CULT OF THE CYBER MESSIAH

Chapter Fourteen

Everyone could barely contain their joy when they saw Alan come out the front door with Awinita in his arms. He looked around and sprinted to them. Once he was behind the TV's, Jack took off his coat and spread it on the ground since she had no shoes or socks on and was dressed only in the gown. They all embraced her and sent love into her mind when he finally sat her down and let go. Rose took off her jacket and let her borrow it. She thanked her while she slipped it on. Meanwhile Edison pulled out his comm and slipped it in his ear.

"Theora, we have Awinita back," Edison said to her.

"Great! I'm glad. How's the Doctor doing?"

"Still inside, heard from Max?"

"Not a word, I assume he's still inside as well."

"Well, we're waiting on them now."

He paused a moment and looked at Alan.

"If you want, I'll take her back to my apartment and she can rest there. That way she won't have to be out in the cold like this."

"Brilliant, I'll go with her and look after her. If the Doctor needs help, he's got all of you."

Edison nodded. Alan put a block around his brother's mind and told him what they were going to do.

Great! If you're going to be there, will you take her to the med bay then? The bastard whipped her back and I was gonna use the tissue rejuvenator on her.

Consider it done.

Thanks. I'll see you back at the TARDIS then.

He cut off communication and looked at Edison.

"I'm ready."

Everyone gave Awinita hugs and kissed and told her they'd see her later. She tried to give the jacket back to Rose but she held up her hand.

"Nah, Sis, I'm fine without it. You need it for the ride back."

She nodded and squeezed Rose's hand. They watched while Alan gathered her up in his arms and both he and Edison sprinted back to the car while the others kept a watch on their surroundings.

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Thomas stopped the Doctor several doors down from the Cyber Messiah's quarters and ushered him into a room.

"It's right there at the end of the hall," he whispered to him once the door was closed.

The Doctor nodded and turned on the imager.

"Thanks, Thomas, wait here and I'll come for you when I'm done."

"No way, I'm going in with you."

"Thomas, that's not necessary."

"I want to. I'm just as angry as you are over what he did to Awinita and everyone else. I wanna help you fight him. Besides, the moment he figures out who you are, he's gonna be on the intercom calling the rest of the cult to come help him."

The Doctor glanced over at a computer sitting on a computer desk in the far corner of the room.

"Well, let's make sure he can't do that, shall we?"

He walked over the computer.

"Max, you there?"

Max appeared on the screen.

"Here, r-r-ready and waiting for orders."

"Have you disabled the intercom system?"

"No."

"I need you to do that so the Cyber Messiah can't call for help."

"G-g-gotcha, anything else else?"

The Doctor thought.

"If you find any traps he may have, disable those as well. Just make sure he can't summon anyone or do something underhanded while we're fighting him."

G-g-gotcha."

"Thanks, Max, that's all I need right now."

Max smiled and left the screen.

"Okay, I'm ready to take on Cyber Dork up there," he said. "If I do get him to tell me where the missing Time Lord is then perhaps you can find him. His real name is Nelak."

"Nelak, got it."

He patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks again for all your help, Thomas."

"You're welcome, but…just a thought, you sound nothing like me."

He smiled.

"But I can sound like you," he said in Thomas's voice. "Time Lords are excellent mimics."

He grinned when he saw the stunned look on his face.

"Okay, well good luck then," Thomas said.

"Thanks."

He moved past him to the door. Opening it, he peeked out and walked to the Cyber Messiah's quarters while Thomas kept the door open a crack and watched him. He walked slowly to the Cyber Messiah's room and peeked inside. The room was dark and sparsely decorated. There was a white folding screen across the room which he assumed was where he sat. Beside the screen, he saw a little table. On the far right side of the room was a control panel with numerous buttons and switches on it and beside that was a large, heavy white curtain. Other than that there was nothing in the room. The Doctor took a deep breath and came into the room. He walked up to the screen and stopped short. Now he could see what was on top of the table and he saw a small silver fob watch with Gallifreyan writing on it. He fought the urge to just race over and grab it and instead fell to his knees, keeping his eyes on the watch.

"My Lord," he said in Thomas's voice. "I bring news."

There was silence and for a moment the Doctor thought there was no one there.

"How exactly did you come by this news, my disciple?"

The Doctor fought down his anger when he heard the voice that had taunted him a month earlier.

"Another member returned with news, my Lord. Edison Carter has discovered our whereabouts and he's coming here with the others."

"Impossible, he could not have found us," the Cyber Messiah said. "How did he do it?"

"I don't know, my Lord. I'm only telling you what was told to me."

"Who is the other member? What is his name?"

"I don't know, my Lord. He is new."

"If he is new, then he must be punished for coming back before it was time."

The Doctor gritted his teeth at that when he thought of his sister being punished. He glanced at the watch and his fingers flexed, longing to get up and get it from him.

Come on, you pompous windbag, he thought to himself. Leave the room.

He watched while the Cyber Messiah walked around the screen. He noticed the cloth down around his face and longed to rip it off so he could get a good look at him. The Cyber Messiah regarded him silently for a moment.

"I assume the Ka Faraq Gatri is accompanying him?"

"Probably, my Lord."

The Cyber Messiah chuckled.

"On his way to free his companion no doubt. Pity her mind will be drained before he can get to her."

The Doctor fought the urge to smirk at that. His eyes widened when the Cyber Messiah turned and touched the watch. For one moment the Doctor thought he was going to pick it up and take it with him. But then he turned back to him.

"Do you know what is contained within this watch, Thomas?"

"No, my Lord."

"The living mind of a Time Lord."

The Doctor feigned shock.

"But how can that be, my Lord?" he said.

"Time Lords are able to use what is known as a chameleon arch and drain their essence away into specially made fob watches in order to become a different person. The lost one, the Time Lord that I captured carries his true self inside this watch. I can hear him when I hold the watch, Thomas; I can hear him talking to me. And I have used special hypnotic abilities to enslave his mind inside the watch and force him to reveal the secret of the chameleon arch to me. That is how I was able to build the memory draining device."

The Doctor seethed at that but kept silent.

"The Time Lord came into my possession a few years ago quite by chance. My disciples spied on him and snatched him off the street and when they went back for his personal effects, they found this watch hidden deep within a drawer. They brought it to me thinking I could sell it for funds for the cult but when I held it in my hand I realized what it truly was and have kept it close to me ever since. I have known about Ka Faraq Gatri for many years now. He was supposedly the last of his race but when I found the watch I realized he wasn't. There are others like him. This one and his companion who will soon join him because I will take her Time Lady mind and store it so I can analyze it and find out more secrets of the Time Lords and of the universe itself. But there is one mind I want above all others and that is The Destroyer. He has knowledge far beyond any Time Lord because he is the only one to travel time and space extensively. With his mind at my disposal, I will be invincible."

He moved closer to him.

"Do you know who this lost one is, Thomas?"

"No, my Lord," the Doctor said, keeping himself under control.

He bent down closer to him.

"It's you, my dimwitted human."

It took everything the Doctor had not to react.

"Me, my Lord?" he said.

"Yes, Thomas, why did you think I allowed you to be my assistant? So I could keep an eye on you. Once I saw how obedient you were then I allowed you to go out with the others but you have always been valuable to me."

The Doctor fought the rage that threatened to overwhelm him. He suddenly realized why Thomas had been resistant to the brainwashing. Even as a human his mind was still powerful enough to resist. He couldn't help the fear rising within him. Thomas was kind, had been kind to him and Awinita but Joseph and Yana had been kind too until the watch was opened. Would Thomas do the same thing? Would he become insane the moment his mind was restored to him? The Cyber Messiah moved away from the table and the Doctor's eyes rested on the watch, the temptation to grab it proving hard to resist. He wanted the watch safely in his possession. He would get it and Thomas back to the TARDIS and once he was safely contained in a room, then he would open it and see what happened.

"You want it, don't you?"

His attention was focused back on the Cyber Messiah.

"You want it badly, don't you…Ka Faraq Gatri?"

He chuckled at the Doctor's stunned expression.

"I knew it was you all along, Time Lord. My mind is advanced enough to see through cheap holographic trickery. So you might as well turn it off and show your true self to me."

The Doctor rose and deactivated the imager.

"I didn't tell you to get up, my soon to be slave."

"Who are you? Name yourself!" he demanded. "Show me your face, you coward!"

"Coward? You're one to talk, Ka Faraq Gatri. You destroy entire worlds and flee in your TARDIS so you don't have to deal with the consequences."

"You don't know me so don't even try to assign blame," the Doctor growled. "If I'm a destroyer of anything, it'll be the destroyer of this cult in return for all the lives you've destroyed and enslaved. You made a mistake setting this so-called cult up in the first place and now you've made an even bigger mistake going after my "companion" as you call her. You hurt someone dear to me and in return I will hurt you. You have enslaved a fellow Time Lord and used his memories against his will. You have harmed two of my own and you will pay dearly for that."

The Cyber Messiah moved back to the watch, picked it up and held it out.

"One of your own, Ka Faraq Gatri? Here he is, take him, if you can," he said.

"Give him to me instead and I'll go easy on you."

The Cyber Messiah chuckled. He put the watch in his pouch and moved backwards away from him.

"Would you like to know what is behind this curtain, Time Lord?"

"I don't care. I'm through playing your idiotic games," the Doctor said, following him. "Give me the watch and surrender yourself and I'll show you mercy which is more than you showed Awinita and the others."

"Ah yes, the child. Did you enjoy her torture, Destroyer? Would you like to see her tortured in person?"

The Doctor chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"The child, as you put it, is gone. Safe with my family and away from your cruelty. So you see, your bargaining chip is gone."

"How did she escape? How did you find this place?" the Cyber Messiah said.

The Doctor smirked.

"Now, why would I want to tell you? After all, that's a Time Lord secret. Perhaps if you're lucky enough to drain my mind you can find out the answer yourself."

"Oh, and I will do just that."

He pulled back the curtain and the Doctor saw a bed. Behind it was a large control panel and on top of it was a helmet that resembled the one with the chameleon arch.

"This, Doctor," he said, turning and gesturing to it, "is what I will use to take your memories away. I will drain every last bit of your mind. Once I have done that and you are enslaved to me, I will go after your so-called family and take their memories as well as Edison Carter's so the fool will leave me alone."

He turned back to the Doctor.

"So, surrender and accept your fate. Join your fellow Time Lord and serve me."

"Yeah, watch how fast I run over there and do that," the Doctor said.

He stood rooted to the spot while he gazed at the Cyber Messiah.

"Oh dear, I guess my legs are frozen. Sorry, I guess I can't go over there and lay on your bed while you drain my mind. What a pity. Now…for my counteroffer…you surrender yourself and give the watch to me and allow all that you have brainwashed to leave here in peace and I will take you to a prison planet that is fairly comfortable where you can live out the rest of your days without having to toil in a work gang or be tortured. This is my final offer, Messiah, so I suggest you take it."

The Cyber Messiah laughed.

"I am not a fool, Destroyer."

"Neither am I, Messiah."

"But you are outnumbered. I have brainwashed disciples ready and willing to obey my command and they will overwhelm you in minutes. Observe."

He pulled a communicator out of his pouch and turned it on.

"My disciples, I am under attack! Come to my quarters and apprehend the Doctor, I command you!"

He turned it off and put it back in his pouch.

"There is only one way out of this room, Doctor. There is no escape for you now."

The Doctor folded his arms over his chest and tapped his foot while he whistled.

"What is this? I summoned my disciples?" the Cyber Messiah said, confused.

"Yoo-hooooooooooooooo!" the Doctor yelled. "Disciples! Here boys! Come here and be good doggies and fetch for master."

He smirked when there was no answer.

"Oh dear, seems our plans have gone awry, then?" he said.

"What's going on here?"

"Oh, well, that's a part of my secret weapon. See, I have a friend that disabled everything including your damper and mind blocks. The only reason why you couldn't feel me or my family is because we are manually blocking ya. My friend also disabled your intercom, so sorry, army's not coming!"

"HELP ME! MY DISCIPLES, COME…"

He grunted when the Doctor suddenly shoved him hard and knocked him back into the bed.

"No, that won't work either!" he snarled.

The Cyber Messiah leapt up and began throwing punches. The Doctor ducked and weaved.

"Come on, Cybey, hit me! Maybe if you took the handkerchief off your face it'd improve your vision a bit!"

He ducked again.

"Now I see why you need a bunch of brainwashed toadies to help you fight, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Come on! Fight! I need a challenge here!"

The Doctor grinned when he kicked him directly in the chest sending him flying backwards.

"See, now that's how ya fight!"

He lunged at him but the Cyber Messiah rolled out of the way. He tried to get to his feet but the Doctor rammed his body up against him, knocking him into the wall. He wrapped one hand around his throat while he jerked his pouch off his belt.

"I'll take that, thanks!" he said.

The Cyber Messiah pushed back and the Doctor staggered backwards. He grunted when his fist connected with the Doctor's face and the pouch sailed from his hand over towards the door. He grunted when he hit him again and he fell to the floor.

"Mock me, will you?" the Cyber Messiah said. "I will make you suffer before I drain you. I will find your family and torture them all in front of your eyes and have them watch you be tortured in return. You will pay for your insolence."

The Doctor leapt to his feet. He had split his lip with the last punch and blood was trickling down his chin. Gritting his teeth, he lunged back at the Cyber Messiah and the two of them ducked and weaved and tried to exchange punches and kicks. They were so busy fighting they didn't notice a hand pulling the pouch all the way out the door.

Thomas picked up the pouch and held it in his hand. After the Doctor left he had snuck up to the side of the door and listened, waiting for the moment to help his friend. He had heard the Cyber Messiah talk about him being the lost one and how his Time Lord mind was hidden in the watch. He knew now he had to get the watch back. He reached his hand into the pouch searching for a possible weapon he could use on the Cyber Messiah but to his delight he pulled out the watch instead. He stared at it for a moment listening to his voice urging him to open it. Then he clicked it open and his eyes widened while the golden light illuminated his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor and the Cyber Messiah were still fighting when suddenly both of them felt a new consciousness enter their minds. The Doctor jerked his head towards the door and noticed the pouch was gone.

"Oh no, no, no," he said, dreading what was going to happen next. "No, don't tell me I have to fight Nelak now too."

He stared at the door when Thomas came through it. Thomas stopped and stared at them both. The Cyber Messiah noticed the Doctor's wide eyes and turned to see him.

"Ah, my disciple, you are here! Help me fight The Destroyer."

"I don't think so, you fiend."

The Doctor noticed he now had an English accent.

"Nelak?" the Doctor said.

"Yes, Doctor. Thomas is dead now."

"You knew about the watch?" the Cyber Messiah said.

Nelak snorted.

"Course I did, you loud windbag. I was outside the door listening but I could hear you all the way down the corridor. It was a little hard not to hear you, you pompous twit. Now, why don't you do what the Doctor said and surrender your worthless carcass before I join your little battle?"

The Doctor smiled when he realized that Nelak was on his side.

"That's too bad," the Doctor said. "Nelak turned on ya. Good help is so hard to find nowadays, isn't it?"

"I will see you both enslaved," the Cyber Messiah said. "And once I'm through with you, I will enslave the others."

"Touch Awinita again and you are dead," Nelak growled.

The Cyber Messiah turned to him.

"Ah, do you love her, Time Lord? Is she your mate now? She'll be the first to suffer then."

Nelak sighed.

"You just don't know when to keep your big mouth shut, do you?" he said to him.

"I will shut your mouth, Time Lord, permanently!"

The Cyber Messiah moved towards him. The Doctor took advantage of it and rushed him. He kicked him hard in the back while Nelak moved to the side. When he staggered towards him, Nelak moved around him, grabbed him by the back of the robe and slammed him hard into the concrete wall. They felt his mind wink out and he slumped to the floor unconscious.

"Nice going, Nelak," he said.

"Thanks, Doctor."

The Doctor moved cautiously towards him.

"So, no seething hatred of me?" he said.

Nelak gave him a confused look.

"Why would I hate you?"

"Dex told me he told you and his other five friends all about me."

"Oh, well, I listened to him because I was a friend but I didn't know you personally until now so I never paid much attention to it. Besides, Nita told me a lot of stories about you this past month and I learned that Dex was very wrong."

"Good. Although I thought your name was Mark Patterson."

"It was but he forced me to change it when I came in here. He did that to everyone to hide their identities. I refused at first and got whipped for it so I finally gave up and used Thomas."

The Doctor nodded. He thought a moment.

"What he said though…do you really love Awinita?"

"Yes. I don't know if she loves me but I have fallen in love with her. I mean, how could I not. We just spent a month together and I had to care for her and listen to her cry and comfort her. I helped clean and dress her wounds and she talked to me about her being human and her life traveling with you. She's a wonderful woman."

"Yes, she is and believe me, I'm glad it was you who ended up being the Time Lord. Although…you look a tad young. My son said 18 years have passed and he's in his mid forties now."

"I am, actually. But they have very good non-invasive face lifts that can take years off. I got a couple before I was snatched. I guess unconsciously I was still remembering when I was young and didn't have to grow old and I wanted to keep that illusion."

"And the purple hair?"

"He made me do that. It was supposed to disguise me and also keep from attracting too much attention since I was impersonating a blank and most people ignore and look down on them. But actually I've kinda grown fond of it, to be honest. It's different."

The Doctor grinned.

"Well, when you winked at Awinita, she told us she doesn't fancy punkers," he said.

"Oh. Maybe I better get this dyed back then," he said.

"Nah, I doubt it matters now. I'm betting this past month, she's gotten used to the purple hair too. Just don't convince my brother to do it. The daft little nutter already got a tattoo because his wife suggested he do it. I'd hate to walk in one day and see him wearing every color of the rainbow in his hair. He's already peculiar enough without that."

"So I guess this is goodbye then? I mean, once we get him sorted out."

"It doesn't have to be. I came here looking for you, we all did."

"You did?"

"Yes, I found Dex first and that's when I learned about you and your friends. I don't want you living the rest of your lives as humans if you don't want to. You're Time Lords and Ladies and you deserve to be that. Now if you wanna go back to being Thomas or Mark or whoever you want to be, I can use my chameleon arch and…"

"No, no I don't want to. I'd rather be Nelak. I've had quite enough of human life."

"Well then come with us. Come on the TARDIS and help us find the rest of your friends. I have more than enough room and we'd all love to have ya onboard."

"How many have you found?"

"Besides, Dex, just you."

"Is it true though? Is Gallifrey gone?"

"Yes, it's true."

He put a hand on Nelak's shoulder.

"Did anyone else besides us survive?"

"I don't know. Once upon a time, I thought it was just me but then all these Time Lords kept popping up and then my family got turned into Time Lords and Ladies after being human. Then I found Dex and now there's you and your friends. I'm not ruling out more now. Dex does has a human family that's living in London and he's gonna go back to them eventually but you are welcome to travel with us…unless you have family here?"

"No, I'm…well, I programmed in a back-story that said I was an orphan but I'm single and I have no real friends."

"Well, now you do. You have us. And we're your own kind too so you won't be lonely. No matter where you choose to go, if you want to stay or resettle somewhere, you'll have 10 other minds inside your own. Actually…you'll have 11 but I'd ignore that one because her name is the Rani and she's completely insane. You wouldn't wanna pal around with her, trust me. And if you do want to leave, we have two spare TARDISes. One is the one you lot nicked and the other is a spare that used to belong to this bloke named the Valeyard. If you wanna use one…"

"If you don't mind, for the moment, I would like to travel with you just to sort myself out. I've had 18 years of living as a human and I gotta get adjusted to living as a Time Lord again."

"That's fine. Take as long as you need. We have plenty of room."

"Besides I also want to find my friends."

The Doctor smiled.

"Thank you for offering to help. And…would I be wrong in thinking you're also hoping to further fan the flames of love with Awinita?"

He blushed.

"I would like to…if that's okay."

"It's fine with me. Awinita's an adult; she has the right to love whomever she wants. The only time I'd object is if you started hurting her in some way, then I would step in since she's my sister and I love her."

"I wouldn't do that. She's been hurt enough this past month."

"Then go for it. At least she wants to be friends with you. If it doesn't pan out, you have that."

He smiled and nodded. The Doctor looked down at the Cyber Messiah.

"Well, I guess we'll have to start sorting this mess out. Get him locked up so we can take him somewhere, get the cult members out, dismantle that thing…although we can have Edison see if he can restore the memories of the cult members before that happens. And…"

He leaned down, untied the cloth and pulled back the hood when Nelak leaned him up. The Cyber Messiah had a bald white head with golden swirls all over it and a lizard like face.

"A Spektra," the Doctor said, "no wonder."

"What's that? I've never heard of them."

"They're a highly intelligent species. Live on Nalak, one of the planets that got wiped out in the Time War. They're highly empathic beings, advanced psychic abilities which accounts for him seeing through my disguise and being able to feel and communicate with us telepathically. Normally his kind is peaceful but apparently the Time War drove him insane, probably witnessing the destruction of his planet sent him over the edge. I tried to save it but I couldn't. The Daleks overwhelmed us and I was forced to retreat. That would account for his hatred of me and also calling me the Dalek epithet, Ka Faraq Gatri, probably heard it from the Daleks at some point and learned what it meant later on. We'll have to keep him heavily sedated in case he tries something. But once we get him back to the TARDIS, she can imprison him in the holding cell and block all his telepathy, just in case. I expect he also used his psychic abilities to brainwash the others."

He looked towards the door.

"Good job he didn't summon anyone," he said.

"No one comes down this way unless he calls for them," Nelak said. "I was the only one who was allowed unrestricted access."

"Well, doesn't that make you feel special, eh?"

Nelak rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Well," the Doctor said. "Let's take advantage of that. Let's stow the Cyber Messiah in a room for now, lock it and go tell the others we're safe."

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