A/N: I'm late. Terribly, horribly, insanely late. I am so sorry :'( Everything just got ahead of me, and the time flew by so fast... So now, here we are. And I swear I WILL keep a better schedule and update more frequently! (Or, at least try to)

My time off hasn't been for nothing, though; I've been planning this thing and I know how it's gonna end. And I have decided that yes, this WILL be the first in a series. So please stick around, cause I've got a lot in store~!

I would like to thank alwaystherereading, Lady Artemis Blane (who will yell at me later for being so late), Adelaide Noble, Zomvee, and FullWolfMoonGirl for their lovely reviews! And also Genius Pinecone, I guess. Oh, you silly little pine cone, you :D

Without further ado, enjoy~

I walked in silence towards the reception area, with a mass of unsettled butterflies in my stomach. Sammy walked next to me, the click-clack of her heels providing a constant beat of noise, one that surprisingly felt comfortable and familiar.

But The Doctor behind us strode silently. He wasn't talking or making a sound, simply following our lead. He had a look of purpose on his face, and I didn't blame him. He was about to make contact with someone from outside the universe that could provide answers. Why was I here? Who were these agents, and who were they working for?

Sammy wore a smile, though. She had no idea who Agent Lily was, as we had not explained to her my 'situation'. She was probably just happy to be on the TARDIS soon, traveling the stars.

I looked down at my arm as we walked, noticing a slight buzzing. Was it Beth? It didn't seem to be coming from the Vortex Manipulator, rather, my own head. Then I heard a 'click', making me jump. I looked around wildly, but Sammy and The Doctor hadn't reacted.

Sammy tilted her head, worriedly. "Something wrong?"

"No, I-"

"Don't worry, just little ol' me!" Beth said from my wrist.

"Beth!" I sighed. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm just setting up a mental link!" Beth said sassily. "My goodness, it's like you've never met an AI before!"

"Well, I haven't!" I shot back.

Beth paused. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Oh, so you must be one of those 'purists' who don't use robots or AI, right? Buncha weirdos if you ask me."

"I'm not a purist! We just don't have AI where I'm from!" I stuck out my tongue childishly.

Beth paused again. "They… they don't have robots in America?"

"Well I don't know, do I?! I'm from the 21st Century!"

Beth took a long pause this time, and finally responded. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

I threw my head back and groaned. "Doctor! Help me here!"

The Doctor just shrugged and smiled. "Nope. She's your AI. Discipline her if you like."

"Discipline her? Like, put her in timeout?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. I mean, shock her. That's what most people do."

I gaped at him. 'Shock' her? As in electrocute her? There was no way in hell I was doing that. "Do people... do that here?" I asked cautiously, turning to Sammy.

She nodded. "Yeah, if an AI is out of line and not following orders, you say the name of your AI, followed by the word 'punishment' and then you say how long you want them to be electrocuted."

My eyes widened, and I looked down at Beth. "Beth…" I said slowly. "I swear to you, no matter what, I'll never hurt you like that. You have my word on that."

There was a long pause, and we all stood in silence. And then, I heard a quiet and solemn voice say "Yes, ma'am."

With that, we continued on.

(CHAPTER BREAK)

The hustle and bustle of the factory really was something. There were a lot of people with lab coats walking around with their strange, holographic iPad-like devices, but there were many visitors like us, too. There was a party of aliens I recognized as Lurmans touring the factory, along with a few Zocci. There was another group of what looked like schoolchildren not far behind them.

Sure, it was the 51st Century, but it honestly felt like not much had changed. People were still the same as ever, and it brought a smile to my face to see aliens to the planet living normally alongside humans.

It wasn't long after that that we made it to the atrium. It was a large, dome-like room with a glass ceiling made of triangular panes. The walls were lined with a red-velvet material and relaxing paintings of forest paths in the middle of autumn as well as beautiful underground lakes of blue crystal that surely wouldn't be found on Earth. Beyond the decor, there were desks with receptionists everywhere along the wall, at least 50 in just the one room. And every receptionist had at least 30 people lined up in a path formed by red rope to keep everything as organized as possible.

"Huh," Sammy muttered. "Slow day."

I gaped at her. "THIS is slow?"

Beth cut in. "One Norman-Grove Manufacturing Facility has an average of 10,000 visitors per day. This is due to the fact that Alistair Norman and Georgia Grove made an agreement to always personally handle defective equipment by fixing the problem, or offering a full refund. Because of this, all Norman-Grove locations are constantly flooded with customers wanting a solution to their technology-based problems."

"That sounds… awful." I looked back over to Sammy. "Why did you choose to work at such a busy place?"

"Oh, I'm no receptionist," Sammy smiled. "I'm an engineer. I build the products the company develops and hopefully someday soon, design some of my own creation."

The Doctor pushed between us. "Now, I'd love you two to get to know each other better, but we should do that on the TARDIS. We've got places to be, chop chop."

I frowned at his back as he continued walking toward reception and cutting the line, flashing his Psychic Paper at the disgruntled patrons. "He can be a real grump."

Sammy nodded. "No doubt."

We followed The Doctor to the receptionist, but we were lost in the sea of people for about few minutes. After we recovered our bearings, we could see The Doctor's leather jacket hunched over one of the many desks in the room, and as we approached him, we could hear an angry voice.

"-And I told you, the woman said there's a password, that's all." The receptionist was saying. He was a dark-skinned man with a shaved head, and he wore a red sweater vest and white shirt, which matched every receptionist in the room. "Now, I don't care that the paper says you were sent here by the Emperor, rules are rules!"

The Doctor glared at him. "And I'm telling you, I don't give a damn about your rules. Now, give it!"

"Boys, boys," I said, putting my hand on The Doctor's shoulder. "Relax. What's going on here? Where's Agent Lily?"

The receptionist turned to me, frowning. "The woman here left a package for the person who is visiting the factory. Her name is Sophie, and she's under the watchful eye of an employee named Sammy. Under no circumstances am I to give out the parcel to anyone else."

"Well…" I started. "I'm Sophie, but… How the hell did she find me here?"

The receptionist shrugged. "How should I know? Look, to ensure you aren't lying, the woman said there's a word you have to say as a password, and after that, I can give you the package. That's all I know."

I groaned. A password? How should I know the password? I wasn't given anything like that by the male agent. "Any… hints?" I asked hopefully.

"She just said something about someone rescuing you."

"Rescuing.. me?" I thought back. After I had been 'plucked' as it had been called, there was that man who had put me in that park area, an agent… and his name was…

"Frost," I said suddenly. "The password is frost."

The receptionist wrinkled his eyebrows and with a sigh, he held up one of those weird hologram iPad thingies I'd seen so much of, and typed something in quickly. A foot-long package appeared next to him with a 'pop' sound, and he heaved in over the wooden desk and into my hands.

"There you are, then," he said exasperatedly. "Next!"

We walked away from the busy man and away from all the lines, and looking back, I noted that the desk we had just been at was the only one in the entire atrium labeled 'Special Services and Actions'. I giggled a little. The future was weird.

The Doctor beside me eyed the package worriedly. "Right," he said. "Back to the TARDIS. We're scanning that thing before we open it."

(CHAPTER BREAK)

Back at the TARDIS, Sammy stared in awe. "B-B-But…" She whispered.

Sammy had stopped dead in her tracks when she entered the TARDIS in front of me, causing me to faceplant into her back. I winced and rubbed my nose. Further inside, The Doctor strode up to the TARDIS computer, pushed a few buttons, and a small table flipped out of the console. He placed it on and began clicking away speedily at the keyboard, ignoring Sammy and I completely.

"Yeah," I finished for Sammy. "It's bigger on the inside."

She took a few steps inward, looking around at everything, her eyes wide with wonder, and finally allowing me to slip past quietly to leave her to it.

I ascended the ramp and joined The Doctor, looking over his shoulder to see the monitor. It appeared to be a string of numbers and letters, mathematical equations, and other symbols that meant nothing to me, scroll vertically up the screen at high speeds. Just a few seconds after observing his work, The Doctor stopped and turned around.

"It appears safe. I ran every test I could think of."

I nodded, and took it upon myself to unwrap the package, which ripped apart as easily as paper. Well, perhaps it was paper, but I didn't really think about the material.

Inside was a wooden box with a nice beige color, and I immediately recognized that it was made of oak. I removed the top seamlessly and inside it, something was wrapped in brown paper. I lifted the object curiously and was immediately taken aback by how heavy it was.

The Doctor lent me a hand, as I wasn't strong enough by myself, and I blushed a bit, embarrassed by my lack of physical strength as I reflected briefly on how nice it must be for males to be so much naturally stronger. Even as a kid, I had always thought it was unfair that girls had less muscles. I also noted that when I had carried the package, it hadn't been as heavy as the object, and that the simple-looking oak box was probably made of more science-y stuff than I thought.

"It's a weightless box," said The Doctor as if he was reading my mind. "The box itself absorbs all the objects mass and pressure, thus making it easy to carry."

"Handy," I mused.

We placed it on the table together, and The Doctor nodded at me, a clear signal to unwrap the object. Sammy had began to gather herself, and appear behind us, now interested in what the package held more than the science of the TARDIS.

I took the paper and gingerly slid it off the object, and what I saw under it made Sammy gasp, and my eyes widen. It was an arm, but not just any arm. It was made of solid gold, or at least, it appeared to be. It glistened beautifully in the lights of the TARDIS, refracting the green and blue hue of the console. The arm itself seemed to cut off at the elbow, and on the other end, four fingers and a thumb were spread out of the palm as if the owner of the hand were saying to stop.

I looked at it again, taking in the details. "Handy," I repeated.

From my wrist, Beth laughed. I grinned, glad to know that the AI and I had a sense of humor in common.

"Well," Sammy commented. "That was not at all what I was expecting."

I nodded. "Yeah, me neither." I turned. "What is it, Doctor?"

"A golden arm," he said simply.

I smirked. "Yeah, thanks, Einstein. I mean where is it from, what's it's purpose, and why do we have it?"

The Doctor turned back to his computer, seemingly ready for more tests. "Sammy," I said, in an effort to distract myself. "How're you doing?"

Sammy chuckled. "Well, it was a shocker at first, but this..." she waved her hand, indicating the room at large. "...is really, really cool!"

She strode to the TARDIS computer and looked down at the buttons. "How does all this stuff work? Where do you pilot it from? Are there more rooms like this? Oh man, this is just too cool! You have to let me pick it apart!"

I remembered that Sammy was an engineer, and that this kind of thing must be even more incredible to her than to me, even if she was from a place with more advanced technology than I was used to. It made me smile to see someone so enthusiastic and passionate about what they love.

"Hey, Mistress Sophie," Beth called from my arm. "Just letting you know, in a few minutes you're about to become hungry."

I looked down at the AI, surprised. "What? How the heck do you know that?"

"Oh," Beth said cheerily, giving me the sneaking suspicion that she had wanted me to ask that. "Well, while I'm attached to you, I keep track of your entire body. For example, I know that you are 17 years, 41 days, 17 hours, 22 minutes and 2 seconds old, by standard Earth time. In a few minutes it would be optimal for you to digest 3 and a half ounces of food, and a few ounces of water. Oh, I can also let you know when-" Beth switched to a loud whisper, which I was sure everyone else could still hear. "You know, when your 'time of the month' comes round-"

I blushed and said loudly. "Gee, thanks Beth, what a pal!" I saw Sammy glance in the other direction, and I could tell she was embarrassed for me as well. I looked at The Doctor but he was busily using the computer, so I doubted he had heard that.

I cleared my throat. "Right, hey, Doctor!"

The Doctor looked up at me.

"Hey, can you take us somewhere to get a meal?"

"Sure," said The Doctor, "But I warn you, I can't come with you. These calculations are going to take another half-hour at least."

I shrugged. "No worries, just drop us off in a 21st Century food court or something."

And with that, The Doctor was flying to somewhere once again. I could see Sammy smiling, and so was I.

For the first time in this crazy day, I felt like a member of the TARDIS crew. And it felt wonderful.

A/N: Ah, another chapter done! It feels so nice when you finish writing something, huh?

Oh, and by the way that whole '17 years and 41 days old' thing is accurate. Sophie was taken from her home on June 5th, 2018, and she was born on April 25th, 2002. So yeah. I had to do mad math for you guys. Mad Math: Fury Road? Okay, sorry, I'll stop. (I like that movie)

I love all of you guys, thank you for being wonderful people!

See you next time!