Doctor Who
By Tyloric
Chapter 7
Terran stood at the base of the structure, staring up at it, taking in the massiveness of it. Massive, yet nondescript. It was a giant, black, square building that had two large doors at the base, which were used as an entrance.
Professor Normal simply referred to the building as the Forge. The Forge was one of Normal's most prized creations, which was a bit ironic in itself. It was used to test other creations, like himself.
The Forge had six levels, each with its own unique defense system. The objective was to get to the sixth floor and destroy the target, what ever it may be. He was to do this by any means necessary.
To further the irony, there were rules. If Terran destroys the building without actually entering it, he fails. The hypocrisy of it boggled his mind. Why couldn't he just blow the building up?
"Are you ready, Terran?" Professor Normal's voice transmitted through his ear piece.
Terran responded with absolutely no hesitation, despite himself. "Yes." He pulled his gloves on, which blended nicely with his dark as night coat.
"Then proceed."
Terran pulled his goggles over is eyes and pushed the doors open and the test began.
***
The moment Terran's feet made contact with the bland tile floor the SDC, or Strategy Defense Computer, switched on. It's many sensors began sending and receiving data from all over the structure.
There was one target: Human, male, large in height, average build. Threat meter: Level one.
Statistics began forming within the central core, calculating all the possible routes this new comer could take to reach access to level two.
It selected a strategy and implemented it.
***
The door clicked close behind him and as it did the lights came on one row at a time, starting at the back of the building and moving towards the front.
There was an elevator on the opposite wall, roughly one hundred feet away. The tiles on the floor were white out lined with black, like a kitchen floor. He spotted sonic sensors dotted across the ceiling all over the room, with cameras in the corners. It looked as if there was nothing obstructing his way to the elevator.
He took a cautious step forward, his boots thumping across the floor. When nothing happened, he took another step, his eyes darting to each side of the room rapidly, afraid he might miss something.
He had traveled maybe three yards when the time underneath his feet slid over. In the blink of an eye a bolt of lightning shot straight up towards the ceiling with a crack.. Terran jumped out of the way with only centimeters to spare. He landed on his left foot awkwardly and stumbled backward, but caught his balance.
The tiles underneath his feet slid over, but Terran was prepared for it this time. He leapt forward in a dodge roll, rolling up on too his feet. The tiles next to him began to lift, revealing a small gun turret. It spun to face him, firing in quick succession. Terran made a break for the elevator, but realized quickly the flaw of that strategy. The door would probably take several seconds to open, and if he were to stop moving for only one second he would be electrocuted, shot, or both. Luckily the solution was a simple one.
Bullets whizzed by, and he swore he could feel the wind off a few of them, implanting themselves in the wall.
Terran adjusted his heading so that he was running in a wide arc, and would pass by the elevator door. As he did so, he reached out and smacked at the button, a the room was filled with a resounding ding.
One of the bullets ricocheted off the elevator door and implanted itself firmly in the back of Terran's left shoulder. His face scrunched up in pain and had he not already been out of breath from running, he would have screamed. He stumbled slightly from the sudden shock, but was able to quickly correct himself.
He ran another full circle around the room his legs protesting with a hot burn, his heart feeling as if it was going to launch itself out of his mouth. He jumped through the air, landing with a thud on the floor of the elevator as it closed.
He panted heavily, his shoulder throbbing. The elevator had two buttons: floor one and floor two. He stood shakily, ignoring the way his limbs pained him, and pressed the 'two' firmly. The button lit up and the elevator lurched to life.
***
Normal watched the screen with an eyebrow raised. Not quite spectacular, or even amazing, but he had survived. That was what counted at this stage. This test was to see just how much endurance Terran had, both physically and mentally.
He glanced over to another monitor to check on his vitals. Heart rate and blood pressure had sky rocketed, which was to be expected in that type of fight-or-flight scenario. He also spied some blood loss, though. He quirked his eyebrow again and looked back over to the camera feed from the level one elevator.
Terran was clutching his shoulder. He must have been hit. Normal shrugged. A better test of endurance, he could not think of.
***
Back at the hospital, Billy's heart monitor began to flat line.
***
A/N: I enjoyed writing this chapter, my favorite of all them so far. In case any of you are wondering, I keep chapters for this story short on purpose. Cause it seems to work for this particular story. Sorry if that bugs any of you. Unbeta'd, so any mistakes are my own. Reviews are appreciated.
~Tyloric