Because I always thought I would have handled that situation better than Rose.
Adric blinked blearily. He couldn't remember a thing, and that was scary, because he'd always prided himself on a perfect memory, although he couldn't in fact remember that right now. He looked around. He was somewhere dark, with sweeping lights. He blinked again.
Then there were two strong arms around him, pulling him up. He stood up shakily. A woman smiled at him. He looked down at his clothing. Something was missing. Oh! His badge. Why was it missing?
Memory rushed back. The Doctor. Nyssa. Tegan. Cybermen. A freighter crashing into the Earth, and then... a white light. And then this.
The woman was still smiling at him. She had dark hair and an intelligent face.
"It's all right, the transmat does that. Scrambles your head. Most times you get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?"
"A-Adric," he mumbled. Keep quiet, he thought. Keep quiet 'till you figure things out.
"Just remember, do what the android says. The android's word is law."
Android. Adric tried to make sense of the word. So many things were different in this universe.
"Positions!" came another woman's voice.
"Come on," said the dark-haired woman kindly, tugging him along. She deposited him at a podium with the name ADRIC in lights on it, in a circle of other podiums with other people behind them. He looked around at the others. A dark-skinned man, a dark-haired young man, a blond young woman, a blond older woman, and a robot. Android? he thought.
The lights flashed. "Welcome," said the android, "to the Weakest Link."
The woman counted down. Adric looked around, trying to make sense of it all.
The 'android' started asking people questions. Adric could soon see that he would have no chance of winning this... game, he supposed it must be. Being from a different time period and a different universe, he didn't even know if he could count on his knowledge of basic astronomy. He noticed that he wasn't the only one having difficulties. The other teenagers, the dark-haired boy and the blond girl, were also getting half the questions wrong. The blond girl was laughing like crazy, so maybe the game was harmless. Adric remained on alert, just in case. His travels with the Doctor had taught him that things were seldom as they appeared. Thinking of the Doctor made him feel lonely, somehow. He wished he still had his badge.
The questions stopped. Adric gathered that the first round was over. He looked around, trying to see if there were any exits hidden in the dark. "Adric!" snapped the dark-haired woman. "You have to vote."
"What?" Adric asked.
"Vote for the person you thought did the worst!" She held up a card, on which she had written 'Broc'. Broc, Adric remembered, was the name of the dark-haired teenager. Adric hastily scribbled 'Broc' onto his card. They all held up their cards. Broc had the most votes.
"Goodbye," said the android, and vaporized Broc. The blond woman burst into tears, declared she wasn't playing, and ran for it. The android vaporized her too.
Ah. So that was the downside.
The blond girl seemed to be making some kind of fuss. Adric ignored her. It was vitally important that he get out of this game. But how? The answer was there, he knew it. He thought, cudgeling his enormous brain into action. Aha! He had it.
"Excuse me," he said loudly. "It's illegal for me to be playing this game."
"Why's that then?" said the android, threateningly.
He smiled, smugly. "I'm a minor."
There was an awestruck silence. Then, "I'm a minor, too," said the blond girl, crossing her fingers behind her back.
The android emitted a low beeping noise, croaked "CAN-NOT-COM-PUTE," and exploded.
Staff members handed out compensation and gift bags to everyone. "We're so sorry for the inconvenience," said one woman in uniform."
"Oh, that's quite all right," Adric replied magnanimously.
"The transmat beam will now return you home," she continued.
"Er," Adric interrupted quickly, "you really don't have to go to all that trouble." He thought of the crashing freighter.
"I have to find the Doctor," the blond girl mewed plaintively.
"Actually," Adric said, thinking quickly, "I'm with her. I'm her little brother, you know." He kicked the girl hard on the shin, the universal signal for 'shut up and let me do the talking'.
"Not much family resemblance," the staff member said doubtfully.
"Adopted," Adric explained.
He thought about how much he was going to hit the Doctor. He hoped his badge was still intact. It was his most valued possession.
Three violent-looking people burst into the room.
The blond girl ran up to the one in front. "Doctor!" she squealed. The Doctor, however, paid no attention to her, being too busy staring at Adric. "Oi, I'm talkin' to you!" she yelled angrily.
"You've gone and bloody regenerated again, haven't you," said Adric.