Chapter3
Cybermen
Rose and the Doctor arrived at the Tyler's house to find a party. To Rose's dismay, the Doctor chose to infiltrate the party not as guests but as staff.
After circulating with some drinks and canapes, they met back up as Pete walked down the stairs. Pete introduced Jackie, "Um, I'd just like to say thank you to you all, for coming on this, this very special occasion. My wife's thirty-ninth." he said with a small smirk. "Trust me on this. And so, without any further ado, here she is, the birthday girl. My lovely wife, Jackie Tyler." he finished.
Jackie then made her way down the staircase in a tight black dress and said, "Now, I'm not giving a speech. That's what my parties are famous for. No work, no politics, just a few good mates and plenty of black market whisky. Pardon me, Mister President. So, yeah, get on with it. Enjoy, enjoy."
Once the party was again in full swing, the Doctor turned to Rose, "You can't stay. Even if there was some way of telling them." He said.
"Course I can't. I've still got Mum at home. My real mum. I couldn't just leave her, could I? It's just, they've got each other. Mum's got no one."
"She's got you. Those two haven't. All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right." the Doctor said as a small Yorkie came yapping down the stairs.
"Rose!" Jackie yelled, causing Rose to look sharply at this worlds Jackie. "There's my little girl! Come to mummy, come to mummy!" Jackie called out. She crouched down and picked up the dog, cooing, "Yes, good girl! Good girl, aren't you?"
"Sorry." the Doctor said, failing to contain his laughter.
—
Meanwhile Mrs Moore has followed the lorries to a large estate. Ricky and Jake left the van to get a better look at the house.
"I don't know what they're doing, but this seems to be the target. Big house, fair bit of money. Now we have got to find a way to get in." Rickey said over walkie talking to Mrs. Moore.
"I've identified the address. It belongs to Peter Tyler, the Vitex millionaire." Mrs. Moore replied.
Mickey stopped fussing with Ash's sleeves and turned to Mrs Moore, confused. "Pete Tyler?"
"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen. A traitor to the state." Mrs. Moore explained.
"kvzzo ptoet okreo." Ash whispered.
"But…" Mickey started before turning back to Ash. "Still can't understand you. Is it important?" he asked.
Ash shrugged.
"Well, we've got to get in there." Mickey said.
"Now, shut it, duplicate. That's what I just said." Rickey replied.
A loud noise caused them to look back at the lorry they'd been following.
"What are they doing?" Ricky asked as they could hear heavy footsteps marching down the ramp and onto the gravel by the road. Two columns of marching metal men slowly became visible.
"What the hell are they?" Ricky asked as Ash gasped.
"BQIVJ WVG, OPRER EITNO PRERE JVTZZ QJVTZ ZQITN." Ash hastily said, pulling on Mickey's jacket. Fear evident in her eyes, she started chewing on her thumb again.
"I know." Mickey said to Ash, "This is bad."
Back in the Mansion the always suspicious Doctor had been snooping around. He'd found a presentation on a laptop in Pete's office.
"Cybus!" the Doctor said, having quickly skimmed the presentation.
"It's happening again." the Doctor told Rose as they walked over to a window.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked.
"I've seen them before." the Doctor said, pointing at the metal men approaching the house.
"What are they?" Rose asked.
"Cybermen." the Doctor terse answered before spinning around at the sound of breaking glass.
The cybermen quickly managed to herd many of the guests to the center of the main room, including the President of the UK.
A cell phone rang.
The President answered his phone, "Mister Lumic."
"Mister President. I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point." Mr Lumic said, clearly audible through the speaker.
"I forbade this!" the President said.
"These are my children, sir. Would you deny my family?" Mr Lumic replied.
The Doctor and Rose were near the center of the group. "What are they, robots?" Rose quietly asked the Doctor.
"Worse than that." the Doctor answered.
"Who were these people?" the President asked Mr. Lumic.
"Doesn't matter." Mr. Lumic replied.
Rose turned to the Doctor and said, "They're people?" in horror.
"They were, until they had all their humanity taken away. That's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel. All emotions removed."
"Why no emotions?"
"Because it hurts." the Doctor said with great emotion in his voice.
"I demand to know, Lumic. These people, who were they?" the President asked.
"They were homeless and wretched and useless until I saved them, and elevated them, and gave them life eternal. And now I leave you in their capable hands. Goodnight, sir." Mr Lumic said.
A Cybermen then turned to address the group. "We have been upgraded."
"Into what?" the Doctor asked.
"The next level of mankind. We are Human point two. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what's been done to you, but listen to me. This experiment ends tonight." the President said.
"Upgrading is compulsory." the Cyberman replied.
"And if I refuse?" the President said.
"Don't." the Doctor told the President.
"What if I refuse?" the President asked again.
"I'm telling you, don't." the Doctor pleaded.
"What happens if I refuse?"
"Then you are not compatible." the Cyberman finally replied.
"What happens then?" the President asked.
"You will be deleted." the Cyberman said as he raised his arm. He then placed his hand on the President's neck and electrocuted him.
The guests panicked and ran screaming as the Cybermen attempted to grab them, but the Doctor was able to pull Rose away, while Pete helplessly called out for Jackie.
The Doctor, Rose and Pete made it out of the house through a window and were trying to escape across a large lawn.
"There's nothing we can do." the Doctor said to Rose.
"My mum's in there!" Rose cried.
"She is not your mother! Come on!"
But they were quickly turned around by a row of Cybermen. Running back the way they came, they found Pete climbing out a window.
"Quick! Quick!" Rose called out to Pete, gesturing for him to come to them.
As Pete approached, the Doctor asked, "Pete, is there a way out?"
"The side gates. Who are you? How do you know so much?"
"You wouldn't believe it in a million years." the Doctor answered but their escape was cut off by another row of Cybermen.
As the two rows of Cybermen approached the group, Rose saw two people running towards them holding weapons. "Who's that?" she asked as they drew near.
"Get behind me!" Ricky said, taking up a fighting stance in front of the group with Jake. They fired on the Cybermen. The bullets bounced off, but didn't stop shooting until the Cybermen stopped advancing.
"Oh my God, look at you." Rose said to Ricky as she gave him a hug. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
"Yeah. No offense, sweetheart, but who the hell are you?" Rickey asked.
Mickey ran towards the group with Ash in tow calling out, "Rose! That's not me. That's like the other one."
"What the hell are you doing here!" The Doctor yelled at Ash, grabbing her shoulders.
"And you!" He said pointing at Mickey, his fury clearly visible. "I'll deal with you later."
"Cybermen!" Ash yelled.
"I know!" the Doctor said before cocking his head. "What?"
"Doctor, she's been doing that all night, speaking gibberish." Mickey said.
"It's not… it's not gibberish Mickey. It's Galifreyan." the Doctor said, kneeling down to look Ash in the eye. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Right. Now is not the time…. Gallifreyan!" he said with a grin before standing up and glancing back and forth between Mickey and Ricky.
"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough, there's two Mickey's." he said.
"It's Ricky." Ricky said, annoyed.
"We're surrounded." Rose said and Ricky and Jake took aim at the Cybermen again.
"Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them." the Doctor said. But Jake fired anyway.
"No! Stop shooting, now. We surrender! Hands up. There's no need to damage us. We're good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed." The Doctor said, knowing the Cybermen prefer taking prisoners to be upgraded over killing.
"You are rogue elements." A Cyberman said.
"But we surrender." the Doctor said. Confused.
"You are incompatible."
"But this is a surrender." the Doctor tried again.
"You will be deleted." the Cyberman said.
"But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!" the Doctor said in desperation, not noticing that Ash had reached into his pocket.
"You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum deletion." The Cyberman said as all the Cyberman raised their arms and approached the group.
"Delete. Delete. Delete!"
Ash stepped forward, dodging the Doctor and held the powercell she had taken from the Doctor above her head. She could feel its energy. She could feel her own energy. She could feel energy all around her. So she used it.
She imagined pulling in all the energy, then released it using the powercell as a focus.
—
"Ash! Ash! Come on, you've got to wake up." The Doctor said as he picked her up. He helped Rose stand then used his sonic to scan Ash and then the surrounding area. "What did you do?" he quietly asked.
Rose rushed to Mickey's side, "Come on, we need to get out of here." She said.
"What the hell was that?" Rickey asked as he sat up.
"Let's go." Jake yelled as he began to stumble across the lawn to the van.
"Run!" the Doctor said.
Everyone was slowly moving towards the van, too slowly for Mrs. Moore. "Everybody, in!" she yelled after honking the horn.
But Pete hesitated. "I've got to go back. My wife's in there." he said.
"Anyone inside that house is dead. If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing. You've got to come with us right now." The Doctor said holding the van's side door. Mickey and Ash were already inside.
"Come on! Get a move on!" Mrs. Moore said, trying to hurry them along.
"Rose, she's not your mother." the Doctor told Rose as she too hesitated to get in.
"I know." She replied with a silent but…
"Come on." the Doctor said before following her into the van and closing the door.
"Finished chatting? Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" Mrs. Moore said from the driver's seat as she pulled away.
The Doctor pulled a semi-conscious Ash from Mickey and settled her in his lap. She was holding the powercell so tightly he thought it might have somehow fused to her hand.
"What was that?" Rickey asked.
"A blast of energy focused through this." the Doctor said, pointing to the small bit of powercell poking through Ash's fist.
"She going to be okay?" Jake asked from the front seat.
"Hmmm…" the Doctor answered. He then raised a hand to Ash's temple and closed his eyes.
Feeling quite groggy, Ash tried to shove whatever was messing with her away.
"Ha. Brilliant!" the Doctor said before breaking into a deep belly laugh. "You puffer fished me!"
"Stop moving around so much." Ash whined, keeping her eyes closed and curling into a tighter ball on the Doctor's lap.
"What do you mean Doctor? What's a puffer fish?" Rose asked.
"It's something very young time-tots do, a subconscious defense mechanism. It doesn't work on time-lords but it is pretty effective against most psychic attacks. Basically she sensed I was entering her mind and tried to shove me out by making her mind all prickly and then rapidly expanding it. And yes, she should be okay after some rest." the Doctor explained.
He wasn't lying, but what he had seen shouldn't have been possible. Ash had tried to pull regeneration energy from him. The scan of the residual effects of the energy blast suggested she had drawn energy from the others, and then somehow funneled it through the powercell and directed it at the Cybermen. He couldn't understand how she'd done it, or how any of them had survived.
"Puffer fish!" Mickey said. He raised his arms and mimed his brain exploding, making Jake, Mrs. Moore and Rose laugh. Pete however seemed to be in shock. He was staring at the floor and ignoring everything happening around him.
"The crystal's stopped glowing. Has it run out?" Mickey asked, having noticed the powercell no longer emitted light.
"It's on a revitalizing loop. It'll charge back up in about four hours." the Doctor said, finally managing to pry it out of Ash's fist.
"Right. So, we don't have a weapon anymore." Rickey said.
"Without Ash, that thing's useless anyway. Isn't it Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Yes. No. I don't know. I don't know how she did it." he answered.
"So that's our only weapon then, sleeping on your lap." Ricky said, pointing to Ash.
"She's a little girl, not a weapon" the Doctor said dismissively.
Jake turned around and said, "Yeah, we've got other weapons. Might not fix one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him." pointing at Pete.
"Leave him alone. What's he done wrong?" Rose said.
"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government and left Lumic in charge." Jake replied.
"If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?" Pete replied.
"Maybe your plan went wrong. Still gives us the right to execute you, though." Rickey said, pointing his pistol at Pete.
"Talk about executions, you'll make me your enemy. And take some really good advice. You don't want to do that." The Doctor said as menacingly as one can while holding a sleeping child.
"All the same, we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since twenty point five." Ricky said waving the pistol around.
Rose turned to Pete, "Is that true?" She asked.
"Tell them, Mrs M." Rickey said.
"We've got a government mole who feeds us information. Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week." Mrs. Moore explained.
"Broadcast from Gemini?" Pete asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
"And how do you know that?" Rickey asked suspiciously.
"I'm Gemini. That's me."
"Yeah, well you would say that."
"Encrypted wavelength six five seven using binary nine. That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services. What do I get? Scooby Doo and his gang. They've even got the van."
"No, no, no. But the Preachers know what they're doing. Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted." Mickey said.
"Yeah, that's not exactly." Rickey said with a shrug.
"Not exactly what?" Mickey asked.
"I'm London's Most Wanted for parking tickets." Rickey explained.
"Great." Pete muttered.
"Yeah, they were deliberate. I was fighting the system. Park anywhere, that's me."
"Good policy. I do much the same. I'm the Doctor, by the way, if anyone's interested."
"And I'm Rose. Hello."
"Even better. That's the name of my dog. Still, at least I've got the catering staff on my side." Pete said.
"I knew you weren't a traitor." Rose said to Pete.
"Why is that, then?"
"I just did."
"They took my wife."
"She might still be alive."
"That's even worse. Because that's what Lumic does. He takes the living and he turns them into those machines."
"Cybermen. They're called Cybermen. And I'd take those ear pods off, if I were you. You never know. Lumic could be listening." the Doctor said. "But he's overreached himself. He's still just a businessman. He assassinated the President. All we need to do is get to the city and inform the authorities. Because I promise you, this ends tonight." he continued as he maneuvered Ash into a more comfortable position.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Ash asked the Doctor, finally awake.
"There she goes again. What is Gallifreyan Doctor? How come the Tardis isn't translating it?" Mickey asked.
"It's my language Mickey, the language of the Time Lords. The Tardis won't translate it." the Doctor explained before filling in Ash. "What's going on? What's going on… Well, you left the Tardis, apparently forgot English and learned Gallifreyan, created an energy burst strong enough to wipe out dozens of Cybermen and then passed out." He explained.
Ash sat up and slightly turned to face the Doctor, "It worked!" she said with a huge grin.
"Yes. This time. You could have killed us all." he admonished.
"But I didn't." Ash said, no longer smiling.
"No, no you didn't." he said, hugging her tightly.