The Thirteenth Doctor: Wired Hearts Chapter 5 By Thomas Beech

The light dimmed the deeper Amara was taken into the complex. It was like the world had inverted below the surface. This subterranean lair was filled with mist. The air became frozen in her lungs as she breathed. The winding corridors cracked with each crunch of frost beneath Amara and her guards’ steps.

Parallel on either side were rows and rows of frosted bulletproof glass. Amara swore that she could see figures on the other side of them. Convulsing, clawing at the glass...

She’s shoved from behind with a harsh grunt. “It Does Not Concern You.” Said a Cyberman trudging forward to block her view.

“Clearly.” Amara huffs with a strained smirk, “where are we going? What are you exactly?”

“We Are Designated As Cybermen. You Are To Be Taken To The Cells For Detainment. You Will Be Assessed For Compatibility.”

“Why does a charity have cells? That’s not very humanitarian!” Amara stifles a nervous laugh. She’s given no response as they turn a corner approaching the gallery of cells. Some were open, some were locked tightly and spray painted with ‘dangerous element’ written on them. Walking down the centre, Amara could hear pained breathing behind the cold steel doors...

“You Must Enter.” The Cyberman grips Amara harshly, dragging her inside the barren cell. Placed in the centre of the room was a steel chair. She was helpless as the silver man pushed her down onto the chair, immobilising her with restraints.

“Your Compatibility Will Be Assessed Soon.” A Cyberman intoned, stomping from the room and closely followed by the second. Amara’s heart sank as the steel door closed ahead of her…

***

The Doctor strides behind Lumic as he led a faux tour. Lining the walls were glass cabinets and half-hearted ‘museum pieces’. “Got a bit of a tourist chic here then?” The Doctor grins.

“At Wired Hearts, we are dedicated to improve the human condition. Even if that’s by showcasing our best work. The funds from this gallery go towards a generous cause.” Lumic beamed to an invisible crowd. Slapping his hands together he turns on a heel with a proud gleaming smile.

“So how did you get involved with all this? Aren’t you CEO of International Electromatics… No! Wait… Cybus Industries?” The Doctor retorted, eyeing a small glass case with a familiar ear piece... It had suffered wear and tear and was encrusted in rust. Planted on top was a stylistic ‘C’. The Doctor’s eyes widen with suspicion.

“That, Doctor... Is in the past. A Long past, I prefer to look to the future...” Lumic stated with unease...

The Doctor looked into the case as she passed. Her eyes focus on the rusted C of the Cybus Industries logo. What became of Cybus Industries?

“Let’s look at our Biomechanics Division?” Lumic called for the Doctor, snapping her from her trance. They walked pas a set of steel doors that closed off behind them one by one. It felt like a countdown as each door closed, a countdown to catastrophe. They reached an inner sanctum of science. Rows and rows of tables presented artefacts that were worked on with mechanical arms, there was an uncanny, clinical feel to it all.

“Light on Human Resources?” The Doctor quipped, striding forward to closely inspect a pair of mechanical ‘eyes’... They closed and shut but upon her gaze they opened wildly, almost in a panic...

“We’re not going to play coy doctor, the planet is dying. Displaced populations are starving or burning to death in Hells such as this desert.” Lumic stands beside the Doctor, taking a fascinated interest in her curiosity.

“ So that’s where your metal helpers come in?” The Doctor asks, lifting a steel arm construct. It’s coldness sends a shiver down her spine. “What do they really do around here?”

“Doctor, they are merely, helpers. They survey the landscape and bring food and water. However, its not sustainable. The flesh is weak. Metal lasts… We envision a future where ‘survival’. Will be paramount. The need for water, food, sleep, exercise.../“

“Will be irrelevant?” The Doctor interrupts, laying down the cold steel on the work bench. She walks along, catching sight of a pair of plastic lungs inflating and deflating. She scowls upon looking at a model and schematics of a brain encased in some sort of support system. Her eyes burn as she looks on.

“I’ve seen your future Lumic.” The Doctor stated coldly, not turning to face Lumic. “It’s a future of mindlessness. Of constant upgrading to the next shiny device. With steel replacing flesh, electricity is blood, computer chips substitute minds. The pleasure of smelling flowers or watching a sunset, and eating a well prepared meal is an incompatible concept... Forevermore.”

For Lumic, the world became cold, steel entrapped his very soul. The never ending stomping of reinforced steel against cracked concrete. He felt the subjugation of a universe beyond his own. He held command of an army of steel, a new age of humankind was to dawn... Lumic snapped his eyes shut. These memories weren’t his own, whose were they? Lumic snapped back, looking longingly at the brain model...

“Survival comes at a cost, Doctor. When will you see that?”

“What’s Wired Hearts’ motive? Why are you behind it?” The Doctor twists around.

“Wired Hearts is more than a charity Doctor. I’ve told you before... We seek to improve the ‘human’ condition. By any means. Its a common goal we can get behind.”

“I want to know what you’re really doing here. Enough of the PR, enough of the act... A trail of corpses and abductions doesn’t exactly have the same calibre as ‘Children in Need’ now does it?” The Doctor stands her ground, her face is stern. “How are you going to bring this technology to the masses? I’ve only seen a couple of your ‘Cybermen’.

“Cybermen?” Lumic looked puzzled. “Is that a ‘funny spin’ on my legacy?” He laughs, “No, they don’t have a name yet. They’re survival suits nothing more. It’s a small scale operation.”

“Does that operation entail kidnapping and murder?” The Doctor snapped. Freezing Lumic to the core.

Lumic turns, “You will see our realised vision of humanity’s survival. There is nothing to fear.”

***

The chair was stiff against Amara’s back. Her hands were bound with coarse rope behind her. Yet her hands had some room to maneuverer. The fine people at ‘Wired Hearts’ had a fascination with metal. The stiff cold of the otherwise empty room left much to be desired.

Amara tried to stay composed, breathing deeply to hold warm air inside her lungs for as long as possible. As if on cue, a silver giant stomped into the cell. Clutched in it frost-coated hands was a large syringe.

“What the Hell is this?” Amara scoffed, fidgeting with her binds. The Cyberman edged ever closer, goaded by the terrified breaths of its prey…

“You Are A Contaminant. You Must Be Examined.” It said. Although its voice was noticeably shaky in the frigid cold…

“That’s just rude.” Amara sneered, feeling her arm loosen from her struggles. “When I get out I’ll tell the world what you guys are doing here. It’s inhuman.”

“Despite The Cold, You’re Adapting Well. Your Need To Survive Is Commendable. You Will Be Compatible” The Cyberman disregards Amara. finally standing behind Amara, producing a long syringe.

“What are you going to do to me? The same thing you’ve done to my son?! Where is Siel? Have you caged him like the others?!” Amara ranted, continuing to thrash as her head is held straight. A needle is pressed into the back of her neck... Incapacitating her.

“There Is Nothing To Fear.”

***

Graham was motionless, his body held no mass, no weight whatsoever. Although he couldn’t see, Graham could feel... He felt cold, thick liquid around him. It wasn’t water... It felt like brake fluid. Graham’s mind flashed a familiarity. A bus station. Sheffield bus station. Graham remembered being happy, his hands were clamped around the peeling rubber wheel of a double-decker stagecoach bus. He wore his uniform proudly with a printed ‘Graham’ badge on the left of his jacket.

The early morning sun filtered through the cluster of buildings in the skyline, resting on Graham’s face. This day was going to be a good day for him. Turning to his left however, shrouded his life in darkness. It enveloped him, painting his soul black... A singular spotlight shined ahead of him, casting light into the void. Casting light onto...

The Child.

“The Truth.” It whispered.

‘What Truth?’ Graham’s voice was taken from his mind. His voice held no power here.

“You’re losing yourself Graham. You don’t know it. But you’re slipping away.” The Child spoke again. Graham attempted to step forward but something caught his arm, it snagged in his arm... With his other he tries to reach, ‘snap’ the other is tethered too. Graham wails, his arms are lifted against his control, he’s a puppet on strings...

“You’re in phase one. You have three left to escape the Truth.”

***

Amara felt... Cold. Her body was left on metal flooring that clung to her skin. Her head felt empty with a dull pain in her neck. Her hand struggled to reach it, but when she did, she gasped... In place of skin... Was a solid plate of steel... It was bolted in place, it couldn’t be removed.

Amara would scream if she could... Despite the cold her throat was dry, she felt empty, was it blood in her veins or something else? She closes her eyes, a face... A sorrowful face appears, that of her son. She has to get up... She has to find her son...

Amara claws against the metal grating... her eyes are wide... She starts to stagger as she rises. While leaning against a polycarbonate window for support, the moisture wipes away under her touch, but she doesn’t feel it. She doesn’t feel much of anything... Her body became an empty vessel.

She staggers across the wall, dragging a limp arm across, casting a streak of moisture across... Amara’s steps echo out endlessly as her vision blurred, the room seemed to go on forever. However... Her journey is stopped by a solid set of steel doors... She pats it hopefully, eventually triggering an opening mechanism.

As the doors slowly slid open... Amara was cast in a white, sterile glow... she could make out caverns, pods? People? She couldn’t tell... An instinct kicked in. Telling her to hide, staggering across, Amara buried herself amongst a pile of electronic materials, hiding behind them as her vision clears...

She could see the Doctor being led by a strange man. He held a kind of aura as he spoke. The room around hem began to light up slowly, revealing rows and rows of ‘plastic pods’. Something wriggled and writhed inside as the surface of the pods were pushed and poked with what looked to be human hands…She leaned back away in fear and desperately wanted to keep out of sight. This could very well be it. The moment of revelation was to unfold…

***

As the Doctor dived deeper into the caverns beneath Wired hearts, thick clouds of mist enveloped the her legs as she wandered blindly. The cold was unnatural for She remained sceptical throughout the ‘tour’. She knew Graham wouldn’t be given up too easily, but if her suspicions were correct… It might already be too late.

“How much further? I need to see my associate.” The Doctor huffed, her breath becoming a thick mist.

“We are about to arrive at the very nerve centre of Wired Hearts. To the very next step in human evolution, patience is a virtue Doctor, there is nothing to-“

“Yeah you’ve got a habit of saying that.” The Doctor snapped. “It sounds familiar, a nice little phrase that digs itself in your subconscious.” The Doctor strides to Lumic, staring him down, an inner fire warms her. “Do you find people trust you more with a slogan? It’s like saying ‘oven ready’ or ‘dither and delay’, all pointless... Just buzz words, are you a man of pointless words or terrible actions?”

Lumic doesn’t respond as he places a hand on a smooth panel, the room begins to brighten up, revealing a vast cavernous chamber with several pods embedded into the cave walls... It’s design is familiar...

“What is this?” The Doctor looks on, taking nervous steps... She feels dwarfed by the scale of the room... Her eyes dart around, absorbing all the information...

“Hibernation Pods…” The Doctor’s thoughts are in a blur, she presses her hands to her head, her mind burns...

“We must survive, Doctor.” Lumic stated. Approaching a complex mishmash of technology...

“We? What do you mean ‘we’ must survive?” The Doctor asks, staggering to her knees... This wasn’t a headache... Something was directly interfering with her...

Lumic ‘glided to the centre of the cavernous room. It spiralled upwards with dozens of pods embedded into its walls. Ahead of them was a vast chamber with a casing of reflective steel. But a centrepiece was an amalgamation of rusted steel and cold-fluid pipes pumping into something that sat... Waiting... Waiting for her... The Doctor could make out a figure of a man, no... Something no longer a ‘man’...

A painful... Drawn out... Synthetic voice called out... An all too familiar sound. It’s eyes were dim, its brain pulsed vividly… It’s steel armour scorched with flame from another universe…

“wE Must Survive Doctor! YoU Will Help Uzz”

“A Cyber Controller?!” The Doctor palms her temples... Her mind is in flames...

“But not just any Cyber controller… It’s you isn’t it? John Lumic!”

Lumic stood with the Cyber monstrosity, a silver giant sat on a throne of rusted steel... Lumic flicks dials and haphazard levers... It begins to glow blue, synthetic material began to stretch and retract on the creature... It was... Breathing?

“DoCtoR… We Meet Again At last…”