Hello, back again. I was busy with some other projects for a while, not to mention holiday, but now I'm continuing New Earth with a special spin.
As John and the Doctor waited for Rose and Sherlock to join them, they encountered the Duke of Manhattan again, completely cured within minutes of a currently incurable disease. The Doctor was flabbergasted and questioned the feline nuns, who refused to answer as John attempted to extract the remedy for analysis.
But the nurse caught him and bared her fangs, claws flashing out. "Stay away from him." She hissed.
The Doctor managed to excuse John and get him out of there without getting them both kicked out of the hospital or hurt. They quickly retreated from the Duke's bedside, talking in low conversation.
"I can't believe it. Something must be going on here, especially with Sherlock and Rose disappearing like this. Do you suppose Cassandra could be involved in this somehow?" John asked.
"I don't know. It's not really her style to help others like this, unless it's helping herself as well." The Doctor said. "Perhaps she or someone else could be funding these sort of experiments, or testing some kind of cure-all, to help themselves?"
"Whatever it is, it's probably not entirely legal or justified if the nurses or nuns are hiding something about their research or medical practices." John said.
"Especially as futuristic and enhanced as these cures for incurable cases might be. Let's take a look around here." The Doctor said, steering John around as they investigated all of the cases being treated in this ward, the types of medicines and treatments being used to heal these problems.
The Doctor occasionally asked John for his medical advice or opinion on the standards being used here, but John found himself floored by how radically different and advanced all of these treatments and diseases were. Far more complex and difficult to comprehend than anything he had ever studied on 21st century Earth, he couldn't understand all of the concepts and variables being brandied about here, with symptoms and infections that could cause numerous, varying amounts of damage to an otherwise healthy body.
"How is it that we've never been infected by all of these extraterrestrial diseases and viruses wherever we've traveled?" John asked.
"Usually the TARDIS has a pretty good ventilation system, designed to keep all of its inhabitants healthy, not just Time Lords." The Doctor said, turning to John. "Any unhealthy contamination or virus is expelled, and it sprays a fine mist, a mix of healthy bacteria and what you might call a booster shot of inoculations now and again for whatever time period or place we wind up at."
John gaped at the Doctor. "Oh goody, I'm getting a shot whenever I get in or out of the TARDIS. I'm not getting that image out of my head."
The Doctor laughed as Rose and Sherlock finally showed up there. "There you are!" The Doctor cried.
"Here I am!" Cassandra-Rose smiled triumphantly as Chip-Sherlock cowered down a little, nervously glancing around at everything and everyone as they arrived on the ward floor.
"That's not strange or unusual at all," John said a little sarcastically as the Doctor nudged him before they went to greet and cautiously examine their lover and friend.
Chip-Sherlock relaxed slightly, instinctively at the sight of Sir John from his host's memories and even went in for a little kiss and hug, a sensation that Chip-Sherlock found comforting and reassuring. He needed and wanted that experience, never having felt anything like this at all, and he smiled, a little giddy and reeling at this feeling.
John exchanged that kiss and hug, yet it felt a little awkward and odd as well, like they had never done this before. "Sherlock, are you feeling okay?" John asked, parting from him.
"I'm fine, John. Perfectly healthy and normal," Chip-Sherlock said, a giggle escaping from him before he suppressed it.
"Okay, then," John said, still watching Sherlock as he grabbed John's hand, their arms swinging back and forth as they followed after the Doctor and Rose, looking over the patients. It was one of the weirdest things John had ever experienced.
The Doctor babbled, telling Rose and Sherlock everything he and John had seen around here in the past hour or so, and John added in his own comments, too. Cassandra-Rose merely watched and observed the Doctor, quite interested in his new appearance, while Chip-Sherlock squeezed John's hand, and tried to take in everything, loving every minute of it.
"So you've got some patients who are being cured when they shouldn't be cured, is that right?" Chip-Sherlock attempted to act like a detective.
"That's about the length and breadth of it, yes." John said.
Chip-Sherlock shrugged. "Why bother with it, though? These people are healthy and living when they should be dying, and that's all right, isn't it?"
John sighed. "I don't know. I mean, it might be a good thing, especially for a medical professional and the patients being cured. Yet if the means and methods that produced such results are questionable, to say the least, then we should find out the cause and meaning behind all of this and figure out what we should or shouldn't do."
Chip-Sherlock slowly nodded. "I suppose in that case, we should investigate. Solve the problem and look for clues. Where do you have in mind, Doctor, as the first place where we start to look?"
However, at that moment, the Doctor and Cassandra-Rose were locked in an intense, long kiss, which Chip-Sherlock and John both stared at in shock. Once they parted, Cassandra-Rose pointed out the terminal where they should start their search, and Chip-Sherlock tagged after her.
"What happened, mistress?" Chip-Sherlock asked Cassandra-Rose in a low voice. "I thought you hated the Doctor."
"I do indeed despise him, yet he's so dreamy and wonderful-oh, god!" Cassandra-Rose groaned. "This Rose girl has such intense feelings and hormones for the Doctor that she can barely control them. I got carried away, that's all, and I was a little interested in his new body as well." She glanced back at him. "I must admit he is attractive as hell. What about you and John? I saw you kiss him."
Chip-Sherlock giggled. "He is indeed a most handsome and splendid man. I can see why Master Sherlock likes Sir John very much. Plus, I thought it might be a good thing to know what it's like to touch and kiss a man, and keep him by my side. I have never done it before, you know, and it's so nice."
"I know." Cassandra-Rose frowned to herself. "I kept you by my side always, and you will remain with me, won't you?"
"Yes, mistress, I will." Chip-Sherlock sighed, lowering his head. "I haven't forgotten my place. I am your servant. But couldn't I keep Sir John with me as well? Stand beside him as well as you?"
"You're getting quite pushy in your new body. This Sherlock must be a bad influence on you. Still, I don't see why you shouldn't have a toy to play with every now and again, especially if you remain loyal to me. You will be good, won't you?"
"Yes, mistress, I will." Chip-Sherlock bowed his head. "I will honor you and Sir John as well."
"Good, or else I'll transfer you back to your body, and you'll never be Sherlock again." Cassandra-Rose warned him.
"I know, mistress, I understand." Chip-Sherlock cowered slightly.
Meanwhile, John and the Doctor looked at each other, a little bit surprised as they hung back a bit while the others went ahead. "She just kissed you. Rose just kissed you, Doctor."
"Yeah, she did. I'm stunned as well. Still, it's a good thing…isn't it?" The Doctor asked, frowning to himself.
"You should know!" John said. "So what do you think about Rose?"
"She's definitely not acting like herself. What about Sherlock?" The Doctor asked John.
"He's definitely odd, off, and not like his normal self, I mean." John said. "He's a little bit sweeter and kinder and laughing or giggling so much. He kept holding my hand, too."
"Giggling? That's definitely not like Sherlock at all." The Doctor remarked.
"How are they doing?" John said, both looking ahead to see Sherlock cowering as Rose took a commanding, almost haughty stance over him.
"Definitely not like themselves." The Doctor frowned as John grimaced, worried.
They caught up with the other two at the computer terminal. Rose suggested they search the sub-frame while Sherlock remained silent and demure, without an idea or a word in edgewise as he clutched at John's hand as if for protection.
"Can you see anything, Sherlock?" John asked him.
"See anything where?" Sherlock asked, confused.
"Your mind palace." John said.
"My what?"
"Your—oh, god, Sherlock." John whispered, clutching his hand in turn.
"I'm sorry." He said, aware something was wrong or he had done or said something bad.
The Doctor grimaced, realizing the full extent of the damage to Rose and Sherlock, but he couldn't do anything at the moment to help them and he didn't want to worry John any more than he was now. As soon as they found the location of the Intensive Care unit, they set off for it, not really speaking to one another.
Chip-Sherlock remained silent, holding onto John, while Cassandra-Rose glanced back at him and the Doctor. She knew the jig was almost up and their disguise was falling apart, but she intended to keep up the pretense for as long as she possibly could until she had to use her perfume.
Chip-Sherlock, meanwhile, mulled over his failure, wondering where he had gone wrong, and hoping that he could still keep Sir John at the end of all this, no matter what he knew or discovered. John, meanwhile, toyed with ideas and possibilities for what had gone wrong, none of them any good, as he wished he had the real Sherlock here to help him solve this problem.
Down below, they found the intensive care unit, row after row of small enclosed cubicles containing hundreds of sickened and dying individuals. Cassandra-Rose was disgusted and Chip-Sherlock fearfully recoiled as well, yet he also recognized some of the markings and barcodes on their bodies.
"They're clones," Chip-Sherlock gasped, examining others locked inside their cells. "All full-grown, entirely human clones."
"What does that mean?" John asked.
"Some clones are forced-grown, not entirely human with half-lives and unstable, deteriorating cells." Chip-Sherlock said, turning to John. "They don't last for very long, but are cheap enough to mass-produce and sell, and usable for a few good years of hard labor before they wither and die."
"God, that's horrible." John said, gaping at Sherlock.
Chip-Sherlock nodded and turned back to the cells. "These clones, however, are fully human. You can tell by the marks and barcodes on them. They're certainly custom-made, but on such a wide scale, it's not cheap at all. Yet you get fully human cells, quality guaranteed, no blemishes."
"How do you know all about this?" John asked.
Chip-Sherlock turned to John, hesitant. "I read about it?"
The Doctor, meanwhile, was horrified to the use they were being put to as lab infected with every known virus and affliction in the galaxy. Cassandra-Rose wasn't so sympathetic as Novice Hame appeared, having followed them, to explain what was going on here and why.
"I guess you would need quality human clones that could last so long and give you comparable results to your human patients." Chip-Sherlock remarked.
"Shut up!" The Doctor shouted at Chip-Sherlock, who fearfully lowered his head.
John grimaced, disgusted by all of this slaughter and misery in the name of medical science, as he wondered what it was like for these clones, who had never known any existence but this wretched, painful, short one. Chip-Sherlock shuddered, imagining himself in the others' place, and was glad for a moment that he had not been in such a position.
But then again, Sherlock had known a better life than he had as Cassandra's servant…Chip-Sherlock shook his head, unable to figure out what was best for him now. The Doctor denied the value of this sort of exploitation, which John agreed with, though not with how the Doctor expressed it. Then the Doctor questioned what the cat nuns had done to Sherlock and Rose with John agreeing.
"Oh, Sir John, I'm so sorry." Chip-Sherlock said.
"Sir John? Where did that come from?" John asked.
"My name is Chip, and I serve the mistress. Especially whenever she needs moisturizing." Chip-Sherlock said.
"Moisturizing—you're one of Cassandra's attendants?" John asked, recoiling from him as Cassandra-Rose spritzed the Doctor, who then passed out. "How did you get in there?"
"It's a mind-graft, that's what it's called. Hold on!" Chip-Sherlock cried, grabbing hold of John and stopping him from preventing Cassandra-Rose from carrying the Doctor into one of the sick cells.
Cassandra-Rose yelled at the cat nun, who scurried off to fetch the matron.
"Let go of me! Let go of the Doctor! Sherlock!" John cried, struggling against Chip-Sherlock's stranglehold.
"Chip, put him in one of the cells!" Cassandra-Rose ordered, turning to her attendant.
"No, mistress, you promised I could keep him." Chip-Sherlock said, maintaining his hold on John. "I won't let him go, I promise."
"All right, fine then, just a spritz to relax him." Cassandra-Rose said, squirting a bit of her perfume into John's nose and knocking him out.
"Thanks, mistress. It was getting harder to keep hold of him." Chip-Sherlock said, relaxing a little and setting John down on the ground.
"I know that, and the knock-out perfume is not going to last for very long. You're not going to be able to keep hold of him forever. He'll resist you every step of the way because you're not him. You're not Sherlock. You can't expect him to accept you for who you are, just because you took his lover-boy's body." Cassandra-Rose told Chip-Sherlock.
Chip-Sherlock sighed, staring down at John. "You're right, mistress, I suppose. I thought it might be easier to keep hold of him and make him come willingly. But that's not going to happen, not like this. He won't love me like he loves Sherlock, will he?"
"Certainly not. He despises you for what you've done to Sherlock and you took advantage of him without his knowledge of who you were. That might seem unfair to him."
"I'm sorry, mistress. I had no idea how complex this love business could be." Chip-Sherlock sighed. "I miss being in my old body again, back when things were simple and I didn't have such conflicting feelings for another man who didn't love me, but loved the other instead."
Cassandra-Rose grimaced. "It does sound complicated when you say it like that."
In that moment, the Doctor stirred inside his cell, and Cassandra-Rose turned back to Chip-Sherlock. "You better take hold of your John, now. He'll probably wake up a few minutes from now, and it might be better to ensure that he doesn't escape the first chance he gets."
"Yes, mistress." Chip-Sherlock said, hoisting up the unconscious John as Cassandra-Rose confronted the Doctor in his cell.
"What have you done to John?" The Doctor asked, seeing Chip-Sherlock holding him.
"He's fine, Sir Doctor, just unconscious for the moment." Chip-Sherlock said. "I won't let any harm come to him."
"Poor thing's got feelings for the man, which I can't say I blame him. He is rather cute." Cassandra-Rose remarked.
The Doctor frowned. "Cassandra and whoever you are-"
"Chip, I serve the mistress." Chip-Sherlock repeated.
"—Chip, you're not to harm any of them, is that understood?"
"Of course, Sir Doctor. I serve the mistress and John." Chip-Sherlock said.
Before the Doctor or Cassandra-Rose could make a remark, the cat nuns arrived, and Cassandra-Rose negotiated with them as John woozily revived. "What's happening over…oh, god!" He cried, remembering what was going on as he stared up at his lover's face, possessed by another being. "Let go of Sherlock." He ordered.
"I can't, Sir John, or at least I haven't tried." Chip-Sherlock frowned to himself. "I wonder if it is possible to move from body to body if my mind is in this form?"
"You haven't tried? Then try it on me." John said. He punched and kicked Chip-Sherlock, who doubled over in pain. "Sorry, Sherlock." John half-muttered to his absent lover as he slipped out of Chip-Sherlock's grasp.
"Wait a minute, Sir John, I'm sorry!" Chip-Sherlock cried at him. "I didn't understand!"
"How could you not know this is how I would react?" John barked at Chip-Sherlock as he rushed over to the Doctor's cell and attempted to free him.
"Plan B!" Cassandra-Rose shouted at Chip-Sherlock as her negotiations with the cat nuns failed, too.
"Yes, mistress!" Chip-Sherlock cried, pulling the lever without much forethought as to the consequences, just following her orders.
Suddenly all of the cell doors on that level flipped open and the Doctor got out of his with John helping him. But so did all of the sick clones as the Doctor and the others fled, leaving the cat nuns behind.
"This body can certainly run!" Chip-Sherlock marveled.
"Yeah, well, keep running! He's not going to get sick, not on my watch!" John said.
"Yes, Sir John!"
"Stop calling me that!"
Now all of the sick clones were freed everywhere, but they kept going. The lifts were locked out, so Cassandra-Rose and Chip-Sherlock redirected them to their basement lair. Chip-Sherlock found out that his other's mind could run at a very fast pace, even when he was moving quickly as well. He was able to dodge and outmaneuver the sick clones, keeping up with the others and warning them to avoid obstacles.
"This is amazing!" Chip-Sherlock cried, reveling in the moment. "Such a spectacular thing, adrenaline with the blood pumping and the mind racing!"
"Just keep going!" John shouted back at him until they finally reached the lair.
Cassandra-Rose realized the back entrance was blocked as the Doctor examined the psychograft device and Chip-Sherlock ran over to check his old body with John following after him. "Ah, safe and sound, the old heap of blood and bones." Chip-Sherlock muttered to himself, not amused.
"He's a clone? You're a clone?" John said, seeing the barcode and pattern on the body, and remembering what Chip had said.
"That's right, a force-grown clone at that. I'm dying and decaying every day and all I've done through the years is serve the mistress, nothing more." Chip-Sherlock muttered. "I just wanted to know what it was like to be in another person's body, experience new things, and love another man in turn."
John sighed. "I'm sorry your life wound up like this, but this is not the way to go about things."
"You're right, I suppose. Cassandra told me that as well. Yet I can't accept it, I won't go back to my old body, not right now." Chip-Sherlock sighed, aggravated.
"Then take me instead, right now. Switch bodies if you can. We might need Sherlock to help us figure a way out, especially with Cassandra taking over the Doctor." John nodded over to where the switch was happening between Rose and the Doctor with Cassandra's essence moving between them.
"I'll try." Chip said before he moved from Sherlock's body to John's body instead.
Sherlock gasped, reeling for a moment as his brain processed all of the strange, unusual things that had been happening while Chip-John marveled over his new body. "I'm short, why am I so short? And do I sound like I have a frog in my throat?" He shook his head and shuddered. "God, a lot of terrible, bloody memories as well."
Sherlock grimaced and said, "You stay away from him, Chip. John doesn't deserve to have you damaging his mind any further."
"Sorry, Master Sherlock." Chip-John bowed his head.
"Don't call me that, not in his voice." Sherlock insisted.
They watched as Cassandra-Doctor marveled over her body and teased Rose in turn as Sherlock shook his head. "This is turning into a bloody disaster of a nightmare. We need the Doctor!" He shouted at Cassandra-Doctor.
"Well, since you insist," Cassandra remarked, and suddenly she flitted across to Sherlock.
"Oh, it's so roomy and spacious inside this swelled head of his!" Cassandra-Sherlock cried, patting Sherlock's head. "It certainly is a mind palace. And he needs more conditioner. It's getting a little dry and tangled up here."
"Do you want me to moisturize you, mistress?" Chip-John said, bowing to his mistress/master.
"Quite, well, we don't really have time for that right now." Cassandra-Sherlock said. "We better run."
The Doctor and Rose gaped at the sight and then at each other and then they started laughing as Chip-John and Cassandra-Rose stared at them. "Stop it, it's not that funny." Cassandra-Sherlock said. "Just for that, I'm coming back for you, Doctor."
"And I wonder what it's like to be the Rose girl." Chip remarked.
"No, no, no!" Both the Doctor and Rose shouted, too late as the switch occurred, unable to stop it now.
Sherlock and John gasped in shock, coughing a little bit as Chip-Rose walked around, bouncing. "You're right, mistress, it's certainly springy and buoyant. I especially like the hair." Chip-Rose waved her hair around, smiling.
Cassandra-Doctor sighed, examining Rose. "We could see what it's like the other way around. You haven't been inside this body yet."
"Okay," Chip said and he and Cassandra switched places in mid-air.
"What is going on here? This is just crazy." John said, shaking his head.
"I happen to agree with you there. People are dying or in danger, and we're playing musical chairs with bodies!" Sherlock remarked.
"Ah!" Chip-Doctor cried in horror, clasping his hands to the side of his head. "Make it stop! The pain, the agony, so many bad, horrible memories full of monsters and menace and war."
"All right, Chip, it's okay. Go find a safer head to reside in, then." Cassandra-Rose reassured him.
"Yes, mistress." Chip sighed as he transferred back to Sherlock.
"Better?" Cassandra-Rose asked.
"Better." Chip-Sherlock smiled.
"Not better." Both the Doctor and John said, frowning.
"What do you want us to do, then?" Cassandra-Rose sighed.
Suddenly the infected clones burst into the room. "Run!" Chip-Sherlock cried and they started off once more, heading towards the ladder.
Climbing up the lift shaft, Chip-Sherlock pushed John up whenever he struggled, and Cassandra-Rose attempted to keep up. She was nearly grabbed and pulled down by Matron Clasp, who cried out about sickness in the human world.
"Mistress!" Chip-Sherlock cried, panicked.
Cassandra-Rose kicked her off, though, and the infected clones grabbed the cat-nun-nurse. They finally reached some lift doors, but the Doctor refused to open them until Cassandra left Rose's body, causing Chip-Sherlock and John to groan. Thus began another sequence of musical chairs with bodies as Cassandra bounced around, and wound up inside one of the infected clones.
Finally the Doctor opened the lift doors, though still not satisfied with Chip possessing Sherlock, and then Cassandra's spirit flitted back up again and entered Rose's body. Yet she had gained a different perspective inside the infected's head, and even Chip marveled at what she had realized.
"Is this what it's like for you, Chip?" Cassandra-Rose asked.
"Yes, I suppose so." Chip-Sherlock lowered his head as John stared at him.
"I can see why you're so miserable." Cassandra-Rose said.
The Doctor sighed. "Come on then."
They continued on to Ward 26, where the Doctor began gathering medical supplies, all the cures for the illnesses that they had created. John, Chip-Sherlock, and Cassandra-Rose helped out before the Doctor raced out to the lift. Cassandra-Rose caught a ride with him, leaving John and Chip-Sherlock upstairs to monitor the situation throughout the hospital.
As the boys sat before the security monitors, Chip-Sherlock turned to John. "I can't stay in this body forever, I know. I'll go back downstairs and back to my own body when this is all over."
"Thanks. It's for the best, you know. Neither one of us would've been happy like this. Me, you, and Sherlock, too." John said.
"I suppose, but I'm afraid, too. Suppose I take another…" He stared at John. "No, I suppose that's not going to work out either."
John sighed. "How long have you got?"
"I don't really know. My body isn't doing well, I'm afraid. I was already experiencing some symptoms." Chip-Sherlock lowered his head. "It doesn't last very long."
John clutched Chip-Sherlock's hand. "I'm sorry."
"One last kiss?" Chip-Sherlock asked.
"All right, I can give you that." John leaned and kissed Chip-Sherlock as passionately as he could, knowing it was another man who possessed his lover's body.
Suddenly Chip shook his head and realized that it was John's head, and he was staring at Sherlock in turn. "Boy, that was some kiss. I lost my bearings. Sorry about that." Chip-John said.
Sherlock grimaced. "I hate being taken advantage of like that and I can't imagine what John's been going through, seeing me like this."
"Sorry. He's handled it pretty well, despite his grief and anger. He's a very understanding person, and a lot stronger than he seems."
"I know. I've been through a few adventures with him and he's pretty amazing at times." Sherlock smiled, then shook his head. "Strange to be talking about him while looking at him."
"I know, it's…" Chip-John hesitated and shook his head. "I shouldn't have done what I did, and I'm sorry for what happened to you and Rose today."
Sherlock sighed. "It's a little breathtaking, I suppose, to experience and know a world you haven't seen before. A world you didn't have a chance to be in, and get to meet and know new people that you wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet if you hadn't taken a risk and broken some rules. I've broken some rules in the past and met such people. John's one of them, I suppose. But there's always that fine line, you know, the one that you don't cross, or else you're no better than the worst people. I'm glad you haven't crossed that line, Chip."
Chip-John slowly nodded. "It was tempting, considering this is my last day, but…I'm not going to cross that line. I know Cassandra might've crossed that line, but I'm thinking…we should give her that chance."
Sherlock lifted an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"
Chip-John raised his head. "Get me back to my body. Take me back upstairs. I offer myself to Cassandra. If she possesses me, then we die."
Sherlock sat back, gaping at Chip-John. "You are good. You've thought this through."
"Cassandra won't leave well enough alone, now that she doesn't have a body of her own. She will continue to possess whatever body she can get a hold of. If it's me, she knows it's a risk with my short lifespan, but I'm a willing host. She might take that chance, not knowing exactly how long I've got. This could be the time to trap her. She and I, we might be too weak then for her to move on again."
Sherlock gasped, amazed. "You've learned a lot today."
Chip-John nodded. "I learned from the best."
Suddenly on the monitor, Cassandra-Rose and the Doctor appeared in the lobby, and they were curing all of the infected clones. "This is what the Doctor does best." Sherlock said, pointing at the monitor. "Helping everyone he can, curing them if there's a way. But sometimes…there isn't one."
Chip-John nodded. "Even doctors have to be aware of that."
It was fun to mess around with the different combinations, and I feel like Chip deserved more of a chance to grow.