Unrepentant | DOCTOR WHO [ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]

twenty two | silence in the library

In turn, Donna said to him, "What?"

The Doctor told her, "Scanning for lifeforms. If I do a scan looking for your basic humanoids, you know, your book-readers, few limbs and a face, apart from us, I get nothing." While Annabelle started to look around herself and eye the books that practically lied around them on their own separate shelves, he said, "Zippo, nada. See, nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to any kind of life... A million million. Gives up after that. A million million."

Donna said to him, "But there's nothing here. There's no one."

Then the Doctor said, "And not a sound. A million million life forms and silence in the library."

With a nod of her head, Donna told him, "But there's no one here. There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive."

After slowly reaching their hands towards one of the stacked books, both Donna and the Doctor let out a gasp when an electronic voice was heard saying, "Welcome!"

While Annabelle looked between Donna and the Doctor with a bit of a smirk on her face and her head raised, the Doctor and Donna shared a look before Donna asked him, "That came from here?"

With a nod of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Yeah."

* * *

While the three of them walked towards the main desk in the room, the head of a robot slowly turned around and faced them before it said, "I am Courtesy Node 710/Aqua. Please enjoy the library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers, regardless of species or hygiene taboo."

While Annabelle simply eyed the robot with her head tilted to the side, Donna said, "That face, it looks real."

In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Yeah, don't worry about it."

With a point of her finger, Donna asked him, "A statue with a real face, though? It's a hologram or something, innit?"

The Doctor replied, "No, but really, it's fine."

It was then that Courtesy Node 710/Aqua told them, "Additional. There follows a brief message from the head librarian for your urgent attention. It had been edited for tone and content by a Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. Run. For God's sake, run. Nowhere is safe. The library has sealed itself. We can't... Oh, they're here. Arg. Slarg. Snick. Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm-units for the comfort of other readers."

In turn, the Doctor said, "So that's why we're here." Then he asked Courtesy Node 710/Aqua, "Any other messages, same date stamp?"

Then Courtesy Node 710/Aqua said to them, "One additional message. This message carries a Felman Lux Coherency Warning of..."

The Doctor replied, "Yeah, yeah. Fine, fine, fine! Just play it."

Then Courtesy Node 710/Aqua said, "Message follows. Count the shadows. For God's sake remember, if you want to live, count the shadows. Message ends."

After looking around himself, the Doctor said, "Annabelle, Donna."

While Annabelle only glanced over at the Doctor, Donna said to him, "Yeah."

The Doctor told her, "Stay out of the shadows."

While the Doctor walked away from the Courtesy Node, Donna asked him, "Why, what's in the shadows?"

* * *

After walking through a pair of doors, Donna said, "So, we weren't just in the neighborhood."