All of Space and Time

The Heart of Kerblam

"No, me neither." I said looking at the scene before me.

"We can't get her out." Yaz said. There was nothing we can do. We couldn't save her, but I wasn't going to leave just yet. We needed to see what was going to happen. My heart fell at the thought but I needed to know what was inside that box. What was going on. So we could stop others from meeting the same cruel fate.

I watched as she opened the box and pulled out a single sheet of bubble wrap. "No, Kira, don't!" Charlie shouted banging in the glass. She popped the bubble wrap and the entire room was filled with a green flame. When it cleared, there was nothing left. Like nothing had happened.

"Oh, my god..." Yaz said. "Is that what happened to Dan?" She asked. "And all the others too?"

A scowl grew on my face as I grabbed Charlie's arm and pinned it behind his back. "Don't move!" I said putting pressure on it. He tried to struggle but I held him in place. "If you struggle I'll break it!"

"(Y/n)?! What are you doing?" Yaz asked confused on why I was attacking him.

"You knew something was gonna happen." Ryan said.

"Charlie?" Yaz asked.

"He's... he's done this deliberately." He said against the glass.

"(Y/n), we need to find the Doctor." Yaz said. "Let him go."

"No! I was suspicious of you this entire time. I'm not leaving him out of my sight." I said.

"We don't know that it was him!" She said. "Only that he knew, either way. We need to get the Doctor." Yaz said putting her hand on my shoulder.

I put a little more pressure on his arm and he let out a whimper in pain. "Fine!" I said letting him go. I followed Yaz towards what looked to be an exit. Ryan was behind me to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. There were rows and rows of Kerblam men holding boxes. It seemed to go on for miles.

There were a set of stairs and I followed Yaz as she climbed to the top. "Doctor, we've found you!" Yaz said with a sigh of relief.

"(Y/n)!" The Doctor called as I walked up to her. She pulled me into a tight hug and sighed in relief as well. I looked over her shoulder and saw a open package by her feet. The bubble wrap removed.

"Kira's dead, and Charlie had something to do with it." Ryan said as I pulled out of my hug with the Doctor.

"What?" Judy exclaimed in surprise.

"Not Kira!" Came Charlie's voice. I turned to face him and he held out what looked to be a triggering mechanism. "It wasn't meant for her."

"I knew there was something off about you!" I said pointing at him. "I should've trusted my instincts and confronted you earlier. Now look what's happened, you got Kira killed!"

"The system took her. It's been fighting back against me." He said still shakily holding out the mechanism.

The Doctor weaved her way through the crowd to the front and center of Charlie. "Because it knew what you were planning. The maintenance man! Access to everywhere, noticed by hardly anyone." She said in realization.

"Have you been killing other workers?" Judy asked.

"I needed test subjects to be sure the detonation forces would work in such a small concentration." He explained.

"What... what?" Judy moved closer to him confused. "Charlie, how do you know all this stuff?"

"I lied on my application. Gave you a sob story so you'd let me in and you bought it." He said seeming almost proud of his deception. "I've studied cybernetics, explosives, teleportation. I have worked for this."