The minute he arrives, a voice suddenly demands, "What the hell just happened? What have you idiots done with my car?"
"Whoa, Arthur!" Ryan gasped, while Graham and Yaz just startled by his sudden arrival.
"What? What's going on?" He asked, rubbing his eyes, confused as to why the Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham looked pale, had heavy breaths, and gripped something around the car in the middle of the night. Seeing this version of the Doctor, Arthur immediately refrained from crying on the spot. The memory of seeing the Doctor transformed into a Weeping Angel had haunted him for several hundred years. He tried to ignore it every time he saw the past version of the Doctor. But seeing this version of his father-slash-mother left Arthur both upset and sad.
"Your car just assassinated its driver and then attempted to kill us," the Doctor replied sternly on the radio, cutting his thought away.
"In five seconds, die." The map screen glitching, shows 'die' instead of street names. "Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die."
Then, the car suddenly moves backward…
"Nevermind," he remarked, getting his answers from his visions.
"That's not possible."
"Who are you?" Arthur demanded. "Why did you bring the Doctor and others in the middle of the night?"
"...Who is that?"
"Just tell me already!"
The man sighs. "This is C. I was having the Doctor and others brought to London. To MI6."
"I'm guessing the whole murder-attempted is not part of your plan?"
"No!"
"Alright! Just checking!"
"All right, C. You want us, we want answers. We're coming in," the Doctor replied before cutting off the comm., fastens her seatbelt and drives back to the road. "So, hi Sunny! Where were you before?"
He raked his fingers through his brown hair. "Trenzalore," he awkwardly answered, trying as he might not to mention that the last time he saw her, she was whisked away by the Weeping Angels working with the so-called Division.
"Oh," she reacted, gripping the steering wheel. It felt like a long, long time ago since Trenzalore.
"You're not going mad at me?"
"Why would I?"
"I mean… I did change the future by making a new timeline."
It wasn't easy. Arthur spent many hundreds of years in Trenzalore so that he could train his skills to do so. Not to mention the crack in the wall prevented Arthur from honing his skills properly. When the time came, Arthur had to concentrate a lot on directing all of his time vortex energy not to change the future, but to form a new timeline while allowing the future he saw to remain. In doing so, Clara will still divide herself into various echos in order to save them all from the Great Intelligence and what happened there still remains.
She looks at him briefly. Her brown eyes momentarily met his. "I don't think I can be mad at you," she said honestly. She realised this when her past self saw Arthur in Victorian London with Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. Arthur had just started his journey and knew nothing about his parents or his wife. Seeing how innocent the boy was made the Doctor understand that Arthur not only saved his father (mother), but he also saved himself from being erased.
There's no way the Doctor could ever hate him. Not after all those times. He did what he had to do. And that quality just reminds her too much of herself.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Ah! At least they managed to transport my Tardis without damage," the Doctor said with relief after they arrived at MI6 HQ, looking at the Tardis that's being trundled in from the delivery area while taking the stairs, passing some people around.
"Ryan, MI6," Graham mused behind him. "I always wanted to be a spy."
"You'd be a rubbish spy," Ryan commented.
"I'd be a great spy. I'd just blend in."
"Well, well, well. Finally we meet," a man in his middle 50s remarked, looking at Arthur. C, he would guess. "You actually do exist."
Arthur snorts, looking at his mother in amusement while the woman herself isn't sure if she finds it offensive that he didn't consider her as the Doctor or hilarious that Arthur does resemble the 10th Doctor. "You think I'm the Doctor?"
C's aide whispers to him, which makes C huffs. "Don't be ridiculous, Franklin. I've read the files. The Doctor is a man."
"As much as I'm flattered that you'd think I'm the Doctor, my mother is right there," the brunette man gestures at his mother. "Sure, we had the same eye colour, but that's all we physically had."
"You just had us picked up like criminals and put in a car which tried to kill us," the Doctor reminded him. Thank the universe her son isn't there. If he was there, she might use some…inappropriate languages at C that will put poor Rory into shock.
"We were trying to bring you here, not kill you, but our systems got hacked," C elaborated.
"Not exactly the best demonstration of MI6 skills," Yasmin pointed out.
"I have been authorised to speak on behalf of every security agency around the globe. We need your help, Doctor. You," he shifts his eyes at Arthur, "and Mr. Jonas."
"Then please, explain," Arthur suggested.
C nods and tilts his head for them to follow him as they walk. "Over the past week, there's been a spate of attacks on intelligence officers worldwide, of every nationality. None of these attacks has been ordered by rival intelligence agencies."
"Are you sure?"
"We all have a very good working knowledge of what our enemies are up to. No agency possesses the technology to carry out one of these attacks. None of us understands how it was done, or even what has been done. But every agent has suffered the same fate."
As they approach, C scans his hands on a scanner, causing an old wooden door to open, into a facility with just one bed, and a woman linked up to life support monitors.
The woman takes the bag to the washroom and locks the door, then opens the bag and removes the toothpaste. The tube contains a written coded message. She photographs it with the camera built into her spectacles' frame, then eats it. There is a noise, she turns, and something is coming out of the metal door—
A flight attendant knocked on the toilet door, trying to tell someone inside to come out. But there was no response. Alarmed, she told the crews to open the door. Once they did, the woman was lying on the floor.
"She was found unconscious on the floor of an aeroplane washroom on a flight to Tokyo," Arthur informed, looking at her. "Had just made contact before. Probably for MI6."
Everyone in the room immediately looked at him. While they are all surprised to hear his statement, C looks to be baffled. "How did you—"
"I can see people's memories when looking at them," he shrugs, trying to stay chill so C won't suspect anything.
"Is she in a coma?" Yasmin asked, trying to change the subject, knowing why Arthur did that.
"Apparently, it's a little more horrific than that," C remarked, taking a pad and giving it to the Doctor. "Now, I'm told this is your expertise. Dealing with the…impossible."
The Doctor looks at the pad showing the woman's vitals and DNA. "You're right," she realised, circling the woman, both baffled and curious at the same time. "That is impossible. Her DNA's been rewritten. Every strand corrupted and reshaped. She's no longer human. Just a shell with a human appearance."
"Is she going to live, Doc?" Graham ponderes.
"There's nothing of her to live. It's like she's been erased. This is beyond any human technology."
"Ah. I was rather worried you were going to say that. Doctor, Mr. Jonas, the security of this entire planet is at stake. Can we rely upon you two?"
Both mother and son look at each other. "Course you can," they answered at the same time.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Anaesthetic darts, laser shoe gun, infrared ID duplicator, calendar hacker, lock-breakers, rocket-launcher cufflinks, retinal ID decoder and tongue-immobiliser chewing gum," C shared Ryan and Graham some cases that have spy gadgets since they're inside C's office. "How much more do you want?"
"Yeah, it's great. Keep 'em coming, C," Ryan remarked.
"This is enough," Arthur replied, giving Ryan and Graham a hard look before he moves around. "What else can you tell us, C?"
"All of the assassinated agents were investigating leads relating to this man."
Yasmin took the file from C and read it. "Daniel Barton. Born in Bromsgrove. Now lives just north of San Francisco. Oh, he's the founder of VOR."
"The search engine," Ryan noted.
"Web apps, social, global mapping, advertising, scientific and medical research, robotics, data polling, human analytics…"
"Very creative name," Arthur chimed in sarcastically. I mean, come on. VOR?!
"Right now, VOR is more powerful than most nations," C added. "Daniel Barton is the man who built it all up from the ground."
"We're going to need your best man on this," the Doctor suggested. "What do you call him? Horizon-watcher?"
"O."
"Exactly."
"Ah, well, he, er...He left. I...sacked him."
"The only person with an open mind about all this and you let him go?"
"MI6 has never countenanced the possibility of extraterrestrial life."
"Well, you should talk to your mates at GCHQ."
"The country has other organisations that deal with all that. UNIT. Even Torchwood."
"They're all gone. Oh, C! You took your eye off the horizon just as things were coming over it. Thankfully, Sunny had contacted him before we arrived."
"You can't. He's off-grid. We can't find him anywhere. Believe me, we've tried."
"You don't try enough," Arthur remarked as he took out the phone the Doctor gave to him several minutes ago. "He sends something."
Graham takes a look at the screen. "It's a fish."
"I know!" The Doctor beamed as she took her phone.
"Can we please focus?" C entreated. "Daniel Barton isn't just a powerful businessman. He was also one of our agents when he first went to work in the US. Then he withdrew cooperation. It's possible he became a double agent. Or even a triple."
"Who for?" Yasmin inquired.
Arthur suddenly senses something coming. Something dangerous. He opens his mouth to warn others…but it's too late.
The glass shatters behind C and the man himself quickly clutches the side of his neck. His eyes widened. "O," he muttered before his head hit the desk, instantly died. Arthur, who had stood closest to C, can see the visible mark of a laser entering his side of the neck.
"Get down!" Arthur finally manages to shout before crawling down with others for protection. From the corner, he sees Ryan and Graham grab the gizmo cases and uses them as shields. Arthur quickly uses his time vortex to attract the Tardis, sending it to the office. "Go! Get to the Tardis!"
They all went inside one by one, with Arthur—using his backpack as a shield—entering the last. He briefly sees…something emerge from a hatstand, reaching to him.
"We've got incoming!" He warned after quickly shutting the Tardis' door.
"We've still got the gadgets," Graham pointed out.
"We just saw the head of MI6 get assassinated," Ryan mentioned.
"Yeah, by the same sort of bolts that came through that satnav," Yasmin added.
"Where's that picture? I need to set the coordinates," the Doctor said, looking at her phone. "Ooo, I've got it."
"So, wrong place, wrong time, twice in one day," Graham noticed. "That's got to make us targets. And why do you keep looking at pictures of a fish?"
"Steganography. There's another image hidden within the pixels of that photo. It's basic spycraft in your time. Easy way to smuggle out information because there's no pattern to look for. No two stegs are the same."
Arthur's stomach suddenly ached, as if something had entered his stomach and kidneys without permission. From the corner of his eyes, he notices something trying to get past the Tardis.
Graham, who notices it as well, pointing at a slightly wobbly Tardis door. "Doc…"
"Exactly. Luckily, I can read pixels. I took a correspondence class," she responded to Ryan's words, still busy.
"Doc…"
"Ooo, the outback. Gone full hermit."
"Mum, set the Tardis away!" Arthur yelled, gasping in more pain as one of the aliens was halfway through the door.
"Oh, no, you don't!" The Doctor denotes and dematerialises the Tardis, sending whatever is trying coming through away from them.
"Finally," he remarked, rubbing his forehead as the pain slowly dissipated.
"I didn't know things could get into the Tardis like that," Yasmin admitted as the Doctor checks on her son.
"Neither did I," she alluded.
"But you got rid of it," Ryan pointed out.
"For now," Arthur said, sitting down while having a heavy breath. Whatever those things are…it can enter the Tardis, which isn't a good thing for him as well. "Those things…they may be the reason what happened to those spies. I can't even sense them." He looks at the Doctor, who scans the door. "Any reading?"
"Nothing. The sonic can usually read everything," the Doctor frowns. "All right, park that. Live attacks. They're after us, but we need intel. Split resources." She takes a step closer to the gang. "Graham, me and you are off to Australia to see my old mate from MI6. I say old mate. I've met him once, but he seemed very nice. We text, though. Does that count?"
"If you say so," Graham commented.
"Sunny, Yaz, Ryan, how do you feel about undercover work?"
"Definitely!" Yasmin agreed while Ryan said, "I don't know."
"Yeah. Why not?" The brunette man shrugs while Yasmin just shakes her head at Ryan. "He's our clue on what those creatures are. Worth a try."
"I'll get you three cover stories," the Doctor said. "Hack his diary, get in there, check him out. Infiltrate VOR. Have a nose around their systems."
"Be spies, basically," Yasmin concluded.
"What, with absolutely no training?" Graham asked.
"That pretty much sums up being around my mum," Arthur stated as he took a moment to stand up.
"We got the gadgets," Ryan added.
"Well, yeah. All the gear, but no idea," Graham alluded.
"Oh, thanks a lot."
"No, no, no, I think you'll be great. I have total confidence, you know? Just, er... just be careful, though."
Arthur snorts lightly while looking at Graham and the Doctor having a chat. Grandparents and parents are just alike.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Diary hacked, got us in. Loving these toys," Ryan remarked as he, Arthur, and Yasmin walked towards the building that has VOR on it. "Which building is it?"
"That one there," Yasmin pointed out. "Though according to the files, this whole development is down to Barton."
"So, you two journalists, me photographer?"
"Works for me," Arthur shrugs. "And Ryan…be cool, yeah?"
"Try not to panic that we're blagging our way in on someone who might be dangerous. And don't obsess on our total lack of spy training," Ryan denoted nervously.
"Yeah. Don't obsess on that. Think how the Doctor would do it. Swan in like she owns the place, big smiles, loads of chat, total confidence. We can do this," Yasmin assured him. "Why are you looking so worried?"
"I decided my spy name would be Logan, and now I'm worried I don't look anything like Hugh Jackman."
"Okay, Ryan." Arthur takes a step in front of him, looking at his eyes intensely. "Just look at my eyes and take a deep breath. Follow my lead."
Ryan nodded slowly and began to follow Arthur to breathe in and out slowly. They did this for a few minutes before Ryan finally calmed down.
"Better?" Arthur asked as he patted his shoulder.
"Much better," Ryan replied with a smile. "Thanks, mate."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"I am so sorry about the diary snafu, sir," a man apologised to a man with shaved head and a goatee before noticing the trio in the foyer. "Oh, dear, this must be them. Hi! I'm sure you recognise Mister Barton."
"Of course," Arthur replied with a confident smile, taking a look at their prime suspect. His senses noticed something…unusual about his physical body. As if…he's transforming.
Barton injects something at his left arm, making him grunting and his eyes swarm with tears from the pain…
"This is Sunny Williams, Sofia Afzal, and—"
"Logan. I'm Logan. The name's Logan Jackson. I'm the photographer," Ryan interjected so suddenly, cutting Arthur back to reality.
"He's nervous," Yasmin added. "Big fan of yours."
"I'm not nervous. Who's nervous? Hi. Logan. I'm... I'm Logan."
"Daniel," Barton introduced. "Don't be nervous. I don't bite. Only my own staff. Especially after this mix-up. I had to fire half the PR team."
"Two?" Arthur repeated. Wow. He kinda sounds a tinsy bit like a dictator.
"No, not half. He's kidding. Just... two," the aide clarified before clearing his throat. "Shall we go up? I'm sure they'll be able to find other jobs, won't they?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
As soon as they arrive at Barton's office, Ryan unpacks the camera while Arthur prepares his wristwatch as if he wants to make a time reminder, but secretly activates the recording device inside the watch.
"I have to be honest with you. You only got in cos you're Brits, and my mum reads your paper," Barton confessed. "She's old. Still into legacy media."
"We know you're busy, so Logan will take a few photos while we chat," Yasmin shared as she activates the DNA scanner. "Okay if I record?" Barton nods and activates it. "Right, then. Good to go?"
"Just searching you up. Check you are who you say you are," he said and checked his phone. Arthur quickly activates his time vortex energy to tweak his phone's data, in case he's not convinced with the cover story the Doctor had made for them. "Fire away, then."
"Boy from Bromsgrove. Council estate, local comprehensive. Now with his own collection of planes and motorbikes. And a private airport," Yasmin started as Ryan got the camera set up and took one shot before removing the lens cover and taking some more.
"We couldn't afford to go abroad when I was a kid," Barton shared. "Now flying's one of my big hobbies. I've even got my own passenger plane. I fly my mates around the world and insult them over the intercom during the flight."
"How did you end up creating VOR?" Arthur asked. So far so good.
"A combination of inspiring computer science teacher, plus being one of the few non-white faces at my school. I spent a lot of time in my bedroom with my computer. I started small, just trying to build a knowledge base. Trying to connect people with data. And that became the biggest search engine on the planet."
"And it gets bigger, I assume."
"Sure. But the same principles apply. The more data we share, the better it is for the world."
"Unless you count disinformation. Online abuse. Cyber bullying. All of which you've been accused of ignoring," Yasmin pointed out. "Haven't you?"
"Well, we have three start-ups currently trying to figure out how to combat them. We did something great, and it got hijacked. I get to see both sides of humanity in this job. And do you know what, Sofia?" He stares at her and Arthur. "It turns out you can't entirely trust everyone." Then, his phone buzzes. He looks at it and frowns. "Sorry. I've got to cut this short. Something needs my attention."
Arthur quickly takes a look at his wristwatch, pretending to check the time. "But we were just getting started."
"You want to know who I am? You want to see my house, meet my friends? Cos it's my birthday tomorrow. I'm having a party. Everyone who knows me will be there. Come along, as my apology for running out on you," he offered before leaving them.
After the door closes, Ryan steps closer to them while Yasmin takes the recorder. "I've managed to duplicate his access pass. If we find a place to hide and do some snooping around whilst everyone knocks off…"
"Yaz?" Arthur asked at her confused face. "What is it?"
"DNA profile." Yasmin shared the DNA result. "Only 93% percent human. What's the other 7%? Who is this guy?"
Arthur looks around the office, mainly at the wall surrounding him. Something tells him that Daniel Barton had done more damage that one can tell.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
It would be too dangerous for the three of them to remain in Barton's office. So, Arthur proposes to wait at a nearby café until evening, when everyone—including Barton—will not be in the VOR building and they can retrieve the data needed to find the link between Barton and the mysterious super aliens.
As night falls, Arthur, Yasmin, and Ryan secretly enter the VOR building from the access that Ryan has duplicated. While Yasmin uses one of C's devices to make them invisible, Arthur also uses his ability to switch off the CCTV and several other security systems. He couldn't tinker with all the systems in the VOR building, but he could at least switch off a few for security.
"Right. Got to be quick," Yasmin remarked as she and Arthur approached a computer on the desk, with Arthur using his time vortex energy to grant access on the computer and Yasmin using the USB from the Doctor. "If the Doctor's right, that should download every piece of data his computer has ever had access to."
Arthur looks at a silver humanoid figure that's standing not far from his position. He frowns when he looks at it. There's something…familiar with that figure. He can't pinpoint what it is, though. A trouble he still can't solve with his high sense of his time vortex.
"He's got screens monitoring half the building," Yasmin pointed, drifting Arthur at the monitor which shows several spots on the building.
"Control freak, innit?" Ryan commented. "How long do you reckon the thing's going to take?"
"Let's see."
Barton enters the building and heads upstairs.
"Guys, he's here," Arthur warned.
"Already?!" Ryan blurted, starting to panic. If what the Doctor said is true—that her son can see the past, present, and future altogether—then their situation isn't good at all.
"I'm not done! How close is he?" Yasmin asked the brunette man.
"He's already entered the lift, ready to get here," Arthur informed. Then, the cloned pass in Ryan's hand beeps and lights up with Original Pass Utilised.
Ryan peeks outside and sees Barton approaching. "Quick, Yaz! He's coming. Get off the computer."
"It's done!" Yasmin told them as she took off her USB. They hide on a sofa. A mere minute later, Barton enters.
"Bag, bag, bag. There is it," he muttered. "I know you're here. Show yourselves."
The lights flicker and two bright beings appear. "There have been... obstacles," one of them said.
"I told you to be discreet," Barton reminded it. "Especially with the Explorer having been involved in this matter."
"We must remove them all immediately."
"No."
The beings come very close to him. "The project must continue as planned. We must defend."
After that, they vanish. Barton breathes deeply then picks up his satchel and leaves the office.
"He knows what they are," Yasmin concluded, looking at Arthur. "And he knows about you."
"Probably heard about me, but not what I look like," Arthur guessed, sincerely hoping that he didn't know about his face at all. "We have to go."
"No. Let's see what else is here!" Yasmin insisted.
"No. No," Ryan muttered in disagreement as he tried to get Yasmin away from the computer…when one of the beings emerged from the desk. "Yaz!"
"Obstacle!" It said and leapt on Yasmin and Arthur, who were screaming.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
When he opens his eyes, Arthur finds himself leaning on a…tank? With Yasmin, while the Doctor, Graham, and a stranger look at them with total confusion
"Wha-What happened?" He asked quietly.
"Yaz. Sunny." The Doctor looks at the stranger. "Turn the power off in there."
"It's already blown out," he remarked.
"Sunny! Yaz! How are you even here?"
"I think we were transported," Arthur guessed, looking around. Ah, he seems to be inside a homestead.
The Doctor's phone rings. She picks it up and hears Ryan's voice. "Doctor, you've got to help! I've lost Yaz and Arthur!"
"Yaz and Sunny? I've got them. We're coming for you now," she looks at them. "I'll be back to get Ryan. O, Graham, please remove the tank out of Yaz and Sunny."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Later, in the daytime, Yasmin is sitting on the verandah. Both Arthur and Ryan come out of the building and sit beside her.
"You okay?" Ryan asked, which she replied with a nod. "You get any sleep?" She shakes her head. "What happened to you?"
"Don't know. It were just like... nothingness. Nowhere. And I was totally alone." Yasmin glances at Arthur. "Your hearts… both of them… At that time, it stopped."
Arthur's body instantly hardened by her statement. "I…I was dead?"
"I don't know," Yasmin admitted with a frightened tone and trembling fingers. "You didn't move… and I…I couldn't feel your pulse. I was really scared then. So scared. I don't know what to do."
"Hi, I didn't know who to call," a young girl who had a resemblance to Yasmin started talking on the phone. She looks distraught and confused. "We need help."
"It's just momentarily," he said after a moment of silence, having some idea what that vision was. "What you felt at that time…must be scary. But remember this, Yaz. You're not alone."
"We're never going to let that happen to you," Ryan promised, holding her hand for comfort.
Yasmin nods quietly, wiping a tear as the three of them watch the horizon in front of them.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Daniel Barton's DNA registers as 93% human," the Doctor began as they all gathered outside O's homestead, with the downloaded gizmo on a laptop on the verandah.
"Which makes him, what, alien?" Graham theorised.
"No, it can't be," O disagreed. "I've been through Barton's records. There are thousands of photos of him online at all ages. If he's not human, that's one very impressive legend he's put together."
"Not impossible, though," Yasmin added.
"All right, MI6, help me with something, cos I can't get me nut round it," Graham said. "C told us that Barton's company is more powerful than most countries. That can't be true."
"Governments these days are full of people who don't understand technology, so countries rely on outsourcing their tech requirements and expertise to private companies that transcend national boundaries," O elaborated. "Companies like VOR. VOR seeps into every corner of modern technology. We're talking leisure, commercial, military. It leads the way on face-tagging, biodata, robotics. And then there's all the military systems across the globe which rely on servers operated by VOR."
"So do we think Barton's behind the assassination of C?" Ryan inquired. "And the attacking of us in the car? And is in league with these aliens?"
The Doctor glances at her son. "What did he say to those creatures in his office?"
"'I told you to be discreet. Especially with the Explorer having been involved in this matter,'" Arthur recalled, drinking the ice tea she had made.
Graham folds his arms. "Barton knows about you, kiddo?"
"He's quite famous," O explained. "UNIT and Torchwood had files about you before they were erased. A man with powerful visions who appears and disappears in mysterious ways, often deals with alien invasions alongside the Doctor. There's a debate on your relationship with the Doctor."
"And what do you think?" Arthur prompted him a question, and couldn't help but to find him an…interesting ally to work with. He seems nice…and dangerous as well.
O seemed hesitant to answer. Arthur briefly hears a four-beat drumming noise before it vanishes. He frowns, wondering why it sounds awfully familiar and coming right at O as well.
But then, he hears a beeping voice. "Ah, found something," she informed them before checking it. "I've been searching through all the data you took from Barton for any codes or languages not of this planet, and it's found something. In the furthest corner of the smallest system of the most obscure company in Barton's empire: alien code. Just decrypting. Running about 90 billion possible languages. Ah. Nothing. That can't be right. I've checked it against every known language in the universe and there's no match." She looks at Arthur. "Sunny, could you tweak it?"
"I'll try," he remarked and touching the laptop, tried to decrypt the code using his time vortex. While his eyes are closed, Arthur sees a series of unfamiliar words or lines that he has never seen before. Slowly, he processed them to form something.
"Well?" Yasmin asked.
"Just an image," he replied before opening his eyes and scratching his nose. "Do you have a projection, Mr. O?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"There!" Arthur said as he shows them a wavy image is being projected against a curtain.
"What is that?" Ryan asked.
"No idea. Seems like this image contains all the information those aliens had."
"Steganography. Like what he sent you. A picture of a fish," Yasmin recalled to the Doctor.
"I can't see a pattern at all, Doc," Graham pointed out.
"Decoding takes a moment," the Doctor commented before sonicking the laptop and the movement resolves into solid dots that look like Ursa Major.
"Coordinates," Arthur noticed.
Yasmin frowns. "Coordinates for what?"
The Doctor sonic the laptop again and multiple lines join the dots, making the image recognisable. "Locations for those creatures across planet Earth."
"In large scale," Arthur realises at the dots that appear more and more. And again, the drumming noise returns before disappears too.
"We can't deal with all those," Graham pointed out.
"What are they doing here anyway?" Ryan wondered.
"Invasion, at the very least," Arthur theorised.
"It's all in the patterns. Steganography, encrypted code, attacks on intelligence agents. It's all spycraft. They're alien spies embedded here on Earth!" The Doctor concluded.
"No, no, that's not possible," O argued.
"How come? I mean, for them to manage this, they must have many resources and time to do so," Arthur retorted. "Problem is, where do they come from, Doctor?"
"I don't know," the Doctor shook her head. "I don't recognise them. I don't recognise the language, or why they're attacking people. Or what happened to you."
"The image is still changing, Doc," Graham noticed.
"More layers still being decrypted." Slowly the image replicates to ten Earths. "O, why's it doing that? I don't understand. Multiple Earths? What does that even mean?"
"Okay, okay," O gestures to her to stop for a moment. "If you really think they're spies, we should be asking who's the spymaster? Who's running the alien spies? Because that's the person who holds the answers."
"That's got to be Daniel Barton, right?" Graham guessed.
"I don't think so," Arthur argued. "It seems like Barton isn't the one who's in charge of this. Which means," he sighs, rubbing his neck, and doesn't like where this is going. "We need to visit his birthday party."
"Got invites for us all, have you?"
"I'm sure Sunny and I can hack a guest list," the Doctor assured him before looking at O. "What do you reckon, O? Fancy a trip in the box?"
"I really, really would," O admitted.
The Doctor opens the Tardis door. "Be my guest."
"Shut up!" O blurted as he slowly took a peek at the Tardis. While doing so, for some reason, Arthur got an unpleasant signal from the Tardis, as if O's presence in the Tardis made the Tardis and him anxious. When he asked his grandma why, she could only remain silent, not daring to answer.
"So?" Arthur asked.
"It's," he turns around. "Ridiculous."
"Somewhere in the lower substrata, there's a wardrobe hall. I think it's the first right after the karaoke buses," the Doctor recalled.
"What do we need a wardrobe for?" Graham asked.
"Party?" Arthur reminded him.
"Oh. Right."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The moment the Tardis landed, all six of them got out of the Tardis. The Doctor is still wearing her half-mast trousers and ridiculous boots, but she and the men are in dinner jackets, white shirts and bow ties. Yasmin has chosen a tastefully understated trouser suit with a sequined jacket. While Arthur had worn a suit that the Doctor had worn during the Mummy incident in Orient Express.
When she looks at her son in that suit, the Doctor smiles in nostalgia at that reminder. "Shall we?" She offered as they walked up to the check-in by the main doors. "The name's Doctor. The Doctor. We're on the list."
"Really?" Arthur huffed.
"I always wanted to say that."
"Welcome. Go right on in," the receptionist informed while the security told the other securities on their arrival.
"Is this a bad time to mention I've never really done undercover work?" O asked.
"You said you worked for MI6," Graham recalled.
"As an analyst. In the office."
"Just be casual," Arthur offered, glancing at the mezzanine gallery where Barton was looking at something at the pad that a woman showed to him. The man briefly notices his presence. He was shocked, of course, but quickly composed himself to be calm and gave a brief smirk at the brunette man.
They both stared at each other in silence. Arthur looked down at Barton as he took the martini offered by one of the waiters and drank it with a serious expression. His brown eyes momentarily caught Ryan and Graham struggling to win at the roulette wheel. He signalled 'seven' to them before focusing back on Barton who was shaking hands and giving genuine smiles to the guests who approached him.
In silence, Barton tilted his head towards the outside of the villa, where there was a spacious veranda. After placing his martini by the table, Arthur cautiously followed Barton who was gazing at the scene in front of him with an expression of awe and...boredom.
"Nice house," Arthur said with a friendly smile.
"Nice disguise," Barton said honestly, still not looking at him.
"YET you still let me and my colleagues into your palatial villa."
"I'm curious."
"They always say so."
"I didn't expect Arthur Jonas to come to me," Barton admits in a genuine tone. "Given your reputation for coming and going at the drop of a hat. I supposed the information wasn't wrong."
"I guess I'll have to start being extra careful if MI6 is going to find out about me," Arthur concluded, looking back, where Yasmin and O were looking at him anxiously. He gave a 'hold on' gesture. "I always keep my involvement to myself, Mr. Barton."
Barton turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, I didn't indicate anything to you, Daniel Barton. I'm just saying that I don't like people bothering me." He gave him a mocking smile. "Or who wants to hunt me down."
"I don't plan to do either of those things, Mr. Jonas. Trust me." He leaned closer to Arthur. "I will do it with more...careful methods." He smiled sarcastically. "Enjoy the party while you're here."
Arthur looked at Barton in silence as he went into the villa. His eyes caught a blue Bentley parked not far from the villa.
He had an idea.
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While in the Bentley's trunk, Arthur heard the sound of several motorbikes and gunshots. He guessed that the Doctor, Ryan, Yasmin, Graham, and O had finally followed Barton.
Then, the car suddenly slows down as Arthur hears an aeroplane fly over to land. Slowly, Arthur takes a peak around, finding that Barton is already out and others are already hiding behind one of the planes. Carefully, Arthur got out of the trunk of the car and approached the others. "Hey," he whispered, scaring the hell out of Graham who managed to not scream.
"Don't do that!" Graham yelped.
"Where have you been?" the Doctor demanded. She can;'t find him inside the villa and assumes he might be jumping somewhere else.
"Inside the Bentley's trunk. I thought I should follow him."
"Not a bad idea," O admitted.
"So, what should we do now?" Arthur asks as he watches Barton walk away from afar.
"I don't know, but we can't let him get away," the Doctor remarked.
"How? It's not as if we're gonna just jump on a plane with him, is it?" Graham pointed out, which earned a big smile from the Doctor. "Oh, come on."
"Next time, be careful of your suggestion," Arthur commented before following them into the plane.
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It took them a while to get inside, but after some long running and some stalling time, all six of them finally entered their plane and on the plane's seats.
"Here," she suggested so they can relax.
"What are we actually going to do?" Yasmin asked.
"Sit tight. See where he's going," she glances at O. " Never been good at sprinting?"
"I was the last one in every race at school," O remarked.
"No, no, no. I read your file. You were a champion sprinter."
And then, it hit Arthur. His eyes could not stop staring at O.
"Daniel Barton isn't just a powerful businessman. He was also one of our agents when he first went to work in the US. Then he withdrew cooperation. It's possible he became a double agent. Or even a triple."
"Who for?"
"O."
"UNIT and Torchwood had files about you before they were erased. A man with powerful visions who appears and disappears in mysterious ways, often deals with alien invasions alongside the Doctor. There's a debate on your relationship with the Doctor."
"If you really think they're spies, we should be asking who's the spymaster? Who's running the alien spies? Because that's the person who holds the answers."
"Is this a bad time to mention I've never really done undercover work?"
"You said you worked for MI6."
"Given your reputation for coming and going at the drop of a hat. I supposed the information wasn't wrong."
He should know that there's so many weird signs that lead to O. What a fool he was. Those drumming noises he heard…he knows what it means.
Slowly, he looked at the window…and had his eyes open wide at the sight of O's homestead flying in the air. "What is that?" he demanded, pointing at it as the others followed his gaze.
"How's your house out there?" Graham asked in total confusion.
"Bit Wicked Witch of the West, but you get the gist. Maybe. Maybe not," he shrugs as he walks forward, then looks back. "Always spoil my fun, Explorer," he grumbled.
"Of course it's you," Arthur huffed. He may not know much about Missy/Master, but he knows one thing: Them being here signalled danger.
"Sunny?" The Doctor asked, not understanding what's going on.
"Oh, come on, Doctor, catch up. Your son can, so you can do it. Come on," the fake O probed.
The doctor looked at O, then at the homestead, then at her son who was looking at him with distrust. That expression he had…it's a similar face she had to one particular person. "Oooh!"
He grinned. "That's...that's my name, and that is why I chose it. Oh, so satisfying. Doctor, I did say look for the spymaster. Or should I say spy... Master?"
"Stay back," Arthur warned the trio who didn't understand how troubled they are now.
"You can't be," the Doctor argued. The last time she saw her former best friend was when she saw this version of Arthur for the last time before he…
"Oh, I can be. I very much am," he announced.
"So what's going on, then? He's not really O?" Ryan asked, totally confused.
"He's the Doctor's worst enemy," Arthur explained. The Doctor never mentioned their relationship with the Master (or Missy) everytime he asked them. He can make an educated guess from their guilt and wary face. "The Master."
"Me and her? We go way, way, way back," he added as he walked past the Doctor, who looked shocked, standing not far from Arthur. "Oh, and also the kid, but who cares about that?"
"I met O," the Doctor recalled.
"I know."
"Years ago."
The Master just laughed in madness.
"But there was an O at MI6. C was talking about him," Ryan mentioned.
"He killed him," Arthur revealed as the vision showed him. "He shrunk the real O with a…device before taking his identity."
"Of course you know. You always know!" He barked in annoyance before smiling. "Well, except my disguise, huh? So much for being sensitive around you, Explorer! Tissue compression, it's a classic," he clarified, taking out the matchbox before throwing the matchbox away. "Good thing I managed to outwit the Explorer. I have had a lot of fun."
"I need to warn Barton!" the Doctor realised as she ran into the cockpit, with others soon following her, leaving Arthur and the Master alone.
"He's not here, Mum!" Arthur noticed too late, glancing at the Master who's sitting on a chair with anger. "You phoned him."
He simply smirks. "Is that all you notice, boy?" He tilts his head at the cockpit. "Check the seat." He slowly stands up and walks back, not even caring that Arthur is still glaring at him. "Cockpit bomb. Short fuse. I can relate to that! Now, do you really think that I would not make that sonic-proof, Doctor?! Come on!"
"Deadlock sealed. Making me also unable to hack it," Arthur guessed grimly. "Let me guess, no parachutes as well?"
"Again, such a spoiled brat!"
"Sunny, there must be a way!" the Doctor yelled desperately. She can't let any of them die, especially Arthur. She knew that the Master had mixed feelings about her son. On the one hand, he was very unhappy with Arthur always finding ways to thwart him. But on the other hand, he reminds him of Jonas, her first son who died during the Daleks' first invasion of Gallifrey at the start of the war. With his current mental state, the Doctor is't sure if his former best friend would be considerate to her son who shared the same surname as his godson.
"First of all, you're not going to die," the Doctor assured them from the screen on a plane. "Second of all, don't talk back to the screens. Obviously, I'm a recording and I can't hear you. Third, don't panic. Especially you, Graham."
"There is a way," he promised her.
The Master rolls his eyes, knowing he's just desperate to assure his dear mother. "I control...everything, boy. Even these guys." He whistles and clicks his fingers as he turns around. Then, two light aliens appear.
"I can't do it! Get away!" The Doctor shouted, making Yasmin, Ryan, and Graham move away as she shuts the cockpit door just as the bomb explodes and knocks her out, decompressing the cabin, causing others to hold onto something before getting themself flying away.
"Yah!" The Master yelled in excitement. Then, he looks down at her. "One last thing. Something you should know in the seconds before you die. Everything that you think you know... is a lie," he gloated, looking at Arthur with a hint of insanity. "Got you, finally."
And with that, he vanishes. The light creatures rush the Doctor. Before they also get him, Arthur quickly uses his time vortex to do a force time jumping, sending him somewhere and somewhen else.
Note: Been a while since I wrote 13th story. I thought Spyfall is a fun episodes, and I thought it will be interesting if Arthur was here.
Also, there's a good reason I skip Day of the Doctor. We will get there, but it will take some episodes to reach into that point.