Chapter Seven: The Missing Life of Jackson Lake
Keeping up with Rosita was harder than Rose had expected. She did plenty of running, but never in a Victorian dress and fussy dress boots.
Rosita turned a corner about fifty metres away, and Rose hitched her skirts up higher so she could put on some speed. But as she turned the same corner, the heel of her boot caught on a cobblestone and nearly sent her to the ground.
She pinwheeled her arms and managed to stay upright. As soon as she'd regained her balance, she scanned the street, looking for Rosita.
"Why are you following me?"
Rose turned around and faced Rosita, standing on the kerb with her hands crossed over her chest. Rose brushed a piece of lint off her coat. "John's gone off to do his own thing, so I thought maybe you might want company." She gave the other woman a wry smile. "I imagine the Doctor's done the same, hasn't he?"
Rosita rolled her eyes and gave an annoyed huff. "He's gone off to do some investigating. Told me to go back to the Tardis."
"Of course." Rose snorted. "Because it's quite all right for you to be the bait for big metal dog things running through London, but if there's anything actually interesting going on, that's no place for a woman. Am I right?"
A hint of grudging respect entered Rosita's eyes. "Never mind the fact that I save his life all the bloody time. If he's going to do anything interesting, like break into a house, I'm sent back to the Tardis like a child."
Rose shook her head and made a soft sound of commiseration. Even though it had been years since the Doctor had treated her so dismissively, she remembered how much it had frustrated her.
Rosita shrugged. "Well, as long as you're already here, I'll show you where we've been staying, and where we keep the Tardis."
Rose followed her into a narrow alley. "How did you meet—you and the Doctor?"
Rosita slowed until they were walking side by side. Rose saw the remembered fear on her face, and she had a hunch she knew how that meeting had gone.
"He saved my life," Rosita said, confirming her suspicions. "Late one night, by the Osterman's Wharf, this creature came out of the shadows. A man made of metal. I thought I was going to die. And then, there he was. The Doctor."
Rose shivered. "That's how I met John," she shared. "I was working in a shop, cleaning up after we'd closed, and this creature started after me. I was backed against a wall, and then a hand grabbed mine."
She smiled involuntarily. Everything had changed in that moment.
"I looked over, and there he was, this ridiculous grin on his face. He told me to run, and I suppose we've never really stopped."
"Always running," Rosita agreed. She held up her hand, and Rose stopped obediently. "Wait here while I go see if the Tardis is ready."
"Ready?" Rose asked, but she was asking air, because Rosita had already left.
Rose shrugged, then focused on the Doctor's presence in her mind. Rosita's telling me more about the man she calls the Doctor, she told him. He certainly seems to have your flair for dramatic rescues.
Do you think it's possible we used the Chameleon Arch again? The Doctor let her see the fob watch he'd discovered in the other man's pocket.
Rose glanced over at Rosita. The story she'd told of how her Doctor had rescued her was so very similar—maybe this was actually herself, filling in the blanks of her life with stories from her dreams? It had happened once before.
She held her breath while the Doctor tested his theory, and let it out slowly when the watch turned out to be nothing more than a watch. That would have explained the memories, but it would have created a whole host of other problems. For instance, if they were playing human, where was the companion watching out for them?
Rose wouldn't pretend she wasn't grateful the watch turned out to just be a watch. Even the Doctor didn't mind that theory being proven wrong. There were simply too many unknown variables.
"Rose?"
Rose spun around.
Rosita gestured behind her. "She's ready."
Now that Rose was once again convinced this man could not be the Doctor, she was dying to know what exactly his Tardis was. She followed Rosita eagerly through some stables and out the door on the other side of the building, then stopped when she saw the Tardis.
The stables belonged to an inn that sat on one side of a small square. The open space was currently dominated by an enormous hot air balloon. The basket was tied down, but the balloon itself was inflated and floated above the rooftops.
"You've got a hot air balloon," she said.
Rosita nodded. "This is the Tardis. I can't remember what it stands for. The Doctor could tell you."
"Where do you live?" Rose asked. "Surely you can't both sleep in the basket."
Rosita laughed. "No, but the Doctor wants to stay close." She pointed at the stables they'd just walked through. "The innkeeper lets us sleep in the old stables. He used to keep mail horses, but he doesn't anymore."
Before Rose could follow Rosita into the abandoned stable, a shot of adrenaline over the bond had her tensed to run. She waited a few moments for some kind of explanation, and when one didn't seem forthcoming, she asked for one.
Doctor! What are you doing?
Oh, just engaging in a duel with a Cyberman. Nothing to worry about.
Rose clenched her hands into the fabric of her skirt. Nothing to worry about, her arse. Not even the sharpest cutlass would do any good against the armoured body of a Cyberman.
Go protect him. The urge was so strong, she'd actually taken a few steps toward the street before she realised it was futile. He was too far away, and it wasn't like the Cybermen would pause their attack until she got there.
"Rose? Are you coming?"
Rose closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then she forced a smile to her face and turned back to Rosita. "Yeah, of course."
oOoOo
The Doctor struggled to match his stride to the other man's slightly slower pace. Rose's lingering fear called to him, but he couldn't let on that he knew exactly where the other man's lodgings were.
Finally, the alley they were following opened up into a small courtyard with a stable. The stable doors flew open, and the Doctor braced himself and opened his arms just in time for Rose to run into them.
I'm sorry, love. He kissed her temple, and Rose snuggled further into his embrace. I wouldn't have gone in without a plan if I'd known there were Cybermen in the house.
Rose snorted, and he hid a grin. They both knew it wouldn't have stopped him from going in—he just would have made sure he had a plan.
You wouldn't have gone in without me, she corrected.
Their amusement broke the tension, and Rose stepped back. The Doctor smirked when he realised Rosita and his companion were both looking away, embarrassment written across their faces.
I believe we've offended their sense of decorum, he told Rose in delight.
Rose shook her head, then glanced at Rosita. "I think the next time, they ought to take us with them. Don't you, Rosita? Instead of letting us sit here for hours, wondering if they were alive or dead."
Rosita spun around and nodded vehemently. "He's always doing this, leaving me behind. Going frantic."
"You were right though, Rosita," the other man said. "The Reverend Fairchild's death was the work of the Cybermen."
Rosita crossed her arms over her chest. "All the more reason for you to not go after them all on your own."
Rose slid her hand into the Doctor's. "While you were off fighting Cybermen, Rosita showed me the Tardis," she told the Doctor.
The Doctor glanced sideways at her. Rose was trying not to laugh, and he wondered exactly what this man had fashioned into his facsimile of a Tardis.
"Can I see?" he asked, shooting a smile at the other man.
Their host smiled broadly. "Mr. Tyler, it would be my honour."
He led them through the stable to the open courtyard at the back where the mail coaches would have changed horses. "There she is," he declared, throwing his arms out. "My transport through time and space. The Tardis."
The Doctor blinked, but when he opened his eyes, the blue hot air balloon was still there. "The Tardis is a hot air balloon?"
"That's right," the other man said. "It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style."
"It certainly does have style," the Doctor agreed.
"I love the colour," Rose said. "Tardis blue."
The other man's eyes widened and he clapped his hands delightedly. "I like that! Tardis blue."
The Doctor walked towards the tethered balloon, moving one of the ropes out of the way so he could get to the basket. "Nice one," he said. "And is it inflated by gas, yeah?" he guessed after peering up into the balloon.
"We're adjacent to the Mutton Street Gasworks," the other man explained. "I pay them a modest fee." He clapped a young man standing nearby on the shoulder. "Good work, Jed."
The Doctor's eyes widened when he saw the note the man put in Jed's hand. Five pounds was a week's wages or more in the 1850s.
"Glad to be of service, sir," Jed said as he pocketed it.
Rose gaped. Anyone would be glad to be of service for that kind of money.
Indeed, the Doctor agreed. "You've got quite a bit of money," he said to the faux Doctor.
The man shook his head. "Oh, you get nothing for nothing," he said as he waved the stack of notes in his hand. "How's that ripped panel, Jed?"
"All repaired. Should work a treat. You never know, maybe tonight's the night, Doctor." He cast a sideways glance at his benefactor and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Imagine it, seeing Christmas from above."
A gust of wind rippled through the silk balloon, but when the other man shook his head, the Doctor knew the craft wouldn't be leaving the ground any time soon.
"Not just yet, I think. One day, I will ascend. One day soon."
"You've never actually been up?" Rose asked.
Rosita sighed. "He dreams of leaving, but never does."
"I can depart in the Tardis once London is safe," the other man said firmly. "And finally, when I'm up there. Think of it, John. The time and the space."
"All of time and space," the Doctor murmured.
The other man gestured back at the stable. "Come. Rosita and I don't have much, but what we have, we will gladly share."
The Doctor put his hand in the small of Rose's back as they all filed into the stable. The space was lit by gas lamps, and a small fire burned in a brazier at one end.
"So, you live here?" he asked.
The other man had gone into a stall where a basin of water stood. "A temporary base, until we rout the enemy," he explained as he washed his hands. "The Tardis is magnificent, but it's hardly a home."
The Doctor coughed. A hot air balloon might not be home, but the TARDIS certainly was.
He spun on his heel and scanned the stable quickly. "Er, what's all this luggage?" he asked, spying a pile of suitcases and trunks stored in a stall.
"Evidence. The property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes; it all seemed to come back to Jackson Lake. Keep him distracted, Rose, he said, then he pulled the sonic out of his pocket and started to scan the luggage.
"How long have there been Cybermen in London?" Rose asked.
"I first became aware of them three weeks ago," the other man answered.
The Doctor listened to the story with half an ear, but mostly, he focused on the luggage. There's something not right here, he mused. According to this man, Jackson Lake was travelling alone. But why would one man have so much luggage?
"Are you whistling again?"
The question pierced through the Doctor's concentration. He quickly stuck the screwdriver back in his coat pocket and turned around. "Yes. Yes, I am, yeah. Yeah."
Rosita raised an eyebrow, and the Doctor realised he'd been caught. He shook his head at her, then pried open the lid to a trunk and started rifling through the contents. Jackson Lake was the key to the riddle.
"That's another man's property," Rosita protested.
The Doctor started to give a flippant response, then he caught Rose's subtle head shake. "Yes, but I'm certain Jackson Lake would want us to do whatever was necessary to stop the Cybermen," he told her instead.
Rosita seemed to unbend a little at that comment. She bit her lip and came closer to the Doctor, talking in a low voice. "Can you help him, sir? He has such terrible dreams. Wakes at night in such a state of terror."
The Doctor stopped rummaging around in the trunk and looked at the other man. Pieces were starting to fall into place, and he honestly hoped he was wrong. But the missing memories, the false identity, the night terrors… He had a sinking feeling that he knew what had happened to Jackson Lake.
The other man smiled in embarrassment. "Come now, Rosita. With all the things a Time Lord has seen, everything he's lost, he may surely have bad dreams."
The Doctor and Rose exchanged a glance, memories of night terrors coming back to haunt them briefly. "Yeah…" The Doctor dug back into the trunk, and a moment later, his hand hit something cool and metal. He pulled it out, and his last doubts disappeared. "Oh, now. Look. Jackson Lake had an info stamp."
The other man blinked. "But how? Is that significant?"
The Doctor sighed. "Let's sit down. I have a story to tell."
They gathered around the fire on benches. "Is this story going to explain why I cannot remember anything of my life beyond the last three weeks?"
"I'm afraid it is, but it isn't a happy ending," the Doctor warned.
The other man swallowed hard, but he nodded gamely. "Please tell me, sir. It is torture to know I am missing something, and not know what it is."
The Doctor nodded. "All right. I've worked it out now—how you became the Doctor."
Rose sat back and listened to the Doctor's story. Parts of it she'd worked out herself, but she had a feeling the whole story was sadder than she'd imagined.
"The story begins with the Cybermen." The Doctor leaned forward, resting his weight on his elbows. "A long time away, and not so far from here, the Cybermen were fought, and they were beaten. And they were sent into a howling wilderness called the Void, locked inside forever more."
Rose shivered; memories of Canary Wharf rarely came up anymore, but when they did, she always felt the coldness of the room, the way the Void had tugged at her, trying to pull her in.
The Doctor took her hand and they offered each other strength.
"But then a greater battle rose up, so great that everything inside the Void perished. But, as the walls of the world weakened, the last of the Cybermen must have fallen through the dimensions, back in time, to land here. And they found you."
Just like Lee, Rose realised. Falling through the cracks left by the Reality Bomb and getting stuck where they didn't belong. The Doctor nodded.
The other man frowned, his forehead creased as he tried to remember. "I fought them; I know that. But what happened?"
"At the same time, another man came to London," the Doctor said, his voice so matter-of-fact that Rose knew they were getting to the worst part of the story. "Mr. Jackson Lake. Plenty of luggage, money in his pocket. Maybe coming to town for the winter season, I don't know. But he found the Cybermen too. And just like you, exactly like you, he took hold of an info stamp."
Rose watched Jackson Lake fight against the explanation the Doctor was offering.
"But he's dead," he protested. "Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him."
"You said no body was ever found," the Doctor pointed out gently. "And you kept all his suitcases, but you could never bring yourself to open them. I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see?"
Jackson handed the watch to the Doctor, who turned it over. Two initials were engraved in script.
"JL," Jackson whispered.
"The watch is Jackson Lake's," the Doctor said, not letting the other man hide from the truth they were all realising.
Rosita shook her head and looked up at Jackson. "Jackson Lake is you, sir?"
Jackson Lake shook his head. "But I'm the Doctor."
The Doctor straightened up slowly and reached for the info stamp again. "You became the Doctor because the info stamp you picked up was a book about one particular man."
He pressed the end of the cylinder and the info stamp projected its information on the wall. Rose smiled when her Doctor's first incarnation appeared—the brusque older man who had told her when his birthday was.
"The Cybermen's database," the Doctor narrated. "Stolen from the Daleks inside the Void, I'd say, but it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor."
The projection cycled quickly through all of the Doctor's past incarnations. Some Rose hadn't met, though she recognised the fourth face with the long scarf. The fifth Doctor in his cricket gear and celery appeared next, reminding her of the first time she'd met a Doctor out of order.
Jackson gasped when they got to the current Doctor, with his pinstripes and fantastic hair. "That's you," he mumbled.
"Time Lord, TARDIS, enemy of the Cybermen." The Doctor clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "The one and the only." He turned off the info stamp and pointed it at Jackson Lake. "You see, the info stamp must have backfired. Streamed all that information about me right inside your head."
Jackson Lake buried his face in his hands for a moment, then sat up slowly. "I am nothing but a lie."
Rose grabbed his hand impulsively. "No, Jackson. Your name was a lie, but not you. Rosita told me how you saved her from the Cybermen. That bravery, it wasn't a lie."
The Doctor nodded. "Rose is right. Info stamps are just facts and figures, but you're so much more than that. Defending London, building a Tardis? That's all you."
Jackson's jaw trembled, so the force in his voice surprised Rose. "And what else? Tell me what else," he demanded.
Rose started to ask what he meant, but the Doctor's sadness stopped her. There was something more, something she didn't understand yet.
"There's still something missing, isn't there?" the Doctor said, almost to himself.
Jackson straightened and glared at the Doctor. "I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took."
Rose put a hand over her mouth. She understood then, though she wished she didn't.
The Doctor sat back slowly. He hated what he was about to do, even if it was what Jackson Lake needed. "Sorry. Really, I am so sorry," he repeated, hoping Jackson believed him. He gestured at the luggage behind them. "But that's an awful lot of luggage for one man."
Jackson looked at the pile of luggage, and the Doctor's hearts ached when the confusion in his eyes was slowly replaced by comprehension.
"Because an info stamp is plain technology. It's not enough to make a man lose his mind. What you suffered is called a fugue. A fugue state, where the mind just runs away because it can't bear to look back."
Jackson closed his eyes and swayed slightly where he sat. The Doctor could easily imagine how he felt—the disorienting sensation of suppressed memories returning, the agony of grief ripping him back to reality. He'd experienced the same thing twice before, when he'd thought he'd lost Rose.
Rose stepped forward and took his hand again, and he squeezed hers gratefully before continuing. "You wanted to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much."
Nearby church bells tolled the hour, breaking the quietude of the moment. "Midnight," Rosita said. "Christmas Day."
The bells seemed to wake Jackson Lake completely from the life he'd been hiding in. "I remember. Oh, my God."
His face twisted in anger and grief, and the Doctor could only imagine the memories flooding back to him.
"Caroline." The name, spoken softly, told them how much he'd loved her. "They killed my wife." Speaking the words out loud finally broke him. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he leaned forward to hide his face in his hand. "They killed her," he sobbed.
Rosita rubbed his back consolingly, while Rose pulled the Doctor into a telepathic embrace. I'm right here, she reminded him, pressing her mental signature as firmly into his mind as she could. I'm never going to leave you.
Her fierce reminders pulled him out of the flashback that had been threatening. He took a deep breath, then pressed a kiss to her hand.
Rose blinked when something started beeping. The Doctor straightened up and looked down at the info stamp in his hand. The blue light pulsed slightly in time to the beeping, but it wasn't the only thing in the room that was making noise.
He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out another info stamp, which she assumed he'd gotten from the Reverend's house. And still there was yet more beeping.
They all followed the noise back to the luggage. The Doctor flipped open the lid of the top trunk and rummaged through the clothes. "Oh." He pulled out something that looked like an ammunition magazine. "You found a whole cache of info stamps."
"But what is it?" Rosita asked, rocking anxiously on the balls of her feet. "What's that noise?"
"Activation. A call to arms." The Doctor dropped the info stamps and ran for the door. "The Cybermen are moving!" he yelled as he ran.
Jackson Lake stood up slowly, and Rose didn't quite know how to make out the look on his face. "You'll follow him, of course," he said. "I learned that much about him—there should be someone at his side." His gaze shifted to Rosita. "Rosita can help you. She's been with me throughout my adventures. Everything I know about the Cybermen in London, she knows."
"Will you help us, Rosita?"
The woman stood up slowly, her gaze fixed on Jackson. She obviously didn't want to leave him when he was still so upset, and Rose could easily understand that.
But Jackson Lake was an even braver man than she'd realised. His eyes were still glassy with tears, but resolve firmed his jaw. "Go," he told Rosita.
She nodded, and Rose let out a breath. "Thank God," she said fervently. "Come on, let's go find the Doctor." She shot Jackson Lake a grateful look as she raced out of the stable with Rosita on her heels.
oOoOo
The Doctor left the stable at a dead run, careening around a corner as he made his way towards the busier streets. He had to find out where the Cybermen were going before they lost the trail. Rose wouldn't be far behind.
He skidded to a halt in a snowy courtyard and looked both ways, trying to guess which way to go. Finally, shadows on the wall showed him the way… but they weren't shadows of Cybermen.
The Doctor gritted his teeth. He'd seen this before, in Pete's World. An army of humans, taken over by the earpods they'd been conned into wearing. Marched through the streets of London to their deaths in a Cybermen factory.
He strode across the courtyard and turned the corner, then stopped. The army of humans the Cybermen had captured was made up entirely of children. Fury rose sharply and stole his breath, and it was in that moment that Rose and Rosita reached him.
"What is it, Doctor?" Rose took his hand.
"That's Mr. Cole," Rosita said pointing to the gentleman in a top hat. "He's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse. Maybe he's taking them to prayers."
"Oh, nothing as holy as that." The Doctor jogged after Cole. "Can you hear me? Hello? No?" A set of Victorian-looking earpods beeped and flashed in his ears. "Mr. Cole, you seem to have something in your ear. Now, this might hurt a bit, but if I can just—"
A harsh growl from the shadows stayed the Doctor's hand that had been reaching for his sonic screwdriver. A Cyber-creature glowered at him from behind a building, and he slowly put his hand down.
"Ah. They're on guard. Can't risk a fight. Not with the children."
"We need to figure out where they're going," Rose said. "We can find a way to rescue them there."
The Doctor heard a man snort, and he spun around. The young man from the gas works had followed them out of the square. "Do you have something to offer, Jed?"
"These little ruffians." He nodded towards the children, still marching by. "They all need a good whipping, if you ask me. There's tons of them. I've just seen another lot coming down from the Ingleby Workhouse down Broadback Lane."
"Where's that?" the Doctor snapped.
"This way." Rosita started running, and the Doctor and Rose chased after her.
Gas lamps flickered down on them as they raced through the alleyways. Rose swore under her breath when her skirts tried to get caught around her ankles. She hoisted them up to mid-calf and kept running.
They turned another corner and skidded to a halt. Once again, there was an army of children marching together, guided by another Victorian gentleman wearing earpods.
"There's dozens of them," Rosita said.
Rose shook her head. "Hundreds, more like." She clenched her fists. The fear on the children's faces was palpable.
"But what for?" the Doctor asked.
The last child walked by, and Rose jerked her head towards them. "Come on. One way to find out."
They fell in line behind the children, staying just far enough behind that the Cyber-creature wouldn't notice them. "You're mad," Rosita muttered. "Just like the Doctor…" She paused, then shrugged. "Or he was just like you, I guess."
"Something like that," the Doctor agreed awkwardly.
Rose wasn't surprised when he changed the subject a moment later.
"Can you tell where they're going, Rosita? It would need to be someplace large enough for all these children… Someplace no one would notice in the dead of night."
Rosita slowed, and they all stopped while she looked around and considered. After a moment, she nodded. "The sewage works."
The Doctor blew out a loud breath through his nose and raked his hand through his hair. "This still doesn't make any sense," he muttered. "Why children, and why a sewage plant?"
"We can figure it out when we get there, yeah?" Rose pointed behind them, where the sound of marching was fading away. "Come on, let's go."
They caught up just as the last of the children walked through a set of large wooden doors, followed by two Cybermen. Rose noticed the portcullis, ready to drop and bar anyone from entering.
"That's the door to the sluice," Rosita explained. "All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames."
"That'd explain the smell, then," Rose muttered.
The Doctor coughed to hide a laugh, then replied to Rosita. "Yeah, that's too well guarded. We'll have to find another way in." He pointed at the narrow alley on the other side of the sewage plant, and Rose nodded.
Before they left their hiding place, he pulled out the info stamp with his own history. "Just a little trap," he explained to Rose and Rosita as he used the sonic to reverse the polarity of the core. "They plug it in, and instead of information, they get a shock big enough to shut them down." He dropped the altered info stamp into his pocket and grinned at the ladies. "Allons-y!"
They darted into the courtyard, but stopped when they saw a flash of metal. "Whoa!" the Doctor said, staring at the two Cybermen they had somehow missed. "That's cheating, sneaking up. Do you have your legs on silent?"
A woman in a vivid scarlet gown walked slowly in front of them, stopping right in front of the two Cybermen. "So, what do we have here?" she asked.
The Doctor reached towards her, beckoning her to walk away from the Cybermen. "Listen." He glanced at the Cybermen, who strangely didn't seem to be interested in grabbing her. "Just walk towards me slowly. Don't let them touch you."
She didn't move. "Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys," she drawled. "They are my knights in shining armour, quite literally."
The Doctor shifted half a step towards her. "Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber speech pattern. You've still got free will. I'm telling you, step away."
"There's been no conversion, sir." Her voice was cold and resolute. The Doctor straightened when he understood what she was saying. "No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation."
"Who are you?" Rosita asked.
The woman sneered at her. "You can be quiet. I doubt he paid you to talk."
"Oi!" Rose stepped forward. "I thought you wanted liberation."
Her nostrils thinned slightly, then she focused on the Doctor, ignoring both women. "Who are you, sir, with such intimate knowledge of my companions?"
The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "I'm the Doctor."
"Incorrect," a Cyberman intoned. "You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor."
The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah, but that's because your database got corrupted. Oh, look, look, look. Check this." He pulled the info stamp out of his pocket and held it up. "The Doctor's info stamp." He threw it at the closest Cyberman. "Plug it in. Go on. Download."
The Cyberman inspected the info stamp. "The core has been damaged. This info stamp would damage Cyberunits."
The Doctor shrugged and glanced over at Rose. "Oh, well. Nice try."
The Cyberman pressed a button on the side of the info stamp. It buzzed quietly, and then the Cyberman said, "Core repaired. Download." The Cybus Industries logo on his chest opened to reveal a data port, and he plugged in the info stamp.
There was a moment of silence while the information was downloaded to his brain, then he pulled it out and said, "You are the Doctor."
The Doctor wiggled his fingers in a cheeky wave. "Hello."
"You will be deleted."
The Doctor waved his arms in front of himself. "No, no. Oh, but let me die happy. Tell me, what do you need those children for?"
The woman smirked at him. "What are children ever needed for? They're a workforce."
"What do you mean, a workforce?" Rose asked. Her anger matched his own, and the Doctor rested a hand on her shoulder. "Cybermen don't keep human slaves."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't expect you to understand." She tilted her head back, a cold smile on her face. "Very soon now, the whole Empire will see. And they will bow down in worship."
The Doctor could feel Rose's muscles tense under the hand he'd put on her shoulder. "And it's all been timed for Christmas Day," he said, thinking out loud. "Was that your idea, Miss…?"
She smirked. "Hartigan. Yes. The perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. Only this time, it won't be the words of a man."
The Doctor cocked his head. "The birth of what?"
"A birth, and a death," she said, sidestepping the question. "Namely, yours. Thank you, Doctor. I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation. Now, delete them."
"Delete." The Cybermen stomped forward, arming coming up to grab them by the shoulders.
The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and they backed away from the advancing Cybermen. Rosita scooted away behind them, and the Doctor looked around frantically for some way out.
This feels familiar…
And just like that afternoon, a pulse of energy struck the Cybermen's heads. They crashed to their knees, metal hands to their heads, but there was no escape. The Doctor gaped as they slumped to the cobblestone street, dead.
Then he squinted through the smoke to see who'd come to their rescue. Jackson Lake holstered the info stamp back into the bandolier he wore.
"At your service, Doctor."
"Shades! Shades!" Miss Hartigan yelled.
"Run!" The Doctor hurried Rosita forward, towards Jackson. Then he and Rose followed. "Come on!"
"Shades!" she screamed again.
Rosita slowed, and the Doctor tried to tug her along. She pulled away and strode towards Hartigan. "One last thing." She pulled back her fist and struck her on the jaw.
"Oh, yes!" Rose crowed. "Well done!"
The Doctor floundered. "Yes, well… Come on!"
The four of them ran down the street and into a small alcove where they could hide from any Cybershades. "What next, Doctor?" Rose asked.
"That stronghold down by the river. I need to find a way in."
"I'm ahead of you," Jackson said. "My wife and I were moving to London so I could take up a post at the university. And while my memory is still not intact, this was in the luggage." He pulled a folded sheaf of papers out of his jacket and handed them to the Doctor. "The deeds. Fifteen Latimer Street. And if I discovered the Cybermen there, in the cellar, then—"
"That might be our way in. Brilliant."
"There's still more," Jackson whispered. "I remember the cellar and my wife, but I swear there was something else in that room. If we can find that, perhaps that's the key to defeating these invaders. So, onwards!"