Alit in Underland (short story)

Alit in Underland was the sixth and final short story published in The Missy Chronicles.

Summary
While the Twelfth Doctor recovers on Floor 507 of the Mondas Colony Ship, and  hunt for their way out - with a stowaway in tow.

Plot
On Floor 0507, the night after the Twelfth Doctor, Bill, Nardole, Missy and the Master arrived in their 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 attacking the solar farm, as well as find a way to escape Operation Exodus (despite Nardole and Hazran’s protests that travel to the lower floors was too dangerous, and that they should wait until the Doctor recovers). Alit follows the duo through some nearby woods, and upon arriving at the crashed shuttle, Alit 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 rope ladder from the crashed shuttle, and begins climbing down to the walkways along with the Master. Alit emerges from her hiding spot and watches the duo climb down. However, as she begins heading back to the homestead, she encounters a stray scarecrow.

Alit runs for the ladder, alerting her presence to the two Masters. At the bottom, the Master threatens the girl with his laser screwdriver, but is talked down by Missy. When Missy questions her as to why she was following them, Alit simply cries that the scarecrow was chasing her (preferring not to tell the truth). 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 they can use to travel to Floor 0508, but they struggle to find it. 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, and the duo briefly reminisce over children’s television (with Alit watching in confusion). 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 looks at the Cyberman’s chest unit briefly before burning a small incision into it with his laser screwdriver. The Cyberman 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, the Master ordering Topknot to send the hatch to Floor 0508. The Cyberman operates a control and 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 using Galleia, Kassia, Chantho, Miss Trefusis and Lucy Saxon. 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. When Alit asks multiple questions about their plan, the Master whines to her “are we there yet?”

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. The Master explains that the central rail groove is for guidance, possibly containing a power feed within. As he finishes, 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 patients 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.

Characters

 * Alit
 * Topknot
 * Cyber-Leader
 * Cyber-Lieutenant
 * Cyber-Leader
 * Cyber-Lieutenant

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 . (TV: The Doctor Falls)