After pushing up the lever, the Doctor said, "Books! People never really stop loving books." After grabbing his trench coat and walking out of the TARDIS with Annabelle and Donna close behind him, he said, "Fifty-first century. By now you've got holovids, direct-to-brain downloads, fiction-mist. But you need the smell. The smell of books, you two. Deep breath."
After pushing open the door and stepping through it, the Doctor said, "The library. So big it doesn't need a name, just a great, big 'the'."
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to his words, Donna said, "It's like a city."
The Doctor told her, "It's a world, literally, a world. The whole core of the planet is in the index computer, biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book. Brand-new editions, especially printed. We're near the equator, so..." After holding up a finger, he said, "This must be biographies! I love biographies."
Donna replied, "Yeah, very you. Always a death at the end."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "You need a good death. Without death there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size." After quickly ripping a book out of Donna's hands, he said, "Whay! Spoilers."
Donna said to him, "What?"
The Doctor told her, "These books are from your future. You don't wanna read ahead, spoil all the surprises. It's like peeking at the end."
Donna asked him, "Isn't traveling with you one big spoiler?"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I try to keep you away from major plot developments. Which, to be honest, I seem to be very mad at 'cause, you know what, this is the biggest library in the universe. So where is everyone? It's silent."
While the Doctor made his way over towards the closest machine, Donna asked him, "The library?"
With his sonic screwdriver pointed at the machine, the Doctor said, "The planet. The whole planet."
Donna replied, "Well, maybe it's a Sunday."
With a shake of his head, the Doctor told her, "No, I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring."
With a mere tilt of her head, Donna said to him, "Oh, maybe everyone's really, really quiet."
In turn, the Doctor started to put his sonic screwdriver back into his trench coat as he said to her, "Yeah, maybe. But they'd still show up on the system."
With yet another tilt of her head, Donna asked him, "Doctor, why are we here? Really, why?"
The Doctor said to her, "Oh, you know, just passing."
Donna replied, "No, seriously. It was all, 'Let's hit the beach', then suddenly we're in a library. Why?"
It was then that the Doctor said, "Now that's interesting."
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."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Yeah, I kind of, sort of, lied a bit. I got a message on the psychic paper."
It was then that he held up the psychic paper, which allowed Donna and Annabelle to see the words 'The Library. Come as soon as you can x' appear on it.
Then the Doctor asked, "What do you think? Cry for help?"
After taking the psychic paper away from him, Donna replied, "Cry for help with a kiss?"
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to Donna's words, the Doctor took the psychic paper away from Donna as he said, "We've all done that."
With a mere turn of her head, Annabelle said, "I haven't."
With a slight nod of his head, the Doctor said, "Right, yeah. There's that."
While Annabelle only blankly stared at the Doctor in response to his words, Donna asked him, "Who's it from?"
The Doctor said to her, "No idea."
With a shake of her head, Donna asked him, "So why did we come here? Why did you..."
It was then that the Doctor said, "Donna."
Then– just like Donna– Annabelle turned her head to see that sections of the library were turning themselves off, which got Donna to ask him, "What's happening?"
As he quickly grabbed Annabelle by the arm and started to drag her away with him, the Doctor yelled, "Run!"
While Donna and the Doctor were running and Annabelle was– yet again– dragged along by the Doctor, Annabelle said with a sigh, "Honestly, Doctor, you and your desire to grab me by the arm and drag me off to run with you is starting to get old at this point."
In turn, the Doctor yelled to her, "Well, perhaps if you would just run and not simply stare at anything that you're facing during your trips with me, I wouldn't have to drag you everywhere!"
As she watched more and more lights turn off on her own, due to the fact that she was being practically dragged on the floor and staring at the lights behind them, Annabelle replied, "Well, excuse me for being rather curious about things that I've never even faced prior to first stepping into that damn TARDIS of yours! You can't exactly blame me for being curious about things that I've never even seen before!" As she was dragged into another section of the library, she yelled, "Besides, Doctor, in case you've forgotten, I'm not the type of person that gets frightened easily, so I can't exactly be blamed for not running off from any alien that we just so happen to cross paths with!"
In response to her words, the Doctor only let out a sigh before he started to hit his hands against the door that they were standing in front of, while Donna asked him, "What, is it locked?"
The Doctor replied, "Jammed! The wood's warped."
While the Doctor turned his head to look at the lights that were continuing to shut themselves off and headed in the direction that the three of them were standing in, Donna yelled, "Sonic it! Use the thingy!"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I can't, it's wood."
Donna asked him, "What, it doesn't do wood?"
Then the Doctor said, "Hang on, hang on. I can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings, I can shatter line the..."
Then Donna said to him, "Oh, get out of the way!"
Then– after quickly kicking the doors open and dragging Annabelle into the room with her– both Donna and the Doctor closed the two doors, shortly before the Doctor grabbed a nearby book and shoved it between the two handles to the door.
It wasn't long afterwards that the Doctor, Annabelle and Donna turned their attention over towards the center of the room before the Doctor said, "Oh, hello! Sorry to burst in on you like this." While Annabelle kept her back pressed up against the door with her arms crossed over her chest, Donna and the Doctor took a couple of steps towards the center of the room as the Doctor asked, "Okay if we stop here for a bit?"
It was then that the wooden ball had suddenly fallen onto the floor of the room, which got Donna to ask him, "What is it?"
The Doctor told her, "A security camera." After lightly kicking at it, he said, "Switched itself off."
After picking up the security camera, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the camera, shortly before he said, "Nice door skills, Donna."
Donna replied, "Yeah, well, you know, boyfriends. Sometimes you need the element of surprise." While the Doctor continued to have his sonic screwdriver pointed at the camera, Donna asked him, "What was that? What was after us? I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Possibly."
After raising her head and looking up at the skylight, Donna asked him, "Are we safe here?"
The Doctor said to her, "Of course we're safe. There's a little shop." Shortly after Annabelle had snorted to herself in response to his words, he yelled, "Gotcha!"
Then the Doctor said to the security camera, "Ooh, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." After putting it back down onto the floor, he said, "It's alive."
With a quick raise of her head, Donna said to him, "You said it was a security camera."
As he stood back up and stared down at it, the Doctor told her, "It is. It's an alive one."
It wasn't long afterwards that Donna asked, "Others'? What's it mean, others?" After the Doctor had only shaken his head to himself and Annabelle had simply crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh, Donna made her way over towards another robot as she said, "Excuse me. What does it mean, others?"
The Doctor said to her, "That's barely more than a speak your weight machine. It can't help you."
In turn, Donna asked him, "So why's it got a face?"
It was then that the robot told her, "This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death."
With a turn of her head, Donna said, "It's a real face."
Then the robot told her, "It has been actualized individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy."
With furrowed eyebrows, Donna asked, "It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That statue's got a real dead person's face on it!"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "It is the fifty-first century. That's basically like donating a park bench."
Then Donna yelled, "It's donating a face!"
After she started to back up towards a shadow, the Doctor quickly grabbed onto Donna and yelled, "No! Wait! No!"
After hitting his arms, Donna yelled, "Hands!"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Shadow, look."
While Annabelle silently eyed the inside of the room that they were standing in, Donna asked him, "What about it?"
The Doctor said, "Count the shadows."
In turn, Donna said to him, "One, there. I've counted it, one shadow."
The Doctor replied, "Yeah. But what's casting it?"
In response to his question, Annabelle turned her attention over towards the shadow on the floor and then looked up at the skylight that still showed the brightness of the light outside.
It wasn't long afterwards that the Doctor yelled, "Oh! I'm thick! Look at me! I'm old and thick!" While Annabelle only tilted her head with a mere raise of her eyebrows, the Doctor yelled, "Head's too full of stuff! I need a bigger head!"
Then– after watching the Doctor take a quick couple of steps forward– Donna said, "Power must be going."
The Doctor told her, "This place runs on fission cells. They'll out-burn the sun."
Donna asked him, "Then why is it dark?"
The Doctor replied, "It's not dark."
After turning her head and then grabbing onto the Doctor's arm, Donna said, "That shadow, it's gone."
While Annabelle simply looked between the skylight, the place where the shadow was only a moment ago and the flashing light on the other side of the room, the Doctor said, "We need to get back to the TARDIS."
In turn, Donna asked him, "Why?"
The Doctor told her, "Because that shadow hasn't gone, it's moved."
It was then that the same robot from before said, "Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming."
It wasn't long afterwards that a crashing sound was heard, which got the Doctor and Donna to take a step away from the opening door, while Annabelle simply stepped in front of them and stared at the opening door with narrowed eyes.
And while clouds of white smoke came pouring out of the door, the three of them could see a figure wearing– what looked like– a space suit of some sort and had a helmet covering their head with other figures walking after the first one.
It wasn't until the first figure had come to a halt in front of the three of them that the figure pressed a button on its helmet, which revealed the face of a woman hiding behind the formerly darkened screen.
While Annabelle stared at the woman with narrowed eyes, the woman simply looked past Annabelle and over at the Doctor before she said, "Hello, sweetie."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Get out."
Then Donna said, "Doctor..."
As he carefully stepped around Annabelle, the Doctor said to the others, "All of you, turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren you came to the library and lived. They won't believe you."
It was then that the woman from before said, "Pop your helmets, everyone, we got breathers."
While they started to remove their helmets, one of them asked, "How do you know they're not androids?"
While Annabelle only scoffed to herself with a mere roll of her eyes, the woman said, "'Cause I've dated androids. They're rubbish."
As he took a couple of steps forward, a man asked the woman, "Who is this? You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives."
The woman replied, "I lied. I'm always lying. Bound to be others."
Then the man turned his back on the curly-haired woman and said to another woman, "Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts."
Then the first woman turned to the Doctor and asked him, "You came through the north door, yeah? How was that? Much damage?"
With his hands now on his hips, the Doctor said to her, "Please just leave. I'm asking you seriously and properly. Just..." Then he turned to look around himself as he asked, "Did you say expedition?"
With a nod of his head, the man from before told him, "My expedition. I funded it."
With a shake of his head, the Doctor said, "Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists."
With a nod of her own head, the woman asked him, "Got a problem with archaeologists?"
With a nod of his own head, the Doctor said to her, "I'm a time traveler. I point and laugh at archaeologists."
With a mere raise of her head, the woman said to him, "Ah. Professor River Song. Archaeologist."
While Annabelle only rolled her eyes with a sigh, the Doctor said to River, "River Song. Lovely name." Then he started to push her past him as he said, "As you're leaving, and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon, code-wall the planet. The whole planet! Nobody comes here, not ever again! Not one living thing, not here, not ever!"
Then the Doctor turned to one of the archaeologists and yelled, "Stop right there! What's your name?"
The woman told him, "Anita."
After pushing her far enough away from the shadows, the Doctor said to her, "Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your shop. Goes for all of you, stay in the light! Find a nice bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared." When they all silently stared at him with different looks on each of their faces, the Doctor told them, "No, a bit more scared than that."
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to his words, the Doctor said to them, "Okay, do for now." Then he walked over towards another man as he asked, "You, who are you?"
The man said to him, "Uh, Dave."
In turn, the Doctor started to say to him, "Okay, Dave..."
Then Dave told him, "Oh, well, Other Dave. Because, uh, that's Proper Dave, the pilot. He was the first Dave. So when..."
With a scoff, Annabelle asked the group of archaeologists, "Are you all seriously telling me that you're traveling with two separate Daves– one that's called Other Dave and another that's called Proper Dave?" When a few of the archaeologists had only nodded their heads in response to her question, Annabelle let out a scoff before she said, "Humans. Honestly, why do you humans always have to be so incredibly stupid when it comes to your names? Just call one David and the other Dave or refer to them by their own separate last names. It's not that difficult."
With a quick turn of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Annabelle."
In turn, Annabelle said to him, "Doctor."
After seeing Annabelle simply raise her eyebrows at him, the Doctor only let out a sigh before he turned back to Other Dave and asked him, "Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?"
Other Dave said to him, "Yeah." Then– after looking out into the hallway– he said, "Oh! It's a bit darker."
Then the Doctor asked him, "How much darker?"
With a wave of one of his hands, Other Dave told him, "Well, like, I could see where we came through just a moment ago. I can't now."
As he turned away from the hallway, the Doctor said to him, "Seal up this door. We'll find another way out."
While the Doctor started to walk away from him, Other Dave asked him, "Would you..."
Then the first man said to the Doctor, "We're not looking for a way out." Then he turned to Miss Evangelista and said to her, "Miss Evangelista."
It was then that Miss Evangelista made his way over towards where the Doctor, Annabelle and Donna were standing and told them, "Uh, I'm Mr. Lux's personal everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation."
While the three of them went to grab the papers from Miss Evangelista, the Doctor said to her, "Right. Give it here."
Then– just like that– the Doctor and Donna ripped the contracts in half and tossed them aside.
Annabelle, however, scrunched her own contract up into a ball and then proceeded to throw it into the face of Mr. Lux, which got Mr. Lux to let out a yell after the paper had hit him in the nose and then fell down onto the floor.
Then the Doctor turned to Annabelle and asked her, "Was throwing the paper at him really that necessary?"
In response to his words, Annabelle only raised her eyebrows at him with a mere shrug of her shoulders.
It was only when Mr. Lux had pointed a finger in Annabelle's direction and opened his mouth to say something to her as he took a step forward in her direction, only to stop when Annabelle had quickly looked back over at him with her veins on display and her head tilted to the side.
Then– instead of pointing a finger at Annabelle– Mr. Lux took a step forward towards the Doctor and pointed a finger at him as he said, "My family built this library. I have rights."
In turn, River said to Mr. Lux, "You have a mouth that won't stop." Then she turned to the Doctor and asked him, "You think there's danger here?"
The Doctor told her, "Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be."
River said to him, "That was a hundred years ago. The library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here is long dead."
With a mere turn of his head, the Doctor asked her, "Bet your life?"
After raising her eyebrows and smiling to herself, River said to him, "Always."
It wasn't long afterwards that Annabelle brought her attention over towards Mr. Lux, who asked Other Dave, "What are you doing?"
Other Dave told him, "He said seal the door."
As he started to take the flashlight out of Mr. Lux's hand, the Doctor said, "Torch."
Then Mr. Lux asked Other Dave, "You're taking orders from him?"
In turn, the Doctor asked Mr. Lux, "Spooky, isn't it?"
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to the Doctor's words, the Doctor quickly walked past her and the others and over towards where the hallway with the flickering light stood on the other side of the room, shortly before he said, "Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong, 'cause it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada."
Donna asked him, "What's Vashta Nerada?"
The Doctor told her, "It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark." While Annabelle simply rolled her eyes with a mere scoff, the Doctor quickly made his way back over towards the others as he yelled, "Lights! That's what we need! Lights! You got lights?"
As he caught the flashlight that was thrown his way, Mr. Lux asked him, "What for?"
The Doctor said to them, "Form a circle, safe area, big as you can. Lights pointing out."
Then Anita asked him, "Why?"
With a mere turn of her head, River said to Anita, "Do as he says."
While the Doctor tossed his trench coat aside, Mr. Lux asked her, "You're not listening to this man?"
With a nod of her head, River replied, "Apparently I am." Then– with a turn of her head– she said, "Anita, un-pack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure then help Anita. Mr. Lux, put your helmet back on and block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal, I want you to access the library database. See what you can find out about what happened here a hundred years ago."
As she bent down to grab her bag, River said, "Pretty boy, you're with me. Step into my office."
While River started to walk away from them, Mr. Lux asked, "Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?"
With a shake of her head, River told him, "I don't fancy you."
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to River's words, the Doctor made his way over towards Proper Dave as he said, "Probably I can help you."
While Mr. Lux removed his helmet, River said, "Pretty boy, with me I said."
Slowly, the Doctor turned around to look between Annabelle, Donna and River before he asked, "Oh, I'm pretty boy?"
At the same time that Annabelle started to shake her head to herself with a sigh, Donna yelled, "Yes! Ooh, that came out a bit quick."
Then the Doctor asked her, "Pretty?"
While Donna only tilted her head in response to his question, the Doctor tilted his own head before he looked over at Annabelle, who asked him, "Do you need me to walk you, Doctor?"
With a shake of his head, the Doctor said to her, "No. No, why-why would I need you to walk me?"
In turn, Annabelle asked him, "Why do you think?"
After staring at Annabelle for a second and seeing the way that she was just raising her eyebrows at him, the Doctor simply shook his head to himself as he walked past where Annabelle and Donna were standing before he pointed a finger at the archaeologists and said to them, "Don't let your shadows cross. Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected."
With a mere turn of his head, Other Dave asked, "How could a shadow be infected?"
Then Miss Evangelista said to Anita and Other Dave, "Excuse me. Can I help?"
Anita said to her, "No, we're fine."
Miss Evangelista told them, "I could just, you know, hold things."
Other Dave said to her, "No, really, we're okay."
With a nod of her head, Miss Evangelista said to them, "Okay."
It was then that Donna walked away from Annabelle and asked Anita and Other Dave, "Couldn't she help?"
In turn, Other Dave said to her, "Trust me. I just spent four days on a ship with that woman. She's a..."
Then Anita told Donna, "Couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice."
When Annabelle had only let out a snort in response to Other Dave's words, Donna quickly turned to look over at Annabelle and said, "Annabelle!"
As she continued to make her way over towards Donna, Annabelle replied, "What?"
While Donna walked away from the two archaeologists with Annabelle simply walking after her, Donna said to her, "Be nice."
With a sigh, Annabelle sped over towards Donna and grabbed her by the arm before she asked Donna, "Why should I? She's only human. And based on what Anita and Dave have just said about her, she's a stupid one. So, why should I even bother being nice in regard to a human that probably doesn't even have the basic human instinct in order to keep herself alive?" Just when Donna had opened her mouth to respond to Annabelle's question, she suddenly stopped when Annabelle's veins had come onto display as she said, "Don't forget, Donna Noble. I'm an Original vampire that has been alive for over a thousand years and prior to stepping into the Doctor's TARDIS just two years ago, I had spent over eight-hundred years of my life killing anyone and everyone that I've crossed paths with, no matter who they are. So, don't mistake my kindness towards you as my inability to kill you, if you choose to yell at me the way that you yell at everyone else."
In response to Annabelle's words, Donna only stared down at Annabelle with her mouth slightly open and her eyes widened just a little bit before she moved away from Annabelle, who was only staring after her with her eyes narrowed and her veins still on display.
It wasn't long after Donna had moved away from Annabelle that the Doctor cleared his throat River, who said to him, "Thanks."
The Doctor asked her, "For what?"
River told him, "The usual, for coming when I call."
With a mere raise of his eyebrows, the Doctor asked her, "Oh, that was you?"
As she looked through the book that she was holding in her hands, River said to him, "You're doing a very good job acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "A fairly good one, actually."
It was then that River asked him, "Okay, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time?" After looking over at his face, she said, "Ah, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you. Yeah, so, uh, crash of the Byzantium, have we done that yet?"
When the Doctor only stared at her, she said, "Obviously ringing no bells." After nodding to herself, she said, "Alright. Oh... Picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?"
When he only continued to stare at her, River said, "Obviously not. Blimey. Very early days, then. Oh! Life of a time traveler, never knew it could be such hard work. Um..." Then– after looking up at him once more– she said to him, "Look at you. You're young."
The Doctor replied, "I'm really not, you know."
In turn, River said to him, "Oh, but you are. Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you."
With a mere tilt of his head, the Doctor asked her, "You've seen me before, then?"
It was then that River said to him, "Doctor... please tell me you know who I am."
After glancing down at her hand on his shoulder, the Doctor asked her, "Who are you?"
It wasn't long after River took her hand off of his shoulders that the sound of an alarm buzzing could be heard, shortly before Proper Dave said, "Sorry, that was me. Trying to get through into the security protocols, I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?"
As she took a couple of steps forward, Donna said, "Doctor... Doctor, that sounds like..."
The Doctor replied, "Yeah, it is. It's a phone."
With a scoff, Annabelle asked, "Why the bloody hell are we hearing the ringing of a phone?"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I have no idea."
With a scoff, Annabelle said, "Well, that's rather unhelpful."
After the Doctor had simply given Annabelle a pointed look, to which Annabelle had responded with a mere roll of her eyes, Proper Dave told them, "I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding, just that noise."
While the Doctor and Donna walked over towards Proper Dave, Donna said, "But it's a phone."
As he pushed Proper Dave aside, the Doctor said to him, "Let me try something." Several seconds after his own attempt of getting through the machine, he said, "Okay, it don't like that. Let's try something else."
While Annabelle simply tilted her head as she stared at the screen with narrowed eyes, the Doctor said, "Okay, here it comes. Hello."
Then the child on the screen said to them, "Hello. Are you in my television?"
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Well, no, I'm... I'm sort of in space. Um, I was trying to call up the data core of a Triple-Grid Security Processor."
It was then that the child asked him, "Would you like to speak to my dad?"
With a nod of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Your dad or your mum, that would be lovely."
Then the child said to him, "I know you, and I know the girl standing just beside you. Both of you were in my library."
While Annabelle's eyebrows had simply furrowed in response to the girl's words, the Doctor asked the child, "Your library?"
The child told him, "The library's never been on television before. What have you done?"
With a shake of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Ah, well, um, I just... rerouted the interface."
After the screen had gone back to normal, River asked the Doctor, "What happened? Who was that?"
While Annabelle leaned her face even closer to the screen with her head tilted to the side just a bit more than it already was, the Doctor quickly ran away from them as he said, "Keep working on those lights. I need those lights."
As she hurried after the Doctor, River said, "You heard him, people. Let there be light."
While Annabelle slowly turned her back on the screen and made her way over towards another part of the room, the Doctor started to mess around with another machine before he glanced down at the small, blue book that was sitting on the table just beside him.
After glancing over at the book once more and staring at it for a couple of seconds, the Doctor picked up the book from the table, just before River grabbed it with one of her own hands and told him, "Sorry, you're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules."
The Doctor asked her, "What rules?"
With a nod of her head, River said to him, "Your rules."
* * *
The moment that a book had come flying off of its shelf and hit Annabelle in the arm, she simply blinked to herself with a sigh, while more and more books started to fly themselves off of the shelves, shortly before the Doctor asked, "What's that? I didn't do that." Then he turned to Proper Dave and asked him, "Did you do that?"
Proper Dave said to him, "Not me."
After turning his attention back over towards his own screen, the Doctor asked, "What's CAL?"
It wasn't long after Annabelle had stepped out of the way of yet another flying book that Donna made her way over towards Miss Evangelista and asked her, "You alright?"
With a mere turn of her head, Miss Evangelista asked, "What's that? What's happening?"
In turn, Proper Dave said to her, "I don't know."
Then Donna said to her, "Oh, thanks for, you know, offering to help with the lights."
With a nod of her head, Miss Evangelista told her, "They don't want me. They think I'm stupid 'cause I'm pretty."
With a scoff, Donna replied, "Of course they don't. Nobody thinks that."
While Annabelle only rolled her eyes in response to Donna's words, Miss Evangelista said to Donna, "No, they're right, though. I'm a moron really. My dad said I had the IQ of plankton, and I was pleased."
After letting out a laugh, Donna said to her, "See, that's funny."
With a mere turn of her head, Miss Evangelista said to her, "N-No, I-I really was pleased. Is that funny?"
With a mere shake of her head, Donna said to her, "No. No."
After the books started to fly off of their shelves once more and Annabelle was forced to dodge the flying books, River asked, "What's causing that? Is it the little girl?"
After getting hit in the face with a book, Annabelle clenched her hands into fists as she said, "If it is, then the second that I find the little girl, I'll be sure to kill her for hitting me in the face with a book."
While River simply glanced over at Annabelle with furrowed eyebrows, the Doctor and Donna simultaneously said, "Annabelle."
At the same time that Annabelle's veins started to come onto display once more, the Doctor asked, "Who is the little girl? What's she gotta do with this place?"
* * *
From where he sat on top of a desk, the Doctor asked River, "How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's CAL?"
With a nod of her head, River said to him, "Ask Mr. Lux."
Then the Doctor turned to Mr. Lux and asked him, "CAL, what is it?"
In turn, Mr. Lux said to him, "Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts."
While Annabelle quickly turned her head to look over at Mr. Lux with a scowl now on her face, the Doctor made his way over towards Mr. Lux as he said, "Mr. Lux, right now you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?"
Mr. Lux replied, "I'm protecting my family's pride."
With a nod of his head, the Doctor said to him, "Well, funny thing, Mr. Lux. I don't wanna see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important."
It was then that River asked the Doctor, "Then why don't you sign his contract?" After the Doctor had turned his head to look over at her, River told him, "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you."
After repeatedly looking between Mr. Lux and River, the Doctor said to Mr. Lux, "Okay. Okay, let's start at the beginning. What happened here? On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what physically happened?"
* * *
While one of the panel walls in the room had slid open, River said, "There was a message from the library, just one. 'The lights are going out'. Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years."
Mr. Lux told the Doctor, "It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in."
It was then that Miss Evangelista turned to them and said, "Um, excuse me?"
In turn, Mr. Lux said to her, "Not just now."
Then River said to the Doctor, "There was one other thing in the last message."
While River bent down to get something, Mr. Lux said to her, "That's confidential."
River told him, "I trust this man. With my life, with everything."
Mr. Lux replied, "You've only just met him."
River said to him, "No. He's only just met me."
While Annabelle only eyed River with narrowed eyes, Miss Evangelista said to them, "Um, this might be important, actually."
Mr. Lux said to her, "In a moment."
Then River told the Doctor, "This is a data extract that came with the message."
It was then that the Doctor read aloud, "'4,022 saved. No survivors'."
Then River said, "4,022, that's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed."
With a nod of her head, Donna asked them, "How can 4,022 people have been saved if there were no survivors?"
With a mere raise of her head, River said, "That's what we're here to find out."
In turn, Mr. Lux said, "And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies."
With a mere shrug of her shoulders, Annabelle said, "Well, perhaps you didn't look hard enough. I mean, it shouldn't be that difficult to find some bodies, if you look hard enough." While the Doctor was quick to give Annabelle a pointed look, Annabelle said, "I mean, even if you didn't look hard enough, you'd still be able to find bodies."
With a sigh, the Doctor asked her, "Annabelle, is now really the time to be talking about this?"
With a mere turn of her head, Annabelle asked him, "Would you prefer it if I talked about my desire to tear into Lux's throat because of that look that he keeps on giving me any time that he sees me or even hears my voice for that matter?"
After letting out a sigh, the Doctor said to her, "Annabelle, please, not now. If we get out of this unscathed, I'll get you double the amount of blood bags that I got you the last time if you keep your desire to kill everyone down to a minimum whilst we're in this library."
In response to his words, Annabelle rolled her eyes and scoffed to herself, while River silently looked between the two of them and took note of the interaction that they were having with one another.
From what River could see, this version of Annabelle was far angrier and more willing to kill others than the one that she had seen the last time that they crossed paths with one another.
Not to mention the fact that Annabelle actually looked rather annoyed with the Doctor and not the version of herself that River had seen the last time that she saw the Doctor and Annabelle traveling together.
And it didn't take long for River to realize that this version of Annabelle had to have been from before River had actually met the Doctor and during the time in which the Doctor said that Annabelle was simply tolerating him for the sake of being away from her half-brother.
And in response to this knowledge of just how different Annabelle this version of Annabelle was compared to the Annabelle that she knew, River only sighed to herself– leaving her unaware of the fact that Miss Evangelista was walking towards the opening in the wall.
* * *
As soon as Miss Evangelista's scream was heard, the Doctor grabbed Annabelle and dragged her with him, while he and the others ran in the direction of the screaming that they had just heard.
And while they all continued to go in the direction of Miss Evangelista's screaming, Annabelle yelled, "Again with the damn dragging me around!" When the Doctor only chose to ignore her words, she told him, "Doctor, I swear, if this constant choice of yours of dragging me around everywhere keeps up, one of these days, I am going to rip your bloody arms off of your body and beat you to death with them!"
It wasn't long after she said those words that they had all come to an abrupt halt when they found themselves staring at a single skeleton that was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room.
While Annabelle ripped her arm out of the Doctor's grasp, the Doctor said, "Everybody, careful. Stay in the light."
In turn, Proper Dave said to him, "You keep saying that, I don't see the point."
After quickly turning her head to look over at Proper Dave, Annabelle said to him, "Perhaps you'll see the point once I shove you into the shadows and we all just so happen to see what happens to you as a result of it."
While Proper Dave simply eyed her and the plastered grin that she had on her face, the Doctor asked, "Who screamed?"
Proper Dave told him, "Miss Evangelista."
Then the Doctor asked, "Where is she?"
It was then that River pressed a button on her suit and said, "Miss Evangelista, please state your current..." After hearing the echoes of her own words in the room, River took a step forward towards the skeleton and said, "Please state your current... position."
After moving something around on the suit, River said, "It's her. That's Miss Evangelista."
In turn, Anita said to her, "We heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?"
The Doctor told her, "It took a lot less than a few seconds."
As she looked between Evangelista's skeleton and the Doctor, Anita asked him, "What did?"
It was then that Miss Evangelista's voice could be heard saying, "Hello?"
Then River said to them, "Uh, I'm sorry, everyone. Um, this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting."
In turn, Donna asked her, "She's what?"
Once more, Miss Evangelista said, "Hello, excuse me? I-I'm sorry, hello, excuse me?"
With a shake of her head, Donna said, "That's... That's her. That's Miss Evangelista."
With a shake of his own head, Proper Dave said, "I don't wanna sound horrible, but couldn't we just, you know..."
With a turn of her own head, River told him, "This is her last moment, no, we can't. A little respect, thank you."
Then Miss Evangelista asked, "Sorry, where am I? Excuse me?"
Donna said to them, "But that's Miss Evangelista."
River said to her, "It's a data ghost. She'll be gone in a moment." Then River pressed the very same button on her suit before she said, "Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax. We'll be with you presently."
Then Donna turned to the Doctor and asked her, "What's a data ghost?"
The Doctor told her, "There's a neural relay in the communicator, lets you send thought-mails. That's it there. Those green lights. Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an after image."
Anita said to them, "Her grandfather lasted a day. Kept talking about his shoelaces."
With a shake of her head, Donna said, "She's in there."
Then Miss Evangelista said, "I can't see. I can't... Where am I?"
Then Proper Dave said, "She's just brainwaves now. Pattern won't hold for long."
With another shake of her head, Donna said, "But she's conscious. She's thinking."
Then Miss Evangelista said, "I can't see. I can't... I don't know what I'm thinking."
The Doctor told Donna, "She's a footprint on the beach. And the tide's coming in."
Then Miss Evangelista asked, "Where is that woman? The nice woman, is she there?"
In turn, Mr. Lux asked, "What woman?"
With a sigh, Donna said, "She means... I think she means me."
Then Miss Evangelista asked, "Is she there? The nice woman?"
River told Miss Evangelista, "Yes, she's here. Hang on." Then– after holding down onto the button– River said to Donna, "Go ahead, she can hear you."
Then Miss Evangelista asked, "Hello, are you there?"
Then the Doctor said to Donna in a whisper, "Help her."
As she turned to face the Doctor, Donna said to him, "She's dead."
With a nod of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Yeah, help her."
While Donna took a step forward towards Miss Evangelista's skeleton, Miss Evangelista asked, "Hello, is that the nice woman?"
It was then that Donna said to her, "Yeah. Hello. Yeah, I'm... I'm here. You okay?"
Miss Evangelista said to her, "What I said before, about being stupid, don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."
In turn, Donna said to her, "Of course I won't. Course I won't tell them."
Then Miss Evangelista said, "Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."
With a shake of her head, Donna told her, "I won't tell them. I s– I said I won't."
Once more, Miss Evangelista said, "Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."
With a shake of her head, Donna said to her, "I'm not going to tell them."
For a fourth time, Miss Evangelista said, "Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh."
It was then that River said, "She's looping now. The pattern's degrading."
Then Miss Evangelista said, "I can't think... I don't know... I...I... Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream..."
While Miss Evangelista continued to say 'ice cream', River asked, "Does anybody mind if I..."
It wasn't long after she took a step forward and took the piece off of the remnants of Evangelista's suit that Donna said, "That was... That was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen."
With a shake of her head and a mere click of her tongue, River told her, "Well, it's just a freak of technology. Whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "I'll introduce you." After quickly making his way back into the room with the others close behind him, he said, "I'm gonna need a packed lunch."
As she quickly moved past him, River said to him, "Hang on."
After watching River crouch down onto the floor and pull out the same blue book from before, the Doctor asked her, "What's in that book?"
River said to him, "Spoilers."
Then the Doctor asked her, "Who are you?"
River told him, "Professor River Song. University of..."
Then the Doctor said to her, "To me. Who are you to me?"
After letting out a sigh, River said to him, "Again. Spoilers." As she handed the container that she was holding over to him, she said, "Chicken and a bit of salad, knock yourself out."
After staring at River for a couple of seconds, the Doctor quickly stood up and started to walk past River as he said, "Right, you lot. Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada."
* * *
While the Doctor repeatedly moved his sonic screwdriver around and flashed it on the floor, River asked Donna, "You travel with him, don't you? The Doctor, you travel with him."
In turn, Donna asked her, "What of it?"
While River only turned her head to look over at Donna, the Doctor asked, "Proper Dave, could you move over a bit?"
Proper Dave asked him, "Why?"
While Annabelle only blankly stared at Proper Dave with her head tilted to the side, the Doctor said to him, "Over there by the water cooler. Thanks."
It wasn't long afterwards that Donna asked River, "You know him, don't you?"
In turn, River said to her, "Oh, God, do I know that man! We go way back, that man and me. Just not this far back."
Donna replied, "I'm sorry, what?"
River told her, "He hasn't met me yet." When Donna only stared at her with furrowed eyebrows, River turned her head and said to her, "I sent him a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. Uh, this is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me... He looks right through me, and it shouldn't kill me, but it does."
With furrowed eyebrows, Donna asked her, "What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him, or don't you?"
It was then that the Doctor yelled, "Donna! Quiet, I'm working."
While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to his words, Donna said to him, "Sorry."
Then the Doctor said, "That goes for you too, Annabelle."
With a scoff, Annabelle replied, "I didn't even say anything."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Still. Just be quiet all the same."
While Annabelle only rolled her eyes in response to his words, River turned to Donna and asked her, "Donna, you're Donna? Donna Noble."
With a nod of her head, Donna said to her, "Yeah. Why?"
With a nod of her head, River told her, "I do know the Doctor. But in the future. His personal future."
With a shake of her head, Donna asked her, "So, why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?" When River only continued to stare at her, Donna asked her, "And what about Annabelle? Do you at least know her?"
With a sigh, River said to her, "Of course I know her. There's hardly a person in the universe that doesn't know who she is– whether it be by her own reputation or the time in which she travels with the Doctor." Then– after letting out a sigh– she said, "Although, this version of Annabelle is quite different compared to the one that I know."
With furrowed eyebrows, Donna asked her, "Different how?"
River told her, "Well, she isn't quite so angry and bloodthirsty like she is now. Then there's also the fact that she isn't as annoyed with the Doctor as she is right now."
Just when Donna opened her mouth to ask her another question, she suddenly stopped when the Doctor said, "Okay, got a live one." After taking a couple of steps away from the shadow underneath the table, the Doctor turned to them and said, "That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man-eating swarm."
Then he grabbed the chicken from River's lunch and tossed it underneath the table.
And in just the split second in which it had reached the shadow, the chicken was reduced down to a bone.
And while Annabelle only raised her eyebrows in response to seeing just how quickly the chicken had been reduced down to nothing more than a single bone, the Doctor said, "The piranhas of the air, the Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive."
Then Donna asked him, "What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?"
With a nod of his head, the Doctor said to her, "Mm. Earth, and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams."
In turn, Donna said to him, "If they were on Earth, we'd know."
With a shake of his head, the Doctor replied, "Nah. Normally they live on road-kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark."
It was then that River asked the Doctor, "Every shadow?"
With a mere turn of his head, the Doctor said to her, "No, but any shadow."
River asked him, "So, what do we do?"
The Doctor said, "Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada... run. Just run."
With a shake of her head, River asked him, "Run? Run where?"
As he stood up and turned around to face Annabelle and the archaeologists, the Doctor said, "This is an index point, there must be an exit teleport somewhere."
Then Mr. Lux said to him, "Don't look at me, I haven't memorized the schematics."
With a mere scoff, Annabelle asked Mr. Lux, "Weren't you the one that was going on and on about how this library was the pride of your family?"
With a nod of his head, Mr. Lux said to her, "Well, yes, but mind you, other than those that remain in this room, no one has been inside of the library for a hundred years."
While Annabelle only rolled her eyes at him with a scoff, Donna said, "Doctor, the little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff."
After quickly making his way over towards the room that the small store was being held inside of, the Doctor said to her, "You're right. Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop."
With a mere snort of her nose, Annabelle asked the Doctor, "Is there anything other than Daleks that you don't like, or are you just capable of liking anything and everything that you just so happen to see in your travels?"
With a mere tilt of his head, the Doctor said, "Well..."
It was then that Proper Dave started to head in the direction of the store as he said, "Okay, let's move it."
In turn, the Doctor said to him, "Actually, Proper Dave... Could you stay where you are for a moment?"
Proper Dave replied, "Why?"
While Annabelle silently looked between the Doctor and Proper Dave with narrowed eyes, the Doctor said to him, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows." After Proper Dave had slightly turned his head to see that he actually did have two shadows, the Doctor told him, "It's how they hunt. They latch onto a food source and keep it fresh."
Proper Dave asked him, "What do I do?"
The Doctor told him, "You stay absolutely still. Like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps."
Then River said, "We're not leaving you, Dave."
Then the Doctor said to him, "Of course we're not leaving you. Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me."
Proper Dave told him, "On the floor, by my bag."
While Anita went to get Proper Dave's helmet, the Doctor yelled, "Don't cross his shadow!"
After being handed the helmet, the Doctor said, "Thanks." As he went to put the helmet onto Proper Dave's head, he said, "Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got."
While the archaeologists went to do just that, Donna said to him, "Doctor, we haven't got any helmets."
The Doctor replied, "Yeah, but we're safe anyway."
Donna asked him, "How are we safe?"
The Doctor told her, "We're not. That was a clever lie to shut you up." While Annabelle only snorted to herself in response to his words, the Doctor asked, "Professor, anything I can do with the suit?"
Mr. Lux asked him, "What good are the damn suits? Miss Evangelista was wearing a suit, there was nothing left."
With a nod of her head, River said to him, "We can increase the mesh density. Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "Okay." After pressing his sonic screwdriver into the front of the suit, he said, "Eight hundred percent pass it on."
After quickly raising her own sonic screwdriver, River said, "Gotcha."
It was then that the Doctor asked her, "What's that?"
River told him, "It's a screwdriver."
Then the Doctor said to her, "It's sonic."
With a nod of her head, River said to him, "Yeah, I know. Snap."
Shortly after Annabelle had snorted to herself in response to River's words, she found herself grabbed by Donna, who was grabbed by the Doctor as he quickly ran over towards the small store in the library and said, "With me, come on."
It wasn't until after they'd entered the small store and Annabelle had ripped her arm out of Donna's grasp that Donna asked the Doctor, "What are we doing? We're shopping? Is it a good time to shop?"
As he moved Donna over towards the single platform in the room, the Doctor said to her, "No talking, just move. Try it. Right, stand out in the middle." While the Doctor quickly made his way back over towards the podium that he was standing behind, the Doctor told her, "It's a teleport. Stand in the middle. Can't send the others, TARDIS won't recognize them."
Then Donna asked him, "What are you doing?"
The Doctor told her, "You don't have a suit, you're not safe."
In turn, Donna said to him, "You and Annabelle don't have a suit, so the both of you are in just as much danger as I am. And I'm not leaving..."
With a quick raise of his head, the Doctor yelled, "Donna, let me explain!" After Donna had disappeared from the platform, he said, "Ah, that's how you do it."
Then– after looking over at Annabelle and seeing the way that she was looking at him– he said, "What?"
With a mere tilt of her head, Annabelle asked him, "You do realize that once we get back to the TARDIS that Donna is going to kill you for sending her away like that, right?"
In response to her words, the Doctor simply grimaced to himself, shortly before both he and Annabelle could hear River say, "Doctor."
* * *
After silently eyeing the shadow that was once attached to Proper Dave, the Doctor asked, "Where did it go?"
Proper Dave told him, "It's just gone, I-I looked around, one shadow, see?"
Then River asked the Doctor, "Does that mean we can leave? I don't want to hang around here."
With a shake of his head, Mr. Lux said, "I don't know why we're still here. We can leave him, can't we?" Then he said to Proper Dave, "I mean, no offense."
With a mere turn of her head, River said, "Shut up, Mr. Lux."
While Mr. Lux only turned his head to look over at River, the Doctor asked Proper Dave, "Did you feel anything like an energy transfer? Anything at all?"
With a mere raise of his arms, Proper Dave said to him, "No, no, but look. I-It's gone."
As soon as Proper Dave had turned his back on them, the Doctor said to him, "Stop there. Stop. Stop. Stop there. Stop moving. They're never just gone, and they never give up."
Then he bent down to the floor and started to use his sonic screwdriver on it once more.
It wasn't long afterwards that the Doctor said, "Mm-mm. This one's benign."
It was then that Proper Dave started to lower his arms as he asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
With a mere raise of his head, the Doctor said to him, "No one, they're fine."
In turn, Proper Dave said, "No, seriously, turn them back on."
River told him, "They are on."
While the Doctor stood back up and stared at the back of Proper Dave's suit with furrowed eyebrows, Proper Dave said, "I can't see a ruddy thing."
Then the Doctor said to him, "Dave, turn around."
As he turned around to face them, Proper Dave asked them, "What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?"
The Doctor said to him, "Dave, I want you to stay still. Absolutely still." After Proper Dave had bent back a bit with his arms stiffly pinned to his sides, the Doctor said to him, "Dave, Dave, Dave, can you hear me? Talk to me, Dave."
It was then that Proper Dave had quickly raised his head and said to them, "I'm fine. I'm okay, I'm-I'm fine."
The Doctor told him, "I want you to stay still. Absolutely still."
Once more, Proper Dave said, "I'm fine. I'm okay, I'm fine. I can't... Why can't I? I... I can't... Why can't I? I... I can't... Why can't I? I..."
It was then that River said, "He's gone. He's ghosting."
Then Mr. Lux asked, "Then why is he still standing?"
Then Proper Dave asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?"
While Annabelle silently eyed Proper Dave with her head tilted to the side and her eyes narrowed and the Doctor slowly leaned his head in towards Proper Dave, River said, "Doctor, don't."
As he continued to lean his head in towards Proper Dave, the Doctor asked, "Dave, can you hear me?"
Once more, Proper Dave asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
It wasn't long afterwards that Proper Dave had quickly grabbed onto the Doctor and forced him onto his knees on the library floor, shortly before Proper Dave's skeletal face could be seen staring back at them.
Then– yet again– Proper Dave asked, "Who turned out the lights?"
At the same time that Annabelle had sped over towards the Doctor and grabbed onto him, River quickly made her way over towards Proper Dave and pressed her own sonic driver into the suit as she yelled, "Excuse me!"
While Annabelle quickly pulled the Doctor away from the standing skeleton of Proper Dave, the Doctor yelled, "Back from it, get back, right back!"
After watching the suit take a couple of steps in their direction, River said, "Doesn't move very fast, does it?"
The Doctor told her, "It's a swarm in a suit. But it's learning."
While the Doctor carefully pried Annabelle's fingers off of his arm, Mr. Lux asked, "What do we do? Where do we go?"
River said to him, "See that wall behind you?" After they had each turned their heads to look over at the wall, River pointed another device of hers at the wall as she said, "Duck."
After quickly pulling Annabelle out of the way, the Doctor said, "Squareness gun!"
It wasn't long afterwards that River started to quickly make her way over towards the open wall as she said, "Everybody out. Go, go, go. Move it. Move, move. Move it. Move, move." After they had each gotten out of the main room, River said to the Doctor, "You said not every shadow."
In turn, the Doctor said to her, "But any shadow."
Once more, they heard the voice of Proper Dave ask, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
Then River said, "Run."
At the same time that River had grabbed onto the Doctor, the Doctor grabbed Annabelle before they all started to quickly run away from the direction that the moving corpse of Proper Dave was in the hallway.
* * *
While the remaining archaeologists tried to do what they could to catch their breath from all of the running that they did, the Doctor told them, "Trying to boost the power. Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down."
With her helmet back off of her head, River asked the Doctor, "So, what's the plan? We have a plan?"
After looking down at the sonic screwdriver that River was holding, the Doctor said to her, "Your screwdriver." After the light that he was working on had immediately turned back on, he said, "Looks exactly like mine."
In turn, River said to him, "Yeah. You gave it to me."
With a shake of his head, the Doctor said, "I don't give my screwdriver to anyone."
River replied, "I'm not anyone."
Then the Doctor asked her, "Who are you?"
While Annabelle paced around the inside of the hallway and listened to the sound of Proper Dave's corpse walking around the hallways, River asked the Doctor, "What's the plan?"
The Doctor told her, "I teleported Donna back to the TARDIS. If we don't get back there in under five hours, Emergency Program One will activate."
With a nod of her head, River said to him, "Take her home, yeah. We need to get a shift on."
With wide eyes, the Doctor looked down at his screwdriver as he said, "She's not there. I should've received a signal." As he brought the screwdriver up to one of his ears, he said, "The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."
In turn, River said to him, "Well, maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment here's ancient."
It was then that the Doctor quickly ran over towards the nearest robot and said to it, "Donna Noble. There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library, do you have the software to locate her position?"
It wasn't long afterwards that the robot had turned its head and said, "Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved."
While Annabelle quickly turned her head to look over in the direction of the robot's voice and the Doctor had only said Donna's first name, the robot said, "Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved."
While Annabelle started to clench her hands into fists, River asked the Doctor, "How can it be Donna? How's that possible?"
Once more, the robot said, "Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved."
In turn, the Doctor said, "Oh, Donna."
Then the robot said once more, "Donna Noble has..."
Before the robot had the chance to repeat those words yet again, Annabelle quickly sped over towards the robot and ripped its head off of the rest of its body.
Shortly after the Doctor and River had turned their heads to see that Annabelle was standing just behind the robot with her veins on display and a scowl on her face, the voice of Proper Dave could be heard asking, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
With a quick turn of her head, River said, "Doctor."
It wasn't long after the other archaeologists had run past the Doctor and River had dragged the Doctor along with her that Annabelle stared at the moving skeletal body of Proper Dave with her eyes narrowed and a tight grip on the robot's head before she threw it right at the center of the moving corpse, which resulted in it being sent flying into the bookshelf that stood just behind it.
Then Annabelle took it upon herself to throw the rest of the robot's body at the moving corpse before she quickly sped after the Doctor and the other archaeologists.
It was only when Annabelle had reached them that the sliver of light that had once shone on the floor had disappeared, which got River to turn to the Doctor and ask him, "Doctor, what're we gonna do?"
Once more, Proper Dave asked, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"
And while Proper Dave's corpse continued to walk in their direction, Annabelle squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears with her hands as she tried to ignore the continuous words of how Donna had been saved, Proper Dave's repetitive questioning, and also the echoing sound that was the Master's laughter inside of her head.
And each second that those three sounds continued to be heard by her, the angrier and more murderous that she felt– which did nothing to help them out of the situation that they were in at that exact moment.
And it was because of those three sounds alone that Annabelle started to heavily shake and the grip that she had on the sides of her head had only worsened, which left the Doctor to both contemplate on just how they were going to get out of that mess without anyone else becoming a victim of the Vashta Nerada or Annabelle going out of her way to kill everyone in that specific hallway at that exact moment.