Storm: Angel and Demon

Rise of the Cybermen 3 / The Age of Steel

But Terry was staring out the window as she heard marching feet and the Doctor turned to look as well just in time to see dark shadows marching toward the house. Dark shadows with square antennae.

"It really is them." The Doctor breathed but Terry's mind was elsewhere.

"Rose."

Terry turned and dashed out the room, the Doctor hot on her heels. Together, they raced back into the main room where the party was being held. Terry spotted Rose by the window, staring out at what Terry and the Doctor had seen from the study.

"Rose." Terry called softly, getting the blonde's attention as she and the Doctor joined her quickly by the window.

"What's going on?" Rose asked quietly.

"It's happening again." The Doctor explained.

"What do you mean?" Rose demanded.

"I've seen them before."

"But what are they?" Rose asked.

"Cybermen." The Doctor explained before he realized something. "Terry?"

The Doctor whirled around, searching for the dark-haired Time Lady just as another squadron of Cybermen smashed through the French windows on the other side of the room. People screamed and huddled together as the Cybermen entered the large room through the broken windows. They stopped, standing guard by the windows while more Cybermen marched in through the door after breaking into the mansion through the front door. Rose found herself squashed against the Doctor as they were all pushed back into the wall as people tried to put as much distance between them and the Cybermen as possible.

It was then the Doctor spotted Terry worming her way through the panicking people and toward the President. His hearts almost stopped for a beat; that did not bode well at all. He hurried after the Time Lady, Rose right on his heels when she saw where he was headed, and the pair reached Terry just as the Cybermen stopped in place and the President's earpiece beeped.

Everyone went quiet, suppressing their panic as fear swept over them as the Cybermen seemed to stare down at them all. But the President himself remained relatively calm and collected as he answered his incoming call in a measured voice that was still not quite enough to mask his own fear.

"Mr. Lumic."

"Mr. President." An elderly male voice sounded through everyone's earpieces, and the combined noise was just enough for the Doctor, Terry and Rose to hear the man as well. Terry wrinkled her nose in distaste while Lumic continued.

"I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point."

"I forbade this." The President thundered.

"These are my children, sir." Lumic shot back. "Would you deny my family?"

Rose leaned closer to her friends and whispered, "What are they, robots?"

"Not exactly." Terry whispered back at the same time the Doctor murmured, "Worse."

"Who were these people?" The President demanded loudly, and Rose's jaw dropped in horror even as Lumic answered impatiently.

"Doesn't matter."

"They're people?" Rose asked in horror.

Terry nodded grimly while the Doctor elaborated, "They were, until they had all their humanity taken away. That's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel. All emotions removed."

"Why no emotion?" Rose asked, almost afraid of the response.

"Because emotion hurts." Terry answered softly. "They're not unlike Daleks in some ways. But while the Daleks allow negative emotions like hate to exist because they find it beautiful, Cybermen strip it all away so that in the end, they're not much more than tin soldiers who only obey."