"Where am I?"
. . .
"I don't know where I am."
. . .
Those words were repeating over and over inside of the Doctor's pocket as he raced to The Shard to fix what had happened to his friends.
Now, how come each time Clara was uploaded, her consciousness was held inside of the walking base station, but the same didn't happen for Lilly? The Doctor pondered.
Possibly because her life signs have differentiated so much from that of a normal human, she can no longer be recognized and treated as one by a mind as simple as that of a remote-controlled robot. He grinned, proud of himself for his clever answer.
. . . And because she can't be treated as a human lifeform, she's seen as a threat, so instead of uploading her to the data cloud, it uploaded her into the nearest piece of technology connected to Wifi, in order to hold her in place, like a jail cell. That way, if she was a more intelligent lifeform than them, they wouldn't have to worry about her ruining their scheme. His grin grew wider, and he mentally patted himself on the back.
I'm brilliant, I am.
. . .
"Doctor?"
. . .
"Doctor, are you there?"
The Doctor carefully pulled one hand off of the handles of the motorbike, and fished the phone out of his pocket. He glanced down at the phone as he controlled the vehicle with one hand, watching Lilly on the screen.
"Doctor, please, I-I don't . . . I don't- I don't know what's going on."
. . .
"I-I practically always know what's going on. I don't especially l-like it when I don't. S-smartest in my class, nearly every year."
Lilly began taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.
"I-I don't know if you're . . . if you're even out there. I just- I figured it out. Where I am."
. . .
"I'm on my phone, aren't I?"
. . .
"I can't- I can't see . . . I can't see anything outside of my phone. It's like I've been downloaded on-onto the screen, almost like I'm looking down at it, but I can't move away from the screen, I-I guess."
. . .
"I-I don't know if that's of any use. I doubt it is, to be honest."
. . .
"I don't even know if you can . . . if you can hear me at all."
The Doctor stopped looking down at the screen, instead keeping his eyes on the road. He stowed the phone back into his pocket. He could still hear her through it, but he didn't need the visual to make him feel even worse.
"Even though I can't . . . I can't see what's going on, wherever you are . . . I can- I can practically sense it- I can sense that something's happening. I don't-I don't know why."
. . .
"Doctor, please."
. . .
"Doctor, I'm so scared."
And that was all he could bear.
The phone was on mute after that.
All communication gone.
No more Light to guide him.
He was on his own.
Lilly glanced around. Her hazel-green eyes searched her surroundings desperately. It seemed familiar, but it was all wrong. All, all wrong.
But why is it wrong. Why does it seem so true and so real but so wrong at the same time . . . Then it hit her.
It's in 2D. I'm- I'm in an area, that's in 2D. She started to panic. But- but . . . how? How?!"
"I don't know where I am."
. . .
It was dead silent. It felt like centuries had passed before she heard a rustling noise, and then she felt like she was falling. A loud, sharp thunk echoed through her mind, and she felt the feeling of being thrown to the ground. But she didn't move. She couldn't move from her spot, looking down at her surroundings in . . . somewhere. But where? Where was she? Again, Lilly started to panic.
"I don't know where I am. Please- oh god, I don't know where I am!"
Her eyes began to dart around again as she called out.
"Someone, please, anyone, I don't know where I am!"
Someone- or maybe something- seemed to lift her into the air. She could feel a presence at the back of her mind, but she was too terrified by what was going on to pay it much attention.
"Is anyone there? Clara? Doctor? Doctor, please help, I don't- I don't know where I am."
Her eyes continued glancing around as she ran a hand through her hair out of habit. Oh god, that machine was probably headed for Clara, and I just happened to run into it- Clara's in danger! Her eyes widened with fear for her best friend.
"Please, Doctor, if-if you can hear me, just- make sure Clara's safe."
She could only pray that he could hear her. He had to.
"I'll-I'll be fine, just- keep her safe."
Okay, that was a lie. A huge, ginormous lie. However, it was a lie made to try and protect her best friend, so technically, it was a perfectly justifiable lie.
Clara's voice echoed from someplace outside of Lilly's mind, and Lilly's eyes widened at the terror in her voice.
"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."
. . .
"I don't know where I am!"
It was like a switch had been flipped inside of Lilly's mind, and she found herself saying it too.
"I don't know where I am!"
A loud whirring sound was heard, then everything went black.
. . .
"Where am I?"
Lilly found herself saying those words, not for the first time since she regained consciousness after the low whirring sound had seemingly knocked her out.
"I don't know where I am."
I don't know what's going on, somehow I'm stuck in a 2-dimensional area, and that's completely impossible so obviously I- wait. Wait a moment.
She paused in her thoughts as she realize something. Yes, she had looked at her surroundings earlier, but she had been glancing around in fear, barely taking in anything noticeable. She was simply looking for threats, anything that her mind could focus on to distract her from the idea that she had no clue where she was.
So for the first time, Lilly stopped in her tracks, and truly took a look at her surroundings. And what she saw was astounding and rather eerie at the same time. But what she saw still didn't give her the answer to another question: How did she get there?
"Doctor?"
. . .
"Doctor, are you there?"
. . .
"Doctor, please, I-I don't . . . I don't- I don't know what's going on."
Lilly ran a hand through her hair again. She was becoming too tense, too stressed to healthy.
"I-I practically always know what's going on. I don't especially l-like it when I don't. S-smartest in my class, nearly every year."
Beginning to breathe more slowly, she tried to sway away from the main topic at hand to help herself calm down, but her thoughts wouldn't allow her to avoid it for any longer.
"I-I don't know if you're . . . if you're even out there. I just- I figured it out. Where I am."
. . .
"I'm on my phone, aren't I?"
And even as she said it, even as she knew it was out there, and even as she could see how it was her phone's wallpaper right in front of her, it didn't seem like it could be real. But there it was. The impossible truth.
She had noticed it right when she took her first, true look at the screen mere seconds ago. The wallpaper for her home screen was a picture she had taken of Clara. It was on Valentine's Day, and despite Clara's wishes, Lilly had gotten her a present. It was a stuffed bear, holding a heart that said "Hug Me!" Clara had loved it, and Lilly had taken a photo of Clara as she hugged the bear.
It brought a smile to Lilly's face as she thought about it, but she snapped herself out of her thoughts. She had to at least try and help the Doctor - assuming that he could hear her – and hopefully any details she could provide could be useful. She seriously doubted the relevance of the details she could provide, but in any case she failed in doing the right thing, which would be better than just sitting back and making him do all of the work.
"I can't- I can't see . . . I can't see anything outside of my phone. It's like I've been downloaded on-onto the screen, almost like I'm looking down at it, but I can't move away from the screen, I-I guess."
. . .
"I-I don't know if that's of any use. I doubt it is, to be honest."
. . .
"I don't even know if you can . . . if you can hear me at all."
Doubts were starting to cloud her mind. She was beginning to doubt that she was helping at all- that she had ever helped at all. She was starting the doubt that the Doctor could even hear her.
The presence at the back of her mind seemed to grow stronger as she started giving up, and she began to stress out even more over that.
"Even though I can't . . . I can't see what's going on, wherever you are . . . I can- I can practically sense it- I can sense that something's happening. I don't-I don't know why."
. . .
"Doctor, please."
. . .
"Doctor, I'm so scared."
The next second, Lilly's voice was gone. She couldn't talk. What use was she if she couldn't talk? If she couldn't at least try to relay information that could possibly be helpful?
I'd be useless, she thought, and just like that, a dam broke behind her eyes. Tears started pouring down her cheeks, and she began silently sobbing as she broke down.
She cried for Clara, for her best friend, who had been downloaded into the data cloud too.
She cried for herself, for how lost she felt and how helpless she was.
And she cried because she had officially reached the lowest point she could. She had become useless to one and all. And there were no words to describe how horrible that felt.
The presence in her mind seemed to grow suddenly stronger, and the way it forced itself into her head caused her to scream out silently in pain.
What's happening to me?
What's happening to-
All thoughts were gone as her consciousness disappeared from her phone. The only signs left to show she was ever there were a few stray teardrops scattered across the wallpaper, never to be removed.