They rematerialised and without ever having spared Adam a look Winnie stepped out first. The Doctor acted similarly and followed her. Rose pursed her lips and followed them. Adam waited inside for Rose as she wanted to figure everything out herself first.
"So, it's two hundred thousand, and it's a spaceship. No, wait a minute, space station, and er, go and try that gate over there. Off you go", the Doctor gave a bit of a faux smile, unhappy about what Rose was going to do with this information. Instinctively, he put an arm around Winnie's waist and pulled her back.
"Two hundred thousand?", Rosa asked, to make sure.
"Two hundred thousand", the Doctor nodded.
Winnie looked down at the Doctor's shoes as Rose went back to the Tardis door to get Adam.
"I don't like this", she whispered to him.
"Don't give him a chance", the Doctor pressed, "Give her a chance."
She nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. Adam had spent the last few months or years dragging the stars down, not even really exploring anything about them. Or at least he really wasn't as good at it as he had told them.
"Rosie", Winnie garnered her attention one last time, "In 2005 Adam is thirteen", she smirked, "Okay, go on."
"Right", Rose opened the door, "Adam? Out you come."
His jaw dropped the instant he stepped out, "Oh my god."
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it", Rose made a brushing off motion with her hand.
"Where are we?"
Rose smiled, excited to share the newfound information as her own discoveries, "Good question. Let's see. So, er, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year two hundred thousand. If you listen-"
"Yeah", Adam breathed out and Winnie snorted at the way Adam actually bought Rose's elaborate lie.
Rose glared at her sister, but quickly caught herself to continue, "Engines. We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here. They could turn the heating down. Tell you what - let's try that gate. Come on!"
Rose grabbed Adam's wrist and dragged him over. Naturally, like exasperated parents do, the Doctor and Winnie entwined their hands and followed slowly. They arrived when Rose had already opened it and then they all stood in front of a glass-wall through which they could look down onto a very different looking planet Earth.
Adam's jaw dropped, and even Winnie was impressed. She stepped closer to the Doctor and put a hand on his arm, silently asking for an explanation.
"Here we go", Rose grinned at Adam, "And this is- I'll let the Doctor describe it."
The Doctor gave Winnie a playful smile, seeing her already pursed lips.
"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire", he pulled Winnie with him to stand closer to the window, "And there it is, planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety six billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle."
Adam's jaw still hung open and when the Doctor finished he just fainted.
The Doctor grimaced at Rose, "He's your boyfriend."
Rose had a similar look on her face when she looked down at Adam, "Not anymore."
"Come on, Adam", the Doctor tried to encourage the boy when he woke up and they walked back out into the central square, "Open your mind. You're going to like this. Fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine foods, good manners."
A man pushed between him and Adam, "Out of the way!"
And suddenly the place was bustling with life. A stall in to their right opened and people came running in, chatting and shouting and living. Winnie stepped closer to the Doctor again, wanting to get away from the crowds and, ideally, not lose her friends.
"Fine cuisine?", Rose scrunched her nose as she caught a look of a 'Kronkburger' being served.
"My watch must be wrong", the Doctor looked at it, "No, it's fine. It's weird."
"That's what comes from showing off", Rose poked him, "Your history's not as good as you thought it was."
"Says you", Winnie snorted with her arms crossed.
"Yeah", the Doctor mirrored her pose, "My history's perfect."
Rose rolled her eyes, "Well, obviously not."
"They're all human", Adam commented, "What about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?"
Winnie tilted her head at him, not having expected a good take from him. The Doctor agreed, "Good question. Actually, that is a good question. Adam, me old mate, you must be starving."
"No, I'm just time sick", he looked down.
"No, you just need a bit of grub", the Doctor put an arm around Adam's shoulders and pulled him to the stall, "Oi, mate, how much is a kronkburger?"
"Two credits twenty, sweetheart. Now join the queue!"
And soon enough they were pushed out of the way by others wanting burgers.
"Money", the Doctor patted himself down, "We need money. Let's use a cashpoint."
"Attention all staff. All coverage of the Glasgow water riots being transferred five through nine."
The Doctor sonicked a cashpoint and it produced a credit card. He handed it to Adam, "There you go. Pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets."
"How does it work?", Adam asked the already retreating Doctor.
"Go and find out. Stop nagging me. The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris", he took Winnie's hand on his way and kept walking backwards, Winnie joining in now, "You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me?", he brushed it off and dragged Winnie onward, "Stop asking questions! Go and do it. Off you go then. Your first date."
Winnie smirked in amusement and Rose rolled her eyes, "You're going to get a smack, you are."
Winnie laughed and the Doctor grinned as they finally got on their way and approached two women, one in a pantsuit, the other in a pink blouse.
"Er, this is going to sound daft, but can you tell us where we are?", the Doctor asked them.
"Floor One Three Nine", the one in a pantsuit gestured to the wall, where it was written from bottom to top, "Could they write it any bigger?"
"Floor one three nine of what?", he continued his questioning.
"Must've been a hell of a party", she crossed her arms.
"You're on Satellite Five", the other woman said in a much kinder tone.
"What's Satellite Five?"
"Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?", the woman in the pantsuit seemed annoyed.
"Look at him, he's stupid", Winnie grinned before he could say anything, and suddenly the woman had an amused spark in her eye.
The Doctor pursed his lips at his companion but didn't protest. Ultimately he just shrugged and looked back at the women
"Hold on, wait a minute", the kinder woman paused, "Are you a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?"
The time travellers looked at each other, raised their brows and then nodded rapidly, "You got us. Yup. Well done. You're too clever for us."
He was about to reach for his psychic paper but Winnie stopped him by grabbing his arm subtly and taking hers out instead. With a proud little smile she presented it to the women, "Management, all the way from the top."
"We were warned about this in basic training", the woman in pink nodded, "All workers have to be versed in company promotion."
"Right, fire away, ask your question", the one in the pantsuit was very into them now, "If it gets me to Floor five hundred I'll do anything."
"Why, what happens on Floor five hundred?"
"The walls are made of gold. And you should know, Mister Management. So, this is what we do", she went over to a screen on the wall, "Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane seventy seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."
Winnie snorted at that last one and the woman looked at her in a mix of shock and disdain. Winnie pursed her lips, "Sorry, just, I know the Face of Boe, friend, I think. Or maybe I'll be a mum soon."
The Doctor looked at her with disapproval but she could see the amused spark in his eye. He turned back to the women, "Get it. You broadcast the news."
"We are the news", she interrupted him, "We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going though us."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes. Winnie looked rather impressed and put her best 'Management'-facade on, "I would like to see that. Any chance we could get a look into your working process?"
The women looked at each other, then nodded eagerly and led the way. Winnie quickly waved Rose over and so she and Adam followed quickly. In a hexagonal room there was a sort of dentist's chair with cables coming out of it in the centre. On seven sides of the hexagon sat people with handprints in front of them.
Winnie, Rose and the Doctor stood on the eighth side of the hexagon and watched. Pantsuit stood in front of the dentist's chair and welcomed everyone, "Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection. How do you want it, by the book?"
Winnie jumped a little at being spoken to directly but quickly caught herself, "Er, yeah, right from scratch, please."
"Okay, so, ladies, gentlemen, multisex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor five hundred praising me, and please do", she smiled back at Winnie again, "Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest and beyond bias. That's company policy."
"Actually", the other woman, sitting in one of the seven seats now, spoke up, "It's the law."
"Yes, thank you, Suki", Cathica rolled her eyes, "Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go."
She sat down in the dentist's chair.
"And engage safety."
The seven other people held their hands over the handprints in front of them. Lights turned on around them and the white walls lit up with warm circular shapes. Cathica snapped her fingers and a door opened up in her forehead, so they could see her brain. Winnie managed to stay surprisingly calm but Rose and Adam walked around the room to get a closer look.
"And three, two, and spike."
A beam of light came out of the ceiling and into her brain-door.
"Compressed information, streaming into her", the Doctor explained quietly when Rose stood with them again, "Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."
"If it all goes through her, she must be a genius", Rose whispered.
"Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much", the Doctor shrugged, "Her head'd blow up. The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets."
"So, what about all these people around the edge?", Rose asked, gesturing to Suki and the others.
"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power."
They watched for a moment longer until Rose spared a glance towards a completely entranced Adam, "Do you want to get out?"
"No", he shook his head immediately, "No, this technology, it's amazing."
"This technology's wrong", the Doctor protested.
"Trouble?", Winnie didn't look away from the scene but she smirked.
When the Doctor looked down at her, she looked up at him and he mirrored her look, "Oh, yeah."
As if on cue, Suki pulled her hands away with a hiss as if she'd burned them. The beam shut down, the door in Cathica's head closed and everybody else pulled away. Cathica sat up, "Come off it, Suki. I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?"
"Sorry", Suki muttered, "It must've been a glitch."
"Promotion", it sounded over the speakers as the world lit up on a wall.
Everyone stood to look at the wall and Cathica crossed her fingers, "Come on. This is it. Come on. Oh god, make it me. Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name."
"Promotion for Suki Macrae Cantrell", a picture of her and her name showed up on the wall, "Please proceed to floor five hundred."
Suki was shocked, "I don't believe it. Floor five hundred."
"How the hell did you manage that?", Cathica glared at her, "I'm above you."
"I don't know", Suki was genuinely confused, but happy, "I just applied on the off chance and they've said yes."
"That's so not fair! I've been applying to Floor five hundred for three years."
"What's floor five hundred?", Rose muttered.
Winnie and the Doctor looked at her and in the same moment wondrously whispered, "The walls are made of gold."