by Oli Smith
‘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 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!’
CHAPTER 4
Level Zero
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 fly 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. ‘Th
ey’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 across her face, ‘or we could hitch a ride . . .’
CHAPTER 5
A New Arrival
The Doctor had been logged into the computer for over half an hour now. The tiny flat had become cramped and stuffy a long time ago – even with the tiny window open.
It had been Amy’s suggestion to climb to the roof and admire the view while they waited, but the lifts had stopped working again and they had to take the stairs. There were seventy floors in total and Rory made sure to remind Amy of that fact as they passed each one.
His feet hurt.
‘My feet hurt,’ he said for the fifth time.
‘Nearly there now.’
‘They hurt bad. Like, blisters and things.’
‘It’ll be worth it when we get to the top.’
Finally they passed the uppermost floor and opened the hot metal door to the roof. A cool breeze washed over them and Rory undid a second button on his shirt. He held his arms away from his sides to fully enjoy the sensation as he walked across the burnt grey paving slabs that wound a path through the broken air-conditioning vents and shattered maintenance boxes.
He put his arm around Amy as they reached the edge and gazed out at the ruins beyond. The view took their breath away.
‘It’s like . . . everything is sky,’ Rory said.
From this height, the blinding heat of the sun appeared to have frozen the desert into glass. The dunes scattered a ragged reflection of the white-blue sky above. Even the nearby buildings were reflected, giving the impression that the entire city was simply –
‘Floating. That’s what it feels like,’ Amy replied. ‘And there’s not a cloud in the sky. Do you think there’s any water left in the world?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Rory, squinting his eyes against the glare and looking around. ‘Although,’ he motioned with his hand, ‘there’s that.’
Amy turned to her right. A single cloud hung on the horizon, a plume of glittering white that seemed to stretch for miles.
‘Uh, Rory, I don’t think that’s a cloud,’ she said nervously. ‘I think that’s a sandstorm.’
‘Well it would be, wouldn’t it?’ Rory had travelled with the Doctor long enough to expect anything less dangerous. ‘What shall we do?’
Amy’s reply was drowned out by a loud thud. It echoed loudly around the tower block and slowly the pair returned their gaze to the desert.
A large round crater had appeared in the sand, just over a mile away from where the pair were standing.
‘There!’ Amy pointed to the sky and Rory raised his eyes just in time to see a silver streak falling back down to Earth.
Another thud, another crater. Closer this time.
‘What,’ said Rory, ‘was that?’
They didn’t have to wait long to find out.
The object cannoned into the side of the tower block nearly twenty floors below with a crash that made the entire building shudder. Rory stumbled dangerously close to the edge of the roof but Amy grabbed him as she dropped to her knees beside him. Wrapping an arm around his legs for support, she leaned over the ledge and looked down.
Clinging to the side of the structure, covered in grey concrete dust, was a giant robot. As they watched, it turned its smooth, featureless head upwards towards them, and the image of a bright yellow smiley face appeared on its screen. The face winked.
With a loud crunch, the robot withdrew a fist from the wall and smashed it into the floor above to pull itself up. Then it did the same with its other fist. Slowly, the robot began to climb up the tower block, almost demolishing the wall as it did so. Broken glass and bits of plaster exploded outwards with each calculated punch, cascading over the robot’s metal back like water.
‘Uh,’ Rory put a hand on Amy’s shoulder. ‘Shouldn’t we be, um, running? Or something?’
‘I don’t know. It seems pretty friendly, what with the smiley face and all.’
‘Yeah, but maybe that’s how it tricks people into letting it kill them. I mean, how do we know it wasn’t an army of robots that destroyed the planet in the first place? And demolishing this city isn’t just them finishing the job?’
‘Could be,’ Amy replied. ‘But either way, it doesn’t exactly look like the kinda thing we could run away from, does it?’
Rory swallowed and winced as the building shuddered from another blow by the robot. ‘Well, you’re the boss,’ he said finally.
So they waited, until eventually the robot’s huge metal hand smashed through the ledge of the roof. It hauled its massive bulk onto the paving slabs. The slabs cracked.
‘Well you . . . are definitely a lot bigger than I thought,’ Rory finished lamely. Cautiously, Amy raised a hand and waggled her fingers in greeting.
‘Hi,’ she said.
The robot looked at them.
‘Hello.’ Its voice crackled slightly, and it looked down to see that its speaker was clogged with dust. There was a sudden burst of noise, and a small grey cloud burst from its chest. When it spoke again its voice was far deeper than before. ‘Let’s try that again: hello? Hello.’
‘Did that robot just clear its throat at us?’ whispered Amy.
‘I think it just did,’ Rory replied.
The robot ignored them. ‘I’m sorry to bother you,’ it continued, ‘but I’m afraid an army of robots is heading this way and they’re programmed to demolish the city.’
There was silence for a moment, then Rory folded his arms and turned to face his wife. ‘This,’ he said triumphantly, gesturing at the robot behind him with his thumb, ‘is why you should always listen to me.’
CHAPTER 6
Demolition
A short while later, Amy and Rory had led the robot down into the hallway outside apartment 23B. Its huge frame left long scratches down each side
of the corridor and with every shuddering step, Rory had visions of them all plummeting down to ground level.
‘So, what do we call you?’ Amy asked the robot. ‘Do you have a name?’
‘My name is Daryl,’ the robot replied.
Rory sniggered and Daryl’s smiley face transformed into a frown. Rory stopped sniggering immediately. ‘Nice to meet you, Daryl,’ he said.
The door opposite the Doctor’s apartment had been left ajar. Now it swung backwards and forwards in a heavy breeze, beating a regular rhythm against the frame.
‘That’s funny,’ said Amy. She stepped forward to prevent another slam. ‘I can’t remember it being this windy when we arrived.’
She looked out through the broken hole in the side of the tower block. The sandstorm was larger now, much larger.
‘They’re coming,’ said Daryl
‘Wait, you mean that sandstorm is the robot army you warned us about?’
Daryl nodded.
Rory swallowed. ‘How many of them are there?’
‘It takes 347 to span the length of a city this large.’
‘But what’s the point? There aren’t any humans left to enslave!’
‘Enslave?’ Daryl’s screen refreshed and a large blue question mark appeared. ‘They’re helping humanity. And even if they could think for themselves, what would they need with human slaves?’
‘Well, in the movies . . .’ Rory trailed off.
Daryl shook his head in disbelief.
‘But why would humanity want their world demolished?’ Amy stepped in.
‘Demolition is only the first stage. They’re preparing the ground to rebuild the planet.’
‘So unless we grab the Doctor and get out of here sharpish we’ll become the foundations for Chicago 2. I get it, right, let’s go!’ She pushed open the door to apartment 23B, and strode over to where the Doctor was still sitting, slumped in his chair and connected to the Desktop.