Dad lands inside a small cupboard before he feels like it's spinning on him. He stands up and stumbles out of it, landing inside a bright decorated house on the carpet with a groan. "What is it? What's happening?"
"Oh, my God!" A young woman rushes to his side. "I don't believe it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming!"
He tries to pull himself up. "What happened? I was..."
She tries to help him up. "Careful now. Oh!" Dad's legs give away. "Oh, mind yourself! Oh, that's the transmat. It scrambles your head. I was sick for days." He tries to push himself up with her help. "All right?" He groans in response, managing to stay standing up. "So, what's your name then, sweetheart?"
"The Doctor, I think." He answers, shaking his head to clear it. "I was, er. I don't know, what happened? How..." He looks at her with confusion.
"You got chosen." She explains.
"Chosen for what?"
"You're a housemate. You're in the house!" She beams. "Isn't that brilliant?"
"That's not fair!" Another man complains from the couch, sitting next to a black woman. "We've got eviction in five minutes! I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning, and then he comes swanning in."
"If they keep changing the rules, I'm going to protest, I am." The woman next to him says. "You watch me, I'm going to paint the walls."
"Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?" A robotic voice announces.
Dad turns around after looking up at the ceiling to see a silver door swing open. He slowly walks over and sits down on the red chair.
"You are live on channel 44,000. Please do not swear."
Dad huffs. "You have got to be kidding."
*****
Rose wakes up on a studio floor. "What happened?"
A black man crouches in front of her. "It's all right. It's the transmat." He reassures her. "Does your head in. Get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?"
"Rose." She blinks, looking around. "But where's the Doctor?"
"Just remember do what the android says. Don't provoke it. The android's word is law."
"What do you mean, android?" She looks at him. "Like a robot?"
"Positions, everyone! A woman calls out. "Thank you!"
"Come on, hurry up." He helps Rose to her feet. "Steady, steady."
She grabs onto him as her head spins. "I was travelling, with the Doctor, my sister, Angel, and a man called Captain Jack. They wouldn't just leave me."
"That's enough chat!" A woman calls. "Positions! Final call! Good luck!"
"But I'm not supposed to be here." Rose mutters.
"It says Rose on the podium." He remarks, nodding at it. "Come on." He walks over to his podium, standing behind it.
"Hold on, I must be going mad." Rose says, going over to her podium. "It can't be. This looks like the..."
"Android activated!" A woman shouts.
"Oh, my God, the android." Rose breathes, staring at it. "The Anne droid."
"Welcome to The Weakest Link!" The droid replies.
*****
Jack slowly wakes up in a white room with two blurry faces of droids staring at him. One purple, the other blue.
"Here we go again." The purple droid says. "We've got our work cut out for us."
"I don't know." The blue droid replies. "He's sort of handsome. Has a good lantern jaw."
"Lantern jaws are so last year." The purple droid remarks.
Jack jumps away from them, only to see he's on a chair inside a studio of 'What Not To Wear.' "Sorry." Jack looks at them. "But, nice to meet you, ladies, but where exactly am I?"
"We're giving you a brand new image." The purple droid answers.
"Oh, hold on, I was with the Doctor..." He narrows his eyes at them. "Why, is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"It's all very 20th century." The blue droid remarks. "Where did you get that denim?"
"A little place in Cardiff." Jack answers. "It was called The Top Shop."
"Ah! Design classic."
"But we're going to have to find you some new colours." The purple droid says. "Maybe get rid of that Oklahoma Farm Boy thing you've got going on."
"Just stand still and let the Defabricator work its magic." The blue droid says, moving behind a device.
Jack stands up and faces them. "What's a defabricator?"
They switch the device on and watches as a blue light strikes his clothes and gets rid of them. On the plus side, Jack doesn't even seem bothered, instead he's trying his hardest not to smirk.
"Okay. Defabricator." Jack nods his head. "Does exactly what it says on the tin. Am I naked in front of millions of viewers?"
"Absolutely!"
"Ladies..." He looks down at his body then back up with a smirk on his face. "Your viewing figures just went up."
*****
I groan, opening my eyes to see I'm inside my bedroom. "Auntie...w-what happened?" I choke out, my throat feeling like sand. Coarse, rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
"Transmat." She answers with venom in her voice. "I'm trying to unscramble it whilst we're talking."
I sit up and slowly force my body to move out of my bed. "Everything aches!"
"That would be my fault." Auntie replies as I stumble towards the bedroom door, almost landing face down on the floor if it isn't for Auntie moving a chair in front of me. "When the others were taken out the console room by the transmat, whoever is behind this tried to take you, but I fought back and teleported you here."
"Thank you." I smile, pulling myself up from the couch and ignore my muscles aching as I make my way to the console room. "Keep trying to unscramble what has been done to you, and I'll find the others."
She hums as I walk over to the doors, opening them to see we're inside a white room. "Right." I mumble. "Let's see what trouble they're in."
*****
The sonic buzzes as dad tries to open a door. "I can't open it." He says to the woman who helped him to stand up when he landed.
"It's got a deadlock seal, ever since Big Brother 504 when they all walked out." Dad doesn't reply to her. "You must remember that."
"What about this?" He nods at the mirror.
"Oh, that's exoglass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."
"Don't tempt me." He growls, his mind on his daughter and their family.
"I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you must've been watching. Do people like me? Lynda." She whispers, leaning against the wall to talk to my dad, but he's not paying much attention. "Lynda with a Y, not Linda with an I. She got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera. Am I popular?"
"I don't remember."
"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing? Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?"
"No, you're, you're nice." Dad looks at her. "You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet."
"Oh, is that right?" She smiles, taking his words to heart. "Is that what I am? Oh, no one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?"
"Yeah. Dead sweet!"
"Thank you."
Dad turns to one of the windows. "It's a wall." He comments, seeing nothing out of it. "Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?"
"Don't be daft." Lynda laughs. "No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden?" She widens her eyes. "Don't tell me you've got a garden."
"No, I've just got the Tardis." Dad's eyes widen as he remembers what happened before landing inside the Big Brother game. "I remember!"
"That's the amnesia! So what happened? Where did they get you?"
"We'd just left Raxacoricofallapatorius. Then we went to Kyoto. That's right, Japan in 1336, and we only just escaped thanks to my daughter, Angel. We were together, we were laughing, and then there was this light." He swallows, remembering Angel trying to each for him, Jack, and Rose but it was too late. She watched them with a terrified face as the light dragged them out. "This white light coming through the walls, and then I woke up here."
"Yeah, that's the transmat beam." She explains. "That's how they pick the housemates."
"Oh, Lynda with a Y. Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveller. No stupid little transmat gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means this isn't just a game. There's something else going on." He whips around and faces the camera with a dark look in his eyes. "Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out. I'm going to find my friends and my daughter, and then I'm going to find you."
*****
A male programmer watches my dad on the screen before walking over to a female Indian programmer. "Need a word."
"Hold on, let me finish this." She mutters as she's working on The Weakest Link. "19, 18..."
*****
Walking over to the door inside the white room, I place my hand against the palm print and hear it click open. "Satellite 5." I mutter as I slip through the door, seeing a control room with programmers at the control panel and a massive sign on the wall saying 'Bad Wolf Corporation.'
Suddenly, I hear Jack's voice coming from one of the screens and inch closer to see he's in a room with two droids.
The lift door opens, and I run over to go and find my family before the programmers can turn around to see me standing near them as it wouldn't end well...for them anyway. No one messes my family and gets away with it.
Just as the door closes, I see a pale woman with tubes connected up to her looking at me.
*****
"17, 16, 15..."A woman with a clipboard counts down. "Thank you, people. Transmitting in 12, 11, 10..."
Rose turns to Rodrick, irritation clear on her face. "But I need to find the Doc..."
"Just shut up and play the game." He snaps.
"7, 6..."
"All right, then. What the hell? I'm going to play to win!" She smiles at him.
"3, and cue!" The woman calls.
"Let's play The Weakest Link!" The Anne-Droid says. "Start the clock. Agorax, the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard?'"
"Bread." A middle aged man answers.
"Correct." The Anne-Droid turns to a middle aged woman. "Fitch, in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?"
"Is it Clavadoe?" She asks.
"No, Pandoff." The droid turns to Rose. "Rose, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?"
"One hundred!" Rose shouts.
"Correct. Rodrick..."
"Bank." He interrupts.
"Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word dangle but not in the word gland?"
He pauses for a moment. "E."
"Correct. Colleen, in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones?"
"Default." A brunette woman answers.
"Correct. Broff, the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?"
"Er...Touchdown." A young man replies.
"No, Torchwood." The Anne-Droid corrects. "Agorax, in language, all five examples of which type of letter appear in the word facetious?"
"Vowels." Agorax answers.
"Correct. Fitch, in biology, which blood cells contain iron? Red or white?"
"White." She guesses.
"No, red. Rose, in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising', the Grexnik is married to whom?"
*****
"How should I know?" Rose laughs as a woman and man are waiting her through the screens.
"No, the correct answer is Lord Drayvole."
"Why's she laughing?" The woman programmer asks.
"Rodrick, in maths, what is nine squared?" The Anne-Droid asks him.
"Oh, my God, I don't think she knows." The woman comments as Rose continues to laugh.
"And I've got a housemate who appeared out of nowhere." A male programmer comes closer to her. "I told you, it's like the game's running itself."
*****
I step out of the lift at Level 56 into a dark hall with no one around and see 'Bad Wolf' written on the wall in front of me.
My head spins just looking at the two words in front of me, my stomach feeling sick and every muscle in my body telling me to run back to the Tardis and hide. But why are they following me and my family?
*****
Jack stands in front of the mirror wearing leather trousers and a white tank top, admiring himself though he likes it more when Angel comments on how good he looks.
"It's the buccaneer look." The purple Droid remarks. "Little dash of pirate and just a tweak of President Schwarzenegger."
"Er, not sure about the vest." Jack looks at his top. "What about a little bit of colour to lift it?"
"Absolutely not." The blue Droid protests. "Never wear black with colour. It makes the colour look cheap and the black look boring. Now, let's talk jackets."
"I kind of like the first one." Jack comments.
"No, that's a bit too much Hell's Angel." Jack shrugs in front of the mirror. "I think I like the shorter one. Look, waist length, nice and slimming, shows off the bum." The Droid pats his bum.
"Works for me."
"Once we've got an outfit, we can look at the face." The purple Droid says. "Ever thought about cosmetic surgery?"
"I've considered it, yeah." Jack nods. "A little lift around the eyes, tighten up the jaw line. What do you think?" He places his hands on the blue Droid's plastic breast with a smug smile on his face.
"Oh, let's have a bit more ambition." The purple Droid pulls off her arm to reveal a chainsaw. "Let's do something cutting edge."
*****
"So, Rose, what do you actually do?" The Anne-Droid turns to her.
"I just travel about a bit." She replies. "Bit of a tourist, I suppose."
"Another way of saying unemployed."
"No."
"Have you got a job?"
"Well, not really, no, but..."
"Then you are unemployed. And yet, you've still got enough money to buy peroxide. Why Fitch?" The Anne-Droid asks.
"Er, I think she got a few of the questions wrong, that's all." Rose explains, glancing down at her podium where she voted for Fitch.
"Oh, you'd know all about that."
"Well, yeah, but I can't vote for myself, so it had to be Fitch." Rose reasons, turning to look at Fitch. "I'm sorry, that's the game. That's how it works. I had to vote for someone."
"Let me try again!" Fitch begs. "It was the lights and everything. I couldn't think."
"In fact, with three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round, but it's votes that count." The Anne-Droid replies.
"I'm sorry. Please. Oh God, help me!" She turns to the others as Rose looks at her with confusion, not understanding what's going to happen to her.
"Fitch you are the weakest link. Goodbye!" The Anne-Droid opens its mouth and fires a beam at Fitch, blasting her into atoms. The Anne-Droid closes her mouth as Rose looks at where Fitch was a second ago in shock.
"And we've gone to the adverts!" A woman with a clipboard announces. "Back in three minutes."
"What's that?" Rose turns to Rodrick. "What's just happened?"
"She was the weakest link, she gets disintegrated." He explains. "Blasted into atoms."
"But I voted for her." Rose breathes out, her eyes widening in horror. "Oh, my. This is sick. All of you, you're just sick!" The contestants look at her. "I'm not playing this."
"I'm not playing!" Broff cries, terrified. "I can't do it. I'm not." He jumps off his podium and tries to find an exit just as the Anne-Droid turns to him. "Please, somebody let me out of here."
"You are the weakest link." She fires a beam at him. "Goodbye."
"Don't try to escape." Rodrick warns Rose. "It's play or die."
*****
Lynda looks at my dad from the couch next to the other 2 people as he's sonicing one of the doors. "Doctor, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to."
"I'm busy getting out, thanks." He replies, needing to get out of the game and find his family who are in equal amount of danger, and he dreads to think what other games there are.
"But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished!" She argues.
"Well, maybe I'll be voted out, then." He sighs, heading over to the couch.
"How stupid are you?" The other man huffs. "You've only just joined, you're not eligible."
"Don't try anything clever or we all get it in the neck." Lynda warns.
"Big Brother House this is, Davina Droid." the voice announces, and the two woman and man hold hands, the black woman holding my dad's hands which almost makes him roll his eyes. "Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction. And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is...Crosbie!"
Crosbie gasps, standing up as Lynda and Strood does as well. "I'm sorry!" Lynda pulls her into a hug. "Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry!"
"Oh, it should've been me." Strood places an arm around her as dad just sits back on the couch, not knowing what is going to happen. "Oh, that's not fair, Crosbie love."
"Crosbie, you have 10 seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you." A voice calls over the speakers.
"I won't forget you." Lynda tells her.
"I'm sorry I stole your soap." Crosbie admits to her.
"I don't mind, honestly." Lynda hugs her again, keeping back her tears.
"Thanks for the food." Strood kisses her cheeks. "You're a smashing cook. Bless you."
"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House."
"Bye, then." Crosbie looks at the door that opens into a small room. "Bye, Lynda."
"Bye." Lynda smiles as Strood and her make an archway with their hands for their friend. Crosbie walks under it and into the white narrowed room.
"I don't believe it." Lynda sniffs. "Crosbie."
"It's only a game show." Dad calls. "She'll make a fortune on the outside. Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. she'll be laughing."
"What do you mean, on the outside?" Lynda looks at him.
"Here we go." Strood says as the TV turns on to reveal Crosbie standing inside the white room.
"What are they waiting for?" Dad asks them. "Why don't they just let her go?"
"Stop it, it's not funny." Lynda scolds him.
"Eviction in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" The voice shouts before a beam fire down at Crosbie, turning her into atoms.
Dad leans forward on the couch, staring at the TV. "What was that?"
"Disintegrator beam." Strood answers.
"She's been evicted." Lynda explains. "From life."
*****
"No one programmed the transmat, no one selected the new contestants." The male programmer says to the female programmer. "It is exactly like those stories."
"Oh, don't start that again." She sighs. "I think you need to take a session off."
"Well, I would, if you'd take it with me."
"And don't start that again either.""
"But the rumours go back decades, saying that something's been hidden up here. Underneath the transmissions."
"But the Controller would know." She remarks. "She watches everything."
"Maybe she just can't see it. You've got to allow for human error."
"Well, that's your problem, then." She leans in closer to him. "I don't think she's been human for years." She whispers.
They look at each other then over to the Controller with tubes connected up to her, monitoring everything. "18, 19, 20. Transmit, transmit, transmit." She mutters under her breath.
*****
Dad turning to Lynda and Strood. "Are you insane? You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?"
"You're talking like we've got a choice!" Lynda remarks, standing up.
"But I thought you had to apply." Dad comments.
"Don't be so stupid." Strood huffs. "That's how they played it centuries back."
"You get chosen whether you like it or not." Lynda explains. "Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The transmat beam picks you out at random. And it's nonstop. There are sixty Big Brother houses running all at once."
"How many?" Dad's eyes widen, his face almost going pale. "Sixty?"
"They've had to cut back." Strood remarks. "It's not what it was."
"It's a charnel house!" Dad comments. "What about the winners? What do they get?"
Lynda shrugs. "They get to live."
"Is that it?"
"Well, isn't that enough?"
He looks at her then walks towards a camera. "My daughter and Rose are out there. Rose got caught in the transmat. She's a contestant. Time I got out." He looks at them. "That other contestant, er, Linda with an I. She was forcibly evicted for what?"
"Damage to property." Lynda answers.
"What, like this?" Dad gets out his sonic screwdriver and flashes it at the camera, exploding it.
******
"No, I'm just not getting this." Jack comments, standing in front of the mirror wearing tennis clothes and a racket in his hand. "It's just too safe. Too decent. And you'd never keep it clean."
"Stage 2, ready and waiting!" The Blue Droid announces.
"Bring it on, girls." Jack beams at them, stepping in front of the defabricator and has his clothes disappear off him.
"And now it's time for the face off!" The Purple Droid announces.
"What does that mean?" Jack asks happily. "Do I get to compete with someone else?"
"No. Like I said, face off!" The Purple Droid holds up her arms, one showing needles, the other with a chainsaw.
"I think you'd look good with a dog's head." The Blue Droid comments, holding up her arm that is now a pair of scissors.
"Or maybe no head at all. That would be so outrageous."
"And we could stitch your legs to the middle of your chest."
"Nothing is too extreme. It's to die for."
"Now, hold on, ladies." Jack warns them. "I don't want to have to shoot either one of you."
"But you're unarmed!"
"You're naked!" The Blue Droid agrees just before Jack takes out a small gun, pointing it at them. "But. that's a Compact Laser Deluxe!"
"Where were you hiding that?" The Purple Droid asks.
"You really don't want to know." Jack smirks.
"Give me that accessory." The Purple droid says.
*****
I step in front of a door, placing my ear against it to hear Jack's voice. "One down and 2 more to go." I mutter, glancing around me for a weapon to get it open as the only thing I have on me is a gun.
I see a metal pole and pick it up, twirling it around in my hands like a lightsaber and kick the door in to see Jack completely naked and the two Droids turning to face me.
"Hello!" I beam at Jack, pushing the pole through the Purple Droid's head then the Blue Droid just before he gets chance to use the gun on them. "Captain, get your clothes on and follow me!" I turn and head out the room with the pole in my hands, feeling Jack's eyes on me then he laughs in happiness.
*****
"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" The Anne-Droid says.
"Going to the break!" The woman with the clipboard announces. "Two minutes on the clock. Just a reminder, we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten. Thanks, everyone."
"Colleen was clever." Rose turns to Rodrick. "She banked all our money. Why'd you vote for her?"
"Because I want to keep you in!" He explains. "You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you, so that you get disintegrated, and I get a stack load of credits courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation."
"What do you mean?" Rose asks. "Who's Bad Wolf?"
"They're in charge. They run the Game Station."
"Why are they called Bad Wolf?"
"I don't know." He shrugs. "It's just a name. It's like an Old Earth nursery rhyme sort of thing what does it matter?"
"I keep hearing those words everywhere we go. Bad Wolf." She mutters, remembering Gwyneth, Van Statten's helicopter, and the poster back in Cardiff. "Different times. different places, like it's written all over the Universe."
"What're you going on about?" He frowns.
"If the Bad Wolf is in charge of this quiz, then maybe I'm not here by mistake. Someone's been planning this."
*****
"The Doctor, you've broken the House Rules." A voice says over the speakers inside the Big Brother house. "Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have 10 seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you!"
"That's more like it." He runs over to the door. "Come on, then. Open up!"
"You're mad!" Lynda exclaims, going over to him. "It's like you want to die."
"I reckon he's a plant." Strood comments. "He was only brought in to stir things up."
"The Doctor, please leave the Big Brother house."
"Come on then, disintegrate me!" Dad shouts. "Come on, what're you waiting for?"
"He is, he's mad." Lynda stares at him. "He's bonkers."
*****
"Disintegrate me." Dad remarks, standing inside the white room. "What are you waiting for?"
"I told you to keep an eye on him, not kill him." The woman programmer scolds the male programmer.
"He damaged the property." He explains to her. "It's an automatic process."
*****
"Eviction in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The voice counts down as dad just crosses his arms over his chest.
Nothing happens to him, but the power turns off.
"Ah, ha! I knew it!" Dad cheers. "You see, someone brought me into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano."
*****
"What did you do?" The female programmer asks.
"Nothing!" The male argues.
Dad beams. "They want me alive."
"It's like some sort of override." The male programmer continues.
"Maybe security isn't as tight this end." Dad turns to look at the door, then up at the camera. "Are you following this? I'm getting out!"
*****
Dad sonics the door, opening it as Lynda walks over. "Come with me." He says to her.
"We're not allowed!" Strood protests.
"Stay in there, you've got a fifty chance of disintegration." Dad explains. "Stay with me, I promise I'll get you out alive. Come on!"
"No, I can't." She shakes her head. "I can't."
"Lynda, you're sweet. From what I've seen of your world, do you think anyone votes for sweet?" Lynda nods at his words and places her hand into his out stretched hand. Dad turns and starts to sonic the other door.
The door opens to reveal the Game Station. "Hold on. I've been here before." Dad comments, stepping out the door. "This is Satellite 5." He looks around with his eyes and walks over to another door, sonicing it then steps through. "No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite 5 would be armed to the teeth."
"No one's called it Satellite 5 in ages. It's the Game Station now." Lynda answers. "Hasn't been Satellite 5 in about a 100 years."
"A 100 years exactly." Dad comments, checking his watch. "It's the year 200-100. I was here before, Floor 139." He looks at her. "The Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then. Had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy. Gave them a hand, home in time for tea."
"A 100 years ago?" Lynda's eyes widen. "What, you were here a 100 years ago?"
"Yep!"
"You're looking good on it."
"I moisturise." Dad replies, looking down at his sonic screwdriver. "Funny sorts of readings. All kinds of energy. The place is humming. It's weird. This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?" He turns to another door.
"I don't know." Lynda shrugs, watching him. "I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside."
"I had two friends travelling with me and my daughter." Dad explains, sonicing the door. "They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?"
"I don't know." She answers. "They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a 100 different games."
"Like what?" He glances at her.
"Well, there's 10 floors of Big Brother. There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows." Lynda answers, thinking about each game. "It's nonstop. There's Call My Bluff, with real guns. Countdown, where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off. Ground Force, which is a nasty one. You get turned into compost. Er...Wipeout, speaks for itself. Oh, and Stars In Their Eyes. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded."
"And you watch this stuff?" Dad frowns.
"Everyone does. How come you don't?"
"Never paid for my licence."
"Oh, my God!" Lynda's eyes widen. "You get executed for that."
"Let them try." He smirks.
"You keep saying things that don't make sense." She looks at him. "Who are you though, Doctor, really?"
"It doesn't matter." He waves her off, heading over to try and get another door open.
"Well, it does to me." Lynda remarks. "I've just put my life in your hands."
"I'm just a traveller, wandering past." He explains. "Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life."
"So, if we get out of here, what're you going to do?" She asks. "Just wander off again?"
"Fast as I can." Dad nods his head.
"So, I could come with you?" She asks.
Dad looks at her properly. "Maybe you could."
"I wouldn't get in the way." Lynda grins.
"I wouldn't mind if you did." Dad remarks, cheerfully. "Not a bad idea, Lynda with a Y. But first of all, we've got to concentrate on the getting out." He scans the door. "And to do that, you've got to know your enemy. Who's controlling it? Who's in charge of the satellite now?"
"Hold on." Lynda goes over to the end of the room and pulls a lever, lighting up the massive words on the wall spelling out 'Bad Wolf Corporation.' "Your lords and masters."
Dad stares up at the words with wide eyes before trying to use the bond between him and me, only to find out there is something blocking the connection.
*****
"Okay, you win." The male programmer says to the female programmer, turning to look at her. "The Controller's got to handle this. Archive makes a record of all transmat activities." He looks back at the screen where my dad and Lynda are working on Floor 56. "Find out how they got on board. Archive 6." He stands up and walks over to the Controller. "Controller, we have a problem."
"Continue working." She orders.
"We have a security problem."
"Continue working."
"I'm sorry, but I can't." He shakes his head. "We have contestants outside of the games, but the alarms haven't gone off."
"No security. The games continue."
"But we can't just let them wander."
"They are no one." She remarks. "They are no one."
The female programmer stands up and places her hand on a palm print, only for the Controller to gasp in pain. "I'm sorry. I was just..."
"Archive 6 is out of bounds."
"But I need to check the transmat log."
"Archive 6 is out of bounds." The Controller repeats. "No one may enter Archive 6. Return to work. Return to work. Inform all staff, solar flares in delta point seven. 19, 20..."
*****
Jack attaches his laser gun to the Defabricator. "Compatible systems. Just align the wave signature. Attaboy! Got myself a gun." He picks it up and looks at the dead Droids. "Well, ladies, the pleasure was all mine. Which is the only thing that matters in the end." He turns and runs out of the door.
I turn to him. "You took your time."
He smirks and pulls me closer to him. "But I look good, right?"
I glance up and down at him. "You look handsome as always." I shrug, looking at him to see a smug smile on his face. "Now I'm going to Floor 407 as I have a feeling Rose may be inside one of them rooms. You go look for my dad."
"Yes, ma'am." Jack salutes before running over to the lift, placing his hand on the palm print.
I head off towards the stairs, feeling my stomach twisting as I have a feeling we'll be seeing a familiar person...or creature soon.
Jack looks down at his wrist where the Vortex Manipulator is. "Two hearts, that's him. Which floor?" He asks, stepping inside the lift before getting an answer.
*****
Dad and Lynda walk onto an observation deck that is overlooking on the Earth.
"Blimey!" Lynda breathes out. "I've never seen it for real before. Not from orbit. Planet Earth."
"What's happened to it?" Dad asks, staring at it.
"Well, it's always been like that Ever since I was born." She answers. "See that there?" She points at a dark patch. "That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breath outside."
"So, the population just sits there?" Dad frowns sadly at it. "Half the world's too fat, and half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?"
"Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."
"The Human Race." He says with disgust. "Brainless sheep being fed on a diet of...mind you, have they still got that programme where three people have to live with a bear?"
"Oh, Bear with Me. I love that one!" Lynda grins.
"And me." Dad beams, nodding his head. "The celebrity edition where the bear got in the bath."
"Got in the bath!" She laughs.
Dad turns serious, reminding himself he needs to find his daughter and his two friends...though he can't really call Rose a 'friend' anymore since Angel and Jack locked them inside the library so they can express their feelings for one another. "But it's all gone wrong. I mean, history's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. I don't understand. Last time I was here, I put it right."
"No, but that's when it first went wrong." Lynda explains. "A 100 years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight."
"But that was me. I did that." Dad breathes out, now feeling sick to his stomach.
"There was nothing left in their place." Lynda shakes her head. "No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it. 100 years of hell."
"Oh, my...I made this world."
*****
Agorax screams out before he turns to atoms as the Anne-Droid shoots a beam at him. "That leaves Rose and Rodrick. You're going head to head. Let's play The Weakest Link."
"Right, that's the end of tactical voting. You're on your own now." Rodrick says to Rose.
*****
"Hey, handsome!" Jack greets, running into the room. "Good to see you? Any sign of Rose?"
Dad looks at him. "Can't you track her down, and have you seen Angel?"
"She must still be inside the games." Jack comments. "All the rooms are shielded. But if it helps, Angel has gone to look for her on Floor 407." He smiles, placing down the gun. "She took out 2 Droids with a metal pole, looking very hot whilst she did it, mind you."
"If I can just get inside this computer." Dad mutters, working on a computer. "She's got to be here somewhere."
"Well, you'd better hurry up." Jack remarks. "These games don't have a happy ending."
"Do you think I don't know that?" Dad snaps at him.
Jack takes off his Vortex Manipulator, handing it over to him. "There you go, patch that in. It's programmed to find her."
"Thanks."
Jack turns to Lynda. "Hey, there."
"Hello." She grins.
"Captain Jack Harkness." He grins back.
"Lynda Moss."
"Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss."
"Do you mind flirting outside?" Dad grumbles.
"I was just saying hello!" Jack argues.
"For you, that's flirting." Dad remarks.
"I'm not complaining." Lynda smiles at him.
"Muchas gracias." He kisses her hand, though something doesn't feel right about it. Ever since he met Angel and laid eyes on her, the only girl he can't stop thinking about is her. He remembered the first time he met her and how broken and tired she looked as Rose kept flirting with him. Then overhearing the conversation inside the library between her and her brother, Mickey, Jack knew Angel was going to be someone special to him, but the phone call just confirmed it as he heard her trying not to cry.
The computer beeps. "It's not compatible!" Dad shouts. "This stupid system doesn't make sense." He pulls the computer panel away with Jack's help and tries to patch it up again. "This place should be a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else."
"Like what?" Jack asks.
"I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Rose is stuck inside it."
*****
"Rose, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which ancient British city?"
Rose hesitates to answer. "Is it York?"
"No, the correct answer is Sheffield."
*****
The Vortex Manipulator beeps. "Found her!" Dad announces, his face draining of colour. "She's on the same floor as Angel. Floor 407!"
"Oh, my God, she's with the Anne-Droid!" Lynda gasps. "You've got to get her out of there."
*****
I hear a voice of a Droid outside of a door and grip tightly onto my pole, waiting to hear Rose's voice as she has to be behind one of these doors.
*****
"Rodrick, in literature, the author of Lucky was Jackie who?"
"Stewart." He frowns.
"No, the correct answer is Collins." The Anne-Droid turns to Rose. "Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"
"Boe!" Rose shouts. "The Face of Boe!"
"That is the correct answer."
Rodrick 1, Rose 1.
*****
Dad, Jack, and Lynda are waiting inside the lift.
"Come on, come on!" Dad mutters, watching the numbers.
*****
"Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?"
"Hoshbin Frane." He answers.
"That is the correct answer. Rose, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?"
"Er, is it Mars?" Rose asks.
"No, the correct answer is Lucifer. Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?"
"Would that be a goffle?" He asks.
"No, the correct answer is a paab. Rose, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"
"Shoes."
"No, the correct answer is hats."
*****
Smashing the metal pole through the panel just as dad, Jack, and Lynda head out of the lift, the door opens to reveal The Weakest Link.
*****
"Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen Dash Ten Barric Fields?" The Anne-Droid asks.
"Game Room 6, which one is it?" Dad calls, looking around at each door.
"Over here!" Lynda calls, seeing me enter through the door with the metal pole clutched tightly in my arms.
"San Hazeldine." Rodrick answers.
"No. the correct answer is San Chen."
"Angel!" Jack calls, running over.
"Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?"
"Reykjavik?" Rose guesses just as her eyes land on me.
"No, the correct answer is Pola Ventura."
"Oh, my God!" Rodrick shouts in happiness. "I've done it!" He looks at Rose. "You've lost!"
I run over, ignoring the staff and pull Rose away from the podium. "Shut down the game!" I shout, glaring at everyone. "Shut it down right now."
"Rodrick, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits." The Anne-Droid says.
"This game is illegal." Rose shouts as the woman with a clipboard shouts for help. "I'm telling you to stop!"
"Stop this game!" Dad shouts, running inside.
"Rose, you leave this life with nothing." The Anne-Droid continues.
"Stop this game!" Jack orders, pointing his gun at the staff.
"I order you to stop this game!" Dad demands.
"You are the weakest link."
"I don't think so." I snap, pushing the metal pole into the gun hole, powering her down. "Now who's The Weakest link?" I laugh with a dark tone, pulling Rose into my arms and walk over to the exit with my family trailing behind. "Send for security and I'll make sure my face is the last they'll be seeing." I look up at the camera and glare. "Today is not a good day to be testing my limits! And you're next I'm dealing with."
Rose gulps and tightens her arms around me as I pause outside of the room and pull her into a proper hug with my dad and Jack. "I thought..." She trails off.
"I know." I breathe out, closing my eyes. "But I wasn't going to stand by and let that happen to you. No family of mine is dying on my watch."
"Angel...I'm sorry for everything."
"Rosie, you have nothing to be sorry for." I remark gently. "All has already been forgiven."
Dad smiles and kisses Rose. "I love you." He admits.
I squeal silently and hug Jack as my mood rises slightly, considering the situation we're in. "Can you feel the love tonight?" I hum, feeling him chuckle under his breath.
"Hate to break up this moment, but we have to shut this down." Lynda cuts in.
I nod my head and head off towards the lift. "Come on!"
*****
"Oh, my God." The male programmer breathes out in fear, looking at the screen. "Now we're in trouble."
*****
"Floor 500." I announce inside the lift, the 5 of us staring at the numbers going up once the lift starts moving.
*****
The male programmer sets off an alarm. "Clear the floor. He's on his way up here with a gun and she's holding a metal pole!"
"This is an emergency!" The female programmer goes over to the Controller. "You've got to close the lift!"
"All staff are reminded that solar flares commence in delta point two." The Controller says, not taking in what she has just said.
"Never mind solar flares, he's going to kill you!" The male programmer argues.
The lift door opens, and the staff turns to face us just as we step out onto Floor 500.
"Okay, move away from the desk!" Jack orders, pointing his gun at them. "Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear." I walk over to the Controller with Rose. "Stand to the side and stay there."
"Who's in charge of this place?" I demand, placing my gun back into Jack's trench coat as dad heads over to us.
"19, 18..." The Controller counts down.
"This Satellite's more than a Game Station." Dad comments.
"79, 80..."
"Who tried to killed Rose Tyler?" I demand softly, feeling Rose squeeze my hand to remind me she is still here, alive and safe.
"All staff are reminded that solar flares..."
"I want an answer!" Dad shouts.
"Occur in delta point one." The Controller continues.
"She can't reply." The male programmer answers. Dad turns to them with Jack's gun still in his hands. "Don't shoot!"
"Oh, don't be so thick." Dad rolls his eyes. "Like I was ever going to shoot." He tosses the gun to him, then looks at Jack. "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."
"Yes, sir!" Jack runs off.
"You." Dad turns back to the male programmer. "What were you saying?"
"But I've got your gun."
"Okay, so shoot us." Rose remarks, rolling her eyes. "Why can't she answer?"
"She's er." He glances at the gun. "Can I put this down?"
"If you want." Dad sighs. "Just hurry up."
"Thanks." He places down the gun. "Sorry. The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognise your existence."
"What's her name?" I ask softly, staring up at her.
"I don't know. She was installed when she was 5 years old. That's the only life she's ever known."
"Door's sealed." Jack calls. "We should be safe for about 10 minutes."
"Keep an eye on them." I order, looking at him.
"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station." The male programmer says, looking at my dad "I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorised transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years."
"Show me." Dad orders.
*****
"You're not allowed in there." The female programmer calls to Jack just as he goes to open the door. "Archive 6 is out of bounds.
"Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?" Jack remarks, holding up his gun.
"Jack!" I call, looking at him from following my dad and the male programmer by the screens. "You won't be needing them where my Auntie is. The Controller has been hiding her for us. It's where I woke up and left just as Auntie was still unscrambling what has been done to her, so go and see if she has anything to tell us."
Jack smiles and walks inside the room, happy to know Angel wasn't in any of the games.
*****
"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen." The Controller announces.
"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out." The female programmer looks at my dad. "The staff are terrified."
"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day." He remarks.
"That's not our fault." She argues. "We're just doing our jobs."
"And with that sentence you just lost the right to even talk to us!" I glare at her. "Now back off because that's the same staff who almost killed my soulmate, dad, and sister! Be lucky I'm quite calm because there is only one person who can stop me from shooting all of you when I'm really angry and right now, he isn't exactly here."
Suddenly, the screens go down and the lights dim.
"That's just the solar flares." The male programmer reassures. "They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."
"Doctor!" The Controller calls just as I turn to her. "Angel."
"I'm here." I smile at her, heading over. "What is it?"
"Can't see. I'm blind." She comments. "So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you."
"What do you want?" Dad asks, walking over to us.
"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me." The Controller explains. "My masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now the sun, the sun is so bright."
"Who are your masters?" Dad asks, noticing how I freeze. "Angel?"
I swallow, shaking my head. "They're familiar to us."
"They wired my head. The name's forbidden. They control my thoughts. My masters. My masters, I had to be careful. They monitor transmissions but they don't watch the programmes. I could hide you inside the games. Knew that you would find me."
Everyone listens in to our conversation.
"My soulmate almost died inside your games."
"Doesn't matter."
"Don't you dare tell me that!" Dad snaps, only for Rose to place her hand inside my dad's hand.
"They've been hiding." The Controller continues, not affected by his words. "My masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth so, so, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years."
"Who are they?" Rose asks.
"They wait and plan and grow in numbers. They're strong now. So strong, my masters."
"Who are they?" Dad asks.
"But speak of you, my masters, they fear the Doctor." The Controller continues. "They do not know the Angel just yet."
"Tell me, who are they?" Dad shouts.
"21, 22." She starts to count.
"When's the next solar flare?" Dad asks, looking at the male programmer.
"Two years' time." I answer, stepping over to Jack as he walks through the door.
"Fat lot of good that is." Dad mumbles, walking off towards the screens.
"Still got the Tardis!" Jack announces happily.
Dad looks at him. "We're not leaving now."
"No, but she worked it out." Jack walks over to the screen, moving the male programmer out of his seat. "You'll want to watch this." He turns to Lynda. "Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?"
"I just want to go home." She remarks.
"It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can." She obeys and moves into the area he gestures to. "Everybody watching? Ok 3, 2, 1..."
He presses a button, and the disintegrator hits her, leaving nothing but smoke.
Dad looks at Jack in shock. "But you killed her!"
"Oh, do you think?" Jack remarks, pressing the button again, and Lynda reappears next to my dad, unharmed but slightly lightheaded.
"What the hell was that?" She breathes out.
I grin widely, crossing my arms over my chest.
"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system." Jack grins at us. "People don't get killed in the games. they get transported across space. Everybody is still alive!"
Dad laughs and hugs Jack, both of them now laughing.
"Angel!" The Controller calls as I sit down at the screen, typing in some coordinates as I have a feeling we'll be needing them for something. "Coordinates five point six point one..."
"Don't, the solar flare's gone." I explain, looking at her. "They'll hear you."
"Point four three four. No, my masters, no! I defy you! Stigma seven seven..." She screams and disappears into smoke, the wires dangling down that were connected up to her.
"They took her." Dad breathes out in shock.
"You really think I'd let that happen." I remark, pressing down on the button and watch as she reappears.
Jack laughs and pulls me into his arms as the staff rush over to help her. "You really are an angel."
"I try." I remark, glancing at the Controller with a soft smile on my face. "There's been enough destruction today. The least I can do is stop another person being in trouble."
Rose looks at me. "Can you do that for everyone?"
I shake my head sadly. "Unfortunately, I can only bring back the last person who was transmatted."
"Look, use that." The male programmer walks over to us with a disk in his hands. "It might contain the numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."
"Nice, Thanks." Jack smiles at him as I move out of the seat for him to sit down. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."
"I'm Davitch Pavale." He smiles, offering his hand for him to shake.
"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale." Jack grins, shaking his hand.
"There's a time and a place." Dad remarks as Rose and I laugh.
"Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?" The female programmer asks.
"Going way back." Dad nods. "Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations."
"Click on this." Jack passes the device over to my dad. He does and an image of empty space appears over our heads. "The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system."
"There's nothing there." The female programmer points out.
"It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does." I explain, glancing at Rose to make sure she's ok. "Underneath the transmission there's another signal."
"Doing what?" Davitch asks.
"Hiding whatever's out there." Dad replies. "Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner. There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible. If I cancel the signal." He presses a few buttons, and the space reveals a large flying saucer.
I widen my eyes in horror, gulping in fear. "Dad..."
"I know." He nods, stepping over and pulls me into a hug before Rose joins in.
"That's impossible!" Jack almost shouts before he sees our expressions. "I know those ships. They were destroyed."
"Obviously, they survived." I growl, my body boiling with anger once again. "And our people died for nothing."
"Who did?" The female programmer asks us. "Who are they?"
"200 ships. More than 2000 on board each one." I mutter, squeezing my dad and Rose's hands. "That's just about half a million of them."
"Half a million what?" Davitch frowns.
"Daleks." Dad and I answer.
Suddenly, a screen opens in front of us.
"I will talk to the Doctor." A Dalek orders.
"Oh, will you?" Dad asks sarcastically. "That's nice." He waves at them sarcastically. "Hello!"
"The Dalek stratagem nears completion. The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."
"Oh, really?" Dad asks. "Why's that, then?"
"You will obey, or I will exterminate the people you love!"
"No." I step forward with a dark glare.
"Explain yourself!"
"I said no!" I shout. "I'm the Angel, by the way. Usually, I'd say it's nice to meet you, but it really isn't."
"What is the meaning of this negative?" A Dalek demands.
"It means no!" Dad and I exclaim.
"But they will be destroyed."
"No, because this is what I'm going to do." Dad glares at it. "If you dare try to harm them, I'm going to save Angel, Rose Tyler, and Captain Jack Harkness from the middle of the Dalek fleet and then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!"
"But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan!"
"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death." He laughs.
"Watch out, Daleks, we're coming to get you." I glare at them just before dad sonics the screen, cutting off communications.
Jack looks at us. "What's the plan?"
I smirk and head towards the door leading to my Auntie. "I think it's time we paid a visit to our dear neighbours." I turn to face Lynda. "Lynda, stay here and make sure everyone gets evacuated! The ones who want to stay will need to prepare for war. This time, we will win, and the Daleks will go to Hell!"