to the library.
MOON: Go to the library now.

'Oh, a psychiatrist.' Amy groaned. 'Had my fair share of those.'

[Rotunda]

(A circular wood panelled room lit by natural light from the dome above. Very classical looking.)
MOON [OC]: Are you back there?
GIRL: Yes.
MOON [OC]: The same part?
GIRL: No, it's always different. The library goes on for ever.
MOON [OC]: How do you move around?
GIRL: By wishing.
(The big entrance doors rattle.)

'If this is a dream she can wish herself around in, then what the hell is that?' Rory yelped.

[Girl's home]

MOON: What's wrong?
GIRL: Something's here. Someone's got in. No one's supposed to get in.
FATHER: She's never mentioned any one else. She's always been alone.
GIRL: Someone's in my library. No, no, please, that's not allowed. That's not allowed.
MOON: Listen to me. The library is in your mind.
GIRL: I know it's in my mind, but something's got inside.

'Now, hang on!' Clara spluttered. 'That place was massive! It's completely unfair for her to have it all to herself!'

[Rotunda]

(The Doctor and Donna burst in. The Doctor grabs a book and uses it to jam the door handles so it won't open again.)
DOCTOR: Oh. Hello. Sorry to burst in on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?

OPENING CREDITS

SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY

[Tardis]

(We now get what is presumably what happened before they burst into the rotunda.)
DOCTOR: Books. People never really stop loving books.

[Library]

(The Tardis is in a mostly empty area with just a few small cases of books.)
DOCTOR: Fifty first century. By now you've got holovids, direct to brain downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, Donna. Deep breath.

'It is an amazing smell.' Rose said. 'Takes me back to primary school.' She pulled a face. 'Dreadful time.' The others all sounded their agreement.

[Staircase]

(A massive marble job.)
DOCTOR: The Library. So big it doesn't need a name. Just a great big The.

'Kinda like you, Doctor.' Clara teased. 'So important you don't need a name. Just The Doctor. The only one that matters.'

DONNA: It's like a city.
DOCTOR: It's a world. Literally, a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer. Biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book. Brand new editions, specially printed.
(They look over a balcony onto roofs below.)
DOCTOR: We're near the equator, so this must be biographies. I love biographies.
DONNA: Yeah, very you. Always a death at the end.
DOCTOR: You need a good death. Without death, there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size.
(Donna picks up a book and the Doctor takes it from her.)
DOCTOR: Way-a. Spoilers.

Eleven finger-gunned River at the word spoilers. She face-palmed.

DONNA: What?
DOCTOR: These books are from your future. You don't want to read ahead. Spoil all the surprises. Like peeking at the end.
DONNA: Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?
DOCTOR: I try to keep you away from major plot developments. Which, to be honest, I seem to be very bad at, because you know what? This is the biggest library in the universe. So where is everyone? It's silent.

'Uhh it's a library it's supposed to be silent.' Bill said.

(The Doctor uses his screwdriver on a nearby information screen, bringing it online.)
DONNA: The library?
DOCTOR: The planet. The whole planet.
DONNA: Maybe it's a Sunday.
DOCTOR: No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring.

'Holy Sabbath.' Rose said, and giggled.

'That doesn't make any sense.' Rory murmured. 'Why would the last day of an earth week have any bearing on the rest of the universe?'

DONNA: Well, maybe everyone's really, really quiet.
DOCTOR: Yeah, maybe. But they'd still show up on the system.
DONNA: Doctor, why are we here? Really, why?
DOCTOR: Oh, you know, just passing.

'Yeah, that's never the case.' Amy teased.

DONNA: No, seriously. It was all let's hit the beach, then suddenly we're in a library. Why?
DOCTOR: Now that's interesting.
DONNA: What?
DOCTOR: Scanning for life forms. If I do a scan looking for your basic humanoids. You know, your book readers, few limbs and a face, apart from us, I get nothing. Zippo, nada. See? Nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to any kind of life.
(The screen says Error 1,000,000,000,000 lifeform number capped at maximum record.)
DOCTOR: A million, million. Gives up after that. A million, million.
DONNA: But there's nothing here. There's no one.
DOCTOR: And not a sound. A million. million life forms, and silence in the library.

'Roll credits.' Bill said.

DONNA: But there's no one here. There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive.
(They both reach slowly for a book. A voice makes them jump.)
NODE [OC]: Welcome.
DONNA: That came from here.
DOCTOR: Yeah.

'You're such an idiot.' Clara giggled. 'The oncoming storm actually thought books were alive.' 'I did not!' Ten protested. 'Well – only for a few seconds. Less than that!'

[Library]

(They return to the mostly empty room. A vaguely humanoid sculpture by a curved desk turns its head and speaks with a female voice from a small face on its surface.)
NODE: I am Courtesy Node seven one zero slash aqua. Please enjoy the Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers, regardless of species or hygiene taboo.
DONNA: That face, it looks real.
DOCTOR: Yeah, don't worry about it.
DONNA: A statue with a real face, though? It's a hologram or something, isn't it?
DOCTOR: No, but really, it's fine.
NODE: Additional. There follows a brief message from the Head Librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by a Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The library has sealed itself, we can't. Oh, they're here. Argh. Slarg. Snick. Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm. units for the comfort of other readers.

'Well, that's not horrible at all.' Amy murmured. 'Cryptic messages from the since-dead. No thanks.'

DOCTOR: So that's why we're here. Any other messages, same date stamp?
NODE: One additional message. This message carries a Felman Lux coherency warning of five zero eleven
DOCTOR: Yeah, yeah, fine, fine, fine. Just play it.
NODE: Message follows. Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember, if you want to live, count the shadows. Message ends. (There is a pause as they both assess the information.)
DOCTOR: Donna?
DONNA: Yeah?
DOCTOR: Stay out of the shadows.
DONNA: Why, what's in the shadows?

[Stacks]

DONNA: So, We weren't just in the neighbourhood.
DOCTOR: Yeah, I kind of, sort of lied a bit. I got a message on the psychic paper.

'You do that.' River sighed.

(It reads - The library. Come as soon as you can. x)
DOCTOR: What do you think? Cry for help?
DONNA: Cry for help…with a kiss?
DOCTOR: Oh, we've all done that.
DONNA: Who's it from?
DOCTOR: No idea.

'You've got an admirer, Doctor.' Mickey said teasingly.

DONNA: So why did we come here? Why did you
DOCTOR: Donna.
(The lights behind them are going out.)
DONNA: What's happening?
DOCTOR: Run!
(They can't get the nearest door open.)
DOCTOR: Come on.
DONNA: What, is it locked?
DOCTOR: Jammed. The wood's warped.
DONNA: Well, sonic it. Use the thingy.
DOCTOR: I can't, it's wood.
DONNA: What, it doesn't do wood?
DOCTOR: Hang on, hang on. I can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings. I can shatterline the interface.
DONNA: Oh, get out of the way.
(Donna kicks the door open.)

'I have got to learn to do that!' Amy cried. 'Where would you be without us, Doctor.'

[Rotunda]

(And we're back to where we were before the titles.)
DOCTOR: Oh. Hello. Sorry to burst on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?
(We see the girl open her eyes at home. The Doctor and Donna see a small metal globe fall to the ground.)
DONNA: What is it?
DOCTOR: Security camera. Switched itself off.

'Wait, what?' Rory asked sharply. 'She was a little girl earlier! How is she…a machine? A camera that thinks it's a person…?'

Clara wondered. The memories were hazy, thankfully, but she remembered being a Dalek, still clinging to her fantasy of being human. She hoped it wasn't the case with this little girl – she was so young. A horrible thought struck her. Perhaps that was the fate of the people in the Library; uploaded into machines, desperately pretending nothing was wrong as humans were so adept at doing. She wasn't sure she'd be able to watch that, knowing how it felt to have the dream crash about around her.

[Rotunda]

(The Doctor is using his sonic screwdriver on the security camera.)
DOCTOR: Nice door skills, Donna.
DONNA: Yeah, well, you know, boyfriends. Sometimes you need the element of surprise. What was that? What was after us? I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?
DOCTOR: Possibly.
DONNA: Are we safe here?
DOCTOR: Of course we're safe. There's a little shop.
(A sign on the wall says The Shop, and Entrance This Way. The Doctor gets the camera open.)
DOCTOR: Gotcha!

'You and your little shops.' Martha said. 'There was one in my hospital that you spent way too much time talking about.

[Girl's home]

(The little girls falls onto a rug with the same motif as the camera lens cap - a stylised eye. Doctor Moon and her father comfort her.)

'Hey, it's the same…' Rory said, pointing.

GIRL: No, stop it. No. No.

[Rotunda]

(Her words scroll across a little panel on the camera.)
DOCTOR: Ooo, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's alive.
DONNA: You said it was a security camera.
DOCTOR: It is. It's an alive one.

They all smiled a little at that. The Doctor was nothing without his empathy, his unwillingness to bring others harm. But he was a little trigger-happy with his sonic screwdriver.

[Girl's home]

MOON: Can you hear me? Are you all right?
GIRL: Others are coming.
MOON: Who's coming? Who are the others?
GIRL: The library is breached. Others are coming.
MOON: What others?

The episode was building up a sense of visceral terror in the companions, those who had not lived through it anyways, with the music and the lack of intelligent life save the Doctor and Donna. They didn't feel safe with nothing else around that was alive and able to save them. The weird face-nodes had read out the message of the tragedy with such inhuman blankness they would be of no help. And now others. Something was in the library with them, and was that ever good?

[Rotunda]

DONNA: Others? What's it mean, others?
(Donna goes to a Node.)
DONNA: Excuse me. What does it mean, others?
DOCTOR: That's barely more than a speak your weight machine, it can't help you.
DONNA: So why's it got a face?
MARK NODE: This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death.
DONNA: It's a real face?.
MARK NODE: It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy.
DONNA: It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That statue's got a real dead person's face on it.
DOCTOR: It's the fifty first century. That's basically like donating a park bench.
DONNA: It's donating a face!
DOCTOR: No, wait, no.
(The Doctor grabs Donna as she backs away.)
DONNA: Oi. Hands.

A few laughs at that; the Doctor had barely a grasp on human customs, and they'd all had to slap him at some point for being too forward.

DOCTOR: The shadow. Look.
DONNA: What about it?
DOCTOR: Count the shadows.
DONNA: One. There, counted it. One shadow.
DOCTOR: Yeah But what's casting it?

'Oh, my god.' Amy whispered. 'That's so creepy.'

(It is a triangular shadow. The camera pans up to show the light source. It is unblocked.)
DOCTOR: Oh, I'm thick! Look at me, I'm old and thick. Head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head.
(The light in adjoining corridor is going out.)

'Saves me from saying it.' Donna grinned at him.

DONNA: The power must be going.
DOCTOR: This place runs on fission cells. They'll out-burn the sun.
DONNA: Then why is it dark?
DOCTOR: It's not dark.

'I hated it when you did that.' Rose grumbled. 'Talked over me. Gave me barely an eighth of an explanation and expected me to just blindly follow you! And I'd say something and you'd tell me I was wrong and then not tell me how it was wrong.

DONNA: That shadow. It's gone.
DOCTOR: We need to get back to the Tardis.
DONNA: Why?
DOCTOR: Because that shadow hasn't gone. It's moved.
MARK NODE: Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached (repeated)
(A door is blown open in a flash of bright light, and six figures in spacesuits enter. The leader adjusts her polarising filter so we can see her face.)
RIVER: Hello, sweetie.
DOCTOR: Get out.

'Ever the charmer, my love.' River sighed.

DONNA: Doctor.
DOCTOR: All of you. Turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren you came to the library and lived. They won't believe you.
RIVER: Pop your helmets, everyone. We've got breathers.
ANITA: How do you know they're not androids?
RIVER: Because I've dated androids. They're rubbish.
(A man speaks.)
LUX: Who is this? You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives.
RIVER: I lied, I'm always lying. Bound to be others.

'I wonder where she gets that from.' Amy looked pointedly at the Doctor.

LUX: Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts.
RIVER: You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?
DOCTOR: Please, just leave. I'm asking you seriously and properly, just leave. Hang on. Did you say expedition? LUX: My expedition. I funded it.
DOCTOR: Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists.
RIVER: Got a problem with archaeologists?
DOCTOR: I'm a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists.
RIVER: Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist.
DOCTOR: River Song, lovely name. As you're leaving, and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again. Not one living thing, not here, not ever. Stop right there. What's your name?

'He just loves complimenting people's names.' Amy realised. 'He told me mine was from a fairy-tale.'

'Mine too.' Clara said. 'He said never to change it.'

'I wasn't talking about your earth names.' Eleven said quietly. 'I meant your names in Gallifreyan, or what they would be if you were Gallifreyan. You all lead such beautiful lives.'

ANITA: Anita.
DOCTOR: Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared. No, bit more scared than that. Okay, do for now. You. Who are you?

'See, Doctor, if you just told them the Library was full of killer shadows, I'm sure they'd listen.' Rose prompted.

'They won't believe me.' Ten sighed. 'No one believes me.'

OTHER DAVE: Er, Dave.
DOCTOR: Okay, Dave.
OTHER DAVE: Oh, well, Other Dave, because that's Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we-
DOCTOR: Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?
OTHER DAVE: Yeah. Oh, it's a bit darker.
DOCTOR: How much darker?
OTHER DAVE Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now.
DOCTOR: Seal up this door. We'll find another way out.
OTHER DAVE: Would you-
LUX: We're not looking for a way out. Miss Evangelista?
EVANGELISTA: I'm Mister Lux's personal everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation.
DOCTOR: Right, give it here.
DONNA: Yeah, lovely. Thanks.
(The Doctor and Donna tear up the contracts.)

Snickers at that. They'd done it in the exact same moment. Truly best friends.

LUX: My family built this library. I have rights.
RIVER: You have a mouth that won't stop. You think there's danger here?
DOCTOR: Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be.
RIVER: That was a hundred years ago. The Library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here's long dead.
DOCTOR: Bet your life?
RIVER: Always.

'Probably you being reckless is what turned my hair grey.' The Doctor sighed.

LUX: What are you doing?
OTHER DAVE: He said seal the door.
DOCTOR: Torch.
LUX: You're taking orders from him?
DOCTOR: Spooky, isn't it?

'God, you're insufferable.' Rose said jokingly. 'You're just so used to people following you.'

(The Doctor takes Lux's torch and shines it into the far recesses of the round room.)
DOCTOR: Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada.

'Sounds less like a terrifying monster and more sort of like a sneeze.' Ryan said.

DONNA: What's Vashta Nerada?
DOCTOR: It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark. Lights! That's what we need, lights. You got lights?
RIVER: What for?
DOCTOR: Form a circle. Safe area. Big as you can, lights pointing out.
RIVER: Oi. Do as he says. LUX: You're not listening to this man?
RIVER: Apparently I am. Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, you're with me. Step into my office.
LUX: Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?
RIVER: I don't fancy you.

'The Doctor and River both dislike the same person.' Mickey said. 'Rose and I used to…' He trailed off. Martha put her arm round him.

DOCTOR: Probably I can help you.
RIVER: Pretty boy. With me, I said. (It takes a minute for it to click.'
DOCTOR: Oh, I'm pretty boy?
DONNA: Yes. Oooh, that came out a bit quick.
DOCTOR: Pretty? (He pulls a face, but seems to accept it.)
DONNA: Meh.

'You are pretty though.' Clara said. Eleven looked rather put out. River – as Melody – had said he was hot once. It felt like a downgrade. Not that he cared…that much. He was far beyond human needs for validation.

DOCTOR: Don't let your shadows cross. Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected.
OTHER DAVE: How can a shadow be infected?

Rose poked Ten's shoulder. 'See! Not. Proper. Explanations. Not everyone is as clever as you!' She poked him with every word, then, satisfied her point made it across, settled back beside her husband.

EVANGELISTA: Excuse me, can I help?
ANITA: No, we're fine.
EVANGELISTA: I could just you know, hold things.
OTHER DAVE: No, really, we're okay.
DONNA: Couldn't she help?
OTHER DAVE: Trust me. I just spent four days on a ship with that woman. She's er…
ANITA: Couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice.

Rose felt bad for laughing at that. 'I suppose they might look similar.'

(Evangelista talks with her boss. River takes a battered book from her backpack. Its cover is blue with eight squares. It is the same colour as the TARDIS, and reminds one of it.)
RIVER: Thanks.
DOCTOR: For what?
RIVER: The usual. For coming when I call.

'Don't I always.' Eleven groaned. 'To honour and obey.'

DOCTOR: Oh, that was you?
RIVER: You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason.
DOCTOR: A fairly good one, actually.
RIVER: Okay, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Er, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So, er, crash of the Byzantium. Have we done that yet?

(He just looks at her completely lost)

RIVER: Obviously ringing no bells. Right. Oh, picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet? Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Whoo, life with a time traveller. Never knew it could be such hard work. Look at you. Oh, you're young.
DOCTOR: I'm really not, you know.

'You are to me.' Rory said smugly. Well, reality might have been rebooted, but still. 2000 years. The Doctor – his Doctor, at least – was younger than him. He might not have spent that time freeing civilisations and pissing off every form of authority he came across, but he'd used it to protect something terribly important to him. He was proud of. The Doctor would never be able to stay in one place, for love or otherwise – he was far too restless. Perhaps that was why Amy had chosen him in the end.

RIVER: No, but you are. Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you.
DOCTOR: You've seen me before, then?
RIVER: Doctor, please tell me you know who I am.
DOCTOR: Who are you?

River pressed her eyes shut. She'd known it was coming, knew the Doctor's knowledge of her fluctuated with every meeting, so it stood to reason she'd eventually meet one unfamiliar to her – one in love with another woman, even. It wasn't his fault, of course. He didn't know her. But he did learn how she was going to die, and he hadn't told her. She'd initially assumed he must be a regeneration after Twelve, but as soon as she realised he was from before Eleven, she'd felt the dread set in.

He had cried, at Darillium, and the only other time she had seen him cry was after Manhatten. She felt bad for leaving him – perhaps she should have said yes, allow herself to travel with him, at least until he found another earth girl to occupy his time. He had, eventually. She'd been told about her by that immortal girl – Me, which got rather confusing – when Me had come to take her out of the Library database using technology she'd stolen from Gallifrey. Clara Oswald had returned to face the raven by that point, and she'd got almost the same lonely immortal vibe from Me as she got from her Doctor. Me missed Clara, not that she'd admit it, and she told River all about her. Of course the Doctor had loved Clara.

River was used to forgiving the Doctor's indiscretions, as he was forgiving hers. But making someone else immortal – someone he didn't even really like – and then abandoning them to time… she'd been too angry to love him for a long time after that. She'd disappeared from the Galactic stage. She lived in a small town now. Yes, on the run, but the husbands – and wife – didn't need to know that.

(Brng, brng. Brng, brng.)
DAVE: Sorry, that was me. Trying to get through into the security protocols. I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?
DONNA: Doctor? Doctor, that sounds like…
DOCTOR: It is. It's a phone.

[Girl's home]

(A proper non-wireless, decent sized handset telephone is ringing. The girl has the television on but her back is to is as she writes or draws on some paper.)
GIRL: Dad?
FATHER: In a minute.

[Rotunda]

DAVE: I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding. Just that noise.
DONNA: But it's a phone.
DOCTOR: Let me try something.

'Wait a minute…' Rose muttered. 'If the data core is that girl's house, and that girl is a security camera, then the girl must be wired into the machine somehow. Like the Controller, maybe.'

Clara felt sick. The poor girl…a terrible fate for anyone.

[Girl's home]

GIRL: Dad, the phone. Aren't you going to answer it?
FATHER: It's not ringing, sweetie.
(The phone stops ringing just as she gets to it.)

[Rotunda]

(The screen says Access Denied.)
DOCTOR: Okay, doesn't like that. Let's try something else.

'Can't he hear it!? He shouldn't just ignore his daughter like that!' Rory said angrily.

[Girl's home]

(The girl is drawing the library.)
DOCTOR [OC]: Okay, here it comes.
DOCTOR [on TV]: Hello?
GIRL: Hello. Are you in my television?

Snickers at that. 'Yes, you are in the television…for some reason.' Amy said.

DOCTOR [on TV]: Well, no, I'm, I'm sort of in space. Er, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple grid security processor.

'Easy mistake to make.' Ryan joked.

GIRL: Would you like to speak to my Dad?
DOCTOR [on TV]: Dad or your Mum. That'd be lovely.
GIRL: I know you. You're in my library.
DOCTOR [on TV]: Your library?
GIRL: The library's never been on the television before. What have you done?
DOCTOR [on TV]: Er, well, I just rerouted the interface.
(The cartoon returns.)

'Hey! I used to watch that!' Donna said joyfully.

[Rotunda]

RIVER: What happened? Who was that?
(Access denied flashes on the terminal. The girl starts changing channels on the television.)
DOCTOR: I need another terminal. Keep working on those lights. We need those lights!
RIVER: You heard him, people. Let there be light.
(The Doctor goes to the other terminal, where River left her diary. When he picks it up, she takes it from him.)
RIVER: Sorry, you're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules.
DOCTOR: What rules?
RIVER: Your rules.

'You know yourself very well.' Clara said carefully. She'd been in the Library. Peeked in the book. She knew he couldn't look in it, because the last time he'd had foreknowledge, it had led to tragedy.

(The girl opens the extra section at the bottom of the remote controller and presses a button. Books start flying off the shelves.)
DOCTOR: What's that? I didn't do that. Did you do that?
DAVE: Not me.
(The Doctor's screen says Cal Access Denied.)
DOCTOR: What's Cal?
(The girl works her way through all the extra buttons. The bombardment of books finally stops. Donna goes over to Miss Evangelista.)
DONNA: You all right?
EVANGELISTA: What's that? What's happening?
LUX: I don't know.
DONNA: Oh, thanks, for er, you know, offering to help with the lights.
EVANGELISTA: They don't want me. They think I'm stupid, because I'm pretty.

'That was not the reason.' River said.

DONNA: Course they don't. Nobody thinks that.
EVANGELISTA: No, they're right though. I'm a moron, me. My dad said I have the IQ of plankton, and I was pleased.
DONNA: See, that's funny.
EVANGELISTA: No, no, I really was pleased. Is that funny?
DONNA: No, no.

Amy pulled a face. 'I don't think plankton have brains. I mean, I didn't do well in biology, but I think they're too small.'

(More books shoot off their shelves.)
RIVER: What's causing that? Is it the little girl?
DOCTOR: But who is the little girl? What's she got to do with this place? How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's Cal?
RIVER: Ask Mister Lux.
DOCTOR: Cal, what is it?
LUX: Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts.
DOCTOR: Mister Lux. Right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?
LUX: I'm protecting my family's pride.
DOCTOR: Well, funny thing, Mister Lux. I don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important.

'Yes, Doctor, because you wouldn't know anything about stupid pride, would you?' Clara said. Behind her, Amy spluttered with laughter. The Doctor had the grace to look embarrassed.

DOCTOR: Okay, okay, okay. Let's start at the beginning. What happened here? On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what physically happened?
(The girl presses a button on her remote, and a panel slides up in the wall. Evangelista notices it.)
RIVER: There was a message from the Library. Just one. The lights are going out. Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years.
LUX: It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in.

'The lights are going out.' Rose said. 'Very dramatic and poetic and completely frigging useless.'

EVANGELISTA: Er, excuse me?
LUX: Not just now.
RIVER: There was one other thing in the last message.
LUX: That's confidential.
RIVER: I trust this man with my life, with everything.
LUX: You've only just met him.
RIVER: No, he's only just met me.

'I imagine that cleared everything up.'

EVANGELISTA: Er, this might be important, actually.
LUX: In a moment.

'Come on.' Rory said, frustrated. 'He won't even look at her! Just because he doesn't think she's very bright. This Lux guy deserves a slap.'

'Oh, he got one.' River said brightly, smiling.

RIVER: This is a data extract that came with the message.
DOCTOR: Four thousand and twenty-two saved. No survivors.
RIVER: Four thousand and twenty-two. That's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed.

'That's less than the population of London.' Clara said. 'By a lot. You'd have thought a library that size would have millions. I suppose that means only four thousand odd people died.'

DONNA: But how can four thousand and twenty two people have been saved if there were no survivors?
RIVER: That's what we're here to find out.
LUX: And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies.

Some faces were pulled at that. Finding four thousand bodies on a planet that size would be a challenge, but if the readers were dead, one of them would show up eventually.'

[Lecture hall]

(Evangelista explores the open panel alone. She goes down a short passage to what might be a reading room or lecture hall. Anyway, every flat surface has books piled on it. She steps into the darkness and screams. The Doctor leads the way to investigate. They find a skeleton.)

'No, no.' Rose said. 'Don't leave the group. Have you never seen a horror movie?' Was a horror movie even worth it when your job was wandering around dark and dusty planets were thousands of people perished? Certainly they'd never worked on her again. She'd never see the appeal of archaeology, of the dead.

DOCTOR: Everybody, careful. Stay in the light. DAVE: You keep saying that. I don't see the point.
DOCTOR: Who screamed?
DAVE: Miss Evangelista.
DOCTOR: Where is she?
RIVER: Miss Evangelista, please state your current
(River's voice echoes from very nearby.)
RIVER: Please state your current position.
(River takes a lit comm. unit from the remains of the skeleton's collar.)
RIVER: It's her. It's Miss Evangelista.
ANITA: We heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?

'Piranhas?' Bill offered. 'What? We were all taught that a shoal of piranhas would strip you to bone in ten seconds.'

DOCTOR: It took a lot less than a few seconds.
ANITA: What did?
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello?
RIVER: Er, I'm sorry, everyone. Er, this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting.
DONNA: She's what?
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello? Excuse me. I'm sorry. Hello? Excuse me.

'She's so timid, even after her death.' Rory said angrily. 'Probably because they all bullied her. Made her feel like she didn't deserve a voice.'

DONNA: That's, that's her, that's Miss Evangelista.
DAVE: I don't want to sound horrible, but couldn't we just, you know?
RIVER: This is her last moment. No, we can't. A little respect, thank you.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Sorry, where am I? Excuse me?
DONNA: But that's Miss Evangelista.
RIVER: It's a data ghost. She'll be gone in a moment. Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax. We'll be with you presently.
DONNA: What's a data ghost?
DOCTOR: There's a neural relay in the communicator. Lets you send thought mail. That's it there. Those green lights. Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an afterimage.

Amy abruptly found herself wondering what the Doctor would sound like as a data ghost. What his last thoughts would be. What any of his thoughts were. She couldn't keep up with them most of the time.

DAVE: She's just brain waves now. The pattern won't hold for long.
DONNA: But, she's conscious. She's thinking.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: I can't see, I can't. I don't know what I'm thinking.
DOCTOR: She's a footprint on the beach. And the tide's coming in.

Weren't they all? Smoke in a breeze. Breath on a mirror. Dead, just like that. Amy remembered how she had felt when Rory had died. The Doctor. He'd watched every person in this room slip from his grasp. She tried to imagine that. Losing her best friend – she knew what that was like. She'd sobbed over the Doctor's prone body. She imagined finding a new friend, someone she loved just as much, somehow, because her heart – or, well, hearts – was just that open. And then losing them. Rose. Martha. Donna. Herself. Rory. Clara. And surely – he was roughly a thousand years old. He must have had some before Rose. All gone now.

There were tears in her eyes.

I hate endings.

She couldn't even begin to understand the depths of his losses. No wonder. No wonder he hated them. They were inevitable when one lived for what was effectively forever. A human could not hope to grasp that. But no wonder he clung so hard to them – I'm running to you before you fade from me. She'd never believed it would happen, but how heavy those words were now. The Doctor didn't have a happy ending. He didn't have an end. He had to face the universe and its myriad of cruelties alone.

And the Doctor was smiling at her, soft and sad and full of love. The grief he must carry, and yet he still smiled.

EVANGELISTA [OC]: Where's that woman? The nice woman. Is she there?
LUX: What woman?
DONNA: She means. I think she means me.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Is she there? The nice woman.
RIVER: Yes, she's here. Hang on. Go ahead. She can hear you.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello? Are you there?
DOCTOR: Help her.
DONNA: She's dead.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Help her.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello? Is that the nice woman?
DONNA: Yeah. Hello. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm here. You okay?
EVANGELISTA [OC]: What I said before, about being stupid. Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh.
DONNA: Course I won't. Course I won't tell them.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh.
DONNA: I won't tell them. I said I won't.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh.
DONNA: I'm not going to tell them.
(The green light starts blinking.)
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh.
RIVER: She's looping now. The pattern's degrading.
EVANGELISTA [OC]: I can't think. I don't know, I, I, I, I scream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream.
RIVER: Does anybody mind if I?
EVANGELISTA [OC]: Ice cream. Ice cream.
(River turns off the comm. unit.)
DONNA: That was, that was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen.
RIVER: No. It's just a freak of technology. But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that.
DOCTOR: I'll introduce you.

Everyone found themselves wiping tears from their eyes.

[Rotunda]

DOCTOR: I'm going to need a packed lunch.
RIVER: Hang on.
DOCTOR: What's in that book?
RIVER: Spoilers.
DOCTOR: Who are you?
RIVER: Professor River Song, University of-
DOCTOR: To me. Who are you to me?

'How long have you got.' Amy murmured.

RIVER: Again, spoilers. Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out.
DOCTOR: Right, you lot. Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada. [Girl's home] (The girl throws the remote control on the floor.)
FATHER: Darling, Doctor Moon is going now, but he'd like a word with you alone. Is that all right?
GIRL: Yes, of course, Doctor Moon.
MOON: Thank you. Now, listen. This is important. There's the real world, and there's the world of nightmares. That's right, isn't it? You understand that? GIRL: Yes, I know, Doctor Moon.
MOON: What I want you to remember is this, and I know it's hard. The real world is a lie, and your nightmares are real. The library is real. There are people trapped in there, people who need to be saved. The shadows are moving again. Those people are depending on you. Only you can save them. Only you.

Clara took an unsteady breath, but she couldn't calm the panic thrashing in her stomach. The memories were becoming uncomfortably clear.

'I'm so sorry.' She said, and she ran. A door appeared in the wall and she bolted through it. Eleven waited barely a second, and followed, shutting the door behind him.

[Rotunda]

(The Doctor is scanning the floor with his sonic screwdriver.)
RIVER: You travel with him, don't you? The Doctor, you travel with him.
DONNA: What of it?
DOCTOR: Proper Dave, could you move over a bit?
DAVE: Why?
DOCTOR: Over there by the water cooler. Thanks.
DONNA: You know him, don't you?
RIVER: Oh God, do I know that man. We go way back. Just not this far back.
DONNA: I'm sorry, what?

'To be fair, it is a pretty unreal thing to meet someone else who knows the Doctor.' Rose murmured. She was talking about Sarah Jane. Meeting her had thrown her, made her scared in a way an alien never could. Well, the Doctor could, of course.

RIVER: He hasn't met me yet. I sent him a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does.

Rory remembered that conversation very well. It was one of the only times River had truly opened up to him.

DONNA: What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?
DOCTOR: Donna! Quiet, I'm working.
DONNA: Sorry.
RIVER: Donna. You're Donna. Donna Noble.
DONNA: Yeah. Why?
RIVER: I do know the Doctor, but in the future. His personal future.

'Yeah, you could say that.' Amy said, and rolled her eyes.

DONNA: So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?
DOCTOR: Okay, got a live one. That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm.
(The Doctor throws a chicken leg into the shadow. It is only bone by the time it hits the floor.)
DOCTOR: The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive.
DONNA: What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?
DOCTOR: Mmm. Earth, and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams.

'Eurgh, that is horrible to think about.' Martha said. 'Wait, they have Vashta Nerada on Gallifrey? Because that would be an awkward regeneration. Eaten by dust.'

DONNA: If they were on Earth, we'd know.
DOCTOR: Nah. Normally they live on road kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark.
RIVER: Every shadow?
DOCTOR: No. But any shadow.
RIVER: So what do we do?
DOCTOR: Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada? Run. Just run.

'Well, you're good at that, boss.' Mickey said.

RIVER: Run? Run where?
DOCTOR: This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere.
LUX: Don't look at me, I haven't memorised the schematics.
DONNA: Doctor, the little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff.

'That's clever. I never would have thought of that.' Clara said admirably.

DAVE: Okay, let's move it.
He heads towards the shop but the Doctor spots something.
DOCTOR: Actually, Proper Dave? Could you stay where you are for a moment?
DAVE: Why?
DOCTOR: I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows.
(He has, at right angles to each other.)
DOCTOR: It's how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh.
DAVE: What do I do?
DOCTOR: You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps.

'Or one absolutely stinking massive one.' Donna said sullenly. 'Actually no. We did run from that.'

RIVER: We're not leaving you, Dave.
DOCTOR: Course we're not leaving him. Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me.
DAVE: On the floor, by my bag.
(Anita goes to get it.)
DOCTOR: Don't cross his shadow. Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got.
(The Doctor puts Dave's helmet on him.)
DONNA: But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets.
DOCTOR: Yeah, but we're safe anyway.
DONNA: How are we safe?
DOCTOR: We're not. That was a clever lie to shut you up. Professor, anything I can do with the suit?

'Doctor, you suck at being honest. The point of a reassuring lie is not to immediately tell the person you lied to that you lied. It's decidedly unhelpful.'

LUX: What good are the damn suits? Miss Evangelista was wearing her suit. There was nothing left.
RIVER: We can increase the mesh density. Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal.
DOCTOR: Okay.
(The Doctor uses his screwdriver to adjust Dave's suit.)
DOCTOR: Eight hundred percent. Pass it on.
RIVER: Gotcha.
(River holds up a sonic screwdriver of her own.)
DOCTOR: What's that?
RIVER: It's a screwdriver.
DOCTOR: It's sonic.

'I gave someone my screwdriver!' Nine said, face a comic picture of shock and disbelief. 'Did you steal it?'

RIVER: Yeah, I know. Snap.
(River upgrades everyone's spacesuit. The Doctor grabs Donna.)
DOCTOR: With me. Come on.

[Shop]

DONNA: What are we doing? We shopping? Is it a good time to shop?
(There is a lectern by a small dais with three roundels in it.)
DOCTOR: No talking, just moving. Try it. Right, stand there in the middle. It's a teleport. Stand in the middle. Can't send the others, Tardis won't recognise them.
DONNA: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: You don't have a suit. You're not safe.
DONNA: You don't have a suit, so you're in just as much danger as I am and I'm not leaving you
DOCTOR: Donna, let me explain.
(Donna teleports away.)
DOCTOR: Oh, that's how you do it.
RIVER [OC]: Doctor.

'Oh, he always does that, too.' Rose said, annoyed. 'Making decisions for you. Sending you away.'

'He did it to me.' River said.

'And us.' Rory and Amy.

'Yup. Me too.' Clara.

'Well, I got my own back by tearing the TARDIS apart.' Rose said fiercely.

'Like a puppy that had been left on its own for the first time.' Nine said exasperatedly.

'No.' Rose said, and a strange, powerful look came over her face. 'Not a puppy. A wolf.'

[Rotunda]

(Donna starts to materialise inside the Tardis, then flickers, screams, and vanishes.)
DOCTOR: Where did it go?
DAVE: It's just gone. I looked round, one shadow, see.
RIVER: Does that mean we can leave? I don't want to hang around here.
LUX: I don't know why we're still here. We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence

'Someone knock his teeth down his throat.' Rose snapped. 'What?'

RIVER: Shut up, Mister Lux.
DOCTOR: Did you feel anything, like an energy transfer? Anything at all?
DAVE: No, no, but look, it's gone.
(Dave turns around.)
DOCTOR: Stop there. Stop, stop, stop there. Stop moving. They're never just gone and they never give up.
(He sonics the floor by Dave.) DOCTOR: Well, this one's benign.
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DOCTOR: No one, they're fine.

'Oh no.' Amy murmured. She remembered that time when House was chasing them through the TARDIS, and had made her believe it was dark. How horribly scary that had felt.

DAVE: No seriously, turn them back on.
RIVER: They are on.
DAVE: I can't see a ruddy thing.
DOCTOR: Dave, turn around.
(Dave turns back to the Doctor, his visor completely dark.)
DAVE: What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?
DOCTOR: Dave, I want you stay still. Absolutely still.
(Dave jerks.)
DOCTOR: Dave? Dave? Dave, can you hear me? Are you all right? Talk to me, Dave.
DAVE: I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine.
DOCTOR: I want you to stay still. Absolutely still.
DAVE: I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine. I can't. Why can't I? I, I can't. Why can't I? I, I can't. Why can't I? I
(Dave's comm. unit lights blink.)

'Oh, my god.' Martha said, horrified. 'He's…dead.'

RIVER: He's gone. He's ghosting.
LUX: Then why is he still standing?
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?
RIVER: Doctor, don't.
DOCTOR: Dave, can you hear me?
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
(Dave grabs the Doctor by the throat. A skull is now visible in his helmet.)

Rose yelped in shock. 'Oh, that's horrible!'

DAVE: Who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?
RIVER: Excuse me.
(River zaps the zombie with her sonic screwdriver, freeing the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: Back from it! Get back. Right back.
(Zombie Dave lurches a step towards them.)
RIVER: Doesn't move very fast, does it?
DOCTOR: It's a swarm in a suit. But it's learning.
(Zombie Dave has four shadows, and they are growing.)
LUX: What do we do? Where do we go?
RIVER: See that wall behind you? Duck.
(River fires a gun at the wall and makes a square hole in it.)
DOCTOR: Squareness gun!
RIVER: Everybody out. Go, go, go. Move it. Move, move. Move it. Move, move.

'I like to…' Mickey laughed. River glared at him.

[Stacks]

RIVER: You said not every shadow.
DOCTOR: But any shadow.

'Well, that's comforting.' Rory muttered.

DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
RIVER: Run!

[Girl's home]

FATHER: Sweetie, dinner's ready.
GIRL: Donna Noble has been saved.
FATHER: Sweetie?

'She doesn't look saved!'

[Stacks]

(Somewhere amongst the massive shelves of books, the Doctor is trying to sonic a light fitting.)
DOCTOR: Trying to boost the power. Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down.

'Well, something that does stop them would be helpful instead.' Donna said. 'Maybe push a shelf over on top of them.'

RIVER: So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?
DOCTOR: Your screwdriver looks exactly like mine.
RIVER: Yeah. You gave it to me.
DOCTOR: I don't give my screwdriver to anyone.
RIVER: I'm not anyone.
DOCTOR: Who are you?

'Time and a place, Doctor!' Amy prompted. She looked rather stressed by the situation.

RIVER: What's the plan?
DOCTOR: I teleported Donna back to the Tardis. If we don't get back there in under five hours, emergency program one will activate.
RIVER: Take her home, yeah. We need to get a shift on.

Rose scowled. She knew program one very well.

'So not only did you send me away without asking, you were going to send me home!' Rightly, and comically, Donna slapped the Doctor. 'I deserve a choice in these things! And not like it did any good, spaceman.'

DOCTOR: She's not there. I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach.
RIVER: Well, maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment here's ancient.

'Not as ancient as you, Doctor.' Rose said teasingly.

(The Doctor goes to a nearby Node.)
DOCTOR: Donna Noble. There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library. Do you have the software to locate her position?
(The node turns its head. It has Donna's face.)

Amy was horrified, eyes widening at the sight. It was impossible. Surely. But River had had no knowledge of Donna, or at least, seemed to suggest Donna wasn't in the Doctor's future. Was this it? The moment he lost her? She looked to him, expecting that he might need comforting, but he simply stared at the screen, carefully still.

DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
DOCTOR: Donna.
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
RIVER: How can it be Donna? How's that possible?
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
DOCTOR: Donna.
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library.

They all felt the on-screen Doctor's fear, the way he completely seemed at a lost. Of course. He thought his best friend was dead.

DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
RIVER: How can it be Donna? How's that possible?
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
DOCTOR: Donna.
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library.
DAVE [OC]: Hey, who turned out the lights?
RIVER: Doctor!

Rose felt pity curl in her stomach. He'd have to run. Leave her behind. That was the most terrifying things about travelling, just behind being unceremoniously dumped somewhere. Having to leave someone where they fell, to save yourself. No bodies in the Library? Well, there would be now. It reminded Rose of people who climbed Mount Everest. They had to step over the dead who had died to get there. In the archaeologist's attempt to discover what had happened to kill the people there, they had simply added to the tragedy.

DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has been saved.
DAVE [OC]: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library.
RIVER: Doctor, we've got to go now!
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has been saved.
DAVE: Hey, Who turned out the lights?
(River and the Doctor run, followed by Lux, the other Dave and Anita.)
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library.
(The group are trapped between shadows.)
RIVER: Doctor, what are we going to do?
DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?
DONNA NODE: Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.

END CREDITS

TO BE CONTINUED.

'It better be.' Rose said, voice fraught with worry. 'How in the hell did you get out of that one?'