Unrepentant | DOCTOR WHO [ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]

fifteen | partners in crime

From where she stood on the stage, a woman said, "Adipose Industries, the twenty-first century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain, just lifelong freedom from fat, the holy grail of the modern age. And here it is. You just take one capsule, one capsule, once a day for three weeks, and the fat, as they say..."

Then a voice was heard saying, "The fat just walks away."

It was then that a woman sitting in front of the stage said, "Excuse me, Miss Foster, if I could? I'm Penny Carter, science correspondent for the Observer. There are a thousand diet pills on the market, a thousand conmen stealing people's money. How do we know the fat isn't going straight into your bank account?"

With a mere shake of her head, Miss Foster said, "Oh, Penny, if cynicism burnt off calories, we'd all be as thin as rakes. But if you want the science, I can oblige."

It was then that the images on the screen had changed as the same male voice from before was heard saying, "Adipose Industries. The Adipose capsule is composed of a synthesized mobilizing lipase, bound to a large protein molecule. The mobilizing lipase breaks up the triglycerides stored in the adipose cells, which then enter..."

While the voice continued to talk, the Doctor held up his psychic paper over towards the person in control of the presentation and said, "Health and Safety. Film Department."

Then Miss Foster said, "One-hundred-percent legal, one-hundred-percent effective."

With a raise of a finger, Penny asked her, "But can I just ask, how many people have taken the pills to date?"

After putting her glasses back onto her face, Miss Foster told her, "We've already got one-million customers within the Greater London area alone, but from next week, we start rolling out nationwide. The future starts here. And Britain will be thin."

* * *

While Annabelle stared directly at Mr. Roger's neck and silently listened to the sound of his heartbeat, Mr. Roger said, "I've been on the pills two weeks now. I've lost fourteen kilos."

With a mere turn of his head, the Doctor asked him, "That's the same amount every day?"

In turn, Mr. Roger said to him, "One kilo exactly. You wake up, and it's disappeared overnight. Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning."

After stopping his pacing in the room, the Doctor turned to him and asked, "What makes you say that?"

Mr. Roger told him, "That's when I get woken up. Might as well weigh myself at the same time." As he leaned forward in his chair, he said, "It is driving me mad. Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot, without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes."