Lilly had watched their argument on who would use the laptop for a short while, but the lack of coffee in her cup mixed with the lack of sleep she had gotten wasn't working for her, so while they were engrossed in their "I'm better at hacking than you are" contest, she slipped away from the table to get another cup of coffee.
As she walked into the café, Lilly looked around. There were quite a few other people milling about, and she made sure that none of them were a spoon-head thing before she walked up to the counter.
"Another coffee, please," she said politely. The barista nodded, then turned around to start making the drink. Lilly rested against the countertop as she peered around the room. It was well-lit, the many windows allowing light from outside to shine in. She could see the Doctor and Clara continuing to argue over the laptop, causing her to smile slightly and roll her eyes. I swear, they're like children.
The Doctor started looking dejected, and Lilly let out a small chuckle. There was no doubt about it; Clara was winning their little contest. She always has been a stubborn one, she thought jokingly.
The sound of energy pulsing brought her attention away from her friends. Her long brown hair fell back over her shoulders as she looked up at the ceiling, where all of the lights were flickering.
"That doesn't sound normal," she muttered to herself.
"That's because it isn't." Lilly's gaze was torn away from the strange pulse of energy when a waitress spoke to her. Her eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?" She asked, suspicion leaking into her voice. The waitress tilted her head, raising an eyebrow in a condescending manner.
"Look at you, so young." The waitress walked closer. Lilly didn't move from her spot, simply watching with narrowed eyes as the woman approached. "The Light of Time. You don't even know yet, do you?" She paused, looking her up and down.
"Oh, look at that. You really don't know." The waitress smirked, and Lilly had to hide a scowl at how much she wanted to smack the look off of her face.
"Oh, by the way, don't be mean to this poor girl, she's not really the one speaking." As she finished saying that the electricity pulsed again, and the waitress walked right past Lilly as though none of it had ever happened. Although, for her, apparently it hadn't.
Lilly stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened. Okay, electricity buzzed, lady got possessed, name calling, and now we're here. She dragged a hand through her hair to try to calm herself. I should probably tell the Doctor about this.
Just as she moved to head towards the door however, she felt something vibrate in her jeans pocket. Reaching into it, she pulled out her phone. Oh yeah, I forgot I put that there.
An unknown number popped up on the screen, and Lilly raised an eyebrow in suspicion. She let the call go to voicemail, and then walked over into the lady's bathroom before holding the phone up to her ear to hear what the other person was saying.
"-like to hear from you soon, Lilz. It's been forever since I last saw you." Lilly rolled her eyes in exasperation when she recognized the voice. Seriously Clara?
Pressing the 'talk' button, she held the phone back to her ear.
"Hey, Clara, you do realize that it's barely been over a minute since I last saw you." There was a small gasp on the other end.
"Lilly! Oh my goodness, you haven't contacted me in days and you swore that you would stay in touch and-"
"Woah woah woah, slow down drama queen. Why are you calling me?" A Scottish-sounding voice came through the phone, sounding slightly muffled.
"Ask her who she's with." Lilly's eyes narrowed in confusion at the unfamiliar voice, but she didn't have enough time to comment before Clara asked:
"The Doctor wants to know who you're with." Lilly's mouth gaped open for a second before she exclaimed:
"Hold- just, just hold on. First of all, that man is clearly not the Doctor, because I know what the Doctor sounds like and that's not it, and second of all what the hell do you mean by 'who am I with?' I'm in the freaking bathroom at the café, am I supposed to be hanging out with someone in here or something?" She groaned with annoyance.
"Why is today so confusing?! First the freaky Wifi and then I met an alien and a sentient time machine and now-"
"You're really young, aren't you." It wasn't even a question, simply a statement. Lilly paused. Was that . . . sadness in Clara's voice? She shook it off. It was stupid to think that her friend would be sad to find out how old she was.
"Okay, that's the second time today someone's told me how 'young' I am. Would you please just explain to me what that means?!" Clara sighed.
"I . . . I'm not the current Clara you're with, I'm a future her - me - whatever. Erm- I meant to call a future version of you, not . . . not this you. This you, is just- you're just . . . you're so early." Lilly scoffed. The left-over annoyance and slight aggression from her confusing talk with the waitress was coming through.
"Thanks. I'm doing my best not to feel insulted." The sound of someone pulling the phone away from Clara came through the speaker, and the Scottish-sounding voice from earlier was heard.
"Sorry about that, happens all the time. The TARDIS phone - being aboard a time machine and all - sometimes phones the wrong point in the timeline of the person we're trying to reach."
"Ooookkkaaay, and who are you?" She wasn't bothering with formalities; she was pretty fed up with how strange and trying her day had been.
"I'm the Doctor - well, the future Doctor. You haven't met me yet, apparently." Lilly arched an eyebrow.
"Okay, if you're really the Doctor from the future, how come you sound different?"
". . . spoilers." Someone - presumably Clara - snatched the phone back from the Doctor.
"Lilly, I- uh, since the last time I met this version of you - the young you - since then, there's something I've wanted to tell you." The connection started breaking, but not in the normal way. It almost seemed to Lilly that the TARDIS was trying to end the conversation herself.
"I-I want you to know, I'll always-" The sound of static filled her ears, before cutting back to Clara's voice. "-there for you."
Lilly's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "You'll always what?"
"I'll-" More static. "-be there for you."
"You'll- you'll always . . .be there for me?" Silence. Lilly could only hope that she had gotten it right.
". . . Always." A small smile graced Lilly's lips.
"Don't go quoting Harry Potter on me, Clara Oswald. And no, I don't care how small the quote is, that was a heartbreaking scene."
"Oi, that happened only one time, and you started the conversation!" A laugh escaped Lilly's lips, until she realized something. Time.
"Time. Oh, boy."
She held the phone away from her ear for a moment, checking the clock. "I should probably get back to you – my current you – and the Doctor. Bye, Clara."
"Bye Lilly." A little click told her that either Clara - or the TARDIS - had hung up the phone, and then she was off, to find that impossible man and her best friend. Hopefully they would know what was going on.
She had just exited the bathroom when she noticed something odd: All of the people in the café were frozen in place.
"Okay that's definitely not normal." She began to rush to the door, when she heard a little girl's voice go "And clear!"
People rushed out the door, shoving past her like she wasn't there. Lilly whipped around to see if anyone else was remaining in the café. Her eyes landed on the Doctor and a wave of relief swept over her.
"Doctor!" She ran to him, and he quickly pulled her behind him in a protective gesture. The reporter on the TV suddenly straightened up, and what looked to be lines of code started flashing across her skin.
"We can hack anyone in the Wifi, once they've been exposed long enough."
"So there's one of your walking base stations here, somewhere close?"
"There's always someone close," the reporter responded. "We've released thousands into the world. They home in on the Wifi like rats sniffing cheese."
"I don't know who you are, or why you're doing this, but the people of this world will not be harmed. They will not be controlled, they will not be-" The way the Doctor began speaking caused Lilly to take a step away from him. This was not a side of the Doctor she had seen up until then.
"-The people of this world are in no danger whatsoever. My client requires a steady diet of living human minds. Healthy, free-range human minds. He loves and cares for humanity. In fact, he can't get enough of it."
"It's obscene," the Doctor muttered. "It's murder."
"It's life," the reporter replied. "The farmer tends his flock like a loving parent. The abattoir is not a contradiction. No one loves cattle more than Burger King." Lilly's eyes narrowed, realizing what the woman was doing.
"Doctor-"
"No, Lilly." She huffed with frustration, and began to tug on the Doctor's suit jacket.
"Doctor, she said that-"
"Not now Lilly." He walked closer to the TV. "This ends. I'm going to end this today."
"How? You don't even know where we are." Lilly finally lost it, giving up on trying to gain his attention before announcing what she had been attempting to tell him.
"Doctor, she said that people who've been exposed to the Wifi can be controlled, so guess what: Clara's in danger, you buffoon!" With that, she rushed out the door . . . only to run right into the Doctor. Or, well, he looked like the Doctor at first glance. But when looking up to his head – it was another Spoonhead. Lilly gasped.
"Oh dear lord." She didn't hear any noise from inside, so she assumed that either the Doctor didn't hear her when she spoke to him, or he just was too engrossed in figuring out who's controlling the operation to try and listen to another idiotic human.
Lilly tried to run past the replica of the Doctor, only for him to grab her arm in a grip so strong she thought it would break her wrist. A whimper escaped her lips as pain shot down her arm. Clara was just around the corner, but she knew that if she tried to call out for her or the Doctor then the machine would snap the bones.
A download bar started filling rapidly on the Spoonhead's screen, and the edges of Lilly's vision briskly started to turn black. Her voice was barely a whisper as her senses promptly all started to fade.
"Please, Doctor, someone, I don't want to-" Her legs gave out beneath her, and the robot caught her in its arms to keep her from making extra noise while falling to the ground.
The gray, dull concrete was the last thing Lilly saw before the download bar filled completely,
As the machine lowered her quietly to the ground, her consciousness was completely gone.
The gray, dull concrete was the last thing Lilly saw before the download bar filled completely. Her hazel-green eyes stared blankly at the ground beneath her, completely devoid of life.
Silence followed for a short time, until a small voice was heard.
"I don't know where I am."
"Who is your client? Who's doing this? Hmm? Answer me."
"Tsk tsk tsk, Doctor. If only your Light were here to guide you." The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the woman's use of her name.
"She is. She's right here, you idio-" He had reached out to grab Lilly's hand, only for him to meet empty air. His gaze snapped over to where she should have been.
"Lilly?" No response. "Lilly!" He rushed out the door of the café, about to call out for her once more when he nearly tripped over something . . . or more of, someone.
"Lilly, oh please no!" He crouched down, swiftly pulling out his screwdriver and scanning her for any signs of life. In a flash he got the results, and his eyebrows drew together in anger.
"No, not her. Not my Light." But it was already done. She had been uploaded, and she couldn't come back.
Head hung low, he carefully swept his arms underneath of her so he could lift her, and as he raised her from the cold of the concrete, something fell, hitting the ground with a sharp 'thunk.'
The Doctor's eyebrows knitted together, but he ignored it as he stood, beginning to walk her around the corner to where he had been sitting earlier . . . only to have a voice stop him in his tracks. A soft, muffled, yet very familiar voice.
"I don't know where I am. Please- oh god, I don't know where I am!"
He was frozen in place, and it took three more of her cries for him to snap out of his stupor and carefully place her onto the ground.
"Someone, please, anyone, I don't know where I am!"
The Doctor ran back to where he had picked her up, and saw her phone laying screen-up on the ground.
"Is anyone there? Clara? Doctor? Doctor, please help, I don't- I don't know where I am."
On the screen of her phone, she ran a hand through her hair. Her eyes were darting around in fear.
"Please, Doctor, if-if you can hear me, just- make sure Clara's safe."
She swallowed back her fear, although her eyes continued to jump around the screen.
"I'll-I'll be fine, just- keep her safe."
Clara! He had forgotten all about Clara! He scooped Lilly's phone into his hand, and quickly placed it in his jacket-pocket. He rushed towards the table they had been sitting at, only to just about run into the Spoonhead. He stopped in his tracks, staring at it, as the face – his face – began to turn around, revealing Clara's consciousness trapped within it.
"Doctor? Doctor, help me! Doctor? I . . . I don't know where I am. I don't understand. Doctor, help me please! I don't know where I am."
Clara's voice grew more frantic as she started repeating the phrase over and over, Lilly's muffled voice joining in, in an eerie sort of harmony.
"I don't know where I am!"
He pulled Lilly's phone out of his pocket, then looked back at the Spoonhead. A determined look overcame his features, and in one swift movement he pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at the Spoonhead.
He wasn't going to go down without a fight.
Thanks again for reading. I hope this chapter wasn't super confusing or anything, because I know that I included quite a few parts in there that don't really seem relevant to the story. But please let me know what you think about it, because I always love to hear from you guys!
So anyway, thanks for reading this! I hope to update again soon!