We waited in an alley with all the lights turned off until the Cybus vans drove past. Once they did, we turned after them, trailing them to a huge, fancy house with lots of cars parked outside. It looked as though some kind of party was going on.
Jake and Rickey headed outside to get a closer look, while Mickey and Mrs. Moore moved up to the front seat. Mickey held the walkie-talkie so that Mrs. Moore could look up the address, and I remained in the back listening in on the conversation.
"I don't know what they're doing, but this seems to be the target." Rickey reported. "Big house, fair bit of money. Now we've got to find a way to get in there."
"I've identified the address," Mrs. Moore reported, "It belongs to Peter Tyler, the Vitex millionaire." I nodded.
"Of course it does." I muttered to myself
"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen, a traitor to the state." I nodded, sliding the back door open and climbing out of it.
"We've got to get in there." Mickey said.
"Now shut it, duplicate. That's what I just said."
I closed the van door shut behind me, beginning to walk toward the house.
"Where are you going?!" Mrs. Moore hissed, rolling down the window.
"Getting in there! What else?!" I called back. I began creeping toward the porch, ducking down slightly to avoid being seen by security. I paused as I heard voices, dropping to my knees beside a bush.
"...and Pete always says, you know...never mind him."
"I was talking to him earlier. He's a nice man." I furrowed my eyebrows at the familiar voice. "You know...a bit of a Jack the lad, I suppose, even if he has got money but, he's a good bloke."
I closed my eyes, cringing as I realized why I recognized it before slightly peering over the bushes to prove my hunch. Sure enough, there was Rose, dressed as a waitress, sitting beside a a blonde woman with a tray of champagne perched in her lap. One look at the two of them side-by-side was enough to tell me that this was the parallel version of her mother.
"Better than most," She continued, "He's worth a second chance."
"Are you commenting on my marriage?" The woman asked, turning toward her with a nasty look on her face.
"No, I was just-"
"Who the hell do you think you are? You're staff. You're nothing but staff, you're just a serving girl for goodness sake, and you a certainly not getting paid. Don't you dare talk to me."
The woman stood up, storming inside and I came up from behind the bushes, directly into Rose's line of sight.
"Mary!' She exclaimed. I offered her a sympathetic look.
"Fancy seeing you here." I said quietly. I nodded in the woman's directiion. "I take it that was your mum."
She nodded.
"Is...isn't." She clarified. "I just-"
Her words were cut off by a bright light shining behind me, illuminating her face. I furrowed my eyebrows, turning around to see that the vans were shining spotlights at the house, and there were several large figures walking toward the house in a line. I paused, straining to hear what I thought was a familiar, metallic sound.
"Cybus..." I repeated. "Cyber..."
My eyes widened and I turned around to face Rose.
"Where is the Doctor?!" I demanded.
"He'll be inside!" I jumped through the bushes and onto the porch, rushing through a pair of french doors and plummeting into a room full of party goers. Rose followed closely behind as I combed the room, my eyes finally finding the Doctor dressed in a tux. The look he gave me told me he had already worked out the threat that was rapidly approaching the house. He came to a stop in front of me.
"Cybus!" We said in unison before turning around and booking it toward the nearest window. The three of us peered out, the metallic robots coming into clear view and confirming the Doctor and I's identical suspicions.
They were Cybermen. We were about to be attacked by Cybermen.
"Its happening again." The Doctor said.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked.
"I've seen them before." He explained.
"What are they?"
"Cybermen." We said together, just as one of them came crashing through the window on the opposite end of the house. The party goers screamed, many of them ducking instinctually as more of them followed, shattering every window and stepping into Pete Tyler's living room.
"Where is Mickey?!" Rose whispered.
"He's fine, he's in good hands. I hope." I replied. The Doctor grabbed both of us, pulling us back into the crowd before moving up closer to them. We were all crowded against the wall while the Cybermen gathered on just about every other side of us.
"Mr. Lumic." The man standing directly in front of us addressed.
"Mr. President," A man's voice echoed, "I suppose a remark about 'crashing the party' would be appropriate at this point, sir."
"I forbade this."
"These are my children, sir. Would you deny my family?"
"What are they, robots?" Rose whispered.
"Worse than that." The Doctor answered, his eyes on me. I nodded slowly.
"Who were these people?" The President asked.
"It doesn't matter."
"They're people?" Rose questioned.
"They were. Until they had all their humanity taken away. Its 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, these people, who were they?!" The President pressed again.
"Their homeless people, are they not?" I called forward, prompting the Doctor to look at me with wide eyes. "The cold, hungry and desperate that you lured into your vans with the promise of food?"
"And who, may I ask, are you?" He called.
"Doesn't matter." I shot back.
"They were homeless," He confirmed, "And wretched, and useless, until I saved them and elevated them and gave them life eternal. And now, I leave you in their capable hands. Goodnight, Mr. President."
One of the Cybermen stepped up directly in front of the president.
"How did you know that?" The Doctor whispered in my ear.
"You stumbled right onto the doorstep of trouble, same as always," I whispered, "As it turns out, I seem to have the same...inclination."
"We have been upgraded." The Cyberman droned.
"Into what?" The Doctor demanded.
"The next level of mankind. We are human 0.2. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us."
"I'm sorry," The President said, walking away from the Cyberman and stepping in front of another one, "I'm so sorry for what's been done to you. But listen to me," He moved back to the other one, "This experiment ends tonight."
"Upgrading is compulsory."
"And if I refuse?"
"Don't." The Doctor warned.
"What if I refuse?" He repeated.
"I'm telling you, don't!" The Doctor told him.
"What happens if I refuse?!"
"Then you are not compatible."
"What happens then?" He pressed.
"You will be deleted." He grabbed the President's neck, sending electricity coursing through him and into the President's body, killing him almost instantly. He fell to the ground, and everyone began to scream and run in an attempt to look for an escape.
The Doctor grabbed both our hands, pulling us out of the crowd and through one of the busted windows.
"There's nothing we can do!' He shouted.
"But my mum's in there!" Rose argued, trying to run back inside.
"She is not your mother, come on!' He began dragging us out into the yard once again.
"We have to find Mickey!" I shouted, just as another row of Cybermen came marching up, cutting off our escape route. The Doctor moved, pulling us back in the opposite direction, so that we could run around the house. Just as we reached the corner, Pete Tyler came jumping out after us.
"Pete! Pete!' Rose warned, prompting him to run with us. He did so, following suit as we rounded the house.
"Pete, is there a way out?!" The Doctor asked, letting go of us as we came around the other side.
"The side gates!" Pete answered, pointing in the direction as we all began running towards it. "Who are you? How do you know so much?"
"You wouldn't beleive it in a million years-" Another row of Cybermen cut us off, and we turned around, running back in the direction of the trucks just in time to see two figure with guns running towards us.
"Who's that?!" Rose asked.
"New friends." I explained, just as Rickey and Jake reached us.
"GET BEHIND ME!' Rickey commanded, both of them dropping to their knees. We did as they said, dropping down behind them as they opened fire on the Cybermen.
They came to a stop, as the boys stopped shooting, rising to their feet beside us. Rose rushed to Rickey's side.
"Oh my gosh, look at you!" She said, pulling him into a hug. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
"Rose-" I started.
"Yeah, no offense sweetheart, but who the hell are you?" He asked, pulling away from her. I moved to stand beside her.
"Not Mickey," I told her, "That'd be Rickey. The other one."
"Rose!' She turned and the sound of her name, and Mickey ran up to us, wearing an identical outfit to his parallel counterpart.
"That's not me," He confirmed, running up beside her, "That's like, the other one."
"You have been busy." The Doctor whispered.
"Parallel selves, parallel parents," I said, glancing over at him, "Like you said. Gingerbread house."
"But there's more of them." Mickey said as the Cybermen filled in in a circle around us.
"We're surrounded." Rose reported.
I can save you.
I furrowed my eyebrows as the whispering voice filled my head again. My head ignited in pain and I reached out, grabbing the Doctor's arm in order to steady myself.
I can save you, but you must do it now. Do it now!
"Put the guns down, bullets won't stop them." The Doctor warned. Jake began shooting again, but the Doctor rushed over, pushing his gun down . "You, stop shooting now!"
Do it! Do it now, Mary!
"We surrender!" The Doctor shouted as the Cybermen closed in on us. "Hands up!"
Everyone put their hands in the air, but for some reason, my hands, seemingly of their own accord, dropped to the locket around my neck. Before I could even process what was happening, I was yanking the locket from around my neck and forcing the clasp apart.
"There's no need to damage us, we're good stock!" The Doctor told them.
His words won't save them, not this time. It has to be you, you have to do it!
"Do what?!" I thought, having no idea what the voice in my head was talking about.
"We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."
"You are rogue elements." The Cybermen replied.
"But we surrender!"
"You are incompatible."
"But this is a surrender!"
"You will be deleted."
"BUT WE'RE SURRENDERING! LISTEN TO ME! WE SURRENDER!"
"You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman but you will perish under maximum deletion."
The Cyberman held his hand out, and all of the surrounding ones did the same.
"Delete, Delete, Delete, Delete!"
YOU HAVE TO OPEN THE LOCKET!
"Right then!" I reached down, yanking the locket open and holding it out toward the Cybermen.
A golden beam shot out of it, hitting the first cyberman in the face and causing him to bend backwards with a loud, mechanical scream. From there, it bounced around to all of them, causing an identical reaction. The Cybermen that surrounded us evaporated into golden dust, followed immediately by the light flying back into the locket, which slammed shut behind it.
"What the hell was that?" Rickey asked.
"Or how about instead, run!" I shouted, taking off first across the yard just as a horn sounded behind us. I paused, looking behind me to see Mrs. Moore pulling up in the blue van.
"EVERYBODY IN!" She shouted. Pete made a beeline back for the house, but the Doctor grabbed his arm.
"I've gotta go back, my wife's in there!"
"Anyone inside that house is dead." The Doctor told him. "If you want to help her, don't let her die for nothing. You've got to come with us right now!"
He ran back and the Doctor pushed him, pausing for only a second in order to look at me. His eyes were hard and angry, a look that I'd learned he only ever wore when he'd seen something extremely dangerous.
He tore his eyes away from me to look at Rose, who was staring dauntingly at the house. He ran up beside her.
"Rose, she's not your mother." He said.
"I know." Mrs. Moore honked again as the Doctor pushed Rose back toward the fan. I followed suit, jumping inside after them and closing the door behind me.
"Finished chatting!? Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" She shouted, peeling out of the yard and back toward the driveway.
I settled onto the bench beside Pete and Rose, while the Doctor and Mickey sat across from us. The Doctor continued to glare at me with that hard, threatening look that said 'if I don't like it, it will stop'.
"What was that thing?" Rickey asked, turning around and pointing at the locket, which was still clutched in my hand. I quickly reached down, shoving it into my bag before looking up at the Doctor again.
"I don't know," I said, more to the Doctor than to Rickey, "I don't know what it is."
His gaze didn't soften, seemingly not at all pacified by my answer.
"I don't remember." I shot back, meeting his glare with a glare of my own. He shook his head, averting his eyes to the floor of the van.
"Can you do it again?" Rickey asked.
"Doubtful." I said, turning my attention to him. "I'm not even entirely sure how I did it the first time, so..."
"So we don't have a weapon anymore?" I shrugged.
"Yeah, we've got weapons," Jake said, "Might not work on those metal things...but they're good enough for men like him."
They both turned their glares to Pete Tyler, who I just recalled was documented as being one of Lumic's Henchmen. I nodded, mentally deciding to focus on the task at hand, rather than the dangerous mystery that lie inside my messanger bag at this very moment.
It was also so I could distract myself from the feeling of the Doctor's eyes, which had resumed their violent gaze on me.