"Ghosts are a concept that is constantly debated," was the sentence Arthur spoke to the students in the hall. His eyes looked at everyone in the audience, including Bill, as they all looked back at him. People would never believe that the man who was speaking in front of this crowd was over 900 years old. "Are they real? Are they imaginary? No one knows for sure. Even the concept of death still gives many people the creeps. My father believes ghosts are just phoney-baloney stuff to manipulate people."
He tapped nervously on the podium in front of him, occasionally glancing at Nardole and his father who stood at the far side of the podium while everyone chuckled at his last statement. "There are times when we wish that death is just a process, that in the end, nothing lasts," he continued. "That in the end, the purpose of living...is a simple moment to postpone our final time. Many people often wish to live forever, to enjoy immortality. Perhaps because of this, they expect ghosts to be real. An echo that stays in this world and always accompanies us, wherever and whenever we are. However, that is just selfishness. We do not value life itself; an act of depriving ourselves of choice. Taking it all away would only bring far greater pain than making a ghost unable to settle down."
A girl student raises her hand, cutting his talks. "Excuse me," shs interrupted. "But…What's this got to do with crop rotation?"
Arthur turned to his father, who looked embarrassed and uncomfortable. He should have asked about today's topic of conversation. However, considering that he only arrived an hour ago without any preparation and jumped straight into giving the lecture topic...the fact that he didn't mess it up at the beginning was already a miracle. "That's your job," he replied and immediately got a groan of protest.
Bill rolled her eyes while Nardole shook his head. Like father, like son.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Space!" The Doctor suddenly suggested it after a while. "Going to space is exactly like camping."
"Is it?" Bill asked, looking at Arthur, who's standing right beside her on the second floor, checking all sorts of books around. It's a little weird to see Arthur as an adult while she saw him as a child before.
The man shook his head. "No. It's not even close."
"Too much between you and the outside and you might as well stay home," the Doctor continued. "To really feel it, you need the space equivalent of a wafer-thin sleeping bag and a leaky two-man tent. So, pick a campsite."
"Got any reviews?" Bill inquired after she and Arthur walked downstairs and looked at the monitor.
"They usually don't have any reviews," Arthur admitted. "Usually, it's just straight adventure and danger whenever we're landing."
"Great." Bill muttered, glancing at the monitor then pointing at one of them. "Oh, I don't know. That one."
"Ah, yes, well, possibly we could go there, pitch our tent next to the toilet block. How about something a bit more exciting?"
"You're not helping at all, Dad," Arthur remarked as the distress call started beeping the moment he touched it at another point. "Wonderful."
Bill frowns. "What's that?"
"Distress call. His favourites."
"Your father like distress calls?"
"When there's danger, there's action. He always loves to be a proud father to me."
"You only really see the true face of the universe when it's asking for your help," the Doctor added with a wink.
"As much as it is touching," Nardole interrupted. "I haven't seen my true face in years. Swapped it for this one on the run."
"No wonder Granny Idris was a bit upset when you're here," Arthur concluded, having sensed how the Tardis is annoyed by Nardole entering the console room.
"Oh, look, Bill, Sunny. It's Nardole. What a lovely surprise," the Doctor pointed out before pointing his finger at him. "I thought I sent you to Birmingham for a packet of crisps and some yoghurts."
"Yeah, I saw through your cunning ruse."
"Yes, well, if you will go thinking for yourself. What do you want?"
"I was given strict instructions to keep you at the university."
"Who by?" The Doctor asked as he went down the console.
"You."
"I can take care of the vault," Arthur proposed while Bill takes some steps back to continue on her reading.
Nardole quickly looked at him, as if he had said something crazy. "Please don't."
"Why?"
"Your father almost beheaded me for suggesting that!"
"You know what they did to Sunny, and you're suggesting that my son guard the vault?" The Doctor retorted. "Do you know what River will do when you say that to her?"
Nardole gulps. He never saw Professor Song being angry. But from what the Doctor had suggested, maybe he shouldn't be testing it. For the sake of his head. "Do you know what this is?" He asked, getting back to the main issue.
Arthur noticed a device Nardole had. "Isn't that…fluid link K57?"
"Removed it from the Tardis the other night after your lecture!"
"That is very untrusting," the Doctor commented as he returned to the console.
"You took an oath, sir. The vault cannot be unguarded. And since you forbid Arthur from doing it—!"
"I'm so glad Sunny didn't inherit your boringness."
"I'm acting under your orders!"
"See how reliable I am?"
"What's a fluid link?" Bill asked, unable to hide her curiosity.
"Part of the Tardis' device," Arthur recalled. "The Tardis can't go without it. You need mercury to fill it."
"We got a winner," Nardole chimed in.
"Who told you that?"
"Your father did."
"Exactly," the Doctor grinned and snapped his fingers, setting the Tardis on dematerialised. "Teach you to trust me."
"No," Nardole realised in horror.
"Sunny, remind me to docking Nardole's pay for this."
Bill laughs while Arthur snorts. Nardole glares at the brunette man. "I thought you would be better."
"You forget who raised me for the last 900 years," he remarked, his eyes glancing at the Doctor who looked happy that he had managed to trick Nardole, which made him a bit sad. The talk of space made him slightly reminiscent of his last adventure, when he faced off against the Master and the state of the aircraft they were travelling on was in bad shape.
However, Arthur knew that he wouldn't be able to jump to that timeline for another adventure or two. So at least he could focus on the dangers ahead of him this time.
He just hoped that the visions he had would indeed help Yasmin, Ryan, and Graham to survive while he and the Doctor (the Blonde one) are outside of range.
Right after the Tardis landed with a thump, Arthur quickly sensed something's…off with their current location. He silently asked the Tardis to extend the air shell outside, which she replied immediately as he, the Doctor, and Nardole stepped outside. He tries to remain calm with the darkness around him by taking a relaxing breath as the Doctor scans the area.
"I'm a bit cross with you, sirs," Nardole commented.
"Noted. Scored out. Forgotten," the Doctor remarked, trying to ignore the way Nardole had accused his son.
Bill comes out of the Tardis. "Be careful," Arthur warned. "There's no oxygen."
"What? Well, how come we're breathing?" Bill pointed out.
"I asked the Tardis to extend the air shell around."
An indicator reads Unlicensed Oxygen Detected and an alarm sounds. That's not good.
"How big?"
The Doctor scans the systems around them so the lights turn on. "Big enough for a stroll."
Nardole shook his head. "So cocky," he complained.
"I heard that, Nardole," Arthur replied without looking back. It's so quiet in here…he swears he can't hear anything. Anything, but—
Nonono. That's just his silly imagination. There's no way a Silent is in this place. They're not that they're that stupid to get themself dead in a place without oxygen.
"Why aren't we floating?" Bill wondered after they walked into another corridor.
"Artificial gravity," both father and son replied while looking around.
Bill does a couple of test jumps. "Doesn't feel like space," she remarked before looking at a porthole. "Aw! Now it feels like space!"
"This entire place sort of reminds me of 2001: Space Odyssey," Arthur confessed.
"Look at this," the Doctor muses at one of the doors. "Classic design. Pressure seals, hinges. None of that shk-shk nonsense."
"Space doors are supposed to go shk-shk, not urrrrr," Nardole said, mimicking the sound of a door being opened slowly.
"Are you going to behave childishly all day?" Arthur asked him, folding his arms at Nardole, unknowingly earning an eyebrow being raised by Bill and a smirk from the Doctor.
"Yeah. Till your father is back where he should be."
"Complaining isn't going to convince him, you know. I tried that once."
Nardole grumbles as Arthur looks in front of him. As the door finally opens full, a man in a space suit with his back to them on the side of the bulkhead can be seen. "Excuse me?" He kindly asked, but did not reply. He slowly entered the place before others joined, then turned to see the man with blank eyes and bluish skin. He cannot sense any lifeform coming from this man. "He's dead," he realised.
"Well, how can he be dead? He's standing up," Bill argued.
The Doctor gives a quick scanning. "No. His suit's standing up. He's just along for the ride," he stated.
"Oh God, it's standing for him?"
"Gyro stabilisers, magnetic boots and gloves, onboard computer. It could run, jump, and update his Facebook. Death, where is thy sting?"
"Sooo…back to the Tardis?" Nardole proposed.
"Yeah, can you turn it off?" Bill pleaded, sounds scary.
"Turn what off?"
"The suit. Just, please…just…just turn it off."
"I agree with Bill," Arthur admitted, frowning. "This is quite disturbing."
"I'll tell you what's disturbing. Whatever killed him," the Doctor commented.
"Well, there was no oxygen, right? Before we got here. Didn't he just… suffocate?" Bill guessed.
"It's more than that," Arthur blurted out suddenly as the Doctor checked a wall display, while Nardole checked the suit.
"Well, his tank's full. And," Nardole trying to touch the corpse's face, a forcefield stopped him. "His field's up."
"His what?" Bill repeated.
"Forcefield. Keeps the air in," the Doctor explained.
"Well, look, can we just, like, lie him down or something? I mean, this isn't right."
"No, it isn't. It isn't. Mining Station Chasm Forge. Crew of 40. I've got 36 records of life signs terminated. Last log entry, Station declared non-profitable."
"Yeah, your workers all dying'll do that for you," Nardole stated before the four of them heard a banging sound from above. "Okay then! Back to the Tardis! Lovely in there. Nice and cosy."
"Yeah. Yeah, he's right," Bill agreed as she and Nardole walked back to the way they entered this place…before realising that both father and son still stay. "Doctor, Arthur, are you listening?"
"Four," Arthur muttered.
"Sorry, what?"
"Four survivors. There's still four people in this place. Pleading for help with their distress call."
"The universe shows its true face when it asks for help. We show ours by how we respond," the Doctor stated as he uses his sonic screwdriver to open the door and glances at both Bill and Arthur. "Any questions?" Bill breathes in to speak. The Doctor holds up his hand. "Good."
"Stay in the Tardis if you want," Arthur suggested as he followed the Doctor. "I'll keep an eye on him."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
As Arthur follows him from behind, he spots a figure in a full spacesuit and darkened helmet moving small containers.
"Hello!" The Doctor greeted and did a quick scan. Arthur steps closer and tries waving his hand in front of the visor. The figure is still doing the same.
Bill, who eventually follows them with Nardole, frowns. "Has he got his tunes on?"
"Not quite," Arthur remarked, taking the helmet off, which reveals that nobody is inside it. Both Bill and Nardole yelp in shock.
"Calm down. It's empty," the Doctor assured them.
"And…you two couldn't just tell us?" Nardole asked.
"Are you two trying to scare us?" Bill demanded.
"I did it gently," Arthur denoted.
"Still not appreciated," she muttered. "So, it's basically a robot?"
Arthur takes a look at the spacesuit's neck. The suit's display reads user id: 05 Alert Status: Error. "No, it's more like…automatic."
"You'd better watch your step. You could be out of a job," the Doctor addressed to Nardole, who huffs, then he looks at the display before pressing it. "And ah! Speech! Hello, suit."
"Good morning. How may I assist?" It asked.
"Ooo, recognise that voice. Yes! Nice girl, actress, bit orange. Left me for an AI in a call centre," Nardole recalled.
"What killed the crew of this station?" the Doctor inquired.
"I am unaware of any recent deaths."
"What about the oxygen? Where did it all go?" Arthur asked this time.
"There has never been any oxygen in this station."
Nardole chuckles. "Oh, listen to that. Still saucy after all these years."
"Explain," the Doctor ordered.
"Oxygen is available for personal use only, at competitive prices."
"It's only in the suits. Personal use. They only have oxygen in the suits themselves."
"Any unlicensed oxygen will be automatically expelled to protect market value."
"Crap," Arthur mumbled, recalling the vision he had after they arrived.
"Charging for the air you breathe. She hasn't changed," Nardole muttered. "What was her name?"
"Hang on. Didn't we just fill this place with air?" Bill recalled.
"We did," Arthur winced at the mistake he didn't realise he let it happen. "And since all unlicensed oxygen will be expelled immediately—"
Suddenly, a klaxon's alarm blaring across the station.
"What's that?" Nardole asked.
"It's decompressing!" The Doctor alluded and gestured to others to follow him back to the Tardis. But by then, all bulkhead doors are open and the air is rushing out. They hang onto stanchions as they are sucked sideways. Including the Tardis, that's pulled towards the open door. With a hurry, the Doctor manages to use the sonic on a bulkhead door so it shuts again, making them fall to the floor.
"Yikes," Arthur reacted, rubbing his forehead as he looked around.
"So!" Nardole said to the Doctor, who's doing another scan. "The Tardis…is on the other side of that."
"Yes, I was really hoping that someone would state the obvious," the Doctor commented.
"Vacuum behind it, can't open it."
"Oh, you're on a roll."
"And if we could…we'd be sucked out into space."
Strange metallic sound echoes around the station.
"What's that?" Bill asked.
"Er, nothing to worry about," the Doctor assured her.
"Really?"
"Yes, not for several minutes."
"Crap," Arthur cursed again.
"Well, don't stress early, it's a waste of energy," the Doctor pointed out at him and Bill.
"Stress about what?" Bill asked.
"Occupants of repair station, please identify. Occupants of repair station, please identify," a man suddenly demanded.
The Doctor works a wall panel. "Hello there! You first."
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, all your crewmates are dead. So, either you're extremely lucky or you killed them. Which is it?"
"This is Drill Chief Tasker. And I haven't killed anyone. Yet. Now who is this?"
From the corner of his eyes, Arthur realises that the dead man's suit turns, slowly heading to their direction. "Doctor—"
"Doctor, plus two. You sent out a distress call. You should be expecting company. Now tell me, what happened to the crew of this station," the Doctor kept talking.
"Hang on, you're in the repair bay, right? Get out of there! Now!"
"Dad, we need to leave!" Arthur shouted, shoving them to move around as the walking suit slowly got closer to them. The Doctor quickly uses his sonic to stop it, but the screwdriver flies out of his hand into the spacesuit glove, which crushes it. There is an arc of electricity then the corpse stiffens and falls over.
The Doctor retrieves his bent, wrecked screwdriver. "Ooooh," he grumbled before putting it into his pocket.
Arthur carefully touches the spacesuit.
"Arthur!" Bill warned.
"It's fried, and should be fine," he asserted, starting to use his time vortex to hack the spacesuit's system. But to no avail, he found nothing. So, he decides to take the computer chip from the spacesuit and give it to Nardole. "Put the chip in the console," he told him.
"You two okay?" The Doctor asked Bill and Arthur.
"Er, yeah. Just a…just a little freaked, I think," Bill admitted.
"I dealt worse," he assured him with a smile before looking at Bill. "Try not to breathe so fast. Just…thinking of your happy place."
"A single line of instruction was sent to all suits," Nardole informed. "Deactivate your organic component."
"People," Arthur noted, rubbing his neck nervously.
"Interesting. They were killed by their own suits," the Doctor pondered.
"Can you fry those ones, too?" Bill gestures at four more suits in alcoves.
"Possibly, but we have another problem," the Doctor stated. "Opening the airlock was the station's plan A. Plan B…filtering out all the oxygen."
"So they can sell it back to us," Nardole concluded.
"Capitalism…in space. If we want to keep breathing, we have exactly one option. Buy the merchandise."
"Oxygen levels are seriously depleted. Please step on board your Ganymede Systems Series Twelve SmartSuit. Engage pressure pad to activate customised robing," a computer informed.
"You said those things were going to kill us!" Bill reminded him.
"Well, on the bright side, we're dying already," the Doctor retorted.
"Dad, not helping," Arthur pointed out.
"We know that they killed their occupants on specific orders, Sunny. I think these ones are off network for repairs, so they can't receive commands."
"What if you're wrong?" Bill asked again.
"Well, we'll be horribly murdered!"
"Dad!" Arthur bellowed.
"Let's say I'm right!" the Doctor added.
"Doctor, if those suits have killed 36 people, that means there's 36 corpses walking about this station," Nardole pointed out.
"Pish off, Nardole!" Arthur barked, getting annoyed by the reminder of their horrible situation.
"I'm just saying!" Nardole huffed, then turned on the outside lights to reveal the army of corpses on the hull.
"Crap."
"Suits, now!" the Doctor insisted, gesturing them to stand on the pressure pads in front of the suits, and the automated robbing systems activated.
"Welcome to the Ganymede Systems Series Twelve SmartSuit. Oxygen field engaged. At current levels of exertion, you have two and a half thousand breaths available."
"Breaths? You couldn't just give it me in minutes?" Bill demanded.
"It doesn't work like that," Nardole grimly stated.
"When you panic, you breathe quicker," Arthur added. "Remember. Happy place."
Bill nods. "Happy place. Happy place…"
"Drill Chief Tasker. Do you read me?" the Doctor called while Nardole helped Bill to relax.
"Read you, Doctor. You need to take Corridor 12 to Processing. Quickly," Tasker informed.
"Come on."
"We'd better go. Come on, but keep breathing," Nardole reminded her and Arthur. Just as they open another door, more corpses are heading into their path.
"Back! Back!" Arthur articulated.
"You look like you're trying to run. Would you like some help with that?" the voice from Bill's spacesuit asked.
Bill looks at Nardole. "Can you shut your girlfriend up?"
"Velma! That was her name!" Nardole remembered while the Doctor quickly seals the bulkhead door between them and the corpses before Arthur smashes the control panel.
"Confirmed. My name is now Velma."
They run on to a closed door and a wrecked wall control panel. The Doctor uses his suit comms to communicate. "We've hit a sealed door at the end of Corridor 12. No way through."
"My suit's really called Velma?" Bill wondered.
"Correct. My name is Velma."
"Tasker, come in," Arthur called.
"Oh! They're through!" Nardole notices the corpses heading their way. as the forcefield on Bill's suit activates. Nardole and the Doctor hammer on the door.
The situation became precarious. As Bill took a calming breath and the Doctor banged on the door to let them in, Arthur thought silently about alternatives. Maybe he could kick the door open by force. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Worth a try.
"Stand aside," the brunette boy suggested, ready to kick the door—
And the door opens, followed by another man's voice ordering, "Here. Go! Quick!"
Without wasting time, all four of them enter the place and face two lethal guns aimed at their head.
"Deadlock the door!" A woman ordered.
"Cutting it a bit fine, weren't we?" the Doctor pointed out.
"There was some debate over whether to open it at all," Tasker remarked.
Arthur's back hit someone. When he looks around, he sees a man with blue skin and yellow eyes. "Hi," he greeted.
"Wha!" Bill blurted, startled. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting…Hello."
"Great. We rescued a racist," the man huffed.
"What? Excuse me?"
"And you are?" Tasker inquired.
"Rescue team," Arthur replied off-handly as the Doctor gave Tasker the psychic paper, glancing at the alien. "Don't be offended. This is her first time. Haven't seen any non-humans around."
"It shows," he said, not buying it.
"They're from the union," Tasker shared.
"The union's a myth," the woman beside Tasker argued.
"Pretty much everyone says that," Arthur shrugs as Tasker gives the paper to the woman.
"Yeah. We're from the mythical union," Nardole remarked. "We're here to help."
Tasker glances at the alien. "Dahh-Ren?"
"Sorry, is your name Darren?"
"Dahh-Ren," Arthur repeated a bit slowly so Bill could catch up.
"Ahh. Makes more sense." Then, her arms suddenly reach out in front of her, zombie-style. "Er, that's not me. That's not me."
Arthur glances down at her spacesuit's monitor. "She has 3 Oxygen Credits available."
"It's just glitching. Ivan, take a look," Tasker told another man to check at Bill's spacesuit.
"Look, for the record, I'm not prejudiced. I'm usually on the receiving end," Bill said at Dahh-Ren.
"Oh? Why?"
"What, you really don't know?"
"You haven't gone to Earth, have you?" Arthur inquired, the man simply shook his head while Ivan led Bill away, followed by Velma announcing.
"Would you like to give feedback on your experience so far? Would you class your experience?"
"Right, where's your ship?" Dahh-Ren asked the Doctor.
"Er…We're parked just off your repair station," he replied.
"Then you might as well be on the moon. They're swarming round there now," the woman stated.
"It's just maths now. Oxygen divided by bodies. And none of us have more than three thousand breaths left," Tasker remarked.
"So we need another route to escape," Arthur suggested. "But first, we need a map and full circumstances."
"Who the hell put you in charge?"
"Do you have any better ideas besides standing here and doing nothing?"
Tasker's mouth twitching, torn between arguing or not. "Abby, get the man a map," he told the woman.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Deactivate your organic component," the Doctor started, recalling what Nardole told him before.
"All the suits got the same command. Best guess, someone hacked the network," Tasker informed.
"How did you survive?" Arthur frowns, arms remaining at his sides.
"We were off network. You have to be to repair the conveyors," Abby responded.
"It was just dumb luck," Dahh-Ren added, pointing at a section on the map.
"The measurements, are these in metres?" The Doctor asked.
"Average breaths. The only unit worth a damn out here," Tasker specified.
That just made Arthur's day getting better. "Great," he grumbled.
"40 breaths to the dorms, 120 to the core," Abby asserted, giving them the direction. "That's where we're headed. It's the safest place."
"Are there more suits inside the base or out?" the Doctor inquired as Ivan and Bill joined them.
"Outside is suicide."
"Inside we can move faster than them," Tasker remarked. "Outside…they have the edge. Which means we're dead."
"What are you mining?" Nardole pondered. "Is it worth stealing?"
"Nardole," Arthur nudges him as a warning if he might steal something else. That's the last thing they need.
"I'm just saying!"
Abby looks at them. "You think this is a robbery?"
"Well, killing you'd be a good start if it was," the Doctor acknowledged.
"It's how I'd do it," Nardole agreed, causing everyone to look at him while Arthur silently cursed at Nardole's blunt words. "If…I was to do that sort of thing. Which, actually, I probably wouldn't, so…please don't worry."
"Well, they picked a fine day for it," Dahh-Ren commented. "This is the least productive we've all been for months."
"Look, we're mining copper ore. You'd need to steal a mountain to make it worth your while," Tasker pointed out.
"Can you get some help from your employees?" Arthur suggested.
"They're too far away."
"Not that it matters," Ivan remarked. "Whoever hacked the suits also cut the radio."
The Doctor looks at him. "So your distress call…"
"Was a botch. I boosted a suit radio through the dish."
"Good job."
Arthur glances at the door behind him. "We need to hurry," he said, gulping. "I sense they might be doing something bad."
"What about the brains of these suits? The AI?" The Doctor asked hurriedly.
"They're dumb as rocks," Tasker replied, looking weirdly at Arthur.
"But they can learn, adapt," Arthur argued. "Wall-E proves it."
"They've got limited problem-solving, and that's it," Ivan asserted, rolling his eyes at that comparison.
"I'm missing something," the Doctor muttered. "What am I missing, Sunny?"
"Oxygen. That's what we're missing," Abby answered. "Maybe find some of that and leave the big picture till later, yeah?"
The corpse's suit has identified the fault in the wiring. Oh boy. "They're trying to fix the lock!" Arthur warned.
"What?" Tasker shouted as an alarm blares. He looks at the monitor, before glancing at Arthur again. "How…?"
"Not important. Where should we go?"
"West corridor is free. Forty breaths to the core," Ivan stated as he looked at the other monitor. "Let's move."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Everyone nodded and ran out, following Tasker who guided them towards one of the doors. "Quick! They're through!" Dahh-Ren warned, glancing back.
Just as Tasker opens the door, a corpse reaches its hand on Tasker's suit. Arthur quickly zaps the suit and makes it stop reaching Tasker's suit, enough to make Tasker walk back before the system resetting back.
"Airlock!" Tasker yelled as they turned around to another route.
"Airlock. Helmets on," Ivan ordered.
That alone makes Bill extremely scared. "Where are we going?"
"Outside."
"Well, didn't they say that was a bad idea?"
"We had no choice, Bill," Arthur kindly told her, his head starts to ache, which he ignores as he takes her helmet, ready to activate it like everyone else before she stops him.
"Wait, why, why, why, why do I need that? What about the…air forcefield thing?"
"Not strong enough for a vacuum. Trust me," the Doctor added as he takes the helmet from his son and fits the helmet over her head.
"Happy place," Arthur reminded her once again, make an effort to focus.
"What happens if I throw up in my helmet?" Bill asked.
"Colour and smells," Narolde quipped.
"Don't throw up in helmet then. Just in my happy place. Check."
Tasker pressed some buttons and soon, the airlock was activated. As they all wait, all of sudden, a red light starts flashing inside Bill's suit. "Warning. Helmet malfunction."
"Er, Doctor?" Bill called.
"Please advise local technician."
"Somebody stop it!"
Arthur quickly grabs Bill's hands trying to take her helmet off. But no matter what he tried, the suit manages to release its grasp from Arthur and takes off the helmet immediately. "Stop the cycle!" Arthur yelped.
"We can't stop it. It's automated," Ivan stated.
The Doctor tries to take the helmet away from Bill's hands, but even he can't. "Now we know now why your suit was being repaired. Bill. Bill! You're about to be exposed to the vacuum of space."
"Oh, God!" Bill cried.
"So don't hold your breath."
"Or my lungs'll explode."
"Happy place," Arthur told her again as he looked at the problem. He couldn't let Bill go without a helmet. The only way to keep Bill safe while walking outside was with a helmet. Arthur could have given him a helmet, but what about him? Even with the respiratory bypass of a Time Lord that allowed him to hold his breath longer than a human, there was no way he could go out into space without oxygen.
Maybe...
"What are we going to do?" Bill asked as the airlock opened.
Arthur immediately gave Bill the helmet, not caring about the protesting words of his father and Nardole. He didn't know if this method would work. But maybe...maybe with time vortex energy, Arthur could create a time bubble on himself to slow down the freezing process and give him as much oxygen as possible.
The theory is simple, but the practice is very troublesome.
As Arthur and the others walked, in slow motion, Arthur saw many corpses walking towards them. Abby, Ivan, and Taser used their laser pistols on the corpses, but he knew that it was all to buy them time. He could see Bill and Nardole walking ahead, worried about the situation. Meanwhile, his father...
Ah, his father was holding both of his hands, guiding him to walk as if Arthur was a young baby who didn't know how to walk yet.
He said something, but Arthur couldn't catch his words. Maybe it was because he was still in the time bubble, maybe it was because the helmet he was wearing interfered with the sound of his father speaking. But his worried expression let Arthur know that he was worried about his actions.
His eyes were slowly clouding over. Time also began to run normally. His breathing also began to sting and the headache is getting worse than ever. Oh no. The time bubble had reached its limit. He needs oxygen. Gosh, it hurts like hell to breathe...
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"That was stupid," someone said in a sullen tone.
Ah. Back in the barn again. Bad Wolf had always been in this place. She never answered why she chose this place and only replied with a single 'spoiler' like his mother likes to say.
"I can't let Bill die," he said seriously.
"She won't die, my silly nephew. Your father will still save her with the consequences that he has to bear. Your actions to change it will be in vain."
Bill steps into Section 12, where the Doctor and Dahh-Ren are talking. "Doctor?" she said, her face changes into a shock when she sees his grey eyes, a sign of blindness.
"There was no hacking, no malfunction," the Doctor elaborated, holding Arthur who's not waking up. "The suits are doing exactly what they were designed to do. What your employers are telling them to do."
"And what would that be?" Ivan asked.
"Save the oxygen that you are wasting. You've become inefficient. You even told me. Your conveyors were down."
"Hello, suits," the Doctor greeted the moving corpses, including Bill. "Our deaths will be brave and brilliant and unafraid. But above all, suits, our deaths will be…expensive!" They all stop moving. The Doctor moves, giving his readings to them, while Ivan and Tasker hold Arthur. "Check your readings. We die, your precious station dies. The whole thing will blow. The company will make the biggest loss in its history." He rejoins Ivan, Tasker, Abby, and Nardole. "A moment ago, we were too expensive to live. Now we're more expensive dead. Welcome to the rest of your lives."
"Why not?" He asked her after a moment.
"You know why. Time is unstable. Even with the Mouri guarding it, the will of time is elusive. The smallest moments you cannot change and the big moments can be changed with a little help. That's why Time Lords study time. To understand what they can do…and what they cannot do. And that means, you cannot change the timeline like you did in Trenzalore."
"Including when will I die?" Arthur asked, looking at his aunt with a frown. A question he had been dreading to ask, but he needed to know.
Bad Wolf looked down. "I can't answer that."
"Because it's a fixed point in time?"
"Because it would make Mother sad. Mother doesn't like to talk or think about your death. Remember that, Arthur. The time vortex inside you is the link to your soul. Without it, you will die."
With that, Arthur slowly pulls back into his body that's already in the Tardis. "Oh," he reacted.
"You miss so many things," Ivan commented, giving him a brief smile before looking at the Doctor and Nardole.
"You could have told us your actual plan in the first place," Abby remarked.
"I could have told Bill her battery was too weak to kill her, but the suits would have heard. I could ask Sunny to let me give my helmet to Bill, but the suits would immediately kill him in space. I try never to tell the enemy my secret plan," the Doctor pointed out.
"Better?" Nardole asked as the Doctor stood as he checked on Arthur, who was leaning on a chair to inspect his health.
"Hmm. Ah, we're back in the Tardis. When did that happen, Sunny?"
"Thank you, Doctor, for all that you've done," Abby thanked him. "I'm sorry that I didn't have more faith in your methods."
"Ah, don't mention it. Now I can set you down on a hub world outside of corporate control, or anywhere, really. The universe is your crustacean."
"Head Office. We've got a complaint to make."
"I think we can arrange that."
"I'll help," Arthur volunteered but his legs went limp.
"Nono," Nardole disagreed, dragging the brunette man back to sit. "You need to sit down and let me check you. And if you complain, remember that I had permission to scold you."
Arthur rolls his eyes, and starts to think that the Doctor's right. River shouldn't give Nardole that permission to begin with.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor is sitting with his feet up on his desk, wearing his sunglasses and playing with a yellow yo-yo, with Arthur enjoying his yoghurt that Nardole finally bought.
"Does it work?" Bill asked as she entered the office room.
"Does what work?" Arthur asked, looking at Bill while the Doctor put down his yo-yo.
"Making a complaint to Head Office."
"I do see a vision of a rebellion that went very smoothly. Does that count?"
"Very much count," Bill replied. "Laters!"
"Laters," they both said after Bill leaves, followed by an angry Nardole entering the room.
"Never again," he fumed.
"Nardole, don't," Arthur implored, telling him to stop, which he didn't.
"I'm serious. We were so close to not making it back. Then what happens to the vault? You made your son not take the oath and forbid him to even enter the place because of what happened in Valiant."
"Really, stop talking," the Doctor hissed, rubbing his eyes after he removed his sunglasses, which made Arthur stand up and rubbing his shoulder.
"What if you or Arthur got killed out there, huh? What happens to your precious Earth then? You need to be here, and you need to be ready if that door ever opens! Look at me."
"I can't."
"What if you came back injured…or sick? You really think our friend down there won't know that? Won't sense it? Look at me!" Nardole yelled.
"For God's sake, Nardole, he can't!" Arthur seethed, pounded his hand on the table as his eyes went wet, startled both the Doctor and Nardole at his tone of voice that's so not Arthur Jonas. In that moment, Nardole, who usually had the hard time to believe the brunette man as the Doctor's son, finally sees the resemblance of the Doctor beneath his hard gaze at him.
Sensing how the tension might be getting up, the Doctor quickly says, "Nardole, take a day off. Let us alone."
For the first time, Nardole followed his instructions without any comments.
As soon as the door closed, the Doctor took Arthur's trembling hand. "It's not your fault."
"It's definitely my fault."
"Don't. Please, Sunny. Don't start thinking I'm going blind because of you. I can't bear to hear you suffer because of this."
"I could have healed your eyes—"
"And make you blind? River would've come straight here and started making inappropriate remarks about my carelessness. I cannot let that happen, my son. Not after..." He grew silent, images of painful memories from the past beginning to swirl in his head. He can't think of that. Not now. "What happened has happened. Don't blame yourself. Just do it for me, okay?"
Arthur only responded by hugging him, letting out a soft cry that began to soak his father's shirt. The Doctor didn't protest, neither from the hug nor from his wet shirt. Instead, he stroked his son's head gently to calm him down, telling him that none of this is his fault. After everything they went through, that's what the Doctor can say to him. That's what his son needs the most.