Donna drummed her fingertips against the floor beside her, slowly. There was no hurry. She'd had nothing to do but stare at four identical walls for at least a half hour. Abruptly, the door to her cell slid open. Donna looked up to see who was entering. The doorway was empty. Donna cocked her head, giving the opening a skeptical look. This had to be another trick of some sort.
Nothing happened. Cautiously, Donna got to her feet and went over to the door. She poked her head out into the hall. The guard from earlier was nowhere to be seen. Donna turned her head left to right. The hall was completely empty. A flicker of motion drew her eyes to one of the station's ubiquitous marquises. The text had just changed. Donna Noble, it said, and then there was an arrow pointing to the left. Run.
What were they playing at now? Donna heard footsteps approaching from the other end of the hall. RUN! \\-sysN.37.L The marquis said.
"Oh for the love of…" Donna yanked off her shoes and scurried down the hall at top speed, moving silently on her sock clad feet. The door to her cell slid shut behind her as she dashed down the hall and skidded around the corner. No cries of alarm were raised in the hall behind her. Apparently she had made it around the corner in time.
Donna Noble → said a marquis some twenty feet down the hall ahead of her. Not bothering to question this time, Donna sprinted down the hall and around the corner as indicated, already looking for the next marquis.
Donna Noble: Hide, it said.
"Hide?" Donna hissed. She glanced around. There was nothing around but the doorways on either end of the hall. She stepped into the nearest one and pressed herself as far back as she could.
She waited. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears as she strained to listen for pursuit. Footsteps.
"…still don't see why they won't let us use the residential facilities. Have you seen the swimming pool?"
"Come off it. We can't have random scientists traipsing through their recreation areas all the time. They'd start to wonder."
"So? Just wipe them again."
"Do you have any idea…"
The voices became muffled again as their owners moved passed Donna's hall. She waited until she couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, then poked her head out of the doorway. No one.
Donna Noble, the marquis said, with an arrow pointing her back the way she'd come. Donna frowned, wondering if that could be right, then shrugged internally and retraced her steps. Back in the previous hallway, another marquis pointed her to the right, away from her cell and toward whoever had just walked by. Warily, Donna followed. Two intersections down another marquis changed as she reached it.
Wait.
Donna stopped. A few seconds passed.
Go.
Donna continued down the hall. At the next intersection, the marquis sent her to the right, then about halfway down that hall a new marquis directed her to a doorway on her left. The door slid open at Donna's approach, then closed as she stepped inside. Donna found herself in a small office. There was a desk here facing the door and a potted plant of the same sort found in the residential area occupying one corner. Donna frowned. Why had the signs led her in here? Was she hiding again?
Donna wandered around to the other side of the desk. Now she could see a screen embedded in the surface of the desk. There was a flashing window on the screen. Curious, Donna leaned closer. It was a chat program of some description. There was only one line of chat in the window.
Hello, Donna! How are we holding up?
Donna's heart skipped a few beats. Could it be? She reached for the keyboard.
Who is this? Donna typed, hands shaking from excitement. There was a brief pause that seemed to last an eternity.
The Doctor
A huge grin broke out across Donna's face. Finally! Wait, Donna warned herself. Best to make sure. She typed a quick message.
Prove it.
Her cursor blinked twice.
What?
Prove to me that you're the Doctor
There was another pause. Then a new line of text appeared.
The first time I met you you'd accidentally teleported into my Tardis in a wedding dress. You were convinced that I'd kidnapped you, and also that I was from Mars.
Donna's grin returned. It was him! There was no way those Stovians would have gotten that in a rumor.
THANK. HEAVENS. Donna typed emphatically. Where have you been? / I've been stuck on this stupid space station with no idea what's going on / except that everyone's lying about it / and then I found the Tardis and you weren't there / and I thought something awful must have happened to you / and now I'm under arrest or whatever / and I STILL don't know what's going on!
By the time she finished Donna was typing so fast that the keyboard really ought to have spontaneously combusted.
I'm sorry, Donna. I've been trying to contact you since you woke up, but it's taken me a while to get the knack for using the system.
Donna frowned.
What's that supposed to mean?
For a few moments, nothing changed on the screen except for the steady blinking of her own cursor. Then a reply appeared.
I've sort of hacked the station's central computer. That's how I've been controlling the signs and the doors. But the interface is a bit dodgy.
So you're still on the colony?
It's not a colony.
What is it then?
It's a research facility.
Donna looked up sharply as she heard footsteps in the hall. In a moment they passed and Donna let out her breath. There was already a new message on the screen when she looked back.
It's alright; this isn't his office.
Donna blinked.
Wait, she typed, can you see me?
Of course. I've got access to the security cameras. See? Donna heard a soft whirring noise from the ceiling behind her. Looking up she now spotted a tiny camera that was spinning in circles. Once she spotted it it stopped spinning and remained trained on her. She smiled at it before turning back to the screen.
Lanassa Colony is actually a giant laboratory for biomedical research on the plague affecting the planet below us, the Doctor was explaining. You know your friends on the other side of the station?
Yeah?
They've all got a rare genetic immunity to the plague. Joanna and the others are studying them to figure out how it works and if they can use it to produce immunity in others.
Why don't the colonists know anything about this?
As I said, it's a rare immunity – probably only a few thousand individuals on the planet have it, and most of them haven't been identified.
So?
So if you want a large enough sample size to study, you don't exactly have the luxury of taking volunteers.
Donna felt a chill. So that was what "acquired" meant.
They kidnapped them. She typed.
Precisely.
But they don't seem to remember being kidnapped.
Yes, the Doctor replied. They've had their memories edited so they believe they moved here of their own volition, seeking safety from the plague.
I see, Donna replied. I assume we're doing something about it?
Oh yes! Come on. We need to get you moving. They haven't noticed you're missing yet, but they will before long. See the pager on the desk next to you?
Donna looked and sure enough there was a small electronic device sitting on the desk.
Yes
Take it with you so we can stay in contact.
Can't we just meet up somewhere?
Not yet. There's a lot of things we need to do and it will go smoother if I stay here where I can work the doors for you.
Alright then. Where do I go?
Give it a minute. There's another group of researchers in your way right now. I'll tell you when it's safe.
Donna sat and waited. Nothing changed on the screen except the cursor blinking steadily on and off. She picked up the pager next to her and found that it had a wrist band. It was made to be strapped on like a watch. She put it on and adjusted the straps, keeping an eye on the screen in front of her as she worked. Suddenly, the screen lit up on her pager and she felt it vibrate slightly against her wrist. She glanced down.
All clear. Head out the door and to your left.
Donna went to the door and as before it slid open before her. She looked out into the hall, checking both directions, but as the Doctor had promised the coast was clear. She headed left, keeping an eye on the marquises for more directions from the Doctor. She glanced down at her pager.
Where am I going, anyway? She typed.
For a long time, there was no response. The marquises sent her down the hall, then around the corner to a lift. Donna reached the door and for a moment nothing happened. She glanced about in confusion, wondering if she'd missed something when the door finally slid open. She stepped inside.
Head to level 2, said the marquis inside. Donna pressed the button and the lift started downward. Finally, Donna felt the pager vibrate on her wrist.
It's hard to talk while you're moving. I'm trying to do a lot of things at once and it takes most of my concentration.
You? Too busy to talk? Donna wrote back. You're an impostor after all!
Oi!
The lift jerked to a stop so suddenly that Donna was nearly thrown off her feet. The emergency lighting flashed on and then immediately back off. Donna had just enough time to regain her balance and shake of her shock before she felt the pager vibrate again.
Oops – sorry!
The lift resumed its previous downward course.
You're not fooling me, spaceman. You did that on purpose.
I didn't, honest! You distracted me.
Uh huh.
The lift stopped moving – gently this time – and the marquis flashed a message that they had reached level two. The doors remained shut. Donna waited a moment but nothing happened. She was at the point of sending the Doctor a message when she heard a voice in the hall.
"Out of order, I guess."
"Come on," said a second voice. "Let's take the one over by Screening."
Another minute passed. The lift door finally opened. A marquis directed Donna to the left.
Donna walked to the end of the hall and found herself faced with a large doorway with the word "Memory" scrolling by on the marquis over it. She suspected that this marquis had not been modified by the Doctor. Entering through the door, Donna found herself in what looked to be an operating room. Most of the room was white, with a sterile feel to it, and there was a big table in the middle of the room. Actually, it was more like a big, white, rectangular block someone had plopped down in the middle of the room and then made a roughly person shaped indent in the top of. The cup that the head was meant to rest in was ringed with lights.
Doctor, what am I doing here? Donna wrote.
First step is alerting the colonists to the fact that something is wrong. Best way to do that is to give them their memories back.
And how does this room help us with that? Donna asked.
See that big thing in the middle of the room? The Doctor asked.
Yeah?
It's a mind wiper. A technological means of editing memory. You can delete inconvenient ones, add more convenient ones – well, not delete really, you can never really delete a memory, but you can suppress it.
Something tickled the back of Donna's mind, an idea trying to form itself. It coalesced.
Doctor, I can't remember anything between the time we landed here and waking up in the hospital. Did they use this on me?
A momentary pause.
Yes. I managed to interrupt the process, but not quite soon enough.
Donna shivered, imagining herself lying on this big metal block, unconscious, lights flashing around her head.
But you can reverse it?
Well, no, I can't, but that's what I've got you for.
Me? I don't know anything about this thing!
Calm down, I'll walk you through it. All we need to do is reverse a few of the circuits, boost the signal, and feed it through the bioscanners in the rest of the station.
Oh, is that all?
Look for an access panel underneath the headboard.
Grumbling, Donna walked around the table and crouched down by the head. Sure enough, she could see a rectangular plate on the side, held on by screws.
Found it, Donna wrote.
Open it up.
I can't.
What?
It's screwed on, and not all of us carry a screwdriver everywhere.
Alright, open that cabinet behind you and look for something / Uh / Screwy.
Donna sighed with exasperation. She found the cabinet the Doctor was talking about and opened it up. She expected medical supplies, but it turned out to be full of tools. I guess that makes sense, she thought. Someone needs to service this thing. She rooted around a bit and found a screwdriver of the non-sonic variety. She set to work and in another minute had the panel off, revealing a mess of wiring beyond.
Alright, now what?
You need to find the wire going from the left occipital lead to the mnemonic converter, disconnect it, and then reconnect it out of phase.
Donna blinked at the pager.
Ah, the Doctor said, alright so there's this glowy bit in the headrest
Remind me why I'm the one doing this? Why don't you get down here and I'll go press the buttons and open doors for you.
It's not that simple.
Well it can't be more complicated than this!
Actually, it can.
Donna started to type a rebuttal but the Doctor cut her off.
Donna, we don't have time to argue about this. Security just noticed you're missing and they're going to be looking for you. Donna felt a flutter in her stomach. We can't switch places now, so you're just going to have to focus. You can do this.
Doctor, I don't know if I can!
I do. Now, there's a security camera above the door. See if you can take it down and move it so I can see where you're working.
Donna glanced up and after a moment spotted the tiny camera over the center of the door. She needed something she could stand on. There was a stool next to the counter. Setting her jaw, Donna stood up and dragged the stool over to the door, hopped up on it and examined the camera. She found that she was able to unscrew it from its mounting and pull it free. It was apparently wireless. She brought it back over to the table and pointed it at the space behind the access panel. She felt her wrist buzz.
Perfect. Now, put your hand into the space.
Donna complied.
Good. Move it to your right.
Donna did so.
Stop! No, back to the left a bit. There! Ok, you're going to need to move slower. Back to the right.
Donna slowly moved her hand back to the right until her wrist buzzed.
There! Perfect. Now, see that red wire just above your hand?
Donna placed a finger on the wire.
Yes, that one. Disconnect it. Just pull.
Donna pulled on the wire and a tiny metal tip came free of its socket.
Good. Now feel back into the mechanism. There should be another socket like that. Put the wire there.
It took several frustrating minutes of fumbling about inside the machine before Donna was able to find the hole and successfully connect the wire.
There you go! You're doing fine Donna.
"Oh leave off will you?" Donna grumbled irritably. "I wish you were here so I could smack you properly for this."
Oi! Is that any way to thank me?
"Oh, so you can hear me, too?" Donna said.
Well, you are right next to the camera.
"Good," Donna said grunting. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to complain properly without a hand free to type."
Alright, you've just got the one circuit left to reverse.
The Doctor walked her through reversing the second circuit through the same, agonizingly slow, puppet process. Then he had her root through the cabinet again for more wire and run that over to an access panel in the wall of all things and do a little more rewiring. Donna hadn't the faintest idea what she was accomplishing but the Doctor seemed satisfied.
"So, how do we start it?" Donna asked. It didn't even register anymore that it should feel odd to be talking to a watch.
It's already running.
"But I don't remember anything I didn't before."
Are you sure about that? It won't all come back at once, it'll be bits and pieces. Could take a day or more to get it all back.
Donna frowned. She was starting to get that feeling – that feeling when you know you were thinking about something important but can't quite remember what anymore. Something about a hallway? Yes, that's right. She was standing in a hallway, probably one of the halls in this lower section of Lanassa Colony Hospital. The Doctor was with her. And a lot of men with guns?