Chapter Thirteen
One minute Becky Gibbs had been holding onto The Doctor and know she was lying on a smooth cold floor. Looking around she found herself in a long futuristic room with spotless surfaces and a long array of windows to one side. There was no sign of The Doctor but there was a dark skinned man in a red and silver uniform. As if he had sensed her presence he turned to face her.
His expression was stern, but there was a glint of kindness in his blue eyes. "How are you feeling?" he asked
"Fine" Becky replied "No bones broken, where am I and where is The Doctor?"
"You are on the bridge of Skybase XII. I'm the Skymaster, I'm in charge. As for The Doctor he recovered quicker and has just been to see the medical officer." The Skymaster explained
"And I'm Back" The Doctor said "You now I'll never get used to that teleport beam. Frankenstein effect you know."
"Frankenstein effect?" The Skymaster asked
"Yes, when you've created something and even you are having trouble using or controlling it." The Doctor smiled "Now Miss Gibbs can you walk?"
Becky nodded and for the first time The Doctor managed to get a proper look at her, she had long blonde hair and a bright brown eyes which seemed unusual. Her features were attractive even after her ordeal. She seemed to be one of those women who didn't need to look pretty as she was pretty already. Wearing the 'Skylight Electronics' jacket The Doctor had given her, only other clothes were a red vest top and jeans and she was wearing no shoes.
"Right" The Doctor said "We need to get back to G.I.N. HQ. I expect that Commander Lyons will be getting worried. Skymaster I need you to come with us. This is a situation wish affects us all."
The Skymaster thought for a moment then nodded and they headed towards the science laboratory.
At the science bay of the General Intelligence Network. Commander Lyons was slumped in a chair when suddenly the teleport flashed up again and The Doctor, Skymaster and Becky Gibbs were standing in front of him. "Doctor, you're back and you Oxford. Is good to see you all again."
"I fear that this matter is not so easily closed. We need to get to your office and we'll tell you what has happened."
The four of them headed to Lyons' Office, because of the lateness of the hour Lyons had ordered coffee and sandwiches from the canteen. Gibbs explained that she had her cover blown only three days after the investigation had begun "It's as if someone knew that I was a G.I.N. agent"
"You mean there was a security breech?" Lyons said "Any ideas who?"
"There was someone McKenzie was working with a tall man with an eye patch, I think his name was Scythe Zudor?"
"Scythe Zudor?" Lyons said, he sounded surprised but his showed that the name was familiar to him. "The name isn't known to me" he added "So what is this X10?"
"Well I know that it conned McKenzie into working for it." The Doctor said "And it has some major revenge vendetta against the human race. I still have no idea what it is. Any luck with Professor Ormerod?"
"No, not yet but the A.A.I.A. are trying to find out why the FBI were at the Tenworth Plant in the first place. Well now what do we do?"
"Wait, let X10 make the first move." The Doctor said "It let both me and Miss Gibbs go, so it isn't strong enough to take over the world."
"But surely that means we should act." Lyons insisted "If it is weak."
"I said it wasn't strong to take over the world, not it is weak. Also we need to know what X10 wants and the only person who can tell us that is…"
Just then there was a knock at the door and Miss Barrett entered "Commander, Doctor we've managed to get Professor Ormerod on the satellite link."
The two men got up and headed to what Lyons called 'The Green room' a large room where one wall was made into a massive screen. Which sparked into life the image should an elderly man with very little hair and a pair of glassed balanced on his nose.
Commander Lyons entered "Are you Professor Hector Ormerod?" he asked
"I am" the man said He had a faint trace of an Australian accent.
"I'm Commander John Lyons, Senior officer of the General Intelligence Network. We are a key security organisation. Main objective is to protect planet Earth from hostile Alien invaders, Do you understand?"
Ormerod nodded "How can I help you?"
"My main scientific advisor wants to ask you some question. Doc…" Lyons turned to see that he was on his own "Doctor? Now where has he gone?"
Just then The Doctor arrived he had put on a white shirt with black trousers "Just needed to change quickly" he said
"Doctor, this is Professor Ormerod" Lyons introduced
"How do you do" The Doctor said politely "I'm The Doctor, now Professor Ormerod" he continued "We need all information you know about X.R.I.A.C. perhaps better known as X10?"
A look of fear crossed the Professor's face "No, No!" he spluttered "I don't know anything."
"I should point out Professor" Commander Lyons said sternly "That this is a situation of tremendous national security and you could be detained for withholding vital information. Now tell us all about X10?"
"It all began in the mid-70s" Ormerod began "When I was the senior scientist at the Tenworth Computer Company. Our profits were doing well and we were approached by an American Businessman who had a proposal for us."
"What sort of proposal?" Lyons asked
"He wanted us to build a machine that could predict the outcome of a conflict, if we inputted the amount of men, weapons etc. it could calculate the end result. Like some sort of battle computer." Ormerod explained "We told him that such a machine even though construction would be possible, would be extremely dangerous, especially if it fell into the wrong hands at the time we were thinking about the Communists or the Chinese. So we decided to change it and turn the machine into a self-maintaining, production machine."
"I see" The Doctor replied
"Well I don't" Lyons interrupted "What is a production machine?"
"A machine that can assemble one product from all the necessary components. If you gave one four wheels, an engine and a car's chassis and typed in the correct formulae then the machine would assemble a car for you. Self-maintaining needs no formulae is needed as it's computer brain would be able to assemble without any assistance."
Professor Ormerod nodded "We constructed it and implanted a highly advanced studying circuit which gave X10 the ability to learn and experience. It was at least ten years moer advanced than the next supercomputer of the time hence the nickname. For the a year after it's completion X10 worked well, but then things were becoming strange. It would request more parts than were needed and then began producing less and less of what it was. Then one day we opened the factory and discovered a second production machine next to it, this one was identical except it had no computer brain."
"So X10 had the intelligence to build a copy of itself." The Doctor said with a tone of concern
"Not just copy but control, then another appeared so by 1979 there were about fifteen all making products. The rise in these machines meant that a large part of the workforce were laid off. But X10 wanted more, it used the computer parts to maintain it's own computer brain making it cleverer. We realised that it was also able to hack into the 'TCC' accounts office and manage to embezzle the company from the inside, so by 1980 the company was broke. We decided to confront it but it said that humans were inferior. Enraged we cut the power supply and dismantled it. And buried beneath the shop floor. Then business went bust in 1981, and I emigrated to Australia. As far away from that blasted computer as possible."
"It's managed to return with a vengeance against humans, Does X10 have a weakness?" The Doctor asked
"It's brain is a supercomputer" Ormerod explained "So it needs constant electric power. When we cut the supply it made an horrific sound like a scream but with a strange metallic ringing it was a sound that will haunt me till the day I die."
"Thank you" The Doctor said "You have been most helpful."
Professor Ormerod nodded and the link was cut.