Doctor Who - American Version - Serial

by RevolutionMan

Doctor Who - Presented as a re-imagining of the show Doctor Who for American audiences. It presumes NO connection to the continuity established by the long running British television series, but absolutely WILL borrow heavily from that awesome/amazing show. Some characters will be re-named. Some "laws" will be broken. A serial adaptation, in script form.

40. Chapter 40 - Eve's Children

INT. TENT – PRESERVER HEADQUARTERS

An enclosed army-tent with a table and chairs and two cots. Doctor Two sits at the table eating a sandwich. Rose has her head buried in a pillow on one of the cots.

DOCTOR TWO
(between bites)
Did you say yes?

Rose turns her head to talk.

ROSE
I ran out of the room like my hair was on fire.

DOCTOR TWO
Keep him in suspense, off-balance. Good strategy.

ROSE
It wasn't a strategy. I panicked and got the hell out of there.

DOCTOR TWO
Oh, well, I don't know your type.

She sits up.

ROSE
Tall, witty, adventurous, and I usually like to at least go out for coffee, maybe see a nice movie, before someone proposes marriage.

DOCTOR TWO
Interesting. Did you know that the Gregarrians of Freelox demand their prospective suitors serenade them with love songs, while naked and without taking a break to eat, for up to four days before accepting a proposal, to prove their devotion and stamina?

ROSE
That's not helpful.

DOCTOR TWO
He didn't propose to me. What do you want me to do?

ROSE
Get me out of here. Tell me you have a plan for getting us back to the Tardis.

DOCTOR TWO
The Tonades are going to lock down the clinic like a fortress. I moved the Tardis after the officer found it, and they won't find it again, but our best bet is to lay low until things quiet down. We can go back later. Two, three weeks.

ROSE
What am I supposed to do in the meantime?

DOCTOR TWO
For you? Spring wedding, definitely. I'd recommend a strapless bodice, sweetheart neckline, maybe some Chantilly lace.

She buries her head back in the pillow.

GOLDEN MONKEY (V.O.)
Can I come in?

DOCTOR TWO
Sure.

Golden Monkey pulls back the tent flap and enters. She stands there.

GOLDEN MONKEY
So, yeah, he's crying.

Rose looks up.

ROSE
Aw, really?

GOLDEN MONKEY
Yup. Thinks you hate him.

ROSE
I don't hate him.

GOLDEN MONKEY
Then, why'd you run out on him like that?

DOCTOR TWO
Didn't buy her coffee. Rookie mistake.

ROSE
I just, I wasn't expecting it.

GOLDEN MONKEY
He's a really sensitive guy. This was a big deal for him.

ROSE
I didn't mean to hurt his feelings.

GOLDEN MONKEY
He got dressed up and everything.

ROSE
I don't know how things work here, but where I come from, you don't just propose to someone you've never even met. You have to get to know each other first, go on dates, live together to see if you're compatible.

GOLDEN MONKEY
It's your people's stupid law, though.

Rose blinks, then turns to Doctor Two.

ROSE
I blame you.

DOCTOR TWO
I'm just sitting here, eating my sandwich.

ROSE
Yeah, but this never used to happen to me before I met you, where I'm confused about something, then someone tries to explain it to me, and I only end up even more confused than before.

GOLDEN MONKEY
When the Human Empire was in power, they made it illegal for its citizens to conceive out of wedlock. Even though the Empire's gone, the Honcho likes to observe a lot of its customs. He's the last human male in the universe and you're the last human female. If we're going to re-populate the species, he thought you'd want to be married. He did it for you.

DOCTOR TWO
That's nice.

ROSE
So, just to make sure we're all caught up here, he wants to get married so we can start having babies?

GOLDEN MONKEY
The pods are all ready to go. I can show them to you, if you want to see them.

Doctor Two finishes his sandwich, wipes his hands on his coat, and walks over to the tent flap. He looks back at Rose.

DOCTOR TWO
Like you've got something better to do?

She sighs, relents.

INT. FACTORY FLOOR – PRESERVER HEADQUARTERS

Golden Monkey escorts Doctor Two and Rose to a four-story rocket in the middle of the factory. In better condition and of a different design than the rest of the assembly line of machines, it's clear that it isn't native to the floor. It's beautiful.

Golden Monkey steps up to a nearby control console and activates a switch. Eight sets of panels around the circumference of the rocket slide open, like tree limbs. Double jointed arms then extend out and down to eye level. Hanging from each spider-like leg is a series of paired glass pods, each one about the size of a basketball and filled with luminescent turquoise gel.

GOLDEN MONKEY
The surropods are designed to support, protect, and nurture each child immediately following fertilization and through to birth. From only one male and one female donor, we can successfully harvest anywhere from sixty, at the low end, to two hundred embryos if we get lucky. We can safely split that embryo to create sets of identical twins, doubling the population. Through genetic manipulation, we can then introduce just enough diversity to each one to support a population with limited future abnormalities or degenerative mutations.

Doctor Two walks around, observing the intricacies of the surropod machine. Rose does the same.

DOCTOR TWO
Absolutely fantastic. You can actually create an entire race from just two people, turning Rose and the Honcho into a real life Adam and Eve.

GOLDEN MONKEY
Who?

DOCTOR TWO
Nevermind.

ROSE
So, this thing does all the work? It's, like, artificial insemination?

GOLDEN MONKEY
All the way through.

ROSE
And I wouldn't have to have sex with him?

DOCTOR TWO
Is that what you're concerned about?

ROSE
(fast)
I have many concerns.

GOLDEN MONKEY
Everything, including fertilization, is handled by the surropods. All we need from you is your eggs.

ROSE
(snarky)
Is that all? Just my eggs?

GOLDEN MONKEY
It's a painless procedure, only takes an hour for extraction.

DOCTOR TWO
(to Rose)
You're born with about two million immature eggs. By now, you're probably down to around two hundred fifty thousand, but still more than enough to spare a couple hundred. Think of the opportunity, to be the mother of an entire race. You have to do this.

GOLDEN MONKEY
Actually, we need more than a couple hundred.

DOCTOR TWO
How many more?

GOLDEN MONKEY
Well, all of them.

Doctor Two's excitement fades. Rose notices and starts to worry.

ROSE
All of them?

GOLDEN MONKEY
In a human female's lifetime, even though she's born with so many eggs, her body will only stimulate to maturity around four hundred ova. It's not a terribly efficient process, and unfortunately we don't do any better. As I stated before, success rate can vary, but with all the eggs you can possibly supply, we're only likely to achieve fertilization and full infant development with around sixty to two hundred. And if we're going to support an entire population, we'll need every last one to increase our chances.

ROSE
But, if you take all my eggs, that means I can't ever have kids of my own.

GOLDEN MONKEY
Every one of these, the entire reborn human race, will be your children. It's a tremendous opportunity, and responsibility.

DOCTOR TWO
You can always adopt.

Rose's breathing quickens. Beads of sweat trickle from her forehead.

ROSE
I'm really not- I'm not comfortable with- I need some air.

She turns and runs.

EXT. RUNDOWN FACTORY – PRESERVER HEADQUARTERS - DUSK

Rose bursts through a door to the outside and runs at full speed until she nearly hyperventilates. She stops at a street lamp that stopped working ages ago and leans against the post to catch her breath.

All around her, she sees dilapidated buildings with shattered windows. A lamb-like lizard eats a flower from off a vine that's overgrown into the middle of the road. In the distance, the setting sun casts an eerie lavender glow over the deserted ghostland.

With her back against the lamppost, Rose slides down and sits on the ground. Across the street, she sees a bench, perhaps a former hoverbus stop. The image of the bench bends and she sees herself sitting there, cuddled up next to Mark (her boyfriend, from Episode 1). They watch the sunset together.

EXT. PHILADELPHIA PARK – DUSK

Rose rests her head on Mark's shoulder as the sun sets over a park in Philadelphia.

MARK
You ever think about having kids?

She picks her head up.

ROSE
Where'd that come from?

He shrugs.

ROSE
I try not to think about it.

MARK
But you do want kids?

ROSE
Sure, yeah, I guess. I mean, that's what people do, right?

MARK
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

ROSE
Look, I'm sorry I didn't want to hold your cousin's baby at the party, okay? I haven't been around babies much. I was nervous. I didn't want to break him or drop him on his head or anything. That doesn't mean I hate kids.

MARK
So, you do want them, right?

ROSE
Sure, eventually. But, you know, I also want to live a little first. I need to get my masters. I want to teach, maybe go to Europe in the summer. I want see different things, experience different cultures. Then, you know, when I get all that out of the way, then I'll have kids.

MARK
After you've "lived".

ROSE
Yeah.

MARK
I just... We've been together for two years. We're graduating in the Fall. And it's been the best two years of my life.

ROSE
Mine, too.

MARK
And I know, growing up, it was just you and your Mom, but I come from a really big family and I know I want kids.

Rose swallows nervously, then tries to cover it up by nodding and smiling a little too wide.

ROSE
Great.

MARK
And I just want to make sure we're on the same page.

ROSE
You want kids. You and me, same page.

MARK
Okay.

She rests her head on his shoulder again, the atmosphere tense.

ROSE
The sun will be down soon. Any more "relationship defining" questions you want to ask before we run out of daylight and the silence gets really awkward?

She laughs. He laughs.

MARK
Maybe just one.

ROSE
What's that?

MARK
How come this is basically the first time you've thought about me since you went with the Doctor?

She sits up. The flashback breaks apart.

EXT. RUNDOWN FACTORY – PRESERVER HEADQUARTERS – DUSK

The last bit of sun disappears over the horizon. Across the street, Rose's flashback is gone. It's just an empty bench again. Rose stares at it from the base of the lamppost, lost in thought. She doesn't notice Doctor Two standing just to her side.

DOCTOR TWO
You keep running out on people today.

Rose yelps, frightened by his sudden appearance.

ROSE
Son of a... you scared me.

DOCTOR TWO
You're rude.

ROSE
Sneaking up on people is rude. Some people might consider asking a woman for her eggs pretty darn rude, too.

DOCTOR TWO
Consider the source. These people are desperate. Desperate people rarely have time to worry about pleasantries and manners.

ROSE
Can I tell you a secret?

He shrugs.

ROSE
I'm afraid of kids.

DOCTOR TWO
Have you been diagnosed with pedophobia?

ROSE
It's not a phobia. Can you not be a doctor, right now?

DOCTOR TWO
I am the Doctor.

ROSE
I don't need a doctor. I need... I just need you to listen. I need you to be my friend. Can you do that? Can you just be a friend?

Doctor Two nods.

ROSE
I'm an only child. I never had any brothers and sisters growing up. I didn't even have any cousins. My mother doesn't speak to her family and my Dad's family is all older. I was always the youngest. In a parent-teacher conference, my third grade teacher told my mom it was as if I was born thirty years old. I was always mature for my age. And, I don't know, the thought of having kids... it always scared me. I don't even know how to hold a baby.

DOCTOR TWO
I don't think the Preservers are asking you to take care of them.

ROSE
That's the point. I don't want to do it that way, either. Forget it, you don't understand.

DOCTOR TWO
You're not explaining it well.

ROSE
You can be a real jerk sometimes.

She stands up and walks back towards the factory. He follows behind her.

DOCTOR TWO
Then, what is the point?

She stops in the middle of the road, turns to face him.

ROSE
I don't want to suck at it. I don't want to be someone's bad mother, or even someone's mother who tried real hard. I want to be awesome at it. I want to be the most perfect mother who ever lived, or I don't want to do it at all. Only, I don't even know if I want a kid, so how could I ever be awesome at it?

DOCTOR TWO
You'd rather humanity didn't exist than risk doing it wrong?

ROSE
I'd rather... it didn't depend on me.

Doctor Two thinks.

ROSE
You think I'm being selfish? You think I should do it?

DOCTOR TWO
No, but not for the reason you think.

ROSE
Why?

DOCTOR TWO
This timeline is an abomination. It shouldn't exist; the Human Empire, mass genocides, even the Preservers themselves shouldn't be necessary. This should be an age of enlightenment, not of death and pain. I can do it better. I can fix it. If I do that, the universe won't need a new Eve.

Rose swallows.

INT. FACTORY FLOOR – PRESERVER HEADQUARTERS

Doctor Two and Rose re-enter the factory. Waiting for them just inside the door is the Honcho, Golden Monkey, Silver Humanoid, Bronze Cyberman, and the rest of the Preservers.

DOCTOR TWO
Rose has something she would like to say.

Rose takes a deep breath and steps up to face the Honcho.

ROSE
I'm very flattered by your proposal, and I shouldn't have run out on you like that. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. That was not my intention. You seem like a very sweet man and a woman would be lucky to have you. But I don't want to marry you.

Disappointed, the Honcho fights back tears. He points at Doctor Two.

THE HONCHO
It's because of him, isn't it?

ROSE
No, it isn't like that. I-

GOLDEN MONKEY
What about your eggs?

Rose shakes her head.

The Preservers mumble to each other in disbelief. Meanwhile, the Honcho stares angrily at Doctor Two.

SILVER HUMANOID
I can't believe it.

BRONZE CYBERMAN
We put our lives on the line to save your species, and you won't even give us your eggs?

GOLDEN MONKEY
We could have taken them from you. We could have stunned you and taken them.

Silver Humanoid raises his weapon and points it at Rose.

SILVER HUMANOID
We still can!

Golden Monkey grabs Silver Humanoid's weapon and pushes it down towards the ground.

GOLDEN MONKEY
Is there nothing we can say to change your mind?

ROSE
No, but maybe there's a way we can change yours.

Golden Monkey listens, skeptically.

- To be Continued...-