Alex sat in the leather chair, getting comfortable as he was stared down by the school principal. "Young man, I've been doing this for a very long time. The teenagers here have pulled every sort of stunt imaginable over the years. But never, never have I had a student get into a fight after just two days of attending." Alex inhaled and exhaled. Principal Morris briefly sifted through Alex's papers. "Some of your classmates have informed your teachers, who have informed me, that you mark yourself? On your arms?" Alex nodded and pulled the sleeves of his black hoodie, revealing a large scourge of black tally marks running up his arms; marks made by a Sharpie. The principal stared at these. "What are they for?" "Counting." Alex answered simply and seriously. "Counting what?" "How many times I see one." "One what?" Alex was silent, and didn't answer for a little bit. Finally, he said: "Black tie. A disappearing black tie."
*2 Days Ago*
"Master! Master!" K-9's electronic voice broke the silence in the TARDIS medical room. Alex, sitting at the computer and carefully studying the screen, flinched. "Yes, K-9?" "There's an alert on the mainframe monitor." "Alright. I'll be there when I'm done analyzing the results." K-9, with practical curiosity, made its way to Alex. On his computer screen were pictures and X-rays of what looked to be Alex's own body. "What are these, Master?" K-9 asked. "I wanted to better understand what those androids were doing to me." "What did you find?"
"They were implementing my body with synthetic, metallic muscle tissue. My arms, legs, chest, lungs, heart, and brain have all been...reinforced with the skin technology." Alex rubbed his forehead, where there sat a faint sewn-up scar where the tube had once been. "They were also trying to hack the .exe program." "Thank goodness they did not." Alex nodded wordlessly. "It seems, Master, that you are quickly becoming more machine than man." K-9 concluded to Alex. Alex's eyes went to the onscreen X-ray of his skull, where Cybertech plating and computer technology had fused with the muscle tissue, as well as his skull and brain...
***
The TARDIS landed at its destination: the roof of West Ridge High School in America. Inside, Alex was looking through the TARDIS closets for a backpack. "Master?" K-9 called out. "Yes?" Alex asked in response. "If there is a threat in this high school, why not go undercover as a teacher, rather than a student?" "I'll have less time as a teacher to explore the building, check all the nooks and crannies. I can use my schedule to check inside multiple rooms and the halls. Besides, I look too young to pass for a teacher." Alex grabbed a black backpack and put it on. "You're supposed to agree with that, K-9." K-9 ignored that statement. "But Master, what will you do once the academic day has finished?" "I can always sneak in with a screwdriver. Which reminds me, I need you to check on the screwdriver construction system. My personal sonic screwdriver still isn't ready." "Yes, Master." Alex made his way out. "Master?" Alex groaned internally. "Yes, K-9?" "May I inquire what your cover story will be?"
***
"Alexander Williams. I'm from England, and I lived there across the pond until our family moved over here to America." Alex explained in a Northern English accent before sitting back down in his desk. "Thank you Alexander. Joshua, you're next." Alex took a long look around the classroom; his 1st period. Math equations decorated on posters were stapled all over the walls. Tuning everyone else in the room out, his eyes scanned the room, looking for something, anything, off...
He was looking at his reflection. Alex looked around again. He was no longer sitting in his desk. He was standing across the room clutching a tissue. A mirror was mounted on the wall he was facing. He took another look around. No one seemed to notice anything strange. Everyone was still working... Wait, they were introducing themselves one by one just a second ago. Now all the students were working silently, eyes down at their papers. Alex threw his tissue away; that's when he noticed a mark on the back of his left hand: a single black line...
