Disclaimer: I don't in any way own the series Doctor Who . Those are the sole property of the BBC.
Return to Satellite 5 AU: "Bad Wolf", "The Parting of the Ways" and "Born Again".
Chapter Three: Wolf Moon Rising
At the top most area of the Station was a large room filled with computers and built-in monitors manned by human employees. The place was dark except the backing of blue which lit from behind.
A programmer, an average man in about his thirties, sat in front of one of the monitors an earpiece held to his right ear. He watched the 'Big Brother' reality show to give the queues to the computer. As the leather clad man pointed a threatening finger directly into the hidden camera the Tech frowned in both confusion and irritation.
It wasn't right; the blue eyed man shouldn't have been there. There wasn't supposed to be a new house mate; he had no idea where the man called the Doctor had come from. Putting down his earpiece, he stood and strode over to the senior Tech on Floor 500.
He approached the brown-haired woman with a pink hair tie; she was working away at her own computer. Placing a hand on the desk he leaned into the woman. "I need a moment," he said with some urgency.
"Wait a tic… I'll be right with you." The woman was staring intently at her monitor and listening to the person on the other end. On her screen was the image of the 'Ballroom X' studio; the eight couples were getting ready for the show. Techs were going over the programming of the robot host just off the dance floor. "And the show's going on air in 19… 18… seconds."
Rose looked at her partner. She didn't even know the man's name for God's sake. "So... um... What's your name since we shouldn't have to say 'hey you' across the dance floor," the blonde woman attempted a warm smile through another bout of nausea.
"The name's Rick," he said offhandedly, paying more attention to the other dancers.
"Mine's Rose." The blonde woman had a quick look about the place. It was very dark and Rose couldn't see anything that resembled a door or other form of exit.
"Yeah, great, Rose. Let's get one thing straight: we aren't going to be friends. We just need to make it to the end, and against some these contestants we shouldn't have too much trouble until the finish. You need to follow my lead. Let's see if you have that much in you." Rick took Rose's hand and pulled her into his arms. "And another thing: you need to do everything the Len-bot says."
Rose froze in her dance partner's arms as she paled and broke out in a cold sweat, quickly fighting back the sick pervading her stomach. She stumbled into the man a little as he moved her about like a rag doll.
"You are going to have to do better than that."
Before Rose could shoot a scathing comment back the same man with the booming voice was there. "We are on in 17… 16… 15… we'll be transmitting, thank you people, in 12... 11... 10..."
Agitated, Rose pulled away from Rick. "I don't belong here and need to find the Doctor."
Rick tugged Rose into him and hissed into her ear. "Shut your gob. You are here and you'll play the game!"
Rose swallowed, but looked up defiantly at Rick, "Fine I'll play along and help you win this. It shouldn't be that hard." The blonde took a deep breath, willing the sickness away and trying to channel that into confidence, plastering a smile to her face.
Rick gave the blonde woman a disbelieving look. He didn't seem to think she was in her right mind. He had to wonder if she even knew how much danger they were really in.
The tech employees moved out of range of the cameras and the floor manager glided back out of the only light in the room. "3, and go!"
Len-bot came to life at the word go and moved gesturing to the camera, "Welcome back to 'Ballroom X' where the contest dance to impress and win the right to perform on stage. And its survival of the fittest." Sparkling music pulse and glitter lightning flashed over the dance floor.
Len-bot turned on the spot looking out across the assembled couples. "We start with the first three rounds which eliminates two couples. The rules are: you are given five minutes to put a routine together then perform it front of our viewers who will then vote off the least liked performance."
The music once again pulsed and the lights fluttered in a dramatic fashion. Len-bot's expressionless face looked to all the faces as if waiting for agreements. "The last thing is that the dances are all randomly picked." On the front of its plastic body a LED lit monitor blinked on. "And to start: Team One Agorax," the screen flashed and loads of different dance names went scrolling down until it stopped. "You have the Cha Cha," announced the robot in programmed cheer.
The Len-bot went through all eight couples in the same manner. Team two Fitch had swing waltz, Team three Pando took Rumba, Team four Lorvick was given the Charleston, Team six Colleen comically got Tap, Team seven Broff seemed to cry at getting the Jitterbug, and Team eight Eden surprisingly got the Bolero.
Rick seemed happy with getting the quickstep. "This is great. We can get one of the fastest dances out of the way, and we can stay in hold for most of it. We also have an added bonus as we'll have more time since we're not in group competitions yet."
Rose gave her dance partner an incredulous look, "But still its only twenty minutes and isn't that cheating."
Rick shrugged, taking her wrist roughly and dragging her off to the side to a small dimly lit practice space. "It really doesn't matter. The others will be doing the same. Well, not team one. I'm sure it sucks to be them."
Rose wrest her bruising wrist out of Rick's hand. "But that's just wrong."
Rick rushed to her, wrapping an arm around Rose, and ushered her to their allotted space. He practically picked the blonde woman up to move her away from the large dance floor. "I don't care, and if you want to win you won't either. Just remember, sweetie-girl, I'm running this show," he whispered threateningly in Rose's ear.
Rose stopped protesting only because her stomach wouldn't settle. The former shop-girl was beginning to see a pattern to it. Unfortunately for her it wasn't going to end anytime soon and, from what she observed, the only way out of the ridiculous reality show was winning or getting the boot. Normally the pretty boy Rick won't be much of a problem. She'd dealt with worse aliens than a lowly human. Wow,she was really starting to think like the Doctor, she chided herself. The thing was that dancer Rick had a look in his eyes that kind of frightened her. She also didn't have a way to escape.
Rose was glad that she was a quick learner when it came to physical activities. It wasn't that she was dumb; the reason she didn't get her A-levels was teenaged angst, thinking she was in love with an idiot like Jimmy Stone. Dropping out of school hadn't been a good idea, but by the time Rose had realized it Jimmy had racked up debts in her name. She'd then had to move back in with her mum after a physical confrontation when she'd dumped the loser.
"Well, you'll have to do." Rick sighed as he saw the assistant floor manager signal them to get ready. Rose wasn't so sure if she could make it through the routine. Her stomach wouldn't stop churning and she had to constantly swallow back to keep from retching, though she was positive that there was nothing left in it from earlier. In her opinion dry heaves were actually worse. Rose was desperate to have a glass of water and maybe a few plain biscuits.
They took the ballroom floor; Rick was holding her too tight in Rose's estimation. Right before the music began the odious man hissed once more into her ear, "and don't forget to smile!"
Rose put a sickly smile on; it was the best the arsewipe git was going to get. She would have blasted him back but the music began and Rick the wanker was off. Rose just managed to keep up; the fast pace did at least take her mind off being sick.
As planned Rose followed his lead as they pranced across the floor. As they twisted and turned around he dancefloor Rose became surer of her steps. The music began its wind down. Rick surprised Rose by dipping her at the end. The motion made her stomach heave leaving a pained expression on her face instead of the strained smile she'd had previously. Rick pulled her back up holding tightly onto Rose's waist which just increased her discomfort. The man forced her to bow and led her off to the same allotted space as before.
Rose could feel the anger radiating off him. The blonde woman flinched away, but she didn't care what had upset the dancer. She spotted a small table that had water on it and a dust bin just below. She pushed away from Rick aware that he was talking, but all that register to her was finally she'd get some relief. Finally letting her body have its way Rose picked up the trash as her stomach ejected what was left inside until she was left dry-heaving a couple of times.
Bewildered, she saw a glass of water in her line of vision. "Drink, this so we can work on some other dance moves before the next round." Rose took the water and drained the contents slowly even through Rick's glaring.
They did practice until the last couple finished. Rose wished she could have seen what the others did, but Rick the wanker was too intent on teaching her as much as possible just in case the first two teams being eliminated were the teams before them.
All the couples were reassembled quickly into a line up in front of robot host. Everyone but Rose was looking nervous; she was still pale and looking sickly. Her partner Rick was shifting agitated from foot to foot.
Len-bot swiveled looking at Team One, "Team Agorax, though your Cha Cha was precision perfect, the dance lacked emotion." The robotic host critiqued each couple's performance or lack thereof but when it came to Rose and Rick's, the blonde woman had a fit of the giggles, despite the constant feeling of nausea, over the whole thing. They were acting as if the Robot was infallible; its criticisms were coming from an artificial programmed piece of plastic. What did it know about showing expression or the lack thereof.
The Len-bot did not give the blonde woman any thought as it gave its analyzation of team five's performance. "Team Rick while the steps were correct and the speed appropriate, the female Rose's facial expressions left something to be desired. If you go on to the next round you will need to have harder steps and a better facial control."
As the 'Ballroom X' show played out for the Techs on floor 500, the brown haired man and woman were dumbfounded by the female contestant number five. She certainly wasn't a dancer and to start laughing was bizarre to say the least. "What does she think is so funny?" the brunette woman inquired of her fellow Tech.
The female tech's brown eyes met the man's own brown ones. "Jesus… she doesn't know what's going on."
"Precisely, it's what I've been trying to tell you. A man appeared out of nowhere in the 'Big Brother House'. The game is taken over," he whispered in a hushed urgent whisper, leaning further into his colleague's space.
In the 'What Not To Wear Studio' Jack was standing in front of a mirror admiring the clothes that showed off his physical attributes. Giving the mirror his full attention, he lifted his arms and started flexing his muscles to see how well it showed. The black leather pants hugged him in all the right places and the white vest was like a second skin.
The pessimistic small-breasted droid seemed to hum with satisfaction, "It's good old fashion pirate, with a splash of buccaneer and a dash of Governor Schwarzenegger."
Jack looked over at the fussy droid before voicing his doubts. "Well maybe, but I'm not too sure about this vest. I thought you both said I needed a little color. It seems a bit down-played."
The sweet anime droid twisted her head, looking at what she and her partner had created. "Oh no... no... no… You shouldn't ever wear black with color. The color outshines the black and makes you look cheap. What do you say to a jacket?"
Jack turned back to the mirror then looked at the blue droid. "Well, I really preferred the first one I tried…"
The droid swiveled her head back and forth negatively, "Ooh, the Hell's Angel one is a bit much. I am thinking that the shorter one would be better."
Jack let the curvy droid help him into the short black leather jacket. With a few tugs the ex-time agent looked back into the mirror to inspect how it all worked together. He felt a pat on his bum from the happy robot. He gave it a flirty smile over his shoulder.
Jack shrugged to it in front of the mirror.
"See, it's just the right length to showcase your bum and makes you look slim. Truly gorgeous"
Jack still grinning shrugged, "Okay, that works for me, hon."
"Now that we have the outfit we can concentrate on that face." The purple robot scrutinized Jack's face from where it was positioned. The sour droid queried, "Cosmetic surgery: have you ever contemplated it?"
"Cosmetic surgery? Yeah I guess." Jack squinted into the mirror for a moment then turned back around to the duo. "You know firming up the jaw line… taking care of some laugh lines around the eyes… Do you ladies think that's do-able?" Ever the flirt, Jack couldn't resist; since the blue droid was so touchy-feely, he cupped its oversized plastic breasts.
The purple robot turned and in a voice that sent a shiver down the 51st century man's spine said. "Hmm, you need to have a BIT more imagination…" Surprisingly, a part of the droid's arm came off and a whirring of a chainsaw filled the room. "You need to be on the cutting edge… we have to do something completely different."
TBC...