The Historian

The Strange Reading

Rose. Part 1

A darkness filled the street that seemed to worry Henry as he pulled his heavy jacket around himself tighter. The cold air made him shiver, but didnt seem to bother the Timelord stood beside him, who fiddled with a metal box with a long antenna sticking out of the top, and flashing lights across the front of it. No matter how long he knew the strange woman, something would always surprise him. Whether it was her occasional outbursts at aliens they just met, shouting incoherently at herself, or just being plain strange... Henry knew he would never understand her, no matter how hard he tried.

The Historian looked up from her device and frowned. "Well go on, just up the ladder you'll be fine."

"But I dont know anything about... Relays or whatever they are."

"Course you do." The Historian scoffed. "I showed you. Now go on, promise I'll give you the signal when it's time, you wont get blown up if that's what you're worried about."

Henry blinked at the dark haired woman with wide eyes. "Oh great, now I'm really going to die."

The Historian rolled her eyes and shoved the man towards the metal staircase on the side of the Hendricks shop. "Henry, just do it."

She watched him go and rolled her eyes slightly, shaving her head with a small smile. Humans were so... mortal. She walked inside and pulled out her purple sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the control panel and heading to the basement where the signal seemed to have awakened something... or someone.

When the doors opened, she was fave to face with mannequins as far as the eye could see... this was a problem... they were there tracking a signal from Living Plastic and if all of these were alive... how many in London were...?  She turned a corner and saw something  slumped against a wall. Cautiously, the Historian turned the body over, revealing a guy in his mid thirties. She took her sonic out and ran it across the body. Dead. Killed by some sort of firearms, clearly the living plastic did this.

Just then, she heard a voice call out across the floor of the basement. She jumped up and ducked behind a wall, watching a blonde. "Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Rose. Hello? Wilson?"

The door slammed shut behind her, making the human jump. "You're kidding me." She huffed, before a sound rang out in the basement. The Historian rose her sonic. The plastic was beginning to move... she saw some bloke dressed in leather making his way towards the girl. Stupid humans, never learn to stay out of trouble. The Historian silently made her way towards them, knowing she had to save the two fools.

"Is that someone mucking about? Who is it? Yeah, you got me. Very funny. Right, I've got the joke. Who's idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?"

The Historian was almost there as the girls back hit a wall and one mannequin lowered part of its hand. The other human had just got beside her and took hold of her arm, about to speak... but she wouldn't let them do anything that may antagonize the living plastic... so she made a run for them.

The Historian grabbed the hand of the man who held onto the girl. " Run." She said sternly as she pulled the pair around the corner.

She threw herself inside the lift and smacked the button, pulling a small device out of her pocket and saying "prime it, Henry."

As she slid it inside her locked again, she saw the man wrestling with ones arm that had been shoved through the doors... and it popped straight off.

The girl stared at him amazed. "You pulled his arm off."

"Yep. Plastic." He grinned as he wriggled the arm around. The Historian folded her arms tight. He was stupid wiggling that thing around.

"Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?"

"Why would they be students?"

" I don't know."

" Well, you said it. Why students?" The Historian interrupts as she put her hands in her hips.

The girl turned to her. "'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students."

"That makes sense. Well done." The man grinned.

"Thanks."

The Historian rolled her eyes. "They're not students."

The girl shrugged. "Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police."

The man frowned and looked to the girl. " Who's Wilson?"

" Chief electrician."

The doors opened and the Historian looked to her. "Wilson's dead."

They all left the shop out the back, and Henry ran towards her. "Its ready-"

The girl cut Henry off rather rudely in the Historians opinion, saying "That's just not funny. That's sick!"

"Hold on. Mind your eyes. Henry, get back to the flat, I'll meet you there later."

The man watched with wide eyes as The Historian hopped bsck inside the lift, disabling it with her sonic screwdriver. He looked at the woman's eyes. She looked so... human.  She had to be. The alternative was crazy, unthinkable and ridiculous.

The girl looked between the pair and began to shout. "Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?"

She sighed and leant against the door frame, frowning. "They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have Henry. Because my pal Henry just put a bomb on the roof, but I'm going in for a sample of that plastic. Henry, three minutes then blow it-"

"Hold on." The other human man proclaimed. "No, wait, that's not right. I'm here to do that. That was my thing!"

"Then maybe you should've got here sooner... or brought yourself a Henry along." She smirked. "Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." Just before she closed the doors, she span to face the blonde girl. "I'm the Historian, by the way... and you are?"

She stared at the Historian while the other man looked pale... really, really pale. The Historian put it down to shock as she said "Rose."

"Oh, nice to meet you Rose, friend of Rose... run for you life!"