It was eerie to say the least, trapped in an underwater dome with no simple escape or means of protections, trapped in the darkness that taunted the Doctor and Sherlock. The Doctor was used to things that went bump in the night, things that bumped in the shadows with a voracious appetite, but usually any monster or other would've made a ruckus by now. This, this was far different than any adventure he went on. He actually dreaded what was bumping around in the dark halls of the Compound and what else was here that he and Sherlock were only lucky enough to avoid by pure luck.
The halls were empty as the Doctor went through them, they were used so often that there were sets of footprints still engraved in the carpet, phantom footsteps that seemingly disappear and reappear as the Doctor walked past them. The signs of various goods sold in the East Wing were withered from water seeping through the crevices of the cracks; the dated posters of the first war with the Cybermen were all but a reminder of a different time. Several important figures were in the posters, telling prospecting people to serve their country proud.
The main area was no better either. The once waxed floors was scratched up visibly, black substance permanently stuck to the once pristine bronze colored floors. The substance the Doctor assumed was greasing oil for the rotaries. The walls were steel in color, but rusted from water seeping from the ceiling, smelt of mold and decomposing plant matter. The Compound was left in despair and it showed through the thick oxidized lines of the walls.
The Doctor glanced around the maintenance area; there were areas that led further below the maintenance area for what the Doctor could safely assume to be for the sewage treatment and fresh water tanks. Another part of the maintenance was for ventilation and air conditioning. The areas continued to be separated by what they pertained to until the Doctor came across the one with the Main Circuit Breaker for the entirely of the Compound.
Upon entering, the Doctor was met with a large room with large equipment that took up almost all the space. There was a desk near the wall where the one in charge would've sat, there were boxes of various things such as wires and cables of various kinds that lined the unused wall space. The room overall was very crowded and must've been difficult to work in when the Compound was still in operation.
The Doctor carefully made his way through the jungle of wires that jutted out of places, cables that stuck out from their individual sockets, anything that would've given the Doctor a nasty wound if he fell. When he came to the back of the room, he spotted three rows of circuit breakers in front of him.
Prying open the protective cover of each of the breakers to reveal several dozen switches in each that were conveniently labeled, the Doctor mumbled as he read off the yellowed labels. There were switches for the lights, the elevators, the ventilation, emergency lights, anything that was electrical in nature, there was a switch for. However, as the Doctor looked, there was no switch of any kind for the South Wing.
Figuring he just might've overlooked them, there were literary almost a hundred switches or even more labeled, the Doctor went through the switches again, only to conclude after the umpteenth time there was no switch of any sort for the South Wing. Dumbfounded, the Doctor began to search around the area, hoping to find something that he could use.
Finding a book near the box of wires, the Doctor flipped through to find that it was a helpful guidebook for an electrician. Unfortunately, the Doctor was no electrician, but he assured himself everything would go right if he followed the guidebook to the letter. The South Wing was on its own power grid, which meant it had its own breaker and switches, the only way for him to get to it was through maintenance shafts, however the shafts were hidden from plain sight and as it read that nothing of the "engineered" could see the shafts in their programming. The maintenance shafts had their own individual key and the keys themselves were heavily guarded in the Lockup, hidden in a safe with rental scans that logged every use.
"Bloody hell," the Doctor muttered under his breath as he read through the book. He decided he would go for the maintenance shaft in the East Wing. The guidebook did a better job of telling him where the East Wing's maintenance shaft was than the time he was stuck in a situation that if it were made into a televised show, it would've taken three episodes or so.
The Doctor rubbed his eyes with his free hand, he decided to scan the entire East Wing as he and Sherlock went to find the maintenance shaft. Hopefully it would be easy to spot; there had to been grease spots on the corners with electricians going in and out of it. The idea was that he and Sherlock would go through plausible areas where a maintenance shaft might be.
The Doctor had the plan ready and he would start it off with flipping the switches for the East Wing. Before he could even flip the switch for the elevator, he heard shuffling footsteps behind him. Slowly, the Doctor turned his head, as the trope went, there was no one there. It wasn't Sherlock or the monstrosity they witnessed in the West Wing. The Doctor thought it was his nerves; it was so silent he heard his own heartbeat and so no doubt the silence would play tricks with his ears too. Turning back to the switches, the Doctor mumbled as he tried to find switches for the East Wing again.
As he was prepared to flip the first switch, for the elevator, the Doctor heard a noise behind him once again; something fell behind him and rolled to the heels of his loafers. The Doctor stopped and this time, he didn't turn his head around, instead he moved his eyes that glowed in the green light toward the desk. There was a shadow under the desk, small, and the Doctor couldn't see well unless he fully turned his head. The Doctor took a step back, carefully over the object, only to find that it was a pen.
The Doctor chewed on his lips as he tried to figure out the best way to confront whatever was hiding under the desk. He could be upfront about it, but seeing that thing in the West Wing was enough for him to rethink that, so the Doctor decided to be passive aggressive about it. "Oh dear," the Doctor feigned as he looked at the ground, checking under his heels and generally acted has if he was looking for something. "I saw a nasty roach! I hate roaches, where is it? I hope it didn't crawl up my pant leg. Oh, I hope there aren't in the desk drawers."
Worked like a charm. The Doctor heard a stifled response and promptly turned around kneeled in front of the desk. "Oi, who are ya and why are ya bumping around here in the dark for?" the Doctor asked hoarsely. He saw a small figure slowly moving toward him. To his surprise, it was a little girl with platinum blond hair in a small ponytail and large dark eyes, wearing a light blue sundress and black dress shoes.
The Doctor tilted his head at the little girl as he asked, "What are you doing here, lass?"
"I got lost," the little girl whispered. The Doctor shook his head and asked, "Where's your mum, your da?"
"I don't know," the little girl replied. "I can't find my dad."
The Doctor nodded, "What's your name?"
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," the little girl mentioned as she peeked around the corner of the desk, as if looking out for something.
The Doctor blinked and nodded. He ran a hand through his hair and chuckled. "Ya, you're right. But, I'm no stranger, lass."
"Then, who are you?" the little girl asked. The Doctor smiled, "I'm the Doctor. Now what's your name?"
The little girl shirked in her spot, "Celia."
"Celia, that's a lovely name," the Doctor commented. "Where was your da last?"
"He was supposed to take me to the theater," Celia replied. The Doctor remembered there being a theater in the East Wing. He then asked Celia, "What are you and your da doing here?"
"We live here," he heard Celia. The Doctor stared at her confusingly, "How did you get here?"
"They brought us here," Celia replied. The Doctor rubbed his chin, "What does your da do?"
"I don't know," Celia admitted.
The Doctor nods and held out his hand to Celia. "It's okay, you can trust me. I'm the Doctor. I'll find your da, swear on me heart," he said softly to her. Celia looked conflicted as she stared at the Doctor; it seemed that she accepted his offer and was about to reach for his hand when the Doctor heard the door to the room open.
It was Sherlock; he had finished investigating the Lockup and had found himself a flashlight, another one stuck in his pocket, and two walkie talkies clipped to his side. Sherlock stared at the Doctor confusingly and asked him, "Are you alright?"
"Ya, I'm alright, I was just talking to Celia," the Doctor answered. Sherlock continued to stare at him. "Celia?" Sherlock looked baffled as the Doctor turned his head fully to look at him. "Ya, her name's Celia. Celia, this is Sherlock," the Doctor points at Sherlock. Sherlock glanced around the room, the flashlight lighting up boxes and the like.
"Doctor, who are you talking to?" Sherlock asked him. The Doctor bluntly responded. "Celia," he said. He pointed the underside of the desk and Sherlock flashed light on it. The Doctor turned and Celia was no longer under the desk. The Doctor checked the underside, checked around the desk, got up and looked around.
"Celia," the Doctor called. Sherlock tilted his head, "Doctor?"
"She was here," the Doctor insisted. "I was talking to her."
"Calm down, mate, what'd she look like?" Sherlock gestured with his free hand. The Doctor chewed on his lips as he relayed. "She wore a blue sundress, black dress shoes. She had platinum blond hair and dark eyes. Sherlock, I was just talking to her!"
"I'm not saying anything, Doctor," Sherlock shook his head.
The Doctor chewed on his lips as he continued to look around for one last time. Celia was nowhere to be found, no matter how thorough the Doctor searched, he just couldn't find where she might've gone. Eventually the Doctor came to his senses and sighed. "I found the switches; the South End's got their own. There's a maintenance shaft somewhere in the East Wing we can use to get to the South Wing," he rubbed his chin. "What about you?"
"Where do I begin," Sherlock took a deep breathe. He found an underlying theme to how people were initially selected for something called Project Alpha. People were selected based on who spoke about them. There were divorce forms, forms for lawsuits, child custody, anything that would make it convenient for whoever was assigned to claim a person. The general idea was that no one would suspect anything more if a man disappeared after hearing that his wife was having an affair or a man was on the run from paying child support. Since there was an artificial motive, police wouldn't assume anything else was happening and everything worked out perfectly. The perfect crime as it stood.
"So, they don't kidnap people on major holidays?" the Doctor summed. Sherlock shook his head, "Only if whoever was assigned believe it's a good time."
The Doctor shook his head and took a deep breathe. Sherlock stepped beside him ad looked at him. "Doctor, are you okay?" he asked. The Doctor shrugged in response.
The two began to flip the switches for the East Wing, carefully going in the order as directed on the labels until all of East Wing was online.
With the final switch flipped, Sherlock handed the Doctor a walkie talkie. "We're on channel two," Sherlock explained to the Doctor as he stuck the walkie talkie onto the left side of his waist. Sticking his Sonic Screwdriver into his left pocket and relying on the flashlight for now, the Doctor nodded and summed, "Right. Channel two. Come on, we got the East Wing to search through."
"Doctor," Sherlock eyed him. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I am," the Doctor nodded. Sherlock was the first one to exit the room and as he disappeared into the main area the Doctor was left alone. The Doctor couldn't help but glance around the room one more time, thinking that Celia might've showed up elsewhere that he hadn't checked. To his displeasure, Celia was nowhere to be seen and the Doctor was the only one in the room. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, the Doctor tugged on his coat and headed out into the main area where Sherlock waited.