Post by Fitz Kreiner on Jun 11, 2009 9:40:32 GMT
Tom cautiously crept up the stairs to Lemaitre’s office and the main administration area. So far, the factory had been mercifully quiet, no security at the desk and no sounds of staff at work. It was when he reached the administration area that he realised why. Stepping into the large, open plan office, Tom immediately dropped down behind the low partition that separated the work stations from the corridor that lead to the main offices. Behind each desk sat an Auton, staring blankly at the computer screens and tapping away at the keyboards. It had to be one of the most bizarre sights he had ever seen.
Carefully and quietly, he crawled along the floor, keeping as close to the partitioning as he could. He hadn’t heard any movement in the office, but that didn’t necessarily mean that the Autons hadn’t seen him. They could move a lot more quietly than a human, no breathing, no speaking or making any noise at all.
Reaching the large gap in the partitioning wall which marked the entrance to the main administration area, Tom paused and listened carefully. He was anxious about peering through the gap in case there was an Auton stood directly in his way. No, he had to make a move. He couldn’t sit there wondering about “what if’s”. There was a chance that the Doctor may need him soon, so the quicker he got on with his mission, the better.
Feeling his hearts pumping in his chest, Tom chanced it and peered cautiously round the edge of the partition. There were no Autons in sight. Well, not in sight that meant they were watching for him. As quickly and quietly as he could, he crawled passed the open area and continued up to the main office. Just outside the double doors that lead to it, he paused. There was someone in there as well. Chancing a look, he saw that it wasn’t an Auton, but a human. The first human that he’d seen in the whole place since they’d arrived. He immediately recognised her as the woman who had led him to the Master; Andrea Rogers, Lemaitre’s PA.
A thought suddenly struck him like a slap around the face. What if all this time she hadn’t been Lemaitre’s assistant, but the Master’s instead? Was she doing it of her own free will, or had the Master hypnotised her? Not being an expert on hypnosis, he couldn’t tell. He’d only been able to tell that Jess was under the influence last time because of the different way she was acting. Either way, Andrea Rogers would be a lot harder to get passed than a group of Autons.
Fortunately for him, one of the double doors was open and the other closed, which allowed him some cover. Chancing a look, he saw Andrea get up from her desk and cross to a wall panel. In front of his astounded eyes, Tom watched as she opened a concealed door and disappear inside. A hidden office, which would no doubt be where most of the information he needed would be. Now all he had to do was get passed her and into it.
Briefly, Tom toyed with the idea of rushing into the office and flattening himself against the wall, in the hope that he could nip passed her without her noticing. He soon brushed the idea aside when he realised that it would be futile. As Andrea returned to her desk, Tom flattened himself against the closed door. Spotting the doorstop in the open door, a risky plan soon formed in his mind. Kicking out with his left foot, he knocked the stop away and the door swung closed with a soft bang.
Pulling himself up into a ball, Tom glanced up at the windows in the top half of the doors. His plan had been rewarded as Andrea’s face appeared at the windows looking out to the room beyond. Holding his breath, Tom readied himself as the door creaked open and Andrea stood in the doorway. She was now stood within two feet of him and one glance down would blow his cover. The beating of his hearts was almost deafening in his ears as Andrea stepped out of the doorway and into the small corridor. She was now in front of him, and seizing his chance, Tom scrambled round the door and into the office.
The door to the hidden office was still open, and with a quick glance over his shoulder, he slipped inside. The office itself was in near darkness, the only light coming from the open door, which opened into the office. Nipping behind it, he heard Andrea return to her own office outside. He hoped that she would assume that the door had closed on its own having found nothing. Tom pressed himself up against the wall as she came into the office. Pulling the door onto him, he peered through the gap as Andrea picked something off the desk and then left, shutting the door behind her.
Engulfed in pitch blackness, Tom let out a long sigh of relief. Carefully, he made his way over to the desk, stumbling over a chair in the darkness. Resisting the urge to swear, he pulled himself up and groped about blindly on the large mahogany desk for the desk lamp he had glimpsed when he first entered the office. His fingers soon hit the cool metal of the base of the lamp, and he found the switch soon after. The sudden glow of the orange light dazzled him for a few seconds as his eyes adjusted to the new levels of light.
Looking down at the desk, Tom saw it was virtually empty. A box of matches sat on one side, beside a mahogany box with brass trim. Carefully, he picked up the matches and slid the box open; the matches were made of an almost orange wood with bright blue heads. There was a strange smell of cinnamon coming from them. Putting them back down, he lifted the lid of the box. Inside were half a dozen Cuban cigars. Shrugging to himself, he shut the box and turned his attention back to the desk.
Rounding the desk, he sat down in the plush executive leather chair. This had to be the Masters office. The cigars and decanter of brandy had confirmed it. Picking up the sheets of paper on the desk, Tom quickly leafed through them, but they provided no information. Grimacing, he put them back on the copy of The Times that sat beneath them. Glancing towards the desk light, Tom saw a small black object sat underneath it. Picking it up, he found it to be a remote control. He looked round confused, there wasn’t a television or stereo in the lab.
Depressing the large button at the top curiously, a movement out of the corner of his eye made Tom start. His hearts skipped a beat as he thought he’d called a hidden Auton guard. He mentally chastised himself when he saw the wooden panels of the wall slide back revealing an array of monitor screens. The Master’s hidden security system no doubt. The main screen was split into four sections, each showing key areas of the factory; the office outside, the office overlooking the factory floor, the office in the security area and the main gate. Tom almost made for the door when he saw that the Doctor and Jess were stood face to face with the Master in the security area, but remembering the Doctors words made Tom sit back down on the chair. There was little he could do just yet. Besides, the screen showed that Andrea was back at her desk outside.
Turning his attention back to the desk, Tom finished rummaging about the top, finding nothing that would help. Then it hit him; the Master was hardly the sort of person to leave anything incriminating in the open. Pushing the chair back slightly Tom looked at either side of the desk. Sure enough, there were a series of drawers on each side. Reaching out, he tried to open one, but found it to be securely locked. Pulling the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver from his pocket, Tom activated it on the lock. He was met with the satisfying clicking sound of the drawers unlocking.
His successive rummage through yielded only a few more results than those of the desk. In one he found a fully loaded pistol, and in another a short stubby tube that looked ominously like the tissue compression eliminator the Master had threatened him with the first time they met. Pocketing the TCE, Tom then checked the safety catch on the pistol before tucking it into the waistband of his trousers.
The last drawer he looked in held something even more promising; distribution details and directives with a watermark indicating they had come from parliament. Gathering the papers together, Tom rolled them up and slipped them in his inside jacket pocket and looked up at the screen. A black Mercedes was pulling into the car park. Tom squinted, it looked as though the car had hit something, judging from the dints in the bonnet, and the windscreen was shattered.
Tom watched as the car disgorged Captain Morris, Corporal Loding and a private, all armed. Some back up, he thought as he watched the screen and no other vehicles arrived. As he watched, Morris pointed towards the camera and Loding jogged off towards what he assumed was the main entrance. Morris and the private turned and headed off the opposite way towards the main factory floor. No doubt the Master would have something nasty in store for Morris and Loding was about to walk into a room full of Autons. Unable to help or warn them, Tom was torn. With an exasperated sigh, he turned and made for the door, pressing his ear up against it, he listened.
“What have you done?” the Doctor asked, taking a step towards the Master.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah,” the Master scolded, waving his tissue compression eliminator at the Doctor. “Back against the wall please.”
His face a picture of rage, the Doctor obliged and stepped back next to Jess. Smiling when the Doctor was in place, the Master raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Plastic wires snaked out of the wall and wrapped themselves around the Doctor and Jess’s wrists, causing the two of them to cry out in alarm.
“Just a safety precaution, Doctor, Miss Lawton,” the Master explained. “I wouldn’t want either of you getting hurt.”
“Oh, how very considerate of you,” the Doctor said, the irony heavy in his voice.
Ignoring the comment, the Master reached out and turned the monitor screen on and twisted it so that the Doctor and Jess could see. “As you can see, I’ve managed to get into the London CCTV network,” the Master explained. “And I thought you might like to see what is happening right now in Camden.”
The Doctor pulled against his plastic bonds at seeing the carnage that was being displayed on the screen. Street performer Autons were shooting and fleeing crowds of people. Dead bodies littered the street as UNIT soldiers and riot police tried to gain control of the area.
“That was just phase one,” the Master said, turning to the Doctor and smiling smugly, “you should be about to see the start of phase two.” He pointed to the screen as at the edge of the picture the mannequins in the shops started to move.
“What is the point in all this?” the Doctor shouted. “You already have your facsimiles in the government and army, why all this senseless killing?”
“To create panic and chaos, my dear Doctor.” The Master replied simply. “When the country is in total turmoil, I shall activate my facsimiles, which will help to calm the situation, allowing me to take over.”
“You think you can take over? It’s not going to work.” Jess said, feeling her voice tremble slightly, she wasn’t sure whether she quite believed herself.
“My dear Miss Lawton,” the Master purred, “you will soon find that I can do whatever I want.
“You can’t. Tom will co-” Jess started quickly before trailing off and attracting a pained look from the Doctor.
“Ah, the tenacious Mr. Rowan.” The Master chuckled. “I doubt there is much he will be able to do wherever he is.” Pausing the Master glared at the Doctor and Jess. “And where is he, out of curiosity?”
“I don’t know,” the Doctor said, quickly cutting off Jess.
“I see,” the Master said, thoughtfully pursing his lips and folding his arms.
“Stare at me as much as you want,” the Doctor said, staring the Master down. “I don’t know where he is.”
“No, I believe you,” the Master said looking at the monitor screen. “You know he’s generally in the area of the factory, but where exactly, you don’t know.”
The Doctor’s face fell behind the Master’s back. He had hoped to keep Tom’s being at the factory quiet. The Master had either seen him on a security monitor of felt his presence. “Then why ask?” he asked eventually.
The Master turned round on the Doctor and Jess and smiled cruelly. “Just to make your last moments on this earth more pleasant with a little small talk,” he said.
Sergeant Lovatt felt marginally safer behind the police lines. They had swarmed into the street in full riot gear, complete with batons and shields. There were now two lines of them, the rear line protecting the last remaining civilians who were being evacuated from the area and the front lines who were trying to attack the Autons.
Her men had fallen back to rearm themselves, having spent the ammunition they had on the Autons. Several of the plastic killers were pockmarked with many bullet holes, but still they kept on coming.
Glancing over her shoulder, Lovatt was glad that the Tube had been cancelled and no more civilian shoppers were pouring into the area. She’d also received a report from General Bailey, telling her that army reinforcements were minutes away. They couldn’t arrive soon enough as far as she was concerned. The first line of riot police were starting to fall back, and she soon saw why; the Auton weapons were blasting holes in their shields, showering the men with globules of molten plastic.
The sound of glass shattering made her start. Looking around she saw that shop window mannequins were stepping out of the shops, smashing their way out of the large windows. The vast majority of them were wearing brightly coloured masks, in preparation for the festival that was coming. It made a bizarre but macabre sight as they stepped into the ranks of the other Autons. Lovatt felt a chill go down her spine; they were now hugely outnumbered, out gunned and surrounded.
The mannequins raised their arms as one, the hidden hand weapons emerging from their wrists and started firing into the ranks of police. Lovatt ducked instinctively as several of the police collapsed, their bodies smoking. The first lot of mannequins shuddered under covering fire from the few remaining UNIT troops on the streets as the riot police closed their ranks and advanced on them. Lovatt admired their courage, facing the Autons with only a transparent plastic shield and metal baton. Some of their previous attacks had caused the more bullet damaged Autons some more damage, smashing limbs off them or caving their heads in. It just made the creatures look ever more horrific.
Glancing back at the shattered doors of the HQ, she saw more of her troops pour out. They were now armed with flame throwers after she had ordered it. The fire brigade were on standby if the fires got out of hand. They were the only things she could think of that were of any use against the Auton hoards. Lovatt felt a warm glow of satisfaction deep down as she heard the first roars of the flame throwers. Spotting Bailey in the doorway, she ran over to him and quickly saluted.
“What’s the SP, Sergeant?” He asked, returning the salute informally with his swagger stick.
“We’re outgunned and outnumbered.” Lovatt replied looking back at the street, which was now a battlefield. “It seems that the shop mannequins were Autons too.”
“And that’s not all,” Bailey said. “It seems the attack isn’t confined to this street. The reinforcements have been held up just round the corner. The same thing is happening there.”
“But if we can’t hold them here, sir-?” Lovatt started, another shiver going through her body.
“I know, Sergeant,” Bailey said, unholstering his pistol and checking it. “I’ve ordered a mass mobilisation in the London area. I somehow doubt that this is going to be confined to just Camden. But considering the numbers of street performers and mannequins in the central London area, I think we’re going to lose thousands of lives before the day is out.”
Silently and horrified, Lovatt nodded in agreement. The Master looked like he was going to win.
Carefully and quietly, he crawled along the floor, keeping as close to the partitioning as he could. He hadn’t heard any movement in the office, but that didn’t necessarily mean that the Autons hadn’t seen him. They could move a lot more quietly than a human, no breathing, no speaking or making any noise at all.
Reaching the large gap in the partitioning wall which marked the entrance to the main administration area, Tom paused and listened carefully. He was anxious about peering through the gap in case there was an Auton stood directly in his way. No, he had to make a move. He couldn’t sit there wondering about “what if’s”. There was a chance that the Doctor may need him soon, so the quicker he got on with his mission, the better.
Feeling his hearts pumping in his chest, Tom chanced it and peered cautiously round the edge of the partition. There were no Autons in sight. Well, not in sight that meant they were watching for him. As quickly and quietly as he could, he crawled passed the open area and continued up to the main office. Just outside the double doors that lead to it, he paused. There was someone in there as well. Chancing a look, he saw that it wasn’t an Auton, but a human. The first human that he’d seen in the whole place since they’d arrived. He immediately recognised her as the woman who had led him to the Master; Andrea Rogers, Lemaitre’s PA.
A thought suddenly struck him like a slap around the face. What if all this time she hadn’t been Lemaitre’s assistant, but the Master’s instead? Was she doing it of her own free will, or had the Master hypnotised her? Not being an expert on hypnosis, he couldn’t tell. He’d only been able to tell that Jess was under the influence last time because of the different way she was acting. Either way, Andrea Rogers would be a lot harder to get passed than a group of Autons.
Fortunately for him, one of the double doors was open and the other closed, which allowed him some cover. Chancing a look, he saw Andrea get up from her desk and cross to a wall panel. In front of his astounded eyes, Tom watched as she opened a concealed door and disappear inside. A hidden office, which would no doubt be where most of the information he needed would be. Now all he had to do was get passed her and into it.
Briefly, Tom toyed with the idea of rushing into the office and flattening himself against the wall, in the hope that he could nip passed her without her noticing. He soon brushed the idea aside when he realised that it would be futile. As Andrea returned to her desk, Tom flattened himself against the closed door. Spotting the doorstop in the open door, a risky plan soon formed in his mind. Kicking out with his left foot, he knocked the stop away and the door swung closed with a soft bang.
Pulling himself up into a ball, Tom glanced up at the windows in the top half of the doors. His plan had been rewarded as Andrea’s face appeared at the windows looking out to the room beyond. Holding his breath, Tom readied himself as the door creaked open and Andrea stood in the doorway. She was now stood within two feet of him and one glance down would blow his cover. The beating of his hearts was almost deafening in his ears as Andrea stepped out of the doorway and into the small corridor. She was now in front of him, and seizing his chance, Tom scrambled round the door and into the office.
The door to the hidden office was still open, and with a quick glance over his shoulder, he slipped inside. The office itself was in near darkness, the only light coming from the open door, which opened into the office. Nipping behind it, he heard Andrea return to her own office outside. He hoped that she would assume that the door had closed on its own having found nothing. Tom pressed himself up against the wall as she came into the office. Pulling the door onto him, he peered through the gap as Andrea picked something off the desk and then left, shutting the door behind her.
Engulfed in pitch blackness, Tom let out a long sigh of relief. Carefully, he made his way over to the desk, stumbling over a chair in the darkness. Resisting the urge to swear, he pulled himself up and groped about blindly on the large mahogany desk for the desk lamp he had glimpsed when he first entered the office. His fingers soon hit the cool metal of the base of the lamp, and he found the switch soon after. The sudden glow of the orange light dazzled him for a few seconds as his eyes adjusted to the new levels of light.
Looking down at the desk, Tom saw it was virtually empty. A box of matches sat on one side, beside a mahogany box with brass trim. Carefully, he picked up the matches and slid the box open; the matches were made of an almost orange wood with bright blue heads. There was a strange smell of cinnamon coming from them. Putting them back down, he lifted the lid of the box. Inside were half a dozen Cuban cigars. Shrugging to himself, he shut the box and turned his attention back to the desk.
Rounding the desk, he sat down in the plush executive leather chair. This had to be the Masters office. The cigars and decanter of brandy had confirmed it. Picking up the sheets of paper on the desk, Tom quickly leafed through them, but they provided no information. Grimacing, he put them back on the copy of The Times that sat beneath them. Glancing towards the desk light, Tom saw a small black object sat underneath it. Picking it up, he found it to be a remote control. He looked round confused, there wasn’t a television or stereo in the lab.
Depressing the large button at the top curiously, a movement out of the corner of his eye made Tom start. His hearts skipped a beat as he thought he’d called a hidden Auton guard. He mentally chastised himself when he saw the wooden panels of the wall slide back revealing an array of monitor screens. The Master’s hidden security system no doubt. The main screen was split into four sections, each showing key areas of the factory; the office outside, the office overlooking the factory floor, the office in the security area and the main gate. Tom almost made for the door when he saw that the Doctor and Jess were stood face to face with the Master in the security area, but remembering the Doctors words made Tom sit back down on the chair. There was little he could do just yet. Besides, the screen showed that Andrea was back at her desk outside.
Turning his attention back to the desk, Tom finished rummaging about the top, finding nothing that would help. Then it hit him; the Master was hardly the sort of person to leave anything incriminating in the open. Pushing the chair back slightly Tom looked at either side of the desk. Sure enough, there were a series of drawers on each side. Reaching out, he tried to open one, but found it to be securely locked. Pulling the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver from his pocket, Tom activated it on the lock. He was met with the satisfying clicking sound of the drawers unlocking.
His successive rummage through yielded only a few more results than those of the desk. In one he found a fully loaded pistol, and in another a short stubby tube that looked ominously like the tissue compression eliminator the Master had threatened him with the first time they met. Pocketing the TCE, Tom then checked the safety catch on the pistol before tucking it into the waistband of his trousers.
The last drawer he looked in held something even more promising; distribution details and directives with a watermark indicating they had come from parliament. Gathering the papers together, Tom rolled them up and slipped them in his inside jacket pocket and looked up at the screen. A black Mercedes was pulling into the car park. Tom squinted, it looked as though the car had hit something, judging from the dints in the bonnet, and the windscreen was shattered.
Tom watched as the car disgorged Captain Morris, Corporal Loding and a private, all armed. Some back up, he thought as he watched the screen and no other vehicles arrived. As he watched, Morris pointed towards the camera and Loding jogged off towards what he assumed was the main entrance. Morris and the private turned and headed off the opposite way towards the main factory floor. No doubt the Master would have something nasty in store for Morris and Loding was about to walk into a room full of Autons. Unable to help or warn them, Tom was torn. With an exasperated sigh, he turned and made for the door, pressing his ear up against it, he listened.
*
“What have you done?” the Doctor asked, taking a step towards the Master.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah,” the Master scolded, waving his tissue compression eliminator at the Doctor. “Back against the wall please.”
His face a picture of rage, the Doctor obliged and stepped back next to Jess. Smiling when the Doctor was in place, the Master raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Plastic wires snaked out of the wall and wrapped themselves around the Doctor and Jess’s wrists, causing the two of them to cry out in alarm.
“Just a safety precaution, Doctor, Miss Lawton,” the Master explained. “I wouldn’t want either of you getting hurt.”
“Oh, how very considerate of you,” the Doctor said, the irony heavy in his voice.
Ignoring the comment, the Master reached out and turned the monitor screen on and twisted it so that the Doctor and Jess could see. “As you can see, I’ve managed to get into the London CCTV network,” the Master explained. “And I thought you might like to see what is happening right now in Camden.”
The Doctor pulled against his plastic bonds at seeing the carnage that was being displayed on the screen. Street performer Autons were shooting and fleeing crowds of people. Dead bodies littered the street as UNIT soldiers and riot police tried to gain control of the area.
“That was just phase one,” the Master said, turning to the Doctor and smiling smugly, “you should be about to see the start of phase two.” He pointed to the screen as at the edge of the picture the mannequins in the shops started to move.
“What is the point in all this?” the Doctor shouted. “You already have your facsimiles in the government and army, why all this senseless killing?”
“To create panic and chaos, my dear Doctor.” The Master replied simply. “When the country is in total turmoil, I shall activate my facsimiles, which will help to calm the situation, allowing me to take over.”
“You think you can take over? It’s not going to work.” Jess said, feeling her voice tremble slightly, she wasn’t sure whether she quite believed herself.
“My dear Miss Lawton,” the Master purred, “you will soon find that I can do whatever I want.
“You can’t. Tom will co-” Jess started quickly before trailing off and attracting a pained look from the Doctor.
“Ah, the tenacious Mr. Rowan.” The Master chuckled. “I doubt there is much he will be able to do wherever he is.” Pausing the Master glared at the Doctor and Jess. “And where is he, out of curiosity?”
“I don’t know,” the Doctor said, quickly cutting off Jess.
“I see,” the Master said, thoughtfully pursing his lips and folding his arms.
“Stare at me as much as you want,” the Doctor said, staring the Master down. “I don’t know where he is.”
“No, I believe you,” the Master said looking at the monitor screen. “You know he’s generally in the area of the factory, but where exactly, you don’t know.”
The Doctor’s face fell behind the Master’s back. He had hoped to keep Tom’s being at the factory quiet. The Master had either seen him on a security monitor of felt his presence. “Then why ask?” he asked eventually.
The Master turned round on the Doctor and Jess and smiled cruelly. “Just to make your last moments on this earth more pleasant with a little small talk,” he said.
*
Sergeant Lovatt felt marginally safer behind the police lines. They had swarmed into the street in full riot gear, complete with batons and shields. There were now two lines of them, the rear line protecting the last remaining civilians who were being evacuated from the area and the front lines who were trying to attack the Autons.
Her men had fallen back to rearm themselves, having spent the ammunition they had on the Autons. Several of the plastic killers were pockmarked with many bullet holes, but still they kept on coming.
Glancing over her shoulder, Lovatt was glad that the Tube had been cancelled and no more civilian shoppers were pouring into the area. She’d also received a report from General Bailey, telling her that army reinforcements were minutes away. They couldn’t arrive soon enough as far as she was concerned. The first line of riot police were starting to fall back, and she soon saw why; the Auton weapons were blasting holes in their shields, showering the men with globules of molten plastic.
The sound of glass shattering made her start. Looking around she saw that shop window mannequins were stepping out of the shops, smashing their way out of the large windows. The vast majority of them were wearing brightly coloured masks, in preparation for the festival that was coming. It made a bizarre but macabre sight as they stepped into the ranks of the other Autons. Lovatt felt a chill go down her spine; they were now hugely outnumbered, out gunned and surrounded.
The mannequins raised their arms as one, the hidden hand weapons emerging from their wrists and started firing into the ranks of police. Lovatt ducked instinctively as several of the police collapsed, their bodies smoking. The first lot of mannequins shuddered under covering fire from the few remaining UNIT troops on the streets as the riot police closed their ranks and advanced on them. Lovatt admired their courage, facing the Autons with only a transparent plastic shield and metal baton. Some of their previous attacks had caused the more bullet damaged Autons some more damage, smashing limbs off them or caving their heads in. It just made the creatures look ever more horrific.
Glancing back at the shattered doors of the HQ, she saw more of her troops pour out. They were now armed with flame throwers after she had ordered it. The fire brigade were on standby if the fires got out of hand. They were the only things she could think of that were of any use against the Auton hoards. Lovatt felt a warm glow of satisfaction deep down as she heard the first roars of the flame throwers. Spotting Bailey in the doorway, she ran over to him and quickly saluted.
“What’s the SP, Sergeant?” He asked, returning the salute informally with his swagger stick.
“We’re outgunned and outnumbered.” Lovatt replied looking back at the street, which was now a battlefield. “It seems that the shop mannequins were Autons too.”
“And that’s not all,” Bailey said. “It seems the attack isn’t confined to this street. The reinforcements have been held up just round the corner. The same thing is happening there.”
“But if we can’t hold them here, sir-?” Lovatt started, another shiver going through her body.
“I know, Sergeant,” Bailey said, unholstering his pistol and checking it. “I’ve ordered a mass mobilisation in the London area. I somehow doubt that this is going to be confined to just Camden. But considering the numbers of street performers and mannequins in the central London area, I think we’re going to lose thousands of lives before the day is out.”
Silently and horrified, Lovatt nodded in agreement. The Master looked like he was going to win.