We Will Rise |2| The Ascension

Chapter Thirty Seven: Silence In The Library

"Books!" the Doctor grinned as the TARDIS settled down. "People never really stop loving books." He lead the way out the doors, into a mostly empty room with a few small cases of books, sniffing. "Fifty first century."

"Of course, by now, you've got holovids, direct to brain downloads, fiction mist," McKenzie listed, counting them off on her fingers, "but you need the smell." She put her arms around her daughters and squeezed. "The smell of books, girls. Deep breath."

Zosia did so, then smiled appreciatively. "All right, so where exactly are we?"

"The Library," the Doctor answered, spreading his arms as they followed him down the steps. "So big it doesn't need a name. Just a great big 'the'."

"It's like a city," Donna marvelled.

"It's a world," McKenzie told her. "Literally, an entire world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer. Biggest hard drive ever. And up here, on the surface, is every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffry Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book, and seriously, you should see the Archipelago of Fanfiction! Brand new editions, specially printed for this library."

The Doctor peered over the balcony into the city-like structure. "We're near the equator, so this must be biographies. I love biographies."

Zoë raised her eyebrows. "That's no fun. Always a death at the end."

"You need a good death," he told her, raising his eyebrows. "Without death, there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size."

Donna picked up a book, and McKenzie quickly snatched it from her grasp. "Oops, spoilers!"

The ginger frowned. "What?"

"These books are from your future," the brunette explained. "You don't want to read ahead, it'll spoil all the surprises. Like if someone happened to tell you what happens in the season finale!"

"Yeah, but isn't travelling with you lot one big spoiler?" Donna reasoned, shrugging.

"Well, I try to keep you away from major plot developments," the Doctor excused.

"Which, let's be honest, you're pretty terrible at," Zosia commented.

The Time Lord frowned. "Hey!"

"Uh, excuse me?" She rolled her eyes. "This is the biggest library in the universe, right? So where's all the people? It's silent."

McKenzie grinned. "Nice one, Zosch." She ruffled her daughter's hair, and the girl pouted, making her sister laugh.

The Doctor moved to a computer and soniced it, bringing it online. After a bit of typing, he sighed, making a face. "Well, maybe it's a Sunday," Donna suggested.

"No," the Doctor replied, distractedly, "I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring."

"Bullshit," McKenzie snorted. "Christmas Day, 2005 was a Sunday. If that's what you call boring, you need neurosurgery."

He grinned faintly. "I stand corrected."

"Why is it so quiet?" Zoë asked, biting her lip as she pushed her glasses up her nose, peering at the screen over her father's shoulder.

Donna shrugged. "I don't know. You're supposed to be quiet in libraries."

"Yeah, I guess," Zosia frowned. "But they'd still show up on the system."

"Doctor, why are we here? Really, why?" Donna asked, sighing.

"Oh, you know, just passing," he lied, tugging on his earlobe absently.