Ooh, this is exciting! I'm writing a full length story! Like with a plot and everything! It's supposed to emulate the style of Doctor Who.
(Yes I know I should be calling Ashildr Me but for clarity's sake I'm calling her Ashildr. I feel that she trusts Clara enough to let her use that name.)
Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.
The sun peeked over the horizon of the moon, just as it did every 29 ½ days. The artificial atmosphere created the same dazzling colors of an Earthly dawn. Slightly above the horizon of the lunar landscape, in stark contrast to the beautiful sunrise, floated the charred wasteland that was Earth.
"Queen Victoria!" A servant called. "The space pods are ready for testing!"
"Perfect. Do we have any prisoners to test them out?"
"Yes, my Queen.
"We shall begin testing at 9:00 Universal time. Recruit volunteers from the city, by any means possible. Spread the word that the human race will finally travel the cosmos!"
"Don't you think we should at least try to fix the chameleon circuit before we land?" Ashildr protested.
"Why should we?"
"A 1950's American diner landing on a lunar colony. Don't you think that's a bit…" She paused to search for the right word. "Conspicuous?"
"Yeah, but it's hilarious! A little diner, flying through space!"
"I can't argue with that. But you have to admit, a full size diner is impossible to land."
"You're right. Let's see what we can do about that." Clara put on her Sonic Sunglasses and scanned the console, trying to figure out how to repair the chameleon circuit. "I see what the problem is. I just have to adjust a setting here, flip a switch here and there, and engage the environment analyzer. And…Fixed it! She should be ready to land!"
"Let's land her!"
With the whooshing of the brakes that they never bothered to turn off, the time machine landed, disguised as what could only be described as a 28th century police box.
"A police box?" Clara laughed. "Of all the things she disguises herself as, a police box?"
"Clara, look at this!"
"What- woah…"
The cityscape in front of them was astounding to say the least. It resembled Victorian London, in a way, with small two story homes nestled in little cobblestone alleys and the more important buildings towering in the sky. The one difference between traditional Victorian London and this new city was that all the buildings were made of a space age metal of some sort, and the streets were made not of traditional cobblestone, but of various shaped and sizes of moon rocks.
The streets were lined with people of all ages, the women wearing elegant silver-trimmed dresses with tight waists and massive skirts, and the men wearing waistcoats and top hats. Children zipped by on hoverboards, and a large hologram clock in the city center displayed both Earth and Lunar time.
"Look at the Earth!" Clara exclaimed, pointing at the lifeless planet in the sky above. She ran towards the nearest passerby and asked, "Excuse me, sir, what's happened to Earth?"
The man looked at her like she was crazy, then hurried along.
"Pardon my friend here, she's got a bit of an amnesia problem." Ashildr covered. "Come along now, Clara." She took her hand, dragging her into an alley.
"I just want to know why Earth is dead!" Clara said, her voice an urgent whisper.
Ashildr sighed. "Nobody likes to talk about it, but… There was a war."
"Between who?"
"Humans and machines. Well, I use the term machines loosely. They were called Anthro-Mechs. Humans were volunteering themselves to be upgraded with cybernetic technology."
"Like Cybermen?"
"In a sense, yes. However, the Anthro-Mech program didn't eliminate emotion entirely. If you had the hardware installed, you gained increased physical capabilities as well as the ability to fly and built in wi-fi, all while keeping your humanity."
"That sounds cool! What's so bad about them?"
"Anthro-Mechs were treated as a lower class to humans. Eventually, the cybernetic attachments took control of the whole brain, giving the machine half of them their own free will. Naturally, the Anthro-Mechs got revenge for the years of oppression they faced. Protests turned to riots, riots turned to war. We won, but it cost us our home planet, at least for a few hundred years until the vegetation grows back. There's an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and water is being brought to Earth from Jupiter's moons. Earth will be functional in 400 years or so."
"Were you there?"
"Yeah. I fought in that war. I had to have been about 2,000 years old at the time, give or take. It was a terrible war, long and bloody. We won, but far too many people died. I left about halfway through the war and took shelter on-"
"THEY'RE AMONG US!" A man screeched. "DO NOT BE FOOLED! THE ANTHRO-MECHS ARE AMONG US!"
Several officials approached the man cautiously, carefully reassuring him. "Sir, you need to calm down. As members of the Royal Police Force of Her Majesty Queen Victoria IV, we know for a fact that there are no Anthro-Mechs on the moon anymore."
"THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO THINK!"
"Come, sir. If you're worried about Anthro-Mechs, we'll take you to Queen Victoria. She can explain to you that they're all gone. Teleport him, Officer Angus. We'll send him to Her Majesty later."
The man disappeared in a flash of light as the group of policemen disbanded and continued to patrol the streets.
"Conspiracy theorist?" Clara asked.
"One of many, I'd assume."
"What that man was saying, do you think there are any Anthro-Mechs left?"
Ashildr looked at the scorched remains of Earth, lost in thought. "I sure hope not."
Join me sometime in the future for part 2 of this chapter!
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