Chapter 2

The Doctor was moved to the infirmary, where she passed out as she crossed the threshold. She did not respond to any of the attempts anyone made to awaken her.

Meanwhile, the shop mannequins began to move from their places, and one of them broke the glass in front of its shop, beginning a panic amongst the shoppers as the glass in front of the other shops began to shatter, and the mannequins stepped from the fronts of their shops. Their hands opened, revealing a gun in each one, and the mannequins began firing into the crowd.

The radio at UNIT began speaking.

"There's an attack in the middle of London, the mannequins apparently stepped out of their shop windows and began firing guns built into their hands into the crowd of shoppers."

"We're sending a squadron of men to help," Kate Stewart said into the radio, then began speaking orders into the radio, apparently to another set of people.

"Where's the Doctor? He'd know how to handle this."

"The Doctor is unable to do anything; she's just regenerated and she's out cold, won't respond to any external stimuli."

"Well, the Doctor needs to wake up soon, we need him."

"Her. The Doctor's a woman this time."

"Okay, we need her, then."

"We're working on it."

Kate picked up a thick manila folder and went back to the infirmary.

"Any change?" she asked Doctor Hayes.

"Not much. She's twitched a few times, and has exhaled a sparkling gold energy a few times, but that's about it."

"Things are going just right, then. I extracted the Doctor's medical file from the records from the 1970's to the 2000's, and this is apparently normal for the Doctor. He even wrote here, 'the after-effects of regeneration are erratic behavior, unconsciousness, and exhalation of excess regeneration energy (which appears as a glittering gold cloud). This can last up to fifteen hours.'" Kate looked up at Hayes from the folder. "Looks like we'll have to deal with the murderous mannequins ourselves. The Doctor's unable to help until she wakes up. I'll leave this with you." She put the folder on his desk and left the room.

"Stewart to Foxtrot, Stewart to Foxtrot, come in, please. I need a status report!"

"Foxtrot to Stewart, I hear you. We've lost about half of our squadron. Requesting backup."

"Denied. Retreat, Foxtrot. Take the remainder of your squadron and get the hell out of there! According to our records, those things are incredibly dangerous!" Kate shouted into her radio.

"Understood."

Kate sighed. She had no idea how to deal with this. She then had a thought and consulted the old records, from the 1970's. She dug through the files and found what she was searching for. She extracted a file and opened it.

"If shop mannequins come to life and begin attacking people, these are probably Autons. Autons are highly dangerous and difficult to kill. To be rid of the entire invasion, one must find the Nestene Consciousness and pour anti-plastic onto it. The Doctor supplied anti-plastic in the year 1974. He keeps separate stores inside his TARDIS. To kill individual Autons, one must remember that bullets are useless against it. Radio waves can disable it. It is also vulnerable to intense heat."

Kate looked up at the door. She replaced the file in its proper place and closed the drawer. She picked up her radio.

"We need to do something now about the Autons. Find the anti-plastic stores and send out a squadron to find the Nestene Consciousness. Arm them with heat guns. Instruct them that standard bullets are useless. The Nestene Consciousness looks like an octopus-type creature."

"Understood."

Kate stood up and went back to the infirmary, where the Doctor was curled up in the fetal position, shaking like mad. Doctor Hayes was testing her temperature and consulting the folder Kate had left earlier.

"How is she?"

"According to this folder, her behavior is extremely normal. It also signals that this part of the process is nearly complete. However, according to this, I need boiling hot tea. Like, brew the tea, and then boil the tea. Then allow the Doctor to inhale the vapors. Do you think you could get someone on that?"

"Of course." She then spoke into her radio. "Get some tea down here to the infirmary for the Doctor. Brew the tea, and then boil the tea. You heard me."

The tea was prepared and brought down to the infirmary, and the tea was placed to where the Doctor could inhale the vapors coming off of it. The Doctor inhaled the tea vapor and began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"The UNIT infirmary. Have you gotten a look at yourself in the mirror?" Doctor Hayes said. The Doctor shook her head. Kate pulled a compact mirror out of her pocket and handed it to the Time Lord. The Doctor got a good look at herself.

"I rather like the nose. Fits well with the face. Chin, not so bad. Eyes, a nice brown. Always been a fan of brown eyes. Aw, and still not ginger! I've always wanted to be ginger! Looks nice though. I'll get used to it. In time," she said before exhaling a small cloud of glittering gold energy that floated out the window. She handed the mirror back and climbed out of bed.

"Now, if you don't mind-" The Doctor had begun to stroll towards the door when Kate caught her by the arm.

"I do mind. You're not escaping in your TARDIS, not this time. You're going to help us quell the Auton invasion!"

The Doctor's face went white.

"Autons? Just let me get changed and I'll help you with the Autons. Feel free to stand in the console room so you can be sure I don't run out on you."

Kate followed the Doctor to the TARDIS, and stood in the console room while the Doctor changed clothes in the wardrobe room.

She looked through the clothes and found something quite suitable. She emerged from the room wearing dark blue skinny jeans, a white button-down shirt buttoned all the way up, a blue tie with white swirls embroidered in, brown knee-high heeled boots, a light blue frock coat with a sunflower brooch pinned onto the left lapel, and a straw boater hat with a blue hatband. Her waist-long brown hair was left down, falling down her back like a waterfall.

"Ready to save London!" The Doctor said with a smile on her face.