DOCTOR WHO: RISE OF THE SMILERS
Chapter 5
As the Doctor and Rory were running free from the charge of guards and the imminent arrival of Smilers, Liz was being taken away back to the quasher brigade base to collect her belongings before she was now to stay in the cells at the command of the government. When she entered the base, all she could see was blood splattered all across the white walls.
"What's happened?" she said worried. "Dennis? Helen? Are you ok?" but she gained no response. She told the guards to wait outside as she searched the base high and low for her other colleagues. After what had happened with Simon earlier on that day, Liz couldn't bear the thought of losing even more of her team. "Guys, I'm being serious….are you just joking with me? That blood isn't either of yours is it?" but again Liz didn't get a response. She searched all around the base three times and couldn't locate either Dennis or Helen. Something very wrong had happened but she just got her belongings and resumed being escorted back to her new home, her cell hoping the Cordale's were fine. The blood on the walls though was making that possibility unlikely though…
"You are not perfect…you have escaped from government control…you must die." boomed several Smilers as they cornered the Doctor and Rory. As the seconds ticked by, seemingly more and more Smilers poured into the ancient corridors of the government building to stop the Doctor and Rory getting free.
"What are we going to do, Doctor?" worried Rory as Smilers were almost at touching point. "Do something now!" he added but the Doctor seemed unsure. He got out his sonic and aimed it at as many Smilers as possible but it was having no effect.
"Ooh, Smilers have evolved a little bit then…" he remarked as he pointed it around as much as possible. Soon, he just passed the sonic over to Rory to keep on trying while he thought through a plan.
"Attack at will!" called a voice that belonged to Malcolm from in the distance.
"He's not a kind man is he?" Rory said as he pointed the sonic around even more. As he did this, Rory noticed that in the mass Smiler pileup he saw what looked like Amy's face among the crowd. He thought he was seeing things but he wasn't, it was Amy in Smiler form.
"Rory…" she called out in a slightly mechanical tone. The Doctor soon realised this too and both he and Rory just began to smile.
"Pond!" he declared grandly. "Use your strength like you've never used it before…"
"Come on!" added Rory as the Amy Smiler began to barge her way through the Smiler crowd. She hauled several to the ground and kicked many along the way before she then charged passed the Doctor and Rory to clear the path on the other side. The Doctor and Rory rushed along too and soon they'd made it clear once more.
"Oh, they're good…" Malcolm smiled before he began to return to his office. "The love of a good friend will always cloud the danger for time being." When he got back to his grand office though, Leeds was waiting for him with two unexpected guests. "The Cordale's?" he said stunned as there before were Helen and Dennis Cordale. Their clothes were blood-stained but Dennis looked especially chipper.
"It's working, sir…" Dennis said to Malcolm. Helen didn't want to acknowledge anything and was as nervous as ever. Malcolm just went over to the pair of them and patted them on their shoulders.
"Good…" he said simply. "You've picked the right side to be on…"
In a cold, deserted part of the government building the Doctor, Rory and the Smiler-like Amy were all happy to be together.
"The trio's back and were better than ever before!" the Doctor smiled as he hugged Rory and then Amy tightly.
"What's happened to me though?" Amy asked mechanically. "I'm not me at all…"
"Somehow the Smilers have advanced from just being an android race to something where they can take humans to become part of them. Amy, I don't know how they've done it but me and Rory will sort you out."
"I'll kill you if you don't…" Amy joked.
"Oh I wouldn't joke about that…" the Doctor warned. "You've only got a few hours until you're lost into the Smiler forever…"
"I what?" Amy asked.
"If we don't right this Amy….we'll lose you as the Smiler takes over. Your face is gradually going to disappear as the hours pass by…" the Doctor explained. Rory consoled Amy by hugging her except it didn't feel like Amy whatsoever.
"We'll sort you out…we promise…" he whispered to her but as he pulled away, Amy was looking far less like Amy and more like a Smiler by the moment. Both he and the Doctor had to act fast…
"I do not agree with any of this fooling about…" Helen shouted loudly in Malcolm's office. The once quiet and shy mousy woman was now the complete opposite as she didn't want to betray any of her friends.
"It's for the greater good, dear…" reassured Dennis.
"It is not!" retorted Helen as she slapped her husband across the face. "I hope to god all of you suffer from this. Government conspiracies don't compare with this one and you've been testing my patience for some time."
"Well we all know that it's Dennis that does all the work, Helen…you just stand and agree with him." Malcolm unwisely observed."30 years of wonderful research into the sustainability of this planet with both of you sharing the acclaim has gone on long enough. Now, with you working for me, Dennis will rightly get the praise he deserves." Helen was fuming and was about to slap Malcolm across the face too but Dennis stopped her.
"If you don't agree with any of this dear, then leave. We were doing this for the children. Peace of mind with security around ourselves, don't you want that?" Dennis asked.
"I'd like the Smilers to be gone forever and then our lives can be back to normal. We were fine until that idiot came into power!" Helen continued. "Our children are fully grown up dear, accept that. You did all of this underhand dealing behind Liz's back and now look. What have we gained?"
"Safety…" Dennis replied simply. Helen then began to realise as the seconds passed by, this had been going on for longer than she'd realised.
"Oh god…" she said. "You made Simon leave didn't you? There was no need for him to get any extra supplies on that morning. You lied to him….and what the hell has happened to him?"
"I can confirm Mr Dahl is deceased Helen…" Leeds informed her subduedly.
"Oh dear god…" Helen said. "Dennis, if you seriously thought taking away our friends to be on the side of the enemy was in our best interests, you most certainly got it wrong…" she added before running out of the office in such an emotional state. Her whole world was shattering around her and she didn't know where to go but as she left into the corridors, a woman observed her from afar.
"Smilers…eliminate her, for real this time…" the woman said eerily before vanishing into the darkness of unlit corridors.
"My loyal subjects, this is your queen speaking…" began Liz solemnly from her cell. This time it was a live video message stream to be shown across the nation. "It would appear that my time in our ambitions to overhaul our Smiler fears is at an end. Malcolm Montgomery is a fine man…" she continued through gritted teeth. She was incredibly nervous as a gun was being held to her head just out of view of the camera. "…but do not listen to these false words of mine…" she continued as the cocking of a gun was heard. "A man called the Doctor and his dear friends are out there to help us all and before they let me know later on….Dennis and Helen, I knew you were against me, as is seemingly everyone." The video link then suddenly ended but the sound was still present as the gunfire was heard. Then all fell silent…
The Doctor and Rory were slowly helping the Smiler-like Amy along as she was slowly seizing up as the minutes passed by. Amy's pace was being replaced by the Smiler's gait, which wasn't a very quick one at that. The Doctor kept using his sonic against her to determine any change in the android makeup he could see, but nothing major was happening.
"We need to act fast Rory, she's stabilising towards the wrong side…the Smiler side…" the Doctor said worriedly. Rory was just as worried but didn't want to show it to his wife. She'd seen him nervous on many occasions with the Doctor but now he thought it wasn't the right moment to show it. Soon they encountered a passageway that had been left open through to another dark and mysterious level within the cathedral government headquarters. It was bathed in a blood red light but the trio carried on down the steps to see what was there and to get out of the way of Malcolm and the other Smilers.
"What is this place?" Rory asked the red light intensified and the heat increased. The Doctor was just as confused but Amy answered for them. Her brain was now being fused with Smiler thoughts and she couldn't prevent them coming through.
"It's the conversion hub…" she said more mechanically than ever. "Empty Smilers are left here once a life has been taken from them and they lie in wait of a new passenger."
"But they're still androids…" the Doctor pointed out. "…they can still roam and protect at will…they don't need to take humans, never have and never will."
"Doctor, sometimes I just wish you wouldn't say things like that…" Rory said in a panic. The Doctor looked over and there he could see Smilers rising through the heated mist and exiting through passageways to the outer levels of Bonsarviss.
"What's happening with them?" Amy asked before her Smiler-self answered. "They're going out onto the streets to make way for those who are only perfect. The imperfections of society will be got rid of in an instant." she added as suddenly she grew in strength and followed the Smilers en masse towards the streets.
"Amy…don't!" shouted the Doctor. "Give in to temptation and stay here. If you go out there we're going to lose our Amy forever to an android mannequin. What will your parents think?"
"What will I think?" Rory then asked. "I'm her husband. I want to be married to Amy, not to a Smiler. Amy, come back…" he added as he tried to stop Amy marching on but it was no use.
"My duties are called; I must rid Bonsarviss of the imperfections…" Amy said as she walked out. Rory tried to follow her but he was brushed away by the Doctor.
"Rory, leave her for now….we've got to fix the problem here first…" he said authoritatively.
"But what about Amy?" Rory asked. "We can't just let her go out there and kill…"
"Amy will fight on…" said the Doctor. "She always does but we need to act now and stop this government."
"But it's Amy, she's my wife!" Rory protested angrily towards the Doctor. He just put his hands on Rory's shoulder and looked at him deep in the eyes.
"Rory, trust me. Trust me like Amy did as a seven-year old girl. I never let her down and I certainly won't let the Last Centurion down…" the Doctor said as his eyes showed all his age in one mere moment. Rory could tell he was being completely serious and knew the Doctor wouldn't let him down.
"I trust you…" Rory said nervously as he and the Doctor set off once more to fight back as Malcolm smiled on knowing the revolution was working…