One on one? (Closed!)

Will feel asleep. He felt like he should be doing something, helping someone. Nico A faint voice whispers. Who was Nico? He faintly remembered the name from the dream.

"Doctor, there's… something I need to tell you." Anita said. "Yes, what is it?" the Doctor asked. "Erm…. I have two shadows. Suppose it's the end for me, then, but I suppose it isn't the worst way to -" the Doctor cut Anita off. "It's not the end for you. Just let me… one moment…." he said, using the sonic on her visor, which immediately went dark. "Don't worry, I just tinted your visor. It just might fool the Vashta Nerada into leaving you alone."

Nico looks at the doctor. "What do we do now?" He asks, biting his lip.

"Well, I think the answer to all of this is finding out who CAL is. Mr. Lux, your cue." the Doctor glared.

"Alright." Nico cracks his knuckles. "Start talking please. We need to get out of here in order to survive."

"CAL… it would be best if I just showed you." Mr. Lux gave in.

Nico bares his teeth. "Good. Because I have a boyfriend that needs saving."

"Well, if it gets us in a safe spot, I'm all ears." Anita said. "Wait, what did you just say? You said safe… and there it is. You don't say saved! You say safe! Only idiots say saved! Alison and Nico have literally been saved! Mr. Lux, according to record, this library was sealed off for a hundred years, right? Were there any additional messages?" the Doctor asked. "Er, yes. 4,022 people saved, no survivors. Don't you want to know what CAL is?!" Mr. Lux asked.

There was a knock at the door. Alison went to check it, and found a letter at the door. Bring yourself and your new flatmate to the park, 2:00 sharp tomorrow. it said. it is a matter of life or death.

Will hums softly, looking at the ceiling as he listened to music. He shuts his eyes, sighing quietly.

Nico growls, "Guess what. They aren't replying and Will won't answer. There's something wrong." He hisses. "I know Will. He isn't like this."

"CAL is towards the lower levels. Come on." Mr. Lux said reluctantly.

Alison woke up the next morning feeling rather odd. Should she follow the directions of that note? She decided to, and just moments later she and Will were sitting on a park bench by the playground, waiting.

Will looks at Alison then around. "So… what exactly are we waiting for?" He asks, looking back at her.

"I just got this note… no idea why." she said. A veiled figure walked over to them. "You came. Good, we have much to discuss." it, or rather she, said.

Will tilts his head at the woman. He bites his lip and shrugs as he looks at Alison.

"I got your note last night." Alison said, shifting in her seat slightly. "No, you didn't." the woman said. "I'm sorry, what?" Alison asked. "You didn't get my note last night. You got it a few seconds ago. Having decided to come, you suddenly found yourself arriving. That is how time progresses here, in the manner of a dream. You've suspected that before, haven't you, Alison Cheney?" she said. "How do you know me?" Alison asked, her voice a little more high pitched than she would have liked. "We met before, in the library. You were kind to me. I hope now to return that kindness." the woman said. "Your voice. I recognise it. Who are you?" Alison asked. "Yes, I assume you do recognize it. I am what is left of Miss Evangelista." the veiled woman said.

Will watches with wide eyes. "A-Alison… who is this?" he whispers towards her and then to the woman, biting his lip.

"I…" Alison trailed off. How could she have forgotten? But the library wasn't real, it couldn't possibly be…. "I suggested we meet here because a playground is the easiest place to see it. To see the lie." Miss Evangelista said. "What lie?" Alison asked. "The children. Look at the children." she instructed. "Why do you wear that veil? It's not as if you need it, you have a lovely face." Alison asked. "You remember my face, then? The memories are all still there. The library, the Doctor, me. You've just been programmed not to look." Miss Evangelista said. "Programmed? Sorry, but you're dead. I saw… I saw your skeleton." Alison said. "In a way, we're all dead here. We are the dead of the library." Miss Evangelista stated.

Will watches the interaction quietly. When MIss Evangelista told her to look at the children. he did so. The library? Nico… was Nico real?

"Look at the children. Look at all of them, really look." Miss Evangelista said, pointing towards the playground. And Alison saw it. "They're not real. Do you see it now? They're all the same. All the children of this world, the same boy and the same girl, over and over again!" Miss Evangelista said. "Stop it. Just stop it. Why are you doing this? Why are you wearing that veil?" Alison pulled off Miss Evangelista's veil. Her face was distorted, skewed and stretched. Alison screamed.

Will gulps softly, backing away. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. He cries out and backs away. Fear was flooding through his being.

"What happened to your face?" Alison asked, after Miss Evangelista had put her veil back on and Alison herself had calmed down. "Transcription errors. Destroyed my face, did wonders for my intellect. I'm a very poor copy of myself. You and Will teleported, or attempted to. The computer was able to get a perfect image of yourselves. Me, I had been ghosting, simply picked up in the Wi-Fi." she explained."Your physical self is stored in the library as an energy signature. It can be actualised again whenever you or the library requires." she added. "The library? If my face ends up on one of those statues I swear…" Alison growled. "You remember the statues?" Miss Evangelista asked. "Wait, no, just hang on. So this isn't the real me? This isn't my real body? But I've been dieting." Alison whined. "What you see around you, this entire world is nothing more than virtual reality." Miss Evangelista said calmly.

He sighs a little and looks around. It was real… and Nico. He needed to get back to Nico.

"And it made you clever? Being uploaded?" Alison asked. "We're only strings of numbers in here. I think a decimal point may have shifted in my IQ. But my face has been the bigger advantage. I have the two qualities you require to see absolute truth. I am brilliant and unloved." Miss Evangelista said. "If this is all a dream, whose dream is it?" Alison asked. "It's hard to see everything in the data core, even for me, but there is a word. Just one word. CAL." she said.

Will looks around. He stands and starts walking away from the others. It was like something was dragging him.

"Tell me about the moon. What is up there?" the Master asked, his artificial mind sorting through thoughts and theories. "It's not real. It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon." Mr. Lux said. "What's a Doctor Moon?" the Doctor asked. "A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet." he continued. "Well, it's most definitely still active. It's signalling. And also interfering with my circuitry, unfortunately." the Master said, mildly annoyed. "Ah, I think I get it now. Hold on!" the Doctor said, rushing to a computer terminal. "See, there it is, right there. A hundred years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, however they did it, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out." "It tried to teleport four thousand twenty two people? But that's impossible!" Mr. Lux said. "It succeeded, somehow. Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?" the Doctor asked. "It saved them!" he said triumphantly.

"The library. A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved four thousand and twenty two people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive." Miss Evangelista explained. "That gives me an idea of what CAL is." she finished. "Will, where are you going?" Alison asked.

Nico paces and sighs softly. "What are we supposed to do?" He asks, biting his lip. He was worried about Will.

An alarm sounds. "Autodestruct in 30 minutes." a voice over the PA stated. All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience." "We need to stop this. We've got to save CAL." Mr. Lux said. "What is it? What is CAL?" the Doctor asked. "We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you." Mr. Lux replied. But it, er, it's at the core of the planet." he added. "Well, then. Let's go."The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the library logo in the middle of a compass design in the floor. It opened up, revealing a blue field of light surrounding a platform. "Gravity platform, that's lovely!" the Doctor said. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" Other Dave said, or rather his skeleton in the suit said. "That's both Daves gone. We need to get out of here." the Rani said.

"I'm sorry for trespassing on your time." Miss Evangelista said, leaving.

(You online?)

Nico bites his lip. He was so concerned about Will. He wasn't concerned about anything else.

The Doctor drags everyone down the platform, to the data core. Autodestruct in fifteen minutes. The Doctor looked up to see a globe with swirling energy in it. "The data core. Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it." he said, impressed. "They won't be living much longer. We're running out of time." the Master warned. "Help me. Please, help me. Please, please help me." a little girl's voice said, from down the corridor. The Doctor found an access terminal. "Help me. Please, help me." it repeated. "What's that?" Anita asked. "Was that a child?" the Doctor said. "The computer's in sleep mode. I can't wake it up. I'm trying." the Doctor tapped at the keyboard, an agitated yet determined expression on his face. "Doctor, these readings." Anita said. "Look!" "I know. You'd think it was dreaming." the Doctor replied, focused more on the task at hand than anything. "It is dreaming, of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written." Mr. Lux said ruefully. "Computers don't dream." Anita said. "Help me. Please help me." the girl's voice said. "No, but little girls do." Mr. Lux said. He pulled a breaker switch and a door opened. They ran inside.

Will paces and sighs. He had lost the tugging sensation.