Faustian (audio story)

Drake Enterprises is the most powerful company on Earth. Dr Lila Kreeg is its most valued asset. But her experiments open a doorway which allow an evil back into the universe. The Bruce Master can offer Lila the world, so long as she obeys him...

Plot

Dr Lila Kreeg is hit by a blast and is towered over by the Bruce Master, the haunter of her dreams. He tells her that she should not have meddled with things that she did not understand, words which she knew that she would one day hear. She knew that her story, which began a week ago, would end like this.

A week previously, on 23 April 2223, Lila announces a test run of Project Yellow Brick at Drake Interplanetary, teleporting a cargo pack 10.2 metres across the laboratory. Her assistants, Eddi Bhole and Ariel, commence the experiment, creating a warp tunnel which collapses.

Lila remembers her father telling her that she was never good enough and her mother telling her that she hated her. The Master says that she does not need them; she only needs him.

Eddi has Ariel shut down the system and Lila awakens, her life having flashed before her eyes. She had thought about her father's harsh homeschooling, her mother threatening her with Daleks, the pair of them arguing the night that she decided to leave home, her girlfriend breaking up with her and when she met Eddi. The last thing that she saw was Cathrin Travers lying dead on an office floor. She suggests that she and Eddi tidy up the mess.

Cathrin watches footage of the experiment's failure and threatens Lila, saying that she should tell Magnus Drake about it. Lila calls her bluff, knowing that she would not dare to, and says that they need more time and resources. However, Cathrin believes that R&E has become a rogue department since Lila took over and that, if she had her own way, she would shut them down.

Eddi asks if Lila had to antagonise Cathrin, but Lila says that nothing will come of it. Over a tannoy, Lila is told to go to Drake's office, which comes as a surprise as neither she nor Eddi have ever seen him.

Lila goes to Drake's office and explains that the test run showed signs of temporal distortion, an avenue which she would like to explore, but he tells her that the company's mission statement is to rebuild the world following the Dalek occupations. When she brings up how wealthy this mission has made him, he reminds her that his money kept her out of prison when she was kicked out of the University of Cambridge. He makes Cathrin her project supervisor, meaning that her approval will be needed from now on.

to be completed

Cast

References

Ariel is a robot.
Lila is Director of R&E at Drake Interplanetary.
Eddi worked at MIT.
Lila's father is dead. He would hothouse her with algebra and rap her knuckles when she got the answers wrong. Lila's mother always threatened her with Daleks. They were arguing the night that Lila left home.
Lila was in a relationship with Helen, who broke up with her after she graduated.
Drake keeps fish and has a fondness for sharks.
Lila has a cat.
The ruins of St Paul's Cathedral have been torn down.
Lila attended the University of Cambridge, but was kicked out for her teleportation experiments. Drake kept her from going to prison.
Earth has become a corporatocracy.
The Master's body is charged with negative artron energy.
Humans in the 23rd century have ID tags stuck to their palm.

Notes

For the Master, this story takes place after Day of the Master.
Despite the synopsis calling the corporation Lila works for "Drake Enterprises", the actual name in the story is "Drake Interplanetary".

Continuity

Earth is recovering from the 22nd century Dalek invasion. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, AUDIO: Lucie Miller, To the Death)
The Master feeds on life energy to sustain his form. (PROSE: The Dead Travel Fast, The Velvet Dark, AUDIO: Masterpiece)

External links

Official Faustian page at bigfinish.com