"Danger. This is a warning. A warning to the whole world. You're looking for wifi. Sometimes you see something," the man in the YouTube video said, holding up a paper with a bunch of symbols written on it. "A bit like this. Don't click it. Do not click it. Once you've clicked it, they're in your computer. They can see you. And if they can see you, they might choose you. And if they do, you die. For twenty four hours, you're dead. For a while. People's souls are being uploaded to the internet. And some people get stuck. Their minds, their souls, in the wifi. Like echoes, like ghosts. Sometimes you can hear their screams on the radio, on the telly, on the net. This is real. This is not a hoax. Or a joke. Or a story. This is real, and I know that, because I don't know where I am. Please, please, if you can hear me, if you can hear me, I don't know where I am."
Clara frowned at her computer screen as the video ended with a bunch of static. The symbols wouldn't translate for her, so she wasn't sure if they actually meant anything or were just nonsense. It could be a hoax; some kids messing around, but something about it seemed genuine. She checked the local wifi networks, and sure enough, there was an available network labelled with the same symbols. Best be careful then.
Heading downstairs, she found Angie and Artie were home from school. Their parents were friends of her Aunt Donna and their mother had recently passed away. As a favour, Clara was helping out as a nanny to the children until their father got himself organized after the tragedy.
"Angie? Are you using the internet?" Clara questioned.
"Yeah. Don't usually disconnect anything," she replied.
"Ok, well, just don't use any networks you aren't familiar with. There's something going around. Viruses and stuff," Clara told her, hoping that sounded convincing. "You done your homework?"
"Shut up, you're not my mum," Angie snapped at her.
"And I'm not trying to be, okay?" Clara answered calmly. She knew the children were just upset still and might lash out at her. They didn't mean it, of course, so she could let it go.
Their father, George, was taking Artie out for the evening and they were about to leave. "Right. Yes. Angie's probably fine on her own. You can probably have the night off," he told Clara.
"I'm okay. I'll be upstairs on my computer," Clara assured him.
"Anyway, the adverts are in, so hopefully we'll find someone," he sighed.
"I'm here as long as you need me. Aunt Donna offered to help too, just your house isn't quite accessible enough for her, but they could go over to hers for a bit. Jackie and Pete could come by anytime," Clara responded, letting him know that there would always be people around to help.
"Good. Right, come along, Artie. Time to go," George said, shaking off his melancholy in the face of things that needed to get done.
Clara noticed that Artie was reading a book written by her Gran Amy, called Summer Falls. She smiled and asked him, "What chapter are you on?"
"Ten," he replied.
"Eleven is the best. You'll cry your eyes out," she informed him. It was a very good book. Her gran had taken to writing quite a bit after the time loop involving the novel in New York. In fact, while they were awaiting the birth of her Uncle Anthony, she had written quite a few novels.
Artie and his father left for the evening and Angie was off, talking to her friend on the phone.
"Right. Could call mum and dad. Could phone Torchwood, this is right up their alley. But, I'm supposed to be past the loop with Granddad and Gran Rose. And they did ask me to go with them the last time I saw them," she considered with a smirk.
Going back up to her room in the converted attic space, Clara pulled out her mobile and called the Doctor's TARDIS phone. "Oh, come on! Just answer. Pick it up. Pick it up. Pick it up."
"Hello?" the Doctor asked.
"Hello, I've got a mystery that might just interest you," she told him teasingly.
"Who is this?" he questioned.
"Well, I suppose that depends on when you are?" she told him.
"I've heard that voice before. Know I have. Where are you?" he demanded.
"You can't have heard this voice, it's brand new!" Clara protested.
"Now I know it's you, Clara. I repeat, where are you?" the Doctor responded.
"Fine," she sighed. "I'll text gran the coordinates. Will you come help me, though?"
"Of course we'll come, when would we ever not come help you?" the Doctor questioned.
Angie came running up the stairs at that moment, asking, "Is it okay if I go and see Nina? You can call her mum."
"Sure. Remember to bring your key with you," she called after her. Clara couldn't be sure that she would be home that evening if she was going to be solving a mystery with her grandparents after all.
"Who are you talking to?" the Doctor asked over the phone.
"Oh, nevermind. I'll text you and see you soon," Clara told him and rang off.
It was only a moment later that she heard someone frantically ringing the doorbell and knocking at the front door. She excitedly descended the stairs to greet them.
"Hello? Yes, I hear you," she called, but the knocking continued until she opened the door and said, "Hello."
"Clara?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh my god, Clara!" Rose shouted and immediately pulled her into a hug.
"Hello, gran," Clara said, slightly squished.
"What are you doing here? In a house?" the Doctor asked confusedly.
"Oh, sweetheart! You regenerated from that fall," Rose sighed, holding her even tighter.
"Oh, gran, it wasn't your fault. You and dad knew it was going to happen before they sent me there," Clara assured her. "I didn't, of course, but mum and dad came to help as soon as you were gone."
"That still doesn't explain you living in a house," the Doctor interrupted, pushing past them to look around inside.
"I'm working as a nanny for a friend of Aunt Donna's. The kids' mother passed away recently and they needed some help," Clara explained.
"Working?" the Doctor questioned, a disgusted look on his face.
"Not like it's anything new, granddad. Spend most of my life doing boring things like working," she complained.
"Why in the world would you be doing that?" Rose wondered, that didn't sound like something Jamie and River would want for their daughter.
"Because of the time loop that I finally completed. Ever since the point in my childhood that you've just reached until now for me, has been fixed. Nothing dangerous, no travelling with the two of you. But it's done now! Does that mean that I can come with you?" she asked brightly.
"Of course you can, sweetheart! Goodness, you must have nearly died of boredom," Rose told her.
"No travelling at all?" the Doctor questioned, aghast that their granddaughter had been essentially grounded for so long.
"Well, no, we travelled. But it was always so safe and careful, and I kept hearing about all of the amazing adventures that the two of you always had, but I was never allowed to travel on your TARDIS," Clara explained.
"Because she's going to be with us now and can't cross her future self, right?" Rose asked her husband.
"I suppose so. Even more so, now that she's told us that's what she remembers," he sighed.
"Ugh, you mean I just condemned my own childhood to that just by saying it now? Oh, I can never get this stuff right!" Clara grumbled.
"What stuff?" the Doctor wondered.
"I sort of borrowed mum's vortex manipulator a few years ago and went to the Blitz. I bumped into mum and dad while they were on their honeymoon. I managed to stop an invasion while I was there, but I shouldn't have been there without them," she admitted.
"During the Blitz? They shouldn't have been there either! What if they ran into the Doctor and I while we were there?" Rose argued.
The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment as the memory of meeting Jamie and River unlocked in his mind. "Oh dear. They did. I locked away the memory for you, love," he told her and reached for her temples to release it for her as well.
Rose laughed. "You didn't do anything worse than those two did. Heck, we ran into a past Doctor with Jamie when he was just a toddler once. It happens, sweetheart. No harm done."
"Right! Anyway," the Doctor interrupted, clapping his hands. "You said something about a mystery."
"Yeah, there was this video I saw on the internet. Something about people getting uploaded and disappearing. It said there was this wifi network and I checked, and the same thing was showing up on my computer," Clara explained.
"Ok, let's have a look," he suggested and they followed her upstairs.
After watching the video and looking at the odd wifi network as much as possible, the Doctor gave in and simply clicked the thing. They waited for a while, but nothing seemed to be happening.
"How old are you now?" Rose asked her.
"About twenty five, I think," Clara replied.
"Blimey, and you've spent the last seventeen years doing boring safe stuff and jobs and things? Oh, my poor little princess! You need some adventures!" Rose insisted.
"Absolutely, as soon as we're done here, I know just the place. A family outing! Jamie and River can come along. It'll be fun!" the Doctor pronounced excitedly.
"Well, not much going on around here right now. Could I go make us some tea, sweetheart?" Rose asked.
"Sure, gran. Do you need help?" Clara offered.
"No, I'm sure I can find my way around," she assured her and went downstairs.
Clara and the Doctor were still fiddling with her laptop as Rose searched the kitchen for what she needed to make tea. She was startled while reaching for a packet of biscuits by a young girl entering the room.
"Hello! My name's Rose. I'm a friend of Clara's. What's your name, dear?" Rose greeted her.
The girl tilted her head slightly, staring blankly at Rose. Something was wrong and she sent a sudden telepathic warning to her husband as she continued looking at the silent girl. The child's head started turning around unnaturally, but before she could do anything else, Rose found herself trapped in an unknown, yet slightly familiar situation.
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"Right, so something was supposed to happen when I clicked that thing. Maybe there's nothing happening after all?" the Doctor rambled.
"I'm sorry, I thought there was something about it, but I'm not very good at using my time senses for that kind of thing," Clara apologized.
"Nonsense! You just haven't…" he trailed off as he got the sense that something was wrong downstairs. He ran to find his wife, Clara following worriedly. "Rose? Rose!"
"What's wrong? Did something-? Oh my god," Clara gasped as they came across a young girl, but where her face should have been, there was a metallic, concave dish. As if reflected in the surface, an image of Rose was shouting, silently, for the Doctor.
He was instantly kneeling by her unconscious body on the floor, his sonic whirring around her head. When that seemed to be unable to help, he shifted the sonic over to the girl. With a slight shimmer, it turned into a small, metal robot. "Oh no you don't. Clara, get your laptop," the Doctor growled angrily.
