Kayla, Pete, and Rose watched a huge truck drive away from the, as Pete had informed them, Battersea Power Station. From the opposite direction of the truck, rows and rows of Cybermen marched in the opposite direction. In all, the entire place was very busy, "Chamber six now open for human upgrading."
But busy was good especially for the three. So using the orderly chaos, Kayla, Pete, and Rose hurried against the side of the building, trying to be unseen, "Chamber seven now open for human upgrading." Having crouched out of sight of the Cybermen, the three watched as a multiple of brain dead people marched alongside the Cybermen without fear, "Chamber eight now open for human upgrading."
Pete looked at Kayla and Rose, who were doing all that they could not to look or even speak with each other, "Just put them on. Don't show any emotion. No signs, nothing. Okay?" He whispered to the girls, all of them knowing that he was talking about the earpods.
Rose nodded, "Don't worry. We can do it," she shot Kayla a rather cold glare, "Though I don't know if she can."
Kayla frowned deeply, but tensed at the sound of a Cyberman's voice saying, "Chamber seven now open for human upgrading."
The two girls gave each other a cold look and, for now, ignored their hatred to each so that they could put the fake earpods into their ears, "We could die in here. Why are you doing this?" Pete asked Rose.
"Let's just say I'm doing it for my mum and dad. Right, let's go." Rose said in a commanding voice, but Pete held his hand up.
"And you?" he asked, this time directing his question to Kayla.
The brunet shrugged, "Being with the Doctor was making me guilty. Plus, he wouldn't get anything done."
After Pete nodded and gave an all clear of a hissed, "Come on," the three came out of their hiding place.
"Chamber eight now open for human upgrading." Giving each other a look, the three darted into the line of brainless, emotionless humans, "Chamer nine now open for human upgrading. chamber ten now open for human upgrading. Chamber eleven now open for human upgrading."
Not emotion was on their faces.
The Doctor and Mrs. Moore were making their way stealthily down the long, cooling tunnels, "How did you get into this, then? Rattling along with the Preachers?" The Doctor asked softly.
"Oh, I used to be ordinary. Worked at Cybus Industries. '95. 'Til one day, I find something I'm not supposed to. A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly, I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techy, so I...I just sat down and taught myself everything." She explained, a grin smile on her face.
The Doctor nodded at that, relating to a life on the run, "What about MR. Moore?" He inquired.
Mrs. Moore shrugged, "Well, he's not called 'Moore'. I got that from a book, 'Mrs. Moore'. It's safer not to use real names. But he thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Got any family, or...?"
This time, it was the Doctor who shrugged, "I have Kayla, she's my fiancé, but all the others…what's your real name?"
At the abrupt question, Mrs. Moore paused for a second, "Angela Price." She whispered, "Don't tell a soul." She said harshly.
The Doctor nodded, "Not a word." He vowed.
'Doctor, you alright?' Kayla asked via mentally to her Time Lord. The group had filed into the factory and Kayla had decided that she had an opportune time to check in on her…fiancé?
It was a few seconds before the Doctor replied back, 'Cybermen are awaking. I'll talk to you later. Love you!' And that, rather rushed reply which sounded very much like a phone message, left Kayla hardly fine.
"Units upgrading now five-thousand-five-hundred. Repeat: six-thousand-five-hundred and rising." A Cyberman's voice boomed out.
Kayla, who founded herself breathing rather quickly, struggled to control her emotions and breathing as she followed the back of Pete's head, making sure to stop in a jerky way. Briefly, she wanted to stand on her toes to see why Rose had stopped, but she didn't have to wait because a Cyberman spoke loudly to Rose, "You will wait." He ordered before the clomping sound of it walking away faded away.
Pete turned his head just a bit, allowing Kayla to see his mouth moving as he whispered, "Are you okay?"
"Fine." She hissed back.
The brunet watched carefully as his head turned and he probably whispered the same question to Rose, who hopefully answered the same as she did, "Chamber Six now open for human upgrading." The people around them filed towards the chamber to be upgraded as flames align themselves above the incinerators, "All reject stock will be incinerated."
"Any sign of Jackie?" Pete hissed, barely loud enough for Kayla to hear.
A Cyberman's head swiveled towards him, causing Kayla to suck her breath in sharply, horrified as it stomped towards him, "You are Peter Tyler. Confirm: you are Peter Tyler."
Pete, who had tensed, replied uncertainty, "Confirmed."
"I recognize you. I went first. My name was Jacqueline Tyler." The Cyberman said in its emotionless voice.
"No!" Rose cried out before she could stop herself.
Pete stared at the Cyberman in horror, "WHAT?!" he yelled.
Kayla, however, was watching another Cyberman head towards them, "You are Kayla Harkness. Confirm: you are Kayla Harkness."
The brunet swallowed, "Confirmed." She said in an emotionless voice.
"I recognize you. My name was Lucy."
And Kayla, for the second time that night, fell apart and sobbed.
"Lucy, she screamed, "Lucy!"
Vaguely, she felt Cybermen grab her arms as she sobbed. Instinctively, she struggled to get out of their craps, her eyes blinded as she sobbed even harder, trying to get to her baby girl.
'Kayla, Kayla! What's happened?' the Doctor as frankly, probably feeling her pain.
But Kayla could not reply to him, she could hardly focus even. Instead, she just fought harder, whether she was trying to get to Lucy or her Doctor, she didn't know. Instead, she just continued to struggle.
The Doctor fell to the ground in a horrible pain known as grief. He knew, in both his hearts that once again, Kayla had lost her daughter. He looked at the Cyberman Mrs. Moore had killed listlessly and then at the body of that brave woman. Very slowly, he got to his feet and glared at the two Cybermen, "Well? Come on! Take me to Lumic!"
Kayla was curled up in a ball, shaking quite a bit as she looked at the door where the Doctor came through, "Kayla, oh Kayla." He murmured, heading over to the brunet to check on him. Besides lifting her head, she didn't say anything. Instead, she snuggled into his chest, still curled up.
"They got Jackie." Rose said rather loudly in a listless voice.
Beside her, Pete nodded, his gaze not on the Doctor, but on Kayla, obviously troubled by her pain, "We were too late. Lumic killed her." He explained, his voice much softer than his daughter's.
The Doctor, who had taken to rubbing Kayla's back in a comforting way, whispered something in his ear before he raised his voice from the quiet mutter he had been speaking in earlier, "Then where is he? The famous Mr. Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?" He wondered, a verminous rage in his voice.
The Cyberman he had been speaking to looked back at him, "He has been upgraded." It stated.
Kayla tensed even more at the word, 'upgraded,' causing the Doctor rub her back even more and whispered comforting phrases to the brunet, trying to calm her. Once it had worked just a bit, the Doctor turned his attention back to the Cyberman, "So he's just like you?" He asked.
"He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller."
The sliding doors, which had remained closed since they had arrived, slid open as a Cyberman who was once known as John Lumic rolls through them as he sat and stared at the people in an elaborate, throne like chair with a jumble of wires on it. So shocked, Pete stood in amazement while Kayla, who had moved her face away from the Doctor's chest, closed her eyes briefly before opening them again.
"This is The Age of Steel and I am its Creator."
Kayla winced at the sound of screams coming from the front as people got their minds back. The Doctor, one hand still rubbing Kayla, watched with a quiet pleasure as he the Cybermen looked at the doors in what would be alarm, "I think that's a vote for free will." He stated quietly, his sentence directed towards what was Lumic.
"I have factories waiting on seven continents. If the earpods have failed, then Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the world." What used to be Lumic said, "I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace - and unity - and uniformity."
Kayla got up from the Doctor's lap and stood, shaking with suppressed rage, "By killing people? That is not peace. That is murder for a world that is hell! You call your Cybermen human 2.0, but what you plan is the furthest thing from humanity I have ever seen.
The Cyberman that was Lumic wheeled closer to the brunet, "What is your partner's name?" It asked simply.
Kayla swallowed, "Doctor."
"A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken."
But Kayla shook her head, "And then what? Your humans 2.0 will just live and nothing more.
The Doctor stepped forwards and nodded in agreement, "You'll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts. Lacking the one thing that makes this planet so ALIVE. PEOPLE. Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people."
The Cyberman seemed to consider the couple, "You are both proud of your emotions?" it wondered.
Kayla and he Doctor gazed at each other, "Yes." The said together, "We do."
"Then both of you tell me - have you known grief - and rage - and pain?" it asked.
Once again, Kayla and the Doctor looked at each other, both seeing the intense grief welling in their eyes that they both recognized as one that a person who had lost someone, a parent who had lost someone, "Yes." They repeated.
"And they hurt?" The Cyberman continued.
"Oh yes." They agreed.
"I could set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain?"
"You might as well kill us."
The Cyberman stared at the Doctor and Kayla, "Then I take that option." It stated.
The Doctor shook his head, "I will never let you take that option with Kayla, or me, or anyone else." He vowed, "You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart because you're a Cyber controller."
"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own." The Cyberman pointed out.
The Time Lord tilted his head, "You just don't get it, do you? An army's NOTHING. 'Cos those ordinary people - they're the key." His gaze turned to the camera, "The most ordinary person could change the world."
Kayla joined in, her voice, like all the time she had spoken before, tired, "Some idiot could even do it." She said rather slyly, "And all it would take for him to find this out would be finding the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him."
The Doctor nodded, "'Cos even an idiot knows how to use computers these days." He agreed, "Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords...knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under...what was it, Pete? Binary what?"
Pete, who had caught on, grinned widely, "Binary 9." He said loudly.
The Doctor nodded, "An IDIOT could find that code. The cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing. Keep on fighting." He turned his head so he could stare meaningfully into the camera, "Anything to save his friends..."
"Your words are irrelevant." The Cyberman who was Lumic cut in.
Kayla raised an eyebrow, "The Doctor has a problem with talking too much, but I don't believe he has ever used Rose's phone." She said with the same meaningful look to the camera as the Doctor had done. Beside her, the Time Lord mimed a phone to his ear, obviously pretending to call someone.
The Cyberman rolled closer, "You will be deleted." He stated.
Instantly, the Doctor got in front of Kayla, protecting her, "Yes, delete, control, hash, all those lovely buttons. His voice quivering with something that wasn't fear of getting killed, "Then of course, my particular favorite - SEND."
Kayla glanced at the Doctor, "You know, the only way you seduced all those people was by making all the technology compatible with each other." She pointed out, turning ever so slightly at the sound of Rose's phone beeping, "So Rose, why don't you throw me that cell phone."
The blond shot Kayla a glare and chucked the phone to the Doctor, who had been loitering by a computer. With a funny expression on his face and rather stiffed movement, he shoved the phone into the port.
At once, all hell broke loose. All the Cybermen fell to the floor, clutching their heads in obvious pain as they moaned. Around them, every single computer screen flashed the numbers for the code.
Kayla also fell to the floor, sobbing once again at the knowledge of the horrible pain her daughter would be in during her last moment, "I'm so sorry." The Doctor whispered to her, wrapping his arms around her.
When Kayla had finally calmed down enough to be able to run for their lives, she did exactly that along with the Doctor, Rose, and Pete, all looked for a way out while the building shook with explosions of fire, "There's no way out!" Rose finally yelled.
Kayla gazed at Rose in confusion as she took out her phone, "It's Mickey. He says 'head for the roof.' The blond yelled at the three others.
The Doctor nodded, grabbed Kayla's hand, and pulled her behind him as they ran up the stairs, Pete and Rose somewhere behind as they avoided the flames.
The Doctor pulled Kayla up and then did the same for Rose and Pete. They all turned and then paused, staring in surprise at the sight of a zeppelin, "Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?!" Rose yelled.
The three ran forwards, occasionally flinching at the random explosions.
"Wait, where are we running to?" Kayla pointed out.
The Doctor paused, and so did Pete, forcing Rose to stop also, though she did so with obvious great annoyance, "How about there?" the Doctor suggest suddenly, pointing a finger at a rope ladder that had fallen out of the zeppelin.
Quickly, the group ran to it, "You've got to be kidding. Kayla, get up!" And for once, the brunet didn't fight the Doctor to stay, instead, she started to climb up the ladder.
Once the others were up, they all clung to the rope ladder as the zeppelin flew higher, "We did it! We did it!" Rose cheered from somewhere near the bottom.
Kayla was about to nod in agreement when the ladder, jerked, almost causing them all to fall. The blond screamed in pure terror, making Kayla look down curiously…to see the Cyberman Lumic also climbing up the ladder.
Quickly thinking, the Doctor handing Pete his sonic screwdriver, "Use it! Hold the button down! Press it against the rope - just do it!"
Pete barely nodded once, "Jackie Tyler - this is for her!" He yelled as he pressed the sonic to the rope. For second, it seemed that it hadn't work, but then, like magic, the ropes snapped, and the Cyberman fell back to the flames.
Laughing with delight, they started to, once again, struggle up the ladder.
It was finally time, and Kayla was following the Doctor, watching as he placed the power cell inside the TARDIS and then they both cheered as, after a brief and tense pause, the TARDIS lit up with power and light. Around them, the subtle sound of the TARDIS seemed louder than ever.
And the Doctor and Kayla kissed.
Kayla watched on the monitor as the Doctor ran outside, and, instead of letting Rose bid farewell to her dad, forced the blond inside the TARDIS and then led her like a naughty child to her room. The brunet sighed, and having turned to look at Rose as she passed, Kayla turned back around to watch the monitor as a troubled Pete went off and then Mickey, Jake, and Rickey approached. They seemed closer, which was nice for them.
"Kayla!" Mickey cried out upon seeing the brunet walk outside the TARDIS doors.
"I can't stay long, but thanks for getting the Doctor's suit." She said, taking the suit from Mickey, "Now come on!" Instead of starting to move towards the TARDIS, Mickey stayed where he was, confirming Kayla's thoughts, "You're not coming, are you?" She asked.
Mickey nodded, "No. It sort of balances out, 'cos this world has a brave Rickey. But there's me, cowardly Mickey. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there." He explained, his voice trembling.
"Of course." Kayla stated softly.
And, leaving Mickey with a proud smile, Kayla walked back into the TARDIS and shook her head at the Doctor, who nodded. After a few seconds, the TARDIS took off.
Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and into her living room, not very pleased. She had been fine with the idea of just talking to her mom, but when the Doctor had insisted that she should go and get so much needed comfort from her mum.
"I'm just going to go park the TARDIS in the alley way." The Doctor called after her.
Rose waved a hand, "Fine!" she yelled back.
The Doctor closed the TARDIS door behind him…
…And glanced over at Kayla, who was holding Rose's stolen TARDIS key in her hand.
"I love you Kayla." He said as he piloted the TARDIS to space and not the alley way.
Kayla smiled back rather grimly, "I love you too…are we in space yet?" the Doctor nodded once in answer, and that was all he needed before he had Kayla wrap him in a hug and kiss him deeply.
Ohhh, Rose is not going to like her key being gone! And I wonder why Kayla wanted to know if they were in space...
Also, I hope it makes sense that Mickey is staying behind even though Rickey never died.
And review time:
NicoleR85: I enjoyed kicking Rose out of the TARDIS, because she was very, very annoying. Plus, I don't think the Doctor would have let her stay if she tried to kill Kayla.
Lizzybug2000: I love my Dove. And thanks!