Previously:
"Hey who turned out the lights?"
"Donna Noble has left the Library, Donna Noble has been saved"
"Hey who turned out the lights?"
"Donna Noble has left the Library, Donna Noble has been saved"
"Hey who turned out the lights?"
"Donna Noble has left the Library, Donna Noble has been saved"
"Hey who turned out the lights?" Proper Dave's skeleton shouted as it slowly stepped closer to them. "Hey who turned out the lights?"
River looked around her before pulling out her sonic blaster and quickly made a hole in the wall beside them. "Everyone quickly move!" she shouted waving everyone through.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
The leaped through another hole before it closed up and scanned their surroundings. Up above the sun was beginning to set and a moon could be easily made out in the sky.
"Ok we got a clear spot" River said "in, in, in! Right in the centre don't let your shadows cross" the others gathered in the middle. "Rose..."
"I'm on it" Rose called back as she began to scan the shadows with the sonic screwdriver.
"There's no light here" River said looking worried. "Sunset is coming and we haven't got long. Have you found a live one?"
"Maybe" Rose said biting her lip. "But it's getting harder to tell" she smacked the sonic screwdriver. "Come on" she growled.
"We're going to need another chicken bone" River announced. "Who here has a chicken bone?" Other Dave quickly pulled out his lunchbox and pulled a chicken bone out passing it to River. "Thanks Dave"
River carefully threw the chicken bone into the shadows and immediately the meat disappeared before the bone even hit the floor. "Ok then, we got a hot one watch your feet"
"They won't attack now, there are not enough of them" Rose said reassuring the archaeologists that looked terrified. "However they do have our scent now so we don't have long"
Other Dave pulled River away from Rose. "Who is she?" he whispered. "You haven't told us, you can't expect us to trust her."
"She's Rose" River said flatly.
"And who is this Rose?" Mr Lux demanded.
"The only story you'll tell if you survive this" River said getting annoyed.
"You said she was your friend but she doesn't know who you are!" Anita cried out.
"Look all you lot need to know is that I trust that woman" River snapped. "I trust her to the end of the universe, actually we've been there!"
"She doesn't act like she trusts you" Anita observed.
"Yeah the problem is she hasn't met this me yet" River murmured before storming off towards Rose who looked frustrated as she was fiddling with the sonic screwdriver. "What's wrong with it?" she asked.
"There's a signal coming from somewhere that's interfering" Rose mumbled.
"Then use the red setting" River said.
"It doesn't have a red setting"
"Well use the dampers"
"It doesn't have dampers"
"Ah I forgot how crappy this version was" River muttered pulling her sonic screwdriver out. "Mine does you see"
"So sometime in the future I build you a sonic screwdriver" Rose said frowning.
"Yeah"
"Why would I do that?" Rose asked.
"I didn't hold a gun to your head if that's what you're asking" River snarled.
"And I know that because...?"
"Listen to me I know you're upset and angry about Donna but you need to be less emotional right now!" River snapped.
"There's nothing wrong with being emotional!" Rose retorted.
"There are five people in this room that are you still alive!" River shouted. "Focus on that, dear god you were always hard work when you're young"
"Young!" Rose yelped. "Who are you?"
"Oh for heaven's sake!" Mr Lux cut in looking furious and annoyed. "Look at the pair of you! We're all going to die here and you two are squabbling like an old married couple!"
"I don't swing that way" both Rose and River said in unison.
"Rose" River said softly. "One day I'm going to be someone you trust completely without a single doubt but we can't wait for you. So I'm going to prove it to you" she leaned in and whispered into Rose's ear "Bad Wolf and the Oncoming Storm forever. Captain Jack Harkness is the Face of Boe. Martha walked the Earth for a year. Your son's name is John; Donna Noble has let you inside her mind. Sarah Jane is your secure base"
Rose stood there staring at the woman in disbelieve. "How do you know all of that?" she whispered.
"Are we good? Rose are we good?" River asked pleadingly.
"Yeah we're good" Rose whispered.
"Good" River walked off back to the group.
"Do you want to know what's interesting about my sonic screwdriver?" Rose said suddenly causing them to look back at her. "Very hard to interfere with, practically nothing is strong enough, well Donna's hairdryer but I swear to god the TARDIS has done something to that. So that means there must be a very strong signal coming, something that wasn't there before. Any ideas?"
The others looked at each other with blank expressions.
"Well come on what's change?" Rose asked. "What's different from before?"
"I dunno" Other Dave said shrugging. "It's getting dark"
Rose rolled her eyes. "It's a screwdriver it can work in the dark" she looked up at the sky and smiled. "Moonlight. Tell me about the moon, what's there?"
"It's not real" Mr Lux said "it was built as part of the Library. It's just a doctor moon"
"What's a doctor moon?" Rose asked.
"A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet" Mr Lux explained.
Rose turned the sonic screwdriver on and held it up. "Well, it's still active, it's signalling, look. Someone somewhere is in this Library alive and is communicating with the moon or possibly alive and nicked Donna's hairdryer which means they haven't got long to live. Oh wait no the signal is definitely coming from the moon, I'm blocking it but it's trying to get through"
Suddenly before Rose stood a fuzzy blue washout image of Donna.
"Rose!" River shouted.
"Donna!" Rose called out.
Suddenly the image faded as quickly as it appeared.
"Rose that was Donna, we can get her back...what was that?" River asked.
"Hold on, hold on, hold on, I'm trying to find the wavelength" Rose said screwing her eyes on in concentration. "Damn it I'm being blocked!"
"Professor?" Anita said meekly looking terrified.
"Just a moment sweetie"
"But it's important...I have two shadows"
River paused and took a deep breath. "All right everyone helmets on. Anita I'll get you yours"
"It didn't do Proper Dave any good" Anita said sadly looking close to tears.
"Just keep it together, ok?" River said coming towards Anita with her helmet as Anita began to sob.
"Keeping it together, I'm only crying, I'm about to die, it's not an overreaction" Anita snarled as tears fell fast.
River smiled at her sadly as she put on the helmet. "Hold on" Rose said walking towards them and uses the sonic screwdriver to make the visor dark.
"Oh my god that got inside!" River gasped.
"No I just tinted her visor" Rose said reassuringly. "Maybe they'll think that they already have her and leave her alone."
"Do you think they could be fooled by that?" River asked sceptically.
"Maybe I don't know" Rose said shrugging. "It's a swarm not like I ever had a cup of tea with them, and had a good natter"
"Can you still see in there?" Other Dave asked Anita.
"Just about" Anita replied.
"Erm Professor Song can I have a word?" Rose asked nervously tugging River away.
"What?"
"Down here" Rose muttered pulling River down into a crouching position.
"What is it?"
"You said there was five people alive in this room"
"Yeah so?"
"So why is it that I can see six?"
Everyone turned to see another person in an astronaut suit standing in the background.
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
"RUN!"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
The group ran through a corridor connecting two buildings together, Rose suddenly stopped and glanced back.
"Professor go ahead and find somewhere to hide that's safe" she said.
"For God sake Blondie it's a carnivorous swarm in a suit you can't reason with it!" River exploded.
"I got to try" Rose said. "The-"
"Doctor would have wanted you to try, I know, I know" River said rolling her eyes.
"Five minutes, please" Rose said pleadingly.
"Other Dave stay with her and pull her out when she's having a dumb blonde moment. You have two minutes Rose Marion Tyler before I'll track you down myself" River said sighing and glaring at Rose before her, Mr Lux and Anita ran off down the corridor.
"Hey who turned out the lights?"
Rose took a step forwards to the skeleton "you hear those words?" she said quietly. "Those words were the last words of the man that wore that suit before you climbed inside it and stripped off his flesh. That is a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don't have the decency to let him go how about you use it to talk to me. It's easy just point and think, use him to talk to me"
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
"The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system but you hunt in forests. What are you doing in a library?"
"Rose we should go!" Other Dave said pleadingly.
"In a minute. You came to the Library to hunt, why? Just tell me why"
"We...did...not" the skeleton grated out.
"Oh hello" Rose said beaming.
"We did not"
"Take it easy, you'll get the hang of it. What did you not do?"
"We...did not...come here" the Vashta Nerada said.
"But you did!" Rose exclaimed.
"We come from here"
"From here?" Rose repeated looking puzzled.
"We hatched here"
"But your kind hatch in trees, from spores in trees"
"These are our forests"
"But look around you you're not in a forest!"
"These are our forests"
"But you're not in a forest, you're in..." Rose inhaled sharply in realisation. "A library..."
"We should go Rose" Other Dave said panicking more.
"Books. You came in the books, million, million books..."
"We should go Rose" Other Dave said.
"Oh but look Dave" Rose said looking out to the shelves. "The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped, printed and bound. A million, million books hatching shadows"
"We should go Rose"
Rose turned to face Other Dave with a frown on her face, her face softened when she saw the neural relay blinking. "Oh Dave, I'm so sorry" she whispered.
The two skeletons walked closer to Rose cornering her.
"Hey who turned out the lights?"
"We should go Rose"
"Thing about me is, I'm stupid, a complete and utter blonde. Babbling constantly must have got that from the Doctor, but the reason I'm still alive is...well I always stay by a door" she pointed the sonic screwdriver down at the trap door and fell through.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
"You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them? It's like they're not quite... finished, they're not done yet. Well... yes, Rose is here. She came when I called, just like she always does. But not my Rose. Now my Rose... I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And she'd just swagger off back to her TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of her fingers. Rose... in the TARDIS... next stop: everywhere" River said with a far away look on her face.
Rose stepped into the room with a frown on her face. "Spoilers!" she snapped out. "Nobody can open the TARDIS by snapping their fingers, she considers it too rude!"
"She does for Rose" River shot back.
"I am Rose!"
"You are a child compared to her!"
Rose turned round ignoring her "how are you?" she asked Anita softly.
"Where's Other Dave?" River demanded.
"Not coming, I'm sorry" Rose replied.
"Well if they've taken him then why haven't they taken me?" Anita asked.
"I don't know" Rose looked down and saw that Anita still had two shadows. "Maybe the tint is the difference"
"It's making a difference all right. No one will ever see my face again" Anita said bitterly.
"Can I get you anything?" Rose asked.
"An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?" Anita asked in a joking voice.
"I'll try" Rose promised.
"Rose...when we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered words in your ear and you did. My life so far...I could do with words like that. What did she say?" she paused for a moment. "Give a dead girl a break, your secrets are safe with me"
"Safe" Rose whispered, her eyes widening in realisation.
"What?" Anita asked.
"Safe. You don't say saved, nobody says saved you say safe. The data fragment what did it say?" Rose said.
"4022 people saved no survivors" Mr Lux said slowly.
"Rose?" River asked.
"Nobody says saved, only nutters say saved, you say safe. But you see it didn't mean safe it literally meant...saved!"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Rose was working on one of the computers. "See here it is. Hundred years ago there was massive power surge, all the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle someone hit the alarm and the computer tried to teleport everyone out"
"It tried to teleport 4022 people" River said in disbelieve.
"It succeeded. Pulled them all out but then what happens? No where is safe. 4022 people stuck in a system like emails, so what does the computer do? "
"It saved them" River breathed.
"The Library, a whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved 4022 people in the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive" Rose continued.
Suddenly an alarm echoed through.
"What is it?" Mr Lux asked panicked. "What's wrong?"
"Autodestruct enabled, twenty minutes" a computerised voice said.
"What's maximum erasure?" River asked reading over Rose's shoulder.
"Twenty minutes" Rose said quietly. "Then this planet is going to crack like an egg"
"No! No! It's all right doctor moon will stop it! It's programmed to protect CAL" Mr Lux shouted looking worried and terrified.
Suddenly the screen went blank.
"NO!" Rose shouted.
"All Library systems are offline" the computerised voice said. "Sorry for any inconvenience. Shortly..."
"We need to stop this, we got to save CAL!" Mr Lux shouted.
"What is CAL?" Rose asked.
"We need to get to the main computer and then I'll show you" Mr Lux said. At that moment Rose saw not the arrogant man that wanted someone to sign a bloody contract but a man who was concerned for something that might be living.
"But that's at the core of the planet; how the hell will we get there in time?" Rose shrieked.
"Well then we best get moving" River said in a no nonsense voice. She pulled out her sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the floor at a symbol, it opens up. "Gravity platform"
"I bet I like you" Rose said admiringly.
"Oh trust me you do" River said with a cheeky grin.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
They found the main computer and Rose began to rapidly work but it wouldn't leave sleep mode. Soon everyone heard a child's voice...a little girl begging.
"Help me, please help me"
"What was that?" Anita asked.
"Was that a child?" River asked.
"The computer is in sleep mode. I'm trying to wake it up, I am!" Rose said through gritted teeth as she fiddled with some keys.
"Rose these readings" River said.
"I know, it's like its dreaming"
"It is dreaming" Mr Lux said quietly. "Of a normal life with a lovely dad and of every book ever written"
"Computers don't dream!" Anita snapped.
"No but little girls do" Mr Lux went to a door and pushed down a lever to open it. The others followed quickly and gasped and what they saw.
"Please help me, please help me" said the little girl's face on a NODE.
"Oh my god!" River shouted.
"It's the little girl, the little girl we saw in the computer" Anita whispered.
"She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command NODE. This is CAL." Mr Lux said calmly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Rose asked. "I needed to know this to be able to help"
"Because she's family! CAL... Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library, and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time, any era to live in, and any book to read. She loved books more than anything. He gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show."
"You weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her" Rose said admiringly.
"It's only half a life of course but it's forever" Mr Lux said.
"And then the shadows came" Rose whispered.
"Shadows. I have to... I have to save. Have to save..." Cal whimpered.
"And she saved them. She saved everyone in the Library, folded them into her dreams and kept them safe." Rose said smiling
"Then why didn't she tell us?" Anita asked.
"Because she's forgotten. She's got over 4,000 living minds chatting away inside her head" Rose explained.
"So what do we do?" River asked.
"Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core, the computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult, Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer and she can borrow my memory space!" Rose babbled.
"Difficult! It'll kill you stone dead!" River shrieked.
"Yeah, it's easy to criticise" Rose shrugged.
"It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate!" River argued.
"I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing." Rose said reassuringly.
"ROSE!"
"I'm right and this works! Shut up. Now listen, you and Luxy-boy, back up to the main Library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing as your air, shut up!"
"Ha! I hate you sometimes!"
"But you love me any other time"
"Mr Lux, with me! Anita, if she dies, I'll kill her!" River snapped storming past Rose.
"Bit of a waste of a resurrection" Rose muttered under her breath.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Rose began to work quickly when Anita kept questioning her. From one glance she knew that Anita was dead and she wanted to kill every last Vashta Nerada for that, instead she negotiated with them to give her one day to get everyone out. Just as River came in Anita's body collapsed.
"ANITA!"
"I'm so sorry River but she was long gone" Rose said softly as she continued to work. "I thought I told you to go!"
"Yes but you need me more than Mr Lux" River said she walked up to Rose and suddenly knocked her out from the behind.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Rose woke up to find herself handcuffed to a pillar, River was sitting in a chair fiddling with the wires and picking up a silver metal headdress thing .
"NO!" Rose shouted. "Don't do that, that's my job!"
"Oh and I'm not allowed a career. Think again Blondie" River snapped.
"Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?" Rose asked yanking her wrist.
"Spoilers" River said winking.
"This is not a joke, stop this now, this is gonna kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any." Rose snarled.
"You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I. I'm timing it for the end of the countdown, there'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download" River snapped back.
"River please don't do this!" Rose begged.
"The thing is Rose, I knew this day was coming, do you know I'm right here in the Library at a much younger age? We were children practically Rose when we met but then so much had happened and oh how we grew. We both knew this day was coming, I was just hoping you would have figured something out to save me...guess not"
"Autodestruct in one minute" the computerised voice said.
"You can't do this!" Rose said a tear falling down her cheek.
"You were so right Rose" River breathed. "This life was so much better with three and no I am not talking threesomes with you. Not my style. But the company was good, the friendship, the sibling love...I miss you two"
"Autodestruct in ten..."
"The things you whispered in my ear" Rose said trying not to cry. "The only people that would know...the only person I would tell everything..."
"...nine, eight, seven..."
"Shh...Spoilers" River said trying her hardest not to cry. "You never could keep me away from the major plot line could you?" she smiled tenderly down at Rose.
"...three, two, one..."
"But how?" Rose shouted.
River didn't reply, she pulled the two plugs together and vanished in a blinding white flash.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Rose leaned against a pillar, her arms wrapped round herself as if to keep herself safe from all the hurt and pain. Donna stepped to her side and leaned against the pillar with her.
"Any luck?" Rose asked.
"There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the Library that day. Suppose he could have had a different name out here, but let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?" Donna said sighing.
"Maybe not" Rose said quietly.
"I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?"
"Everything." Donna turned round and slapped Rose in the arm. "Ow! I meant nothing, nothing at all, everything just sort of slipped out"
"What about you? Are you all right?" Donna asked looking concerned.
"I'm always all right." Rose lied causing Donna to snort.
"Is 'all right' special Time Lady Code for... 'Really not all right at all'?"
"Why?"
"Cos I'm 'all right', too."
Rose smiled sadly at Donna and took her hand. "Lets get out of here" she mumbled pulling the redhead away. They passed a table and Rose placed the journal down on it with the sonic screwdriver on top.
"River said...she said that she's lived through this twice" Donna said slowly. "We could always peek and see why"
"Spoilers Donna, you don't want it spoiled" Rose admonished Donna. "Come on we have the next chapter to go through, it's over there" she pointed through the doors where the TARDIS was. She paused and went back to the sonic screwdriver. "Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that? Thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what she did was give her a screwdriver! Why would I do that?" Rose pulled off the top to reveal a neural relay. "Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that! I'm very good!"
"What have you done?" Donna asked.
"I saved her!" Rose shouted running back to the main computer, back to CAL.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
The sound of the TARDIS engines could be heard, CAL blinked as she watched the blue box materialise. The door opened and two men and a woman stepped out. They quickly and silently worked on her. She giggled at the men's curse words and the woman who was lecturing them for swearing in front of a child. CAL blushed when one of the men winked at her who caused the other man and the woman to shout at him.
Suddenly she felt one of the people she saved be pulled out of her and there standing in front of her looking shocked and annoyed was the nice Professor River Song.
"I was in the middle of bedtime story!" she snapped.
"Oh come of it, they're not your real kids" the new woman scoffed.
"Watch it Blondie!"
"Welcome back to the land of the living gorgeous" one of the men said winking.
"Stuff it Harkness" River snarled. "I thought you said better with three? Why is he here?"
"Because deep down you love me" Harkness said wrapping an arm round River's waist. "God I missed you" he bent down and placed a kiss on her lips.
"Always the charmer Captain" the other man muttered.
"I was born that way" Harkness said. "Unlike you who seems to irritate people wherever you go Doc"
"I thought I told you not to call me Doc!" the man shouted as the four of them went back into the TARDIS.
Cal watched the box disappeared and giggled to herself. "And they lived happily ever after...for now" she murmured to herself.