Alit in Underland (short story)

On Floor 0507 of the Mondasian colony ship, the night after the Twelfth Doctor, Bill, Nardole, Missy and the Master arrived in a shuttlecraft from Floor 1056, Alit sneaks out of the farmhouse to follow the Master and Missy, who are attempting to travel to Floor 0508 to stop the scarecrows from Floor 1056 attacking the solar farm and find a means of escaping the ship, despite Nardole and Hazran’s protests that travel to the lower levels was too dangerous. Alit follows the duo through some nearby woods, and upon arriving at the crashed shuttle, she hides behind it whilst the Master and Missy discover a network of superstructure walkways between the ground of Floor 0507 and the ceiling of Floor 0508. Missy recovers the crashed shuttle’s rope ladder, and begins climbing down to the walkways along with the Master. Alit emerges and attempts to flee, only to run into a prototype Cyberman.

Alit runs for the ladder, alerting her presence to the two Masters. At the bottom, the Master threatens Alit with his laser screwdriver, but is talked down by Missy. When Missy questions her as to why she was following them, Alit claims that the scarecrow was chasing her. The trio begin journeying down one of the walkways, with Missy reassuring Alit that she shouldn’t be scared of the Master, the scarecrow or the dark as there’s something much scarier than any of them.

The trio journey through the various corridors, the Master speculating a service lift is nearby that will take the group to Floor 0508. Alit thinks the scarecrow she ran from earlier (who Missy has begun to call ‘Topknot’) is still following them, and the group speeds up after hearing it. After passing another four-way junction, Missy examines her sonic umbrella and detects a nearby service-cradle, walking down a right-hand corridor until she arrives at a large metal hatch. The Master then enquires to Missy as to her attire, leading to them briefly reminiscing over children’s television. Missy notes that the hatch is deadlock sealed, and the Master quickly burns through its seals with his laser screwdriver.

Suddenly, Topknot emerges from the darkness and tries to grab Missy, who quickly dodges and blocks it with the handle of her sonic umbrella. As Alit dives for the open hatchway, the Master snatches Topknot’s chest cloth, ripping it off and exposing the Cyberman’s chest unit. Topknot tries to grab the Master, but is repeatedly parried by Missy’s sonic umbrella. The Master then burns a small incision into the Cyberman’s chest with his laser screwdriver, who immediately stops, allowing the Master to locate its voice box and alter its settings. As Alit peers from the hatch door, the Master orders the Cyberman to recognise his voice commands, and then unbuttons the back of its cloth to change its root command so that it no longer recognises beings with two hearts as human, allowing the trio to use Topknot however they wish.

Noting that the service-cradle is still locked in place, Missy tells Alit to climb through a small gap in the hatch‘s bars, the latter quickly doing so and unlocking the door. The Master and Missy enter as well, and Topknot operates a control that causes the cradle to begin descending into the floor’s sky. The Master slides towards Missy and complains about her chipper nature, Missy noting that he’s not keen on regenerating; the Master claims that girls are disappointing, causing Missy to remember some of the many people she has used in the past. The Master calls Alit over, asking about her parents and if she likes any of the children in the farmstead. Alit states that “Omebo’s OK” and the Master asks her if she’d betray him if she married him (with Alit shaking her head in response). Missy then questions the Master about their plan, knowing that he isn’t really going to stop the Cybermen or find an escape; the Master states that he intends to alter the Cybermen’s definition of humanity so they no longer recognise beings with two hearts as human, allowing him to regain control over them and use them to conquer the galaxy. Alit questions them out of confusion.

Dawn breaks, illuminating a huge network of bronze rail lines and crop fields, as the cradle lands on a small concrete square adjacent to a large circular area where two of the rails cross over. As the Master theorises as to the purpose of the rail lines, a huge machine with various control panels on its sides quickly arrives; the Master believes it to be an automated crop harvester, and proposes that they follow it, as it may lead them to a means of accessing the ship’s systems. The machine stops by the group, before turning in a ninety-degree arc and travelling down one of the rails into a field, slicing and harvesting huge crops at the front whilst dispersing any waste from the back, into the ground. The group begins walking after it, although Alit finds the long walk difficult; she decides to keep walking after Missy suggests that Topknot carry her.

After at least twenty minutes of walking, a cultivator arrives that the group hitch a ride on. As they travel through the fields, dusk begins to fall, and Alit names some of the crops growing whilst the Master observes a collection of tall, green storage silos in the distance. Missy questions who the crops would’ve been for, the Master believing they would’ve been for a native human colony as well as the higher floors. He asks Alit as to where her crops come from, the latter explaining that the carters would bring them, although they don’t deliver them as often nowadays. Eventually the cultivator passes an assortment of warehouses near the silos, and the group departs the machine, Alit ripping her shoe in the process; Topknot also twists its leg after falling off, and the Master simply pulls it up roughly when Alit tries to comfort it. The Master then orders Topknot to scan for technology that can be used to access the ship’s systems so he can hack into the prototype Cybermen on Floor 1056. The Cyberman points to a tower at the centre of the buildings, and the group discover it to be a huge edifice containing storage bays, silos and warehouses.

As the sun begins setting, Missy uses her sonic umbrella to access the nearest building, and the Master uses Topknot as a guide through the various chambers, while they begin hearing noises. The Master examines some shovels, noting the variety of equipment. Alit and Missy discover shelves filled with gumboots, when they hear voices nearby. Missy immediately ducks, pulling Alit down with her whilst beckoning to the Master; Topknot simply stands hidden from view. The Master notes that the people nearby are looking for life-forms with two hearts, realising they are looking for him and Missy. He then begins walking towards the voices, Missy and Alit following.

They find the source of the voices: a group of six Cybermen, all significantly more advanced than the prototypes on Floor 0507. The Cyber-Leader and Cyber-Lieutenant recognise the Master as their former ruler, and the Leader explains that they have been assigned to capture the Master and Missy, dismissing Alit as of no importance, noting that she will be converted when the Cybermen return to Floor 1056. When asked by the Master and Missy, the Leader explains that the Cyber-Planner has noted that the Cybermen’s definition of humanity has been altered, and that the source of such tampering must be found in order to prevent its reoccurrence. Each Cyberman then pulls out a Cyber-gun, and the Leader orders the group to follow them to the lifts to the Cyber factories on Floor 1056. Upon arriving at a trio of lifts, Missy enquires to a Cyberman as to the contents of a storage cupboard that it is guarding, the latter explaining that the group will be held inside it until the lifts arrive. The Master then realise that the Cyber-Leader has secondary orders, and as two Cybermen move to force the group into the cell, Missy stuns the entire group of Cybermen with her sonic umbrella while the Master uses his laser screwdriver to destroy the Cyber-Lieutenant. Alit and Missy run and hide in a closet down a side corridor, and witness the Cyber-Leader render the Master unconscious before throwing him into the cell, whilst the other Cybermen form a defensive position around the lifts. The Leader then orders two Cybermen to locate Missy and Alit, and orders two more to prepare the Cybermats before returning to Floor 1056. Missy and Alit escape by opening the far wall and venturing down another corridor.

In the control tower that the group saw earlier, Alit enquires about Cybermats to Missy, the latter sitting on the floor amongst lots of wires and ducting she had pulled from the walls. Missy uses her sonic umbrella to influence the controls and alter the holographic display in front of her, and points to a small cage that Alit is wearing around her neck. On their way to the control tower, the duo had passed a grain store and found some mice; Missy stunned them and made some small cages out of fence wire to contain them in. She explained to Alit that by wearing said cages around their necks, the Cybermen would believe that they had three hearts due to the mice being so close to them, and as they would be searching for life-forms with only one or two hearts, they would be temporarily fooled. Whilst Missy nicknamed Alit’s mice, the duo found Topknot, who located the control tower and remained on the ground floor to scan for any nearby Cybermen before Missy and Alit took a lift to the top of the tower.

Missy explains the Cybermats to Alit, noting that the Cybermen intend to use them to attack the farmstead on Floor 0507 to make the humans easier to capture for conversion. After noting that the tower contains controls for the floor’s weather, Missy hacks into the ship’s systems and discovers that all the cyber-technology her previous incarnation set up on Floor 1056 has a failsafe system, and the system in the prototype Cybermen forces them to remain in the hospital if turned on. After discovering this system in the Cybermats, Missy activates it, sending the Cybermats back to Floor 1056 and preventing their attack on Floor 0507. Missy then has another idea, one that she believes will greatly please the Doctor. She buttons up Alit’s jacket over her two mice and hides her own under her coat, and instructs Alit to fetch something they passed earlier while she informs Topknot of their plan to rescue the Master. Missy goes to kiss Alit’s forehead, but quickly changes her mind.

Later, the Master, having regained consciousness, observes the ceiling of his cell to try and find an escape route, when Missy arrives and unlocks the door. Over the sounds of Cyber gunfire and strangled robotic cries, she explains that she used Topknot to distract the Cybermen, when Alit arrives wearing some black rubber boots and carrying identical pairs in each hand. The two Masters put on their boots and the trio run for the nearest exit to the railroads, hoping to use one of the farming machines as an means of escape. Outside, a torrential storm drenches the entire floor. Missy opens her umbrella, the Master and Alit taking shelter with her. She notes that they’ll have to leave Topknot behind, whilst the Master simply wants to escape before more Cybermen arrive. Missy then explains that they at least managed to locate the lifts, and can use such knowledge to extrapolate the location of the lifts on Floor 0507 and reach the Doctor’s TARDIS. The Master then enquires as to Missy’s plan; she simply points out the rain, and the Master laughs loudly.

Suddenly, the Cybermen from earlier emerge and begin firing, explosions occurring around the trio. The Master pulls out his laser screwdriver, blowing Missy a kiss and firing a blast at the damp, metal deck. The resulting electrical discharge disrupts the systems around them, and causes the Cybermen to freeze on the spot as the lamps on their heads explode; they all fall to the ground, dead, save for the Cyber-Leader, who takes a few more steps towards Alit before also dying. As the Master poses victoriously, Alit stares in shock at the dead Cybermen, realising that hers, the Master’s and Missy’s rubber boots protected them from the discharge.

The trio manage to locate a conveyor belt system feeding straw bales to the higher floors, and use it to quickly return to Floor 0507. As they ride up and away from Floor 0508, the Master sits cross-legged, his eyes shut. Alit asks Missy why she didn’t stop the Cybermen if she managed to stop the Cybermats, but Missy simply dismisses the idea as a long shot, before telling Alit to keep it a secret between them. At Floor 0507, the group arrive inside a large storage barn and find a stable of horses and carts. They harness a cart to one of the horses and the Master takes the reins while Missy and Alit ride in the back. Missy wonders how the Doctor is doing, and the Master asks her about why she is travelling with him. Missy explains that she was imprisoned, and the Master believes she intended to betray, or even kill the Doctor. Alit notices a sinister look in Missy’s eye, as the latter speculates that killing her previous incarnation is the only way things can end...

Characters

References

The Master, Missy, and Alit wear Wellington boots.

Notes

The story is set between World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls. Thus, this is the last story, chronologically, to feature Missy before the episode depicting her death, forming a bookend with Dismemberment, which opened The Missy Chronicles as her earliest story.
The Cybermen here are the 1980s design, complete with the Cyber-Leader saying "Excellent".

Continuity

The Doctor is still recovering. (TV: World Enough and Time)
Alit thinks the Cybermen are scarecrows. (TV: The Doctor Falls)
The Master considers using his laser screwdriver on Alit. (TV: The Sound of Drums, The Doctor Falls)
The Master tells Missy her sonic umbrella and hat are reminiscent of Mary Poppins and she tells him they've always enjoyed children's viewing. The Master then reminisces about the sun from the Teletubbies and how he thought it would look the same on the Mondas colony ship. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
- The Master then compares Teletubbies to Clangers. (TV: The Sea Devils)
Missy says she recently watched Frozen with the Doctor. (TV: Empress of Mars)
Missy uses her sonic umbrella. (TV: World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls)
Missy calls the Master out on not wanting to regenerate into a woman and the Master says women always stab people in the back. In their near future, Missy will literally stab the Master in the back and he, in turn, will literally shoot her in the back. (TV: The Doctor Falls)
Missy recalls several women that she's used and abused throughout her lives: Galleia, (TV: The Time Monster) Kassia, (TV: The Keeper of Traken) Chantho, (TV: Utopia) Miss Trefusis, (TV: Last of the Time Lords, The End of Time), and Lucy Saxon. (TV: The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords) The Master mocks Missy for remembering their names and Missy says she's been making herself remember names lately. (TV: The Lie of the Land)
The Cybermen are following orders from a Cyber-Planner. (TV: The Wheel in Space)
Missy explains that the Cybermen use Cybermats to spread disease on human colonies. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen)
Missy tells Alit to "say something nice...if you like". (TV: Death in Heaven)
Missy reminds the Master that they always "dress for the occasion". (TV: Doctor Who)
Missy decides to kill her previous incarnation. (TV: The Doctor Falls)