The Doctor stood in the white room, still very much alive."I knew it! You see? Someone BROUGHT me into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano."
"What did you do?" The Female Programmer gasped out.
"Nothing!" the male one protested.
"They want me alive—" the Doctor continued on screen.
"It's like... some sort of override." The man explained.
"Maybe the security isn't as tight this end." The Doctor said to the door before glancing up mockingly at the camera. "Are you following this? I'm getting out!" he scorned.
The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the lock on the door that led to the outside, and it swung open. Then, the door that led to the room from the House also opened. Lynda popped her head through and the Doctor looked back at her. "Come with me." He offered, making Lynda glance over at Strood, who was kneeling on the sofa watching everything.
"We're not allowed!" He protested, trying to hold Lynda back.
"Stay in there-you've got a fifty-fifty chance of disintegration. Stay with me-I promise I'll get you out alive. Come on!" the Doctor pleaded. Usually, he didn't try to get people to come with him, but he liked Lynda, she was sweet, she helped him when he first arrived, and she was a prisoner in this dark world.
"No-I can't, I can't..." Lynda stuttered out nervously.
"Lynda, you're sweet. From what I've seen of your world, d'you think anyone votes for sweet?" he questioned, and Lynda tilted her head, seeing the logic in it. The Doctor stretched his hand out to her, and after a few moments of hesitation, Lynda took his hand and off they go.
After going out the door, the Doctor found himself on a floor with two familiar words on it.
Floor 56
"Hold on...I've been here before. This is Satellite Five!" the Doctor exclaimed.
Satellite Five floated in face, looking exactly the same from the last time the Doctor had been there with Rose and Adam, the latter of which almost ruined the whole of the human race.
Kayla watched as the 30 year old was blinded and then all that was left was a pile of ash.
"After the break, it's Lucy against Kayla." The host yelled, and then it was break. Lucy sat on a stool, her head in her hands, her shoulder shaking as she sobbed. Kayla went over and wrapped her arms around her.
"Listen to me Lucy, I'm not going to let you lose, you're going to win." Kayla promised, but the girl continued to sob.
The Doctor opened the door to the side room with his sonic screwdriver and they stepped through it. His sonic screwdriver whirred on a control panel.
"No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth." The Doctor pointed out as they left the room. The Doctor started to scan the walls.
"No one's called it Satellite Five in ages. It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about a hundred years." Lynda told the Doctor, watch his progress. The Doctor checked his watch.
"A hundred years exactly. It's the year two zero-zero/one zero-zero. I was here before. Floor 139. Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then...had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy-gave 'em a hand-home in time for tea." The Doctor rambled slightly, thinking back to the last time they had been there.
"A hundred years ago?" Lynda smiled skeptically at the Doctor who placed his hand on the touch-sensitive pad to open a door with no luck. "What, you were here a hundred years ago?" she continued, still skeptical. The Doctor moved his sonic screwdriver around the edge of the door.
"Yep!" The Doctor agreed, not seeing why that would be weird.
"You're looking good on it..." Lynda told him, and the Doctor turned to her.
"I moisturize." He explained, and then looked down at his screwdriver. "Funny sorts of readings. All kinds of energy...the place is humming. It's weird. This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?" Lynda watched as he tried another door.
"I dunno. I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside." She said helpfully.
"I had three friends travelling with me. They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?" the Doctor spoke while scanning the door.
"I dunno. They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games." Lynda reported.
"Like what?" The Doctor asked, giving her his full attention.
"Well, there's ten floors of 'Big Brother'. There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's non-stop. There's um...'Call My Bluff'...with real guns...'Countdown', where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off...'Ground Force', which is a nasty one...you get turned into compost. Erm...'Wipeout', speaks for itself...oh! And 'Stars In Their Eyes'. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded." Lynda explained, thinking as she pictured every single show she had watched.
"And you watch this stuff?" The Doctor asked, making Lynda shrug.
"Everyone does. How come you don't?" The Doctor winked at her.
"Never paid for my license." The Doctor lied, he had never gotten an offer, or a chance, in the first place.
"Oh, my God! You get executed for that!" Lynda stated, shocked.
"Let them try." The Doctor gloated, holding his sonic screwdriver aloft.
"You keep saying things that don't make sense. But who are you though, Doctor? Really?" Lynda wondered, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"Doesn't matter." He said indifferently, walking to the next door.
"Well, it does to me...I've just put my life in your hands." Lynda pointed out as the Doctor examined the lock on the door.
"I'm just a traveler, wandering past. Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life." He told her, joking on the last bit. He would never stop running, he loved it.
"So...if we get out of here, what're you gonna do? Just...wander off again?" Lynda wondered.
"Fast as I can." The Doctor promised, and that was his plan. Get Kayla first before getting Rose and Jack, and then he was getting them off this place as soon as possible.
"So...I could come with ya." Lynda said tentatively, not flirting, just asking, a smile on her face. He looked up from the lock and studied, her.
"Maybe you could." He agreed.
"I wouldn't get in the way." Lynda promised brightly.
"I know. Not a bad idea, Lynda with a Y." He stated, making Lynda smile cheerfully.
"But first of all, we've gotta concentrate on the getting out." The Doctor said briskly, starting to scan the edges of the door. "And to do that, you've got to know your enemy-who's controlling it-who's in charge of the satellite now?" He asked Lynda, who held up her hand in a, 'stop' gesture.
"Hold on…" She pleaded and then scurried over to the opposite end of the room and pulled down a lever, which illuminated huge letters on the wall, huge familiar letters at that.
Bad Wolf Corporation
"Your Lords and Masters." Lynda explained, seeing the Doctor's face fill with wonder and confusion, his gaze on the letters
Satellite Five slowly revolved in space, with someone's gaze on it before it switched to the entire planet below.
Several people on Floor 500 of the Game Station, or Satellite Five, were working on their screen hurriedly.
"Okay, you win. The Controller's got to handle this. The Archive makes a record of all transmat activities." The Male Programmer told the Female Programmer who's working on his left, watching the current feed of the Doctor and Lynda outside on their screen. "Find out how they got on board...Archive Six." He took off the headphones he was wearing and went slowly over the floor to the Controller to address her.
"Controller...we have a problem." He said, a slight stammer in his voice.
"Continue working." She commanded.
"We have a security problem." The programmer elaborated.
"Continue working. 6...5…" the Controller started to countdown.
"I'm sorry, but I can't. We have contestants outside of the games. But the alarms haven't gone off." The Male Programmer explained, trying to get the Controller to see the problem they were facing.
"No security. The games continue." The Controller answered, making the Male Programmer smile confusedly.
"But we can't just let them wander..." he tried, but she cut him off.
"They are no one." The man's brow furrowed as he stared at her.
"They are no one." He repeated, confused. Behind him, the Female Programmer placed her hand on the touch-sensitive door to the Archives, making the Controller gasp in pain.
"Erm...sorry. I was just, um..." the Female Programmer apologized, unsure of how to explain herself.
"Archive Six is out of bounds." The Controller ordered.
"But I need to check the transmat log." The woman protested slightly.
"Archive Six is out of bounds. No one may enter Archive Six. Return to work." The Controller spoke in a slightly crazed tone before lapsing back to her mutterings. "Return to work. Inform all staff-solar flares in delta point seven. 19...20..."
The Satellite revolved peacefully in the air, unaware of the hell it was about to receive from its "Lords and Masters."
Jack was almost finished with attaching his Compact Laser Deluxe to the Defabricator. If it worked, then he would have a very big and very powerful gun to use on people. His original plan had changed a little. He had to get to the Doctor first, and then they were going to get his daughter, his Kayla, and Rose before getting in the TARDIS and leaving.
Bored to death, he started to speak to instruct himself."Compatible systems...just align the wave signature..." A laugh came out once he was done. "Thattaboy! Got myself a gun." He picked up the Defabricator and glanced to dead Droids. "Well, ladies, the pleasure was all mine. Which is the only thing that matters in the end. That and keeping my daughter safe." And then he was off to find the Doctor, leaving the smoldering bodies of Trin-E and Zu-Zana behind as he ran out onto Floor 229. There, he placed his hand on the pad to open the lift. Before he went in though, he consulted his vortex manipulator.
"Two hearts, that's him...which floor?" He asked it, impatiently hitting a few buttons in the lift when he received the answer, and the door closed.
The Doctor and Lynda went through a door where they emerged on an observation deck.
"Blimey! I've never seen it for real before! Not...not from orbit. Planet Earth" Lynda gasped, staring down at the planet that had once been called beautiful, now it was a far cry away from that. The whole planet was an ugly gray and yellow with a few patched of light showing through, no longer the magnificent Fourth and Great Bountiful Human Empire. For one of the first times in a very long time, the Doctor had no idea where he was.
"What's happened to it?" He asked Lynda, who didn't seem too shocked by the state of the planet.
"Well, it's always been like that. Ever since I was born. See that there?" She pointed. "That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside." Lynda explained.
"So, the population just sits there? Half the world's too fat, half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?" Lynda's eyes brightened.
"Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here." She said excitedly.
"The Human Race. Brainless sheep. Being fed on a diet of...mind you, have they still got that program where three people have to live with a bear?" The Doctor wondered.
"Oh, 'Bear With Me,' I LOVE that one!" Lynda elaborated excitedly.
"And me. The celebrity edition where the bear got in the—" the Doctor started.
"Got in the bath!" Lynda finished, starting to laugh.
"But it's all gone wrong. I mean, HISTORY'S gone wrong. Again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire-I don't understand. Last time I was here, I put it right." The Doctor stated, suddenly serious.
"No, but that's when it first went wrong. A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels-they just shut down overnight." Lynda disagreed, thinking back to the small history books she had read.
"But that was me. I did that." The Doctor stated, shocked.
"There was nothing left in their place. No information. The whole planet just froze. The government-the economy-they collapsed…that was the start of it. One hundred years of hell." Lynda elaborated.
"Oh, my..." the Doctor started, shocked. He glanced down at the wasted planet, stunned. "I made this world." He finished, horrified.
Agorax screamed as the disintegrator beam shot him until there was nothing left but dust and ash. The gun retreated back into the Anne Droid's mouth and the light behind Agoax's name on his podium went out.
"That leaves Rose and Rodrick-you're going head-to-head...let's play 'The Weakest Link.'"
"Right, that's the end of tactical voting...you're on your own now." Rodrick said to Rose without so much as a glance to her.
"Kayla, would you like to go first?" the host asked, and she shook her head and pushed trembling Lucy forwards.
"Lucy will go." She narrated, and the host gave her a slight wink. Everybody felt sorry for the girl, she was only 15, too young for this hell. The girl stepped forwards, and started to sing.
Satellite Five sat in space, as if there was a microphone on it, whoever was watching heard Jack's voice call out. "Hey, handsome! Good to see ya! Any sign of Kayla, or Rose?"
Jack stood with the Doctor and Lynda, he was going to have a word with the Doctor about her, on the observation deck. "Can't you track her down?" the Doctor asked, speaking only about Kayla, nearly forgetting about Rose.
"She must still be inside the games. All the rooms are shielded. Same goes for Rose, I can't find either of them." Jack reported to the Doctor. His VM could track down Kayla in under a few seconds, and it worried him that he couldn't track her down.
"If we can just get inside this computer…she's-I mean they've-GOT to be here somewhere." The Doctor told Jack as he fiddled with the computer.
"Well, you'd better hurry up. These games don't have a happy ending, and my daughter needs a lot of happy endings." Jack said darkly.
"You think I don't know that?" the Doctor snapped at Jack, who automatically backed down and gave the Doctor his VM.
"There you go." The Doctor snatched it off his wrist. "Patch that in. It's programmed to find both of them." He told the Doctor.
"Thanks." The Doctor said shortly.
"Hi, Jack Harkness." Jack stated, not even flirting with Lynda.
"Lynda Moss." She introduced, and Jack smiled a non-flirty smile at her.
"Nice to meet you." The Doctor growled in frustration as the system beeped at him.
"It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense." He chucked the VM to Lynda, and with Jack's help, they wrenched the front of the computer away revealing wires, and then he snatched the VM back.
"This place should be a basic broadcaster. The systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television...this station's transmitting something else." Jack and Lynda watched him.
"Like what?" Jack asked, because the Doctor was basically begging for the question to be asked.
"I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulating my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Kayla is stuck inside it." The Doctor said, working frantically. "And Rose." He tacked on quickly, his main thought on Kayla.
"Doctor, if we had to choose between the two, I'm going after Kayla and you're going after Rose." Jack's tone left no discussion, and even though the Doctor was generally in charge, when it came to Kayla, Jack, in the end, was officially and always charge. That was his daughter after all.
"Rose, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which Ancient Britain City?" This was Rose's first question, Rodrick had already gotten one and had gotten it incorrect.
"Is it York?" She guessed, her voice shaking.
"No, the correct answer is Sheffield." So now Rose and Rodrick were tied.
"So, what song are you doing?" the host asked Kayla, and she looked at them cruelly, every bit the famed Time Agent she once was.
"Lucy." She answered, and then started to sing.
"Lucy, I remember your name
I left a dozen roses on your grave today"
The VM beeped twice, once for Kayla and again for Rose.
"Found Kayla! Floor 310! And Rose! Floor 407!" the Doctor yelled, and Lynda gave a gasp of horror.
"Oh god, Kayla's in Star's in their Eyes, and Rose is with the Anne Droid! You've got to get them out!" Lynda said frantically, and Jack was off, running towards a lift and getting in.
"Don't wait for me!" he commanded, the lift's doors already closing. As he watched the numbers tick by too slowly, he couldn't think of a world without Kayla, without his daughter. He had already lost his granddaughter, his Lucy, he couldn't lose her too.
"I'm in the grass on my knees, wipe the leaves away
I just came to talk for a while
I got some things I need to say"
The lift dinged and he raced out of them to his daughter, trying to get to her quickly, and then he heard her voice from above him through speakers, almost like someone was gloating him.
"Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her
I'd give up all the world to see that little piece of heaven looking
back at me
Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her
I've gotta live with the choices I made
And I can't live with myself today"
He had to hurry up, but which door? He blasted open one and found it empty. Damn.
"Hey Lucy, I remembered your birthday
They said it'd bring some closure to say your name
I know I'd do it all different if I had the chance
But all I got are these roses to give
And they can't help me make amends"
He had to hurry. Was she missing a note? Was the person she's up against good?
"Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her
I'd give up all the world to see that little piece of heaven looking
back at me
Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her
I've gotta live with the choices I made
And I can't live with myself today"
The next room he tried, empty.
"Here we are
Now you're in my arms
I never wanted anything so bad
Here we are
For a brand new start
Living the life that we could've had
Me and Lucy walking hand in hand
Me and Lucy never wanna end
Just another moment in your eyes
I'll see you in another life
In heaven where we never say goodbye"
If she died, she would be with Lucy. Her daughter that had been born and held in her mother's arms for five minutes, barely alive then, and then she died. Would that be Kayla soon?
"Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her
I'd give up all the world to see that little piece of heaven looking
back at me
Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her
I've gotta live with the choices I made
And I can't live with myself today"
The next doors were all empty. He only had three doors left.
"Here we are, now you're in my arms
Here we are for a brand new start
Got to live with the choices I've made
And I can't live with myself today"
The next door was empty. He only had two doors left.
"Me and Lucy walking hand in hand
Me and Lucy never wanna end
Got to live with the choices I've made
And I can't live with myself today"
The next door was empty, and as Jack drew closer to the last one, Kayla's voice grew louder, it was the right room!
"Hey Lucy, I remember your name"
"Well, the winner is-" the door blasted open, and Jack stood in it, looking like hell. His eyes sought Kayla, who turned around to face him, her mouth open, and he saw that she was standing protectively in front of a girl who couldn't be more than 15.
"Dad." She said simply, still standing there.
"Kayla, get out of here!" He yelled to her, but she did nothing except turn back to the host, who continued.
"The winner is Kayla." Lucy gasped in horror, and Kayla rapped her arms around her, staring at the host with unhidden loathing.
"No. I relinquish my claim of the winner and give it to Lucy. She's the winner."
Lucy started to sob."Don't please don't. Don't do this for me." She begged, but Kayla shook her head. She stepped in front of the blinder, her eyes close. Then, on its own occur, she was hit by the wrong gun, and all that was left was a pile of ash. Before anyone could react, before Jack could react, the blinder hit Lucy and when she screamed in sudden pain and fear, render blind, she was hit once again and all that was left was a pile of gun. And then, Jack's second VM, the one that Kayla communicated with, the one he never used or wore, suddenly pulled him back in space and time, and he was back with the Doctor, who was standing next to a lift, waiting for it to arrive.
"Jack? But you-where's Kayla?" the Doctor wondered, and Jack started to sob, the truth hitting him.
"Rodrick, in literature, the author of 'Lucky' was Jackie who?"
"Stewart." Rodrick took a wild guess at it.
"No, the correct answer is Collins." A cross for Rodrick.
"Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"
"Boe! The Face of Boe!" Rose shouted out, knowing the answer. A brief paused followed as the Anne Droid and Rodrick stared at her blankly. Was it just Rose, or did the Anne Droid like Rodrick better?
"That is the correct answer." Check for Rose.
Jack was still crying silently, the Doctor's expression was blank, and Lynda twitched nervously as the three watched the numbers speed by, the lift going up.
"We aren't losing…losing Rose. I've lost my baby girl, I'm not losing Rose too." Jack sobbed out, and the Doctor nodded in agreement.
"Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?" The scores were now equal.
"Hoshbin Frane." Rodrick answered sharply.
"That is the correct answer." Rodrick is now winning, and the Anne Droid turned her head sharply to look at Rose.
"Rose, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?"
"Um...is it..." Rose started, no clue whatsoever, and the Anne Droid staring blankly at her didn't help matters. "... Mars?" She guessed.
"Nope, the correct answer is Lucifer." Lovely, the planet's name is the same name as the devil. Rose got a cross, and Rodrick had cruel delight in his eyes.
The lift raced upwards, inside it, the Doctor watched the numbers, almost unaware of Jack's sobbing, Lynda comforting him. Kayla was gone, and the Doctor was in pain. If he lost Rose too-no, he wouldn't think of that.
"Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?" Rose glanced over at Rodrick, who didn't have a clue.
"Would that be a goffle?" He guessed.
"No. The correct answer is a paab." Rodrick gets a cross.
"Rose, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"
"Shoes." Rose stated, her voice firm even though she was taking another guess.
"No. The correct answer is hats." Rose earned a cross, Rodrick was still one ahead, but there is only one question remaining….
The Doctor, Lynda, and Jack belt out onto floor 407, and just like with Kayla, they could hear the Anne Droid's voice. Jack was still crying some, but he felt a rush of adrenalin in him. He could get Rose out, who he thought of like his sister. He could get her out and then avenge his daughter, and something told him the Doctor would be beside him for that bit.
"Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen-Dash-Ten Barric Fields?"
"Game Room Six, which one is it?!" The Doctor yelled, frantically trying to drown out the voice, and stop the images of Kayla flashing across his gaze. Sleeping in a chair, showing him her flute…it hurt.
"Over here!" Lynda called to him.
"San... Hazeldine." Rodrick tried.
"No..."
The Doctor, with Lynda and Jack behind him, whipped out his sonic screwdriver.
"... the correct answer is San Chen."
"Stand back, let me blast it open." Jack offered, the ones upstairs had worked.
"Can't, it's made of Hydra Combination." The Doctor nearly snapped at him.
"They weren't upstairs." Jack pointed out as the Doctor continued to scan the door.
"Well I guess this game gets broken into more." The Doctor answered sarcastically, pressing his screwdriver to the pad by the door.
"Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?" 'Murder Spree Twenty, what was one?' Rose wondered briefly, staring at the Anne Droid who stared back at her blankly. Rodrick glanced over at her, wondering if the blond knew, then they'd be tied. A tense silence filled the room as Rose struggled to think of Iceland and its cities, wishing she had stayed in school.
"Reykjavik...?" Rose tried. Rodrick tore his gaze from Rose to the Anne Droid, fully scared that he would have to continue. There's a few seconds of pause, like the Anne Droid wanted to torture Rose more.
"No, the correct answer is Pola Ventura." 'Where?' Rose got a cross, and the game's music played, making an ecstatic smile flare up on Rodrick's face as he realized that that music was for him!
"Oh, my God! I've done it!" He looked over at Rose with no pity, intent on bragging about this to the blond he had beaten. "You've lost!" he gloated.
The sonic screwdriver continued to whirl in the Doctor's hands. "Come on, come on, come on, let me get to my little sister." He pleaded to it.
"But I'm not meant to be here. I need to find the Doctor, he's got to be here somewhere-he's always here! He wouldn't just leave me!" Rose screamed with fear, a snide voice telling her that he would if he had to go for Kayla. He loved her, and she didn't even know it, but the Anne Droid ignored her, speaking over her even.
"Rodrick, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits."
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much." Rodrick bragged as Rose leaned over her podium, strong but terrified.
"This game is illegal! I'm telling you to stop!" She protested. Suddenly, the Floor Manager , who had been watching the game, turned to look at a door off-set, just as the Doctor, Jack, and Lynda barged through it, just a little too far away…
"Rose!" The Doctor cried, seeing his little sister in danger.
"Rose, you leave this life with nothing—" 'That Anne Droid just doesn't quit, does it?'
"Stop this game!" Jack yelled, his daughter had already died, his little sister wouldn't either.
"I order you to stop this game!" the Doctor agreed. Kayla had died in one of these games, Rose wasn't going to too.
"We're live on air!" the Floor Manager protested, but the Doctor didn't care anymore. His little sister was in danger, and he was saving her. The Doctor did the one thing he was amazing at, he ran. His hearts beating faster than ever as he ran across the wide expanse of floor as fast as he could, Rose doing the same. Pushing her podium out of the way in the process.
"You are the weakest link."
"Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!" Rose yelled, still running when the Anne Droid turned her head and her jaw hinged down, the disintegrator beam shot out, hitting Rose square in the back. With a scream, Rose was gone, mere feet from the Doctor and Jack, who had started to run towards her too. Upon seeing this yet again, Jack took off towards the set, raging for his daughter, for his little sister.
"What the hell did you do to her?" He asked furiously. Behind him, the Doctor crouched down to the pile of dust that was Rose, his little sister to make up for the one he burned. Everything seemed to fade as he thought about Kayla, who has gone through the same process except she was blinded first.
"Back off!" Jack yelled, brandishing his gun at the Floor Manager and Rodrick.
"I need security and I need it here right now! It's this lot..." the Floor Manager reported. A security guard appeared behind the Doctor.
"Don't you touch him! Leave him alone!" Jack ordered, his voice cracking some. The security guard pulled the Doctor to his feet and placed a gun to his head, the Doctor slumped into his arms, losing the will to fight. Hearing about Kayla was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes, and it happened to his younger sister at that, it hurt too badly to argue with the pain, he let it sweep over him.
Next to him, Jack was literally barking at the Floor Manager, his hands tied behind his back being held back by guards. "You killed Kayla, my Kayla! Your stupid freaking game show killed Kayla, and Rose." The Floor Manager's eyes widened, recognizing the name.
"Kayla, as in the Kayla Hark, Time Agent and whatnot?" she wondered, and Jack spat at her.
"Yes, and you killed her, you killed my little girl!" He screamed.
"Sir, I'm arresting you under Private Legislation Sixteen of the Game Station Syndicate." A Security Guard told the Doctor, but if faded away for both men, both falling into a grief-stricken stupor.
The Doctor was slammed roughly against a gate as he was searched, not even fighting, completely past caring. The sonic screwdriver was wrenched from his pocket, like someone knew it was there, and the Doctor was turned roughly to face the Security Guard, who brandished it in his face.
"Can you tell us the purpose of this device, sir?" he asked scathingly, but earned no reply from the Doctor, too much in his personal hell to care.
Jack, the Doctor, and Lynda were forced onto a bench in a prison cell as they were interrogated.
"Can you tell us how you got on board?" the Security Guard asked.
"Just leave him alone—" Lynda tried, the only person with fight in her, but the guard grabbed her chin, silencing her.
"I'm asking HIM." He spat at her, and then released her to turn back to the Doctor.
"Sir? Can you tell us who you are?" the Security Guard requested.
The Doctor was standing in front of a wall, getting criminal photos. First, they took one from the font-the camera flashed multiple times before he turned his head to each side of the camera as it flashed twice more, the sound echoed in the silence. The Doctor made no means of fighting, numb and dead.
They were all back in the cell, the Security Guard's voice cold and meaningless. "You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial, you may not appeal against this sentence." Neither Jack or the Doctor made no sign that they heard or cared about that, but Lynda shifted uncomfortably, not enjoying the thought of prisoner. "Is that understood?" asked, his voice getting colder. The Security Guard opened the door, and the Doctor turned to Jack and said the first three words since Rose was killed in front of him.
"Let's do it." As though it was a signal, all three of them leapt to their feet, Jack punched and kicked his way through the gate. He tossed one guard aside, the Doctor threw another easily against the wall, knocking him out. They all grabbed their weapons and leave, an alarm going off that they didn't pay attention to.
The Male Programmer watched the progress, getting scared.
"Oh, my God. Now we're in trouble." He muttered, getting up to warn the others.
Jack, Lynda, and the Doctor piled into the lift, Jack waiting for the Doctor to tell him what floor they were going to.
"Floor 500." The Doctor ordered.
The Male Programmer pressed a button on Floor 500, causing an alarm to go off.
"Clear the floor! He's on his way up here. With a gun!" the staff all stood hurriedly.
The Doctor released the safety catch on the huge ass Defabricator that he was now holding, his face had changed, growing darker and less like the friendly northern face that Jack had come to like. The lift zoomed upwards, getting closer and closer to its destination.
The Male Programmer and the Female Programmer stood in front of the Controller.
"This is an emergency! You've got to close the lift!" the Female Programmer said exasperatedly.
"All staff are reminded that solar flares commence in delta point two-" the Controller ignored her, her eyes wide and unseeing as she spoke.
"Never mind solar flares! He's gonna KILL you!" the Male Programmer yelled just as a merry ding sounded and the lift doors opened. All the staff turned around to see the Doctor, Lynda, and Jack stalk out, armed to the teeth and then some.
"Okay! Move away from the desk! Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clears!" the staff scattered as the Doctor sauntered over to the Controller, like he had tunnel vision and all he saw was him. "Stand to the sides. And stay there." Jack ordered, but the Doctor didn't pay any attention, brandishing his gun at the Controller, he spoke.
"Who's in charge of this place?" the Controller paid no attention to him.
"... 18...19...20..." she counted up, not answering.
"This Satellite's more than a Game Station." The Doctor continued.
"79..."
"Who killed Kayla Hark? Who killed Rose Tyler." At Kayla's name, the staff muttered to each other, there had been rumors going about that the Kayla Hark was in the games, but this proved it.
"All staff are reminded that solar flares—"
"I want my answers!" the Doctor commanded.
"She can't reply." The Male Programmer stated, and the Doctor abruptly swung the gun around to the staff, his body following, making them all flinched. "Don't shoot!" the man begged, and the Doctor grimaced.
"Oh, don't be so thick. Like I was ever gonna shoot." The Doctor chucked the Defabricator to the Male Programmer. "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits." He commanded Jack.
"Yes, sir!" Jack said, running off, and the Doctor turned to continue addressing the Male Programmer.
"You-what were you saying?" He asked him sharply.
"But... I've got your gun." The Male Programmer protested, confused.
"Okay, so shoot me. Why can't she answer?" the Doctor asked again.
"She's, um..." the Male Programmer glanced down at the large gun, distracted by. "Can I put this down?" He wondered.
"If you want, just hurry up." The Doctor said impatiently.
"Thanks." The Male Programmer put the gun down. "Sorry. Um...the Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain-you're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognize your existence." He explained quickly.
"What's her name?" the Doctor looked up at the Controller.
"I don't know. She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known." The Male Programmer said sadly.
"Door's sealed. We should be safe for about ten minutes." Jack called over from the doors.
"Keep an eye on 'em." The Doctor yelled back and then turned his attention back to the Controller's case.
"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station-I think you're right." Jack's VM beeped, and he read it, looking around. "Unauthorized transmats...it's been going on for years." The Male Programmer continued.
"Show me." The Doctor ordered. Jack placed his hand on the door to Archive Six.
"You're not allowed in there! Archive Six is out of bounds!" the Female Programmer yelled, making Jack jump.
"Do I look like an out-of-bounds sort of guy?" Jack shot back, holding up his two guns. He placed his hand on the pad and the door opened.
Jack smiled, because in the center of the room stood the TARDIS. He fitted his key into the lock and entered. Inside, the TARDIS hummed away, a comforting and familiar sound. Slung casually over the rail was one of Rose's jackets, and then sitting next to the Captain's chair was Kayla's new flute and her trench coat. Jack placed his hand on Rose's jacket before going over to Kayla's and holding it to his face, breathing in the familiar scent, tears starting to fall, staining the jacket. Jack held the jacket tightly in a fist as he went over to the console, checking the screen while leaning closer to it, puzzled.
"What the hell...?" He wondered.
The sun rose over the Earth, a new day as it illuminated the Satellite.
"Solar-flare activity at delta point zero..." the Controller continued.
"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified." The Female Programmer said impatiently to the Doctor.
"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day—" the Doctor started.
"That's not our fault, we're just doing our jobs." The Female Programmer protested, and the Doctor's eyes flashed with brutal anger.
"And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off." He spat, his voice rising. Lynda flinched and the Female Programmer stared at the Doctor, shocked. One of the screens filled with static and the lights flicked off, with the sound of power going off.
"That's just the solar-flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal." The Male Programmer explained.
"Doctor..." the Controller said quietly, only the Female Programmer hearing her.
"Doctor?" She asked, and the Doctor glared at her, still angry at her.
"Whatever it is, you can wait." The Doctor hissed at her.
"I think she wants you." The Female Programmer continued, ignoring the Doctor's statement. The Doctor spun around to look at the Controller on the other side of the room.
"Doctor..." she called again. The Doctor hurried over to stand in front of her, the Controller still stared ahead, her milky eyes unseeing. "Doctor...? Where's the Doctor?" She continued.
"I'm here." The Doctor reassured.
"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you." The Controller whispered, her voice strong but quiet.
"What do you want?" the Doctor asked.
"Solar-flares hiding me. They can't hear me-my-my masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now. The sun...the sun is so bright..." she continued.
"Who are your masters?" the Doctor asked, hearing the fear in her voice.
"They wired my head, their name is forbidden. They control my thoughts, my masters...my masters, I had to be careful. They monitor the transmissions but they don't watch the programs. I could hide you inside the games." Everyone was listening to her, hanging onto every word.
"My…Kayla died in your games, and my little sister." the Doctor said coldly, his voice warming up some when he mention Kayla, but it dropped down afterwards.
"Doesn't matter." The Controller said, dismissing it.
"Don't you DARE tell me that, she will always matter, Kayla will always matter to ME!" The Doctor roared, making everyone flinch.
"They've been hiding. My masters, hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth...so, so, so many years...they've always been there. Guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years—" the Controller elaborated, still giving no clue of who they might be.
"Who are they?" The Doctor voiced.
"They wait. They plan and grow in numbers, they're strong now. So strong, my masters—" the Controller continued, not answering the question.
"Who are they?" The Doctor repeated, and the Controller suddenly turned her head to face him, her unseeing eyes finding the Doctor, looking at him.
"But they speak of you. My masters, they fear the Doctor, and the Death…the Death…the Kayla." The Doctor flinched at the name he had used openly, and the nickname that Margaret had said, that her enemies knew her by.
"Tell me! Who are they?" the Doctor yelled, stepping forwards, and the powered flicked on and Controller gasped as she went back to counting.
"20...21...22..." the Doctor turned his head to look at the Male Programmer.
"When's the next solar-flare?" he asked, and the Male Programmer consulted a monitor for a few seconds before he answered.
"Two years time." he answered.
"Fat lot of good that is." The Doctor dismissed as Jack emerged from Archive Six.
"Found the TARDIS!" He said triumphantly.
"We're not leaving now." The Doctor told him. He had to get Kayla and Rose back.
"No. But the TARDIS worked it out." Jack shoved the Male Programmer out of his chair. "You'll wanna watch this." He instructed the Doctor, who turned to give him his full attention.
"Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?" He asked the blond, barely smiling as he indicated the spot where she was to stand as he did something really stupid.
"I-I just wanna go home." Lynda stuttered out, terrified. She was going to prison once this was done, and she was probably going to die.
"It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can?" Jack told her, fixing a smile onto his face, a hard note in his voice. Lynda complied, not wanting to risk the man's rage, and went over to stand in the empty area of the floor. "Everybody watching? Okay...three, two, one—" He pressed a button and the disintegrator beam shot out at the blond from the ceiling and it hit Lynda, leaving nothing but a pile of ash and dust, smoke rising up.
"But you killed her!" The Doctor protested, shocked.
"Oh, d'you think?" Jack shot back, getting his cocky attitude back as he pressed the same button again, and Lynda reappeared next to the Doctor, slightly dazed but otherwise unharmed.
"... What the hell was that?" Lynda asked, shocked. The Doctor looked at Jack for an answer, which he gladly gave.
"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator-a secondary transmat system." the Doctor looked at Jack blankly before he understood what Jack was saying, his eyes lit up with joy. "People don't get killed in the games! They get transported across space! Doctor, Kayla is still alive, so is Rose!" Jack yelled, walking towards them. The Doctor started to laugh ecstatically with relief. Jack threw his arms around the Doctor, who did the same in return, the grieving father and brother comforting the grieving lover and brother, the Doctor did the same, both just comforting each other.
Rose and Kayla were both lying on the floor unconscious, Kayla woke up first, her eyes snapping open, sitting up as she took a good look of her surroundings, realizing that she was on a spaceship, which was humming ominously as she looked around it. Rose gasped as she woke up, immediately sitting up only to let out a squeak of terror as she saw something coming towards them. Kayla turned to see it, and then groaned.
"Oh great, I thought I was done exterminating you lot." She complained.
"It can't be..." Rose gasped out as the familiar glided towards them, Rose getting up and scrambling backwards while Kayla lazily got up and backed up too, keeping one eye on the alien, not trusting it to no hurt them as it pressed them against the wall. "But you're dead...I saw you die!" Rose tried to edge sideways, trying to get to the other side of the wall.
"No Rose-" Kayla tried, but a black plunger blocked her way and Rose scurried back to Kayla.
"Don't you have your blasters?" Kayla shook her head.
"The transmat took it." She explained.
"She's out there somewhere, and Rose!" The Doctor yelled, speaking only of Kayla first but then remembered Rose, still dashing from console to console.
"Doctor!" the Controller gasped out, even though it was obvious that she was in pain talking to the Doctor and betraying her so called, 'masters,' but she determined as hell to continue, despite any pain she felt. "Co-ordinates five point six point one—" the Doctor started to type them in frantically.
"Don't! The solar flare's gone, they'll hear you!" the Doctor pleaded even as the Controller cried out in pain.
"Point four three four-no my masters, no! I defy you! Stigma seven seven—" the Controller screamed in pain, and the Doctor looked up from the monitors to see the wires that had once connected to the Controller to the machine hanging limply. The only mark that the Controller had ever stood there was a pile of dust and smoke rising up.
"They took her." The Doctor muttered, starting to work hurriedly.
The Controller reappeared on the floor of the spaceship, holes all over her body where the wires had once entered her. She stood up, her blind eyes staring forwards, defiant but proud.
"Oh, my masters..." She mumbled. Behind her, stood a shining wall, and a Dalek glided towards her. "You can kill me. For I have brought your destruction." She cried out gleefully as the only noise was the sound of a ray gun as she was shot by the Dalek, dying instantly.
The Daleks watched their Satellite Five, they were about to make contact and then they would…Exterminate all humans!
Jack sat at one of the computer terminals, the others gathered around him.
"Look, use that." The Male Programmer told Jack, handing him a disk as he spoke. "It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions." Jack peered up at him.
"Nice...thanks..." Because Kayla and Rose were still alive, Captain Jack Harkness had gotten his flirt back, and as he held out his hand to the Male Programmer, he eyed him in an un-platonic manner. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way..."
"I'm Davitch Pavale." Davitch introduced, shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale..." Jack flirted, and the Doctor snapped his head towards Jack.
"There's a time and a place." He chastised, smiling as he heard Jack flirt. When he hadn't flirted with Lynda, he had gotten worried, Jack always flirted, that was just him. It was good, in an odd way, to see the man flirting again.
"Are you saying this entire set-up's been a disguise all along?" The Female Programmer asked, shaking the Doctor out of his thoughts.
"Going way back. Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game. Controlling the Human Race from behind the scenes for generations" The Doctor explained to her.
"Click on this." Jack told the Doctor, handing him a small device, which he took gladly. He pointed it upwards and he clicked it, an image of the empty expanse of space materialized above their heads. "The transmat delivers to that point. Right on the edge of the solar system." Jack narrated to the Doctor.
"There's nothing there." The Female Programmer pointed out.
"It looks like nothing. 'Cause that's what this satellite does. Underneath the transmission, there's another signal..." the Doctor started, his voice trailing off in thought.
"Doing what?" Davitch asked.
"Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner..." Everybody stared at the empty point in space. "There's something sitting right on top of Planet Earth...but it's completely invisible." Lynda started to chew her lip, getting scared. "If I cancel the signal..." The Doctor pressed a few buttons and when he looked back at the screen, the expanse of space was no longer empty. Right in front of them was a spaceship, revolving slowly. The Doctor stared at it, wide eyed. The image moved on its own occur, revealing more and more.
And there were more, all identical ships, about 200 of them in all.
"That's impossible. I know those ships...they were destroyed. Kayla, an old friend, and I had to hunt some down, about 100 of them, and we almost all died. But they were all gone, the Time Agency confirmed that, even Kayla said they were all gone." Jack said truthfully, remembering.
"Obviously, they survived." The Doctor said softly.
"Who did? Who are they?" Lynda asked, terrified.
"Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them." The Doctor said, more than just one fearful note in his voice.
"Half a million what?" Davitch questioned.
"Daleks." The Doctor answered, and Jack winced at the name.
A Dalek entered an area on their spaceship, where several others where crowded including Rose and Kayla.
"Alert! Alert! We are detected!" Dalek #2, Kayla didn't know their names and that seemed rude to ask, so she numbered them, yelled.
"It is the Doctor! He has located us!" Rose was huddled against the foot of the wall, watched as Dalek #1, the one who had just spoken, glided mere inched in front of her. Kayla crouched down next to her, patting her shoulder in comfort.
"Open communications channel!" Dalek #1 commanded. Dalek #2 swiveled to face Rose and Kayla.
"The females will stand. Stand!" the Dalek then turned to face Kayla, who was helping Rose to her feet. "You are the Death, you are Kayla Hark!" Kayla glared at the Dalek, unimpressed.
"Yes, I am. I killed the original protectors of the Empire myself, and I almost killed him, but Jack and John thought that shagging in a closet on a Dalek ship was a better way to spend time." Kayla shrugged, turning her attention back to Rose, when all the Daleks turned their attention upwards, she did the same to see an video of a blond girl, Jack, the Doctor, a man, and a woman all staring at the Daleks, Rose, and Kayla.
The Doctor was grim, looking at the three Daleks flanking Kayla and Rose.
"I will talk to the Doctor." Dalek #1 called out.
"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" He waved at them mockingly, the fake grin he had plastered on fading quickly.
"The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene." The Dalek ordered.
"Oh, really? Why's that then?" the Doctor challenged.
"We have your associates. You will obey or they will be exterminated." Rose was shaking, looking up at the Doctor, the terror obvious in her eyes. Kayla shook her head at the Doctor.
"Don't do it! I've lived a long enough life, and I'm fine with dying." She told the Doctor, and he looked straight at her as he answered the Dalek.
"No." He agreed with Kayla. As one, Jack, Lynda, Davitch, and the Female Programmer jerked their heads towards the Doctor. Rose's mouth opened some, in shock, while Kayla bowed her head, not wanting anyone to see her tears.
"Doctor, that's my daughter." Jack protested.
"Explain yourself." The Dalek commanded, not expecting that answer from the Doctor.
"I said 'no.'" the Doctor repeated.
"What is the meaning of this negative?" the Doctor glared at the Dalek, and then his gaze softened as he glanced over to Kayla, who had turned her head back up, now watching him, a small smile on her lips as she realized his plan.
"It means 'no.'" the Doctor explained.
"But they will be destroyed." The Dalek pointed out, seeing an imaginary flaw in the Doctor's plan.
"No! 'Cos this is what I'm gonna do-I'm gonna rescue her, Kayla and Rose." The Doctor stood up, towering above the Dalek's heads. Jack watched along with the Female Programmer and Davitch, the last two in awe while he smirked. His little girl had a great man in love with her.
"I'm gonna save Kayla Hark and Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and then just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe every last STINKING Dalek outta the sky!" he yelled at the Daleks, fiery and every bit a true hero he didn't think of himself as.
"But you have no weapons! No defenses! No plan!" Dalek #1 cried out.
"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death? Kayla?" Kayla looked up at the Doctor, pride in her eyes.
"Yes, Doctor?" She gave a mock salute.
"I'm coming to get you." The Doctor turned his gaze from Kayla to Rose. "Both of you." He added, smiling down at them one last time. He clicked a device, and the communication shut down, leaving the Daleks terrified.
"The Doctor is initiating hostile action!" Dalek #1 cried out.
"The Stratagem must advance. Begin the invasion of Earth!" Dalek #2 ordered. The Daleks spun around wildly, and Rose gasped while Kayla winced, but they took no notice in either of them, and they both stepped out of their way.
"The Doctor will be exterminated!" Dalek #3 yelled, and the Daleks took up the cry.
"Exterminate!" The entire ship filled with thousands of Daleks all crying out that one word as one. Rose and Kayla watched, the latter feeling a pit of terror grow as she observed the insane army prepare for war against a planet that had no chance of winning.
Right, extra chapter that I hoped you liked. Now I'm gonna go dissect a frog!
Also, since I realized this will be over in two weeks, there will be a week break before I post the next book.