Teaser:
River sits in a weird chair fiddling with wires. The Doctor is handcuffed to a pillar a bit further, regaining consciousness.COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestruct in two minutes.DOCTOR
Oh, no, no, no, no, come on, what are you doing? That's my job!RIVER
Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?DOCTOR
Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?RIVER (with a flirtatious smile)
Spoilers!DOCTOR
This is not a joke, stop this now, this is gonna kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any.RIVER
You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I. I'm timing it for the end of the countdown, there'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download.DOCTOR
River! Please! No!RIVER
Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean - you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang, and you cried.COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestuct in one minute.RIVER
You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library. You even gave me your screwdriver - that should've been a clue.Both sonic screwdrivers, together with River's diary, are on the ground between them. The Doctor tries to reach for them but they are just a bit too far.
RIVER
There's nothing you can do.DOCTOR
You can let me do this!RIVER
If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you.DOCTOR
Time can be rewritten.RIVER
Not those times. Not one line! Don't you dare! (pause) It's OK. It's OK, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run!She sheds a tear but remains determined.
DOCTOR
River, you know my name!COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestruct in ten...DOCTOR
You whispered my name in my ear.COMPUTER VOICE
...nine, eight, seven...DOCTOR
There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could...RIVER
Hush, now! Spoilers...She smiles at him tenderly through her tears.
COMPUTER VOICE
...three, two, one...River plugs together two cables and blinding white light hides her from view.
Recap of Silence in the Library
ReplyDelete***
OPENING CREDITS
DAVID TENNANT
CATHERINE TATE
FOREST OF THE DEAD
by Steven Moffat
***
PROPER DAVE
Hey! Who turned out the lights?
River uses the squereness gun again to open an escape route.
RIVER
This way, quickly, move!
PROPER DAVE
Hey! Who turned out the lights?
***
In her flat, the Girl now sees the events on the telly.
THE GIRL
Dad, the Library, it's on television now.
DAD
How many times, darling? The Library is just your imagination.
She flips channels, all of them show different parts of the library. Then on another channel, there's an ambulance pulling up to a hospital. The crew roll out the stretcher the Girl can see Donna lying on it.
THE GIRL
Donna?
***
In a hospital room, Donna is sitting on the bed in pijamas. Dr Moon enters the room.
DR MOON
Hello, Donna.
DONNA (confused)
Who are you?
DR MOON
I'm Dr Moon. I've been treating you since you came here, two years ago.
She suddenly recognises him.
DONNA
Oh, God, Dr Moon, I'm so sorry! What's wrong with me? I didn't know you for a moment.
DR MOON
And then you remembered. Shall we go for a walk?
Cut: they are not in the garden in front of the hospital.
DR MOON
No more dreams, then? The Doctor and the blue box, time and space.
DONNA (confused)
How did we get here?
DR MOON
We came down the stairs, out the front door. We passed Mrs Ali on the way out.
In front of the building, we see a board with only one word on it: CAL.
DONNA (suddenly remembering)
Yeah. Yeah, we did. I forgot that.
DR MOON
And then you remembered. Shall we go down to the river?
Cut: they are by the river.
DONNA (confused)
You said 'river' and suddenly we're feeding ducks.
LEE
Dr Moon! Morning.
A man walks to Donna and Dr Moon.
DR MOON
Donna Noble, Lee McAvoy.
DONNA
Hello, Lee.
LEE
Hello, D-D... D...
DONNA
Ooh, you've got bit of a stammer there... Bless!
LEE
D... D...
DONNA
Oh, skip to a vowel, they're easy!
They laugh at each other. Cut: Donna and Dr Moon are back in the hospital garden.
DONNA
How did we leave it, him and me?
DR MOON
I got the impression he was inviting you fishing tomorrow.
Donna steps into Lee's room in a sexy, glittery dress.
DONNA
So... Fishing!
Cut: they are sitting by the river under a huge unbrella. It's raining and Donna looks totally out of place in her pretty dress.
LEE
D... D...
DONNA
Gorgeous and can't speak a word. What am I gonna do with you?
Cut: Lee carries Donna over the threshold as we hear the wedding rings bell in the backgound.
LEE
Welcome home, M-Mrs McAvoy.
Cut: Dr Moon is in Donna's living room watching a photo album, while Donna's children Josh and Ella are running around.
DONNA
Stop it! Stop it now, we've got a visitor.
DR MOON
You've done so much in seven years, Donna.
DONNA
Ah, sometimes it feels more like 70. (mildly confused) Mind you, sometimes it feels like no time at all.
Dr Moon stands up to leave.
DR MOON
Can I just say what a pleasure it is to see you, fully integrated?
Suddenly, Dr Moon becomes fuzzy and then disappears, being replaced by the Doctor.
DOCTOR
No, the signal's definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through.(he looks around and sees Donna) Donna!
The Doctor disappears again and Dr Moon is back, looking as solid and real as ever.
DR MOON
Oops, sorry. Mrs Angelo's rhubarb surprise. Will I never learn?
Donna back away in shock.
DONNA
The Doctor! I saw the Doctor!
DR MOON
Yes, you did, Donna, and then... you forgot.
Suddenly all concerns gone, Donna smiles at him as if he'd only just arrived.
DONNA
Dr Moon! Oh, hello! Shall I make you a cup of tea?
***
Over the Library planet, there's a huge moon on the sunset sky. Inside, River uses the sonic blaster to open an entrance to another room.
RIVER
OK, we've got a clear spot. In, in, in! Right in the centre, in the middle of the light, quickly! Don't let your shadows cross. Doctor...
DOCTOR
I'm doing it.
He starts to check the shadows with his sonic.
RIVER
There's no lights here. Sunset's coming, we can't stay long. Have you found a live one?
DOCTOR
Maybe, it's getting harder to tell. (thrashing the sonic) What's wrong with you?
RIVER
We're gonna need a chicken leg. Who's got a chicken leg? (Other Dave hands her one) Thanks, Dave.
She throws the leg into the shadow the Doctor was examining and it's stripped to the bone before it hits the floor.
RIVER
OK... OK, we've got a hot one. Watch your feet.
DOCTOR
They won't attack until there's enough of them, but they've got our scent now, they're coming.
OTHER DAVE
Who is he? You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust him.
RIVER
He's the Doctor.
MR LUX
And who is the Doctor?
RIVER
The only story you'll ever tell - if you survive him.
ANITA
You say he's your friend, but he doesn't even know who you are.
RIVER
Listen, all you need to know is this... I'd trust that man to the end of the universe. And actually, we've been.
ANITA
He doesn't act like he trusts you.
RIVER
Yeah, there's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet.
She walks to the Doctor who is fiddling with his sonic.
RIVER
What's wrong with it?
DOCTOR
There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it.
RIVER
Then use the red settings.
DOCTOR
It doesn't have a red setting.
RIVER
Well, use the dampers.
DOCTOR
It doesn't have dampers.
RIVER
It will do one day.
She shows him her sonic.
DOCTOR
So some time in the future, I just give you my screwdriver.
RIVER
Yeah.
DOCTOR
Why would I do that?
RIVER
I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about.
DOCTOR
And I know that because...?
RIVER
Listen to me. You've lost your friend, you're angry, I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor. Right now...
DOCTOR
Less em... I'm not emotional!
RIVER
There are five people in this room still alive, focus on that. Dear God, you're hard work young.
DOCTOR
Young? Who are you?!
MR LUX
Oh, for heaven's sake! Look at the pair of you! We're all gonna die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couple.
RIVER
Doctor... one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry.
She whispers something in his ear, something that stuns him completely.
RIVER
Are we good? Doctor... are we good?
DOCTOR
Yeah... Yeah, we're good.
RIVER
Good.
She walks back to the rest of the group. After a few seconds, the Doctor returns to reality.
DOCTOR
Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with, vitrually nothing's strong enough... Well, some hairdryers, but I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before, so what's new, what's changed?
They just look at each others.
DOCTOR
Come on! What's new? What's different?
OTHER DAVE
I dunno, nothing. It's getting dark.
DOCTOR
It's a screwdriver, it works in the dark. xxx
He looks up to the sunset sky over the doom and notices the moon.
DOCTOR
Tell me about the moon. What's there?
MR LUX
It's not real, it was built as part of the Library. It's just a doctor moon.
DOCTOR
What's a doctor moon?
MR LUX
A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet.
The Doctor turns on the sonic.
DOCTOR
Well, it's still active, it's signalling, look. Someone somewhere in this Library is alive and communicating with the moon, or possibly alive and drying their hair. No, the signal's definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through...
Suddenly, Donna's fuzzy image appears in the library.
RIVER
Doctor!
DOCTOR
Donna!
The images fades.
RIVER
Doctor, that was your friend! Can you get her back? What was that?
DOCTOR
Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm trying to find the wavelength. Ah, I'm being blocked.
ANITA (scared)
Professor?
RIVER
Just a moment.
ANITA
It's important. I have two shadows.
RIVER
ReplyDeleteOK. Helmets on, everyone. Anita, I'll get yours.
ANITA
It didn't do Proper Dave any good.
RIVER
Just keep it together, OK?
ANITA
Keeping it together, I'm only crying. I'm about to die, it's not an overreaction.
River puts the helmet on Anita.
DOCTOR
Hang on.
He sonics the helmet to make the visor dark.
RIVER
Oh, God, they've got inside.
DOCTOR
No, no, no, I just tinted her visor. Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone.
RIVER
D'you think they can be fooled like that?
DOCTOR
Maybe. I don't know. It's a swarm, it's not like we chat.
OTHER DAVE
Can you still see in there?
ANITA
Just about.
DOCTOR
Just, just just... stay back. Professor, a quick word, please.
RIVER
What?
DOCTOR
Down here.
They crouch down.
RIVER
What is it?
DOCTOR (low voice)
Like you said, there are five people still alive in this room.
RIVER
Yeah, so?
DOCTOR
So... why are there six?
As the five of them turn around, they see another person in spacesuit standing in the background.
PROPER DAVE
Hey! Who turned out the lights?
DOCTOR
Run!
They run out of the room, with skeleton/Dave chasing them.
PROPER DAVE
Hey! Who turned out the lights? Hey! Who turned out the lights? Hey! Who turned out the lights?
***
The girl is watching the events on television, then, scared of the skeleton/Dave, she flips the channel to one showing Donna's home.
***
Donna enters the living room with cups of tea in hand.
DONNA
Here we are, Dr Moon.
Her daughter runs to her, showing her a clay figure.
ELLA
Mummy, I made you!
DONNA
Ooh, that's nice, Ella. Where's the face?
ELLA
I don't know.
Donna puts the cups to the table and looks around, confused.
DONNA
Did you see Dr Moon? Did he leave?
Lee enters the room, the children run to him.
JOSHUA & ELLA
Daddy!
LEE
Hey! Hello, you two, come here! Big hugs, big Daddy hugs!
ELLA
Look what I made!
LEE
Oh, it's Mummy.
DONNA
Erm, it hasn't got a face. Did you see Dr Moon?
LEE
No, why, was he here?
DONNA
Yeah, just a second ago. You must have passed him.
Bemused, she goes to the window. But instead of Dr Moon, she sees a woman in a black Victorian dress passing by, making her even more confused.
LEE
You all right?
DONNA
Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, it's just...
LEE
Just?
DONNA
Nothing. (she hugs Lee) It's been a long day, that's all. I'm just tired.
Cut: Donna, now in pijamas, is in the bedroom with Lee.
LEE
You OK?
DONNA (confused)
I said I was tired, and... (slowly remembering) and we put the kids to bed, and we watched television.
They hear a noise from the front door.
DONNA
Was that a letter?
LEE
It's midnight.
DONNA
Go and see what it is.
Lee leaves and Donna walks to the bedroom window. Again, she sees the woman in the black period costume.
LEE
"The world is wrong."
DONNA
What?
She turns back to see Lee enter the room with a letter in hand.
LEE
For you. Weird, though. "Dear Donna, the world is wrong. Meet me at your usual playpark, two o'clock tomorrow."
She takes the letter and walks back to the window to see the mysterious woman walk away.
DONNA
Nutter.
***
In her flat, the Girl looks scared.
THE GIRL
Don't go. Please don't go.
***
donna arrives to the playgound with her children. She sees the black dressed woman sitting on a bench, her face hid behind a veil.
DONNA (to the children)
All right, you two, off you go, no fighting.
The kids run off to play and Donna sits down beside the woman.
DONNA
I got your note last night. "The world is wrong", what's that mean?
MISS EVANGELISTA
No, you didn't.
DONNA
I'm sorry, what?
MISS EVANGELISTA
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, Donna Noble?
DONNA (confused)
How do you know me?
MISS EVANGELISTA
We met before, in the Library. You were kind to me. I hope now to return that kindness.
DONNA
Your voice... I recognise it.
MISS EVANGELISTA
Yes, you do. I am what is left of Miss Evangelista.
Flashes of Miss Evangelista, alive and as the skeleton that remained of her.
***
In the library, the group is running through a corridor connecting two high buildings.
DOCTOR
Professor, go ahead, find a safe spot.
RIVER
It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit, you can't reason with it.
DOCTOR
Five minutes.
RIVER
Other Dave, stay with him, pull him out when he's too stupid to live. Two minutes, Doctor.
River, Anita and Mr Lux leave, skeleton/Dave arrives to the corridor.
PROPER DAVE
Hey! Who turned out the lights?
The Doctor moves closer to it.
DOCTOR
You hear that? Those words? That is the very last thought of the man who wore that suit before you climbed inside it and stripped his flesh. That's a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don't have the decency to let him go, how about this? Use him. Talk to me. It's easy, neural relay. Just point and think. Use him, talk to me.
PROPER DAVE
Hey! Who turned out the lights?
DOCTOR
The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system, but you hunt in forests. What are you doing in a library?
OTHER DAVE
We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR
In a minute. You came to a library to hunt, why? Just tell me why?
PROPER DAVE/VASHTA NERADA
We...did not.
DOCTOR
Oh, hello.
PROPER DAVE/VASHTA NERADA
We did not.
DOCTOR
Take it easy, you'll get the hang of it. Did not what?
PROPER DAVE/VASHTA NERADA
We...did not...come...here.
DOCTOR
Well, of course you did, of course you came here.
PROPER DAVE/VASHTA NERADA
We come from here.
DOCTOR
From here?
PROPER DAVE/VASHTA NERADA
We hatched here.
DOCTOR
But you hatch from trees, from spores in trees.
PROPER DAVE/VASHTA NERADA
These are our forests.
DOCTOR
You're nowhere near a forest, look around you.
PROPER DAVE/VASHTA NERADA
These are our forests.
DOCTOR
You're not in a forest, you're in a library. There are no trees in a... (realisation dawning on him) library.
OTHER DAVE
We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR
Books. You came in the books. Microspores in a million, million books.
OTHER DAVE
We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR
Oh, look at that. (he looks out to the endless city of bookshelves) The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped and printed and bound. A million million books, hatching shadows.
OTHER DAVE
We should go. Doctor!
The Doctor looks at Other dave, suddenly realising that he is talking strangely since a while.
DOCTOR
Oh... Dave! Oh, Dave, I'm so sorry.
The light of his neural relay are blinking, and behind the helmet there's another skull now. The who skeletons are closing on the Doctor from both sides.
PROPER DAVE
Hey! Who turned out the lights?
OTHER DAVE
We should go. Doctor!
DOCTOR
Thing about me, I'm stupid, I talk too much, always babbling on, this gob doesn't stop for anything. Wanna know the only reason I'm still alive? Always stay near the door.
He points the sonic to the floor, opening up a trap door and he falls down. The skeletons look after him - there's hundreds of floors to the ground. However, the Doctor did not fall down, he is climbing under the corridor clinging to some metal structures, sonic in mouth.
***
The girl is watching him on telly with a happy smile.
***
MISS EVANGELISTA
I suggested we meet here because a playground is the easiest place to see it, to see the lie.
DONNA
What lie?
MISS EVANGELISTA
The children, look at the children.
DONNA
Why do you wear that veil? If I had a face like yours, I wouldn't hide it.
MISS EVANGELISTA
You remember my face, then? The memories are all still there - the Library, the Doctor, me. You've just been programmed not to look.
DONNA
Sorry, but... you're dead.
MISS EVANGELISTA
In a way, we're all dead here, Donna. We are the dead of the Library.
DONNA
Well, what about the children? The children aren't dead. My children aren't dead.
MISS EVANGELISTA
Your children were never alive.
DONNA
Don't you say that. Don't you dare say that about my children!
MISS EVANGELISTA
Look at your children. Look at all of them, really look.
The camera shows several children on the playground: all wearing identical clothes, all looking the same, just like Donna's children.
MISS EVANGELISTA
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.
DONNA
Stop it. Just stop it! Why are you doing this? Why are you wearing that veil?
She pulls off the veil to reveal a terribly contorted face. Donna, as well as all the children scream in horror.
***
In her room, the Girl screams too and hides her face into a pillow.
***
In the Library, River, Anita and Mr Lux are in another huge room, River is examining shadows with her sonic.
RIVER
You know... it's funny, I keep wishing the Doctor was here.
ANITA
The Doctor is here, isn't he? He's coming back, right?
RIVER
You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them? It's like they're not quite... finished, they're not done yet. Well... yes, the Doctor's here. He came when I called, just like he always does. But not MY Doctor. Now my Doctor... I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to his TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor... in the TARDIS... Next stop: everywhere.
The Doctor appears suddenly.
DOCTOR
Spoilers! Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that.
RIVER
It does for the Doctor.
DOCTOR
I am the Doctor.
RIVER
Yeah. Some day.
The Doctor walks to Anita.
DOCTOR
How are you doing?
RIVER
Where's Other Dave?
DOCTOR
Not coming, sorry.
ANITA
Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?
DOCTOR
I don't know.
He looks down and sees that Anita still has two shadows.
DOCTOR
Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference.
ANITA
It's making a difference all right. No-one's ever going to see my face again.
DOCTOR
Can I get you anything?
ANITA
An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?
DOCTOR
I'm all over it.
ANITA
Doctor... When we first met you. You didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far... I could do with a word like that. What did she say? (pause) Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me.
DOCTOR
Safe...
The word makes him realise something.
ANITA
What?
DOCTOR
Safe. You don't say saved, nobody says saved, you say safe. The data fragment! What did it say?
MR LUX
"4,022 people saved. No survivors."
RIVER
Doctor?
DOCTOR
Nobody says saved, nutters say saved, you say safe. But you see, it didn't mean safe, it meant... it literally meant... saved!
***
DONNA
What happened to your face?
MISS EVANGELISTA
Transcription errors. Destroyed my face, did wonders for my intellect. I'm a very poor copy of myself.
***
The Girl is watching Donna and Miss Evangelista on telly.
DONNA
Where are we? Why are the children all the same?
MISS EVANGELISTA
The same pattern over and over. It saves an awful lot of space.
DONNA
Space?
The Girl looks very scared.
MISS EVANGELISTA
Cyberspace.
THE GIRL (in despair)
No! Don't tell, you mustn't tell!
***
The Doctor is working on an information terminal.
DOCTOR
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, they attack. Someone hits the alarm, the computer tries to teleport everyone out.
RIVER
It tried to teleport 4,022 people?
DOCTOR
Succeeded, pulled 'em all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them, nowhere safe in the whole Library, Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. 4,022 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?
RIVER
It saved them.
DOCTOR
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 4,022 people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive.
***
MISS EVANGELISTA
Your physical self is stored in the library as an energy signature. It can be actualised again whenever you or the Library requires.
DONNA
The Library? If my face ends up on one of those statues...
MISS EVANGELISTA
You remember the statues?
DONNA
Wait, no, just... hang on. So... this isn't the real me? This isn't my real body. But I've been dieting!
MISS EVANGELISTA
What you see around you, this entire world is nothing more than virtual reality.
DONNA
So why do you look like that?
MISS EVANGELISTA
I had no choice. You teleported. You're a perfect reproduction. I was just a data ghost caught in the Wi-Fi and automatically uploaded.
DONNA
And it made you clever?
MISS EVANGELISTA
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.
DONNA
If this is all a dream... whose dream is it?
MISS EVANGELISTA
It's hard to see everything in the data core, even for me, but there is a word. Just one word. CAL.
***
In her home, the Girl is watching them on television, now in tears. she takes the remote and pushes a key.
***
ELLA
Mummy! My knee!
She is on the ground crying, Donna runs to her.
DONNA
Oh, oh look at that knee! Oh, look at that silly old knee!
She hugs Ella.
MISS EVANGELISTA
She's not real. They're fictions. I'm sorry, but now that you understand that, you won't be able to keep a hold. They are sustained only by your belief.
DONNA
You don't know, you don't have children!
MISS EVANGELISTA
Neither do you.
Donna takes the hands of Ella and Joshua and they leave.
MISS EVANGELISTA
Donna, for your own sake, let them go!
***
Watching them, the Girl is yelling at the television.
THE GIRL
Stop it! You'll spoil everything! I hate you, you're going to ruin everything! Stop it!
Her Dad comes to her from the kitchen.
DAD
Sweetie, what's wrong?
THE GIRL
Shut up!
She pushes another key on the remote and the Dad disappears in thin air.
THE GIRL
Daddy! No! Daddy!
In despair, she throws the remote to the ground.
***
An alarm sounds in the Library.
MR LUX
What is it? What's wrong?
COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestruct enabled in 20 minutes.
***
Donna and her children are walking away from the playground.
ELLA
Mummy, what did the lady mean? Are we not real? Where are we going?
DONNA
Home!
Cut: they are in the living room. The lights are red and they can hear the alarm too.
ELLA
That was quick, wasn't it, Mummy?
JOSHUA
Mummy, what's wrong with the sky?
They look out of the window and the sight terrifies them.
***
RIVER
What's maximum erasure?
DOCTOR
20 minutes, this planet's gonna crack like an egg.
MR LUX
No! No, it's all right, the Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect CAL.
***
The Girl is crying on the ground, Dr Moon is beside her, talking to her in his usual calming way.
DR MOON
Now, you really must stop this, you know. You've forgotten again it was you who saved all those people, haven't you? And then, you remembered.
THE GIRL
Shut up, dr Moon!
She uses the remote again and Dr Moon disappears too.
***
The screen of the information terminal goes blank.
DOCTOR
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
COMPUTER VOICE
All Library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience. xxxMR LUX
We need to stop this, we've got to save CAL!
DOCTOR
What is it, what is CAL?
MR LUX
We need to get to the main computer, I'll show you.
DOCTOR
It's at the core of the planet.
RIVER
Well, then. Let's go!
She sonics the symbol at the center of the room and it opens up.
RIVER
Gravity platform!
DOCTOR
I bet I like you.
RIVER
Oh, you do!
They all step to the platform and it starts to descend.
***
Donna is sitting on the couch, tolding the children tight.
JOSHUA
Mummy, you're hurting my hand.
DONNA (in tears)
You just... you just stay where I can see you. Right, you, you don't get out of my sight.
ELLA
Is it bedtime?
Cut: they are in the children's room, Ella and Joshua in bed.
DONNA
OK. That was lovely, wasn't it? That was a lovely bedtime. We had warm milk, and we watched cartoons, and then Mummy read you a lovely bedtime story.
ELLA
Mummy, Joshua and me, we're not real, are we?
DONNA
Of course you're real. You're as real as anything. Why d'you say that?
JOSHUA
But, Mummy, sometimes, when you're not here, it's like we're not here.
ELLA
Even when you close your eyes, we just stop.
DONNA
Well, Mummy promises to never close her eyes again.
But when she look at the children they are gone.
DONNA
No! Please! No, PLEASE! No! No, no! NO!
***
COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestruct in 15 minutes.
DOCTOR
The Data Core! 4,000 living minds, trapped inside it.
RIVER
Yeah, well they won't be living much longer, we're running out of time.
***
The Girl in on the floor, crying.
THE GIRL
Help me. Please help me. Please, please help me!
***
In the Library, they can hear the Girls's cry for help from the computer terminal.
THE GIRL
Help me. Please, help me.
ANITA
What's that?
RIVER
Was that a child?
DOCTOR
Computer's in sleep mode. (he pushes keys) I can't wake it up. I'm trying.
As he fiddles with the keys, toys turn on and off and objects fly around in the girl's home, making her cry even more.
RIVER
Doctor, these readings!
DOCTOR
I know, you'd think it was... dreaming.
MR LUX
It is dreaming...of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written.
ANITA
Computers don't dream.
THE GIRL (voice from the terminal)
Help me. Please help me.
MR LUX
No. But little girls do.
He pushes a lever to open a door, and they all run to the next room.
A Node turns it's head to them and it is wearing the Girl's face, pleading for help.
ReplyDeleteTHE GIRL/NODE
Please help me. Please help me.
RIVER
Oh, my God!
ANITA
It's the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer.
MR LUX
She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is CAL.
DOCTOR
CAL is a child! A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!
MR LUX
Because she's family! CAL... Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a Library, and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time, any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything. He gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show.
DOCTOR
So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her.
MR LUX
This is only half a life, of course. But it's for ever.
DOCTOR
And then the shadows came.
THE GIRL/NODE
Shadows. I have to... I have to save. Have to save...
DOCTOR
And she saved them. She saved everyone in the Library, folded them into her dreams and kept them safe.
ANITA
Then why didn't she tell us?
DOCTOR
Because she's forgotten. She's got over 4,000 living minds chatting away inside her head, it must be like... being... well, me.
RIVER
So what do we do?
COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestruct in ten minutes.
DOCTOR
Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core, the computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult, Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer and she can borrow my memory space!
He starts to pull out wires and works frantically to get it ready before the countdown ends.
RIVER
Difficult! It'll kill you stone dead!
DOCTOR
Yeah, it's easy to criticise.
RIVER
It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate!
DOCTOR
I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing.
RIVER
Doctor!
DOCTOR
I'm right and this works! Shut up. Now listen, you and Luxy-boy, back up to the main Library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing as your air, shut up!
RIVER
Ha! I hate you sometimes!
DOCTOR
I know!
RIVER
Mr Lux, with me! Anita, if he dies, I'll kill him!
River and Mr Lux leave, the Doctor continues working with the wires at the computer terminal.
ANITA
What about the Vashta Nerada?
DOCTOR
These are their forests. I'm gonna seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content.
ANITA
So you think they're just gonna let us go?
DOCTOR
Best offer they're gonna get.
ANITA
You're gonna make 'em an offer?
DOCTOR
They'd better take it, cos right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. You know what...
He looks hard at the creature in spacesuit, then he turns back to his work.
DOCTOR
I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying, and she never gave in. And you ate her.
He sonics the spacesuit's visor to transparent to reveal there's a skeleton inside.
DOCTOR
But I'm gonna let that pass. Just as long as you let them pass.
ANITA/VASHTA NERADA
How long have you known?
DOCTOR
I counted the shadows. You only have one now. (he looks at the blinking neural relay) She's nearly gone. Be kind.
ANITA/VASHTA NERADA
These are our forests. We are not kind.
DOCTOR
I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go.
He walks back to the terminal. Shadows reach out from skeleton/Anita towards the Doctor.
ANITA/VASHTA NERADA
These are our forests. They are our meat.
DOCTOR
Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked, that is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up.
After a short pause, the shadows withdraw.
ANITA/VASHTA NERADA
You have one day.
The suit creature collapses just when River arrives back.
RIVER
Anita!
DOCTOR
I'm sorry, she's been dead a while now. I told you to go!
RIVER
Lux can manage without me. But you can't.
She stands up from Anita's remains, walks to the Doctor and without a word knocks him out.
***
River sits in a weird chair fiddling with cables. The Doctor is handcuffed to a pillar a bit further, regaining consciousness.
COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestruct in two minutes.
DOCTOR
Oh, no, no, no, no, come on, what are you doing? That's my job!
RIVER
Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?
DOCTOR
Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?
RIVER (with a flirtatious smile)
Spoilers!
DOCTOR
This is not a joke, stop this now, this is gonna kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any.
RIVER
You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I. I'm timing it for the end of the countdown, there'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download.
DOCTOR
River! Please! No!
RIVER
Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean - you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang and you cried.
COMPUTER VOICE
Autodistract in one minute.
RIVER
You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library. You even gave me your screwdriver - that should've been a clue.
Both sonic screwdrivers, together with River's diary, are on the ground. The Doctor tries to reach for them but they are just a bit too far from him.
RIVER
There's nothing you can do.
DOCTOR
You can let me do this!
RIVER
If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you.
DOCTOR
Time can be rewritten.
RIVER
Not those times. Not one line! Don't you dare! (pause) It's OK. It's OK, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run!
She sheds a tear but remains determined.
DOCTOR
River, you know my name!
COMPUTER VOICE
Autodestruct in ten...
DOCTOR
You whispered my name in my ear.
COMPUTER VOICE
...nine, eight, seven...
DOCTOR
There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could...
RIVER
Hush, now! Spoilers...
She smiles at him gently through her tears.
COMPUTER VOICE
..three, two, one...
River plugs together two cables and a blinding white light hides her from view.
***
Donna is sitting on the stairs of her home when Lee arrives.
LEE
Donna? What's happening?
DONNA
I don't know, but it's not real. Nothing here's real. The whole world, everything, none of it's real.
LEE
Am I real?
Now, they are surrounded by white light too that gets stronger and stronger.
DONNA
Of course you're real, I know you're real. Oh, God, oh, God, I hope you're real.
Lee drifts away from her and disappears in the light.
DONNA
I'll find you! I promise you, I'll find you!
***
Mr Lux is in the reception area working on a terminal.
MAN
Excuse me.
Mr Lux looks up to see the room filled with people.
MAN
What happened? How did we get here?
MR LUX
Look at you. You're back. You're all back. (he goes and hugs people randomly) He did it! You're all back. Look at you!
Laughing with delight, he walks outside to have a look at the planet: it's alive again.
MR LUX
Look at that! Oh look at that, he did it. 4,022 people! Saved!
***
Down in the planet's core, the Doctor is still handcuffed, looking heartbroken to lose someone again.
***
Donna walks to the Doctor through the crowd near the little shop.
COMPUTER VOICE
Please be patient. Only three can teleport at a time. Do not state your intended destination until you arrive in...
DOCTOR
Any luck?
DONNA
There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the Library that day. Suppose he could have had a different name out here, but let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?
DOCTOR
Maybe not.
DONNA
I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?
DOCTOR (lost in thoughts)
Everything.
She looks at him, offended.
DOCTOR
Sorry, did I say everything? I meant to say "nothing". I was aiming for "nothing", I accidentally said "everything".
COMPUTER VOICE
Stand right in the middle of the teleport, please. Keep your hands and feet inside at all times.
DONNA
What about you?
COMPUTER VOICE
And remember to switch off your mobile comm unit.
DONNA
Are you all right?
DOCTOR
I'm always all right.
DONNA
Is "all right" special Time Lord code for... "really not all right at all"?
DOCTOR
Why?
DONNA
Cos I'm all right, too.
DOCTOR
Come on.
He takes her hand and leads her away. Just as they leave, "Lee" stands in the middle of the teleport - he spots Donna but can't call her name, struggling with his stammer.
***
The Doctor puts River's TARDIS book to the balustrade.
DONNA
Your friend... Professor Song... She knew you in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me...
DOCTOR
Donna... This is her diary. My future. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?
DONNA
Spoilers, right?
DOCTOR
Right.
They look at each other, then they decide to resist the temptation. The Doctor puts River's sonic screwdriver to the book and they turn to leave.
DOCTOR
Come on. The next chapter's this way.
RIVER (vo)
When you run with The Doctor, it feels like it will never end. But however hard you try, you can't run for ever. Everybody knows that everybody dies, and nobody knows it like The Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark, if he ever, for one moment accepts it.
The Doctor runs back and picks up River's sonic.
DOCTOR
Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that? Thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver! Why would I do that?
He opens a part of it to reveal green lights behind, like those of the neural relay.
DOCTOR
Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that! I'm very good!
DONNA
What have you done?
DOCTOR
Saved her.
He runs across the library to reach the computer core before it's too late.
DOCTOR
Stay with me! You can do it, stay with me! Come on, you and me, one last run! Sorry, River, shortcut!
He uses the sonic to disable the gravity platform then jumps into the hole.
RIVER (VO)
Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day.
The Doctor plugs the screwdriver to the computer and smiles at the CAL Node.
RIVER (VO)
Not today.
***
River appears in the virtual world, in front of the hospital where she meets Dr Moon and the Girl. She looks confused.
THE GIRL
It's OK. You're safe. You'll always be safe here. The Doctor fixed the data core. This is a good place now. But I was worried you might be lonely. So I brought you some friends. Aren't I a clever girl?
MISS EVANGELISTA
Aren't we all?
River turns around to see Miss Evangelista, Proper Dave, Other Dave and Anita walking towards her.
RIVER
Oh, for heaven's sake! He just can't do it, can he? That man, that impossible man! He just can't give in.
She goes to hug everyone.
RIVER (VO)
Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all.
Cut to the Library: the Doctor walks back to the TARDIS. He stops and snaps his fingers and indeed the door opens. He smiles and walks inside to Donna who is waiting for him. Then he snaps his fingers again to close the door.
RIVER (VO)
Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair, and The Doctor comes to call... everybody lives.
Cut: River closes the TARDIS book. She gives a goodnight kiss to the Girl, who is now in the third bed in the children's room with Donna's kids Ella and Joshua.
RIVER
Sweet dreams, everyone.
She switches off the lights and the screen goes black.