Tin Soldier

[jjpor]

I’ve written quite a bit about Daleks in my fic, and a bit about the Master, but haven’t really touched any of the other classic Doctor Who enemies. On my to-do list, the obvious ones are the Cybermen, the Sontarans and the Ice Warriors. This is just a scene I wrote; maybe I’ll use it in a story one day, when I think of a good Cybermen story, but I’ll just put it out there in the meantime. I don’t even know who “she” is, a companion presumably, encountering something nasty in one of the storage rooms of a space ship or station, which seems to be the natural environment of these beasties. Tell me who you think “she” is and whether you like my take on the Meanies from Mondas; probably a bit too gruesome and Borglike to be suitable for NuWho, but for some reason I find the all-metal rock ‘em sock ‘em robots of the new series a bit characterless and sterile. Which I suppose is actually appropriate for Cybermen! :-) Obviously, I do not own Doctor Who or the Cybermen; they belong to the BBC and/or their original creators.
 

She heard it even before she saw it; a wheezing mechanical rhythm, clacking valves and hissing gases. Like an intensive care ward. When the hulking silver figure lurched into view from behind one of the equipment racks, she jumped backwards, breath catching in her chest. For a moment, she just stared in horror and revulsion; it smelled like a hospital ward too; the sharp chemical odour of lubricants and preservatives masking something unpleasantly organic. It was like something out of a horror movie.

 

“Oh my God,” she whispered, involuntarily. With a whir of servos, its head snapped towards her, a jerky, inhuman movement. Instinctively, she backed away; but that only seemed to encourage it to advance upon her. It was well over six feet tall, and broad too, but most of that bulk seemed to be add-ons and prostheses. There was a human body in there somewhere, a human corpse, covered in tinfoil and wrapped in tubes and cables. The tubes were semi-opaque; she could just make out the dark, greenish fluid that surged through them with every wheeze of the life-support pack wired to the creature’s chest. There were bellows and pumps moving there, behind an observation panel of thick armoured glass; that was what was making the rhythmic hospital-bed noise. The tubes curled around the thickly-muscled limbs like ivy; where there were gaps in the tinfoil, she could see how they were threaded into the flesh, between exposed bones and muscles, how they sprouted from the bald skull to the chest pack. The face, though, was somehow the worst thing about it; an expressionless, angelic metal mask, with gaping black holes where there should be eyes.

 

“What are you?” she wondered aloud as she continued to back away, not really expecting an answer. Deep in the black eyeholes, she saw the glint of optics as it focused on her. And then came the voice, issuing from the grilled-over slot that took the place of a mouth in the silver mask. Not the voice of a living creature; there were no lungs or larynx involved there; fully synthesised. It was a singsong electronic whine:

 

“We are Cybermen. You will be like us.”

 

It lumbered towards her; one hand was a dully gleaming metal claw, jointed like a lobster, clutching something like looked like a flashlight, boxy with a big lens at the front; the other was still organic. Twitching dead white flesh, livid around the blackened fingernails, and with more of the tubes and wires threaded through and through the various bones and muscles.

 

“How can I be like you?” she asked, trying to buy time with words as she edged backwards towards the door; for some reason, she thought that taking her eyes off the thing would be a bad idea, but she was also conscious that she was not entirely sure where the door was; she did not want to end up backed against the wall. “How could I be a Cyberman?” she asked. “I’m a woman, for one thing.”

 

“Irrelevant,” it sang. “Population growth is attained by cyberconversion. Gender distinctions are unnecessary. You will be like us.”

 

She reached the door and flung herself through it, slamming it shut even as she saw the flashlight in its hand snapping up into a firing position with cobra-speed; she dived to one side just before the beam blew a hole in the door the size of her head, and smashed a crater into the far wall of the corridor. For a second, she lay on the floor, stupidly staring at the wrecked door; there were rivulets of glowing molten metal dribbling from the edges of the hole. Then she got up and ran.

 

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

Intriguing. It ought to be a Two-era companion, but Polly, Victoria and Zoe all learn what they are on screen pretty quick. Otherwise, I'd say Polly just for the sake of having another Polly-Cyberman story.

And at the moment, my head is still full of Allo Allo characters and if I suggested one of them, the whole mood would change instantly... ;-)

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...might work... :-)

You're right, it ought to be a Two story; that's the Cybermen's heyday after all, and I suppose I've always found the early Cybermen, with their weird voices and the human hands and generally creepy, ramshackle appearance, a lot more effective than the 70s, 80s and NuWho ones. I mean, if I was using it in a story, I'd obviously rewrite it to fit; it doesn't have to be that the character has never seen one before.

I think the Borg in Trek, in their first couple of appearances, were really the Cybermen "done right", although the Trekkers would never admit that, and the Borg too were subject to terrible concept erosion the longer they went on. Just because they're a hivemind doesn't mean they have to have a Queen...

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, Liz. Yes, it could be. That would work & be very interesting, too. Although, Two, Polly... *looks wistful*

You can have Helga, if you want. Oh, sorry *slaps self again*

I do like the early Cybermen (and Polly's reaction, from feeling sorry for them to plotting murder with nail polish remover in her two stories - great!) but I confess I love 80s Cybermen, too. My first story was Silver Nemesis and I know it's not the greatest, but oh, those Cybermen. My sister ran out of the room and wouldn't watch it with me for a whole year. And, out of all the 80s stories I've watched backwards (as it were) the only one that really gave me the shivers was that moment in Earthshock when they suddenly realise what their cargo is. Lovely!

I'm a bit ignorant on the Borg. I've only really watched Star Trek Voyager much, so I assumed they always had a queen. I thought she seemed quite good! ;-) Oh, but then, I even still quite like Silver Nemesis...

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I vote Liz, but Polly would work too.

I find the Mondas Cybermen much more unsettling than the Cybusmen. It's something about their movement and their voice and how you get the sense that there's still organic matter somewhere in there.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

The problem with the Borg was that they were obviously created to be the ultimate badass enemy. Not only were there trillions of them, and not only were they absolutely pitiless and uncompromising, but they were also cleverer than anybody else and had weapons that could crack planets... So, you can see how that would be a bit hard to sustain in the long term... :)

Silver Nemesis was a story that I thought was great when I first saw it, years ago, but then when I watched it again, I realised it was a bit of a daft remake of Remembrance of the Daleks, only with not-too-bright Cybermen. But Lady Peinfort was all kinds of amusing, and that bit with Ace and the gold coins, while a little silly, is nevertheless...well, ace. And the bit where the Cybermen accidentally shoot each other! In Earthshock, there are lots of great little Cyber-moments. There are even a couple of those in Attack of the Cybermen, even though overall it's...well, not the best.

I'm torn, now: Liz or Polly? Liz or Polly? Liz or... See, with Liz you get UNIT and Season 7 Brig, and maybe even Liz/Brig... But Two and Polly are very attractive too... Multi-Doctor stories, while great, should strictly only be for special occasions, so it would have to be an epic... Er... Let me think on...

[clocketpatch]

"Multi-Doctor stories, while great, should strictly only be for special occasions,"

er... opps? I do like my multi-Doctor goodness.

Liz or Polly, Polly or Liz... hmm, both desperately need the fic love too, especially Polly. One thing that no one's mentioned with Two is the wonderful flexibility afforded by the pseudo-fanon. If you wanted to do a season 6B story with Zoe for example... (but wait, no, her debut story had Cybermen didn't it? Drat it, she'd remember them) Still... who says it has to be the companion running away? It could be Jamie's current love interest, or some random one-off companion, like that photographer from Invasion.

I have to agree on all accounts that the Mondus Cybermen (in black and white mind) are far more terrifying, and compelling, than the Cybusmen. The Cybershades from the Christmas Special were pretty awesome though. Not scary, but awesome non-the-less.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

"The Cybershades from the Christmas Special were pretty awesome though. Not scary, but awesome non-the-less."

As you said yourself, they were very much a throwback to oldschool Who - relentlessly cheap monsters, presented with absolute barefaced conviction. NuWho should have the confidence to do that sort of thing more often! :)

Yeah, b&w Cybermen=scary. I don't know how familiar anybody is with the DWM comic strips, but there was a Seven story called "The Good Soldier" that featured Cybermen, drawn to look like Two-era Cybermen, interestingly enough, and it was just as creepy and disgusting as hell, with people getting taken apart, wired into machinery etc. in all sorts of horrible ways. Disturbing stuff.

I love me some Multi-Doctor action too, but if I didn't resist I'd probably make every fic into Multi-Doc fic, and that'd just be silly... :)

I'm heavily leaning towards it being Liz, though, as much as I love Two, and as much as it would be interesting to do a Ben and Polly and Jamie fic. I've never actually written any Three fic, and I'm envisaging one of those Season 7 stories with dodgy government projects going horrifically awry and Three arguing with stupid scientists and bureaucrats, and the Brig being all hardline and Briggish... and Liz doing that thing where she pretends to argue with the Doctor, but she's sort of smiling at the same time because they both know she's going to give in and help him in whatever crazy plan he's hatching...and Cybermen...creepy, undead, half-human Cybermen... And I was thinking about this when I was supposed to be sleeping last night and have been thinking about it all morning too.

Gah, I sort of promised myself I wouldn't do this, as I still have WIPs unfinished, and I want to get some original stuff written too if I can, but those bunnies won't leave me alone...

[clocketpatch]

Oh for the love of bunnies! I know what you mean; I have so many various archaeology-related bunnies kicking about which never seem to get writ, and at the same time the WIPs never seem to get finished, and still the bunnies proliforate, as is their wont. I look forward to this Three story though, whenever it might happen (there's never enough Three in the world!), and also to that origins story which you mentioned that you may or may not write. Actually, I just look forward to good fic in any and all permutations, and also to original work as well. Funny though, isn't it, how those wild, untamed fic bunnies tend to savage those poor unsuspecting original plotbunnies? It's tragic really...

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

The origin story, which may or may not be a great idea is called "I, Morbius", and looks like it might be an epic in the making, with lots of Time Lord politics and the rise and fall and rise and fall of said nasty Gallifreyan would-be God-Emperor, so I'm a bit wary of even starting it. And I don't know how good my One is (he goes hmmm! a lot and calls people "young man", but then so did Richard Hurndall!), or whether we want to get into the subject of the Doctor's wife and kids etc - isn't that best left ambiguous? And I don't know if acknowledging the half-human thing is a good idea, or having Braxiatel in it and making him One's older brother... The Master was always a wrong'un even in his school days, of course...I think we're on pretty safe ground there :).

You're right about the bunnies, though; they breed like, well...bunnies. And the original bunnies always lose - it's like red squirrels versus grey squirrels or something! I'm contemplating some ill-advised Four/Romana almost-smut as we speak, but I get a bit bashful about writing and posting that sort of thing; I always chicken out on the gory details :)

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Apparently, it's been offically refuted that the Doctor is half-human (my own Personal Canon is that Susan is half-human).

And, hey, go with the almost-smut. I'm sure it can't be the worst ever written!

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

"Apparently, it's been offically refuted that the Doctor is half-human (my own Personal Canon is that Susan is half-human)."

So, he always lies to his dates, then? LOL.

Dang. Personally, I always hated the half-human thing, but at the same time I think the more half-canon, ambiguous rumours and stuff surrounding the Doctor's origins the better, so it's sort of sad to see even one of the more inane ones refuted by The Mgmt. Which is why I wonder if the origin story is such a great idea - although I would love to write about "Thete" and the Master in the Academy, and that hermit with the "daisiest daisy", and Morbius when he was more than a brain in a jar, for that matter (although the connection between him and the Doctor's origins are obvious only to me :))

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I think it was official at least. I can't quite remember. Personally, I hated it too, because I prefer the Doctor's ''specialness'' to have been a matter of choice and circumstance rather than biology.

If you want to read a fascinating interpretation of Time Lord society and tradition, I strongly recommend Threads by violetisblue. It's Four/Romana I as well as a brilliant character study of Romana in her first incarnation.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

That's a great story; as you say, a very impressive take on Gallifrey and its strange, twisted society. And Romana I doesn't get enough fic (from me, for instance; I've only ever done II for some reason). I think it's sort of funny, if understandable, the way Ten pines for the old homeworld, when we know that really it was as corrupt and sterile and hypocritical as hell.

Yes, I agree, the Doctor should be special because he chooses to be, not due to some strange mystical destiny, either genetic or all that "lonely god" stuff. As a bigtime Seven fan who generally approves of the Cartmel Masterplan, I still think they laid it on a bit thick in some of the NA novels with all of those revelations about his past.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Verily, I love it for its great worldbuilding and its idea of Romana I as an essentially wounded being, regenerating because she longs to be her own person. Of course, the UST and the hot snogging doesn't hurt either.

I need to be more familiar with the Cartmel Masterplan in order to really have an opionion, but I already harbour some antipathy towards Cartmel for dissing Romana.;)

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I think the old Masterplan is still officially top, top secret to this day, but basically it was all about making the Doctor all mysterious and godlike and stuff, which can't be a bad idea (well, maybe not godlike, that may be going too far). I think as much as we will ever really know about it is the bonkers revelations about Gallifreyan history and the Doctor's home life that we got in NA novels like Time's Crucible and Lungbarrow. And I'd quite forgotten the Romana-dissing instance...grrr... >:( Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Mysterious is a must, but nonono on the godlike. The Doctor's supposed to be an anarchist clog in the machinery. I look fondly on the days when people could bitch at him without being punished for blasphemy.

And I'd quite forgotten the Romana-dissing instance...grrr... >:( Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose.

Yeah, she totally ''immasculated'' the Doctor, lulz. I dunno, I thought he never looked happier than in S17 (other than his period with Susan, Barbara and Ian, once he'd got used to them).

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

"I thought he never looked happier than in S17 (other than his period with Susan, Barbara and Ian, once he'd got used to them)."

Yeah, well, exactly; he had this good-looking younger woman who thought he was brilliant and hung on his every word (although obviously she pretended not to be impressed with him), and who was more than willing to have a laugh with him. And was also willing to take care of the scientific stuff while he concentrated on goofing around and coming out with witty one-liners. Why wouldn't he look happy? LOL. Season 17 is one of those things you either love or hate, I suppose; I love it and remain suspicious of those who say they don't... :-)

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Heh, well I was going to say he was happy because he was in love.;) Although I don't think she hung on to his every word. She sometimes didn't bother to argue and did exactly what she wanted to, usually successfully. She was brilliant and he knew it, though like always he was quick to take credit for everything.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

"Heh, well I was going to say he was happy because he was in love.;)"

Heh. That too; no, seriously, that too. My Romana love and my Four/Romana love really know no bounds, and not even Andrew Cartmel can convince me otherwise.:)