"Finch," The Doctor observed gravely. The suited man, if you could call him that, smiled graciously with leathery lips. "Im flattered my name is still in your memory. And pray, introduce me to your pretty...pale friend." He extended his hand, with long, clawed fingers a colour no human fingers should be. I stared at it blankly, and raised my eyes to his to assess any possible danger. His light blue orbs glistened, but that wasn't what caught my eye. Appendages protruded from his back, like small wings, but jagged and darkened at the edges. Like they'd been burnt. From then, anything that was remotely human about him was tainted and beyond recognisable.
"Sorry, germaphobic, don't take offence."
His composure faltered somewhat, and stared down at his hand with something like disgust. "I do not blame you." I felt a stab of guilt, surprising and expectant at once.
"Its Mia, by the w-"
Now! Where are my manners," he expressed smoothly, placing his hands together, "Doctor. We have so much to discuss. Come."
Before we could refuse, the man, Finch, turned quick on his heals, and I gained a better view of the grotesque things poking out through slits made in his expensive striped jacket. They seemed to be sewn tightly around them.
"You're doing well," The Doctor whispered as we trailed behind, but I had no doubt Finch heard with bat like senses. His ear twitched ever so slightly while I pinned my eyes to the back of his head. I forgot the Doctor had said anything for a moment. When I realised, I just turned and gave him my most confident smile, as though I were not absolutely terrified of this genteel alien we were following to who knew where.
We halted, and again my eyes landed on a door I never noticed before, only coming into view as Finch pressed it open with little force. We came to a stair case, only visible while the door, ajar, shone light from the corridor. We were plunged into pitch black, and I clung on to the man I trusted, perhaps foolishly, with my life as we climbed.
"Now then," Finch began as he pushed yet another door open, and we came to a plain office, windows blackened with paint and a single lamp in the corner. There was only a desk, 2 chairs, and a laptop atop it in the centre of the room. "Please," he motioned to the chairs, and the Doctor sat, and I followed suite. I suddenly felt like I was in some sort of business meeting as Finch began pacing gracefully on the solid oak flooring.
"Can I get you both something? I know finding your way around this building is awfully exhausting."
The Doctor, uncharacteristically silent, pulled a thoughtful face. "Nah. Mia?"
I shook my head. The Doctor turned back to Finch and grinned. "Cheap round. Good. Now get to the point, we're busy people."
"Aha yes, you are, very much so, Doctor. Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, the Racnoss, no doubt this very building in fact stirs some memories."
"You've been keeping watch, I see."
Finch let out a quiet chuckle, as though he had been caught out. "I cannot help but follow the adventures of the last Time Lord. But, pray, i'm curious, how are your friends? Are they all well? Rose, how is dear Rose?"
I turned to the Doctor, alarmed by how Finch had spoken of this Rose. The Doctor seemed just the same. "She's fine."
"And Martha? Donna?"
"All absolutely fine."
Finch nodded thoughtfully as he paced slowly. "And you're new...friend. Absolutely aware of what happens to your companions? After all, dear Rose is trapped, Martha a soldier, and...Donna? Does she even know your name?"
I saw what Finch was doing, and an anger piped up inside me as I glanced fleetingly at the Doctor's stone solid face. In the month I'd been with him, he'd explained about his companions, and I understood the lonely time lord. He was old, centuries old, and despite his youthfully handsome appearance, it would be vain to think I was the first.
"Mr Finch, you said you had much to discuss with the Doctor. Please, as a human I am not as immune to time as he is." The words flew out before I had chance to stop myself.
Finch's lips curved into a small grin just showing his small yellowing teeth. He halted in his tracks and glared my way. "Brave child. You chose well, Doctor."
"She has a point, Finch. Get on with it."
"A-ha, if we could just retreat a moment. I am simply curious that this happy coincidence has occurred. You must have your reasons for being here, and yet you appeared... surprised."
"We received the message. We traced the location to this building, to this warehouse, as its origin."
"And what message might this be?"
I glanced to the Doctor, for any certainty that this was the sender. I had to admit, it didn't make sense for him to send it and act ignorant. He simply sat back in his chair, his hands webbed together on his stomach.
"My mistake."
I frowned, but felt a great relief, as though something unrealised was safely unnoticed by Finch. If he hadn't sent it, someone else must have. I recalled the message, the moment it appeared on the screen. 1/1/1. But, if he had accomplices...
Finch, meanwhile, watched us as though pure fascination held his feet in place. A sly smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "You never strike me as one for simple mistakes, Doctor. But no bother, we have other business to which to attend."
His eyes peered up to check we were listening, and began pacing again with one carefully controlled polished shoe forward. "Good. Now then, back to business. I must say, I have carefully rehearsed this conversation many a time in this room while alone. As you may have guessed, I live a solitary existence-"
"Yeah-...sorry about that."
"Oh not at all, Doctor. Oh! The deaths of my kin were mere disturbances. In fact, they rather slowed me down. They were considerably younger than myself, more inexperienced. Waited for orders, no initiative to speak of. But, be that as it may, they were of my kind. I suspect you and I are alike in that aspect, Doctor. The last of our race."
The man in question remained silent, and I stared. Had I just heard right? I never really suspected he was the last of his race full stop, it never dawned on me.
"Its happened to hundreds of races, and it'll happen to more."
"But wouldn't you like to change that?" Finch questioned, almost passionately. I switched my eyes between the two men as though they were the hero and pantomime villain, arch enemies in comic books, or simply two people linked only by one thing.
The last of their kinds.
"Fixed points in time, Finch. I have more experience with those than anyone."
"And you've bent the rules somewhat."
"Only slightly, and that was a push. Contrary to what you might believe, having time and space at your finger tips doesn't grant you the power to twist it beyond recognition. Just one little thing...BOOM! This room doesn't exist, I'm on a different planet and she never met this handsome devil. SO, I am just wondering, since you're beyond clever and mad enough to have considered this possibility, why you would want to burden yourself with that power."
"You speak of power as though it were a curse, not a gift."
"Situations change the nature of power."
Finch nodded appreciatively. "True words. And this is a desperate one. I gather you have realised the aim of my work force."
"Well, throw green screens, hypnosis and a Krillitane in a barrel and what do you get?"
"The solved Skasis Paradigm. It's only a matter of time."
"What's that?" I asked, my voice ringing out with inexperience and confusion. I had a pretty good idea after following the conversation, but, even sitting here and witnessing it, I couldn't comprehend that it could be true.
The two men exchanged glances, but I didn't give them a chance to answer.
"You're saying that the control of time and space can be had with one puzzle?"
"You have chosen very well Doctor, I commend you. Curious human, fast mind, I could use her."
"Don't be getting ideas, Finch."
The man sniggered, eyes glistening with dark amusement. "So protective of your companions, Doctor. I almost forgot to, what do they say, 'name the price'? Yes, that's it. So juvenile."
"Name it," The Doctor ordered sternly. This was truly serious business, and I braced myself.
"Rather fair, you might agree. I solve the Skasis Paradigm, with full control of the universe and time surrounding it. Or...the more favourable for you, and your precious humans, is the alternative."
"Which is?"
"Which, dear Mia, is my work force. There are exactly 325 working down there, humanity given up in exchange for extreme intellect almost on par with my own. I have, during my solitude, created a way, using extracts of my own DNA, of converting these humans into my own kind. We will then, my relatives and I, find a new planet to occupy. The Krillitanes will have a chance to be again. I have heard much of the famous Doctor, but not of him helping save a race from total extinction. One that has, in respect, already been annihilated."
The last few words rang out in the silence, entwining and gradually unravelling with strands of thought, freezing me in place. I suddenly felt very, very small, in a room with two aliens from far off galaxies. The mere thought was beyond comprehensible. In that moment, I questioned whether i'd made the right decision a month ago. Eyes darting around, avoiding keen eyes, they chose to focus again on the Doctor, the man Finch had chosen to make the choice. I expected him to appear as a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but instead, his long legs stretched out before him and he stood casually.
"How does this convertion work?"
Finch lit up instantly, and took the Doctor's seat in one swift movement. "I'm so glad you asked Doctor."
With a few taps on the keyboard, surprisingly slow, the laptop was turned away from me so only the Doctor could see. His face barely faltered from disinterest as lights flashed of all colours in his large chocolate eyes.
"Well? What is it?"
It was the Doctor who spoke up, and Finch sat back to watch. I noticed, almost at once, he wasn't as excitable as usual when discussing complex science topics to my human brain.
"Imagine that, say, if a human cell is exposed to a carcinogen, mutations occur within the cell. This is basically what is happening here, apparently. So you're saying, Finch, somewhere in this building is a device, and it'll detonate-sorry, expose them, to a radiation."
"A radiation that shall rewrite their cellular structure to match the Krillitane perfectly. Call it my plan B, I thought of it back before I was headmaster at that grotesque school. And, the beauty of this kind is that it shall not penetrate beyond these four walls. Only those and I shall be exposed, and it shall only target the humans within these walls. Everyone else shall be as human as you like them."
"Did they know what they were signing up for?" I asked doubtfully, sickened by how he was convincing even me that he had the best intentions. Somehow, as though I could read him, I knew there was something he was avoiding, and the Doctor knew too.
"Of course, dear Mia. Ethics are my utmost priority. A contract was signed by each member before they sat at the computer."
I nodded. "Can we see it?"
He let out a short snigger that crinkled his long nose, as though he were an off-put gargoyle. When they flickered back up, there was nothing but threat and warning in them. "Confidentiality, I'm afraid."
"And yet you're placing a decision of this nature into the hands of an outsider. If that were me, I'd want to know what I was getting in to."
The man in question watching with large, probing eyes, and flicked them towards me for just a second, full of pride before they winked mischievously. That spurred me on.
"You wouldn't want there to be a catch, or a gap you failed to cover. I'm sure no sane, fully conscious person, let alone 325 of them, would sign their humanity away with the click of a pen. I'm not even sure they would in exchange for the control of the universe. I know I wouldn't, because you know, don't you? I think that, given the opportunity, you would change yourself. Into something like me. Or them. Anything that couldn't possibly harness that power, and has the ability to plough on through life regardless."
I couldn't escape the pale blue hatred in those orbs, staring up with an anger so old, and such bitter truth. It almost hurt just to stare him out.
"You've been trapped like this. As a hybrid. One that can only stand to be around its own kind. But when they change, into those things, you won't be one of those either, will you?"
"You can't change back. The curse of the Krillitane. Once the wings are mutilated, in such a way as yours, especially burnt...you're trapped at the half way point. And sunlight can't touch a krillitane unless it's in it's fully human form. So where does that leave you in this world..." His voice trailed off as he crouched next to Finch, who was still staring me out with white hot rage. His hands were beginning to shake in his lap. The Doctor examined his face as though it were a scientific anomaly.
Suddenly, he stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and pulled his thoughtful face. "See, theres something i'm still missing here. Why would you, Mr Finch, Mr Self-Absorbed Power of Time etc want to change a load of humans when he can't join them in his current form? And when does this thing go off? I don't see it. It's not random because you need me to make the decision...or do you?"
He came back to crouching next to him again. "Does my word matter? I know im only a 'Time Lord' but really, is it that import...Oh." Realisation dawned on his freckled face. "Oh...i'm not integral at all, am I? But I am needed."
"You think I would leave such a decision in the hands of the ever so ethical Doctor? He who thinks he can crawl himself and his companions out of anything?" Finch snarls, practically spat his words, all genteel qualities stripped from him, his eyes becoming ever more savage as they remained locked on me. "You conceided for a second that the imbecile who very nearly committed genocide of the krillitanes could be forgiven so easily, and that I wouldn't want my revenge? You're getting old, Doctor," he spat spitefully, "and it's about time you watched as the power so tragically flung at you is taken by someone who would use it, who would appreciate it."
He pushed a button on the keyboard with so much force he nearly smashed it, and within seconds the door opened, revealing two men in overalls. Both appeared large enough to lift a car between them, with eyes so distant they probably wouldn't care it they dropped it on us.
"Take them to the cage."