TWO

 We had reached the underground; so far there was no sign of life. We walked along a cramped corridor with our footsteps the only acoustics. After a few yards we were standing in front of an imposing steel door, it rose up menacingly and in my eyes it seemed to say KEEP OUT. But the Doctor never could resist a locked door.

 “I wonder if we should knock.” The Doctor mused out loud but then looked up. “Oh smile Anna, we’re on camera.” I looked up and saw a round disc, no doubt the Earth equivalent of a surveillance camera. The Doctor frowned. “Oh I don’t think it’s working…”

 “Very reminiscent of CCTV for the crime black spots of Birmingham city centre…” I quipped sarcastically.   

 The Doctor began knocking on the door, it echoed through the tunnel. “Is there anybody there? No oh well.” The Doctor raised an intrigued eyebrow. “Nah there’s no way anyone’s going to hear that…” The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver against the door. “It’s density is that of a nuclear shield.” The Doctor without any hesitation began loosening a control panel at the side of the door and with the aid of his trusted screwdriver he began hacking his way into the controls. The steel door suddenly shot up into the ceiling, causing me to jump out of my skin. I peered from behind the Doctor, again it was a false alarm, there was no sign of life. A bit of an anti-climax but undeterred we continued on our quest for the lost civilization. As it turned out we didn’t have long to wait as the Doctor disabled another door and we found ourselves in a room full of people… Who just happened to be lying upright in rows of capsules with wires protruding from their heads and they were all unconscious, except their eyes were wide open and staring vacantly into space…       

 “So are they in a coma? Or some kind of suspended animation?” I looked towards the Doctor in the belief he would be able to supply the answers. I couldn’t help but shudder to myself at the creepiness of the whole thing. The Doctor leaned in close and began examining one of the capsules at random, I followed his lead as I peered intently at the young woman in the capsule next door.

 “Well it looks like the computer forgot to wake them up.” The Doctor frowned thoughtfully, checking the readings on his sonic screwdriver, speaking softly in a hushed voice even though I suspected they were beyond being woken by our voices. “But nah…They’re simply dreaming, hooked up to a computer, by the looks of it they’re participating in a virtual reality programme of some sort.”

 There were so many of them, row after row. With wide open eyes that looked right through you as though they were all dead but the rise and fall of their chests proved they were breathing and the twitching of their limbs seemed to display activity in their brains. I guess you could say that they were somewhere between life and death as though they might wake up at any moment.

 “Well is this it Doctor, have we found our lost civilization?” I asked completely aghast as I stared around the room, the size of a storage warehouse. In my heart I was convinced that something had gone very wrong or else how could these people be lying underground with a perfect and uninhabited planet waiting up there for them?  

 Before the Doctor had a chance to reply there was a buzzing sound as though it was an alarm of some sort, a multitude of doors at the far end of the room opened simultaneously. The Doctor and myself both braced ourselves, we had obviously been discovered and in my experience breaking into somewhere never went down all that well. Crowds of people suddenly flooded into the room, men, women and children of different ages, dressed in the dullest and drabbest beige clothes, all individuality erased from each person. The Doctor went to do his customary greeting in an attempt to diffuse the situation but that was the whole point, there was no problem, a part from a few curious glances no one acknowledged us. The lethargic crowd simply walked by in a subdued trance, displaying about as much life as the others behind the capsules. They were simply indifferent to us as I exchanged a confused glance with the Doctor. I moved aside to let them pass, suddenly feeling self-conscious in my bright red jacket. I was just about to ask the Doctor what was going on but then all the doors of the capsules suddenly flung open. The wires connecting the people to the computer released them as occupants inside let out a gasp of air, in disturbing unison as though they were resurfacing from under water and then they just simply stepped out of the capsules and walked orderly towards the exit.

 “Dreamers from sector A minor return to your stations. Dream chambers awaiting occupation.”  

 The voice was computerized as it sedately informed everyone in the room and then the arriving group stepped into the recently vacated capsules. The electrodes attached themselves to their heads as they in turn became hooked up to the computer.

 “Come on Anna, let’s follow that crowd and find out what’s beyond those doors.” The Doctor prompted gently, satisfied that we had seen enough here. No doubt the Doctor assumed there must be someone in charge or some form of authority and there was nothing else to be discovered here. I knew straight away that the Doctor was troubled, his whole manner had been excitable and curious prior to discovery of the dream chambers but now there was a grim determination to unravel the whole story.

 “But why hasn’t anyone said something to us?” I asked, feeling unnerved by the people’s complete apathy. I followed the Doctor and left the “dreamers” in peace.

 “Why? Because they are under the influence of mood control substances.” The Doctor replied disapprovingly. “I can smell it on their breaths…” He muttered darkly.

 “You mean these poor people are drugged up?” The thought of such an existence horrified me, I wondered if they knew about the other world above? If they even knew what was happening to them? But supposing they had never known any different…

 “Every emotion and feeling suppressed and subdued, always on one level. The only time they are allowed to feel anything close to true emotion is when they step into one of those chambers.” The Doctor clarified with an all encompassing sweep of his arm. “I’ve been to places like this before and not once in all my long years have I found any justification for this type of existence…” We were almost through the exit but the door started to close, the Doctor with lightning reaction pulled me through quickly. “Well it looks like we’ve got someone’s attention at last. They must know we’re here…”

 I looked around and realized we were yet again in another dream chamber area, we continued on our way, still following the crowd.

 “More of the same…” I mused out loud but then someone caught my attention, a tiny, doll like woman with curly blond hair was running through the passive crowds, barging into them and almost knocking some of them over. She was heading our way.

 “Now that’s more like it!” The Doctor exclaimed excitedly, his spirits suddenly revived as a smile lit up his face.