There are 59 messages on the answering machine. Rory, is putting clothes from a suitcase into the washing machine while Amy checks the fridge.
"It's Lane's Opticians. Just reminding you your reading glasses are ready for collection. Bye!"
"Milk two months out of date. Yogurt" It smells and looks so bad she drops it "eek! Don't ask."
"We've run out of washing tablets," Rory says.
*Time skip*
"We have two lives. Real life and Doctor and Alex's life. Except real life doesn't get much of a look in."
"What do we do?" Amy asks.
"Choose?" the sound of the TARDIS materialising the two sit up.
"Not today, though."
"Nah, not today."
"Every time we flew away with the Doctor and Alex, we'd just become part of their life. But they never stood still long enough to become part of ours. Except once. The year of the slow invasion. The time the Doctor and Alex came to stay" as Rory and Amy sleep, a black box appears downstairs and floats onto a shelf.
*Time skip*
Rory and Amy are woken by the doorbell. They look out of their bedroom window.
"Dad, it's half past six in the morning," Rory says.
"What are you doing lying around? Haven't you seen them?" Brian asks, he has one of the boxes, and there are lots of them scattered around the street.
"What are they?" Rory asks.
"Nobody knows. They're everywhere."
"Well, where have they come from? Wait" Amy says, two people in tweed jackets are sitting on top of a child's climbing frame examining two boxes "Doctor! Alex!"
"Invasion of the very small cubes. That's new" I say.
"World leaders are appealing for calm."
"After the global appearance of millions of small cubes. Despite official warnings, people have been taking the cubes from the streets into offices and homes."
"What are they?"
"Where do they come from?"
"And why are they here?"
"Well, they're certainly not random space debris. They're too perfectly formed for that. Are they extra-terrestrial in origin? Well, you'll have to ask a better man than me."
*TARDIS*
"All absolutely identical. Not a single molecule's difference between them. No blemishes, imperfections, individualities" I say.
"What if they're bombs? Billions of tiny bombs? Or transport capsules maybe, with a mini robot inside. Or deadly hard drives. Or alien eggs? Or messages needing decoding. Or they're all parts of a bigger whole. Jigsaw puzzles that need fitting together" Brian says.
"Very thorough, Brian. Very, very thorough. Well done. Stay here. Watch these. Yell if anything happens" the Doctor says.
"Doctor, Alex, is this an alien invasion? Because that's what it feels like" Amy says.
"There couldn't be life-forms in every cube, could there?" Rory asks.
"We don't know. And we really don't like not knowing" I say, the TARDIS is parked in Amy and Rory's lounge room.
"Right, we need to use your kitchen as a lab. Cook up some cubes. See what happens" the Doctor says.
"Right, I'm due at work," Rory says.
"What? You've got a job?" the Doctor asks.
"Of course, I've got a job. What do you think we do when we're not with you?"
"I imagined mostly kissing."
"I write travel articles for magazines and Rory heals the sick" Amy says.
"My shift starts in an hour. You don't know where my scrubs are?" Rory asks.
"In the lounge, where you left them."
*Time skip*
"Ahh, the Ponds, with their house and their jobs and their everyday lives. The journalist and the nurse. Long way from Leadworth" I say, as the Doctor sonics a gizmo together.
"We think it's been ten years. Not for you or Earth, but for us. Ten years older. Ten years of you two, on and off" Amy replies.
"Look at you now. All grown up" the Doctor says the front door is smashed down.
"Clear! Trap one, kitchen secured."
"Trap three, back garden secured" the rest of the squad are outside the patio doors. Rory is marched in at gunpoint.
"There are soldiers all over my house, and I'm in my pants," Rory says.
"My whole life I've dreamed of saying that, and I miss it by being someone else," Amy says, a woman enters the house.
"All these muscles and they still don't know how to knock. Sorry about the raucous entrance. Spike in Artron energy reading at this address. In the light of the last twenty-four hours, we had to check it out, and the dogs do love a runout. Hello. Kate Stewart, head of scientific research at UNIT" she looks to The Doctor and me "and with dress sense like that..." she holds out a scanner, which shows four hearts beating between the both of us in our chests "you must be the Doctor and you must be the Seer. I hoped it would be you two."
"Tell me, since when did science run the military, Kate?" I ask.
"Since me. UNIT's been adapting. Well, I dragged them along, kicking and screaming, which made it sound like more fun than it actually was."
"What do we know about these cubes?" the Doctor asks.
"Far less than we need to. We've been freighting them in from around the world for testing. So far, we've subjected them to temperatures of plus and minus two hundred Celsius, simulated a water depth of five miles, dropped one out of a helicopter at ten thousand feet and rolled our best tank over it. Always intact."
"That's impressive. We don't want them to be impressive. We want them vulnerable with a nice Achilles heel" the Doctor mutters.
"We don't know how they got here, what they're made of, or why they're here."
"And all around the world, people are picking them up and taking them home" I say.
"Like iPads have dropped out of the sky. Taking them to work, taking pictures, making films, posting them on Flickr and YouTube. Within three hours, the cubes had a thousand separate Twitter accounts."
"Twitter?"
"I've recommended we treat this as a hostile incursion. Gather them all up and lock them in a secure facility. But that would take massive international agreement and co-operation."
"We need evidence. The cubes arrived in plain sight, in vast quantities, as the sun rose. So, what does that tell us?" the Doctor asks.
"Maybe they wanted to be seen. Noticed" Amy says.
"Or more than that, they want to be observed. So, we observe them. Stay with them round the clock. Watch the cubes, day and night. Record absolutely everything about them. Team cube, in it together" the Doctor says.
*Time skip*
"Four days. Nothing! Nothing! Not a single change in any cube anywhere in the world. Four days, and we are still in your lounge!" I say with my arms crossed as I lay on the floor.
"You were the one who wanted to observe them," Amy says looking down at me.
"That was not me, that was the Doctor" I huff.
"Still..." Amy gets cut off by the Doctor who was laying on the couch between Amy and Rory.
"Yes, well, I thought they'd do something, didn't I? Not just sit there while everyone eats endless cereal!" the Doctor says getting up and running off.
"You said we had to be patient."
"Yes, you! You, not me! I hate being patient. Patience is for wimps. I can't live like this. Don't make me. I need to be busy!" the Doctor says.
"Fine! Be busy! We'll watch the cubes" Amy shouts, the Doctor runs off, Amy and Rory look at me which im still on the floor "are you..."
"No, I'm fine here... do you have a book?" the Doctor creosotes the garden fence, plays a little football, mows the lawn and does something to their car, while I read, the Doctor is keeping the football off the ground.
"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred. Amy!" he also vacuums the house "could you move?" he asks looking down at me.
"Four million nine hundred ninety-nine, five million" he returns to the sofa.
"That's better. Nothing like a bit of activity to pass the time. How long was I gone?"
"Er, about an hour," Rory says.
"I can't do it. No" I place my book down and watch as the Doctor runs into the TARDIS, the three of us follow him.
"Where are you going?" Amy asks they run into the TARDIS.
"Brian, you're still here" I say surprised.
"You told me to watch the cubes."
"Four days ago!" the Doctor shouts.
"Ah! Doesn't time fly when you're alone with your thoughts?" Brian asks.
"You can't just leave, Doctor," Rory says,
"Yes, of course, I can. Quick jaunt, restore sanity. Ooo, hey, come if you like" the Doctor says.
"They can't just go off like that" Brian says.
"Can't they? Can't you? That's how it goes, isn't it?" the Doctor asks.
"I've got my job," Rory says.
"Oh yes, Rory. The universe is waiting, but you have a little job too."
"It's not little. It's important to me. Look, what you do isn't all there is" everyone is silent for a moment.
"I never said it was" the Doctor replies "all right. Fine. The Seer and I will be back soon. Monitor the cubes. Call us. We'll have the TARDIS set to every Earth news feed" Rory, Amy and Brian all walk out.
"At the end of a week of cubic questions and theories, but no answers, could this be the greatest stealth marketing campaign in business history? And if it is, will those behind it ever come forward and explain exactly what it's for?"
*Party – October*
"I'm so pleased for you two. It's about time you made an honest woman of her" Amy says.
"Amy, about bridesmaids. You've missed quite a few things the last year or two"
"I'm so totally there. Whatever you need."
*Hospital*
"Everyone here loves you. The nurses, the doctors. You're a life-saver, mate, literally."
"Ah, well, thanks" Rory replies.
"But there are months when we don't see you. And we can't do without you. I want you to go full time."
"Full time? Blimey. Er."
*Bedroom*
"I said yes. I committed" Rory says.
"And I committed to being a bridesmaid. Months in advance. Like I know I'm going to be here."
"So, the Doctor and Alex are God knows where the cubes aren't doing anything at all. Did real life just get started?"
"I like it."
"So do I."
Brian is keeping a video diary.
"Brian's log, day sixty-seven."
"You, er, you can't call it that. Brian's log?" Rory asks,
"Brian's log, day sixty-seven. Cube was quiet all night, Once again. Cube was quiet all day, as per previously. No movement. No change in measurements. End of entry."
"You stay up and watch it all the time?" Rory asks.
"I film it while I'm asleep. When I wake up, I watch the footage on fast forward. I e-mail the result to UNIT. My middle name is diligence."
"Wow. I can't wait to see day sixty-eight."
"Don't mock my log. I'm doing what the Doctor and I asked."
*Hospital – December*
The decorations are up Merry Christmas Everybody is playing on the PA.
"Er, Mister Ryan, please," Rory says, a young man with his foot stuck in a toilet bowl looks up "again?" Rory wheels him away.
*Ward*
An old man is lying on a bed, reading a paperback. A man enters wearing a mask and draws the curtain.
"I'm fine. I've been done" the old man says.
"What seems to be the matter?"
"I'm just waiting for a prescription" he replies.
"Where does it hurt?" a second identical man enters.
"I said I'm fine. Will you tell your colleague here that I. Stop!" the old man pulls down the orderlies masks. They have snouts with grills rather than noses and mouths. The box by his bed glows red as he screams. In an office, the boxes are used to put post-it notes on, create targets for putting practice, and as paperweights. In the streets, there are piles of them by waste bins.
*Back garden – June*
The Williams are hosting a barbeque. Amy makes a telephone call.
"Hey! Doctor, Alex, it's me. Hello. So, the UN classified the cubes as provisionally safe, whatever that means, and Banksy and Damien Hirst put out statements saying the cubes are nothing to do with them. And the cubes, well, they're just here. Still. What's it been, nine months? People are just taking them for granted. Maybe we'll never know why they came. But anyway. I got to Laura's wedding. It was great. She's here tonight, being as it's our wedding anniversary. We thought you might have dropped by. I left you messages" a man carries a large bouquet of flowers up behind Amy.
"We know! Happy anniversary! Come with us. And bring your husband" the Doctor says, I stand behind him smiling.
*Savoy Hotel*
"26th of June 1890. The recently opened Savoy Hotel. Dinner, bed and breakfast for two. Bonjour, bonjour. Merci, Auguste. You'll be back before the party's over. They won't even notice you went. No complications, we promise" I say, Rory kisses me on the cheek "oh" I head back into the TARDIS.
*Street*
Amy and Rory are still dressed for 1890, and it is snowing.
"Bit of a shock, Zygon ship under the Savoy, half the staff impostors. Still, it's all fixed now, eh?" the Doctor says they are all sitting on the ground.
*Bedchamber*
"Check the corridors!"
"I thought we were going home?" Amy asks.
"You can't miss a good wedding. Under the bed. Under the bed!" they all hide under the bed "shush!"
"It wasn't my fault," Amy says.
"It was totally your fault!" Rory replies.
"Somebody was talking, and I just said yes"
"To wedding vows! You just married Henry the eighth on our anniversary" the monarch enters. The Doctor sneezes.
"Really?" I ask.
"Sorry."
*Lounge – June*
There's a party and everyone is cheering, Brian goes up to the Doctor and me.
"How long were they away?" Brian asks.
"We don't know what you're talking about, Brian" the Doctor replies.
"Because they're wearing totally different clothes from earlier."
"Seven weeks. We got side-tracked. A lot" I say.
"What happened to the other people who travel with you two?"
"Some left me. Some got left behind. And some, not many but, some died. Not them. Not them, Brian. Never them" I say.
*Back garden*
"Can me and the Doctor stay here, with you and Rory, for a bit. Keep an eye on the cubes. However long that takes" I ask.
"I thought it would drive him mad," Amy says.
"No, no, no. I mean, he'll be better at it this time. We miss you.
*Brian's lounge – July*
"Brian's log, day three hundred and sixty-one. Eight-fifty pm. No movement. And I am cream crackered" Brian falls asleep.
*Lounge*
"I sent you out to sell as many cubes as you could in twenty-four hours. And look at you, you've made a right hash of it, haven't you? Well, Craig, you're fired" the Doctor, Amy, Rory and I are eating fish fingers and custard.
"If I had a restaurant, this'd be all I'd serve," the Doctor says.
"Yeah, right. You running a restaurant?" Amy says.
"I've run restaurants. Who do you think invented the Yorkshire pudding?"
"You didn't."
"Pudding, yet savoury. Sound familiar?" I ask, sitting on the Doctor's lap.
*Brian's lounge*
Something jolts Brian awake. It is the box moving. He dozes off again and reawakens when it starts to spin around.
"Do it again."
*Kitchen*
"Good job, mister. Civilisations saved, surfaces wiped. What more could any woman ask for?" Amy asks.
"Ha, ha" Rory replies.
"I mean it."
"Where's the Doctor and Alex?"
"The Doctor's on the Wii again, Alex's reading. I'm going for a bath" Amy replies, the cube on the work surface opens its lid and closes it again.
*Lounge*
"Oh, yes! Second set, Doctor! Haha! Oh, if Fred Perry could see me now, eh? He'd probably ask for his shorts back" the Doctor shouts, I roll my eyes.
*Bathroom*
Amy sees the cube in here glowing. She puts her hand on it and gets stabbed by a square with short needles.
"Ow!" the needles disappear back inside the cube then a heartbeat line appears through the middle of it. Down in the kitchen, Rory spots the cube opening and closing. He tries to see what is inside it.
*Lounge*
"Third set decider, come on, then" a cube flies around the Doctor and blocks his view.
"Out of the way, dear, I'm trying to...Whatever you are, this planet, these people, are precious to us. And we will defend them to my last breath. Is that all you can do, hover? We had a metal dog could do that" the Doctor says, I stand walking over to him, the cube points a tube at the Doctor "ooh! Ooh, that's clever. What's that?" the cube fires, the Doctor dodges and a vase shatters. The Doctor and I escape after two more shots, then the cube settles in front of the TV and images flicker across the screen very quickly.
"Ooo, you really have woken up" I say.
"Alex? Doctor?" Rory bumps into them in the hallway "hi. Er, the cube in there, it just opened."
"The cube upstairs just spiked me and took my pulse!" Amy says,
"Ha! Really? Ours fired laser bolts and now it's surfing the net" the Doctor says, Brian enters.
"You're never going to believe this. My cube just moved. It rattled" Rory answers his mobile phone.
"Hello?"
"Rory, mate, I'm desperate for help. People are saying they've been attacked by the cubes. It's going to be a long night."
"Ok, I'm on my way. I have to get to work. They need all the help they can get."
"Let me come, help out," Brian says.
"Take your dad to work night, brilliant! Ok, are you going to be all right here?" Rory asks.
"Keep away from the cubes," Amy says.
"Right" Rory and Brian leave. The Doctor and I are looking at the psychic paper.
"What are you grinning about?" Amy asks looking at the Doctor.
"We're wanted at the Tower of London" I say.
*Tower of London*
"Every cube across the whole world activated at the same moment," Kate says, as the Doctor, Amy and I hop out of the car.
"Now we're in business. You sent us a message to our psychic paper. You know what? I'm almost impressed" the Doctor says