𝔖𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔉𝔦𝔳𝔢
𝔜𝔢𝔞𝔯 200,000
After Suki left them on her journey to Floor 500, EJ could feel that something wasn't sitting right with him. At first, he didn't know if it was because of Cathica's head, or if it was more to do with the alien food he'd eaten. Either way, as soon as he found a bin, the kronkburger completely left his system.
His eyes watered as the bile stung his throat, although there wasn't much that could be done. It had been quite a while since he'd been sick, and this only forced a few poor memories to resurface. They were pushed back, instantly. He didn't need them.
At first, EJ hadn't minded how disgusting he looked. Whilst he barely knew the Doctor and Rose, they wouldn't have said anything. However, when it came to Adam, EJ felt the need to butch himself up just a little more. He couldn't have someone look at him as weak. Especially someone who fainted at the sight of space.
When it was over, Rose hugged him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. A quick hand ran through his hair. It was comfortable. He was thankful.
"Bad food?" She questioned, saving him some embarrassment.
He could tell that she didn't believe it at all, but still he played along. "Something like that, yeah."
"It wasn't that bad." Adam shrugged, nonchalantly, not taking the clue. "You must have a weak stomach or something."
"Adam." Rose scolded. "Don't."
"What? I didn't say anything." It was safe to say that he was as thick as two planks of wood, which made it all the more difficult. They continued walking after the Doctor, leaving him in the dust. "What?"
The Doctor was interested in many of the different factors which had been brought up in the past five minutes. That was why they were heading back to the bright white broadcasting room. He wanted to know more, and he needed a secluded space that he could interrogate Cathica in. She wouldn't say anything anywhere that others could hear her.
It was curious that she seemed to cooperate in such a covert way. She was saying things she didn't seem to realise meant so much. EJ liked listening to her; it was interesting.
"Have you ever been up there?" The Doctor asked, referring to Floor 500.
"Can't." Cathica replied, nonchalantly. "You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to 500 except for the chosen few."
She unlocked the door to the room, and allowed the other four to file in before closing it. Her hands seemed sweaty as they wiped along the trousers of her pantsuit. It was one of the many signs of anxiety she was exhibiting that EJ could see.
"Look," Her voice wavered, slightly. "They only give us twenty minutes maintenance, can't you give it a rest?"
"But you've never been to another floor?" The Doctor asked as he flung himself onto the dentist chair that the Thompson boy was actively avoiding. "Not even one floor down?"
"I went to Floor 16 when I first arrived, that's Medical, that's where I got my head done..."
"It's barbaric." EJ hissed beneath his breath, earning a sharp look from Rose, who seemed confused.
"And then I... I came straight here. Satellite Five. You work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it. That's all." Then, she paused, and something changed in her eyes. "You're not management are you?"
The Doctor exclaimed. "At last, she's clever!"
"Yeah, whatever it is, don't involve me." She shunned the responsibility instantly. "I don't know anything."
"Don't you even ask?"
"Why would I?"
"You're a journalist!" He cried, sarcastically, and then suddenly serious. "Why's all the crew human?"
Cathica was taken aback. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"There's no aliens on board." The Doctor reiterated, as if it were the key to some great plan they didn't know of yet. "Why?"
"I dunno." She droned, her voice airy. "No real reason. They're not banned or anything."
"Then where are they?"
"I suppose immigrations tightened up... it's had to, what with all the threats."
"What threats?" The Doctor was teetering on the edge of his seat.
"I dunno," She reiterated. "All of them. Usual stuff. And the price of spacewarp doubled, so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Chavic Fice collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, y'see? Just, lots of little reasons, that's all."
"Adding up to one great big fact. And you didn't even notice."
EJ just shook his head. "Talk about ignorance."
"Doctor, I think if there was any sort of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it." Cathica deflected. "We see everything."
"I can see better." He looked her dead in eyes and promised. "This societies the wrong shape, even the wrong technology."
"It's cutting edge!"
"It's backwards!" The Doctor gritted his teeth. "There's a great big door in your head! You should've chucked this out years ago!"
"So what d'ya thinks going on?" Rose approached him curiously.
"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude, it's the way people think. The Great and Bountiful Human Empire's stunted, somethings holding it back."
Sassily, Cathica responded. "And how would you know?"
Each of the people in the room looked to her unimpressed. "Trust me." The Doctor said with sincerity. "Humanities been set back about 90 years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"
Dryly, she replied. "91 years ago."
He nodded, hardly surprised as EJ blurted unintentionally. "Well, that's not a bloody coincidence, is it?"
"No." The Doctor paused. "No, it's not."
His pondering did not go unnoticed, and within a moment, he was running from the room. EJ was the first to follow, glad to be out of the white space. It alleviated a weight from his chest that he had hardly realised was constricting him.
Rather swiftly, the Doctor made his way towards one of the furthest walls. There he selected one of the grey panels, and revealed his sonic. It took him no time at all to start working on removing the panel from the wall, all eyes trained upon him as he did so.
"We're so gonna get in trouble." Cathica panicked as she bounced on her feet. "You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. We'll get told off."
"Rose." The Doctor called out, clearly busy. "Tell her to button it."
EJ snorted, rather swiftly. He was starting to believe that Cathica hated him, and he was okay with it, really. She was the source of most of his entertainment. There wasn't much on Satellite Five, ironically.
"You can't just vandalise the place." She continued. "Someone's gonna notice."
But the Doctor didn't care; he just pulled the panel of the wall with ease. His sonic didn't falter as it started to work on the inside settings. There were far too many wires for EJ to understand and help out it with. He supposed that he was being a little useless.
"This is nothing to do with me, I'm going back to work." She deflected and walked away, seemingly with no intent to turn back.
"Go on, then," The Doctor waved. "See ya!"
Swiftly, she turned back on her heels. "I can't just leave you, can I?" The amount of times she was changing her mind was giving EJ a severe case of whiplash.
"If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down," Rose complained, frustrated as she sorted through some of the wires in the panel. "It's boiling."
"I'll get a tan from all this exposure." The blonde boy chuckled to himself. No one laughed with him.
"What's the matter with this place?" She continued. "Can't they do something about it?"
"I dunno." Cathica shrugged. "We keep asking. Something to do with the turbines."
The Doctor mocked with a stupid voice. "Something to do with the turbines."
"I don't know!"
"Exactly!" He shook his head, disappointed. "I give up on you, Cathica. Now Rose, look at Rose, Rose is asking the right kind of questions."
"I thank you." She grinned.
EJ frowned. "I do not."
"Why is it so hot?"
Cathica didn't seem to be impressed by all of the swift topic changes. "One minute you're worried about the Empire, the next minute it's the central heating!"
"Never underestimate plumbing." The Doctor stated, pulling out some of the wires completely, and grimacing slightly. "Plumbings very important."
"Exactly." EJ sighed. "It goes plumbing, Empire, then that massive fat head."
As he pulled out a screen, and watched as the blueprints illuminated it. "Here we go. Satellite Five. Pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout."
"This is ridiculous." Cathica's eyes widened, disgusted. "You've got access to the computers core. You could look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange... and you're looking at pipes?"
"But there's something wrong..."
"I suppose..." She drawled, her mind running faster than it had yet.
"Why?" Rose queried. "What is it?"
"The ventilation system. Cooling ducts. Ice filters. All working flat out. Channelling massive amount of heat down."
The Doctor agreed. "All the way from the top."
"Floor 500." Rose announced, catching on.
"Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat."
"I'm betting it's an alien." EJ tapped his foot on the ground, feeling himself getting ever so slightly excited. "I hope it's got a massive head."
"Will you stop it with the massive head?" The Doctor raised his eyebrows, earning a shake of his head.
He replied, swiftly. "Don't think so."
"Don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out in a party." Rose grinned, a light laugh leaving her lips. "It's all going on upstairs."
"Should we go dancing?" EJ joked. "Got me MP3 player."
"Fancy a trip?" She asked the Doctor who was unable to reply because Cathica cut them off.
"You can't. You need a key."
"Keys are just codes. And I've got the codes right here. Here we go." The Doctor leant against the wall and pressed a button on his sonic which revealed a number dial ever changing until it settled at the number 215.9976/31. "Override 215.9."
"How come it's giving you the code?" She responded, coldly.
"Someone up there likes me." He answered, closing the panel and marching towards the lift, his friends in tow.
They had hardly stepped in front of it when the doors slid open. Cathica followed close behind, but she paused before she could get too close. It was as if watching them was a crime in itself.
"Come on," Rose smiled, gesturing for her to join the three of them inside of the lift. "Come with us!"
"No way!"
The Doctor just waved. "Bye!"
"Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me." Cathica stormed off, as far away as she could manage it.
"That's her gone. Adam's given up. Looks like it's just us three." The Doctor beamed.
"Yeah." Rose smiled back.
"Good." He said.
"Yep."
"Cool." EJ agreed. "Very cool."
As he stood in the middle of his two friends, the Doctor grabbed onto their hands. He wouldn't have done it if Adam was there, but he wasn't, which meant that it was okay.
However, it was the quick comment that the Doctor had made which forced EJ to realise that he had started to forget that Adam was with them. Rose had sent him off to the Tardis because he was struggling to cope, but he hadn't been paying enough attention to notice. It wasn't one of his finer moments, he would easily admit.
In his mind, it didn't make any sense how he couldn't cope with the new cultures presented to him. Adam was from their future. Surely there was more exposure to space by 2012, but then again, perhaps not.
It didn't take long for the lift to reach Floor 500, which was a relief. Although, holding the Doctor's hand had made it slightly easier than it would have been otherwise. EJ doubted that they had stairs all the way up there, but without his friends, he would've found an alternative route.
When the doors opened, their eyes peeled for anything that might give away an issue or two, they found that they didn't have to look further than two feet in front of themselves. Where everything downstairs was red, and pink, and hot all over- this was the opposite. Every little thing was blue, and freezing. Whatever working hypothesis they'd been pushing through needed to overturned instantly. This was worse than EJ had expected; much worse.
"The walls are not made of gold." The Doctor hummed as they stepped into the room. "You should go back downstairs."
"Tough." Rose shrugged grabbing a hold of EJ and dragging him along before he could have a say.
The Thompson boy couldn't say that it was the prettiest place he'd ever seen, though certainly not the worst. There was an odd hidden dungeon feeling to it, however, or some sort of over-filled attic where an estranged sibling may have been hidden away.
It was so cold that there were icicles hanging from the ceiling all pointed and sharp. If they'd fallen they would have quickly impaled and killed one of them. Perhaps the only thing more menacing were the amount of wires wrapped around the support beams to the different sections. Something was using up almost as much energy as Satellite Five was producing.
There wasn't much space for them to explore as when they turned the corner, they found a great amount of computer screens. Maybe seven or eight people were sat at the desks with their hands on the indents, processing everything. There was a man in the centre too, and at first, he didn't look at them. He had hair the colour of snow, and extremely pale skin which bordered on translucent.
"I started without you." His voice broke the air as they attempted to climb the three short steps onto his platform without being seen or heard. He chuckled. "This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you three... You don't exist. There's not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"
"Suki!" Rose blurted as she saw the girl that they wished well on her way less than an hour ago. She ran over and shook her body as if to wake her from a trance. "Suki! Hello?"
"Oh my God." EJ mumbled, shaking his head lowly.
"Can you hear me, Suki?" Rose shot, accusingly. "What have you done to her?"
Hoarsely, the Doctor spoke. "I think she's dead."
"But she's... working."
"They've all got chips in their head." He informed, ahead of the rest of the group as always. "And the chips keep going. Like puppets."
"Oh!" The man cried out, impressed. "You're full of information, but it's only fair we get some information back. Because, apparently, you're no one?"
"We?" EJ shuffled on the spot. "Who's we?"
The man just cackled. "It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter, cos we're off!" The Doctor stated swiftly, turning on his heels. "Nice to meet you. Come on!"
They attempted to leave, and made it approximately five steps in the opposite directions before the workers they now knew to be dead grabbed onto them. The coldness of the floor must have kept them preserved. EJ felt gross, and trapped, though he felt worse for Rose who had been kept in place by Suki. Maybe her body was still warm...
"Tell me who you are!"
"Since that informations keeping us alive, I'm hardly gonna say, am I?" The Doctor taunted as he struggled in the grip on the bodies.
"Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise."
Willingly, he questioned. "And who's that?"
"It may interest you know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live." An angry, toothy growl pushed through the air and the man held up a hand, pressing into his earpiece. "Yep. Yep, sorry! It's a place where humans are allowed to live, by kind permission of my client."
He pointed to the ceiling, and at first, EJ didn't understand why. But when he followed his line of sight, he saw exactly what he was gesturing to.
Bursting out of the ceiling was a great red blob, which looked like the inside of someone's mouth, all veiny and disgusting. It had no eyes, and no clear formation of a face, other than a protruding mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. EJ might have compared it to a leech.
Slightly afraid, Rose gulped. "What is that?"
"No bloody clue." EJ replied, in much the same tone. "You know when I said massive head, this wasn't what I meant."
"You mean that things in charge of Satellite Five?" The Doctor queried, taken aback.
"That thing as you put it is in charge of the human race." The man shrugged, clearly proud of himself and the work which wasn't exactly his. "For almost 100 years, mankind has been shaped and guided. His knowledge and ambition, strictly controlled by its broadcast news. Edited by my superior, your master, and humanities guiding light, The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe. I call him Max!"
Severely pissed off, EJ commented. "I don't know who you think we are, mate, but that is not my master."
With a few sarcastic smiles, they were tied into an electronic cuff machine which kept their hands level with their head. Obviously, they were stuck, and couldn't get out which posed more than one issue. Very quickly, the blonde boy became bored.
The man hasn't stopped talking as it happened. Of course, he refused to get his hands dirty, but the way in which he spoke was very convincing. If EJ hadn't known better, he would have thought he was a politician.
"Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repressed often enough can destabilise an economy. Invent an enemy. Change a vote."
"So, all the people on Earth are like... slaves?" Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Well," He chuckled to himself, amused again. "Now, that's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?"
Bluntly, the Doctor said. "Yes."
"Oh, I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get?" He mimicked the Doctor, poorly. "Yes."
He repeated. "Yes."
"You're no fun."
"Let me out of these manacles." The Doctor bargained. "You'll find out how much fun I am."
"Ooh, he's tough, isn't he? But, come on! Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit."
"You can't hide something on this scale, somebody must've noticed." Rose queried.
"From time to time, someone, yes. But the computer-chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt... and crush it! And then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth, like they're so individual. When, of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing."
"What about you?" The girl pondered. "You're not a Jagra...er...belly."
"Jagrafess." Said the Doctor.
"Jagrafess." Rose reiterated, as if she'd never had to be told the answer. "You're not a Jagrafess. You're human."
"Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well."
"But you couldn't have done this all on your own."
"No!" He exclaimed. "I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to, erm, install himself."
"No wonder," The Doctor muttered. "Creature that size. What's its life span?"
"3,000 years."
"That's one hell of a metabolism. Generating all that heat." He said, making all of the connections out loud so that the others could keep up. "That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs, Jagrafess stays cool, stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system."
"But that's why you're so dangerous." The man smirked. "Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown." With a click of his fingers, electricity jolted them through the cuffs. EJ gritted his teeth, and curled his toes, pushing through the pain. "Who are you?"
"Leave them alone." The Doctor cried out, pushing through the pain as it shock them again. "I'm the Doctor. She's Rose Tyler and he's EJ Thompson. We're nothing, we're just wandering."
"Tell me who you are!"
"I've just said!"
"Yeah, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly..." He paused in delight with his grin growing ever bigger. "Time Lord."
Their heads snapped towards him, surprised. They were words they never would have expected to hear. "What?"
"Oh, yes! The last of the Time Lords, and his travelling machine. With his little human girl from long ago." He moved to touch her face, but she turned her face away before he could. "And the boy so similar and yet so different."
EJ spat. "Shut up."
"Don't know what you're talking about." The Doctor deflected.
He then exclaimed. "Time travel!"
"Someone's been telling you lies."
The man did little but shrug nonchalantly. "Young master Adam Mitchell?"
With a snap of the fingers, a video appeared in the air, like a hologram. It was Adam, of course, in the broadcasting room from earlier, lying back in one of the chairs. His forehead was open, like Cathica's, and he was screaming. He was in more pain than he had ever experienced, and yet, it wasn't what EJ was focused on at all. He could've cared less.
A boiling fury was spreading through his body, and the moment that he saw it, there was only one thing on EJ's mind. He wanted to murder Adam, pure and simple. It wasn't a hard thing to understand. He wanted Adam to die for doing that to himself.
"Oh, my God," Rose stuttered, horrified. "His head..."
"What the hell's he done?" The Doctor said, not remotely surprised in his tone, but disappointed and angry. "What the hell's he gone and done?"
EJ held back a flurry of swear words and insults as he gritted his teeth. "I told you he was a bloody bad idea."
"They're reading his mind, he's telling them everything."
"And through him, I know everything about you." The man announced. "Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your... T A R D I S... Tardis!"
"Well, you'll never get your hands on it." The Doctor spat. "I'll die first."
"Well, die all you like, I don't need you! I've got the key!"
On the video, they watched as the Tardis key that Rose had leant Adam was floating through the air. It lifted from his pocket without any touch. EJ could've sworn it was magic, but he knew that it couldn't be.
The Doctor scolded. "You and your boyfriends!"
"Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing..."
"And no one's gonna stop you." The Doctor clenched his lips together, aggressively. "Because you've bred a human race which doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if they're told it's made of gold!"
The monster growled again, and as EJ flinched, an alarm began to sound. It was completely unexpected, and as the man stepped towards the computer wall, he began to understand exactly what was happening.
"What's happening?"
The live video of Adam kept playing, and they watched as the eagerly transfer into his brain stopped and the key dropped back into his lap. "Someone's disengaged the safety."
The man clicked his fingers, and the feed changed over from on broadcasting room to another. This time it was without their new companion and with Cathica instead. Her forehead was open, and the energy was transferring to her instead. It was brilliant. EJ could hardly suppress his excitement.
"Who's that?" He asked.
Relieved, Rose laughed. "It's Cathica."
The Doctor mimicked her relief in a grin. "And she's thinking! She's using what she knows!"
"Terminate her access." He told Suki.
"Everything I told her about Satellite Five, the pipes, the filters, she's reversing it! Look at that." He sighed, smiling. "It's getting hot."
They could see that the ice was beginning to melt as the heat regulated. It couldn't have been too good for the Jagrafess, but that didn't matter half as much.
"I said terminate." He began to panic. "Burn out her mind."
Before his commands could be completed, the screens began to break down. All of the people attached to the computer dropped, their chips deactivated. They were finally allowed to die in peace.
Sparks began to fly as the systems malfunctioned. Cathica was breaking through the electronics too. For someone who didn't want to be involved, she was doing a bloody good job of it.
Rose was able to break out of her shackles, and with a quick hand, EJ was too. It only left the Doctor who was stuck in them, but they worked on it together. They would be able to set him free in no time.
"She's venting the heat up here." The Doctor informed them both, though their minds were preoccupied. "The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano!"
The man spoke into his earpiece, translating to the creature. "Oh, umm, yeah, I'm trying, sir. But I don't know how she did it, it's impossible. A member of staff with an idea!"
In response to his client, the man pushed one of the bodies from a chair so he could try and fix all of the problems. The first was the heating, but he could hardly even get the programmes working never mind anything else.
"What do I do?" Rose panicked as the Doctor guided her towards the sonic screwdriver. She held it like it was a bomb.
"Flip the switch!"
"Here." EJ took it and did what the Doctor asked, and zapped the manacles so the trap mechanism faulted.
The Doctor called as he pushed himself out of the shackles. "Oi, mate! You want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat, in a massive body... Massive bang! See you in the headlines!"
They ran out to safety as the ceiling began to collapse, with no sign of the man following them. It was a relief, really. As they moved, they found Cathica in one of the spaces on that very same floor. The Doctor just clicked his fingers and her head closed. She was able to breathe, and relax.
His smile to her was warm, and thankful. EJ couldn't remember the last time that anyone looked at him in that way.
When it was seemingly over, they returned back to Floor 139, where they originally came from. It was so much more preferable to Floor 500, and EJ wouldn't complain about it any longer. He had bigger fish to fry in the form of Adam Mitchell.
"We're just gonna go," The Doctor informed Cathica, who had hardly left their side. "I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage."
"You'll have to stay and explain it, no one's gonna believe me."
"They might start believing a lot of things now." He shrugged. "The human race should accelerate. All back to normal."
She queried, gesturing to Adam. "What about your friend?"
"He's not my friend." The Doctor spat.
It wasn't long after that when they turned back towards the Tardis. Adam was waiting beside it for them, a guilt expression across every one of his features. He couldn't have been a good liar at all of this was the extent of his abilities.
"Now..." Rose warned as the Doctor marched towards him.
"I'm alright, now." Adam chuckled sheepishly. "Much better. And I've got the key! Look, it's... and, well..., it all worked out for the best, didn't it?"
The Doctor said nothing to him, but grabbed a hold of the Tardis key for safekeeping. Then he grabbed Adam by the scruff of his neck, and the Doctor used his strength as an advantage to push him straight into the Tardis.
"You know," He even attempted to reason. "It's not actually my fault that because you were in charge."
During the short time that EJ had spent in the Tardis with the Doctor and Rose, he'd never experienced as awkward and short a journey as this one. No one said a word as the machine at the centre thrummed, taking them somewhere new. He wondered what the Doctor was doing, because he clearly wasn't happy with what Adam had done. There had to be some form of punishment.
When they came to a stop, the Doctor grabbed Adam by the neck once again, and forced him through the doors. EJ and Rose took hardly a moment to follow.
"This is my house!" He exclaimed, surprised. "I'm home! Oh my God, I'm home! Blimey, I thought you were gonna chuck me out of an airlock."
EJ replied, aggressively. "That was my idea."
The Doctor just stood calmly as he asked. "Is there something else you wanna tell me?"
Rose crossed her arms, and he stuttered. "No. Erm, what d'ya mean?"
"The archive of Satellite Five." He just stepped towards the house phone sitting in the hallway. "One second of that message could've changed the world."
There was no time wasted as he revealed his sonic and pointed it at the answering machine. Sparks flew from it as it danced on the sideboard, broken, and unusable.
"That's it, then. See ya!" The Doctor barged away to the door, and before he could open it, Adam asked.
"How d'you mean, see ya?"
"As in, goodbye."
EJ waved sarcastically. "A riva derchi."
"What about me?" He panicked. "You can't just go, I've got my head. I've got a chip type two, my head opens!"
"What, like this?" The Doctor snapped his fingers and watched as the flaps opened to reveal Adam's brain.
He snapped his own fingers to close it. "Don't."
"Don't do what?" He snapped again.
Adam complained, frustrated, closing it again. "Stop it!"
"Alright now, Doctor," Rose mediated, softly, though she too was fed up of Adam. "That's enough. Stop it."
"Thank you." He sighed before she clicked her fingers, watching it open again. "Oi!"
"Sorry," She laughed to herself as he clicked for the last time. "I couldn't resist."
"The whole of history could've changed because of you." The Doctor hissed, completely pissed off.
He sighed. "I just wanted to help."
"You were just helping yourself."
"And I'm sorry, and I've said I'm sorry, and I am, I really am." He sounded far too desperate to really care. "But you can't just leave me like this."
"Yes I can." The Doctor raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Cos if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average. Unseen. Good luck."
He hardly got his foot into the Tardis doorway when Adam called out. "But I wanna come with you!"
"I only take the best." Was his simple response, soft, and undeterred, leaving as soon as he finished. "I've got these."
"Rose." Adam called to her. "Rose!" She just smiled, and walked away, leaving the Thompson boy. "EJ!"
"No." He hissed, his head snapping towards the boy. "There is no niceties now. You lost that privilege the minute you mutilated yourself."
"Look, I'm sorry." He pleaded. "Please don't let him leave me here."
"I couldn't care less what the Doctor did with you," EJ shrugged, before jabbing a finger at his chest. "Cos some of us would give anything to be normal. You fucked yourself up, and I would give everything to be like you before you did that to yourself."
"I'm-"
"Just shut up."
He turned away and stepped into the Tardis, not caring for anything but getting away from Adam. His heart ached as they left, and the ship thrummed, signifying how far away they would be in only seconds.
EJ began to think, then. It was something that he couldn't bare to do without sighing, and wincing at all of the ideas flooding his mind. But there was just one thing he wanted to know, and only one thing that really mattered.
It was Josh.
He just wanted to see Josh.
✯ ★ ✯
Disclaimer!!!
I do not own Doctor Who, it's characters and original storylines. The only things I do own are my own characters, my addition to the series and my own storylines. Any similarities to real life are purely coincidental.