The Captain, Doctor and Rose walk into a lift, Cathica follows them but doesn't enter.
"Come on, come with us." Rose says.
"No way!" Cathica says.
"Bye!" the Doctor waves.
"Well, don't mention my name." Cathica tells them. "When you get in trouble, just don't involve me." she walks away.
"That's her gone. Adam's given up. Looks like it's just you, me and the Captain." the Doctor tells Rose, as the Captain roles his eyes.
"Yeah."
"Good." the Doctor smiles.
"Yep." Rose returns a smile.
"Oh, you two, stop it will ya?" the Captain complains.
The Doctor looks back at him with a smile and then inserts a card and the door closes. The Doctor takes Rose's hand in his.
___________
Adam clicks his fingers and the portal in his forehead opens to reveal his brain. He clicks it shuts again.
"Oh, my God. I'm going to be sick." Adam says. He leans forward and retches, then pulls a pale ice cube out of his mouth.
"Special offer. We installed the vomit-o-matic at the same time. Nano-termites have been placed in the lining of your throat. In the event of sickness, they freeze the waste." the nurse tells him.
___________
The lift opens on Floor 500 and the Doctor and Captain walk out looking around as Rose follows them.
"The walls are not made of gold. You should go back downstairs." the Doctor tells Rose.
"Tough." Rose says and walks to explore the room.
"No but seriously, Rose, you should." the Captain tells her. The two men follow after her.
They enter a room and are met with the Editor and his frosted workers.
"I started with out you. This is fascinating." he laughs and turns back to the monitors, while the Doctor, Captain and Rose look on. "Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire." he says as the three walk closer to the man. "Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you three... You don't exist. There's not a trace." The three stare at him. "No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"
"Suki... Suki!" Rose notices the woman and rushes to her side. "Hello? Can you hear me? Suki? What have you done to her?"
"I think she's dead." the Captain tells Rose.
"But she's... working." Rose looks at the woman.
"They've all got chips in their head. And the chips keep going. Like puppets." the Doctor says.
"Ohh! You're full of information, but it's only fair we get some information back. Because, apparently, you're no-one. It's so rare, not to know something." the Editor says, both men nod. "Who are you?" he asks them.
"It doesn't matter, cos we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on!" the Doctor says as he turns to leave. A couple of frosted people hold onto the men as Suki grabs hold of Roses arm stopping her leaving.
"Tell me who you are!" the Editor says.
"Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly gonna say, am I." the Doctor says.
"Well, perhaps my Editor In Chief can convince you otherwise." the Editor says.
"And who's that?" the Captain asks.
"It may interest you to 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." he informs the two men.
"Grrr!"
"Yep. Yep. Sorry." he says, as the Doctor and Captain look over to Rose. "It's a place where humans are allowed to live, by kind permission of my client" he points up to the ceiling.
All three look up to see a giant lump hanging from the ceiling, with a very nasty set of teeth in a mouth on the end of a pseudopod.
"Grrr!" it growls.
"What is that?" Rose asks.
"You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" the Doctor asks looking up.
"That 'thing', as you put it, is in charge of the human race." he says making both men look back down to the Editor. "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 humanity's guiding light, The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe."
The Doctor smiles and nods, the Captain is still looking up at the creature. "That's a mouthful." the Captain says.
"I call him Max." the Editor says.
___________
Adam walks through the cafeteria and as Cathica approaches he pretends he's looking at his watch, she walks past him and to the open mainframe that the Doctor and Captain had opened. Adam walks off through a doorway. Cathica moves the monitor so she can see it.
She then walks to the lift and puts in a code, the door closes.
___________
"Create a climate of fear, and it's easy to keep the borders closed." he says to the three people that have been placed in hefty sets of manacles. "It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy. Invent an enemy. Change a vote."
"So all the people on Earth are like... slaves?" Rose asks the Editor.
"Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?"
"Yes." the Doctor and Captain reply at the same time.
"Oh, I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm gonna get? 'Yes'?" the Editor complains.
"Yes." the two men reply at the same time again.
"You're no fun." the man laughs.
"Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am." the Doctor says.
"Oh, 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 says.
"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." he walks down the room and turns around to face the three again.
Cathica arrives on Floor 500. Adam goes to the broadcast room on 139.
"And then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs.." the Doctor, Rose and the Captain notices on a monitor behind the Editor that Cathica has entered Floor 500. "..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? You're not Jagra...er...belly." Rose starts.
"Jagrafess." the Captain helps her.
"Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human." Rose continues.
"Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well." the Editor tells her.
"But you couldn't have done this all on your own." Rose says.
"No! 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, creature that size. What's its lifespan?" the Doctor asks looking up.
Cathica listening in on the conversation looks up.
"3,000 years." the Editor says.
"That's one hell of a metabolism. Generating all that heat." the Captain says.
"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." the Doctor speaks.
___________
Adam settles in the broadcast chair and opens his portal, then phones home.
"It's me again. Don't wipe this message. It's just going to sound like white noise, but save it because I can.."
___________
"..Translate it, okay? Three, two, one and spike."
___________
"But THAT'S why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown." the Editor giggles and snaps his fingers. And electric surges through the manacles. "Who are you?"
___________
The little dog watches and barks at the energy encircling the telephone answering machine.
___________
"Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, he's the Captain and she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering."
"Tell me who you are!" the Editor says.
"He just did!" the Captain shouts.
"Yeah, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly...?"
"Time Lords" the Editor points to the two men.
"What?" the Doctor asks.
"Oh, yes! The last of the Time Lords. And their travelling machine. Oh, with their little human girl from long ago." he touches the side of Rose's face.
"Don't know what you're talking about." the Doctor lies.
"Time travel!"
___________
Adam screams as information is sucked out of his brain. "Help!"
___________
"Someone's been telling you lies." the Captain says.
"Young master Adam Mitchell?" the Editor clicks his fingers showing a hologram of Adam screaming in a chair.
"Oh, my God, his head..." Rose says.
"What the hell's he done?" the Doctor asks.
"Oh, Adam..." the Captain manages to get out.
"What the hell's he gone and done?" the Doctor says. Cathica watches on. "They're reading his mind, he's telling them everything."
"And through HIM, I know everything about YOU. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And YOU have infinite knowledge, Doctor and Captain. 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, we'll die first!" the Captain tells him.
"Well, die all you like, I don't need ya! I've got the key!"
The Tardis key rises from Adam's pocket.
"You and your boyfriends!" the Doctor says.
"Today, WE are the headlines. We can re-write history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing."
"And no-one's gonna stop you. Because you've bred a human race which doesn't bother to ask questions." the Doctor says as Cathica listens. "Stupid little slaves believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if they're told it's made of gold."
"Grrr!" Jagrafess snarls.
Cathica leaves, she finds a broadcasting room with corpses in, she throws the one off the chair and takes a seat. "Disengage safety."
___________
Alarms sound. "What's happening?" the Editor asks looking to the monitors.
___________
"Maximum access, override Floor 139." Cathica says.
___________
Adam is disconnected. The Tardis key falls to the floor.
___________
"And... spike!" Cathica says as a beam enters her portal.
___________
The Editor turns around "Someone's disengaged the safety. Who's that?" he asks looking at a hologram and sees Cathica in the chair.
"It's Cathica." Rose says.
"And she's thinking!" the Doctor smiles, as does the Captain.
"She's using what she knows." the Captain says.
"Terminate her access!" the Editor commands Suki.
"Everything we told her about Satellite Five, the pipes, the filters, she's reversing it!" the Doctor says.
"Look at that, it's getting hot." the Captain says as he looks around the room and notices the ice melting.
"I said, terminate!" the Editor says. He places his hands on top of Suki's. "Burn out her mind."
___________
"Oh no you don't. You should've promoted me years back!" Cathica fights back against the system.
___________
The consoles explode and the dead operators collapse. Alarms sound in the rest of Satellite Five and people panic. Rose gets out of her manacles.
"She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano." the Doctor says.
"Yes, I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea." the Editor tells the Jagrafess.
The Editor takes Suki's seat while Rose tries to free the Doctor. She gets the sonic screwdriver from his pocket.
"What do I do?" Rose asks.
"Flick the switch!" the Doctor tells Rose.
"Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang. See you in the headlines!" the Captain says, as Rose unlocks the Doctor's manacles heading for his next.
Finally free, the Doctor, Captain and Rose leave.
"Actually, sir, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll resign. Bye, then!" the Editor says. Suki grabs his ankle and he falls. "Let go of me!"
The Doctor, Captain and Rose run for the broadcast as chunks of ice fall from the ceiling, the satellite shudders and the Jagrafess growls.
"Let go of me! Let go of me!"
The Jagrafess explodes. The Captain snaps his fingers and closes Cathica's portal, she opens her eyes and is met with the smiling man.
___________
As the sun rises over Earth the people on level 139 are helping the injured.
"We're just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage." the Doctor says to Cathica.
"You'll have to stay and explain it. No one's going to believe me." Cathica tells them.
"Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. The human race should accelerate. All back to normal." the Captain says.
"What about your friend?" she asks the men.
"He's not my friend." the Doctor says.
"Nope." the Captain shakes his head.
"Now, don't." Rose says.
Adam stands by the Tardis looking over at the group as the two Time Lords walk over.
"I'm all right now. Much better. And I've got the key. Look, it's. It all worked out for the best, didn't it? You know, it's not actually my fault, because you were in charge." Adam tells them.
The Doctor pushes Adam into the Tardis, the Captain and Rose following them.
___________
The Doctor still with a hand on Adam's shoulder pushes him out as the group walk out of the Tardis.
"It's my house. I'm home! Oh, my God, I'm home! Blimey. I thought you were going to chuck me out of an airlock." Adam smiles looking around the house.
"Is there something else you want to tell me?" the Doctor asks, as Rose watches crossing her arms.
"No. What do you mean?" Adam says.
The Captain walks over to the side table and picks up the answering machine.
"The archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message could've changed the world." the Captain tells him.
The Captain uses his sonic screwdriver on the telephone making it explode.
"That's it, then. See you." the Doctor says as he walks to the door of the Tardis
"How do you mean, see you?" Adam asks.
"Come on man." the Captain speaks.
"As in goodbye." the Doctor tells him.
"But what about me? You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip type two. My head opens." Adam says.
"What, like this?" the Doctor snaps his fingers and Adams forehead opens.
"Don't." Adam says, snapping his fingers to close it.
"Don't do what?" the Doctor asks, snapping his fingers opening Adams forehead again.
"Stop it!" Adam exclaims.
"All right now, Doctor, that's enough. Stop it." Rose says.
"Thank you." Adam tells her. Rose snaps her fingers and the hole opens again, the Captain just laughs at the situation.
"Oi!"
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Rose tells him, the man snaps his fingers and closes it.
"The whole of history could have changed because of you." the Doctor tells him.
"I just wanted to help." Adam says.
"You were helping yourself." the Captain chimes in.
"And I'm sorry. I've said I'm sorry, and I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this." Adam says.
"Yes we can. 'Cause 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." the Doctor tells him as the Captain nods.
"But I want to come with you." Adam says.
"We only take the best. We've got Rose." the Captain smiles.
Adam's mum comes in the front door. The Captain and Doctor enter the Tardis, leaving Rose outside.
"Rose, Rose. Oh, my God." Adam says.
"Who's that? Geoff, is that you?" Adams mum calls from the front door.
"It's me, mum. Don't come in. Wait there a minute." Adam yells back.
"Oh, my Lord. You never told me you were coming home! Hold on, I'll just take my coat off. You should've told me you were coming home. I would've got your favourite tea in." she says.
The Tardis engine starts up. Rose goes inside and it dematerialises.
"Hey, what's that noise? Have you left the back door open? Blimey, there's a draft." his mum says. She enters the front room. "What a surprise. Oh, let me look at you. Oh, six months. It's like I saw you yesterday. Isn't it funny? The time goes by like that." she snaps her fingers, her smile fades when her sons forehead opens.