He watched her out of the corner of his eye and noticed the way she fidgeted and paced about; when she wasn't pulling at her lip or hair, she would wring her hands. It all was too distracting for him.
"What's wrong Martha?" He asked calmly as he inputted the last of their coordinates.
"We're answering a distress signal." She answered as if it should have been obvious.
"Yes,"
"Doctor, the last time we answered a distress signal I nearly lost you." Her one-sided assessment of that situation brought a smile to the Doctor's face.
"As I recall Martha Jones, I nearly lost you too, and into a sun no less."
"Oh I knew you'd save me, you always do. I'm not so confident in my abilities to save you however."
"You've saved me plenty…more than you'll ever know," He said the last part in a mumble to himself. "Even better you've saved the world." He said loudly with a wide-eyed grin that got a smile from her.
"I did, didn't I?"
"Right you did, and you know you're going to be a full fledged doctor soon, so you'll be in the business of saving lives Martha."
"I know but that's not the same. It's different when it's someone you lov…care about." She quickly corrected and was happy when the Doctor acted as if he hadn't notice, though she knew he had. "I tend to freeze up a bit."
"I get inspired, determined even," The Doctor stated. "I tell you what, I promise you, you won't lose me." He said as he grasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"You can't promise that, you don't know what could happen."
"Have I ever broken a promise to you?" He asked and she shook her head no. "Ok then." Suddenly the Tardis jerked to a stop. "Let's go do what we can to help." Martha took a deep sigh and put on a brave smile. The Doctor lifted her hand and kissed it swiftly, and then tugged her towards the exit.
The door to the Tardis opened to a scene of a very busy city; bustling with people and transport vehicles. The Doctor and Martha walked out onto the sidewalk hand in hand and were instantly greeted by the people crossing their path. The first were two females who were identical.
"Greetings," One said.
"And Salutations," The other one added before they both walked on by. Then came two identical males.
"Greetings,"
"And salutations," They said respectively and then walked on.
"Ok this is creepy." Martha said as she looked around and took note that everyone seemed to have a double.
"Creepy, why creepy?" The Doctor asked with a look of confusion on his face.
"Have you ever seen Village of the Damned?" Martha inquired and he shook his head, before she could give any details someone called out to them.
"Doctor…Martha Jones!" They both turned in surprised, and saw a small robust man waving his hand at them and he fast approached. When the man finally reached them he began vigorously and excitedly shaking both their hands. "Oh Doctor, and Martha Jones, it is such an honor to meet you both…such an honor. I wasn't sure you'd get my beckon, the face of Boe mentioned that you'd be in this area around this time, and that you might be able to help us."
"The face of Boe?" Martha asked with a smile. "Is he here now?" She was eager to see him again and speaking with him now that she knew whom it really was.
"Oh no he's already left us. He did what he could and was able to stabilize things, but only temporarily. He said that he was sure you'd be able to help us."
"Good ole Jack." The Doctor said with a grin. "Right well let's see your problem…and you are?"
"Oh where are my manners. I am Alderman Zimmerman, and our labs are just in that building there." He said pointing to the skyscraper just across the street from where they stood.
"This place is fantastic!" The Doctor said as he ran from one piece of equipment to the next, looking like a kid in a candy shop His eyes grew large as he spotted a machine in the corner. He pulled out his glasses, putting them on to give the machine a thorough inspection. "Is this a Tri-Rill-Ion 33000?"
"Yes, it made the most delectable crab tea." Alderman Zimmerman said.
"Indeed as well as Taraki coffee, I haven't had that in ages." The Doctor said with a far off look on his face.
"So it's a gigantic coffee machine?" Martha asked not seeing what all the excitement was about.
"More or less." The Doctor replied.
"Oh but it hasn't worked in a long time." The Alderman stated.
"Then it's just junk, may I have it?" The Doctor asked.
"Of course if you'd like it. Though it's probably only good for scraps."
"Then it'll fit in nicely on the Tardis," Martha said with a giggle, which increased when she noticed the disapproving look the Doctor was giving her.
"Right, well our life chamber is just this way." The Alderman said, as he walked off. The Doctor and Martha threw questioning glances at each other as they followed. They entered the chamber, which was the full length of the entire building. Martha looked up in awe at what looked to be life pods, thousands of them filling the chamber room, from the very top of the building down to where they stood. There were people at the upper levels, entering them and leaving them systematically, like a well-oiled machine.
"What is all of this?" Martha asked.
"This is the life chamber, it is where we are all born and reborn."
"Reborn?" The Doctor asked as he looked down at the man curiously.
"Yes, here my people can come at the end of their life span to be reborn with a completely new lifespan."
"How is that done exactly?" The Doctor continued his inquiry.
"Genetic replication of course."
"Like cloning?" Martha threw of in disbelief.
"Yes. Over ten generations ago I, more accurately my lifespan of that generation, was helping to fight a deadly plague that was ravaging our planet. Millions died, and millions more would have died had we not come up with our lifespan regenerator. With it we could replicate good, healthy cells in our patients, from just one healthy cell. We saved their lives, but as time went by we realized that after a short time those 'new' cells too started to disintegrate, so we had to replicate them, and so on and so on."
"So in the end replication is needed as much as the air you breathe, in order to stay a live." Martha stated and The Alderman nodded.
"We have made great strides, we discovered that with a simple altercation to the regenerator we could replicate an entire being from the few good cells in a host, and this somehow extended the lifespan of both the host and the replicated, the process stabilized their cells somehow. So instead of needing replication every ten days, it extended to every ten years."
"That explains the double vision I was experiencing outside." Martha said and the Alderman chuckled at her use of words.
"The face of Boe mentioned your wit, and he was right it is very charming." Martha smiled at the compliment.
"So where is your double?" Martha asked.
"For those of us who were never infected by the plague, it wasn't needed. Our own cells were enough to sustain us."
"So how often do you replicate?"
"Oh, just the once, and for me that was as I said eons ago. We don't truly know 'our' expiration date."
"It seems like you've got it all figured out, so why do you need our help?" The Doctor finally spoke.
"It's no longer working, now at the end of the patient's lifespan the cells are disintegrating at a faster rate, much faster than we can replicate them. And in some cases our machines can't even pick up enough DNA to replicate." The Alderman said and as if for effect, a cart holding a dead body was rolled by them and out to the disposal area.
"So it's like when you take a drug, if you take it long enough, sooner or later your body will build a tolerance to it, and it won't work any longer. Unless you take a much higher dosage." Martha said and the Alderman nodded.
"Yes, but we are at the highest level now, any higher and the radiation would kill our patients. Which is why we need you Doctor." The Alderman said turning his full attention to the Doctor who was already scanning some of the machinery with his sonic screwdriver. "Can you help us?"
"Yes and no," The Doctor said. "I can fix your machine, but it will 'only' be able to regenerate your clones 'once', stabilizing them much as it has you. But there's nothing I can do for the hosts. What is the population?"
"Six billion, about 1.5 billion are people like myself who were never sick and only replicated once. The rest are the hosts and their clones."
"My God that's over two billion hosts at will die. There's nothing that can be done Doctor?" Martha asked her heart already aching at the knowledge. The Doctor shook his head.
"No, the remainder will have to come together, you lot can have children right?"
"Yes, there are some but not many. Most didn't see the need for children, they figured through our process they'd live forever, they could carry on their own lineage."
"I am sorry but that ideology will have to change if your people are to survive." The Doctor stated and the Alderman nodded his understanding.
"Whatever you can do Doctor, we will be most grateful."
"Oh, its just a simple alteration to your connectors," The Doctor said as he moved to one of the pods, opening it and standing inside of it. "It will have to be set manually in each pod. I'll set this one and you can use it as a prototype for the rest." He turned his screwdriver to the paneling in the back of the pod. Suddenly the door to the pod shut and a blinding blue light filled the inside of the pod, blocking the view of the Doctor behind the glass opening in the door of the pod.
"Doctor!" Martha scream and instinctively moved to go try and open the door, only to be held fast by the Alderman.
"No child if you get any closer you could burn up from the radiation." He stated and Martha stood helpless watching until it all ended as suddenly as it had began. The light filling the pod dispersed, replaced with smoke. The pod door opened and the smoke bellowed out.
"Doctor?" Martha cried out for him her tears already on the verge of spilling out. After a moment's pause, with Martha holding her breath, the Doctor finally appeared through the thick smoke, which he fanned away as he coughed a bit.
"I'm alright Martha," The Doctor said in what sounded to be an echo, and Martha and the Alderman looked from the Doctor in front of them to one emerging from a pod off to the right of them.
"Oh my God," Martha gasped out. "There are two of them." Both of the Doctor's, the host and the clone, stared at her and then turned and caught sight of each other.
"Blimey," The Doctor's said in unison.
"And just when I thought there was no one else like you," Martha threw out jokingly and got a big grin from both the Doctor's who were each inspection different machinery. She then turned to the one just behind her. "So what do we call you, then?" She asked and the Doctor paused and looked up at her.
"What do you mean?" He asked as the other Doctor paused as well and looked on, curious himself.
"Well you're not 'really' the Doctor…"
"Yes I am," He replied defensively and Martha had to roll her eyes and note that these two Doctor were similar in demeanors at least.
"I mean, you're a replica of the 'real' Doctor, a copy, not original, and for my own peace of mind we need to come up with something different to call you, yeah."
"And how can you be so sure that I'm the copy?" This Doctor asked which caused Martha to bunch her brow a bit and question exactly how it was that she did know. She then moved closer to him, grasped his face in both of her hands and pulled him down closer, after a few seconds she released him and then moved to the other Doctor, and did the same thing. She then smiled up at this Doctor.
"Hello Doctor," She said and smile and he smiled back and winked, thoroughly impressed that she knew it was 'really' him. "This is my Doctor," She said as she turned back to the other Doctor. "He has very old eyes, they're sad, cold and fierce all at once, but yours are like a child seeing the world for the first time, not at all hardened." The replica smiled and bounced on the balls of his feet.
"Oh you are good Martha Jones," He said and she threw him a grin.
"So what shall we call you then?" She asked again.
"How about John," The Replica said. "John Smith." This caused Martha to giggle.
"Wow, you just came up with that off the top of your head, didja?" She remarked sarcastically.
"Yeah, you like it?" John asked as he moved to stand in front of her. She reached up and straightened his tie a bit.
"It's definitely you." She replied and John suddenly lifted her up causing a squeal, and then twirled her around a bit, as they both laughed.
"You two are going to break something, knock it off." The Doctor said with an authoritative tone, very peeved at their behavior though he wasn't sure why. This ended the fun and John swiftly set Martha down and they both looked to the Doctor with apologetic eyes.
"Am I always such a joy kill?" John asked in a hushed voice and Martha giggled.
"Sorry Doctor, so what can we do to help?" Martha asked as she moved to stand beside the Doctor.
"I'll need you to help me run some tests, Martha." The Doctor replied.
"Tests, what tests?" John asked and he lifted his head a bit and shoved both hands inside his pockets. Although he had a suspicion as to what the Doctor was referring.
"Don't play dumb, you know it doesn't suit us. If all these reports the Alderman has provided me are any indication, then you and I are the same physically and mentally in every way. But yet Martha knew right off the bat exactly who we were. That tells me there are some things that are different, and I want to know what."
"Fine, but I don't want 'you' probing and prodding me, let Martha do it." John said with sly smile and a wink thrown at Martha, who stared at him with shocked, wide eyes as a smile played on her lips. John's blatant flirting stunned her and the Doctor both.
"You sure there's not some Jack Harkness in you?" The Doctor said as he set up the first testing machine.
"Well you do remember there was that one time when we…" John began to speak but the Doctor hurriedly cut him off.
"Shut it!" The Doctor warned with an arched brow and John smiled at him but didn't continue the tale and Martha just looked from one to the other curious to hear what had happened between the Doctor and Jack. "Lie down here." The Doctor instructed and John obliged. John lay upon the examining table with his hands across his chest, fingers interlocked, humming softly as he watched the Doctor and Martha run about setting the machine for their tests. When Martha came to his side to adjust the scanning machine overhead, John smiled warmly up at her.
"You are very beautiful." He said as he regarded her and she looked down at him momentarily at a loss for words.
"Thank you." She finally stammered out and then focused back on setting the controls as the Doctor had instructed.
"I never told you that before, did I." He asked rhetorically. "I wanted to tell you from the first time I laid eyes on you that day in the street." She looked down at him again a bit stunned by his words, and then shuffled her feet uncomfortably, which he noticed. "I've made you uncomfortable haven't I?" He asked as he reached out and grasped her hand.
"No, well yes. It's just weird hearing those words coming from…never mind." She said shaking off her thoughts. "We should be finished soon." She said with a smile completely changing the subject. John simply nodded as he returned her smile, never loosening his grip on her hand. The Doctor looked up and caught this interaction and it bothered him.
"Martha, are you finished setting the scanner?" The Doctor called out and Martha jumped a bit and quickly yanked her hand out of John's grasp as if she has been caught doing something bad.
"Yes Doctor," She replied as she hurried back to stand at the Doctor's side.
"John, this will be a bit loud and bright, but you must stay as still as possible." The Doctor said and John nodded his understanding. The Doctor flipped the machine on, and intensely watched John. "I don't want you hanging out with him too much," The Doctor spoke to Martha, but never took his eyes from John. Martha stared at him in confusion as the Doctor continued. "I don't think I like the way he looks at you and touches you." These words brought a smirk to Martha's face.
"Why, are you jealous?" She asked playfully.
"Don't be ridiculous," He snapped as he looked over at her with a seemingly angry and disgusted expression and Martha flinched, but quickly recover, determined not to let him see that he had hurt her deeply. "That is not me Martha, it may look like me, but it's not me. You're my responsibility and I don't want you to get hurt."
"Your responsibility?" She repeated disbelievingly. "I am not your pet nor your child. I'm an adult and I can take care of myself, but thanks ever so for your concern." Martha spoke snidely.
"Martha," The Doctor said calmly, his earlier expression replaced with an endearing one. It never ceased to amaze her how he could change his emotions so quickly, act as if he hadn't just done or said something completely out of line, and cruel, and how he'd never ever apologize for any of it.
"Don't," She said throwing up her hand as she turned away from him to stare out at John, who was still lying on the scanning table. "You're right though, he may look like you, sound like you, have that big brain of yours, but he is nothing at all like you." Even though she hadn't said it in a malicious manner the Doctor knew she was being unkind with her words, and he also knew he had deserved it.