I count three what I consider to be "Moffats" in this two parter. The first one is in there, and the other two are in "The Parting of the Ways." Hope you like the twists I've got!
Oh, and sorry it took me so long to finish this up. I just love the 9s so much. :)
Also, PLEASE READ the A/N at the end. Please. :)
***
The Doctor fell out of a dark room and onto the floor and groaned. "Oh, my God!" a woman's voice yelped, and a blonde girl ran to help him up. "I don't believe it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming?"
"What happened?" the Doctor asked groggily, looking around as he tried to stand. "I was - "
"Careful now," the girl warned, helping him keep his balance when he nearly fell. "Oh! Oh, mind yourself! Oh, that's the transmat. It scrambles your head. I was sick for days. All right? So, what's your name then, sweetheart?"
"The Doctor, I think," he answered, shaking his head slightly before cringing. Oh, he wasn't going to do that for a while. "I was . . . er . . . I don't know. What happened? How - ?"
"You got chosen," she answered with a grin.
"Chosen for what?"
"You're a housemate! You're in the House! Isn't that brilliant?!"
"That's not fair," a young man by the couch said bitterly. "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 dark-skinned woman with him added. "You watch me. I'm going to paint the walls!"
The Doctor blinked, looking around, before a voice came over the intercom. "Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?" He turned when a door with a stylized eye slid open, and he shuffled through before eyeing the comfy red chair. He sat down, then the voice came again. "You are live on channel forty-four thousand. Please do not swear."
The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. "You have got to be kidding!"
***
The Alchemist groaned as she shook her head slowly, trying to sit up. She blinked when she nearly hit the underside of the TARDIS console. She frowned. "Doctor?" she called, crawling out on hands and knees. "Rose? Jack? What - " She paused, seeing no one around. " . . . happened?"
There was no one in the TARDIS at all!
Frowning, she grabbed her sonic blaster and headed for the door to the TARDIS. She stepped out, and nearly ran into a door with a stylized eye on it. She frowned and made to open it when she heard voices from outside.
The Alchemist leaned against the door, narrowing her eyes.
Where were they?
***
Rose grimaced when she woke on a cold floor. "What happened?" she asked weakly.
"It's all right," the dark-skinned man hovering over her answered. "It's the transmat. Does your head in. Get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?"
"Rose," she answered. "But where's the Doctor?"
"Just remember, do what the android says," he told her. "Don't provoke it. The android's word is law."
"What do you mean, android?" Rose asked, confused. "Like a robot?"
"Positions, everyone!" a woman called out to them. "Thank you!"
"Come on, hurry up," the man told her, helping her stand. "Steady, steady."
"I was traveling, with the Doctor and the Alchemist and a man called Captain Jack," Rose recalled before shaking her head. "The Doctor wouldn't just leave me!"
"That's enough chat," the woman said. "Positions! Final call! Good luck!"
"But I'm not supposed to be here!"
"It says Rose on the podium," the man pointed out, and Rose blinked, seeing her name indeed on one of the podiums. "Come on."
She followed him warily, standing by him, seeing his name as Rodrick, as on the podium, before she blinked. "Hold on." She looked around, observing her surroundings. "I must be going mad. It can't be! This looks like the - "
"Android activated!" the woman called.
"Oh, my God," Rose breathed as a robot in the shape of a familiar-looking woman powered up. "The android. The Anne droid."
"Welcome to The Weakest Link!" the Anne droid called out.
***
"I can't open it," the Doctor grumbled, checking the door with his sonic screwdriver.
"It's got a deadlock seal, ever since Big Brother five hundred and four when they all walked out," the blonde girl told him. "You must remember that."
He pointed at the alcove above them. "What about this?"
"Oh, that's exoglass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."
The Doctor snorted. "Or the Alchemist," he thought to himself with a grin. "But don't tempt me."
The girl shuffled. "I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but . . . you must've been watching. Do people like me? Lynda. 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," he answered, not really caring. If he could find the Alchemist, they could get out of this mess . . . wherever they were.
"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing?" Lynda whined, making him blink. "Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?"
"No, you're . . . " The Doctor struggled for something to say. "You're nice," he finished lamely. "You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet."
Lynda brightened. "Oh, is that right?" she asked excitedly. "Is that what I am? Oh, no one's ever told me that before! Am I sweet? Really?"
"Yeah," he answered. "Dead sweet."
"Thank you!"
He turned back around. "It's a wall," he said, frowning when he picked out an important detail. "Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?"
"Don't be daft," Lynda huffed. "No one's got a garden anymore! Who's got a garden? Don't tell me you've got a garden!"
"No, I've just got the TARDIS - " He blinked. "I remember!"
"That's the amnesia!" Lynda gasped excitedly. "So, what happened? Where did they get you?"
"We'd just left Raxacoricofallapatorius," he said slowly. "Then we went to Kyoto." He nodded. "That's right, Japan in 1336, and we only just escaped. We were together, we were laughing, and then there was this light. This white light coming through the walls, and then . . . and then I woke up here."
"Yeah, that's the transmat beam," Lynda nodded. "That's how they pick the housemates."
"Oh, Lynda with a Y," the Doctor sighed. "Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveler. 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 turned to one of the eyes on the wall, seeing the camera inside. "Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out. I'm going to find my friends. And then I'm going to find you."
***
The Alchemist slowly peeked out of the stylized eye on the door, able to see through just slightly, but she could do better. She closed her eyes, calling on all of her Creator training, then opened her eyes again, inhaling sharply at how clear everything was now. She narrowed her eyes in on the monitors she could see and scanned them all, seeing a quick flash of the Doctor on one in what appeared to be a room just like that TV show . . . Big Brother, she remembered. She quickly checked the number, seeing F56. Floor 56.
And then she realized . . . that console, it looked just like from the top floor of Satellite 5. She bristled before opening the door discretely. The others were so absorbed in their work, they didn't see her walk over to the lift doors. She ducked down behind a few crates, seeing a flash of Rose on one screen slightly and Jack on another. She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a time sense. One hundred years after they'd been there . . .
What the hell had happened to Satellite 5?
She took one last look around before stepping inside the lift when it arrived. She folded her arms, waiting to go down patiently, before she realized . . . one person was watching her.
An extremely pale woman hooked up to wires, actually, and she kept staring right at her, even as the lift doors shut.
***
"Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen," the floor manager counted down.
"But I need to find the Doc - !" Rose began to protest.
"Just shut up and play the game," Rodrick ordered.
Rose stared at him, then huffed. "All right, then. What the hell. I'm going to play to win!"
"Three, and cue!"
"Let's play The Weakest Link," the Anne droid said. "Start the clock. Agorax, the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard?'"
The man thought before saying, "Bread."
"Correct. Fitch, in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?"
"Is it Clavadoe?" the woman answered hesitantly.
"No, Pandoff." Rose blinked as the woman cringed. What kind of questions were these? "Rose, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?"
"One hundred!" she answered with a grin.
"Correct. Rodrick - "
"Bank," he interrupted.
"Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word 'dangle,' but not in the word 'gland?'"
"E."
"Correct. Colleen, in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones?"
"Default," the woman answered.
"Correct. Broff, the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?"
"Er . . . Touchdown."
"No. Torchwood. Agorax, in language, all five examples of which type of letter appear in the word 'facetious?'"
"Vowels."
"Correct. Fitch, in biology, which blood cells contain iron? Red or white?"
"White."
"No, red. Rose, in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising,' the Grexnik is married to whom?"
"How should I know?" Rose laughed.
"No, the correct answer is Lord Drayvole. Rodrick, in maths, what is nine squared?"
"81."
***
The Alchemist stepped out of the lift onto Floor 56 when she caught sight of the logo on the wall, and her eyes widened.
Bad Wolf Corporation.
"Oh, bloody Rassilon."
That wasn't good.
***
"So, Rose, what do you actually do?" the Anne droid asked.
"I just travel around a bit," Rose answered, shrugging. "Bit of a tourist, I suppose."
"Another way of saying unemployed."
"No!"
"Have you got a job?"
Rose shuffled on her feet. "Well . . . not really, no, but - "
"Then you are unemployed. And yet, you've still got enough money to buy peroxide." Rose squeaked, taking a look at her hair. "Why Fitch?"
"Er . . . I think she got a few of the questions wrong, that's all," Rose answered.
"Oh, you'd know all about that."
Rose blushed. "Well, yeah, but I can't vote for myself, so it had to be Fitch. I'm sorry, that's the game. That's how it works. I had to vote for someone."
For some reason, that made Fitch burst into hysterical tears. "Let me try again!" she pleaded. "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 said.
"I'm sorry! Please! Oh, God, help me!"
"Fitch, you are the weakest link. Goodbye."
Rose's eyes shot open when a laser shot out of Anne's mouth and vaporized Fitch. "And we've gone to the adverts," the floor manager announced. "Back in three minutes!"
"What's that?" Rose asked. "What's just happened?"
"She was the weakest link, she gets disintegrated," Rodrick answered. "Blasted into atoms."
"But I voted for her," Rose said in disgust. "Oh, my - this is sick! All of you, you're just sick! I'm not playing this!"
"I'm not playing!" Broff burst out, backing away from his podium. "I can't do it! I'm not - please, somebody let me out of here!"
The Anne droid just turned to him. "You are the weakest link." Rose watched as the Anne droid shot him in the back. "Goodbye."
Rose blanched. "Don't try to escape," Rodrick advised. "It's play or die."
***
"Doctor, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa," Lynda called to the Doctor as he kept attempting to get out. "You've got to."
"I'm busy getting out, thanks," the Doctor said dryly.
"But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished!"
"Well, maybe I'll get voted out, then."
"How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible," Strood, the man, huffed.
"Don't try anything clever, or we all get it in the neck," Lynda advised.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but hopped over the back of the couch to sit down. "Big Brother House, this is Davina Droid," a voice announced. "Crosbie, Lynda, and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction. And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is . . . " The Doctor crossed his arms, jiggling his foot, bored. "Crosbie!"
Crosbie's eyes widened, and Lynda hugged her. "I'm sorry!" she gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry!"
"Oh, it should've been me," Strood told her. "Oh, that's not fair, Crosbie love!"
"Crosbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you!"
"I won't forget you," Lynda promised.
"I'm sorry I stole your soap," Crosbie told her.
Lynda smiled. "I don't mind, honestly."
"Thanks for the food," Strood told her. "You're a smashing cook. Bless you."
"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House."
The Doctor leaned back and watched as a door to a corridor opened up, and the three walked over. "Bye, then," Crosbie told them. "Bye, Lynda."
"Bye," Lynda answered. She and Strood formed an arch with their arms, and Crosbie walked through into the corridor. "I don't believe it," Lynda whispered as they watched the door close. "Crosbie!"
"It's only a game show," the Doctor told them, not understanding why they were making such a big deal out of it. "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 demanded.
"Here we go," Strood said.
The Doctor frowned as they sat down next to him, but he was frowning at the screen, which showed Crosbie in the white corridor. "What are they waiting for? Why don't they just let her go?" he asked.
"Stop it," Lynda snapped. "It's not funny!"
"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one."
The Doctor shot upright in his seat, jaw dropping when a beam shot down from the ceiling and hit Crosbie, before she vanished in a puff of smoke. "What was that?!" he demanded.
"Disintegrator beam," Strood answered.
"She's been evicted from life," Lynda told him.
"Are you insane?!" the Doctor yelped. "You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?" Who did that, honestly?
"You're talking like we've got a choice!" Lynda cried.
The Doctor crossed his arms. Now he was confused. "But I thought you had to apply?"
"Don't be so stupid," Strood snorted. "That's how they played it centuries back."
"You get chosen whether you like it or not," Lynda explained. "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."
The Doctor blinked. "How many?" he demanded. "Sixty?!"
"They've had to cut back," Strood shrugged. "It's not what it was."
"It's a charnel house!" the Doctor said, standing up and pacing. "What about the winners? What do they get?"
"They get to live," Lynda answered simply.
"Is that it?"
"Well, isn't that enough?" she retorted.
The Doctor shook his head. "Alice and Rose are out there. They got caught in the transmat. They're contestants. Time I got out." He paused. "When did I call her Alice?" he muttered before snapping out of it. "That other contestant . . .er, Linda with an I. She was forcibly evicted for what?"
"Damage to property," Lynda answered promptly.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What, like this?" He pointed his sonic screwdriver over his shoulder and sonicked a camera, making it explode. He smirked at their shocked looks.
Oh, yeah. He was getting out.
***
"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!"
Rose flinched as Colleen was the next to be disintegrated. "Going to the break!" the floor manager called. "Two minutes on the clock. Just a reminder, we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten. Thanks, everyone!"
"Colleen was clever," Rose hissed to Rodrick. "She banked all our money. Why'd you vote for her?"
"Because I want to keep you in," Rodrick answered with a grin. "You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname!" Rose cringed. Well, it wasn't her fault she wasn't from this time, was it? "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."
Rose blinked. That caught her attention. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Who's Bad Wolf?"
"They're in charge," Rodrick answered. "They run the Game Station."
"Why are they called Bad Wolf?" she pressed.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "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," Rose mumbled. "Bad Wolf . . . "
"The things you've seen. The darkness . . . the big Bad Wolf."
"Attention all personnel. Bad Wolf One descending."
"Blaidd Drwg."
"What's it mean?"
"Bad Wolf."
"Different times, different places, like it's written all over the universe," Rose whispered.
"What're you going on about?" Rodrick asked.
"If the Bad Wolf is in charge of this quiz, then maybe I'm not here by mistake," Rose said. "Someone's been planning this."
***
The Alchemist walked down the hall with many doors, frowning and looking down at her sonic blaster as she tried to find a reading on the Doctor, when she passed by one door and frowned, hearing a voice coming from inside. "The Doctor, you've broken the House Rules. Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you!"
In a flash, she was over by the door, and while she tried to decide whether to curse the Doctor or thank him for giving her the slip, she began to work on trying to hotwire the door.
***
The Doctor grinned at the announcement. "That's more like it!" he whooped, running to the door to the corridor. "Come on, then! Open up!"
"You're mad!" Lynda gasped. "It's like you want to die!"
"I reckon he's a plant," Strood said. "He was only brought in to stir things up!"
"The Doctor, please leave the Big Brother house."
The Doctor was inside the corridor as soon as the door opened. He frowned, hearing a few bangs on the other side of the door. That hadn't happened with Crosbie, had it? But he looked up at the camera, grinning. "Come on, then! Disintegrate me! Come on, what're you waiting for?"
***
"Disintegrate me!" the Doctor called, his voice muffled, and the Alchemist froze what she was doing. That's what evict meant? "What are you waiting for?!"
"Bloody bozo," she cursed, working on the door even harder, flinching when something sparked in her hands.
"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one."
The hum she heard shut down, and her eyes widened. "Brilliant," she breathed, before working harder on the wires. She grinned when she got the schematics she needed, coming naturally to her.
Time to get that idiot out of there.
***
"Aha!" the Doctor cheered. "I knew it! You see, someone brought me into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano! They want me alive!"
There was a hiss, and then the door on the other side of the corridor slid open. Surprised, the Doctor turned to see the Alchemist rise from where she'd been kneeling, a triumphant grin on her face as she held up a few splintered pieces of wire. "Bozo," she teased before grinning at him. "Security's horrible."
"How did you get out?" he asked, staring at her in shock as Lynda opened the other door.
"Wasn't taken," the Alchemist shrugged. "The TARDIS protected me. I got down here just in . . . time." She frowned. "But I saw Rose and Jack trapped as well. I don't know where they are, though. Came straight down here."
The Doctor nodded, about to follow her out, when he turned to Lynda. "Come with us," he advised.
Lynda gawped at him. "We're not allowed!"
"I've seen what these games are like," the Alchemist told her. "If you stay in there, there's a fifty fifty chance you'll die next. You come with us, we'll get you out alive."
"No, I can't," Lynda shook her head. "I can't!"
"Lynda, you're sweet," the Doctor told her. "From what I've seen of your world, do you think anyone votes for sweet?"
Lynda hesitated, but when he held out his hand, she took it, and he pulled her out after him. "But there's something else you need to know, Doctor," the Alchemist began as he looked around, realizing where they were. "Recognize it?"
"This is Satellite Five," the Doctor nodded, looking around. "No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth."
"No one's called it Satellite Five in ages," Lynda told them as they went through a door. "It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about - "
"One hundred years," the Alchemist interrupted, nodding. "It's the year two zero zero one zero zero. We've been here before." She looked around. "And it was a heck of a lot different."
"We were on Floor 139," the Doctor nodded. "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."
Lynda blinked rapidly. "A hundred years ago?" she repeated. "What, you were here a hundred years ago?"
"Yep!" the Doctor grinned.
Lynda eyed him. "You're looking good on it."
"I moisturize," the Doctor said mildly, "and it takes her to keep me spry." He clapped the Alchemist on the back, making her jump slightly, and he grinned, even when she gave him a glare. He just looked at his sonic screwdriver. "Funny sorts of readings," he remarked. "All kinds of energy. The place is humming. It's weird." He shook his head. "This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?"
"I don't know," Lynda admitted. "I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside."
"We had two other friends traveling with us," the Doctor said. "They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?"
"I don't know," Lynda repeated her earlier statement. "They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games."
"Like what?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, there's ten floors of Big Brother," Lynda started to count off. "There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's nonstop. There's Call My Bluff, with real guns. Countdown, where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb."
"Your kind of game," the Doctor told the Alchemist without thinking and instantly flinched, feeling her pain in reaction to that statement. "Sorry - "
"Leave it," the Alchemist told him, but it had less bite than he expected.
"Ground Force, which is a nasty one." Lynda wrinkled her nose. "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 seriously watch all that?" the Alchemist asked in disbelief.
"Everyone does," Lynda answered. "How come you don't?"
"Never paid for our license," the Doctor answered.
Lynda stared at them, wide-eyed. "Oh, my God, you get executed for that!"
The Alchemist snorted loudly. "I'd love to see them try."
The Doctor grinned. "Me, too."
Lynda stared at them. "You keep saying things that don't make sense. Who are you, though, Doctor? Really? And who the hell are you?" she asked the Alchemist.
"The Alchemist," she answered with a short nod. "And let's keep in mind who has the weapon here."
"And it doesn't matter," the Doctor said.
"Well, it does to me," Lynda huffed. "I've just put my life in your hands."
"We're just travelers, wandering past. Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life."
"You're failing rather miserably at it, too," the Alchemist muttered.
"So, if we get out of here, what're you going to do?" Lynda asked. "Just wander off again?"
"Fast as we can," he nodded.
"So . . . " Lynda shuffled on her feet. "I could come with you?"
The Doctor considered. "Maybe you could."
"I wouldn't get in the way," she promised.
"I wouldn't mind if you did," the Doctor told her, ignoring the incredulous look the Alchemist gave him. "Not a bad idea, Lynda with a Y. But first of all, we've got to concentrate on the getting out. And to do that, you've got to know your enemy. Who's controlling it? Who's in charge of the satellite now?"
The Alchemist grimaced. "You're not going to like it," she warned.
"Hold on," Lynda said, running over to a breaker on the wall. She flipped it, and the logo appeared on the wall. "Your lords and masters."
The Doctor's eyes widened at the words.
Bad Wolf Corporation.
"Told you you wouldn't like it," the Alchemist mumbled.
Lynda just caught sight of a window and ran over with a gasp. "Blimey! I've never seen it for real before! Not from orbit!" She grinned. "Planet Earth!"
The Doctor blinked when they stepped up next to her to take a look. "What's happened to it?"
"Well, it's always been like that," Lynda shrugged. "Ever since I was born. See that there? That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside."
"So the population just sits there?" he asked incredulously. "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," Lynda confirmed.
"The Human Race," the Doctor huffed. "Brainless sheep being fed on a diet of - " He blinked, and the Alchemist sighed when he got off track. "Mind you, have they still got that program where three people have to live with a bear?"
"Oh, Bear With Me!" Lynda nodded eagerly. "I love that one!"
"And me!" the Doctor grinned. "The celebrity edition where the bear got in the bath."
"Got in the bath!" Lynda giggled.
"But it's wrong," the Alchemist cut in, giving the Doctor a disapproving glare as she punched him in the shoulder. "History's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. How did this happen? It should have been fixed last time we were here."
"No, but that's when it first went wrong," Lynda told them. "A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight."
"But that was us," the Doctor said in confusion. "We did that."
"There was nothing left in their place," Lynda said. "No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it. One hundred years of hell."
"Oh, my - " The Doctor cut himself off, looking down at the planet. "I made this world!"
"No." The Alchemist gave him a look. "We made this world."
***
Rose bit her lip, watching Agorax get disintegrated. "That leaves Rose and Rodrick," the Anne droid said. "You're going head to head. Let's play The Weakest Link!"
Rodrick smirked smugly. "Right, that's the end of tactical voting. You're on your own now."
Rose felt sick. Here I go . . .
***
"Hey, handsome, beautiful!" The Alchemist beamed when Jack exited a lift, a huge gun over his shoulder. "Good to see you!"
"And you," the Alchemist grinned, giving him a hug.
"Any sign of Rose?" Jack asked.
The Doctor blinked. "Can't you track her down?"
"She's got to be inside the games," the Alchemist said, shaking her head. "I could barely track you with my blaster."
"The rooms are shielded," Jack nodded.
"If I can just get inside this computer," the Doctor huffed, working on one of the consoles. "She's got to be here somewhere."
"Well, you'd better hurry up," Jack advised. "These games don't have a happy ending."
"Don't you think I know that?!"
Jack slid his wrist computer off and handed it to him. "There you go. Patch that in. It's programmed to find her."
"Thanks," the Doctor said, working at it.
Jack turned to Lynda and began to grin when a hand slapped over his mouth. "Not now, brother," the Alchemist warned.
"I was just going to say hello!" Jack protested.
"For you, that's flirting," the Doctor huffed. "Lynda, Captain Jack Harkness. There. You know each other." He huffed before glaring at the console. "It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense!" He gave the console a kick as Jack and the Alchemist bent down to take a look inside. "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 asked.
"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "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?"
"Is it York?" Rose guessed.
"No. The correct answer is Sheffield."
***
"I think I've got her!" the Alchemist called.
The Doctor peeked over her shoulder and grinned. "Yes! Floor 407."
And Lynda blanched. "Oh, my God, she's with the Anne droid," she gasped. "You've got to get her out of there!"
***
"Rodrick, in literature, the author of Lucky was Jackie who?"
"Stewart," Rodrick answered.
"No. The correct answer is Collins. Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"
Rose brightened. "Boe!" she burst out with a grin. "The Face of Boe!"
"That is the correct answer."
Rose grinned, pleased with herself.
***
The Doctor banged on the panel on the lift as the Alchemist tried to hotwire it to move faster, numbers flying across the panel. "Come on, come on!" he growled.
***
"Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?" the Anne droid asked.
"Hoshbin Frane," Rodrick answered.
"That is the correct answer. Rose, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?"
"Er . . . is it Mars?" she guessed.
"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 finger?"
"Would that be a goffle?"
"No. The correct answer is a paab. Rose, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"
"Shoes."
"No. The correct answer is hats."
***
When the doors opened, the Alchemist bolted out. "It says Game Room Six!" she called.
"Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen Dash Ten Barric Fields?"
"Game Room Six, which one is it?" the Doctor shouted.
"Over here!" Lynda answered.
"San Hazeldine."
"No. The correct answer is San Chen."
"Stand back," Jack ordered, bringing up his gun. "Let me blast it open."
"You can't," the Doctor said. "It's made of Hydra combination."
***
"Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?" the Anne droid asked.
Rose hesitated. "Reykjavik?" she guessed.
"No. The correct answer is Pola Ventura."
Rose's eyes widened, and Rodrick laughed. "Oh, my God! I've done it! You've lost!"
***
"Come on, come on, come on," the Doctor repeated over and over as he tried to get the lock undone on the door, the Alchemist trying her hotwiring skills again.
***
"But I'm not meant to be here!" Rose insisted, looking around in a panic. "I need to find the Doctor and Ali. They've got to be here somewhere! They're always here! They wouldn't just leave me!"
"Rodrick, you are the strongest link," the Anne droid said. "You will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits."
"Oh, thank you," Rodrick beamed. "Thank you so much!"
"This game is illegal!" Rose shouted, leaning over her podium. "I'm telling you to stop!"
She heard the doors to the studio open behind her, then the Alchemist's startled cry. "Rose!"
"Stop this game!" the Doctor shouted.
"Rose, you leave this life with nothing," the Anne droid continued.
"Stop this game!" Jack yelled.
"I order you to stop this game!" the Doctor shouted.
"You are the weakest link," the Anne droid finished.
Rose threw her podium to the side and took off running. "Look out for the Anne droid! It's armed!" she shouted.
She heard the Anne droid take a shot, and she braced herself to go, but then the Alchemist's arms went around her, but she couldn't pull her down in time.
Both of them were shot with the same beam.
***
"What the hell did you do to them?" Jack shouted when the Alchemist and Rose just . . . disintegrated, both of the men stopping in horror, staring at where they'd stood. "Back off!" he warned, holding up the gun to hold them off.
"I need security, and I need it here right now!" the floor manager began to shout.
The Doctor seemed to snap back to himself and glared full force at her. "No one is going anywhere," he growled darkly, and Jack and Lynda's gazes went to him in shock and surprise. Never had either of them heard him sound like that before. He turned to Jack. "We've been here before," he said. "I know just where we're going." He nodded to the door. "Let's do it."
Jack grinned and nodded, and they bolted past the security guards that had come to the floor manager's call.
"Stop it right there!" one of the guards called as he caught up.
The Doctor just gave him a very hard whack in the head, making him fall. "Not on my life," he retorted, wrenching his gun from his hands. Jack smirked and punched the button to start the lift as he got in. "Floor 500," he told Jack, who nodded. "And then we're finding out what the hell's going on here."
"Sounds good," Jack nodded.
The instant the lift arrived, the Doctor and Jack stormed out, Jack with his defabricator gun raised. "OK, move away from the desk!" he ordered, aiming, and the startled controllers backed away. "Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear. Stand to the side, and stay there!"
"Who's in charge of this place?" the Doctor demanded, his eyes narrowed.
"Nineteen, eighteen," a female voice counted breathily.
The Doctor's head whipped to the pale woman hooked up to wires. "This Satellite's more than a Game Station," he said.
"Seventy nine, eighty."
"Who killed the Alchemist and Rose Tyler?"
"All staff are reminded that solar flares - "
"I want an answer!"
" - occur in delta point one."
"She can't reply," one of the controllers said, and as the Doctor turned to him, the man threw his hands up. "Don't shoot!"
The Doctor looked down at the gun he held and rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be so thick," he grumbled, throwing the gun to him. "Like I was ever going to shoot! Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."
"Yes, sir," Jack nodded, running off.
"You," the Doctor told the man. "What were you saying?"
"But . . . I've got your gun!"
The Doctor huffed. "OK, so shoot me. Why can't she answer?"
"She's, er . . . " He looked down, then up again. "Can I put this down?"
"If you want," the Doctor huffed. "Just hurry up!"
"Thanks. Sorry." The man put the gun away. "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 recognize your existence."
"What's her name?" the Doctor asked.
"I don't know. She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known."
"Doors sealed," Jack reported as he came back. "We should be safe for about ten minutes."
"Keep an eye on them," the Doctor ordered.
"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station . . . I think you're right." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I've kept a log. Unauthorized transmats, encrypted signals. It's been going on for years."
"Show me," the Doctor ordered.
"You're not allowed in there!"a woman called to Jack as he tried to get through a door. "Archive Six is out of bounds!"
"Do I look like an out of bounds sort of buy?" Jack asked, holding up a pair of smaller guns he had, the defabricator over his back. He smirked, then went inside.
"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen," the Controller whispered.
"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out," the woman said boldly. "The staff are terrified."
"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day," the Doctor countered.
"That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs!"
The Doctor glared at her. "And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off!"
The woman did, and the power turned off. "That's just the solar flares," the man explained. "They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet EArth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."
"Doctor."
"Doctor?" the woman asked.
"Whatever it is, you can wait," the Doctor snapped.
"I think she wants you."
The Doctor looked up to see the Controller looking around blindly. "Doctor?" she asked, and the Doctor approached her. "Doctor? Where's the Doctor?"
"I'm here," he told her.
"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you."
"What do you want?"
"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My masters, they always listen, but they can't hear me now the sun . . . the sun is so bright."
"Who are your masters?"
"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 programs. I could hide you inside the games. Knew that you would find me."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "The last female of my species and our best friend died inside your games!"
"Doesn't matter."
The Doctor snarled angrily. "Don't you dare tell me that!"
"They've been hiding," the Controller continued. "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?"
"But speak of you, my masters, and of her . . . they fear the Doctor and the Alchemist."
"Tell me, who are they?" the Doctor demanded.
The power flickered back on, and just like that, the Controller began saying numbers again. "Twenty one, twenty two."
"When's the next solar flare?" the Doctor asked the man.
"Two years time," he answered.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Fat lot of good that is," he grumbled.
"Found the TARDIS," Jack reported as he ran back.
"We're not leaving now," the Doctor began.
"No, but the TARDIS worked it out," he said. "You'll want to watch this. Lynda, could you stand over there for me, please?"
"I just want to go home," Lynda whispered, but shuffled over.
"It'll only take a second," Jack promised. "Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can. Everybody watching? OK. Three, two, one."
The Doctor blinked when a disintegrator beam hit Lynda, and made her disappear in a puff of smoke. "But you killed her!"
"Oh, do you think?" Jack asked before activating another beam, and Lynda popped back.
"What the hell was that?" she gasped.
"It's a transmat beam," Jack grinned, and the Doctor's eyes widened as an overwhelming amount of relief came over him. "Not a disintegrator. A secondary transmat system! People don't get killed in the games. They get transported across space. Doctor, Lexi and Rose are still alive!"
The Doctor laughed, giving the man a huge hug.
***
"Wake up!"
Rose gasped and shot upright, feeling the Alchemist holding her head. "Ali?" she asked groggily. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere not good at all," she answered, looking over her shoulder.
Rose's eyes widened when she saw an enemy approaching. "No, it can't be," she gasped. "You're dead. I saw you die!"
"They never do die," the Alchemist sighed, helping her stand, even as more sink plungers started blocking their escape.
***
"They're out there somewhere," the Doctor muttered.
"Doctor," the Controller said. "Coordinates five point six point one - "
"Don't!" the Doctor shouted. "The solar flare's gone! They'll hear you!"
" - point four three four," the Controller continued, her voice strained. "No, my masters! No! I defy you! Stigma seven seven - "
She screamed and disappeared. "They took her," the Doctor sighed.
"Look, use that," the man told him, gesturing to a log. "It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."
"Nice," Jack approved. "Thanks." He grinned. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."
"I'm Davitch Pavale."
Jack grinned. "Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale."
"There's a time and a place!" the Doctor barked.
"Are you saying this entire set-up's been a disguise all along?" the woman asked.
"Going way back," the Doctor nodded. "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 suggested, pointing. "The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system."
"There's nothing there," the woman said in confusion.
"It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does," the Doctor told her, suddenly understanding. "Underneath the transmission, there's another signal."
"Doing what?" Pavale asked.
"Hiding whatever's out there," the Doctor answered. "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 - "
His eyes widened when a familiar flying saucer flew past, then more were revealed on the holo-screen. "That's impossible," Jack breathed. "I know those ships. They were destroyed!"
"Obviously they survived," the Doctor said hoarsely, swallowing. Oh, they fear the Alchemist indeed.
"Who did?" Lynda asked in confusion. "Who are they?"
"Two hundred ships," the Doctor answered. "More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them."
"Half a million what?" Pavale asked.
The Doctor swallowed. "Daleks."
***
"Alert!" one of the Daleks called as the Alchemist glared at each one that attempted to come closer. "Alert! We are detected!"
"It is the Doctor," another one said. "He has located us. Open communications channel."
"The females will stand," the first Dalek ordered. "Stand!"
***
The Doctor looked up when a viewscreen appeared, Daleks there with the Alchemist and Rose standing with them, the Alchemist stiffly at attention, no emotion on her face, Rose looking terrified out of her mind. "I will talk to the Doctor," one of the Daleks said.
"Oh, will you?" the Doctor asked sarcastically. "That's nice." He waved. "Hello!"
"The Dalek stratagem nears completion. The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."
"Oh, really? Why's that, then?"
"We have your associates." The Alchemist narrowed her eyes, then brought her hands behind her back, and it was obvious she was clenching them into fists angrily. "You will obey, or they will be exterminated - "
"No," the Doctor interrupted.
The Alchemist's eyebrows shot up as everyone else looked at the Doctor, startled. "Explain yourself," the Doctor ordered.
"He said no," the Alchemist smirked.
"What is the meaning of this negative?" the Dalek asked.
"It means no!" the Doctor answered, narrowing his eyes, his entire body tensing.
"But they will be destroyed - "
"No!" he snapped. "Because this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to rescue them. I'm going to save them from the middle of the Dalek fleet, and them I'm going to save Earth, and then - just to finish off - I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!"
"And I'll do it with you," the Alchemist added, grinning.
"But you have no weapons, no defenses, no plan!" the Dalek protested.
"Oh, do I?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because that other woman with Rose Tyler? That is the Alchemist." The Alchemist grinned as the Daleks shot away from the raven-haired woman. "And in the end, that's all I need. Doesn't that scare you to death? Rose? Alice?"
"Yes, Doctor?" Rose asked.
He grinned. "I'm coming to get you."
***
The Alchemist looked around as the Daleks scattered around. "The Doctor is initiating hostile action!" one called.
"The stratagem must advance! Begin the invasion of Earth!"
"The Doctor will be exterminated!"
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Rose looked over at the Alchemist, and for the first time, saw the reason why Jack had been as awed as he had been. She was standing in a rigid at ease position, just like a soldier, eyes hard as her gaze flickered back and forth, almost able to see the gears in her head turning, trying to figure out a plan.
For the first time in her life, she was truly scared of the Alchemist. But she knew . . . just from their reaction . . .
The Daleks were scared of her even more.
***
Angry Doctor + warrior Alchemist? Daleks, RUN! }:) Hope you like that Moffat where the Alchemist was shot with Rose.
But, this book is almost done! We'll find out in the next chapter if the Alchemist dies in this book or not, but don't you think it's a bit soon, with when I had her come in? Well, for those of you who've read my other DW series, you know I'm perfectly capable of it. Who knows? Maybe we'll get more than two Moffats. :P
I considered doing a lot of things with the Alchemist. I debated having her in the Big Brother house with the Doctor or being put in The Weakest Link instead of Rose and having Rose go with the Doctor, but in the end, I think the TARDIS would keep her on board. But there will be OCs in the future (since most of them get introduced in Season 1, with the exception of one introduced early in Season 2, she's a badass, too, but not at first) who will be put in different areas. And I can say that given how protective (maybe too protective) the Doctor, Rose, and Jack will be of the next OC, that OC might be taken instead of Rose . . . and then I'd fear for the lives of the people on Satellite 5. Just saying.
Would any of you like a bit of a sneak peek into who the next OC might be? It wouldn't be too far in the series, maybe just when she's introduced, but would you like that? I wouldn't publish it for a while, because I've already got three going on, but I have five other Time Ladies on my mind that aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Two I definitely have plans on doing, possibly the third, but the other two I'm not sure of. And not all of them will be romantically involved with the Doctor, to spruce things up a bit.
ANYWAY, enough about my babbling. "The Parting of the Ways" should be up soon! Keep an eye out!