A Strange Man in a Strange Box

7. The Investigation Begins

They walked for some time along tunnels and down ladders. Accompanied at every step by the constant sound of dripping water. But apart from that, the tunnels were completely silent. No sign of life, or the scary monsters that Y/n was half expecting to come leaping out of the shadows.

Eventually, the Doctor got bored of the walking and missed hearing the sound of his own voice. "So what are these tunnels for?" he asked. "They seem an odd design. Too functional for sewers, but too empty for maintenance work."

Steven looked around and shrugged. "I guess so," he said. "They're old, from when the colony was first built. They needed to access the minerals from down under the surface. Now they are mostly used as flood protection when it rains heavily."

"Does that happen often?" the Doctor asked.

Steven shrugged. "No, I suppose not. Been a few years since the last big storm," he said, then nodded back towards Sh'reen. "But we still have problems with people trying to live down here."

"Why would they want to live in these tunnels though?" Y/n asked. "Is there nowhere for them to live on the surface?"

"A good question," said the Doctor. "Perhaps our young friend could answer."

Sh'reen looked down at the ground and avoided Y/n's gaze. "We came here as refugees about a year ago," she said, quietly. "They didn't have anywhere to give us, so we ended up down here."

"But that's terrible," said Y/n. "The city is all so futuristic and advanced. I just would have expected more from them."

"You should judge a civilization not on how advanced it seems, but on how it treats its most vulnerable members," said the Doctor.

Steven squirmed uncomfortably at hearing what the Doctor was saying. "Well, umm, we're here now," he said. "This is the section she pointed at."

Y/n looked around where they were standing. It was another one of the circular intersections similar to the place where she had first caught up to Sh'reen. Again there was the raised section, and again it was covered in assorted bedrolls and blankets. But Y/n noticed that this time there were more of them. She counted what appeared to be five separate sleeping areas.

The Doctor looked around, then quickly whipped out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it up towards the ceiling. The fluorescent tubes then started to glow more brightly, until the whole area was bathed in an intense bluish light.

"Ahh, yes. This is the place," said the Doctor. He then started to use his sonic screwdriver to scan the area for clues.

"Definitely something happened here," he said, as he checked the sonic for the results.

"Looks like a group of five Sylushians," he continued, but seemingly talking to himself. "Two of them walked down into this tunnel, while three remained behind. Was that you?"

"Our parents heard a noise and went to investigate, while I stayed behind with my brothers," said Sh'reen.

"Ooohh, what sort of noise?" the Doctor asked, excitedly.

Sh'reen looked worried, and looked down at her feet. "I don't know, a kind of scraping," she said.

"Well, we better go down there and investigate then," said the Doctor, and he started to walk towards the tunnel that led off to the right.

"Wait," said Y/n. "Isn't that a reason not to go down there?"

She stood still and kept hold of Sh'reen's hand. They both looked nervous, and would have preferred to turn around and go back.

Steven also looked worried. "Yeah, that does sound like a bad idea," he said.

"Nonsense," the Doctor cried, with a wave of his sonic screwdriver. "Onwards, to adventure!"

Sh'reen giggled at his enthusiasm, which in turn helped Y/n to feel more relaxed.

The Doctor walked slowly down the tunnel. He paused every few metres to scan his surroundings and check the readings on his sonic screwdriver. Then he muttered something under his breath and carried on walking.

This slow progress continued for the next ten minutes. All the while, Y/n observed the Doctor closely. She was beginning to realise that he really was quite eccentric. She also wondered if it was actually safe to follow someone like that.

But at the same time, she could see why Sh'reen found him so entertaining. There was an almost childlike quality to his enthusiasm.

"Ahhh, yes. Yes," the Doctor said, then sped up and passed along the tunnel at an increased pace.

Y/n and Sh'reen almost had to start running to keep up with the Doctor, as he was moving so quickly. Steven was also struggling to keep up. His curiosity overcoming his fear, now he too desperately wanted to know what the Doctor had found.

As they turned a corner, the Doctor skidded to a halt. There in front of him, the wall of the tunnel had collapsed. A large hole had been created in the side of the tunnel. Rubble was strewn all around on the floor in front of it. And through the hole, another tunnel was visible.

But this tunnel was different from the one they were in. It looked like it had been dug out by hand, rather than the smooth concrete of their tunnel. The walls were scratched and gouged out.

Though when Y/n looked more closely, perhaps saying it had been dug by hand seemed incorrect. As they got closer, it appeared more like it had been dug out by some kind of large animal. The grooves looked more like claw marks the longer she looked at them.

Y/n looked at the claw marks with a feeling of fear. But in contrast, the Doctor looked overjoyed at the sight of them.

"Oh, this is fabulous," he said, as he waved his sonic screwdriver across some of the deep grooves.

Y/n looked at him with her eyebrows raised incredulously. "Fabulous?" she said. "It looks like some huge monster has been tunnelling through here."

"I know, isn't it great," said the Doctor, with a big grin.

And then, with his sonic screwdriver held out in front of him, the Doctor climbed through the hole and into the new tunnel.