The Doctor fell out of a dark cupboard, head spinning, then groaned when the Emissary landed on top of him.

"Sorry, sorry," she said quickly, scrambling to her feet and offering him a hand.

"What is it?" he asked as she pulled him up. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," she said, looking around the room they'd fallen into. "My head is still spinning, I don't remember anything."

"Oh, my God!" A blonde girl ran in before the Doctor could answer. "I don't believe it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming." She paused when she noticed there were two of them. "Oh, there's two of you. That's new."

"What happened?" the Doctor asked. "We were…" He stumbled and fell. The Emissary tried to catch him, but she was just as unsteady as he was and she went down.

The blonde helped them both up. "Careful now. Oh! Oh, mind yourself!" she smiled sympathetically at them. "Oh, that's the transmat. It scrambles your head. I was sick for days. All right? So, what're your names then, sweethearts?"

"I'm, uh, the Doctor," he said slowly. He waved a hand at the Emissary. "She's the Emissary. We were, er…" he trailed off. "I don't know, what happened? How…"

"You got chosen," the blonde said.

"Chosen for what?" the Emissary asked.

"You're housemates!" the blonde said cheerfully. "You're in the house. Isn't that brilliant?!"

"Yeah, brilliant," the Emissary muttered. She looked around again, her head starting to clear. They'd fallen into a flat of some sort, which explained the housemates thing. Two more people, a man and a woman, stood next to a large screen with some sort of eye on it.

"That's not fair," the man complained. "We've got eviction in five minutes! I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning, and then they come swanning in."

"If they keep changing the rules," the girl joined in, "I'm going to protest, I am. You watch me, I'm going to paint the walls."

"Would the Doctor and the Emissary please come to the Diary Room?" The blonde led them over to a couch in front of the screen. "You are live on channel forty four thousand. Please do not swear."

The Doctor just stared at the screen. "You have got to be kidding."

~~~

Rose groaned as she woke up on a hard floor. A man with dark skin leaned over her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It's all right," he said, helping her sit up. "It's the transmat. Does your head in. Get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?"

"Rose," she said, looking around. She didn't see anyone she knew. "But where's the Doctor?"

"Just remember do what the android says," the man said, ignoring her. "Don't provoke it. The android's word is law."

Rose shook her head. "What do you mean, android? Like a robot?"

The man looked around as a floor manager called out instructions. He stood quickly, pulling Rose with him. "Come on, hurry up," he said. Rose swayed and he put his hands on her shoulders. "Steady, steady."

"I was travelling," Rose told him. "With the Doctor, the Emissary, and a man called Captain Jack. They wouldn't just leave me."

"That's enough chat. Positions! Final call! Good luck!"

Rose pulled away from the man. She shook her head. "But I'm not supposed to be here."

The man, apparently named Rodrick, took his place behind the podium with his name on it. "It says Rose on the podium," he told her, waving a hand at the podium next to him. "Come on."

Rose reluctantly stepped up to her podium and looked around. She paused, then looked around again. "Hold on, I must be going mad," she gasped. "It can't be. This looks like the—"

"Android activated!" the floor manager called.

"Oh, my God, the android," Rose gaped. "The Anne droid."

An android with red hair rolled out to the center podium. "Welcome to The Weakest Link!"

~~~

The Doctor scanned the only exit door in the flat, sighing frustratedly when nothing happened. "I can't open it."

"It's got a deadlock seal," the blonde told him. "Ever since Big Brother five hundred and four when they all walked out. You must remember that."

"What about over here?" the Emissary asked. She was standing in front of a window. The Doctor came over and started scanning with the sonic.

"Oh, that's exoglass," the blonde told them. "You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."

"Don't tempt me," the Emissary muttered as she turned away from the window. The Doctor took her place and kept trying to get through.

"I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world," the blonde said hesitantly, "but you must've been watching." The Emissary glanced at her. "Do people like me? Lynda. Lynda with a Y, not Linda with an I. She got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera. Am I popular?"

The Emissary shook her head. "I don't remember."

"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing?" Lynda whined. "Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?"

"No, you're, you're," the Emissary paused, trying to find something to say to this girl she knew nothing about. "Nice," she settled. "You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet."

Lynda's face lit up. "Oh, is that right? Is that what I am? Oh, no one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?"

"Yeah," the Emissary nodded. "Really sweet."

"Thank you," Lynda said, beaming.

"It's a wall," the Doctor said, back away from the wall, irritated. He came over to stand in front of Lynda. "Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?"

"Don't be daft," Lynda laughed. "No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden?" She looked between the two, smile fading. She huffed a disbelieving laugh. "Don't tell me you've got a garden."

"No, we've just got the Tardis," the Doctor said darkly. "I remember."

"That's the amnesia!" Lynda gasped. "So what happened? Where did they get you?"

"We were leaving Kyoto," the Emissary answered, voice just as dark. "We left Raxacoricofallapatorius, and visited Kyoto, 1336."

"We were together," the Doctor continued. "We were laughing, and then there was this light. This white light coming through the walls, and then…"

"And then we woke up here," the Emissary finished.

"Yeah, that's the transmat beam," Lynda nodded. "That's how they pick the housemates."

"Oh, Lynda with a Y," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveller. No stupid little transmat gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means this isn't just a game. There's something else going on." He turned and stared straight into a camera. "Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out. I'm going to find my friends, and then I'm going to find you."

~~~

Rose was beginning to panic a little as the floor manager counted down and the lights began to dim. "But I need to find the Doc—"

Roderick cut her off. "Just shut up and play the game."

Rose took a deep breath to ground herself. "All right, then," she said. "What the hell. I'm going to play to win!"

"Let's play The Weakest Link!" the Anne droid said. "Start the clock. Agorax, the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard'?"

"Bread," Agorax answered.

"Correct. Fitch in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?" Rose began to doubt her chances. She didn't know alien stuff!

Fitch answered hesitantly. "Is it Clavadoe?"

"No, Pandoff." Rose stood straighter as the Anne droid turned to her. "Rose, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?"

Rose nearly laughed in relief. "One hundred!"

"Correct. Rodrick."

"Bank," he said instantly.

"Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word dangle but not in the word gland?"

"E."

"Correct. Colleen, in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones?"

"Default."

"Correct. Broff, the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?"

"Er, Touchdown?"

"No, Torchwood."

"Rose, in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising', the Grexnik is married to whom?"

Rose laughed. "How should I know?"

"No, the correct answer is Lord Drayvole."

At the end of the round, the Anne droid turned to Rose. "So, Rose, what do you actually do?"

"I just travel about a bit," Rose said awkwardly. "Bit of a tourist, I suppose."

"Another way of saying unemployed."

Rose frowned. "No."

"Have you got a job?"

"Well, not really, no, but—"

The Anne droid cut her off. "Then you are unemployed. And yet, you've still got enough money to buy peroxide." Rose frowned. She was naturally blonde, thank you. The Anne droid didn't give her a chance to answer. "Why Fitch?"

Rose blinked, then shrugged. "Er, I think she got a few of the questions wrong, that's all."

"Oh, you'd know all about that," the Anne droid said, sounding condescending.

"Well, yeah, but I can't vote for myself," Rose reasoned, "so it had to be Fitch. I'm sorry, that's the game. That's how it works. I had to vote for someone."

Fitch was crying. "Let me try again," she begged. "It was the lights and everything. I couldn't think."

"In fact," the Anne droid said, "with three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round, but it's votes that count."

Rose frowned, completely lost, as Fitch began to panic. "I'm sorry. Please. Oh God, help me!"

"Fitch, you are the weakest link. Goodbye!" Rose's eyes widened when a gun came out out of the Anne droid's mouth and pointed at Fitch. A laser shot out and before Rose's eyes, Fitch disintegrated into a shower of golden dust.

"What's that?" Rose asked, fear beginning to set in. "What's just happened?"

Roderick looked at her like she was stupid. "She was the weakest link, she gets disintegrated," he explained. "Blasted into atoms."

"But I voted for her," Rose whispered. She felt sick. "Oh, my. This is sick. All of you, you're just sick! I'm not playing this." She started to back away from her podium.

"I'm not playing!" Broff suddenly yelled. "I can't do it. I'm not. Please, somebody let me out of here."

"You are the weakest link," the Anne droid said with no hesitation, turning the gun on him. Britt took off running across the studio, and the Anne droid shot. "Goodbye."

Roderick looked back at Rose, who was frozen in place. "Don't try to escape," he advised. "It's play or die."

~~~

The Emissary leaned against the wall as the Doctor worked at the door, still trying to get them out. The three humans sat on the couch, frowning over at them.

"Doctor, Emissary, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa," Lynda said tentatively. "You've got to."

"We're busy getting out, thanks," the Doctor quipped.

"But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished," Lynda told him. That made him stop and turn away from the door. He grabbed the Emissary's hand and led her over to the couch.

"Maybe we'll get voted out," she said optimistically.

Strood snorted. "How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible."

Lynda caught the look on their faces and pointed at them. "Don't try anything clever," she warned, "or we all get it in the neck."

"Big Brother House, this is Davina Droid," the computer said suddenly. "Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction." The Doctor laid back in his seat, thoroughly bored. "And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is…" there was a pause just a bit too long to be dramatic. "Crosbie!"

The Emissary blinked, confused, as Crosbie's face drained. Lynda leaned over to hug her.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry!"

"Oh, it should've been me," Strood said sympathetically. He hugged her as well. "Oh, that's not fair, Crosbie love."

"Crosbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you."

Crosbie stood and made her way to a sliding door at the back of the flat. The other two humans followed her. The Emissary and Doctor stayed on the couch, the Doctor uninterested while the Emissary turned around to watch.

"I won't forget you," Lynda sniffed.

Crosbie smiled sadly. "I'm sorry I stole your soap."

"I don't mind, honestly."

"Thanks for the food," Strood said as he hugged her. "You're a smashing cook. Bless you."

"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House."

The door opened to a white hallway with one door at the other end.

"Bye, then," Crosbie said. "Bye, Lynda."

"Bye," Lynda replied. She and Strood stood on either side of the door and raised their arms to make an arch. Crosbie stood up straight and walked through with her head held high. The door shut with a soft snick.

"I don't believe it," Lynda whispered as Strood hugged her. "Crosbie."

"It's only a game show," the Doctor pointed out, the Emissary nodding next to him. "She'll make a fortune on the outside. Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. she'll be laughing."

Lynda blinked. "What do you mean, on the outside?"

The screen lit up, cutting off their replies.

"Here we go," Strood said. He and Lynda raced back to the couch. Crosbie was on screen, just standing in the hallway.

"What are they waiting for?" the Emissary asked. "Why aren't they letting her go?"

Lynda glared. "Stop it, it's not funny."

"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one."

The Emissary flinched back as a laser beam shot from the ceiling and Crosbie disintegrated. A glance to her right showed the Doctor sitting up, looking just as shocked.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Disintegrator beam," Strood answered.

"She's been evicted," Lynda explained. "From life."

"Are you insane?" the Doctor asked them. "You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?"

"You're talking like we've got a choice!"

"But I thought you had to apply!" he said.

"You did last time I heard about this show," the Emissary agreed.

"Don't be so stupid," Strood scoffed. "That's how they played it centuries back."

Lynda took pity on their bewildered expressions. "You get chosen whether you like it or not," she explained. "Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The transmat beam picks you out at random. And it's non stop. There are sixty Big Brother houses running all at once."

"How many?" the Doctor gaped. "Sixty?"

"They've had to cut back," Strood shrugged. "It's not what it was."

"That's scaled back?!" the Emissary asked incredulously.

"It's a charnel house!" the Doctor said. "What about the winners? What do they get?"

"They get to live," Lynda said simply.

"Is that it?"

"Well, isn't that enough?"

"Doctor, Rose and Jack are somewhere out there," the Emissary said urgently. His eyes widened at that before they narrowed angrily.

"Time we got out, then," he said. He turned to Lynda. "That other contestant, er, Linda with an I. She was forcibly evicted for what?"

"Damage to property," Lynda said slowly.

"Like this?" the Emissary asked as she raised one glowing blue hand and sent a bolt of energy at the nearest camera. At the same time, the Doctor aimed his sonic at a different camera.

The cameras exploded.

~~~

"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!"

Rose flinched as another contestant was disintegrated. There were only three of them left now.

"Going to the break!" the floor manager called. "Two minutes on the clock. Just a reminder we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten. Thanks, everyone."

"Colleen was clever," Rose said, looking over at Roderick. "She banked all our money. Why'd you vote for her?"

"Because I want to keep you in," Roderick answered. Rose blinked, then scowled, liking him a lot less as he continued. "You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you, so that you get disintegrated and I get a stack load of credits courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation."

Rose's head shot up. "What do you mean? Who's Bad Wolf?"

Roderick shrugged. "They're in charge. They run the Game Station."

"Why are they called Bad Wolf?" Rose pressed.

"I don't know," Roderick snapped. He looked extremely annoyed. "It's just a name. It's like an Old Earth nursery rhyme sort of thing, what does it matter?"

But Rose wasn't listening to him anymore. "I keep hearing those words everywhere we go," she muttered to herself. "Bad Wolf." Gwyneth, Utah, Cardiff, she even remembered hearing it on Platform One. "Different times. Different places, like it's written all over the universe." She grinned and stood a little more confidently.

Roderick was looking at her like she was insane. "What're you going on about?"

"If the Bad Wolf is in charge of this quiz," Rose said, "then maybe I'm not here by mistake. Someone's been planning this."

~~~

"The Doctor, the Emissary, you've broken the House Rules," the computer said. "Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you!"

"That's more like it," the Doctor said, smiling. He and the Emissary both went to stand in front of the door. "Come on, then. Open up!"

"You're mad!" Lynda exclaimed. "It's like you want to die!"

"I reckon they're plants," Strood told her. "They were only brought in to stir things up."

"The Doctor and the Emissary, please leave the Big Brother house."

The door opened onto the same white corridor. The Doctor ran in.

"No, wait," he told the Emissary as she started to follow. She faltered, making Lynda give her a concerned look.

"What? No, I'm coming with you," she argued.

"If we're wrong, and they shoot, then you need to stay there," he said. Her eyes widened at the ferocity in his voice. "Only one of us needs to die, and it's not going to be you." That made her stop protesting as she stared at him in shock. The door slid closed and the Emissary ran back to the screen to watch.

"Come on then," the Doctor yelled out loud, staring up at the ceiling. "Disintegrate me! Come on, what're you waiting for?"

"He is, he's mad," Lynda said, shaking her head. At the moment, the Emissary was inclined to agree. "He's bonkers."

"Disintegrate me," the Doctor shouted again. "What are you waiting for?"

"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one." The machine shut down. The Doctor laughed triumphantly. Seconds later, the Emissary had gotten the door open and was standing at his side.

"If you ever do that to me again, I will kill you," she snapped, smacking the back of his head. "No sacrificing yourself!"

"But we were right!" he said to her, smiling. He looked up at the camera. "You see, someone brought us into this game. If they'd wanted us dead, they could've transmatted us into a volcano. They want us alive." He approached the door, leading the Emissary by hand. "Maybe security isn't as tight this end. Are you following this? We're getting out!"

The door opened easily. Behind them, the door to the flat opened. They turned back to see Lynda and Strood standing there.

The Doctor held out a hand. "Come with us."

"We're not allowed!" Strood protested.

"Stay in there, you've got a fifty fifty chance of disintegration," the Doctor told him. "Stay with us, I promise we'll get you out alive." Strood backed away from the door, shaking his head. The Doctor waved at Lynda to come closer. "Come on!"

"No, I can't," she said. "I can't."

"Lynda, you're sweet," the Emissary said. "With what I've seen of your world, do you really think anyone is voting for sweet?" She held out a hand. Lynda hesitated, then ran to join them.

"Hold on," the Doctor said, looking around the floor they stepped out into. "We've been here before. This is Satellite Five." He looked over at the Emissary, who'd realized the same thing. "No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth."

He sonicked open another door and they walked through it out into Satellite Five proper. The Emissary looked around, confused. Last time they'd been here, it was a bustling metropolis.

"No one's called it Satellite Five in ages," Lynda said as they walked, looking at them strangely. "It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about a hundred years."

"A hundred years exactly," the Emissary said to the Doctor. "It's the year 200100."

"We were here before," the Doctor explained to Lynda. "Floor 139. The Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then. Had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy. Gave them a hand, home in time for tea."

"A hundred years ago?" Lynda asked skeptically. "What, you two were here a hundred years ago?"

"The year 200,000," the Emissary confirmed.

"You're looking good on it," Lynda said, looking the Doctor over. The Emissary frowned at her.

"I moisturize," he quipped. He waved the sonic around. "Funny sorts of readings," he said to the Emissary. "All kinds of energy. The place is humming. It's weird." He looked around at the empty floor around them. "This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?"

"I don't know," Lynda shrugged. "I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside."

"There were two people traveling with us," the Emissary told her. "They got caught in the transmat. Any idea where they'd be?"

Lynda shook her head. "I don't know. They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games."

"What are they?"

Lynda tilted her head, thinking. "Well, there's ten floors of Big Brother." She gestured at the rows of doors surrounding them. "There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's non stop. There's Call My Bluff, with real guns. Countdown, where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off. Ground Force, which is a nasty one." She wrinkled her nose. "You get turned into compost. Er, Wipeout, speaks for itself. Oh, and Stars In Their Eyes. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded."

"And you watch this stuff?" the Emissary asked disapprovingly.

"Everyone does," Lynda confirmed. "How come you don't?"

"Never paid for a license," the Doctor quipped. He stopped by a door and started working on the computer next to it, trying to find a way out.

"Oh, my God!" Lynda looked horrified. "You get executed for that."

"Let them try," the Doctor snorted.

"You keep saying things that don't make sense," Lynda wondered. "Who are you two though, really?"

"It doesn't matter," the Emissary brushed off.

"Well, it does to me," Lynda frowned. "I've just put my life in your hands."

"I'm just a traveller, wandering past," the Doctor told her. "Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life."

"So, if we get out of here, what're you going to do?" she asked. "Just wander off again?"

"Fast as we can."

Lynda hesitated, then asked, "So, I could come with you?"

"Maybe you could," the Doctor said slowly.

"I wouldn't get in the way."

"I wouldn't mind if you did," he said, turning away from the computer. The Emissary frowned, not sure why she didn't like that. "Not a bad idea, Lynda with a Y. But first of all, we've got to concentrate on the getting out. And to do that, you've got to know your enemy. Who's controlling it? Who's in charge of the satellite now?"

"Hold on." Lynda ran over to a breaker box and flipped the switch. Above the elevator, bright lights shone on a large sign. "Your lords and masters."

"You," the Emissary told the Doctor as they stared up at the words Bad Wolf Corporation, "have the worst luck."

~~~

Several floors above the Time Lords, Jack escaped his own game show, carrying a large gun. He called the elevator, then checked the computer on his wrist.

"Two hearts, that's them," he said to himself. "Which floor?"

The lift dinged open.

~~~

The Doctor broke into an observation room. The Time Lords led Lynda inside, stopping when they caught sight of the earth. Lynda approached the window slowly.

"Blimey!" she gasped. "I've never seen it for real before. Not from orbit. Planet Earth."

"What happened to it?" the Emissary asked.

Lynda shrugged. "Well, it's always been like that. Ever since I was born. See that there?"She pointed down at a grey cloud that spanned a good portion of the earth. "That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside."

"So the population just sits there?" the Doctor asked. "Half the world's too fat, and half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?"

Lynda shrugged, nodding. "Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."

"The Human Race," the Doctor said in disgust. "Brainless sheep being fed on a diet of… Mind you, have they still got that program where three people have to live with a bear?"

"Oh, Bear With Me," Lynda nodded. "I love that one!"

"And me," the Doctor agreed. "The celebrity edition where the bear got in the bath!"

"Got in the bath?" Lynda laughed.

"If we could focus?" the Emissary snapped. They stopped laughing and looked over at her apologetically. "This is wrong. History is wrong again." She waved a hand at the earth. "This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. What happened? Last time we were here, we put things back on track."

Lynda frowned and shook her head. "No, but that's when it first went wrong," she explained. "A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight."

"But that was us," the Doctor said, eyes wide. "We did that."

"There was nothing left in their place," Lynda told them. "No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it." Her face was solemn. "One hundred years of hell."

The Doctor stared out the window in horror. "Oh, my… I made this world."

The Emissary swallowed heavily. "We made this world."

~~~

Rose took a deep breath, trying hard not to panic as the last contestant died screaming. It was down to two now and she had to win, she had to get back to the others.

"That leaves Rose and Rodrick," the Anne droid announced. "You're going head to head. Let's play The Weakest Link."

Roderick smirked at her. "Right, that's the end of tactical voting. You're on your own now."

Rose swallowed. Where were the Doctor and Emissary?

~~~

The group whipped around, Lynda getting pushed slightly behind the Time Lords, as the door to the observation room opened.

"Hey, handsome," Jack grinned when he saw the Doctor. The Emissary smiled in relief and ran forward to hug him. "Good to see you." He let her go and frowned, looking around the room. "Any sign of Rose?"

"You couldn't track her down?" the Emissary asked.

"She must still be inside the games," Jack said. "All the rooms are shielded."

The Doctor was already at the computer in the center of the room. "If I can just get inside this computer," he said. "She's got to be here somewhere."

"Well, you'd better hurry up," Jack told him. "These games don't have a happy ending."

The Doctor gave him a withering look. "Do you think I don't know that?"

Jack took off his vortex manipulator and handed it over. "There you go, patch that in. It's programmed to find her."

"Thanks."

As the Doctor worked, Jack turned to Lynda. He smiled charmingly. "Hey, there."

Lynda blushed, smiling back. "Hello."

The Emissary rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she mumbled.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack continued, undeterred. He held out a hand.

"Lynda Moss," Lynda replied, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss."

The Doctor looked up, annoyed. "Do you mind flirting outside?"

The Emissary laughed as Jack protested. "I was just saying hello!"

"For you, that's flirting," the Doctor told him.

Lynda smiled flirtatiously. "I'm not complaining."

Jack winked at her. "Muchas gracias."

The Doctor hit the computer in frustration. "It's not compatible," he sighed. "This stupid system doesn't make sense." He handed the wrist monitor to the Emissary and kicked the console. "This place should be a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else."

"Like what?" Jack asked. He took the Doctor's place and opened up the face of the computer.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life." His face darkened. "It's some sort of trap and Rose is stuck inside it."

~~~

"Rose, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which ancient British city?" the Anne droid asked.

Rose took a guess. "Is it York?"

"No, the correct answer is Sheffield."

~~~

"Found her!" the Doctor exclaimed as Jack got the wrist monitor wired in. "Floor 407."

Lynda gasped in horror. "Oh my god, she's with the Anne droid. You have to get her out!"

The three time travelers looked at each other, then took off for the elevator. The Emissary hit the call button.

"Come on, come on!" she muttered as they waited. "Faster!"

~~~

"Roderick, in literature, the author of Lucky was Jackie who?"

"Stewart," Roderick said confidently.

"No, the correct answer is Collins." The Anne droid turned to Rose. "Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"

Rose grinned triumphantly. She knew this one! "Boe! The Face of Boe!"

"That is the correct answer." Roderick stared in surprise at Rose.

"Roderick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?"

"Hoshbin Frane."

"That is the correct answer. Rose, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?"

Rose had no clue what that was. She thought for a minute, hoping maybe she'd remember that one of the others had mentioned it, before she finally just guessed. "Er, is it Mars?"

"No, the correct answer is Lucifer. Roderick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?"

"Would that be a goffle?" Roderick asked.

"No, the correct answer is a paab. Rose, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"

"Shoes," she guessed.

"No, the correct answer is hats."

~~~

The Doctor was first off the elevator when it finally reached Rose's floor. "Game Room Six," he said as they spread out, "which one is it?"

Lynda reached it first. "Over here!"

"Stand back," Jack said, raising his gun. "Let me blast it open."

The Emissary pushed it back down. "You can't," she told him. "It's made of Hydra combination."

The Doctor crouched down and pointed his sonic at the handprint lock.

~~~

Rose bit her lip as the game came to the final round.

"Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?"

Rose took a deep breath and prayed she got it right. "Reykjavik?"

"No, the correct answer is Pola Ventura."

Rose paled as Roderick started to celebrate. "Oh, my God!" he said. "I've done it! You've lost!"

Rose shook her head, panic rising in her throat. "But I'm not meant to be here," she protested. "I need to find the Doctor, he's got to be here somewhere, he's always here! He wouldn't just leave me!"

The Anne droid kept talking over her. "Rodrick, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits."

"Oh, thank you," Roderick laughed. "Thank you so much."

"This game is illegal," Rose insisted as the Anne droid turned to her. "I'm telling you to stop!"

"Rose!" Rose almost cried in relief when she heard the Doctor shouting. She turned to see him running in, the Emissary and Jack right behind him. "Stop this game!"

But the Anne Droid would not be stopped. "Rose, you leave this life with nothing."

"Stop this game!" Jack yelled.

"I order you to stop this game!" the Doctor shouted again.

"Rose, run!" the Emissary yelled.

"You are the weakest link." As the Anne droid's mouth opened to reveal the gun, Rose darted around the podium and took off towards the others.

"Look out for the Anne droid, it's armed!" Rose warned. The Emissary waved her hand and a bright blue wave of energy flew towards the Anne droid just as it fired.

She was seconds too late.

Rose screamed as the laser hit her in the back, right as the Emissary's attack hit the Anne droid. Its head exploded, but Rose was already a pile of dust on the ground.

"What the hell did you do to her?!" Jack shouted, furious, as he ran up to the floor staff, waving his gun around. The Emissary didn't notice and didn't care.

She stood frozen, staring at the spot where Rose vanished, as the Doctor kneeled. He gently touched the pile of Rose dust. The Emissary could feel his fury rising through the mental link, matched by her own.

Guards approached the two aliens. The Emissary blasted one away before another came up behind her and grabbed her arms, cuffing her. The Doctor was pulled harshly to his feet, also cuffed.

"You killed her!" Jack was screaming as he was dragged over. "Your stupid freaking game show killed her!"

They were dragged out of the game room.

~~~

Jack had never seen either Time Lord so silent before. Neither one had said a single word since Rose had been killed. They hadn't even reacted to anything the whole time they were being dragged to a cell. It was unnerving and Jack could honestly say he was scared.

"Can you tell us the purpose of this device, sir?" a guard asked the Doctor, pulling the sonic out of his pocket. There was no response. The guard sighed. "Can you tell us how you got on board?"

"Just leave him alone," Lynda tried.

"I'm asking him," the guard told her. "Sir? Can you tell us who you are?"

"You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial," a second guard said a little later as they all sat silently. "You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?"

The Doctor looked at the Emissary and Jack and nodded once. "Let's do it."

Jack jumped up and punched the guard closest to the door, knocking them out. The Emissary had knocked out the other guard and was holding their gun. She stepped over to Jack's guard and retrieved the guard's gun, handing it to Jack.

Jack led the way out of the cell. They stopped momentarily to retrieve Jack's defabricator gun and the sonic before entering the lift.

"Floor 500," the Doctor said. In other circumstances, it might have concerned Jack that the Doctor had chosen to carry the largest gun.

The lift dinged.

"Okay, move away from the desk!" Jack ordered as the Doctor led the group out. Staff members shrieked and did as asked. "Nobody try anything clever! Everybody clear. Stand to the side and stay there."

"Who's in charge of this place?" the Doctor snarled, marching up to the woman in the center of the room. She was pale, covered in wires and counting off random numbers. She didn't answer his question.

"Nineteen, eighteen."

"This Satellite's more than a Game Station," he snapped.

"Seventy nine, eighty."

"Who killed Rose Tyler?" the Emissary demanded.

"All staff are reminded that solar flares-"

"I want an answer!" the Doctor interrupted.

"—occur in delta point one."

A staff member approached them cautiously. "She can't reply." The Doctor turned to him and he cowered away, raising his hands. "Don't shoot!"

"Oh, don't be so thick," the Doctor scoffed. "Like I was ever going to shoot." He tossed the gun at the staff member, who looked terrified to be catching it.

The Emissary didn't drop her aim. "I still might," she threatened. The Doctor gave her a look. She sighed, rolling her eyes, but dropped the gun. Unlike the Doctor, though, she didn't throw the gun away, rather tucked it into the back of her jeans. The Doctor didn't comment.

"Captain," he said to Jack, seeing an alert on a computer screen. "We've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."

"Yes, sir," Jack saluted and moved off.

"You," the Emissary pointed at the staff member closest to them. "What were you saying?"

He stammered and held up the gun he still held. "But I've got his gun."

"Then shoot me," the Emissary rolled her eyes and waved toward the counting woman. "Why can't she answer us?"

"She's, er," he paused awkwardly. "Can I put this down?"

"If you want," the Doctor allowed impatiently. "Just hurry up."

"Thanks," he said. He turned and set the gun down gently in a nearby chair as the Time Lords watched impatiently. "Sorry. The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff, so she doesn't recognize your existence."

"What's her name?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know," he shook his head. "She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known."

"What's your name?" the Emissary asked him. He looked over at her, eyes wide.

"Davitch Pavale," he answered quickly, like he was still afraid she might shoot him.

"Nice to meet you," she told him. He nodded slowly.

"Door's sealed," Jack called over. "We should be safe for about ten minutes."

"Keep an eye on them," the Doctor ordered. He went over to a computer.

Pavale caught the Emissary's sleeve as she turned to follow. "But that stuff you two were saying about something going on with the Game Station," he told her quickly. "I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorised transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years."

"Show him," she ordered. He scurried over to the Doctor.

A woman, the head of staff, suddenly spoke up, voice raised. "You're not allowed in there," she said to Jack. The Emissary turned to see what Jack was doing. "Archive Six is out of bounds."

He held up his gun. "Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?"

The Emissary snorted at the affronted look on the woman's face as Jack disappeared inside Archive Six.

"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen."

The woman stepped forward out of the group of staff. "If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out," she said to the Emissary. "The staff are terrified."

The Time Lady raised one eyebrow at her. "The same staff that execute hundreds of innocent people daily?"

"That's not our fault," the woman defended. "We're just doing our jobs."

"And with that sentence you just lost the right to even talk to us," the Doctor snarled. She flinched back when she was met with twin glares. "Now back off!"

The power suddenly cut off and the room went dark. Pavale waved it off. "That's just the solar flares," he told them. "They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."

"Doctor," the Controller said. The Emissary whipped around to stare at her.

"Doctor?" the head of staff asked.

"Whatever it is," he snapped, going through the computer, "you can wait."

"Doctor," the Emissary said. He turned around to face the head of staff.

"I think she wants you," the woman told him, gesturing to the controller.

"Doctor? Doctor?" the Controller called out. "Where's the Doctor?"

"I'm here," he answered.

"Can't see," she said. "I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you."

"What do you want?"

"Solar flares hiding me," she gasped. "They can't hear me. My masters, they always listen, but they can't hear me now, the sun, the sun is so bright."

"Who are your masters?" he asked curiously.

"They wired my head," she told him. "The name's forbidden. They control my thoughts. My masters. My masters, I had to be careful. They monitor transmissions but they don't watch the programs. I could hide you inside the games. Knew that you would find me."

"My friend died inside your games," he snapped. The Emissary winced as he took her hand and squeezed tightly.

"Doesn't matter."

His face darkened. "Don't you dare tell me that!"

"They've been hiding," the Controller continued like he hadn't spoken. "My masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth so, so, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity, hundreds and hundred of years."

"Who are they?"

"They wait and plan and grow in numbers. They're strong now. So strong, my masters."

"Who are they?" he asked again.

"But speak of you, my masters, they fear the Doctor."

"Tell me, who are they?"

She didn't get a chance to answer. With a loud hum, the lights came back on and the Controller was counting again. "Twenty one, twenty two."

The Emissary turned to Pavale. "When's the next solar flare?"

"Two years time," he told her.

"Fat lot of good that is," the Doctor sighed.

Jack was grinning as he came back from the Archive. "Found the Tardis."

"How?" the Emissary asked, then thought of a better question. "Where?"

"We're not leaving now," the Doctor told him.

Jack was smiling. "No, but the Tardis worked it out," he said excitedly. He went to the computer and pulled Pavale out of his seat. "You'll want to watch this. Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?"

Lynda sounded like that was the last thing she wanted to do. "I just want to go home."

"It'll only take a second," Jack told her reassuringly. He pointed at an empty area. "Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can." She did as he asked, reluctantly. "Everybody watching? Okay. Three, two, one."

He pressed a button and the Emissary's jaw dropped open as a laser shot down and Lynda vanished. She turned incredulous eyes on Jack.

The Doctor voiced what they were all thinking. "But you killed her!"

Inexplicably, Jack smirked. "Oh, do you think?"

He pressed the button again. Lynda reappeared next to the Doctor, stumbling a little.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"It's a transmat beam," the Emissary breathed, hope dawning in her eyes.

"Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system," Jack agreed. "People don't get killed in the games. They get transported across space." He grinned wildly. "Doctor, Em, Rose is still alive!"

He hugged them both.

~~~

Rose woke with a start.

She frowned, almost immediately, because why wasn't she dead? She looked around. Nothing looked familiar, but she could hear a rhythmic humming noise that she could swear she'd heard before.

She turned around and screamed when she saw what was approaching. "No." She shook her head, backing away quickly. "No, it can't be. You're dead. I saw you die!"

~~~

The Doctor was a flurry of motion almost as soon as Jack told him the news. He worked at one computer with his sonic while the Emissary and Jack attempted to wire his wrist monitor into another.

He growled when nothing came up, smacking the top of the monitor. "She's out there somewhere."

"Doctor," the Controller called. He looked up. "Coordinates five point six point one—"

"Don't," he told her quickly. "The solar flare's gone. They'll hear you."

"—point four three four." She screamed. "No, my masters, no! I defy you! Stigma seven seven—" She cut off abruptly and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"They took her," the Doctor said.

"Look, use that," Pavale said, handing Jack a flashdrive. "It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."

Jack took it slowly, smiling up at Pavale. "Nice, thanks. Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."

"I'm Davitch Pavale."

"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale."

The Emissary smacked the back of his head. "Flirt later, we're busy."

"There's a time and a place," the Doctor agreed.

The head of staff spoke up from behind Pavale. "Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?"

"Going way back," the Doctor confirmed. "Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations."

Jack handed the Emissary a remote. "Click on this," he told her. She did. A large holoscreen popped up where the Controller had been, showing nothing but empty space. "The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system."

"There's nothing there," the head of staff pointed out.

"It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does," the Doctor refuted. "Underneath the transmission there's another signal."

"Doing what?" Pavale asked.

"Hiding whatever's out there," the Emissary answered. "Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner." She frowned and leaned over Jack's shoulder to type. "Whatever's sitting on top of the Earth, it's invisible. If I can cancel the signal…" There was a beep as the signal cut out and the Emissary looked up at the screen.

She blanched in horror and stepped back, into the Doctor, who was just as horrified.

"That's impossible," Jack denied. He looked up at the two Time Lords, swallowing when he saw their faces. "I know those ships. They were destroyed."

"Obviously, they survived," the Doctor said flatly.

Lynda looked between the three time travelers. "Who did? Who are they?"

"Two hundred ships," the Emissary said quietly. She closed her eyes. "With more than two thousand on board each one."

"That's just about half a million of them," the Doctor's voice was dark.

"Half a million… what?" Pavale asked nervously.

The Doctor swallowed, taking the Emissary's hand as he stared at the ships. "Daleks."

~~~

Rose looked around nervously as the Dalek guarding her came closer, joined by another.

"Alert. Alert," the second Dalek said. "We are detected."

The first one waved its plunger around agitatedly. "It is the Doctor," it screeched. "He has located us. Open communications channel."

Rose took a deep breath, relieved to hear that.

"The female will stand," the second Dalek screeched. It rolled closer to Rose. "Stand!"

As she scrambled to her feet, a holoscreen popped into view. Rose smiled faintly as she took in the Doctor, Emissary, and Jack, all glaring at the screen.

The first Dalek screeched, waving its plunger. "I will talk to the Doctor!"

~~~

"Oh, will you?" The Doctor smiled angrily. "That's nice. Hello!"

"The Dalek stratagem nears completion," the Dalek on screen screeched. "The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."

"Have you met him?" the Emissary snarled. The Daleks rolled back when she spoke, almost imperceptibly, clearly having not expected her there. "Why would he ever not intervene?"

"We have your associate," the Dalek screeched. "You will obey or she will be exterminated."

Rose looked okay physically, but the Emissary could see the fear in her eyes. She glared at the Daleks on the screen.

"Trust me?" the Doctor's voice rang in her mind. She frowned over at him, confused, but nodded.

"Always."

"No." The Doctor's answer to the Dalek was firm. The humans all stared in shock at him.

Even the Dalek gave off an air of surprise. "Explain yourself."

"I said no."

"What is the meaning of this negative?"

The Doctor was smiling dangerously now. "It means no."

"But she will be destroyed," the Dalek screeched.

"No!" The humans jumped when the Doctor suddenly shouted. "Because this is what I'm going to do! I'm going to rescue her. I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet." He stood up and braced his hands on the computer. "And then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!"

"But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan!"

"Yeah." The Doctor smirked. "And doesn't that scare you to death. Rose?"

Rose looked up. "Yeah, Doctor?"

"We're coming to get you."