A/N: Didn't have enough of an episode to create three full-sized chapters, so you get an long-ish one instead. That's exciting, isn't it? And sorry for disappearing for a bit. I have a retail job, and we just extended hours for the holidays, and I'm exhausted and haven't really had a second to even upload, let along write. Sorry about that.
Free Will
Mrs. Moore rubbed her arms together as she and the Wolf made their way through the cooling tunnels. "It's freezing," she shivered.
"Any sign of a light switch?" the Wolf asked, looking around.
"Can't see a thing. But I've got these." Mrs. Moore dug around in her knapsack and triumphantly pulled out a pair of odd-looking headbands. "A device for every occasion."
"Ooo." The Wolf grabbed one and stuck it on her head, clicking the light on. "Haven't got a reverse-Cyberizer in there, have you? Make things go a lot quicker."
Mrs. Moore chuckled. "Afraid not."
"Ah, well. Let's see where we are." The Wolf ranged the light around the tunnel, and Mrs. Moore jumped when they saw dozens of Cybermen lined up along both sides of the walls. The Wolf walked up to one, inspecting it. "Already converted, just put on ice," she reassured the woman. "Come on." She tapped on the Cyberman's face, but there was no reaction. "Let's just go slowly. Keep an eye out for any kind of trip systems."
Mrs. Moore nodded warily, but followed the Wolf without protest. They walked on in silence for a while, keeping an eye both on the ground for any traps, and on the Cybermen for any signs of life. "How did you get into this, then, rattling along with the Preachers?" the Wolf eventually asked.
"Oh, I used to be ordinary. Worked at Cybus Industries, nine to five, till one day, I find something I'm not supposed to," Mrs. Moore explained. "A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night." She sighed. "Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techie, so I just sat down and taught myself everything."
The Wolf whistled silently, impressed. "What about Mr. Moore?"
Mrs. Moore laughed slightly. "Well, he's not called Moore. I got that from a book, Mrs. Moore. It's safer not to use real names. But he thinks I'm dead," she said sadly. "It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you?" she asked, turning to the Wolf. "Got any family, or?"
The Wolf frowned. "No. It's just me and John. Well, him and the rest of the world, whenever it runs into trouble. Which seems to be every other Tuesday. But go on, then. What's your real name?"
Mrs. Moore hesitated. "Angela Price. Don't tell a soul," she warned.
"Not a word," the Wolf promised.
Behind them, a Cyberman twitched, a light inside its helmet beginning to blink. It's movement made a small noise, causing Mrs. Moore to whirl around. "Wolf, did that one just move?" she asked nervously.
The Wolf stared, but stuck her hand out behind Mrs. Moore, urging the woman to go in front of her. "It's just the torchlight," she answered unconvincingly. "Keep going, come on." A Cyberman right next to them jerked its arm. The Wolf pushed Mrs. Moore forward. "They're waking up. Run!"
Mrs. Moore and the Wolf began sprinting down the corridor along the row of Cyberman, more and more of the robots coming to life. They fell into line as they woke up, clomping along after the intruders. The two reached a ladder at the end of the tunnel, leading up to a trapdoor. The Wolf pulled out her sonic screwdriver to open it. "Get up!" Mrs. Moore shouted at her. "Quick, quick!"
The Wolf hauled herself up the rungs, got the door open and pulled herself through as fast as she could, turning to give Mrs. Moore a hand. "Come on, come on!" she yelled down. She helped her up the last few steps, immediately shutting the trapdoor as the Cybermen began their climb and sealed it with her screwdriver. She huffed out a relieved laugh, Mrs. Moore going right along with her. "Oh, good team, Mrs. Moore," she complimented, grinning.
They began their walk once more. The lights along the corridor became more frequent, indicating that they were getting closer to their target. As they were passing an alcove, a Cyberman suddenly stepped out. "You. Are. Not. Upgraded," it stated.
The Wolf froze, but Mrs. Moore dug in her knapsack. "Yeah? Well, upgrade this," she spat, throwing a small rod with copper wire wrapped around it at the robot. It stuck to the metal, causing the Cyberman to jerk as sparks raced along its body before it collapsed, motionless.
"What the hell was that thing?" the Wolf spluttered.
Mrs. Moore grinned. "Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers," she shrugged, "I figured it might stop the cyber-suit."
The Wolf was impressed. "You figured right." She knelt down next to the body. "Now, let's have a look. Know your enemy, and all that," she mused. "A logo on the front. Lumic's turned them into a brand," she said, pointing at the chest before pulling it open using her screwdriver. "Heart of steel, but look." The Wolf indicated the inside of the logo boss on the chest.
"Is that flesh?" Mrs. Moore asked, sounding a bit sick.
The Wolf hummed in affirmation. "Central nervous system," she elaborated. "Artificially grown then threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing. Well, it is a living thing. Oh, but look," she nudged away a few nerves to reveal a mechanical piece. "Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything," she sighed.
"But why?" Mrs. Moore didn't understand.
"It's still got a human brain. Imagine its reaction if it could see itself, realize itself inside this thing. They'd drive themselves insane with screaming."
"So they cut out the one thing that makes them human."
"Because they have to."
"Why am I cold?" the Cyberman asked, sounding just a tiny bit more human.
"Oh, my God," Mrs. Moore whispered in horror. "It's alive. It can feel."
"We broke the inhibitor," the Wolf explained before turning back to the robot. "I'm so sorry," she apologized to it.
"Why so cold?" it asked.
"Can you remember your name?" the Wolf asked instead.
"Sally," it replied after a brief hesitation. "Sally Phelan."
"You're a woman," Mrs. Moore realized.
"Where's Gareth," Sally asked.
"Who's Gareth?"
"He can't see me," Sally said, sounding distressed. "It's unlucky the night before."
"You're getting married," the Wolf realized sadly.
"I'm cold, I'm so cold."
"It's alright," the Wolf reassured her. "You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep." She slipped her sonic into the chest cavity and switched the robot off, giving the woman peace. "Sally Phelan didn't die for nothing, because that's the key," she growled. "The emotional inhibitor. If we could find the code behind it, the cancellation code, then feed it throughout the system into every Cyberman's head, they'd realize what they are."
"And what happens then?" Mrs. Moore asked.
The Wolf hesitated. "I think it would kill them. Could we do that? Could I do that?" she wondered.
"We've got to," Mrs. Moore told her standing up and moving behind her. "Before they kill everyone else. There's no choice, Wolf. It's got to be done." Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Cyberman appeared and grabbed Mrs. Moore by the shoulder, electrocuting her. Mrs. Moore didn't even have time to let out a sound before she fell to the ground, dead.
The Wolf leapt to her feet. "No!" she screamed. "No, you didn't have to kill her!"
"Sensors. Indicate. A. Binary. Vascular. System," the Cyberman stated, unphased. "You. Are. An. Unknown. Upgrade. You. Will. Be. Taken. For. Analysis."
The Wolf let them take her without a fight, knowing they would bring her where she wanted to be anyways. "Yeah, I could do that," she muttered under her breath. She just hoped John made it without getting caught.
John and Thomas were huddled out of sight of the Cybermen guards just outside of the power station, waiting for an opportune time to sneak in. "Before we go in," Thomas spoke suddenly, "I just want to know – why are you doing this? Why put yourself at risk? You already saved my Ems, now you're helping me find my daughter. Why?"
John considered for a moment. "Let me ask you a question first." He needed to know what had happened in this universe. "Were you in a car accident? About eighteen years ago?"
Thomas gave him a strange look. "Yes," he answered hesitantly. "Ems and I almost died, and we almost lost our baby before she was born. How did you know that?"
"Let's just say I was in an accident too," John replied vaguely, "and my parents and sister weren't so lucky. I'm doing it for them." John saw a procession of blank faced captives approaching the power station and quickly left their hiding place to join it without saying another word.
Thomas took a second to catch up, processing what John had said, but walked out as well, getting into line right behind John. The queue moved slowly, the Cybermen stopping the line every dozen people or so. After about twenty minutes, John and Thomas made into the building.
"Units. Upgraded. Now. Six. Thousand. Five. Hundred," a Cyberman at the head of the line announced. "Repeat. Six. Thousand. Five. Hundred. And. Rising." As John got to the head of the line, the Cyberman halted the procession. "You. Will. Wait," it ordered him before moving away.
"You okay?" Thomas whispered in his ear.
John kept his face passive, trying to move his mouth as little as possible. "For now," he murmured back. He watched in horror as a woman walked into a chamber and saw blades whirred into action and descended on her. She never even screamed. A Cyberman walked out and clomped away.
"Any sign of Toni?" Thomas asked, but John shook his head minutely.
He was trying to figure out a way to avoid going into a chamber without being detected when a Cyberman marched up to them. "You. Are. Thomas. Smythe. Confirm. You. Are. Thomas. Smythe," It demanded.
"Confirmed," Thomas answered after the briefest hesitation.
"I. Recognize. You," it said. "I. Went. First. My. Name. Was. Antonia. Smythe."
"What?" John asked in disbelief.
"No!" Thomas yelled. He rushed the robot, but John grabbed him, holding him back.
"They. Are. Unprogrammed. Restrain," the Cyberman said, taking John by the arms as another took hold of Thomas. Thomas began to struggle, but John hissed at him to be still. The Cybermen wouldn't hesitate to kill them.
"You're lying!" Thomas shouted at the Cyberman. "You're not her. You're not my Toni!"
"No. I. Am. Cyber-form. Once. I. Was. Antonia. Smythe," it droned.
"It's not her anymore," John told Thomas.
"Her. Brain. Is. Inside. This. Body," the robot refuted.
"But you aren't her anymore," John retorted.
"Toni. My little girl. I came to save you," Thomas whispered in anguish.
The Cyberman that had been Toni turned to its compatriot. "This. Man. Worked. With. Cybus. Industries. To. Create. Our. Species. He. Will. Be. Rewarded. By. Force. Take. Them. To. Cyber. Control." John and Thomas were escorted away under guard.
"They killed her," John muttered. "All of them. They just took them and killed them. Sixty-five hundred, they said. In just a few hours, they've killed over six thousand people."
"Maybe there's a chance, I don't know," Thomas tried. "Maybe we can reverse it."
John shook his head. "There's nothing we can do."
"But if – if she remembers," Thomas protested. "Where is she? Which one was it? Which one was my little girl?" he asked craning his neck to look.
"They all look the same," John replied hopelessly.
The Wolf was pushed into the Control Room by one of the robots before it turned and left, sealing her inside with just one Cyber guard.. She was both glad and upset to see that both Thomas and John were already in there, sitting on some stairs. "Oh no, I've been captured, but don't worry, John and Thomas are still out there. They can rescue me. Oh well, never mind," she drawled.
"Thought you didn't like being the damsel in distress," John managed to tease, though his heart wasn't in it.
"Do not get cheeky with me Johnny boy," she warned, but moved to sit next to him. "You okay?" she asked quietly.
John nodded despondently. "Yeah, but they got Toni."
"We were too late," Thomas added. "Lumic killed her."
The Wolf leapt to her feet. "Then where is he, the famous Mister Lumic?" she asked the air. "Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master, killer of children?" she snarled that last bit.
"He. Has. Been. Upgraded," their guard declared.
"So he's just like you?" she clarified.
"He. Is. Superior," it corrected. "The. Lumic. Unit. Has. Been. Designated. Cyber. Controller." A door opened and a Cyberman was wheeled out in a kind of upgraded wheelchair, appearing dramatically out of a haze of smoke.
"Well doesn't he just have flair," the Wolf muttered sarcastically under her breath, making John smile a bit.
"This is the Age of Steel and I am it's Creator," Lumic announced robotically, but sounding more human than the other droids.
"Well, technically they're not steel, more of a polyvalent starite metal," the Wolf corrected him. "Harder than diamond."
"Different universe, Wolf," John reminded her.
The Wolf nodded. "Right. Okay, maybe they're steel," she amended.
Ricky and Jake knocked out the one guard inside the Zeppelin, and Ricky settled himself at the computer. "Can you break into it?" Jake asked.
"The transmitter controls are sealed behind here," Ricky pointed off to the side, "we'd need an oxyacteylene or something to break through."
"Well, sorry babe, but I forgot to bring it with me," Jake teased, grinning excitedly. "Guess we'll just have to crash it."
"With us inside it, Jake? Not your best plan ever."
"We could set it to automatic," Jake suggested, "and then just leg it."
"Let me try to get into the computer first," Ricky said. He turned to the steering controls, attempting to hack into the override system.
The dead Cyberman they'd ignored earlier flexed its hand, catching Jake's attention. "Ricky, you said it was dead!" he shouted, retreating.
Ricky jumped up from his seat. "Okay, big robot." He got an idea. "Hey, over here," he yelled at it, waving his arms to draw its focus from Jake. It turned to go after him. "Come on, you brainless killing machine. Come and have a go." He place himself in front of the panel concealing the transmitter controls. The Cyberman swung its fist, but Ricky ducked away and it went straight into the panel, electrocuting the robot.
Ricky quickly returned to the monitor, hacking into the cameras in the power station. He scanned the screens until he found their three allies in the Control Room. "Ha! Look at that, they're still alive."
"Has it got sound?" Jake asked. Ricky quickly typed in a few commands so they could listen in.
The sound of screaming could be heard outside the room. The Wolf grinned. "Those are my friends at work," she said cheerfully. "Good boys. Mister Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will," she told him.
"I have factories waiting on seven continents," Lumic dismissed. "If the ear pods have failed, then the Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the rest of the world. Resistance will be futile. I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace and unity and uniformity," he declared.
"And imagination?" the Wolf inquired. "What about that? The one thing that led you here, imagination, and you're killing it dead!" she ended on a shout.
"You two, I don't know you. What are your names?" Lumic asked.
"I'm the Wolf, and he's Doctor John Smythe," the Wolf replied. As she was speaking, she caught a flashing red light out of the corner of her eye, indicating that the security cameras were still functioning.
"A redundant career. Doctors need no longer exist," Lumic rebutted. "Cybermen never sicken."
"Yeah, but that's it. That's exactly the point!" the Wolf exclaimed. "Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man. I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room." John snorted. She went on, ignoring him. "But everything you've invented, you did it to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant! That is so human. But once you get rid of sickness and mortality, then what's there to strive for? The Cybermen won't advance. You'll just stop. You'll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts, lacking the one thing that makes this planet so alive. People," she told him simply. "Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people."
"You are proud of your emotions," Lumic realized.
"Oh, yes."
"Then tell me, little Wolf. Have you known grief, and rage, and pain?"
The Wolf looked down. "Yes. Yes I have."
"And they hurt?" he asked.
"Oh yeah."
"I could set you free," Lumic offered. "Would you not want that? A life without pain?"
"You might as well kill me," the Wolf growled.
"Then I take that option."
"It's not yours to take," the Wolf denied. "You're a Cyber Controller. You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart."
"You have no means of stopping me," Lumic gloated. "I have an army. A species of my own."
The Wolf rolled her eyes. "You just don't get it, do you? An army's nothing. Because those ordinary people, they're the key. The most ordinary person could change the world." She looked directly into the security camera on the wall. "Some ordinary man or woman, some idiot," she said carelessly. "All it takes is for him to find, say, the right numbers. The right codes. Say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him. Because even an idiot knows how to use computers these days. Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords. Knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under, erm, what what it, Thomas? Binary what?" she asked
"Binary nine?" Thomas supplied.
"She's talking to us," Ricky realized.
Jake slapped the back of his head lightly. "Duh. She called you an idiot. Course she's talking to you. Now, Binary nine."
"An idiot could find that code," the Wolf continued. "Cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing. Keep on fighting. Anything to save the world."
"You're words are irrelevant, little girl," Lumic interrupted.
The Wolf scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah, talk too much, that's my problem. That's what the men always say, anyways. Lucky I got you that cheap tariff, John, for all our long chats."
"Yeah," John jumped in catching on to what she was doing. "On my phone."
"You will be deleted," Lumic said loudly.
"Yes," the Wolf agreed. "Delete, control, hash. All those lovely buttons. Then, of course, there's my particular favorite. You know it, John?" she asked over her shoulder.
"Send," John answered, looking at the camera as well now.
"Too right. And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place." John's cell phone beeped. He pulled it out and read the numbers in the text. "By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else," the Wolf finished.
"Wolf, it's for you," John said, tossing the phone to her.
The Wolf caught it, brandishing it at Lumic. "Like this," she told him, thrusting the phone into a docking station. The code transmitted into the Cybus Network, causing the Cybermen to all cry out, clutching their heads in pain. The three captives jumped to their feet.
"What have you done?" Lumic screamed as one of the Cybermen's heads exploded.
"I gave them back their souls," the Wolf declared. "They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them." The three ran out of the room as more Cybermen fell to the ground.
"Delete! Delete! Delete!" Lumic's screams followed them out.
The Wolf led the two men to an emergency exit, but their way was blocked by writhing Cybermen. A fire had broken out, cutting off another route. "There's no way out!" the Wolf yelled over the noise.
John's phone rang. He pulled it out and listened to the instructions Ricky gave him. "It's Ricky," he told the Wolf. "He says head for the roof." Thomas pointed out a metal staircase and the three sprinted up it as the fire spread around the station.
"Where'd you learn to fly that thing?" John asked as they got onto the roof to see the Zeppelin descending toward them.
"Playstation," was Ricky's answer. "Now just hold on a second, while I park this thing."
"You can't go any lower," John could hear Jake over the phone.
"We have to," Ricky answered.
"Babe, you're gonna crush them."
"There's got to be something – oh, here we go." A rope ladder dropped out of the bottom of the aircraft. "Get on," Ricky ordered.
"You've got to be kidding," Thomas muttered.
"Yeah, I don't think he is," the Wolf replied. "John, get on."
John reluctantly got onto the rope ladder and climbed up to give the Wolf and Thomas room. It was eerily similar to when he'd clung to the rope on the barrage balloon in the World War II air raid, and he wasn't pleased with the reminder. There was no Captain Jack Harkness to save him this time. John thrust away the ache of his dead friend.
The Zeppelin began re-ascending as soon as all three had boarded the ladder. John clung to it, focusing all of his attention on not looking down. But something pulled on the ladder, jerking them all down and almost knocking them free of it. John looked down, seeing Lumic holding onto it.
The Wolf quickly pulled out her sonic screwdriver. "Thomas!" she yelled. "Take this, use it! Hold the button down. Press it against the rope!" She dropped the screwdriver and miraculously, Thomas caught it, though he didn't immediately do anything. "Just do it!" she shouted at him.
Thomas nodded determinedly and looked down, shouting something at Lumic that John couldn't quite catch. But the rope gave way after a few tense seconds, dropping Lumic to be engulfed in a now exploding power station as he screamed in anger.
John waited outside with the Smythes as the Wolf installed the recharged power cell back into the TARDIS. The TARDIS began to light up, and the ache in John's head from the stress of their latest adventures finally eased as he saw the TARDIS come back to life and she hummed happily in greeting.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save Toni for you," John apologized to them.
Emma was in Thomas' arms, silent tears running down her face. But she looked up at him, eyes grateful. "Thank you, John," she said earnestly. "We appreciate how you tried for our little girl. Really."
"Why did you, though?" Thomas asked.
Emma smacked his arm in rebuke. "Tom!"
"No, I need to know," Thomas insisted. "You two," he waved at John and vaguely at the TARDIS, where the Wolf had yet to emerge, "you don't quite make sense. You know all these things about different worlds. Why?"
John paused, thinking about how much he should reveal. "It's like you said," he finally began. "Different worlds. Parallel worlds. Worlds where Thomas and Emma Smythe didn't survive that car crash all those years ago. But their son did." Thoma and Emma froze, staring at him in shock. John smiled sadly and turned to enter the TARDIS, but a small hand on his arm stopped him.
He turned to see Emma looking up at him. "You're...ours?" she asked hesitantly.
John shook his head regretfully. "I was. Once. But not here."
"And Toni?"
"Never existed."
"You tried to save her anyway," Emma stated.
John shrugged. "Seemed like something an older brother would do." With that, he suddenly found his arms full of his not-quite mum as she hugged him fiercely, her tears starting afresh. John held back tears of his own as he hugged his mother for the first time in seventeen years, even if it wasn't quite the same. He looked over at Thomas. Thomas' eyes were conflicted, but he gave John a grateful nod, which John returned. Eventually, Emma broke away and went back to Thomas, composing herself.
"What will you do now?" John asked.
"Well," Thomas sighed. "There's all those Lumic factories out there. All those Cybermen in storage. Someone's got to tell the authorities what happened. And the President is dead. I guess that'll be my job since I was the only other candidate. I can help from there. I imagine that that Jake and Ricky will want to continue fighting."
"Too right," Jake's voice interrupted as he and Ricky approached, each holding a bag.
The Wolf exited the TARDIS then, a confused expression on her face. "Wolf, are you okay?" John asked.
"Yeah, just the strangest case of deja vu," the Wolf answered. "Fine now," she added brightly.
"Found these, like you asked," Ricky broke in, handing over the bag he was carrying. Jake gave his to John.
"My jacket!" the Wolf exclaimed happily. "Good man, Ricky the Idiot. Now then. Boys, we've got to run. But one more thing. Mrs. Moore. Her real name was Angela Price. She's got a husband out there, and children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world."
Jake nodded seriously. "Yeah, course we will."
"Off we go, then. Only have five minutes of power. You'll be alright, all of you?" the Wolf asked.
"All that work to done with those Cybermen, just like Smythe here said," Jake assured her. "Think we'll start at the factory in Paris, what d'you think, Ricky?"
Ricky grinned. "City of love, Jake?" He shrugged. "Good a place as any."
"Good," the Wolf approved. "Because we can't come back here. Travel between parallel worlds is impossible. The TARDIS, my ship, only got here by accident. We fell through a crack in time, and when we leave, I'll have to close it. We can't ever return."
"Understood," Ricky said.
They all shook hands, with Emma hugging John once more, before the Wolf went back into the TARDIS. John went to follow, but turned back to the small group. "You're gonna want to see this," he told them with a grin before he too disappeared into the ship.
The TARDIS dematerialized as soon as the doors closed, leaving them all staring in shock and awe. "What the hell?" Jake wondered.
"The Wolf and John Smythe in the TARDIS," Emma whispered to herself, squeezing her husband closer.