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Sasha wrapped her arm around the Doctor's as they wandered through the high street, surrounded by fairy lights and flashing advertisements that blurred the entire city into a ball of neon festivities. There was no snow – the modern usual- but the two of them wore scarves, and Sasha, a ridiculous novelty turkey hat.

"So," Sasha shrugged, "how's the travelling?"

"Not bad," the Doctor nodded.

"You've got a tan line," Sasha grinned.

"I was at a beach, and there were two suns."

"That sounds better than 'not bad'."

"I needed to relax."

"How so?"

That question made the Doctor stop in his tracks. "I thought you of all people would know. The trap. The Dalek trap that nearly killed us all."

"So what?" Sasha shrugged.

"You especially nearly died."

"And that's what happens when we travel with you. You can't blame yourself for something you weren't responsible for," Sasha insisted, squeezing the Doctor's arm. "You can't run away from it to some far away beach, and expect that to get rid of the memories."

"I wasn't trying to do that."

"Then it certainly seems that way. How long?"

"How long what?" the Doctor asked.

"How long were you there?" Sasha clarified. "How long have you been travelling since the Daleks?"

"I dunno," the Doctor shrugged.

"Then estimate."

"Nearly a year," the Doctor snapped.

"A year?" Sasha gasped. "A whole year at a beach with two suns by yourself? You'd better have used sunscreen. You could've got skin cancer. Can Time Lord's get skin cancer?"

"No!" the Doctor cried.

"Not a year at the beach, or Time Lord's don't get skin cancer?"

"I wasn't there for a year."

"But can you get cancer?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I need to know how much Factor 50 I need to pack for our next adventures," Sasha snapped, suddenly bursting into a smile. "Did you really think I wanted you back just for Christmas?"

"No. But it's all you're getting."

"What?" Sasha cried, catching up with the Doctor as he walked away. "You can't do that! You can't walk out at Christmas!"

"You can have Christmas, but then I'm off."

"Why? Did we do something wrong?"

"No. You never do."

"Then why are you kicking us out?"

"Because you've seen what travelling with me can do," the Doctor said, grabbing Sasha by the arms as he suddenly became very serious. "I've always said that things don't last long with me, and that I can't be trusted; since the Daleks you have absolute truth that people get hurt around me. You nearly died on that ship, for God's sake!"

"You can't keep turning us away. If you've learnt anything, it's that you need us too."

"No! Don't do this!"

"Why not?" Sasha said, throwing her arms up. "Do you like travelling with us?"

"Yes. Of course I do."

"Then give us a chance," Sasha suggested. "Spend this Christmas with us, then make your choice. I won't be mad with you. I won't even argue. If you want, I'll let you go. All I ask if that you spend Christmas with us."

"I won't change my mind," the Doctor insisted.

"Nevertheless, there's no harm in trying."

Sasha raised her eyebrows, giving the Doctor a 'please-just-this-once' expression as he contemplated the offer. Eventually, he shrugged. "Ok. Sure. This one Christmas only!"

"Yes!" Sasha laughed, jumping up as she punched the air. "Thank you!" she laughed, pulling the Doctor in for a large hug.

The Doctor fidgeted, trying to escape from Sasha as she locked his arms. "It's not a promise."

"But I'll convince you. I will convince you!" Sasha insisted, squeezing him half to death.

"Ok . . ." the Doctor wheezed.

There were gunshots. Police Constable Jameson ducked as a bullet swerved over his head, ricocheting off a metal grill as it sparked. Jameson hid behind a mannequin, shielding his head. Gasping and sweating, he pulled his radio from his pocket and spoke. "Emergency! Back-up needed. Gunman in Whiteleys shopping centre. Shots fired. Gunman is contained on the west-facing, ground floor corridor." He ducked again as a shop was fired.

Across the corridor, another police officer hid in another shop. He gestured to Jameson, 'make a move' and readied his gun. Jameson nodded in agreement.

"GO, GO, GO!" Jameson cried, stepping out from behind the mannequin.

The two officers shot at the gunman, mostly missing as the bullets hit shop windows, shattering glass to the floor. Eventually, the gunman fell to the floor as a bullet struck!

Patience.

Waiting in silence until, eventually . . .

"Arms down!" Jameson cried, lowering his gun. The other officer stepped to check the gunman's pulse. "Good work. Call an ambulance."

The Doctor and Sasha continued through the streets, stepping along to the chiming of Christmas carols.

"That'd be nice for Alec," Sasha said, pointing out an app controlled helicopter in the window of a gadget shop. "He's still into all that spy stuff."

"A bit costly," the Doctor frowned.

"I'm paying remember."

Out-of-the-blue, the Doctor suddenly hurried into the shop, leaving Sasha looking confused outside!

"Doctor?" she called, following him inside. The shop was warmer than outside, with red walls, and every surface covered with some sort of electronic gadget. "Doctor, what is it?"

The Doctor stepped to one of the displays, holding up the boxes of every different toy before throwing them to the floor, as though he were searching for something.

"Sir! Please stop that!" a shop assistant barked, grabbing the Doctor by the arm.

The Doctor held up one of the boxes to the shop assistant's face, his finger pointing directly to a small logo on the packaging. "CyberTech!" he snapped. "What is CyberTech?"

"I dunno," the assistant shrugged, "just a brand. Now I'm going to have to ask you to put it down."

"Everything in this shop is made by CyberTech – why?" the Doctor persisted.

"I'm gonna call the police if you don't leave this moment!" the shop assistant snapped.

"Come on, Doctor," Sasha pleaded, pulling on the Doctor's arm.

The Doctor shrugged her off, staring deep into the shop assistant's eyes. "Are they controlling you?"

"Doctor!" Sasha snapped, grabbing the Doctor and pulling him out of the shop. "What was that about?"

"CyberTech," the Doctor frowned.

"Yes! CyberTech! It's some company linked with that CyberSocial. But what on earth was that about?!"

"What?" the Doctor frowned.

"CyberSocial. It's this new social network thing launching Christmas morning. Why? What's wrong? It's just a company. They've got skyscraper headquarters and everything."

"Show me."

"Look up there," Sasha said, spinning the Doctor around and pointing to a large screen in the street. It was a news broadcast, showing a ginger haired woman in a red suit standing in front of the BT Tower. "That's Miss Rubens. She started the project and is in charge of the launch."

Miss Rubens spoke on the screen: "CyberSocial won't just revolutionise social messaging; it'll revolutionise the world! We're so used to faking reality on the internet, creating low self-esteem and distorting what the real world is. No longer! CyberTech will become the real world. No more sitting at a keyboard and ignoring the world around you. CyberSocial won't just join you to the internet; it'll make you the internet!"

"What?" the Doctor gasped.

"Your entire consciousness is uploaded to the CyberSocial network, where everyone can share and be themselves," Miss Rubens continued. "You can jump between the real world and virtual world at any desired point, and won't be able to tell the difference. Faster messaging, being true to yourself – CyberSocial isn't just a step in the virtual world, it is the best thing that has, or ever will happen. So make sure you've set up an account by launch on Christmas morning – you don't want to miss out!"

Miss Rubens disappeared from the screen as the news continued.

"And that's CyberSocial," Sasha summarised. "Your consciousness gets uploaded to the internet. It's the perfect link between the real and virtual world."

"But that puts CyberTech in control of your souls!" the Doctor gasped. "Humanity will lose control of the one thing it should always possess. If they wanted, CyberTech could delete your mind at any point if they wanted. Has no-one spoken out about it?"

"Of course," Sasha replied. "There are centres all over the world where people get these implants to upload themselves. There have been five attacks at these centres over the last two weeks alone. There are campaigns on Facebook, public speeches . . . Why? Is now really a time to dispute the rise of corporate domination?"

"Have you got an account?"

"No! I've not been brainwashed, unlike the rest of the world."

"We've got to stop them," the Doctor frowned.

"What?" Sasha asked. "You can't bring down CyberTech. People have tried before and never succeeded. What is this even about?"

"And what happens to those people?"

"I don't know. They just . . . Disappear."

"Exactly – that's what the Cybermen do!" the Doctor snapped. "They have to be stopped."

"The Cybermen?"

The Cybermen! But what is their plan? Why is Jameson so important? Keep reading to have your questions answered. Thanks for reading, I hope your liking this so far!