The Cult of Ic'tharru

Esther

"Oh my god," Donna gasped when they were taken by Alec into the mysterious door Esther had previously noted, which sat behind the bar, where he had gone to fetch this 'Scroll' of Oc'thubha he had shown them. With the fairy cake recipe in it (secretly, she wondered if it was a good recipe, and wondered what other secrets of confectionary it held.) But Oc'thubha was not what Donna was shocked at seeing; what she was looking at was a large stone altar. A sacrificial altar, if Esther had to give it a definer, sitting there with all sorts of dreadful carvings like tentacles and wings and other ghastly appendages wrapping around its legs and its body.

"You've been sacrificing people!" the Doctor exclaimed in horror, fury growing in his voice.

"Sacrifice? No, no, this is where Cassie makes the bread," Alec said, "My wife makes the best hot crossed buns on this side of the Pennines. I'll admit, it is a little ostentatious, but it's very good for kneading." Esther's assumption that it was a sacrificial altar as well she blamed on the Doctor and Donna's paranoia about the Followers. But what had the Followers done? They hadn't done anything, just proven themselves to have unusual sleeping habits and a penchant for baking. It wasn't a crime to like baking. "It's this way."

Alec indicated an enormous, oak door that looked to Esther to be at least a century old, perhaps more, beautifully carved but cracked in all the usual places, decaying over time like everything was. It had a very elaborate locking mechanism, too; Alec slid a key into the lock and they heard an entire series of mechanical noises coming from the other side of it, incredible intricacies rattling around until the huge door swung open on its hinges and a breeze carrying on it an unusual and unpleasant smell struck them from deep within a dark passage.

"I have not been requested by the Great Oc'thubha," Alec told them, "The four of you must go on alone." Sally peered into the doorway.

"Don't you have, like, a torch, or something?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry," Alec apologised, and then reached into the doorway. Electric lights lit up down the corridor, simple bulbs fastened to the walls of what Esther now saw was a black cave, "I forgot Oc'thubha requested the lights be fitted, because people kept frightening Him when they crept down the stairs unannounced."

"Right…" Ten said, unsure. The more they heard about this Oc'thubha, the more Esther was sure the 'religious society' was based around a living, breathing Something, rather than just an abstract 'god' figure. And so they stepped into the passage, and Alec closed the door behind them. Esther was more at ease than she thought she might be, but really, she had been living there for months. She knew Alec, and everybody else – if they were lunatic cultists, they'd know by now. She trusted them as much as she trusted any friendly acquaintances who gave them nice shortbread.

"I don't like this," Donna said.

"You're pretty cynical," Esther told her, "Normally I'm the one getting called a 'negative-nancy' when we go on these sorts of things."

"What do you mean, 'these sorts of things'?" Donna asked.

"There's a lot of spooky stuff goes on in Hollowmire," Sally said seriously and then, for dramatic effect, the lights up and down the wall flickered a few times. Esther said 'for dramatic effect' because it was her who had created the dramatic effect, on purpose, because it freaked Donna out a lot when the lights flashed. It didn't bother Sally, she knew it was just Esther, but it was a little amusing, at least.

"This is totally like the new Resident Evil," Esther said quietly as they crept through the tunnels, which she quickly recognised as belonging to the old coalmines that ran underneath most of the village. It was a coal-rich area.

"It better not be, I've seen you playing that with whatshisname, it looks dreadful," Sally said.

"Whatshisname?" Donna inquired.

"Adam Mitchell," Esther replied, "And I don't play it with him, it's not co-op, he was playing something else at the time."

"Adam comes to Hollowmire?"

"No, it's on console," Esther explained, "This is like the bit where the basement of the house leads into the salt mines. And then there's the photograph that gives away the plot-twist of the entire game, the one you already find at the beginning but you don't realise the significance of until after the boat stage. Y'know, I like that game, but I kinda feel like it went downhill after that whole bit where the mom had an insect nest in her lady pocket."

"Kids these days…" Donna muttered.

"What? I'm thirty-five," Esther said.

"Let's stop talking about Esther's weird insect-vagina fetish now," Sally interrupted, "I already had to see it with my own two eyes after you paused the stupid thing and came and got me from the kitchen while I was trying to cook. Ruined my breakfast."

"It was seven in the evening."

"That's breakfast time," Sally shrugged. They continued to all make their way steadily, single-file, down the narrowing tunnels. It was Sally who took the lead, then Esther, then Donna, and the Doctor at the back. Esther kept her gloved hands tight in her pockets and walked very carefully to keep from tripping and falling into someone, lest she electrocute them by accident. The footing was so uneven, she now regretted wearing high heels.

"I don't like it down here," Donna said.

"No, me either," Ten agreed with her. Esther could sense something unusual, too. As in, really 'sense' something.

"You remember the Night Flyer?" she whispered to Sally, taking her by surprise.

"Mmhmm?"

"This feels like when I saw it," Esther said, "This whole atmosphere."

"Huh…" Sally didn't say anything else, but she definitely took it into account. Meanwhile, Donna was growing paler and more skittish, and her eyes darted around like she was looking for shapes in the shadows on the walls.

"Donna? What's the matter?" Ten asked. Donna was unable to speak, though, she was simply terrified, but she kept moving, as though something was lulling her closer and closer. Donna was the real mystery here far more than any knife or murder – why was she so afraid? Why could she read the unknown language? Why did Alec say she was special? What did Oc'thubha want them for?

The twisting caves opened out quite abruptly into an enormous cavern, a cavern very unlike that which you would usually find in a coalmine, carved into the rocks with smooth surfaces and cold air. That same strange, sickening smell was still hanging on the air, though, and they appeared to be on a ledge, on the very edge of something. In the room, the size of a stadium, they could hear noise from below.

"This is just like Krop-Tor," the Doctor said, growing unseemly and furious. Donna was petrified and stayed by Esther and Sally when Ten marched over to the edge of their little cliff to yell down into the abyss below, "Show yourself! This 'Oc'thubha' if that's what your name is! I demand to speak with this 'fake god'!" The noises from beneath were like nothing Esther had ever heard, slithering and sliding and squelching and dragging all together, something writhing, the sound of a thousand giant pythons writhing over each other in a bed of dead, damp feathers.

And then, up from the darkness, a voice answered: "Whoa, dude. Inside voices would like, totally be appreciated, you know?" Uh, what, Esther thought?

"It's cowardly, hiding down there when you've been brainwashing these people!" the Doctor continued to shout.

"C'mon, bro. I'm kind of self-conscious."

"…What do you mean?" Ten asked, peering over the edge, trying to get a look at whatever was talking to them.

"It's like, body image, man," Oc'thubha said, "Plus, the last time I let a human look at me their eyes totally started bleeding. It was not good, dude."

"What language are you speaking?"

"It's English, man, duh," Oc'thubha said, "It would be pretty rude to come here and refuse to learn the native language, y'know?"

"You have a mouth then?"

"Oh, whoa, I'd say it's more of an… abstraction of the concept of vocalisation, you know? I'm not sure 'mouth' is the word I would use," Oc'thubha said. Esther approached the Doctor to look over the edge, too, but she couldn't see much of anything. Just hulking, shadowy movement, "Bro, I told you not to look. I'm not for human consumption, not in a way that's rooted in my physical manifestation, anyway."

"I, um, I'm sorry?" Esther said unsurely.

"No, man, don't worry about it. It'd just totally suck for you if your eyes were to start bleeding, y'know?"

"This is your village, then?" Ten persisted.

"MY village? Ownership is an outdated concept, dude. In what way is it mine? I don't own any of the buildings. Extra-dimensional entities, like, can't legally own property in this country, man," Oc'thubha said, "I looked into it in the 1990s when roller disco was big."

"You wanted to build a roller disco?" Sally Sparrow asked.

"Oh, yeah, man, sure. I don't use it, obviously, I don't exactly have what you guys would call 'feet.' Which is kind of a bummer, but I'm all about endorsing the enjoyment of other people," Oc'thubha said, "Hollowmire isn't mine."

"But it's run by your cult."

"Cult? Bro, they're all just nice dudes. I'm just teaching them to be nice dudes. Isn't the Bible teaching people? What's the difference? That the figure they get their teachings from is made of real flesh and blood? Which is just an expression, I don't have either what you would call flesh OR blood."

"…I'm confused. Someone's been murdered with a knife written on in your language," Ten said.

"Yeah, man, a buddy of mine. And a buddy of mine did it, too. It's a real tragedy, yo, I'm not gonna disagree."

"So the knife is yours? This knife?" Ten brandished it like he was trying to stab thin air.

"It's made of the material of my home world, but no, dude, that knife is like, totally Ic'tharru's," Oc'thubha said, "That's why it says Ic'tharru on it, bro. What a cocky guy, writing his name on a murder weapon. Dude has always been extra; I guess he hasn't changed." Oc'thubha still just writhed around in the murky depths of the mine. "I can sense your dislike from down here, man. What's eating you?"

"I don't like creatures coming and brainwashing innocent humans, I've seen it happen before, on a planet called Krop-Tor, orbiting a black hole."

"Yeah, man, I heard about that," Oc'thubha said.

"You – what? Heard about it? About the Beast?"

"The Beast? Nah, bro, that's my cousin, that's Vh'ozuth. That guy, man, he was always a real preacher of universe domination. My whole species are kind of preachers of that, though, that's why they ostracised me," Oc'thubha said, "It's a long story, but you guys are the only ones who can help me."

"Help you what?" Ten asked suspiciously.

"Stop Ic'tharru, man, he's the one who made that guy kill that other guy, he's infecting them – listen, bro, I could totally tell you my whole story if you cut the hostilities, dude. What's your prejudice for, man? I've heard about some pretty warped Time Lords, but I'm not here judging YOU."

"How did you know I'm a Time Lord?"

"Because, dude, I can feel things – I'm in sync with this universe and its frequencies. The frequency of life, man. You're the Doctor, you're a hero. And Donna Noble is the only one who can help. And sure I know Sally and Esther, my buddy Doris is taking them killer shortbread all the time, she tells me – that's an original recipe too, dudes."

"Oh, well, thanks," Sally said.

"Go on, then," Ten said, "If you've got a story to tell, then tell it, because all I see is a lost alien mind-controlling people to make cupcakes."

"You see, I'm an extra-dimensional being, dude. That's what I am. And not just another universe, dude, like, BEFORE the universe itself, the universe as you know it. There's a whole lot of politics, but my people, they hate any other kind of creature. I was always like, look at yourselves guys, none of us even look the same at all. I don't look anything like my cousin Vh'ozuth, or Ic'tharru. Anyway, the whole of us lived in our city before time really kicked-off, called Acnictexr.

"Boy, they're normally not this obnoxious, but I got into one a couple of times with them about their treatment of your universe. I said my guys, how do you, like, see all that suffering in that dimension and not do anything about it? It's like, a game, they just come over here to mess with you guys sometimes. Man, I hated it, I always stick up for the little people. Not little in a lesser sense, but little as in a literal sense – you gotta realise, bros, I'm bigger than you can really fathom. That was why I got banished and sent here, I crashed right down nearby in a meteorite.

"Only, they didn't ostracise me, they thought I was dead, that I couldn't survive outside the boundaries of our dimension. That meteor spread into the ground, though – the soil here has a lot in common with the soil of Acnictexr. But it wasn't plain sailing, there was this whole plague. This was so long ago everybody I knew then is dead, but I didn't know how to manipulate my shape to create a noise similar to your 'speech' back then. My species are kind of telepathic. So I talked to people through the telegram wires and the phone lines but boy, did that go horribly, before I learnt how to assert my influence.

"It was kind of like tumours, brain tumours like blisters, that kind of thing. Oh, man, the haemorrhaging – that was when they built the hospital on the lake, to quarantine them. But they built it on Acnictexr soil, and it helped to absorb their symptoms. And then I managed to communicate, managed to spread my wisdom, learnt what a cupcake was, and tasted caramel on my tongue. Not an actual tongue, you have to realise, I haven't got what you might call a 'tongue', just a series of segmented feelers that come out of every one of my eyes.

"I've been spreading my ideas of compassion and friendliness for years, but I guess word of it finally reached Acnictexr, if Ic'tharru is asserting his own influence. I'd never, like, CONTROL somebody, you gotta understand – but Ic'tharru? That guy would do ANYTHING. He's ruthless. Probably just wants to kill me because the job didn't get done the first time, and he'll wipe out this entire galaxy while he's at it just to be sure. But, my dudes, he's not here yet, or I'd totally, like, know. That's why I need YOUR help, Donna Noble, you're an extra-dimensional creature as well, and you can get rid of the connection between the universe and the pre-universe for good. That's why you can understand the language, and why you saw those visions and had those dreams. My weaker-minded Followers are at risk of being driven insane by those, Ic'tharru's telepathic messages. That's what happened, he's totally trying to cause in-fighting and dissent, he can't stand that I'm helping people.

"For all I know, Ic'tharru is plotting with the rest of the Elder Ones to wipe out the entire universe for good, it could be totally doomed right now. But only those communing with Ic'tharru will be able to lead you to wear the inter-dimensional breach is, and they're all the way out on the lake. What do you say, bros? Are you like, up for helping me, or nah?" Oc'thubha finished speaking.

"When you say lake," Sally began eventually, "Do you mean Crater Lake? Crater Lake and Crater Lake Sanatorium?"

"Oh, yeah, bro."

"So that's why it's called Crater Lake… because it's literally a Crater."

"He's telling the truth," Donna declared eventually, "And those things I saw – they were horrifying, Doctor, I've never seen anything so…" she couldn't even find the words to describe the horrors she had seen in her visions and her nightmares recently, visions of Ic'tharru's plan to destroy Earth, and then the rest of the universe on top, all because Oc'thubha was there. These Elder Ones really didn't sound very nice.

"Why do these 'Elder Ones' want to kill everyone?" Esther asked.

"Oh, man, they kinda don't. Well, it's like, cosmic indifference. Like there's a wasp nest in the attic of your house and it doesn't really affect you, but if one of the wasps like, stung you, you'd be all, 'Get out of my house now, guys.'"

"Here's a question – why aren't me and Esther 'chosen'?" Sally asked, "Since you're the 'Great Oc'thubha' who does all the choosing."

"Hey, I don't choose anybody, everyone is created equal, bro. It's about your brainwaves, man, if you're easily influenced by the signals I put through the TVs and the radios," Oc'thubha said, "Some people just aren't, usually because their brains are like, whacked out, or something. But if you ever wanna come and hang out I'll give Alec the word to let you guys down whenever, I don't discriminate." It wasn't exactly a puzzle to figure out why Esther's brain was too 'whacked out' to be influenced by Oc'thubha's electronic communication, but Sally? Maybe it was just anyone non-neurotypical. Her severe insomnia was maybe a contributor. As for the Doctor, or Jenny, or Clara Ravenwood – they were also obvious answers.

"Fine," the Doctor finally said, "But after my run in with this 'cousin' of yours…"

"Hey, man, I heard there have been some pretty nasty Time Lords before," Oc'thubha interrupted. Ten clenched his jaw, because he knew Oc'thubha kind of had a point.

And then Sally Sparrow declared exuberantly, beaming, like a child on Christmas morning, "I guess we're going on a trip to Crater Lake Sanatorium, then."