TARDIS…
"So, it's my turn for adventures." Yui said, sitting on Jared's shoulder. "I'm happy for this."
"Of course you are, Yui." Jared said, looking over at Yui. "And I needed someone who could enjoy this."
"That being me." Yang said, entering the TARDIS console room. "Hey."
"You lot packed and ready to go?" The Doctor asked, as he is starting to power up the TARDIS.
Powell Estate…
Jackie and Mickey are outside the TARDIS with Rose, who has a heavy rucksack on her back.
"Have you got everything?" Jackie asked.
"I've got everything, don't worry." Rose said, reassuring Jackie.
"Be careful."
"You'll have to call Mo about that…"
"Oh, never mind Mo."
"Okay, I'm going now. I love you!"
"I love you."
"Love you, love you." Rose said, kissing Mickey.
"Love you." Mickey said, frowning.
"Bye."
Jackie turns her back and walks away as the Tardis dematerialises. Mickey watches, sadly.
Tardis…
"So where are we going?" Rose asked, entering the TARDIS console room.
"Further than we've ever gone before." The Doctor said, happily.
New Earth…
The Tardis has materialised across the river from a massive city. Flying cars zoom overhead.
"It's the year five billion and twenty three. We're in the galaxy M87, and this? This is New Earth." The Doctor said.
"That's just. That's just…" Rose said, at a loss for words.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
"That's amazing. I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet, different sky." Rose said, jumping for a moment, before stopping to sniff the air. "What's that smell?"
"Apple grass."
"Apple grass."
"Yeah, yeah."
"It's beautiful. Oh, I love this. Can I just say, travelling with you, all of you, I love it." Rose said, holding the Doctor's hand.
"Me too." The Doctor said, smiling.
"New Earth, this place is really cool." Yui said, still sitting on Jared's shoulder. "I know the Doctor is hiding something."
"He is." Jared said, dragging Yang away. "Come on."
"New Earth." Yang said, holding Jared's hand. "Did you know that we would come here? To this New Earth."
"Well, yeah."
Jared took off his leather jacket and laid it on the ground for him and Yang to sit on, as the Doctor did the same with his trench coat to sit on it with Rose. The five of them are looking at the city.
"Okay, what did I miss?" Yui asked, flying around to look at the city, as she is in her pixie form. "How did this happen?"
"It's a long story." Jared said, looking at the Doctor. "It feels like forever."
"I'll tell you what happened, my little fairy friend. So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted." The Doctor said, recapping what happened.
"That was our first date." Rose said, looking at the Doctor.
"We had chips. So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in."
"So, they found this place in twenty three years?" Yang asked.
"Pretty much."
"What's the city called?" Yui asked, flying back to Jared's shoulder to sit on it.
"New New York." The Doctor said, happily.
"Oh, come on." Rose said, finding it hard to believe.
"A city with two news in there." Yang said, agreeing with Rose. "It can't be called that."
"It is. It's the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York.��� The Doctor said, noticing that Rose is staring at him. "What?"
"You're so different." Rose said, happily.
"New New Doctor."
"Um, Jared." Yui said, noticing that the spider is close to them. "There's a…"
"I know." Jared said, placing his hand on top of Yang's. "Just leave it be."
"I want to check out the city." Yang said, still fixated on the view of New New York. "See if there's some bars there. Possibly get a drink."
"Clothes shopping does sound good too. Can we go and visit New New York, so good they named it twice?" Rose asked.
"Well, I thought we might go there first." The Doctor said, as they're looking at an elegant pair of curved skyscrapers standing apart from the city on their side of the river.
"Why, what is it?"
"Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side. That's the universal symbol for hospitals. I got this. A message on the psychic paper." The Doctor said, taking out the psychic paper, which says:Ward 26 Please Come. "Someone wants to see me."
"Hmm. And I thought we were just sight-seeing." Rose said, lifting the Doctor off the ground. "Come on, then. Let's go and buy some grapes."
"Grapes sounds really good." Yang said, as Jared pulled her off the ground. "What are we gonna do now?"
"Just check out the hospital." The Doctor said, and Jared is walking behind him and Rose with Yang and Yui. "And find out who sent out the message."
"Do you think mommy and daddy would like this planet?" Yui asked, sitting in the pocket of Jared's leather jacket. "With that view."
"Yeah." Jared said, smiling. "They would."
"I don't like hospitals." The Doctor said, sadly.
"Is it because they're not hospitable?" Yang asked, coming up with a bad pun.
Hospital reception…
The hospital reception room is a massive area.
"Bit rich coming from you." Rose said.
"I can't help it. I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps." The Doctor said.
"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes. Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted." Someone on the speaker said.
"Very smart. Not exactly NHS." Rose said, looking around.
"No shop. I like the little shop." The Doctor said, annoyed.
"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything."
"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war."
Rose finally notices the faces of the nursing staff in their nun-like wimples and habits, "They're cats."
"You could say that it's a cat-astrophe." Yang said, looking at the cat nurses. "And they're really feline it."
"Now, don't stare. Think what you look like to them, all pink and yellow. That's where I'd put the shop. Right there." The Doctor said, walking into the lift with Jared and Yui sitting inside Jared's coat pocket. "Ward 26, thanks!"
Lift…
"Ward 26." Yui said, flying out of Jared's leather jacket pocket. "What's up there?"
"Oh, a lot of things." Jared said, smiling. "They're sick."
Hospital reception…
"Hold on! Hold on!" Rose said, dragging Yang to the elevator.
Lift…
"Oh, too late. We're going up." The Doctor said.
Hospital reception…
"It's all right, there's another lift." Rose said, smiling.
"Ward 26." The Doctor said.
Lift...
"And watch out for the disinfectant." The Doctor said.
Hospital reception…
"Watch out for what?" Rose asked.
Lift…
"The disinfectant!" Jared said, angrily.
Hospital reception…
"The what?" Rose asked.
Lift…
"The disin…" The Doctor said, annoyed. "Oh, you'll find out."
"Find out what?" Yui asked, floating in front of the Doctor.
"The two blondes will find out what the disinfectant is." Jared said, laughing a lot. "Oh, at least it isn't Weiss."
Lift 2…
"Er, Ward 26, thanks." Rose said, as her and Yang's elevator is going down, not up.
"So, who do you think called us?" Yang asked, looking at Rose.
"Oh, I don't know."
Lift..
"Commence stage one disinfection." Someone on the speaker said, and the Doctor and Jared get drenched by a spray.
Lift 2…
"Commence stage one disinfection." Someone on the speaker said, while Rose jumps and shrieks when she got hit by the spray.
"Are you kidding me?!" Yang exclaimed, as shocked as Rose. "I didn't ask for a shower!"
Lift...
The next stage of the disinfectant is a blow dry. The Doctor and Jared enjoy it.
"Now this is nice." Jared said, as Yui is flying around the elevator. "I like this."
Lift 2...
Rose and Yang finally get the hang of it.
"Something tells me that Jared was expecting this." Yang said, looking over at Rose.
"Ya think?" Rose asked, angrily.
Basement…
Chip meets Rose and Yang in the rubbish strewn corridor, "The human children are clean."
"Er, we're looking for Ward 26?" Rose asked.
"This way, Rose Tyler and Yang Xiao Long."
Rose picks up a metal bar while Yang enables her Ember Celica and they follow Chip carefully.
Ward 26…
"Please report to reception." Someone on the speaker said.
The Doctor and Jared are escorted by a veiled nurse.
"Nice place. No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one. Just a shop, so people can shop." The Doctor said, while the nurse removes her veil.
"The hospital is a place of healing." Jatt said.
"A shop does some people the world of good. Not me. Other people." The Doctor said.
"Like my mommy, Silica, and Lisbeth!" Yui said, flying out of Jared's leather jacket pocket. "They love shopping."
"All girls love shopping." Jared said, looking at Yui, through his Augma. "And guys too, depending on what it is."
"The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help, and to mend." Jatt said, and they pass an open cubicle.
"Excuse me! Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York." Clovis said, angrily.
"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm dying, sir. A lifetime of charity and abstinence, and it ends like this." The Duke said.
"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance." Clovis said.
"Frau Clovis! I'm so weak."
"Sister Jatt. A little privacy, please."
"He'll be up and about in no time." Jatt said, reassuring Clovis.
"I doubt it." The Doctor said.
"So, what��s Petrifold Regression?" Yui asked, looking at the Duke of Manhattan.
"It's when you're turn to stone." The Doctor said, looking at Yui. "And that happening to the Duke of Manhattan."
"Is there a cure?"
"There won't be a cure for oh, a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue."
"Have faith in the Sisterhood. But is there no one here you recognise? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient." Jatt said, looking between the Doctor and Jared.
"There is someone we recognize." Jared said, looking at the large fade in a container by the picture window with a view of the city. "We found him. The person we're seeing."
"Who is that?" Yui asked, flying to the Face of Boe.
"The Face of Boe." The Doctor said, walking to the glass jar with Jared.
"Novice Hame, if I can leave these gentlemen in your care?" Jatt asked, looking at Hame.
"Oh, I think our friends got lost. Rose Tyler and Yang Xiao Long. Could you ask at reception?"
"Certainly, sir." Jatt said, leaving the room.
"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep. That's all he tends to do these days. Are you friends, or…" Hame said, sadly.
"We met just the once on Platform One. What's wrong with him?" The Doctor asked, looking at Hame.
"Doctor, he's dying." Jared said, sadly. "I'm sorry. I wish I told you."
"Jared, why is he dying?" Yui asked.
"He's dying of old age, Yui."
"It's the one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions, although that's impossible." Hame said.
"Oh, I don't know. I like impossible. We're here. I look a bit different, but it's me, it's the Doctor. And I've got Jared by my side, Yui too." The Doctor said, smiling.
Basement room…
A reel to reel projector is showing a film of a party. Cassandra is there, as a proper human woman.
"I mean, you never know what your life is going to be like, ever. I'm bored with this drink. Anyway. Oh, hello darling! Now, don't. Stop it." Cassandra said, on film.
"Wait a minute, that's…" Rose said, looking at the film with Yang.
"Yeah, that's…" Yang said, her gauntlets out.
"Peekaboo!" Cassandra said, happily.
"Don't you come anywhere near us, Cassandra." Rose said, backing away from Cassandra.
"Especially after last time." Yang said, trying to keep her cool.
"Why? What do you think I'm going to do? Flap you to death?" Cassandra asked, looking between Rose and Yang.
"Yeah, but what about Gollum?" Rose asked.
"Oh that's just Chip. He's my pet."
"I worship the mistress." Chip said, happily.
"Moisturise me, moisturise me." Cassandra said, as Chip sprays her. "He's not even a proper life form. He's a force grown clone. I modelled him on my favourite pattern. But he's so faithful. Chip sees to my physical needs."
"We hope that means food." Rose said, looking at Cassandra.
"And you're not really feeling it." Yang said, crossing her arms. "Anyway, why are you still alive?"
"After the two of you murdered me." Cassandra said.
"That was your own fault." Rose said.
"It really was." Yang said, her eyes glowing red. "You almost killed Rose and me. I won't forgive you for that."
"The brain of my mistress survived. And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin." Chip said.
"What about the skin? We saw it. You, you got ripped apart." Rose said, recalling what happened.
"Ripped apart like a crepe or a piece of paper." Yang said, looking at Cassandra.
"That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is the back." Cassandra said.
"Right! So you're talking out of your a…" Rose said, laughing a lot.
"Ask not."
"The mistress was lucky to survive. Chip secreted m'lady into the hospital." Chip said.
"So they don't know you're here?" Rose asked.
"Chip steals medicine. Helps m'lady. Soothes her, strokes her." Chip said, as he began petting Cassandra.
"You can stop right there, Chip." Rose said, annoyed.
"Yeah, I find that a little bit disturbing." Yang said, crossing her arms. "Stop."
"But I'm so alone, hidden down here. The last human in existence." Cassandra said.
"Don't start that again. They've called this planet New Earth." Rose said, looking at Cassandra.
"A vegetable patch."
"And there's millions of humans out there. Millions of them."
"Mutant stock."
"They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. You stayed still. You got yourself all pickled and preserved, and what good did it do you?"
"I think it didn't do you any good." Yang said, her eyes glowing red. "You flattened yourself to death. And you lost what it means to be human."
"Oh, I remember that night. Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace. That was the last time anyone told me I was beautiful. After that it all became such hard work." Cassandra said, looking at the film.
"Well, you've got a knack for survival, we'll give you that." Rose said.
"But I've not been idle, Rose, Yang, tucked away underneath this hospital. I've been listening. The Sisters are hiding something."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't get it." Yang said, looking at Cassandra. "How can the cats hide something?"
"Oh these cats have secrets. Hush, let me whisper. Come close." Cassandra said.
"You must be joking if you think we're coming anywhere near you." Rose said, backing away in one direction, as Yang backed away in another direction.
Energy grabs Rose's hands, holding her still.
"Chip, activate the psychograft." Cassandra said.
"I can't move. Cassandra, let me go! What're you doing?" Rose asked, as light streams down from a contraption overhead.
"The lady's moving on. It's goodbye trampoline, and hello blondie." Cassandra said, happily.
There is a whoosh of energy from Cassandra to Rose then everything switches off. Rose collapses.
"Mistress?" Chip asked.
"Moisturise me." Cass-Rose said, lifting herself off the ground. "How bizarre. Arms, fingers, hair! Let me see! Let me see! Oh my God. I'm a chav!"
"Great…" Yang said, rolling her eyes. "You took over Rose's body."
Ward 26…
"Hope, harmony and health. Hope, harmony and health." Someone on the speaker said.
The Doctor brings Hame a cup of water.
"That's very kind. There's no need." Hame said.
"You're the one working." The Doctor said.
"There's not much to do, just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes, in my mind. Such ancient songs."
"Are we the only visitors?"
"I think we are." Jared said, smiling. "Spaceman."
"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct long ago. He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret, that he will speak those words only to one like himself." Hame said, sadly.
"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked.
"It's just a story."
"Tell us the rest."
"It's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely God."
Yang ran into Ward 26 out of breath and Jared walked over to her, smiling, and he's drinking a bottle of Coke.
"Hi." Jared said, looking at Yang. "How did it go?"
"The bitchy trampoline has Rose." Yang said, her eyes glowing red. "I couldn't stop her."
"Well, I'm not letting her lay a finger on you."
"Thanks. So, what's the bitchy trampoline's plan?"
"Oh, not much." Jared said, happily.
"What is she up to?" Yui asked, floating in front of Jared.
"She's gonna do something stupid."
"Phone." The Doctor said, as he looked over at Jared. "Phone. I'm worried about Rose."
"We all are." Jared said, tossing the Doctor his smart phone. "Here you go."
"Rose, where are you?" The Doctor asked, Jared's phone near his ear.
Basement room...
"How does she speak?" Cass-Rose asked.
"Old Earth Cockney." Chip said.
"Er, wotcha."
Ward 26…
"Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm on my way, governor." Cass-Rose said.
Basement room…
"I shall proceed up the apples and…" Cass-Rose said.
Ward 26…
"...pears." Cass-Rose said.
"You'll never guess. We're with the Face of Boe." The Doctor said, happily.
Basement room…
"Remember him?" The Doctor asked.
"Of course I do." Cass-Rose said, happily.
Ward 26…
"That big old…" Cass-Rose said.
Basement room…
"...Boat race." Cass-Rose said.
Ward 26…
"I'd better go. See you in a minute." The Doctor said, tossing Jared his phone back.
"Rose wasn't acting like herself." Yui said, and Jared placed his phone back inside his pants pocket.
"Yeah, she felt a bit off." Yang said, looking over at Jared. "And who says apple and pears?"
"Oh, it's London slang. I googled it up once. She meant stairs." Jared said, walking away with the Doctor and Yang.
The Duke of Manhattan is very happy, "Didn't think I was going to make it. It's those men again! They're my good luck charms. Come in. Don't be shy."
"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract." Clovis said.
"Winch me up." The Duke said, and his bed was raised up. "Up! Look at me. No sign of infection."
"Champagne, sir?" The waiter asked.
"No, thanks. You had Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor asked, looking at the Duke.
"That being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured." The Duke said.
"But that's impossible."
"Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science." Casp said, walking up to the Doctor.
"How on Earth did you cure him?" The Doctor asked.
"How on New Earth, you might say."
"What's in that solution?"
"A simple remedy."
"Then tell me what it is."
"I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality. I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."
"I'm the Doctor, this is Jared and Yang." The Doctor said, looking back at Jared and Yang.
"I think you'll find that we're the doctors here." Casp said.
"Matron Casp, you're needed in Intensive Care." Jatt said.
"If you would excuse me."
Casp and Jatt walk away.
"It's happened again. One of the patients is conscious."
"Oh, we can't have that."
Jared, and Yang are lying down on the floor, as they look at each other with the Augma headsets on their heads.
"Yui, Yang, we need to discuss what will happen." Jared said, sadly.
"We do." Yang said, while she and Jared closed her eyes. "Ready?"
"I'm ready."
"I'll join you two in a bit." Yui said, happily.
"Link. Start." Jared and Yang said.
Kirito and Asuna's house…
Jared was drinking a cup of coffee as Yang was drinking some wine. Yui was sitting down on the couch with the two.
"So, Cassandra will do what with Rose." Yang said, looking at Jared. "What is she up to?"
"She wants to use what the cat nurses are up to inside the hospital." Jared said, sipping his coffee.
"So the cats are really feline it."
"Basically."
"Does it come down to money?" Yui asked, eating the cupcakes laid down on the table.
"Yeah." Jared said, frowning.
"Do you want me to hack into their cameras?"
"Nah, I'm good. We won't be here for long."
"How about I punch them?" Yang asked, happily. "Teach then a lesson."
"Maybe later." Jared said, smiling.
"What is the cat nurses up to, anyway?"
"They're using diseased humans to cure diseases from sick patients."
"I don't like it." Yui said.
"Neither do I."
(Jared's POV)
Ward 26…
Yang and I opened our eyes, and we pulled ourselves off the ground. We walked towards the Doctor.
"Ambient temperature stands at fourteen degrees. This temperature is designed to promote healing and well-being." Someone on the speaker said.
The Doctor is going round all the cubicles. One has a person floating in midair, "There you are." He is dragging Cass-Rose with him as Yang and I are behind them. "Come and look at this patient. Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one." We're looking at a man as white as his bed gown. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine. I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine in the world, then why is it such a secret?"
"I can't Adam and Eve it." Cass-Rose said.
"What's, what's. what's with the voice?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Just larking about. New Earth, new me."
"Well, I can talk. New New Doctor."
"Mmm, aren't you just…" Cass-Rose said, and Cassandra grabs the Doctor and kisses him, long and hard. "Terminal's this way. Phew."
"Yep, still got it."
���Rose was never like that." Yang said, while I nodded my head. "We know her. All of us do."
"Kissing like that." Yui said, floating in front of me. "It looked like she enjoyed it."
"Yeah." I said, walking with Yang, behind the Doctor, as Yui is flying next to me. "Like way too much."
Ward 26 waiting room…
At the computer terminal, by the lift.
"Nope, nothing odd. Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop." The Doctor said, scanning away with his sonic screwdriver.
"No, it's missing something else. When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about Intensive Care. Where is it?" Cass-Rose asked.
"You're right. Well done."
"Why would they hide a whole department? It's got to be there somewhere. Search the sub-frame."
"What if the sub-frame's locked?"
"Try the installation protocol."
"Yeah. Of course. Sorry. Hold on." The Doctor said, as he uses the sonic screwdriver on the interface, and the whole wall slides down to reveal a corridor. "Intensive Care. Certainly looks intensive."
"It does." Yang said, and her Ember Celica are out. "So, what will we do now?"
"We let the Doctor know what's up with Rose." I said, smiling.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Yui asked.
Our actions are noticed by Novice Hame.
ICU…
Rose leads the way down a good old-fashioned staircase. The whole place is lined with the cells, thousands of them, a bit like the Tomb of the Cybermen. The Doctor opens one at random. It contains a very sick looking man.
"That's disgusting. What's wrong with him?" Cass-Rose asked.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor said, closing the door and moves on to the next.
"This is one of the saddest things I ever seen." I said, as the next pod contains a young woman. "I just...I can't."
"Neither can I." Yang said, grabbing my hand.
"What disease is that?" Cass-Rose asked.
"All of them. Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything." The Doctor said.
"What about us? Are we safe?"
"I think we are." Yui said, frowning. "I wish we could help them."
"Yui's right, we are safe. Anyway, the air's sterile. Just don't touch them." The Doctor said, closing the door.
"How many patients are there?" Cass-Rose asked.
"They're not patients." Yang said, looking at the diseased humans.
"But they're sick."
"They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm." The Doctor said, angrily.
"Why don't they just die?"
"They carry diseases." I said, sadly. "They're the last to go. And I'm sorry, I wish we could have prevented this."
"It's for the greater cause." Hame said.
"Novice Hame, when you took your vows, did you agree to this?" The Doctor asked, looking at Hame.
"The Sisterhood has sworn to help."
"You nurses help by killing!" Yang said, her eyes glowing red. "How could you do such a thing?"
"But they're not real people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."
"What's the turnover, hmm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years? How many!" The Doctor said, as angry as Yang.
"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh." Hame said.
"They're not flesh." I said, squeezing Yang's hand. "They're living people! You can't use them like lab rats!"
"But think of those humans out there, healthy and happy, because of us."
"If they live because of this, then life is worthless." The Doctor said.
"But who are you to decide that?"
"I'm the Doctor, this is Jared and Yang. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to higher authorities, then there isn't one. It stops with us."
"Just to confirm. None of the humans in the city actually know about this?" Cass-Rose asked.
"We thought it best not." Hame said.
"Hold on. I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand. What have you done to Rose?" The Doctor asked, looking at Hame.
"I don't know what you mean."
"And I'm being very, very calm. You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being so very, very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed."
"We haven't done anything."
"I'm perfectly fine." Cass-Rose said.
"These people are dying, and Rose would care like how Jared, Yang, and Yui cares." The Doctor said, looking at Hame.
"Ooo." I said, laughing a lot. "Busted."
"Oh, all right, clever clogs. Smarty pants. Lady-killer." Cass-Rose said, walking up to the Doctor.
"What's happened to you?" The Doctor asked.
"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to find it out."
"Who are you?"
"The last human."
"Cassandra?"
"Wake up and smell the perfume.��� Cass-Rose said, squirting the vial up the Doctor's nose, and he passes out.
"You've hurt him. I don't understand. I'll have to fetch Matron." Hame said.
"You do that, because I want to see her. Now, run along. Sound the alarm!" Cass-Rose said, and she pulls on a power cable and sets off the alarms. "And now for you two. How should I take you both out?"
"Get out of her." I said, taking out the Monado and aiming it at Cass-Rose. "Right now."
"No." Cass-Rose said, as Hame runs away. "You have two choices. You can stay here and get knocked out by my spray. Or you can run up to that hospital ward where that Face is."
"Yang." I said, and Yang nods her head, with the blonde running off.
"Jared…" Yui said, floating in front of me.
(Open POV)
Ward 26 waiting room…
"Matron, it's those men, and those girls." Hame said.
"We heard the alarm. Now get back to work. Tend to your patients." Casp said.
ICU…
The Doctor and Jared are inside a cell. Chip has joined his mistress.
"Let us out! Let us out!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"Aren't the both of you lucky there was a spare? Standing room only." Cass-Rose said.
"You've stolen Rose's body."
"Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor, Jared. And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about three minutes left. Enjoy."
"Cassandra." Jared said, with Yui sitting on his shoulder. "Let Rose go. Please!"
"I will. As soon as I've found someone younger, and less common, then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushaby. It's showtime." Cass-Rose said.
"Anything we can do to help?" Jatt asked.
"So, what's the plan?" Yui asked, looking up at Jared.
"We stop Cassandra." Jared said, happily. "And we save Rose."
"How?"
"I don't know, I can't remember everything!"
"It's okay. You can figure it out."
"I know I can." Jared said, as Yui has a frown on her face. "The Doctor has the plan in mind."
"I'll tell them, and you've no way of stopping me. You're not exactly Nuns with Guns. You're not even armed." Cass-Rose said, looking at Casp.
"Who needs arms when we have claws?" Casp asked, as she unsheathes her claws.
"Well, nice try. Chip? Plan B."
Chip pulls a lever, and all the doors on that level open. The Doctor and Jared come out along with a lot of dazed, diseased people.
"What've you done?" The Doctor asked, looking at Cass-Rose.
"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See you!" Cass-Rose said, happily.
"Don't touch them! Whatever you do, don't touch!"
The Doctor and Jared run after Cassandra and Chip as the people advance on the cats.
"Jared, I don't know if bringing Yang up there is a good idea." Yui said, sitting on Jared's shoulder. "She could be in danger."
"It's better that she is up there, than down here." Jared said, running behind the Doctor.
"What's so bad about down here?"
"Just the diseased humans. That's all."
"That's all?"
"Yeah." Jared said, when the locks on all the cell doors blow, freeing the people inside. "I take it all back, this is bad."
"I know." Yui said, looking up at Jared. "Can't you put up an Art around us?"
"A Monado Art?"
"Monado Shield." Yui said, as Jared took out the Monado and activated the art. "That should protect you guys."
"Yeah." Jared said, and there's a forcefield around him, the Doctor, and Cass-Rose, as they're on a catwalk across the way.
"Oh, my God." Cass-Rose said, terrified.
"What the hell have you done?" The Doctor asked, looking at Cass-Rose.
"It wasn't me."
"One touch and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra. We've got to go down."
"But there's thousands of them!"
"Run! Down! Down! Go down!" The Doctor said, angrily.
Matron gets to a telephone.
"Quarantine the building!" Casp said.
"This building is under quarantine." Someone on the speaker said.
Hospital...
Shutters slam down across doors and windows.
"Repeat, this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat, no one may leave the premises." Someone on the speaker said.
Staircase...
"Keep going! Go down!" The Doctor said, looking at Cass-Rose and Jared.
Ward 26…
"Okay, this is bad." Yang said, walking around the room. "Why did Jared want me here again?"
"Yang." The Face of Boe said, telepathically. "Everything will be okay."
"Who are you?"
"You know, old friend."
Basement...
Cassandra runs to call a lift.
"No, the lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving." The Doctor said.
"This way!" Cass-Rose said, leading the Doctor and Jared towards her lair.
"Shit." Jared said, looking back at Chip who gets cut off from them as more people approach. "Chip! We have to help him!"
"Someone will touch him." The Doctor said, agreeing with Jared.
"Leave him! He's just a clone thing. He's only got a half life. Come on!" Cass-Rose said, angrily.
"Mistress!" Chip said, terrified.
"We're sorry, we can't let her escape." The Doctor said, running off with Jared.
"My Mistress!" Chip said, jumping down a chute labelled Waste.
Ward 26 waiting area...
"Excuse me. Can we get some service?" Clovis asked, and diseased people come along the exposed corridor from ICU.
"Please." A woman said.
Frau Clovis screams and hits the alarm before running away.
"I'm dealing with diseased humans." Yang said looking at what Clovis was terrified of. "I think they need help."
(Jared's POV)
Basement room...
Cassandra runs to the back door but there are people there, too, "We're trapped! What am I going to do?"
"Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body. That psychograft is banned on every civilised planet. You're compressing Rose to death." The Doctor said, looking at Cass-Rose.
"But I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead." Cass-Rose said.
"Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out. Give her back to me."
"You asked for it."
Cassandra take a deep breath and blows energy out to the Doctor.
"Oh no…" I said, as Yui is sitting comfortably on my shoulder. "This is bad."
"How bad?" Yui asked.
"Really bad."
"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum. So many parts. And hardly used. Oh, oh, two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!" Cass-Doctor said, happily.
"Get out of him." Rose said, angrily.
"Oo, he's slim, and a little bit foxy. You've thought so too. I've been inside your head. You've been looking. You like it." Cass-Doctor said, when the diseased people burst in. "What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?"
"Hey, you guys." Yui said, flying towards the ladder. "There's a ladder. You can climb it!"
"Brilliant." I said, running towards the ladder to climb it. "Come along, Tyler!"
"Out of the way, blondie!" Cass-Doctor said, pushing Rose out of the way.
"Please, help us. Help." A woman said.
Up on Ward 26, the Duke of Manhattan lends his considerable bulk to the barricade. Chip shuts himself inside a cell in ICU.
Lift shaft...
Climbing up.
"If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something." Rose said, looking at Cass-Doctor.
"Yap, yap, yap. God, it was tedious inside your head. Hormone city." Cass-Doctor said, annoyed.
"We're going to die if…" Rose said, when Matron Casp grabs her ankle. "Get off!"
"All our good work. All that healing. The good name of the Sisterhood. You have destroyed everything." Casp said.
"Yeah, I don't like this." I said, as Yui is floating next to me. "But things will work out in the end."
"How?" Yui asked, frowning.
"Spoilers." I said, looking down to see Matron Casp fall, screaming. "I'm sorry!"
"You guys got this." Yui said, watching Rose and Cass-Doctor climb up the ladder. "We've got work to do!"
"Maximum quarantine. Divert all shuttles." Someone on the speakers said.
The doors on the next level will not open.
"Help us." A man said.
"Now what do we do?" Cass-Doctor asked.
"Cassie, just use the sonic screwdriver." I said, looking down at Cass-Doctor. "Please!"
"You mean this thing?"
Cass-Doctor, took out the sonic screwdriver.
"Yes, he means that thing." Rose said, annoyed.
"Well, I don't know how. That Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts." Cass-Doctor said.
"Cassandra, go back into me. The Doctor can open it. Do it!"
"Hold on tight."
The energy transfers.
"Oh, chavtastic again. Open it!" Cass-Rose said.
"Those two fight differently than mommy and daddy." Yui said, watching the Doctor and Rose fight with Cassandra. "Do people fight like this?"
"Only if they're an old married couple." I said, laughing a lot.
"Are mommy and daddy like that?"
So Cassandra swaps back again between the Doctor and Rose, going back into the Doctor.
"Kirito and Asuna?" I asked, looking back at Yui. "Nah, they're awesome. The Black Swordsman and Lightning Flash Asuna. They were amazing in SAO, and so were you."
"I was?" Yui asked.
"You were. I find you rather adorable in that form."
"Me too. I'm more comfortable like this."
"Oh, I am so going to regret this." Cass-Doctor said, disgusted.
Cassandra transfers to the lead woman on the ladder below us.
"Oh, sweet Lord. I look disgusting." Cass-woman said.
The Doctor tossed the sonic screwdriver to me, and I opened the lift doors.
"Nice to have you back." The Doctor said, looking at Rose.
"No, you don't." Cass-woman said.
Cassandra's energy makes it to Rose before the lift doors close again.
Ward 26 waiting room...
"That was your last warning, Cassandra!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"Inside her head. They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives and they've never been touched." Cass-Rose said, sadly.
The Doctor offers her his hand.
(Open POV)
Ward 26…
Frau Clovis lunges at them with a metal stand.
"We're safe! We're safe! We're safe! We're clean! We're clean! Look, look." The Doctor said, raising his hands.
"Show me your skin." Clovis said.
"Look, clean." The Doctor said, as Jared and Cass-Rose raised their hands. "Look, if we'd been touched, we'd be dead. So how's it going up here? What's the status?"
"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad."
"You can't do that." Yang said, walking up to Clovis. "If they break in here, they'll break the quarantine. We have to keep the disease in here."
"I am not dying in here."
"We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There is ten million people in that city. They'd all be at risk. Now, turn that off!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"Not if it gets me out."
"All right, fine. So I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Rose, Jared, Yang, novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, your Grace. Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!" The Doctor said, while everyone grabs drip bags.
"I don't find health-related puns funny anymore since I started suffering from an irony deficiency." Yang said, as the Doctor collects a long piece of heavy silk rope and starts hanging them on his body.
"I guess you can bite off more than I can chew." Jared said, laughing a lot.
"How's that? Will that do?" The Doctor asked, looking at Cass-Rose, Jared, Yang, and Yui.
"I don't know. Will it do for what?" Cass-Rose asked.
Ward 26 waiting room...
The Doctor opens the lift doors with Jared and Cass-Rose behind him, and Yang is in the ward safe and sound.
"The lifts aren't working." Cass-Rose said.
"They're not moving." Yui said, flying towards the elevator. "They're not going up and down."
"It's totally different." Jared said, smiling.
"Here we go." The Doctor said, putting the sonic screwdriver between his teeth and runs with Jared behind him.
"But you're not going to…" Cass-Rose said, as the Doctor and Jared jumped and grabbed the lift cable. "What do you think you're doing?"
"We're going down! Come on!" The Doctor said, attaching a round piece of equipment to the cable.
"Not in a million years."
"We need another pair of hands. What do you think? If you're so desperate to stay alive, why don't you live a little?"
"Seal the door!" Frau Clovis said.
Cassandra is trapped with approaching disease, "No!"
Lift shaft...
Cass-Rose jumps onto the other side of the Doctor's back.
"You're completely mad. I can see why Rose and Jared like you." Cass-Rose said, looking over at the Doctor.
"We do." Jared said, with Yui sitting on his shoulder. "Rose more than me. I do this because I love it. Seeing all of time and space."
"Jared is just like daddy." Yui said, smiling. "In many ways."
"Going down!" The Doctor said, and the improvised wheel he has attached to the cable takes them down the shaft.
After a short sequence of screaming, the Doctor puts on the brake and they come to a gentle stop on top of the lift.
"Well, that's one way to lose weight." Cass-Rose said.
"Now, listen. When I say so, take hold of that lever." The Doctor said, looking at Cass-Rose.
"There's still a quarantine down there, we can't…"
"Just hold the lever!" Jared said, happily.
"So, what are you doing?" Yui asked, looking down at the elevator's disinfectant tank.
"Yui, I'm cooking up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself." The Doctor said, pouring the contents of the drip bags into the lift's disinfectant tank. "Now, that lever's going to resist. But keep it in position. Hold onto it with everything you've got."
"What about you?" Cass-Rose asked.
"I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in with his fan." The Doctor said, dropping down into the lift itself with Jared.
Lift...
The Doctor opens the doors with his sonic screwdriver. The diseased people turn to look.
"We're in here! Come on!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"Come on!" Jared said, with Yui sitting on his shoulder. "Get in here! You'll love it!"
Lift shaft...
Don't tell them." Cass-Rose said, annoyed.
Lift...
"Pull that lever!" The Doctor said, while all the diseased people in hospital reception start to shuffle towards the lift. "Come and get us. Come on!"
"Hurry up!" Jared said, looking at the patients. "We don't have all day!"
Hotel reception...
"We're in here! Come on!" The Doctor said, annoyed.
"Commence stage one disinfection." Someone on the speaker said.
Lift...
"Hurry up! Come on!" The Doctor said, as the contents of the disinfectant tank are poured onto the him and Jared. "Come on, come on."
"Come in here." Jared said, and the first of the humans join the Doctor and him, and get sprayed as well, then leave. "You want to do this to help out the others!"
"All they want to do is pass it on. Pass it on!" The Doctor said, agreeing with Jared.
Lift shaft...
"Pass on what? Pass on what?" Cass-Rose asked.
Lift...
"Pass it on!" The Doctor said, happily.
"This is cool." Yui said, watching the disinfected and wet humans touch their diseased comrades. "Did you see this coming?"
"Yeah." Jared said, while there are hisses and steam coming off the diseased humans' skin, which is now clear of symptoms. "I did."
Lift...
The wet Doctor and Jared help Cassandra down.
"What did they pass on? Did you and Jared kill them? All of them?" Cass-Rose asked.
"No. That's your way of doing things." The Doctor said.
Hotel reception...
"I'm the Doctor, and I cured them." The Doctor said, as a woman hugs him. "That's right. Hey, there we go, sweetheart. Go to him. Go on, that's it. That's it. It's a new sub-species, Cassandra. A brand new form of life. New humans! Look at them. Look! Grown by cats, kept in the dark, fed by tubes, but completely, completely alive. You can't deny them, because you helped create them. The human race just keeps on going, keeps on changing. Life will out! Ha!"
(Jared's POV)
Ward 26…
A little later, the quarantine has been formally lifted. The Doctor and I are still wet.
"This is the NNYPD. Please step away from the shuttles." Someone on the speaker said.
"All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest. I repeat, immediate arrest. All new life forms will be catalogued and taken into care. All visitors to the hospital will be required to make a statement to the NNYPD." Someone else on the speaker said.
"Doctor, we came here for one person." I said, eating some chocolate chip cookies. "I think we should face him."
"If you Boe what we're talking about." Yang said, agreeing with my bad pun.
"The Face of Boe!�� The Doctor said, and we ran to the last person left on the ward. "You were supposed to be dying."
"There are better things to do today. Dying can wait." The Face of Boe said.
"Oh, I hate telepathy. Just what I need, a head full of big face." Cass-Rose said, annoyed.
"Shh!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"So, this is the end of our adventure on New Earth." Yang said, as she took a chocolate chip cookie from me to eat it. "What is in this cookie?"
"Oh, a mix between peppermint and chocolate." I said, eating another one of my cookies. "Ruby and I were bored one day. And we were like, why not?"
"I wish I could eat those cookies." Yui said, floating in front of me. "They would be good."
"Oh, they are."
"Show off." Yang said, as I nodded my head. "We should hang out at Beacon."
"Maybe after this." Yui said, happily. "The three of us."
"We still have to worry about Torchwick and the White Fang." I said, knowing what will happen next. "Mostly Roman Torchwick."
"Yeah." Yang said, excitedly. "We should take them out with a Yang."
Boe beams away.
"That is enigmatic. That, that is, that is textbook enigmatic. And now for you." The Doctor said, looking at Cass-Rose.
"But everything's happy. Everything's fine. Can't you just leave me?" Cass-Rose asked.
"You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra."
"I don't want to die."
"Cassandra, we're not letting anyone else die." I said, eating another chocolate chip cookie.
"Help me." Cass-Rose said.
"We can't." The Doctor said, sadly.
"Mistress!" Chip said, running up to Cass-Rose.
"Oh, you're alive." Cass-Rose said, looking at Chip.
"I kept myself safe for you, mistress."
"A body. And not just that, a volunteer."
"Don't you dare. He's got a life of his own." The Doctor said, knowing what Cassandra is thinking.
"But I worship the mistress. I welcome her." Chip said.
"You can't, Cassandra, you…" The Doctor said, while the energy transfer takes place and Rose collapses into the Time Lord's arms. "Oh! You all right? Whoa! Okay?"
"Yeah. Hello!" Rose said, happily.
"Hello. Welcome back."
"Oh, sweet Lord. I'm a walking doodle." Cass-Chip said.
"You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the city. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done." The Doctor said, looking at Cass-Chip.
"Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour, and certainly my finest hat, but I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life, and he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last…" Cass-Chip said, and Cassandra falls to her knees.
"Are you okay?" Yang asked, walking over to Cass-Chip.
"I'm fine. I'm dying, but that's fine."
"I can take you to the city." The Doctor said.
"No, you won't. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me any more. You're right, Doctor. It's time to die, and that's good." Cass-Chip said.
"Come on. There's one last thing I can do."
Restaurant...
The Tardis materialises out of sight of the party.
"Oh no, don't. Stop it. Simply not true. Tiny. The beaches were so dismal, and the mosquitoes were…" Cassandra said.
"Thank you." Cass-Chip said, looking at the Doctor, Rose, Yang, and I.
"Just go. And don't look back." The Doctor said.
"Good luck." Rose said, smiling.
"So, Cassandra is gonna die here." Yui said, sadly. "We couldn't save her."
"There is always a time and a place to save someone." I said, frowning. "It just so happens to be the time when we couldn't."
"Cassandra remembered what it meant to be human." Yang said, happily. "After all this time."
"Yeah. I want to go back to Beacon after this."
"You said that before. I want to go to mommy and daddy." Yui said, looking between Yang and I. "I had fun today!"
"I know you did, Yui."
"Thank you." Cassandra said, when Chip's body collapses. Lady Cassandra cradles him. "Oh, my Lord. Are you all right? What is it? What's wrong? Someone get some help! Call a medic or something, quickly!"
"Who is he?" A woman asked.
"I don't know. He just came up to me. I don't even know his name. He just collapsed. I think he's dying. Someone do something! I've got you, sweetheart. It's all right. There you are. There you are, I've got you. It'll be all right. There, there, you poor little thing."