Abandoned (Doctor Who)

Abandoned is the second episode of the first series of Doctor Who produced by The 56Studios. It marks the first appearance of the Cybermen.

Story
The lone constable walked the abandoned street. The dark sky above him was specked with a few stars. Around him, the city rose high into the sky, shining like torches in the night.

He continued his patrol down the street. The part of town that he was in was usually deserted at this hour, despite the rest of the city bustling with life. If he was being honest, this shift was the worst one in the force. This part of town was unsettling, and frankly pretty creepy.

Of course, he really had no choice but to make these rounds. But, he was hoping that he could soon get off this shift and get promoted. After all, he had been working in the department for well over a decade now. It was time to step up in the ranks.

The officer’s footsteps echoed as he entered an alleyway to avoid a dead end up ahead. It was dark here, the only light coming from the city lights above. Instinctively, he produced a torch and ignited it. The beam of light illuminated the alleyway, revealing garbage and overturned barrels littering the stone floor.

Sighing, he progressed forward, his only objective being to get to the other end of this shortcut and back to his patrol.

“A couple more hours,” he muttered to himself.

He continued walking when something banged behind him. Instantly he swung around, shining his flashlight down the alleyway. His other hand was on his gun, ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice.

“Who’s there?” he called. “Come out!”

There was no answer.

“I’m not playing around!” he yelled, his tone growing irritated. “Come out, right now!”

Another bang rang out before a very inhuman voice filled the air.

“''Human detected. Compatible parts detected. Begin… harvest.''”

There were several more bangs before a tall metal figure emerged from the shadows. Its armor was split and torn, dirty and worn. Its dead eyes looked at him intently.

The constable quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at the monster.

“Identify yourself!” he exclaimed, taking several steps back.

Moving forward, the creature held out its hands toward him. “''Do not fear. You will be assimilated.''”

Shots rang out as the officer began to fire his gun at the beast. The bullets hit the titan, but did no damage.

“''Do not… fear. Fear will be… removed. All emotion will be… removed.''”

A second later the officer’s gun emptied. He quickly tried to move for another clip, but the beast was on him in an instant. It wrapped its large gloved hands around his head. They were cold.

“''You are needed. You will be… upgraded.''”

Terror filling his eyes, he screamed as the monster began to electrocute him.

Another one dead.

The inspector pulled the yellow tape over his head and crossed the threshold. Around him, dozens of other officers were rushing to and fro, taking notes, or simply looking in horror at the scene.

Entering the alleyway, the inspector stopped for a moment when he saw the burnt corpse. Taking a deep breath, he collected himself and continued forward. There were several officers already there, as well as the medical examiner. He stood up from the body as he approached.

“Inspector,” he said.

“Examiner. What’s the story here?”

He sighed. “It’s one of ours, sir. PC McGregor.”

The inspector cursed under his breath. “When did it happen?”

“Sometime last night, while he was on his patrol. I’d put his death between ten last night and one in the morning.”

“Just like the others?”

The examiner nodded. “Identical. Our serial killer strikes again.”

“Any evidence?” the inspector asked an officer standing by.

“Except unidentifiable footprints and the burn marks that are shaping like hands, no,” he replied. “Whoever is doing this covers their tracks.”

“Keep on it,” he said. “We have to find this killer before they strike again.”

He paused for a moment. “I’ll notify PC McGregor’s next of kin.”

Turning around, the inspector left the alleyway. His career was staked on this case and the capture of this serial killer. He had to find them, for his sake, and the sake of London.

The silence in the field was broken by the sound of the TARDIS wheezing into existence. A few moments later, the groaning faded, and the door swung open as Clara Oswald stepped out onto the grass.

She looked around. “It’s a field.”

The Doctor came out after her, surveying the field himself. “Yes, but it’s an alien field.”

Clara crossed her arms. “You’ve taken me across time and space to the edge of extinct and creation. We’ve seen stars born and die. I’ve even been inside your timestream. And after that you bring me to a field on some planet?”

“Well, it’s supposed to be a city,” he looked around again. “I’m not exactly sure what happened.”

“So you got us lost again?”

“Oh no, I’m sure we’re on the right planet.”

She continued to stare at him.

“Or the right solar system at least.”

“So why are we in the middle of a field instead of a city?” she turned away from him and back to the unceasing landscape surrounding them.

“I’m not quite sure,” the Doctor said before retreating back into the TARDIS, Clara following him. She joined him at the console as he looked at one of the screens.

“Well,” he finally said after a while. “In theory we should be in the right place.”

“But in actuality we’re not,” she quipped.

He shot a glance at her before returning to the screen.

“Yes, but I don’t know how we’re in the wrong place.”

“Maybe if we dematerialize and then rematerialize again?” Clara suggested.

The Doctor shrugged. “I guess it’s worth a shot.”

Wrapping his hand around the lever, he pulled down and the TARDIS shook as the ship wheezed and groaned, the lights flickering and the panels above the console rotating. After a few seconds he pushed it down again, the ship coming to a halt.

“Did that do it?” Clara asked, looking from the doors to the Doctor.

“Only one way to find out.”

Together, the two walked across the console room to the doors. Opening them, they were met by the sound of a large city, the hum of motors and of people yelling. Also present was the smell of a large city.

The woman pinched her nose. “Yep, that smells like a city alright.”

Putting his hands in his pockets, the Doctor strode out of the TARDIS and onto the sidewalk, followed by his companion. Looking around, she saw that the city that they were in looked exactly like London, only higher tech than the one she knew, evidenced strongly by the flying cars that soared overhead.

“What year is it?” she asked, shielding her eyes as she looked up at the vehicles.

“2133,” the Doctor replied. “And I assume you’ve deduced that we’re in London?”

Clara nodded.

“Good. That means I don’t need to take the time explaining it to you. Come along.”

He strode off down the sidewalk, Clara following closely behind. As they crossed the street, she came to his side.

“So why did you want to bring me here? It’s basically just London but more furture-y.”

“This is the golden age of the twenty second century,” he turned a corner, Clara following.

“New innovations, unprecedented wealth,” the Doctor continued.

A large vehicle flew overhead, its engine roaring deafeningly loud, forcing his companion to cover her ears.

“And loud,” she said as the sound died away.

“Well, so is your time,” he looked at her.

“True.”

He looked around them. “Alright, let’s try this way.”

The Doctor walked off to the south, Clara following after him, looking around them as cars whizzed past and overhead, a joyful expression on her face and she continued in his wake.

The huge figure limped down the alleyway, a mechanical hissing issuing with each step. Its arms hung lazily at its sides, swinging as it went. The dead eyes were fixed ahead, its posture hunched, focusing only on its destination. However, the problem was that it didn’t know where it was going.

It had been left here by the others. The others had abandoned it once the battle was won. Now, it needed to find its way back to them. Find its way back to salvation.

Turning its silver form around a corner, it continued on. Ahead its audio receptors were picking up the sounds of a street, signifying humans.

Under normal circumstances, its duty would be to capture them and bring them for assimilation. But now, it had to hide, or it would surely die. It could only take the stragglers and the alone, and only in the dead of night. In the day was too risky.

Slowly turning around, it began to return the way it had come. But all its mechanical hissing brought the attention of a passerby, who looked down the alleyway and saw the silver giant limping away. Pulling out a small glass tablet, which lit up with several icons before being replaced with an image of the giant, clicking as it saved a picture.

The woman quickly moved out of the way as the figure seemed to move to glance back at her before disappearing around the corner.

Looking back into the alleyway, she saw that the creature was gone. Pulling out the glass tablet again, she dialed a number before holding it up to her ear.

“Yes, hello? I think I’ve spotted the Silver Menace,” she said into the receiver.

“Where are we going?” Clara asked as they turned down another street.

The Doctor ran a hand through his gray hair. “Ah… this way,” he pointed to his right.

“Just say it,” she came to his side. “You don’t know which way it is.”

He stopped suddenly, forcing her to skid to a halt. “Clara, I pilot a ship that can travel through space and time as a career. I think I can find where we’re going.”

“And where are we going, Doctor?” she asked as they began walking again.

“That, my dear, would ruin the surprise.”

Clara crossed her arms and frowned when they heard sirens coming through the street. The two stopped, turning around to see three police cars as they sped down the road, hovering above the ground with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

“It’s nice to see that police are still the same in the future,” his companion quipped.

But the Doctor’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe something’s happening. Come on.”

And with that, the Doctor bolted after the cars, Clara smiling before running after him. The two crossed the street and continued on, the emergency vehicles dead ahead.

Turning a corner, they saw that that three had stopped up ahead in front of the alleyway, where a woman was pointing down it and explaining something. Glancing at each other, the two strode towards the scene, the Doctor pulling a small leather object out of his pocket.

Coming to the edge of their barrier, one of the officers, a man in his late twenties came over and stopped them.

“Hello sir, madam. Can I help you?”

The Doctor held up the leather object and flipped it open to reveal that it was a wallet with an identification card displaying that he was from Scotland Yard.

“Interpol? Blimey. I’m sorry, sir.”

“No problem,” the Doctor pocketed the wallet. “Couldn’t have known just by looking at me.”

The officer stepped out of the way as the Doctor and Clara walked past. They walked to a man, mostly likely an inspector, due his long gray trench coat, and the woman they had seen before.

“Hello,” he said. “I’m the Doctor and this is Clara Oswald,” he gestured to his companion, who waved.

Turning towards them, the man in the trench coat had a look of disapproval on his face.

“Doctor? What kind of name is that? And what do you think gives you the right to interrupt my interview with a witness?”

He flashed the psychic wallet again.

“Interpol?” he said, almost enraged. “What the bloody hell does Interpol care about this investigation?”

The Doctor put his hands behind his back. “I don’t know. Should Interpol care about this investigation?”

“Well I don’t think a creep dressed in silver is a matter of international security.”

“Do you? Tell me, do you have any pictures or video of this creep dressed in silver?” he raised his eyebrow.

“I do,” the woman said, holding out a small glass tablet.

“Oh my, is that a phone?” Clara looked at it giddily. She received strange glances from the woman and the inspector.

Ignoring her, the Doctor grabbed the phone and examined it. Displayed on it was a picture of a large figure clad in silver going down the alleyway they were now standing in front of. The photograph was slightly blurry, but that didn’t stop the Doctor’s face from contorting with worry.

“What is it, Doctor?” his companion asked.

“I think I know what this is,” he said.

“Well?” the inspector asked. “What is it?”

The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver. He held it to the phone and activated it, the green light shining through the glass tablet. Deactivating it, he put it back in his pocket and gave the phone back to the woman before turning on his heel and walking off, and after a moment of confusion, Clara followed.

The inspector called after them. “Where are you going?”

“To look at an image.”

Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor had placed the Sonic Screwdriver into a socket on the console as the image appeared on one of the screens. Even over a hundred years after her time, Clara could still see the vast amounts of grain and blur in the photo.

“You think they would’ve fixed this by now,” she said as she squinted.

The Doctor chuckled. “I think they were too busy trying to make a glass phone.”

“Innovation at it’s finest.”

“Indeed.”

He typed something into the console before the image began to clear up slowly. As it the pixels got finer, they saw that the huge silver figure had intricate wiring and armor-plating on their back and seemed to have been moving as if they were limping.

But what interested them most was the single handlebar on the left side of the being’s abnormal head, which was very familiar to both of them.

“Wait,” Clara said, looking closer. “Is that-?”

“Yes. It is. Just as I feared,” the Doctor replied grimly. “That’s a Cyberman.”

A moment later they were running down the streets of London back towards where the Cyberman had been spotted. By the time they arrived back, the officers had gone all except for the inspector.

“Ah good,” he said irritably. “You’ve finally decided to come back.”

“Oh?” the Doctor replied as they approached. “Did you have nothing else better to do?”

The inspector scowled before changing the subject. “So, how did your picture-viewing go?”

“Your so-called ‘Silver Menace’ is actually a Cyberman,” the Doctor said. “A cyborg originating from Earth’s twin planet Mondas.”

“’Earth’s twin planet’? What?”

“Earth has a twin planet called Mondas. Try to keep up.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “You can’t be serious.”

Suddenly the Doctor rounded on the man, nearly pressing him against the wall, staring at him with his piercing eyes.

“Does this look like the face of a man who’s joking?” he pointed to his thin face. “Does this look like the face of a man who’s just having a bit of fun?”

The inspector’s eyes widened in fear.

Clara grabbed his arm. “Doctor, calm down!”

“How can I calm down when there’s a Cyberman on the loose?” he snapped at her, causing Clara to step back. “Cybermen do nothing but kill and make more of themselves! How can I be calm about that?”

She looked sternly at him.

“Don’t you dare yell at me,” she said.

The Doctor stared at her as she stared back, a small tear glinting in her eye.

Finally, he looked down.

“I’m sorry, Clara.”

“You’d better be,” she wiped her eye.

He looked at her with his pale blue eyes before turning back to the inspector, who was backed against the wall still.

“Now, please,” he said softly. “I need to see all your files on this ‘Silver Menace’.”

The man gulped. “Alright. Let’s go down to the station.”

“Isn’t this cool?” the Doctor looked around the room, smiling.

“What is it?” Clara asked, striding into the room.

“This is our evidence room. It’s completely holographic. Beats paper any day,” the inspector walked in.

The Doctor pulled out of the Sonic Screwdriver and pointed it at a large orb hanging from the ceiling. He activated it and the ball lit up. Several lines shot out from it before forming two transparent walls on either side of him. Pressing the button on his device again, several documents and blurry photos and a silver figure appeared on the walls.

“How did you do that?” gasped the officer.

He held up the Sonic Screwdriver. “You’re not the only one with advanced technology, inspector.”

Clara walked through the holographic wall and joined the Doctor, looking at the photographs and files.

“So these are all the accounts of Silver Menace sightings?”

The man rubbed his chin. “Yep. All nineteen.”

Quickly, the Doctor turned on him. “Nineteen sightings and you still haven’t caught it? Well, I can’t say that the police force got better in the past hundred years.”

“There’s a serial killer on the loose, too,” the inspector replied. “One of my officers was just killed. The Silver Menace is just a side investigation.”

The Doctor looked at him for a moment. “Sorry.”

He turned back to the holographs.

“These sightings start in August of 2132, so they’ve been going on for the past seven months, and it’s mainly been seen in alleyways or under the cover of night, or both,” he looked to Clara and the inspector. “You know what that means?”

“It means that it doesn’t want to be found,” Clara’s face lit up.

The Doctor pointed at her. “Exactly! Usually Cybermen are out in the open, searching for someone to convert. But this one,” he pointed to a blurred picture of the figure. “This one appears to be damaged, so it’s keeping to the shadows, because if it’s found by the authorities, it’ll most likely be ripped to shreds.”

“But why hasn’t it called for help?” his companion asked.

“Yeah,” the inspector chimed in. “That’s one of the several questions I have.”

“I assume it has,” the Doctor said. “But the problem is is that this kind of Cyberman,” he pointed to one of the pictures. “These don’t exist for a few hundred years yet.”

“So what?” Clara joined him. “They time traveled here?”

“Exactly. Cybermen travel both forwards and backwards. That’s why there’s so many different types of them dispersed throughout history.”

“And it’s probably called for help but they need to travel here?”

“Indeed.”

The officer nearly laughed. “Are you kidding? Time travel?”

Fixing him with another piercing glare, the Doctor’s silvery-blue eyes bore into him again. Clara looked out from behind the Time Lord.

“Just roll with it.”

Nervously, he nodded before the Doctor broke his gaze and returned to the holographic wall. He traced his hand over its projected surface, it shimmering slightly on contact.

“It appears that it only appears only in this one specific area of downtown London, so I can probably find it pretty easily.”

“And what are you going to do when you find it?” the inspector asked.

“I’ll have to destroy it. You can’t reason with a Cyberman.”

The officer raised an eyebrow. “How do you propose to destroy this thing?”

“Well I’m going to need a lot of your explosives,” the Doctor deactivated the holographic projector.

“Explosives?” he exclaimed before rolling his eyes. “Of course you need explosives.”

“Good,” his eyes twinkled before walking out of the room. “Come on, Clara.”

Grinning at the inspector, the young woman ran off after the Doctor, joining him as he strode down the hallway.

“So we’re going back to that alleyway?” she asked.

“Indeed,” he replied.

She looked at him. “Are you really going to blow up the Cyberman?”

“Of course I am. I have to.”

“Why?” Clara asked. “But don’t get me wrong, I hate Cybermen too.”

The Doctor looked at her as they walked. “That Cyberman is transmitting a beacon to its fellow Cybermen. Eventually they’ll pick up on it and come here. Then they’ll start killing people and converting them to Cybermen. I also have the suspicious that it has already killed two keep itself alive.”

“So you want to make sure that never happens? And that it can’t kill anyone else?”

“That’s the idea, Clara.”

“Good plan.”

He looked at her again. “And, I’m sorry about yelling at you earlier. It wasn’t right. This new regeneration… it’s so… irritable.”

She grabbed his hand. “I could tell.”

Above Jupiter.

“What is it?” the silver figure asked, approaching the one standing by the console as they were both illuminated in a flashing yellow light. A steady beeping was filming the room.

“There is a beacon coming from Solis Three,” the other replied, operating the device before them.

“Which unit is it?”

“''Cyber Unit 2491. It is a unit declared inactive in 2104.''”

“Where is its point of origin?”

“Central London.”

The commander turned away from the other. “''Set a course. We will investigate.''”

“I obey,” the other nodded before inputting a new command.

As the ship pulled away from the planet below, it flew off towards the sun.

“Doctor,” he said, trying to keep up with the man’s long strides while attempting to balance the explosives in his arms. “This hardly seems practical.”

“Oh,” the Doctor replied, never slowing down. “That’s actually the bare minimum I need to destroy a regular Cyberman.”

This didn’t convince the man. “Are you sure?”

“Very.”

Clara looked back at him. “Yeah he is.”

“You know it’s probably not a good idea to set off explosives in the middle of the city, right?”

“Those are just a fail-safe in the event that everything was to go awry,” the Doctor replied. “I’m planning something different for my main attack.”

“Attack?” the inspector asked.

The Doctor stopped suddenly and turned around. “You’re very slow, you know that?”

“Yes you’ve told me before.”

“Well, good then.”

They arrived at the mouth of the alleyway where the woman had reported seeing the Cyberman. Briskly, the Doctor walked down it, closely followed by his companions.

“So,” Clara began. “What is the plan?”

“Good question,” he replied. “My current plan is to set up the explosives in such a way that it doesn’t damage the alleyway significantly. Then, I’ll lure the Cyberman using the Sonic and then detonate the bombs when it’s between them.”

“That,” the inspector said. “Has a lot of problems.”

“Hence why I said that it’s my current plan. It’s bound to change.”

The officer rolled his eyes. “You’re giving me loads of confidence.”

“Thank you,” the Doctor smiled.

“That was sarcasm.”

“Really? You need to convey that a bit more next time.”

The group continued on down the alleyway before the Doctor came to a stop.

“Here,” he said, looking around. “This is the place.”

Setting down the explosives, the inspector came over to the Time Lord. “You’re going to blow this place up? The buildings will collapse!”

He chuckled, his pale blue eyes glinting. “It’ll be a very controlled blast, I assure you. This isn’t the first time I’ve blown something up, you know.”

“It really isn’t,” Clara sighed.

The Doctor picked up several of the devices and began attaching them to various parts of the alleyway, all in a concentrated area, indicating where he was going to blow the Cybermen to pieces.

Once he had finished, he clapped his hands together, dusting them off as he did so. Taking a step back, he admired his handiwork.

“That should do it,” he said finally.

“And now comes the hard part?” his companion asked.

He turned towards her. “Indeed.”

“And how’s that going to play out?” the inspector said.

“Well, I’ve encountered the Cybermen more times than I can count,” the Doctor pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver. “And after a while I cracked their signal. Now I’ve loaded a distress signal onto the Sonic that will lure the Cyberman to me.”

Clara and the inspector, however, were staring behind him.

“Uh… Doctor?” the woman said, pointing down the alleyway. “I don’t think you need to lure it.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow before spinning around. Directly ahead of them was a Cyberman, its armor scratched and dirty, various patches of wiring visible all over its body and chestplate, and one of its handle-bars missing.

“You…” it began, its electronic voice crackling. “…Are the Doctor…”

After a moment’s hesitation, the man answered. “Yes. Yes, I am the Doctor.”

“Why do you… seek me?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming you’re transmitting a distress signal?” the man asked hesitantly.

“You… are correct,” it replied.

“And you know what that will bring to this planet, correct?”

“Cybermen… And if you interfere… you will be assimilated.”

The Doctor’s tone grew grave. “If that ship enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it will be fired upon.”

“''And... you will be assimilated.''”

“And if you really know me, you’ll know that I can’t allow that to happen.”

“''I have waited here for… nineteen years,” it said. “I will return… to the Cybermen.''”

“That is no longer an option at this point,” the Doctor took a step closer. “It’s either you stop transmitting your signal, or I make you stop transmitting.”

“I will return… to the Cybermen,” it repeated.

He shook his head. “No, you cannot.”

Suddenly the Cyberman held up its arm, a blaster in its hand. “You will be… deleted.”

“Shooting me is only going to make this worse,” the Time Lord held up his hands.

“You will not stop me… from returning… to the Cybermen.”

At that moment the inspector’s communication device began to ring, and with everyone looking at him, tapped the little piece in his ear.

“What is it?” he said impatiently before looking up at the Doctor.

“There’s an unidentified ship entering the atmosphere.”

Swinging back towards the Cyberman, desperation filled the Doctor’s voice.

“Please! End this now! War is going to ensue if you don’t!”

“You are the ones… bringing the resistance,” it replied. “Whatever befalls you… is of your own doing.”

The Doctor pointed the Sonic Screwdriver at the metal being. The barrel of its gun began to crackle with energy.

“If you don’t stop, I’ll make you stop.”

“You will be deleted.”

“Do you really think they’re going to keep you around after this much time has passed? Look at you! You’re an ancient model!” the Doctor gestured to its overall build. “It’s been years since I’ve seen one of you! They’re just going to destroy you as soon as you get aboard!”

“You… do not know that.”

He smirked. “Oh but I do. You’re obsolete. They’re only coming because you’re transmitting a distress signal. They already who you are, they just want to clean up their mess. You’ve already had to harvest humans to survive, correct?”

“''Affirmative. I used their flesh… to sustain my systems.''”

The Doctor looked back at the inspector. “I think I found your serial killer, inspector.”

“I had to… survive.”

“And going back to the Cybermen will make their deaths meaningless,” the Time Lord replied. “They will delete you.”

“…They will delete me?” it repeated.

“Yes, they will.”

At that moment there was a flash of energy behind the Cybermen. They all looked to see two shining giants standing there, their arms raises with guns trained on the group. They appeared to much more recent than their comrade, with their build much bulkier and armor sturdier.

“We have come for Cyber Unit 2491,” one of them said.

The damaged Cyberman turned. “I am here.”

“You will come with us.”

“Wait!” the Doctor yelled, reaching out his hand.

The three silver figures looked at him with their dead eyes.

“Tell Unit 2491 what you’re going to do once you’re on board the ship.”

“We’re running out of time,” the inspector whispered in the Doctor’s ear.

Cocking its head, the other new arrival replied. “That is none of your concern.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Well, it’s of this one’s concern!” he indicated Unit 2491.

Hesitating, the first Cyberman answered. “Unit 2491 will be deleted.”

Looking at the two gleaming units, the damaged Cyberman looked back at the explosives situated on the walls before looking down.

“I… will be deleted?” it asked, a strange undertone of anger in its voice.

“Affirmative.”

“''I have served the Cybermen for decades. I have waited here… for you.''”

“You are irrelevant,” the first one replied. “''You were designated inactive. You are obsolete.''”

The Cyberman stared at them for a moment before it looked back at the Doctor, its black eyes filling with the undeniable look of regret.

“I…” it said, shaking slightly. “...Am sorry.”

Holding up its blaster, it took aim one of the explosives.

“Get down!” the Doctor yelled, turning towards Clara and the inspector as the two jumped backwards.

In a flash of light, the Cyber gun went off and ignited the explosives, a massive shockwave filled with fire and smoke shredding the three cyborgs into nothing more than scraps of metal, their various severed parts crashing to the floor of the alleyway.

Slowly, the Doctor lowered the Sonic Screwdriver, its tip glowing brightly. As they got up, Clara looked around at the damaged stone walls and obliterated garbage cans and boxes, a look of confusion on her face.

“Not that I’m complaining,” she said. “But how did we survive that?”

The Doctor held up the Sonic Screwdriver. “Added a shield setting. Glad it came in use.”

Another question came to mind. “What happened to it? At the end there? That it sacrificed itself?”

“I don’t know,” he scratched his head. “It’s emotional inhibitor must have been damaged for it to actually feel emotion.”

The inspector’s device buzzed again.

“Yes, what’s the status of the ship?” he listened to the voice on the other side. “Alright, thank you.”

“What is it?” the Doctor asked.

“It’s landed in a field in Scotland.”

The Doctor and Clara exchanged looks.

The inspector raised an eyebrow. “Is there something significant about the field?”

“That’s where we first landed when we got here,” the woman replied.

“How is that even possible?”

“It’s a long story,” the Doctor said. “One we don’t have time for.”

Shrugging, the officer came over and held out his hand.

“I’m not even going to bother asking you to explain. It’s been a pleasure, Doctor.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the Doctor shook the inspector’s hand.

“Likewise, inspector…?”

“Stewart. Detective Inspector Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart.”

The Doctor and Clara exchanged surprised expressions. Alistair chuckled.

“Another long story, huh?”

He regained his composure. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Well, I should probably get back to the station and close this case. And you should probably get out of here before you’re asked any more questions,” he nodded at the destroyed pieces of the Cybermen. He looked at the Time Lord. “Until next time, Doctor.”

“Until next time,” the Doctor suddenly saluted, taking the man by surprise.

The Doctor lowered his hand. “It’s an old habit I’m trying to break.”

“Alright. Goodbye, Doctor,” he looked to Clara. “Farewell, miss Oswald.”

“Bye,” she said, shaking his hand as he walked off down the alleyway. The woman watched him go before joining the Time Lord as they themselves exited the alley.

“What was that with the salute?” she asked.

“The Brigadier always wanted me to salute him but I never did,” he replied as they walked. “Thought I’d at least salute one Lethbridge-Stewart.”

Eventually they reached the TARDIS, and unlocking the door, they stepped inside and the Doctor walked over to the console and began flicking switches and pulling levers, and once again, the engines groaned as they dematerialized again.

“How did we end up in the same field as the Cyber-ship?” Clara leaned against the console and crossed her arms.

“Time is a funny thing,” he said, pulling lever and pressing buttons.

“Yes,” she replied. “But how?”

He looked at her and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Unsatisfied, she decided to leave the console and head up to the upper level, overlooking the console. From above, she watched the Doctor work as they flew further into the time vortex.

Characters

 * Twelfth Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * The Cybermen
 * Detective Inspector Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart
 * Police Constable McGregor
 * Several officers
 * Woman

Trivia

 * This episode was originally titled The Darkness Within.
 * The damaged Cyberman featured is intended to be the model introduced during Peter Davison's tenure in the 1980s. The future Cybermen are intended to be the Cybus Industries/Cyber Legion modal.
 * Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart is the great grandchild of Kate Stewart, and the great-great grandchild of the Brigadier.
 * Abandoned is the shortest episode of Series 1.