Chapter 10- What's He Hiding?
Have you ever played the game, "Operation"? Well, if you haven't, here's the gist: you have to try and fix the patient without making anything buzz. Eventually, you end up getting desperate and make less careful moves, and the game usually ends with someone turning the board upside down and shaking it so all the little body parts fell out.
By the looks of it, the Doctor and Algo were headed that way.
Their own game of Operation started out calm and serious enough; Algo would work on the Aligrena and ask the Doctor to hand him a special tool whenever he needed, or to hold a certain coil of wire so the area was clear. Then Algo started getting impatient and less mindful of the Aligrena; the Doctor tried to calm him down, but they only ended up butting heads. Now they were snapping suggestions at each other, neither willing to take orders. I should've been pretending to ignore the altercation; but in all honesty, it was hilarious.
The Doctor stomped over to me, hands clenched into fists. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows, his coat cast off on the floor. He threw himself into a lean against the wall, mimicking my posture and muttering to himself.
"Not going well, I take it?" I asked.
"The work's going fine," the Doctor replied. "We're just having a bit of a disagreement, that's all."
"More than a bit, looks like," I said. The Doctor huffed.
"I'm going to get some things from the TARDIS," he said, pushing off the wall. "Maybe they can help." He began rolling his sleeves down, buttoning the cuffs when they were back on his wrist. "Will you be okay without me for a few minutes? It'll just be Algo here."
"I'll be fine," I replied, getting back on my feet. I walked over to his coat and picked up the lump of green fabric, dusting it off as I walked back. "You really ought to take better care of your clothes," I added, holding the coat up for him. He slid his arms into the sleeves as I flattened his collar, spinning him around. I made sure his lapels were nice and symmetrical, and I even went so far as to straighten his bowtie. "Can't have you going back to the TARDIS looking like you've just been in a fight," I fussed.
"She can get protective of me," the Doctor added. He gave the bowtie one final tug and ran his hands down his smooth lapels. "See you in a mo'," he said, spinning on his heel and leaving the store, walking in his gracefully lanky way.
I walked over to Algo and leaned on the counter, watching him work. They'd taken off the back panel of the Aligrena, revealing all sorts of circuitry boards and computer chips underneath a woven blanket of wires. Gaps in the wires showed where the Doctor and Algo had begun working. All manner of tools lay on the counter and floor, tools that Bill Gates couldn't hope to understand. Algo worked hard, using what looked like a magnifying glass with two wires on the lens for some function I couldn't try to guess.
"If you don't mind my asking," I began tentatively, "how's it coming along?"
"Well," Algo said, drawing it out as he figured out what to say. "We've made some progress, but…not nearly enough for what you want to do." There was another tense pause where he worked and I watched, both of us pointedly ignoring the elephant in the room. Algo, hoping to alleviate the awkwardness, asked, "How long have you known the Doctor?"
"Not very long at all," I conceded. By a very rough guess, it was about half a day in Chicago, from when he saved me from the Aligrena to when I asked if I could travel with him; close to a full day in Athens as the Doctor, Herod and I held an unnecessary wake; and it was already half a day on Delta Delta we'd spent together. Add in the time we spent in the TARDIS, with me sleeping and him working—"Yeah, only about three days together."
Algo looked up in surprise. "That little?" he asked. "They were long days," I added, a bit self-conscious of Algo's shock. "Forgive me, Erica," he said, becoming aware of his goggling. "You two simply seem very close for knowing each other not even three days."
"What makes you say that?"
Algo set down is instruments. "The way you two interact with each other. Just now, you were fixing him up like a mother would her son on the first day of school. It's really endearing, actually."
"It—it's just what I do," I stuttered. How was I supposed to respond? "What about you? How long have you known him?"
"Oh, I've known him for ages," he answered. "He only visits once or twice a year, though. And last time he brought his wife."
Wait.
What?
Up until then, I'd never considered the possibility that the Doctor had a family. I'd never seen anyone else in the TARDIS. I suppose I'd assumed that since the Doctor told me he was the only Time Lord, he would be alone. And, as painful as that assumption is, it seemed to fit. He wanted a friend to share the universe with, but he never told me about himself, even though that's what friends do. It was the classic, "I'll be myself, but never tell you who I am" behavior.
I know because I've done it. When Dad died, I wanted life to go back to normal. I joked and laughed like usual, but when someone offered to listen to me, I told them I was fine, even though I was anything but. The Doctor and I were doing this right now: we were acting like we've known each other since childhood, but when it really came down to it, we didn't know a thing about each other. And that was clear on my part.
"He's married?" I asked, badly suppressing my shock.
Algo looked up. "Haven't you met her?" he asked. I shook my head. Algo shrugged. "She's a lovely woman. She always complained about the cold here. She was human like yourself, I believe."
"What was she like?" It might've been rude, but if I asked the Doctor, he would never tell me.
"She was very…in charge," Algo said reminiscently, setting down his tools. "She always spoke her mind, no matter what she thought or who she offended. And she was loud—oh, so loud. And she and the Doctor would bicker all the time like children. She was definitely a fine woman for the Doctor."
"What's her name?"
"I believe she was called Amy."
I chewed on the inside of my cheek thoughtfully. So the Doctor had a wife. Well, the first question was: where is she? Was she hiding away in the TARDIS? And also, why wouldn't the Doctor tell me about her? I mean, I understand not telling me about Algo until we needed him, but this was his wife we're talking about. Algo went back to his work as I quietly mulled over the new information.
"Well, hopefully I'll meet her soon," I mumbled while Algo crossed the Aligrena's wires. Suddenly, sparks erupted from two outlets in the machine, eliciting surprised screams from both Algo and I. We jumped back as the Aligrena began buzzing and vibrating, the sounds harsh on our ears.
"Ca—calibrated—mind—wi—thin—range!" it ground out horribly, quite the departure from the smooth voice it had spoken to the Doctor and I with (I guess having your guts ripped out will do that to you). Suddenly, one claw shot out from it and snapped around my wrist, tugging me forward.
"Algo!" I shrieked as more claws clamped around my arms, dragging me towards it. "Turn it off!"
Frantically, Algo shouted, "I'm trying! I'm trying!"
The Aligrena tugged me closer, dragging itself off the work counter. It supported itself on the claws lining its bottom edge, adding a whole new degree of sinister. Well, the Doctor had been right: Algo could fix the Aligrena after all.
The Aligrena reached for my throat, my elbows, my shoulders; anything it could hold me with was fair game. I whirled on the spot, hoping centripetal force would throw the thing off me, but it stayed firmly latched on. I tried reaching around to yank out some of the wires, but I could barely move my arms in the tangle of metal tentacles holding me prisoner.
"Pre—preparing—for—trans—port!" the Aligrena said in its raw growl.
"NooooOOO!" came a third voice, rising in pitch and achingly familiar. A sudden impact threw the Aligrena and me off balance, forcing me to take a step back to regain it. Then there was a series of clicks, a loud buzz—and then the beautiful sound of a computer powering down. The tentacles went limp and released me, the Aligrena falling to the floor in a big, metal heap. I stumbled away, gripping the glass counter for support and crouching partly behind it for protection. Relief washed over me in a great, pounding wave, so strong that sound was temporarily blocked from my ears.
The Doctor stood over the now-lifeless Aligrena, firmly pressing a bizarre combination of a TV remote and a suction cup into its exposed hardwiring. He twisted the contraption around, his brow furrowed angrily and his jaw thrust forward. I couldn't tell if it was out of exertion or fury. The Aligrena jerked up a bit off the floor, making Algo and I jump.
"Oh, no you don't!" the Doctor declared, twisting his device around with bone-breaking force. The Aligrena buzzed harshly and then fell silent and still.
The Doctor looked up at me, leaning on the counter. "You all right?" he asked me softly, hugely contrasting his impassioned commands for the Aligrena. I nodded breathlessly, not trusting my voice to speak without cracking. The Doctor glanced at Algo, who said, "I'm fine. Just fine." The Doctor nodded at each of us in turn before giving his tool one last jerk and pulling it away. Algo helped me back to my feet, and together we walked toward the Doctor, not really sure what to say.
"I'm afraid I've reset all your work, Algo," the Doctor said apologetically, his breathing irregular. "I've taken you back to square one."
"It's no problem," Algo replied, still not quite over his shock. "I can—I can fix it. A different way this time." The Doctor nodded and said nothing.
Trying to lighten the mood, I joked, "You certainly got back in the nick of time, didn't you?"
The Doctor turned his gaze to me and cracked a small, relieved, appreciative smile. "Yeah, I guess I did."
Suddenly, a long, low, drawn-out alarm filled the store, startling all of us. It reminded me of the noise a carnival game might make if the player lost. The Aligrena began repeating a mantra of three words, three terrifying words, that nearly made my heart stop.
"Broad—c—casting—rescue—sig—nal!"
"No! Stop it!" the Doctor yelled admonishingly at the Aligrena, whipping out his sonic screwdriver. Algo dove down to the machine and began frantically operating on it, yanking wires out and putting them in different plugs. I tore and clawed at the metal, breaking my fingernails in the process. After eight frantic seconds, the Aligrena's broadcast died out, leaving the Doctor, Algo and I grouped together on the ground, panting.
"Who…who did it?" Algo panted. "Who shut it down?"
The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver in the air, gasping for breath. "Never underestimate the sonic."
"You don't think the rescue signal got through, do you?" I asked breathlessly. Suddenly, there was a bright flash in the room, blinding all of us. When we blinked the spots out of our eyes, we found another Aligrena—probably the one from Digital Outlet—hovering over our victim, its belly open with a wire dropping down.
"Re—boot—commencing!"
Without thinking, I lunged forward, wrapped the wire around my hand, and tugged hard; the wire tore from the Aligrena, the end frayed. The Aligrena swiveled toward me and I began scrambling hastily away from it, hoping the claws couldn't reach me. Suddenly, a blue arm wrapped around the thing and plunged what can only be described as a wrench with arms into its open belly, firmly pressing a purple button on the side. The eye screen went dark and the Aligrena shut down, supported only by Algo's alien arms.