Doctor Who: The Good the Bad and the Alien / System Wipe Read online

  device appeared to unfold itself from the desk.

  It resembled a stylish doctor's stethoscope. A

  small wishbone shape was attached to one

  end, and the spine of the device curved up

  before straightening out to meet the light.

  'Gorgeous.' The Doctor reached out to

  touch it and the blue light faded to a soft

  green. 'It's still logged in.'

  'What is it?' Amy breathed.

  The Doctor looked over and grinned. 'It's

  a games console.'

  'Like an Xbox or a PlayStation?' Rory asked.

  'Yeah, if they were able to read and adapt

  to your thought patterns while stimulating all

  five senses through manipulating chemicals in

  your brain.' The Doctor gave him a look.

  'I'm sure I saw an advert for something like

  that,' Rory muttered.

  'So this is what's been giving out the energy

  signal?' asked Amy.

  The Doctor pulled the chair out from

  beneath the desk and perched himself upon

  it. 'Yep, it's still connected to the network -

  checking for updates, new software, that kind

  of thing'

  'But where is it getting the power from?'

  The Doctor leant back in his chair and began

  toying with the wishbone. 'The batteries in

  these Desktops are immense. They have to be.

  All the major cities moved their power plants

  away from populated areas a good century

  back. There's no such thing as mains power any

  more. It's all hydrogen batteries now.'

  'But how does that -' Rory began, but Amy

  interrupted him.

  'We're missing the big question here. If that

  thing's still logged on, it means there's still an

  Internet, or holo-net, or whatever the future-

  people call it.'

  The Doctor frowned. 'Good point.'

  'And seeing as everything else is on the blink

  around here, it seems to me like someone's put

  some serious effort into making sure it was

  still working.'

  The Doctor tapped the desk; it beeped

  encouragingly. Well,' he said finally, 'I guess

  I'd better find out what's going on then.' He

  grabbed the wishbone, and before Amy or

  Rory could stop him he'd slotted it over his

  forehead.

  'Oh, great,' said Rory.

  Seven miles away, sitting in the shadow of a

  rolling dune, a giant robot was reading a book.

  The air was still and calm and the robot held

  the thick paperback at an angle so that the

  sun's light fell across the pages from over the

  ridge behind it.

  Its metal exoskeleton was heavy and

  thickset. The erosion of countless sandstorms

  gave the chrome finish a rugged texture that

  made it look more animal than machine. From

  a distance it almost looked like a silver gorilla.

  A curved plasma screen stood in place of

  a face and it traced a blue bead of light to the

  bottom of the paragraph. Then, with a loud

  hiss of hydraulics, the robot's arm flexed to

  turn over the yellowing page.

  Then an alarm sounded. The blue bead

  danced for a minute as a low wail emerged

  from the speakers fitted in the centre of

  the robot's chest. Then the screen refreshed

  and a scrolling message appeared. In square

  red capitals it repeated the words 'USER

  DETECTED, USER DETECTED, USER

  DETECTED,' over and over again.

  The robot's shoulders slumped in a digital

  sigh. With a great effort and clanging of

  pistons it hauled itself to its feet and began

  walking slowly up the side of the dune.

  Its great weight caused its feet to slide in

  the loose sand with each step, but eventually

  it reached the top. Stretching across the

  length of the horizon, the half-buried city

  of Chicago looked like the skeleton of some

  ancient whale. The robot's screen dimmed as it

  scanned the ancient buildings for the location

  of the download.

  Eventually a small beep announced that the

  user had been located. The robot crouched;

  flexing its steel joints, then launched itself into

  the air.

  The Doctor didn't exist.

  At least, not yet. Inside the Desktop his

  mind floated in a void that was made even

  more confusing by the fact that he didn't have

  a body. If he had had feet he could at least

  have found out which direction was 'down'.

  Then there were letters.

  'Welcome to Parallife,' they said.

  The Doctor would've laughed at that if he

  had a mouth.

  'Parallel-life. Very good,' he thought

  instead.

  The letters rearranged themselves. 'Are you

  a new user?'

  'Yes.' The Doctor was getting the hang of

  thinking instead of speaking now.

  'Thank you, please proceed to the Character

  Creation menu.'

  There was a feeling of rapid movement,

  although in the blackness it was impossible to

  tell. A light came on, and the Doctor suddenly

  realised that he was in a room — a huge, white

  space in which various body parts, clothes and

  sliding menu-bars were floating. He stepped

  forward and discovered that he now had a

  body. Looking down he saw a green wireframe

  skeleton. He raised a stick figure hand in front

  of his face and waved at himself.

  'Well, I've received a few new bodies in

  my time, but nothing like this,' he declared,

  peering around at the vast number of options

  in front of him. 'This is going to be fun.'

  He raised his hands like a conductor

  preparing to perform and began. Chins,

  eyes, hair, arms, legs, hands were all selected

  and adjusted with a wave of the Doctor's

  hand. They zipped forward and slotted into

  place over the green skeleton. When he was

  satisfied, he dismissed the body parts and

  brought forward the clothes. Boots, skinny

  trousers, a white shirt. Unfortunately, the only

  bow tie the Doctor could find was a comically

  oversized affair.

  Finally, he brought up the 'preview' mirror

  and discovered that he had made a perfect

  digital replica of himself.

  'Well, would you believe it?' he said to

  himself, rolling up his shirtsleeves. 'And I

  thought I was just picking what looked cool!

  You can't improve on perfection, I suppose.'

  The Doctor ran a hand over his hair, pushing

  his long fringe off to one side and dismissed

  the mirror. He looked up and spread his arms.

  'Right, I'm ready!' he said. 'Let's get started!'

  There was no reply, but when the Doctor

  looked forwards once again he found a small

  red door sitting in the middle of the wall as if

  it had been there all along. Which it definitely

  hadn't.

  The Doctor did a little hop of excitement.

  'Get ready, Parallife,' he said. 'Here I come!'

  The town of Tutorial brought back long

&n
bsp; forgotten memories to Blondie. It was the

  town of her birth, and like most things she had

  experienced when she was young, it was far

  smaller than she remembered. The buildings

  here were left over from the old world, barely

  four storeys high and the ground was all on one

  level. Blondie considered it boring, but if she

  needed help, this was the best place to find it.

  Blondie had never seen so many people

  in Tutorial before. She suspected that they

  too had arrived to refresh their training in

  preparation for fighting the darkness. It had

  been so long since any of them had fought.

  She made her way to the town square, a

  large open space where the crowd was at its

  thickest. She pushed through the mass of

  people until she was standing in the exact

  centre of the crowd and drew her sword. She

  held the shimmering blade high over her head.

  The weapon was unique and powerful and its

  very presence created an immediate hush. The

  crowd stepped back and cleared a circle around

  her. She opened her mouth to speak, ready to

  announce that she would lead the fight against

  the darkness, and that anyone who wished to

  aid in the defence of their world was welcome

  to stand by her side. But she didn't get the

  chance.

  The sky above Tutorial cracked, and a

  digital thunderclap washed over the square.

  A great column of white light arced down,

  hitting the ground just half a metre away from

  where Blondie was standing.

  A red door materialised in the glow, and

  amongst the crowd someone screamed.

  'No, it can't be!'

  'Impossible!'

  'It's been years, so many years!'

  But it was true. For the first time in over

  one hundred years, the world of Parallife had

  a new citizen.

  The door opened and a man stepped out,

  onto Blondie's foot.

  Blondie winced and the man's hand flew

  instinctively to his oversized bow tie.

  'It's a bit large I suppose,' he said. 'But I

  didn't think it was that bad.' He extended a

  hand in greeting. 'I'm the Doctor, I'm here to

  help.'

  The crowd held their breath, as if his touch

  might tear their world apart. But Blondie

  shook his hand fearlessly and when nothing

  happened they heaved a sigh of relief.

  'Blimey, everyone seems a bit . . . tense.'

  The Doctor frowned and looked around.

  'Parallife is threatened Doctor.' Blondie's

  face was grim. 'We must fight or die.'

  'Or fight and die.'

  'I can see you're going to be a great help.'

  The Doctor and Blondie eyed each other

  with suspicion, until a soft rumble broke the

  silence. The citizens' eyes rose instinctively to

  the sky. Another visitor?

  But the pink-tinged clouds remained calm,

  and the rumble continued to grow. On the

  outskirts of the square, one of the men turned

  to look down the wide main road behind him.

  His mouth opened and closed like a fish for a

  few moments, until he finally found his voice.

  'Stampede!' he screamed.

  Tutorial was thrown into panic as the

  citizens rushed for cover among the narrow

  alleyways between the buildings, fumbling

  blindly for their weapons. The Doctor spun

  on his heel, taking it all in.

  'What's going on?' he asked.

  'The plains around Tutorial are filled with

  animals, easy pickings for young citizens to

  practise their fighting skills. A stampede is the

  easiest way to level up,' Blondie replied.

  'Level up?' the Doctor was incredulous.

  'Wait, are you saying that we're in some kind

  of game?'

  'We used to be.' Blondie flexed her sword

  arm and planted her legs firmly apart. She

  adopted a fighting stance as the smaller,

  faster creatures began to pour into the square

  around them. Three legged birds hopped and

  skipped across the metal cobbles, their long

  necks twisting this way and that, searching for

  a way through. Behind them came the larger

  mammals. They tumbled through the birds,

  sending them scattering in all directions.

  'They're scared,' the Doctor muttered.

  'Terrified.'

  There was a loud squawk as one of the

  creatures picked the wrong alleyway and was

  struck down by a citizen hidden in a doorway.

  It dissolved into a shower of pixels, which

  flowed into the young warrior, making his skin

  glow.

  'Stop!' the Doctor was outraged. 'You

  can't do that!' But the citizens ignored him.

  Growing in confidence, they stepped out of

  their hiding places and swiped clumsily at the

  animals as they swept past.

  Blondie flashed him a mocking smile. 'Do

  you really think they'll listen to you? You're

  level one! Zero experience. You can't hope to

  command anyone until at least level seven!'

  The Doctor looked aghast. 'But I'm a talker,

  that's what I do, I save people with words, I —'

  'It means nothing here,' Blondie interrupted.

  'Unless you level-up your negotiation skills,

  you're powerless. So I suggest you get fighting'

  Even larger animals were beginning to spill

  through now; huge, buffalo-type creatures

  whose almost human eyes were wide with

  fear. Blondie raised her sword, and brought it

  flashing down.

  But it never reached its target. The Doctor's

  hand snapped out and held firmly onto her

  wrist as the creature galloped past the pair.

  Then he twisted her arm up until the sword

  was pointing away from the steadily growing

  flood of panicked creatures.

  'What are you doing?' she hissed at

  him, furious. We're right in the path of the

  stampede, if we don't do something we'll be

  trampled to death!'

  'I know,' the Doctor's voice was stern, his

  grip unwavering. What level are you?'

  Blondie stared at him.

  'What level are you?' the Doctor shouted

  this time.

  'Forty-seven.'

  'Good, and from what little chance I've

  had to look around, it appears that you're the

  most experienced citizen here.'

  Blondie looked smug.

  'Which means you should be able to

  command these people, right?'

  'Of course.'

  'Then stop the killing!'

  A few minutes later, the Doctor found

  himself perched on top of Tutorial's

  town hall. He looked down at the mass of

  animals that now filled the streets below. It

  was strange how in this world there was no

  smell. Blondie had done as he asked and now

  the citizens were gathered on the surrounding

  rooftops, away from the peril of the stampede.

  They eyed the creatures with disappointment

  as they rumbled through the alleyways beneath.

  'Did we f
ly up here?' the Doctor asked

  Blondie.

  Blondie laughed, a beautiful sound that

  sparkled like her eyes. 'Of course. Do you

  not have magic where you come from?' She

  gestured to the buffalos below. 'They're just

  programmes you know, they don't even have

  brains, just a list of things to do. I've never

  known anyone to care about them before.'

  The Doctor was silent for a minute as he

  absorbed the details of this strange new world.

  'Thank you,' he said finally. 'I know that

  must have been a difficult choice for you to

  make.'

  'It's the rules of the game,' the young

  woman replied. We have to kill or our levels

  don't rise. If they don't rise we can't create. Our

  tools, our buildings, our society are founded

  on the skills we buy with the experience points

  we gain from battle. There is no other way.'

  The Doctor shook his head sadly.

  'But in reality, Doctor, the choice wasn't

  difficult. Because even I can see that it is

  useless to fight the darkness.' She pointed, and

  the Doctor followed her gaze.

  Tutorial was only a small town. From his

  position on the roof, the Doctor could see

  the buildings give way to the plains beyond.

  Huge, neon-bordered squares marked them

  out, narrowing as they stretched away to the

  dark horizon. But something was wrong. The

  Doctor looked up at the sky. The clouds above

  shifted on the winds of a distant rhythm, and

  behind them the sky was still a warm, glowing

  pink. It was then that the Doctor realised he

  wasn't looking at the horizon - it was the

  darkness.

  The expanding ebony sphere was now so

  huge that it no longer looked like a sphere. The

  curve of its surface was lost against the sky

  and it looked like a huge, impenetrable wall,

  bulldozing through the plains towards them.

  'Right, well, now I see why the animals

  were so afraid.'

  'They weren't afraid,' Blondie sighed,

  'they're simply programmed to avoid danger.'

  The Doctor looked at her. 'Isn't that what

  fear is?'

  She smiled. 'Does everything you say make

  upside-down sense?'

  'Not everything. Sometimes I don't make

  any sense at all.' He swayed slowly to his feet.

  'Now, since you're happy to admit that we've

  no way of fighting this . . . thing. I suggest

  we follow the animals and get out of here as

  quickly as possible.'

  Blondie took hold of his hand, ready to

  return them both to the ground. We could

  follow them,' she admitted, a sly grin spreading