The Twilight Zone

3

"I'm not sure how I feel about this automated bathysphere," said Clara as they rose steadily in their pressurised ball back to the surface, having been bundled into it by Zono. "This is even worse than the submarine. Does this constitute public transport? I didn't see any way to pay – is it nationalised?" She was trying to bait the Doctor into saying something – she did usually love to wax lyrical about socialism – but she wouldn't bite. "Sweetheart?" The Doctor looked up. "Do you want to talk?"

"I'm thinking," she said quietly. Clara sighed sadly. The Doctor frowned. "Are you holding something?"

"Oh," said Clara, opening her hand and realising she still had the strange tooth in her possession. She held it out towards her wife. "Took it from her dig site." The Doctor took it gently from Clara as the bathysphere continued to rise. "I think it's a tooth."

"Hm…" the Doctor examined it.

"I don't understand why you'd try to exhume a fossil with bombs."

"It's not the fossil she's interested in," said the Doctor, "She once incubated and hatched t-rex embryos on her TARDIS." Her eyes widened. "I'll bet that's what's in those big tanks…"

"What?"

"She's doing a Jurassic Park. She doesn't need the whole fossil, only a part of it that contains a genome she can extract," explained the Doctor, "Fundamentally, she's a geneticist where Missy and I prefer physics."

"What do you mean?"

"We went to school together."

"Sorry – you, the Master, and the Rani all went to school together? You were in the same class?" Clara was aghast; it sounded like a living nightmare being that teacher.

"Yessiree Bob."

"Bloody hell…"

"She's right about the scope of her research, though. Peri and I once ran into her in England during the Luddite Rebellion; she was trying to steal brain chemicals from innocent workers for whatever twisted experiment she was doing, and what was the Master doing the entire time?"

"What?" asked Clara.

"Pulling pranks. Threw my TARDIS down a mineshaft, tried to kill me."

"The usual, then?"

"I think the Rani hates the Master more than she hates me. Always says we have an 'unhealthy obsession' with each other."

"She might have a point." The Doctor shot her a glare. Clara smiled to indicate she was joking. "If she's growing alien dinosaur embryos, shouldn't we do something?"

"It's non-urgent," said the Doctor, "Dinosaurs gestate for a long time." When Clara didn't think of something else to say right away, the Doctor sank into a state of pathos again.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk, wifey?" Clara asked softly. She almost never called the Doctor 'wifey'; it had always been Eleven's nickname for her, but she brought it out in times of need. It certainly piqued the Doctor's attention now.

"I just feel stupid, that's all."

"Why?"

"For caring about what she says. Because I don't care about what she says, or what she thinks – I don't care about her at all. But it…" she trailed off, eyes on the floor.

"I'll tell you a story," Clara began. "When I was at uni, they did a big sexual health awareness campaign with an emphasis on HIV, right? So, because I'm… you know, me, I decided that I'd go get tested. I went with a gay friend of mine because he needed to go as well and when we went into the clinic there was this girl picketing outside. Just her, on her own, in the rain with a sign that just had written on it 'God Hates Fags.' Barely a sign actually, just a piece of cardboard drawn on with a marker. Had to squint to read it, and there it was. God Hates Fags. She didn't even talk to us as we went in. But do you know what the funniest thing of all was? People had been warned about picketers beforehand. A few days earlier some other evangelist got escorted off-campus for saying some nasty shit about AIDS; it made the uni paper. So, we went there expecting exactly this and once we were inside the clinic I started crying. Which is crazy, isn't it? It's not like I haven't been subjected to homophobia before, and here it was in exactly the place you would expect being performed in exactly the way you expect, and the slur's not even directed at me, but for some reason it still got me. It cut through all the barriers I'd built up. And I don't care what that girl thought about gay people, and I was prepared for it, and still, they managed to upset me.

"That kind of shit hurts no matter where it comes from. Quite frankly, it's more warped to be desensitised to it. What does it say about me to think that it's normal to brush off the cognitive dissonance of overt homophobia rather than take a vitriolic attack on my personal life to heart?" She'd gotten a little off track, but the Doctor was still listening. The Doctor always listened to Clara. "The test was negative, by the way."

"Glad to hear it."

"I think it's okay if you're upset. Even if you're normally so big and strong. Not physically, obviously, but emotionally. Intellectually."

"I'm not ashamed of you," she said bluntly.

"I never thought you were."

"That's not why I didn't – you know I would… defend your honour, I just-"

"Okay," Clara held up a hand to get her to stop talking, "First of all, while I appreciate your undying commitment to romantic gestures, I can defend my own honour. Second of all, I get it, and – is it supposed to do that?" The bathysphere jerked and wobbled as it burst from the ocean, bobbing upon the shadowy waves with the white dwarf star once again visible in the sky through the porthole. It started to move to the side, towards the looming edge of Aegean-4. "Does this thing have an engine?"

"No, it'll be a magnet system," said the Doctor. The bathysphere was pulled up to street level and automatically docked. "The whole circumference of this thing is basically one big dock; the bathysphere can land anywhere." Once it stopped moving the door clicked open. Clara took the lead to push the small door open and clamber out onto the slick metal walkway, helping the Doctor lest she slip and fall into the sea.

"Where do you think Milky Way Shakes is, then?" Clara asked, but the Doctor had frozen again. This time was different though, now she was having an epiphany. She hit her forehead with her hand.

"I'm so stupid, Clara! Hair loss, skin atrophy, bleeding gums – those are symptoms of radiation sickness!" she exclaimed.

"Where did we see those symptoms?"

"They're what Persephone said the side-effects of taking Glow are," the Doctor reminded her, "And she said it's a recent development here. And the Rani is down there conducting weird, radiation experiments…"

"But she had everything in those tanks, how would it get into a drug on the surface?" asked Clara.

"Depends how long she's been down there extracting incomplete genomes. It wouldn't surprise me to find out she's been having Emix dispose of her failed experiments by fly-tipping. All that gunk out in the water is bound to have repercussions," she said, erratically pacing in front of Clara. "We need to find Persephone and take a look at those Glow samples she was going to show me this morning."

"We need to stop those kids from accidentally blowing themselves up and starting a war," Clara countered.

"It'll be quicker to find Persephone and ask her for directions than wandering around the streets," said the Doctor. Clara didn't like it, but she had a point; they did not know where they were going, and Aegean-4 was very large and comprised mostly of maze-like slums and workers' lodgings. "If I remember correctly her surgery was to the east, which is…" she turned around then pointed in a random direction, "That way. C'mon."

"You'd better be right," Clara warned, "If anything happens to those kids-"

"Coo, you worry too much. They're smarter than that. Didn't you go around protesting when you were their age?"

"Did I spend a few rainy days picketing outside sexual health clinics shouting homophobic slogans, you mean?" she jibed. The Doctor didn't say anything, only waited for her to answer the question genuinely. "I protested when they raised tuition fees. And went to Pride a few times. Can't say I was too politically engaged until you regenerated and got all these notions in your head." The Doctor laughed.

"Are my notions rubbing off on you?"

"I couldn't stand to be married to you if they hadn't. But what do you think about what they're doing?"

"Well, sometimes you have to make your voice heard," she said absently, glancing around to try and work out which way was right. Everything was identical. It was decrepit, damp, and covered in barnacles, advertisements and vending machines. Not to mention sick homeless people lolling about in the sea mist barely aware of their surroundings. Were they all taking Glow?

"Reminds me of Blackpool here," said Clara.

"How so?"

"They're both shitholes with obnoxious towers in the middle of them," said Clara.

"And Brighton's not?" she countered, "You don't think the i360 is an obnoxious tower?"

"Well, that's the problem with England, really; always building bloody towers. Towers and wheels. God knows, I'm surprised Aegean-4 doesn't have a wheel."

"It might do, we haven't seen the whole city yet." Clara disagreed, she thought one street was representative enough of the whole city. It certainly didn't have the intrigue or the variety of Xetia, it was so manufactured and soulless. "When you think about it, the whole city is one big wheel. Kinda."

"How do you get that?"

"It's a circle."

"Okay… where did I put those cigarettes?" she said absently, searching the utility belt of the spacesuit.

"They're on the TARDIS, you didn't want them to get wet," said the Doctor. Clara grimaced; she wanted a smoke. Searching the pockets she found a crumpled packet of nicotine lozenges; they would have to do.

"Hey, um…" Clara began to ask a question, catching up to the Doctor who was walking fast and was a little ahead of her. The Doctor slowed to match Clara's pace when she began to talk. "Was that a popular opinion on Gallifrey? Like, disapproving of Time Lords and-"

"It's complicated," said the Doctor, interrupting her before she could quite finish. "It didn't really happen often enough for many people to have formulated an opinion. It's an isolated planet, and they didn't much like visitors. She's an anomaly. But, well, you remember stories I've told you about Susan. She married a human centuries ago, just had to leave Gallifrey behind to do it. I guess I did the same thing."

"And what did you think of that? At the time?"

The Doctor stopped walking and faced Clara, smiling as she recalled the memory, "I locked her out."

"Sorry?"

"David was a freedom fighter when we met him, defending Earth against the Daleks. And boy, did she fall for him. But I knew she'd never have chosen to leave me, so I locked her out. Left her on Earth, so they could be together. I think they adopted some kids, in the end…" she trailed off. "I've been thinking about her a lot recently."

"Why don't you look for her?" Clara suggested, "If she's been on Earth all this time, she'll be around somewhere, won't she?"

"…We should find Persephone," she avoided the question. Clara doubted she had an answer she could give even if she wanted to. "Ah-ha! I said we weren't far." She pointed at the neon red cross hanging from the edge of a building. Clara barely recognised their surroundings.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?"

"Sure I'm sure, Coo." Clara was sceptical, but the Doctor walked right up to the door and knocked on it.

"I don't think you need to knock to go into a clinic," said Clara.

"Right," the Doctor nodded, "Where's the door handle?" Clara pointed at a hole in the wall right where a button to open the door should be; it looked as though the control panel had been ripped out. "Hm. That's a conundrum." But it wasn't down to them to figure it out; promptly, the door was opened from the inside, forcibly jimmied and then pushed.

"I'll give you a hand," Clara offered as Persephone appeared from the shadowy interior.

"It's fine, I can-" Clara waved her hand and a well-placed wave of telekinesis sent the door fully into the frame, juddering to a stop. "How did you do that?"

"I've got hidden talents," Clara smiled.

"I don't think we introduced ourselves properly earlier – I'm the Corsair," she continued with the alias, "This is Clara, my wife. And I think I've found the source of your mystery illness."

"Well, come in," Persephone stood aside and let them into the clinic. It was dark and dank and smelled like death, perhaps the least inviting medical facility Clara had ever visited – and she'd seen some doozies. "Sorry about the state of it in here, I can't get any contractors out to fix anything, and I don't have the money to get replacements of… well, anything. It's hard enough trying to keep things sterile."

"And you said you're the only medical professional here, in the whole city?"

"No, the Aegeans have their own doctor who lives up in the Lighthouse with them," said Persephone, stepping over discarded bandages, rusty instruments and stains that definitely looked like blood. "But nothing can entice them to come down here… I'll take that thermometer from you now, Mr Garrick." She had a patient, a middle-aged man sitting on the edge of the only bed in the room with a thermometer in his mouth. While she did that, the Doctor took it upon herself to investigate the clinic, searching for the Glow samples Persephone had promised to show them earlier. But then she spotted something else.

"Is that the hyperbaric chamber you were talking about?" the Doctor approached a big, person-sized cylinder pushed against the exterior wall and gathering dust. Persephone didn't respond, still dealing with Mr Garrick. Clara joined the Doctor as she pressed buttons on the control panel of the machine, but it wasn't responding. "It sure is busted. Do you want me to take a look at this thing for you?"

"Do you know much about machinery?"

"I know a lot of things about a lot of things," said the Doctor, "I think it's the circuitry."

"I know," said Persephone, "That's why I broke off the panel for the door, to see if I could use the wires."

"And?"

"And the panel is sitting right there. I don't know what to do with the parts. You've got a fever, Mr Garrick."

"What should I do?" Garrick asked Persephone.

"Can you run blood tests here?" the Doctor asked. She was kneeling in front of the hyperbaric chamber and trying to pull a panel off the front.

"Yes, just about, if the computer cooperates. Why?"

"What about dosimeter, do you have one of those?"

"What would I want a dosimeter for?"

The Doctor stood back up, leaving the chamber alone for the time being, "Could I see your Glow samples? I've got a theory."

"…Wait just a moment, Mr Garrick," she said, opening a drawer nearby and pulling out a test tube. Within was a powdery substance glowing vividly yellow. It struck Clara as eerily familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"Have you been able to analyse this yet?" the Doctor practically fell over herself in her hurry to get to the tube.

"No. I told you, I haven't got the equipment."

"Not to worry, I should be able to get to the bottom of this no problem," said the Doctor, uncorking the tube and dipping a finger in the powder.

"What are you doing? I don't think you should-" But Persephone could not prevent her from eating the powder.

"Just as I suspected. Plutonium-250."

"Oh my god!" Clara exclaimed. She had placed it. "I saw one of the divers with the Aegean brothers carrying a piece of coral that looked just like that earlier. When we saw them with the sqwill."

"I don't understand, what is it?" Persephone asked.

"There's a… someone down in Xetia conducting experiments," said the Doctor, "They're using isotopes to do something to fossils, but I think the waste is being unceremoniously dumped. It's irradiating the coral. The coral gets made into the Glow, and your people up here are all taking it and coming down with radiation sickness. Hence the funky symptoms."

"Someone's dumping radioactive waste?"

"They sure are."

"Didn't you try to stop them?"

"I've got a lot of plates spinning," said the Doctor, "Do you have any anti-rads? Access to anti-rads?"

"I've got a small supply. Not enough to treat everybody, and especially not if they keep taking the Glow."

"Well, if I were you, I'd give Mr Garrick here what he needs and then leave the rest with me. I'll make sure you get the medicine or the means to make more," said the Doctor. "Can I keep this?"

"I suppose." She pocketed the test tube.

"Now I'll fix the chamber," the Doctor smiled and went back to what she was doing. Persephone retrieved her remaining stash of anti-rads and gave them to Mr Garrick, who shuffled out of the clinic and the door that was now stuck open. This left Clara standing in the middle of the room like a gooseberry, unsure of where she was most useful. Probably at Milky Way Shakes.

"Do you have medical training?" Persephone asked her.

"I can do CPR," said Clara.

"So that's a no?"

"…Yes," she admitted.

"Do you know machines?"

"Not really."

"So, what is it you do?"

"Clara's a poet," said the Doctor from the other side of the room. "Sorry, Coo – do you prefer I introduce you as a poet or a teacher?"

"Teacher," said Clara truthfully. She used to introduce Clara as a poet for the most part before they moved to Earth.

"Clara's a teacher," the Doctor corrected herself, "Of literature."

"And does that come in handy?"

"You'd be surprised. Where's a good place to get a milkshake around here, anyway?"

"A milkshake?"

"Milky Way Shakes, where is it?" Clara reiterated.

"Just follow the ads north, they're the next best thing we have to signs."

"Do the streets not have names?" Thinking about it, Clara didn't think she'd seen a single street sign.

"They have numbers, it's a grid."

"It's like being back in New York," the Doctor quipped. "There's a solenoid out of whack. I should be able to replace this and get the thing working again. Good thinking ripping out the door panel."

"Do they sell medical supplies in any of the vending machines around here?" Clara asked, curious.

"Good question," the Doctor praised her as she sat back down on the floor with bits of the door panel in her lap.

"It's complicated," said Persephone.

"But this city is funded by those sponsors, right? The cigarettes, the milkshakes?" Clara implored, "Big Pharma not getting in on the action, sending drugs to the far reaches of the galaxy?"

"Technically, yes, that's how it's supposed to work," said Persephone, "In practice? Those vending machines haven't been restocked for months, even though deliveries are supposedly coming in. You want to know what I think?"

"Yes, I do," said Clara, leaning on a table that had more blood on it than she would like.

"They can't turn a profit with the vending machines because of all the pay cuts, so they're selling it on somewhere else."

"But they're still getting in? And the Lighthouse is still functioning as, well, a lighthouse?"

"Yes. We see the ships land."

"That's very interesting – isn't that interesting?" Clara called back to the Doctor, preoccupied with the machine, "Because everything we've heard from Xetia is that the radios aren't working. No off-world communications. But they must be working in order for ships to land at the spaceport, right?"

"I suppose so."

"And so that they can export all the electricity the city generates."

"I wouldn't know, sorry," Persephone sighed, "It's hard enough keeping track of what happens here, let alone in the Lighthouse or down in Xetia. I can't go down there, I don't have a diving suit."

"Will the xetians not share medical supplies?" the Doctor asked, still vaguely listening. Clara heard the buzzing of the sonic screwdriver.

"Not without a new trade agreement, and the Aegeans won't arrange one. I'd smuggle, but I don't have the funds to pay, and I'm not about to start charging anybody for medical treatment."

"Good on you. You're the best kind of stubborn," said the Doctor.

"Who did you talk to when you went to Xetia?" Persephone decided she was going to ask some questions of her own.

"Their ambassador, Zono," said Clara, "Very afraid of causing a diplomatic incident."

"You only got here a few hours ago, and you've already met the xetian ambassador?"

"And the city's best doctor," said Clara.

"We only need to meet the Aegeans and we've got the whole set," quipped the Doctor. "I think I'm done here."

"Really? That quickly?" Persephone was incredulous, but the Doctor got to her feet and, lo and behold, got the hyperbaric chamber humming nicely when she switched it on.

"You really need a replacement, I'm not sure how long that solenoid will last, especially with 'the Blues' being so rife," said the Doctor.

"Easier said than done."

"I'll work on it. Trust me. You said Milky Way Shakes is north?"

"Well, yeah – are you leaving? I could use some help, and you're going to get milkshakes?"

"We have an appointment, it's not really about the shakes," said the Doctor, "You've been a big help, though. I'll see what I can do, maybe work out a deal with Xetia to get you medicine to distribute."

"I – well – thank you. Sorry I'm not more friendly."

"You're plenty friendly," said Clara, "We'll bring you a milkshake."

"Yes, a milkshake," the Doctor took Clara's hand as they headed towards the bar, "Give me a shout if you need anything else, I'll find a way to hear it."

"You're very strange, Corsair."

"Don't I know it! Bye now!" And they were back out in the wind and rain. Clara wondered if the weather was always so terrible on Xetos. "Y'know, I almost wish I was called 'the Corsair', then we could be 'Clarsair.' Or 'Cora.' Both great couple names."

"I'm quite happy for us to be called 'the Oswalds,' like we are already. Because for some ungodly reason you decided to take my name."

"So!" the Doctor clapped her hands as an indication she was changing the subject, "What do we know?"

"We know the Aegeans' entourage are the ones collecting the coral from the city and presumably peddling it up here," said Clara, "We know the coral exists because of what the Rani's doing. We know the Aegeans can communicate off-world when nobody else can. We know that their punitive working conditions are to blame for outbreaks of decompression sickness and radiation sickness from taking that drug."

"Systems, systems, systems…" the Doctor sighed, "Seems that you and I need to have a word with Blane and Pax. We can take the TARDIS right up to the Lighthouse when we're done with the milkshakes. Oh, and in future, you might want to be a little bit subtler when you flirt with people in front of me."

"She's a doctor, sweetheart," said Clara, "You know I can't resist a doctor."

"Don't I just," she smirked.

"She is very pretty, though… and she's called Persephone. Goddess of Spring and the Underworld, I can't think of a better name for a medical professional. I should go back and get her number."

"Ha, ha…"

Milky Way Shakes wasn't what Clara had been expecting. She'd perhaps been envisioning a fancy, futuristic diner still retaining some hollow facsimile of the American Dream, only translated to outer space; it wouldn't be the first time they'd come across that kind of place, after all. There was an eatery just like that on the moon they sometimes visited. But Milky Way Shakes was not that. It was practically a shack. A metallic cubicle that looked more like a photo booth than a restaurant and had nothing inside but a big mixer churning pastel-coloured gunk around and a credit receptacle like the ones on the vending machines. It basically was a vending machine, there wasn't even an attendant. If it wasn't for the enormous, holographic sign flickering above, she wasn't even sure she'd know what it was selling.

Gathered outside in a huddle were the kids they'd been sent to babysit; Clara let out a sigh of relief. They were still okay. The Doctor's detour to visit Persephone hadn't put anybody in danger.

"Fancy seeing you here!" the Doctor called loudly, startling them all. Nate was silent as always, but Sostan and Aio didn't look happy to see them.

"Did my mother send you?" asked Aio.

"Indeed, she did," said the Doctor, "Sorry about that. I hate to feel like a narc, but she's worried about you."

"She's worried about politics, that's all," said Aio. She was trying to sound like she didn't care, but Clara didn't buy it.

"You know that's not true," said Clara, "She doesn't want you getting tangled up in this mess."

"Isn't that our choice?" Sostan countered.

"Hm, it kind of is their choice, Coo," said the Doctor.

"But Zono is more informed than you," said Clara.

"That's a good point, too," said the Doctor, flip-flopping.

"She doesn't know more than us just because she's older," said Alexa.

"Sometimes old people are wrong. I mean, just take a look at every US president, they were all wrong," said the Doctor.

"About what?" Clara frowned.

"Gee, I don't know – thinking that America is a legitimate nation and it isn't built on the un-seceded bones of the indigenous population?"

"Okay, I don't think we have time for this just now," said Clara.

"Listen, all I believe is that we should stick it to the man."

"Yeah," said Sostan, "And the man is this Milky Way Shakes stand."

"I doubt that," said Clara, "Milky Way Shakes won't even know you smashed up their stand, and all you'll do is get milkshake everywhere." She added to the Doctor, "Why are you encouraging them? You know this won't help, and we can go see what's what with the Aegeans."

"How are you going to get an interview with the Aegeans?" asked Sostan.

"Same way we got into your secret lab. Improvising," said the Doctor. "I'll come up with something, I always do. But, listen, while I always support activism, I agree with Clara, I'm not sure breaking this will accomplish much. Aside from stopping people from having milkshakes for a while, which would kind of suck. I know that things are pretty terrible here for about a bajillion reasons, but let's not let the lack of milkshakes be one of them, okay?"

"Whose side are you on?" Sostan continued to challenge her, "You don't support activism. You don't want to help us, you just wanted to talk to the Doctor."

"Now, that's not true, I always want to help, and so does Zono. Bureaucracy is a cut-throat business, trust me. What are you really trying to gain, though? You had a bomb this morning, a black hole bomb. If that had worked, it wouldn't have just killed the Aegeans, it would have killed all of you and both of us. Now, I may have a lot of sympathy for your cause, but I can't abide by people being put in unnecessary danger, and especially not when my wife is among them." They said nothing. "Well? I'm waiting. What did you want to gain with the bomb? Lemme tell you, nobody's ever garnered sympathy for a cause with a bomb. At least, not a bomb that killed anybody. The suffragettes bombed a lot of post-boxes and even an empty house, but they didn't kill anybody."

"Milky Way Shakes can be our post-box."

"That's ridiculous, they were trying to cripple communications and make a real impact, you're not impacting anybody except this city's corporate sponsors who'll make a few credits less from a backwater store-front. And you know what'll happen if they kick up a fuss? The Aegeans will just pay them some hot cash to make it all blow over. I'll ask you again: what were you hoping to gain with the singularity bomb?"

"People need to listen to us," said Sostan when nobody else volunteered an answer.

"And you think martyrdom will accomplish that? You think this is a problem that requires more martyrs, on top of all the sqwills, on top of all the humans who are dying up here because the Aegeans' corporate caveats mean they're all developing decompression sickness? You know the humans only have one hyperbaric chamber between them, and it was busted until about fifteen minutes ago when I fixed it."

"You don't understand."

"No, I do understand, intimately. You're angry, and you've got a right to be – who wouldn't be angry about all this? I sure am. Clara's seething, even if you can't tell," said the Doctor, indicating Clara at her side, "Murder is no way to enact change. Especially not when you threaten both Aegean-4 and Xetia with your shenanigans. You think a black hole discriminates?"

"It's a micro black hole."

"Well, first of all, it's not any kind of black hole because the gizmo was broken. Second of all, a micro black hole still has enough gravitational oomph to grind both cities to dust in a second. You don't even know how lucky you are that that thing didn't work," the Doctor went on, "I'm not asking you to make friends with the Aegeans, just trust me that I care enough to go and put a stop to this."

"But you're just one person. Two, if she counts."

"Hey!" said Clara.

"She does count," said the Doctor, "And there are only four of you. You can't even wait a few hours to give us a chance? Leave your rampant destruction of property until tomorrow?"

"You don't understand," Nate spoke up, "My father died because of the changes to their rules - they worked him to death. You want me to forget about that? You tell me to go home, but I just go back to an empty hole. There's nothing here for me. But you can't get off-world anymore."

"Do you want me to take you somewhere? I can," the Doctor offered, "As soon as Clara and I are done, we can take you wherever you want to go, far away from Xetos."

"That's not the point."

"I'm sorry about what happened, but you have to believe me, I want justice as well. This isn't the way to get it. You're not even hitting them where it hurts, this is a milkshake stand for crying out loud. They might not even notice."

"Then we'll smash up every shop," said Sostan, "We'll break everything until they listen."

"But you're not listening," the Doctor was getting frustrated, unable to talk them down, "This place is broken enough already. You're not helping anyone by doing this."

"Why do you care about the milkshakes so much?"

"I – this isn't about the milkshakes!"

"Then let us do what we came here to do."

"No! You'll get yourselves in trouble, and for nothing!"

"It's not nothing," Nate was upset.

"All I'm asking is that you give me a shot and trust that I care about this stuff too."

"You don't know anything," said Sostan, "You're not the Doctor. You didn't save us from invaders. The Doctor gave me the bomb, and I trust her a whole lot more than I trust some pirate." With that, he pulled out a harpoon gun and shot it straight through the swirling mixers. They shattered and the mechanism began wildly throwing out globules of dairy everywhere, onto the grimy streets and a little onto their suits. It didn't take more than a few seconds for it to just about run out, then the machine sparked and there was a small explosion barely more exciting than a roman candle. It began to smoke softly.

"Well, great," said the Doctor, unamused, "Do you feel better now? Do you feel like you accomplished a lot?"

"Maybe if I could get in a room with the Aegeans so I could shoot one of them," said Sostan darkly.

"You don't mean that," said the Doctor.

"I do."

"You don't. You think killing someone is brave? It's not. It's the most cowardly thing you can do. And so is smashing up a damn milkshake stand. You want your mom to believe you're an adult? This isn't the way to go about it. God only knows what I'd tell my own daughter if she said she'd been practising direct action by busting open a glorified vending machine…"

"What would you tell her?" Clara asked.

"To get a life, or start a band. Why don't you four start a band? That's what kids usually do when they're full of pent-up emotions, isn't it?"

"They do a fair bit of vandalism, too," Clara pointed out, "But, no, the Corsair is right, this is very irresponsible and won't help your cause."

"We'll just have to break more stuff then, won't we?" said Sostan, talking a big game. But that was all he was doing.

Over the rain, they heard the approach of a whining siren. The Doctor didn't find it very intimidating, but the kids sure did.

"It's the feds," said Nate, "We have to get out of here."

"What? You won't even get arrested? Raise some publicity, stand up for what you're doing?" the Doctor challenged. But they were already fleeing, and they didn't have any respect for her with this identity. Perhaps if she confessed who she really was she could get them to listen, but it wasn't the time. They were already running for the edge of the city, Nate and Alexa scrambling to put the helmets of their diving suits back on. "I guess we'll take the heat!"

A buzzing sphere with a propeller sticking out of the top of it and a blue siren wailed and flashed on the bottom.

"Cease and desist! Cease and desist!" it shouted at them in a shrill, robotic voice. The teenagers jumped right off the side of the city platform and into the water; there was no way the robot was going to follow them now.

"Alright already, we're desisting," said the Doctor to the little machine, which was barely bigger than a grapefruit. It stopped and hovered in front of them.

"Destruction of corporate property is grounds to terminate employment."

"Oh, we're not employees," she said.

"Identify yourselves."

"We're brand ambassadors, from a potential sponsor. We just smashed up this here milkshake stand to get a look at your response time if someone were to attack one of our installations – and I gotta say, I'm not impressed. I'd like to talk to your manager."

"What potential sponsor?"

"You don't know? Gee, well, that explains why nobody was here to meet us," the Doctor added as an aside to Clara, "Can you believe the hospitality in this dump?"

"I really can't," said Clara, going along.

"We're from Coca-Cola. I'd appreciate if you could let Blane and Pax know we've arrived so we can meet with them about their shoddy security. You can be sure we won't be putting any Coke machines out here if you can't protect them." The robot shut off its lights and began to hum a little.

"What's it doing?" Clara asked quietly.

"Communicating," said the Doctor, "Announcing our arrival. I can't believe those kids wouldn't stick around to get arrested – wouldn't that give them street cred?"

"At least they're safe and nobody's been hurt, apart from Milky Way Shakes' off-world assets." The robot beeped.

"Your arrival has been noted by Mr Harris Kober, who extends an invitation to the Lighthouse on behalf of Misters Aegean and Aegean. I will be your escort."

"Glad to see they've finally come to their senses. Coca-Cola can do a lot for this wasteoid, it would be a shame to have that ruined by bad manners." The robot didn't move. "Well? Are you going to escort us or not?" It didn't speak again, turning around and whizzing away down the street, humming as it went. It waited for them at a crossroads in the slums. They began to follow.