Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who (or the Incredibles).
A/N: I wanted to try and get all the episodes into two chapters, but I've realised that it would be better to split this into three parts and make the final chapter, a 'double' of sorts. Chapter 24 will be the 3rd part of NIS, and also the 'breather' chapter that usually comes in between the episode chapters.
Nightmare in Silver – Part Two
Charlotte frowned when the Doctor suddenly hung up on her…he hadn't sounded like himself, and she had her suspicions as to why. She turned around and saw the others looking at her expectantly. "Is he coming?" asked Clara.
"Err…" Charlotte wasn't sure what to say…but she decided honesty was the best policy. "You see, he sounded kind of…off, on the phone, like it wasn't him talking. He may or may not have been overtaken by a Cyber-Planner" she explained, wincing.
"So he's in trouble?" Clara demanded worriedly.
"No, no…well, yes, but he's got it under control. We just have to make sure the planet doesn't get blown up in the meantime".
"Why would it get blown up? And how do you know he's got it under control?"
"Err…because I've seen it before? Not like this, though…actually, this might turn out better, in a way. If the Cyber-Planner is in the Doctor's mind already, they won't need to send any Cybermen after the kids…" Charlotte nearly face-palmed when she realised what she'd just said.
Clara's eyes went round as saucers. "They were after the kids?!" she cried in alarm.
"Um, Clara?" said Laura, pointing behind them. Clara looked around and saw Angie walking into the barracks, Artie in tow, obviously having grown tired of waiting for the adults to stop talking. She immediately ran after them; Laura quickly followed.
Porridge looked at Charlotte and inquired, "Are there actually Cybermen here?"
"Err…there's sort of an army of them. Sorry" she said apologetically, before hurrying to catch up with her friends. Porridge stood there for a moment digesting this, then gave a resigned sigh, and made his way after her.
/
Meanwhile, in the barracks, one platoon member nicknamed Beauty was discussing the state of their equipment with Captain Ferrin. "I can't fix this" she told the captain, holding up a slightly battered communications device.
"It can't be broken" Ferrin insisted, "It's a solid state subether ansible class communicator. Just run the diagnostics" she instructed.
"There's nothing left to diagnose. It's not broken, it's empty. All the components have gone" Beauty explained.
"Well, you must have replacement parts".
"Not enough to build a new one".
Another soldier, nicknamed Brains, hurried over and informed Ferrin, "Captain, the weather controller is malfunctioning again. There's a storm, heat waves, snow…"
The captain bit back an exasperated groan, but before she could decide what to do, the two children from the Spacey Zoomer ride wandered right into the barracks…alerting her to the fact that nobody was on guard duty. Seriously, did she have to do everything herself?
"Hello" the teenage girl greeted, "We're bored". The boy gave them a shy wave.
Ferrin walked over to them. "You were with the Procunsul and his aides, weren't you? Where is he?"
"You mean the Doctor? I dunno, he went to look at bugs or something" she shrugged, "Clara and those friends of hers are back there with Porridge" she added, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.
"They're eating porridge?" Ferrin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, Porridge. The little bloke?" asked Angie, "You must have seen him".
Before the captain could ask who she meant, Clara hurried into the barracks. "Angie, Artie!"
The teenager rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You always have to show up and spoil everything" she complained, scowling at Clara, "We weren't doing anything, why can't you just leave us alone?"
Laura frowned slightly and explained, "She's just worried about you, Angie".
"What would you know?" Angie sneered, "You're supposed to be such good friends with Clara; she never talked about you before now".
"Angie!" Clara scolded, embarrassed. She turned to Laura and hastily explained, "I only didn't talk about you and Charlotte and the Doctor because I didn't want to make a big deal out of things".
"Clara, it's okay!" Laura reassured her, "I understand. But err…I'm not sure if they do" she added sheepishly, gesturing to Captain Ferrin and the rest of the platoon, who were all watching them curiously.
The captain cleared her throat and turned to Clara, assuming an air of respectful authority. "Ma'am, with respect, I must ask that you and your…associates vacate the premises. This is a secured area, off limits to civilians" she stated firmly, whilst thinking Or at least it's supposed to be.
Clara blinked. "Oh, right, yes, of course" she nodded, turning to usher the children away…but then her curiosity started getting the better of her. "Although, actually…seeing as how I am an…aide, to the um, proconsul? I think that I…that is, we, ought to know what's going on here" she told the captain, trying to sound confident and important…to sound like the Doctor, basically. She thought she was pulling it off pretty well.
Just then, Charlotte caught up with them…Porridge hung back on the sidelines. "Is everything okay?" she asked, watching what appeared to be a stand-off between the captain and Clara. The latter shook her head and replied, "No, no. I was just asking the captain why this platoon is stationed here. Is there something dangerous on this planet?" she asked pointedly, "Something like…oh, I don't know…Cybermen?"
This last question received an incredulous stare. "There are no more Cybermen, they're extinct" Ferrin declared, before reluctantly adding, "If you must know, we're a punishment platoon. We were sent out here…to the back of beyond…so we can't get into trouble".
Well…this explains a lot Clara realised, before clearing her throat and tactfully as possible asking, "So…does that mean your soldiers…don't have too much fighting experience?"
"Not really" Beauty admitted; the captain shot her a glare, but quickly schooled her expression into a professional expression. "This planet is abandoned...were you expecting a fight with someone?"
"Well, I was…uh…Charlotte, explain, please".
Charlotte stared at her with a 'You've got to be kidding me' expression. She gulped and clasped her hands behind her back. "Err…thing is, the err, proconsul…he went to investigate a piece of technology that isn't native to this planet, and when I contacted him a few minutes ago, he was…speaking in a monotone, and you may have noticed that he's usually very emotive. I…we can't prove anything, but from what he mentioned before he left and given what we know of the Cybermen…we have reason to believe there are Cybermen here on this planet, and they're waking up".
/
When the Planner ended the call, he intended to head straight to the castle and deal with the humans…the Doctor's consciousness reasserted itself, and he literally forced himself to turn away from the door of the lab. "Don't you dare go near them" he growled to himself, before switching back to the Planner, the two of them fighting for control of his mind and body.
"Relax, relax. If you just relax, you will find this a perfectly pleasant experience. You are being upgraded and incorporated into the Cyberiad as a Cyber-planner".
"Get out of my head!"
The Doctor found himself facing off against…well, himself, only with cybernetic implants on one side of the other's face. They were in some kind of void, with signals flashing in the background. "What is this place, a network? A hive? You're getting signals from every Cyberman everywhere. How many of you are there?"
The Planner ignored him, marvelling at the incredible efficiency of his new mind. "Oh, this is brilliant. I'm so clever already, and now I'm a million times more clever. And what a brain. Not a human brain, not even slightly human. I mean, I'm going to have to completely rework the neural interface, but this is going to be the most efficient Cyber-planner. Not a great name that, is it? I could call myself Mister Clever. So much raw data….Time Lords" he gasped, "There's information on the Time Lords in here. Oh, this is just dreamy" he smiled, actually sounding delighted.
"Right, I'm allowing you access to memories on Time Lord regeneration" the Doctor informed his alter-ego, as ten of his previous faces flashed before them.
"Fantastic!" the Planner, or Mr Clever, grinned in excitement. This brain was so powerful, it was overriding the emotional inhibitor…but hopefully, once the upgrade was complete, that would settle down.
"I could regenerate right now" the Doctor threatened, "A big blast of regeneration energy, burn out any little Cyber-widgets in my brain, along with everything you're connected to. Don't want to. You use this me up, who knows what we'll get next? But I can" he warned, hoping that the Planner didn't sense he was lying through his teeth. Fortunately, he had a lot of practice.
"Stalemate, then" the Planner conceded, "One of us needs to control this head. We're too well-balanced… What did you say? No, no, no, no, no. I heard you. Rhetorical device to keep me thinking about it a bit more. Stalemate?" he considered it, "We each control forty nine point eight, eight one percent of this brain. Point two three eight of the brain is still in the balance. Whoever gets this gets the whole thing".
"Do you play chess?" the Doctor asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
"The rules of chess are in my memory banks. You're proposing we play chess to end the stalemate?"
"Winner takes all. Nobody can access that portion of the brain without winning the game" the Doctor laid out the stakes, holding a hand out to his alter-ego. The pair shook hands, agreeing on the stakes.
"You can't win" the Planner told him, despite speaking to thin air (he didn't count Webley, since the man was just standing there awaiting orders).
"Try me".
"You understand, when I do win, the Cyberiad gets your brains and memories. All of it".
"When I win, you get out of my head, and nobody dies. You got that? Nobody dies!"
"So sentimental…very well, it's a deal. Webley!" the Planner barked, and Webley turned to him, stomping like a Cyberman. "Return to the activated Cybermen. Tell one to observe the humans but not to engage them until I give the word, and the other to seek out the Doctor's time machine and prevent their getting access to it. Then return here…and bring a chess set with you".
Webley snapped a salute and teleported away. The Planner sat down on one side of the table and stretched. In the meantime, he would review his knowledge of the Earth game chess, analyse the winning moves and determine the most efficient way to beat and overcome the Doctor.
/
Of all the things that Charlotte had expected, immediate denial was…actually very high on the list. The two nearest soldiers looked alarmed at the news; the captain looked disbelieving and a little bit angry. "I told you, there are no Cybermen. They were all destroyed. The war's been over for ages!"
"I know it's hard to believe, but the Doctor – the proconsul, whatever you call him – he has experience fighting the Cybermen. I've…researched the Cybermen, and if there's one thing I know, it's that they are survivors. They don't need organic components to function, and they can power down for centuries but be at peak efficiency in minutes. This planet was taken by the Cybermen in the war, wasn't it? Is it so hard to imagine they might have stashed some of their platoons away here as well? It's a big place, after all".
"It's true, honest" Laura interjected, "Please; you've got to believe us".
Angie frowned at the adults, accusing and a little worried. "Hang on...did you know?" she demanded, "Did the Doctor know this place was dangerous?"
"Why would he bring us here if it wasn't safe?" Artie asked, looking confused and scared. Clara walked over and put a comforting arm around his shoulders; she didn't know what to say, and looked to her fellow companions for help.
"He didn't know it was dangerous when we came here" Laura explained quickly, not mentioning that this was because she and Charlotte hadn't told him. She tried not to feel too guilty; after all, it wasn't their job to make sure every adventure went perfectly.
"Those bugs he mentioned finding, I think it was actually Cyber-tech. He just didn't want us to worry" Charlotte added.
Well, I'm worried now thought Clara; it still alarmed her that the Cybermen had apparently been planning to kidnap Angie and Artie. "Right, that's it. Come on, you two, we're going back to the TARDIS" she declared, attempting to usher Artie and Angie back to the time machine. The younger was more than willing – all this talk of robots hiding in the park was creeping him out – but as usual, Angie was stubborn. "Don't tell me you're taking this seriously" she scoffed, "Those cyber-things weren't even active, Webley said so".
Charlotte ignored the girl and turned to Captain Ferrin. "Captain, I understand why you wouldn't believe me…but I would not lie about a threat to myself and my friends" she said, completely serious.
"Ma'am, if there are indeed Cybermen out there, my platoon can deal with them, and there are protocols if we cannot immediately find and destroy them".
"Do those protocols happen to involve blowing up the planet?" Charlotte asked knowingly, "We're not going to do that. At the very least, wait until we've got the children off planet, then you can detonate it to your heart's content" she added 'generously'. Ferrin 's eyes narrowed at the sarcastic tone, but before she could make a comeback, a familiar voice spoke up.
"I like that plan better" Porridge admitted, having finally entered the barracks. Charlotte jumped a bit; she'd actually forgotten for a moment that he was there. This was nothing compared to Ferrin 's surprise, who stared at Porridge in amazement before quickly regaining her composure. "Have you reported the possibility of a Cybermen incursion to the Imperium?" he questioned; partly to see if they'd be able to inform the Imperium about him.
Ferrin admitted, "We can't. No communicators".
"Are we out of range?" Laura asked curiously. Before the captain could stop her, Beauty explained, "They've all stopped working; they're just empty, like they've been dismantled from the inside out".
"Well, then there's something out there" Porridge reasoned, before adding, "But it's your call, captain. After all…you outrank us".
She resisted the urge to glare at him, and breathed out from between clenched teeth. "In the circumstances….I will consider the possibility of the threat" she conceded, "And forego extreme solutions…until it's more convenient. You two, have our Cyberiad class weaponry brought out of storage" she ordered Beauty and Brains. The two of them gave somewhat clumsy salutes and hurried off to follow out this command.
Then she turned to Charlotte and demanded, "The proconsul you arrived with…he isn't the proconsul at all, is he?"
"Ah, well...not really" Charlotte admitted, "But you did say your platoon was at his service".
"That was before I knew he was an imposter".
"Actually, the psychic paper only showed you what he wanted you to see. He never knows what it's actually going to say".
"You said that you'd been in contact with him, and believe he was being impersonated, by a Cyberman. I am willing to send out a search patrol…if it will put your mind at ease" Ferrin offered, somewhat condescendingly.
"That won't be necessary, thank you" Charlotte replied, "And he wasn't being…or, actually, I suppose he was being impersonated" she mused. It occurred to her that the Planner, when it took over the Doctor, still enunciated and emoted like he did…so if she had noticed that his voice sounded oddly flat, did that mean that he'd wanted her to notice? Perhaps…but which him, the Doctor or the Planner?
"Shouldn't we be rescuing him?" Clara asked, frowning in concern. Even if Charlotte and Laura had seen a version of events in their world where the Doctor was okay…well, he was always going on about how wibbley wobbley time was. What if he needed their help?
Charlotte bit her lip and sighed. "Clara, I know I'm asking a lot, but please, trust me when I say the Doctor can handle it" she pleaded, before admitting, "He'll come to us, we just…I think we need to be somewhere a bit more defensible, no offence" she added to Ferrin , "Um, d'you have a map of the park anywhere?"
The captain nodded and led them over to a large advertising overview of the map. "All these areas are within walking distance" she explained, pointing several out, "The beach, the Giant's Cauldron, Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle"-
"Real castle?" Clara interrupted, "Drawbridge, moat?"
"Yes, but comical".
"We'll go there" she decided.
Charlotte looked around and did a double take when she realised that one member of their party was missing. "Wait, where's Laura?"
Before she could get too alarmed – although she mentally kicked herself for not noticing her best friend had vanished – Laura came running up, looking alarmed. "What's up?" asked Charlotte.
Laura breathlessly explained, "I went to see if the Cybermen had found the TARDIS…and they have!"
"What?!"
"There was one standing in front of it, like it was guarding it or something. I don't know if it saw me, though".
"Let's hope it didn't" said Clara, "Still, it looks like the castle is in the opposite direction, so that's good".
Porridge clapped his hands together. "Right, let's all spend the night at Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle" he remarked with mock enthusiasm.
The soldiers gathered up the supplies and set off for the castle. At the Captain's request Porridge, the girls and the kids walked in the centre of the formation. When they arrived, Ferrin ordered several of the soldiers to sweep the area for possible threats. Not that she completely believed the newcomer's claims; it was just standard protocol to secure an area before they set up a base.
In the courtyard, the rest of the soldiers began setting up defences and checking the weaponry. Clara and her friends offered to help unpack the supplies and get everything organised; Artie volunteered as well, but a reluctant Angie simply claimed she'd supervise. Clara sidled over to Charlotte and tugged her off to the side by her arm. "Hey. What's your deal with Angie?" she asked quietly.
"What d'you mean?"
"You know, all those sarcastic comments and digs you keep making at her" Clara muttered, "Look, she's been through a lot and this is all unfamiliar to her, and"-
"And that gives her the right to be a brat?" Charlotte hissed back, "Clara, I'm just telling it how it is. If you won't tell her to stop being ungrateful then I will".
"I'm responsible for them, Charlotte. It's my job to make sure they behave, not yours".
"Well, why don't you do your job?" Charlotte demanded. She wanted to take it back the minute she saw the hurt expression on Clara's face, but before she could even stammer out an apology, the bespectacled ginger soldier came over to inform Captain Ferrin , who was standing nearby (keeping an eye on Porridge), "Err, ma'am. Missy said she saw something, and then she went quiet" he explained awkwardly.
"They're on their way, then" Clara realised, before gesturing to the weapons cases and asking, "Are these all the weapons we have? One gun and these…glove thingies?"
"Cybermen have been extinct for a thousand years" the captain replied defensively, "Even one Anti-Cyber gun is a miracle. These 'glove thingies' are hand-pulsers. Touch the back of a Cyberman's head, the electomagnetic pulse deactivates it".
"I guess the tricky part is getting close enough" Charlotte commented.
"Indeed" Ferrin remarked coolly.
Clara gestured to a large black device that was clearly not a regular weapon. "What's this for? Just a mad guess here, it blows up the planet?"
"Implodes it" the captain corrected, holding up a thin black cylinder tipped with a red button, "There's also a trigger unit".
"I'll take that then" Clara decided, reaching out to take the trigger, "Is there any other way to activate the bomb?"
"It's set to respond to my voice; I have the verbal code".
"Well, then please do not activate it until at the very least, the children are off planet" Clara told Ferrin , staring the older woman down. Charlotte followed suit, if only to show solidarity.
For a moment, the captain seemed tempted to argue, but at last she gave a curt nod. 'Brains', the ginger soldier, held out a clipboard and tentatively explained, "You have to sign for that trigger unit, ma'am".
"Thanks" she said, quickly scribbling a signature onto the paper. Porridge, feeling like the tense situation had been defused, reached into the box and picked up a hand-pulser. "Mind if I take one of these? Might come in handy" he joked.
Ferrin sighed and answered, "Help yourself, I'll teach you how to use it. Upstairs. Now" she said pointedly, directing him towards the steps up to the battlements. He went on ahead, and she picked up the bomb, reluctantly assuring Clara that she had no intention of using it, it was merely for safekeeping.
When the two of them had reached the lower battlements, and were in relative private, the captain did exactly what she had said; showed him how to properly use the pulser without accidentally frying himself. It was pretty simple, of course, and he knew that he couldn't avoid the approaching conversation forever. So with some resignation, he eventually remarked, "You knew it was me".
"I was in the Imperial Guard, back on Caspertine" Ferrin explained, "Mostly just parades, but I had the honour to guard the old Emperor during the ice picnic".
"When the snow bears came and danced for us" he smiled, reminiscing, "That was a day".
"We're a punishment platoon. We can't beat a Cyberman, assuming that there's even one out there. The Imperium has to know what's happening".
"Like you said, the communicators are out. The only way you can report this now is to activate the bomb".
"Yes" she nodded.
"And I forbid you to do that" he said sternly.
Before Ferrin could argue, there were footsteps on the stone and Clara walked up to join them. Apparently her tone downstairs hadn't adequately conveyed the captain's desire for privacy. "I don't get it" the young woman commented, "Why would you blow up a whole planet and everybody on it just to get rid of one Cyberman?"
"We tried other ways, but they only work sometimes, so now we take drastic action" Porridge explained, "And it works".
"If you find a Cyberman and you can't destroy it immediately, you implode the planet" the captain stated, as if reciting a lesson drilled into her, "I was sent here because I didn't follow orders. I could make up for that" she pointed out, eyeing the implosion device.
"Don't you dare" Clara glared at her, "I forbid you".
"Yeah, what she said" Porridge added.
"You ran away" Ferrin shot back at him, before rounding on Clara, "I don't know who you think you are, but if it weren't for those kids with you, I would do what I was brought up to do. Live for the Empire, fight for the Empire, die for the"-
"Down!" – There was a frantic yell, and a shot rang out from beyond the moat. Clara and Porridge ducked a little slower, but they weren't the target; fortunately, Ferrin's training had given her fast reflexes. She immediately crouched and covered her head, feeling pieces of stone sprinkle onto her arm from where the blast had hit the wall behind her.
Porridge looked between the battlements and spotted a Cyberman looking up at them, standing at the edge of the moat. "Cyberman! Keep down!" he warned, ducking back against the wall. Shaken, the captain peered between the battlements and spotted the Cyber as well. It's second shot glanced off the stone just inches from her face, and she quickly jerked back, turning to stare at Charlotte, who had rushed up the steps and yelled the warning that had…that had saved her life.
"How did you-?"
"Long story, and you're welcome" Charlotte waved her off, before turning to Clara and asking, "Hey, you okay?"
"I think so…"
"Good. I'm sorry, by the way. I should've handled things more maturely".
"It's alright…but now we need to deal with the Cyberman. If we stay in the castle, it'll just pick us off one by one" Clara realised, "We have to take it out".
"Let's get the kids inside, out of harm's way" Charlotte suggested; the two of them scrambled over to the stairwell and hurried back downstairs to warn the others. Porridge went to follow them – he was short enough that he only had to duck a bit – and looked at a rather unnerved Ferrin.
"For what it's worth, I think these girls can help us stop those monsters" he told her solemnly. When he'd gone, Ferrin sat there for a moment coming to terms with the return of the Cybermen, but soon pulled herself together and went to rally her platoon. They were still under her command, after all.
/
The drawbridge was lowered, the main gates opened wide, and the Cyberman strode forward to investigate. A heavy set soldier backed away from it as fast as he could, making 'bring it on' gestures and taunting, "I've heard about the Cybermen since I was in my cradle. I'm not afraid of you!"
The Cyberman strode forward, intending to capture the human and take its brain (its body was not suited for conversion).
"Now!" shouted Clara; the large soldier, Ha-Ha, dived out of the way as Clara, Charlotte and Laura aimed and fired the large, heavy Anti-Cyber gun right at the Cyberman, vaporising it.
"Close the doors!" Ferrin barked, "Raise the bridge!"
"Well done, Clara!" Artie called from the window where he and his sister were watching them, along with Porridge. Clara gave him a thumbs-up and a pleased grin.
"I'd like to see you do that without the gun" Angie challenged. Clara half-expected Charlotte to make some comment about that, but she merely suggested that perhaps they should put the gun down now.
"There's no sense in tiring ourselves out, since we'll probably have to use it again" she pointed out.
"You don't think that was the only one, then?"
"Is it ever?" Charlotte shrugged. Just then, Brains hurried over and informed them, "Uh, ma'ams? Beauty says she saw someone coming here, she thinks it's your friend, the Doctor…?"
"Did he look okay?" Clara asked immediately, "We have to let him in!"
So they lowered the bridge again, much to the tired soldiers chagrin, and hurried out to meet the Doctor. When he saw the soldiers emerge with weapons in hand, he immediately held up a chess board in front of his face and cried, "Argh! Don't shoot, don't shoot, I'm nice. Please, don't shoot".
"Why would they shoot?" asked Clara, running up to him, Charlotte and Laura right behind her.
The Doctor smiled to see his companions and lowered the board, cheerfully remarking, "Oh, you haven't let them blow up the planet! Good job. Where're the kids?"
"They're in the – Doctor, what happened to you?" Clara asked in alarm, seeing the silver circuitry embedded on the left side of his face; as well as, for some reason, the golden ticket.
"Err, a bit of a good news, bad news, good news again thing going on. So, the good news is, I've kidnapped the Cyber-Planner. The bad news, he's in my head. Ah, hello, captain" he greeted, nodding to Ferrin, "I can explain…"
She held a hand up and insisted, "I know you're not the Proconsul, and that there are Cybermen activating on this planet. For the time being, I've agreed not to activate the implosion device".
"Good, good. No blowing up the planet, excellent. So, other good news - there are a few more repaired and reactivated Cybermen on the way, and the Cyber-Planner's installing a patch for the gold thing. No, wait, that isn't good news, is it. Er, so, good news, I have a very good chance of winning my chess match" he smiled, holding up his chess board.
"What?" Clara asked in bewilderment. Who was he playing chess against?
"I'll explain later. In a bit of a hurry" he declared, striding past them and towards the lowered drawbridge, saying "Get me to a table, and somebody tie me up! Need hands free for chess. And immobilise me, quickly".
/
Soon, the Doctor was seated at a table and being tied to the chair by Clara, whilst Artie helped set up the chess pieces in the right places. "Right, that's good. I won't be able to move, but hands free. Good" he smiled, satisfied.
"Why do you need to be tied up?" asked Artie.
"Long story" the Doctor replied vaguely.
"You're playing chess against yourself?" Clara inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"And winning" the Doctor smiled, before reaching up and tearing off the golden ticket from his cheek. He stiffened briefly; then looked at them all with a dark stare and coolly remarked, "Actually, he has no better than a twenty five percent chance of winning at this stage in the game. Some very dodgy moves at the beginning. Hello, flesh girls. Fantastic. I'm the Cyber-Planner". For some inexplicable reason, he was talking in more of a northern accent.
Clara tugged Artie and Angie away from the table, nervously asking, "Doctor…?"
"Afraid not" the Planner smirked, "I'm working the mouth now. Allons-y. Oh, you should see the state of these neurons. He's had some cowboys in here. Ten complete rejects".
"You're not really talking like a Cyber-Planner, are you?" Charlotte commented, "It's almost as if the Doctor's mind is too strong for you".
"Oh, you'd like to think so. Ah, yes, you're the one who called and led him – me – right to your little 'resistance'. You know, there's not much in here about you two" he told Charlotte and Laura, before leering at Clara, "Almost all of it's about you. The Impossible Girl" he remarked.
Disturbed, Clara immediately frowned and questioned, "Why am I impossible?"
"Hasn't he told you? The sly devil. Oh, dear me. Listen, soon we'll wake. We'll strip you down for spare parts, then build a spaceship and"-
"Wait, wait, are you monologuing?" Charlotte suddenly interrupted, causing the Planner to frown at her in annoyance. "I bet you are" she continued blithely, "I bet you've got this prepared speech about how feeble we are, how inevitable our defeat is, how the universe will soon be yours!"
Artie snickered; Angie crossed her arms and pointed out, "That's from The Incredibles".
"Who doesn't like to quote their favourite movies?" Charlotte shrugged, before saying to the Planner, "Oh by the way, sorry about this – Doctor". With that, she abruptly reached out and slapped him hard around the face.
"Argh, ow! Oh, that hurt!" he winced, sounding more like his old self, "Bit of pain, neural surge, just what I needed. Thank you".
"No problem".
"Why am I the impossible girl?" demanded Clara.
The Doctor waved her off, vaguely saying "It's just a thing in my head. I'll explain later".
With a sigh, she accepted this; they had bigger problems after all. "Chess game, stakes?"
"If he wins, I give up my mind and he gets access to all my memories, along with knowledge of time travel. But, if I win, he'll break his promises to get out of my head and then kill us all anyway".
"Why would you agree to that?" Angie asked incredulously.
"Good point" Charlotte agreed with her, to her surprise, before telling the Doctor, "You are terrible at making deals".
"Have a bit of faith, girls…and Artie. I know what I'm doing".
"I don't understand" Artie said nervously, "Why did your voice change?"
"Because it isn't the Doctor speaking, little boy" the Planner replied, having regained control, "I know it may be confusing for your undeveloped brain, but do try to keep up".
"The Doctor's going to stop you" Laura said defiantly.
"He has about as much chance of stopping me as you do. I.E, none. Now, if you don't mind, I have a chess game to finish, and you have to die, pointlessly and very far from home" the Planner said darkly, before looking thoughtfully at the chess board. Clara ushered Artie and Angie away from him, quietly telling them that everything would be fine, they just couldn't go near him for the time being. Charlotte turned on her heel and walked towards the door…Laura murmured a quiet, "Good luck, Doctor", before she too walked away.