The TARDIS crew were currently taking it easy, drifting in the Time Vortex. The Artist was in her room getting changed, having had a swim in the pool. The Doctor, Rose and Mickey were in the console room, with the Doctor and Rose slumped on the jump seat while Mickey stood by the console listening to them reminiscing about a past adventure.
"And that weird munchkin lady with the big eyes, d'ya remember?" the Doctor asked Rose enthusiastically, "The way she looked at you! And then she opens her mouth and fires comes out!"
"I thought I was gonna get frazzled!" Rose chortled, "Good thing the Artist pulled me back."
"Yeah!" the Doctor grinned, "One minute she's standing there, next minute, rrrrr!" He and Rose mimicked fire coming out of their mouths and killed themselves laughing.
"Yeah..." Mickey spoke up, feeling somewhat forgotten by them, "Where... where was that, then? What happened?"
"Oh, it was on this um... uh, this uh... planet thing, asteroid." the Doctor waved him off, "It's a long story, you had to be there."
"It was on Wanlockhead IV, Mickey." the Artist's voice said and everyone turned to see her walk in.
Rose smirked when she saw the Doctor's face light up at the sight of the Time Lady. Earlier, she'd seen him coming out of the Artist's room and it didn't take eating chips cooked in Krilitane oil to work out that the Time Lords had slept together.
"It was just before Cardiff." the Artist explained to Mickey, "Jack was flirting with everyone, as usual, and some locals didn't take too kindly to it. Hence the fire lady." Mickey nodded, grateful that at least the Artist included him in conversations and made him feel welcome in the TARDIS. The Artist then noticed that Mickey was holding a button down. "Why're you holding that down?" she asked him.
"Cos' he told me to." Mickey replied, gesturing to the Doctor.
"When was that?" the Doctor frowned, not quite remembering when he'd said that.
"About half-an-hour ago." Mickey told him.
"Um, you can let go now." the Doctor said sheepishly. He'd completely forgotten about that.
Mickey took his hand off the button. "Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?" he asked.
"10 minutes?" the Doctor shrugged, "20...? 29." he admitted, causing Rose to roll her eyes and the Artist to facepalm. The Doctor had been like this ever since France. He'd been focusing his attention on the Artist, trying to compensate for how he'd upset her, but in the process, he'd become somewhat forgetful of the two humans that were also in the TARDIS.
"You just forgot me!" Mickey fumed.
"No, no, no!" the Doctor defended weakly, "I was just... I was calibrating, I was just... no, I know exactly what I'm doing."
No sooner had those words left his mouth when an explosion erupted from the console, sending sparks and flames flying everywhere and the quartet all jumping back.
"What happened?" Rose gasped as they all struggled back to the console.
"We've lost the Time Vortex!" the Artist hollered, checking the monitor, then she and the Doctor frantically tried to operate the controls.
"That's impossible, it's just gone!" the Doctor cried. Then, the TARDIS gave a rough jolt. "Brace yourselves!" the Doctor warned, "We're gonna crash!"
There was an almighty jolt, throwing everyone backwards. The TARDIS stopped and all the lights went out. The Doctor was the first to recover. "You alright?" he asked the Artist.
"Yeah." she replied, "You?" He nodded. "Rose? Mickey?" the Artist called to the humans.
"I'm fine. I'm okay." Mickey answered from the other side of the console.
"Me too." Rose grunted as she picked herself up.
The Time Lords looked up at the console. The light in the time rotor had gone out and a few puffs of smoke wafted out. "She's dead." the Doctor breathed in shock, "The TARDIS is dead."
"You can fix it?" Rose suggested.
"There's nothing to fix." the Artist replied grimly, waving the smoke away.
"She's perished." the Doctor added, pulling a lever back and forth fruitlessly, "The last TARDIS in the universe... extinct."
"We can get help, yeah?" Rose offered.
"Where from?" the Artist asked rhetorically.
"Well, we've landed, we've gotta be somewhere!" Rose pointed out.
"We fell out of the Time Vortex, through the Void, into nothingness." the Doctor told her, "We're in some sorta no-place... the silent realm... the lost dimension..."
"Otherwise know as London." Mickey interrupted, and everyone turned to see him looking out of the door grinning. He laughed and stepped outside. The others followed him to see that they were indeed in 21st century London, on the bank of the Thames on a sunny day. "London, England." Mickey fired off, "Hold on..." He picked up a discarded newspaper off a bench and checked the date. "1st of February this year. Not exactly far-flung, is it?" he grinned, happy to be ahead of the Doctor for once.
Rose joined him while the Time Lords looked around, not as convinced of their luck as Mickey. "So, this is London?" the Doctor asked rhetorically.
"Yep." Mickey replied, not looking up from his paper.
"Your hometown?" the Artist asked.
"That's the one." Mickey grinned.
"Just as we left it?" the Doctor asked.
"Bang on." Mickey replied smugly.
"And that include the airships?" the Artist asked, pointing at the sky.
The humans looked up to see that the sky was indeed full of airships. "What the hell?" Mickey stared.
"That's beautiful." Rose breathed. She'd seen airships in history books and on telly, but never in person.
"Okay, so it's London with a big international zeppelin festival." Mickey shrugged.
"This is not your world." the Doctor told them grimly.
"But if the date's the same..." Mickey wandered, "It's parallel, right? Am I right? Like a parallel Earth where they've got Zeppelins, am I right? I'm right, aren't I?"
"Spot on." the Artist acknowledged him.
"So, a parallel world where..." Rose began, looking at something nearby.
"Oh, come on." Mickey said, "Ya see it in films. It's like an alternative to our world where everything's the same but a little bit different somehow. Like, I dunno, traffic lights are blue, Tony Blair never got elected..."
"And he's still alive." Rose murmured, gazing at a poster right in front of them. It depicted a smiling man in a suit holding a pop bottle. This man was Pete Tyler, Rose's late father, obviously still very much alive and well in this universe. "A parallel Earth an' my dad's still alive..." Rose breathed as she began to walk towards the poster.
"Don't look at it, Rose." the Doctor said sternly, "Don't even think about it. This is not your world."
"But he's my dad." Rose said, ignoring him, "And.." She touched the poster and the picture of Pete sprang to life for a moment, saying, 'Trust me on this', then he winked and gave a thumbs up.
"Okay, that's weird." Rose said as she stepped back, "But he's real!
"Trust me on this." the poster continued.
"He's a success!" Rose laughed, "He was always planning these daft little schemes; health-food drinks an' stuff. Everyone said they were useless, but he did it!"
The Artist put her hands on Rose's shoulders and turned the blonde to look her in the eye, while the Doctor positioned himself to block Rose's view of the poster. "Rose, listen to us." the Artist said gently but firmly, "That man is not your father. Your father died when you were six months old."
"She's right." the Doctor added, "That is not your Pete, but a Pete. For all we know, he's got his own Jackie, his own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you." he told her firmly.
"You can't see him, Rose." the Artist finished, "Not ever." Rose gave a tiny nod and the Artist flashed her sonic screwdriver at the poster to shut it up before leading Rose away.
———————————————————————————
The Time Lords left the humans at the bench they'd landed by and went inside the TARDIS to see if there was anything they could do. Presently, Mickey came in. "We told you to keep an eye on her!" the Doctor scolded.
"She's alright." Mickey waved him off. He'd had enough of hearing Rose whinging on and on about her dad, so had gone inside to get a break from it.
"She goes wandering off, parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house!" the Doctor said pointedly, "All those temptations calling out."
"Oh, so it's just Rose then?" Mickey glared, "Nothing out there to tempt me?"
"I'm sure there's loads out there to tempt you, Mickey." the Artist told him, "But we know you have more sense than that." Mickey felt better at that. The Artist had always treated him better than the Doctor did.
The Doctor turned to the inactive console. "If I could just get this thing to..." he grumbled, kicking the console in frustration, then walked over to the jump seat, scowling.
"Did that help?" Mickey asked sarcastically.
"Yes." the Doctor grunted.
"Did that hurt?"
"Yes. Ow!" the Doctor groaned, sitting down and clutching his foot.
"Serves you right." the Artist told him, "You wanna hit the console, use the mallet, that's what it's for."
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, Rose was strolling along the river bank and settled down on a bench, deep in thought. Airships were chugging softly in the sky overhead. Rose looked up to see one fly right above her, a prominent logo on it's underside. Rose's phone bleeped and she took it out of her pocket to see the home screen display the message; Welcome- free trial period. Rose accepted it and the screen now showed a news broadcast.
"And it's good news for Great Britain as John Lumic returns to the country of his birth." the newsreader said, "Mr Lumic, the inventor of high-contact metal has denied allegations of ill health."
The footage changed to show an ill-looking elderly man sitting in a wheelchair. "We're all flesh and blood, but the brain is making us human." he said, "And my mind is more creative than ever."
The footage then returned to the newsreader, who talked about shares in something called Cybus Industries then talked about a Torchwood Institute. Rose tuned all this out and looked at the airship flying above her again. She recognised the logo on the bottom as the Cybus Industries logo that the news feed was displaying and realised that this John Lumic was on board that airship.
———————————————————————————
"We're not meant to be here." the Doctor sighed, looking around the dead TARDIS, "The TARDIS draws her power from the universe, but it's the wrong universe. Like diesel in a petrol engine."
"But... I've seen it in comics." Mickey reasoned, sitting down next to him, "People are hopping from alternative world to another, it's easy."
"If only." the Artist sighed, leaning against the console.
"Used to be easy." the Doctor clarified for Mickey, "When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, ya could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, and took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that less kind."
"Then how did we get here?" Mickey asked.
"I dunno. Accident?" the Doctor replied, rubbing his face wearily, "Should've been impossible, now we're trapped."
Just then, something beneath the floor caught the Artist's eye. "What's that?" she asked.
"What?" Mickey questioned.
"That, right there. That's not a reflection is it?" the Artist answered, pointing at a small glowing green light beneath the grilling.
"It's a light!" the Doctor exclaimed excitedly, "That's all we need! We've got power!" He quickly moved the grilling out of the way and the Artist went down to check the light.
"She's alive!" she called up a moment later and popped back up, holding the glowing light in her hands.
"What is it?" Mickey asked.
"Nothing. It's tiny." the Doctor replied, "One of those insignificant power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging to life."
"But it's got one little bit of reality tucked away inside it." the Artist added.
"Enough to get us home?" Mickey asked hopefully.
"Not yet." the Doctor replied, "We need to charge it up."
"We could go outside and lash it up to the National Grid." Mickey suggested.
"Wrong sort of energy." the Doctor told him, "It's gotta come from our universe."
"But we don't have anything."
"There's us." the Artist said and exhaled on the power cell, which glowed brighter, then she handed it to the Doctor, who blew on it and it glowed even brighter.
"We both just gave away 10 years of our lives each." the Doctor grinned, "Worth every second!"
———————————————————————————
Rose searched for the name; 'Pete Tyler' on her phone, which was now connected to the Cybus network.
———————————————————————————
The Artist had now climbed out of the hole and taken the power cell back from the Doctor. The cell faded for a moment. "It's going out." Mickey said, "Is that okay?"
"It's on a recharging loop." the Artist replied as the cell glowed brighter again, then dimmed again and so on. "Should be ready in 12 hours." she said and put it in her jacket pocket for safe keeping.
"So that gives us 12 hours in a parallel world?" Mickey asked, excited at that prospect. Rose's rambling about her dad had given him thoughts about a beloved family member of his own who he'd lost, but could very well still be alive in this universe.
"Shore leave." the Doctor replied, "So long as we keep our heads down, easy. No problem."
"Better tell Rose the good news." the Artist said, standing up and dusting her jeans off. The Doctor took her hand and they led the way outside.
———————————————————————————
They soon came across Rose sitting on her bench. "There you are!" the Doctor said cheerfully, "It's alright, no applause. We fixed it!"
"12 hours and we can go home." the Artist added, showing Rose the power cell before pocketing it again.
Rose paid no attention, she was too lost in her own thoughts. "What is it?" the Doctor asked, noticing the mobile and getting a pretty shrewd idea of what Rose had been doing.
"My phone connected." Rose said, "There's this... Cybus network. It finds ya phone. It gave me internet access."
"Rose, whatever it said, this is not your world." the Artist reminded her.
"I don't exist." Rose said.
"What d'ya mean?" the Doctor asked.
"There's no Rose Tyler. I was never born. There's Pete, my dad, and Jackie... he still married mum... but they never had kids."
"Gimme that phone." the Doctor grunted, trying to grab the phone but Rose snatched it away from his reach.
"They're rich." she continued, "They've got a house and cars, and everything they want." She paused in thought for a moment. "But they haven't got me." She stood up and walked a few paces before turning to face the others. "I've gotta see him." she insisted.
"You can't." the Doctor told her.
"I just wanna see him!"
"We can't let you." the Doctor said firmly.
"She just said 12 hours!" Rose whined.
"Remember what happened last time you wanted to see ya dad, Rose?" the Artist said sternly, "And besides, you've got a mother waiting for ya back home."
"She's right." the Doctor agreed, "You can't just become their daughter, that's not how it works. Mickey, tell her."
"12 hours, yeah?" Mickey said, standing up and beginning to walk away while Rose did the same in the opposite direction.
"Where're you going?" a bewildered Doctor glared at Mickey.
"Well, I can do what I want." Mickey retorted.
"I've got the address and everything." Rose said, walking backwards in the opposite direction.
"Stay where ya are, both of you!" the Doctor demanded, "Rose, come back here! Mickey, come back here right now!"
"I just wanna see him!" Rose said stubbornly.
"Yeah, I've got things to see and all." Mickey said
"Like what?" the Doctor snorted.
"Well, ya don't know anything about me, do ya?" Mickey snapped at him, "It's always about Rose. I'm just the spare part."
"You're not, Mickey." the Artist tried to pacify him, "You're so much more than that. Now please, stop this. Both of you." she said to both humans.
"I'm sorry, I've gotta go." Rose waved her off and walked away.
"Go on, then." Mickey taunted the Doctor, "No choice is there?
The Doctor looked between the two humans in exasperation. 'God, humans could be so stubborn sometimes!' The Artist shared his exasperation. "You go with Rose." she said to him, "I'll go with Mickey. See ya in 12 hours." She turned to leave, but the Doctor took her hand and pulled her back to face him.
"Be careful." he said and kissed her.
"I will." the Artist replied, kissing him back, "And you be careful too." Then she went over to join Mickey. "Come on, then." she said and they went off in one direction.
The Doctor went the other way, after Rose. He was not happy at all. Ever since France he'd sworn not to be separated from the Artist again, but now he was, thanks to Rose being selfish, again!
———————————————————————————
The Artist and Mickey were soon walking down a street in a poorer part of London. "Thanks for coming with me." Mickey said.
"No problem." the Artist replied, "You're my friend, Mickey, and that's what friends do; they stick together."
Mickey was happy about that. The Artist had always been nicer to him than the Doctor. When he'd been taken by the Nestene Consciousness, the Artist had shown concern for his welfare, whereas the Doctor had completely ignored him, and she always stuck up for him when the Doctor was being rude or nasty to him. When Mickey had joined the TARDIS, the Artist had made him feel welcome and on his first night, they'd bonded over video games.
Presently, they reached a military checkpoint underneath a railway bridge, where a soldier was asking a motorist for their I.D. The driver showed him their I.D card and the soldier let them go on their way, then he turned to the two dimension jumpers. "Can I see your I.D please?" he asked them.
The Artist showed him her psychic paper. "There ya go. Can we go through?" she asked.
"Yeah, no bother." the soldier replied, "Curfew doesn't start till ten."
"There's a curfew?" Mickey frowned.
"Course there is." the soldier scoffed, "Where've you been living, mate? Up there with the toffs?" He gestured up to the airships in the sky.
"I wish." Mickey retorted "See ya."
The soldier lifted up the barrier and the Artist and Mickey went on their way.
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rose were walking down a busy street, talking about where Mickey had probably gone.
"Mickey's mum just couldn't cope." Rose explained, "His dad hung around for a while, but then he just sorta wandered off. He was brought up by his nan. She was such a good woman. God, she used to slap him!" She laughed at the memories. "But then she died." she continued solemnly, "She tripped and fell down the stairs. It's about five years ago, now. I was still in school."
"I never knew." the Doctor said.
"Well, ya never asked." Rose pointed out.
"You never said!" the Doctor shot back.
"That's Mickey." Rose sighed, "I s'pose I... we just take him for granted. D'ya think she's still alive, his gran?"
"Could be." the Doctor shrugged, "Like I said, parallel world, gingerbread house. We need to get outta here as fast as we can."
A short alarm sounded and everyone around them suddenly froze like statues. The two dimension hoppers looked around at them, confused. "What're they doing?" Rose asked.
"They've stopped." the Doctor said rather obviously, then he noticed that everyone had devices in their ears which were flashing and beeping quietly. The Doctor paused beside a man and looked at the earpiece. "It's the earpieces..." he realised, "Like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together."
Rose's phone beeped and she pulled it out to check it. "It's on my phone." she told the Doctor, "It's automatic, look. It's downloading. Is this what they're getting?"
The Doctor put his glasses on and peered over Rose's shoulder as she scrolled through the downloads.
"News..." she read out, "International news... sport... weather..."
"They get it all direct." the Doctor mused, "Downloaded right into their heads."
"TV schedules..." Rose continued, "Lottery numbers..."
"Everyone gets the same information." the Doctor said, taking the phone from her, "Daily download published by Cybus Industries." The download scrolled to 'Joke' and everyone around them laughed and went on their way, as if they'd never stopped. "You lot, you're obsessed." the Doctor remarked to Rose, "You'd do anything for the latest upgrade."
"Oi... not my lot." Rose countered, "Different world, remember?"
"It's not so far off your world." the Doctor waved her off, "This place is only parallel." He pressed a few buttons on the phone and showed it to Rose. "Oh, look at that. Cybus Industries owns just about every company in Britain, including Vitex. Mr Pete's Tyler's very well connected."
Rose didn't reply, she just hung off his arm smiling innocently and giving him puppy dog eyes.
"Okay, I give up." the Doctor sighed wearily, "Let's go and see him." He tossed a smug Rose her phone back and walked on. He decided that the sooner Rose had seen her dad and shut up about it, the sooner he could get back to the Artist and get out of this universe.
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, the Artist and Mickey turned a corner in a run-down suburban area. Mickey had told the Time Lady about his grandmother on the way and she'd agreed to let him see her, knowing that unlike Rose, he'd be less likely to mess about. They approached a house and the Artist stayed back while Mickey knocked on the door three times.
"Who's there?" a woman's voice called out from inside the house. The door opened and Mickey's blind grandmother, Rita-Anne, stood on the threshold. "Who is it?" she demanded, "I know you're there. Shame on you, tricking an old lady. I've got nothing worth stealing. And don't think I'm gonna disappear!" She brandished her cane threateningly. "You're not gonna take me!"
The Artist frowned at this, wandering what Rita-Anne meant about being taken.
Mickey could only stare at his grandmother, overcome. "Hi." he spoke up.
Rita-Anne's expression softened. "Is that you?" she asked hopefully.
"It's me. I came home." Mickey replied.
Rita-Anne reached out, touching his face. "Ricky?"
"It's Mickey."
"I know my grandson's name." Rita-Anne told him, "It's Ricky. Now, come here." And they both hugged.
"Okay, I'm Ricky." Mickey said, just happy to be with her, "Of course I am. Ricky, that's me."
The Artist leaned against a lamppost watching them, suppressing a laugh as she remembered how the Doctor's previous incarnation had constantly called Mickey 'Ricky' just to annoy him and now in this world his name really was Ricky.
Rita-Anne suddenly pushed Mickey away and whacked him on the shoulder. "You stupid boy!" she scolded between hits, "Where've you been?!"
"Ow! Stop hitting me!" Mickey cried while the Artist lost it and started laughing.
"It's been days and days!" Rita-Anne said, "And I keep hearing all these stories, people disappearing off the streets. There's nothing of it on the download." She gestured to her EarPods. "But there's all these rumours and whispers. I thought that god had disappeared you!"
The Artist stopped laughing at that. On the way other, she and Mickey had seen the EarPod download, and with the soldier's talk of a curfew and now people disappearing off the streets, she knew that the quicker they got away from this apparently dystopian world, the better.
Mickey meanwhile noticed the torn carpet on the stairs. "That carpet on the stairs, I told ya to get it fixed." he said, his voice trembling, "You're gonna..." He tailed off as he remembered what had happened to the Rita-Anne in his universe. "Fall and break ya neck."
"Well, you get it fixed for me." Rita-Anne retorted.
"I shoulda done it way back." Mickey sniffled, "I guess I'm just kinda useless."
"Now, I never said that." Rita-Anne told him.
"I am, though." Mickey said, choking up with tears, "An' I'm sorry, Gran. I'm so sorry."
"Don't talk like that." Rita-Anne soothed, "Do you what you need? A nice sit down and a cup of tea. You got time?"
"For you, I've got all the time in the world." Mickey smiled.
"Oh, you say that, but it's all talk." Rita-Anne chuckled, "It's those new friends of yours. I don't trust them."
"What new friends are they?" Mickey frowned.
"Don't pretend you don't know." Rita-Anne scolded, "You've been seeing them. Mrs Chan told me. Driving about all helter-skelter in that van."
Just then, the Artist heard tires screeching nearby and looked round to find the source of the sound. "What van's that, then?" Mickey asked Rita-Anne.
"It wouldn't be a blue LDV van, registry N355 FWU, would it?" the Artist asked.
"You know full well it is." Rita-Anne retorted, "And who are you, anyway?"
Before the Artist could answer, the van she'd just described pulled up sharply behind them and a young blonde man dressed in black jumped out and grabbed Mickey by the collar. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" he moaned, and before the Artist could intervene, he pushed Mickey into the van and it sped off.
"Ricky? Ricky?" Rita-Anne called out.
"He's been taken, Mrs Smith." the Artist told her, "I'll get him back, I promise."
"Who are you?" Rita-Anne questioned.
"I'm just a friend passing through." the Time Lady replied, "Meanwhile, I'd suggest taking those EarPods off. I think they might have something to do with these disappearances."
Rita-Anne did so while the Artist rushed over to a parked car and unlocked it with her sonic. She jumped in, hot-wired it with the sonic and sped off in pursuit of the van that had taken Mickey.
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, a somewhat confused Mickey was sitting opposite the blonde man. "Ricky, you were the one who told us, ya don't contact ya family cos' it puts them in danger." the blonde man reprimanded.
"Yeah. Ricky said that." Mickey said slowly, trying to understand what was happening, "Course I did, just testing."
"I saw 'em. I taped 'em!" the blonde man said, "They went round Blackfriars, gathering up the homeless like the Child-Catcher. They must've took four dozen."
"The vans were hired out to a company called International Electromatics." an older woman who was driving the van said, "But I did a protocol search... turns out that's a dummy company, established by guess who?"
"I dunno, who?" Mickey questioned.
"Cybus Industries!" the man and woman answered together as if it was obvious.
Mickey nodded, going along with it. He and the Artist had seen posters for Cybus Industries all over the place and the Artist had noticed that the EarPods were made by Cybus too.
"Well, now we've got evidence." the man said.
"Bad news is, they've arrested Thin Jimmy." the woman said, "So that just leaves you."
"Leaves me what?" Mickey asked.
"The number one. Top 'o' the list. London's most wanted." the man answered as if it was something to be pleased about.
"Okay, cool." Mickey laughed nervously, "Say that again."
———————————————————————————
As night came, the van pulled up outside a deserted house. "There's a light on." the blonde man remarked as he jumped out first, "There's someone inside the base. Mrs Moore, we've got visitors."
The woman tossed him a gun before grabbing one herself and the three of them snuck down the side of the house like spies, guns at the ready.
"One... two... three... go!" the man said and they burst into the house, Mrs Moore and the man pointing the guns at a figure inside.
"What the hell are ya doing?" the figure demanded. Mickey could only stare as he saw himself.
Mrs Moore and the man looked back forth between the two Mickeys, completely bewildered. "What're ya doing there?" the man questioned the other Mickey, who was evidently the Ricky that everyone was talking about.
"What am I doing here?" Ricky scowled, walking slowly forwards, "What am I doing there?" He pointed a finger at Mickey, and the blonde man and Mrs Moore promptly turned their guns on Micky, who raised his hands, eyes wide.
None of them noticed a car pulling up by the van outside.
———————————————————————————
The Doctor and Rose were crouched in the bushes by the Tyler Mansion, watching expensive cars pull up outside the house. "They've got visitors." the Doctor commented.
"February 1st, mum's birthday." Rose mused, "Even in a parallel universe, she still loves a party."
"Well, given Pete Tyler's guest list, I wouldn't mind a look." the Doctor said. There was something about this Cybus Industries that made him feel uneasy and he felt that he needed to check it out. "And there is one guaranteed way of getting inside." He waved his psychic paper around.
"Psychic paper!" Rose squealed, happy at at getting her own way.
"Who'd ya wanna be?" the Doctor asked her.
———————————————————————————
Several waiters and waitresses entered the party from the kitchens, all holding trays of refreshments... followed by the Doctor and Rose, dressed in the same garb. A woman took some food from Rose's tray and walked off without acknowledging her whatsoever.
"We could've been anyone." Rose grumbled under her breath.
"Got us in, didn't it?" the Doctor retorted.
"You're in charge of the psychic paper." Rose huffed, "We could've been guests, celebrities. Sir Doctor, Dame Rose. We end up serving. I had enough of this back home."
"If ya wanna know what's going on, work in the kitchens." the Doctor told her simply. Posing as a waiter would allow him to look around without raising suspicion. They retreated slightly to the side of the room to watch the proceedings, groups of important people chatting and laughing, photographs being taken. "According to Lucy, that man there..." the Doctor began.
"Who's Lucy?" Rose asked.
"She's carrying the salmon pinwheels." the Doctor replied, nodding to a waitress at the other side of the room.
"Oh, that's Lucy, is it?" Rose scowled, not too happy at the Doctor getting too familiar with another woman when he was in a relationship with the Artist, especially after what happened in France.
"Yeah!" The Doctor replied, oblivious to Rose's displeasure, "Lucy says, that is the President of Great Britain." He nodded to a smartly dressed black man nearby.
"What, there's a President, not a Prime Minister?" Rose questioned.
"Seems so."
"Or maybe Lucy's just a bit thick." Rose said nastily.
"Now, Rose. This isn't your world." the Doctor told her sternly, "You've no right to judge people ya don't know."
Before Rose could retort, Pete Tyler's voice sounded out, addressing the room as a whole; "Excuse me! Thank you very much. Thank you, if I could have ya attention please?"
"Pete! Go on, Pete!" a man the crowd called.
"Thank you very much." Pete answered.
"It's about time ya did some work." the man said, "I thought you liked 'em young!"
Rose followed the sound of Pete's voice to the bottom of the large staircase. Pete was standing halfway up. "Um, I'd just like to say, er, thank you to ya all for coming on this, er, very special occasion." he announced to the guests, "My wife's... 39th." The crowd chortled at this. Rose smiled too. She knew that her Jackie was 40 in 2007, so this universe's version of her was clearly lying about her age. "Trust me on this..." Pete grinned, giving a thumbs up and the crowd laughed appreciatively. "So, without any further ado, here she is. The birthday girl... my lovely wife... Jackie Tyler."
A well-dressed Jackie descended the staircase, smiling at the crowd who applauded, cheered and snapped photos. Jackie stood next to Pete. "Now, I'm not giving a speech." she said, "That's what my parties are famous for, no work, no politics, just a few good mates and plenty of black market whiskey." This made the crowd laugh again. "Pardon me, Mr President." Jackie nodded to the President, who smiled. "So, yeah! Get on with it, enjoy, enjoy!"
Pete took Jackie's hand and they descended the stairs to mingle with the crowd. Rose watched them longingly. The Doctor came up beside her. "You can't stay." he told her quietly but firmly, "Even if there was some way of telling 'em."
"Course I can't." Rose murmured, "I've still got my 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." the Doctor counselled, "Those two haven't. All these different worlds, not one of 'em gets it right." he muttered.
"Rose!" Jackie's voice called out, making the blonde instinctively turn around to look. "There's my little girl!" Jackie said as a Yorkshire Terrier scampered up to her and she picked it up. "Come to mummy, come to mummy!" she cooed, fussing over the dog, "Yes! Good girl! Good girl, aren't aren't you?"
The expression on the human Rose's face was priceless. The Doctor took one look at her and burst out laughing. Served Rose right. All that whining about wanting to see the parallel Tylers and how they had no one, and it turned out that they had a dog who Jackie loved very much. It was because of Rose's selfishness that he was away from the woman he loved. His mind wandered to what the Artist was doing right now.
———————————————————————————
The Artist meanwhile was sneaking up to the house she'd followed the van to. She peered in through the window to see that Mickey had been stripped to his boxers and tied to a chair while the blonde man ran some sort of scanner over him, the results being sent to a laptop that Mrs Moore was using, while Ricky stood nearby scowling. The Artist crouched down beneath the window and took out the stethoscope she had left over from Christmas. She put one end against the wall and the other end in her ears to listen to what was happening inside.
"He's clean, no bugs." the blonde man said to Ricky.
"But this is off the scale." Ricky said, looking at his doppelgänger closely, "He's flesh and blood. How did that happen?"
"Well, it could be that Cybus Industries have perfected the science of Human cloning." Mrs Moore pondered, "Or your father had a bike?"
Ricky scowled at Mickey and circled him menacingly. "An' your name is Mickey, not Ricky?" he clarified.
"Mickey. My dad was Jackson Smith. Used to work at the key cutters at Clifton Parade." Mickey said, "Went to Spain, never came back."
"But that's my dad." Ricky glowered, "So... we're brothers?"
"Be fair. What else could it be?" the blonde man remarked.
"I don't know." Ricky retorted, staring at Mickey with his brow furrowed, "But 'e doesn't just look like me, 'e is exactly the same. There's something else going on here, Jake."
"So... so who are you lot?" Mickey asked, trying to work out what was going on here.
"We are the Preachers." Ricky told him, "As in gospel truth. You see?" He gestured to his ears. "No earpods. While the rest of the world downloads from Cybus Industries, we have got freedom. You're talking to London's most wanted. But target number one is Lumic. An' we are going to bring him down."
"From ya kitchen?" Mickey remarked.
"Have ya got a problem with that?" Ricky growled.
"No, it's a good kitchen." Mickey said.
———————————————————————————
Outside, the Artist smirked. Mickey's remarks were just what the Doctor would say if he were here.
———————————————————————————
Just then, Mrs More's laptop bleeped. "It's an upload from Gemini." she told the others.
"Who's Gemini?" Mickey asked.
"The vans are back." Mrs Moore said, ignoring him, "They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move."
"Then we're right behind him." Ricky declared "Pack up, we're leaving."
———————————————————————————
Outside, the Artist moved away from the window and hurried back to her car. Something about the name Cybus Industries didn't sit right with her, so she decided to follow the Preachers and see what was happening.
———————————————————————————
A huge lorry belonging to Cybus Industries drove down a dark road. Once it had passed, the Preachers' van pulled out of the shadows and went after the lorry. Ricky drove, while in the back, Jake handed Mrs More an AK-47. She loaded it as Mickey looked on and Jake loaded another AK. As Ricky was focussed on the lorry, he didn't notice the Artist's car following them.
———————————————————————————
At the Tyler Mansion, the Doctor detached himself from the crowds and walked down a corridor until he spotted a dark room with it's door ajar and a laptop visible inside. He looked behind him to see if the coast was clear, then snuck quietly into the room, shutting the door behind him. He put on his specs and looked at the screen, ready to get some information.
———————————————————————————
Downstairs, Rose watched from a distance as Jackie chatted to the President, laughing raucously. Pete appeared next to her, also watching Jackie. "I remember her 21st." he remarked, "Pint of cider in the George."
"Sorry, champagne?" Rose offered up her tray.
"Oh, might as well, I'm paying for it." Pete said, helping himself to a glass.
"Big night for you." Rose said.
"Well, for her." Pete corrected, "Still, she's happy."
"Yeah, she should be." Rose said, "It's a great party."
"D'ya think?"
Rose gave him a thumbs up and grinned. "You can trust me."
"You can trust me on this." Pete corrected.
"That's it, sorry, yeah. So, um, how long have you two been married?"
"20 years."
"An' no kids or...?"
"We kept putting it off. She said she didn't wanna spoil her figure."
"It's not too late." Rose suggested, "She's only 40."
"39."
"Oh, right, 39."
"Still too late..." Pete sighed, "I moved out last month. We're gonna keep it quiet, ya know, it's bad for business." Rose's smile faded. There was a pause then Pete realised something. "Why am I telling you all this?" he wandered, "We haven't met before, have we?" He stared at her, his brow furrowed. "I dunno, ya just seem sort of..."
"What?"
Pete considered her. He couldn't put his finger on it. "I dunno, just sort of... right." he frowned, then moved away to talk to someone else. "Stevie, how's things? How's it going at Torchwood?"
———————————————————————————
Ricky and Jake were crouched in some bushes, watching two blokes in white get out of the back of the lorry they'd been following. "I don't know what they're doing, but they seem to be the target." Ricky said into his walkie-talkie, "Big house, fair bit of money... now we've gotta find a way in there."
In the van, Mrs Moore was looking at her laptop. "I've found the address." she said, "It belongs to Peter Tyler, the Vitex millionaire."
Mickey, who was sat next to her, jumped up at this. "Pete Tyler?"
"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen." Mrs Moore continued, "A traitor to the state."
Mickey suddenly realised that the Doctor and Rose were likely to be in there. "But... but we've gotta get in there!" he urged.
"Shut it, duplicate, that's what I just said." Ricky snapped at him.
A ramp was let down from the back of the lorry, then the Preachers heard heavy thumping footsteps.
"What're they doing?" Ricky frowned.
A row of heavy metal feet marched out of the lorry.
"What the hell are they?!" Ricky stared, then he and Jake decided to make a hasty retreat.
———————————————————————————
Inside the house, the Doctor had found a presentation of Cybus Industries' latest product. John Lumic's voice narrated; "The most precious thing on this Earth is the human brain..."
———————————————————————————
Jackie was sitting alone on the porch. Rose spotted her through the window and followed her outside. "Mrs Tyler, is there anything I can get you?" she offered.
"The last 20 years back." Jackie said tiredly.
Rose smiled uncertainly. "I can manage a glass of champagne..." she said, "Or a cup of tea."
"Oh, that'd do me." Jackie laughed.
The ice broken, Rose sat down next to Jackie. "My mum loves that." she said, "End of the night, she never goes straight to bed, she always stays up late just to have that last cuppa tea."
"Oh, I'm the same." Jackie replied.
"Two sugars..."
"And me!" Jackie laughed, "Pete always says, ya know..." She stopped herself. "Ah, never mind him."
"I was talking to him earlier." Rose ventured, "He's a nice man. Ya know, bit of a Jack the Lad I s'pose, even if he has got money. But... he's a good bloke. Better than most." She looked at Jackie for a few moments. "He's worth a second chance."
Unfortunately for Rose, Jackie wasn't as receptive to her as her husband was. "Are you commenting on my marriage?" she asked sharply.
Rose was taken aback. "No, I was just..."
"Who the hell do you fink you are?" Jackie sneered pompously, "You're staff! Ya nothing but staff, you're just the serving girl for god's sake! And you are certainly not getting paid. Don't you dare talk to me!" And she stormed back inside, leaving Rose alone on the bench to realise just how different this Jackie Tyler was to the one she knew.
Suddenly, the mansion's floodlights came on, making Rose squint. She saw shadowy figures marching up the front lawn. She couldn't see them properly, but she could hear that they had rather heavy footsteps.
———————————————————————————
The Artist's car pulled up at the bottom of the driveway. The Time Lady saw the Preachers' van and the Cybus lorry, then she saw the large number of figures advancing towards the house. Her eyes widened in horror as she recognised what they were.
———————————————————————————
In the study, the Doctor was still watching the presentation on the laptop. "This is the ultimate upgrade." Lumic announced, "Our greatest step into cyberspace."
The Doctor looked horrified as he realised what that meant. "Cybus." he breathed, realising why that name sounded so familiar. Without a moment's hesitation, he dashed from the room.
———————————————————————————
Rose stood on the porch watching as the figures came closer. She noticed that they had a metallic sheen to them. Deciding that the Doctor needed to know about this, she turned on her heel and ran back inside the house.
———————————————————————————
The Doctor wound his way through the drawing room until he spotted Rose, then they both went to the window to watch the oncoming figures. "It's happening again." the Doctor said in a hushed tone.
"What d'ya mean?" Rose asked, getting unnerved.
"I've seen 'em before." the Doctor said anxiously as the figures came into view. They were all encased in metal armour from head to toe.
"What are they?" Rose asked.
"Cybermen." the Doctor swallowed grimly.
Several of the Cybermen smashed their steel fists through the windows, eliciting screams from the crowd. Everyone cowered as the Cybermen climbed in through the windows. Soon, they had everyone circled with no way out.
The President's EarPods rung. "Mr Lumic." he answered with distaste.
"Mr President." John Lumic's voice sounded, being relayed through the Cybermen, "I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point." He laughed evilly.
"I forbade this." the President said angrily.
"These are my children, sir." Lumic countered, "Would you deny my family?"
"What are they, robots?" Rose asked the Doctor under her breath.
"Worse than that." the Doctor answered grimly.
"Who were these people?" the President demanded.
"It doesn't matter." Lumic spat.
"They're people?!" Rose stared.
"They were." the Doctor replied, "Till they had their humanity taken away. It's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body with a heart of steel. All emotions removed."
"Why no emotions?"
"Because it hurts."
"I demand to know, Lumic!" the President ordered, "These people, who were they?"
"They were homeless, wretched and useless, until I elevated them." Lumic sneered, "And elevated them. And gave them life eternal. And now I leave you in their capable hands. Goodnight, sir. Goodnight, Mr President!" And the transmission ended.
One of the Cybermen squared itself in front of the crowd. "We have been upgraded." it stated, it's voice cold, robotic and emotionless.
"Into what?" the Doctor glared.
"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." the President said, stepping up to the Cybermen, "I'm so sorry for what's been done to you." He turned and walked around. "But listen to me, this experiment ends. Tonight!"
"Upgrading is compulsory." a Cyberman stated.
"And if I refuse?" the President asked.
"Don't." the Doctor warned him, but he didn't listen.
"What if I refuse?"
"I'm telling you, don't!" the Doctor said frantically, but it fell on deaf ears.
"What happens if I refuse?" the President baited.
"Then you are not compatible." the Cyberman told him.
"What happens then?" the President challenged.
"You will be deleted." the Cyberman replied then grabbed the President and fried him with electricity. The crowd screamed and started to run.
"Jackie?!" Pete shouted for his wife, but she was lost in the crowd.
People ran desperately around, looking for a way out while some unfortunate individuals were electrocuted by the Cybermen. The room was in chaos. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her outside through one of the broken windows. "There's nothing we can do!" he told her once they were outside.
Rose tried to pull away from him and go back inside. "My mum's in there!" she cried.
The Doctor pulled her away again. "She's not your mother!" he snapped, having had enough of Rose's behaviour tonight, "Come on!"
They ran up a slope, only to be greeted by another row of Cybermen. They quickly changed direction and ran round the side of the house. Pete scrambled out of a window. Rose spotted him and called him over to them. "Quick! Quick!" she hollered.
Pete ran after them and they reached the front of the house. "Pete, is there a way out?" the Doctor asked.
"The side gates!" Pete told them and they ran in the direction he indicated. "Who are you? How d'ya know so much?" he asked as they ran.
"Ya wouldn't believe it in a million years..." the Doctor waved him off, only to skid to a halt as they were met by another row of Cybermen and were forced to change direction and run across the lawn.
Two figures came running towards them, carrying guns. "Who's that?!" Rose wandered.
It was Jake and Ricky. "Get behind me!" Ricky urged, so the Doctor, Rose and Pete all went behind the two Preachers as they fired at the onslaught of Cybermen. The bullets just bounced harmlessly of their armour, but they stopped nonetheless.
"Oh, god. look at you..." Rose panted, thinking that Ricky was Mickey, "I fought I'd never see ya again."
"Yeah, no offence, sweetheart, but who the 'ell are you?" Ricky waved her off.
It was then that Mickey came sprinting across the lawn towards them. "Rose!" he cried and stopped when he reached them. "That's not me. That's like... the other one." he panted and Rose hugged him in relief.
"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough." the Doctor scoffed, "Two Mickeys!"
"It's Ricky." Ricky grunted.
"But there's more of 'em.." Mickey panted, referring to the Cybermen.
The Doctor wasn't worried about that, something else was on his mind. "Where's the Artist?" he demanded of Mickey, "She went with you, so where is she?!"
"I dunno." Mickey replied, "We got separated. I ain't seen her since they grabbed me." He gestured to Jake and Ricky.
Before the Doctor could demand more answers, the Cybermen surrounded them. "Put the guns down." the Doctor ordered the humans, "Bullets won't stop them."
Jake ignored him and fired a rally, his rounds just ricocheting harmlessly off the Cybermen's armour.
"No! Stop shooting, now!" the Doctor snapped, pushing Jake's gun down. He straightened and addressed the surrounding Cybermen; "We surrender! Hands up..." he ordered the humans, who all complied. The Doctor hoped that if they surrendered, the Cybermen would drop their guard and they could escape. He had to get away. He had to find the Artist and get everyone away from this world, away from the Cybermen. "There's no need to damage us, we're good stock." he told the Cybermen, "We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."
"You are rogue elements." a Cyberman stated.
"But we surrender."
"You are incompatible."
"But this is a surrender!"
"You will be deleted."
"But we're surrendering!" the Doctor shouted frantically, "Listen to me, we surrender!"
"You are inferior." the Cyberman continued, "Man will be reborn as Cybermen, but you will perish under maximum deletion." It raised it's arm towards the Doctor, ready to strike. "Delete! Delete! Delete!"
To be continued...