So, story four already (I'm hoping to get two a week out now rather than just one), and this time it's Robot's (if he agrees, I shall amend it to show his real name) A Game of Light and Death. Hope you enjoy it, and please be kind with votes and comments back on gallifreybase.
Without further ado, let us play...
A Game of Light and Death
"Of course, of course. How long until the game starts?"
"Sunrise is in 5 minutes sir. If you would like to take your seat at the controls and familiarize yourself with everything I will initialize the system."
"How many players are in the game zone?"
"We currently have one player in the game zone sir but I am sure you will find it just as challenging."
"Two New Players."
"Central, report new players."
"Two New Players have entered the game zone. One Male and One Female. Logging new players into game."
"Well Mr. Kent, this appears to be your lucky day."
"Fantastic! I was hoping for a multi-player game. This will be so much more interesting."
"Slow down Professor!"
Ace was struggling to keep up. The Doctor, she thought, walked extremely quickly for such a small man.
"Come along Ace, Sunrise is in five minutes"
The TARDIS had landed on a little hill not far from the ruins of Manalex Beta. The Doctor liked his short walks but what looked like a short walk had turned into a brisk trot much to Ace's annoyance. Finally the Doctor stopped and stared at his pocket watch before snapping it shut and placing it in his pocket.
"This will do nicely," he said to himself. Ace, having caught up with him finally, got the chance to take a proper look around and, letting out a whistle was impressed with what she saw.
"Blimey Professor, you were right, it's like the whole place is made of glass!"
"Manalex Beta, The Crystal City, Impressive isn't it?" The Doctor took his hat off and waved it at the collection of buildings in front of them.
"Centuries old but in many ways before its time. I've often wanted to go back and find out how it came to be deserted"
"Heard you were coming I expect," said Ace with a huge grin on her face.
The Doctor gave her a slightly hurt look before returning to admiring the city. The buildings, most of which were clearly little more than piles of crystal rubble, must have looked impressive when they were standing. The centre of the city was dominated by a large church like building which appeared to be intact. From its roof a tall crystal spire jutted out at a slightly odd angle that suggested age hadn't been kind to its foundations. Dotted around the simple street layout there were structures that seemed to have survived the ravages of time while others were little more than shards of crystal scattered on the ground.
"There are few better places in the universe to admire a sunrise Ace. Now watch." Ace could just make out the fiery orange glow of the sun as it began to rise above the horizon. The sun rose with impressive speed, 'much quicker than on Earth' Ace thought. As the first rays of sunlight reached the city, colour sprayed out into the streets and danced across the faces of the buildings. Light refracts through a prism creating a rainbow of color and Manalex Beta was a myriad of prisms.
"Wicked!" said Ace in awe at the site before her.
The Doctor sat down on a pile of rubble and rested his chin on his hand which in turn was resting on his umbrella. He said nothing but the look on his face showed he was enjoying the sight every bit as much as Ace.
"Game begins."
"Thank you Central, Mr. Kent. The Game Zone is yours until sun down. Would you like me to select a mission?""Yes please Network."
"Very well sir. Your mission is to force all players within the Game Zone to the position marked on your map screen. Successful completion of this mission is worth ten thousand credits. You will loose ten thousand credits if you fail to achieve this mission within five minutes."
"Right, let's go."
"Central, Run Game Mission thirty six sigma."
"Mission thirty six sigma begins."
"You have five minutes Mr. Kent."
"Magical," said the Doctor "I don't think I could ever get tired of watching this."
Before Ace had a chance to reply a laser bolt slammed into the ground some twenty yards behind the Doctor.
"Down!" he shouted as he hurled himself to the floor behind a pile of rubble that only a moment before had been a comfortable resting spot."Don't shout Ace," he replied before adding "why is it I can't have a moment's peace without someone trying to shoot at me". A second laser blast thudded into the ground a little closer than before, sending fragments of crystal into the air, then a third which this time dislodged a substantial shard missing the Doctor and Ace by inches. The Doctor looked up at Ace but she could already tell what he was thinking.
"The usual plan then is it?" she said.
"Yes Ace, run!"
With that they both ran.
They had only reached the corner of the next street when another laser blast smashed into the ground in front of the Doctor. He swerved to the right and along the next street dodging lumps of crystal along the way. Ace, who was at his shoulder just about managed to retain her balance with each sudden change of direction and with an out of breath voice called out to the Doctor "I thought you said this place was deserted."
"Now is not the time to discuss population curves." The Doctor called back as another laser blast hit the ground behind them. Up ahead the Doctor could see one of the few buildings that remained intact and was now heading as fast as he could towards it.
Yet another laser blast kicked up fragments of crystal which rained down on their backs. The Doctor didn't need any further incentive to quicken the pace until he leapt through the open doorway and into the safety of the building. Ace came through the door at speed only a moment behind and although she managed to miss the Doctor she could not avoid tumbling to the ground. From outside came the sound of several more laser blasts and then to add to the confusion another body flew through the door this time crashing into the Doctor sending them both sprawling. For a few seconds there was silence before the Doctor retrieved his hat, stood up, dusted some dirt from his jacket and extended a hand to the figure on the ground.
"Hello," he said, "I'm the Doctor and this is Ace."
The figure on the floor coughed and attempted to stand, "Patrick Smith, I'm glad to see you. You can't believe how glad I am to see you". Patrick wheezed and coughed again. "Sorry, just a moment, got to get the breath back". His voice trembled and he had the look of a man who hadn't slept for several days.
Ace, who had been dabbing a little patch of blood on her knee with her finger now stood up and moved towards the doorway. She looked at Patrick warily.
"You're not anything to do with this place then?" she asked.
"Me? No," said Patrick who for the time being considered it safer to remain where he was, on the floor.
"It seems like the lasers have stopped," said Ace.
"Don't go outside," cautioned the Doctor ."Patrick, how long have you been here?"
"Two days, there were four of us, I'm the only one left now"
"Really? Tell me more," said the Doctor as he crouched at Patrick's side.
Patrick thought for a moment as if he wasn't too sure what he had been through and then he started.
"The four of us arrived at the site two days ago to conduct a survey of some of the buildings to see how stable they were but that all seems so long ago now."
While Patrick was talking Ace kept a careful watch on the street but there hadn't been anymore lasers and things seemed quiet again.
"So what happened to the other three?" asked the Doctor in a soothing voice. It was clear that Patrick was scared.
"We arrived just after sunset which was Mac's idea, so that we could get a good sleep and begin work at sunrise to make the most of the day. As Jane, Lance and I prepared the units we were going to use in the morning, Mac went back to the ship to set a few things up. He was supposed to bring back another pallet of equipment but when he didn't return we went to look for him. He'd been electrocuted Doctor, he was lying there on the floor dead…" Patrick's voice drifted off as the memories returned.
"Go on, what happened next Patrick? Concentrate." Patrick stared up at the Doctors piercing eyes and continued with his story.
"Lance tried to return to the ship to call for help, there was a flash and he fell. He was killed exactly the same way as Mac was. It was as if the ground had been electrified. As it was dark by now, Jane and I decided that we would return to our equipment and wait there until sunrise and maybe we could figure out what to do. We returned in the morning and both their bodies had gone. It was then that all hell broke loose. Lasers, explosions, somehow I got separated from Jane and I've not seen her for twenty four hours. I tried to find her last night but nothing. I think it's safe to move at night but we're trapped here. It's like someone is playing games with us."
"Yes I think they are." The Doctor stood up again and began to inspect the room. After a short while he stopped, "Ah-ha" he said and turning to the others the Doctor gestured to Patrick and Ace to remain silent by putting his finger to his lips. Reaching up into a recess the Doctor grasped a wire, tightening his grip he gave a sharp tug and a camera came away from its discrete mounting.
"Right I think I just need to make a few adjustments here and there" the Doctor's voice tailed off as he set to work. Moments later a bright blue flash erupted from the box and the Doctor jumped back dropping the camera as he did so.
"Ah, yes, well that should stop anyone looking at us for a while."
"What have you done Doctor?" Patrick asked.
"Well I've shorted out that camera and with a bit of luck several more cameras in the area. That should keep who ever it is in the dark for a while."
"Who was on the other end of that?" Ace wondered as she inspected the camera. "Whoever it is," she said, "I can't wait to get hold of them."
"Sector 4 Cameras off line."
"How long to repair Central."
"Unknown."
"Well Mr. Kent it would seem your fellow players are fighting back. New Mission sir, for five thousand credits get all players into sector five."
"How do I do that? I can't even see them."
"I am giving you a drone Mr. Kent. It will relay pictures through your screen. The drone is equipped with lasers and has automatic and manual settings. You can control it from this panel here."
"Central, release the drone into game zone sector 4."
"Drone released."
"Mr. Kent I will get them out of that building and the rest is up to you. Central, Grid 4A5D, Gas release."
"Releasing Gas at grid 4A5D."
"Right, time for us to move on I think," said the Doctor.
"I'm not going out there again," replied Patrick, "I don't know how much more of this I can stand."
The Doctor clasped Patrick on the arm "They won't leave us alone. We have to move"
"I don't think we have much choice anyway Doctor, look!" cried Ace.
From the ceiling a white gas was flooding into the room.
"Out!" shouted the Doctor and all three ducked out of the building and found themselves back out in the bright sunlight.
"What are we going to do?" said Patrick who was frantically looking around for the nearest available cover.
"Your equipment," asked the Doctor, "where is it?"
"In the main square, but we don't have any weapons, its just survey equipment and we hadn't even finished unloading that from the ship"
"Never mind," said the Doctor. "It's better than what we have now."
"Right, this way then" and Patrick lead off down the street. They moved slowly at first trying to keep in as much cover as possible.
"I think you managed to knock out the cameras Professor."
"Perhaps Ace," replied the Doctor, "but I'm sure there will be more surprises yet. How much further Patrick?"
"About a hundred yards I would…" Patrick stopped mid sentence and his voice dropped to a whisper "Doctor, Ace, there at the end of the street!"
The Doctor looked and there, about fifty yards away a robot was trundling toward them. The head of the robot swept left and right searching for its targets while its tracks negotiated the uneven terrain with relative ease.
"Ace, you know that Nitro 9 you are not supposed to carry?"
"Yes, Professor, and I'm not carrying any."
"Ace since when have you started doing as you were asked?" The Doctor looked at Ace and she felt her face flush a little.
"Ever since we had that talk about suitable safety standards," she replied.
"We need to have another talk," whispered the Doctor. "Nobody move".
The robot was only yards away when it stopped. Patrick, Ace and the Doctor froze face down, hardly daring to breath. It seemed to take an age but slowly the robot moved off past them and onward along the street. They left it until they were certain that the coast was clear before moving on again. The road passed through an archway and then opened into the main town square, at the far side of which stood the large church like building with the spire. In the centre of the square were two large packing cases that held the survey equipment. After taking a good look around the three of them dashed across the open ground and ducked behind one of the cases.
"Right then," said the Doctor, "I wonder what we have here," and he began to rummage through the equipment.
Ace became fascinated by the church, as she looked up the tip of the spire seemed to be a bright golden color with a pointed star on top. The building seemed in much better repair than many of the others in the city, much newer in fact.
"Wonderful isn't it?"
"Pardon?"
"I said, Wonderful isn't it?" Patrick was looking at her.
Ace was a little confused. "Sorry, drifted off there for a second". Looking back at the spire she noticed that its tip no longer seemed to glow.
"I could have sworn I saw a gold star at the top of that spire," she said.
Patrick chuckled "Well not unless you've just managed to slip back in time somehow. The stories say there was once a gold star at the tip of the spire but it's long since disappeared. It must have been a trick of the light."
"Maybe," Ace said. She shook her head again and tried to clear it. Perhaps the excitement of the day was getting to her after all.
"What was the building used for anyway?" asked Ace. "It looks like a church."
From within one of the packing crates came the Doctors voice "It's the lighthouse. The spire collected sunlight which was channeled down into the foundations of the city and used to provide power. Clever stuff crystal – the more you heat it the better it conducts."
"So it was a bit like a solar power station you mean?" asked Ace.
"Yes," said the Doctor, "but the lighthouse was used for many other things as well."
"I always thought that a lighthouse was used to warn ships about rocks and we are a long way from the sea," said Ace.
"A warning" said the Doctor "that reminds me of something I was supposed to do." He began frantically searching his pockets until he pulled out a note pad and pen.
"What are you writing Professor?"
"Something that my past needs in the future," answered the Doctor cryptically.
"Oh no." It was Patrick's voice this time. "Our friend is back". The Robot had returned and was now passing under the archway at the entrance to the square slowly crawling toward them. The Doctor appeared to have finished his note which he stuffed into his pocket.
"I'll send that later," he muttered, "now to deal with our next problem". Ace searched for an escape route but there was no where to run. If they broke cover from behind the packing case they wouldn't get more than a few yards into the square before they were seen.
"There's no chance we can make a run for it," she whispered.
The Doctor picked up a survey sighting telescope and turned to Patrick.
"Patrick, this has a laser."
"Why yes Doctor but not strong enough to harm anything."
"Yes but if we point the laser at the robot it will detect it and think its being attacked. It should fire back at the source. If we place one of your laser reflectors in the way, that should take care of our problem."
"Boom!" said Ace.
"Precisely," replied the Doctor.
"The Laser reflector isn't designed to reflect a beam that intense Doctor. It will never work," said Patrick. "It doesn't know we are here so let's just stay down and hope it moves away."
The robot continued to crawl forward and showed no sign of stopping. Its head sweeping from left to right in a constant search for its victims.
"It's not going to stop," said the Doctor. "This is our only chance. Ace, when the robot has turned its head away from us let me know. I need to place the reflector on the case. I just hope it doesn't notice it before I get a chance to point the laser. It all calls for split-second timing". Ace was lying flat on her belly glancing around the crate in the direction of the advancing drone. She watched as it scanned from side to side and as it did so Ace counted to herself trying to guess how long it would take for each sweep. As the drone reached the full extent of its latest sweep she whispered to the Doctor. "Now!"
The Doctor quickly sat up and jammed the reflector on top of the case pointing it in the direction of the advancing drone. He slipped back down with the same speed and held his breath. The drone was now close enough for the three of them to hear the whine of its motor each time it moved forward, advancing on their position. Ace watched as the robot continued its scan
"It hasn't seen us," she told the Doctor.
"Ok," he replied. "And now for the next part of the plan." Lying on his back and holding the telescope in the air just below the lip of the crate he took a deep breath. Forcing the sighting scope upwards until the laser unit was just above the reflector, he fired the laser.
In an instant Ace saw the robot spin its head towards their hiding place and then it fired. The reflector tumbled backwards from the packing case landing on the Doctor who cried out with surprise. There was a load explosion and a cloud of smoke hung over the square. Patrick was the first person to react.
"Doctor, Ace are you ok? Did we hit it?"
Ace coughed and tried to wave some of the smoke away from her face "Gordon Bennett!" she said. "I think that did it."
As the smoke cleared they could see the drone stationary and silent with a small hole in the middle of its body.
"Well," said the Doctor as he stood up, "problem solved."
"Drone Destroyed."
"Oh no. The programmers are not going to like this. No, they are not going to like this at all. I must contact them. Central, Contact the programmers"
"Programmer online."
"Sending game play data………. Yes Sir……. Yes Sir……… I agree……. Yes I understand sir….….Central end contact…….Mr. Kent this will be your final mission. To win the game, kill them."
"With Pleasure."
"Central, release four drones into game zone four."
"Drones released."
Cautiously the Doctor approached the smoking remains of the drone. He prodded it a couple of times with his umbrella to be absolutely certain that it wasn't going to start moving again.
"Good shot Professor," said Ace as she joined the Doctor in examining the wreckage. Patrick was far more cautious and remained leaning on one of the packing crates several yards away. The Doctor lifted the robots head and rolled it over. Inside he could see that what appeared to be eyes were in fact a camera and the barrel of a laser.
"Nasty things," he tutted before placing it on the ground. Ace picked it up and began trying to remove the weapon.
"Think this thing has any charge left in it?"
"Perhaps," said the Doctor. "Be careful with it," he added as Ace managed to wrench the weapon free. The Drone looked to be of a simple design but no less lethal for it. The Doctor continued to pick among the remains of the Robot. "Someone has been operating this by remote control, this is a very nasty game," he said.
Patrick was getting nervous and called out "Doctor, I don't think we should be standing around out here"
"You're right," the Doctor called back, "let's get inside."
"The lighthouse?" asked Ace
"Yes, The lighthouse," he replied.
The Doctor told Patrick to take the small toolkit he had found among the packing crates and the three of them crossed the square towards the entrance of the large imposing building. Flanking the doorway were two crystal pillars that had dulled with age. However the doors to the lighthouse had long since disappeared and after walking up two steps they could see into the cavernous building.
As they entered the Doctor took a look over his shoulder and back into the square. On the far side of the square he caught the movement of the approaching drones and his voice took on an urgent tone.
"Inside everyone, come along now."
Once inside, they could see that the building was mostly empty except for a large monolith at the far end of the hall. The spire could be seen protruding through the roof however its base was somewhere behind the monolith. The three of them hurriedly crossed the floor and behind the monolith. Searching the rest of the hall quickly revealed a problem. There was clearly once an exit on this side of the hall; however a pile of crystal now blocked their path.
"Well that's just great," said Patrick, "I never noticed this last time I was in here. I guess this means were trapped."
"Yes it does," said the Doctor. "We are in here and there are more drones out there."
"Um not quite Professor," said Ace pointing back down the hall toward the main entrance. There were now four drones crawling through the open doorway and heading towards them. Two seemed to be moving toward the left side of the floor and two to the right effectively surrounding them once they reached the monolith they would have them cornered. Ace looked to the Doctor and could see him muttering to himself.
"Doctor?"
"Quiet Ace, I'm thinking"
" Well don't take too long please"
Finally the Doctor turned to Ace. "Ace give me the laser" She handed it over to the Doctor who grabbed Patrick's tool kit and set to work. A few seconds later he handed the laser back to Ace and said, "Ace, do you think you could blast us a hole in that rubble?"
"Wicked!" said Ace as she took the gun from him.
"Steady," said the Doctor. "Once you're ready squeeze the contact here." He indicated toward the side of the weapon at the modification he had just made. Ace lined up on the top of the doorway where the rubble appeared to be thinner and squeezed the contact. The gun erupted in a flash and the bolt scored a direct hit at the exact point that Ace had hoped to hit. The rubble remained in place.
"Oh no," cried Patrick who slumped to the ground with his back against the monolith.
"Oh dear," said the Doctor
"Sorry," mumbled Ace as she threw the now useless weapon to the floor.
The drones were halfway across the floor and it would only be a minute or so before they would be able to see them hiding behind the monolith.
"I'll never see the light of day again," sobbed Patrick.
"Light! Of course!" shouted the Doctor. "I wonder…" The Doctor began to frantically search the monolith. "This used to be the control panel for the light collection system," he explained as he searched. "If I could find the 'on' button…a-ha!" The Doctor pressed a raised area on the monolith. Nothing.
"No not again," he said.
"What are you trying to do Professor?"
"Ace, the spire acts as an energy collection system. If I could reactivate it without the safety system the energy would flow through the city unregulated which will knock out sensitive electrical equipment such as cameras, lasers and drones."
There was no time for any further explanation as the first laser blast from the approaching drones crashed into the wall at the back of the temple.
The Doctor found another panel which he wrenched from the monolith to expose the electronic equipment inside.
"Useless," announced the Doctor. "It's far too decayed."
Another blast flashed past them this time hitting the spire. The Doctor spun on his heels.
"That sounded different."
As if to confirm his suspicions another blast hit the spire.
"The spire, it's absorbing the laser energy. If we could get all four robots to hit it at once that may be enough."
"Move!" shouted Ace as the first Robot appeared with a clear arc of fire.
They picked themselves up and ran to the other side of the spire, pressing themselves flat against its smooth surface.
"How are we going to get them to fire at once?" asked Ace
"I'm working on that part," replied the Doctor.
"I know how," said Patrick and he slipped around the side of the spire.
"Nooooo!" shouted the Doctor
All four drones fired simultaneously. The spire glowed first orange and then white and then a blinding flash erupted from the base. Then came the sound of explosions, loud and nearby at first and then fainter and further away. Finally there was silence.
The scene in the control room was one of devastation. Several fires had started and most of the electronics were completely dead apart from the occasional shower of sparks from circuits that were rapidly loosing power. Mr. Kent picked himself up from the floor, his clothes were charred and his hands were burnt and bleeding. Network stood in the middle of the room surveying the damage.
"Central, report."
"Central, report."
"Central is offline," announced Network.
"What happened?" said Mr. Kent as he clutched his hands to his chest.
Network gave him a cold look. "Mr. Kent, it would appear that you have run out of credits."
"Wh…What does that mean" he stuttered.
"It means Mr. Kent, that you loose a life."
A gun shot rang out and Mr. Kent slumped to the ground, dead.
As soon as they regained their senses the Doctor and Ace ran around the Spire. In front of them the four drones were completely still, two on the left side of the monolith and two on the right. They looked un-damaged apart from thin wisps of smoke rising from the joints.
Patrick was lying on the floor in front of the spire. He wasn't moving. The Doctor knelt by his body and felt Patrick's neck for a pulse.
"He's alive!" the Doctor said incredulously.
"Of course I'm alive," said Patrick as he rolled over onto his back.
"How did you manage that?" smiled Ace.
"I ducked," he replied.
"Well done," said the Doctor, "but come on, there is one more thing we have to do."
"What's that?" asked Ace.
"I'm going to find whoever was doing this and put a stop to it."
"But we can't leave, we'll be electrocuted!" said Patrick
"I don't think that will be a problem anymore," replied the Doctor. "Back to the TARDIS I think"
"What's a TARDIS?" asked Patrick
"You'll see," said Ace.
"Central, report."
Network stood before the mainframe pulling boards out and sliding them back in. Every so often he would turn to a small keyboard fitted into the rack and tap in a sequence of figures.
"Central, report," he called out again.
Something broke his concentration, a groaning wheezing sound. It grew louder and in the corner of the room the shape of a large blue box appeared, fading in and out until it stabilized as a solid form.
Network darted across the room to pick up his gun.
"Don't even think about it," shouted Ace from the doorway of the TARDIS. "Unless you want to find yourself spread all over this room."
"That will do Ace," said the Doctor as he forced his way past her. "Now who do we have here?"
Patrick stepped out into the room and stared back inside the TARDIS. He shook his head repeatedly, Ace just smiled at him. She'd seen this reaction a couple of times now and it always reminded her of the first time she'd stepped into the Doctor's blue box.
Network studied the three of them.
"I am Network sir. Congratulations on winning the game. Unfortunately we are unable to accept new players at the moment."
"Game?" shouted the Doctor. "You call the hunting down of innocent people a game? This ends now."
"I fear that is correct sir. Central is offline."
"Ace, tie him up."
Ace handed the can of Nitro 9 she'd been holding to Patrick and walked across the room. Picking up Network's gun and tucking into her pocket she grabbed a length of wire that had fallen from the ceiling. Tugging at it, it came away easily. She turned Network around and tied his hands behind his back. Network winced as the wire bit deep into his wrists but Ace was in no mood to be sympathetic.
"Patrick, do you think you can get him back to your ship and call in the authorities?" asked the Doctor. Ace crossed the room and handed Network's gun to Patrick, taking back her can of Nitro 9 in the process.
"Absolutely," he said. "This man has a lot to answer for, including the murder of two of my colleagues." Turning to Network he said, "Tell me where Jane is"
Network looked at him for a moment and shook his head. Patrick raised the gun and pointed it directly at Network.
The Doctor raised his umbrella and brought it down gently on Patrick's arm pushing it downward.
"Patrick you are better than this. Leave it to the authorities," he said.
"You are right of course Doctor. I will."
The Doctor looked at Ace and said, "Come on then, time for us to go." He turned to Patrick. "It's been a pleasure meeting you and I only wish it could have been under more pleasurable circumstances"
"Thank you Doctor," said Patrick, "and thank you Ace". He gave Ace a hug which made her a little embarrassed.
"Right you," said Patrick, jabbing the gun into Network's back, "out."
The Doctor entered the Tardis.
"Come on Ace," He said
As Ace entered the Tardis she looked back into the control room.
"Game Over," she said.
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