Seed of Chaos (audio story)

 was the third story of the audio anthology Charlotte Pollard: Series Two. It was written by Nicholas Briggs and featured India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard, James Joyce as Robert Buchan and Dan Starkey as Bertram.

Publisher's summary
Tube train trouble, the chaos begins, the Prime Minister arrives.

Plot
Woking is holding Charley, Robert, Bertram, Naomi and Rab at gunpoint, himself bleeding after Captain Warwick and his men wiped out the entire security team. Woking coughs up blood, causing Rab to faint before passing out himself, after which Charley uses Naomi's scarf as a tourniquet for him. Bertram speculates that the soldiers' behaviour, as well as that of many of the people of London, has been caused by something analogous to a virus at Embankment and the group flee, Bertram carrying the unconscious Woking.

The Identical Man in the London Underground begins building a pulse in order to prevent the escape of the "threats and accompanying humans".

The group reach the Underground and are shot at by the soldiers, who look much like zombies, before Bertram ruffles the door shut. The soldiers begin a molecular process which Bertram explains was what Charley and Robert saw at Trafalgar Square and which allows them to get through the door, but they are hit by a passing train and crushed to bits and, in Bertram's opinion, unlikely to reanimate. The train driver stops the train and shouts at the group whilst the Identical Men appear in the walls. Bertram absorbs the electricity in the tracks, allowing the humans to run to and get on the train, Naomi convincing the driver to let them do so.

Bertram asks the Identical Men to identify themselves and their aim, but they say only that Bertram is a threat and must be removed. He threatens to release the electricity that he has absorbed, which the group realise is the reason that the train is not moving. Bertram releases the electricity, impeding the Identical Men and restoring power to the train, which he grabs onto. Charley and Robert help pull him in and the driver says that they will be stopping at Embankment where he will contact the police. Disembarking at Embankment, Bertram reminds the group that the Identical Men are indestructible.

The Identical Man is unable to make contact with his factors.

The group head up the escalator out of Embankment and hear a strange noise which makes them all feel strange and which Bertram says is some kind of coded message. When the sound ends, everybody feels fine but Charley, who still feels unusual and who remarks on Naomi's lack of compassion towards Woking.

On the Lunchtime News, Lysette Allegro says that the head of the NHS has apologised for a rapid decline in hospital standards, that bread and milk deliveries have been unexpectedly interrupted and that the Prime Minister is concerned about the spike in road accidents in London.

Naomi takes the group to her studio where she is told off by Madeline, who refuses to believe her story about Embankment and of being kidnapped by the government. Charley tells Robert to call an ambulance for Woking, a task that he delegates to Rab due to his unfamiliarity with 21st century technology, and joins Naomi in talking to Madeline about what is going on.

Robert asks Bertram if there is any way that they could get back to the Prolixity and go somewhere more peaceful, something that Bertram says might be possible. Rab tells Robert that he has found that the strange events all relate to people who travelled on two particular trains which stopped at Embankment. When Robert mentions the sound that they heard at the station, Rab says that he does not know what he is talking about. Bertram finds this interesting.

Charley, Naomi and Madeline watch Naomi's recordings from the Underground and find that Naomi does not remember the sound at Embankment either. Madeline believes that they have faked the footage and goes to call the police before the power goes out across the city. Rab finds that those who had been on the trains included Diane Catlock, Karen McDonald and Daniel Montford of the National Grid switching centre, negligent nurses, people who caused traffic accidents and the man who caused the bread and milk shortage by accidentally erasing a delivery database.

The Identical Man says that the sustained pulse will begin.

Charley says that they have to stop trains from passing through Embankment which they might be able to do with Woking's assistance, prompting Rab to realise that he has forgotten to call for an ambulance. Madeline tells Naomi and Rab that she wants to put them in front of the camera as interviewer and expert witness but, before they do, Charley realises that the virus-like phenomena is causing people to stop caring and that both of them have been affected. Charley, Robert and Bertram, however, appear not to have been and wonder why the Identical Men are causing chaos when they are presumably capable of doing something more deadly.

Naomi makes a plea on live television, asking for help with getting Woking airlifted to get medical care and telling people to conserve food and water and not to use the London Underground. Outside, looting is occurring. Charley, Robert and Bertram are handcuffed before getting inside the helicopter sent for Woking, being told that they are suspected of being enemy agents due to the reports from Woking's department.

Charley, Robert and Bertram have been locked up for three or four days in a military base far from London, unsure entirely of how much time has passed. When asked about his Viyran nature, Bertram tells them that he had never changed his appearance nor been able to "ruffle" before entering the Prolixity and believes that he is still being affected by it, being able to feel it inside of him. Sergeant Hunter comes in and orders them to get moving.

Sergeant Hunter takes them to the bedbound Woking, who thanks them for saving his life, accepts that Charley and Robert are from 1930 and the future respectively and says that Bertram could be a valuable resource. He says that London is getting better since the introduction of a twenty-four hour curfew, the evacuation of thousands and the reinstatement of power to some areas, but that two aircraft collided over the city, killing all aboard and three thousand on the ground. He takes them to meet someone who has been watching them over CCTV.

That someone is the Prime Minister, who has no choice but to act on Woking's suggestions. Woking says that those affected by the pulse have indeed had their ability to care substantially reduced, also resulting in people no longer making new relationships nor having sex. The international community demand that the United Kingdom resolve the situation, which has spread, or they will take matters into their own hands. Additionally, Woking is sure that Charley and Robert have not been affected.

Charley, Robert, Bertram, Woking, Sergeant Hunter and some soldiers go out into London, which looks almost entirely deserted. Charley is shocked by seeing the city like this, despite the fact that it is not her own time, and finds Robert holding her hand, which she likes. They arrive at Embankment and meet the Identical Men, upon whom Woking has his soldiers open fire. As Bertram warns, this has no effect and the Identical Men touch many of them, instantly killing them. When Charley, Robert, Bertram and Woking drive away, the Identical Men give chase and climb onto the vehicle. Bertram accesses a power within him.

The Identical Man in the Underground notes that the threats are no longer present and that the operation is complete. He dissipates his factors.

Cast

 * Charlotte Pollard - India Fisher
 * Robert Buchan - James Joyce
 * Rogue Viyran - Dan Starkey
 * Naomi Davies - Deirdre Mullins
 * Woking - Kieran Hodgson
 * Rab - Ashley Kumar
 * Prime Minister - Pippa Haywood
 * The Identical Men - Colin McFarlane
 * Madeline - Karen Henson
 * Sergeant Hunter - Ben Crowe
 * Lysette Allego - Helen Goldwyn

Uncredited

 * Train driver - Ben Crowe (BFX: Charlotte Pollard: Series Two)

Worldbuilding

 * Charley uses Naomi's silk scarf as a tourniquet.
 * Naomi has three mobile phones.
 * Sir Roger Hornsbury is head of the NHS in England and Wales.
 * Power in London and the home counties is controlled by the National Grid switching centre in Harrow.
 * Robert does not know what a prime minister is and asks if it is like a president, but less important.
 * Sergeant Hunter sarcastically asks Charley if she thinks he is the National Statistics Office.

Continuity

 * Bertram refers to the Viyrans' mission to contain the Amethyst Viruses. (AUDIO: Patient Zero)