Nightmare in Silver
(Jared's POV)
Spacey Zoomer…
The Tardis materialises in an exhibit which looks like the moon's surface, complete with US flag out straight as if there was no air or gravity, and half an Earth in the dark sky. Me, the Doctor, Clara, then Angie and Artie Maitland put their heads out of the door.
"Well, here we are. Hedgewick's World. The biggest and best amusement park there will ever be, and we've got a golden ticket. Eh? Eh? Fun." The Doctor said.
"Fun?" Clara asked.
"How is this place fun? It looks abandoned." I said, grabbing Clara's hand.
"Your stupid box can't even get us to the right place. This is like a moon base or something." Angie said.
"It's not the moon." The Doctor said.
"Actually, I think it does look like the moon, only dirtier." Artie said.
"I was on the Lunar Sanctum two weeks ago." I said, smiling. "That was fun. But this looks like the moon too."
"Hey. Guys. It's not the moon, okay? It's a Spacey Zoomer ride, or it was." The Doctor said.
A door opens in one of the large rocks, and a man wearing a tall hat looks out.
"Psst. Excuse I. I don't suppose you happen to be my lift off planet? Dave's Discount Interstellar Removals?" Webley asked.
"Nope. We're not." I said, squeezing Clara's hand.
"They were meant to be here six months ago. Well, that's Dave for you, see? Unreliable." Webley said.
A woman's voice cuts through the air.
"Stay where you are!" A captain said, her voice nearby.
"Oops." Webley said, ducking back inside as the military run in.
"Throw down your weapons and identify yourselves."
"No. No weapons. Golden ticket. Spacey Zoomer. Free ice cream?" The Doctor asked.
"Who are you? This planet is closed, by Imperial order." The captain said.
"How's this?" The Doctor asked, holding up his psychic paper.
"Oh. Welcome, Proconsul. I wish they'd told us you were coming. Any news of the Emperor?"
"Oh, the Emperor. No, no. None that you'd er…"
"We pray for his return. If there is anything you need, my platoon is at your service."
"Right. Righty-o. Well, carry on, Captain." The Doctor said.
"Platoon, let's move out! On the double. Two, three, four. Two, three, four. Two, three, four." The captain said.
The military run off, and Webley pokes his head out again.
"Have they gone?" Webley asked.
"Yup. They're gone." I said, smiling.
"Uniforms give me the heebie-jeebies. Come on. They can't stop me being here, but they don't like it." Webley said, leading us away from the Zoomer for a view of the whole amusement park.
"An abandoned amusement park. Not Space Florida. I miss Space Florida. That was fun." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Ha, ha! You see? I told you it was amazing. Well, it used to be. And you only like Space Florida due to it not being a wreck." The Doctor said.
Wrecked mega-scenic rollercoaster and other rides. Grass is growing in the cracks in the concrete.
"I love amusement parks and fair grounds. I do. But not when they're abandoned, Spaceman." I said, frowning.
Hedgewick's World closed down. Wish I'd known that before I landed here. But let me show you my collection. Come along. Follow me. This way. This way in, come on." Webley said.
Webley's room…
Down some steps into a comfortably furnished room with lots of waxworks on display, all lit by chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
"Welcome to my show. Webley's World of Wonders. Miracles, marvels and more await you. I am Impresario Webley. You see before you waxwork representations of the famous and the infamous. Anybody here play chess?" Webley asked.
The Doctor puts his hand up.
"Perhaps you, young man?" Webley asked, looking at Artie.
"Actually, I'm in my school chess club." Artie said, happily.
"Ah. Follow me."
Chess room…
"Now, let demonstrate to you all the wonder of the age, the miracle of modernity." Webley said, as something is sitting by the chess board is something covered in a satin cloth. "We defeated them all a thousand years ago, but now he's back, to destroy you. Behold, the enemy!"
Webley whips the cloth off a slightly tarnished silver coloured robot, which raises its head.
"Holy shit! A Cyberman! I knew one would be coming again! Get down everyone!" I said, letting go of Clara's hand.
"No need to panic, my young friends. We all know there are no more living Cybermen. What you are seeing is a miracle. The six hundred and ninety ninth wonder of the universe, as displayed before the Imperial court, and only here to destroy you at chess." Webley said, as the Doctor is scanning and investigating. "Careful now. An empty shell, and yet it moves. How?"
"Magic." Angie said, sarcastically.
"That might well be, young lady, but a single penny wins you five Imperial shillings…" Webley said, as two tiny slim metallic bugs with a flashing blue eye are watching from a waxwork Blowfish head. Something is using them to watch the scene. "If you can beat this empty shell at chess…"
"I haven't got a penny, but I've got a sandwich." Artie said, handing Webley the sandwich.
"All right, take a seat. It is free of all devices, and yet it has never been beaten. Would you like to make the first move, young man?" Webley asked.
Artie moved his King's Bishop's pawn one space. The Cyberman counters by moving its King's pawn two spaces.
"Oh no, Artie. No, don't do that, it…" The Doctor said, while Artie advances his King's Knight's pawn two spaces. Up comes the Black Queen to end the game. "That's a fool's mate."
"If you can tell me how it works, I'll give you a silver penny." Webley said.
"I think you do it with mirrors?" Angie asked.
"Hmm. Mirrors. Clever girl. Well, let's see, hey? Low tech. It's a puppet. Monofilament strings, which means the brains are in…" The Doctor said, opening a door in the Cyberman's chair to reveal a little man with a control box.
"Hello." Porridge said.
"Hi." I said, happily.
"I'm the brains."
"What's up?"
"Give us a hand." Porridge said, while I helped him out of the small space. "They call me Porridge. Oh, it's good to be out of that box."
"For you, Miss, an Imperial penny." Webley said.
Which Webley apparently produces from Angie's ear. The Doctor and I notice a small swarm of tiny metal bugs slithering across the floor.
"Being used as familiars." I said, letting my eyes. "Wow…"
Webley's room…
"I have not one but three Cybermen in my collection." Webley said.
The exhibit is labelled The Great Enemy. The Doctor checks that they are inert. Angie looks at another waxwork with me, a tall man with a familiar face.
"An electromagnetic pulse. That's how you defeat a Cyberman." I said, happily.
"Is that the King?" Angie asked.
"Emperor. Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, etc, etc, the forty first. Defender of Humanity, Imperator of known space." Porridge said.
"He looks a bit full of himself." Clara said.
"Don't say things like that about the Imperial family. You can end up on the run for the rest of your life."
"They don't sound very nice." Artie said.
"Go on. If the kids want to ride the Spacey Zoomer, then I can operate the gravity console."
Angie compares the image on the coin to the waxwork, and I walked up to her.
"Yes. Porridge is the Emperor. You can tell the others when the time is right." I said, looking at Angie.
"Angie! Jared!" Artie said.
Spacey Zoomer…
Artie and Angie enjoy flying around in microgravity. Clara takes photographs with her phone. I'm taking photos with my phone to send them over to the SAO Survivors and Symphogear later..
"Wow!" Artie said, excitedly.
"Smile! Say, Spacey Zoomer." Clara said.
"Look at us, Doctor, Jared. We're flying!"
"Having a good time?" The Doctor asked.
"Did you like it?" I asked, looking between Angie and Artie.
Porridge turns off the anti-gravity.
"I think that was the most fun I've had in my whole life." Artie said, smiling.
"It was…" Angie said, pausing for a moment to think. "...okay."
"Clara, Jared, I think outer space is actually very interesting."
"Right. Wonderful day out, Doctor, Jared, but time to get the kids home." Clara said, looking between the Doctor and I.
"I would like to take the kids home. It's dangerous here. But we can't. Not yet at least." I said, walking up to Clara.
The Doctor is scanning with the sonic screwdriver.
"Why not?" Clara asked.
"I don't know. Reasons." I said, sadly.
"What reasons?"
"Insects. Funny insects. I should add them to my funny insect collection." The Doctor said.
"You collect funny insects?" Clara asked.
"Yeah, I'm starting to, right now."
Webley's room…
Angie and Artie are lying on the sofas, ready to sleep.
"How long do we have to stay here?" Angie asked.
"We won't be here long. Just take a quick nap. I'll wake you up when we can leave." I said, looking at Angie.
"Comfy?" Porridge asked.
"Sleep well." Clara asid.
"Good night." Porridge said.
"And don't let the Grimm bite." I said, turning the lights out as I left.
The Doctor, Clara, and Porridge follow.
"Don't wander off. Now, I'm not just saying don't wander off, I mean it. Otherwise you'll wander off and the next thing you know, somebody's going to have to start rescuing somebody." The Doctor said.
"From what?" Angie asked.
"Nothing. Nobody needs rescuing from anything. Don't wander off. Sweet dreams."
(Open POV)
Kirito and Asuna's home…
"Oh. A theme park." Asuna said, looking at the user interface on ALFheim Online. "Hedgewick's World of Wonders?"
"That's in the future, mommy." Yui said, appearing in the room as her fairy form.
"It would have been cool for Jared to take us there with the others."
Webley's room…
Angie and Artie are being monitored.
"I hate the future. It's stupid. There's not even phone service. I'm out of here." Angie said, annoyed.
"The Doctor said not to wander off." Artie said.
"He said that, and then he wandered off."
The mini-Cybermats find Angie's discarded mobile phone and swarm all over it.
"I don't think Clara would like that." Artie said.
"She's not our mum." Angie said, walking away.
"Don't leave me here."
The monitor display says Disassembly required, then Upgrade will commence.
Hedgewick's World…
Clara, Porridge, and Jared walk together.
"Was this really the biggest amusement park in the universe? Never been to this one. I was always for Earth ones." Jared said, grabbing Clara's hand.
"Yeah. Hedgewick bought the planet cheap. It'd been trashed in the Cyberwars." Porridge said.
"Who were we fighting?" Clara asked.
"Cybermen. Technologically upgraded warriors. We couldn't win. Sometimes we fought to a draw, but then they'd upgrade themselves, fix their weaknesses and destroy us. It's hard to fight an enemy that uses your armies as spare parts."
"You beat them, though. Beat them or you wouldn't be here. How?"
"Look up there. That corner of sky? What do you see?"
"There's nothing up there. The darkness came. The stars went out." Jared said, sadly.
"It used to be the Tiberion Spiral Galaxy. A million star systems, a hundred million worlds, a billion trillion people. It's not there any more. No more Tiberion Galaxy. No more Cybermen. It was effective." Porridge said.
"That's horrible!"
"Yeah. I feel like a monster sometimes."
"Why?" Clara asked.
"Because instead of mourning a billion trillion dead people, I just feel sorry for the poor blighter who had to press the button and blow it all up." Porridge said.
"Clara, Jared, did one of you tell Angie she could go to the barracks?" The Doctor asked.
"You know I didn't." Clara said.
"I didn't either. I was busy sending photos and videos to Asuna Yuuki and Maria Cadenzavna Eve." Jared said.
"She hasn't."
"She's just gone in there." The Doctor said.
"Oh. You have gotta be kidding me. Come on!" Jared said, looking down at his hand holding Clara's.
Barracks…
"I can't fix this." Beauty said.
"It can't be broken. It's a solid state subether ansible class communicator. Just run the diagnostics." The captain said.
"There's nothing left to diagnose. It's not broken, it's empty. All the components have gone."
"Well, you must have replacement parts."
"Not enough to build a new one."
"Captain, the weather controller is malfunctioning again. There's storms, heat waves, snow." Brains said.
"Hello, I'm bored." Angie said, annoyed.
"Where's your big brother and sister?" The captain asked.
"Jared? Clara? They're not my brother and sister. They're stupid. They're talking to Porridge."
"They talk to their porridge?"
"Porridge. That little bloke?"
"We need to have a chat."
Webley's collection…
Artie can't sleep with all the waxworks staring at him, "I'm not scared, if you're wondering. I just think I ought to turn the lights back on."
Artie makes his nervous way to the light switch and turns it on. Then a Cyberman grabs him from behind.
Barracks…
"So, tell me about the little bloke." The captain said.
"Well, you must have seen him." Angie said.
"Angie! Angie!" Clara said, angrily.
"Are you okay?" Jared asked.
Clara, the Doctor, and Jared enter.
"They always have to turn up and spoil everything. I wasn't doing anything. Why can't the both of you just leave me alone?" Angie asked.
A big crash, and enter a Cyberman.
"Cyberman!" The captain said.
"Angie!" Clara and Jared said, at the same time.
"Attack formation." The captain said.
The Cyberman moves faster than a blur while the platoon try to sort themselves out. A fat man - Ha-Ha - runs forward whilst another man with a pony-tail grabs a chair. The fat man gets swatted aside.
"No! Attack formation, quickly." The captain said.
They start shooting at the Cyberman.
"Upgrade in progress." The Cyberman said.
"Angie!" Clara said.
"Angie!" Jared said.
The Cyberman moves through the group as if they are standing still and puts Angie over his shoulder, carrying her off.
"Angie!" Clara said.
"Clara. Clara!" Jared said, dragging Clara back.
"That was a Cyberman. But they're extinct." The captain said.
"Listen to me. I will get her back. Captain, a word please. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I take it your platoon doesn't do much fighting." The Doctor said, walking up to the captain.
"What do you expect?"
"Singing. What is it then?" Jared asked.
"We're a punishment platoon. It's why they sent us out here, so we can't get into trouble." The captain said.
"Right, right, well, okay. As Imperial Consul, I'm putting Clara and Jared in charge." The Doctor said, pinning the Captain's insignia on Clara's jacket. "Clara, Jared, stay alive until I get back, and don't let anyone blow up this planet."
"Is that something they're likely to do?" Clara asked.
"Yes. They're soldiers. That's what they have to do. Doctor, what do we do?" Jared asked, grabbing Clara's hand.
"Get to somewhere defensible." The Doctor said.
"Where are you going?" Clara asked.
"I'm getting Angie, finding Artie and looking for funny insects. Stay alive. And you lot, no blowing up this planet!" The Doctor said, leaving the barracks.
Chess room…
"Put me down! I hate you!" Angie said, angrily.
The Cyberman puts Angie down. She sees Artie with a single blue light flashing at the side of his head, and Webley, who is semi-Borgified.
"Artie? Artie, what's happening?" Angie asked.
"Please stand by. You will be upgraded." Artie said.
Angie screams.
Barracks…
"Cyberiad class weaponry. I've taken it out of storage." The captain said.
"Weapons. That's good. We need somewhere with defense. Got any ideas?" Jared asked, taking out a bubble tea to drink it.
The Captain shows Jared and Clara a large advertising overview of Hedgewick's World.
"The beach, the Giant's Cauldron, Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle." The captain said.
"Is it a real castle? Like the one you see in European culture. With a drawbridge and moat?" Jared asked.
"Yes, but comical."
"Awesome. A comedic castle. I do love some jokes. Let's go there."
"Sir, my platoon can deal with one Cyberman, and there are protocols if we cannot immediately find and destroy it." The captain said.
"Blowing up the planet protocols?" Clara asked.
"Respectfully, ma'am."
"Somewhere defensible. No blowing up the planet."
"They're your commanding officers now, aren't they, Captain?" Porridge asked.
"Yes. Sir." The captain said.
Clara and Jared leave.
"You really saw a Cyberman?" Porridge asked.
"We really did." The captain said.
"Have you reported it to the Imperium?"
"No communicators."
"So you're going to do what they say. Right, let's all spend the night at Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle."
Webley's room…
"Artie?" The Doctor asked, spotting a mini-Cybermat and speaking to it. "Firstly, if anybody's watching this, those children are under my protection. I'm coming to get them. And secondly, little metal machine, you are beautiful." He sonicks it into dormancy and picks it up. "Not even a Cybermat any more, eh? Cybermites."
Chess room…
"Now, there's a local transmat link open to your home. If I can just find the frequency…" The Doctor said, getting a zap from the Cybermite.
Cyberlab…
"Hey, that really shouldn't have worked." The Doctor said.
"Doctor, help us." Artie said.
"Angie? Artie?" The Doctor asked, as both children are unresponsive. "Webley."
"We needed children, but the children had stopped coming. You brought us children. Hail to you, the Doctor, saviour of the Cybermen!" Webley said, happily.
Outside the Castle…
"What would the Empire do if they were alerted?" Jared asked.
"I told you, tell me to blow up the planet." The captain said.
"No, we're not blowing up the planet. Not while Angie has been taken by the Cybermen. We'll only blow it up after the Empire gets us off it."
"Captain, you want to take that one?" Porridge asked.
"No, sir. Just blow the sucker up." The captain said.
"Drawbridge, moat, brilliant." Clara said, as Jared is enjoying his bubble tea.
"With respect, ma'am, we ought to be hunting the creature." Brains said.
"The only reason we're still alive is that we do what the Doctor says. Can you guarantee us you'd bring back my children alive and unharmed?" Clara asked.
Brains shakes his head.
"We trust the Doctor." Clara said, grabbing Jared's hand.
"Same. That's why I've been able to travel with him on and off for eight years." Jared said, looking at the captain.
"You think he knows what he's doing?" The captain asked, looking between Clara and Jared.
"We're not sure we'd go that far." Clara said.
Cyberlab…
"As the battle raged between humanity and the Cyberiad, the Cyberplanners built a Valkyrie, to save critically damaged units and bring them here, and one by one, repair them." Webley said.
"The people who vanished from the amusement park, they were spare parts for repairs." The Doctor said.
"We've upgraded ourselves. The next model will be undefeatable."
"Nothing's undefeatable."
"We needed children to build a new Cyberplanner. A child's brain, with its infinite potential, is perfect for our needs. But we no longer need the children. The Cybermites have been scanning your brain, Doctor. It's quite remarkable."
"Also completely useless to you. Cybermen use human parts. I'm not human. You can't convert non-humans. And Jared didn't want to bring Magical Girls here. They're non-human."
"Well, that was true a long time ago. But we've upgraded ourselves. Current Cyberunits use almost any living components." Webley said, throwing some Cybermites onto the Doctor.
They get inside and the Doctor screams. The Doctor acquires some silver components on the left side of his face. He is now a split personality. Cyberplanner Doctor will be designated C-Doctor. Resistance is futile.
"Incorporated. Yes. Ah. Unfamiliar pulmonary set-up. Nervous system hyperconductive. Remarkable brain processing speed. Ho, ho. Amazing." C-Doctor said.
"Get out of my head!" The Doctor said, angrily.
Cyberiad…
The Doctor confronts the Cyberplanner in cyberspace, "Stop rummaging in my mind."
"Just you try and stop me. Ooo, who's Clara. Why are you thinking about her so much?" C-Doctor asked.
"Enough." The Doctor said, angrily.
"Fascinating. A complete mental block. Highly effective."
Cyberlab…
"Relax, relax. If you just relax, you will find this a perfectly pleasant experience. You are being upgraded and incorporated into the Cyberiad as a Cyberplanner." C-Doctor said.
"Get out of my head!" The Doctor said.
Cyberiad…
"What is this place, a network? A hive? You're getting signals from every Cyberman everywhere. How many of you are there?" The Doctor asked.
Cyberlab…
"Oh, this is brilliant. I'm so clever already, and now I'm a million times more clever. And what a brain. Not a human brain, not even slightly human. I mean, I'm going to have to completely rework the neural interface, but this is going to be the most efficient Cyberplanner. Not a great name, that, is it? I could call myself Mister Clever. So much raw data. Time Lords. There's information on the Time Lords in here. Oh, this is just dreamy." C-Doctor said.
Cyberiad…
"Right, I'm allowing you access to memories on Time Lord regeneration." The Doctor said.
The ten known faces of the Doctor flash through behind them.
"Fantastic!" C-Doctor said, happily.
"I could regenerate right now. A big blast of regeneration energy, burn out any little Cyberwidgets in my brain, along with everything you're connected to. Don't want to. You use this me up, who knows what we'll get next? But I can." The Doctor said.
Cyberlab....
"Stalemate, then. One of us needs to control this head. We're too well-balanced. What did you say? No, no, no, no, no. I heard you. Rhetorical device to keep me thinking about it a bit more. Stalemate?" C-Doctor asked.
Cyberiad…
"We each control forty nine point eight eight one percent of this brain. Point two three eight of the brain is still in the balance. Whoever gets this gets the whole thing." C-Doctor said.
"Do you play chess?" The Doctor asked.
"The rules of chess are in my memory banks. You're proposing we play chess to end the stalemate?"
"Winner takes all. Nobody can access that portion of the brain without winning the game."
They shake on it.
Cyberlab…
"You can't win." C-Doctor said.
"Try me." The Doctor said.
"You understand, when I do win, the Cyberiad gets your brains and memories. All of it."
"When I win, you get out of my head, you let the children go, and nobody dies. You got that? Nobody dies!"
Castle / Kirito and Asuna's home…
Jared took out his phone and immediately called Asuna.
"Hey Asuna, did you see the pictures?" Jared asked.
"What's wrong?" Asuna asked, looking at Jared through the ALFheim Online user interface.
"Y'know those amusement park photos I sent you photos of."
"Yeah. I'm looking at them now."
"The park. It's well, um, full of Cybermen."
"What? Get out of there!"
Jared ended the call with Asuna and placed the phone back inside his pocket.
Castle…
"Er, sir, ma'am. Missy said she saw something, and then she went quiet." Brains said.
"So the Cybermen is here. What weapons do we have? Show us! Wait. Why do we only have one gun?" Jared asked, looking down at the gun.
"Cybermen have been extinct for a thousand years. Even one Anti-Cyber gun is a miracle. These things are hand-pulsers. Touch the back of a Cyberman's head, the electomagnetic pulse deactivates it." The captain said.
"What's this for? Just a mad guess here, it blows up the planet?" Clara asked.
"Implodes it. There's also a trigger unit."
"I'll have that, then. Is there any other way to activate the bomb?" Clara asked.
"It's set to respond to my voice. I have the verbal code."
"You'll not activate the bomb without a direct order from me or Clara." Jared said, leaning against the wall.
"I will follow my orders." The captain said.
"Your orders come from me and Jared, don't they?" Clara asked.
"You'll need to sign for that trigger unit, ma'am." Brains said.
"Thanks." Clara said, signing the form.
Porridge picks up a hand-pulser, "Mind if I take one of these? Might be handy."
"Help yourself. I'll teach you how to use it. Upstairs. Now!" The captain said.
Cyberlab…
The chess board is in place.
"There. That was easy. The game has just started. Doctor, why is there no record of you and Jared anywhere in the databanks of the Cyberiad? Oh, you're good. Oh, you and Jared have been eliminating yourself from history. You know the both of you could be reconstructed by the hole you two have left." C-Doctor said.
"Good point. We'll do something about that." The Doctor said.
Cyberiad...
"The rules of chess allow only a finite number of moves, and I can use other Cyberunits as remote processors. You cannot possibly win." C-Doctor said.
"I can. I know things you don't. For example, did you know very early versions of the Cyber operating system could be seriously scrambled by exposure to things, like gold, or cleaning fluid? And what's interesting is, you're still running some of that code." The Doctor said.
"Really. That's your secret weapon? Cleaning fluid?"
Cyberlab…
"Nope, gold." The Doctor said, slapping the golden ticket onto his implants. "Oh ho, ho! Like a charm. Right, you, Cyber Webley, and you kid things. I'll bring the chessboard. Let's get out of here."
(Jared's POV)
Castle battlements…
"Jared, you have the foresight. What do you know?" Clara asked, looking at me.
"A lot of things. I don't want to mess anything up here." I said, frowning. "And I don't want anyone else to get hurt."
"Like Angie."
They are being watched by a Cybermite.
"We're a punishment platoon. We can't beat a Cyberman. The Imperium has to know what's happening." The captain said.
"Like you said, the communicators are out. The only way you can report this now is to activate the bomb." Porridge said.
"Yes."
"And I forbid you to do that."
"I don't get it. Why would you blow up a whole planet and everybody on it just to get rid of one Cyberman? What's the point? That's suicide!" I said, angrily.
"We tried other ways, but they only work sometimes, so now we take drastic action. And it works." Porridge said.
"If you find a Cyberman and you can't destroy it immediately, you implode the planet. I was sent here because I didn't follow orders. I can make up for that." The captain said, looking at Porridge.
"Don't use the bomb! I won't allow it!" I said, walking up to the captain. "Blowing up stuff isn't the answer to everything most of the time! Not while they're innocent civilians!"
"Yeah. What he said." Porridge said.
"You ran away. I will do what I was brought up to do. Live for the Empire, fight for the Empire, die for the Empire. This is Captain Alice Ferrin, Imperial ID one nine delta one three B. Activate…" The captain said, while she is shot by a Cyberman on the other side of the moat.
"Cyberman! Get down!" Porridge said.
"Okay, this is like a psychological thriller. I've seen loads of them over the years. Hell, I'm in love with that genre. Right. This was the Doctor's plan. He said to get somewhere easily defensible. The only problem is with the monsters seen in those genres. We can't split up because that's one of the ways it can get to one of us easily. If we just stay in the castle, it'll take us out one by one." I said, smiling. "The only option is. Clara, can you figure it out?"
"Yes." Clara said, happily. "We have to take it out."
"Is that an order, sir, ma'am?" Ha-Ha asked.
"Yes."
"It is." I said, smirking.
"Good." Ha-Ha said.
"You know what to do." Clara said.
"Pulse to the back of the head. Fry the brain circuit interface." Brains said.
"It's going to be hard to get in close enough."
Hedgewick's World…
Somewhere in the amusement park, one of the women soldiers spots the Cyberman. She runs forward to touch the back of its head, but its body grabs her and kills her. Then it puts its head back on. Elsewhere, two more soldiers die in front of Ha-Ha.
"I've heard about the Cybermen since I was in my cradle. I'm not afraid of you." Ha-Ha said.
"Now!" I said, angrily.
The Cyberman moves forward, Fats jinks to the side and I atomise it with a long blast from the Anti-Cyber gun, as I stand behind sandbags.
"Hate a Dalek as much as a Cybermen." I said, sadly.
"Hold it right there." Ha-Ha said.
"What's happening to them?" Clara asked, while the two dead soldiers have been upgraded.
"One more step and I fire." I said, looking down at the Anti-Cyber gun.
"Don't fire that. A pulse will deactivate them." Ha-Ha said, as two other soldiers do that. "And anyway, it's a waste of charge. We may need it again."
"You don't think that was the only one, then?" Clara asked.
Outside the Castle…
We meet up with the Doctor, Angie and Artie, and Webley.
"Argh! Don't shoot, don't shoot, I'm nice. Please, don't shoot. Hey, Clara, Jared, the both of you haven't let them blow up the planet. Good job." The Doctor said.
"Did you get the kids? Are they all right? What's going on?" Clara asked.
"Er, a bit of a good news, bad news, good news again thing going on. So, good news, I've kidnapped the Cyberplanner and right now I'm sort of in control of this Cyberman."
"Bad news?"
"Bad news, the Cyberplanner's in my head. And, different bad news, the kids are, well, it's complicated."
"Complicated how?"
"It's complicated as Angie and Artie are in walking coma mode!" I said, worried.
The Doctor hides behind the chess board he is holding.
"Please tell me one of you can wake them up." Clara said.
"Hopefully." I said.
"Other good news?"
"Well, in other good news, there are a few more repaired and reactivated Cybermen on the way, and the Cyberplanner's installing a patch for the gold thing. No, wait, that isn't good news, is it. Er, so, good news, I have a very good chance of winning my chess match." The Doctor said.
"What?" Clara asked.
"I'll explain later. In a bit of a hurry. Get me to a table, and somebody tie me up! Need hands free for chess. And immobilise me, quickly."
Throne room…
I tie the Doctor to a chair with thick rope.
"Right, that's good. I won't be able to move, but hands free. Good." The Doctor said.
"You're playing chess with yourself?" Clara asked.
"And the Doctor is winning. Which is good." I said, grabbing Clara's hand.
Then the Doctor tears off the gold ticket from the implants, and acquires a northern accent - eighth Doctor style.
"Actually, he has no better than a twenty five percent chance of winning at this stage in the game. Some very dodgy moves at the beginning. Hello, flesh girl. Fantastic. I'm the Cyberplanner." C-Doctor said.
"Doctor?" Clara asked.
"Afraid not. I'm working the mouth now. Allons-y. Oh, you should see the state of these neurons. He's had some cowboys in here. Ten complete re-jigs."
"You aren't the Doctor."
"No, but I know who you are, Clara Oswald. You're the impossible girl. That's what Jared calls you too. And he is a hero of justice. Oh, he's very interested in the both of you."
"Why am I impossible?" Clara asked.
"Spoilers." I said, sadly.
"Hasn't the Doctor and Jared told you? The sly devils. Oh, dear me. Listen, soon we'll wake. We'll strip you down for spare parts, then build a spaceship and move on." C-Doctor said.
"More Cybermen." I said, squeezing Clara's hand.
"They're waking from their tomb right now. The both of you can either die or live on as one of us." C-Doctor said.
Meanwhile, his right hand is writing Hit Me on a notepad.
"The Doctor will stop you." Clara said.
"He will. And I will help him. No matter what." I said, happily.
"How can the Doctor stop me? Jared, you can't do it on your own. The Doctor can't even access the lips." C-Doctor said.
I hit the Doctor. Hard.
"Argh! Ow! Oh, that hurt. No, stop. Enough, Bit of pain, neural surge. Just what I needed. Thank you." The Doctor said, looking at me.
"Why am I the impossible girl?" Clara asked.
"It's just a thing in my head and Jared's head. We'll explain later."
"Okay, what were the stakes for the chess game? I haven't watched this adventure in a while." I said, letting out a sigh.
"If he wins, I give up my mind and he gets access to all my memories, along with knowledge of time travel. But, if I win, he'll break his promises to get out of my head and then kill us all anyway." The Doctor said.
"That's not reassuring." Clara said.
"No."
"Please tell me you and Jared can fix whatever happened to the children."
"Children. Yeah. They're fine. I mean, right now their brains are just in stand by mode."
"That is not fine!"
"Listen, right now they have a much better chance of getting out of this situation alive than the both of you do." C-Doctor said.
"Which one of you said that?" Clara asked.
"Me. Cyberplanner. Mister Clever. Now, if you don't mind, I have a chess game to finish, and the two of you have to die, pointlessly and very far from home. Toodle-oo." C-Doctor said.
Castle drawbridge…
"Well, there are a hell of a lot more Cybermen on the way. Which is utter bullshit!" I said, angrily.
"There's at least a dozen more shots left in the gun before it needs to recharge." Brains said.
"We might have more than a dozen Cybermen to worry about. What's that cable?" Clara asked.
"Power line for the park." Porridge said.
"What would happen if we unhooked the end, dropped it into the moat and turned it on?"
"Fry anything alive that entered the water." Ha-Ha said.
"Can Cybermen fly? I know Daleks can." I said, looking at Ha-Ha.
"No, sir." Brains said.
"First good news of the day. Do it." Clara said.
So we electrify the moat and raise the drawbridge.
(Open POV)
Cyberiad…
The CyberDoctor gets jolted into cyberspace.
"Stop that. I felt that." The Doctor said.
"Of course you did. It's time to get up. Wakey, wakey, boys and girls. Wakey, wakey." C-Doctor said.
Somewhere, an army of Cybermen activates and marches forward from their multilevel cryogenic 'tombs'.
Castle courtyard…
Porridge ladles something into a cup, "There, get that in you. Warm you up."
"Oh, thank you, Porridge." Clara said.
"I have hand warmers." Jared said, placing his hands inside his hoodie pockets. "I'm fine."
"Oi, Clara, Jared!" The Doctor said, his voice nearby.
"We'll see what he wants. Call us if there's any change. Let's go, Jared." Clara said.
Clara walks away with Jared.
"Right." Porridge said.
Throne room…
"Hey! Clara, Jared, there you both are. Now, quick rundown. What's our weapons strength?" The Doctor asked.
"One big gun, five of those hand-pulser units and a shiny black bomb that implodes the planet." Clara said.
"Yeah. Yeah, that one. Now, tell me, does it happen possibly to have a remote triggery thing?" The Doctor asked, as Clara took the trigger out from her jacket pocket. "Brilliant. Pass it here."
"No. Not happening, Spaceman." Jared said, looking at the Doctor.
"Why not?" The Doctor asked.
"In case you're not you right now. Or even if you are, just in case."
"Oh, don't worry. The Cyberplanner's hibernating between moves right now. Shush."
"Prove you're you. Tell us something only the Doctor knows." Clara said.
"Clara, I suppose I'm the only one who knows how I feel about you right now. How funny you are. So funny. And pretty. And the truth is, I'm starting to like you in a way that is more than just…" The Doctor said.
"Clara, those are my personal thoughts about you. I told the Doctor about it. And he said that they were his." Jared said, his hands still in his hoodie pockets.
Jared hits the Doctor.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Yes! It's me. That really hurt. How did you know that was him?" The Doctor asked.
"Because even if that was true, what Jared told you, which it is obviously not, I know you well enough to know that you would rather die than say it. And I know Jared would say it since he doesn't want to die. Finish your stupid game." Clara said.
CyberDoctor grabs Clara's arm.
"Doctor, let go." Clara said.
"I can't. He's got control of the left arm. Argh, argh, no! No!" The Doctor said, angrily.
The CyberDoctor gets the remote trigger and destroys it.
"Doctor?" Jared asked.
"He got what he wanted. He destroyed the trigger. My move." The Doctor said.
"What do you mean, he got what he wanted?" Clara asked.
"He means, good news, boys and girls. They're here!" C-Doctor said, happily.
Castle…
"Holy shit. Now I know how the SAO Survivors felt going up against the Underworld Army seen in the Soul Translator." Jared said, looking at the rows of Cybermen stretching from the Tomb entrance to the moat. "This is super bad."
"One gun, five hand-pulsers and a planet smashing bomb that doesn't work any more." Clara said, looking at Jared.
"Why not?" Brains asked.
"Broken trigger unit."
"But you signed for that."
Throne room…
"I've learned so much from you, Doctor. It's been an education. But now, it's time for the endgame." C-Doctor said.
Castle…
The first Cyberman steps into the moat and gets electrocuted.
"Brilliant." Clara said.
"Now that's what I'm talking about." Jared said, happily.
Then the first Cyberman recovers, "Upgrade in progress."
"Damn. Who's our best shot?" Clara asked.
"Probably it's me." Ha-Ha said.
"Shoot any of them who make it across. The rest of you, take defensive positions. Porridge?"
"Yes?" Porridge asked.
"Keep yourself safe. Jared, come on." Clara said, walking away with Jared.
The first Cyberman comes through the castle gate, and gets atomised. Then more come through. Porridge heads for the planet bomb.
"Alice Ferrin, you should have destroyed this planet when you had the chance." Porridge said.
Throne room…
"They're nearly here. Now, you can take my bishop and keep limping on for a little longer, or you can sacrifice your queen and get the children back. But it's mate in five moves, and I get your mind." C-Doctor said.
Another Cyberman gets killed.
"Takes my queen, and give me back the children." The Doctor said.
"Emotions. Can't you see what a foolish move that was? You've lost the game." C-Doctor said.
"Kids back now."
Angie and Artie crumple.
"Emotions, Doctor, all for two human children you barely know. And it was a pointless sacrifice anyway. So, Doctor, do you think the children's death will affect your relationship with Miss Clara and Mister Jared?" C-Doctor asked.
Porridge runs in with the bomb. Clara, Jared, and the platoon are retreating under fire.
"Welcome to Webley's World of Wonders, children. Now presenting delights, delicacies, and death." Webley said.
"Doctor!" Angie said, terrified.
Porridge grabs at Webley's leg with the hand-pulser but gets thrown off, landing under the chess table. Sparks fly from Webley's cybernetic bits.
"Angie, are you okay? Just look after Artie, okay?" The Doctor asked.
Dark is about to touch the back of a Cyberman's head, when it swivels around and looks at her. Fat shoots another Cyberman.
"Your move. But before you take it, just so you know, sacrificing my queen was the best possible move I could have made. The Time Lords invented chess. It's our game. And if you don't avoid my trap, it gives me mate in three moves." The Doctor said.
"How?" C-Doctor asked.
Castle…
"I've got no charge left." Ha-Ha said.
Jared picks up a heavy mace, "Let's see if my skills playing ALO paid off."
Throne room…
"How?" C-Doctor asked.
The Cyberman disarms Jared.
"Oh, come on. Call yourself a chess playing robot?" The Doctor asked.
"How!" C-Doctor said, angrily.
"You figure it out. Or don't you have the processing power, hmm?" The Doctor asked.
Castle…
"Please stand by. You will be upgraded. Welcome to the Cyberiad. You will be upgraded. Welcome to the Cyberiad. You will be upgraded." The Cyberman said.
Clara, Jared, Brains and Ha-Ha are pinned up against a wall. Then the Cybermen slow down and stop.
(Jared's POV)
Throne room…
"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked.
"Doctor. Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor. I'm pulling in extra processing power. Three million Cyberbrains are working on one tiny chess problem. How long do you think it's going to take us to solve it?" C-Doctor asked.
"That's cheating." The Doctor said.
"No, no, no, no, no. Just pulling in the local resources." C-Doctor said, while Clara, Brains, Ha-Ha, and I get away. "There's no way you can get to mate in three moves."
"Three moves. Want to know what they are?"
"You're lying."
The Doctor picks up Porridge's hand pulser, "Move one, turn on sonic screwdriver. Move two, activate pulser. Move three, amplify pulser. See you."
After a brief struggle with his other arm, the Doctor gets the pulser to the cybernetic implants on his face.
"That's cheating!" C-Doctor said, angrily.
"Finally! That's over!" I said, excitedly.
Clara, Brains, Ha-Ha, and I run in.
The Doctor sits up with no implants, "Just taking advantage of the local resources. Ah, hello. Can someone untie me, please?"
"Do you think I'm pretty?" Clara asked.
"No. You're too short and bossy, and your nose is all funny." The Doctor said.
"Good enough. What happened to the Cyberplanner?" Clara asked, untying the Doctor.
"Out of my head and redistributed across three million Cybermen right now, and about to wake them all up, kill us and start constructing a spaceship. We need to destroy this planet before they can get off it." The Doctor said, going to the bomb. "Okay, it has a fallback voice activation."
"The Captain, but she's dead." Ha-Ha said.
"I think you should ask Porridge." I said, smiling.
"Why?" Clara asked.
"Well, he is the Emperor. I bet he knows the activation codes. I'm a fanboy. And I can't remember everything."
"Oh, come on. It's obvious. He looks exactly like he does on the coin, and on the waxwork, except they made him a bit taller, but look, am I and Jared the only ones paying attention to anything around here?" Angie asked.
"Angie, you are full of surprises. Porridge?" Clara asked, looking at Porridge.
"They're right." Porridge said.
"So you can save us?"
"We all die in the end. Does it matter how?"
"What do we do?" Ha-Ha asked.
"I don't want to be Emperor. If I activate that bomb, it's all over." Porridge said.
"And if you don't, three million Cybermen will spread across the galaxy. Isn't that worth dying for?" The Doctor asked.
"Doctor…" Porridge said.
"Three million Cybermen!"
"Let him speak. Please." I said, sadly.
The three million Cybermen have now reactivated.
"The bomb, the throne, it's all connected. I just have to say this is Emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, called Longstaff the forty first, the Defender of Humanity, Imperator of known space. Activate the Desolator. And it's done." Porridge said, and the bomb is armed. "It'll blow in about eighty seconds. Easily long enough for the Imperial Flagship to locate me from my identification, warp jump into orbit, and transmat us to the State Room."
State Room…
"Oh yeah. Nice ship. Bit big. Not blue enough. Listen, there is a large blue box at coordinates six ultra nineteen P. I need it transmatted up here right away." The Doctor said.
"Right. Did you get that?" Porridge asked.
The officer nods and works her console. The Cyberman walk past Webley in the castle Throne room as the bomb countdown passes 11.
"And that's that. Seventy six, seventy seven, seventy eight, seventy nine…" Porridge said, while the planet goes KaBOOM, rocking the Imperial spaceship. "Farewell, Cyberiad. You know, it was good to get away. Good to be a person and not to be lonely, or Emperor of a thousand galaxies with everyone waiting for me to tell them what to do."
"Now I know why Kirito wields Excalibur in ALO." I said, sadly.
"Excalibur?" Angie asked. "A friend of yours wields Excalibur?"
"You don't have to be lonely." Clara said, smiling.
"I don't. Clara, will you marry me?" Porridge asked.
"What?"
"He said…" Artie said.
"She knows!" I said, crossing my arms.
"She heard what he said." Angie said.
"You're smart and you're beautiful, and I've never met anyone like you before. And being Emperor won't be as hard if you're by my side. And you'd rule a thousand galaxies." Porridge said, looking at Clara.
"This sounds like an actual marriage proposal. Tricky. Now, if you want my advice…" The Doctor said.
"You, not one word. This is between me and the Emperor. Porridge, I don't want to rule a thousand galaxies." Clara said.
"Yeah. Silly of me." Porridge said.
"I'm really sorry."
"But that's stupid. You could be Queen of the universe. How can you say no to that? When someone asks you if you want to be Queen of the universe, you say yes. You watch. One day, I'll be Queen of the universe." Angie said, happily.
"Of course, I could have you all executed, which is what a proper Emperor would do." Porridge said.
"You're not actually going to do that, though, are you? Oh, you're. Hey?" The Doctor asked.
"Go on, get out of here, all of you, before I change my mind."
Tardis....
Thank you for having me. It was very interesting." Artie said.
"It was our pleasure, Artie. Thanks for coming." I said, leaning against the TARDIS console.
"Now, I've got something for you. It's not from me, it's from the Tardis. Ah. New phone." The Doctor said, handing Angie a new smart phone.
"Thanks." Angie said.
"You're welcome."
"Sorry I said this box was stupid."
"Bye."
"See ya, Angie." I said, happily.
"Bye. Thanks, Clara." Angie said.
"Thanks, Clara's best friend and boyfriend." Artie said.
Angie and Artie leave.
"Thank you, Doctor, Jared." Clara said.
"For what?" The Doctor asked.
"Why are you thanking us?" I asked.
"Kid's day out. Getting us off the planet alive. Whatever you were doing with the Cybermen. Good night. See the both of you next Wednesday." Clara said.
"Well, a Wednesday, definitely. Next Wednesday, last Wednesday…" The Doctor said, while Clara leaves the console room. "One of the Wednesdays. Impossible girl. A mystery wrapped in an enigma squeezed into a skirt that's just a little bit too tight. Oh yeah. What are you?"
Palutena's Temple…
I'm sleeping on my bed in Palutena's Temple after a long day of defeating the Cybermen with the Doctor and Clara. The Doctor dropped me off in early London 2013 a couple of hours, which is what I wanted. I asked Lady Palutena to teleport me off to her temple so I can sleep.
"Jared. Wake up." Palutena said, telepathically.
"I don't wanna…" I said, face on my pillow.
"Wake up!"
"I don't want to…"
"There's trouble out there."