Ian looked around at the space they had found themselves in and frowned. "It looks like some sort of arcade."
"Well, the Doctor did say for us to entertain ourselves after the TARDIS needed to, what was it Susan?" Barbara asked the younger woman beside them.
Susan looked to them with a half smile. "The interstitial fabric needs to recombine after the blacklight modulators exploded when we passed too near to the white star."
Ian looked to the teenager, whom he knew in some part of his mind, wasn't just a teenager, and wondered, not for the first time if she was making things up.
"Well as it's only this place and a gambling hall on the opposite side of this..." Ian trailed off again as he tried to remember the term the Doctor had used as he'd pushed them out the doors of the TARDIS.
"Interspace habitat, it's used for freighters and long haul pilots to stop off at, it used to be popular with cruise liners," Barbara said knowledgeably as he turned over to look at her.
She held up a plastic-looking pamphlet. "It's quite interesting."
Ian looked back behind them and considered if the reason why cruise liners didn't stop here any more was because it was somewhat...decrepit.
"Come on Ian, Barbara, I'm sure there's something interesting to do in here," Susan said brightly as they wandered into the arcade.
-/
Susan had disappeared off to the 'experience VR facility', while Barbara had found something much more enjoyable.
A robot that served tea.
Ian wrapped his hands around the mug of tea while Barbara had a smaller tea cup and breathed in deeply of the dark murky brew. He could hear the noise of the arcade machines around them and their lights reflecting on the ceiling, but here in this little alcove there was just this tea.
Barbara smiled over at him, enjoying her tea.
It was one of the things that they missed, just sitting and relaxing with a cup.
The food machine in the TARDIS seemed incapable of making a cup of tea, good or otherwise. But occasionally he'd found the Doctor in his workshop with a pot of tea, and three mugs, sitting waiting as though he knew that himself or Barbara would come looking for a cup.
"Ah Chesterton, I see you and Barbara have found yourselves the perfect location in this ghastly place," the Doctor greeted him and Barbara as he sat himself down with them, whistling at the robot as he did. "Pot of lapsang souchong please good sir."
Moments later the robot delivered a very smoky smelling pot of tea.
"And where is Susan, hmmm?" The Doctor asked as he swirled the pot.
"Susan rushed off to play the...games Doctor," Barbara began. "You said this was a safe 'if gauche' place to explore."
Ian smiled at Barbara's attempt to head off the Doctor grumbling at them for not watching over Susan. He had learnt not to underestimate Susan.
The Doctor let out an annoyed breath of air as he poured himself a cup of the smoky-smelling brew.
"Perfect, a perfect brew," the Doctor commented raising his cup seemingly to toast the robot.
"Do they keep a selection of drinks here Doctor?" Barbara asked.
Ian hadn't seen where the drinks might be stored.
The Doctor laughed. "Goodness me no Barbara, there are minute genetic samples, stored on something like microfilm. The systems read it and then create copies. It's very space efficient," he paused. "But energy intensive."
"So as long as they have a sample they can recreate anything?" Ian asked with surprise. "That's incredible!"
The Doctor gave him that look, Ian recognised it by now. "A simple development of your printing presses or television sets Chesterton, now" he drained his cup. "shall we see what Susan has got up to?"
-/
They walked through several rows of arcade entertainment machines, some looked like just screens that you sat in front of, with a steering wheel; gear leaver and peddles that seemed to mimic racing a car. Others it seemed one stood and held what appeared to be a gun.
"Most of this is all very antique retro, the youngsters of this generation looking to centuries past for entertainment," the Doctor was explaining as they walked through the isles of gaming machines.
"People played games where they shoot people and aliens?" Ian asked looking with some revulsion at one of the machines that showed very graphic depictions of death of alien beings and humans.
"After wars became fought remotely, the thrill of war manifested in other ways Chesterton," the Doctor explained.
Ian didn't say anything, he remembered the bombs falling during the Blitz. He didn't long to be out there fighting the Nazis.
"There do appear to be a lot of shooting games Doctor, is this how humanity entertains itself after the Cold War?" Barbara asked, following Ian's gaze.
Ian fought the urge to steer Barbara away from looking at the frankly horrific 'demo game play' being displayed.
The Doctor tutted. "These are some time after the Soviet's disagreement with the West Barbara, and they are not all so violent, here," he took his and Barbara's arms gently and steered them both over to 'World Rally Championship' and pushed them gently towards the hard plastic seats.
"I'll pay the tokens, you can enjoy yourselves?" The Doctor chuckled to himself.
"But shouldn't we..." Barbara began.
Then he was hit with a wall of sound and noise ahead of him, he looked across to Barbara who was adjusting her seat and seemed to be following the instructions on the screen in front of them.
The steering wheel had some weight to it and there was no clutch pedal, and no gear stick.
The instructions were very clear however as he and Barbara chose the 'classic rally'.
He jumped slightly as he chose a car an Alpine A110 and a gear stick rose from within the console.
Looking to his left he saw a similar one had appeared beside Barbara's console, but with a larger gate for an additional gear.
Ian smiled to himself as he turned the wheel, looking at more of the vehicles, and watching with amazement as the gear stick beside changed as he selected them.
-/
Ian stepped up out of the machine, their tokens had run out. He was still dazzled by how real everything had looked. It looked exactly like he could be racing through the Swiss countryside, or on the Isle of Man or numerous other locations.
Looking to Barbara he met her smile, it had been fun.
"I didn't know you were such a lead foot Barbara," he chuckled as they walked away from the machine, to continue to try and find the Doctor and Susan.
"I once had to explain to a policeman why I was in such as rush that I had to be speeding along Shoreditch road,"
Ian laughed. "And what was your explanation?"
"Well, I just told him that I was a teacher and I was running late for classes," she paused with a smile. "He didn't question what classes I was speeding to on a Friday evening, but he let me go with a warning not to do it again."
Ian laughed hard as they continued to walk along the isles of machines.
After a few more rows they heard Susan cry out to them.
"Barbara, you have to come and try this, I need someone to play against," she paused. "Or with me."
Susan took Barbara's hand and led her down one of the corridors of machines.
Ian followed, finding the Doctor facing a screen with a grid of yellow lines.
"What's this Doctor?"
"2048 Chesterton, a popular game from the early 21st century," he explained, there were several numbers in red.
"A game based on mathematical progression?" Ian asked in wonder, after the racing and violence games he and Barbara had passed this seemed very tame.
"Indeed, indeed Chesterton," he gestured at the screen and two values of the same number merged, adding their values together, and then another block reading '2' appeared in the corner of the grid.
Looking around he realised he'd lost Barbara and Susan.
"I wonder where the girls have got to Doctor?" Ian said looking around and saw there was second 2048 machine beside the Doctor and wondered how hard it could be?
-/
Susan guided her over to a machine, unlike the others Barbara had seen this was on a slightly raised platform, with a screen in front of the platform.
"What is it Susan?"
"It's a game from your future, though not too far ahead," she smiled at her. "You win by dancing."
Barbara looked at the gaming machine. There appeared to be grid of 9, with arrows in the cardinal directions. The 'demo' on the screen showed animated characters dancing as arrows lit up on the screen.
"I'll show you, then we can have a game together," Susan said with a smile.
-/
Ian cursed as his screen filled up with numbers and no where to move.
The Doctor chuckled, Ian wasn't sure how long he'd been watching over his shoulder. Ian had tried to watch his and the Doctor's screens, but had become engrossed in his own game after a while.
"I can see how some might find this engaging Doctor."
"Indeed dear boy, indeed, now that you've been challenged, shall we discover where Susan and Miss Wright are?" The Doctor asked.
Ian nodded, glaring at the screen as it returned to displaying two numbers again.
They followed the noise of a pounding beat and found both Barbara and Susan moving in time to the beat and instructions on a screen.
The machine read 'Dance Dance Revolution' and flashing lights flared onto the ceiling in time with the oppressive notes.
Ian looked to the Doctor with a grin. "Do you want to give that game a go Doctor?"
The Doctor made a noise. "Not under any circumstances Chesterton, hmmphf," he shook his head in annoyance at the very idea.
A/N:
I wrote this after being inspired by a piece of (Doctor Who) art on deviant art: Susan and DDR by JohannesVIII.