Dark Water

(Open POV)

Park…

Danny Pink walks past the magnificent war memorial in Shoreditch, London. His mobile phone rings.

"Clara!" Danny cheered.

"Shut up." Clara said, her voice over the phone's speaker.

"Is that how we communicate now?"

Clara's flat…

"Shut up, shut up, shut up. I need to talk to you." Clara said.

Park…

"All right. Well, I'll be there in a couple of minutes, so…" Danny said, happily.

Clara's flat…

"No, no, Not while you're in the room." Clara said, annoyed.

Park…

"Oh, stupid me. The very idea." Danny said.

Clara's flat…

"Shut up!" Clara said, angrily.

"Okay." Danny said, his voice coming out of Clara's phone.

"Stay shut up."

Park…

"Okay." Danny said.

"Things to say." Clara said, her voice coming out of Danny's phone.

Clara's flat…

"Not all of them good." Clara said.

"Oh, wouldn't it be better…" Danny said, his voice coming out of Clara's phone.

Park…

"…if I was actually there?" Danny asked.

"Oh, Danny, everything is…" Clara said, her voice coming out of Danny's phone.

Clara's flat…

"Better when you're here, but maybe…" Clara said, turning to look at the array of post-it notes on her bookshelves. Some say PSI, Team JNR, Impossible Girl, Oscar Pine, Saibra, Team RWBY, Vastra, Vacuo, Blinovitch, Vale, Robin Hood, Pyrrha Nikos, Lying, Penny Polendina, Dinosaur in London. "…maybe not this. Okay. Er…okay, before all of that. Before all of the stuff…"

Park…

"That I did wrong…" Clara said, her voice coming out of Danny's phone.

Clara's flat…

Clara takes down the note that says Just Say It, "I love you."

Road…

"I love you." Danny said, walking out towards the main road.

"No, not like that. Not like it's automatic." Clara said, her voice coming out of Danny's phone.

Clara's flat…

"Not like it's how you end the phone call, the sign off, the pat on the back." Clara said, scoffing.

Park….

"Clara…" Danny said, annoyed.

Clara's flat…

"Danny, I'll never say those words again. Not to anybody else, ever. Those words, from me, are yours now." Clara said, frowning.

Danny walks out onto the main road.

Clara doesn't get a reply so after a pause, she speaks again, "So, er. That's a thing."

Clara hears just the sound of cars travelling on the road.

"Okay, Danny? Er, there's more but that's kind of the headline. Okay, Danny, please speak to me, This is, this is killing me." Clara said, while she hears nothing still. "Danny, I love you. And you are the last person who's ever going to hear me say that."

"Hello? Hello, is someone there?" A woman asked, her voice coming out of Clara's phone.

"Hello? Er, yeah. Who's this?" Clara asked.

"I just picked up the phone, I'm sorry. I found it."

"Oh. Er, okay. Er, can you please just put me back on the phone to Danny? I was talking to Danny."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Okay, er, what are you sorry about? Could you please just pass the phone back to…"

"He was crossing the road. I found the phone, it must have just got thrown. The car, it just came out of nowhere."

Road…

"I'm so sorry." The woman said, sadly.

The traffic is at a standstill. People have stopped to look, and the emergency services are on their way, sirens wailing. Clara drops the phone and runs along the street. She gets there just as the police are taping the scene off.

"By now, I'm sure you've heard the rumours, and it is with great sadness that I must confirm them to be true." Armitage said, as a voiceover.

A little shrine with photographs, notes and flowers is set up at the park entrance.

"I have gathered you all here today to say that Mister Pink, that Danny Pink has sadly passed away. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing his family and friends our sincerest condolences. Mister Pink was an inspiration to all of those who knew him. A soldier, a teacher, a friend. It was no secret that he had a close relationship with Miss Oswald, and our thoughts and prayers are with her too." Armitage said, as a voiceover.

The Tardis is sitting on a ledge in a volcanic caldera.

Clara's kitchen…

Full of Calla lilies and sympathy cards. Clara's phone is ringing, and continues to ring throughout the kitchen. Caller ID says it is Jared Shay calling.

Clara's gran walks in, "Hello, love. You all right? Oh, of course you're not. Sorry. Of course you're not all right. You know what you should do? You should cry. Let go."

"Of what?" Clara asked.

"It's a terrible thing. Just a terrible, terrible thing." Clara's gran said, sadly.

"It wasn't terrible."

"Clara?"

"It was boring."

"Boring?"

"It was ordinary. People just kept walking with their iPods and their shopping bags. He was alive, and then he was dead and it was nothing. Like stepping off a bus."

"He deserved better. And so did you."

"I don't deserve anything. Nobody deserves anything. But I am owed better. I am owed." Clara said, frowning.

"Who owes you?" Clara's gran asked.

"Clara? Hey." Jared said, his voice coming out of Clara's phone.

Clara picks up the phone and puts on a cheerful face, "Hey!"

Lindbergh Elementary School cafeteria…

"Time's up, Turner! I want my date back!" Jimmy said, grabbing Cindy's right arm and pulling her to the 3D side of the dance.

"Wait your turn, Baron von Boring! She's my date too!" Timmy said, grabbing Cindy's left arm and pulling the blonde to the 2D side of the dance.

"But it is my turn!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Mine!"

"Boys, boys!" Cindy said, enjoying it. "Please! This fighting over me has got to stop."

Jared is busy watching Jimmy and Timmy still fight over Cindy.

"Sorry. I was busy helping to save the universe. Again." Jared said, sipping on his cup of punch. "Jimmy and Timmy are fighting over Cindy at a Friday the 13th dance. What's up?"

Clara's kitchen…

"Oh, nothing. You know, same old, same old." Clara said, laughing a little.

Lindbergh Elementary School cafeteria…

"Well, we have been drifting apart lately." Jared said, drinking some fruit punch.

Clara's kitchen…

"Do you need help with anything, my Impossible Girl?" Jared asked, his voice coming out of Clara's phone.

(Jared's POV)

Cauldera…

The Doctor is lying outside the Tardis as the volcano spits lava and lumps of rock. He wakes with a start to see Clara standing in the smoke by the edge of the ledge.

I woke up, to lift myself off the ground, to look at my surroundings, "Clara?"

Tardis…

Clara enters. The Doctor is working on a piece of machinery. I am playing Paper Mario:The Thousand Year Door on my Nintendo Switch.

"Start her up." Clara said.

"Where are we going?" I asked, looking up from my Nintendo Switch.

"Away."

"From?" The Doctor asked.

"Just away." Clara said, smirking.

"Well, normally you say work or kids or dishes or dullness. So what's happened? Jared doesn't want to tell me, he's been playing video games to distract himself." The Doctor said, looking at Clara.

Clara goes downstairs to the Doctor's workbench, takes a key from a round box and puts it in her coat pocket, "A volcano."

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor asked.

"I've never seen an active volcano, do you know one?" Clara asked.

"What's so great about seeing a volcano? It's just a sort of leaky mountain." The Doctor said, scoffing.

"I've never seen lava." Clara said, taking something out of the Doctor's coat pocket and puts it into hers.

"t's rubbish."

"Prove it." Clara said, smirking.

Cauldera…

"They're on your necks." Clara said, looking between the Doctor and I.

Tardis…

The time machine is In flight.

Clara finds another key hidden inside The Time Traveller's Wife, "Doctor? Do you still have those sleep patch things?"

"You can't have one." The Doctor said.

"I'm having trouble sleeping." Clara said, sadly.

"You still can't have one."

"Can I have one?"

"No, you can't have one." The Doctor said.

"You really can't have one." I said, as Clara takes the box of them from a small set of drawers. "They're from New Earth and dangerous mood drugs. Have you forgot about the Bliss one?"

"So, volcano. What's so good about lava?" The Doctor asked.

Clara puts one of the patches on the back of the Doctor's neck and puts the other on my neck.

Cauldera…

Clara is holding out her hand, "Doctor, you and Jared told me once what it would take to destroy a Tardis key. That's what's so good about lava. All seven. From all of your hiding places, Doctor. I know Jared gave all seven of his spare TARDIS keys to Team RWBY and Team JNR, who are in Vacuo."

Clara holds a TARDIS key up.

"Clara, what are you doing? Don't. Be very, very careful with that. Those are very, very…" The Doctor said, frowning.

Clara throws the TARDIS key backwards into the lava, "Doctor? Do I have your attention? I know I have Jared's, even if he seems easily distracted."

"Yes." The Doctor said.

"Good." Clara said.

"No. Not good, Clara."

"Danny Pink."

"Yeah?"

"Is dead."

"And?"

"Seriously? Why do you think I spent a lot of time in Townsville and Amity Park." I said, rolling my eyes. "I knew Danny Pink's death was coming. Why do you think I had these extra adventures, Doctor? Spending time with the Guardians of the Galaxy, going back to Asgard, seeing the Chamber of Secrets, stopping Edgar the Bug, the Battle of Geonosis, and saving the universe with Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner."

"And?" The Doctor asked.

"Clara wants us to fix this, Doctor Disco. She wants us to change it. Change what happened. What caused Danny to die. She wants us to save Danny and bring him back." I said, and Clara holds up another key and I remember what happened in Father's Day. "She's doing this at the point of desperation, you know."

"No." The Doctor said.

Clara throws the key away, "Five left. Every time you say no to me or to Jared, I will throw another key down there. Do we understand each other?"

"Well, I understand you and Jared, Clara. Let's not get carried away." The Doctor said, looking between Clara and I.

"Time can be rewritten." Clara said.

"With precision. With great care. And not today. But you know that of course, otherwise you wouldn't be threatening me, Clara." The Doctor said. "And you wouldn't have Jared guilty to the point of him avoiding us for months. Because of what you're doing."

"Did you just say no?"

"If Jared and I change the events that brought you here, you will never come here and ask us to change those events. Paradox loop. The timeline disintegrates. Your timeline. And yes!"

"Yes?" Clara asked.

"Yes. I did just say no. Throw away the key." The Doctor said.

"I have seen you and Jared change time, I have seen you and Jared break any rule you want." Clara said, looking between the Doctor and I.

"We know when we can, we know when we can't. Throw the key." The Doctor said.

"I know what you're doing. You're trying to take control with Jared's help." Clara said, letting out a sigh.

"I am in control. Throw away the key. Do as you are told." The Doctor said.

"No!" Clara cried.

"Well, either you do as you're told or stop threatening me and stop making Jared so afraid and him distant of us. There really isn't a third option here." The Doctor said, looking at Clara.

"Do you know what, Doctor? When it comes to taking control, you really are out of your depth." Clara said, throwing all the remaining keys bar one into the lava. "One last chance. And I don't care about the rules, I don't give a damn about paradoxes. Save Danny. Bring him back or I swear you will never step inside your Tardis again."

"No." The Doctor said, sadly.

"Do as you are told." Clara said.

"No."

"Say it again so I know you mean it."

"No!" The Doctor yelled.

"I'm not kidding, Doctor." Clara said.

"Neither am I."

"I will do it!" Clara said, angrily.

"Clara, my Clara, I don't think you will!" The Doctor said, worried.

"Clara!" I said, while the last key goes into the lava. "No!"

"Oh, I'd say I'm sorry but I'd do it again." Clara said, falling to her knees and cries. "I'd do it again. Well, what are you doing? Doctor? Jared? Why are the two of you just standing there? Do you understand what I have just done?"

"Clara, just look at your hand." I said, looking down at Clara's hand.

"There's nothing in my hand." Clara said, sadly.

"Clara, can you look at what is in your hand?"

"The keys, they're gone. They're down there. They've gone."

"Clara, look in your hand." The Doctor said.

"There's nothing in my hand." Clara said.

"Yeah. There it is!" I cheered, as the sleep patch was in the middle of Clara's palm. "Like, come on. Did you really think it was going to work on me and the Doctor?"

TARDIS…

I thought about Clara putting a patch on the Doctor's neck then putting one on my neck. I grabbed Clara's hand and neatly pressed the patch into her palm instead.

"Clara, they're not sleep patches." I said, smiling. "They're mood drugs from New Earth as I said. They induce a dream state."

I removed the patch from Clara's palm.

Tardis…

"They make you very suggestible, my Impossible Girl." I said, picking up the TARDIS keys from the floor and handing them to the Doctor. "Bliss was a mood drug enough to wipe out the entirety of New Earth. The Face of Boe had to sacrifice himself to help release the people he saved from the drug from the undercity."

"Besides Jared being all nostalgic over the mood drugs and Captain Jack sacrificing himself in our past. Clara, I allowed the whole scenario to play out just as you planned, and Jared knew about it. I was curious about how far you would go." The Doctor said, looking at Clara.

"Well, now you know." Clara said, letting out a sigh.

"Yeah. Now I know."

"I love him."

The Doctor scans Clara with the sonic screwdriver, "Yes, you're quite the mess of chemicals, aren't you?"

"So, what now? What do we do now? The three of usus, what happens now? Doctor? Jared?" Clara asked.

"Go to hell." The Doctor said, as the Tardis lands.

"Fair enough. Absolutely fair enough." Clara said, walking to the door.

"Clara, you asked what we're going to do. The Doctor told you. We're going to hell. But in the literal sense. Where people go to die." I said, pulling myself off the floor.

"That is. If there is anywhere. Wherever it is, we're going to go there and we're going to find Danny. And if it is in any way possible, we're going to bring him home. Almost every culture in the universe has some concept of an afterlife. I always meant to have a look around, see if I could find one." The Doctor said.

"You and Jared are going to help me?" Clara asked.

"Well, why wouldn't we help you?"

"Because of what I just did. I just…." Clara said, letting out some tears.

"You betrayed us. Betrayed our trust, you betrayed our friendship, you betrayed everything that we've ever stood for. You let me and Jared down!" The Doctor said, angrily.

"Doctor, then why are you and Jared helping me?" Clara asked, looking between the Doctor and I.

"Why? Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?" The Doctor asked, and Clara is starting to cry again. "Stop it with the eyes. Don't do that with the eyes. How do you do that anyway? It's like they inflate. Cut out the whining while you're at it. We've got work to do. This is it, Clara, Jared, one of those moments."

"What moments?" Clara asked.

"The darkest day. The blackest hour. Chin up, shoulders back. Let's see what we're made of, the three of us." The Doctor said, smirking.

"I'm turning off the safety system." I said, flicking some switches and turning off the knobs on the TARDIS console. "And the GPS."

"Remember, we did this before. Clara, we plugged you into the Tardis telepathic interface." The Doctor said.

"We ended up all over Danny's timestream." Clara said, her eyes widening.

"Clara, you and Danny are linked. Like, very linked. Like how it is for the Doctor, Donna, Madoka, and Homura." I said, leaning against the TARDIS console. "Clara, your time stream and Danny Pink's time stream are intertwined. If Danny's anywhere, the link will hold as long as you think of him."

"Jared's right." The Doctor said, smiling. "Give me your hands."

"Doctor…" Clara said, letting out a sigh.

"We're in a hurry." The Doctor said.

"I don't deserve friends like you and Jared." Clara said, looking between the Doctor and I.

"Clara, I'm terribly sorry, but Jared and I are exactly what you deserve." The Doctor said, putting Clara's hands into the orange gloop part of the console. "Think about Danny. Think about the man you lost. Let it hurt. Let it burn. But don't bleat. Don't ask, why him? Why me? Forget all that. Ask one question. Just one. Ask, where is Danny Pink now? Where is he now?" And after a few moments, the time rotor starts up. "Well, the Tardis thinks he's somewhere."

(Open POV)

Seb's office…

Danny is sitting at a desk with his head resting on his hand. It slips and he wakes. Somewhere a phone rings, and it sounds like a busy office outside. He looks around at a set of in-trays, pens in holders, and a name plate on the desk which says - Nethersphere After Death Department SEB. The company logo is a very large circle with a small one attached at seven o'clock. The door opens.

"Has anyone offered you a coffee?" Seb asked.

"Um. Well, no." Danny said, sadly.

"Could we have some coffee along here, please? The good kind. We've got a new one." Seb said, shutting the door and sits at his desk. "Five minutes, tops. Best to wait for the good coffee."

"Where am I?"

"Sometimes it's just the instant." Seb said, pulling a 'nasty taste' face.

"Where am I?"

"Well, big question. Try to take that one slowly. We have been trying to contact family members, but really there is so much admin…" Seb said.

"I wasn't here, I was…" Danny said, frowning.

"Yeah. That last thing that happened to you, that really happened, I'm afraid. But that's life. Well, not life, I suppose, but. There are some forms to fill in. Might help you relax. Well, they won't, but we do need them filled in. Right, important thing. Need to know. Are you being cremated? Sorry, it's a fairly urgent question."

"I don't know. I've never really thought of that."

"I'm going to put you down as a yes, that's pretty much the default these days. If people only knew."

"Only knew what?"

Seb rolls his chair back to the door and shouts through the wall, "We've got a burner in number twelve. Tell them to prep, please."

"Burner?" Danny asked.

Seb rolls back to the deck, "Yeah, it's fine, we'll come to that."

"But I don't understand where I am." Danny said.

Seb looks at the large pair of curtains covering one wall. Danny gets up and opens them, then gasps. He is looking out of a round window at a host of buildings which appear to be on the inside of a small Dyson Sphere.

"Oh, look at that. You can see my house from here. Yeah, sorry, probably not helping." Seb said, in awe.

"Where am I? Er…" Danny said, at a loss for words.

"You sort of know, don't you? Most people kind of know, it's just hard to get traction on the concept."

"Where am I?"

"Okay. You're dead, and this is what's next."

"I'm not dead. How can I be dead?"

"Our sincere condolences."

"I'm standing right here."

"Yes, you are. Welcome to the Underworld. Otherwise known as the Nethersphere, or the Promised Land. It's where you go when you die." Seb said, while Danny starts to hyperventilate. "Would you like to breathe into a bag?"

(Jared's POV)

Tardis…

The Tardis materialises.

"Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Nav-com's offline. We'll have to do this old school." The Doctor said.

"But this is where Danny is?"

"Almost certainly not. It's where there's a connection with Danny. According to the Tardis, this is where it's most likely that your timeline will re-intersect with his. And that won't do."

"What won't?"

"You won't. Look at you. I need sceptical, clever, critical. I don't need mopey. It put years on your face. And what if people see us together? It looks like you've been melted." The Doctor said, looking at Clara.

"Doctor, rude." I said, rolling my eyes. "Clara lost her boyfriend."

"Are you forgetting why we're here?" Clara asked.

"We're here to get your boyfriend back from the dead, so buck up and give me some attitude." The Doctor said.

Entrance lobby…

The Tardis has parked herself between two of four columns at the bottom of a set of steps leading up to a large urn on a plinth, which has an eternal flame burning in it. The place is dark, and the Doctor shines a torch on an small obelisk with the Company logo on it in gold and the words Rest In Peace, We Promise carved into the granite. We look up at ranks and ranks of glass fronted cubicles on three sides of this marble edifice. There is the sound of water nearby.

"Fish tanks?" Clara asked.

"In a mausoleum?" The Doctor asked.

"I don't like this." I said, as we went up the steps to the urn. Its plinth also has the logo and motto on it. "This bit of the adventure."

"What does that mean?" Clara asked.

"Those are definitely not fish tanks." I said, and we turned right and entered the gallery. "Come on, Doctor, Clara. We don't have all day."

Gallery…

Lined on the right hand side with floor to ceiling tanks. Each contains a skeleton sitting on a chair.

"Why?" Clara asked.

"I don't know." The Doctor said, sadly.

"Okay, I'm assuming they didn't actually drown in there."

"Nope. They were placed there after death. These are tombs. Basically graves, filled with water. Or some fluid." I said, clutching the strap of my sling bag. "Clara, I'm scared."

"It's okay, Jared. You're okay to be scared." Clara said, grabbing my hand. "With chairs?"

"With chairs, yes. Extra comfort for the deceased. It pays to die rich." The Doctor said, letting out a sigh.

There is a name under each tank.

Clara looks at Xylo Jones then moves on by pulling me away slowly, "Oh, God. Am I going to find Danny now? Is that why the Tardis brought us here? I don't want to see him like that."

"Good point. Tombs with windows. Who wants to watch their loved ones rot? Why would anyone go to so much trouble just to keep watch on the dead?" The Doctor asked.

As we walk on, a skeleton turns its head to watch them. The Doctor finds a small book on a lecturn. He opens his fingers across a blank page and a cube rises up out of it. He pushes it into the corridor and opens it. It displays that two ring logo with 3W inside it while Bach's Air on a G String plays softly. A voice speaks the words that then scroll down.

"3W. Death is not an end. But we can we help with that. Ever since 3W encountered the truth about the death experience, 'we have been working hard to find a better life for the deceased. At 3W, afterlife means aftercare." Missy said, nearby.

"Okay. Bit strange?" Clara asked.

"Very. Why have the scrolling and a voice? Is it difficult?" The Doctor asked.

"Is what difficult?"

"Reading all those words back to front. Come on. We've come a long way."

Missy walks through the logo, which disappears, "Hello. I hope you're well. How may I assist you with your death?"

"Well, there is, er, no immediate hurry. We're just, er. We're just…" The Doctor said, looking at Missy.

"We're just browsing." I said, squeezing Clara's hand.

"Yeah, yeah, browsing." The Doctor said.

"Please, take all the time you need. At 3W, you always have the rest of your life." Missy said.

"Oh, good. That's good to know, Clara, Jared, isn't it?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah. Great." Clara said, sarcastically.

"Totally great." I said, looking down at the ground. "So, what's 3W?"

"Apologies. Clearly you have not received the official 3W greetings package." Missy said, fixated on the Doctor.

"Well, you know, it's just an unexpected…" The Doctor said, letting out a sigh.

Missy lunges at the Doctor, pushing him against the wall then kissing him very intently. The Doctor's eyes bulge and he grabs the wall.

Missy finishes by kissing the tip of his nose three times, then she steps back, "Welcome to the 3W Institute."

"Clara, Jared, is it over now?" The Doctor asked, breathless.

"I think it's over, yeah." Clara said.

"You and your friend also have not received the official welcome package." Missy said, looking between Clara and I.

"Oh, I'm good, thanks. No worries." Clara said.

"There's really no worries. I'm good too." I said, letting go of Clara's hand.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"I am Missy." Missy said.

"Missy?" Clara asked.

"Mobile Intelligent Systems Interface. I am a multi-function, interactive welcome-droid. Helping you to help me to help you."

"You're very, er, realistic." The Doctor said.

"Tongues?" Clara asked.

"Shut up." The Doctor said, annoyed.

"I am fully programmed with social interaction norms appropriate to a range of visitors. Please indicate if you'd like me to adjust my intimacy setting." Missy said.

The Doctor peels himself off the wall, "Oh, yes, please. Please do that. Do that now right now."

"Maybe just a tad, yeah." Clara said.

"I need to speak to whoever's in charge here." The Doctor said.

"I am in charge." Missy said, impersonating Maggie Smith.

"Downton Abbey." I said, doing a face palm. "God, this is annoying."

"Well, who's in charge of you?" The Doctor asked, looking at Missy.

"I'm in charge of me." Missy said.

"Well, who repairs you? Who, who maintains you?"

"I am programmed for self-repair. I am maintained by my heart." Missy said, taking the Doctor's hand and places it on her bosom. "Is everything in order?"

"Who maintains your heart?" The Doctor asked.

"My heart is maintained by the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Doctor Chang!" Missy said, shouting.

Missy walks away from the Doctor, who doesn't move his hand.

"Who's there?" Chang asked, nearby.

"Hello?" Chang asked, walking up to us.

"Hello." Clara said.

"Hello." The Doctor said.

"Hey." I said, grabbing Clara's hand again. "Doctor, you can put your hand down."

"So. Hey. Condolences." Chang said.

"Condolences?" Clara asked.

"It's a mausoleum. It's our hello. Is there a particular dead person you want to talk to?"

"Yes. Yes, there is." Clara said.

"This way then." Chang said.

"Are you okay?" The Doctor asked, looking between Clara and I.

"No." Clara said, sadly.

"Nope." I said, frowning. "I'm only terrified by this place because of someone and it isn't Danny."

The Doctor takes Clara's other hand, "Good. There would be something very wrong if the both of you were."

All the skeletons turn their heads to watch us leave. Missy smiles, then looks up at a red spotted globe turning up in the corner.

(Open POV)

Balcony…

Seb opens the doors and lets Danny go first into the night air with emergency vehicle sirens wailing in the distance, "Bit of fresh air. Do you good."

"Why's it so cold here?" Danny asked.

"And the Wi-Fi is better out here. Don't know why." Seb said.

"Wi-Fi?"

"Yeah, still a bit spotty, but basically…"

"You have Wi-Fi here?" Danny asked, and Seb is calling something up on his tablet computer. "You. You have iPads in the afterlife?"

"iPads? We have Steve Jobs. Listen, another big question for you. Have you ever killed anybody?" Seb asked.

"This is surreal." Danny said.

"Imagine embryos had telephones."

"That's really not helping."

"Go with me. Go with me. Imagine babies in wombs could talk to other babies in other wombs. What would they say? What would they think life was like if they could talk among themselves?"

"I really have no idea."

"They'd think that life was nine months long. Then, boom, trap door opens, out you fall, gone for ever. Never hear from those guys again. Nothing at the end of the cord." Seb said.

"Okay." Danny said, frowning.

"This isn't really an afterlife. It's just more life than you were expecting."

"Why did you ask me if I'd killed anyone?"

"Before you were a teacher, you spent some time as a soldier."

"Yeah, so?"

"Any regrets? Bad memories?" Seb asked.

"Is that, is that any of your business?" Danny asked.

"Yes."

Memories…

In either Iraq or Afghanistan, Danny and his troop are returning fire in a village.

"Get to cover, now!" A soldier yelled.

Balcony…

"Sorry if I triggered something then. Memory flashes can be very impactful in the early stages." Seb said, looking at Danny.

"Why?" Danny asked.

"Why what?"

Danny recalls taking a grenade from his pouch and throwing it into the remains of a building.

"Why is it any of your business?" Danny asked.

"We've had a request to meet you. Any idea who that would be from?" Seb asked.

Danny recalls bursting into a building and immediately opening fire.

"It's been given a priority, which usually means…" Seb said.

"Means what?" Danny asked.

Danny has shot someone.

"Well, anyway, we've arranged a meet-up." Seb said.

"When?" Danny asked.

"Come in."

Danny sees the person from his memories. A young boy in a football shirt is peering around the door.

"Danny, repeat, is the building secure?'" A soldier asked, nearby.

"So, I guess you remember him, yeah?" Seb asked.

"Danny? Danny!"

(Jared's POV)

Chang's office…

"Come in, come in. Going to need to take a reading off you." Chang said.

There is one of those big tanks in here, too. The Doctor goes to take a look around as I take out a box of chocolate chip cookies to snack on them.

"A reading?" Clara asked.

"Won't hurt." Chang said, flicking a switch.

"What won't?" Clara asked.

"How does the body keep its integrity? Why isn't it just a bunch of bones floating about?" The Doctor asked.

"Each body is encased in a support exoskeleton." Chang said.

Gallery…

"An invisible exoskeleton?" Clara asked, over the iPad's speaker.

"How can an exoskeleton be invisible?" I asked, over the iPad's speaker.

"It's only invisible in the water. There's a specially engineered refraction index in the fluid so we can see the tank resident unimpeded by the support mechanisms." Chang said, over the iPad's speaker.

Missy is listening to the conversation.

"So each skeleton is inside something?" The Doctor asked, over the iPad's speaker.

Missy puts her hand on a tank and a skeletal hand reaches out.

Chang's office…

"Are you serious? X-ray water?" Clara asked.

"It's so cool. Look at this. We call it dark water." Chang said, putting his arm into a sample jar of it. His wrist watch and jacket sleeve vanish. "Only organic matter can be seen through it." He removes his arm and dries it off. "I keep saying they should use this stuff in swimming pools."

"Why would you want to use dark water in swimming pools?" I asked, tossing a chocolate chip cookie into my mouth. "That's awful!"

"Think about it."

"I am thinking about it. Why? It's wrong."

"Doesn't matter. 3W, what kind of name is that? What does it mean?" Clara asked.

The skeleton in the tank behind them turns its head.

"Well, you know, don't you? You're here on business or they wouldn't have let you in. Sorry. Should have checked. Who are you?" Chang asked.

"I thought that you would never ask. Sort out your security protocols, they're a disgrace." The Doctor said, taking out the psychic paper.

"Another government inspection? So soon? Why is there all this swearing?"

"Oh, I've got a lot of internalised anger. What does 3W stand for?"

"Well, the three words."

"What three words?" Clara asked.

"Seriously? You don't know?" Chang asked.

"Never mind what we know and what we don't know, just answer our question." The Doctor said.

"Because people who don't know, when they hear about this, they can freak out."

"We're not going to freak out."

"If you've had a recent loss, this might be, this will be disturbing."

"They'll be fine." The Doctor said, looking between Clara and I.

"Speak for me again, I'll detach something from you. I'll be fine." Clara said, grabbing my hand.

"I'll be okay." I said, squeezing Clara's hand. "Don't speak for me again, Spaceman. Otherwise, I'll shock you so hard, you'll regenerate."

"You know how people are scared of dying? Like, everybody." Chang said, sadly.

"Of course. It's the most fundamental fear in the universe." The Doctor said.

"They'd be a lot more scared if they knew what it was really like." Chang said, activating the see through computer screen on his desk.

(Open POV)

Balcony…

Danny is sitting at the table opposite the young boy, "So. You okay? I'm sorry. I just…"

Danny reaches for the boy's hand. The young boy recoils and runs off.

"Hey, hey. Hey, listen. Listen Hey!" Danny said, worried.

"Probably best not, eh? Doesn't speak much." Seb said, sadly.

"Why would he want to see me?" Danny asked, as a man screams in agony nearby. "What the hell is that?"

"Sounds like somebody left their body to science. Okay. Er, It's probably time to explain why you're always feeling cold."

(Jared's POV)

Chang's office…

"White noise off the telly. We've all heard it. A few years ago, Doctor Skarosa, our founder, did something unexpected. He played that noise through a translation matrix of his own devising. This is a recording of what he heard." Chang said.

A sound wave of multiple voices.

"Okay, people, voices." Clara said, at a loss for words.

"So what?" The Doctor asked.

"They're just people and voices." I said, tossing a chocolate chip cookie into my mouth.

"Over time, Doctor Skarosa became convinced these were the voices of the recently departed. He believed it was a telepathic communication from the dead." Chang said.

"Why? Was he an idiot?" The Doctor asked.

"He was able to isolate some of the voices, hear what they were saying."

"So, an idiot then." The Doctor said, and Chang turns off the recording.

"Shut up, Doctor." I said, tossing a chocolate chip cookie into my mouth.

"What I'm about to play you will change your life and not for the better. These are the three words which caused Doctor Skarosa to set up institutes, like this one, all over the world, to protect the dead. If you'd rather not hear these words, there's still time…" Chang said, looking at us.

"Can you just hurry up, please, or I'll hit you with my shoe." The Doctor said.

"Don't cremate me. Don't cremate me!" The voice cried, over the speaker.

"There is one simple, horrible possibility that has never occurred to anyone throughout human history." Chang said.

"Don't cremate me. Don't cremate me!"

"Don't say it." Clara said, squeezing my hand.

"The dead remain conscious. The dead are fully aware of everything that is happening to them." Chang said.

(Open POV)

Balcony…

"So your mind is here. Your soul, whatever you want to call it. And you're in your new body in your new world, but you're still connected to your old body in the old world. You're still going to feel what it feels." Seb said.

"That's why I'm cold." Danny said, his eyes widening.

"They're keeping you in a cold place, yeah. You did say you were being cremated?" Seb asked, while his tablet beeps. "Sorry, I'll get this."

"Sorry. Sorry, are you telling me…" Danny said, frowning.

"Wow! Oh, that's rare. This never happens."

"Wow, what now? What never happens?"

"You've got a call."

"A call."

"From the other side."

"Meaning?" Danny asked.

"Do you know somebody called Clara Oswald?" Seb asked.

Chang's office…

"Fakery. All of it. It's a con, it's a racket!" The Doctor yelled.

"Doctor, I don't think it's a con." Jared said, sadly.

"Of course it's a con!"

"I promise you this is not a con." Chang said.

"What's that beeping?" Clara asked.

Gallery…

"Never mind about beeping. Who cares about beeping? The dead are dead. 'They're not talking to you out of your television sets. They're just gone…" The Doctor said, nearby.

Missy claps her hands, and the skeletons all stand up.

"And all these poor souls down there in these tanks, I'm sorry, but they're just dead and they're not coming back." The Doctor said, nearby.

Chang's office…

Chang manipulates a device.

"Clara? Clara? Clara, are you there?" Danny asked, over the speaker.

"Danny! I can hear you. Is that you?" Clara asked.

Balcony…

"Oh, please, say it's you." Clara said, her voice coming out of the iPad.

"That's her, that's Clara!" Danny cheered.

"Yeah, you're really lucky. It hardly ever happens." Seb said, looking at Danny.

The connection is audio only on Seb's tablet, then the signal drops out.

"Where did she go?" Danny asked.

Chang's office…

"Just lost the signal. But I can track it back, I'm pretty sure." Chang said.

"I don't, I don't understand. What is happening?" Clara asked.

"We've been scanning you telepathically since you came in. You said you wanted to speak to someone who'd passed, and we've found you a match in the Nethersphere."

"This isn't possible. The dead don't come back." The Doctor said, while behind him, the skeleton in the tank stands up.

"Unless you're Mint Fantôme haunting a maid cafe or a ghost roaming around New York or Amity Park." Jared said, happily.

Balcony…

"Come on, get her back." Danny said.

"Da-da-da. I'm trying." Seb said, typing on the iPad.

Chang's office…

"It was him. It was his voice." Clara said.

"If they scanned you telepathically, they could've lifted a voice print. It could still be a fake." The Doctor said.

"Getting him back, very nearly!" Chang said, typing away on the keyboard.

Balcony…

The signal is back at 99%.

"Clara, can you hear me?" Danny asked.

Chang's office…

"Yes, Danny, I can hear you. Can you hear me?" Clara asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I can hear you." Danny said, his voice coming out of the monitor speaker.

Balcony…

"Clara! Oh, God. Clara…" Danny said, sadly.

"What do I do?" Clara asked, her voice coming out of the iPad speaker.

"Who are you talking to?"

Chang's office…

"Hang on just a moment." Clara said, smiling.

"Ask Danny questions only he knows the answers to. The Doctor doesn't believe that it is actually Danny. But I do." Jared said, munching on a chocolate chip cookie.

"Jared's right. Be sure, Clara. You, with us." The Doctor said, as he and Jared walked away with Chang.

"Where are you and Jared going?" Clara asked.

"I've got to check out those tanks with Jared. There's something that I'm missing." The Doctor said.

"Clara?" Danny asked, his voice over the monitor speaker.

"Sceptical and critical, remember?"

"Clara, just be strong with the questions. You need to know if it's Danny." Jared said, walking behind the Doctor. "Even if asking said questions and hearing the answers break your heart."

"Connection's stabilised. It should be okay." Chang said.

"Jared? Who would harvest dead bodies? I feel like I'm missing something obvious." The Doctor said, walking out through the double doors with Jared.

"Maybe it's the Master." Jared said, and the double doors with windows cut out in the shape of the logo, but symmetrical, almost like eyes.

"The Master died. He died when he got sucked back into the Time War after the End of Time. You know this."

"Danny?" Clara asked, walking over to the monitor.

Balcony…

"Yeah, I'm here." Danny said.

Chang's office…

"Danny, I'm so sorry but I'm going to have to ask you some questions." Clara said.

"Questions? I swear on anything it's me!" Danny said, his voice coming through the monitor.

Gallery…

Missy snaps her fingers, "Humankind, bring out your dead."

The standing skeletons turn and press a button on the wall of their tanks, activating something. The liquid starts to drain from the tanks. The Doctor, Chang, and Jared enter.

"Oh, my God. The tanks! The tanks are activating! They're not supposed to do that." Chang said, sadly.

"And all your dead people are standing. Don't you think you skipped the headline?" The Doctor asked.

"Now, now, children. Naughty, naughty." Missy said, smirking.

"Doctor Chang, your welcome droid has developed a fault."

"That's not a droid. That's my boss." Chang said.

"You know, I might have been guilty of a just teensy little fibette. Doctor Chang, I really liked working with you. I've enjoyed every day of it." Missy said, looking at Chang.

"I'm sorry?"

"You know, I've even got a little photograph of you looking so sweet. I'm always going to keep it. Always!" Missy said, excitedly.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Now, come on. Let's not dwell on horrid things. This is going to be our last conversation, and I'm the one who's going to have to live with that."

"Please don't kill me."

"Say something nice."

"Please, please. I don't, I don't want to die. You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"Say something nice."

"Please!" Chang said, terrified.

"Doctor Chang, I've got all day. And I'm not going to kill you until you say something nice." Missy said, letting out a sigh.

"It has been an absolute pleasure working with you, and I truly believe that you'll never be able to find it in your heart to murder me." Chang said.

Missy holds up a device that fires a heat ray, which incinerates Chang instantly. The Doctor and Jared back away.

"Now, I'll be with you two in a moment. Just feeling a bit emotional at the moment." Missy said.

The Doctor looks up at a tank and sees the water level dropping below the top of a skeleton's head, to reveal a silver metal helmet, "Cybermen!"

Balcony…

"It's me. I, I swear on anything it's me." Danny said, holding the iPad.

"The very first restaurant you took me to. That first date. What was it called?" Clara asked, her voice coming out of the iPad speaker.

"Clara, it's me."

Chang's office…

"Then what was the name of the restaurant? What was it?" Clara asked.

Balcony…

"I can't remember!" Danny said, worried.

Gallery…

"They're Cybermen, all of them. Jared, we've got to stop them getting out." The Doctor said, grabbing Jared's hand.

"Yup." Jared said, while he squeezed the Doctor's hand. "My friends can't handle the Cybermen. It'll be too much for them."

"Now who's missing the headline? The Nethersphere. You know it's ever so funny, the people that live inside that think they've gone to heaven." Missy said.

The Doctor looks up at the globe.

"My birthday. When is it?" Clara asked, nearby.

Balcony…

"November twenty third. That's right, isn't it? I got that one right." Danny said.

"It's pretty basic information. Anyone could know that. Say something only you could say." Clara said, her voice coming out of the iPad speaker.

Chang's office…

"Tell me something only Danny would know." Clara said.

Gallery…

"That's a matrix data-slice. A Gallifreyan hard drive. Time Lord technology." The Doctor said, at a loss for words.

"Imagine you could upload dying minds to that. Edit them. Rearrange them. Get rid of all those boring emotions. Ready to be re-downloaded. Meanwhile, you upgrade the bodies. Upload the mind, upgrade the body. Cybermen from cyberspace. Now, why has no-one ever thought of that before?" Missy asked.

"How did you get hold of Time Lord technology? Who are you?" The Doctor asked, looking at Missy.

"You know who I am. I told you. You felt it. Surely you did."

"Two hearts." The Doctor said, his eyes widening.

"And both of them yours." Missy said, smirking.

"You're a Time Lord."

"Time Lady, please, I'm old-fashioned."

"Which Time Lady?"

"It's not the Rani." Jared said, looking down at the floor.

"The one you and Jared abandoned, Doctor. The one you and Jared left for dead. Didn't you ever think I'd find my way back?" Missy asked, looking between the Doctor and Jared. "Jared surely did. That's why I hired the Ravagers to fetch him. And I told Jim Moriarty everything about Jared to try and break him down when he sees me again. It's a shame Moriarty died two years ago, he was a wonderful match for Sherlock Holmes and Jared Shay."

"Clara. Clara. Clara. Jared, we've got to get Clara!" The Doctor said, dragging Jared to the lift door.

"Oh, Clara, Clara, Clara! You know I should shoot you and Jared in a jealous rage. Now, wouldn't that be sexy? I've turned the lift off, though." Missy said, smiling.

"Doctor, Missy has stairs leading outside!" Jared said, worried.

"Well, I'm not a Dalek."

The Doctor sonicks open the door to the stairs and drags Jared out to London.

Outside St Paul's Cathedral…

"Oh, dear, Doctor. Didn't you realise where you were with Jared?" Missy asked.

Church bells peal as they look down Ludgate Hill. A number 56 bus drives past.

Chang's office…

"I love you." Danny said, over the monitor speaker.

"No. No, no, no. I'm sorry, but no. Anybody could say that. Anybody would know to say that. Say something only you could tell me. Prove to me you are really Danny." Clara said.

Balcony…

"How?" Danny asked.

"I love you means nothing right now." Clara said, her voice coming out of the iPad speaker.

Chang's office…

"Not until I know who's talking. Say something only Danny could say." Clara said.

Balcony…

"Clara…" Danny said, letting out a lot of tears.

"Danny, if that is you…" Clara said, her voice coming out of the iPad speaker.

Chang's office…

"Wherever you are…" Clara said.

Balcony…

"Whatever it takes, I will be with you again, I swear." Clara said, her voice coming out of the iPad speaker.

"No, you won't. You are not coming here." Danny said, sadly.

"Nothing will stop me."

Chang's office…

"Nothing in the world, as soon as I know it's you." Clara said.

"There is only one way…" Danny said, his voice coming out of the monitor.

Balcony…

"...to come here, and you are not doing that." Danny said.

"I'll do anything, Danny, anything. Just say something only you could say." Clara said, her voice coming out of the iPad speaker.

"Clara, you have your life. You have your whole life to live. You have to stay there."

"No. I have to be with Danny Pink."

"I love you."

Chang's office…

"Stop saying that! Don't say that. If you say that again, I swear I will switch this thing off." Clara said, annoyed.

Balcony…

"Clara…" Danny said, holding the iPad.

"Yes?" Clara asked, her voice coming out of the iPad.

"I love you."

Balcony/Chang's office…

Clara turns off Chang's computer. Danny sits down and cries.

Balcony…

Seb takes back the tablet and calls up another app, "These emotions, they're terribly difficult. But, you know, we've got a thing for that. We can help with all these difficult feelings. Just press this."

On the screen, next to the name Danny Pink, is a button marked Delete.

"I'll leave you to make a decision." Seb said, looking at Danny.

Chang's office…

Clara turns around to see the Cyberman who, according to the name plaque, is Dr Skarosa.

Clara runs to the door, "Doctor!"

The doors to the now empty tanks swing open. The Cybermen step out and stomp away.

St Peter's Hill…

The Doctor drags Jared down the steps towards the river.

"Get away from here! All of you, run!" The Doctor said, angrily.

"Doctor, I don't like this." Jared said, and the Cybermen stomp out of the Cathedral. "They're getting closer."

"Go! Go! Get away from here! Run away! Run, run! Get away from here all of you, now!"

"I'm sorry, everyone. Another ranting Scotsman in the street with an American. I had no idea there was a match on." Missy said, walking towards the Doctor and Jared.

"Get away, go!" The Doctor said, worried.

"Stop shouting, love. Stop making a fuss. It's too late. All the graves of planet Earth are about to give birth. You know the key strategic weakness of the human race? The dead outnumber the living."

"Who are you?"

"Oh, you know who I am. I'm Missy." Missy said, happily.

"Who's Missy?"

"Please, try to keep up. Short for Mistress. Well, I couldn't very well keep calling myself the Master, now could I?"

The Doctor backs away with Jared, horrified. The Cybermen continue their march. Danny sobs then pulls his finger away from the Delete button.