The door swung shut behind her. Pitch dark, Bernice turned up the light on her watch until it was a gleaming flare in the blackness.
The warehouse was hardly disused- it was utterly packed with any number of items, cables and machine parts especially. Yet there was no evidence of life. None at all. So much so that she was disturbing layers of dust that wouldn't be there if someone made so much as a breath in here. ...Except it didn't cover some things whatsoever. She could judge just how long something had been here simply by the amount of filmy grime that built up atop each item.
Maybe they automated this warehouse, and robots moved things from place to place.
No.
That didn't make any sense. This planet seemed to rely far too heavily on organic labour. There wouldn't be so many people out and about on the slidewalks, adorned in dull work clothes to make their commutes if that wasn't the case. And nothing seemed to be special about this place at all.
There was something off here, and it was kind to say it only set Bernice on edge.
She turned the light down just in case, and crept forwards, each footstep as soft against the concrete floor as she could make them.
Which direction was it? The reading was definitely quite high now, but there was hardly an arrow saying where she'd have to turn.
So Benny took a breath, and pressed on.
Reaching the end of that hall, there was the main storage room. It was a deep void, simply by the virtue of being so large, her light was hardly a candle in the dark. She had no idea how tall the ceiling on this section was, nor how far down the rows of shelves went. It made her feel cold.
Bernice continued to scan the shelves in hopes that it had some semblance of being sorted and one of these seemingly endless rows had artefacts. It would be even more optimistic to consider those might be labelled.
Not that Benny expected to be that lucky, but nothing here- she just had to keep going farther in.
She turned one way and kept searching through the ends of each row. More nothing, and a glance at the scanner gave yet weaker readings than before. Bernice quietly swore at having to turn around. Was it even in here? It had to be.
All she wanted to do right now was go home and sit through some paperwork. Maybe dig in an old sewage pit. Or something other than this needle in a haystack. A temporally unsound needle in a haystack that she could only scrape through an inch of at a time with the rest done blind, being generous.
Finally, the energy signature seemed to be increasing again. She sighed in relief and trudged forward, back past where she got in the room from.
The signal shot up. She blinked at the screen. "Alright... that's pretty high, actually. Let's go a little further..."
After a while more walking, she was able to determine where it peaked and finally slipped into the correct aisle. There did indeed seem to be artefacts here. Good sign.
Now for a lot of digging. And not the fun kind.
Bernice tugged herself along until she found it. It centred itself exactly here. It had to be within a distance of four meters. Which was still a lot of boxes. And a lot of things she'd be unable to reach.
Grumbling again, she set the clunky scanner down and started pulling at a box. Take down the box, put it on the ground by the scanner to check for fluctuations, put it back, rinse and repeat.
After a lot of strain, she herself felt something, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. This was the one, she was sure of it.
And she was right.
Immediately opening it and beginning to dig through it with reckless abandon, she scraped her hand on pottery chips, her eyes widened when one stood out from the rest.
The static feeling was even stronger now, and when she touched it, it faintly glowed, remnants of the interlocking Gallifreyan pattern illuminated. Benny had no doubt that making completely unprotected contact for anyone else there would've been some kind of grievous bodily harm, but her fine ring kept her immune. That also seemed to be what was making its inscription take on a golden gleam- the engravings around the band were doing the same.
And then she was blinded.
The bright lights that turned on at the object's movement and their accompanying alarm overwhelmed her senses and she was left a stunned deer in headlights.
It took a few agonizing seconds for her to adjust and fall into instincts, Benny's brain reflexively shouting to run, the muscles in her legs firing on all cylinders as she booked it.
"Aghh- cruk-!"
Bernice shrieked when a sharp pain shot up from her knee. It must've been the lifting boxes that did it. Her left one had been bothering her for a while, arthritis setting in with the joint wearing out despite her apparent youth elsewhere, and she'd been too stubborn to get it checked because it hadn't been that bad. -No, it had been. It just never stopped her in her tracks like this before. At least not when there was danger and she had no option but to run.
Benny let up on the pressure and limped forward, trying to press on despite beginning to hear footsteps approaching, faint under the blaring siren.
"Come on- come on... Bollocks."
The figures of two Draconians. Each wearing some kind of guard uniform, each carrying a gun. And she couldn't escape. Not while she was like this.
Her eyes shone with fear when one of them smirked and drew the weapon.
He pulled the trigger, and with another shot of agony, she felt her legs buckle beneath her as it all faded to black.
There was a ringing in her ears that slowly faded, the pain still pulsing through her body as Bernice awoke. She couldn't feel much other than burning, but Benny could already tell that she was tied up. Eyes sluggishly bringing themselves to open, her sights were immediately set on the two Draconians in front of her.
Then they slowly drifted down to someone else tied up in a position similar to hers- a man.
A humanoid man.
A humanoid man with curly locks of auburn hair, and kind ocean blue eyes that sparkled like sapphires, and a frock coat of green velvet and-
"Doctor?!"
"Bernice!"
A massive smile broke over his face when he finally saw his old friend properly.
Unfortunately, at the moment, Benny wasn't entirely enthused. She shouted at him.
"How did you get here!?"
"How did you get here?!" he echoed.
"Silence!" a guard hissed, stepping on her toe.
The Doctor managed to hold his tongue. With the two people pointing guns at them, Bernice only sighed as well. Nothing worthwhile in pointing out the obvious observation that this had all been a trap. What was the trap for? No idea.
"Bernice Summerfield..." he began, "You have violated the terms of the Braxiatel-Draconian Protection Order. You lack papers, an escort, and you came with intent to break other laws."
"...My ship crashed because I was out of fuel?" she echoed Braxiatel.
The other guard responded in kind. "I am afraid that no excuse made would get you out of this situation, Bernice Summerfield. You are a traitor to the Draconian Empire."
His expressions were hard to read, but his voice suggested that they get much did not want her to be here legally at all, and it dawned on her.
"...You'd just say I had no papers even if I did, wouldn't you? You want this."
She got slapped on the back of the head, wincing. "That is a disrespectful, unfounded accusation. However... correct."
"Now that's not very upstanding, is it?" the Doctor asked, like an adult with a child they were trying to teach right and wrong.
Benny grimaced. This wasn't looking good. "Well... I did actually break into a warehouse full well knowing what thin ice I'm already on with them."
"We broke into a warehouse. At separate points. I got tied to this very uncomfortable chair five days ago for doing it."
"Five days?"
"Yes."
"Sorry, could you loosen it a bit? Being tied up is really not my thing anymore. Five days- could you both not?"
"You've already been here passed out for two," he added.
No wonder she was hungry. Oh, god. Two days. She'd been missing for two days.
Her train of thought was halted in its tracks when the right guard spoke. "While both criminals, you were each discovered searching for the Seal of Time. Your knowledge and skill may be useful to us."
She groaned. This same old situation, again. "You're running after the power, aren't you? And you want us to help you get it?"
"Correct."
"That's not a very wise idea, let me tell you," the Time Lord advised.
But like always, they didn't listen to him, having already gotten an idea of what he'd be useful for, instead eyeing Bernice like an insect under a microscope.
"Your value will be determined on a medical scan."
"Great, thanks but no thanks. Had one recently, results were boring."
They didn't directly respond beyond a raised eyebrow, only watching and waiting as a medscanner extended from the wall. Tapping on the screen with a few beeps, it stung more than tingled this time, probably because of the dull ache she was still experiencing.
The one looking at the scanner raised an eyebrow.
"Your scans are... contaminated."
She did the same. What the hell was he on about?
"What do you mean?"
"They show detectable traces of Gallifreyan DNA on your person. Explain yourself," he ordered.
"Irving? How would you- I had a wash... Oh. Hang on. ...Eugh! " Benny blushed, then grimaced at the realization, an expression that slowly faded as she tried to think positively. "...At least you put it lightly."
"Benny- what did you do? What is it from?"
Oh, this was going to be awkward. Very awkward indeed. "Take a guess. Three letters. Starts with 's,' ends with 'x.'"
There was a long, awkward silence as the gears turned in his head, and his eyes widened in disgusted realization.
"Bernice!"
"...And, you guessed."
"I found out you were 'with' him in some way, but that?"
"You did?! What did you take it for then?" she shot back.
He only shrugged. His line of thinking was slightly skewed, if not logical by most sane points of view. "I thought it was a cry for help and you were heading this way to escape. Came here to this era to check on you, realized I was a few days early, then the signal caught my attention. 'Partner in all things' just doesn't sound very you, does it?"
"...Alright, fair. But it was very much not a cry for help and our relationship is fine," she assured him.
"Alright, alright. Point taken, but I didn't want to think about Brax doing... that." He looked like there was a bad taste in his mouth.
"You wouldn't care half as much if you hadn't gotten to me first, would you?" Considering that, the sense of the Doctor ignoring the possibility evened out.
"You know that only makes it worse."
"You're not denying it."
There was a pause.
"...A little."
"Silence!"
Bernice grumbled.
"In addition..." One of them recited an odd detail to be caught, here of all places,"-Your central nervous system is also contaminated with dormant cyber nanites."
At hearing those words, the colour drained from her face. Benny's eyes turned desperate and pleading, lost.
"It can't be- no, no. Goddess, no. Not this. Not something in my head, again and again! There isn't! They've got to be gone! There was nothing on my last scan!" But how could he know enough about it to lie? She was grasping at straws trying to deny it, fighting tooth and nail not to panic or break down. Over that simple idea.
Of your actions not really being your own.
Of having everything you do watched at all hours.
Of your experiences being warped.
Of sharing your body with a parasite.
Gathering together all her will, Bernice furiously grunted and struggled in her bonds.
"There is no need to struggle. The nanites being in your system already does save us some time."
Her head shot up and she stared dead-on at the Draconian who said it.
"It what?!"
The Doctor wasn't half as terrified as she was, but she could see him making a similar, if more restrained expression.
"What are you going to do to her!?"
One of their captors moved the medical scanner to show both of them something different, something which explained quite a few of the many, many things that were off about this place.
An overlay of a Cyberman on the humanoid outline, with a word flashing next to it in big, bold letters.
'Compatible.'
"No- no. No. I'm not! I am absolutely crukking not!"
That made some things click right into place in the Doctor's head. There was that particular conflicted look about him now, having discovered something he hadn't known, only for that thing to be horrible. "...I had long been wondering exactly why the workers on the streets were acting like zombified drones. And the settled dust in the warehouse with hardly any signs of oxygen circulation."
"This isn't a joint colony, is it? It isn't that at all." She tried not to gag at all the memories, still seemingly so fresh in her mind. "No.
...This is a meat grinder."
They seemed so indignant about it too, even though she was being far more polite about it than anyone deserved.
The Doctor shook his head. "Now why the Cybermen- isn't that stooping low?"
"This is way more of a violation of our agreement than me just being here. You'll start a massive bloody war!" She growled indignantly, yet still genuine in her warning.
"We are aware."
That made her sit back, the primary sign of her anger still remaining was her scowl and twitching eye.
"You all secretly want one. Great."
But she was corrected.
"Not the Draconian Empire. But it would be of mutual benefit to those of us with more traditional ideals, as well as the Cybermen. Your knowledge of time travel will make you a strong resource."
It took so little time for the two prisoners to put it all together.
The Doctor shook his head in disbelief. "The Cybermen want to rebuild the Seal of Time to control the timelines, and you want to take over the Empire. You're doing something very foolish by helping them, you know?"
"And they definitely both want the Collection too. It's obvious why."
Someone wanted Braxiatel's TARDIS. Again.
"Enough!"
Her chair was pulled forward, away from the Doctor's, and his was brought in the opposite direction, until they were in separate rooms, only shouts were loud enough to be heard between them.
Bernice couldn't distract herself anymore with the Doctor being dragged away, the only word she could think of being 'Compatible,' flashing over and over again in her head. Her head that kept betraying her.
After getting them into position, the grunts whispered amongst each other and split, standing by the entrance she was facing as the iron door to the room slid open and the figure of someone familiar passed through.
Ambassador Kothar.
"Bastard!"
Her expression turned from a mix of fear, annoyance, and attempts at remaining logical, to unrepentant rage, her dark eyes glaring daggers at the man.
He rolled his eyes in disgust. "Know your place, Professor Summerfield. You are fortunate to not have your capture made public. That would accelerate the breakdown of the treaty and allow us to destroy the Mim."
'Fortunate' was a kind word.
"But...?" she muttered through gritted teeth.
He smiled. She didn't think she'd ever seen a Draconian smile before. Or if she had, it was while they were torturing her.
His voice was deceptively refined for the savagery he was telling her about. "The Cybermen wanted you. And having you may slow down our plans, but it will make them more tidy."
Much as she was trying not to panic, she taunted him. Her sarcasm and dry wit hid the fear enough times. "Shame Brax probably already knows I've been captured. I might've 'run out of fuel,' but he'd know where I ended up. And it's been two days, he said? I've been making a habit of calling Irving twice a day. And he knows how to spin things just as well as a snake like you."
He made a quiet 'hmph.'
"Then we must convert you quickly."
"Wait- no, no! Cruk-" she screamed.
"Bernice!"
"Doctor!"
She heard the Doctor calling for her in the other room, she looked back, hoping to see his face, but she was only faced with a wall.
The brutes cut away her bonds and roughly took her by each arm, a grip far too strong to pull out of. She kicked her legs, managing to make the left one wince when she stepped on his foot, but it didn't break his stance and they continued dragging her away.
As Bernice was pulled along into and through the now-lit storage area, she had a better look at some of the contents of this warehouse. With fresh eyes and some context, she saw every single little machine part, what it was, how they all fit together in creating monsters. She nearly vomited.
The trap was so obvious, too. Benny was the perfect target for all this as well. If only she wasn't so single-minded and trusted her gut to get the hell off this planet while she still could.
If she ended up in a conversion chamber again and survived it, she'd finally give in and really try to get back at them all.
And if she didn't make it through in one piece, maybe she still had a chance to stop them. Even if she wasn't herself anymore, maybe if she forced enough of her will into it, the new Bernice Summerfield could break the programming.
It worked for Jason, and it worked for poor Wulf too.
Well... it worked for long enough. Barely.
"Let me go, or you'll regret it. You'll all regret it," she snarled, desperation still seeping through in her tone.
Neither of them spoke, only gripping onto her harder, their sharp claws tearing at her shirtsleeves.
They paraded her down, further and further, until they reached a door at the very back of the building.
It opened to reveal precisely what she was now dreading, and Benny's heart sank.
The factory floor.