published: 19/03/21 | words: 2300 | status: unedited
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-ˋˏAge of Steel - 3ˎˊ-
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The Doctor and Lyra were marched into an open room with an abundance of bulky looking computer stations and several Cybermen stood guard around the three other people stood dejectedly in the middle of it all.
"We've been captured, but don't worry," The Doctor said looking at Lyra before looking at the others his voice laced with sarcasm. "Rose, Noah, and Pete are still out there. They can rescue us. Oh well, never mind."
"You okay?" He asked looking at Rose who he had moved towards whilst Lyra had walked over to Noah giving him the once over to check he hadn't lost a limb yet although he seemed to be doing the same.
"Yeah, but they got Jackie." Rose told him.
"We were too late." Pete told the others mournfully as Noah put a hand on his shoulder in support. "Lumic killed her."
"Where is he then, infamous Lumic?" Lyra asked to the world the Doctor nodding along with her question.
"Yes, don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?" The Doctor challenged them building off of Lyra's point.
Without missing a beat one of the Cybermen replied. "He has been upgraded."
"But is it really an upgrade though? I guess it depends on your viewpoint." Lyra questioned and then answered herself out loud.
"It looks to me like a downgrade personally, Whisp." Noah commented the use of the seemingly bizarre nickname not unnoticed.
"So, he's just like you?" The Doctor asked.
"He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller." It informed them before a door opened revealing a monstrous concoction of wires and Cyberman in what looked like an upgraded wheelchair.
"This is The Age of Steel and I am its creator." What must have been the upgraded Lumic told them.
It was but a moment later that the echoes of screams flooded the control room. The screams of the people no longer walking in like cattle but running for their lives.
"That's my friends at work." The Doctor said proudly a small smile on his face. "I think that's a vote for free will." He winked making a clicking sound with his mouth.
"I have factories waiting in seven continents. If the ear pods have failed, then the Cybermen will take humanity by force." Lumic told them. "London has fallen. So shall the world."
"Classic villain complex." Noah muttered between coughs. "Isn't even original."
One of the cameras in the room started blinking with its red light signalling that someone was watching and Lyra smirked having seen it and having more than an inkling as to who it was. The second camera in the far corner of the room, however remained unnoticed blinking in a constant orange light.
"I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace and unity and uniformity. "
"And imagination? What about that? The only thing that led you here, imagination, you're killing it dead!" The Doctor rebutted, Lyra adding onto the rebuttal gaining confidence in her friends' success.
"You've been through school Lumic, you were taught about variation, it's strengths." Lyra said putting emphasis on the final word before continuing on. "And yet you still remove it."
"What are your names?" Lumic asked the people in opposing him.
"I'm the Doctor."
Lyra contemplated how to answer and made a hasty decision. If the Doctor hadn't cottoned on yet, then he had better now. "And I am the Whisperer."
The Whisperer looked straight at the Cyber Controller ignoring the confused stares she was getting from the rest of the party.
"A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken." Lumic told the Doctor before redirecting his words to the Whisperer. "A whisper is needless for Cybermen think the same."
"Yeah, but that's it. That's exactly the point!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man. I'd call you a genius except I'm in the room and perhaps her being in here too. But everything you invented; you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is so human." The Doctor said moving around the room slightly.
"But once you get rid of sickness and mortality, then what's there to strive for, eh?" He posed the question pausing for a moment which Lyra took to cut in.
"Never heard of a computer virus? GCSE Biology? You're all the same. No variation. One fault in all of you. One virus and vshump" Lyra told them waving he hands around with her words. "you're all going to get it. You'll never move forward like this. Forever stuck the same way."
The Doctor regarded her for a moment, the small sections of information he had stored away slowly slipping into place like a jigsaw puzzle. He then continued from where Lyra had cut him off.
"The Cybermen won't advance. You'll just stop. You'll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts lacking the one thing that makes this planet so alive." The Doctor said having moved round speaking directly at one of the Cybermen's faces before moving again. "People. Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people." The Doctor said continuing to walk around covertly inspecting the controls.
"You are proud of your emotions." Lumic stated as a question.
"Oh, yeah." The Doctor replied.
"Then tell me, Doctor. Have you known grief, and rage, and pain?" Lumic asked.
"Yes. Yes I have." The Doctor answered, Lyra could see his face turn sour with emotion. What could have possibly happened?
"And they hurt?" Lumic prompted.
"Oh, yes."
"I could set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain?"
"That's not your place. Pain and suffering define us just as much as love and joy. They are what make you, well, you, you know? Well obviously, you don't but well yep." Lyra cut in she seemed to be doing that a lot, Noah had told her she acted in a certain way when dealing with the 'baddies'.
The Doctor nodded to what Lyra had said. " You might as well kill me."
"Then I take that option." Lumic replied immediately as though it had been the intention the entire time.
"He didn't even miss a beat!" Noah muttered thinking about how inhumane this once human was.
"It's not yours to take. You're a Cyber Controller. You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart." The Doctor scoffed at Lumic.
"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own." Lumic retorted.
"You just don't get it, do you? An army's nothing. Because those ordinary people, they're the key. The most ordinary person could change the world." The Doctor spoke at Lumic before turning to look at the camera which he knew Mickey to be watching from. "Some ordinary man or woman, some idiot."
Catching on to what was going on Lyra appeared from behind the Doctor in the view of the camera. "Any old doppelganger." She added.
"All it takes is for him to find the right numbers. Say the right codes." The Doctor continued inconspicuously glancing at the camera as he said important details.
"Say, as an example, perhaps the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The one right in front of you." Lyra added on before the Doctor could.
"Because even an idiot knows how to use computers these days." The Doctor continued and Noah thought he sounded rather old and then realised he probably was.
"Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords. Knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under err. What was it Pete? Binary what?" The Doctor began listing finishing with his question.
"Binary nine." Pete replied.
With his requested information the Doctor continued. "An idiot could find that code. Cancellation code. And he'd just keep typing." The Doctor told them having given his instructions to Mickey, now attempting to stall for time.
"Keep on fighting. Anything to save his friends." He stalled.
"Your words are irrelevant." Lumic told him calling him out for stalling.
"Tell that to all the English teachers." Noah muttered to Rose's slight amusement despite the life-threatening situation.
"Yeah, talk too much, that's my problem. Lucky, I got that cheap tariff Rose for all our long chats." The Doctor responded somehow still managing to stall some more.
"On your phone." He added pointedly and, to Lyra, obviously hinting to Mickey.
"You will be deleted." The Cyber Controller told them as the Cybermen prepared to delete the group.
"Yes. Delete, control, hash. All those lovely buttons. Then, of course, my particular favourite, send. " He said obviously coaxing Mickey on. "And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place."
As if on cue Rose's phone then beeped signifying that someone had pressed send.
"By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else." The Doctor finished as Rose retrieved her phone from her pocket.
Rose glanced at the message quickly before looking up at the Doctor who was stood near one of the control panels.
"It's for you." She told him, chucking he phone over to him which he caught.
"Like this." He demonstrated putting the phone which contained the code into a slot on the control panel transmitting the code.
"How did that even fit? Your phone isn't even from this universe!" Noah exclaimed to which Rose just shrugged half smiling at him.
"Just luck I guess." She answered before looking back at the rest of the group.
As the code was broadcasted it appeared on every screen and passed through every Cyberman's system signalled by the way their cybernetic screams rang out in pain, each clutching their heads.
One of the Cybermen near the Doctor caught sight of itself in a reflection screaming all the while. Sympathy filled the Doctor prompting him to apologise to the people stuck as Cybermen. "I'm sorry."
"What have you done?" Lumic demanded unaffected by the code. He wanted to be like this.
"I gave them back their souls. They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them." The Doctor answered his sympathy for the Cybermen never leaving.
"There's no variation." Lyra exclaimed to Lumic looking sadly at the metal creatures. "They're done for."
In response Lumic entirely lost it and began yelling. "Delete. Delete. Delete!"
The group ran from the room and down a corridor, leaving the Cyber Controller behind. In their haste no one noticed a small flash of orange dart across the room.
The Doctor reached the fire exit door first yanking it open only for it to be full of convulsing Cybermen, some laying on the floor, their heads exploded. More things exploded around them as they searched for a viable exit.
"There's no way out!" The Doctor exclaimed having closed the fire exit door on the writhing Cybermen.
"There's always a way out!" Noah countered looking around only finding the stairs.
Just then Rose's phone buzzed, and she answered the phone holding a conversation before directing the group. "It's Mickey. He says head to the roof."
The group then ran for the roof Rose being in front of them all Lyra being just behind her. As they rushed up the clanging metal stairs a fire broke out behind them. This place was going to blow.
They ran up the metal steps to the roof, once they got there, Rose, who was still on the phone to Mickey, spoke to him as she eyed the zeppelin hanging in the sky overhead.
"Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?" Rose asked into the phone, evidently receiving an answer by her facial expression.
After a few moments Lyra could see a hatch on the bottom of the zeppelin open and a rope ladder fell out of it, unrolling until it hung a few feet in front of them all.
Pete eyed the ladder sceptically before sighing. "You've got to be kidding."
"Tell me about it." Lyra muttered not very keen about climbing on a flimsy rope ladder only to dangle over the city.
The group moved towards the rope and Noah ushered Lyra forwards worried for his friend.
"Rose, get up." The Doctor instructed moving her to the rope ladder which she began to climb.
Noah moved Lyra to the rope ladder which she latched onto reluctantly. "I hate heights. I bloody hate them." Lyra protested to which Noah just pushed her upwards slightly before replying.
"Just look up and climb, Lyra. I'll be right behind you." He encouraged her, climbing on the rope behind her as she continued upwards behind Rose.
The Doctor then climbed onto the rope ladder followed by Pete as they all continued to climb upwards. When all of them were on the ladder Mickey began driving the zeppelin up saying something about his own airline but in her concentration not to panic Lyra didn't catch whatever was said.
"We did it! We did it!" Rose exclaimed in front of her having stopped climbing. Lyra was a bit below Rose and Noah had moved to climb on the side of the ladder in line with Lyra, one of his hands gripping the rope furiously the other looped through the rope and holding onto Lyra's arm to keep her steady and somewhat secure which she very much appreciated.
Suddenly the rope ladder was tugged by something heavy, and they all looked down to see the Cyber Controller unplugged from its wheelchair and climbing towards them. Although Lyra immediately regretted looking down having seen the height, they were at her nerves jumped up about seven notches and she let out a squeal before firmly shutting her eyes and lifting her head up again.
"Oh great, it's out of the wheelchair thrown thing." Noah muttered sarcastically before giving Lyra's arm a squeeze of reassurance.
Upon seeing the Cyber Lumic the Doctor reached into his jacket pocket retrieving his sonic screwdriver, holding it out about Pete who was directly below him.
"Pete! Take this!" The Doctor said before dropping his sonic into Pete's outstretched hand. "Use it, hold the button down and press it against the rope." He instructed. "Just do it!"
Pete took the screwdriver and pressed the button and held it against the rope beneath his feet where Lumic was climbing. "Jackie Tyler. This is for her!"
The rope beneath his feet finally broke and Cyber Lumic, who had been gaining on them, plummeted into the power station below. In his eyes, Pete could have sworn he saw a flash of orange leave them before the Cyber Controller exploded along with the rest of Battersea Power Station.
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A/N - Heya chirren, I know it's been a long road but I promise you, the next chapter is the end of Age of Steel and shall see the kick off of Lyra's journey!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. And if you want to don't forget to comment and vote, always means a lot.
Special mention and thanks for FriendofthePhoenix, autumnredwolf , tabby_246 and S-E-R-E-N7 who have all commented already on this story. Thanks so much guys it really motivates me. xx
Anyway, stay peachy - Ro xx